In the Solanaceae, biotic and abiotic elicitors induce de novo synthesis of sesquiterpenoid stress metabolites known as phytoalexins. Because plant hormones play critical roles in the induction of defense-responsive genes, we have explored the effect of abscisic acid (ABA) on the synthesis of capsidiol, the major wild tobacco (Nicotiana plumbaginifolia) sesquiterpenoid phytoalexin, using wild-t...

A maize (Zea mays) senescence-associated legumain gene, See2beta, was characterized at the physiological and molecular levels to determine its role in senescence and resource allocation. A reverse-genetics screen of a maize Mutator (Mu) population identified a Mu insertion in See2beta. Maize plants homozygous for the insertion were produced. These See2 mutant and sibling wild-type plants were g...

NH(4)(+) acquisition by plant roots is thought to involve members of the NH(4)(+) transporter family (AMT) found in plants, yeast, bacteria, and mammals. In Arabidopsis, there are six AMT genes of which AtAMT1;1 demonstrates the highest affinity for NH(4)(+). Ammonium influx into roots and AtAMT1;1 mRNA expression levels are highly correlated diurnally and when plant nitrogen (N) status is vari...

Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv Rheinlands Ruhm (RR) and cv Moneymaker and the three wilty mutants flacca (flc), sitiens (sit), and sitiens(w) (sit(w)), together with most reciprocal grafts, were grown in pots and in solution culture. Detached leaflets, and control and steam-girdled intact plants, were left turgid or were wilted in air. Detached leaflets and the leaflets and roots of the intac...

For 10,000 years agriculture has been based on the strategy of conserving and enhancing genetic diversity. Humans have always this time domesticated and modified wild plants and animals, the gifts of nature’s biodiversity. According to Erna Bennett (former genetic resources expert to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN), ‘The patchwork of cultivation sown by man unleashed an explos...

The plasma membrane Na+/H+-antiporter salt overly sensitive1 (SOS1) from the halophytic Arabidopsis-relative Thellungiella halophila (ThSOS1) shows conserved sequence and domain structure with the orthologous genes from Arabidopsis thaliana and other plants. When expression of ThSOS1 was reduced by RNA interference (RNAi), pronounced characteristics of salt-sensitivity were observed. We were in...

About one-third of the world's rice area is in rain-fed lowlands and most are prone to water shortage. The identification of genes imparting tolerance to drought in the model cereal plant, rice, is an attractive strategy to engineer improved drought tolerance not only rice but other cereals as well. It is demonstrated that RNAi-mediated disruption of a rice farnesyltransferase/squalene synthase...

The jasmonate pathway is a highly conserved defensive cascade in plants that regulates the induction of resistance against herbivores; however, its role in herbivore feeding behaviour remains unknown. We used a mutant tomato plant ( def -1) deficient in the production of jasmonate-related defensive proteins to test the hypothesis that genotypes with a reduced ability to induce resistance have a...

Wild edible plants are crucial not only for their role as a source of food and nutrition but are also integral part of culture and traditions of the Himalayan societies. Because of availability of diverse altitudinal, topographical and microclimatic conditions, the state of Uttarakhand supports a huge diversity of wild edible plants. Most of the species of wild edible plants in Uttarakhand are ...

this study was carried out to evaluate empirical models of competition, as two separated experiments based on a randomized complete block design with 3 replications at agricultural faculty of bu-ali sina university, in 2008-2009. in both experiments, alvand and sayson cultivar were planted with densities of 450 plants m-2. in the 1st experiment, feral rye (secale cereale) with densities of 0, 2...