INTRODUCTION Embryo defective mutants in Phaseolus vulgaris obtained by Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) induction were studied to determine the structural and molecular basis of seed abortion in this species. In the wild-type, the classical pattern of seed development showed coordinated differentiation of the embryo proper, suspensor, endosperm tissue, and seed coat. On the contrarily, EMS mutant ...

We have identified and characterized the temporal and spatial regulation of a plasma membrane arabinogalactan protein epitope during development of the aerial parts of oilseed rape using the monoclonal antibody JIM8. The JIM8 epitope is expressed by the first cells of the embryo and by certain cells in the sexual organs of flowers. During embryogenesis, the JIM8 epitope ceases to be expressed b...

Friable embryogenic tissue (FET) of oil palm was successfully cryopreserved by vitrification. After preconditioning the tissue on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.25 M sucrose for 7 days, FET was dehydrated for 60 min at 0°C with a highly concentrated vitrification solution (PVS2) and plunged directly into liquid nitrogen gave the highest percentage of somatic embryo (SE) for...

The seeds of Caesalpinia echinata and C. ferrea behaved as typical endospermic seeds, despite their different morphological classification (exendospermic seeds were described for C. echinata and endospermic seeds for C. ferrea). Then, the aim of this work was to compare, under ultrastructural and histochemical terms, the nature of the storage substances and their accumulation sites, as well as ...

Haustoria produced by biotrophic fungi and Oomycetes are extensions into living host cells. However, they are not truly intracellular. They breach the cell wall only and a newly formed host plasma membrane (the extrahaustorial membrane) surrounds them, resulting in a close association of fungal and plant membranes only separated by a thin fungal wall and an extrahaustorial matrix. The extrahaus...