Pollination Research Articles

Floral visiting bees of Humiria balsamifera var. floribunda (Humiriaceae) and its pollen transport network, in a restinga environment

ABSTRACT The flowers of Humiria balsamifera var. floribunda were monitored for 1 year in an area of restinga on the Brazilian coast to describe the richness of visiting bees, temporal distribution of visits, and how they transport its pollen in the community. The plant showed continuous flowering and bees were seen foraging nectar throughout the year. A total of 1,231 individuals belonging to 17 bee species were collected. The highest frequencies belonged to social species (Melipona subnitida, Apis mellifera, Melipona fasciculata) and Xylocopa cearensis. In general, bee visits were positively correlated to increased flowering intensity of the plant. The most frequent species increased their visitation frequency throughout the day, which may be related to optimal foraging decisions. Twenty-two pollen types were identified on the bee bodies. Social bees presented the highest loads of monofloral H. balsamifera pollen, which contributed to greater cross pollination success of this plant. The network structure was nested, which demonstrates the plant’s potential to stabilize the pollination system. Thus, as a generalist plant, H. balsamifera helps maintain bees in the restinga, which is currently an environment severely threatened by anthropic actions.

Effect of pollen source on some fruit characteristics of exotic pear (Pyrus communis L.) cv. carmen and abate Fetel

A research experiment was conducted on two fruit bearing exotic cultivars “Carmen” and “Abate Fetel” of pear (Pyrus communis L.). The treatments included self, open and cross pollination of these two maternal parents with seven pollinizers viz., “William Bartlett”, “Fertility”, “Clapp’s Favourite”, “Chinese Sandy Pear”, “Max Red Bartlett”, “Kings Pear” and “Beurre de Amanalis”. The design of experiment was RCBD with three replications and the number of treatment combinations were 18. Pollen source affected the fruit colour significantly, wherein the highest value of red colour based on ‘a’ value was recorded with the pollen of “Max Red Bartlett” in the combination ‘Carmen × Max Red Bartlett’ (a=25.81) whereas, it was lowest with the pollen of “Kings Pear” (a=-16.63) in the combination ‘Abate Fetel × Kings Pear’, fruit shape, pedicle length and number of lenticles remain unaffected with the pollenizers used, however, sensory characteristics varied significantly with the pollenizers used.

Wound Healing Effects of Aloe muth-muth: In Vitro Investigations Using Immortalized Human Keratinocytes (HaCaT).

Simple SummaryAloe muth-muth is a cross-bred species cultivated from the well-known Aloe plants, namely Aloe vera and Aloe ferox through forced pollination. Considering that Aloe plants were traditionally widely used for treatment of wounds and skin lesions, Aloe muth-muth was also thought to have possible wound healing properties. Therefore, this study tested the ability of parts from the Aloe muth-muth plant to improve the closure of wounds induced in human skin cell layers grown in an incubator in a laboratory. Both the whole leave material and the inner gel-like part of this plant were tested for wound healing properties. It was found that the Aloe muth-muth gel part taken from the leaves possesses very high wound healing activity and can possibly be used in future wound treatments. The traditional use of Aloe spp. for the purpose of wound healing has a long history and is widespread internationally. Recently, a hybrid aloe plant (Aloe muth-muth) has been cultivated by cross pollination between Aloe vera and Aloe ferox. The Aloe muth-muth plant has not yet been investigated for medicinal properties and provides an opportunity for potential biological activity, including wound healing. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro wound healing effects of both Aloe muth-muth gel and whole leaf material with the use of the immortalized human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cell line. Cell viability was conducted using methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assays. In vitro wound healing was tested on HaCaT cells using an established scratch assay method. The effect of Aloe muth-muth gel material on HaCaT cell migration was also investigated. Aloe muth-muth gel material exhibited statistically significantly (p < 0.05) higher percentage wound closure compared to the control at all three concentrations investigated. These findings confirm that this newly cultivated species, Aloe muth-muth, also possesses wound healing activity corresponding to that reported for the two species it is derived from, namely, Aloe vera and Aloe ferox. Therefore, Aloe muth-muth has the potential to be used in future wound therapeutics.

Wild bee pollination in Grewia flavescens Juss.

Grewia flavescens Juss. is an underutilised fruit species found throughout semi-arid and sub-humid parts of the world including India. For the first time, an attempt was made to study the role of different flower visitors on fruit set of G. flavescens. We have recorded different floral visitors, activity patterns, foraging behavior and their role in fruit set. A total of 25 species of floral visitors were recorded, of which Megachilidae (48.35%) was the most abundant group followed by Apidae (27.21%), Halictidae (10.29%) and others (14.15%). Among floral visitors, the foraging rate and foraging speed of Megachile and Xylocopa were studied. They were also effective in depositing more pollen on the stigmatic surface per visit than other flower visitors. Fruit-set was higher (71.42%) in open pollinated flowers than in artificial-cross pollinated (68.33%). Whereas, artificially-selfed and pollinator excluded flowers resulted in the lowest fruit-set (22.22% and 8.95%, respectively). G. flavescens is a self-compatible species but favouring cross pollination and also exhibited delayed self pollination to ensure reproductive success in the absence of an effective pollinator.

Application of Modified Flower Pollination Algorithm to Multiple Vehicle Routing Problems with Time Constraints

The aim of this research is to apply the modified flower pollination algorithm (MoFPA) to the multiplevehicle routing problems (MVRP) with the time constraints. As one of the latest enhanced versions of the originalflower pollination algorithm (FPA), the MoFPA utilizes the randomly switching probability for selection betweenlocal (self) and global (cross) pollinations in order to search for the better solutions and improve its searchperformance. In this paper, the MoFPA is applied to solve the MVRP problems with the time constraints basedon the modern optimization approach. Ten standard MVRP problems with the time constraints consisting ofapproximately 100–500 destinations are selected and solved by the MoFPA. Results obtained by the MoFPA arecompared with those obtained by original FPA, genetic algorithm (GA), tabu search (TS) and particle swarmoptimization (PSO). Results reveals that the MoFPA can provide optimal solutions of all ten selected MVRPproblems with shorter total distance than FPA, PSO, TS and GA, respectively. In addition, the execution timeconsumed by FPA and MoFPA are less than PSO, TS and GA, respectively.

Responses of Watsonia fourcadei and other geophytes to burning and slashing treatments in South Outeniqua Sandstone Fynbos

The often mass flowering of Watsonia and other geophyte species in the first year after a fire in the South African fynbos vegetation is well known, but it has rarely been quantified. Many fynbos geophytes also flower after the fynbos canopy was physically removed, but these flowering responses have also not been quantified. A study comparing the flowering response of geophytes after physical removal versus fire removal of the fynbos canopy was conducted to establish to what degree these species are fire dependant. It was also done to improve our understanding of fynbos geophyte ecology, especially towards establishing if the flowering response of these plants is due to fire related factors per se, or not.Vegetative growth, flowering response, seed set and seedling establishment of Watsonia fourcadei were recorded after two treatments, burning and physical removal of vegetation (slashing) in two veld ages (5- and 16 years). Responses of other co-occurring geophytic species to these treatments were also recorded. The number of vegetatively active W. fourcadei plants doubled and flowering percentage increased from 2.3% to 38.7% in the first year after the fire. In the second year after the fire the number of vegetatively active W. fourcadei plants was similar to those in the first year after the fire, but flowering percentage decreased to pre-fire levels. About 50% of W. fourcadei plants were dormant 5 years after the fire and > 90% were dormant in 16-year old fynbos. Flowering percentages of W. fourcadei in slashed 5-year old fynbos did not differ significantly from burned 16-year old fynbos. The flowering stimulus of W. fourcadei was thus not due to fire associated factors per se. Seed predation of W. fourcadei seed capsules decreased from 46.9% before the fire to 7.1% after the fire. Number of viable seed released increased from 15.8 seed mˉ² pre-fire to 1170.5 seed mˉ² post-fire and 233.1 seedlings mˉ² established after the fire. The 74-fold increase in seed release in the burned fynbos could not be ascribed to higher cross pollination success as about 40% of the flowers were autogamous. The number of vegetatively active geophytic species increased from 2.3 species mˉ² pre-fire to 7.9 species mˉ² post-fire in 16-year old burned fynbos and 4.0 species mˉ² in the slashed fynbos. Most (76%) of these geophytic species flowered after the fynbos was burned and 24% of the species flowered in the slashed fynbos. Only some of the geophytic species were thus dependent on fire to stimulate flowering. A repeated short cycle disturbance regime (ca. 5 years) of burning and/or slashing may result in a super-abundance of Watsonia plants that can displace smaller geophytic species. Previous hypotheses on proximate reasons for the Watsonia post-fire flowering that are rejected are: (i) greater visibility of the plants; (ii) heating of the soil and corms by fire and; (iii) increased availability of phosphorous and/or other minerals in the post-fire environment. Smoke as a factor to induce flowering in W. fourcadei growing under natural conditions is questioned.

Double-Locking Mechanism of Self-Compatibility in Arabidopsis thaliana: The Synergistic Effect of Transcriptional Depression and Disruption of Coding Region in the Male Specificity Gene.

Self-compatibility in Arabidopsis thaliana represents the relatively recent disruption of ancestral obligate cross pollination, recognized as one of the prevalent evolutionary pathways in flowering plants, as noted by Darwin. Our previous study found that inversion of the male specificity gene (SP11/SCR) disrupted self-incompatibility, which was restored by overexpressing the SCR with the reversed inversion. However, SCR in A. thaliana has other mutations aside from the pivotal inversion, in both promoter and coding regions, with probable effects on transcriptional regulation. To examine the functional consequences of these mutations, we conducted reciprocal introductions of native promoters and downstream sequences from orthologous loci of self-compatible A. thaliana and self-incompatible A. halleri. Use of this inter-species pair enabled us to expand the scope of the analysis to transcriptional regulation and deletion in the intron, in addition to inversion in the native genomic background. Initial analysis revealed that A. thaliana has a significantly lower basal expression level of SCR transcripts in the critical reproductive stage compared to that of A. halleri, suggesting that the promoter was attenuated in inducing transcription in A. thaliana. However, in reciprocal transgenic experiments, this A. thaliana promoter was able to restore partial function if coupled with the functional A. halleri coding sequence, despite extensive alterations due to the self-compatible mode of reproduction in A. thaliana. This represents a synergistic effect of the promoter and the inversion resulting in fixation of self-compatibility, primarily enforced by disruption of SCR. Our findings elucidate the functional and evolutionary context of the historical transition in A. thaliana thus contributing to the understanding of the molecular events leading to development of self-compatibility.

Pollution and pollinators: A review

Pollution and pollinators: A review

Effect of Different Insecticides on Yield, Yield Attributes and Pollinator Behaviour of Different Pigeon Pea Varieties

Background: Yield of pigeon pea, besides other management practices, highly relies on variety and pollinators. Again, different insecticides are also known to immensely influence the abundance of these pollinators. Hence, the current study was conducted with objectives to record diversity of flower visitors and abundance of insect pollinators, to work out pollination efficiency of major pollinators and to evaluate the effect of different varieties and insecticidal treatments on the pollinator behaviour, yield and yield attributes of pigeon pea in order to reduce the ecological impact of chemicals as well as to increase the productivity of pigeon pea. Methods: The experiment was designed in a Split plot arrangement replicated thrice. The varieties were assigned in main plots and had four levels such as UPAS-120, PA-406, PA-421 and PA-441. Types of insecticides applied were taken in the sub plots and it also had four levels viz. Quinalphos 25 EC (325 g a.i./ha), Lufenuron 5.4 EC (30 g a.i./ha), Deltamethrin 2.8 EC (12.5 g a.i./ha) and Indoxacarb 15.8 EC (50 g a.i./ha). Result: Outcomes emanated from the study revealed that Megachile disjuncta, Xylocopa latipes and Megachile bicolor were the three most important pollinator bee species on kharif pigeon pea in the tarai region of Uttarakhand. Among the varieties, UPAS-120 and PA-441 had better cross pollination potential over the PA-406 and PA-421. Insecticides had overall negative impact on the insect pollinators. However, Deltamethrin 2.8 EC at recommended dose was found to have least impact on the insect pollinators. Quinalphos 25 EC and Lufenuron 5.4 EC were observed to be more deleterious on pollinators. The ultimate impact on the pollinator insects were profound on the yield and yield attributes of pigeon pea.

Создание линий-опылителей моркови столовой

Селекцией моркови столовой в России занимаются ФГБНУ ФНЦО, Агрохолдинг «Поиск», ООО «Селекционная станция имени Н.Н. Тимофеева» и другие. Цель работы – подбор исходного материала и создание новых линий-опылителей моркови столовой с одновременной доработкой имеющихся в генетической коллекции ВНИИО-филиала ФГБНУ ФНЦО. Исследования проводили в 2011-2019 годах в условиях Московской области на экспериментальной базе и в селекционном центре ВНИИО-филиала ФГБНУ ФНЦО. Материалом для работы служили сорта и гибриды отечественной и иностранной селекции, селекционный материал, полученный от межлинейных и межсортовых скрещиваний. Селекционную работу проводили методом многократного инбридинга (до I3-4). По мере отработанности селекционного материала на устойчивость к альтернариозу и фузариозу, морфологическую выровненность, переходили на сибсовые скрещивания. Селекционный процесс по созданию новых линий-опылителей осуществлялся в питомнике исходного материала и селекционном питомнике. В результате селекционной работы было получено 14 новых линий-опылителей моркови столовой и доработаны 4 линии, имеющиеся в генетической коллекции ВНИИО-филиала ФГБНУ ФНЦО. Большая часть линий-опылителей (5 шт.) принадлежит сортотипу Курода, четыре - Берликум/Нантская, по три – Берликум, Флакке, две – Шантенэ, одна – Нантская. Общая урожайность линий варьирует от 70,9 до 110,0 т/га. Наибольшую урожайность формировали линии 93-2, 98, 56-2. Значительные пределы содержания β-каротина (11,1 – 16,8 мг%) связаны с происхождением линий. Отмечено, что инбредные линии, полученные из исходного материала иностранной селекции содержат меньше β-каротина. Шесть линий относятся к позднеспелым, десять – к среднеспелым, две – к раннеспелым. В результате оценки инбредных линий по устойчивости к грибным болезням установлено, что 16 линий принадлежат к слабовосприимчивым на инфекционных и естественном фонах, две линии – средневосприимчивые: 805 – на инфекционном фоне Alternaria, REW – по двум инфекционным фонам. На естественном фоне все линии относятся к слабовосприимчивым. The selection of carrots in Russia is carried out by FSBSI FSVC, Agroholding «Poisk», LLC «Breeding station named after N.N. Timofeeva» and others. The purpose of the work is to select the initial material and create new pollinating lines for carrots with the simultaneous refinement of those in the genetic collection of the ARRIVG- a branch of the FSBSI FSVC. The studies were carried out in 2011-2019 in the conditions of the Moscow region on the experimental base and in the selection center of the ARRIVG - a branch of the FSBSI FSVC. The material for the work was varieties and hybrids of domestic and foreign selection, breeding material obtained from interline and intervarietal crosses. The breeding work was carried out by the method of multiple inbreeding (up to I3-4). As the breeding material worked out for resistance to Alternariaand Fusarium, morphological uniformity, they switched to sib crosses. The breeding process for the creation of new pollinator lines was carried out in the nursery of the source material and the breeding nursery. As a result of breeding work, 14 new lines-pollinators of carrots were obtained and 4 lines, which are available in the genetic collection of the ARRIVG- a branch of the FSBSI FSVC, were modified. Most of the pollinator lines (5 pcs.) belong to the Kuroda variety type, four - Berlikum/Nantes, three each - Berlikum, Flakke, two - Chantenay, one - Nantes. The total yield of the lines varies from 70.9 to 110.0 t/ha. The highest yield was formed by lines 93-2, 98, 56-2. Significant limits of β-carotene content (11.1 - 16.8 mg%) are associated with the origin of the lines. It was noted that inbred lines obtained from the source material of foreign selection contain less β-carotene. Six lines are late maturing, ten are mid-maturing, two are early maturing. As a result of the assessment of inbred lines for resistance to fungal diseases, it was found that 16 lines belong to weakly susceptible on infectious and natural backgrounds, two lines are moderately susceptible: 805 - according to the infectious background Alternaria, REW - according to two infectious backgrounds. On a natural background, all lines are weakly receptive.

Effects of Eco–Friendly Flower Thinning Formulations on a Pollination Insect, Apis mellifera

Effects of Eco–Friendly Flower Thinning Formulations on a Pollination Insect, Apis mellifera

JUMLAH, UJI VIABILITAS DAN DAYA KECAMBAH POLEN 31 AKSESI PISANG (Musa sp.) KOLEKSI KEBUN PLASMA NUTFAH PISANG LIPI

Cross pollination is one of the plant breeding techniques to create a better cultivar with desired traits. A successful cross pollination is affected by quality and quantity of the pollen used. The aim from this study is to know amounts, viability and germination from various banana accessions. This study was conducted by using 31 banana accessions. Pollen quantity per anther, pollen viability, pollen germination growth were measured. The results showed that pollen amounts were ranged between 5.032 and 118.181 pollens per anther. In addition, pollen viability ranged from 30% in Tingalun accession (Musa sp. cv. Tingalun) to 99% in Malaccensis 2x accession. Furthermore, pollen germination level varied from 1% in Mambee Thu OS accession to 48% in Rutilifes 2x accession. We also found that negative correlation between pollen viability and pollen germination were moderate with correlation coeeficient value of -0,59 ( p-value = 0,00051). From 31 banana accessions tested in this research, pollen source from Malaccensis 2x and Rutilifes 2x banana accessions have the highest potential to be used as the male parent.

Sovereign wealth fund (SWF): a tool for diversifying Nigeria’s emerging economy

Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) has continued to receive increasing global attention especially since after the last widespread financial crisis of 2008-2009.This study therefore attempted to understudy the phenomenon in the context of its usefulness as a tool for diversifying the economic horizon of some emerging economies like Nigeria. Adopting a qualitative approach to study the concept’s operation, drawbacks and benefits, the study found out that a sovereign wealth fund, when instituted and properly managed, can be used to stabilize or bail out an economy in distress, widen a country’s revenue generation window, provide social security to citizens of a country through pension payments, reduce poverty in society through the payment of periodic dividends, check profligate spending, create a pool of savings upon which the future generation can stand to face future challenges and create an opportunity for mutually beneficial cross pollination of management skills among states that subscribe to the Santiago Principle.

Volatiles of Mango var. Ataulfo Characterized by SPME and Capillary GC/MS Spectroscopy

Head space volatiles from flowers, as well as green and ripe mango fruit of cv. Ataulfo from Soconusco, Chiapas, were col - lected using Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME). Identification of chemical species was carried out by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). A complex mixture of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes was found. 3-carene, α-pinene, myrcene, limonene, terpinolene, β-selinene and the sesquiterpene tentatively identified as germacrene D were the major constituents. This information could be valuable to characterize certain aspects of genetic traits, which in turn will be useful for breeding programs, and to provide assessment of cross pollination techniques.

Crop production in the USA is frequently limited by a lack of pollinators: Pollination limitation in US crops

Crop production in the USA is frequently limited by a lack of pollinators: Pollination limitation in US crops

Performance, Effectiveness, and Efficiency of Honeybees as Pollinators of Coffea arabica (Gentianales, Rubiaceae).

Studies in crop plants analyzing floral biology in conjunction with effectiveness and efficiency of pollinators on pollen transfer and fruit formation are not common, although they are essential to provide better management actions. On this base, we selected a farm in Bahia, Brazil, to study pollination on coffee plants (Coffea arabica L.). Specifically, we want to analyze if nectar traits influence visitor's performance throughout flower lifetime and if honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier, 1836) are effective and efficient for coffee pollination comparing fertilization and fructification among four experimental treatments: open (OP), wind (WP), cross (HCP), and single-visit bee pollination (SVBP). We found that honeybees collect both nectar and pollen from coffee flowers and transfer pollen on stigmas even after one visit. No differences were found among treatments regarding the number of pollen grains transferred on the stigmas (effectiveness). OP flowers showed a comparative lower efficiency (pollen tubes and fruit set) probably due to pollination failure as those flowers have a higher variability on the number of deposited pollen grains. Two of the treatments (HCP and SVBP) showed higher fertilization (measuring tubes until the end of the style). Pollen loads seem to be limited by a peak of pollen transference by pollinators, followed by the stabilization in the number of pollen grains deposited per stigma. Thus, reproduction of the coffee can be limited by the quality of pollen grains moved by pollinators instead of quantity. Management strategies should focus on monitoring bee density on plants for increasing pollen quality transfer on flowers trough maintaining the adequate proportions of seminatural habitats and/or the number of hives on agricultural fields according to the flowering of the crop.

Success Rate of Individual Pollinizers for the Pear Cultivars “Ingeborg” and “Celina” in a Nordic Climate

Norwegian pear production is low due to climatic limitations, a lack of well-adapted cultivars and suitable pollinizers. However, nowadays it is increasing as a result of newly introduced and bred pear cultivars. Since cross pollination is necessary for high yields and good fruit quality, the aim of this investigation was to find the most suitable pollinizers for the pear cultivars “Ingeborg” (“Conference” × “Bonne Louise”) and “Celina” (“Colorée de Juillet” × “Williams”). Self-pollination of “Ingeborg” and “Celina”, together with “Conference”, “Belle Lucrative”, “Anna”, “Clara Frijs”, “Herzogin Elsa”, “Kristina” and “Fritjof” as potential pollinizers, were studied in this experiment during the 2017 and 2018 seasons in Norway. The success rate of each pollinizer was tested under field conditions, while the monitoring of pollen tube growth was done using the fluorescence microscopy method. All reproductive parameters (pollen germination, number of pollen tubes in the upper part of the style, pollen tube number in the locule of the ovary, number of fertilized ovules, initial fruit set, and final fruit set) in all crossing combinations were higher in 2018 due to much warmer weather. Based on the flowering overlap and success rate of each individual pollinizer and fruit set, the cultivars “Anna” and “Clara Frijs” can be suggested as pollinizers for the cultivar “Ingeborg”, while “Fritjof”, “Anna”, “Kristina” and “Herzogin Elsa” for the cultivar “Celina”. An even distribution of two compatible pollinizers having overlapping flowering times with the main commercial pear cultivar is a general recommendation for commercial pear production.

Agronomic response of ‘Michele palieri’ (Vitis vinifera L.) table grape to intraspecific diploid and interspecific tetraploid pollinizers

Yield and quality of grapes are markedly enhanced by cross-pollination although self-pollination ensures some level of berry set. Cross pollination is also employed to breed a new fruitful genotype to sustain the food to feed the increasing world population on the face of climate change. The present investigations were performed to reveal the effects of diploid and tetraploid pollinizers on the agronomy of ‘Michele Palieri’ table grape cultivar. For cross pollinations, the flower buds of the maternal cultivar were emasculated 5–6 d before bloom, while the clusters belonging to self- or free pollination groups were not emasculated. All the clusters including the pollinizers, except for free pollination, were covered with cheesecloth bags to exclude random pollination. Hand pollination was carried out for each cross-combination with hairbrushes when the stigma attains peak receptivity. Pollination was carried out two times (morning in the following day), while the flowers of self-pollination group were allowed to bloom and self-pollinate in the bags. The clusters of free pollination were left after labeling without isolation. The pollinizers had remarkably different impacts on the agronomy of maternal cultivar. The highest values on berry set (20.22 %), seed size (7.18 mm) and soluble solid content (15.5°Brix) were achieved when ‘Crimson Seedless’ was used as pollinizer. The clusters set berries poorly when the pollen of interploid tetraploid ‘Kyoho’ (13.46 %) was used. However, berry color was markedly improved by ‘Kyoho’ pollens with darker and more intense skin color. Cluster mass was significantly improved by external pollens of diploid cultivars resulting from better berry set and berry development in comparison with self-pollination. Berry mass values of free pollination and ‘Michele Palieri’ x ‘Italia’ treatments were 26.6 % and 22.8 % higher than that of self-pollination. The highest values on berry detachment and skin rupture forces were detected in ‘Michele Palieri’ x ‘Italia’ combination, while the lowest measures were on both parameters were found in self-pollination berries. Finally, the use of pollinizer cultivars, instead of monovarietal vineyard establishment, could be recommended to improve berry set and quality under vineyard or protected cultivation conditions. Tetraploid ‘Kyoho’ could be used in an interspecific and interploid breeding study as donor for unique characters.

Active structural control via metaheuristic algorithmsconsidering soil-structure interaction

In this study, multi-story structures are actively controlled using metaheuristic algorithms. The soil conditions such as dense, normal and soft soil are considered under near-fault ground motions consisting of two types of impulsive motions called directivity effect (fault normal component) and the flint step (fault parallel component). In the active tendon-controlled structure, Proportional–Integral–Derivative (PID) type controller optimized by the proposed algorithms was used to achieve a control signal and to produce a corresponding control force. As the novelty of the study, the parameters of PID controller were determined by different metaheuristic algorithms to find the best one for seismic structures. These algorithms are flower pollination algorithm (FPA), teaching learning based optimization (TLBO) and Jaya Algorithm (JA). Furthermore, since the influence of time delay on the structural responses is an important issue for active control systems, it should be considered in the optimization process and time domain analyses. The proposed method was applied for a 15-story structural model and the feasible results were found by limiting the maximum control force for the near-fault records defined in FEMA P-695. Finally, it was determined that the active control using metaheuristic algorithms optimally reduced the structural responses and can be applied for the buildings with the soil-structure interaction (SSI).

Influence of pollen on physicochemical characteristics of selected guava (Psidium guajava L.) genotypes

An experiment was conducted to determine the influence of pollen on physicochemical characteristics including fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, the number of seeds/fruit, seed weight, total soluble solids, acidity, reducing sugar, total sugar and vitamin C of selected guava (Psidium guajava L.) genotypes at UBKV, under the Terai zone of West Bengal. Three types of crosses viz., restricted crossing, restricted selfing and open pollination were made by utilizing one Red Fleshed genotype as pollen donor plant and five white fleshed genotypes as fruit giving plant. Among the five guava genotypes L-49 recorded the best results in all type of cross and Doodh Khaja showed a very poor effect on crossing. Under Self pollination L-49 and Baruipur showed the best results and Pant Prabhat showed a poor result due to effect of pollen. Fruits obtained from restricted cross pollination were the best for fruit quality parameters namely TSS, Vitamin C and Total sugars. Hence it was inferred that planting of Red Fleshed genotype as polliniser in a mixed guava orchard may be utilized as a strategy for the improvement of horticultural traits in guava.