In the past few decades there has been an exponential growth in the field of herbal medicine to be a better option for their healthcare needs, owing to their natural origin and reduced side effects. Datura spp. is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional medicine. The dry flower, particularly the violet coloured, if rolled and used like cigar, will help to relive the asthma or wheezi...

A cDNA clone, OsLRK1, encoding a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like protein kinase was isolated from the immature panicles of rice. The OsLRK1 protein was composed of a leucine-rich extracellular ligand-binding domain, a membrane-spanning segment, and a cytoplasmic kinase domain. The OsLRK1 protein showed the highest sequence homology with Arabidopsis CLV1. The OsLRK1 transcript was present at a...

Nursery pollination in Caryophyllaceae species by Hadena and Perizoma moths has been extensively described in the last few decades. Evidence across multiple pairs of species shows that such pollination systems constitute relatively specialized interactions, shifting between parasitism and mutualism depending on the presence of effective co-pollinators. In this work, we describe a new specific S...

In September 1987 dry seeds containing embryos of the crucifer plant Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh, were flown in orbit for 13 days on the Kosmos 1887 satellite. The seeds were fixed on CNd detectors and stored in units of Biorack type I/O. One unit was exposed inside, another one outside the satellite. The temperature profile of the flown seeds inside the satellite was simulated on earth in ...

In the dry forest of Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica, the understory shrub Jacquinia nervosa presents an inverse pattern of phenology that concentrates vegetative growth and reproduction during the dry season. In this study, we tested the "escape from herbivory" hypothesis as a potential explanation for the inverse phenological pattern of J. nervosa. We monitored leaf, flower and fruit pro...

INTRODUCTION Artocarpus lakoocha Roxb., Moraceae, is a valuable tropical tree species native to India and used for fruit, furniture, timber, and feed. The lakoocha fruits are generally eaten fresh. Each fruit contains 20–30 seeds that are fleshy with thin seed coat. The edible fruit pulp is believed to act as a tonic for the liver. Raw fruits and male flower spike (acidic and astringent) are ut...

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a nutrient dense food rich in beneficial phytochemicals. The aim of this study is to investigate and to determine antioxidant contents from local and highly consumed pomegranate variety called ‘Gabsi’. Peels, seeds, leaves and flowers were used to quantify total polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins and hydrolysable tannins. Antioxidants contents were as foll...

Xyloglucan endotransglycosylases (XETs) modify xyloglucans, major components of primary cell walls in dicots. A cDNA encoding an XET (LeXET4) was isolated from a germinating tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) seed cDNA library. DNA gel blot analysis showed that LeXET4 is a single-copy gene in the tomato genome. LeXET4 mRNA was strongly expressed in germinating seeds, was much less abundant ...

Onion, Allium cepa L. (Asparagales: Amaryllidaceae), crop fields grown for seed production require arthropod pollination for adequate seed yield. Although many arthropod species visit A. cepa flowers, for most there is little information on their role as pollinators. Small flower visiting arthropods (body width < 3 mm) in particular are rarely assessed. A survey of eight flowering commercial A....