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China is poised to make a substantial leap in blueberry production within the next ten years. This paper reviews the history of blueberry introduction and evaluation in China, current distribution, potential growing areas, the species and cultivars involved, propagation studies, production and projected market potential. Rabbiteye varieties introduced in 1987 to the Nanjing Botanical Garden have many years of production data. Nursery propagation and multiplication is a success. Rabbiteye blueberries with over 10 years of evaluation include Baldwin, Brightwell, Centurion, Choice, Climax, Delite, Gardenblue, Powderblue, Premier, Tifblue, and Woodard. There are many regions in the Southern belt of China adapted to blueberries, provided specific soil and climatic preferences are present. The potential for a large domestic fresh and processed blueberry industry appears enormous. Economic gains in China and the entire Pacific rim has resulted in a large population of health-conscious citizens with disposable income. China appears uniquely poised in the region to greatly expand production. This paper will review a number of business efforts underway—both private and joint ventures—that will soon reach full commercial production.
Root and foliar applications of 24-epibrassinolide (EBL), an immobile phytohormone with antistress activity, were evaluated for their effects on reducing fusarium wilt and their influence on antioxidant and phenolic metabolism in roots of cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Jinyan No. 4). EBL pretreatment significantly reduced disease severity together with improved plant growth and reduced losses in biomass regardless of application methods. EBL treatments significantly reduced pathogen-induced accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), flavonoids, and phenolic compounds, activities of defense-related and ROS-scavenging enzymes. The enzymes included superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, guaiacol peroxidase, catalase as well as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and polyphenoloxidase. There was no apparent difference between two application methods used. EBL applications triggered a slight increase in H2O2 concentration followed by increases in the transcript levels of WRKY transcription factor and defense-related genes. This study demonstrated that EBL enhanced resistance to fusarium wilt by a novel mechanism that was not related to its active transport or increase in antioxidant system.
The native species of Vaccinium are distributed in both northeast and south of China but more species are in the South. Ecologically, there is a vast territory in the South with acidic soils and plenty of precipitation and warm weather. On the other hand in the northeast regions temperature in winter is usually a problem for cultivated blueberries and protection from freezing is necessary for young plantations. Based on the result of introduction of cultivars, including rabbiteye, southern highbush and lowbush blueberries, in both northern and southern parts in China during the last 2 decades authors suggested that the most prospective regions for blueberry growing could be mostly in south of China. In the between of the two regions the natural ecological conditions are not appropriate for blueberry growing but plantations under plastic film appeared relatively vigorous. 12 rabbiteye blueberry cultivars have been tested in the south and the performance of growth and fruiting are good. It is expected that the average of yield could reach about 15 t·ha–1. The quality of fruits is similar to that of the natives in North America. Up to now there are less insects and diseases damages. It seems that the regions in the south of Changjiang (Yangtze) River provide good conditions for blueberry commercial growing.
Blueberries are now the hot point of fruit development in China. Researches conducted in the past since 1980s include mainly introduction and propagation. More than 30 cultivars of rabbiteye blueberries and southern highbush blueberries were introduced successfully in the Nanjing Botanical garden in late 1980s. For dormant cuttings of 4 rabbiteye blueberry cultivars Gardenblue, Tifblue, Climax, and Premier the rooting percentage could reach 84%, 52%, 62%, and 79% respectively under interrupted misting. Lignification of the cuttings seemed the key point for rooting. For soft cuttings the rooting percentage can reach 90% to 95% with chemical treatments. Seedling selection has been conducted and some promising individuals are under observation. So far, there were little experiments on cultural practice under taken. But looking at the difference of soils between the blueberry growing areas in the US and China it seems that there are a series of aspects should be researched in the future.
Salvia splendens is a widely used ornamental bedding plant; however, the limited propagation method has decreased its quality and yield. Through years of selection, we have obtained a new variety of S. splendens with weak apical dominance and named it as ‘Cailinghong’. To establish an effective method for regeneration of S. splendens ‘Cailinghong’, different explants, including leaves, receptacles, petioles, stem nodes, and stem segments were used for adventitious bud induction. Next, various combinations of plant growth regulators (PGRs) were selected for bud and root induction, which were assessed by adventitious bud initiation rate and proliferation rate, as well as root induction rate. Meanwhile, the survival rate of transplanted plantlets was also calculated. As a result, stem nodes were found easy to be induced to form buds, and the optimum medium component was 1/2 Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.45 µM naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), 8.88 µM 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA), and 2.46 µM 3-indolebutyric acid (IBA) for plantlets induction, whereas 1/4 MS medium supplemented with 2.23 µM NAA for root induction. Furthermore, the survival rate of transplanted plantlets was up to 80%, and all regenerated plantlets were normal in phenotype. Therefore, cultured in 1/2 MS medium with combined PGRs, whole plantlet of S. splendens ‘Cailinghong’ could be regenerated directly from stem node.
Pedicularis rex C. B. Clarke ex Maxim., an endemic species with potential horticultural traits from Himalaya, has a unique cup-like petiole structure and highly infraspecific floral variation among members of the lousewort genus (Orobanchaceae). We developed 13 microsatellite markers from three microsatellite-enriched libraries (AG, AC, and AAG) of P. rex with a modified biotin–streptavidin capture technique. Polymorphism of each locus was assessed in 22 individuals with representation of five populations of P. rex. Number of alleles per locus (A) ranged from two to seven with an average of 4.38. The observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0.03 to 0.86 and 0.45 to 0.84, respectively. Additionally, among the 13 identified microsatellite markers, 11 of them were successfully amplified in species P. thamnophila, and five of them showed polymorphisms. This study may provide important information for further investigation on the population genetics, introduction, and acclimatization of P. rex and its congeners.
The autotoxicity of root exudates and the change of rhizosphere soil microbes are two important factors that affect the quality and yield of Lanzhou lily (Lilium davidii var. unicolor). Phthalic acid (PA) is a major autotoxin of the root exudates in Lanzhou lily. In this study, we treated plants with different concentrations of PA from the Lanzhou lily root exudates and then analyzed the effects of autotoxins on fresh weight, shoot height, root length, and Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity in root. The diversity of soil fungi in Lanzhou lily soil was analyzed using MiSeq. The results showed that PA induced oxidative stress and oxidative damage of Lanzhou lily roots, improved the level of the membrane lipid peroxidation, reduced the content of antioxidant defense enzyme activity and the nonenzymatic antioxidant, and eventually inhibited the growth of the Lanzhou lily. We found that continuous cropping of Lanzhou lily resulted in an increase in fungal pathogens, such as Fusarium oxysporum in the soil, and reduced the size of plant-beneficial bacteria populations. The results in this study indicate that continuous cropping would damage the regular growth of Lanzhou lily.