Brown Tips Research Articles

Benefits of the Moringa oleifera seed husk as bran for human consumption

Bran is the husk of cereals, crushed by grinding. It is a food that helps improving different symptoms, mainly for the digestive system. Moringa oleifera Lam. It is a plant with a high nutritional value, so the use of Moringa seed husk was evaluated for human consumption and for strengthening foods by producing bran. To characterize the Moringa seed husk for human consumption as bran and emphasize its benefits to health. The bran was produced by grinding Moringa oleifera Lam. seed husks with a sieve of 2.0mm. The proximal composition was made by infrared near spectrocospy. The determination of minerals and metals was done by the method PT-AQ-23 and moisture by the gravimetric method. The bran from Moringa seed husks, allowed to have a product with soft powder characteristics and a slightly sandy feel, of beige color with brown tips, discreetly bitter and fresh wood odor. From the nutritional point of view, it contributed the following compounds: fiber protein, starch and fat; everything comparable or superior to the contents in other bran of wheat, rice, oat and barley, among others. The bran from Moringa seed husk is a highly beneficial product for digestive health due to the quantity of fiber it provides, the high nutritional value of its other properties.

Confirmation of the existence of Himalayan long-eared bats, Plecotushomochrous (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), in China.

The existence of Himalayan long-eared bats, Plecotushomochrous (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), in China has not been previously confirmed. In this study, four bats captured with harp traps from two sites in the Maoershan National Nature Reserve in Guangxi, China were investigated. These bats have long, wide auricles, each with a prominent tragus. The length of each auricle is about the same as that of a forearm. Hairs on the ventral fur have a dark base with mixed grey and yellowish tips; those on the dorsal fur also have a dark base and are bicolored with brown tips. The thumbs are very short. A concavity is present in the front of the dorsal side of the cranium. Based on morphological characteristics and phylogeny using Cyt b gene sequences, these bats were identified as P.homochrous, thus confirming the existence of Himalayan long-eared bats in China.

A strong case of dilution in the Yellow-throated Toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus)

Plumage color aberrations are common in birds, but often it is difficult or even impossible to identify them properly in the field. Several of these aberrations are common, especially progressive greying, leucism and ino, although there is confusion among the different mechanisms. Other aberrations are rare or infrequently reported. Dilution, for example, refers to a reduced concentration of melanin granules that dilutes the color, although the pigment itself is not changed. It affects the entire plumage, rather than single feathers. The Yellow-throated Toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus) is predominantly black, and has feathers with brown tips, red under the tail coverts, and feathers above the tail are cream colored. It has a yellow bib covering the throat and chest with red band countering it, and the skin of the face is chartreuse. The Yellow-throated Toucan is most notable for its massive, bicolored bill. Here we report an apparent strong case of dilution in the Yellow-throated Toucan. An individual observed at La Unión, Guápiles on the Caribbean versant of Costa Rica on 10 October 2019 almost lacked melanin, but retained carotenoids. The tertials and some feathers on the rump were very light grey, suggesting strong dilution. We also discuss other possible explanations for this amazing coloration.

Curcuma yingdeensis (Zingiberaceae), a new species from China

A new species of Curcuma L. subg. Curcuma (Zingiberaceae), C. yingdeensis N. H. Xia & Juan Chen, is described and illustrated. The new species is similar to C. phaeocaulis Valeton, but distinguished by creamy to pale yellow-colored rhizomes, narrower leaf blades, laxer inflorescences, smaller flowers, pink coma bracts with purple tips, pale green fertile bracts with brown tips and purple dots at the adnate portion, and sub-orbicular labellum with rounded lobes and two pale purple lines at the base.

First Report of Japanese Apple Rust Caused by Gymnosporangium yamadae on Malus spp. in North America.

Plants in the genus Malus Mill. are grown in temperate regions for fruit crops such as apple and ornamental landscape plants such as flowering crab apple. Gymnosporangium yamadae Miyabe ex G. Yamada, cause of Japanese apple rust, is known to attack economically important species of Malus in Asia. In August 2004 and July 2008, the aecial stage of a rust fungus was observed in Wilmington, DE and nearby in Media, PA on leaves of toringo crab apple (Malus toringo (Siebold) Siebold ex de Vriese), a cultivated plant native to Asia. On the basis of morphological and molecular characteristics, the fungus was identified as G. yamadae. This pathogen has not been previously reported in North America. The identification was confirmed by morphological comparisons with specimens of G. yamadae from Asia and descriptions (1-3) as well as using the D1/D2 domain of 28S rDNA sequence data G. clavariiforme (GenBank Accession No. AR426211), G. clavipes (GenBank Accession No. DQ354545), G. cornutum (GenBank Accession No. AF426210), G. juniperi-virginianae (GenBank Accession Nos. AF522167, AY629316, and DQ354547), G. libocedri (GenBank Accession No. AF522168), G. sabinae (GenBank Accession Nos. AF426209 and AY512845) and G. yamadae (GenBank Accession Nos. FJ559373 and FJ559375). The specimens from North America included aecia of G. yamadae that are foliicolous, hypophyllous, roestelioid, and 4 to 7 mm high. The peridia are yellow-brown to brown and cornute to tubular with a closed brown tip at the apex and lacerate sides; the peridial remains often form a reticulate pattern. The peridial cells are long-narrow rhomboid, 83 to 120 μm long with smooth outer walls and verrucose to echinulate inner and side walls. The aeciospores are globose, 18 to 28 × 19 to 29 μm, with a slightly coronate surface and brown-yellow walls 2 to 3 μm thick. The telia known on Juniperus spp. were not observed. The specimens were deposited in the U.S. National Fungus Collections (BPI 878846, BPI 878847, BPI 878848, and BPI 878849). The 28S rDNA sequence of G. yamadae from BPI 878849 was deposited in GenBank as Accession No. FJ455091. Aecia of G. juniperi-virginianae, cause of cedar apple rust, differ from G. yamadae in having recurved peridial walls at maturity.

Apple Micrografting Protocol to Establish Transgenic Clones on Field Ready Rootstock

A protocol for micrografting shoot tips harvested from in vitro shoot cultures directly to transplanted rootstock plants in the greenhouse was developed. Shoot tips of the apple (Malus domestica) cultivars Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Fuji clone, Nagafu12, were harvested, stored in a water bath then prepared for grafting by cutting the stem immediately below the tip into a wedge shape leaving the tip approximately 3 mm (0.12 inch) long. The rootstock cultivar, Malling 9 (M.9) (M. domestica), was prepared by cutting into a young fast growing side branch to expose the cambium, creating a pocket into which the shoot tip was inserted. The cut section of the tip was oriented so as to contact the exposed rootstock cambium and was held in place by wrapping with a strip of pliable plastic film. Two weeks later the wrapping was loosened and the grafted branch cut back. Side branches of the rootstock were not removed until later in order to support rootstock growth. The scion shoots developed into nursery whips suitable for transplanting to a screen house or field after 2 months. The protocol proved to be a simple efficient way to rapidly grow nursery trees from tissue culture clones developed in genetic modification experiments and was used to propagate several hundred plants. Grafting success was often 100% but was reduced if quality of shoot tips was poor due to injury indicated by brown tip color. The protocol eliminates the steps of rooting, acclimatizing and growing shoots into plants to serve as a scion wood source.

First Report of Thyronectria austroamericana Canker on Thornless Honey Locust in North Carolina.

Specimens from a thornless honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis 'Shade Master') with cankers were submitted in May 1999 to the North Carolina State University Plant Disease and Insect Clinic by staff from the North Carolina Zoological Park (Asheboro). Abundant stromata of Gyrostroma austroamericana, the anamorph of Thyronectria austroamericana, were associated with the cankers. A visit to the Zoological Park during August 1999 revealed seven additional honey locust trees with multiple branch and stem cankers and dieback. All infected trees had perithecia of T. austroamericana and/or its anamorph. The fungus is distinguished by the large clusters of yellow-brown perithecia with dark brown tips produced on stromata emerging from lenticels, elliptical muriform ascospores, and sparse ascoconidia (1,2). Ascoconidia form as the result of ascospores budding within the ascus. Other trees of the cultivar are an integral part of the landscaping theme of the African Pavilion of the park, and park staff were concerned about disease spread. Infected trees were 8 years old, and several had evidence of sunscald cankers, a common infection court of T. austroamericana (2). Thornless cultivars of honey locust are popular landscape plants in the central and eastern United States and may be seriously affected by T. austroamericana (2). Apparently 'Shade Master' is very susceptible to the fungus and should not be used as a landscape tree, especially where the disease has been reported. This is the first report of T. austroamericana in North Carolina on any host. Voucher specimens have been deposited in the National Fungus Collection, Beltsville, MD (BPI 74693), and in the Mycological Herbarium, Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

First Report of Dothistroma septospora on Native Limber and Whitebark Pine in Montana.

Dothistroma septospora (Doroguine) Morelet (= Dothistroma pini Hulbary), the anamorph of Mycosphaerella pini Rostr. in Munk, has been reported to cause needle blight in 29 Pinus species and hybrids in North America, including limber pine (P. flexilis James) in plantings in Kansas, Nebraska, and Ohio. We are unaware of any reports of D. septospora on limber or whitebark pine (P. albicaulis Engelm.) growing within their native ranges in the western United States. In June 1997, limber and whitebark pine in Montana were observed with severe defoliation and symptoms typical of those caused by D. septospora: affected second- and third-year needles were green at the base with brown tips or reddish-brown spots or bands, and black fruiting bodies in discolored portions of needles. Symptomatic needles were collected in natural stands of limber pine at 22 locations representing 15 counties in central, south-central, and southwestern Montana, and whitebark pine at three locations representing two counties in the Crazy Mountains in south-central Montana. Approximately 20 needles and five stromata from each location were examined with dissecting and compound microscopes to observe morphological features. Stromata were black, linear, 150 to 1450 μm (average 650 μm) by 65 to 450 μm (average 190 μm), subepidermal, and erumpent. Conidiophores were hyaline and unbranched. Conidia were 16.0 to 23.5 μm (average 18.5 μm) by 3.0 to 4.1 μm (average 3.4 μm), hyaline, 3 to 5 septate, blunt at the ends, and slightly falcate. The fungus described above was found at all sample locations. The teleomorph, M. pini, was not observed. Symptom expression and mycological characteristics were consistent with Hulbary's lectotype (1) of D. pini (= D. septospora). This is the first report of D. septospora on limber and whitebark pine within the hosts' native ranges. Reference: (1) R. L. Hulbary. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv. Bull. 21:231, 1941.

Mink and pearl: new color mutants in the Norway rat.

Two new coat color mutants are described. These are mink (symbol m) and pearl (symbol Pe). Mink produces a light brown coat, with variable white undercolor, and is inherited as a recessive to type. Pearl produces both a white coat and one that is pale cream with variable dark brown tips to the hairs. Gene Pe is inherited as a dominant and is lethal when homozygous. The pearl gene is hypostatic to other color genes, and the phenotype is only produced in conjunction with mink in the genotype mmPe+. The agouti (A) and pearl loci are found to be closely linked, with a recombination percentage of 0.73 ± 0.42.

Intra-colony variation in the growth of Acropora formosa: extension rates and skeletal structure of white (zooxanthellae-free) and brown-tipped branches

The presence or absence of zooxanthellae near the tip of Acropora formosa branches is correlated with apical skeletal structure and extension rates. White (zooxanthellae-free) tips are lightly calcified, possess thin, widely spaced skeletal elements and bear only a few, poorly developed radial corallites. Brown tips are heavily calcified, possess smaller axial corallites and larger, more numerous radial corallites. White tips exhibit a range of normally distributed extension rates. Brown tips do not extend, but radial growth and internal calcification continue. These processes progressively alter the appearance and density of brown tipped branches. In addition, the axial corallite of brown tips becomes progressively smaller and is eventually indistinguishable from adjacent radial corallites. Although brown and white tips can change from one form to the other, with a corresponding change in extension rate, it is hypothesized that in brown tips with degenerated axial corallites, a new axial corallite must develop before extension can resume. Brown tips predominate in the interior of arborescent colonies, where space for continued extension is limited. They may therefore represent a means of coordination of growth within a colony. Field and experimental evidence suggest that brown tips may develop in response to micro-environmental conditions. White, zooxanthellae-free zones are also characteristic of other branched and plate-forming species, which exhibit rapid extension in a localized region of the colony.

Boron deficiency and toxicity symptoms for several crops as related to tissue boron levels

Abstract Boron deficiency symptoms in snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) showed as general yellowing of tops with slow flowering and pod formation, while toxicity caused reduced growth and burned dark brown older leaves especially on the edges. In radish (Raphanus sativus L.)f B deficiency resulted in roots which were brown upon cutting and had thick periderm. Even at 4 ppm applied B, no visible B toxicity was noted in radish. The plant tissue B levels of less than 9 to 12 ppm were associated with B deficiency in radish and beans; and greater than 125 ppm with B toxicity in beans. In tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill) B deficiency resulted in reduced growth while B toxicity at 4 ppm applied B caused poor and slow germination. Boron deficiency and toxlcity in tomatoes were related to < 12 and > 172 ppm B, respectively, in tissue. No B deficiency was noted in corn (Zea mays L.) and timothy (Phleum pratense L.). The B toxicity in these two crops appeared as marginal burning and dark brown tips of older leaves and was related to greater than 98 and 176 ppm tissue B in corn and timothy, respectively.

Effects of simulated acid rain on germination and early growth of Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine

Germination percentage of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) was reduced by 30% by severe acid-rain treatment (pH 2.0), and seedlings that germinated at pH 2.0 soon died from fungal attack. Less acidic treatments did not affect germination. Two-year-old seedlings of Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) planted in native granitic soil and sprayed for 12 weeks with acid (2∶3, sulfuric: nitric) at pH 5.6, 4.0, 3.0 and 2.0, also showed little effects except at pH 2.0. There were no significant differences (atp<0.05) between acid treatments for length and for dry weight of needles that developed during acid treatment. However, at pH 2.0, needles exhibited white acid burns, brown tips, and seedlings became limp and wilted; symptoms worsened with duration of treatment. Both new and old needles eventually died at pH 2.0. Implications of this study are discussed.

Brown Tip of Gladiolus Induced by Applications of Fertilizer Materials1

Abstract Exposing gladiolus plants to ozone in a closed chamber, to strong winds produced by fans, or to leaf mutilation at the base did not result in any serious leaf injury. Sodium nitrate or potassium chloride applied on exposed roots caused the development of necrotic leaf tips. Superphosphate dusted lightly on the leaves caused severe brown tip.

Brown Tip of Gladiolus Induced by Applications of Fertilizer Materials1

Abstract Exposing gladiolus plants to ozone in a closed chamber, to strong winds produced by fans, or to leaf mutilation at the base did not result in any serious leaf injury. Sodium nitrate or potassium chloride applied on exposed roots caused the development of necrotic leaf tips. Superphosphate dusted lightly on the leaves caused severe brown tip.

Leafy Spurge Seed Maturation

As the seeds of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) increase in age after fertilization, their color changes from yellow to yellow with brown tips, to brown ends with a narrow yellow band, to brown with an orange band, and to a reddish-brown seed, followed in order by brown, gray-brown, gray, and finally, mottled. The last four are viable; the others are not. Mowing of leafy spurge to prevent viable seed production must be done before seeds have turned brown. Brown seeds appeared 10 to 13 days after fertilization depending upon seasonal conditions.

Some Rare Abnormalities in Liverworts

Superficially greatly like some of our saxicolous Hefia. BUELLIA RETROVERTENS Tuckerm. Syn. N. A. Li. II, 1888, p. 89. Thallus of small, whitish, round to angular convex squamules, separate and even more or less scattered, their circumference sometimes crenulate or sublobular. Reaction of cortex wiLh KHO yellow, Ca (CI O) 2 gives no reaction; hypothallus black; apothecia one half to one millimeter wide, subimmersed, becoming sessile; disk black, naked, from flat with a thin subcrenulate, concolorous margin, becoming convex and the margin obscured; epithecium subcontinuous, dark brown; thecium colorless, with iodine blue; paraphyses coherent, clavate at the brown tips; hypothecium brown, nearly as dark as the epithecium; asci inflated clavate to subventricose; spores in eight's, bilocular, ellipsoid and oblong-ellipsoid, brown, o.o013 to o.oi6pu long, o.oo6 to o.oo8p, thick. On trap rock, Santa Monica Mts. Sawtelle, California.