In Arabidopsis, the regulation network of the seed maturation program controls the induction of seed dormancy. Wheat EST sequences showing homology with the master regulators of seed maturation, leafy cotyledon1 (LEC1), LEC2 and FUSCA3 (FUS3), were searched from databases and designated respectively as TaL1L (LEC1-LIKE), TaL2L (LEC2-LIKE), and TaFUS3. TaL1LA, TaL2LA and TaFUS3 mainly expressed ...

Access to seed is crucial for farming, though few studies investigate household-level access in the informal ‘farmer seed systems’ which still supply most seed in poor countries. This paper uses empirical data of seed exchange practices for sorghum in eastern Ethiopia to analyze how social relationships influence access to off-farm seed for a major crop. Seed shortfalls are common, and farmer–f...

Proximate chemical, amino acid, antinutritional factors (ANF) and mineral composition of Highworth, Rongai White and Rongai Brown varieties of Lablab purpureus seed were determined. Lablab purpureus seed irrespective of the variety was lower in crude protein but higher in crude fibre than FFSB. The three varieties of lablab seed analyzed in the present study contained between 7.22-9.23% of crud...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Pathogen-seed interactions may involve a race for seed resources, so that seeds that germinate more quickly, mobilizing reserves, will be more likely to escape seed death than slow-germinating seeds. This race-for-survival hypothesis was tested for the North American seed pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda on seeds of the annual grass Bromus tectorum, an invasive plant in Nort...

The topology of metabolic networks may provide important insights not only into the metabolic capacity of species, but also into the habitats in which they evolved. Here we introduce the concept of a metabolic network's "seed set"--the set of compounds that, based on the network topology, are exogenously acquired--and provide a methodological framework to computationally infer the seed set of a...

In the present study, thiol-functionalization of tamarind seed polysaccharide was carried out by esterification with thioglycolic acid. Thiol-functionalization was confirmed by SH stretch in Fourier-transformed infra-red spectra at 2586 cm(-1). It was found to possess 104.5 mM of thiol groups per gram. The results of differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction study indicate increas...

Rodents affect the post-dispersal fate of seeds by acting either as on-site seed predators or as secondary dispersers when they scatter-hoard seeds. The tropical forests of north-east India harbour a high diversity of little-studied terrestrial murid and hystricid rodents. We examined the role played by these rodents in determining the seed fates of tropical evergreen tree species in a forest s...

Insect herbivores and fungal pathogens can independently affect plant fitness, and may have interactive effects. However, few studies have experimentally quantified the joint effects of insects and fungal pathogens on seed production in non-agricultural populations. We examined the factorial effects of insect herbivore exclusion (via insecticide) and fungal pathogen exclusion (via fungicide) on...

Studies on the importance of seed arrival for community richness and composition have not considered the number of seeds arriving and its effect on species richness and composition of natural communities is thus unknown. A series of experimental dry grassland communities were established. All communities were composed of the same 44 species in exactly the same proportions on two substrates usin...

Seed size is an important component of grain yield and a key determinant trait for crop domestication. The Krug Yellow Dent long-term selection experiment for large and small seed provides a valuable resource to dissect genetic and phenotypic changes affecting seed size within a common genetic background. In this study, inbred lines derived from Krug Large Seed (KLS) and Krug Small Seed (KSS) p...