Many studies of nuclear genes encoding chloroplast proteins have focused on the transcriptional regulation of their expression. The genes (rbcS) encoding the small subunit (SSU) of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, a major stromal protein, comprise one such group. We have examined the role played by post-transcriptional events in determining the relative levels of individual rbcS...

The aquatic plant Lemna gibba L. was used to investigate and compare the toxicity induced by 30 nm nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO-NPs) and nickel(II) oxide as bulk (NiO-Bulk). Plants were exposed during 24 h to 0-1000 mg/L of NiO-NPs or NiO-Bulk. Analysis of physicochemical characteristics of nanoparticles in solution indicated agglomerations of NiO-NPs in culture medium and a wide size distri...

Pharmaceuticals have a wide range of biological properties and are released into the environment in relatively large amounts, yet little information is available regarding their effects or potential ecological risks. We exposed outdoor aquatic microcosms to combinations of ibuprofen (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug), fluoxetine (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), and ciprofloxacin...

The application of gibberellic acid (GA(3)) to the non-rosette long-day plant Lemna gibba G3 at concentrations from 0.1 to 100 mg/l did not induce flowering on short days and inhibited flowering on long days at concentrations of 1 mg/l and higher. On both short and long days GA(3) concentrations above 1 mg/l caused a decrease in frond size and fresh and dry weight, but an increase in the rate o...

A 6-hour application (6-hour pulse) of 1 millimolar azide significantly changed the phase of the potassium uptake rhythm of Lemna gibba G3. The phase response curve obtained was type 0 and very similar to that caused by a 6-hour pulse of low temperature (5 degrees C) or darkness. The magnitude of the phase shift and the type of the phase response curve depended on the concentration of azide. Ho...

The quantitative shape–activity relationship (QShAR) methodology, based on accurate three-dimensional electron densities and detailed shape analysis methods, has been applied to a Lemna gibba photoinduced toxicity data set of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules. In the first phase of our studies, a shape fragment QShAR database of PAHs was developed. The results provide a very go...

Nearly 230 species of biting midges have been recorded or described from Argentina; 38 of them are known from the Buenos Aires province and only one is cited from Martín García Island. This paper presents the results raised from six collecting trips which took place on the island during spring 2005, summer 2006 and autumn 2009. Diverse sampling sites including permanent and temporary aquatic en...

We have previously isolated and sequenced two genes encoding light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-proteins (LHCP) from Lemna gibba. One of these, AB30, encodes a protein that is highly homologous to LHCP sequences reported from other species, but the second, AB19, encodes a protein that has a transit peptide and first 12 amino-terminal residues of the mature protein that are substantially different...