Chemical Technology November-December 2016

ET CETERA

Endress+Hauser Pyrotemp’s 2 nd annual Oktoberfest

network of companies prides itself on its inno- vative products, manu- facturing capabilities and accredited services. To share such attributes with the sub-equatori- al African customers, Pyrotemp hosted an open day where visi- tors could experience the Virtual Temperature Display Unit as well as offering an optional fac-

Purdue University scientists in West Lafayette, Indiana, got a glimpse into more than 450 mil- lion years of evolu- tion by tracing the function of a hor- mone pathway that has been passed along and co-opted by new species since the first plants came onto land. Flowering plants today, known as angio- sperms, use the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) to keep seeds dormant until ready for germination and to open and close stomates, tiny openings on leaves used to control gas exchange. “This hormone is important for drought tolerance,” said Jody Banks, Purdue profes- Endress+Hauser has two compa- nies based in South Africa, the original referred to within the group as a Sales Centre (SC) and the Temperature Factory, Pyrotemp, in Benoni, as a Product Centre (PC). The SC is responsible for sales of all Endress+Hauser products and services, while Pyrotemp serves as the local manu- facturing facility to produce quality temper- ature sensors and transmitters, timeously. Pyrotemp forms part of Endress+Hauser’s global temperature network of companies, reporting to its Head Office located in the heart of Bavaria. The Endress+Hauser temperature Since Pyrotemp’s roots originated from Product Centre (PC) Wetzer, the tempera- ture product centre in Bavaria, Germany, Pyrotemp South Africa decided to host an annual Oktoberfest to let their customers partake in their Bavarian heritage.

ents were hosted on the day which turned out to be a fun filled occasion incorporating a wide variety of Bavarian food delicacies,

tory tour, showcasing the precision of the automated Thermowell production centre, SANAS accredited laboratory, innovative RTD Pt100 technologies, laser technology to serialise products for lifelong traceabil- ity and exclusive high temperature sensors with platinum sheaths. More than 140 cli-

drinks and a live oompah band. For further information, please visit www.za.endress.com

Scientists trace plant hormone pathway back 450 million years

on do not interact with proteins that would open and close stomates. They realised that regulating stomate closing by ABA was novel to angiosperms, which evolved from ferns about 150 million years ago. ABA, they found, promotes femaleness in ferns. When a wild type plant is exposed to ABA, the plant becomes female. They also discovered that ABA is linked to spore dormancy in ferns, just as ABA is linked to seed dormancy in angiosperms. “Promoting a dormant state was likely the original function of ABA as plants came up out of the water onto the land, where you need to have dormancy to survive desicca- tion,” concluded Banks. For more information contact: Natalie van Hoose, at email nvanhoos@purdue.edu

sor of botany and plant pathology. “When plants are water-stressed, ABA levels shoot up and close the stomates so the plants won’t wilt as quickly.” Having shelved the research for nearly two decades, Banks, together with scien- tists at Australia’s University of Tasmania and Germany’s University of Würzburg, determined that ABA plays a key role in determining the sex of ferns, using a mechanism that was co-opted by flowering plants to tolerate desiccation. Matching the genes of Arabidopsis, a model flowering plant, and the fern Cera- topteris richardii, researchers at the Uni- versity of Tasmania found the homologous fern gene responsible for ABA signalling. Scientists at the University of Würzburg then found that the proteins produced when the ABA signalling pathway is turned

Jody Banks

Complete the grid so that every row across, every column down and every 3x3 box is filled with the numbers 1 to 9. That’s all there is to it! No mathematics are involved. The grid has num- bers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. You solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. For an introduction to Sudoku see http://en.wikipedia.org/

Solution for SUDOKU 120

wiki/Sudoku SUDOKU NO 121

32

Chemical Technology • November/December 2016