Yield is the most important breeding trait of crops. For fruit-bearing plants such as Solanum lycopersicum (tomato), fruit formation directly affects yield. The final fruit size depends on the number and volume of cell layers in the pericarp of the fruit, which is determined by the degree of cell division and expansion in the fertilized ovaries. Thus, fruit yield in tomato is predominantly dete...

The immunologic cell types of the Indian fruit bat, P. giganteus, were characterized on the basis of cell surface Ig markers. Rabbit anti-rat IgM and IgG demonstrated IgM or IgG bearing cells in the nylon wool adherent lymphocyte population, thereby suggesting their equivalence to the B cells of recently evolved mammals including man. Relative proportion of these Ig+ surface bearing cells was a...

OBJECTIVE To estimate daily fruit and vegetable intakes and to investigate socio-economic and behavioural differences in fruit and vegetable consumption among urban Moroccan women. DESIGN A cross-sectional survey. Fruit and vegetable intake was measured with a single 24 h recall. SETTINGS A representative population-based survey conducted in the area of Rabat-Salé. SUBJECTS Women (n 894) ...

Effect of genotype x environment interaction was studied on relationship between yield and three yield components in 20 genotypes of chickpea. Significant differences were found between genotypes for the three yield components at all the locations. It was found that the pattern and strength of correlation between number of seeds pod and yield, between number of seeds pod and number of pods plan...

Irregular fruit production across successive years is a major issue that limits the profitability of most temperate and tropical fruit crops. It is particularly affected by the reciprocal relationships between vegetative and reproductive growth. The concept of the costs of reproduction is defined in terms of losses in the potential future reproductive success caused by current investment in rep...

In Hass avocado trees, the girdling and scoring of about 50% of the fruit bearing branches per tree, at the end of November 1994, resulted in an initial accumulation of carbohydrate in the leaves and branches of the girdled limbs. The girdling of only 50% of the branches and also the width of the girdle are crucial to the process since healing of the girdle wound, and continued nutrient supply ...

Kiwi fruit is of great agricultural, botanical, and economic interest. The flower of kiwi fruit has axile placentation, which is typical for Actinidiaceae. Axile placentation is thought derived through fusion of conduplicate carpels with marginal placentation according to the traditional doctrine. Recent progress in angiosperm systematics has refuted this traditional doctrine and placed ANITA c...

Rhagoletis pomonella is a model for incipient sympatric speciation (divergence without geographic isolation) by host-plant shifts. Here, we show that historically derived apple- and ancestral hawthorn-infesting host races of the fly use fruit odor as a key olfactory cue to help distinguish between their respective plants. In flight-tunnel assays and field tests, apple and hawthorn flies prefere...

Many fruit trees undergo cycles of heavy fruit load (ON-Crop) in one year, followed by low fruit load (OFF-Crop) the following year, a phenomenon known as alternate bearing (AB). The mechanism by which fruit load affects flowering induction during the following year (return bloom) is still unclear. Although not proven, it is commonly accepted that the fruit or an organ which senses fruit presen...

We studied the influence of branch autonomy on the growth of reproductive and vegetative organs by establishing different patterns of fruit distribution within and between large branch units (scaffolds) in mature peach trees (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch cv. 'Elegant Lady'). Different patterns of fruit distribution were established by defruiting either whole scaffolds (uneven fruit distribution b...