-
Article
Open AccessMutation in Polycomb repressive complex 2 gene OsFIE2 promotes asexual embryo formation in rice
Prevention of autonomous division of the egg apparatus and central cell in a female gametophyte before fertilization ensures successful reproduction in flowering plants. Here we show that rice ovules of Polyco...
-
Article
Open AccessWhat makes for sound science?
The inclusive threshold policy for publication in BMC journals including BMC Plant Biology means that editorial decisions are largely based on the soundness of the research presented rather than the novelty or...
-
Article
Ppd-1 is a key regulator of inflorescence architecture and paired spikelet development in wheat
The domestication of cereal crops such as wheat, maize, rice and barley has included the modification of inflorescence architecture to improve grain yield and ease harvesting1. Yield increases have often been ach...
-
Article
Direct links between the vernalization response and other key traits of cereal crops
Transcription of the VERNALIZATION1 gene (VRN1) is induced by prolonged cold (vernalization) to trigger flowering of cereal crops, such as wheat and barley. VRN1 encodes a MADS box transcription factor that promo...
-
Article
Open AccessThermal stress effects on grain yield in Brachypodium distachyon occur via H2A.Z-nucleosomes
Crop plants are highly sensitive to ambient temperature, with a 1 ºC difference in temperature sufficient to affect development and yield. Monocot crop plants are particularly vulnerable to higher temperatures...
-
Article
Mobile silencing in plants: what is the signal and what defines the target
RNA-mediated silencing in plants can spread from cell to cell and over a long distance, and such mobile silencing has been extensively studied in the past decade. However, major questions remain as to what is ...
-
Article
Site specificity of the Arabidopsis METI DNA methyltransferase demonstrated through hypermethylation of the superman locus
Plants with low levels of DNA methylation show a range of developmental abnormalities including homeotic transformation of floral organs. Two independent DNA METHYLTRANSFERASEI (METI) antisense transformants with...
-
Article
Multiple DNA methyltransferase genes in Arabidopsis thaliana
Methylation of plant DNA occurs at cytosines in any sequence context, and as the Arabidopsis methyltransferase, METI, preferentially methylates cytosines in CG dinucleotides, it is likely that Arabidopsis has ...
-
Chapter
Cloning a Rust-Resistance Gene in Flax
In flax, Linum usitatissimum L., 31 genes have been identified that confer race-specific resistance to the flax-rust fungus, Melampsora lini (Ehrenb.) Lév. These resistance genes are located at five loci, designa...
-
Article
Behaviour of modified Ac elements in flax callus and regenerated plants
The Ac element of maize has been modified by deletion of 537 bases (ΔNaeAc) from the untranslated leader of the transposase gene. In a second modification the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter has been insert...
-
Article
The maize transposable element Ac excises in progeny of transformed tobacco
To assess the potential of the maize transposable element Ac for gene tagging in heterologous plant species we monitored transcription, excision and transposition of the element in transgenic tobacco plants and t...
-
Article
Transcription of the maize transposable element Ac in maize seedlings and in transgenic tobacco
A combination of cDNA cloning and S1 analyses of RNA isolated from maize seedlings that carry an active Ac element has been used to define the Ac transcript. The primary transcript contains 4 introns that are exc...
-
Chapter
Maize Alcohol Dehydrogenase: A Molecular Perspective
During the 1960’s a number of advances were made toward understanding the regulation of prokaryotic and fungal gene systems. From there interest turned to gene regulation in higher eukaryotes and, amongst plan...
