No description available.

No description available.

With the advent of sequencing technologies, a variety of methods have been available day by day. Each of these methods have helped scientists to for a deeper understanding of the biological function and evolutionary constraints on the relevant genes, which can be gained through the use of modern computational approaches. Numerous approaches have being developed to advance these goals, and interaction network mapping is one of them. This method has been employed to study a variety of organisms to illustrate shared (conserved) or individual (unique) properties, and is mainly based on identifying and visualizing modules of co-expressed genes. As being a very strong candidate for such tools, co-expression gene network was used in this study to indentify the genes in wood formation of Populus trichocarpa with the help of the other novel bioinformatics tools such as Gene Ontology and Cytoscape. In order to booster the accuracy of the findings, we have combined it with an evolutionary approach, synonymous and non-synonymous ratio (dN/dS) of the proteins to show the selective patterns of the genes in a comparative fashion between woody and non-woody plants. This thesis is proposed to help plant scientists to gain insights into the genes that are involved in wood formation. By taking advantage of the computational studies have been done on this paper, one can validate the experiments along with reducing the cumbersomeness of the lab trials on the topic of wood formation in plants / Master of Science

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

No description available.

No description available.

The ability to maintain hydraulic continuity in the xylem is essential to supply leaves with the water that must be exchanged for carbon dioxide. The metastable nature of xylem sap causes this system to be inherently vulnerable to failure by rapid vaporization within the conduits. Much of the recent work on hydraulic architecture and cavitation has pursued the elusive mechanism behind apparent hydraulic recovery concurrent with tension in the bulk of the xylem, referred to as "novel refilling". An investigation into the dynamics of this behavior (Chapter 3) revealed two key artifacts that can produce the appearance of novel refilling when in fact no embolism (and therefore, no recovery) has occurred. A further implication of these artifacts is that plant xylem may be more robust against embolism than previously expected. In the absence of novel refilling, it becomes much harder to reconcile the extreme vulnerability reported for ring porous species. Studies of Robinia pseudoacacia (Chapter 4) address whether the artifacts illuminated in chapter 3 provide insight into the ongoing debate about the cavitation resistance of long-vesseled species and whether it is possible to accurately assess cavitation resistance in these species using the centrifuge method. Root pressure, as an alternative to novel refilling, provides plants with a means of reversing cavitation. Studies of Betula papyrifera (Chapter 5), however, show that recovery from embolism by root pressure is limited to early spring and point to an important role for water storage in fibers that minimizes xylem tensions and thus the risk of cavitation.

Aquaporins (AQP) are membrane bound proteins that facilitate the movement of water and other small neutral solutes across cellular membranes. Plant aquaporins belong to a large family of highly conserved proteins called the Membrane Intrinsic Protein (MIP) superfamily. In many plant species the expression of aquaporin genes and their regulation has been linked to water stress. Grapevines respond to water stress with a variety of physiological mechanisms, including the susceptibility to xylem embolism. The formation of embolised vessels can lead to a reduction in hydraulic conductivity of the xylem. Recently, it has been hypothesised that aquaporins may contribute to the water movement required for embolism recovery of xylem vessels thus restoring the hydraulic pathway. Molecular and physiological techniques have been combined to study the putative role of plasma membrane and tonoplast membrane aquaporins in response to water stress induced xylem embolism in two cultivars of grapevine (Vitis vinifera cv. Chardonnay and Grenache). Water-stress induced cavitation was measured in the stems and petioles of pot grown grapevines of a drought tolerant (Grenache) and a drought sensitive variety (Chardonnay) by the detection of ultrasonic acoustic emissions (UAEs) over both a drying and diurnal cycle. Vulnerability curves were generated by correlating the UAEs with the leaf water potential (ψL). Varietal differences in cavitation vulnerability and hydraulic properties were observed. Grenache was more susceptible to water-stress induced xylem embolism than Chardonnay, and displayed a higher hydraulic capacity (measured by maximum hydraulic conductivity). This is most likely due to anatomical differences of the xylem vessels. Chardonnay displayed vulnerability segmentation, with cavitation occurring first in the petiole and later in the stem, before developing into “runaway” cavitation under severe water stress. Vulnerability segmentation was not observed in Grenache, with both petioles and stems equally vulnerable to the formation of xylem embolism. Under severe water stress, Grenache did not develop runaway cavitation indicating that they must have some mechanism to prevent the onset of runaway cavitation. To determine the role of aquaporins, candidate genes were identified, by screening a Vitis vinifera cv. Cabernet Sauvignon cDNA library, for aquaporin cDNAs encoding members of the Plasma membrane Intrinsic Protein (PIP) and Tonoplast Intrinsic Protein (TIP) subfamilies. The screen resulted in the identification of 11 full-length and two partial aquaporin cDNAs. Sequence analyses of these cDNAs reveal five are homologous to PIP2 aquaporins, six to PIP1 and two to the TIP aquaporins. Functional expression of the fulllength AQP cDNAs in Xenopus oocytes showed PIP2 members have significantly higher water permeability compared to PIP1 aquaporins. VvPIP2;1 showed very high water permeability which was reduced by acidic cytosolic pH, as has been reported for other members of the PIP2 family. Transcript analysis of some of these aquaporin genes provides preliminary evidence that aquaporins may contribute to differences in the hydraulic response of these two grapevine varieties to conditions of water stress. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1313316 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, 2008

Thesis (M. Sc.)--Carleton University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in electronic format on the Internet.