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| Story-telling albino Arabidopsis mutants (05-01-2006) |
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| Ming-Hsiun Hsieh's group has isolated several Arabidopsis mutants defective in the nonmevalonate (nonMVA) pathway of isoprenoid biosynthesis (Plant Physiol. 138: 641-653, 2005; Planta. 223: 779-784, 2006). Homozygous ispF-1 and ispH-1 mutants are albino lethal, and progeny from a self-pollinated heterozygous plant segregate green and albino plants at a ratio of 3:1 on a non-selective medium (top). The ispF-1 and ispH-1 mutant chloroplasts completely lack thylakoids and contain large vesicles (bottom). |
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| An unique protein found in sweet pepper protects plants from bacterial pathogen infection (05-01-2006) |
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| Teng-Yung Feng's group found that a unique protein (HRAP) in sweet pepper could intensify harpin-mediated hypersensitive cell death (HCD) in sweet pepper. Expression of this hrap gene in transgenic Arabidopsis results in an enhanced disease resistance against the soft-rot pathogen E. carotovora. Click here to visit Feng's webpages about their work on the molecular events needed to explain these defense mechanisms. (Plant Mol Biol. 59: 771-778, 2005) |
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| Rejuvenated coast redwoods at Sinica campus (04-19-2006) |
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| Plant rejuvenation is a prerequisite for clonal propagation of mature trees, and plant maturation is frequently accompanied by a decline in vigor and loss of organogenetic competence. But rejuvenation or phase reversal of woody plants can be achieved by repeated grafting of adult shoot apical meristems onto juvenile rootstocks in test tubes. For years, Li-Chun Huang's group included coast sequoia (Sequoia sempervirens) as one of the woody plants in their study of rejuvenation. They have demonstrated that at least 4-times continuous grafting is involved to recover redwood vigor. Several years ago, the Huang lab planted rejuvenated plants in our courtyard, adjacent greens, and several tourist areas in the central highlands. Most of them grew well in such subtropical weather and became popular visiting scenic spots. Huang's research team also did extensive studies on the molecular events of rejuvenation. Click here to visit Huang's lab webpages for detail. |
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| A typical coast sequoia can live up to 3200 years, grow up to 360 feet, and weigh up to 1200 tons. These rare and remarkable trees are our natural treasures. In the years to come, in all seasons, campus visitors can return again and again to seek renewal of spirit and experience the wonder of the natural world. |
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| She who plants a tree, plants a hope. |
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| Mass-propagate lady's slipper orchids from cells (04-19-2006) |
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| Did you ever have a lady's slipper orchid (Paphiopedilum) that was so unique or so beautiful that you wished you had hundreds or thousands of them to enjoy or to sell? Tissue-culture geek Wei-chin Changwill present a novel technique to mass propagate two ladyˇ¦s slippers orchids from suspension cells at Expo'2006 - Academia Sinica (The Annual Technique Transfer Conference) at Activity Center, on April 20, 2006. To date, no such technique is documented in scientific journals, patent archives and websites. |
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