foliar surface of plants is continuously exposed to the surrounding atmosphere and is, therefore, the main receptor of particulate pollutants. this physical trait can be used to determine the level of particulate pollution in the surroundings, as well as the ability of individual plant species to intercept and mitigate particulate pollutants. in the present study, leaf cuticle characters of fou...

Female ticks of the family Ixodidae increase their mass up to 100-fold during the 7-10 day feeding period. We determined the material properties of the alloscutal cuticle of female Amblyomma hebraeum from the time of moulting through to full engorgement. The material properties of the cuticle were evaluated by a Kelvin-Voigt analysis of compliance determined from the stretch of loops of cuticle...

The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae infects plants with a specialized cell called an appressorium, which uses turgor to drive a rigid penetration peg through the rice leaf cuticle. Here, we show that NADPH oxidases (Nox) are necessary for septin-mediated reorientation of the F-actin cytoskeleton to facilitate cuticle rupture and plant cell invasion. We report that the Nox2-NoxR complex spa...

Colleters produce a secretion composed of hydrophilic and/or lipophilic substances which lubricates and protects the shoot apical meristem against biotic abiotic agents. Little attention has been given to these structures in Clusiaceae. In present study, structure development leaf colleters Clusia criuva subsp. were described variations exudate composition at different stages identified. The sa...

The distribution and types of glandular trichomes and essential oil chemistry of Thymus quinquecostatus were studied. The glandular trichomes are distributed on the surface of stem, leaf, rachis, calyx and corolla, except petiole, pistil and stamen. Three morphologically distinct types of glandular trichomes are described. Peltate trichomes, consisting of a basal cell, a stalk cell and a 12-cel...

The types, morphology, distribution, structure, and development process of the glandular trichomes on the leaves of Thymus quinquecostatus Celak had been investigated in this study. Two different types of glandular trichomes were determined in detail, namely, capitate trichomes and peltate ones. Besides, there were distinct differences on morphology, distribution, structure, and development pro...

The cuticle is a unique invisible oviduct secretion that protects avian eggs from bacterial penetration through gas exchange pores. Despite its importance, experimental evidence is lacking for where, when, and what is responsible for its deposition. By using knowledge about the ovulatory cycle and oviposition, we have manipulated cuticle deposition to obtain evidence on these key points. Cuticl...

The causal agent of rice blast disease, the ascomycete fungus Magnaporthe grisea, infects rice (Oryza sativa) plants by means of specialized infection structures called appressoria, which are formed on the leaf surface and mechanically rupture the cuticle. We have identified a gene, Magnaporthe metallothionein 1 (MMT1), which is highly expressed throughout growth and development by M. grisea an...

To cause rice blast disease, the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae elaborates specialized infection structures called appressoria, which use enormous turgor to rupture the tough outer cuticle of a rice leaf. Here, we report the generation of a set of 22 isogenic M. oryzae mutants each differing by a single component of the predicted autophagic machinery of the fungus. Analysis of this set of targeted d...