The dynamics of bimodal respiration, diving behaviour and blood acid-base status in the softshell turtle Trachemys scripta and the pond slider Apalone ferox were investigated at rest and under conditions of stress induced by exercise and forced submergence. During periods of forced submergence, only A. ferox doubled its aquatic gas exchange rate. Both A. ferox and T. scripta increased their aer...

The submergence-tolerant species Rumex palustris (Sm.) responds to complete submergence by an increase in petiole angle with the horizontal. This hyponastic growth, in combination with stimulated elongation of the petiole, can bring the leaf tips above the water surface, thus restoring gas exchange and enabling survival. Using a computerized digital camera set-up the kinetics of this hyponastic...

Stress perception and signal transduction leading to tolerance involve a complex interplay of different gene products. We describe here the isolation and characterization of an intronless gene (OSISAP1) from rice encoding a zinc-finger protein that is induced after different types of stresses, namely cold, desiccation, salt, submergence, and heavy metals as well as injury. The gene is also indu...

Mortality of forest and scrub species from most deltas of the Lake Te Anau shoreline is described following unnaturally prolonged flooding during 1975. Despite a high incidence of pinhole borer in the affected beech trees there is conclusive evidence that the mortality in most species was due to prolonged high water tables that exceeded the tolerances of many important shoreline species. Differ...

Plant-specific group VII Ethylene Response Factor (ERF) transcription factors have emerged as pivotal regulators of flooding and low oxygen responses. In rice (Oryza sativa), these proteins regulate contrasting strategies of flooding survival. Recent studies on Arabidopsis thaliana group VII ERFs show they are stabilized under hypoxia but destabilized under oxygen-replete conditions via the N-e...

Carbon assimilation by submerged plants is greatly reduced due to low light levels. It is hypothesized that submergence reduces carbohydrate contents and that plants recover from submergence in the same way as darkness-treated plants. To test this hypothesis, the responses of plants to submergence and darkness were studied and compared. Plants of a submergence-tolerant species, Alternanthera ph...

Submergence tolerance has long been regarded as an important breeding objective for rain-fed lowland and deep water rice area. Despite this recognition, there limited success in developing with improved submergence Africa. The present research was aimed at assessing performance of crosses under stressed non-stressed conditions Nigeria. Six generations the were evaluated optimum submerged a comp...