Increase in moisture content of seeds of Lactuca sativa L. and Fraxinus americana L. in air-dry storage caused a rapid decline in longevity and an increase in the rate of accumulation of chromosome aberrations. Storage of seeds fully imbibed but unable to germinate allowed a high germination capacity to be maintained for long periods, together with a very low incidence of chromosome aberrations...

Peat replacement is an increasing demand in containerized and transplant production, due to the environmental constraints associated to peat use. However, despite the wide information concerning the use of alternative materials as substrates, it is very complex to establish the best materials and mixtures. This work evaluates the use of mixture design and surface response methodology in a peat ...

Microbial biofertilizers are becoming an effective tool for sustainable agriculture by means of the reduction of the use of chemical fertilizers. However, the knowledge of each specific plant–microorganism interaction is essential for a correct application. In this study, we analyzed the in vitro plant-growth-promotion mechanisms of a Rhizobium leguminosarum strain named PEPV16 isolated from Ph...

information of heavy metal toxicity about physiological aspect of lettuce is limited. therefore an experiment was conducted in crd designed with 7 replications on lettuce (lactuca sativa l.). treatments were cadmium in 3 concentration (0, 2 and 4 mg/l) added to hoagland solution. results were shown that increasing in cadmium of nutrient solution caused increasing in sod, pod antioxidant and pro...

In order to select phytotoxin producing rhizobacteria to control weed plants, twenty five bacterial strains previously isolated from the rhizospheres of various plants were grown in a liquid medium and, after cell removal by centrifugation, the liquid phases were freeze-dried and the products were extracted with ethyl acetate/methanol. The extracts were concentrated to dryness under vacuum and ...

Various chemicals were applied to dry seeds by means of organic solvents. The gibberellic acid-treated (1 mm) lettuce seeds (Lactuca sativa L.) germinated nearly 100% in the dark even after prolonged storage, and those treated with abscisic acid (1 mm or 0.5 mm) failed to germinate in the light. The seedlings emerging from morphactin-treated (1 mm) cucumber seeds (Cucumis sativus L.) exhibited ...

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) seeds have poor shelf life and exhibit thermoinhibition (fail to germinate) above ∼25°C. Seed priming (controlled hydration followed by drying) alleviates thermoinhibition by increasing the maximum germination temperature, but reduces lettuce seed longevity. Controlled deterioration (CD) or accelerated ageing storage conditions (i.e. elevated temperature and relative...

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is a plant often employed in popular medicine. Recently several studies have alerted about the toxicity of substances present in medicinal plants, which can pose risks to the human health. In this sense, the present work aimed to investigate the phytotoxic, cytotoxic and genotoxic action of three guava varieties - Paluma, Pedro Sato and Roxa ("purple") - on the plant ...

Hybridization and introgression between crops and wild relatives may have important evolutionary and ecological consequences such as gene swamping or increased invasiveness. In the present study, we investigated hybridization under field conditions between crop lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and its wild relative prickly lettuce (L. serriola), two cross-compatible, predominantly autogamous and insect...