BACKGROUND AND AIMS Herbaceous-shrubby communities in the Gran Sabana (Great Savanna) Plateau of Venezuela grow under non-zonal conditions. We speculated that this would produce specific patterns of reproductive phenology within these different soil-climate-vegetation associations. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that the reproductive phenology patterns of four herbaceous-shrubby communi...

to determine effects of phenyl-phethalamate acid on yield and yield components of tomato, cucumber, eggplant and cabbage, this experiment was investigated in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the spring and summer of 2010. treatments included the time and number of foliar spraying with phenyl-phethalamate acid (1000 ppm). control plants were not sprayed. the first st...

Understanding the selective forces that shape reproductive strategies is a central goal of evolutionary ecology. Selection on the timing of reproduction is well studied in semelparous organisms because the cost of reproduction (death) can be easily incorporated into demographic models. Iteroparous organisms also exhibit delayed reproduction and experience reproductive costs, although these are ...

Flowering in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) has long been investigated by plant physiologists and horticulturists aiming to increase productivity of this important fruit crop. The disruption of the sequence of events which give rise to normal development of the reproductive structures by either the manipulation of the environment, hormones or mutations has provided information useful to unrav...

We determined if winter drought stress could delay flowering and fruit development of immature ‘Valencia’ sweet oranges to avoid young fruit loss during late-season mechanical harvesting. Beginning in December over three consecutive seasons (2007–2009), Tyvek water-resistive barrier material was used as a rain shield groundcover under 13to 15-year-old trees. There were three treatments: 1) drou...

Background & Aim: Deanaie thyme (Thymus daenensis Celak.), a member of the Lamiaceae family.  Thymus in one of the most important medicinal and aromatic plants that was used in pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics hygienic industries in most of developed countries. Recent studies have showed that thyme have strong antibacterial, antifungal, spasmolytic and antioxidant acti...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Allocation of resources to floral traits often declines distally within inflorescences in flowering plants. Architecture and resource competition have been proposed as underlying mechanisms. The aim of the present study is to assess the relative importance of resource competition and architectural effects in pollen and ovule production on racemes of Hosta ventricosa, an apom...

The role of sucrose synthase (SuSy) in tomato fruit was studied in transgenic tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants expressing an antisense fragment of fruit-specific SuSy RNA (TOMSSF) under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Constitutive expression of the antisense RNA markedly inhibited SuSy activity in flowers and fruit pericarp tissues. However, inhibition was only ...

The diterpenoid hormone GA controls diverse developmental processes throughout the life cycle of a plant. Physiological and genetic studies show that active GA promotes seed germination and vegetative growth. In some species, GA also induces flowering and regulates flower, fruit, and seed development. This article highlights recent advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of GA...