Iron (Fe) deficiency chlorosis is a major nutritional disorder for crops growing in calcareous soils, and causes decreases in vegetative growth as well as marked yield and quality losses. With the advances in mass spectrometry techniques, a substantial body of knowledge has arisen on the changes in the protein profiles of different plant parts and compartments as a result of Fe deficiency. Chan...

The objectives of this research are to develop the grafting robots and an acclimatization chamber for watermelon, and tomato seedlings. For watermelon seedlings, a top plug-in robotic grafting system has been developed, which is applicable for grafting a scion into a mature rootstock before the scion’s cotyledons spread. It thus makes the scion to be very tender and greatly different from the r...

* The extreme phenotype of zinc (Zn) hyperaccumulation, which is found in several Brassicaceae species, is determined by mechanisms that promote elevated Zn tolerance and high Zn accumulation in shoots. * We used reciprocal grafting between a Zn hyperaccumulator, Thlaspi caerulescens, and a Zn nonaccumulator, Thlaspi perfoliatum, to determine the relative importance of roots and shoots in Zn hy...

Tristeza, caused by Citrus tristeza virus (CTV), has long been present in Florida but outbreaks of decline on sour orange rootstock were occasional events until the late 1970s. Sour orange rootstock was valued for the high quality of fruit produced and was widely used because of its tolerance of citrus blight, a disease of unknown etiology. Research was directed towards the selection and screen...

Recent research suggests that systemic signalling and communication between roots and leaves plays an important role in plant defence against herbivores. In the present study, we show that the oviposition of the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae in the systemic leaves of citrus rootstock Citrus aurantium (sour orange) was reduced by 50% when a lower leaf was previously infested with c...

In modern viticulture, grafting commercial grapevine varieties on interspecific rootstocks is a common practice required for conferring resistance to many biotic and abiotic stresses. Nevertheless, the use of rootstocks to gain these essential traits is also known to impact grape berry development and quality, although the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. In grape berries, the...