Broader phenology of pollinator activity and higher plant reproductive success in an urban habitat compared to a rural one.

Urban habitat characteristics create environmental filtering of pollinator communities. They also impact pollinating insect phenology through the presence of an urban heat island and the year-round availability of floral resources provided by ornamental plants.Here, we monitored the phenology and composition of pollinating insect communities visiting replicates of an experimental plant assemblage comprising two species, with contrasting floral traits: and , whose flowering periods were artificially extended.

Water content: a key factor of the induction of secondary dormancy in barley grains as related to ABA metabolism.

Primary dormant barley (Hordeum vulgare) grains germinate at 10-15°C but not at 30°C, and there exist a positive correlation between embryo ABA content after 24 h on water and the depth of dormancy. Incubation at 30°C results in a progressive loss of the ability to germinate at 15°C. This induction of a secondary dormancy is optimal after 3 days and requires an embryo water content higher than 0.

S phase of the cell cycle: a key phase for the regulation of thermodormancy in barley grain.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the occurrence of the cell cycle during germination as related to thermodormancy in barley (Hordeum vulgare L., cv. Pewter) grains in relation with abscisic acid (ABA) by: (i) flow cytometry to determine the progression of the cell cycle; and (ii) reverse transcription-PCR to characterize the expression of some important genes involved in cell-cycle regulation.

Role of reactive oxygen species in the regulation of Arabidopsis seed dormancy.

Freshly harvested seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana, Columbia (Col) accession were dormant when imbibed at 25°C in the dark. Their dormancy was alleviated by continuous light during imbibition or by 5 weeks of storage at 20°C (after-ripening). We investigated the possible role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the regulation of Col seed dormancy.

Involvement of ABA in induction of secondary dormancy in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) seeds.

At harvest, barley seeds are dormant because their germination is difficult above 20 degrees C. Incubation of primary dormant seeds at 30 degrees C, a temperature at which they do not germinate, results in a loss of their ability to germinate at 20 degrees C. This phenomenon which corresponds to an induction of a secondary dormancy is already observed after a pre-treatment at 30 degrees C as short as 4-6 h, and is optimal after 24-48 h.

Regulation of cell cycle activity in the embryo of barley seeds during germination as related to grain hydration.

Various studies indicate that cell division is a post-germination phenomenon, with radicle protrusion occurring by cell elongation, while others demonstrate that induction of the cell cycle occurs in osmo-conditioned seeds prior to radicle growth. The aim of the present work was to investigate the occurrence of the cell cycle during germination as related to grain hydration, using: (i) a flow cytometry technique to estimate the percentage of cell nuclei in G(1) and G(2) phases of the cell cycle; and (ii) reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) in order to characterize the expression of the genes encoding cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKA1, CDKB1, and CDKD1) and cyclins (CYCA3, CYCB1, and CYCD4), the main genes involved in the cell cycle and its regulation. Radicle tips of embryos were isolated from seeds placed for various times on water at 30 degrees C and from grains partially hydrated at moisture contents ranging from 11% to 51% fresh weight (FW), which prevent radicle elongation.

Plant cell-size control: growing by ploidy?

The size of plant cells is determined by genetic, structural and physical factors as well as by internal and external signals. Our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of these controls is still rudimentary. Recent studies indicate that ploidy level exerts an important control on cell size.

Gibberellin and ethylene control endoreduplication levels in the Arabidopsis thaliana hypocotyl.

We have previously shown that endoreduplication levels in hypocotyls of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. are under negative control of phytochromes.

Endoreduplication and development: rule without dividing?

Endoreduplication, a strategy to amplify nuclear DNA without cell division, is very common but poorly understood in plants. Recent findings in Drosophila provide a first picture of the molecular mechanism, which appears to be conserved between plants and animals. In Arabidopsis, the study of trichomes, leaf epidermis and hypocotyl cells sheds new light on the developmental regulation of this process, and its relation to cell expansion.

Phytochrome controls the number of endoreduplication cycles in the Arabidopsis thaliana hypocotyl.

A majority of the cells in the Arabidopsis hypocotyl undergo endoreduplication. The number of endocycles in this organ is partially controlled by light. Up to two cycles occur in light-grown hypocotyls, whereas in the dark about 30% of the cells go through a third cycle.

Cellular basis of hypocotyl growth in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The Arabidopsis thaliana hypocotyl is widely used to study the effects of light and plant growth factors on cell elongation. To provide a framework for the molecular-genetic analysis of cell elongation in this organ, here we describe, at the cellular level, its morphology and growth and identify a number of characteristic, developmental differences between light-grown and dark-grown hypocotyls. First, in the light epidermal cells show a characteristic differentiation that is not observed in the dark.

Organization of the centromeric region of chromosome XIV in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A 15.1 kb fragment of the yeast genome was allocated to the centromeric region of chromosome XIV by genetic mapping. It contained six bona fide genes, RPC34, FUN34, CIT1 (Suissa et al.