Reproductive Parts Research Articles

Multisensory Identification of Characteristics of Reproductive Plant-Parts by People with Blindness or People with Ultra-Low-Vision

ABSTRACT General education of visually impaired individuals is a significant challenge for educators, policymakers, and researchers. This study investigates the specificity with which people with blindness or ultra-low vision (acronym PU is used for the purpose of this paper) perceive the characteristics of reproductive plant parts (spore-bearing parts of mosses and ferns and seed-bearing parts of conifers and flowering plants) during their multisensory exploration. One hundred participants with visual acuity worse than 3/60 from Austria and Montenegro participated in the research. This research uses descriptive and mixed methods of content analysis. The results of this study have shown that PU can perceive the characteristics of reproductive plant parts, which is necessary for both their primary and secondary biological education. There is a discrepancy in the sequencing of the learning content in the biological textbooks from which PU are taught about plants and the sequencing of the descriptions based on the multisensory exploration of the participants. The descriptions of reproductive plant parts in learning material for students with visual impairment should be aligned to their multisensory perceptions through both macro and micro adaptation.

Advanced Characterization of Hemp Flour (Cannabis sativa L.) from Dacia Secuieni and Zenit Varieties, Compared to Wheat Flour

The advanced characterization of flour from hemp seeds (edible fruits of Cannabis sativa L.) from the Dacia Secuieni and Zenit varieties, compared to wheat flour, was studied in this research. The aim was to present the characterization of 2 varieties, out of the 70 accepted in Europe, for human consumption. The varieties selected from hemp meet the THC level requirement (0.3 or 0.2% of the dry weight of the reproductive part of the female flowering plant) in seeds. Hemp flour was obtained by grinding. The flour samples were evaluated for physicochemical parameters (moisture, crude protein, lipids, ash, crude fiber), the content of micro and macro elements, fatty acids, amino acids, and carbohydrates. The total proteins in hemp flour are found in larger quantities by over 35% compared to wheat flour, and the lipids reach the threshold of 28%. The amount of mineral substances exceeds 3% in hemp flour, and the fibers exceed 26%, compared to 0.61% for wheat flour. The predominant mineral substances were K, Ca, Mg, p, Fe, and Mn. The predominant fatty acids were the unsaturated ones, predominantly being linoleic acid, followed by oleic and gamma-linoleic acid. In the case of amino acids, the highest amount is found in glutamic acid for hemp flours. As for carbohydrates, sucrose is found in the largest amount, followed by glucose and fructose. In conclusion, hemp flours have superior non-traditional characteristics to wheat flour, being a potential raw material for fortifying food or using them as such, having beneficial effects of consumption on the proper functioning of the human body.

Classical biological control against insect pests in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East: What influences its success?

Many factors can affect the success and failure of classical biological control. However, these factors have mainly been studied independently of each other, which leaves their relative importance within the complexity of classical biological control (CBC) programmes unknown. Therefore, we set out to take a more holistic view on the factors that may impact the outcome of CBC of insect pests by insect predators and parasitoids. To this end, we filtered the BIOCAT catalogue to extract entries for the Greater Western Palearctic ecozone and added 15 new explanatory variables. These mainly concerned traits of released biological control agents, target pests, and host plants of the target, but also included the number of introductions for specific agent-target combinations as a management aspect. We then analysed the data regarding three levels of success: agent establishment, impact on the target population, and complete control of the target. Between 1890 and 2010 a total of 780 introductions of insects for biological control were undertaken in the analysed area, constituting 416 agent-target combinations. Overall success of agent establishment was 32%, successful impact of single agents on their target was 18%, and success of complete control was 11%. The number of factors significantly influencing the outcome of CBC decreased with increasing level of success. Remarkably few agent-related factors influenced the success: insect predators as agents decreased the probability of establishment and using oligophagous parasitoids significantly decreased the chances of complete control. Other significant factors were related to traits of target pests or their host plants. For example, sap feeders and target pests attacking reproductive plant parts were more likely to be successfully controlled. The rate of success increased with the number of introductions of CBC agents, in particular against univoltine target pests. These findings suggest that a focus on agent-related traits to increase the chances of successful CBC is not fully justified and should be complemented with the consideration of lower trophic levels and other aspects of CBC, such as abiotic factors and management.

Genomic and Hormonal Biomarkers of Phthalate-Induced Male Rat Reproductive Developmental Toxicity Part II: A Targeted RT-qPCR Array Approach That Defines a Unique Adverse Outcome Pathway.

Previously, we demonstrated that exposure to some diortho-phthalate esters during sexual differentiation disrupts male reproductive development by reducing fetal rat testis testosterone production (T Prod) and gene expression in a dose-related manner. The objectives of the current project were to expand the number of test compounds that might reduce fetal T Prod, including phthalates, phthalate alternatives, pesticides, and drugs, and to compare reductions in T Prod with altered testis mRNA expression. We found that PEs that disrupt T Prod also reduced expression of a unique "cluster" of mRNAs for about 35 genes related to sterol transport, testosterone and insulin-like hormone 3 hormone syntheses, and lipoprotein signaling and cholesterol synthesis. However, phthalates had little or no effect on mRNA expression of genes in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) pathways in the fetal liver, whereas the 3 PPAR agonists induced the expression of mRNA for multiple fetal liver PPAR pathway genes without reducing testis T Prod. In summary, phthalates that disrupt T Prod act via a novel adverse outcome pathway including down regulation of mRNA for genes involved in fetal endocrine function and cholesterol synthesis and metabolism. This profile was not displayed by PEs that did not reduce T Prod, PPAR agonists or the other chemicals. Reductions in fetal testis gene expression and T Prod in utero can be used to establish relative potency factors that can be used quantitatively to predict the doses of individual PEs and mixtures of phthalates that produce adverse reproductive tract effects in male offspring.

FALL ARMYWORM: AN EMERGING THREAT TO AGRICULTURE-A REVIEW

American Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is a polyphagous agricultural pest that migrates from one to another place quite rapidly & destroys agricultural crops especially maize from eclosion to last instars of its life cycle causing an average of 45% of economic loss by foliar & reproductive part feeding. The pest has become so destructive that the food & nutritional security of small-scale farmer are in great threat. The ability of pest to lay several hundred eggs & rapid migration in a quite short time duration of 30 days makes the pest extremely hard for control. Scouting regularly the field & following Integrated pest management (IPM) technique have been found to be the best against the control FAW but lack of technical knowledge, lack of extension of research output have been a great problem for successful control of Fall armyworm all around the globe.

Nutrient input from the litterfall in the lowland forest of Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park

The litterfall dynamic research has been carried out in the lowland forest of Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park aimed to determine the turnover of nutrient in the ecosystem. Plant litterfall production is crucial ecosystem process that defines the nutrient returns through the decomposition process of the forest floor. Litterfall is one of the nutrient input sources of the ecosystem. One year period of litterfall was monitored from the littertraps, and the nutrient contents were analyzed to determine the nutrient return to the ecosystem. The litterfalls that have been classified as leaves, stems, reproductive parts and others were collected every month. The results showed that more nutrient litterfall components i.e. N, K, Ca, Na, Mg (except for P) returned to the soil in rainy season than in dry season. The litterfall nutrient return based on the highest to the lowest can be arranged in the following sequence Ca> N> K> Mg> Na> P; with the total values were 19.18 ± 2.42 (SE) > 18.81 ± 2.08 > 3.1 ± 0.51 > 2.98 ± 0.58 > 1.02 ± 0.24 > 0.53 ± 0.06 kg ha−1, respectively. The pattern of nutrient input in each component corresponds to the component of the litterfall production.

Assessing Yield Response and Relationship of Soil Boron Fractions with Its Accumulation in Sorghum and Cowpea under Boron Fertilization in Different Soil Series

Boron (B) is an essential micronutrient in the growth of reproductive plant parts. Its deficiency and/or toxicity are widespread in arid and semi-arid soils with low clay contents. This study was planned to determine the response of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L., non-leguminous crop) and cowpea (Vigna sinensis L., leguminous crop) to boron (0, 2, 4, and 16 µg g−1) on four distinct soil series from Punjab, Pakistan i.e., Udic Haplustalf (Pindorian region), Typic Torrifluvent (Shahdra region), Halic Camborthid (Khurianwala region), and Udic Haplustalf (Gujranwala region). Overall, there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in yield between the sorghum (3.8 to 5.5 g pot−1 of 5 kg dry soil) and cowpea (0.2 to 3.2 g pot−1 of 5 kg dry soil) in response to B application. The highest yield was observed in both sorghum and cowpea either in control or at 2 µg g−1 B application in all four soils. Cowpea showed the same yield trend in all four soils (i.e., an increase in yield at 2 µg g−1 B application, followed by a significant decrease at the higher B levels). In contrast, sorghum exhibited greater variability of response on different soils; Udic Haplustalf (Pindorian region) produced the greatest yield at low levels of B application. However, Halic Camborthid produced its lowest yield at that level. Boron concentration in shoots increased with the levels of B application, particularly in sorghum. In cowpea, the plant growth was extremely retarded—and most of the plants died at higher levels of B application even if a lower concentration of B was measured within the shoot. Hot water-extractable B was the most available fraction for cowpea (R2 = 0.96), whereas the easily exchangeable B was most available for sorghum (R2 = 0.90). Overall, these results have implications for micronutrient uptake for both leguminous and non-leguminous crops.

Interactions between plants and pollinators across urban and rural farming landscapes

Arthropods are responsible for pollinating the majority of food and fuel crops worldwide. However, global declines in bee populations threaten the delivery of pollination services in both managed and natural ecosystems. Alternative pollinators such as flies, butterflies, beetles, and wasps may provide a buffer that protects agriculture from bee population declines. Flower-visiting flies are abundant in both rural and urban agricultural settings, and in some cases may pollinate plants avoided by bees. Here we explored the structure of plant-pollinator networks for both bee and non-bee pollinator communities across rural and urban farms in western Washington State, USA. We identified several broad groups of pollinators comprising 13 morphogroups of insects and arthropods. While bees were the pollinators observed on reproductive parts of flowers most frequently, syrphid flies contributed to a high number of arthropod-flower visits. We also found that syrphid flies visited four plant types not visited by bees, and that urban and rural farm settings were characterized by different syrphid fly communities. When comparing the networks of plant-arthropod interactions, urban farm settings had more diverse networks overall, with a greater richness of plant-arthropod interactions for both bee and non-bee pollinators. These findings underscore the need for greater focus on alternative pollinators as contributors to pollination services, particularly in urban settings where pollination services may be more impacted by bee declines and habitat loss. Our work will inform specific pollinator conservation efforts in the Pacific Northwest region and more broadly across the United States.

Survival strategy of Watsonia fourcadei (Iridaceae); allocation of resources to sexual reproduction and vegetative survival of the parent plant

Geophytes are abundant in the Cape fynbos vegetation and many of the Cape geophytes, such as Watsonia species, flower mostly only in the first year after a fire. This study investigates the question if these plants have a resource allocation strategy which limits sexual reproduction to the post-fire environment and that they favor resource allocation to the storage organ for the survival of the parent plant at a cost to sexual reproduction. To test the hypothesis that the Cape geophyte Watsonia fourcadei represses sexual reproduction in favor of the survival of the parent plant, three levels of defoliation (20, 50 and 100%) were applied during a phenological stage when resources were least in the parent corms. Resource allocation to different plant parts was investigated when plants were in the seeding phase. Dry mass and nutrient (N, P. K, Ca, Mg and Ca) content were used as indicators of the resource allocation pattern. Dry mass and nutrient allocation patterns were similar, with significantly higher percentages of resources allocated to vegetative survival of the parent plant than to sexual reproductive organs (inflorescence and seeds) after complete defoliation, than after 20 and 50% defoliation. The W. fourcadei plants were able to accumulate adequate resources in the post-fire growth season to support sexual reproduction after up to 50% defoliation, albeit to a lesser extent than in control plants, but sexual reproduction was poorly supported after complete defoliation. Results indicate that W. fourcadei plants must be able to accumulate at least 3.5 g of dry mass in the new developing corm before resources are allocated to sexual reproductive plant parts. Replenishment of nutrient content after defoliation was not a limiting factor for resources allocation to sexual reproduction, except in the case of phosphate. W. fourcadei plants acted as a functional unit and resources allocation to sexual reproduction was controlled and depended on the availability of resources. None of the current resource allocation models are applicable to W. fourcadei and factors that could have selected for the apparent ‘K’ survival strategy in this and other Cape geophyte species are discussed.

Observation on Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Maize Under Laboratory Conditions

Spodoptera frugiperda is native to tropical and subtropical areas of the world and consider an invasive species in Pakistan since 2019. It is spreading continuously and become a threat to horticultural as well as agricultural crops especially maize all over the world. The developmental duration of each S. frugiperda stage was recorded on maize leaves under laboratory conditions. The embryonic period was 2.32 ± 0.22 days. The developmental duration of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th larval instars were 2.37, 2.09, 2.01, 2.02, 2.27 and 5.10 days, respectively while the total larval period was 14-16 days. Female was long-lived as compared to male. The current study concluded that Fall armyworm, S. frugiperda is a primary pest and threat to vegetative as well as reproductive parts of maize crop which cause significant economic losses.

Need for growing non-Bt cotton refugia to overcome Bt resistance problem in targeted larvae of the cotton bollworms, Helicoverpa armigera and Pectinophora gossypiella

BackgroundThe effectiveness of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton against target arthropod larvae is decreasing day by day. The comparative effect of Bt expression among Bt cotton varieties and different plant parts was observed against the cotton bollworms: Helicoverpa armigera and Pectinophora gossypiella larvae.ResultsIn the present study, larval mortality of H. armigera was higher than P. gossypiella among selected Bt cultivars. Median lethal concentration (LC50) values were 8.91, 13.4, 14.0, and 36.4 for P. gossypiella, while 5.91, 4.04, 2.37, and 8.26 for H. armigera of FH-142, MNH-886, IR-3701, and FH-Lalazar, respectively. These values depicted that P. gossypiella had more Bt resistance problem than H. armigera larvae. The host range of both targeted insect larvae was different from each other due to the polyphagous feeding nature of the larvae of H. armigera that feed on different host plants, but P. gossypiella attacked only cotton with monophagous feeding habit. It was also notable from results that Bt expression in reproductive parts where the attacked pink bollworm was lower than the American bollworm, so the former had the maximum chance of resistance due to repeated exposure to Bt.ConclusionsIt was concluded that farmers be advised to follow the practice of growing non-Bt as a refuge crop to reduce the problem of Bt resistance in the target arthropod species.

Characterization, Functional Properties, and Resistant Starch of Freshwater Macrophytes.

Several aquatic macrophytes such as Colocasia esculenta, Eleocharis dulcis, Nelumbo nucifera, Sagittaria sagittifolia, Trapa bispinosa, and Typha angustifolia possessed carbohydrate mainly in their storage and reproductive parts. Starch morphology, total starch, and amylose content of these six freshwater plant species were determined. Their functional properties, i.e., starch crystallinity, thermal properties, and rheological behaviour were assessed. Large starch granules were in N. nucifera rhizome (>15 μm), medium-sized was N. nucifera seed (8-18 μm), while the rest of the starches were small starch granules (<8 μm). Shapes of the starch granules varied from oval and irregular with centric hilum to elongated granules with the eccentric hilum. Eleocharis dulcis corm starch had significantly higher total starch content (90.87%), followed by corms of C. esculenta (82.35%) and S. sagittifolia (71.71%). Nelumbo nucifera seed starch had significantly higher amylose content (71.45%), followed by T. angustifolia pollen (36.47%). In comparison, the waxy starch was in N. nucifera rhizome (7.63%), T. bispinosa seed (8.83%), C. esculenta corm (10.61%), and T. angustifolia rhizome (13.51%). Higher resistant starch was observed mostly in rhizomes of N. nucifera (39.34%)>T. angustifolia (37.19%) and corm parts of E. dulcis (37.41%)>S. sagittifolia (35.09%) compared to seed and pollen starches. The XRD profiles of macrophytes starches displayed in all the corms and N. nucifera seed had A-type crystallinity. The T. bispinosa seed had CA-type, whereas the rest of the starches exhibited CB-type crystallinity. Waxy starches of C. esculenta corm had higher relative crystallinity (36.91%) and viscosity (46.2 mPa s) than regular starches. Based on thermal properties, high-amylose of N. nucifera seed and T. angustifolia pollen resulted in higher gelatinization enthalpy (19.93 and 18.66 J g−1, respectively). Starch properties showed equally good potential as commercial starches in starch-based food production based on their starch properties and functionality.

СТАТЕВА ПОВЕДІНКА НАЩАДКІВ САМИЦЬ ЩУРІВ НАРОДЖЕНИХ ВІД МАТЕРІВ РІЗНОГО ВІКУ З ФЕТОПЛАЦЕНТАРНОЮ НЕДОСТАТНІСТЮ

Sexual behaviour is an integral part of reproduction and is considered as a neuroendocrine function of the body. It is the result of sexual differentiation of the brain in the early stages of development of the body and is regulated by steroids of the gonads, which is confirmed by the presence of receptors for these hormones in the centre of sexual behaviour. Any negative factors during pregnancy can cause a lot of harm to the unborn child. To date, it is almost unknown how fetoplacental insufficiency affects the reproductive function of offspring of both sexes from birth to puberty very little. The purpose of this work was to study the effects of fetoplacental insufficiency of mothers of different ages on the sexual behaviour of female offspring. Materials and methods of research. The experiment involved healthy sexually mature female mothers of Wistar rats, young (3 months) and mature (10 months) of reproductive age, with a normal four to five day estrous cycle. 4 groups of 7 pregnant females were formed: 1 group, intact young animals; group 2, intact females of mature reproductive age; group 3, young females with experimental fetoplacental insufficiency; 4 - females with experimental fetoplacental insufficiency of mature reproductive age. Modelling of fetoplacental insufficiency was performed by daily subcutaneous injection to females from the 12th to the 18th day of pregnancy 50% oil solution of carbon tetrachloride at a dose of 2 ml/kg body weight. The sexual behaviour of females was studied according to generally accepted methods. After a study of sexual behaviour at the age of 3 months, female offspring were removed from the experiment. The uterus and ovaries were weighed, and the number of follicles in the ovary was counted. The estrous cycle of females was studied. Serum samples were taken to determine the concentration of the hormones estradiol and testosterone. Conclusions and prospects for further development. Fetoplacental insufficiency in young mothers of reproductive age affects the sexual behaviour of female offspring, reduces the number of lordosis reactions by almost 20% and increasing the receptive indicators of sexual behaviour. Such changes occur against the background of elevated levels of sex hormones while reducing the number of cycling females and the number of follicles in the ovary. Due to the fact that the rupture of the follicle and the release of the egg require sequential activation of the secretion of hypothalamic gonadotropin and luteinizing hormone, and against the background of fetoplacental insufficiency, there may be no preovulatory growth of their levels in the blood due to refractoriness of the ovaries. In the study of sexual behaviour of offspring of females born to mothers of mature reproductive age with fetoplacental insufficiency, a decrease in the number of lordosis reactions by 50% of the intact group and increased receptive behaviour were noted. Also, this group of offspring had a reduced number of cycling females but the number of follicles in the ovaries remained within the intact group. Such reproductive changes occurred against the background of elevated testosterone levels, without changes in estradiol concentrations, which led to the relative androgenization of females. The prospect of further development is to study the effects of fetoplacental insufficiency on the fertility of mature offspring of both sexes born to female rats of different reproductive ages with fetoplacental insufficiency. Key words: fetoplacental insufficiency, reproductive system, sexual behaviour, female offspring.

Comparisons of national standards of the unit of length in the field of measurement of parameters of form deviation the flatness of optical surfaces COOMET.L-S15

Precision interference measurement of parameters of form optical surfaces are one of the most important type of the measurement in the field of the geometrical values. In countries-participants of this comparisons the special primary standards in this field of measurements take part in reproduction and transmission the unit of length in this field of measurements ensuring high measuring and calibrating capabilities countries in this type of measurement. In this article presents the result of supplementary comparisons COOMET 570/UA-a/12. The result of comparisons allowed to declare to Belarus and Russia, and to confirm to Ukraine their measuring and calibrating capability in database CIPM MRA.

Conservation and ecological interactions of Astragalus bozakmanii Podlech (Fabaceae)

ABSTRACT Astragalus bozakmanii Podlech, an endemic plant species to Turkey, was investigated to provide an understanding the conservation status of this species and to fill the gap in the knowledge of habitat of this species. Field studies were carried out randomly by sampling 2 × 2 m sizes, 10 quadrats from each region. The number of individuals was estimated by calculating the average individual numbers in small quadrats and extrapolating this result for approximate population area. Reproductive success was evaluated using the mean number of seeds per fruit and the number of ovules per flower. A. bozakmanii prefers saltless soils whose pH values range from 7.48 and 8.33. The seed set was 45.8% of the ovules. In this study, we observed that the flowers of A. bozakmanii were visited by Oxythyrea cinctella to feed on their reproductive parts, thus rendering them infertile. Considering all these findings, the global and national conservation status for Astragalus bozakmanii was assessed as Endangered (EN) B1ab (i, ii, iii) + 2ab (i, ii, iii) according to the new IUCN Red List criteria. In conclusion, appropriate conservation actions need to be developed so that natural enemies of agricultural pests can re-enter their habitats.

Influence of inorganic nutrients levels and microbial consortia on growth, yield and fibre quality parameters of Bt cotton (Gossypium hirsutum)

Field experiments was conducted during kharif 2018 and 2019 at Agriculture Research Station, Dharwad, Karnataka, India to study the effect of inorganic nutrient levels and liquid biofertilizer consortia on growth, yield and fibre quality parameters of Bt cotton. Experiment was laid out with three main plots comprising nutrient levels and five sub plots comprising biofertilizer consortia in split plot design + one check and replicated thrice. Application of 100% recommended nutrients recorded significantly higher ginning out turn (33.86%) and dry matter accumulation in leaf (40.82 g plant-1), stem (120.4 g plant-1) and reproductive parts (110.4 g plant-1) compared to 80 and 60% recommended nutrients. Among liquid biofertilizer consortia application of rhizosphere consortia-II + phyllosphere consortia at 50, 70 and 90 DAS recorded higher seed cotton yield (2040 kg ha-1) and harvest index (0.33). Among interactions, significantly higher seed cotton yield per plant, seed cotton yield per hectare and boll weight was recorded with application of 100% recommended nutrients (100:50:50 kg NPK ha-1) along with rhizosphere consortia-II + phyllosphere consortia at 50, 70 and 90 DAS (156.1 g, 2388 kg and 4.89 g, respectively).

A Comprehensive Halftone Image Quality Evaluation of First- and Second-order FM Halftones

Halftoning is a crucial part of image reproduction in print. For large format prints, especially at higher resolutions, it is important to have very fast and computationally feasible halftoning methods of good quality. The authors have already introduced an approach to obtain image-independent threshold matrices generating both first- and second-order frequency modulated (FM) halftones with different clustered dot sizes. Predetermined and image-independent threshold matrices make the proposed halftoning method a point-by-point process and thereby very fast. In this article, they report a comprehensive quality evaluation of first-and second-order FM halftones generated by this technique and compare them with each other, employing several quality metrics. These generated halftones are also compared with error diffusion (ED) halftones employing two different error filters. The results indicate that the second-order FM halftoning with small clustered dot size performs best in almost all studied quality aspects than the first-and second-order FM halftoning with larger clustered dot size. It is also shown that the first- and second-order FM halftones with small clustered dot sizes are of almost the same quality as ED halftones using Floyd–Steinberg error filter and of higher quality than halftones generated by ED employing Jarvis, Judice, and Ninke error filter.

Mediator Subunit, Med14, Regulates Pre- and Post-Fertilization Developmental Events in &lt;i&gt;Arabidopsis&lt;/i&gt;

In flowering plants, transitions from vegetative-to-reproductive and reproductive-to-seed stages are tightly regulated by coordinated activity of multiple transcription factors and cofactors. However, the mechanism of communication and coordination between these transcription regulators during ovule and seed development is not fully understood. This study reveals that the Mediator subunit MED14 integrates transcriptional signals from different transcription factors during pre-and post-fertilization developmental events in Arabidopsis. This is also the first study to demonstrate the importance of parental contribution of any Mediator subunit. We found that the promoter of AtMED14 is active in the auxin maxima regions of meristematic zones. We were unable to obtain any homozygous line of MED14 knock-out. The heterozygous mutants of med14 show defects in embryo sac, fertilization, and seed development. The genetic and cytological analyses revealed that the defective maternal sporophytic reproductive part of the med14+/- mutant is responsible for the fertilization defects. Some of the med14 embryos are arrested at globular stage whereas few others have uncontrolled cell division forming globular mass of cells. The auxin signaling essential for the ovule, embryo and seed development is compromised in med14 mutants. Further, MED14 is also important for seed coat development and its mucilage content as it interacts with different transcription regulators like ANT, WUS, LUG, MYB5, KNAT7 and LUH to regulate the expression of enzymes like MUM2 and MUM4 that are required for the synthesis of seed mucilage and its release, respectively. Overall, this study establishes MED14 as an important convergence point of transcriptional signals from various transcription factors required for development of gynoecium and seed in Arabidopsis.

Burkilliodendron album (Fabaceae: Millettieae), a new genus and species record for Thailand

Burkilliodendron album is a new genus and species record for Thailand. The detailed description of the reproductive part of the species is emended based on the fleshy flowers. Photographs taken from the field are provided for easy identification.

13 Ways of Looking at Reproductive Lives

Abstract This review essay places The Myth of the Perfect Pregnancy (2019), which historicizes miscarriage, in conversation with What God is Honored Here? (2019), a collection of essays by Native women and women of color about miscarriage and infant loss, to show how the history and current experience of miscarriage is complicated by the cultural forces that tell us how to feel about our reproductive experiences. However, it also argues that even if we are to contextualize miscarriage as a common, normal part of reproduction, as Lara Freidenfelds argues we should do, there is still an imperative to understand how, for Native women and women of color, the experience of miscarriage and infant loss can often be shaped by the racism of medical institutions and by a historical exclusion from health care that values their pregnancies and reproductive bodies.