Reanalysis and direct accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating of the cucurbit assemblage from Coxcatlan Cave provide information on the timing and sequence of the initial appearance of three domesticated plants in the Tehuacán Valley (Puebla, Mexico) and allow reassessment of the overall temporal context of plant domestication in Mexico. Cucurbita pepo is the earliest documented domest...

In a field study conducted in Georgia, cucurbit plants with high (Cucurbita andreana) and low (Cucurbita maxima) concentrations of cucurbitacins were used in combination with two types of fertilizers to investigate their effects on the community of soil nematodes. Ecological measures of soil nematode community structure such as total nematode abundance, number of genera, trophic diversity, trop...

Tumor formation in cucurbit cultivars resulting from infection by various strains of Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Agrobacterium rhizogenes is environmentally affected. In all instances, tumors could be induced on excised cotyledons while inoculating attached cotyledons or stems resulted in no tumor formation. In addition, buttercup squash (Cucurbita maxima Duch. buttercup) was most susceptible...

A photolabile azido derivative of the kaurene oxidase inhibitor 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2-(1,2,4-triazol-l-yl) pentan-3-ol (paclobutrazol) has been synthesized for use as a photoaffinity labeling agent. The compound was tested as an inhibitor of the oxidation of ent-kaurene catalyzed by cell-free preparations from endosperm of Cucurbita maxima. The I(50) of the azido derivative was 9.5 ...

Many angiosperms, both monocotyledons and dicotyledons, heavily impregnate their vegetative and reproductive organs with solid particles of silicon dioxide (SiO(2)) known as opaline phytoliths. The underlying mechanisms accounting for the formation of phytoliths in plants are poorly understood, however. Using wild and domesticated species in the genus Cucurbita along with their F(1) and F(2) pr...

The phytotoxicity activity of EtOAc extract obtained from Agaricus litoralis showed high on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) leaves. A well-known phytotoxic metabolite: tyrosol [2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-ethanol], was isolated and identified A. by spectroscopic methods. Phytotoxic tested seven agrarian plants: eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), fig (Ficus carica apricot (Prunus armeniaca peach persi...

The ovipositional preferences of two squash bug species, Anasa tristis (DeGeer) (Heteroptera: Coreidae) and Anasa armigera Say (Heteroptera: Coreidae), were evaluated in paired choice tests of different species and cultivars of plants in the family Cucurbitaceae. Females of A. tristis preferred to oviposit on the cultivar from which they were reared over three other cultivars of the same specie...

The responses of photosystems (PS) I and II to light stress at 4 °C and 20 °C were studied in leaf discs from three chilling-sensitive plant species, Cucumis sativus, Cucurbita maxima and Nicotiana tabacum, and in the chilling-tolerant Spinacia oleracea. The chilling-sensitive plants were grown at 24 °C under 8 0 -1 2 0 j.imol photons m-2 s-1 (Cucumis and Cucurbita) or 30 [imol photons m-2 s_1 ...