High resolution x-ray computed tomography (HRCT) is a non-destructive diagnostic imaging technique with sub-micron resolution capability that is now being used to evaluate the structure and function of plant xylem network in three dimensions (3D) (e.g. Brodersen et al. 2010; 2011; 2012a,b). HRCT imaging is based on the same principles as medical CT systems, but a high intensity synchrotron x-ra...

We analysed two sites within and outside an urban development in a rural background to estimate the fungal richness, diversity and community composition in Quercus spp. ectomycorrhizas using massively parallel 454-sequencing in combination with DNA-tagging. Our analyses indicated that shallow sequencing ( approximately 150 sequences) of a large number of samples (192 in total) provided data tha...

[1] The climatic effects of historical volcanic eruptions are well documented in the literature. What are less certain however, are the effects of eruptions on more distant environments, particularly vegetation. Here we present subannual dC records from two high-resolution Irish oak (Quercus spp.) chronologies that span the Laki (Grı́msvötn) 1783–84 and Tambora 1815 eruptions. In both instances,...

The group of Chinese Macropsis species dwelling on oak (Quercus spp.) is reviewed and nine species are recognized. Among them, three new species, Macropsis huangbana sp. nov. from Shaanxi and Yunnan Provinces, M. latiprocessa sp. nov. from Guizhou Province and M. longiprocessa sp. nov. from Yunnan Province, are described and illustrated; M. irenae Viraktamath, 1981 (= M. irrorata Tishechkin, 20...

Airborne biological allergens trigger an allergic response required for the development of atopic disease. Biological allergens are released into the air by wind, rain and active discharge mechanisms. In this review article an attempt has been made to evaluate the published literature on prevalence and types of air borne allergens in India. Important pollen allergens reported from India were: P...

The genus Phytophthora comprises over 70 described species, however many new species have been reported recently as a result of the discovery of previously undetected species or by the hybridization of known species. Phytophthora ramorum, one of the new Phytophthora species, is considered a high phytosanitary risk because it is currently responsible for largescale oak mortality in coastal Calif...

0 aks (Querczrs spp.) are among the most ecologically and economically valued trees of the floodplain forests which occupy the river valleys that dissect the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains of the southeastem United States. In these floodplain forests, several species from the sections Quercus and Lobarae are commonly found distributed along a gradient of sites ranging from hydric to mesic. Bo...

Rice (Oryza sativa) is regarded as the only grass that was selected for cultivation and eventual domestication in the Yangtze basin of China. Although both macro-fossils and micro-fossils of rice have been recovered from the Early Neolithic site of Shangshan, dating to more than 10,000 years before present (BP), we report evidence of phytolith and starch microfossils taken from stone tools, bot...

Three new species, Cantharellus phasmatis, Cantharellus flavus and Cantharellus spectaculus, all previously considered Cantharellus cibarius, are described in this study. The circumscription of these three species from C. cibarius and other Cantharellus species is supported by morphological differences and nuclear DNA sequence data (nLSU, ITS, TEF1). All were found under Quercus spp. in a small...