Ageing induces modifications capable of compromising seed vigour and viability. This study investigated the effects exogenous application five antioxidants: ascorbic acid (AA), gallic (GA), reduced glutathione (GSH), trolox glycerol, on physical biochemical lesions induced by controlled deterioration (CD) in Brassica oleracea (cabbage) Lactuca sativa (lettuce) seeds. The antioxidants were appli...

Resistance Gene Candidate2 (RGC2) genes belong to a large, highly duplicated family of nucleotide binding site-leucine rich repeat (NBS-LRR) encoding disease resistance genes located at a single locus in lettuce (Lactuca sativa). To investigate the genetic events occurring during the evolution of this locus, approximately 1.5- to 2-kb 3' fragments of 126 RGC2 genes from seven genotypes were seq...

Malachite green (MG) was decolorized by laccase (LacA) of white-rot fungus Cerrena sp. with strong decolorizing ability. Decolorization conditions were optimized with response surface methodology. A highly significant quadratic model was developed to investigate MG decolorization with LacA, and the maximum MG decolorization ratio of 91.6% was predicted under the conditions of 2.8 U mL(-1) LacA,...

A six year field study was conducted from 2001–2002 to 2006–2007 at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India to study the losses in seed yield of different Brassica species (B. juncea, B. napus, B. carinata, B. rapa and Eruca sativa) by the infestation of insect pests. The experiment was conducted in two different sets viz. protected/sprayed and unprotected, in a randomized block design,...

We attempted to confirm that seed banks can be viewed as an important genetic reservoir by testing the hypothesis that standing (aboveground) plants represent a nonrandom sample of the seed bank. We sampled multilocus allozyme genotypes from three species with different life history strategies: Amaranthus retroflexus, Carduus acanthoides, Pastinaca sativa. In four populations of each species we...

Cathepsin D is a lysosomal protease which plays an important role in cancer invasion and metastasis. There are known inhibitors of that enzyme, such as pepstatin and potato inhibitor. In this study, we examined effects of the cathepsin D inhibitor from Vicia sativa L. seed hulls on cell cultures of human skin fibroblasts and breast cancer cells. There is no effect of the D-cathepsin inhibitor f...

The inhibitory effects of Avena sativa L. seed extract were studied on life history and some physiological aspects of Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier; Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). The inhibition of α-amylase activity in vitro by A. sativa proteinaceous extract suggested its potential antimetabolic effect on S. cerealella larvae. Although, chronic ingestion of A. sativa inhibitor (I10: 0.108 mg prot...

Many studies have shown that naturally occurring compounds may support prevention and treatment of various diseases, including cancer. Pharmacological investigations revealed a wide spectrum of Nigella sativa biological activities. Combining natural compounds together with synthetic drugs may increase the anticancer activity and limit severe side effects of such a treatment and may be an altern...

Many studied were conducted to evaluate the antihepatotoxic and antioxidant activities of Silybum marianum and proved these actions. The Naturally grown seed in Iraqi-Kurdistan Region also were studied for its chemical contents and biological activities. Vegetable oils occur in various plant parts mainly concentrated in the seeds. In this study comparison was made between the fatty acid pattern...