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Seedbanks provide many ecosystem services that support wildlife and regulate soil function. The fate of arable seeds is vital in shaping the aboveground composition of plant communities in agroecosystems. Understanding seed fate informs seedbank dynamics with multi-species interactions, as well as safeguarding arable biodiversity and food security. While many seed fate pathways are well known, the role of myxospermy in temperate agricultural soils is rarely addressed. Mucilage released by myxospermous seeds can modify the soil physical, hydraulic and microbial environment surrounding the seed. The principle biophysical mechanisms underlying the redistribution of weed seeds in eroded soils are unknown. It is possible that myxospermy delivers crucial services at the field scale, such as soil stability and water retention. However, modifications of the soil physical environment have been investigated using only a single-species approach and are often tested with extracted mucilage rather than seeds in-situ. As multiple taxa produce myxospermous seeds, the effects of a single species cannot be generalised. As seeds co-exist in the soil as multi-species communities, a multi-species approach is needed to further understand the functionality of seed mucilage and their implications for soil, relative to the wider seedbank. This thesis focussed on examining the mechanisms responsible for the adhesive interactions between soil and myxospermous seeds and discusses the ecological function and behaviour at the soil particle scale.

The viscin coating of seeds from Arceuthobium tsugense was analyzed histochemically. The results indicated that the viscin is composed of two components. The first is a muculagenous pectic compound which surrounds the entire seed and accounts for a number of observed phenomenon such as stickiness, water holding capacity and the ability to undergo repeated drying and rehydration. The second component is made up of a large number of cellulose strands which are attached to the endocarp and run throughout the pectic coating. Scanning electron micrographs show that they are thought to be important in maintaining the integrity of the pectic coating. The significance of these findings is discussed with respect to establishment of the parasite.

Orientador: Paulo Roberto Arbex Silva / Banca: Kleber Pereira Lanças / Banca: Edvaldo Aparecido Amaral da Silva / Banca: Gustavo Kimura Montanha / Banca: Saulo Fernando Gomes de Souza / Resumo: O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar as injúrias que a semente de soja (Glycine max) vem a sofrer durante a operação de semeadura, pois o fato de a semente desta cultura ser mais suscetível a danos causados pelo contato durante as operações agrícolas, onde seu tegumento nem sempre consegue proteger dos danos causados pelas operações agrícolas, e sendo a semeadura uma das principais operações o ensaio teve por objetivo levantar e quantificar este índice de danos utilizando os principais mecanismos de sistemas dosadores utilizados nas semeadoras nacionais, operando em diferentes velocidades utilizadas nas propriedades agrícolas. O trabalho foi conduzido na área didática da fazenda LAGEADO pertencente a UNESP campus de Botucatu - SP. No ensaio foram utilizados diferentes semeadoras, sendo estas equipadas cada uma com um mecanismo dosador, sendo eles; sistema dosador de disco horizontal tradicional com conjunto disco e anel selecionados para o cultivar utilizado, sistema dosador de disco horizontal modificado equipado com conjunto disco e anel modificado selecionado para o cultivar, e uma semeadora com o sistema dosador pneumático (a vácuo) equipada com disco para cultura e trabalhando na pressão recomendada, todas as semeadoras foram avaliadas em 4 diferentes velocidades de trabalho, sendo estas 4, 6, 8 e 10 km h-1. O processo de coleta das sementes ocorreu na saída do tubo condutor, diretamente para um saco de coleta da amostra anexado ao tubo. Após a coleta, as amostr... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The present work aimed to evaluate the injuries that soybean seed (Glycine max) has suffered during the sowing operation, since the fact that the seed of this crop is more susceptible to contact damage during agricultural operations, where its The seed can not always protect from damage caused by agricultural operations, and since sowing is one of the main operations, the objective of the test was to survey and quantify this damage index using the main mechanisms of dosing systems used in national seeders, operating at different speeds used in agricultural properties. The work was conducted in the didactic area of LAGEADO farm belonging to UNESP campus of Botucatu - SP. In the trial different seeders were used, each equipped with a dosing mechanism, being them; traditional horizontal disk feeder system with selected disk and ring assembly for the cultivar used, modified horizontal disk feeder system equipped with disk and modified ring set selected for the cultivar, and a seed drill with the disk-equipped pneumatic (vacuum) feeder system For cultivation and working at the recommended pressure, all seeders were evaluated at 4 different working speeds, these being 4, 6, 8 and 10 km h-1 . The seed collection process occurred at the exit of the conductive tube, directly to a sample collection bag attached to the tube. After collection, the samples were sent to the laboratory where the following tests were analyzed and performed: seed germination index and seedling length and primary root on germitest paper, electrical conductivity test, hypochlorite and tetrazolium test, where it was feasibility, vigor and physical damage present in its structure were evaluated, being separated and classified by the type of damage, being the three types mechanical, humidity and insect. With these data it was concluded that the seeds presented injuries caused by the action of the dosing mechanisms in the planting operation, the... / Doutor

When in commercial practice seed peas (Pisum sativum) are harvested, the vines are cut and windrowed or bunched and allowed to cure for a week or longer, depending upon the moisture content of the crop and weather conditions. The sooner the crop can be threshed, the less is the chance of loss caused by rain and the often-necessary attendant operation of turning the windrow or bunch to facilitate drying. In general, growers wait until the vines, pods, and seeds are quite dry. To what extent this is necessary is not known.

Abstract not available

Arabidopsis has emerged as an important model system for molecular plant biology. The extensive resources available for Arabidopsis make it an attractive system to study the molecular mechanisms involved in early seed development. During the early stages of seed development Arabidopsis endosperm is syncytial and proliferates rapidly through repeated rounds of mitosis without cytokinesis. This stage of endosperm development is both important in determining final seed size and is a model for studying various aspects of cellular and molecular biology, such as the cell cycle and genomic imprinting. However, the small size of Arabidopsis seed, the syncytial nature of the proliferative endosperm, and the surrounding maternal tissues make high throughput molecular analysis of the early endosperm technically difficult. To get around this we used laser capture microdissection to enable transcript analysis of the early proliferative endosperm of Arabidopsis at 4 days after pollination (DAP). Microarray results identified several thousand genes with endosperm expression, including many that were endosperm preferred. A number of genes were validated by relative quantification PCR and were consistent with the findings of the microarray. Meta analysis of the endosperm transcriptome revealed a developmental program dominated by mitosis and under the influence of several phytohormones, predominated by cytokinin signaling. The list of endosperm-preferred genes included all characterised imprinted genes in Arabidopsis. Imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon by which genes are expressed predominantly from either their paternal or their maternal allele and very few imprinted genes have been identified in plants. The mono-allelic expression of the characterised imprinted genes appears to be limited to the endosperm where they provide important regulatory controls for seed development via direct effects on endosperm development. Genes from the endosperm-preferred list were screened for mono-allelic expression using sequence polymorphisms between the Colombia and Landsberg erecta ecotypes. We generated PCR products that spanned the polymorphisms of 67 genes from template obtained by laser capture of endosperm tissue from hybrid seed. Sequence analysis revealed three genes which gave strong allelic bias toward the maternal allele (At2g32460, At1g55550 and At2g21420) and one biased for the paternal allele (At1g47840). In summary, laser capture microdissection has enabled high-resolution transcript analysis of the proliferative stage of Arabidopsis endosperm development. The data generated provides a useful resource providing novel insight into early seed development, facilitating both identification of endosperm expressed and novel imprinted genes.

Bibliography: leaves 186-202. / xvii, 202 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Plant Science, 1994

Bibliography: leaves 186-202.

Graduation date: 1997