Plant becomes soil

Plant Self-Incompatibility: Ancient System Becomes a New Tool

Expressing a pollen self-incompatibility gene from Papaver rhoeas (poppy) in Arabidopsis thaliana renders the latter sensitive to an exquisitely precise induced cell death response. This simple system may have wide application in biotechnology and research.

Soil Fungi-Plant Interaction

One of the main European agricultural problems is the decline in soil fertility due to the reduction of the natural soil harmony. When natural soil composition is altered, few cultivated plants replace spontaneous populations of numerous species. Man becomes the only regulator of a new fragile equilibrium between the simplified biocenosis elements. Agronomic techniques (fertilisation, irrigatio...

Plant Litter and Soil Reflectance

The presence of plant litter on the soil surface influINTRODUCTION ences the flow of nutrients, carbon, water, and energy in Ecological Importance of Litter terrestrial ecosystems. Quantifying plant litter cover is Litter is senescent (or dead) plant material that gradually important for interpreting vegetated landscapes and for decomposes into soil. It is difficult to classify litter beevaluat...

Soil and Plant Nitrogen Availability

Soil conditions and plant growth'

Plants can respond to soil conditions in ways that can not readily be explained in terms of the ability of the roots to take up water and nutrients. Roots may sense difficult conditions in the soil and thence send inhibitory signals to the shoots which harden the plants against the consequences of a deteriorating or restrictive environment, especially if the plants' water supply is at risk. Gen...