We investigated the origin of stylar polymorphisms in Narcissus, which possesses a remarkable range of stylar conditions and diverse types of floral morphology and pollination biology. Reconstruction of evolutionary change was complicated by incomplete resolution of trees inferred from two rapidly evolving chloroplast regions, but we bracketed reconstructions expected on the fully resolved plas...

the effect of plant growth regulator short time treatments ( ga3 and tdz) on the increase of vase life and qualitative traits of alstroemeria cultivars ‘odessa’ and ‘sacramento’ were investigated. cut flowers were treated with 24h pulse treatments which included different concentrations of ga3 and tdz. cut flowers were later held in preservative solution (sucrose 2% +nanosid 2ppm) and then thei...

BACKGROUND Children of workers exposed to pesticides are at risk of secondary pesticide exposure. We evaluated the potential for lower acetylcholinesterase activity in children cohabiting with fresh-cut flower plantation workers, which would be expected from organophosphate and carbamate insecticide exposure. Parental home surveys were performed and acetylcholinesterase activity was measured in...

We investigated the effects of sucrose and nano-silver (NAg) on extending the vase life of cut carnation flowers "Edun". Sucrose (pulse treatment) suppressed ethylene production by downregulating the genes that code for its biosynthesis. Relative to the control, however, sucrose significantly promoted xylem blockage on cut stem surfaces and reduced relative fresh weight, antioxidant activity, a...

Fusarium oxysporum is the causal agent for wilt diseases of many major ornamental and horticultural crops. In this study, we plated a local cut flower grower’s soil, with a persistent history of Fusarium wilt of scented stock, Matthiola incana but not the lettuce rotational crop. This yielded culture plates with characteristic pink to carmine red fungi, together with a mixed bacterial populatio...