Bamboo Flowering Research Articles

Bamboo-Dominated Forests of the Southwest Amazon: Detection, Spatial Extent, Life Cycle Length and Flowering Waves

We map the extent, infer the life-cycle length and describe spatial and temporal patterns of flowering of sarmentose bamboos (Guadua spp) in upland forests of the southwest Amazon. We first examine the spectra and the spectral separation of forests with different bamboo life stages. False-color composites from orbital sensors going back to 1975 are capable of distinguishing life stages. These woody bamboos flower produce massive quantities of seeds and then die. Life stage is synchronized, forming a single cohort within each population. Bamboo dominates at least 161,500 km2 of forest, coincident with an area of recent or ongoing tectonic uplift, rapid mechanical erosion and poorly drained soils rich in exchangeable cations. Each bamboo population is confined to a single spatially continuous patch or to a core patch with small outliers. Using spatial congruence between pairs of mature-stage maps from different years, we estimate an average life cycle of 27–28 y. It is now possible to predict exactly where and approximately when new bamboo mortality events will occur. We also map 74 bamboo populations that flowered between 2001 and 2008 over the entire domain of bamboo-dominated forest. Population size averaged 330 km2. Flowering events of these populations are temporally and/or spatially separated, restricting or preventing gene exchange. Nonetheless, adjacent populations flower closer in time than expected by chance, forming flowering waves. This may be a consequence of allochronic divergence from fewer ancestral populations and suggests a long history of widespread bamboo in the southwest Amazon.

Changes in soil physico-chemical parameters of Dendrocalamus hamiltonii Nees and Melocanna baccifera (Roxb.) Kurz forests during pre-flowering, flowering and post-flowering phases in Eastern Himalayas, India

Gregarious flowering in D. hamiltonii and M. baccifera were occurred in the north eastern region of India. Due to sudden dead in larger scale, considerable changes in particular bamboo forests were witnessed. An approach was made to examine the changes in soil parameters during pre-flowering, flowering and post- flowering phases. Soil nutrients such as N, P and K were decrease, though, oxidizable organic carbon, soil moisture increases in flowering and post-flowering sites. Besides, soil acidity also increases in these sites. Thus, changes in soil physico-chemical parameters were observed in these bamboo forests. Such changes in soil were either the reason for gregarious flowering and dead in bamboo or vice versa.

De Novo Sequencing and Characterization of the Floral Transcriptome of Dendrocalamus latiflorus (Poaceae: Bambusoideae)

BackgroundTranscriptome sequencing can be used to determine gene sequences and transcript abundance in non-model species, and the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has greatly decreased the cost and time required for this process. Transcriptome data are especially desirable in bamboo species, as certain members constitute an economically and culturally important group of mostly semelparous plants with remarkable flowering features, yet little bamboo genomic research has been performed. Here we present, for the first time, extensive sequence and transcript abundance data for the floral transcriptome of a key bamboo species, Dendrocalamus latiflorus, obtained using the Illumina GAII sequencing platform. Our further goal was to identify patterns of gene expression during bamboo flower development.ResultsApproximately 96 million sequencing reads were generated and assembled de novo, yielding 146,395 high quality unigenes with an average length of 461 bp. Of these, 80,418 were identified as putative homologs of annotated sequences in the public protein databases, of which 290 were associated with the floral transition and 47 were related to flower development. Digital abundance analysis identified 26,529 transcripts differentially enriched between two developmental stages, young flower buds and older developing flowers. Unigenes found at each stage were categorized according to their putative functional categories. These sequence and putative function data comprise a resource for future investigation of the floral transition and flower development in bamboo species.ConclusionsOur results present the first broad survey of a bamboo floral transcriptome. Although it will be necessary to validate the functions carried out by these genes, these results represent a starting point for future functional research on D. latiflorus and related species.

An appraisal of pre-harvest rodent damage in major crops of north-eastern Himalaya, India

Pre-harvest crop damage caused by rodents was assessed during bamboo flowering phase (2005–2007) in two major states of north-eastern Himalaya. In Meghalaya, rodent damage in upland paddy, lowland paddy, maize, pine apple and groundnut was found to be 14.33, 16.31, 13.69, 17.36 and 16.02%, respectively. Relatively higher damage was recorded in Mizoram, where jhum rice and maize losses were 42.7–46% and 23.41–47.65%, respectively. In other crops, rodent injuries on oil palm were more severe (up to 75%) in many locations. Moreover, damage was observed to be variable in two states and also in different districts of the Mizoram. Furthermore, rodents were found to produce more damage at the maturity stage of crops; therefore, accordingly their management strategies could be manipulated during outbreak period.

Identification of programmed cell death related genes in bamboo

The event of bamboo flowering and subsequent death of bamboo cells, a rare phenomenon is an interesting model to study gene expression/function in the context of the programmed cell death (PCD) in plant. To identify genes involved in autolytic cell death in bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea/Bambusa bambos Voss), a suppressive subtractive cDNA hybridization (SSH) was performed between cDNA isolated from control (healthy), as driver and test internodal tissue (45days after setting of seeds), as tester. In-silico data revealed that 82% of total ESTs (231) were non-significant (unidentified proteins) while remaining ESTs were classified as protein with known/predicted function/s. Among these, net distribution and differential expression patterns of 11 important B. arundinacea PCD specific ESTs were studied using RNA slot-blot, qRT-PCR and semi-quantitative RT. In-situ localization of mRNA-transcripts for selected bamboo PCD-specific ESTs namely V2Ba48 (Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2) and V2Ba19 (Glycogen phosphorylase) were detected using digoxigenin-labeled corresponding anti-sense RNA probes employing Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM). Differential expression-kinetics of the aforementioned genes were confirmed during the progress of PCD after setting of seeds. Global appearance of V2Ba48, V2Ba19, V2Ba95 (Ubiquitin thioesterase) and V2Ba89 (Nebulin isoform 2) genes were identified in monocot (Oryza sativa) and dicots (Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana tabacum). This is the first report on systematic analysis of genes involved in death of bamboo cells that may provide critical information regarding key metabolic/regulatory genes involved in plant PCD.

Morphological and molecular identification of the metacestode parasitizing the liver of rodent hosts in bamboo growing areas of mizoram, northeast India.

In Mizoram (Northeast India), rodent outbreaks are known to occur periodically with the onset of bamboo flowering causing a tremendous destruction to food grains and as per the folk belief, often resulting in famine. In an exploratory survey of rodent pests in bamboo growing atreas for their helminth parasite spectrum, metacestodes of tapeworms were frequently encountered infecting the liver lobes and body cavity of the host. The morphological criteria were found to be closely consistent with the metacestode of Taenia species. In molecular characterization of the parasite, the ribosomal DNA (ITS1, ITS2) and mitochondrial COI were amplified and sequenced. Based upon both morphological data and molecular analysis using bioinformatic tools, the metacestode is identified as confirmed to be representing Cysticercus fasciolaris. The adult form of which (Taenia taeniaeformis) commonly occurs in felid and canid mammalian hosts.

Strengthening Food and Livelihood Security:Lessons from Save the Children’s Intervention in Mizoram, India

A kind of famine (locally known as ‘ Mautam’) visits the Indian state of Mizoram almost every 50 years. Flowering of bamboo followed by rat floods which devour crops are believed to be responsible for such famines. The Mautam phenomenon witnessed in the recent past resulted in the entry and participation of Civil Society Organizations to address the short-term food insecurity and strengthen livelihoods of the most affected poor. The present article examines the important roles of an NGO in strengthening food and livelihood security of the poor during a Mautam crisis based on the evaluation study of Save the Children’s (SC’s) Intervention.

Gregarious flowering and death of understorey bamboo slow litter decomposition and nitrogen turnover in a southern temperate forest in Patagonia, Argentina

Summary1. The massive synchronized flowering and subsequent mortality of understorey bamboo species occur in infrequent and unpredictable intervals in temperate and subtropical forests around the world. Because of the sporadic occurrence of these flowering episodes and the long intervals between events, very little is known about their consequences on biogeochemical cycling in natural ecosystems.2. In 2001, a synchronized flowering and dieback of the native bamboo,Chusquea culeouE. Desv., occurred, covering more than 200 000 ha in the north‐west region of Patagonia, Argentina. We explored the impacts of this gregarious flowering event on litter decomposition and nitrogen turnover in an old‐growth southern beech forest for 3 years after the flowering event.3. Bamboo litter decomposed significantly slower than overstorey tree litter, and decomposition in flowered patches overall was significantly reduced compared to remnant live understorey patches. In addition, soil mineral nitrogen was reduced in flowered patches, and nitrogen transformations were altered, most notably in the third year after the flowering event.4. This infrequent phenomenon of gregarious flowering could have consequences for carbon and nutrient cycling, as low‐quality standing dead biomass is gradually incorporated into soil organic matter pools. This study demonstrates that large biotically mediated perturbations of understorey vegetation can impact biogeochemical cycles in temperate forest ecosystems by reducing carbon turnover and altering nitrogen availability and transformations, even in the absence of physical disturbance.

Understory bamboo flowering provides a very narrow light window of opportunity for canopy-tree recruitment in a neotropical forest of Misiones, Argentina

Chusquea ramosissima is a native monocarpic bamboo species growing in subtropical forests of northeastern Argentina, which can dominate gaps and open forests in the region, particularly after human disturbance. This bamboo species started to flower in different areas of northeastern Argentina in 2001, with the flowering peak during 2002 and 2003 and small isolated flowering events still occurring until 2010. We studied the effects of C. ramosissima flowering and die-back on microclimate, litter decomposition, nutrient availability, sapling growth, abundance and regeneration of tree canopy species. We wanted to know how environmental conditions and ecosystem processes change through time after bamboo flowering and if bamboo die-back would favor regeneration of canopy trees. Twenty 50 × 50 m plots of flowering and non-flowering bamboo were permanently marked and vegetation dynamics as well as nutrient cycling and microclimate studies were performed. C. ramosissima die-back enhanced growth and reduced mortality rate of tree saplings during the first year after flowering. Only growth of tree saplings previously established was enhanced by the flowering event and tree-species richness and saplings abundance of canopy trees did not change as expected due to bamboo flowering. The short-term effect of tree saplings growth was likely due to incident solar radiation at the forest floor which doubled in the first year after the bamboo flowering event. Increased light availability at the forest floor simultaneously promoted the growth of other understory plants such as ferns, lianas and Piper spp. that rapidly colonized gaps and intercepted a percentage of the incident solar radiation after the first year, which together with an increased litter layer due to the senescence of the bamboo, may have inhibited establishment of new tree individuals and affected tree growth. Contrary to predictions, soil water, litter decomposition and soil nutrients were not significantly affected by bamboo flowering. Thus, successful tree regeneration in gaps following bamboo flowering appears to be restricted to a very narrow window of increased light availability (i.e., 1 year) before growth of other understory plants and rapid re-colonization of bamboo. Changes in resource availability, and the opportunity for overstory regeneration after bamboo flowering events appears to depend on climatic and community characteristics of the ecosystem where the flowering event occurs and also, on the flowering patterns and their synchronicity.

Flowering, die-back and recovery of a semelparous woody bamboo in the Atlantic Forest

Chusquea ramosissima is a semelparous woody bamboo growing in the understory of the semideciduous Atlantic Forest that increases in abundance after disturbance and consequently has profound effects on vegetation dynamics. Flowering and death of C. ramosissima may open a window of opportunity leaving space vacant for the recruitment of tree seedlings. We describe the flowering pattern and seedling demography of this species at different spatio-temporal scales between the years 2001 and 2009, and evaluate if tree seedling abundance of canopy species increased after the flowering event. At a landscape scale, flowering sites were interspersed with sites that did not flower. At a local scale, the flowering extended over 5 years, with flowering and non-flowering culms intermingled, also in small patches (i.e., 4 m 2). Seeds germinated soon after flowering and die-back. Four successive seedling cohorts were studied. Mortality rate was high during the first 4 months after seedling emergence but several fast-growing seedlings were able to become established successfully. At the end of the study, 10%–20% of the initial number of bamboo seedlings in each cohort survived. Seedling abundance of tree canopy species was similar in flowering and non-flowering sites. C. ramosissima was able to re-colonize and perpetuate in sites it previously occupied. The coexistence of flowering and non-flowering culms at different spatio-temporal scales and clonal growth by rhizomes, together with the successful bamboo seedlings establishment, enhanced bamboo persistence in gaps and disturbed sites. Flowering and death of C. ramosissima did not facilitate seedling growth of canopy tree species.

Assessment of multifaceted environmental issues and model development of an Indo-Burma hotspot region

The present article provides a multifaceted critical research review on environmental issues intimately related with the socio-economy of North East India (NE), a part of Indo-Burma hotspot. Further, the article addresses the issue of sustainable development of NE India through diverse ecological practices inextricably linked with traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). The biodiversity of NE India comprises endemic floral diversity, particularly medicinal plants of importance to pharmaceutical industry, and unique faunal diversity. Nevertheless, it is very unfortunate that this great land of biodiversity is least explored taxonomically as well as biotechnologically, probably due to geographical and political constraints. Different anthropogenic and socio-economic factors have perturbed the pristine ecology of this region, leading to environmental degradation. Also, the practice of unregulated shifting cultivation (jhooming), bamboo flowering, biological invasions and anthropogenic perturbations to biodiversity exacerbate the gloomy situation. Instead of a plethora of policies, the TEK of NE people may be integrated with modern scientific knowledge in order to conserve the environment which is the strong pillar for socio-economic sector here. The aforesaid approach can be practiced in NE India through the broad implementation and extension of agroforestry practices. Further, case studies on Apatanis, ethnomedicinal plants use by indigenous tribal groups and sacred forests are particularly relevant in the context of conservation of environmental health in totality while addressing the socioeconomic impact as well. In context with the prevailing scenarios in this region, we developed an eco-sustainable model for natural resource management through agroforestry practices in order to uplift the social as well as environmental framework.

Rodent biology and management – who is outsmarting whom?

Developing a robust scientific understanding of rodents because they are agricultural pests, beneficial species within the landscape, harbourers of disease or undesirable inhabitants of built environments remains a challenge for scientists and managers. Despite much basic research over many decades our understanding of many areas of rodent biology – ecology and taxonomy, their interactions with other wildlife, livestock and people, their role in disease transmission and disease reservoirs – is far from complete. While there are many new research tools, these are not necessarily making it any easier to improve our management of the impacts of rodents on people’s lives (e.g. food security) or the impacts of man on rodents (e.g. conservation). In agricultural landscapes there has been promising progress when community groups and biologists collaborate to address specific rodent problems. We will return to this central theme. In terms of agricultural impacts, farmers in many countries continue to state that rodents are one of their top three pests whose impacts they cannot manage. The knock-on effect on food security is high (Meerburg et al. 2009), but there are still too few efforts to prevent rodents taking the food from the table of the more than one billion people who are already undernourished. In April 2010, some 140 scientists from around the world came together at the 4th International Conference on RodentBiology andManagement (4th ICRBM) inBloemfontein, South Africa, to present and discuss research findings and developments across many disciplines from ecology, taxonomy, physiology, sociology, disease, behaviour, and population dynamics to conservation and management. The papers within this special volume comprise an eclectic representation of what was presented and discussed at the conference. Other papers contributed at the conference are being published in Integrative Zoology, African Zoology and Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum, Bloemfontein. What developments have occurred in rodent research since the 3rd ICRBM was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2006? There continues to be exciting progress in taxonomy and phylogenetic analyses, with more scientists applying detailed molecular methods and new species continuing to be identified. One of the questions discussed was whether taxonomic species and ecological species are different. Conservation biologists are attempting to protect endangered species, but in doing so, are they conserving the appropriate level of genetic diversity? At the 3rd ICRBM there was discussion regarding the expectation that a major 50-year bamboo flowering event would occur before the next conference – and it has done so. Between 2007 and 2010, major increases in rodent numbers occurred through the Chittagong Hill tract region of Bangladesh, in Chin State and Rakhine State in Myanmar, and in Mizoram, India. While the impacts of these rodent outbreaks could not be prevented, many researchers were able to gather significant new data relating to the species involved, the population dynamics of the outbreaks, and the social consequences of them. Indeed, the topic of these and other rodent outbreaks around the world was the subject of a special conference in October 2009 (Singleton et al. 2010a, 2010b). Several papers at the 4th ICRBM reported on the data collected and from these it was apparent that there needs to be careful analysis at a landscape scale of the phenomenon of rat ‘floods’ associated with bamboo flowering. However, these rodent outbreaks represent a special subset of a wide range of rodent outbreaks in different parts of theworld. One commonmessage is the need to be able to better understand the factors that lead to a population eruption. In this special issue there are two papers that took on this challenge by considering long-term datasets on the common vole,Microtus arvalis, in Germany. Blank et al. (2011) consider the habitat characteristics and Imholt et al. (2011) the weather parameters that may contribute to population outbreaks. Continuing on the theme of early intervention, Brown et al. (2011) adopted a refreshingly audacious modelling study by combining crop models on rice production with population models of the ricefield rat, Rattus argentiventer. They explore the likely benefits of early management strategies for reducing the impacts of chronically high rodent populations on irrigated rice cropping systems in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. A strengthening area for rodent research is the role played by sociologists and communication specialists in training people to cooperate and adopt management approaches, such as ecologically based rodent management (EBRM) to outsmart rats (Palis et al. 2011; Flor and Singleton 2011). Ecologically based rodent management was a dominant theme that emerged during the conference. Farmers in some countries appear to more readily adopt community management actions following training and extension (e.g. through farmer field schools) and one positive outcome has been a reduction in the use of CSIRO PUBLISHING

A case of gregarious flowering in bamboo, dominated lowland forest of Assam, India: phenology, regeneration, impact on rural economy, and conservation

We recorded gregarious flowering of three bamboo species viz. Bambusa arundinacea, Bambusa tulda and Melocanna baccifera during rainy season from early March to late May, 2008 at lowland forest of Bajali area of Indo-Burma hotspot region. A regular method of field sampling of various forest types was used to map the bamboo species in Assam, India. Moreover, people’s perception on bamboo blooming was investigated at 17 sample plots covering 258 respondents inhabiting at the site at an average of 15 in each plots. A floral clump (inflorescence) emerged and developed into a giant panicle comprising of numerous florets. Two types of seeds viz. bacca and caryopsis were recorded in different species. Viviparous germination was noticed in few bacca seeds produced by M. baccifera and this has unusual occurrence in bamboo. Seed viability test shows that 75% caryopsis seeds were viable; these seeds had the potential of germination and can be used for mass regeneration. Most local respondents believe that bamboo flowering can result in population explosion of rodent, therefore, they think bamboo flowering is positively correlated with famine. This traditional belief results in massive destruction of bamboo clumps, which significantly impacts on rural economy.

Bamboo dieback and tree regeneration responses in a subtropical forest of South America

Bamboos’ vegetative growth are frequently associated to negative effects on tree recruitment and survival and despite this process, the effects of bamboo dieback after flowering events are poorly understood due the rarity of these events. 2 years after the massive flowering of the woody bamboo Merostachys multiramea in a southern South America subtropical forest, we compared changes in environmental conditions; tree species regeneration and production of new culms in canopy gaps resulted from bamboo dieback and areas of continuous canopy allowed by sparse bamboo cover. We observed sharp differences in environment conditions mainly resulted from differences in canopy openness and a NPMANOVA revealed differences among the stands regeneration directions (species composition and density). Average density, number of culms per sapling and total height of M. multiramea did not differ between stands, although slight differences were detected with increasing values toward opened sites. Canopy gaps resulted from bamboo dieback showed higher species richness and diversity when compared to closed canopy without bamboo. After 2 years, the massive bamboo flowering and dieback resulted differences in several environmental conditions, leading to distinct regeneration directions with higher diversity toward opened areas.

Understanding bamboo flowering based on large-scale analysis of expressed sequence tags

Unlike other plants, bamboo (Bambusoideae) flowering is an elusive physiological phenomena, because it is unpredictable, long-periodic, gregarious, and uncontrollable; also, bamboo plants usually die after flowering. The flowering mechanism in Arabidopsis thaliana, a eudicot model species, is well established, but it remains unknown in bamboo species. We found 4470 and 3878 expressed sequence tags in the flower bud and vegetative shoot cDNA libraries, respectively, of the bamboo species, Bambusa oldhamii. Different genes were found expressed in bamboo flower buds compared to vegetative shoots, based on the Munich Information Center for Protein Sequences functional categorization; flowering-related genes were also identified in this species. We also identified Arabidopsis flowering-specific homologs that are involved in its photoperiod in this bamboo species, along with autonomous, vernalization and gibberellin-dependent pathways, indicating that bamboos may have a similar mechanism to control floral transition. Some bamboo expressed sequence tags shared high similarity with those of rice, but others did not match any known sequences. Our data lead us to conclude that bamboo may have its own unique flowering genes. This information can help us understand bamboo flowering and provides useful experimental methods to study the mechanisms involved.

Gregarious Bamboo Flowering and Rodent Outbreaks – An Overview

Author(s): Sridhara, Shakunthala; Rajendran, T. P. | Abstract: At least 137 species of common bamboos of India and rest of Asia seed synchronously at long and supra-annual intervals. These include species belonging to the genera Phyllostachys, Arundinaria, Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Gigantochloapus, Malocanna, Guadua, Nechouzeaua, Ochlandra, and Thyrostachys. The enormous quantity of seeds shed by these bamboos affect the population dynamics of several vertebrates, including mostly birds, rodents, and wild pigs. The rodents, as generalist seed predators, exhibit a very complex response to the sudden spurt in the availability of nutritious bamboo seeds. In North-east India, the popular saying and belief “when bamboo flowers, famine follows” refers to the phenomenon of gregarious bamboo flowering, massive seed fall, and irruptions in rodent populations, which, after exhausting the bamboo seeds, invade and devour the entire crop fields and stored foods, leading to famine. Such events have been occurring approximately every 40 - 45 years since 1880, the latest being 2005 - 2007 sans any famine. Although 14 species of rodents occur in North-east India, until now there is no strong evidence to identify the species exhibiting population outbreaks. The species suspected to irrupt are Rattus rattus, R. r. brunneusculus, R. bowersi, R. niviventer, and Canomys badius. Similar irruptions of rodent populations in South America has been documented since 1800. These eruptions, termed ratadas, were seen in Oligoryzomys longicaudatus and Abothrix longipilis consequent to flowering of Chusquea quilla. Comparable density increases are seen consequent to masting in trees other than bamboo. Although the mechanism of seed masting is attributed to several hypotheses, predation satiation is the most accepted theory. In this paper, rodent response to masting is discussed in relation to this theory. The non-occurrence of famine in North-east India consequent to 2005-2007 bamboo flowering is mainly due to the effective strategies formulated by the government of India to prevent population buildup of rodents. This seems to be a fine instance of prophylactic approach to rodent management in large areas encompassing several states.

Giant panda habitat networks and conservation: is this species adequately protected?

Context. Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are restricted to six mountain ranges at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. One of these ranges, the Qinling Mountains, contains the highest density of giant pandas and is home to ~20% of those remaining in the wild. Commercial logging and other developments have resulted in habitat fragmentation, and an efficient and powerful conservation network is now needed for the species in this area. Aims. This study sought to assess giant panda habitat and estimate the carrying capacity of this reserve network. Our goal was to improve the function and carrying capacity of the reserve network and facilitate population growth and gene flow among subpopulations of giant pandas. Methods. We use habitat suitability models to assess the efficacy of conservation networks. With estimation of carrying capacity by home range, we can reveal issues facing reserves and populations of endangered species they contain. Here, we define key habitat, linkages, corridors and overall connectivity and then use habitat network modelling and spatial analyses to design a conservation landscape for giant pandas across their Qinling Mountains stronghold. Key results. We found that 91% of giant panda sightings were in suitable or marginally suitable habitat. The total area of giant panda habitat present in the Qinling Mountains is ~1600 km2 fragmented across four key habitat blocks by national roads or other human activity. The current nature reserve network encompasses 71% of available suitable habitat and 62% of available marginal habitat, meaning a significant proportion of panda habitat remains outside the current conservation network. We found that giant panda reserves across this region are not equal in their carrying capacity; some reserves contain an overabundance of giant pandas and the wellbeing of these populations are in doubt. Conclusions. Our results highlight the potential risk of high densities and bamboo flowering events to the safety of giant pandas. With poor population size and heavy isolation, small populations will not persist without translocation. Implication. Redrawing the reserve network to correct localised problems may improve the function of the giant panda protection system, build capacity in the reserve network, and decrease human–wildlife conflict. We propose a new reserve and adjustment of the borders and region for three reserves.

Helminth parasite spectrum in rodent hosts from bamboo growing areas of Mizoram, North-east India

In the northeastern state of Mizoram, India the rodent outbreak is periodic and coincides with bamboo (Melocanna baccifera) bloom causing a tremendous destruction to food crops that often results in famine. The present study was undertaken during the bamboo flowering period (2006-2008) to assess the parasite spectrum and load in the bourgeoning rodent population of the affected region. The survey results of the populations of 9 prevalent rodent species revealed that nematodes were the most dominant parasitic group followed by cestodes of the order Cyclophyllidea; however, the trematodes were found to be conspicuously missing. The nematodes harbored by the rodents belonged to the genera: Syphacia, Aspicularis, Trichuris, Rictularia, Capillaria, Trichosomoides, Nippostrongylus, Hepatojarakus and Heterakis, whereas the cestode genera included Hymenolepis, Raillietina and Taenia. Hymenolepis diminuta was the commonly encountered species. Only one acanthocephalan (Moniliformis sp.) could be collected during the entire study.

Identification and characterization of two Bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) AP1/SQUA-like MADS-box genes during floral transition

Bamboo (Bambusoideae) is by far the largest member of the grass family Poaceae, which is vital to the economy of many countries in the tropics and subtropics. However, the mechanism of flowering of bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) is still unknown. In this study, we isolated two novel genes from P. praecox and evaluated their functional characteristics. The sequence and phylogenetic analysis indicated that these two genes, named PpMADS1 and PpMADS2, belong to FUL3 and FUL1 clade of Poaceae AP1/SQUA-like genes, respectively. The PpMADS2 possesses a truncated C terminus lacking the highly conserved paleoAP1 motif. It was further confirmed that the truncated C-terminal region was produced by natural sequence deletion in exons, but not by alternative splicing. Ectopic expression of PpMADS1 and PpMADS2 significantly promoted early flowering through upregulation of AP1 in Arabidopsis. Yeast two-hybrid experiments demonstrated that AP1 protein can interact with PpMADS1 but not PpMADS2, suggesting that these two genes may act differently in signaling early flowering of bamboo plants. RT-qPCR and in situ hybridization analysis revealed distinct expression patterns of these two genes in vegetative and reproductive tissues of bamboo. Taken together, our results suggest that both PpMADS1 and PpMADS2 are involved in floral transition, and PpMADS2 might play more important roles than PpMADS1 in floral development of Phyllostachys praecox.

Discussion on the name and nomenclatural type of the genus of Qiongzhuea Hsueh et Yi and Qiongzhuea tumidinoda Hsueh et Yi.

The Genus of Qiongzhuea Hsueh et Yi was established in 1980.Its type species was based on Q.tumidinoda Hsueh et Yi.Because bamboo is perennial plant,does not flower and fruit every year and it has only a florescence in life.At that time,we considered the property of biology on bamboo flowering,and in order to identify the Qiongzhuea taxon of its infragenus and its species more easily and exactly,we selected specimens with flower and fruit branch of Wang Fangyu,Xiong Zhiquan and Yang Kaitai 11563 and vegetagive of Yi Tongpei 73001 as common syntypes of Q.tumidinoda Hsueh et Yi.According to the relative rules in the Interntional Code of Batanical Nomenclature(Tokyo Code,1994.Art.8.1.),only one specimen can be selected when naming a new species or infraspecific taxon,however,in this case stipulated definitely in Leningrad Code,Art.7.5.1975;St.Louis Code,2000 and Vienna Code,Art.37.3.2006,lectotype may be selected among them.So we select specimen with flower and fruit branch of Wang Fangyu,Xiong Zhiquan and Yang Kaitai 11563(fl.fr.) as lectotype of Qiongzhuea Hsueh et Yi between the two numbers,and genus of Q.tumidinoda Hsueh et Yi and Q.tumidinoda Hsueh et Yi can be published validly.