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Ficus benjamina is considered to have a high degree of morphological and physiological plasticity in response to light levels. In this study, leaf area and thickness, specific leaf area (SLA), chlorophyll content, and photosynthetic characteristics of Ficus benjamina `Common'; grown in a shaded greenhouse under four maximum photosynthetic photon flux densities (PPFDs) of 150, 250, 450, or 650 μmol·m-2·s-1 were investigated. Results showed that plants grown under 450 and 650 PPFDs had higher SLA and leaf thickness but smaller leaf areas than those grown under 150 and 250 PPFDs. Total chlorophyll content per unit leaf area decreased as PPFDs increased. Net photosynthetic rates (Pn) increased from 2.7 μmol·m-2·s-1 under 150 PPFD to 5.7 μmol·m-2·s-1 under 450 PPFD, then slightly decreased to 5.5 μmol·m-2·s-1 under 650 PPFD. The highest net photosynthetic rate was not associated with higher intercellular CO2 concentrations (Ci) and stomatal conductance (gs) as plants grown under 250 PPFD had the highest (Ci) (259 ppm) and gs (0.1 mol·m-2·s-1), which suggests that photosynthetic enzymes could play a increasing role under 450 PPFD. Plant quality, however, was not necessarily correlated with the Pn because only those grown under 250 PPFD had appropriate heights, large and dark green leaves, and well-spread branches, and thus were graded higher than plants grown under the other PPFDs. This study shows that fine-tuning production light level is important for high quality Ficus benjamina production.
Epimedium species are traditional Chinese medicinal plants as well as potential groundcover and ornamental plants. In this study, genome size and genome structures of Epimedium species were investigated using flow cytometric and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The nuclear DNA content of Epimedium species ranged from 8.42 pg/2C (8230.7 Mbp) to 9.97 pg/2C (9752.8 Mbp). The pairwise nucleotide diversity (π) of the fragments of the genes for reverse transcriptase (rt) of Ty1-copia retrotransposon within a species of rt fragments ranged from 0.251 to 0.428 in 10 Epimedium species. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences revealed four major clades with the largest subclade containing 72 sequences of relatively low nucleotide diversity. FISH indicated that Ty1-copia retrotransposons are distributed unevenly along the pachytene chromosomes of E. wushanense and E. sagittatum, mostly associated with the pericentromeric and terminal heterochromatin. The relatively low sequence heterogeneity of Ty1-copia rt sequences implies that the Epimedium genomes have experienced a few relatively large-scale proliferation events of copia elements, which could be one of the major forces resulting in the large genome size of Epimedium species.
Lonicera japonica Thunb., known as Japanese honeysuckle or golden-and-silver honeysuckle, belongs to the honeysuckle family and is native to eastern Asia, including China, Japan, and Korea. Microscopy, spectrophotometry, colorimetry, and the Royal Horticulture Society of Colorimetric Card (RHSCC) were used to compare and analyze the pigment distribution, content, and color variations in the Yujin 2 and Damaohua cultivars at different developmental stages. There were notable differences in the corolla color and the cross-section color between different developmental stages and different varieties. The lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) values were calculated for each period for the two cultivars to observe variation trends. The chlorophyll content in the corollas of both cultivars showed declining trends with different rates. The chlorophyll content decreased rapidly from the young period to the two white period, and changed gradually from the two white period to the golden period. Moreover, the carotenoid content declined slightly from the young period to the silver period and rose sharply during the golden period. The ratio of these two pigment contents increased dramatically during the golden period: by 11.51 and 6.53 times in ‘Yujin 2’ and ‘Damaohua’, respectively. There were significant differences in corolla color, cross-section color, and the content of three pigments between the two varieties of honeysuckle. distribution and variation of pigments were the key factors affecting the flower color of honeysuckle. This study provides a basis for the identification and breeding of honeysuckle varieties and lays a foundation for further studies on the function and molecular mechanisms of pigments.
‘Jincuilei’ is a mutant selected from Lonicera macranthoides Hand.-Mazz. It produces abundant flowers that never open with a chlorogenic acid (CGA) content up to 6.0%. Propagation through rooting or grafting has only a 30% survival rate. This study was undertaken to establish an efficient protocol for rapidly regenerating this mutant. Leaf explants were inoculated on Gamborg's B5 medium supplemented with different concentrations of 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 2,4-dichlorophenozyacetic acid (2,4-D). The optimal combination for callus induction was 4.4 μm BA with 2.26 μm 2,4-D, which resulted in 86.7% of leaf explants producing calluses in 4 weeks. Calluses produced from this optimal medium were cultured on B5 medium containing different concentrations of kinetin (KT) and α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). The best formulation for shoot induction was B5 medium containing 0.9 μm KT and 5.4 μm NAA in which 73.4% of cultured calluses produced shoots in 8 weeks, and shoot numbers ranged from three to six per callus piece (1 cm3). Adventitious shoots were cut and rooted in half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 14.8 μm 3-indolebutyric acid. Roots initiated 10 d after culture, and rooting percentages ranged from 98% to 100%. Plantlets grown in a container substrate in a shaded greenhouse had over a 95% survival rate. During the last 6 years, over four million plantlets were regenerated using this established procedure, and there was no somaclonal variation. Fresh and dry weights of 1000 flowers, CGA contents, and dry flower yields of the regenerated plants were not significantly different from those of the stock ‘Jincuilei’ propagated by cutting, indicating that plants regenerated from this established procedure were stable. This established in vitro culture method has led to rapid commercial production of this medicinal plant on more than 1500 ha of production field.
Weigela florida (Bunge) A. DC. is a popular flowering shrub adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions. Efficient methods for micropropagation of this species have not been well developed. The present study established a protocol for in vitro shoot culture of W. florida ‘Tango’ after a systematic evaluation of different culture media, cytokinins, and auxins on axillary shoot induction. Single-node stems were cultured on Driver and Kuniyuki Walnut (DKW) medium for initial production of axillary shoots. The shoots were used as explants and cultured on DKW medium supplemented with 8.88 μm 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and 0.27 μm naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), resulting in the production of more than six axillary shoots per explant. The axillary shoots could either be used as explants for additional shoot production or be cultured on ½ DKW medium supplemented with 0.25 μm indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) for rooting. Plantlets were transplanted into a substrate with 99% survival rate in a shaded greenhouse. This established method could be used for rapid propagation of W. florida to speed the introduction of new hybrids or cultivars for commercial production.
Leaf color mutants play an important role in our understanding of chlorophyll biosynthesis and catabolism. In this study, we obtained a yellow-green leaf mutant hy in an ethyl methanesulfonate mutagenized population of chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis). The hy phenotype was controlled by a recessive allele at a single locus. The intrinsic photochemical activity of photosystem II (PSII) is impaired in hy, suggesting that absorbed light energy is not efficiently transferred from the light-harvesting complexes antenna to the PSII reaction centers and dissipated as heat or fluorescence. We measured chlorophyll content and chlorophyll precursors and analyzed the expression of key genes in the chlorophyll synthetic pathway in hy and wild type. The mutation phenotype was consistent with inhibited expression of chlorophyll a oxygenase (CAO) gene in the chlorophyll synthetic pathway. In mutant hy, CAO cDNA was cloned so that a C to T mutation at 1099 bp caused a conserved proline (Pro) to serine (Ser) mutation at the 367th amino acid in C-domain, which changed the secondary structure of CAO protein. We speculate that the mutation amino acid changed in the C-domain may affect the catalytic function in mutant CAO.
Ploidy levels and genome sizes have significant implications in plant evolution and crop improvement. Species of Lonicera L. have long been cultivated as medicinal, ornamental crops, or both. However, chromosome numbers, karyotypes, and DNA contents have only been documented in a few species, of which some controversies regarding basic chromosome numbers and karyotypes remain. This study analyzed the chromosome numbers and karyomorphology of 11 cultivars across four species and also the DNA content of 10 cultivars representing six species of Lonicera. Among them, the chromosome numbers of nine cultivars are reported for the first time. Results showed that the basic chromosome number of x = 9 was constant, and chromosome numbers of 2n = 18, 27, 36, or 54 were observed, suggesting that polyploidy exists in the genus. Five cultivars are diploid with 2n = 18; one cultivar is triploid, four are tetraploid, and one is hexaploid. The karyotypes of all studied cultivars are 3B or 3A, except Lonicera sempervirens ‘Crimson Cascade’ that is 2B based on the Stebbins’ asymmetry classification of karyotypes. The asymmetry index (A1) values vary from 0.47 to 0.60. The chromosome lengths range from 0.77 to 4.09 μm. Total karyotype lengths differ from 33.55 to 78.71 μm. The 1C-value of 10 cultivars varies 3-fold, ranging from 1.158 to 3.664 pg. Information gathered from this study could be valuable for improving breeding efficiency in the development of new cultivars of Lonicera with enhanced medicinal, ornamental value, or both.