Some sacoglossan sea slugs sequester functional plastids (kleptoplasts) from their food, which continue to fix CO2 in a light dependent manner inside the animals. In plants and algae, plastid and mitochondrial metabolism are linked in ways that reach beyond the provision of energy-rich carbon compounds through photosynthesis, but how slug mitochondria respond to starvation or alterations in pla...

There is increasing evidence of the importance of herbivory in seagrass communities, but the factors that regulate seagrass–herbivore interactions remain largely unknown. Many terrestrial plants and marine algae chemically deter herbivores using secondary metabolites, yet their incidence and role on seagrasses have received little attention. Posidonia oceanica, the dominant seagrass in the Medi...

Human-derived environmental pollutants and nutrients that reach the aquatic environment through sewage effluents, agricultural and industrial processes are constantly contributing to environmental changes that serve as drivers for adaptive responses and evolutionary changes in many taxa. In this study, we examined how two types of point sources of aquatic environmental pollution, harbors and se...

Communicated by Michael Sierszen The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is an important invasive parasitic species in the Laurentian Great Lakes, but the nutritional subsidies supporting the protracted filter feeding ammocoete stage are not well established. We used stable isotope ratios (δC and δN) to determine themajor sources of autochthonous (aquatically produced) and allochthonous (terrestri...

Seeds of two selected clones of Artemisia annua L., TC1 and TC2, were germinated in a greenhouse. Four-week-old seedlings from both clones were grown in the Thù Đúc province of Ho Chi Minh City on 2(nd) January 2009 and Đà Lat on 20(th) January 2009. During this study period in Thù Đúc province, which is situated 4-5 m above sea level, was experiencing a tropical, dry season with temperatures r...

The distribution and abundance of high aquatic plants in the Gorganroud River was examined at five stations in four seasons (20 samples) over one year period during 2009-2010. We identified 21 species of aquatic plants from 21 genera, belonging to 9 families. These species were determined as 3 halophytic species (14.2%) and 18 high aquatic plants (85.7%).The highest species diversity was observ...

The North Sea washes up on some of the lowest-lying coastlines around the world. The standard response to protect land from its ravages has been to build solid dykes between land and sea. And many parts of the Netherlands have been more ambitiously reclaimed from the North Sea by such means. But, in the face of climate change and rising sea levels, researchers have been thinking about other mec...

Distribution and growth of plant species is affected by many factors including abiotic (topography, altitude and soil) and biotic (root symbiosis) factors. In light of global warming, recent findings advocate microhabitats and micro-conditions of the root zone and canopy ambiance as determining factors in sustaining of plant populations. Although, occurrence of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and non...

The Rapateaceae is a small, mainly Neotropical family of terrestrial or occasionally epiphytic herbs that grow on mesic, nutrient-poor sites. Some recent studies suggest that the Rapateaceae may be closely related to the Bromeliaceae, one of the major families containing CAM plants. To investigate the photosynthetic pathway in Rapateaceae, the plant carbonisotope ratio (d13C) was determined for...

The food we eat ultimately comes from plants, either directly or indirectly. The importance of plants as the global kitchen can never be underestimated. Plants “eat” sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce their own food and food for the millions of other organisms dependent on them. A molecule, chlorophyll (Chl), is crucial for this process, since it absorbs sunlight. However, the way land plan...