Heichel and Musgrave (4, 5) reported photosynthetic rates of maize genotypes ranging from 21 to 85 mg CO2 dmhr-' which were inversely associated with similar large differences in CO2 compensation concentration of from 9 to 25 plll. Since genotypic differences of the magnitude reported by Heichel and Musgrave would be of great value in breeding for increased photosynthetic efficiency, we conduct...

In most developing parts of the world, the rapid expansion of industrial areas leading to uncontrolled processing and utilization of industrial products, agricultural inputs, vehicular emissions and improper disposal of liquid and solid wastes may cause soil to become contaminated with chemical hazards such as heavy metals. Heavy metal contamination of soil may pose risks to humans and the ecos...

The sulphated pentapeptide phytosulphokine (PSK) was identified as a substance that promotes cell division in low-density suspension cultures and has been implicated in various aspects of tissue differentiation in plants. The peptide is derived from PSK precursor proteins that are encoded by small gene families. The physiological roles of PSK are still not clearly defined and little is known ab...

UNLABELLED Because the bulk of the maize (Zea mays L.) genome consists of repetitive sequences, sequencing efforts are being targeted to its 'gene-rich' fraction. Traditional assembly programs are inadequate for this approach because they are optimized for a uniform sampling of the genome and inherently lack the ability to differentiate highly similar paralogs. RESULTS We report the developme...

Aluminum toxicity is one of the most deleterious factors for plant growth in acidic soils because over 50% of the world’s potentially arable lands are acidic. In recent years, considerable research has been conducted to understand the mechanisms of Al toxicity and tolerance in plants. This paper reviews the effects of different concentration of Al on plant shoot, root physiological parameters s...

Nucleic acid-dependent polynucleotide adenylytransferase (EC 2.7.7.19) and ribonucleic acid polymerase (EC 2.7.7.6) have been partially purified from maize tissues (Zea mays L.) utilizing ammonium sulfate precipitation and batch diethylaminoethylcellulose chromatography. The technique is applicable to the simultaneous processing of up to eight samples of plant tissue and affords a rapid and rep...

Starch gel electrophoresis of extracts from developing maize (Zea mays L.) endosperms 22 days postpollination reveals only a single zone of phosphoglucomutase activity in the majority of the inbreds tested. The other inbreds had the expected two zones of activity. The activity that is present in all inbreds is the amyloplast isozyme while the absent form is a cytosolic enzyme. The lack of the c...

With the exception of barley and rice, little is known about the existence of hemoglobins (Hbs) in cereals. This work reports the cloning and analysis of hb genes from maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and teosinte (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis). Coding sequences of maize and teosinte hb genes (hbm and hbt, respectively) are highly similar to each other and are interrupted by three introns located at ide...

The effects of aqueous leaf extracts of Tectona grandis L. and Mikania micrantha L. on germination and growth of Zea mays L. (maize) and Oryza sativa L. (paddy) were investigated during 2009-2010. The extracts suppressed the germination of paddy to an extent of 10-30% under high extract concentration and 40-50% suppression in maize under similar concentration. The growth of root and shoot of bo...

The purpose of this report was to evaluate the expression patterns of selected glutathione transferase genes (gst1, gst18, gst23 and gst24) in the tissues of two maize (Zea mays L.) varieties (relatively resistant Ambrozja and susceptible Tasty Sweet) that were colonized with oligophagous bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi L.) or monophagous grain aphid (Sitobion avenae L.). Simultaneous...