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Abstract
Mention the word ‘‘virus” to a plant breeder, pomologist, or nurserymen, and chances are you have made an instant and lifelong enemy (24). There are 2 reasons for the deplorable resulting confrontations: psychological and technical.
Abstract
Reciprocal differences were found for tassel date, silk date, plant height, ear height, shank length, husk extension, tip blanking, row number and ear length in a diallel cross of 7 sweet com inbreds (Zea mays L.). Reciprocal differences were not detected for first ear weight. Reciprocal differences were large enough in some crosses to have important breeding implications.
Currently, greenhouse environmental computers are programmed to monitor and control the macroclimate instead of directly controlling plant growth and development, which are features of more interest to growers. Our objective was to develop a generic system to represent and control the dynamic plant processes that regulate plant growth in the greenhouse. Before plant growth can be directly controlled, the dynamic interactions between the microclimate around plants and plant physiological processes must be further understood. Future computerized control systems must be able to display an intuitive, interactive software program that helps the user understand and make use of the dynamic relationships between climate controls, climate processes, and plant processes. A conceptual framework was designed for a user interface with a biological orientation. This software consists of five different elements: the information provider, the information monitor, the information browser, the growth system controller, and the system visualizer. A demonstrator application illustrating this concept was developed and connected in real time to a standard greenhouse environmental computer. Crop tissue temperature is calculated and used instead of conventional irradiance limits to control shading screens to optimize the amount of radiation absorbed by the crop. The application is based on a set of generic automatically created paradox databases. A graphical user interface on the screen displays virtual plants that are used for visualizing, understanding, and controlling the different processes governing the crop tissue temperature.
Abstract
Tassel date, silk date, plant height, ear height, shank length, husk extension, tip blanking, row number, ear length, and first ear weight were studied in a diallel involving 7 inbred sweet corn parents. Both general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) were involved in the inheritance of all 10 characters. This was consistent for F1 crosses in 2 years and for F2 families. SCA variance (VSCA) was larger than GCA variance (VGCA) for ear length and first ear weight in the F1 and ratios of VSCA/VGCA for these characters were slightly larger than 1.0. VGCA was larger than VSCA all other characters in the F1. Ratios of VSCA/VGCA ranged from .05 for row no. to .57 for plant height.
Variance ratios for most characters decreased in the F2. The failure of some ratios to decrease in the F2 was attributed to either differential interactions of GCA and SCA with environment or inadequate sampling of F2 families. Genotype × year interactions influenced the expression of most characters. A greater portion of the genotype × year interaction was contained in estimates of SCA than in estimates of GCA. Heritability estimates from parent-progeny regression were generally larger than those from variance components, although these estimates were generally in close agreement.
Industrial-scale cultivation of plant cells for valuable product recovery (e.g. natural pigments, pharmaceutical compounds) can only be considered commercially-feasible when a fully-automated, predictable bioprocess is achieved. Automation of cell selection, quantification, and sorting procedures, and pinpointing of optimal microenvironmental regimes can be approached via machine vision. Macroscopic staging of Ajuga reptans callus masses (ranging between 2-6 g FW) permitted simultaneous rapid capture of top and side views. Area data used in a linear regression model yielded a reliable, non-destructive estimate of fresh mass. Suspension culture images from the same cell line were microscopically imaged at 4x (with an inverted microscope). Using color machine vision, the HSI (hue-saturation-intensity) coordinates were used to successfully separate pigmented cells and aggregates from non-pigmented cells, aggregates, and background debris. Time-course sampling of a routine suspension culture consistently allowed pigmented cells to be detected, and intensity could be correlated with the degree of pigmentation as verified using spectrophotometer analysis of parallel samples.
Codling moth [Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)], found in exported apples (Malus sylvestris), can disrupt international markets. Cold storage at 1.1 °C was examined for possible control of three physiological larval states in ‘Fuji’ apples: diapausing (overwintering), diapause-destined, and nondiapausing. All nondiapausing larvae were dead within 12 weeks, diapaused-destined larvae were controlled by the seventh week, yet more than half of the original populations of diapausing larvae were still alive after 11 weeks. Because the diapaused-destined larvae were younger than the nondiapausing larvae, they may have been more susceptible to cold. Because larvae normally diapause outside the fruit, cold storage would not be applicable for controlling larvae in this state.
Three systems of peach production have been established (Flore, et al., 1991, HortScience 26(6):747) utilizing three levels of chemical input: conventional input, moderate level, and low level. The moderate and low levels of chemical input use increasing degrees of IPM. In 1992, data were collected on yield, insect and disease impact on fruit quality, vegetative growth, nitrate and simazine levels in the soil, and insecticide residues in the fruit. The yield per tree was substantially higher in the conventional treatment but this effect could be attributed to an early spring frost, local topography, or the treatment system. The percentage of fruit free from insect and disease damage was highest in the conventional treatment (95.1%), but the low input had a relatively high percentage of fruit free of damage (79.6%). Shoot cold hardiness of one year old shoots was not affected by treatment. Bud survival after a spring frost was greater in the conventional orchards, but topography may have influenced this parameter. Nitrate levels 2 m in the soil and sim-azine residues in the A horizon were not affected by treatment. Lorsban®, Guthion®, and Asana® residues in fruit are currently being analyzed and will be discussed. Additional data collected in 1993 and future years will contribute more information on the use of the low and moderate chemical input treatments on peach production.
Efficacy of using radio frequency (RF) at 27.12 MHz was evaluated as a postharvest quarantine treatment against fifth instars of the codling moth [Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)], in apples (Malus sylvestris). Tests under the given conditions demonstrated that the energy fields between the RF unit's electrodes were neither predictable nor uniform. Moving fruit submerged in water during RF exposure may improve uniformity, but pulp temperatures varied considerably among fruit, among sites on the same fruit, and at different depths within the same site. As a result of these inconsistencies, quarantine efficacy was not obtained either using a range of final average temperatures from 40 to 68 °C (104.0 to 154.4 °F) or at holding times up to 20 minutes. We concluded it would be difficult to obtain the appropriate parameters for treatment efficacy and fruit quality maintenance using this technology under these conditions.
Quarantine regulations require domestic sweet cherries (Prunus avium) exported to Japan to be treated to control codling moth [Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)]. The current procedure, methyl bromide fumigation, may be discontinued because of health, safety, and environmental concerns. To examine a potential alternative method, `Bing' sweet cherries were each infested with a codling moth larva, submerged in a 38 °C water bath for 6 minutes pretreatment, then exposed to various temperatures generated by radio frequency and held at that temperature for different times: 50 °C for 6 minutes, 51.6 °C for 4 minutes, 53.3 °C for 0.5 minutes, and 54.4 °C for 0.5 minutes. Insect mortality was evaluated 24 hours after treatment and fruit quality was evaluated after treatment and after 7 and 14 days of storage at 1 °C. No larvae survived at the 50 and 51.6 °C treatments. Fruit color of non-infested cherries was darkened as temperature increased. Stem color was severely impacted after 7 days of storage, even in a warm water bath of 38 °C for 6 minutes, as was fruit firmness at the same treatment. Fruit quality loss increased after 14 days of storage, compared to after 7 days of storage. The amount of pitting and bruising of cherries increased with temperature and again this increase was more evident after 14 days of storage.