In many but not all recalcitrant Quercus seeds, water loss during drying only occurs through the scar. Consequently, embryo axis sitting on opposite side of scar is well protected from desiccation. However, whether such a mechanism common throughout Fagaceae species unexplored. Similarly, little known about desiccation response other genera. Germination and tolerance Castanopsis sclerophylla (L...

Germinating wheat embryos (Triticum vulgare var. Florence) synthesize proteins before the onset of DNA synthesis. The onset of DNA replication occurs at about 15 hours of germination and was shown to depend on proteins synthesized before 9 hours of germination with the use of blasticidin S, a specific inhibitor of protein synthesis. A 10-fold increase in the activity of DNA-dependent DNA polyme...

On the basis of putative nuclei and endospores, Huldtgren et al. (Reports, 23 December 2011, p. 1696) propose that embryo-like Doushantuo microfossils are nonmetazoan holozoans akin to mesomycetozoeans. However, both size and preservation preclude interpretation of internal structures as nuclei. Moreover, the authors may have conflated two different populations; some specimens display a pseudop...

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) embryo homogenates have been fractionated into three cell fractions from which RNA was extracted and assayed for mRNA content by in vitro translation and by [(3)H]polyuridylic acid hybridization. In dry embryos the preformed mRNAs are distributed equally between a rapidly sedimenting "pellet" fraction and a cytoplasmic "ribosomal/subribosomal" fraction. During germi...