The first committed step of porphyrin synthesis in higher plants is the reduction of glutamyl-tRNA to glutamate 1-semialdehyde. This reaction is catalyzed by glutamyl-tRNA reductase, which is encoded by hemA genes. Two hemA cDNA clones (hemA1 and hemA2) were obtained from cucumber (Cucumis sativus) cotyledons by the PCR and cDNA library screening. They showed significant homology with published...

Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) is an economically important pathogen and causes significant reduction of both yield and quality of cucumber (Cucumis sativus). Currently, there were no satisfied strategies for controlling the disease. A better understanding of microRNA (miRNA) expression related to the regulation of plant-virus interactions and virus resistance would be of great assi...

Hypoxia induces plant stress, particularly in cucumber plants under hydroponic culture. In plants, calcium is involved in stress signal transmission and growth. The ultimate goal of this study was to shed light on the mechanisms underlying the effects of exogenous calcium on the mitochondrial antioxidant system, the activity of respiratory metabolism enzymes, and ion transport in cucumber (Cucu...

Cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) proteins are ubiquitous divalent cation transporters that have been proved to be essential for metal homeostasis and tolerance in Archaebacteria, Bacteria, and Eukaryota. In plants, CDFs are designated as metal tolerance proteins (MTPs). Due to the lack of genomic resources, studies on MTPs in other plants, including cultivated crops, are lacking. Here, the id...

Changes during the spoilage of fermented cucumber pickles have been attributed to the metabolism of different yeasts and bacteria. In this study six organisms isolated from commercial spoiled cucumber pickles were evaluated for their possible role in primary and secondary cucumber fermentations. The ability of the yeasts Issatchenkia occidentalis and Pichia manshurica to utilize lactic and acet...

Field experiments were conducted to evaluate growth promotion and induced systemic disease resistance (ISR) in cucumber mediated by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) with and without methyl bromide soil fumigation. In both fumigated and nonfumigated plots, numbers of cucumber beetles, Acalymma vittata (F.), and the incidence of bacterial wilt disease, caused by the beetle-transmitted ...

To reduce high-salt waste from cucumber fermentations, low-salt fermentations are under development. These fermentations may require the use of starter cultures to ensure normal fermentations. Because potential phage infection can cause starter culture failure, it is important to understand phage ecology in the fermentations. This study investigated the phage ecology in a commercial cucumber fe...

The aim of the present study was to improve the chilling tolerance of cucumber seedlings. The conditioned seeds in solutions of salicylic or jasmonic acid in concentrations of 10-2, 10-3 or 10-4 M or brassinolide in concentrations of 10-6, 10-8 or 10-10 M were subjected to temperature shock of 0, 2.5, 5, 35, 40 or 45°C for 1, 2 or 4 hours. Seedlings with 3 mm roots were chilled at 0°C for three...

Specific binding of 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) to crude membrane preparations from cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) was demonstrated. This in vitro binding had a pH optimum of 3.75 and an equilibrium dissociation constant of 10 to 20 micromolar with 1250 picomoles binding sites per gram fresh weight. The NAA-binding sites were pronase sensitive. The supernatant from the fruit partially inhibit...

The ovipositional preferences of two squash bug species, Anasa tristis (DeGeer) (Heteroptera: Coreidae) and Anasa armigera Say (Heteroptera: Coreidae), were evaluated in paired choice tests of different species and cultivars of plants in the family Cucurbitaceae. Females of A. tristis preferred to oviposit on the cultivar from which they were reared over three other cultivars of the same specie...