Background : Since recogntion of probable reservoirs of nosocomial infections is important for determining the kinds and antibiogram pattern of hospital pathogens in Shohadaye-Ashayer hospital environment, this descriptive cross- sectional study was done. Materials and methods: Totally, 1020 gowns were sampled in an interval of one month and three times of sampling. Samples were carried to lab...

Herbaceous woodland species account for a significant amount of the biodiversity of temperate deciduous forests. A wide diversity of life-history strategies is known for woodland herbs, and several systems have been used to categorize the range of life-history characteristics. Clonal growth, one common feature of many woodland herbaceous species, provides several benefits including the ability ...

A rampant highly heterozygous aspen (Populus tremula L.) clone "Meshabash" has been revealed in course of population genetic diversity analysis in a native stand in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. Here we report the results of karyological analysis showing that this highly vigorous clone is diploid (2n = 38) while typically triploid aspen demonstrates increased growth rate and resistance to ...

(1) Ramets of Trifolium repens were sampled from sites in a field of permanent pasture dominated by a mosaic of Lolium perenne, Holcus lanatus, Cynosurus cristatus and Agrostis tenuis. After multiplication of the ramets in a glasshouse, they were transplanted back into the original swards in all combinations of clover 'type' and site of origin. The pre-existing vegetation on the sites was eithe...

Spatial patchiness and temporal variability in water availability are common in nature under global climate change, which can remarkably influence adaptive responses of clonal plants, i.e. clonal integration (translocating resources between connected ramets). However, little is known about the effects of spatial patchiness and temporal heterogeneity in water on growth and clonal integration bet...

The widespread poplar populations of Sardinia are vegetatively propagated and live in different natural environments forming large monoclonal stands. The main goals of the present study were: i) to investigate/measure the epigenetic diversity of the poplar populations by determining their DNA methylation status; ii) to assess if and how methylation status influences population clustering; iii) ...

Resources such as water taken up by plants can be released into soils through hydraulic redistribution and can also be translocated by clonal integration within a plant clonal network. We hypothesized that the resources from one (donor) microsite could be translocated within a clonal network, released into different (recipient) microsites and subsequently used by neighbor plants in the recipien...

We propose here to interpret and model peculiar plant morphologies (cushions and tussocks) observed in the Andean Altiplano as localized structures. Such structures resulting in a patchy, aperiodic aspect of the vegetation cover are hypothesized to self-organize thanks to the interplay between facilitation and competition processes occurring at the scale of basic plant components biologically r...

The availabilities of light and soil water resources usually spatially co-vary in natural habitats, and the spatial pattern of such co-variation may affect the benefits of physiological integration between connected ramets of clonal plants. In a greenhouse experiment, we grew connected or disconnected ramet pairs [consisting of a proximal (relatively old) and a distal (relative young) ramet] of...

Spatial heterogeneity in light supply is common in nature. Many studies have examined the effects of heterogeneous light supply on growth, morphology, physiology and biomass allocation of clonal plants, but few have tested those effects on intraspecific competition. In a greenhouse experiment, we grew one (no competition) or nine ramets (with intraspecific competition) of a stoloniferous clonal...