Desiccation of plants is often lethal but is tolerated by the majority of seeds and by
vegetative tissues of only a small number of land plants. Desiccation tolerance is an ancient …

The molecular machinery that enables life has evolved in water, yet many of the organisms
around us are able to survive even extreme desiccation. Especially remarkable are single …

Over the past decade, metabolomics has developed into a major tool for studying the
metabolism of organisms and cells, and through this approach much has been learned …

Besides the deposition of storage reserves, seed maturation is characterized by the
acquisition of functional traits including germination, desiccation tolerance, dormancy, and …

Summary 'Stresses' that impact upon seeds can affect plant reproduction and productivity,
and, hence, agriculture and biodiversity. In the absence of a clear definition of plant stress …

Bryophytes were a pivotal step in land plant evolution, and their significance in the
regulation of ecosystems and the conservation of biodiversity is becoming increasingly …

Cellular functioning requires the orchestration of thousands of molecular interactions in time
and space. Yet most molecules in a cell move by diffusion, which is sensitive to external …

Numerous studies have been published that attempted to correlate fructan concentrations
with freezing and drought tolerance. Studies investigating the effect of fructan on liposomes …

Water is usually thought to be required for the living state, but several organisms are
capable of surviving complete dehydration (anhydrobiotes). Elucidation of the mechanisms …

Background Considered only in terms of tolerance of, or sensitivity to, desiccation (which is
an oversimplification), orthodox seeds are those which tolerate dehydration and are storable …