Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is thought to facilitate protein synthesis by participating in the nuclear export of specific mRNAs. In Arabidopsis, there are three isoforms of eIF5A. One of them, AteIF5A1, has been shown to be expressed in vascular tissue, specifically developing vessel members, using GUS as a reporter. In order to determine whether AteIF5A1 plays a role in...

Plant productivity depends on inflorescences, flower-bearing shoots that originate from the stem cell populations of shoot meristems. Inflorescence architecture determines flower production, which can vary dramatically both between and within species. In tomato plants, formation of multiflowered inflorescences depends on a precisely timed process of meristem maturation mediated by the transcrip...

Chewing betel quid has been linked to the development of oral cancer. In Taiwan, fresh Piper betle inflorescence is uniquely added to betel quid, and hydroxychavicol is the major phenolic components of P.betle inflorescence. In this study, we tested the mutagenic potential of hydroxychavicol in Salmonella typhimurium TA97, TA98, TA100 and TA102 with and without Aroclor-1254 induced S9 fraction....

In angiosperms, after the floral transition, the inflorescence meristem produces floral meristems (FMs). Determinate growth of FMs produces flowers of a particular size and form. This determinate growth requires specification of floral organs and termination of stem-cell divisions. Establishment of the FM and specification of outer whorl organs (sepals and petals) requires the floral homeotic g...

The patterning of epidermal cell types in Arabidopsis is a simple and useful model for studying the molecular basis of cell specification in plants. The distribution of different cell types in the Arabidopsis epidermis is regulated by a lateral inhibition mechanism that relies on interactions between transcription factors. However, it is unclear how temporal- or organ-specific differences in ep...

Plant axillary meristems are composed of highly organized, self-renewing stem cells that produce indeterminate branches or terminate in differentiated structures, such as the flowers. These opposite fates, dictated by both genetic and environmental factors, determine interspecific differences in the architecture of plants. The Cys(2)-His(2) zinc-finger transcription factor RAMOSA1 (RA1) regulat...

Genetic control of grass inflorescence architecture is critical given that cereal seeds provide most of the world's food. Seeds are borne on axillary branches, which arise from groups of stem cells in axils of leaves and whose branching patterns dictate most of the variation in plant form. Normal maize (Zea mays) ears are unbranched, and tassels have long branches only at their base. The ramosa...

During grain formation stage (90 to 110 days), the youngest flag leaf of rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Jaya) remained metabolically most active (as indicated by cellular constituents and enzyme activities) and the third leaf the least active. At the grain development stage (110 to 120 days) the above pattern of age-related senescence of the flag leaf completely changed and it senesced at a faster r...

dom’ reached anthesis most rapidly, while plants of ‘Mathilde Gütges’ and ‘Merritt’s Supreme’ were the slowest to f-lower. Table 2 represents days to anthesis and not days to salable color. In general, plants were salable, based on sepal color, ≈10 days before anthesis, so subtracting 10 days from data in Table 2 gives forcing times (from start to sale) for these cultivars when a 62F (17C) mini...