The addition of 3 mg/l of nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) to BAP and tyrosine fortified MS medium was essential to obtain organogenic callus from the hypocotyl segments of two varieties (D-154 and CVL-1) of Corchorus capsularis - one of the two jute species. When the organogenic callus, which is rich in large starch granules, was transferred to MS basal medium, it differentiated into single or multiple shoots usually in the first subculture and sometimes in the second. The activity of glyoxalase-I of the organogenic callus was found to be significantly lower than that observed in the nonorganogenic callus initiated on MS medium supplemented with 2,4-D, tyrosine, BAP or just BAP and tyrosine. This suggests an inverse relationship between differentiation and the level of glyoxalase-I activity in the two varieties of C. capsularis jute.

Comparative study with fluorescence microscopy revealed that the pollen tubes of the self-pollinated rice variety BR-9 reached the ovary within 75 min after pollination . In P coarctata it took 150 min . In the cross between P coarctata and BR-9, pollen tubes reached the ovary in 165 min but seed setting was not observed . In the cross between BR-9 and P coarctata, small and deformed pollen tubes were formed and they failed to grow through the stylodium .

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The paper describes the identification of new expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from a cDNA library of Corchorus olitorius L. var. O-4 after the initial description of the library construction reported recently. The sequence homology search in The Arabidopsis Information Source (TAIR) using the WU-BLAST tool revealed four complete and ten partial cDNA sequences. The complete cDNA sequences, based on their similarities to those of Arabidopsis proteins, encode V-ATPase subunit F, mitochondrial NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase, RuBisCO small subunit 1A and heat shock protein (HSP 60). Based on similar homology results the partial cDNAs encode proteins, namely, chaperonin, actin 7, RelA-spoT homology, 60s ribosomal protein L 36a, transport protein, chloroplast inner membrane import protein Tic22, formate dehydrogenase, serine hydroxymethyltransferase, metallothionein 2B and tansmembrane kinase. These cDNA sequences are new additions to the ESTs that encode chitinase-like protein (Class I) and 60S acidic ribosomal protein reported earlier. All the available cDNA sequences including that for the chitinase-like protein have been registered with GenBank, bearing Accession Nos. EU024510 through EU024520 and EU092254, EU057193-95. The cDNA samples are available for any researchers interested in such ESTs. A Clustal-W study of the amino acid sequences of proteins encoded by cDNA isolated in the present investigation with those of cotton, citrus, Arabidopsis, tobacco and other organisms revealed that the homology is maximum between jute and cotton followed by citrus, grapevine, tobacco and Arabidopsis.

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