The magnitude of inbreeding depression within populations is important for the evolution and maintenance of mixed mating systems. However, data are sparse on the magnitude of inbreeding depression in Robinia pseudoacacia. In this study, we compared differences in the mature seed set per fruit, seed mass, germination success, and seedling growth between self- and cross-pollination treatments and...

Successful castor (Ricinus communis L.) cropping in Greece depends on the yielding ability and yield stability of the cultivars (hybrids or inbreds) as well as the reliability of production systems. The adaptation and yielding ability of 19 modern castor oil genotypes were studied for 3 years in two sites of Northern Greece. Genotypes combining high seed and oil yield and desirable morphologica...

Automated seed loaders for permanent prostate implants are now commercially available. Besides improved radiation safety, these systems offer seed assay capability and ease of needle loading, making preplanned as well as intra-operative implant procedures more time-efficient. The Isoloader (Mentor Corp., CA) uses individual I125 seeds (SL-125 ProstaSeed) loaded in up to 199 chambers inside a sh...

A cornerstone of upgrading productivity of tilapia culture is the continuous improvement in the quality of seed used by farmers. This statement is relevant to the spectrum of tilapia production systems, but ‘quality’ is subjective and requires to be defined for specific contexts. An overview of strategies to improve the quality of seed under different conditions is presented. Consumer, marketin...

The use of renewable resources and inputs is one of the fundamental principles of sustainable agriculture that enables maximum crop productivity and minimal environmental risk. Nutrient management may be achieved by the involvement of organic sources, bio-fertilizers, and micro-nutrients. Indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers to achieve high yield and to compensate for lack of nutrients an...

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) seeds are susceptible to low temperature and excess moisture in soil during seed emergence in years with high rainfall and low temperature in spring. Therefore, a two-year field experiment was carried out to evaluate effects of ridge tillage formed in autumn (RT-I), ridge tillage formed about a month before planting (RT-II) and flat conventional tillage (CT) culti...

OBJECTIVES Current models of transgene dispersal focus on gene flow via pollen while neglecting seed, a vital vehicle for gene flow in centers of crop origin and diversity. We analyze the dispersal of maize transgenes via seeds in Mexico, the crop's cradle. METHODS We use immunoassays (ELISA) to screen for the activity of recombinant proteins in a nationwide sample of farmer seed stocks. We e...

In this paper we show that reporting a single performance score is insufficient to compare non-deterministic approaches. We demonstrate for common sequence tagging tasks that the seed value for the random number generator can result in statistically significant (p < 10−4) differences for state-of-the-art systems. For two recent systems for NER, we observe an absolute difference of one percentag...

Seed dispersal by animals is considered a pivotal ecosystem function that drives plant-community dynamics in natural habitats and vegetation recovery in human-altered landscapes. Nevertheless, there is a lack of suitable ecological knowledge to develop basic conservation and management guidelines for this ecosystem service. Essential questions, such as how well the abundance of frugivorous anim...