The objective of this work was to characterize the morphology and viability of the pollen of 15 genotypes of castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) and to generate information that can assist in the selection of highly promising male parents for future use in genetic improvement programs aimed at producing seeds for oil extraction. Acetolysis and scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize...

CDP-diglyceride:inositol transferase in endoplasmic reticulum fractions from castor bean (Ricinus communis) endosperm was partially characterized. The enzyme had a pH optimum of 8.5 and required Mn(2+) for activity. Maximal activity was at 1.5 millimolar MnCl(2). A K(m) of 0.30 mM was calculated for myo-inositol and 1.35 millimolar was estimated for CDP-dipalmitoylglyceride. Concentrations of C...

Ricinus communis agglutinin was subjected to various chemical treatments and the effect on its hemagglutinating and saccharide-binding properties was studied. Acetylation, succinylation and citraconylation led to a complete loss in the activity of the agglutinin, whereas reductive methylation had no effect on the activity, showing that charged amino groups were involved in the hemagglutinating ...