BACKGROUND AND AIMS The phenotypes of grasses show differences depending on growth conditions and ontogenetic stage. Understanding these responses and finding suitable mathematical formalizations are an essential part of the development of plant and crop models. Usually, a marked change in architecture between juvenile and adult plants is observed, where dimension and shape of leaves are likely...

We isolated and characterized two rice nuclear genes, OsSIG2A and OsSIG2B, encoding the putative sigma-factor of the plastid RNA polymerase. Deduced protein sequences predicted a plastid-localizing signal in the N-terminus and subsequent polypeptides similar to known SIG2 proteins. Gene expression analysis revealed that the OsSIG2A transcript is more abundant than the OsSIG2B transcript in all ...

A systematic study of two-staged upgrading process of vacuum residue for light fuel production has been carried out in a semi-batch binary reactor apparatus over Y, ZSM-5 and alkaline treated ZSM-5 zeolites. Prepared catalyst samples were characterized with XRD and BET. Density and Viscosity physical properties parameters estimation, as well as GC/SIMDIS analyses were conducted on liquid produc...

Leaves, or organs derived from leaves, are the most morphologically diverse structures in a plant (Gifford and Foster, 1989). They occur as prominent photosynthetic structures; as inconspicuous fragments of tissue in tubers, rhizomes, and the stems of many cacti; as nonphotosynthetic storage organs in bulbs; and, in carnivorous plants, as complex structures specialized for catching and digestin...

Leaf senescence is not a passive degenerative process; it represents a process of nutrient relocation, in which materials are salvaged for growth at a later stage or to produce the next generation. Leaf senescence is regulated by various factors, such as darkness, stress, aging, and phytohormones. Strigolactone is a recently identified phytohormone, and it has multiple functions in plant develo...

Leaves, or organs derived from leaves, are the most morphologically diverse structures in a plant (Gifford and Foster, 1989). They occur as prominent photosynthetic structures; as inconspicuous fragments of tissue in tubers, rhizomes, and the stems of many cacti; as nonphotosynthetic storage organs in bulbs; and, in carnivorous plants, as complex structures specialized for catching and digestin...

Leaf senescence, the final stage of leaf development, is a complex and highly regulated process that involves a series of coordinated actions at the cellular, tissue, organ, and organism levels under the control of a highly regulated genetic program. In the last decade, the use of mutants with different levels of leaf senescence phenotypes has led to the cloning and functional characterizations...

During grain formation stage (90 to 110 days), the youngest flag leaf of rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Jaya) remained metabolically most active (as indicated by cellular constituents and enzyme activities) and the third leaf the least active. At the grain development stage (110 to 120 days) the above pattern of age-related senescence of the flag leaf completely changed and it senesced at a faster r...

Conspecific adults have strong negative effect on the survival of nearby early-stage seedlings and thus can promote species coexistence by providing space for the regeneration of heterospecifics. The leaf litter fall from the conspecific adults, and it could mediate this conspecific negative adult effect. However, field evidence for such effect of conspecific leaf litter remains absent. In this...

The different leaf water parameters, Le., totalleaf water potential (\}Jt), leaf osmotic potential at full turgor ('P S100) leaf osmotic potential at zero turgor (\PSO), relative water content at zero turgor (RWCO) and relative dry weight of the leaf (RDW) were studied during four growth stages in five varieties of sweet sorghum under various soil moisture regimes. In all the varieties, severel...