Previously it has been shown that the Xoral scent of snapdragon Xowers consists of a relatively simple mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These compounds are thought to be involved in the attraction of pollinators; however, little is known about their eVect on other organisms, such as neighboring plants. Here, we report that VOCs from snapdragon Xowers inhibit Arabidopsis root growth...

Aging in leaves is characterized by a decrease in chlorophyll content and an accompanying loss of protein and ribonucleic acid. It is well known that these symptoms of senescence occur at an accelerated rate in excised mature leaves and in leaf discs floated on water. In recent years it has been established that several chemical substances retard the senescence of leaves. Among the compounds wh...

The Antirrhinum majus transposon Tam3 undergoes low temperature-dependent transposition (LTDT). Growth at 15 degrees C permits transposition, whereas growth at 25 degrees C strongly suppresses it. The degree of Tam3 DNA methylation is altered somatically and positively correlated with growth temperature, an exceptional epigenetic system in plants. Using a Tam3-inactive line, we show that methyl...

In leaves of barley (Hordeum vulgare), as previously found with oats (Avena sativa), a group of six antibiotics that interfere in different ways with the sequence DNA --> mRNA --> protein all delay senescence in the dark, acting to conserve chlorophyll (Chl) and protein and also to open the stomata. Among the active compounds is chloramphenicol, which had previously been reported to act only on...