Plants Of Different Varieties Research Articles

Componentes do sistema de tratamento de esgoto com plantas

O presente trabalho, de caráter teórico, tem por objetivo comentar sobre os principais componentes de um sistema de tratamento de esgoto com plantas, que são os substratos, microrganismos e plantas. Este tipo de tratamento torna-se a cada dia mais atrativo, por evidenciar um tratamento que simula os fenômenos que ocorrem espontaneamente na natureza, além de serem mais baratos e, as vezes, mais eficientes para a remoção de determinados parâmetros, do que os tratamentos convencionais. Este artigo vem a somar para que o sistema de tratamento de esgoto com plantas seja mais estudado no País. Atualmente, são poucos os Estados brasileiros que pesquisam as diversas variedades de plantas e substratos existentes.

Bioinspired Helical Microswimmers Based on Vascular Plants

Plant-based bioinspired magnetically propelled helical microswimmers are described. The helical microstructures are derived from spiral water-conducting vessels of different plants, harnessing the intrinsic biological structures of nature. Geometric variables of the spiral vessels, such as the helix diameter and pitch, can be controlled by mechanical stretching for the precise fabrication and consistent performance of helical microswimmers. Xylem vessels of a wide variety of different plants have been evaluated for the consistency and reproducibility of their helical parameters. Sequential deposition of thin Ti and Ni layers directly on the spiral vessels, followed by dicing, leads to an extremely simple and cost-efficient mass-production of functional helical microswimmers. The resulting plant-based magnetic microswimmers display efficient propulsion, with a speed of over 250 μm/s, as well as powerful locomotion in biological media such as human serum. The influence of actuation frequencies on the swimming velocity is investigated. Such use of plant vessels results in significant savings in the processing costs and provides an extremely simple, cost-effective fabrication route for the large-scale production of helical magnetic swimmers.

Ocorrência de fungos micorrízicos em catuaba (Anemopaegma arvense (Vell.) Stell. ex de Souza - Bignoniaceae), uma planta medicinal do Cerrado em risco de extinção

Este trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de verificar a ocorrência de fungos micorrízicos, identificar suas espécies, e avaliar a colonização em raízes de plantas de diferentes populações e variedades de Anemopaegma arvense, uma planta medicinal do Cerrado em risco de extinção. As avaliações da colonização micorrízica e identificação de espécies de fungos micorrízicos arbusculares (FMAs) foram realizadas no Laboratório de Microbiologia do Solo da Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA). Foram utilizadas raízes de 10 plantas coletadas em diferentes locais juntamente com as amostras de solo próximo ao sistema radicular de populações naturais das variedades: glabra, puberula e petiolata. Os esporos foram extraídos do solo por meio da metodologia de peneiramento úmido e, para a avaliação e observação da colonização radicular, as raízes coradas foram observadas em microscópio estereoscópico (ampliação 10 a 40x). Em todas as amostras analisadas foi possível identificar espécies de FMAs, exceto para a variedade puberula, coletada no município de Mogi Guaçu-SP. O número de esporos variou de maneira significativa entre as amostras e os locais amostrados, não havendo distribuição regular. Acaulospora scrubiculata, A. spinosa, A. longula, Escustelospora heterogama, Paraglomus occultum, Gigaspora margarita, Gigaspora sp., dentre outros, encontram-se entre as espécies identificadas. Quanto à avaliação da colonização micorrízica nas raízes, observou-se que todas as variedades foram colonizadas no sitema radicular, verificada por meio da presença de hifas. No entanto, a colonização não foi constatada em todas as amostras avaliadas e também não foi observada a formação de arbúsculos e/ou vesículas.

Effect of different harvest time on yield and forage quality of three varieties of common millet (Panicum miliaceum)

Monitoring forage quality is one of the most important factors of essential and good management of a farm. The most important factor about plants and forage quality is growing stage which can help to identify the optimum time of harvest. As different varieties of plants have different harvest times and quality, in order to search the variety effect on forage yield and quality traits, three varieties of common millet (Panicum miliaceum), namely, KCM2, KCM7, and KCM9 in three phenological growth stages, including booting, milky, and seed maturity stages were studied. Experiments in factorial form were surveyed in Karaj district, Iran with three replications in the form of randomize complete blocks design in 2009. Except ash percentage, there were significant differences among three growth stages in other quality traits and forage yield (P < 0.01). Significant differences among varieties for dry and wet forage yield, dry matter digestibility (DMD), water soluble carbohydrates, and acid detergent fiber percentage were also observed. However, interaction effect of variety and phenological growth stage were not significantly different on acid detergent fiber, crude fiber (CF), and ash percentages. Almost in all varieties, the amount of crude protein (CP) and DMD decreased during developing growth stages, while the amount of CP increased. KCM2 variety had the highest forage quality based on measurement indices and it was chosen as the best variety with regard to the most desirable forage yield. Booting stage (first phenological stage) was the most desirable in quality traits among the three growth stages. However, considering the little difference between the first and second stages in dietary energy, the second stage (milky stage) was recommended as the most suitable time for harvesting, because of high yield and compatibility of farm to plant. Key words: Quality traits, forage yield, dry matter digestibility, crude protein, growth stage, crude fiber.

Sensitivity in the estimation of parameters fitted by simple linear regression models in the ratio of blueberry buds to fruits in Chile using percentage counting

Blueberry exporting is an important activity in Chile, with fresh blueberries commanding the highest prices and being among the most exported products to the European and North American markets. To maintain quality in the centres of consumption, farmers must continuously improve the logistics of harvesting and shipping the blueberries. Thus every year they must calculate the production of the orchard well in advance in order to hire staff and ensure the logistic cold chain. For this calculation they use a count of flower buds and a simple linear model of which the slope parameter represents the number of fruits per bud. However, due to the cost of the counting procedure, some producers count only a fraction of each plant (25%, 50% or 100%), and furthermore they do not know what effect the variety and productive age of the plants may have on the estimation. The objective of this work is to measure the impact of the cultivated variety, the age of the plant in productive years, and the percentage of fruits counted in estimating the parameter fruits per bud. The study involved monitoring 310 plants of different varieties and ages distributed in northern, central and southern Chile (over an area of approximately 700 km × 200 km). The parameter was estimated by fitting simple linear regression models (SLRM) as a function of the number of fruits and flower buds. To evaluate the impact on the parameter, the SLRM was fitted considering the variables observed in all the plants, by percentage counted, by variety and by variety-age of the plant. The major findings indicate significant differences in the estimation of the parameter, suggesting that in order to estimate fruits per bud the whole plant must be counted and its age and variety taken into account.

Simultaneous RP-HPLC quantification of vasicine and vasicinone inAdhatoda vasicaand its formulation

Summary A simple, specific, and precise RP-HPLC method with photodiode-array detection has been developed for simultaneous analysis of the quinazoline alkaloids vasicine and vasicinone, pharmacologically important constituents of Adhatoda vasica. The compounds were separated by use of 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid in water:acetonitrile 90:10 as isocratic mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min−1. Under these conditions, plots of integrated peak area against concentration were linear over the ranges 0.05–10.0 μg mL−1 and 0.5–100.0 μg mL−1 (r2 = 0.999 and 0.998) for vasicine and vasicinone, respectively. Mean recovery was 99.06% for vasicine and 98.69% for vasicinone. The method is therefore suitable for routine analysis of vasicine and vasicinone in Adhatoda vasica plants of different varieties and in herbal medicinal products prepared from the plants.

The flowering gene SINGLE FLOWER TRUSS drives heterosis for yield in tomato

Intercrossing different varieties of plants frequently produces hybrid offspring with superior vigor and increased yields, in a poorly understood phenomenon known as heterosis. One classical unproven model for heterosis is overdominance, which posits in its simplest form that improved vigor can result from a single heterozygous gene. Here we report that heterozygosity for tomato loss-of-function alleles of SINGLE FLOWER TRUSS (SFT), which is the genetic originator of the flowering hormone florigen, increases yield by up to 60%. Yield overdominance from SFT heterozygosity is robust, occurring in distinct genetic backgrounds and environments. We show that several traits integrate pleiotropically to drive heterosis in a multiplicative manner, and these effects derive from a suppression of growth termination mediated by SELF PRUNING (SP), an antagonist of SFT. Our findings provide the first example of a single overdominant gene for yield and suggest that single heterozygous mutations may improve productivity in other agricultural organisms.

Osa-MIR393: a salinity- and alkaline stress-related microRNA gene

Salinity and alkalinity are the two main environmental factors that limit rice production. Better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for salinity and alkaline stress tolerance would allow researchers to modify rice to increase its resistance to salinity and alkaline stress. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are ~21-nucleotide RNAs that are ubiquitous regulators of gene expression in eukaryotic organisms. Some miRNAs acts as an important endogenous regulator in plant responses to abiotic stressors. miR393 is a conservative miRNA family that occurs in a variety of different plants. The two members of the miR393 family found in rice are named osa-MIR393 and osa-MIR393b. We found that the osa-MIR393 expression level changed under salinity and alkaline stress, whereas that of osa-MIR393b did not. Target genes of osa-MIR393 were predicted, and some of these putative targets are abiotic related genes. Furthermore, we generated transgenic rice and Arabidopsis thaliana that over-expressed osa-MIR393, and the phenotype analysis showed that these transgenic plants were more sensitive to salt and alkali treatment compared to wild-type plants. These results illustrate that over-expression of osa-MIR393 can negatively regulate rice salt-alkali stress tolerance.

Influence of postharvest processing and storage on the content of phenolic acids and flavonoids in foods

The review is based on the evaluation of electronically collated data published between 2002 to June 2006. It is based on 325 references dealing with the following subclasses of phenolic compounds: hydroxycinnamic and hydroxybenzoic acids, chalcones, flavanones, flavones, flavonols, monomeric flavanols and anthocyanins. Only publications dealing directly with the effects of storage and postharvest processing on the phenolic acid and flavonoid contents of foods were considered. The expectation that the structural diversity even within each subgroup, and the number of different procedures and of different parameters would make finding homogenous tendencies unlikely, has, in most instances, been confirmed. By adding a database Excel table combined with a focused and unified evaluation, specific additional information was rendered accessible and concise. It holds true for most of the subclasses in question that the effect of storage and food processing on the polyphenol content is negligible in comparison to the differences between different varieties of plants. Variety dependence must always be considered, for all classes of compounds.

1.4.1 Mixed‐Occupancy Vertical Urban Farm Systems

AbstractA mixed‐use vertical farm is a high‐rise structure that is a combination of residences and agricultural subsystems situated near or within urban centers and serving as a localized food production facility. Plants of different varieties are grown year‐round in high density hydroponics/aeroponics modules. Vertical urban farming takes advantage of the ability to control the weather and lighting environments to maximize plants growth, yield, and quality. A systems approach is needed to understand and simplify the complex system considering whole life‐cycle costs, design, construction, operation, and infrastructure integration for environmental management and residences. Overall, the mixed‐use vertical farm is conceived as a high‐tech solution for countries or cities that have shortages in water, extremely limited arable space, and the need for competitively‐priced farm products. Singapore, a nation incorporating many of these factors, is an example of an excellent candidate for such a system.

The botanical identification of Shancigu in Chinese ancient literature

The medicinal herbs which were traditionally used as "Shancigu" are derived from a variety of different plants, resulting in current use of herbal medicine in the name confusing of medicinal material "Shancigu". According to ancient and modern literature in the graphic, and geographical distribution, originated plant species of "Shancigu" have been studied. Simultaneously, we clarified the original plant of "Shancigu" recorded in several ancient literatures through modern taxonomic researches. We concluded that "Shancigu" should come from originally Cremastra appendiculata (D. Don) Makino in Ben Cao Shi Yi (Tang Dynasty), and, afterwards, two other species, i.e., Tulipa edulis (Miq.) Baker and C. appendiculata, were used under one Chinese name "Shancigu" in other ancient literatures, i.e., Da Guan Ben Cao (Song Dynasty) and Compendium of Materia Medica (Ming Dynasty). In modern publications, more species, such as two species of Pleione, were also recorded under the name of "Shancigu", but none of them is the original plant of "Shancigu".

Evaluation studies of some medicinal plant extracts and fungicides against &lt;i&gt;Alternaria solani&lt;/i&gt;.

Alternaria is a polyphagus fungus that occurs frequently on dead and decaying organic material and is responsible for causing leaf spot disease. In Indian subcontinent, there are different varieties of plants showing antimicrobial and other medicinal properties which can be employed in plant disease management to reduce the chemical load from the environment. The present investigation has been taken to evaluate the effect of medicinal plant (leaf) extracts and their combination with fungicides (Carbendazim) against radial growth of Alternaria solani.. The fungus was collected from infected leaf spots of potato plant and grown in PDA (potato dextrose agar) media. The water extracts of medicinal plants viz. Azadirachata indica (3%), Calotropis procera (3%), Nerium oleander (3%), Ocimum sanctum (3%) fungicide, carbendazim (1%) and their combinations were prepared. On the basis of results, the medicinal plant extracts Neem (3%), Nerium (3%) added with carbendazim (1%) showed maximum inhibition of fungus (Alternaria solani).African Journal of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology Vol. 9 (1) 2008: pp. 19-25

Front Matter

The history of research into circadian rhythms can be traced back to the French astronomer Jean Jacques Ortous de Mairan, who conducted experiments with plants grown in the dark in the early 1700s. His observations started a slow march joined by luminaries such as Carolus Linnaeus and Charles Darwin interested in whether and how animal and plants measured time. The descriptive era of circadian biology continued into the latter half of the 20th century and was well summarized by the last Symposium held on the topic in 1960, in which the opening address by Erwin Bunning concluded that “thus far, however, such facts have not enabled us to draw far-reaching conclusions about the nature of the [biological] clock.” As with so many other disciplines in biology, the descriptive era has been revolutionized by the molecular era. Since the discovery and cloning of the first clock gene, period, more than 20 years ago, tremendous progress has been made about the nature of the clock and how it functions in a wide variety of different plants and animals. Research previously limited to describing “the hands of the clock” has been enormously successful in recent years in describing the inner anatomy and mechanism of the clock in individual cells and in the whole organism. Many in the chronobiology community are now, more than ever, attempting to place the molecular and cellular details of the oscillatory machinery in the broader context of cellular physiology—for example, the cell cycle—or organismal behaviors—for example, sleep and circadian behavior, and how these may in turn be affected by environment and/or disease. It is noteworthy that Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland wrote in his 1796 treatise The Art of Prolonging Life, “The period of twenty-four hours formed by the regular revolution of our Earth...is apparent in all diseases...it is, as it were, the unit of our natural chronology.” Our decision to focus the 72nd Symposium on circadian and related rhythms reflects the tremendous advances that molecular and cellular approaches have yielded thus far, a decision taken in part thanks to an open letter from 18 prominent scientists in the field. The Symposium was arranged to cover a range of themes associated with biological clocks and rhythms, ranging in scale from the molecular to the whole organism, and addressed how aberrant function of the clock may have a causative role in diverse human diseases and conditions. The Symposium provided a unique synthesis of the exciting progress being made in the field of chronobiology not only for the Symposia attendees, but also for a wider global audience via interviews freely available on the World Wide Web and, we anticipate, for readers of these Proceedings.

Voltammetric determination of nitroaromatic and nitramine explosives contamination in soil

The contamination of soil by nitroaromatic and nitramine explosives is widespread during the manufacture, testing and disposal of explosives and ammunitions. The analysis for the presence of trace explosive contaminants in soil becomes important in the light of their effect on the growth of different varieties of plants and crops. 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT), cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (Research Department explosive, RDX) and cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (high melting point explosive, HMX), other related explosive compounds and their by-products must be monitored in soil and surrounding waterways since these are mutagenic, toxic and persistent pollutants that can leach from the contaminated soil to accumulate in the food chain. In this study, a voltammetric method has been developed for the determination of explosive such as RDX, HMX and TNT. The electrochemical redox behavior of RDX, HMX and TNT was studied through cyclic voltammetry and quantitative determination was carried out by using square wave voltammetry technique. Calibration curves were drawn and were linear in the range of 63–129 ppm for RDX with a detection limit of 10 ppm, 49–182 ppm for HMX with a detection limit of 1 ppm and 38–139 ppm for TNT with a detection limit of 1 ppm. This method was applied to determine the contaminations in several soil samples that yielded a relative error of 1% in the concentrations.

Fast and reliable detection of doubled-haploids in Asparagus officinalis by stringent RAPD-PCR

A stringent RAPD-PCR protocol was developed for reliable distinction at an early stage between somatic and doubled-haploid androgenic regenerates emerging from asparagus anther culture by using decamer primers with a high G/C content and/or primers with a dinucleotide sequence. RAPD-PCR was used to test 87 putative doubled-haploids from seven donor plants of different varieties and breeding lines, with differing genetic backgrounds. All of them differed from the anther donor, which suggests they had the desired doubled-haploid constitution, and demonstrates the effectiveness of the in vitro protocol used. This simple, reliable, fast, and comparatively cheap method eliminates the need for discriminating testcrosses and, thus, can significantly accelerate asparagus breeding programmes.

Radiocaesium soil-to-plant transfer in tropical environments

In this work, soil-to-plant transfer factors of radiocaesium are predicted based on soil properties such as pH, organic matter content, exchangeable K + and clay content valid for the tropical environments in Bangladesh, China and Japan, and using a previously published model. Due to insufficient data of soil properties in the selected regions, the average values of pH, organic matter content, exchangeable K + and clay content were taken as the input model parameters within the ranges given for Asia. Nevertheless, a complete set of soil properties of Japanese soils was used to compare the measured and calculated TF values of radiocaesium for radish. The calculated TF values for radiocaesium are comparable with the measured values especially for leafy parts of a plant. However, calculated values for rice, an important crop in Asia are found to overestimate the measured values due to an overestimate of calculated CECs in soils in the selected regions. The empirical parameters used in the model need to be re-evaluated for the specific part of a plant and/or for a variety of different plants. Alternatively, a general conversion factor for each part of a plant and/or for a variety of different plants for a specific region is suggested for tropical environments.

Demand for Assimilates Determines the Productivity of Intensive and Extensive Rice Crops in Primorskii Krai

Intensive and extensive rice crops (Oryza sativa L.), regionally cultivated in Primorskii krai (maritime territory), were grown under full and 50% attenuated solar radiation. Plants of different varieties were used to examine the supply of newly synthesized and reutilized 14C-assimilates to caryopses and to estimate the dry weight dynamics of whole plants, vegetative organs, and grains. Cultivar-specific differences were revealed with respect to the sink capacity of caryopses, the export of photosynthates from the upper leaf and their delivery to the panicle, and the contributions of newly produced and reutilized assimilates to grain filling. In rice plants of all varieties grown under full insolation, the amount of photosynthates produced during grain filling was insufficient to satisfy the demand of caryopses; one-fourth or one-fifth of this demand was satisfied at the expense of mobilization of stored metabolites. The mobilization was accelerated by the elevated demand for assimilates and by attenuated insolation. In artificially shaded plants of intensive varieties, the pool of newly produced assimilates was lower and reutilization of previously gained assimilates started earlier than in shaded plants of extensive varieties. It is concluded that the higher grain yield of intensive rice varieties, cultivated in Primorskii krai, is determined by a higher demand for assimilates and by a higher production and accelerated supply of newly formed photosynthates to caryopses during the first half of the grain-filling stage. The potential productivity of these varieties is constrained by the deficit of assimilates during the second half of grain-filling stage. The low grain productivity of extensive varieties is caused by the insufficient number of grains in panicles and by low demand for assimilates throughout the period of grain filling.

Response of local maize varieties and commercial hybrids to natural infestation by Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Lesotho

The response of farmers' varieties and maize hybrids commonly grown in Lesotho was evaluated in field trials under natural infestations of Busseola fusca (Fuller). Plant response of varieties and hybrids was evaluated in relation to a susceptible and resistant maize hybrid. The incidence of infested plants, number of damaged inter- nodes and number of B. fusca individuals that successfully colonised plants of different varieties as well as yield loss was determined. All the local varieties and commercial hybrids were susceptible to damage by B. fusca and sustained yield losses higher than that of the experimental resistant check hybrid. Maize varieties generally suffered lower yield losses than hybrids. Differences in yield losses between hybrids and farmers' varieties were ascribed to differences in length of growing season requirements (days to 50% flowering) and the incidence of damage to maize ears. Results indicate that Lesotho farmers can benefit from a stem borer resistance breeding programme and that adaptation of planting date can lead to escape of damage and reduced yield losses.

ELISA CORRELATES WITH BIOLOGICAL INDEXING FOR THE DETECTION OF CITRUS PSOROSIS-ASSOCIATED VIRUS

SUMMARY An ELISA kit produced at the Istituto di Fitovirologia Applicata of CNR, Torino, Italy for the detection of citrus psorosis-associated virus (CPsAV) was successfully used to test 4,499 citrus plants of different varieties in nurseries, commercial groves and a germplasm collection of Apulia (Southern Italy). One hundred and seventy trees were indexed for psorosis using ‘Madame Vinous’ sweet orange and ‘Dweet tangor’. From 60 plants that were positive by indexing, mechanical transmissions to herbaceous hosts were attempted. Psorosis was present in most of the citrus varieties, with a low incidence and distribution in commercial groves (7.4% of infected trees) and in the nurseries (4.6% of infected trees). In commercial groves, the local clementine cv. ‘Fedele’ (14.4% of infected trees) and ‘Navelina’ old clone sweet orange (9% of infected trees) were the most infected. The same rate of infection was shown by cv. ‘Fedele’ in the nurseries, whereas the highest infection rates (20.4% of infected trees) were observed in Satsuma ‘Miyagawa’. All the plants that were psorosis-positive by indexing were also positive by ELISA with the sole exception of a cv. ‘Fedele’ source. By contrast, four citrus accessions that indexed negative, were found to be positive by ELISA. Serological tests revealed a high percentage of CPsAV infections in plants indexing positive for concave gum. Only from three plants out of the 60 that indexed positive was a virus with the filamentous particles typical of CPsAV recovered by mechanical inoculation to herbaceous hosts. The demonstration that ELISA can identify psorosis in a sensitive and reliable manner, represents a step forward in favour of serological assays, which can be used for routine testing and as a complement to biological indexing in sanitary selection programmes.

Summer diet of the mountain hare (Lepus timidus L.) in a low-alpine area in southern Norway

The summer diet of the mountain hare (Lepus timidus L.) was studied in a low-alpine area in southern Norway. Dietary preferences were determined for 11 hares in cafeteria trials. The hares were later equipped with radio transmitters and released, and diet selection was observed directly. The results demonstrate that mountain hares seem able to utilize a wide variety of different plants, although they selected herbs in the field. Based on the available literature, diet overlap and diet niche breadth were estimated for five sympatric herbivores; reindeer, sheep, willow grouse, Norwegian lemming, and mountain hare. Generally, the noncyclic herbivores had broader diet niches and greater dietary overlaps than the cyclic herbivores.