Plants are sessile organisms and unlike animals, cannot run away from adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, they have evolved sophisticated signaling and protective systems to overcome sub-lethal stress situations. Although, effect of stress on physiology and morphology were studied earlier, the research on molecular mechanisms of stress response is albeit new. Studies at the molecular l...

Evolution depends on the manner in which genetic variation is translated into new phenotypes. There has been much debate about whether organisms might have specific mechanisms for "evolvability," which would generate heritable phenotypic variation with adaptive value and could act to enhance the rate of evolution. Capacitor systems, which allow the accumulation of cryptic genetic variation and ...

The risk for alcohol dependence throughout development is determined by both genetic and environmental factors. Genetic factors that are thought to modulate this risk act on neurobiological pathways regulating reward, impulsivity, and stress responses. For example, genetic variations in pathways using the brain signaling molecule (i.e., neurotransmitter) dopamine, which likely mediate alcohol's...

Adult Drosophila subjected to a variety of environmental stresses that induce classic Drosophila heat shock response simultaneously exhibit a rapid and significant rise in copia homologous transcripts. Levels of Drosophila Adh (alcohol dehydrogenase gene) and 18s ribosomal RNA were unaffected by environmental stress. Copia's ability to be induced by stress is correlated with the presence of seq...

The major theories regarding the combined influence of the environment and species interactions on population and community dynamics appear to conflict. Stress/ disturbance gradient models of community organization, such as the stress gradient hypothesis, emphasize a diminished role for competition in harsh environments whereas modern coexistence theory does not. Confusion about the role of spe...

in order to decrease water consumption in agricultural sector, deficit irrigation has been suggested. for preventing a heavy loss in crop yield, management of water stress is essential. common methods for measuring plant water stress such as stomatal conductance are time-consuming and require specialized labor and a large number of measurement. temperature of leaf or canopy surface can be an in...