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Acidifying soil to prevent annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.) from infesting creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Hud.) reduces soil P and Ca availability. This study examined Ca and P effects on the growth of these two grasses in four moderately acidic soils using CaSO4 as a Ca source. Each soil received four P rates (0, 10, 40, or 80 mg·kg-1) and three Ca (as CaSO4) rates (0, 400, or 800 mg·kg-1). Neither Ca nor P treatments substantially changed pH or exchangeable soil Al. Clipping yields, tissue P concentration, and P uptake of both grasses were affected by soil NaHCO3-P levels. Compared to bentgrass, annual bluegrass had higher clipping yields and P uptake at high P rates or high NaHCO3-P levels; this result indicates that annual bluegrass was as acid-tolerant as the bentgrass, provided that available P in the soil is adequate. Adding CaSO4 to the Papac soil, which contained the least amount of exchangeable Ca among the four soils, markedly enhanced the clipping tissue P concentration and P uptake of creeping bentgrass but not those of annual bluegrass; this result indicates that a differential response to Ca existed between the two grasses. Maintaining an adequate soil Ca availability was necessary to improve bentgrass growth, particularly for the acid soil containing low available Ca initially.
Cadmium (Cd) concentrations in some phosphorus (P) fertilizers may be high enough to cause significant Cd accumulation in plants. A 2-year field experiment was conducted on a Sultan silt loam (Aquandic Xerochrept) to determine how the availability to cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) of Cd from a triple superphosphate (TSP) and a western phosphate rock (PR) was affected by rate of Cd input and liming. A water-soluble Cd salt, CdCl2, was included for comparison. Cucumber vine growth increased with increasing TSP application rates but was unaffected by the application of PR or CdCl2. Cucumber fruit yield, however, was unaffected by the application of either P fertilizer or CdCl2. Concentrations of Cd in cucumber vine or fruit responded to increased Cd inputs from PR, TSP, or CdCl2, and the vine was the primary sink for Cd that accumulated in the plant. Both vine and fruit Cd correlated better with soil total Cd than with labile Cd extractable by 0.05 m CaCl2 or DTPA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid). A unique characteristic of cucumber vine- or fruit-Cd is that it was unaffected (P > 0.05) by lime rate and Cd source and not closely related to labile or exchangeable Cd as measured by 0.05 m CaCl2, in contrast to previous findings for other vegetable or grain crops. Root exudates could have controlled the solubility of Cd in the soil. The low availability of Cd from these sources to the plant was evidenced by the low uptake coefficient of Cd (0.461 to 1.059) from the soil to the cucumber fruit and low Cd recovery (0.43%) in both vine and fruit of Cd added.
Abstract
Axillary buds of heading Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. Pekinensis group) cultured on a modified Murashige-Skoog medium containing 0.1 mg/liter 6-benzylamino purine and 1 mg/liter naphthalene acetic acid produced roots within 2 weeks. Plantlets grew into true-to-source plants when transplanted to soil in the greenhouse.
Abstract
Seed yield of Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris ssp. pekinensis Rupr.) was studied at 34–37/22–24°C (day/night) temperatures applied at different growth stages. High temperatures at first anthesis and immediately after pollination diminished seed yield mainly through reduction in seed number. Hand pollination with pollen grains from plants reared under normal temperature improved seed yield of the plant heated at first anthesis. Both male and female gametogeneses appeared to be affected by high temperature based on seed set, but the most drastic effect of high temperature on seed yield occurred after pollination. In vitro pollen viability tests indicated that the optimum temperature for pollen grain germination and pollen tube growth was 20°. Temperatures below 16° or above 28° reduced pollen grain germination and pollen tube growth mainly because of an increase in burst pollen grains.
An abscission agent (5-chloro-3-methyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole [CMNP]) at 300 mg·L–1 in a volume of 2810 L·ha–1 was applied to Valencia orange trees [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.] on 22 May 2004. At this time, immature and mature fruit were present on the tree simultaneously. Three days after application, fruit were mechanically harvested using a trunk-shake-and-catch system. The power to the shaker head was operated at full- or half-throttle (FT or HT, respectively), and the duration of trunk shaking was 2 seconds at FT or 4 seconds at FT and HT. Mature fruit removal percentage and number of immature fruit removed, and fruitlet weight and diameter were determined. Mature fruit removal percentage with 2 seconds at FT or 4 seconds at FT harvesting ±CMNP, or 4 seconds at HT + CMNP was not significantly different and ranged between 89% to 97%. Harvesting at 4 seconds HT without CMNP removed significantly less mature fruit than any treatment. CMNP did not affect immature fruit removal by the trunk shaker. Harvesting at 4 seconds at HT removed significantly less immature fruit than 2 seconds at FT or 4 seconds at FT. No significant difference in fruitlet weight or diameter was measured between any trunk shaker harvest operation and CMNP treatment. Trunk shaking frequency was estimated to be 4.8 and 8.0 Hz at HT and FT, respectively. Yield in 2005 was determined on the same trees used for harvest treatments in 2004. CMNP did not impact yield. No significant difference in yield was seen between the hand-picked control and 4 seconds at HT, whereas yield in the remaining treatments was lower. The results demonstrate that CMNP application combined with low frequency trunk shaker harvesting can achieve high percentage of mature fruit removal with no significant impact on return yield of the following crop.
Abstract
The distribution of 14C-photosynthates was examined in pot-grown Tainan-1 mung bean plants (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek var. radiata). Whole plants were assimilated with 14CO2 at anthesis, and at 7 and 17 days after anthesis. The 14C-photosynthate fixed at anthesis was retained mostly in the vegetative tissue. However, of the 14C-photosynthate fixed at early pod development stage (i.e. 7 days after anthesis), 15-26% of the assimilated 14C was detected in the reproductive tissue within 24 hours after exposure, whereas about 43% was detected at maturity (i.e. 38 days after anthesis). When plants with full grown pods (i.e. 17 days after anthesis) were treated, 70% of the 14C was detected in the reproductive tissue 24 hours after exposure and at maturity.
Abstract
High temperature tended to aggravate injury caused to tomato plants by flooding. Based on plant responses such as chlorosis, epinasty, and wilting, less than 0.2% (8 of 4630 accessions) of the world collection of the garden tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and related Lycopersicon species exhibited some level of tolerance to a short period of flooding associated with high temperature. The level of flood tolerance in one of the 8 flood tolerant accessions, L-123, was found to be less than that of 7 other vegetables tested.
Petal opening and senescence of cut Gladiolus, Iris, and Narcissus flowers was significantly inhibited by continuous treatment with 1 mm CHI. Vase life was doubled in individual flowers treated when half-open, and a similar effect was detected after pulsing cut gladiolus spikes with 1 mm CHI for 24 hours. Petal wilting was markedly inhibited in flowers treated with CHI and was confined to the outer 2 to 3 mm of petal margins as opposed to the entire petal in untreated flowers. These effects were not seen, however, in CHI-treated cut tulip flowers, where vase life was significantly reduced. CHI markedly inhibited protein synthesis in Gladiolus `New Rose' florets (a decrease of >60%). Treatment with a potent biocide, DICA, did not increase vase life; therefore, CHI was not prolonging flower longevity by preventing microbial growth in the vase solution. The results indicate that de novo protein synthesis is required for bulb flower development and opening and petal wilting and senescence. Chemical names used: cycloheximide (CHI), sodium dichloroisocyanuric acid (DICA).
Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), a heterogeneous complex of whitefly-vectored geminiviruses, is a serious production constraint of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) in Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas. In this study we report on mapping of a DNA fragment introgressed into cultivated tomato presumably from the wild species L. hirsutum Humb. and Bonpl. and found to be associated with TYLCV resistance. To locate introgressions of wild tomato alleles in TYLCV-resistant tomato line H24, its DNA was digested with six restriction enzymes and probed with 90 RFLP markers evenly spaced throughout the genome. This polymorphism survey revealed the presence of one wild tomato introgression each on chromosomes 8 and 11. Plants of a F2 cross between H24 and a susceptible tomato line were probed with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RFLP) markers linked to the targeted regions and F3 families were developed by self-pollination of F2 plants that carried none, one, or both introgressions in either homozygous or heterozygous states. Plants of F3 families, parents, and control tomato line Ty52 (homozygous for the Ty-1 allele for TYLCV tolerance) were exposed to viruliferous whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) in greenhouses at the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center, Taiwan, and the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India. Results indicated that F3 families homozygous for the introgression on chromosome 11 were resistant to TYLCV at both locations. Additional probing showed that the chromosome 11 introgression spanned markers TG36 to TG393, covering a distance of at least 14.6 centimorgans. This is the first report of TYLCV resistance in tomato mapped to chromosome 11.