Successful castor (Ricinus communis L.) cropping in Greece depends on the yielding ability and yield stability of the cultivars (hybrids or inbreds) as well as the reliability of production systems. The adaptation and yielding ability of 19 modern castor oil genotypes were studied for 3 years in two sites of Northern Greece. Genotypes combining high seed and oil yield and desirable morphologica...

A detailed knowledge of storage reserve accumulation in developing seeds can provide vital information to create strategies for improving the lipid content as well as the natural value of castor (Ricinus communis L.) crop. After hand pollination (female flowers-tagged), seed filling (lipid and protein accumulation) in castor bean is initiated as early as 7 days after pollination (DAP). Accumula...

Monospecific polyclonal antibodies against maize leaf phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC, EC 4.1.1.31) were utilized to examine the subunit composition and developmental profile of endosperm PEPC in developing and germinating castor oil seeds (Ricinus communis L. cv Baker 296). PEPC from developing endosperm consists of a single type of 100-kilodalton subunit, whereas the enzyme from 2- to 5...

OBJECTIVE In the search for long-acting testosterone preparations suited for substitution therapy of hypogonadal men, testosterone undecanoate (TU) dissolved in either tea seed oil or castor oil was investigated. DESIGN In study I, 1000 mg TU in tea seed oil (125 mg/ml) were injected in equal parts into the gluteal muscles of seven hypogonadal men. In study II, 1000 mg TU in castor oil (250 m...

Lesquerella is a potential industrial oilseed crop that makes hydroxy fatty acid (HFA). Unlike castor its seeds are not poisonous but accumulate lesquerolic acid mostly at the sn-1 and sn-3 positions of triacylglycerol (TAG), whereas castor contains ricinoleic acid (18:1OH) at all three positions. To investigate whether lesquerella can be engineered to accumulate HFAs in the sn-2 position, mult...

The LEAFY COTYLEDON2 (LEC2) gene plays critically important regulatory roles during both early and late embryonic development. Here, we report the identification of the LEC2 gene from the castor bean plant (Ricinus communis), and characterize the effects of its overexpression on gene regulation and lipid metabolism in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. LEC2 exists as a single-copy gene in castor be...

ewline"> Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is an oilseed species, which in southern Italy iscultivated as annual during the spring-summer period under irrigation, but in mosttemperate areas such as those of eastern coast of Sicily, it could be grown as semiperennial with no irrigation, by the adoption of autumnal sowings. A fieldexperiment was conducted in southeastern Sicily with the aim of assessi...

Ricin is a protein toxin found only in mature castor (Ricinus communis L., Euphorbiaceae) seed that enzymatically destroys the ribosomes of eukaryotes. The presence of ricin in the high protein meal of castor has historically reduced its value as an animal feed. Since ricin has the potential to be used as a chemical warfare and bioterrorism agent, the production and processing of castor has und...

Cytosolic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (NAD-GAPDH) is involved in a critical energetic step of glycolysis and also has many important functions besides its enzymatic activity. The recombinant wheat NAD-GAPDH was phosphorylated in vitro at Ser205 by a SNF1-Related protein kinase 1 (SnRK1) from wheat heterotrophic (but not from photosynthetic) tissues. The S205D mutant enzyme (mimicki...