Welcome to the 31st IUBS General Assembly and Conference on ...

value; (5) community farmers generally believe that
resources simultaneously belong <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> nation, local
communities, <strong>and</strong> individual farmers; (6) <strong>the</strong>re is no
consciousness about <strong>the</strong> need <strong>to</strong> protect genetic
resources of <strong>the</strong> local varieties from biopiracy. The above
findings can be used as reference <strong>to</strong> develop relevant
legislation.
A case study on change <strong>and</strong> its causes of
agricultural seed resource diversity in Hei’er
Village, Yunnan Province
Jiuxuan ZHOU <strong>and</strong> Siming WANG
Pesticide Eco‐Alternatives Center, Yunnan Yingxiang Quarter,
Kunming, Yunnan, China. Email: zhou.jiuxuan@gmail.com
This case study dealt with change <strong>and</strong> its causes of
agricultural seed resource diversity in Hei’er village of
Yunnan through participa<strong>to</strong>ry rural appraisal,
semi‐structured interviews <strong>and</strong> questionnaires. Based on
analysis of 66 local varieties collected, it was found that
<strong>the</strong> diversity of Hei’er Zhuang community was abundant
in 1980, but due <strong>to</strong> many fac<strong>to</strong>rs, such as modern farming
<strong>and</strong> rural economic development, accounted for <strong>the</strong> loss
of indigenous varieties. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>the</strong> study also
showed that <strong>the</strong> traditional lifestyle <strong>and</strong> indigenous
culture made a contribution <strong>to</strong> some indigenous varieties.
Hei’er sticky rice is a good example of well‐protected
agricultural seed resources in <strong>the</strong> village. Because it is a
local favorite food for traditional festivals, so it
producesexcellent economic benefits. Similarly, o<strong>the</strong>r
indigenous varieties, like rape, ginger, peanuts <strong>and</strong> so on,
are also good agricultural seed resources which remained
in <strong>the</strong> village. These findings suggest that
community‐based protective action <strong>and</strong> strategies be
taken in<strong>to</strong> account for <strong>the</strong> purpose of valuable indigenous
varieties conservation <strong>and</strong> sustainable utilization through
a mechanism for ecological compensation.
Advances of CO 2 signal transduction in
Arabidopsis guard cells: functions of
bicarbonate in slow anion channel activation
<strong>and</strong> OST1 protein kinase
Shaowu XUE
Institute of Molecular Science, Shanxi University, 92 Wucheng
Road, Taiyuan 030006, China. Email:
xsw92@yahoo.com.cnSupported by Shanxi Scholarship
Council of China <strong>and</strong> Department of Human Resources <strong>and</strong>
Social Security of Shanxi Province. See: H Hu et al. (2010).
Carbonic Anhydrases are Upstream Regula<strong>to</strong>rs of
CO2‐controlled S<strong>to</strong>matal Movements in Guard Cells. Nat. Cell
Biol.12, 87‐93.
The continuing rise in atmospheric CO 2 causes <strong>the</strong>
closing of s<strong>to</strong>matal pores <strong>and</strong> regulates s<strong>to</strong>matal
development, thus globally regulating plant water loss,
CO 2 influx <strong>and</strong> water‐use efficiency. But this CO 2
response <strong>and</strong> early signal transduction mechanisms
that trigger CO 2 ‐induced s<strong>to</strong>matal movements <strong>and</strong> CO 2
sensing have remained unexplored. Our previous study
showed that carbonic‐anhydrases, βCA1 <strong>and</strong> βCA4,
function early in <strong>the</strong> CO 2 signaling pathway that
controls gas exchange between plants <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>
atmosphere, but little is known about <strong>the</strong> early signaling
mechanisms following <strong>the</strong> initial CO 2 response. It
remains unclear whe<strong>the</strong>r CO 2 , HCO 3‐ or a combination
activates downstream signaling. Here we demonstrate
that bicarbonate functions as a small‐molecule activa<strong>to</strong>r
of SLAC1 anion channels in guard cells. Elevated
intracellular [HCO 3‐ ]i with low [CO 2 ] <strong>and</strong> [H+] activated
S‐type anion currents, whereas low [HCO 3‐ ]i at high [CO 2 ]
<strong>and</strong> [H + ] did not. Bicarbonate enhanced <strong>the</strong> intracellular
Ca 2+ sensitivity of S‐type anion channel activation in
wild type <strong>and</strong> ht1‐2 mutant guard cells. ht1‐2 mutant
guard cells exhibited enhanced bicarbonate sensitivity
of S‐type anion channel activation. The OST1 protein
kinase has been reported not <strong>to</strong> affect CO 2 signaling,
unexpectedly, OST1 loss‐of‐function alleles showed
strongly impaired CO 2 ‐induced s<strong>to</strong>matal closing <strong>and</strong>
HCO 3‐ activation of anion channels. Moreover,
PYR/RCAR ABA recep<strong>to</strong>r mutant slowed but did not
abolish CO 2 /HCO 3‐ signaling, redefining <strong>the</strong>
convergence point of CO 2 <strong>and</strong> ABA signaling. A new
working model of <strong>the</strong> sequence of CO 2 signaling events
in gas exchange regulation will be presented.
Aerial dispersion of fungal pollution with
changes of seasonal variations of
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
S SIVASAKTHIVEL
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