Published in Comptes rendus biologies
Many organisms among the different kingdoms store reserve lipids in discrete subcellular organelles called lipid bodies. In plants, lipid bodies can be found in seeds but also in fruits (olives, ...), and in leaves (plastoglobules). These organelles protect plant lipid reserves against oxidation and hydrolysis until seed germination and seedling es...
Published in Comptes rendus biologies
Using post-genomic technologies, it is now possible to understand the molecular basis of complex developmental processes. In the case of seed germination, recent transcriptome- and proteome-wide studies led to new insights concerning the building up of the germination potential during seed maturation on the mother plant, the reversible character of...
Published in Comptes rendus biologies
In legume plants, the determination of individual seed weight is a complex phenomenon that depends on two main factors. The first one corresponds to the number of cotyledon cells, which determines the potential seed weight as the cotyledon cell number is related to seed growth rate during seed filling. Since cell divisions take place between flower...
Published in Comptes rendus biologies
The accumulation of seed reserves is the result of distinct processes occurring in parallel in the main seed compartments of either maternal (seed coats) or zygotic (embryo, endosperm) origin. With the development of legume genomic resources, recent advances have been made toward understanding the metabolic control of seed filling and the regulator...
Published in Comptes rendus biologies
Considerable progresses have taken place, both in the methodology available to study changes in intracellular cytosolic calcium and in our understanding of calcium signaling cascades, but how calcium signals function in plant drought resistance is questionable. In plant cells, calcium plays roles as a second messenger coupling a wide range of extra...
Published in Comptes rendus biologies
With the advent of molecular biotechnologies, new opportunities are available for plant physiologists to study the relationships between wheat traits and their genetic control. The functional determinations of all genes that participate in drought adaptation or tolerance reactions are expected to provide an integrated understanding of the biochemic...
Published in Comptes rendus biologies
To identify and isolate genes related to abiotic stresses (salinity and drought) tolerance in grapevine, a candidate gene approach was developed and allowed isolating a full-length cDNA of rd22 gene from the Cabernet Sauvignon variety. The latter, named Vvrd22, is a dehydration-responsive gene that is usually induced by the application of exogenous...
Published in Comptes rendus biologies
We studied the behaviour of the invasive African myrmicine ant, Pheidole megacephala, when confronted with colonies of other common ant species in Cameroon, a part of its native range, and in Mexico, where it has been introduced. P. megacephala raided the nests of the other ants in both cases. Eleven species out of 12 put up a rather strong resista...
Published in Comptes rendus biologies
This study compared the behaviour of six Tunisian autochthonous pearl millet ecotypes collected through the Tunisian territory under drought, from germination to maturity. Moderate water stress was found to improve germination due to better root elongation; it did not have any notable consequence on the yield components of pearl millet. When drough...
Published in Comptes rendus biologies
The present investigation was undertaken to verify whether mitochondria play a significant role in aluminium (Al) toxicity, using the mitochondria isolated from tobacco cells (Nicotiana tabacum, non-chlorophyllic cell line SL) under Al stress. An inhibition of respiration was observed in terms of state-III, state-IV, succinate-dependent, alternativ...
