Isolation of RNA from plants rich in secondary metabolites using commercial kits often results in contaminated preparations which are not suitable for downstream applications. Although many specific protocols appropriate for plants with a high content of phenolics, anthocyanins and polysaccharides have been developed, these are often expensive, time consuming and not applicable to different typ...

The plant height is an important trait in fruit tree. However, the molecular mechanism on dwarfism is still poorly understood. We found that colchicine-induced autotetraploid apple plants (Malus × domestica) exhibited a dwarf phenotype. The vertical length of cortical parenchyma cells was shorter in autotetraploids than in diploids, by observing paraffin sections. Hormone levels of indoleacetic...

Do you believe that an expectant mother's dream will affect her baby's life? In my country people did. We believed the dreams of those mothers' were signs. A dragon might be the sign of a strong boy, or jewelry could mean babies' rich life. Mothers wanted nice and uncommon dreams for their babies, or attempted to interpret the dreams splendid and rare. A mother would even buy a nice dream from ...

Reproduction of the woolly apple aphid, Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausmann), can take place parthenogenetically or sexually when both host plants, apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) and elm (Ulmus americana L.) are available. Since elm is not commonly grown in New Zealand, E. lanigerum, a major pest of apple, is thought to reproduce only parthenogenetically here. During our studies between 1999 and 2003,...

Clinical case Caucasian 16-year-old boy was refered to Immunoalergology Unit for food allergy investigation. Since early childhood the patient avoids ingestion of peach although without any symptoms to mention. At the age of 7 he experienced labial and palpebral angioedema, oropharyngeal pruritis and dyspnoea immediately after ingestion of a non-peeled fresh apple and later with a cooked apple....