Spore germination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a process in which a quiescent cell begins to divide. During germination, the cell undergoes dramatic changes in cell wall and membrane composition, as well as in gene expression. To understand germination in greater detail, we screened the S. cerevisiae deletion set for germination mutants. Our results identified two genes, TRF4 and ERG6, that a...

Germination of Microsporum gypseum macroconidia was accompanied by the release of alkaline protease, calcium ions, and inorganic phosphate into the germination fluid. The rate of germination was greatest during the first 2 hr, decreasing thereafter. This decrease in rate was accompanied by a decrease in protease activity, which was caused by an interaction of the enzyme with the inorganic phosp...

Bacteria of Bacillus species sporulate upon starvation, and the resultant dormant spores germinate when the environment appears likely to allow the resumption of vegetative growth. Normally, the rates of germination of individual spores in populations are very heterogeneous, and the current work has investigated whether spore-to-spore communication enhances the synchronicity of germination. In ...

We have tested a series of inosine analogs for their effect on germinating B. cereus 569 spores. Our results showed that although inosine (hypoxanthine nucleoside) causes spore germination by itself, the kinetic pathway exhibited complex and strongly cooperative character. Contrary to inosine’s germinating effect, the purine pathway degradation products xanthine, xanthosine, uric acid, hypoxant...

Comparative approaches between native and invasive species germination are useful for understanding invasion success. We studied the role of invasive–native neighboring seeds on germination and early growth of different grasses. We focused on the non-native species Eragrostis plana Ness, the most invasive plant in southern Brazilian grasslands. A germination experiment was performed with three ...

Bottlebrush squirreltail [Elymus elymoides (Raf.) Swezey = Sitanion hystrix (Nutt.) J. G. Smith] and big squirrel-tail [Elymus multisetus (J. G. Smith) M. E. Jones = Sitanion jubatum (J. G. Smith)] have a broad geographical distribution and have been identified as high priority species for restoration of degraded rangelands in the western United States. These rangelands exhibit high annual and ...

Plant cystatins are inhibitors of cysteine-proteases of the papain C1A and legumain C13 families. Cystatin data from multiple plant species have suggested that these inhibitors act as defense proteins against pests and pathogens and as regulators of protein turnover. In this study, we characterize the entire cystatin gene family from barley (Hordeum vulgare), which contain 13 nonredundant genes...

Silk cocoons are composed of fiber proteins (fibroins) and adhesive glue proteins (sericins), which provide a physical barrier to protect the inside pupa. Moreover, other proteins were identified in the cocoon silk, many of which are immune related proteins. In this study, we extracted proteins from the silkworm cocoon by Tris-HCl buffer (pH7.5), and found that they had a strong inhibitory acti...

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a carotenoid-derived plant hormone known to regulate critical functions in growth, development and responses to environmental stress. The key enzyme which carries out the first committed step in ABA biosynthesis is the carotenoid cleavage 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED). We have developed a series of sulfur and nitrogen-containing compounds as potential ABA biosy...

Hyatt, Mildred T. (Pioneering Research Division. U.S. Army Natick Laboratories, Natick, Mass.), and Hillel S. Levinson. Effect of sugars and other carbon compounds on germination and postgerminative development of Bacillus megaterium spores. J. Bacteriol. 88:1403-1415. 1964.-A total of 77 carbon-containing compounds were tested for their ability to support germination and postgerminative develo...