Natural variation in an ABC transporter gene associated with seed size evolution in tomato species.

Seed size is a key determinant of evolutionary fitness in plants and is a trait that often undergoes tremendous changes during crop domestication. Seed size is most often quantitatively inherited, and it has been shown that Sw4.1 is one of the most significant quantitative trait loci (QTLs) underlying the evolution of seed size in the genus Solanum-especially in species related to the cultivated tomato.

Participation of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore in nitric oxide-induced plant cell death.

In the present study, we investigated the involvement of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (PTP) in nitric oxide (NO)-induced plant cell death. NO donors such as sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine inhibited growth and caused death in suspension-cultured cells of Citrus sinensis. Cells treated with SNP showed chromatin condensation and fragmentation, characteristic of apoptosis.