Isolation of high-quality RNA is one of the most crucial methods in molecular biology. RNA extraction from woody plants has been problematic due to the presence of rigid and woody tissues, large amounts of polysaccharides, polyphenols and other secondary metabolites. Here we present a suitable protocol for RNA isolation from a wide range of woody plants that includes eight gymnosperms and four ...

forests are biologically diverse systems, representing some of the richest biological areas on earth. they offer a variety of habitats for plants, animals and micro-organisms. however, forest biodiversity is increasingly threatened as a result of deforestation, fragmentation, climate change and other stressors. biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or on t...

Woody plants living in temperate climates finely regulate their growth and development in relation to seasonal changes; their transition from vegetative to dormancy phase represents an adaptation to their environment. Events occurring in the shoot during onset/release from dormancy have been largely investigated, whereas in woody roots they remain completely unknown. In recent years, we have be...

The effector repertoire of the olive pathogen P. savastanoi pv. savastanoi NCPPB 3335 includes two members of the HopAO effector family, one of the most diverse T3E families of the P. syringae complex. The study described here explores the phylogeny of these dissimilar members, HopAO1 and HopAO2, among the complex and reveals their activities as immune defense suppressors. Although HopAO1 is pr...

Wood is formed by the successive addition of secondary xylem, which consists of cells with a conspicuously thickened secondary wall composed mainly of lignin and cellulose. Several genes involved in lignin and cellulose biosynthesis have been characterized, but the factors that regulate the formation of secondary walls in woody tissues remain to be identified. In this study, we show that plant-...

We characterized evolutionary patterns of host plant use across about 2500 species of British Lepidoptera, using character optimization and independent phylogenetic contrasts among 95 operational taxa, and evaluated the extent to which caterpillars are monophagous, use woody host plants, and feed concealed. We also analyzed the use of different Angiosperm superorders and related these associati...

Micropropagation of woody plants and fruit crops constitutes a major success in the commercial application of in vitro cultures. An important aspect to be considered when deriving perennial plants from micropropagation is the maintenance of genetic integrity with regard to the mother plant. In this regard, somaclonal variation has been reported at different levels (morphological, cytological, c...