One of the defining characteristics of plant growth and morphology is the pivotal role of cell expansion. While the mechanical properties of the cell wall determine both the extent and direction of cell expansion, the cortical microtubule array plays a critical role in cell wall organization and, consequently, determining directional (anisotropic) cell expansion. The microtubule-severing enzyme...

The objective of this work is to investigate the relationship between endo-β-mannanase and leaf abscission, and response to wounding in soybean (Glycine max). An endo-β-mannanase gene GmMAN1 was cloned from the abscission zone in petiole explants, and was heterologously expressed in E. coli. Polyclonal antibodies were raised against the fusion protein. The increases in activity, isoform numbers...

Light quality evaluations were conducted on yam (Dioscorea alata L. cultivar 'Oriental' ) plantlets to determine the potential usefulness of manipulation of the light environment in regulating growth. Eight-week old, in vitro grown yam plantlets were transferred to pots and treated in vivo with end-ofday (EOD) red (R) or far-red (FR) light. Also, nodal segments ofD. alata plantlets were culture...

Tomato plants were inoculated with Meloidogyne incognita at initial populations (Pi) of 0, 1, 10, 50, 100, and 200 (x 1,000) eggs per plant and maintained in a growth chamber for 40 days. Total fresh biomass (roots + shoots) at harvest was unchanged by nematode inoculation with Pi of 1 x 10 eggs or less. Reductions in fresh shoot weight with increasing Pi coincided with increases in root weight...

Elongation of leaves and stem is a key trait for survival of terrestrial plants during shallow but prolonged floods that completely submerge the shoot. However, natural floods at different locations vary strongly in duration and depth, and, therefore, populations from these locations are subjected to different selection pressure, leading to intraspecific variation. Here, we identified the signa...

Field trials with Spathiphyllum wallisii Regel were conducted at the experimental farm of Faculty of Agriculture, University Azad Jiroft in 2012 growth seasons. The aim of this work is to study the effect of foliar application with benzyladenine (BA) at 0, 100, 200 and 400 mg.L-1 and gibberellic acid (GA3) at 0, 100 and 200 mg.L-1 on the vegetative grow...

A new species from Iran is described and illustrated here as Kickxia iranica (Plantaginaceae). Kickxia iranica is morphologically similar to K. commutata, a species native to Mediterranean region, however it can be distinguished from the latter by leaf shape, color of corolla, habit, stem branching and length of leaf, petiole, pedicel and corolla. Notes on its distribution, ecology and phenolog...

In a four-year experiment, five nitrogen rates (0, 60, 120, 180 and 240 kg N ha-1) were tested over irrigated sugar beets grown on clays, underMediterranean conditions, in centralGreece. There, sugar beets are commonly grown under water shortages, high temperatures and high soil Na concentrations. Contrary to previous reports, N rates did not affect significantly population density (as asse...

Close coordination between leaf gas exchange and maximal hydraulic supply has been reported across diverse plant life forms. However, it has also been suggested that this relationship may become weak or break down completely within the angiosperms. We examined coordination between hydraulic, leaf vein, and gas-exchange traits across a diverse group of 35 evergreen Australian angiosperms, spanni...

DIR1 is a lipid transfer protein (LTP) postulated to complex with and/or chaperone a signal(s) to distant leaves during Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) in Arabidopsis. DIR1 was detected in phloem sap-enriched petiole exudates collected from wild-type leaves induced for SAR, suggesting that DIR1 gains access to the phloem for movement from the induced leaf. Occasionally the defective in induc...