Cellular differentiation during embryogenesis involves complex gene regulation to enable the activation and repression of genes. Here, we show that mesodermal competence is inhibited in Xenopus embryos depleted of histones H3 and H3.3, which fail to respond to Nodal/Activin signaling and exhibit concomitant loss of mesodermal gene expression. We find that transcriptional activation in gastrula ...

A functional screen for gene products that rescue dorsal development in ventralized Xenopus embryos has yielded Xenopus nodal-related 3 (Xnr3), a diverged member of the TGF beta superfamily. Xnr3 is specifically expressed in the Spemann organizer and is only expressed in the epithelial layer of the organizer immediately preceding and extending through gastrulation. Like noggin, Xnr3 can induce ...

In vitro propagation method was developed for obtaining large number of plantlets of Valeriana wallichii DC. (Valerianaceae), an indigenous high value medicinal and aromatic plant species of Indian Himalayan region, using nodes of in vitro grown seedlings. High frequency shoot proliferation was induced in explants cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different concentra...

Azadirachta indica is an important multipurpose social-forestry species moderately tolerant to salinity stress. There is an increase in the demand for saline tolerant lines of neem. In the present study, a tissue culture method was optimized to obtain callus and regenerates from nodal explants and exposed them to different levels of saline concentration in MS were selected for the determination...

The TGFβ signaling pathway is a crucial regulator of developmental processes and disease. The activity of TGFβ ligands is modulated by various families of soluble inhibitors that interfere with the interactions between ligands and receptors. In an unbiased, genome-wide RNAi screen to identify genes involved in ligand-dependent signaling, we unexpectedly identified the BMP/Activin/Nodal inhibito...

A procedure for rapid clonal propagation of Passiflora edulis Sims. f. flavicarpa Deg. (Passifloraceae) has been developed in this study. Nodal explants were sterilized with 0.1% HgCl2 and inoculated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium. The addition of 2.0 mgL(-1) 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) to MS medium caused an extensive proliferation of multiple shoots (8.21 ± 1.13) primordial from the n...

Micropropagation of Ilex dumosa var. dumosa R. ("yerba señorita") from nodal segments containing one axillary bud was investigated. Shoot regeneration from explants of six-year-old plants was readily achieved in 1/4 strength Murashige and Skoog medium (1/4 MS) plus 30 gr x L(-1) sucrose and supplemented with 4.4 microM BA. Further multiplication and elongation of the regenerated shoots were obt...

Nodal segments from six years old plants of Bauhinia variegata L. were cultured on Murashige and Skoogs (MS) medium supplemented with different concentration and combinations of BAP and IBA. Explants culture in MS basal medium supplemented with 5mg/1 BAP showed highest rate of shoot multiplication. When in vitro shoots were inoculated on the MS basal medium supplemented with IBA 2mg/l, profusse...

Holm oak is the dominant tree species in Mediterranean climate. Currently, worrisome degradation of its ecosystems has been observed, produced, among other factors, by changes land use, extreme weather events, forest fires, climate change, and especially increasingly frequent episodes high mortality caused “oak decline”, which brought with it a social concern that transcends productive interest...

In vitro culture of Dioscorea wightii belongs to the family Dioscoreace. An efficient micropropagation protocol was developed for the medicinal plant Dioscorea wightii using nodal segments for axillary shoot proliferation. Callus initiation was stimulated at the basis of the explants in 100% of the cultures by 0.15-1.75μM BA, 0.75-5.0μM Kinetin, 0.15-0.30μM 2iP.The average fresh mass of calluse...