Plants

[Abstract] Lignocellulosic biomass is a versatile renewable resource for fuels, buildings, crafts, and biomaterials. Strategies of molecularly designing lignocellulose for industrial application has been developed by the discoveries of novel genes after the screenings of various mutants and transformed lines of Arabidopsis whose cell walls could be ...

[Abstract] Plant regeneration refers to a process through which an explant is differentiated to a whole plant under certain conditions. It has been shown that two plant hormones, auxin and cytokinin, play critical roles within this process (Duclercq et al., 2011). Cytokinin induces shoot regeneration, whereas auxin promotes root production. In ...

[Abstract] The inflorescence stem of the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) is an excellent model system to investigate plant vascular tissue patterning and development. Plant vasculature is a complex conducting tissue arranged in strands called vascular bundles, formed by xylem (tissue that carries water) and phloem (tissue that ...

[Abstract] A centrifuge microscope (CMS) functionally consists of a centrifuge producing a centrifugal force (hypergravity condition) and a microscope making an enlarged image of an object. This combination of equipment allows live-cell imaging during centrifugation. We have developed a new CMS (NSK Ltd.) to observe movements of the plant organelles such as ...

[Abstract] Mannans are hemicellulosic polysaccharides and are present in cell walls of all land plants. Mannan polysaccharides are synthesized by two enzymes, mannan synthase (ManS) for backbone (mannan or glucomannan) synthesis and galactomannan galactosyl transferase for side-chain (galactosyl) addition. Here, a method for ManS activity assay using ...