This study concerns diploid chromosome numbers and karyotype analysis of nine species belonging to four sections (Vicilla, Cracca, Variegata and Anatropostylia) of the subgenus Vicilla of the genus Vicia (Fabaceae). The chromosome numbers of Vicia alpestris subsp. hypoleuca, V. aucheri, V. ciceroideae, V. gariensis, V. iranica, V. koeieana, V. rechingeri, V. sojakii and V. venulosa are reported...

Male growing rats were fed diets containing either raw field bean (Vicia faba L.) or casein as the only source of protein. Diets were fed ad libitum for 5 weeks. Body weight gain was significantly impaired, and rates of both in vivo and in vitro intestinal absorption of D-glucose, D-galactose and L-leucine were reduced, in rats fed the legume diet. The addition of methionine to the bean diet di...

Cyanamide had long been recognized as a synthetic compound but more recently has been found as a natural product from several leguminous plants. This compound's biosynthetic pathway, as yet unelaborated, has attracted attention because of its utility in many domains, such as agriculture, chemistry, and medicine. We noticed that the distribution of L-canavanine in the plant kingdom appeared to i...

Even though the faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is among the most ubiquitously cultivated crops, very little is known about its origins. Here, we report discoveries of charred faba beans from three adjacent Neolithic sites in the lower Galilee region, in the southern Levant, that offer new insights into the early history of this species. Biometric measurements, radiocarbon dating and stable carbon is...

Over 80 taxa of mostly agriculturally important legumes were surveyed as sources of the metabolites, genistein and daidzein. Remarkably high concentrations (over 2 g.kg-1 dry weight) of the anticancer metabolite, genistein, were found in the leaves of Psoralea corylifolia (Indian bread root). All other legumes, with the exception of fermented soybean miso, had genistein levels < 400 mg.kg-1 dry...

Rhizobium leguminosarum has two high-affinity Mn2+ transport systems encoded by sitABCD and mntH. In symbiosis, sitABCD and mntH were expressed throughout nodules and also strongly induced in Mn2+ -limited cultures of free-living cells. Growth of a sitA mntH double mutant was severely reduced under Mn2+ limitation and sitA and mntH single mutants were more sensitive to oxidative stress. The dou...

DL-beta-aminobutyric acid (BABA) is a non-protein amino acid that is an effective inducer of resistance against a variety of plant pathogens. However, examples of BABA-induced resistance against insect herbivores have not been reported. We applied BABA as a soil drench to legumes and monitored its effects on the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris). On tic bean (Vicia faba var. minor), BABA i...