In previous studies, we have shown the relaxatory effect of grape leaf (Vitis vinifera) extract on isolated ileum, uterus and aorta. In rat aorta it was revealed that the NO and endothelium are involved in the relaxation induced by grape leaf extract. The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of the Vitis vinifera leaf hydroalcoholic extract (VLHE) on rat trachea precontracted by A...

alphabeta and gammadelta T cell lineages develop in the thymus from a common precursor. It is unclear at which stage of development commitment to these lineages takes place and in which way T cell receptor signaling contributes to the process. Recently, it was demonstrated that strong TCR signals favor gammadelta lineage development, whereas weaker TCR signals promote alphabeta lineage fate. Tw...

Rats were fed, from weaning through 11 weeks of age, dried leaf tissue of corn plants grown on soil amended with regular NPK fertilizer (150-22-62), with 33.6 ad 67.2 metric ton/ha of sewage sludge or with salts of cadmium (10kg/ha), lead (25kg/ha), and/or zinc (50kg/ha). A very high proportion of the cadmium (cd) consumed was eliminated in feces. Only in rats fed diets containing leaf tissue f...

Large-scale cultivation of plants used as biofuels is likely to alter the ecological interactions of current agricultural crops and their insect pests in a myriad of ways. Recent evidence suggests many contemporary maize pests will be able to use potential biofuel crops such as switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L., and miscanthus as hosts. To determine how suitable these biofuels are to the maize, ...

Growth pattern dynamics lie at the heart of morphogenesis. Here, we investigate the growth of plant leaves. We compute the conformal transformation that maps the contour of a leaf at a given stage onto the contour of the same leaf at a later stage. Based on the mapping we predict the local displacement field in the leaf blade and find it to agree with the experimentally measured displacement fi...

Fine structure, pigment content and photosynthetic activity of variegated leaves of Euonymus fortunei var. radicans have been studied in detail. The middle dark-green leaf areas contain normal chloroplasts with large grana. Their chlorophyll content is high, as is their photosynthetic activity. The marginal leaf areas with mutant plastids are highly light-sensitive. When grown in the shade they...

Nitrite reductase from green leaves of corn (Zea mays L.) is eluted from a diethylaminoethyl-cellulose column in one peak of activity by a chloride gradient, while nitrite reductase from scutellum tissue is resolved into two peaks of activity, apparently representing two forms of the enzyme NiR1 and NiR2. One of these (NiR2) elutes at the same concentration of chloride as the leaf nitrite reduc...

Some endophytic fungi species live in medicinal plant tissue and does not make any damage, but symbiotic mutualism relationship with the host plant. This research was done to: 1) identify isolated from P. angulata leaf, twig, stem bark tissues, 2) determine colonization by histologic observation. The healthy parts, then inoculated on Potato Dextrose Agar medium incubated 27°C for 7-14 days. Eac...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS In crops other than sugarcane there is good evidence that the size and activity of carbon sinks influence source activity via sugar-related regulation of the enzymes of photosynthesis, an effect that is partly mediated through coarse regulation of gene expression. METHODS In the current study, leaf shading treatments were used to perturb the source-sink balance in 12-month...