Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

Hydroponics: A Versatile System to Study Nutrient Allocation and Plant Responses to Nutrient Availability and Exposure to Toxic Elements
09:13

Hydroponics: A Versatile System to Study Nutrient Allocation and Plant Responses to Nutrient Availability and Exposure to Toxic Elements

Published on: July 13, 2016

Burning vegetation produces cyanohydrins that liberate cyanide and stimulate seed germination

Gavin R Flematti1, David J Merritt, Matthew J Piggott

  • 1School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. gavin.flematti@uwa.edu.au

Nature Communications
|June 23, 2011
PubMed

More Related Videos

Standardized Method for High-throughput Sterilization of Arabidopsis Seeds08:13

Standardized Method for High-throughput Sterilization of Arabidopsis Seeds

Published on: October 17, 2017

Protocols for Robust Herbicide Resistance Testing in Different Weed Species10:52

Protocols for Robust Herbicide Resistance Testing in Different Weed Species

Published on: July 2, 2015

Related Concept Videos

Responses to Drought and Flooding02:41

Responses to Drought and Flooding

Water plays a significant role in the life cycle of plants. However, insufficient or excess of water can be detrimental and pose a serious threat to plants.
Bioremediation00:46

Bioremediation

Bioremediation is the use of prokaryotes, fungi, or plants to remove pollutants from the environment. This process has been used to remove harmful toxins in groundwater as a byproduct of agricultural run-off and also to clean up oil spills.
C4 Pathway and CAM01:27

C4 Pathway and CAM

Most plants use the C3 pathway for carbon fixation. However, some plants, such as sugar cane, corn, and cacti that grow in hot conditions, use alternative pathways to fix carbon and conserve energy loss due to photorespiration. Photorespiration is the process that occurs when the oxygen concentration is high. Under such conditions, the rubisco enzyme in the Calvin cycle binds O2 instead of CO2, which halts photosynthesis and consumes energy.
C4 Pathway
The C4 pathway is used by plants such as...
Aldehydes and Ketones with HCN: Cyanohydrin Formation Mechanism01:10

Aldehydes and Ketones with HCN: Cyanohydrin Formation Mechanism

Cyanohydrins are formed when cyanide nucleophiles and carbonyl compounds like aldehydes and ketones react. A strong base, the cyanide ion, catalyzes cyanohydrin formation. The ions are generated from HCN under aqueous conditions. Once the cyanide ions are generated, the first step involves the nucleophilic attack of the cyanide ions on the electrophilic carbonyl carbon. This attack shifts the π electrons from the C=O to the oxygen atom forming the alkoxide ion intermediate. The alkoxide anion...
Aldehydes and Ketones with HCN: Cyanohydrin Formation Overview01:32

Aldehydes and Ketones with HCN: Cyanohydrin Formation Overview

Cyanohydrins are compounds that contain –CN and –OH groups on the same carbon atom. They are formed by the nucleophilic addition of the cyanide ions to the carbonyl group. Cyanide ions are highly basic and nucleophilic and can be generated from HCN under aqueous conditions. However, since HCN is a weak acid, the number of cyanide ions generated is very small. Hence, a small amount of base or KCN/NaCN is added to HCN to increase the concentration of the cyanide ions in the reaction mixture.
Seed Structure and Early Development of the Sporophyte02:33

Seed Structure and Early Development of the Sporophyte

Seed structures are composed of a protective seed coat surrounding a plant embryo, and a food store for the developing embryo. The embryo contains the precursor tissues for leaves, stem, and roots. The endosperm and cotyledons—seed leaves—act as the food reserves for the growing embryo.