Search Results
You are looking at 1 - 3 of 3 items for :
- Author or Editor: Dong Xue x
- HortScience x
To understand the effects of tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) on soil microbiological and biochemical properties, soil samples were collected from tree peony growing sites with 3 growth years and four tree peony cultivars as well as from an adjacent wasteland in a tree peony garden at Luoyang, Henan Province of China. With the development of the tree peony garden ecosystem, soil microbial biomass carbon (Cmic), basal respiration (Rmic), Cmic as a percent of soil organic C (Cmic/Corg), and enzyme activities first increased and then decreased. For the tree peony cultivars Yao Huang and Dou Lu, Cmic, Rmic, Cmic/Corg, catalase, invertase, cellulose, proteinase, and phosphatase decreased after 5 years of growth, whereas urease decreased after 12 years. For the cultivars Er Qiao and Shou An Hong, catalase, proteinase, and phosphatase decreased after 5 years, whereas Cmic, Rmic, Cmic/Corg, invertase, cellulose, and urease decreased after 12 years. Biolog analysis indicated that the average well color development and microbial functional diversity were significantly greater at the 5-year sites than in the wasteland but decreased significantly as growth continued. The growth duration of tree peony had a greater effect on soil microbial communities than did tree peony cultivar.
Pyracantha coccinea is a thorny evergreen shrub native to southeast Europe to southeast Asia. It is a popular ornamental plant because of its showy bright red fruits and small white flowers. However, in vitro vegetative propagation of P. coccinea has not been studied. Nodal segments with one or two axillary buds (1 to 1.5 cm in length) were cut and disinfected in a solution of 0.1% (v/v) mercuric chloride (HgCl2) for 5 minutes, and proliferated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with various concentrations 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA). After 4 weeks, newly formed shoots were transferred to proliferation and rooting media containing various concentrations of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). Establishment of axillary buds was significantly better with an establishing rate of 67% on basal MS medium augmented with 6.6 µm 6-BA. The best medium for proliferation of shoots was three-fourth basal MS supplemented with 1.5 µm IBA, with a proliferation rate of 3.4 axillary bud. The optimum rooting medium was one-fourth MS basal medium containing 93 µm IBA. Rooting of shoots was as much as 77%. Rooted plantlets were transferred to pots containing vermiculite:perlite:peat (6:1:2) and acclimatized to ambient greenhouse conditions with a 95% survival rate. This protocol can be used for in vitro propagation of P. coccinea.
Jinyan (Actinidia eriantha × A. chinensis) is one of the gold-fleshed kiwifruit cultivars currently being promoted in south China. However, its fruit dry matter is usually less than 16%, which seriously affects fruit quality including taste and flavor. This causes a financial loss to growers: not only are the prices paid for the fruit low because of their bad reputation for quality, but some orchards have been removed. Improvement of fruit quality is essential. In this study, a method is described for squeezing and twisting flowering shoots before flowering and removing the distal vegetative parts of flowering shoots after fruit set. The effects on fruit quality were determined. The dry matter of fruit was increased by 6.6%. Fruit size also increased as did the chlorophyll a content and the chlorophyll:carotenoid ratio. The significantly increased fruit dry matter, resulting in significant increases in fruit soluble solids concentrations (P < 0.01), thereby possibly improving fruit taste. Fruit weight, fruit length, and carotenoid and ascorbic acid concentrations were significantly enhanced in comparison with controls (P < 0.01), increasing by 20%, 7%, 12%, and 19%, respectively. However, there was no significant difference in soluble sugar concentrations, titratable acid concentrations, and the reduced chlorophyll b concentrations. This research provides a practical method to increase fruit dry matter, and hence a way to allow fruit quality to reach commercial requirements for cultivars such as Jinyan, which under previous management systems had significant shortcomings in fruit flavor and taste.