Plant surfaces showing hierarchical structuring are frequently found in plant organs such as leaves, petals, fruits and stems. In our study we focus on the level of cell shape and on the level of superimposed microstructuring, leading to hierarchical surfaces if both levels are present. While it has been shown that epicuticular wax crystals and cuticular folds strongly reduce insect attachment,...

The wood protective action of citrus wax, a waste from the citrus industry that is a mixture of citrus fruit epicuticular waxes and essential oils, was evaluated against the termite Cryptotermes brevis Walker (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae). The antifeedant index (AI) of the total wax and fractions was calculated. The total citrus wax exhibited an AI₅₀ value of 24.69 mg/cm³, the wax after hydrodisti...

The effects of the contents and chemical composition of the foliar epicuticular waxes of species from the caatinga (Aspidosperma pyrifolium, Capparis yco, Maytenus rigida and Ziziphus joazeiro) and cerrado (Aristolochia esperanzae, Didymopanax vinosum, Strychnos pseudoquina and Tocoyena formosa) were evaluated as to the resistance to water loss by means of an experimental device constructed for...

Leaf-wax n-alkanes (2)H/(1)H ratios are widely used as a proxy in climate reconstruction. Although the broad nature of the relationship between n-alkanes δ(2)H values and climate is appreciated, the quantitative details of the proxy remain elusive. To examine these details under natural environmental conditions, we studied a riparian broadleaf angiosperm species, Populus angustifolia, growing o...

The spectral reflectance and transmittance over the wavelength range of 250–700 nm were evaluated for leaves of 20 deciduous tree species and leaf sheaths of five isogenic wax variants of Sorghum bicolor differing in visible reflectance due to cuticular waxes. Using the sorghum sheath reflectance and cuticle surface characteristics as a model, it was concluded that tree leaf reflectance above 0...

The interface between plants and the environment plays a dual role as a protective barrier as well as a medium for the exchange of gases, water, and nutrients. The primary aerial plant surfaces are covered by a cuticle, acting as the essential permeability barrier toward the atmosphere. It is a heterogeneous layer composed mainly of lipids, namely cutin and intracuticular wax with epicuticular ...

The morphogenesis of the composite epicuticular wax coverage and regeneration ability of the upper wax layer in Nepenthes alata pitchers were studied using a cryo-scanning electron microscopy. Examination of pitchers of different ages revealed six stages in the wax coverage development. In the first stage, wax crystals resemble those found recently in mature pitches of N. dicksoniana and N. ven...

We describe how pathway engineering can be used to convert a single intermediate derived from lipid biosynthesis, fatty aldehydes, into a variety of biofuel precursors including alkanes, free fatty acids and wax esters. In cyanobacteria, long-chain acyl-ACPs can be reduced to fatty aldehydes, and then decarbonylated to alkanes. We discovered a cyanobacteria class-3 aldehyde-dehydrogenase, AldE,...

U ltrastructure of the epicuticular wax of four commercially grown Canadian cultivars of canola (Brassica campestris cvs. Tobin and Candle, B. napus cvs. Altex and W estar) was investigated. Freeze-drying and air-drying methods of specimen preparation for scanning electron microscopy were compared. The freeze-drying method resulted in disruption and possible washing away of wax crystals, wherea...