New cDNA sequences for chalcone synthase (CHS), a key enzyme in the flavonoid biosynthesis, were obtained from the Japanese and common morning glories; they are more closely related to other CHS sequences than the six previously described CHS genes from the same plants. The newly isolated CHS-D gene is abundantly expressed in the pigmented flower buds, while its expression is drastically reduce...

Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorum) is a kind of mountain herbs whose roots have restorative properties and the cultivating acreage of balloon flower has been steadily increasing in Korea. More frequent rain and high amount of rainfalls as a result of climate changes predisposed balloon flower to the outbreaks of root rot at high-density cultivation area in recent years. Root crowns were u...

The observations of present investigation showed that traditional medicine plays a vital role among the rural people of Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India. In Salem district, the traditional medicinal method is very effective, supportive and successful in curing snake bite, jaundice, diabetes, fever, urinary troubles and skin diseases. Tribals and villagers mainly depend on the plants for all ai...

Pollination systems are composed of flowering plants and flower visitors, engaging into mutualistic interactions. However, the flower visitors include true pollinators, which pollinate the flower by visiting it through the legitimate way, and also by cheaters, which use the flower′s resources (e.g. nectar and pollen) without pollinating it or been just marginally efficient on pollination. On th...

Flower pollination algorithm is a new nature-inspired algorithm, based on the characteristics of flowering plants. In this paper, we extend this flower algorithm to solve multi-objective optimization problems in engineering. By using the weighted sum method with random weights, we show that the proposed multi-objective flower algorithm can accurately find the Pareto fronts for a set of test fun...

The effects of sodium chloride (NaCl) salinity (control; canal water with 0.4 dS m-1), 2.5 dSm-1, 5.0 dS m-1, 7.5 dS m-1 and 10.0 dS m-1, respectively) developed after 6 weeks of pruning (beginning of study) on plant growth, flowering and quality of three cut rose (Rosa hybrida L.) cultivars viz. ‘Kardinal’, ‘Angelique’ and ‘Gold Medal’ were studied to achieve better management, quality product...

In Petunia hybrida flowers, both pollination and stigma wounding induced a transient increase in ethylene pro­ duction and hastened corolla senescence. Ethylene production by different flower parts was measured in situ using laser photoacoustic (LPA) spectroscopy. In pollinated flowers, ethylene was exclusively produced by the stigma/style region whereas wounding of the stigma induced ethylene ...

Endogenous jasmonates are important regulators of plant defenses. If and how they enable plants to maintain their reproductive output when facing community-level herbivory under natural conditions, however, remains unknown. We demonstrate that jasmonate-deficient Nicotiana attenuata plants suffer more damage by arthropod and vertebrate herbivores than jasmonate-producing plants in nature. Howev...