The seasonal change in leaf water potential and its components, stomatal resistance, specific leaf weight, photosynthesis rate, the activities of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and nitrate reductase, and soluble proteins were measured in flag leaves (ninth from base in position), seventh and fifth leaves of wheat Triticum aestivum L. cv Kalyansona. Flag leaves had a lower water and solut...

During the first hours of chilling, bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L., cv Mondragone) seedlings suffer severe water stress and wilt without any significant increase in leaf abscisic acid (ABA) content (P. Vernieri, A. Pardossi, F. Tognoni [1991] Aust J Plant Physiol 18: 25-35). Plants regain turgor after 30 to 40 h. We hypothesized that inability to rapidly synthesize ABA at low temperatures contribu...

A chimeric gene consisting of the coding sequence for chloroplastic Fe superoxide dismutase (FeSOD) from Arabidopsis thaliana, coupled to the chloroplast targeting sequence from the pea ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit, was expressed in Nicotiana tabacum cv Petit Havana SR1. Expression of the transgenic FeSOD protected both the plasmalemma and photosystem II against...

Fig (Ficus carica) trees exhibited symptoms of little leaf, mottling and deformation in Sanliurfa province, Turkey. Poylmerase chain reaction (PCR) through direct nested-PCR, phylogeny based on the sequence analysis revealed that infecting agent was closely related to ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia’ (16SrII-B subgroup). This is first report Ca. P. aurantifolia fig

A number of COR genes (COld-Regulated genes) have been implicated in the acquisition of low temperature (LT) tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). This study compared the relative expression patterns of selected COR genes in leaf and crown tissues of wheat near-isogenic lines to increase understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying LT acclimation. Reciprocal near-isogenic lines wer...

The weeping fig thrips Gynaikothrips uzeli Zimmermann (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) is newly recorded for the first time in the leaf galls of the weeping fig tree Ficus benjamina L. (Rosales: Moraceae) in the coastal area of Tartous, Syria. The thrips caused purplish red spots on the leaf surface of the host plant and the leaves curl. G. uzeili appears to be successfully adapted to this area.

Starch debranching enzyme was purified from intact spinach (Spinacia oleracea L. cv Vital) chloroplasts and from a spinach leaf extract using affinity chromatography on Sepharose 6B-bound cycloheptaamylose (Schardinger beta-dextrin). The enzyme from both sources was homogeneous upon sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Spinach leaf debranching enzyme appears to consist of ...

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is a vegetable with pantropical distribution. It contains substances with antidiabetic properties such as charantin, vicine, and polypeptide-p, as well as other unspecific bioactive components such as antioxidants. Metabolic and hypoglycemic effects of bitter gourd extracts have been demonstrated in cell culture, animal, and human studies. The mechanism of act...

Salicylic acid (SA) plays an important role in the induction of plant resistance to pathogens. An accompanying article (N. Yalpani, J. LeÓn, M.A. Lawton, 1. Raskin [1993] Plant Physiol 103: 315-321) shows that S A is synthesized via the decarboxylation of cinnamic acid to benzoic acid (BA), which is, in turn, hydroxylated to SA. Leaf extracts of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum 1. cv Xanthi-nc) catal...