Wide hybridization can lead to recombination of diverse traits and creation of unique phenotypes, but the resultant hybrids are often sterile as is the case with the intersubgeneric hybrid Rhododendron L. Fragrant Affinity . Sterility in wide hybrids can either be genic or chromosomal; the latter may be overcome by induction of polyploidy, which can restore chromosome homology and fertility. Cy...

Microscopic observation of bi-weekly sampled terminal buds revealed that most flower buds of R. mucronatum were formed between late-July and mid-August and differentiation of specific floral organs was completed before mid-October. Flower buds continued to enlarge through the winter. When flower buds on two-yearold plants from rooted cuttings were allowed to grow at day / night temperature of 1...

Rhododendron ferrugineum L. (Ericaceae) is a subalpine shrub found throughout the Pyrenees and Alps at elevations of 1600-2200 m. We examined relationships between genetic and geographic distance, using 115 dominant amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers to assess genetic structure over a wide range of spatial scales. We sampled 17 sites with distances of 4 km to more than 1000 k...

We investigated the temperature and moisture conditions that allow Phytophthora ramorum to infect Rhododendron 'Cunningham's White'. Most experiments were performed with a single P. ramorum isolate from the NA1 clonal lineage. For whole plants incubated in dew chambers at 10 to 31 degrees C, the greatest proportion of diseased leaves, 77.5%, occurred at the optimum temperature of 20.5 degrees C...

To gain a better understanding of cold acclimation in rhododendron and in woody perennials in general, we used the 2D-DIGE technique to analyze the rhododendron proteome during the seasonal development of freezing tolerance. We selected two species varying in their cold acclimation ability as well as their thermonasty response (folding of leaves in response to low temperature). Proteins were ex...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Rhododendron (Ericaceae) is a large woody genus in which hybridization is thought to play an important role in evolution and speciation, particularly in the Sino-Himalaya region where many interfertile species often occur sympatrically. Rhododendron agastum, a putative hybrid species, occurs in China, western Yunnan Province, in mixed populations with R. irroratum and R. del...