As first noted by Aristotle in honeybee workers, many insect pollinators show a preference to visit flowers of just one species during a foraging trip. This "flower constancy" probably benefits plants, because pollen is more likely to be deposited on conspecific stigmas. But it is less clear why insects should ignore rewarding alternative flowers. Many researchers have argued that flower consta...

Flower development is one of the major developmental processes that governs seed setting in angiosperms. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying flower development in legumes. Employing RNA-seq for various stages of flower development and few vegetative tissues in chickpea, we identified differentially expressed genes in flower tissues/stages in comparison to vegetati...

zThe coding sequence is compared for each pair of genes. Comparisons were done using the gap program of the Wisconsin GCG sequence analysis package. yCHS = chalcone synthase; CHI = chalcone isomerase; DFR = dihydroflavonol reductase. xFirst row for each plant pair presents the percent amino acid similarity. wSecond row for each plant pair presents the percent amino acid identity. vThird row for...

BACKGROUND Research on the potentially adverse effects of occupational pesticide exposure on risk of spontaneous abortion (SAB) is limited, particularly among female agricultural workers residing in developing countries. METHODS Reproductive histories were obtained from 217 Ecuadorian mothers participating in a study focusing on occupational pesticide exposure and children's neurobehavioral d...

Camellia japonica L. is an evergreen shrub whose cultivars are of great ornamental value. In autumn, after flower bud differentiation, dormancy is initiated. As in many other spring flowering woody ornamentals, winter low temperatures promote dormancy release of both flower and vegetative buds. However, warm spells during late autumn and winter can lead to unfulfilled chilling requirements lead...

Flower induction in apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) is regulated by complex gene networks that involve multiple signal pathways to ensure flower bud formation in the next year, but the molecular determinants of apple flower induction are still unknown. In this research, transcriptomic profiles from differentiating buds allowed us to identify genes potentially involved in signaling pathways that ...