Background: Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a cultivated woody plant with agricultural and economic importance in many countries around the world. With the advantages of next generation sequencing technologies, genome sequences for many date palm cultivars have been released recently. Short sequence repeat (SSR) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) can be identified from these genomic...

The amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique was applied to identify palm varieties. Fluorescence labelled primers were used in selective amplifications and the amplified fragments were detected on capillary gel electrophoresis using an automated DNA sequencer with the analysis fragment option. This is a rapid and efficient technique for detecting a large number of DNA markers on...

We investigated an outbreak of encephalitis in Tangail District, Bangladesh. We defined case-patients as persons from the outbreak area in whom fever developed with new onset of seizures or altered mental status from December 15, 2004, through January 31, 2005. Twelve persons met the definition; 11 (92%) died. Serum specimens were available from 3; 2 had immunoglobulin M antibodies against Nipa...

Rhynchophorus spp. weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are destructive palm pests in their native and introduced ranges (Giblin-Davis et al., 2013). The palm weevil, R. vulneratus (Panzer), is native to southern Thailand-northern Malaysia on the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Singapore, and Indonesia (Wattanapongsiri 1966, Rugman-Jones et al., 2013). In Aug. and Sep. 2010, larval and adult R. vulneratus...