| wheat | <botany> A cereal grass (Triticum vulgare) and its grain, which furnishes a white flour for bread, and, next to rice, is the grain most largely used by the human race. Of this grain the varieties are numerous, as red wheat, white wheat, bald wheat, bearded wheat, winter wheat, summer wheat, and the like. Wheat is not known to exist as a wild native plant, and all statements as to its origin are either incorrect or at best only guesses. Buck wheat. <botany> The grain weevil. The rice weevil when found in wheat. Origin: OE. Whete, AS. Hwte; akin to OS. Hwti, D. Weit, G. Weizen, OHG. Weizzi, Icel. Hveiti, Sw. Hvete, Dan. Hvede, Goth. Hwaiteis, and E. While. See White. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| wheat germ | <plant biology> The embryonic plant at the tip of the seed of wheat. Wheat germ has been used as the starting material for a cell free translation system and is also the source of wheat germ agglutinin. (18 Nov 1997) |
| wheat germ agglutinin | <plant biology> Lectin from wheat germ that binds to N acetylglucosaminyl and sialic acid residues. See: lectins. (18 Nov 1997) |
| wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase conjugate | <chemical> The lectin wheatgerm agglutinin conjugated to the enzyme horseradish peroxidase. It is widely used for tracing neural pathways. Pharmacological action: molecular probes. (12 Dec 1998) |
| wheat germ agglutinins | Lectins purified from the germinating seeds of common wheat (triticum vulgare); these bind to certain carbohydrate moieties on cell surface glycoproteins and are used to identify certain cell populations and inhibit or promote some immunological or physiological activities. There are at least two isoforms of this lectin. (12 Dec 1998) |
| wheat germ oil | An oil obtained by expression from the germ of the wheat seed, Triticum aestivum (family Gramineae); one of the richest sources of natural vitamin E; used as a nutritional supplement. (05 Mar 2000) |
| wheat gum | <protein> The protein of wheat and other grains which gives to the dough its tough elastic character. (18 Nov 1997) |
| wheat pasture poisoning | A highly fatal disease of cows and sheep occurring generally during the first two weeks in the spring after the animals have been out on lush pastures; it is characterised by convulsions, hypomagnesaemia, and usually hypocalcaemia. Synonym: wheat pasture poisoning. (05 Mar 2000) |
| wheat peroxidase | <enzyme> Gene of this enzyme is neither pathogen- nor wound-induced in leaves but is constitutively expressed in roots; amino acid sequence given in first source Registry number: EC 1.11.1.- Synonym: triticum peroxidase (26 Jun 1999) |
| wheatbird | <zoology> A bird that feeds on wheat, especially the chaffinch. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wheatear | <zoology> A small European singing bird (Saxicola oenanthe). The male is white beneath, bluish gray above, with black wings and a black stripe through each eye. The tail is black at the tip and in the middle, but white at the base and on each side. Synonym: checkbird, chickell, dykehopper, fallow chat, fallow finch, stonechat, and whitetail. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wheatsel bird | <zoology> The male of the chaffinch. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wheatstone's bridge | <physics> See Bridge. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Wheatstone, Charles | <person> English physicist, 1802-1875. See: Wheatstone's bridge. (05 Mar 2000) |
| wheatworm | <zoology> A small nematode worm (Anguillula tritici) which attacks the grains of wheat in the ear. It is found in wheat affected with smut, each of the diseased grains containing a large number of the minute young of the worm. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |