Strigolactones are a class of plant hormones that inhibit axillary bud outgrowth and are released from plant roots to act as a rhizosphere communication signal. The Orobanchaceae parasitic plant Striga hermonthica perceives strigolactone as its germination signal, indicating host presence. After germination, the Striga plant parasitises the host plant and suppresses host growth by draining phot...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Plant growth regulators play an important role in seed germination. However, much of the current knowledge about their function during seed germination was obtained using orthodox seeds as model systems, and there is a paucity of information about the role of plant growth regulators during germination of recalcitrant seeds. In the present work, two endangered woody species w...

Seeds are a vital component of the world’s diet. Cereal grains alone, which comprise -90% of all cultivated seeds, contribute up to half of the global per capita energy intake. Not surprisingly then, seed biology is one of the most extensively researched areas in plant physiology. Even in relation to the topics reviewed here, a casual perusal of the Agricola database reveals that well over 5000...

Synthetic vitamin preparations have grown in popularity to combat health risks associated with an imbalanced diet, poor exercise and stress. In terms of bioavailability and diversity, they lack behind vitamins naturally occurring in plants. Solutions to obtain plant-derived vitamins at a larger scale are highly desirable. B vitamins act as precursors of enzymatic cofactors, thereby regulating i...

Seeds are a vital component of the world’s diet. Cereal grains alone, which comprise -90% of all cultivated seeds, contribute up to half of the global per capita energy intake. Not surprisingly then, seed biology is one of the most extensively researched areas in plant physiology. Even in relation to the topics reviewed here, a casual perusal of the Agricola database reveals that well over 5000...

Giant foxtail (Setaria faberi) seeds differ in requirements for germination. Variable germinability arises during seed development under the influence of genotype, environment and parent plant. Giant foxtail seed germination has been shown to be regulated by independent asynchronous or dependent synchronous action of seed structures. To gain better insight into the process, germination was divi...

Experiments were conducted during January 2009 at CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, (HP) India to study the effect of light and temperature on seed germination of important medicinal and aromatic plants viz., Stevia rebaudiana, Salvia sclarea and Tagetes minuta in sand and filter paper. The treatments comprised of two factors viz., light and temperature regimes under...

Lianas are an important component of tropical forests, and may reach their highest densities in disturbed areas. However, information on seed and germination characteristics is scarce. Twenty Amazon liana species were screened for their germination characteristics, including light dependence, tolerance of desiccation and of alternating temperatures; these characteristics are considered importan...

Plant seeds prepare for germination already during seed maturation. We performed a detailed transcriptome analysis of barley (Hordeum vulgare) grain maturation, desiccation, and germination in two tissue fractions (starchy endosperm/aleurone and embryo/scutellum) using the Affymetrix Barley1 GeneChip. To aid data evaluation, Arabidopsis thaliana MapMan and PageMan tools were adapted to barley. ...