The thesis begins with an introduction to signal transduction
and an analysis of current understanding of plant signal
transduction. There are similarities between plants and animals,
but also key differences, including lack of protein kinase C and of a
cAMP signaling pathway in plants, and presence in plants of
calcium...
Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic bacteria with the capability of dissimilatory metal reduction. The ability of the organism to reduce a wide range of solid metal-oxides during anaerobic respiration makes it an ideal candidate for the powering of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), which capture the electrons discharged...
1-Phenyl-3-(2-Thiazoly1)-2-Thiourea (PTTU), has been reported to
inhibit dopamine-fi-hydroxylase (a copper-containing enzyme involved in
the pathway of biosynthesis of adrenaline in animal systems). In the
present study, PTTU has been shown to have cytokinin activity in the
tobacco bioassay. The cytokinin activity of PTTU suggested that
cytokinin-active N⁶-substituted adenine derivatives might...
Excess fatty acids and sterols are stored as triacylglycerols and sterol esters in
specialized cellular organelles, called lipid droplets. Understanding what determines the cellular
amount of neutral lipids and their packaging into lipid droplets is of fundamental and
applied interest. Using two species of fission yeast, we show that cycling...
The overall focus of this thesis is on the distribution of specific lipids and membrane proteins of the external and internal membranes of plant cells, in the context of the roles that those lipids and proteins may play in microbe-plant interactions. The work includes the development of several new tools,...
Plant hormones regulate progression through the different phases of plant development in response to endogenous and environmental cues. Gene expression studies, as well as genetic and molecular analysis of mutants with altered hormonal responses, are two common approaches to elucidate hormone response pathways. This dissertation compares ovary and fruit development...
The photosynthetic activities, the pigmentation and the chloroplast
membrane polypeptides of several mutants of the green alga, Scenedesmus
obliquus, with complete or limited deficiencies in the light-harvesting
complex of photosystem II are characterized and compared to those of the
normal phenotype.. The principal phenotype examined in this study, K0 -9,...