A manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) gene, NnMSD1, was identified from embryonic axes of the sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn). The NnMSD1 gene has an open reading frame of 699 bp, and encodes a deduced polypeptide of 233 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass 25.9 kDa and isoelectric point of 6.6. The protein contains all conserved residues of the Mn-SOD protein family, ...

A manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) gene, NnMSD1, was identified from embryonic axes of the sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.). The NnMSD1 protein contains all conserved residues of the Mn-SOD protein family, including four consensus metal binding domains and a signal peptide for mitochondrial targeting. Southern blot analysis suggests the existence of two Mn-SOD genes in sacred lotu...

Dormant seeds from Fraxinus species require cold-temperature after-ripening prior to germination. Earlier, we found that abscisic acid (ABA) will inhibit germination of excised nondormant embryos and that this can be reversed with a combination of gibberellic acid and kinetin. Using Milborrow's quantitative "racemate dilution" method the ABA concentration in 3 types of Fraxinus seed and pericar...

BACKGROUND The development of rice (Oryza sativa) seed is closely associated with assimilates storage and plant yield, and is fine controlled by complex regulatory networks. Exhaustive transcriptome analysis of developing rice embryo and endosperm will help to characterize the genes possibly involved in the regulation of seed development and provide clues of yield and quality improvement. PRI...

Budburst phenology is a key driver of ecosystem structure and functioning, and it is sensitive to global change. Both cold winter temperatures (chilling) and spring warming (forcing) are important for budburst. Future climate warming is expected to have a contrasting effect on chilling and forcing, and subsequently to have a non-linear effect on budburst timing. To clarify the different effects...

Many fruit and nut trees must fulfill a chilling requirement to break their winter dormancy and resume normal growth in spring. Several models exist for quantifying winter chill, and growers and researchers often tacitly assume that the choice of model is not important and estimates of species chilling requirements are valid across growing regions. To test this assumption, Safe Winter Chill (th...