PREMISE OF THE STUDY Wood density correlates with mechanical and physiological strategies of trees and is important for estimating global carbon stocks. Nonetheless, the relationship between branch and trunk xylem density has been poorly explored in neotropical trees. Here, we examine this relationship in trees from French Guiana and its variation among different families and sites, to improve ...

Arabidopsis halleri is a Cd hyperaccumulator; however, the mechanisms involved in the root to shoot translocation of Cd are not well understood. In this study, we characterized Cd transfer from the root medium to xylem in this species. Arabidopsis halleri accumulated 1,500 mg kg(-1) Cd in the shoot without growth inhibition. A time-course experiment showed that the release of Cd into the xylem ...

Proteins and traces of polysaccharide are the only polymeric colloids consistently transported in the xylem sap of plants. The hypothesis that such proteins could have physical inhibitory effects on xylem water transport was investigated. Ovalbumin, with a molecular weight of 45 kDa and a molecular diameter of 5.4 nm, is an inert, water-soluble protein that is midway along the size range of end...

Secondary xylem (wood) accounts for a large proportion of the terrestrial biomass. Understanding how secondary xylem develops and proliferates is a challenge to enhance our capacities for biomass production. Recent reports revealed that the plant hormone strigolactone is key for the development of secondary xylem. Here, I describe a protocol for strigolactone-mediated stimulation of secondary x...

Water stress effects on winter and spring leaves anatomy were investigated in experiments conducted at the experimental field of SB University of Kerman using five wheat cultivars.Xylem and phloem elements diameter and mesophyll, bundle sheath and epidermal cells area were measured in transverse sections prepared from middle parts of the leaves. Results showed that significant difference exists...

Background Trichoderma reesei is considered a candidate fungal enzyme producer for the economic saccharification of cellulosic biomass. However, performance of the saccharifying enzymes produced by T. reesei is insufficient. Therefore, many attempts have been made to improve its performance by heterologous protein expression. In this study, to increase the conversion efficiency of alkaline-pret...

Laterally connected vascular bundles in the nodes of sugarcane (Saccharum species cv. Pindar) stalks allow a rapid redistribution of water across the stalk should the vascular continuity be partly disrupted. Tritiated water supplied to the roots exchanged rapidly between the xylem and storage tissue so that net movement up the stalk was slow. The half-time for exchange in a labeled stalk was ab...

In this work, styrene removal from wastewater by using sugarcane waste (bagasse) as an adsorbent was studied. Equilibrium isotherms and kinetics were determined; the effects of bagasse particle size and concentration, solutions pH, and temperature on the biosorption of styrene were studied in batch experiments. Adsorption equilibrium data was successfully fitted to Langmuir isotherms (R2=0.986)...

In this research, effect of drought stress on leaf characteristics was investigated in the experimental field of Miandoab Azad University, Iran using four facultative barley cultivars. Two separate experiments were conducted in pot and field conditions. In both experiments a factorial arrangement was used and the treatments were completely randomized in four replications. In each experiment ha...

The brown-midrib mutants of maize have a reddish-brown pigmentation of the leaf midrib and stalk pith, associated with lignified tissues. These mutants progressively became models for lignification genetics and biochemical studies in maize and grasses. Comparisons at silage maturity of bm1, bm2, bm3, bm4 plants highlighted their reduced lignin, but also illustrated the biochemical specificities...