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To investigate the potential role of allelopathy in plant interference and in the successful invasion of alien species Solidago canadensis, aqueous and ethanolic extracts from rhizomes, stems and leaves of S. canadensis were prepared and used as treatment solutions to assess their effects on seed germination and seedling growth in four target species, mulberry (Morus alba); morning glory (Pharbitis nil), wheat (Triticum aestivum) and rape (Brassica campestris). Reduction and/or growth in germination and growth of the target plant species in the presence of both aqueous and ethanolic extracts at different concentrations indicated that the responses were species-specific and concentration-dependent. Generally, ethanolic extracts (especially from leaves) imposed stronger effects on both seed germination and seedling growth. Extracts with lower concentration at 0.001 g/ml dw could stimulate the seedling growth of rape and morning glory, whereas extracts at any given concentrations have inhibitory effects on wheat and mulberry. It is suggested that the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of all the three parts of S. canadensis have significant allelopathic effects. Although both inhibition and stimulation occurred in the germination and growth of the target species, extracts with higher concentrations definitely inhibit seed germination and seedling growth of all target plants. We suggest that allelopathy plays a more important role than other mechanisms do in the out-competition of S. canadensis over other plants, and make it invasive in new habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ac and Ds insertions among the genomic DNAs of hybrids of Ac x Ds lines were screened by PCR. The genomic DNAs, which were proved to harbour both Ac and Ds, were used as templates in TAIL-PCR to clone the Ds flanking sequences. The cloned specific fragments were sequenced, and the sequenced Ds flanking sequences were used as query sequences to perform on-line sequence comparing analysis against GenBank by employing BLAST program of NCBI. The information about the chromosome location of Ds-inserted genes, or genes immediately downstream of the inserted sites, and their functional innotations were achieved. Based on the analysis from the cloned 93 Ds-flanking sequences, it was found that 21 hybrid plants had Ds insertions in genic regions, whereas the remaining 72 samples's intergenic regions were inserted by Ds element. Moreover, among the 72 regions, 12 were inserted immediately upstream (within 3 kb) of specific genes. Also, the strategies to improve the performance in cloning the Ds flanking sequences and in screening the Ac/Ds lines were emphasized.

In order to elucidate the relationship between the structural features of leginsulin gene in legume plants and their phylogenetic significance, we have cloned the cDNA sequence of leginsulin gene from radicles of broad bean (Vicia faba) via RT-PCR techniques according to the leginsulin gene sequence we previously obtained from soybean (Glycine max). The cloned cDNA encoded for a precursor protein consisting of the signal peptide, mature leginsulin and an additional 45 amino acids of another polypeptide. A sequence search for homology comparison revealed the cloned leginsulin cDNA fragment shares 62.5% and 58.7% similarity to soybean and pea, respectively. The results also shown that leginsulin cDNA from broad bean presents 44.2% and 43.6% amino acid sequence homology with soybean and pea (Pisum sativum), respectively, and that there exists highly conserved cysteine sites among the leginsulin cDNAs, which may play a crucial role in maintaining the three-dimensional structure and the physiological functions of leginsulin.