Reduced seawater pH and changes in carbonate chemistry associated with ocean acidification (OA) decrease the recruitment of crustose coralline algae (CCAcf.), an important coral-reef builder. However, it is unclear whether the observed decline in recruitment is driven by impairment of spore germination, or post-settlement processes (e.g. space competition). To address this, we conducted an expe...

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is an anaerobic gram-positive pathogen that is the leading cause of nosocomial bacterial infection globally. C. difficile infection (CDI) typically occurs after ingestion of infectious spores by a patient that has been treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics. While CDI is a toxin-mediated disease, transmission and pathogenesis are dependent on the ability to...

Brassinosteroids (BRs), essential plant-specific steroidal hormones, function in a wide spectrum of plant growth and development events, including seed germination. Rice is not only a monocotyledonous model plant but also one of the most important staple food crops of human beings. Rice seed germination is a decisive event for the next-generation of plant growth and successful seed germination ...

This study was designed to determine the effect of exogenous spermidine (Spd) (30 μM) on white clover seed germination under water stress induced by polyethylene glycol 6000. Use of seed priming with Spd improved seed germination percentage, germination vigor, germination index, root viability and length, and shortened mean germination time under different water stress conditions. Seedling fres...

Crassocephalum crepidioides, Conyza canadensis, and Ageratum conyzoides are alien annuals naturalized in China, which produce a large number of viable seeds every year. They widely grow in Xishuangbanna, becoming troublesome weeds that compete with crops for water and nutrients. As seed germination is among the most important life-stages which contribute to plant distribution and invasiveness, ...

Eight-carbon (C8) volatiles, such as 1-octen-3-ol, are ubiquitous among fungi. They are the volatiles critical for aroma and flavor of fungi, and assumed to be signals controlling germination of several fungi. In this study, we found that intact Aspergillus flavus conidia scarcely synthesized C8 volatiles but repeated freeze-thaw treatment that made the cell membrane permeable promoted (R)-1-oc...

Reduced seedling growth is a consequence of seed deterioration. The heterotrophic seedling growth can be considered as the product of three components: (1) initial seed weight, (2) the fraction of seed reserves which are mobilized, and (3) the conversion efficiency of mobilized seed reserves to seedling tissues. It is not clear which of these component (s) is affected by seed deterioration. To ...