Hirschfeldia incana, a pseudometallophyte belonging to the Brassicaceae family and widespread in the Mediterranean region, was selected for its ability to grow on soils contaminated by lead (Pb). The global comparison of gene expression using microarrays between a plant susceptible to Pb (Arabidopsis thaliana) and a Pb tolerant plant (H. incana) enabled the identification of a set of specific g...

Lead is a heavy metal of particular concern with respect to environmental quality and health. The lack of plant species that accumulate and tolerate Pb is a limiting factor to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in Pb tolerance. In this study we identified Hirschfeldia incana, a Brassicaceae collected from metalliferous mine spoils in Morocco, as a Pb accumulator plant. H. incana exhib...

background and objectives: residues of medicinal plants after extraction and weeds are suitable candidates for bioethanol production. significant barriers exist to make the conversion of lignocellulosic feedstock to biofuel cost effective and environmentally friendly; one of which is the lignin polymer. brassicaceae family is one of the potential targets for biofuel production. the structural c...

Background and objectives: Residues of medicinal plants after extraction and weeds are suitable candidates for bioethanol production. Significant barriers exist to make the conversion of lignocellulosic feedstock to biofuel cost effective and environmentally friendly; one of which is the lignin polymer. Brassicaceae family is one of the potential targets for biofuel production....

Salinity is an abiotic stress that limits both yield and the expansion of agricultural crops to new areas. In the last 20 years our basic understanding of the mechanisms underlying plant tolerance and adaptation to saline environments has greatly improved owing to active development of advanced tools in molecular, genomics, and bioinformatics analyses. However, the full potential of investigati...

Background: It is generally assumed that short-term population dynamics are too slow to be influenced by evolution. Question: Can evolution occurring within only weeks (four to five generations) impact concurrent population dynamics? Organism: Green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) growing on an undomesticated host (Hirschfeldia incana). Aphid clones were collected from a single wild population. Si...