Studies on chemical ecology of host plant selection by herbivores were largely carried out to explain the diversity of secondary plant chemicals and host specialisation of herbivores. The glucosinolate – isothiocyanate system in Brassicaceae plants was considered as a plant defence and was known to influence the feeding behaviour of phytophagous insects such as the cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne br...

The ability of seeds to germinate at high salt concentration in the soil is crucial importance for the survival and perpetuation of many plant species. Therefore, we examined effects of different concentrations of NaCl (200, 400, 600 and 800 mM) on germination of four species from fam. Solanaceae and Brassicaceae (Capsicum annum, Solanum lycopersicum, Brasica oleracea and Sinapis alba). By this...

The chronic ecotoxicological effects of Cd, Cu, Pb, Se and Zn were determined within this study. Mustard seedlings (Sinapis alba L.) were used as a model subject for the tests. The phytotoxicity was determined through the root growth inhibition and photosynthetic pigments production (chlorophyll a, b, total carotenoids). The metal accumulation in the roots and cotyledons was also determined usi...

Glucosinolates are allelochemicals present in all Brassica plants. Upon hydrolysis by endogenous enzymes they produce a series of biologically active compounds, such as isothiocyanates and their derivatives among others. These compounds have marked fungicidal, nematocidal and herbicidal effects and therefore their use as biodegradable natural products for crop protection has attracted much atte...

Synthesis of the enzyme lipoxygenase in the cotyledons of the mustard seedling (Sinapis alba L.) is controlled by phytochrome (P(fr)) through a threshold mechanism. The repression of enzyme synthesis by P(fr) is a very rapid process after the threshold level is surpassed. Similarly, enzyme synthesis starts instantaneously and with full speed as soon as the P(fr) level decreases below the thresh...