We recently described lack of phenotypic plasticity in reproductive organ development and substantial plasticity in vegetative organ development for the cycad Cycas micronesica. Is there an evo-devo explanation for the disparity in phenotypic plasticity of vegetative vs. reproductive organs? Despite modularity, might evolution of cycad phenology be controlled more by drift than selection?

Seed formation is an important step of plant development which depends on nutrient allocation. Uptake from soil is an obvious source of nutrients which mainly occurs during vegetative stage. Because seed filling and leaf senescence are synchronized, subsequent mobilization of nutrients from vegetative organs also play an essential role in nutrient use efficiency, providing source-sink relations...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND The therapeutic activities of Andrographis paniculata are attributed to four major active diterpenoids: andrographolide (AP1), 14-deoxy-11,12-didehydroandrographolide (AP3), neoandrographolide (AP4), and 14-deoxyandrographolide (AP6). This study aims to quantify the four active diterpenoids in various plant organs of A. paniculata at different growth stages in greenhous...

Leaf exchange is an abrupt phenological event that drastically modifies the morphology and physiology of the aerial portion of the plant. We examined if water and osmolyte differences between old leaves and new organs trigger leaf exchange, and whether the differences are closely linked to the resource resorption process in senescing leaves. We monitored concentrations of osmolyte, water, non-s...

The NAM-B1 gene is a NAC transcription factor that affects grain nutrient concentrations in wheat (Triticum aestivum). An RNAi line with reduced expression of NAM genes has lower grain protein, iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) concentrations. To determine whether decreased remobilization, lower plant uptake, or decreased partitioning to grain are responsible for this phenotype, mineral dynamics were qu...

doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3054.2006.00724.x Flowering is an integral developmental process in angiosperms, crucial to reproductive success and continuity of the species through time. Some angiosperms complete their life cycle within a year (annual plants), and others have a longer reproductive life, which is characterized by the generation of new flowering and vegetative shoots every year (perennial ...

Perenniality and vegetative re-growth vigour represent key agronomic traits in forage legume (Fabaceae) species. The known determinants of perenniality include the conservation of the vegetative meristem during and after the flowering phase, and the separation of flowering from senescence. The ability of the plants to store nutrient resources in perennial organs and remobilize them may also pla...

Plants are sessile and as such their reactions to environmental challenges differ from those of mobile organisms. Many adaptions involve growth responses and hence, growth regulation is one of the most crucial biological processes for plant survival and fitness. The plant-specific TEOSINTE BRANCHED 1, CYCLOIDEA, PCF1 (TCP) transcription factor family is involved in plant development from cradle...

To cope with environmental changes, animals respond by altering their behavior, but sessile plants respond by altering their growth and development pattern. One of the major differences between plant and animal development is that plants have the capacity to develop new organs postembryonically. This potential to develop new organs is attributed to sets of cells, called meristems, which are fou...