Remyelination following spinal cord injury (SCI) is thought to be incomplete; demyelination is reported to persist chronically and is proposed as a compelling therapeutic target. Yet most reports do not distinguish between the myelin status of intact axons and injury-severed axons whose proximal stumps persist but provide no meaningful function. We previously found full remyelination of spared,...

Tulip (Tulipa gesneriana L.) is a bulbous plant species that requires a period of low temperature for proper growth and flowering. The mechanism of sensing the low temperature period is unknown. The study presented in this paper shows that the essential developmental change in tulip bulbs during cold treatment is an increase in sensitivity to the phytohormone auxin. This is demonstrated using a...

Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) is one of the most important plants producing essential oil. An experiment was carried out using a randomized complete block design with 3 replications to study the effect of salinity stress on growth parameters, essential oil percent of peppermint. 4 levels of salinity solution containing 0, 50, 100 and 200 mmol NaCl was applied in irrigation plantings ...

1. Plants exhibit adaptations to many stresses, including light competition and herbivory. The expression of these traits may interact negatively, potentially instigating a trade-off. 2. We employed a combination of genetically altered Cucumis sativus varieties and phenotypic manipulations to test for trade-offs in field experiments. The different genetic lines of C. sativus were altered in the...

Microarray analysis was used to identify candidate genes that are involved in the formation of secondary cell walls and hydroxycinnamoyl-arabinoxylan (AX) in rice. In order to identify genes involved in secondary cell wall formation, gene expression was compared between wild-type whole internodes that contain cells with thickened secondary cell walls, such as vascular and cortical fiber cells, ...

BACKGROUND Sugarcane, a tropical C4 perennial crop, is capable of producing 30-100 tons or more of biomass per hectare annually. The lignocellulosic residue remaining after sugar extraction is currently underutilized and can provide a significant source of biomass for the production of second-generation bioethanol. RESULTS MYB31 and MYB42 were cloned from maize and expressed in sugarcane with...

An electron microprobe (EMP) analysis of silica (SiO,) deposition in the epidermis of developing internodes of the perennial scouring rush (Equisetum hyemale var. affine) indicates that SiO, is first detected in the stomata1 apparatus beginning with internode 3, then the epidermal papillae (internode 8), and finally in radial cell walls of the long epidermal cells (internode 10). This process i...

Sheepgrass (Leymus chinensis) is a high-quality cool-season forage crop used as pasture and hay for livestock feeds. The presence of lignin in cell walls, however, impairs forage digestibility of such lignocellulosic feedstock. Here, the structural characterization and cell wall composition of sheepgrass internodes were studied, and a progressive increase in cell wall lignification was observed...

BACKGROUND Plant height is an important agronomic trait that affects yield and tolerance to certain abiotic stresses. Understanding the genetic control of plant height is important for elucidating the regulation of maize development and has practical implications for trait improvement in plant breeding. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In this study, two independent, semi-dwarf maize EMS mutant...

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant hormones involved in various growth and developmental processes. The BR signaling system is well established in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice (Oryza sativa) but poorly understood in maize (Zea mays). BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1 (BRI1) is a BR receptor, and database searches and additional genomic sequencing identified five maize homologs including...