Maize leaves have a stereotypical pattern of cell types organized into discrete domains. These domains are altered by mutations in knotted1 (kn1) and knox (for kn1-like homeobox) genes. Gnarley (Gn1) is a dominant maize mutant that exhibits many of the phenotypic characteristics of the kn1 family of mutants. Gn1 is unique because it changes parameters of cell growth in the basal-most region of ...

The rust Puccinia andropogonis (Schwein.) was studied on its aecial and telial plant hosts, comandra (Comandra umbellata L. Nutt.) and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), respectively, in a native prairie to investigate the influence of aecial host proximity on disease severity of the telial host in a natural system. Both hosts were mapped to measure distances from comandra clones to sel...

The late-flowering phenotype of dominant fwa mutants is caused by hypomethylation in the FWA locus leading to ectopic expression of a homeodomain leucine zipper (HD-ZIP) protein. However, little is known about whether FWA has any role in regulation of flowering and how ectopically expressed FWA delays flowering. Through analysis of FWA expression in wild-type seedlings, it was shown that FWA is...

Radioactivity released from disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima is a global hazard and a threat to exposed biota. To minimize the deleterious effects of stressors organisms adopt various strategies. Plants, for example, may delay germination or stay dormant during stressful periods. However, an intense stress may halt germination or heavily affect various developmental stages and select for ...

Highly sensitive mutational responses of the stamen-hair system of some Tradescantia clones heterozygous for flower color (blue/pink, the blue being dominant) to low-level radiation and chemical mutagens, as demonstrated in the last decade, seem to endorse this system to be the most promising biological tester for detecting the genetic effects of mutagens at low levels. Two triploid (thus steri...

Rice is a stable food in Vietnam and plays a key role in the economy of the country. However, the production and the cultivating areas are adversely affected from the threats of devastation caused by the rise of sea level. Using marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) to develop a new salt tolerance rice cultivar is one of the feasible methods to cope with these devastating changes. To improve rice...

Various environmental signals integrate into a network of floral regulatory genes leading to the final decision on when to flower. Although a wealth of qualitative knowledge is available on how flowering time genes regulate each other, only a few studies incorporated this knowledge into predictive models. Such models are invaluable as they enable to investigate how various types of inputs are c...

Transgene introgression into crop weedy/wild relatives can provide natural selective advantages, probably causing undesirable environmental impact. The advantages are likely associated with factors such as transgenes, selective pressure, and genetic background of transgene recipients. To explore the role of the environment and background of transgene recipients in affecting the advantages, we e...

Hydroxyectoine overproduction by the natural producer Chromohalobacter salexigens is presented in this study. Genetically engineered strains were constructed that at low salinity coexpressed, in a vector derived from a native plasmid, the ectoine (ectABC) and hydroxyectoine (ectD) genes under the control of the ectA promoter, in a temperature-independent manner. Hydroxyectoine production was fu...

The isovitexin-O-glycosylation patterns of rosette leaves, stem leaves and petals of Silene dioica plants were investigated. The 7-O -xylosylation o f isovitexin, controlled by gene gX, only occurs in the petals. In the leaves isovitexin is 7-O-galactosylated, which is controlled by gene Xgal. Acyl groups may be linked to either the 7 -0 or the 2"-0-substituted sugar; the former only occurs in ...