In most wheat growing moderate regions and especially in the north of Iran climate, is affected grain filling by several physical and abiotic stresses. In this region, grain filling often occurs when temperatures are increasing and moisture supply is decreasing. The experiment was designed in RCBD with split plot arrangements with four replications. Four irrigation treatments included (I0) no i...

Power tillers are very simple and versatile machines with large scale diffusion in developing countries, where they are commonly used both for agriculture and for transportation purposes. A new integrated participatory approach that makes use of and improves local end-users knowledge has been used to design a new robotic system for humanitarian demining applications in Sri Lanka, using power ti...

• Climate change (altered CO(2) , warming, and precipitation) may affect plant-microbial interactions, such as the Lolium arundinaceum-Neotyphodium coenophialum symbiosis, to alter future ecosystem structure and function. • To assess this possibility, tall fescue tillers were collected from an existing climate manipulation experiment in a constructed old-field community in Tennessee (USA). Endo...

Epichloë species (Clavicipitaceae, Ascomycota) are the causal agents of choke disease of grasses. This disease is characterized by the presence of cylindrical fungal stromata which wrap the immature inflorescences and inhibit the normal development of reproductive tillers. Using phenotypic and molecular characters, as well as mating compatibility tests, the fungus causing choke disease in Brach...

We report the twining handedness of Codonopsis pilosula, which has either a 9 leftor right-handed helix among different plants, among different tillers within a 10 single plant, and among different branches within a single tiller. The handedness was 11 randomly distributed among different plants, among the tillers within the same plants, 12 but not among the branches within the same tillers. Mo...

The predicted ongoing increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels is considered to be one of the main threats to biodiversity due to potential changes in biotic interactions. We tested whether effects of intraand interspecific planting density of the calcareous grassland perennials Bromus erectus and Carex flacca change in response to elevated [CO2] (600 ppm) by using factorial combinations o...

Tissue disruption caused by freezing and thawing may contribute to rapid enzymatic breakdown of dhurrin [p-hydroxy-(S)mandelonitrile-p-D-glucoside], the cyanogenic glucoside of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], but published reports arenot in agreement as to the effects of freezing on the hydrocyanic acid potential (HCN-p) of field-grown sorghum leaves. Theseeffects were investigated in a ...

Epichloë fungal endophytes of cool season grasses are well-known to produce a range of alkaloids of benefit to the host. Some of these compounds are advantageous to agriculture due to qualities that promote pasture persistence (e.g., the loline class of alkaloids confer insect protection) while others are detrimental to the well-being of grazing livestock. The ergot alkaloids (e.g., ergovaline)...

Improvement of economic characters like yield through selection is conditioned by the nature and magnitude of variability existing in such populations. However, the phenotypic expression of complex character like yield is a combination of genotype, environment and their interaction. This indicates the need for partition of overall variability into heritable and non-heritable components with the...