BACKGROUND Phosphorus (P) is a major limiting nutrient for plant growth in many soils. Studies in model species have identified genes involved in plant adaptations to low soil P availability. However, little information is available on the genetic bases of these adaptations in vegetable crops. In this respect, sequence data for melon now makes it possible to identify melon orthologues of candid...

Drought, particularly terminal drought, reduces the yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Terminal drought tolerance and water use patterns were evaluated under controlled conditions in 10 genotypes of desi chickpea. Withholding water from early podding reduced vegetative growth, reproductive growth, seed yield, and water use efficiency for seed yield in all genotypes. The genotype Neelam, wh...

grafting of cucurbitaceae species to some rootstocks seems to be especially beneficial for the nitrogen nutrition of these plants. moreover, melons (cucumis melo l.) have been considered among those plants that could benefit from the addition of silicon (si) in the nutrient solution (ns). thus, two experiments were carried out in the following order: (i) it was investigated how grafting affects...

The changes in water distribution in maturing lupin (Lupinus luteus L.) seeds were visualized with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI data showed local inhomogeneities of water distribution inside the seed. At the late seed-filling stage the most intense signal was detected in the seed coat and the outer parts of cotyledons in the hilum area, but during maturation drying the decline in MR im...

The antidiabetic activities of bitter melon powders produced with lyophilization/superfine grinding and hot air drying/normal grinding were investigated in vivo for selecting a suitable bitter melon processing procedure. After a five-week treatment, bitter melon lyophilized superfine grinding powder (BLSP) had a higher antidiabetic activity with reducing fasting blood glucose levels from 21.40...

Oriental melon (Cucumis melo L. var. makuwa) is an important fruit for human consumption. However, this plant species is one of the most recalcitrant to genetic transformation. The lack of an efficient in vitro system limits the development of a reproducible genetic transformation protocol for Oriental melon. In this study, an efficient transgenic production method for Agrobacterium-mediated tr...

A new dimension: The doping of amorphous poly(triazine imide) (PTI) through ionothermal copolymerization of dicyandiamide with 4-amino-2,6-dihydroxypyrimidine (4AP) results in triazine-based carbon nitrides with increased photoactivity for water splitting compared to crystalline poly(triazine imide) (PTI/Li(+)Cl(-), see picture) and melon-type carbon nitrides. This family of carbon nitride semi...

This report analyses the problems of anaesthesia in 63 children, mainly in the age group 1-3 years, having bronchoscopy for removal of inhaled foreign bodies. Most of the inhaled material was vegetable matter (nuts or water-melon seeds) which does not cause gross X-ray changes until after 24 hours, at which time valvular obstruction commonly causes local hyperaeration. All patients underwent br...