Water stress during meiosis in wheat is a major constraint to yield especially for the rainfed farming regions. Pollen sterility has been proposed as the most sensitive process leading to low seed set (low % of fertile spikelets), but here we show this is not universal, and that the development of female reproductive parts is equally if not more sensitive than male parts in many wheat cultivars...

Dominant females in social species have been hypothesized to reduce the reproductive success of their subordinates by inducing elevated circulating glucocorticoid (GC) concentrations. However, this 'stress-related suppression' hypothesis has received little support in cooperatively breeding species, despite evident reproductive skews among females. We tested this hypothesis in the banded mongoo...

Life-history theory predicts that stress responses should be muted to maximize reproductive fitness. Yet, the relationship between stress and reproduction for semelparous salmon is unusual because successfully spawning individuals have elevated plasma cortisol levels. To tease apart the effects of high baseline cortisol levels and stress-induced elevation of cortisol titers, we determined how v...

1. Summer drought stress is considered the primary constraint to plant performance in Mediterranean ecosystems. However, little is known about the implications of summer stress for plant reproduction under real field conditions and, particularly, for the regulatory mechanisms of maternal investment in reproduction. 2. The relationship between plant physiological status at different reproductive...

Reactive oxygen species play a key role in the response of plants to abiotic stress conditions. Their level is controlled in Arabidopsis thaliana by a large network of genes that includes the H(2)O(2)-scavenging enzymes cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase (APX) 1 and 2. Although the function of APX1 has been established under different growth conditions, genetic evidence for APX2 function, as well a...

Reproductive wastage is a key issue for sheep producers, both regionally and globally. The reproductive output of farm animals can be influenced by physiological and environmental factors. Rapid and reliable quantification of physiological stress can provide a useful tool for designing and testing on-farm management interventions to improve farm animal welfare and productivity. In this study, w...

In response to everyday life stress, some individuals readily develop reproductive dysfunction (i.e., they are stress sensitive), whereas others are more stress resilient. When exposed to mild combined psychosocial plus metabolic stress (change in social environment plus reduced diet), female cynomolgus monkeys can be categorized as stress sensitive (SS; they rapidly become anovulatory in respo...