Woody encroachment threatens prairie ecosystems globally, and thus understanding the mechanisms that facilitate woody encroachment is of critical importance. Coastal tallgrass prairies along the Gulf Coast of the US are currently threatened by the spread of several species of woody plants. We studied a coastal tallgrass prairie in Texas, USA, to determine if existing woody structure increased t...

The volatile compounds released by orthodox (desiccation-tolerant) seeds during ageing can be analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Comparison of three legume species (Pisum sativum, Lathyrus pratensis, and Cytisus scoparius) during artificial ageing at 60% relative humidity and 50 °C revealed variation in the seed volatile fingerprint between species, although in all spe...

Proteomics approaches have been a useful tool for determining the biological roles and functions of individual proteins and identifying the molecular mechanisms that govern seed germination, vigour and viability in response to ageing. In this work the dry seed proteome of four Arabidopsis thaliana genotypes, that carry introgression fragments at the position of seed longevity quantitative trait...

Mitochondria are the source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant cells and play a central role in the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) cycles; however, ROS production and regulation for seed germination, seedling growth, as well as mitochondrial responses to abiotic stress, are not clear. This study was conducted to obtain basic information on...

We tested whether compounds in ripe Solanum americanum fruits affect gut retention time of S. americanum seeds in Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum). Glycoalkaloids were of special interest because they commonly occur in ripe Solanum fruits and are associated with diarrhea in humans. Also, we determined the influence of gut retention time and the presence/absence of two glycoalkaloids, a-sola...

Establishing intensive plantations of fast growing hardwood tree species that have high market values in the forest industry can narrow the gap between Turkey's demand and the supply of quality hardwood products. Black cherry (P. serotina Ehrh.) is a fast growing hardwood species with a high market value. Introducing and intensively growing black cherry (BC) in Turkey may significantly reduce t...

In the present study, feasibility of laboratory detection of damaged seeds in precision planters caused by malfunction of seed metering device was investigated. An acoustic-based intelligent system was developed for detection of damaged pelleted tomato seeds. To improve the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models a total of 2000 seeds sound signals, 1000 samples for damaged seeds and 1000 for un...