An early step in the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Phalaenopsis violacea orchid was investigated to elucidate the plant-bacterium interaction. Directed movement in response to chemical attractants is of crucial importance to Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains. Chemotaxis of A. tumefaciens strains (EHA 101 and 105) towards wounded orchid tissues has been studied by using swarm agar pla...

The East Africa NTD/Trachoma Cross-Border Partnership brings together representatives from the same ‘neighbourhood’ – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda – to share experiences of common interest in the delivery of trachoma and other neglected tropical disease (NTD) programmes. These countries understand that they will never reach their individual elimination targe...

OBJECTIVES A national survey in 1997 demonstrated that trachoma was endemic in Mali. Interventions to control trachoma including mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin were launched in the regions of Kayes and Koulikoro in 2003. MDA was discontinued after three annual rounds in 2006, and an impact survey conducted. We resurveyed all districts in Kayes and Koulikoro in 2009 to reassess...

We have identified the primary root fungal endophytes of Dipodium hamiltonianum F.M. Bailey, a species of orchid endangered in Victoria and uncommon in New South Wales and Queensland. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole colonised root portions from four orchid individuals and PCR amplified with ITS1F and ITS4 primers. Cloning and sequencing of the main amplicons produced from the PCR analysis ...

Male orchid bees were collected by chemical baiting in four forest fragments in parks of the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. One thousand three hundred and twenty-five males belonging to 14 species were captured within one year. The capture data were compared through correlation tests. The data suggest that abundance of orchid bees tend to increase with fragment size,...

We have investigated the mycorrhizal associations of two nonphotosynthetic orchids from distant tribes within the Orchidaceae. The two orchids were found to associate exclusively with two distinct clades of ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetous fungi over wide geographic ranges. Yet both orchids retained the internal mycorrhizal structure typical of photosynthetic orchids that do not associate with e...

Orchid–mycobiont specificity in the Orchidaceae was considered controversial and not well understood for many years. Differences in mycobiont specificity during germination in vitro vs in situ have lead some to consider orchid–mycobiont specificity as being generally low; however, others have suggested that specificity, especially in vitro, is surprisingly high. Mycobiont specificity may be gen...

The diverse morphology of orchid flowers and their complex, often deceptive strategies to become pollinated have fascinated researchers for a long time. However, it was not until the 20th century that the ontogeny of orchid flowers, the genetic basis of their morphology and the complex phylogeny of Orchidaceae were investigated. In parallel, the improvement of techniques for in vitro seed germi...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY In addition to autotrophic and fully mycoheterotrophic representatives, the orchid family comprises species that at maturity obtain C and N partially from fungal sources. These partial mycoheterotrophs are often associated with fungi that simultaneously form ectomycorrhizas with trees. This study investigates mycorrhizal nutrition for orchids from the southwestern Australia...

INTRODUCTION It is widely recognized that potted Phalaenopsis production has increased tremendously in last few years. The specific statistics for Phalaenopsis are not available, for the US Department of Agriculture only keep records on total orchid production and sales. However, over 75% of all orchids sold are Phalaenopsis (American Orchid Society, pers. commun.). In 2000, wholesale orchid sa...