1;Editorial;6 2;Contents;8 3;Contributors;10 4;Part I: Review;13 4.1;Curriculum Vitae;14 4.2;Sixty Years Research with Characean Cells: Fascinating Material for Plant Cell Biology;16 4.2.1;1 Biology as the Major;14 4.2.2;2 Transcellular Osmosis and Polar Water Permeability;19 4.2.2.1;2.1 Hydraulic Conductivity (Lp) Is Affected by the Internal Osmotic Pressure;21 4.2.2.2;2.2 Water Channel;21 4.2.3;3 Artificial Control of the Vacuolar Composition: Vacuolar Perfusion;22 4.2.3.1;3.1 Development of Vacuolar Perfusion Method;22 4.2.3.2;3.2 Osmoregulation of Cells Having Artificial Cell Sap;23 4.2.4;4 Artificial Control of the Cytoplasmic Composition: Tonoplast-Free Cell;24 4.2.5;5 Turgor Regulation in Lamprothamnium, a Brackish Charophyte;25 4.2.5.1;5.1 Energetics of Movements of K+ and Cl- During Turgor Regulation;25 4.2.5.2;5.2 Ca2+ Signal as a Second Messenger in the Hypotonic Turgor Regulation;25 4.2.6;6 Mechanosensing in Fresh-Water Characean Cells;26 4.2.7;7 Salt Tolerance and Ca2+;27 4.2.8;8 Cytoplasmic Streaming and Ca2+;28 4.2.8.1;8.1 Motive Force Measurement;28 4.2.8.2;8.2 Excitation-Cessation Coupling (E-C Coupling);30 4.2.8.3;8.3 Ca2+ as a Key Factor in E-C coupling;30 4.2.8.4;8.4 Nature of the Ca2+ Inhibition of Cytoplasmic Streaming;31 4.2.8.5;8.5 Cell Models as Tools to Study the Structural and Molecular Basis of Cytoplasmic Streaming in Characean Cells;33 4.2.9;9 Electrogenic H+ Pump;34 4.2.9.1;9.1 Light-Induced Potential Change;34 4.2.9.2;9.2 Direct Demonstration of the Electrogenic H+-Pump (H+-ATPase);35 4.2.10;10 Membrane Excitation;36 4.2.10.1;10.1 Tonoplast Action Potential;36 4.2.10.2;10.2 Demonstration of the Voltage-Dependent Ca2+ Channel in the Plasma Membrane of Nitellopsis;36 4.2.10.3;10.3 Possible Involvement of Protein Phosphorylation/Dephosphorylation in Regulation of Ca2+ Channel Activity;37 4.2.11;11 Vacuolar Functions;38 4.2.12;12 Intercellular Transport of Ions and Photoassimilates;38 4.2.13;References;39 5;Part II: Genetics;46 5.1;Root Apical Meristem Pattern: Hormone Circuitry and Transcriptional Networks;47 5.1.1;1 Introduction;48 5.1.2;2 An Overview of RAM Organization in Plants;48 5.1.3;3 Environmental Cues and RAM Patterning;51 5.1.4;4 Arabidopsis thaliana;53 5.1.4.1;4.1 Morphogenetic Establishment of the RAM During Embryogenesis;53 5.1.4.2;4.2 RAM Pattern;54 5.1.4.3;4.3 Positional Signaling and Genetic Network Operating in Root Patterning;55 5.1.4.3.1;4.3.1 RAM Establishment;57 5.1.4.3.2;4.3.2 RAM Maintenance;61 5.1.5;5 Hormonal Circuitry in Determining RAM Size and Pattern;65 5.1.5.1;5.1 Auxin/Cytokinin Interplay;65 5.1.5.2;5.2 Ethylene, Gibberellin, Abscisic Acid, and Brassinosteroids;68 5.1.6;6 Stem-Cell State and Chromatin Remodelers;70 5.1.7;7 Conclusions and Perspectives;72 5.1.8;References;73 5.2;Evolution, Physiology and Phytochemistry of the Psychotoxic Arable Mimic Weed Darnel (Lolium temulentum L.);82 5.2.1;1 Introduction;83 5.2.2;2 Phylogeny and Evolution of L. temulentum;83 5.2.2.1;2.1 The L. temulentum Genome;83 5.2.2.2;2.2 Molecular Systematics of Lolium;85 5.2.2.3;2.3 Selection of Domestication Traits in L. temulentum;86 5.2.2.4;2.4 The Spread and Perpetuation of L. temulentum in Cereal Grain Stocks;88 5.2.2.5;2.5 Other Lolium spp. Following a Similar Evolutionary Pathway;88 5.2.3;3 Physiology and Biochemistry of L. temulentum;90 5.2.3.1;3.1 A Model for the Study of Photoperiodic Control of Flowering;90 5.2.3.2;3.2 Leaf Development and Senescence in L. temulentum;92 5.2.3.3;3.3 Carbohydrate Metabolism and Carbon Partitioning;94 5.2.3.4;3.4 L. temulentum and Abiotic Stress;97 5.2.4;4 Biotic Interactions and Toxicity of L. temulentum;100 5.2.4.1;4.1 Symptoms of Darnel Poisoning;100 5.2.4.2;4.2 Fungal Endophytes and the Chemistry of Lolium Toxins;101 5.2.4.3;4.3 Darnel and Ergot;102 5.2.4.4;4.4 Other Possible Sources of Toxicity in L. temulentum;103 5.2.5;5 L. temulentum in History and Literature;104 5.2.6;References;106 5.3;``Omics´´ Technologies and Their Input for the Comprehe