1. Pollinator declines caused by forage habitat loss threaten insect pollination services. Pollinating insects depend on adequate floral resources, and their ability to track these resources. Variability of these resources and the effect on insect foraging choice is poorly understood. 2. We record patterns of visitation to six wildflower species and test the hypotheses that: pollinators prefere...

Background and Aims Sub-individual variation in traits of homologous structures has multiple ecological consequences for individuals and populations. Assessing the evolutionary significance of such effects requires an improved knowledge of the mechanisms underlying within-plant phenotypic heterogeneity. The hypothesis that continuous within-plant variation in some phenotypic traits can be assoc...

Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) are small, regulatory non-coding RNAs involved in a wide range of biological processes, from organ development to response to stimuli. In recent years, an increasing number of studies on model plant species have highlighted the evolutionary conservation of a high number of miRNA families and the existence of taxon-specific ones. However, few studies have examined miRNAs...

Vertical raceme or spike inflorescences that are bee-pollinated tend to present their flowers horizontally. Horizontal presentation of flowers is hypothesized to enhance pollinator recognition and pollination precision, and it may also ensure greater consistency of pollinator movement on inflorescences. We tested the hypotheses using bee-pollinated Corydalis sheareri which has erect inflorescen...

to determine the association between genetic parameters and traits in chickpea (cicer arietinum l.) genotypes, a field experiment was conducted with 17 chickpea genotypes using a randomized complete block design with four replications at the ilam agricultural and natural resources research center in the 2004 growing season. genetic parameters including genetic, environmental and phenotypic vari...

salvia genus belongs to lamiaceae family that was used in ancient and its application in culinary, flavor cosmetics, food and drinking industries is important. in the present study to assess compatibility of salvia sclarea to field condition and determine its potential for medicinal and ornamental applications, wild seed were cultured in pots. after initial growth, seedlings at 6-8 leaf stage t...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The xylem plays an important role in strengthening plant bodies. Past studies on xylem formation in tension woods in poplar and also in clinorotated Prunus tree stems lead to the suggestion that changes in the gravitational conditions affect morphology and mechanical properties of xylem vessels. The aim of this study was to examine effects of hypergravity stimulus on morphol...

Herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) is a traditional famous flower, but its poor inflorescence stem quality seriously constrains the development of the cut flower. Mechanical strength is an important characteristic of stems, which not only affects plant lodging, but also plays an important role in stem bend or break. In this paper, the mechanical strength, morphological indices and micr...