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Excessive bicarbonate concentrations and high irrigation water pH affect the growth and appearance of nursery plants in southern Florida. A greenhouse experiment consisting of five nitrogen (N) rates of urea or nitric acid was conducted to evaluate the influence of N sources and rates in irrigation water on bicarbonate concentrations, medium pH, and growth and appearance of anthurium (Anthurium andraeanum Lind.) plants. Pot medium pH, dry weight, plant appearance and N uptake by plants were significantly affected by N rates in irrigation water amended with either liquid urea or nitric acid, but the differences between the two N sources were not significant. The optimum growth and the best appearance of anthurium were achieved when N was added to irrigation well water as either urea or nitric acid at a rate of 20 mg·L-1 (ppm) and an electrical conductivity in a range of 0.36 to 0.42 dS·m-1 Nitrogen rates at 80 and 120 mg·L-1 induced adverse plant growth because of the greater salinity of the solutions and the lower pH of the medium.
2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, electrical conductivity, and electrical impedance (Z) analyses were used to assess freezing injury of `Beautiful Arcade' apple (Malus ×domestica Borkh.) roots taken in late March from either the field or 3C-refrigerated storage (cold-stored). Lethal temperature (LT50) levels using TTC or electrical conductivity occurred at colder temperatures than those found using Z. Techniques varied in their ability to detect changes in cell viability with increasing cold stress. Listed in order of decreasing responsiveness they are electrical impedance (Z), electrical conductivity, and TTC vital staining. With the most sensitive technique, Z, two parameters—extracellular and total tissue electrical resistance—were about five and eight times lower (indicating more injury) for roots from the field than from cold storage. The smaller values obtained from the field roots were probably due to natural in-field freeze-thaw cycling before the controlled cold-stress tests in the laboratory. More importantly, the impedance technique provided more detailed information than TTC or electrical conductivity about how apple roots respond to cold stress and how Z may provide some insight into freeze-thaw history before injury assessment. Although this technique shows potential, future studies are required to render a complete physiological significance to the impedance parameters involved in calculating Z.
2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and electrical impedance (?) analyses of apple roots (Malus domestica Borkh. `Beautiful Arcade') taken in late March from either the field or from 3C refrigerated storage (cold-stored). LT50 levels using TTC were much lower than those found using electrical impedance. No loss of viability in the roots was detectable using TTC staining until a freeze–thaw stress of –9C whereas? analysis detected changes in cell viability after a freeze–thaw stress of only –3C. With increasing cold stress, two parameters: extracellular electrical resistance (Ro) and time constant?, decreased linearly for cold-stored roots and exponentially for field roots. Impedance analysis also revealed that the values for both extracellular Ro and total tissue electrical resistance (R?) for the field roots were approximately 5 and 8 times lower, respectively, than in the cold-stored roots. It is believed that the smaller Ro and R? values obtained from the field roots were due to natural in-field freeze–thaw cycling prior to the controlled stress tests in the laboratory. Based on the analyses of winter hardiness using the two methods, the impedance technique? provided the physiological information not only about the hardiness level, but also about freeze–thaw history prior to the hardiness assessment.
Genetic diversity of Narcissus was systematically studied on both morphological and molecular levels. Twenty-four characteristics of nine narcissi were observed and their differences evaluated by clustering method. The results showed that nine narcissi can be divided into two subclusters: one comprised by Narcissus pseudonarcissus, the other by Chinese Narcissus. The morphological diversity among five cultivars of N. pseudonarcissus is higher than that among four ecotypes of Chinese Narcissus (Narcissus tazetta var. chinensis). There are seven morphological characteristics in N. pseudonarcissus presenting obvious variations with coefficients from 33.33% to 91.67%. Only five morphological characteristics in Chinese Narcissus present certain variations with coefficients from 37.04% to 51.79%. On DNA level, two clusters are distantly related too. Based on the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers, 13 out of 40 random primers yielded scorable polymorphisms between samples. Wide variations in banding profiles between cultivars or between ecotypes were observed with nearly every primer tested. Among 95 band positions that were scored for all the 9 narcissi, 81 are polymorphic (85.26%). Cluster analysis of the calculated similarity matrix revealed that the genetic diversity between these individuals within the same section is low. However, the genetic diversity between two sections is obviously higher. Taken together, the methods combined morphological characteristics and RAPD technique allow a deep evaluation of the variation of Narcissus on both section level and cultivar/ecotype level.
The floral homeotic C-function gene AGAMOUS (AG) has been shown to be critical in the determination of stamen and carpel identity in Arabidopsis. In the present study, a new homologue of AGAMOUS gene from pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch], denoted by CiAG, was isolated and its function was characterized. The complementary DNA (cDNA) of CiAG contains an open reading frame of 687 base pairs (bp) encoding 227 amino acids. Multiple sequence comparisons revealed that CiAG had the typical MIKC structure. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that CiAG is closely related to C-lineage AG. The expression of CiAG was highly accumulated in the reproductive tissues (staminate flowers, pistillate flowers, and fruitlets) than in vegetative tissues (leaves and current-growth branches). Arabidopsis overexpressing CiAG exhibited earlier flowering. The homeotic transformations of petals into stamen organs were observed in 35S::CiAG transgenic plants. All these results indicated that CiAG plays a key role in the process of flower development of pecan.
The effects of different pollen sources on fruit and seed characteristics of Paeonia ostii ‘Feng Dan’ were investigated using analysis of three different pollination treatments and pollen sources from fifteen cultivars in two successive years. The results showed that self-pollination decreased fruit setting, the number of seeds per fruit, seed volume, seed and kernel weights, and the linoleic acid (LA) concentration in the seed oil, but increased the concentration of oleic acid (OA) compared with cross-pollination. Among those pollen donors, P. suffruticosa ‘Yinhong Qiaodui’ produced the highest fruit set (87.5%); the lowest fruit set was obtained with P. suffruticosa ‘Mo Run Jue Lun’ (44.33%). The most seeds per fruit were achieved by P. suffruticosa ‘Mochi Jin Hui’. P. suffruticosa ‘Dahong Baozhu’ produced the largest fruit, which contained larger and heaviest seeds. The oil extraction ratio (26% to 31.6%) and the concentration of three major unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) in seed oil also significantly differed among pollen sources. The content of OA, LA, and α-linolenic acid (ALA) ranged from 13.82 to 24.79, 12.09 to 21.84, and 23.50 to 38.64 g/100 g crude oil, respectively. Overall, pollen source has clear effects on seed yield and even on fatty acid (FA) composition of seed oil in tree peony.
Ginkgo biloba, a relict plant, has been popularized and planted in most areas of China for its leaves, timber, and fruits. In the present study, the dynamic changes in leaf color, leaf pigment content during the color change period, and photosynthetic characteristics in different growth periods were studied to explore the coloring mechanism and adaptability of five late-deciduous superior Beijing G. biloba cultivars (LD1–LD5). The results showed that the leaf color change of each superior cultivar was relatively stable, and the discoloration period of LD3 and LD5 was later than that of others. From September to November, the chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll content in all superior cultivars showed a downward trend, except in LD3, in which the pigment content was slightly higher in October than in September. Except in LD3 and LD4, the ratio of carotene content to total chlorophyll content in other cultivars slightly decreased in October. In May, the photosynthetic capacity of LD5 was stronger than that of other cultivars. The photosynthetic capacity of LD3 was strong in July and October. Our results imply that LD3 and LD5 are suitable for mixed planting with common G. biloba to increase the overall leaf color viewing period. Ginkgo biloba leaves turn yellow in autumn because of both a decrease in the chlorophyll content after leaf senescence and an increase in the Car content during leaf senescence. Although LD5 presented rapid seedling emergence, LD3 grew faster during the vigorous and late growth stages and is thus suitable for agricultural production.
Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are valuable for genetic and breeding applications, but SSR resources for the ornamental genus chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum ×morifolium Ramat.) are still limited. Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) are sources of SSRs that represent an opportunity to develop SSRs to accelerate molecular breeding in chrysanthemum. In total, 4661 SSR loci were identified from 3823 SSR-containing unigenes in the chrysanthemum transcriptome with an average of one SSR per 6.98 kb. Of these SSR sequences, trinucleotide repeats (30.0%) predominated, followed by dinucleotide repeats (17.9%). In total, 1584 primer pairs were subsequently synthesized. By screening the parents and six individuals of the F1 progeny, 831 (52.5%) valid EST-SSR markers were identified, of which 361 (43.4%) were polymorphic. The annotation of unigenes containing polymorphic SSRs indicated that 330 (93.5%) demonstrated significant homology to other plant protein sequences. Twenty-five polymorphic EST-SSR markers were further selected for transferability analysis and exhibited 93% amplification in six Ajania species and six other Chrysanthemum species. Based on genotyping of the 59 samples, neighbor-joining analysis revealed six phylogenetic groupings, which was confirmed by population structure analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). Phylogenetic relationships among the 59 samples revealed by SSRs were highly consistent with the traditional taxonomic classification of Chrysanthemum and Ajania. The polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.29 to 0.86, with a mean of 0.67, indicating high levels of informativeness. This research reveals the SSR distribution characteristics of chrysanthemum and provides a large number of new EST-SSR markers for further genetic diversity studies, genetic mapping, and molecular marker-assisted selection breeding for chrysanthemum.