BACKGROUND Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. is a destructive soil-borne plant pathogen that infects over 500 plant species and causes significant yield losses in many economically important plant species. Synthetic fungicides used to combat the menace also pollute the environment and cause health hazards. In order to search environmental friendly alternatives from natural resources, methanolic extracts...

An ontogenetic study of canavanine formation in the fruit of jack bean, Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC. was conducted. Evidence was presented to show that the ovary wall is the reservoir for seed canavanine. The testa possesses sufficient canavanine to account for the continued elevation in seed canavanine after the pod senesces. The seed canavanine concentration is not constant inasmuch as the c...

To understand the potential of application of tea polyphenols to the shelf life extension and quality maintenance of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) fruit, the fruits were dipped into a solution of 1% tea phenols for 5 min before cold storage at 4 °C. Changes in browning index, contents of anthocyanins and phenolic compounds, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities, O2.- prod...

Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar, em condições de campo, se os cupins arborícolas associados a espécies arbóreas presentes na Área Reserva da Ilha do Catalão UFRJ, RJ, exibem preferência para nidificação e forrageamento entre as árvores. Para isso, foram sorteadas aleatoriamente 95 linhas plantio árvores localizadas nessa área. Nestas foi percorrido um trajeto 100 m, também escolhido al...

Rhizobia are nitrogen-fixing bacteria that establish endosymbiotic associations with legumes. Nodule formation depends on various bacterial carbohydrates, including lipopolysaccharides, K-antigens, and exopolysaccharides (EPS). An acidic EPS from Rhizobium sp. strain NGR234 consists of glucosyl (Glc), galactosyl (Gal), glucuronosyl (GlcA), and 4,6-pyruvylated galactosyl (PvGal) residues with be...

The moderating role of salicylic acid (SA) and putrescine (PUS) as plant growth regulators (PGRs), on the growth parameters and phytochemical and qualitative characteristics of strawberry fruit 'Selva' under osmotic stress was investigated under soilless culture. The osmotic potential (salinity) of the nutrient solution containing different NaCl concentrations (0, 7.5, 15, 30 and 45 mM) and fol...

BACKGROUND Albizzia Lebbeck Benth. is traditionally important plant and is reported to possess a variety of pharmacological actions. The present research exertion was undertaken to isolate and characterized the flavonoids from the extract of stem bark of Albizzia Lebbeck Benth. and to evaluate the efficacy of the isolated flavonoids on in-vitro models of type-II diabetes. Furthermore, the resul...

A comparative study was carried out to determine the most suitable substrate for breeding of midges (Forcipomyia spp.) and the implications for pollination and yield in a typical cocoa production system in the forest ecological zone of Ghana. For the field experiment, the typically available substrates in cocoa farms which were used as the treatments under cocoa trees were: 1) rotten cocoa leaf...