Litchi chinensis is a subtropical fruit crop, popular for its nutritional value and taste. Fruits with small seed size and thick aril are desirable in litchi. To gain molecular insight into gene expression that leads to the reduction in the size of seed in Litchi chinensis, transcriptomes of two genetically closely related genotypes, with contrasting seed size were compared in developing ovules...

Selective embryo abortion is one of the evolutionary explanations for the surplus of ovules found in many plant species. To manipulate the level of embryo abortion, we removed ovules and applied nutrients to plants of Cynoglossum officinale (Boraginaceae) after they started to flower. From these two treatments and a control series, seeds were collected, germinated, and transplanted in the field...

Seed development of flowering plant is a complicated process controlled by a signal network. Double fertilization generates 2 zygotic products (embryo and endosperm). Embryo gives rise to a daughter plant while endosperm provides nutrients for embryo during embryogenesis and germination. Seed coat differentiates from maternally derived integument and encloses embryo and endosperm. Seed size/mas...

B(sister) genes have been identified as the closest relatives of class B floral homeotic genes. Previous studies have shown that B(sister) genes from eudicots are involved in cell differentiation during ovule and seed development. However, the complete function of B(sister) genes in eudicots is masked by redundancy with other genes and little is known about the function of B(sister) genes in mo...

Complementary field and laboratory tests confirmed and quantified the pollination abilities of Tranes sp. weevils and Cycadothrips chadwicki thrips, specialist insects of their respective cycad hosts, Macrozamia machinii and M. lucida. No agamospermous seeds were produced when both wind and insects were excluded from female cones; and the exclusion of wind-vectored pollen alone did not eliminat...

The pistil is the specialized plant organ that enables appropriate pollination and ovule fertilization, after which it undergoes growth and differentiation to become a fruit. However, in most species, if ovules are not fertilized around anthesis the pistil irreversibly loses its growth capacity. We used physiological, molecular, and transcriptomic tools to characterize the post-anthesis develop...

Seed formation is a pivotal process in plant reproduction and dispersal. It begins with megagametophyte development in the ovule, followed by fertilization and subsequently coordinated development of embryo, endosperm, and maternal seed coat. Two closely related MADS-box genes, SHATTERPROOF 1 and 2 (SHP1 and SHP2) are involved in specifying ovule integument identity in Arabidopsis thaliana. The...

Wind pollination is predominantly a derived condition in angiosperms and is thought to evolve in response to ecological conditions that render animal pollination less advantageous. However, the specific ecological and evolutionary mechanisms responsible for transitions from animal to wind pollination are poorly understood in comparison with other major reproductive transitions in angiosperms, i...

Cycas circinalis L commonly known as Queen Sago a member of the cycad family, was investigated for antibacterial activity against important human pathogenic bacteria viz., Bacillus cereus (MTCC 1272), Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC 7443), Escherichia coli (MTCC 7410) and important plant pathogenic bacteria Xanthomonas axonapodis pv malvacearum (Isolated from cotton plant). The ovule of Cycas circi...