Kohki Akiyama*, Kazuyoshi Kawazu and Akio Kobayashi Department of Agricultural Science, Okayama University, Okayama 700, Japan Z. Naturforsch. 49c, 811-818 (1994); received July 12, 1994 Elicitor, Chitin, Chitosan, Flavonoid, Pisum sativum Pisatin elicitors including fragments of chitosan and partially N-deacetylated chitins (DACs) strongly induced (+)-a,2',4,4'-tetrahydroxydihydrochalcone, (-)...

Crop traits can alter economically important interactions between plants, pests, and biological control agents. For example, a reduced waxy bloom on the surface of pea plants alters interactions between pea aphids and their natural enemies. In this study, we assess whether the effect of wax reduction extends beyond the 2 or 3 arthropod species closely associated with the plants and into the str...

The aim of the present study was to compare the degree of proteolysis with pig (PP) and chicken (CP) pepsins in order to find out whether PP can be used instead of CP to simulate gastric hydrolysis in the chicken. First, the pH activity profile of the two pepsins was compared using three substrates. For haemoglobin, CP showed a slightly higher optimal pH than PP, 2.5-3 and 2, respectively. For ...

Concentration and time course dependence of two structurally related plant flavonoids naringenin and quercetin on the nodABC gene transcriptional activity (as reporter gene nodC-lacZ activity) in Rh. leguminiosarum bv. vicae strain D923 and respective growth, nodulation and nitrogen fixing responses of plant host (garden pea) to inoculation with pre-induced strains were studied. Naringenin was ...

Vapor heat treatments were developed against life stages of the mealybug Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Treatments tested were 47 degrees C for 5-50 min in 5-min increments and 49 degrees C for 3, 5, 8, 10, and 12 min. All tests were conducted with mixed age M. hirsutus on Chinese pea, Pisum sativum L. Treatment at 47 degrees C required 45 min to kill all M. hirsu...

The rate of chlorophyll formation in initially etiolated pea seedlings (Pisum sativum) that are growing in the light in salinized media is slower than in similar plants not subjected to salinity. However, the final steady state level of chlorophyll is the same under both conditions. Growth under saline conditions did not change the ratio of dry weight to wet weight in the plant leaves nor the s...

We isolated RNA polymerase (RNAP) from Rhizobium leguminosarum, the nitrogen-fixing symbiont of peas and VICIA: Its 91 kDa subunit, which is homologous to sigma(70) of Escherichia coli RNAP, is necessary for transcription of the regulatory nodD gene, which in the presence of certain flavonoids induces transcription of other nod genes that are needed for the early steps of infection. We also sho...

We have compared the time course of leaf senescence in pea (Pisum sativum L. cv Messire) plants subjected to a mild water deficit to that of monocarpic senescence in leaves of three different ages in well-watered plants and to that of plants in which leaf senescence was delayed by flower excision. The mild water deficit (with photosynthesis rate maintained at appreciable levels) sped up senesce...

The juices of leaves and stem of Mentha piperita (peppermint), skin and seeds of Pisum sativum (garden pea), skin and pulp of Momordica charantia (bitter melon) were screened for antibacterial activities against 56 isolates belonging to 11 different species of Gram-negative bacilli: Escherichia coli (19), Klebsiella pneumoniae (11), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9), Salmonella typhi (3), Salmonella p...