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Guzmania lingulata (L.) Mez. ‘Cherry’ plants were grown in coconut husk chips. All plants were given 8 mm nitrogen (N), 2 mm phosphorus (P), 4 mm calcium (Ca), and 1 mm magnesium (Mg) at each irrigation with potassium (K) concentration at 0, 2, 4, or 6 mm. After 9 months, K concentration did not alter the number of new leaves, and shoot and root dry weights. Increasing K concentration did not affect the length but increased the width of the most recently fully expanded leaves (the sixth leaves). Plants under 0 K exhibited yellow spots and irregular chlorosis on old leaves being more severe at the middle of the blade and leaf tip. Numbers of leaves with yellow spots or chlorosis decreased with increasing K concentration. Chlorenchyma thickness was unaffected by K concentration, whereas water storage tissue and total leaf thickness increased with increasing K concentration. Leaf N concentration in the sixth or 10th leaf was unaffected by solution K concentration. However, plants at 0 mm K had higher N concentration in the 14th leaf than those in sixth and 10th leaves. Leaf P, Ca, and Mg concentrations decreased with increasing solution K concentration. K concentrations were higher in the sixth leaf than the 14th leaf in plants at 0, 2, or 4 mm K, whereas leaf K concentration was 15 g·kg−1 on dry weight basis in the sixth, 10th, or 14th leaves in plants treated with 6 mm K.
This study determined the sensitivity of two Aglaonema cultivars to ethylene and evaluated the effectiveness of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) to protect sensitive cultivars. Plants of ‘White Tip’ and ‘Chalit's Fantasy’ were exposed to various ethylene concentrations for 7 days during dark storage at 15 °C. Poststorage performance, measured as number of chlorotic leaves and quality rating, was recorded after the plants were placed in the indoor environments for 14 days. Exposure to 4.5 μL·L−1 ethylene resulted in increased chlorotic leaves and reduced quality rating in ‘White Tip’ but did not affect poststorage performance in ‘Chalit's Fantasy’. Exposure to 4.5 μL·L−1 ethylene reduced both the soil plant analytical development-502 (SPAD-502) and variable fluorescence/maximal fluorescence (Fv/Fm) values of the lowest leaves in ‘White Tip’ but not in ‘Chalit's Fantasy’. Chlorotic leaf number increased; the SPAD-502 value, Fv/Fm, and Fm of the lowest leaves decreased in ‘White Tip’ as ethylene concentration increased from 0 to 4.1 μL·L−1. Plants of ‘White Tip’ pretreated with 300 or 900 nL·L−1 1-MCP for 6 h had fewer chlorotic leaves, higher Fv/Fm, and SPAD-502 values and better postproduction quality than those without 1-MCP pretreatment in response to treatment with 1.1 μL·L−1 ethylene during storage.
A double-flowered periwinkle [Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don.] mutant TYV1 was identified and the morphology and inheritance of the double-flowered phenotype was studied. TYV1 has an outer salverform whorl of petals and an additional inner funnel-shaped whorl of petals originating from the apex of the corolla. The apex of corolla tube forms a narrow opening. There are hairs under the opening at the apex. The stigma in this mutant is set below the anthers. The overlap between the top end of the pistil and bottom ends of anthers in TYV1 flowers at 1 to 2 days after anthesis is 0.56 ± 0.01 mm. TYV1 could be used as either the male or female parent in crossing. Self-pollinated TYV1 produced all double-flowered progeny compared with self-pollinated single-flowered cultivars Little Pinkie and Titan Burgundy, which produced all single-flowered progeny. F1 plants between TYV1 and ‘Little Pinkie’ or ‘Titan Burgundy’ were all single. Three F2 populations segregated into 3 single: 1 double ratio. Backcrossing F1 to seed parents also indicated that a double-flowered form was controlled by a recessive allele. A single dominant gene expressed in the homozygous or heterozygous state resulted in the single-flowered phenotype. All the young seedlings of self-pollinated TYV1 and double-flowered progeny had distorted leaves before the sixth pair of leaves emerged.
Growth and photosynthetic parameters were measured in Eustoma grandiflorum (Raf.) Shinn. ‘Umihonoka’ grown hydroponically under nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), or magnesium (Mg) deficiency in 1/2 strength of modified Johnson’s solution. Plant height, node number, and leaf area were all reduced under N, P, K, and Ca deficiencies but not under Mg deficiency as compared with plants grown in the complete nutrient solution. Shoot and root dry weight were reduced in the N-, P-, K-, and Ca-deficient treatments, whereas root but not shoot dry weight was lowered by Mg-deficient treatment. Shoot-to-root dry weight ratio decreased under N and P deficiencies, increased under K and Mg deficiency, but was not altered under Ca deficiency. Decreased net photosynthetic rate (Pn) of N-, P-, and K-deficient leaves was all related to lower stomatal conductance (g S), whereas N-deficient leaves also accompanied by a higher intercellular carbon dioxide concentration (Ci). The Mg-deficient treatment did not alter chlorophyll fluorescence Fv/Fm, maximal fluorescence (Fm), or minimal fluorescence (Fo). Decreased Fv/Fm of N-, P-, K-, and Ca-deficient leaves was all related to lower Fm, whereas N- and P-deficient leaves also accompanied by lower Fo. A key was developed for the identification of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg deficiency symptoms.
Neoregelia cultivars have been used in many areas for landscaping and indoors in a variety of creative ways, but scientific reports of their pollination and hybridization are presently limited. Cross-combinations of Neoregelia cultivars were created to define conditions for pollination timing and to evaluate cross-compatibility. Neoregelia cultivars have short-lived flowers. Hybrid seeds were obtained only when cross-pollination was performed before 1200 hr. Results of 19 cross-combinations including six reciprocal crosses revealed that hybrid seeds were obtained in the female parents with a 1.9- to 2.0-cm style length, but not in those with a 2.6- to 3.0-cm style length. The pollen tube penetrated the ovule as early as 1 day after pollination in the compatible cross, whereas swollen pollen tubes were observed at half and two-thirds of the style in the incompatible cross. Removal of 50% of the style length of the female parents could overcome the fertilization barrier for those incompatible crosses and hybrid seeds could be successfully obtained.
Double-flowered gloxinia (Sinningia speciosa) cultivars with foliar variegation might have a greater market appeal as flowering foliage plants. Crosses were made among 16 gloxinia cultivars and their progenies were analyzed to determine the inheritance of leaf vein color, flower form, and floral symmetry. All plants from self-pollinating white-veined cultivars or crosses between white-veined and green-veined cultivars produced white veins. Progeny derived from self-pollinating plants of white-veined cultivars × green-veined cultivars segregated into a ratio of 3 white-veined:1 green-veined. All plants from self-pollinating or cross-pollinating single-flowered cultivars produced single flowers. Progeny of self-pollination or crosses between double-flowered cultivars segregated into a ratio of 3 double flowers:1 single flower. Contingency chi-square tests revealed that leaf vein color and flower form were inherited independently. New gloxinia progenies with homozygous white veins and double flowers were successfully developed from the F2 segregating population. Plants from self-pollinating or cross-pollinating cultivars with actinomorphic flowers produced actinomorphic flowers. A single dominant gene expressed in the homozygous or heterozygous state resulted in the zygomorphic flowers. Independent inheritance was observed between vein color and floral symmetry. Air spaces between the epidermis and the mesophyll cells were observed in the white, but not in the green, leaf vein portions. Net photosynthesis did not differ significantly between the white vein and adjacent green portion of the same leaf.
Flowering of many chrysanthemum [Dendranthema ×grandiflora (Ramat.) Kitam.] cultivars is reduced or delayed under high temperatures. Identification and rapid selection of heat-tolerant and flowering-heat-delay-insensitive chrysanthemum genotypes for commercial production is desirable. An electrolyte leakage technique was used to measure cell membrane thermostability of chrysanthemum cultivars. The relationship between the relative injury (RI) value occurring in leaf tissue discs and the treatment temperature was sigmoidal. The RI values at the approximate midpoint of the sigmoid response curve occurred at 47 to 53 °C for summer- and fall-flowering cultivars and at 45 to 46 °C treatments for winter- and spring-flowering cultivars. Regressing the delay in days to flowering for the cultivars grown at day/night temperature of 30/25 °C compared with those grown at 20/15 °C versus their associated RI values at 50 °C treatment showed a linear relationship. Reduced RI was more apparent in the heat-tolerant ‘Kaa Luoh-Lii’ than the heat-intolerant ‘Repulse’ after 30/25 °C treatment for 24 to 27 days. When 30/25 and 20/15 °C treatments were compared, the former did not alter leaf malondialdehyde (MDA) content in ‘Kaa Luoh-Lii’ but increased MDA content in ‘Repulse’.