Distinct plant seed/fruit structures evolved to support reproduction and dispersal in distinct environments. Appropriate biomechanical properties and interactions of the various seed compartments are indispensable to plant survival. Most seeds are dispersed in a dry state generated during seed development/maturation for which novel aspects of endosperm-embryo interaction were discovered. The va...

Seed germination is an important growth phase in the plant life cycle that can be injured by osmotic stress. Germination is divided into three phases and many processes are initiated before radical protrusion. Many metabolic activities occur, especially in Sensu stricto germination phase since the seed embryo is a live organ, so differences in protein patterns are important in this phase. This ...

The relationship between expression of a negative regulator of GA signal transduction (RGL2) belonging to the DELLA gene family and repression of Arabidopsis seed germination has been studied (Lee S, Cheng H, King KE, Wang W, He Y, Hussain A, Lo J, Harberd NP, Peng J [2002] Genes and Development 16: 646-658). There is one DELLA gene (LeGAI) present in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), whi...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Lomatium dissectum (Apiaceae) is a perennial, herbaceous plant of wide distribution in Western North America. At the time of dispersal, L. dissectum seeds are dormant and have under-developed embryos. The aims of this work were to determine the requirements for dormancy break and germination, to characterize the type of seed dormancy, and to determine the effect of dehydrati...

Arabidopsis thaliana is used as a model system to study triacylglycerol (TAG) accumulation and seed germination in oilseeds. Here, we consider the partitioning of these lipid reserves between embryo and endosperm tissues in the mature seed. The Arabidopsis endosperm accumulates significant quantities of storage lipid, and this is effectively catabolized upon germination. This lipid differs in c...

Myrigalone A (MyA) is a rare flavonoid in fruit leachates of Myrica gale, a deciduous shrub adapted to flood-prone habitats. As a putative allelochemical it inhibits seed germination and seedling growth. Using Lepidium sativum as a model target species, experiments were conducted to investigate how environmental cues modulate MyA's interference with key processes of seed germination. Time cours...

taxus chinensis var. mairei is a rare and endangered medicinal plant species distributed in china. in order to promote fast propagation and preserve the natural resources, conditions for in vitro germination and seedling development of embryos of t. chinensis var. mairei from anhui or zhejiang were investigated. results showed that in vitro germination rate of excised embryos cultured under 14 ...

Tolerance to abiotic stress is an important agronomic trait in crops and is controlled by many genes, which are called quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Identification of these QTLs will contribute not only to the understanding of plant biology but also for plant breeding, to achieve stable crop production around the world. Previously, we mapped three QTLs controlling low-temperature tolerance at...

The major programs of gene expression during late embryogenesis are the muturation or reserve accumulation program and, after ovule abscission, the postabscission program that is composed largely of Lea and LeaA mRNAs that probably encode desiccation protectants. There are diverse opinions about the developmental regulators of these programs. Several candidates are evaluated here by measuring, ...

to better understand seed priming that improve seed germination and seedling uniformity, we examined the physiological role of osmopriming in germination of bread wheat (triticum aestivum l.) seed embryos by a proteomic approach. for this purpose, we used two systems. the first system consisted of osmo-primed seeds by peg 6000 at -0.8 mpa at 15?c for 24 hours, followed by air drying at 15?c, an...