The conservation and sustainable management of Annona coriacea requires knowledge of its floral and reproductive biology, and of its main pollinators and their life cycles. In this work, we analyzed these aspects in detail. Floral biology was assessed by observing flowers from the beginning of anthesis to senescence. The visiting hours and behavior of floral visitors in the floral chamber were ...

A method for the quantification of S-RNase levels in single styles of self-incompatible Solanum chacoense was developed and applied toward an experimental determination of the S-RNase threshold required for pollen rejection. It was found that, when single style values are averaged, accumulated levels of the S(11)- and S(12)-RNases can differ up to 10-fold within a genotype, while accumulated le...

Natural predation is an important component of integrated pest management that is often overlooked because it is difficult to quantify and perceived to be unreliable. To begin incorporating natural predation into sweet corn, Zea mays L., pest management, a predator survey was conducted and then three sampling methods were compared for their ability to accurately monitor the most abundant predat...

Background: Due to its nutrient content, a variety of spoilage microorganisms can grow in bee pollen, especially when handling practices are not appropriate. So, this survey was designed to assess the physicochemical and microbiological properties of bee pollen collected from Bulgaria. Methods: In June 2014, 13 fresh and 19 dried bee pollen samples were collected from Bulgaria. Water activity ...

Pollen viability and its germination capability for fruit set in are almond and peach essential. To optimize the pollen culture medium of almond and peach and selection of best medium, the present study was carried out with 48 different culture media containing different compositions including diverse levels of boric acid (0 and 100mg/1), calcium nitrate (0,150and300mg/l،), magnesium sulphate (...

Low seed yield is a limiting factor for cross breeding and hybrid seed production in cyclamen. This study was performed to investigate pollen germination and its relation to cross-pollination success and fruit set in this plant. In order to achieve a high level of pollen germination, the effect of different concentrations of chemical compounds were examined on in vitro pollen germination of cyc...

Background: The cultivation of saffron is expanding through the southeast of Iran, and allergy to saffron pollen occurs in workers involved in processing this plant. We aimed to clone, sequence and express a major allergen involved in saffron pollen allergy, and to compare the recombinant with the natural allergen. Methods: The N-terminal amino acid sequence of Cro s 1, an allergen from saff...