Plant spacing and nitrogen are the most important factors for increasing tuberose quality and quantity. In this study, field experiment carried out as factorial Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) in 3 replications. Different levels of nitrogen (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 kg/ha) of ammonium nitrate was used. Second factor was different plant spaces (10, 15, 20 and 25 cm). Results showed th...

Intensified ultraviolet-B radiation or UV-B (wavelengths between 280 and 320 nm) can delay flowering and diminish lifetime flower production in a few plants. Here we studied the effects of enhanced UV-B on floral traits crucial to pollination and pollinator reproduction. We observed simultaneous flowering responses of a new crop plant, Limnanthes alba (Limnathaceae), and a wildflower, Phacelia ...

A male flower-specific gene SlMF1 was isolated from male flower buds of the dioecious plant Silene latifolia. SlMF1 is expressed in all the floral meristems at the very early stage of development in both male and female flower buds. At the mature stage of development in male flower buds, SlMF1 transcripts were specifically accumulated in pollen mother cells, tapetal cells, and the developing ti...

Several biotic and abiotic factors affect the seasonal and daily activities of flower-visiting insects, which, ultimately, influence the composition and abundance of a pollinator community and the extent of their pollination service. The aim of this four-year study was to assess the effect of some abiotic and biotic factors on the abundance and activity pattern of flower-visiting insects throug...

Chrysophanol (Chry, Figure 1), 1,8-dihydroxy-3methylanthraquinone, is a free anthraquinone compound and a secondary metabolite of medicinal plant rhubarb. Chry has been reported to have many pharmacological effects such as anti-inflammatory activity [1], anti-microbial activity [2] and anti-cancer action [3]. Therefore, the detection of Chry is quite important and interesting. Until now, variou...

Plant petioles can be considered as hierarchical cellular structures, displaying geometric features defined at multiple length scales. Their macroscopic mechanical properties are the cumulative outcome of structural properties attained at each level of the structural hierarchy. This work appraises the compliance of a rhubarb stalk by determining the stalk's bending and torsional stiffness both ...

Data on plant-pollinator interactions collected over six summers in montane meadows of the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest provided an opportunity to explore the association between two genera of generalist pollinators: Apis and Bombus. Ten plots in each meadow were “watched” for fifteen minutes five times every summer, and each flower species in a meadow-watch was assigned a class based on the ...

Rhubarb (Rheum tanguticum; da-huang in Chinese medicine) is a herbal medicine that has been used widely for managing fever and removing toxicity. In this study, we investigated how rhubarb inhibits influenza virus during the early stage of the infectious cycle using different functional assays. A non-toxic ethanolic extract of rhubarb (Rex) inhibited several H1N1 subtypes of influenza A viruses...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Asymmetric warming is one of the distinguishing features of global climate change, in which winter and night-time temperatures are predicted to increase more than summer and diurnal temperatures. Winter warming weakens vernalization and hence decreases the potential to flower for some perennial herbs, and night warming can reduce carbohydrate concentrations in storage organs...

Paleontological and phylogenetic studies have shown that floral zygomorphy (bilateral symmetry) has evolved independently in several plant groups from actinomorphic (radially symmetric) ancestors as a consequence of strong selection exerted by specialized pollinators. Most studies focused on unraveling the developmental genetics of flower symmetry, but little is known about the adaptive signifi...