Active polyamine metabolism occurs in Glycine max (L.) seeds during development. Most (>/=97%) of putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd), spermine (Spm), and cadaverine (Cad) are present as free forms in the growing embryo. In the cotyledon or embryonic axis, Put decreases to a nearly undetectable level, while Spd level sharply increases as seed dry weight accumulation progresses. Spm level in the ...

Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii: Platanaceae) is a riparian tree of the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico. It is failing to reproduce in certain canyons where mature, seed-producing trees of this species occur. Three hypotheses were tested to explain this reproductive failure: I) the presence of domestic cattle prevents reproduction, 2) seeds produced in certain canyons are inv...

Preharvest sprouting of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is associated with inadequate seed dormancy. Although abscisic acid (ABA) has often been suggested to play a central role in developing seed, its involvement in dormancy of mature seed lacks firm experimental evidence and endogenous ABA levels are not well correlated with germinability. We examined genotypic and temporal variation in wheat se...

Over 40,000 species of plants accumulate fructan, [beta]-2-1- and [beta]-2-6-linked polymers of fructose as a storage reserve. Due to their high fructose content, several commercial applications for fructans have been proposed. However, plants that accumulate these polymers are not agronomically suited for large-scale cultivation or processing. This study describes the transformation of a Bacil...

(Morphology and anatomy of the fruit and seed in development of Chorisia speciosa A. St.-Hil. Bombacaceae). The structure of the fruit and seed in development of Chorisia speciosa are described with the main purpose of clarifying the origin and nature of the hairs that cover the seeds and aiding future taxonomical and ecological studies of the group. The fruit is an ellipsoid loculicide capsule...

Changes in ascorbate content and its enzymatic utilization pattern were studied in embryonic axes and cotyledons of sal seeds undergoing rapid loss of viability, at ambient conditions. Ascorbate levels were significantly higher initially in the embryonic axes (0.32 mg/g fresh weight) and cotyledons (0.21 mg/g fresh weight) of freshly mature, relatively hydrated (42.2% moisture content) and 100%...

The Arabidopsis endosperm consists of a single cell layer surrounding the mature embryo and playing an essential role to prevent the germination of dormant seeds or that of nondormant seeds irradiated by a far red (FR) light pulse. In order to further gain insight into the molecular genetic mechanisms underlying the germination repressive activity exerted by the endosperm, a "seed coat bedding"...

Seeds of several agriculturally important legumes are rich sources of the only halogenated plant hormone, 4-chloroindole-3-acetic acid. However, the biosynthesis of this auxin is poorly understood. Here, we show that in pea (Pisum sativum) seeds, 4-chloroindole-3-acetic acid is synthesized via the novel intermediate 4-chloroindole-3-pyruvic acid, which is produced from 4-chlorotryptophan by two...

Sponge gourd (Luffa cylindricd) seeds contain several biologically active proteins. Recently, we found that the mature seeds contain three types of trypsin inhibitors having molecular masses of about 13 kDa (type I), 6.5 kDa (type II), and 3.2 kDa (type III). Furthermore, preliminary experiments suggested that the type III one might be a domain unit of these inhibitors. Here, we present the iso...

Embryos excised from mature Pinus radiata D. Don seeds were cultured in a small volume of a nutrient medium contained in a small aluminium capsule to form an artificial seed. The embryos developed with normal morphology, although not as large as those from natural seeds. All plants from artificial seeds formed roots in sterile soil. The growth of embryos placed radicle-down into the same agarif...