In Narcissus tazetta, a monocotyledonous bulbous geophyte, floral initiation and differentiation occur within the bulb during the quiescent period in summer, when ambient temperatures are relatively high and the bulb is located underground with no foliage or roots. In many plant species, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and its homologues are considered powerful promoters of flowering. The Narcissus FT g...

Grape hyacinth (Muscari) is an important ornamental bulbous plant with an extraordinary blue colour. Muscari armeniacum, whose flowers can be naturally white, provides an opportunity to unravel the complex metabolic networks underlying certain biochemical traits, especially colour. A blue flower cDNA library of M. armeniacum and a white flower library of M. armeniacum f. album were used for tra...

Tulips are bulbous geophytes with high ornamental value. Species of Tulipa L. distributed along western China to Eastern Europe. Central Asia including Uzbekistan is considered as the hotspot center tulips where over 80 and 34 taxa described. The current work presents morphology species from fresh materials, regional distribution assessment area (AOO) extent (EOO) occurrence ancestor cultivated...

Anthocyanins are responsible for the different colors of ornamental plants. Grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum), a monocot plant with bulbous flowers, is popular for its fascinating blue color. In the present study, we functionally characterized an R2R3-MYB transcription factor gene MaAN2 from M. armeniacum. Our results indicated that MaAN2 participates in controlling anthocyanin biosynthesis. ...

Crop production is inherently sensitive to climatic variations. Flowers have been admired and used by human to beautify their environment, and also as objects of romance, ritual, religion, medicine and as a source of food. Gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus Andrews; family Iridaceae) is an important bulbous cut flower grown all over the world. The present study was carried out to check the growt...

In patients with devastated bulbous urethra, that is, bulbar necrosis, failed fasciocutaneous repairs and "watering can perineum" repair options are limited by paucity of reliable local tissue suitable for reconstruction. In this case report we demonstrate a novel variation of a two-stage technique for reconstruction of a devastated bulbous urethra in a 57-year-old male who suffered penetrating...

Restrictive dermopathy (RD) results in stillbirth or early neonatal death. RD is characterized by prematurity, intrauterine growth retardation, fixed facial expression, micrognathia, mouth in the 'o' position, rigid and tense skin with erosions and denudations and multiple joint contractures. Nearly all 25 previously reported neonates with RD had homozygous or compound heterozygous null mutatio...

Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungus causing rice blast disease, should contend with host innate immunity to develop invasive hyphae (IH) within living host cells. However, molecular strategies to establish the biotrophic interactions are largely unknown. Here, we report the biological function of a M. oryzae-specific gene, Required-for-Focal-BIC-Formation 1 (RBF1). RBF1 expression was induced in app...

The alkaloids characteristically produced by the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the Amaryllidaceae, bulbous plant species that include well know genera such as Narcissus (daffodils) and Galanthus (snowdrops), are a source of new pharmaceutical compounds. Presently, only the Amaryllidaceae alkaloid galanthamine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used to treat symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, is pr...

The advantage of the end-bearing ankledisarticulation amputation has been well recognized since Syme published his classic article in 1843 (2). Disadvantages and complications of this level of amputation have led some surgeons to favor amputation at a higher level. Failure of adherence of the heel pad to the distal tibia, resulting in a flabby, loose stump, prevents many amputees from ambulatin...