Inelastic scattering from12 C has been measured at the extremely forward angles including 0• using 386 MeV α particles to study the α-cluster states around Ex ∼ 10 MeV, especially the 2 + state predicted by the α-cluster model. We have analyzed the (α,α ′ ) cross-section data using both the peak-fitting and the multipole decomposition techniques. A 2 + state at Ex = 9.84 ± 0.06 MeV with a width of 1.01 ± 0.15 MeV is found to be submerged in the broad 0 + state at Ex = 9.93 ± 0.03 MeV with a width of 2.71 ± 0.08 MeV. This 2 + state may be interpreted as the 2 + excitation of the Hoyle state and the α-condensate state.

A higher plant homologue to the highaffinity phosphate transporter gene of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) PHO84 was isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana. Expression of the Arabidopsis gene PHT1 at high levels in tobacco-cultured cells increased the rate of phosphate uptake. The uptake activity attributable to the transgene was inhibited by protonophores, suggesting an H ؉ cotransport mechanism of phosphate uptake, and had a K m of 3.1 M which is within limits characteristic of high-affinity transport mechanisms. These results indicate that PHT1 encodes a high-affinity phosphate transporter. The transgenic cells exhibited increased biomass production when the supply of phosphate was limited, establishing gene engineering of phosphate transport as one approach toward enhancing plant cell growth.

The strength distributions of the giant monopole resonance (GMR) have been measured in the even-A Sn isotopes (A=112-124) with inelastic scattering of 400-MeV alpha particles in the angular range 0 degrees -8.5 degrees . We find that the experimentally observed GMR energies of the Sn isotopes are lower than the values predicted by theoretical calculations that reproduce the GMR energies in 208Pb and 90Zr very well. From the GMR data, a value of Ktau = -550 +/- 100 MeV is obtained for the asymmetry term in the nuclear incompressibility.

We have investigated the isoscalar giant resonances in the Sn isotopes using inelastic scattering of 386-MeV α-particles at extremely forward angles, including 0 • . We have obtained completely "background-free" inelastic-scattering spectra for the Sn isotopes over the angular range 0 • -9 • and up to an excitation energy of 31.5 MeV. The strength distributions for various multipoles were extracted by a multipole decomposition analysis based on the expected angular distributions of the respective multipoles. We find that the centroid energies of the isoscalar giant monopole resonance (ISGMR) in the Sn isotopes are significantly lower than the theoretical predictions. In addition, based on the ISGMR results, a value of K τ = −550 ± 100 MeV is obtained for the asymmetry term in the nuclear incompressibility. Constraints on interactions employed in nuclear structure calculations are discussed on the basis of the experimentally-obtained values for K ∞ and K τ .2

Transgenic plastids offer unique advantages in plant biotechnology, including high-level foreign protein expression. However, broad application of plastid genome engineering in biotechnology has been largely hampered by the lack of plastid transformation systems for major crops. Here we describe the development of a plastid transformation system for lettuce, Lactuca sativa L. cv. Cisco. The transforming DNA carries a spectinomycin-resistance gene (aadA) under the control of lettuce chloroplast regulatory expression elements, flanked by two adjacent lettuce plastid genome sequences allowing its targeted insertion between the rbcL and accD genes. On average, we obtained 1 transplastomic lettuce plant per bombardment. We show that lettuce leaf chloroplasts can express transgene-encoded GFP to approximately 36% of the total soluble protein. All transplastomic T0 plants were fertile and the T1 progeny uniformly showed stability of the transgene in the chloroplast genome. This system will open up new possibilities for the efficient production of edible vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and antibodies in plants.