The regulation of pH is a critical homeostatic function of plant cells. In addition to acting as the primary cationic species responsible for energizing the plasma membrane, protons likely act as an important regulator and messenger. Despite this importance, few studies have thoroughly described cytosolic pH patterns as the plant cell progresses through the cell cycle. To investigate pH in plant cells, I chose Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) Bright Yellow-2 (BY-2) cells as a model system. My research has two aims. First, I will measure and report the interphase cytosolic pH of BY-2 cells. Next, I will assay the cytosolic pH as BY-2 cells progress through mitosis and cytokinesis. I hypothesize that pH patterns are be temporally or spatially associated with structures such as the mitotic spindle or the phragmoplast. To investigate cytosolic pH in BY-2 cells, I will develop a cytosolic pH reporter based on a pH sensitive ratiometric fluorescent dye. This dye will be able to resolve both temporal and spatial changes in pH throughout the cytosol while imposing a minimal amount of stress on BY-2 cells. I found that pH-GFP, a variant of eGFP, had qualities of a robust pH reporter. To introduce the dye, explored biolistic bombardment, Agrobacterium mediated transient transformation, and polyethylene glycol mediated transformation as methods for introducing the pH-GFP gene into BY-2 cells. I observed very few transformation events using these methods and my observations did not support these approaches as suitable for introducing pH-GFP into BY-2 cells.

No description available.

Cytokinins are a large group of phytohormones. Since their discovery in the 1950s, they have shown to play a pivotal role in plant physiology. Most studies so far focused on cytokinin action mechanisms and their metabolic regulation. Identification of AtABCG14 and AtPUP14 as cytokinin-specific membrane carriers brought researchers' attention to cytokinin membrane transport, too. In this thesis, we performed experiments with radio-labelled cytokinin tracers. We show that trans-zeatin and isopentenyladenine, two major biologically active cytokinins, are readily transported across the plasma membrane in tobacco BY-2 cell suspension. Making use of mathematical modelling, we show that BY-2 cells possess a membrane transport system with an affinity toward cytokinins. Next, we show that atabcg14 and atpup14 mutations affect cytokinin metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Keywords: cytokinin, Arabidopsis thaliana, tobacco BY-2 cell lines, membrane transport, purine permease, ATP-binding cassette, radio-labelling

Células de Nicotiana tabacum cv BY-2 foram tratadas por cinco dias com 0,075 e 0,750 mM de NiCl2. A relação entre a toxidade do níquel (Ni) e as reações oxidativas foram estudadas nas células durante a acumulação do metal. A atividade da superóxido dismutase não se alterou na presença do Ni. Entretanto, as atividades da catalase e da guaiacol peroxidase aumentaram às 36 e 72h depois do tratamento com o metal. As atividades da glutationa redutase, da glutationa-Stransferase e da ascorbato peroxidase aumentaram nas primeiras horas do tratamento. A peroxidação lipídica da membrana aumentou somente às 24h do tratamento com o metal. Os resultados sugerem que a desordem oxidativa é resultante dos efeitos da toxidade do Ni nas células de Nicotiana tabacum cv BY-2. / Células de Nicotiana tabacum cv BY-2 foram tratadas por cinco dias com 0,075 e 0,750 mM de NiCl2. A relação entre a toxidade do níquel (Ni) e as reações oxidativas foram estudadas nas células durante a acumulação do metal. A atividade da superóxido dismutase não se alterou na presença do Ni. Entretanto, as atividades da catalase e da guaiacol peroxidase aumentaram às 36 e 72h depois do tratamento com o metal. As atividades da glutationa redutase, da glutationa-Stransferase e da ascorbato peroxidase aumentaram nas primeiras horas do tratamento. A peroxidação lipídica da membrana aumentou somente às 24h do tratamento com o metal. Os resultados sugerem que a desordem oxidativa é resultante dos efeitos da toxidade do Ni nas células de Nicotiana tabacum cv BY-2.

<p>In this thesis a FIR filter generator has been designed. The program generates FIR filters in the form of VHDL-files. Four different filter structures have been implemented in the generator, Direct Form (DF), Differential Coefficients Method (DCM), polyphase filters and (2-by-2) filters. </p><p>The focus of the thesis was to implement filter structures that create FIR filters with as low power consumption and area as possible. </p><p>The generaterator has been implemented i C++. The C++ program creates text-files with VHDL-code. The user must then compile and synthesize the VHDL-files. The program uses an text-file with the filter coefficients as input.</p>

In this thesis a FIR filter generator has been designed. The program generates FIR filters in the form of VHDL-files. Four different filter structures have been implemented in the generator, Direct Form (DF), Differential Coefficients Method (DCM), polyphase filters and (2-by-2) filters. The focus of the thesis was to implement filter structures that create FIR filters with as low power consumption and area as possible. The generaterator has been implemented i C++. The C++ program creates text-files with VHDL-code. The user must then compile and synthesize the VHDL-files. The program uses an text-file with the filter coefficients as input.

Células de Nicotiana tabacum cv BY-2 foram tratadas por cinco dias com 0,075 e 0,750 mM de NiCl2. A relação entre a toxidade do níquel (Ni) e as reações oxidativas foram estudadas nas células durante a acumulação do metal. A atividade da superóxido dismutase não se alterou na presença do Ni. Entretanto, as atividades da catalase e da guaiacol peroxidase aumentaram às 36 e 72h depois do tratamento com o metal. As atividades da glutationa redutase, da glutationa-Stransferase e da ascorbato peroxidase aumentaram nas primeiras horas do tratamento. A peroxidação lipídica da membrana aumentou somente às 24h do tratamento com o metal. Os resultados sugerem que a desordem oxidativa é resultante dos efeitos da toxidade do Ni nas células de Nicotiana tabacum cv BY-2. / Células de Nicotiana tabacum cv BY-2 foram tratadas por cinco dias com 0,075 e 0,750 mM de NiCl2. A relação entre a toxidade do níquel (Ni) e as reações oxidativas foram estudadas nas células durante a acumulação do metal. A atividade da superóxido dismutase não se alterou na presença do Ni. Entretanto, as atividades da catalase e da guaiacol peroxidase aumentaram às 36 e 72h depois do tratamento com o metal. As atividades da glutationa redutase, da glutationa-Stransferase e da ascorbato peroxidase aumentaram nas primeiras horas do tratamento. A peroxidação lipídica da membrana aumentou somente às 24h do tratamento com o metal. Os resultados sugerem que a desordem oxidativa é resultante dos efeitos da toxidade do Ni nas células de Nicotiana tabacum cv BY-2.

Genetic information must be protected, maintained and copied from cell to daughter cells, from generation to generation. In plants, most of the cells contain complete genetic information, and many of these cells can regenerate to a whole new plant. Such a feature leads to the need for precise control of which genes will be active and which not because in growth and differentiation, only the activity of specific genes for the individual cells, tissues, organs are required. One of the mechanisms controlling the gene activity is RNA interference (RNAi), which down- regulates or blocks the expression of specific genes at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level. The crucial part of the RNAi is guiding the RNAi machinery to the target. It is mediated via sequence complementarity of the target with a small RNA (sRNA), which is diced from a double- stranded RNA (dsRNA) precursor. The molecular mechanism of dsRNA and sRNA formation and also the target origin predestinates the subsequent silencing pathway. In transcriptional gene silencing (TGS), the gene expression is regulated through chromatin epigenetic modifications. One of the epigenetic marks is cytosine methylation, which is established mainly by RNA-directed DNA-methylation (RdDM) pathway. Although the protein machinery was relatively...

The RNA interference is a mechanism, which allows cells to regulate their genes functions, to establish and maintain heterochromatin and to defend them against invasive nucleic acids. In plants, RNA interference is initiated by double-stranded RNA, which is processed by Dicer into small RNAs, usually 20-24nt long. These small RNAs form a complex with Argonaut protein that participates in different processes based on sequence complementarity. This complex can guide mRNA cleavage, translation blocking and chromatin modifications, resulting either into posttranscriptional silencing (by preventing translation of already existing mRNA, PTGS) or transcriptional silencing (by preventing transcription of mRNA, TGS). The first step of this thesis was to establish different ways of triggering PTGS and to evaluate their functionality and efficiency. The next step was a preparation of a system which would allow to study the transition from posttrancriptional to transcriptional silencing. These so called "indicator lines" should allow to observe the timing and dynamics of this process by utilizing fluorescent proteins. This system is also going to enable to evaluate, how different factors are involved in this process - one of the factors is RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6 (RDR6) which plays an essential role in...

The supply of precursors from primary metabolism is often overlooked when engineering secondary metabolism for increased product yields. This is because precursor supply may be assumed to be non-limiting, and it is considered difficult to engineer primary metabolism, because control of carbon flow (flux) is generally distributed among most enzymes of the pathway. The aim of this thesis was to increase the production of sterols, part of the isoprenoid class of secondary metabolites, in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Bright Yellow 2 (BY-2) cell cultures. This was achieved by genetically engineering increased activity of mitochondrial citrate synthase, an enzyme of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle that is involved in the provision of cytosolic acetyl coenzyme A, the primary metabolite precursor to sterols. Metabolic flux analysis revealed that citrate synthase exerts significant control over cyclic TCA cycle flux in BY-2 cells and suggested that increasing the activity of downstream enzymes within secondary metabolism could lead to a further redirection of TCA-cycle-derived precursors into sterol biosynthesis. Attempts were made to achieve this by genetically engineering increased activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR), a key enzyme of secondary metabolism involved in sterol biosynthesis. Consistent with previous research, transgenic lines had increased sterol levels. However, the high sterol phenotype was unstable, and attempts to co-express HMGR and citrate synthase genes were unsuccessful. The thesis demonstrates that increasing the provision of precursors to secondary metabolites can result in increased yields of those secondary metabolites but suggests that in most cases the activity of enzymes within secondary metabolism has a greater effect on those yields. It also reveals that single enzymes can exert significant control of flux within primary metabolism, although the control exerted by specific enzymes probably changes with the demands placed on metabolism.