Dry matter accumulation (DMA) is the basis of maize (Zea mays L.) grain production. In order to investigate the traits related to DMA before and after flowering of maize, experiments were conducted on maize cultivars released from the 1950s to the 2010s, which were grown at densities of 37,500 and 82,500 plants ha–1. In improved cultivars, the contribution of total DMA (54% – 88%) to grain yield gain was greater than the contribution of harvest index (HI) (12% – 46%). A significant increase in total DMA for maize cultivars resulted from increase in DMA during the reproductive stage (DMAR) and DMAR rates. Leaf area index at anthesis or dent stage and the staygreen index significantly incre...

Four chrysanthemum varieties were conserved in vitro at low temperature conditions for 6 mo in four culture media: ½ Murashige and Skoog (MS) + 2.5% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and in Tsuchiya media at ½, ¼ and full strengths. Plantlets of all varieties conserved in MS + 2.5% DMSO had shorter internodes, lesser leaf and internode number and no root formation compared with varieties conserved in Tsuchiya media. Decreasing the nutrient concentration of the Tsuchiya medium to ¼ strength induced more optimum plantlet growth and root development. Mortality in all varieties started at 4 mo storage period. Varieties ‛Puspita Nusantara’ and ‛Tirta Ayuni’ conserved in ¼ strength Tsuchiya medium produ...

The vegetative and floral characteristics of chrysanthemum [Dendranthema grandiflora (Ramat.) Kitam.] plantlets that had survived after in vitro conservation at different periods and in different media were assessed after growing them in vivo. The surviving plantlets of varieties ‛Pasopati’, ‛Padma Buana’, ‛Puspita Nusantara’ and ‛Tirta Ayuni’ previously conserved under low-temperature conditions in Murashige and Skoog (MS) + 2.5% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), full, ½ and ¼ strengths Tsuchiya media for 2, 4, and 6 mo were acclimatized under protected house conditions with standard cultural maintenance until flowering stage. The initial deviations in plant height, stem diameter, leaf length-w...

Target spot disease, caused by Rhizoctonia solani (Kühn) (teleomorph Thanatephorus cucumeris (Frank) Donk), significantly reduces tobacco yield and quality. In recent years, the spread of target spot has become a threat to tobacco production in China. However, research on isolation of highly resistant or immune tobacco cultivars to target spot are limited. In this study, 600 tobacco cultivars representing diverse genetic sources from different countries were evaluated for their resistance to tobacco target spot under greenhouse conditions. During screening at a temperature range of 19ºC– 26ºC, two immune cultivars and 11 resistant cultivars were found. The remaining cultivars produced sym...

The generalization that palms mainly exhibit anemophily has been disregarded and the idea that palm species are serviced by a specific group of pollinating insects has been accepted. The alternative concept that palm pollination is through more than one group of insects was tested by studying the diversity and ecological role of insects visiting the flowers of nipa palm (Nypa fruticans) to address the question whether or not nipa palm has a specialized pollination syndrome or whether pollination occurs via a group of insects or not. At least 25 families from the orders Diptera, Coleoptera, Dermaptera, Hymenoptera and Hemiptera were recorded visiting the flowers of nipa. Results showed tha...