BACKGROUND AND AIMS Coordination of sugar transport and metabolism between developing seeds and their enclosing fruit tissues is little understood. In this study the physiological mechanism is examined using two genotypes of asparagus bean (Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedialis) differing in pod wall and seed growth rates. Pod growth dominates over seed growth in genotype 'Zhijiang 121' but not...

In this study, some habitat characteristics of Iranian rose (Hulthemia persica) were studied in Gonbad watershed in Hamedan providence, Iran. Soil samples were taken by a systematic randomized method at elevation 2000-2400 m above sea level. Samples were taken from 0-30 cm depth. In the laboratory, N, P, K% and organic matter (OC%), soil acidity (pH), conductivity (EC) and soil texture were det...

The Arabidopsis thaliana accession Shahdara was identified as a rare naturally occurring mutant that does not liberate seed mucilage on imbibition. The defective locus was found to be allelic to the mum2-1 and mum2-2 mutants. Map-based cloning showed that MUCILAGE-MODIFIED2 (MUM2) encodes the putative beta-D-galactosidase BGAL6. Activity assays demonstrated that one of four major beta-D-galacto...

It was pointed out in a previous report (1) that the inorganic composition of the pulp of Fuerte avocado fruit varies according to the availability of fertilizer elements in orchard soils. Fullmer (2) has shown for these same orchards that the petioles (leaf stalks) and leaf blades from trees in orchards that have received fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium tended to contain higher...

Abrus precatorius is the native plant of India and used in many ways in the Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine. This seeds of the species is dormant due to hard seed coat. So the aim of the study is to remove seed dormancy and enhance germination capacity within a short period. To overcome the problem of dormancy, seeds were scarified by seed scarifier, sand paper, hot water treatment, DMSO an...

To explore the effect of space flight factors on the early development of alfalfa seedling, dry seeds were placed onboard a satellite for a 15-day flight. After retrieval, the ultra structure of seed coat and the chemical content of seed were tested, followed by tests for germinate ability, seedling growth, and mitotic and chromosome aberrations. Results showed that space flight factors have bo...

In contrast to scari®ed seeds, unscari®ed seed did not germinate in any of the treatments, indicating that Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm. seeds have hard, impermeable seed coat dormancy. Exogenous application of 100, 200 and 300 ppm GA increased germination of scari®ed seeds from 0 (control) to 17, 18 and 15%, respectively. Pre-chilling in distilled water (DW) for 60 days increased germination t...

Gorse (Ulex europaeus L.) is a major agricultural and environmental weed in many parts of the world and has a persistent seedbank. Several techniques were investigated to either kill the seed or encourage it to germinate. Scarification of the seed coat resulted in almost complete germination of seeds. Smoked water had little effect on intact seed and high concentrations killed scarified seed. G...