Plants integrate seasonal cues such as temperature and day length to optimally adjust their flowering time to the environment. Compared to the control of flowering before and after winter by the vernalization and day length pathways, mechanisms that delay or promote flowering during a transient cool or warm period, especially during spring, are less well understood. Due to global warming, under...

Real-time quantitative PCR was used to study lipoxygenase (LOX) gene expression patterns in kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa [A. Chev.] C.F. Liang et A.R. Ferguson var. deliciosa cv. Hayward) during fruit ripening, and in response to ethylene and low temperature during post-harvest storage. Six LOX genes were identified and cloned from a kiwifruit EST database. All were expressed in vegetative ti...

the flowering phase of apple trees is the most critical step in relation with low temperatures and frost events. therefore, forecasting the time of flowering is important. if a model can predict the exact time of flowering, it would be feasible to care for flowers agianst late spring freezing (lsf). in this study, we evaluated three temperature-base chilling models namely: chilling hours (ch), ...

The timing and lowering type of walnut genotypes (Juglans regia L.) is one of the important factors that lead to high and constant production. Therefore, the selection of homogame and spring frost tolerant genotypes has been among the most important priorities in breeding programs of walnut. The present paper analyzed the degree of dichogamy and the flowering time of 19 promising genotypes in w...

Among environmental factors, temperature is the one that poses serious threats to viticulture in the present and future scenarios of global climate change. In this work, we evaluated the effects on berry ripening of two thermal regimes, imposed from veraison to harvest. Potted vines were grown in two air-conditioned greenhouses with High Temperature (HT) and Low Temperature (LT) regimes charact...

In the mild and humid climate of northwestern Europe, fungal pre-harvest rots are a major factor limiting the production of soft-fruits such as strawberries and raspberries. By far the most important fungal disease is grey mould caused by Botrytis cinerea Pers.:Fr., now known to be an aggregate of at least two distinct species (Fournier et al., 2005; Giraud et al., 1999). Primary infections are...

Flowering time of the short-day plant Chrysanthemum morifolium is largely dependent upon daylength, but it is also distinctly influenced by other environmental factors. Flowering is delayed by summer heat. Here, the underlying basis for this phenomenon was investigated. Heat-induced flowering retardation occurred similarly in C. morifolium and C. seticuspe, a wild-type diploid chrysanthemum. In...

The low-temperature flowering-response pathway, used as an inductive stimulus to induce flowering in plant species from temperate regions in response to cold temperature, has been extensively studied. However, limited information is available on the flower transition of several bulbous species, which require high temperature for flower differentiation. Narcissus tazetta var. chinensis (Chinese ...