Search Results
Ethylene production in stem tissues of red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea L.) following heat treatment was determined at several growth stages. Ethylene production of heat-stressed stem tissue depended on the stage of development and was a function of the degree of stress. During active growth and early endodormancy, heat stress of stem tissues stimulated ethylene production, reaching a peak at 40C, followed by a steady decrease at higher temperatures. Highest ethylene levels from stressed tissues occurred in May, July, September, and March. Only a trace amount of ethylene was produced during endodormancy to ecodormancy (late October to January) from stressed and nonstressed stem tissues. Applying ACC to stem segments at late endodormancy (December) or applying methionine and IAA to stem segments at maximum endodormancy (November) enhanced ethylene production of both nonstressed and heat-stressed stem tissues. Chemical names used: 1 H- indole-3-acetic acid (IAA); 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC).
Although the size of pot mums can be controlled with retardants, the use of such chemicals may become limited. Genetically dwarfing current cultivars may be an alternative. Using a construct including a chimeric oat phytochrome structural gene, tobacco phenotypes have been produced that strongly resemble retardant-treated plants. We wished to insert this construct in mum by using particle bombardment and determine the effects on plant size and flowering dynamics. A target system was developed using `Iridon' mum leaf sections regenerated on an IAA/BA medium. Shoots developed from surface cells principally at the cut edges. Regenerates were grown-on through flowering and no visual aberrations were apparent. Levels of 50 to 100 mg/l kanamycin were inhibitory to bud development. Sections were exposed to gene transfer and shoots recovered that appear resistant to kanamycin. Some appear chimeric while others appear to be escapes stimulated by a `feeder' effect from nearby transformed cells. Further analyses will determine whether some plants are stably transformed. (Supported by a Duffett Research Grant from Yoder Brothers, Inc.)
Abstract
Hydrogen cyanamide or hot-water treatment (47C) for 1 hr at the 250°GS (Growth Stage) effectively broke rest in dogwood buds within 10 to 12 days. At this growth stage, control plants grown at 25/18C (day/night) maintained an LT50 of –25C throughout the 3-week study period, whereas plants treated with H2CN2 or hot water gradually lost hardiness. After 3 weeks at 5/2C (day/night), the control plants hardened to a hardiness (LT50) of –45C, and H2CN2-treated plants maintained an LT50 of –25C. The results demonstrate that the extent of acclimation and deacclimaton of dogwood plants may be influenced by environmental temperatures and rest status.