BACKGROUND Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) (Pammel) Dowson is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes black rot, the most important disease of vegetable brassica crops worldwide. Intensive molecular investigation of Xcc is gaining momentum and several whole genome sequences are available. TAXONOMY Bacteria; Phylum Proteobacteria; Class Gammaproteobacteria; Order Xanthomonadales; Fam...

Applications of sublethal concentrations of methomyl to 4th instar larvae and pupae of the diamondback moth resulted in increased fecundity of the adults which emerged. The adult females derived from the treated pupae laid more eggs with a higher rate of fertilization as compared with the untreated check. However, the adult females thus treated had a shorter life span than the untreated ones. T...

Cancer is a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. The majority of cancers are reported to be caused by environmental carcinogenic agents, occupational environment and dietary habits. Dietary habits are one of the major contributory factors for the genesis of cancer. The optimal way of dealing with any disease is by prevention, this is particularly relevant for cancer. Despite decade...

Lesquerella fendleri (Gray) S. Wats., a native of the arid and semiarid regions of southwestern US, has been proposed as an important industrial seed oil crop (Thompson and Dierig 1988). Intensive breeding and agronomic research efforts at the US Water Conservation Laboratory have been directed towards domesticating and commercializing the crop (Dierig et al. 1993; Coates 1994; Brahim et al. 19...

Correlation coefficients based on relative concentrations of 13 glucosinolates in the edible parts of 30 culth'ars were determined. Brussels sprouts (Brassica oleracea L. gemmifera group), cauliOower (8. oleracea L. botlJ·tis group), and either marrow-stem or smooth-leafed kale (B, oleracea L. aceplzala group) had similar glucosinolate patterns based on significant correlations (P < 0.01). The ...

Isothiocyanates and their naturally occurring glucosinolate precursors are widely consumed as part of a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables. When plant cells are damaged, glucosinolates are released and converted to isothiocyanates by the enzyme myrosinase. Many isothiocyanates inhibit the neoplastic effects of various carcinogens at a number of organ sites. Consequently, these agents are attra...

Embryogenesis generates the primary plant body of the seedling which is fairly uniform among flowering plants (Steeves and Sussex, 1989). How this body organisation is established in the plant embryo has become a focus of genetic analysis, using Arabidopsis as a model (Jürgens et al., 1991). A large-scale screen for mutations affecting the seedling body organisation identified genes that appear...

The 35S promoter, derived from the common plant virus, cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV), is a component of transgenic constructs in more than 80% of genetically modified (GM) plants. Alarming reports have suggested that the 35S promoter might cause accidental activation of plant genes or endogenous viruses, promote horizontal gene transfer, or might even recombine with mammalian viruses such as ...

Assessment of the oral use of indole-3-carbinol (I3C) as a chemoprotective compound has not sufficiently considered the chemical instability of I3C. This review addresses the question of whether I3C is directly active in its own right or only serves as a precursor, with all of the biological responses coming from reaction products arising in culture media and in the presence of stomach acid. Be...

In a previous review of male gametophyte development (McCormick, 1993), it was noted that the two areas posed by Mascarenhas (1975) as fruitful areas for future research were the following. What are the differences in the two cytoplasms that determine the different cell fates of the generative and vegetative cells? And what are the functions of pollen-specific proteins? Now, 10 years later, the...