Throughout lowland Amazonia, arboreal ants collect seeds of specific plants and cultivate them in nutrient-rich nests, forming diverse yet obligate and species-specific symbioses called Neotropical ant-gardens (AGs). The ants depend on their symbiotic plants for nest stability, and the plants depend on AGs for substrate and nutrients. Although the AGs are limited to specific participants, it is...

This study presents a combined pneumatic seed-metering device (SMD) that could not only fill, carry, and meter seeds, but also switch quickly between seed-metering and seed-cleaning modes, and clean seeds thoroughly and rapidly. The seed-filling, seed-carrying, and seed-metering modes of the SMD were analyzed based on a theoretical kinematic model. Furthermore, a three-factor, three-level ortho...

The effects of seed source and seed size on germination and field performance were studied in five grasses. Greater seed weights were associated with better germination in Yorkshire fog, cocksfoot and timothy but not significantly so for Chewings fescue and browntop. In cocksfoot, Chewings fescue and timothy, higher seed weights were found in samples collected at altitudes above those generally...

Cytoskeletal remodeling has a fundamental role, especially during transitional developmental stages when cells rapidly adopt new forms and roles, like gametogenesis, fertilization and concomitant embryogenesis and seed formation. KATANIN 1, a microtubule severing protein, fulfills a major regulatory mechanism of dynamic microtubule turnover in eukaryotes. Herein, we show that three well-establi...

in order to evaluate of using planting pattern for reducing herbicides dose in corn (single cross 704), a field experiment was conducted in 2007 at research field of collage of agriculture, islamic azad university branch of takestan. the experimental design was randomized complete block with 18 treatments and using factorial design with 4 replications. treatments consisted of corn planting patt...