Plastidial acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase from most plants is a multi-enzyme complex comprised of four different subunits. One of these subunits, the biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP), was previously proposed to be encoded by a single gene in Arabidopsis. We report and characterize here a second Arabidopsis BCCP (AtBCCP2) cDNA with 42% amino acid identity to AtBCCP1 and 75% identity to a cl...

BACKGROUND High fat diet is known to induce oxidative stress and abnormal changes in lipid metabolism. Many traditional plants have been shown to possess antioxidant and lipid-lowering activities, improving on oxidative status and lipid profile. In this paper, we characterized and examined the antioxidative properties of the oilseed cake of A. floribunda and J. curcas. We also evaluated their e...

Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) is an important combinable break crop in the UK, which is largely protected from arthropod pests by insecticidal chemicals. Despite ongoing debate regarding the use of neonicotinoids, the dominant seed treatment ingredients used for this crop, there is little publicly available data comparing the efficacy of insecticides in controlling key arthropod pests or compar...

Protein phosphatases 1 and 2A (PP1 and PP2A) were identified in a variety of plant cells and found to be particulate or soluble depending on the species. In extracts prepared from oilseed-rape seeds these enzymes were associated with microsomes and more rapidly sedimenting fractions, whereas in wheat leaf extracts they were largely microsomal, the remainder being present in the soluble fraction...

Brassicaceae oilseeds can serve as potential feedstocks for renewable biofuels to offset demand for petroleumbased alternatives. However, little is known about oilseed crop yield potential and N use in semiarid, wheat (Triticum spp.)-based cropping systems that dominate the northern Great Plains (NGP). A 5-yr study was conducted in northeast Montana to investigate the yield potential of a direc...

BACKGROUND Oilseed Brassica represents an important group of oilseed crops with a long history of evolution and cultivation. To understand the origin and evolution of Brassica amphidiploids, simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to unravel genetic variations in three diploids and three amphidiploid Brassica species of U's triangle along with Eruca sativa as an outlier. RESULTS Of 124...

Sterols are natural, organic compounds with a molecular nucleus of 17 carbon atoms and a characteristic threedimensional arrangement of four rings. From the chemical point of view sterols are steroid alcohols and their name is derived from Greek stereos, which mean solid with ending –ol, which is the suffix for alcohols. As essential constituents of cell membranes, they are widely distributed i...

Exposure of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) plants to increasing leaf temperatures between 15 degrees C and 25 degrees C increased photorespiratory NH(4)(+) production from 0.7 to 3.5 micromol m(-2) s(-1). Despite the 5-fold increase in the rate of NH(4)(+) production, the NH(4)(+) concentration in root and leaf tissue water and xylem sap dropped significantly, whereas that in the leaf apoplastic...

The fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary is worldwide in distribution and pathogenic to more than 400 plant species. This disease causes significant yield losses of various important crops including sunflower, canola, and soybean. Applying fungicides and crop rotation are currently the major methods of controlling this disease. However, fungicide chemicals are expensive, not ...