This study investigated the roles of sucrose synthase (SUS) in developing seeds and siliques of Arabidopsis thaliana. Enzyme activity assays showed that SUS activity was highest in developing whole siliques and young rosette leaves compared with other tissues including mature leaves, stems, and flowers. Surprisingly, quantitative PCR analyses revealed little correlation between SUS activity and...

The plant cell wall performs a number of essential functions including providing shape to many different cell types and serving as a defense against potential pathogens. The net pattern mutation creates breaks in the seed coat of soybean (Glycine max) because of ruptured cell walls. Using RNA-Seq, we examined the seed coat transcriptome from three stages of immature seed development in two pair...

Inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate 5/6 kinase (ITPK) phosphorylates inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate to form inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate and inositol 1,3,4,6-tetrakisphosphate which can be finally transferred to inositol hexaphosphate (IP₆) and play important roles during plant growth and development. There are 4 putative ITPK members in Arabidopsis. Expression pattern analysis showed that ITPK2 i...

Infection of soybean plants with Soybean mosaic virus (SMV), which is transmitted by aphids and through seed, can cause significant reductions in seed production and quality. Because seedborne infections are the primary sources of inoculum for SMV infections in North America, host-plant resistance to seed transmission can limit the pool of plants that can serve as sources of inoculum. To examin...

Breeding soybean for high seed quality is an important approach for developing cultivars for tropical regions, and the lignin content in the seed coat is one of the screening parameters for this trait. Considering that many breeding lines are evaluated in each growing season using the presently recommended method for lignin determination, a long period is required for the evaluation of the whol...

The activity of cathepsin D inhibitor is markedly higher in common vetch seed coat than in embryo cotyledons. The occurrence of considerable amounts of the inhibitor in the seed coat of vetch was confirmed by the fluorescent microscopic technique, with the use of fluorescein-marked cathepsin D.

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) seed coat respiration rates in response to changing O(2) concentration and temperature were examined experimentally and with a mathematical analysis. The experimental observations showed seed coat respiration rates were sensitive to O(2) concentration below 0.25 micromole O(2) cm(-3). There was a steady decline in respiration rates from the saturating O(2) concen...

Seeds of east Australian Grevillea species germinate in response to fire-related cues such as heat and smoke. The seed coat is responsible for dormancy in G. linearifolia: a possible dormancy mechanism is the existence of barriers to diffusion of large molecular weight compounds in the seed coat. Such internal barriers are known to be involved in the dormancy of fire-responsive seeds overseas e...

Studies on physical induced mutagenesis, gamma rays were performed by exposing the healthy and dry seeds of cowpea variety CO 4 to gamma rays 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 kR. The study was to evolve economically important mutants with varied seed coat colour as against dark grey coloured seed coat of CO 4. The LD50 value was found at 50kR for 60 Co gamma rays. Under field conditions, germination, ...