Rising temperatures and drought stress limit the growth and production potential of lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus), particularly during reproductive growth and seed filling. The present study aimed to (i) investigate the individual and combined effects of heat and drought stress during seed filling, (ii) determine the response of lentil genotypes with contrasting heat and drought sensitivity, ...

Seed size is a component of grain yield and an important trait in crop domestication. To understand the mechanisms governing seed size in maize (Zea mays), we examined transcriptional and developmental changes during seed development in populations divergently selected for large and small seed size from Krug, a yellow dent maize cultivar. After 30 cycles of selection, seeds of the large seed po...

In annual forage legumes such as the common vetch (Vicia sativa L.), in which the pods represent a substantial proportion of the total biomass, the optimum harvesting stage may not adjust to the classical model of decreasing nutritive value after flowering. The effect of harvest time on the yield of the main chemical components of common vetch was evaluated under field conditions typical of the...

In order to determine the best developmental stage of soybean at which maximum seed quality is attained under different shadings (S1, S2, S3: 0, 35 and 75% shade, respectively) and irrigation treatments (I1, I2, I3, I4: irrigation after 60, 90, 120 and 150 mm evaporation from class A pan, respectively), two split plot experiments using randomized complete block design with three replications we...

Little knowledge exists about the degree of source, sink and source: sink limitations on mean seed weight in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). The objective of this work was to analyze the nature and magnitude on seed weight response to assimilate availability during the effective seed-filling period in oilseed rape. Three Argentinean varieties, Eclipse, Impulse, and Master, were grown under fi...

In order to evaluate the effects of foliar application of micronutrients (iron and zinc) and different harvesting times during seed filling on yield and mucilage percentage of psyllium (Plantago psyllium), a field experiment was carried out in 2009 at the Research Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran. The experiment was arranged as split plot based on randomize...

Seeds offer plants a unique opportunity to suspend their life cycles in a desiccated state. This enables them to endure adverse environmental conditions and then resume growth by using endogenous storage products when more favorable conditions develop. Seed development is pivotal to the reproductive success of flowering plants (Angiosperms). It is initiated by the process of double fertilizatio...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Legume nitrogen is derived from two different sources, symbiotically fixed atmospheric N(2) and soil N. The effect of genetic variability of root and nodule establishment on N acquisition and seed protein yield was investigated under field conditions in pea (Pisum sativum). In addition, these parameters were related to the variability in preference for rhizobial genotypes. ...