Orroño DI, RS Lavado^*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 75-82, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.075

Abstract Ornamental plants have been proposed for growing in heavy metal (HM) contaminated soils, and also for phytoremediation. We evaluated (1) biomass production and (2) HM accumulation in Pelargonium hortorum. Plants were grown for 16 weeks on HM (cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc) enriched soils. Treatments were i) control, non-enriched soil, ii) medium concentration treatment, and iii) high concentration treatment. Four destructive harvests were carried out, and roots, stems, leaves, and flowers were analyzed each time. Concentrations of HM were determined using ICP. Significant reductions in biomass production were observed in HM-enriched soils compared with the control. Different indexes… More >

Montenegro G^1,*, M Gómez¹, G Casaubon², A Belancic², AM Mujica¹, RC Peña¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 61-65, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.067

Abstract Three unifloral honeys were identified by the pronounced presence of specific compounds by means of sensorial analysis and SPME-GC-MS. Smoky and resinous (‘propolis’) odors characterized unifloral “quillay” (Quillaja saponaria) honey. “Corontillo” (Escallonia pulverulenta) honey was characterized by caramel and vanillin aromas, and “ulmo” (Eucryphia cordifolia) honey by having an anise scent with a floral jasmine note. Safranal was a useful marker for “corontillo” honey. Isophorone and cetoisophorone were the distinctive compounds of unifloral “ulmo” honey. In “quillay” honeys, megastigmatrienone, 2-p-hydroxyphenylalcohol and minor quantities of β-pinene and linalool oxide were correlated with their sensory properties such as resinous. More >

Bhat¹ RB, G Moskovitz²

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 67-73, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.061

Abstract An investigation of herbal medicinal teas from Western Cape, South Africa was conducted to assess the varieties of herbal teas used to treat various ailments. Each packet of medicinal tea is a blend of carefully selected four or more herbs which are commonly grown in the organic garden in an ancient valley near the southernmost tip of South Africa and some indigenous herbs picked up in the nearby mountains. The teas are specific for the diseased organ/s and also include the herbs to support and strengthen the systems serving the ailing organ/s. The study shows that there are about twenty-one… More >

García-Pereyra¹ J, CGS Valdés-Lozano², E Olivares-Saenz², O Alvarado-Gómez², G Alejandre-Iturbide³, E Salazar-Sosa⁴, H Medrano-Roldán⁵

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 53-60, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.053

Abstract We tested five Amaranthus genotypes (A. hypochondriacus 655, 653, 153-5-3, and Criollo Tlaxcala and A. cruentus genotype 33) at four population densities (31,250; 41,666; 62,500 and 125,000 plants/ha, during spring-summer (PV; July-December) 2000 and autumn-winter (OI) 2001 and 2002. Studies were conducted at the experimental station of the Agronomy Faculty of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico. A split plot experimental design on completely randomized blocks was used, with two replicates. The evaluated agronomic characteristics were grain yield (RG), dry matter yield (MS), plant height (AP), stem diameter (DT) and panicle length (LP). Crude protein (PC), ashes (C), acid… More >

Brevedan¹ RE, MI Aveldaño², MN Fioretti¹, MA Varillas², SS Baioni¹, HR Mirassón³, IR Palomo¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 49-52, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.049

Abstract Two experiments were conducted under greenhouse conditions to study the influence of P deficiency on nitrogen nutrition of non-nodulated soybean. There was a reduction of N and P content in P deficient (P-) plants of almost 50% after 50 days. During this period, dry matter of these plants was reduced by 33%. Nitrate reductase activity and shoot nitrate content were lower in Pthan in P+ plants. Seventy five percent of nitrates in P- plants were in the roots. Nitrate accumulation in roots would be due to the lower nitrate reductase activity in this organ and a reduced water flux to… More >

Martínez-Corral¹ L, E Martínez-Rubín², F Flores-García¹, GC Castellanos², AR Juárez², MJD López³

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 43-47, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.043

Abstract The increasing demand of alfalfa crop production in the Lagunera Region has caused the search of new alternatives to the conventional methods of nutritional and hydric evaluation of alfalfa, where costs and time are optimized. The use of a machine vision system for computerized visual recognition of the crop hydric and/or nutritional stress implies the analysis and processing of certain characteristics, such as color, shape and object dimensions from a digital image. Due to the fact that identification parameters are closely related, it is necessary to compile information from specialists, foliar analysis, mathematical morphology and alfalfa crop deficiency photographs. The… More >

Rivera-Reyes¹ JG, FA Peraza-Luna², JC Serratos-Arévalo², P Posos-Ponce³, SH Guzmán-Maldonado⁴, E Cortez-Baheza¹, G Castañón-Nájera⁵, M Mendoza-Elos^1*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 37-42, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.037

Abstract Oats cereal is a worldwide significant crop. It is grown in restrictive climates and in rainy regions of temperate areas. Cultivation of oats produces high forage yields and grain quality, which gives it a wide variety of uses as animal feed and human food. However, the physiological quality of oat seeds in Mexico faces problems, which impact both their import and export. Phytic acid concentration in the oat seed plays a very important role since it affects seed viability, its germination capacity and potential seedling vigor. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of chemical fertilization on… More >

Lagoutte¹ S, M Divo de Sesar², F V ilella³

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 31-36, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.031

Abstract Annual floral plant crops are produced in cells or pots of various sizes. Varying container size alters the volume which plant roots can explore, which in turn affect plant growth. This work assesed the effect of the initial container size on growth of Petunia x híbrida cv Dream Mix, supplemented with cytokinins after potting. Seedlings obtained in trays of 90 or 288 cells, were transplanted to 1l pots. They were then supplemented with 6-bencyladenine (BA). The assay consisted of 4 treatments: two container sizes by two BA conditions (with and without). Cell size conditioned growth above ground and below ground;… More >

Ochoa-Fuentes YM¹, E Cerna², J Landeros², O Vazquez¹, V Olalde³, A Flores²

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 25-30, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.025

Abstract Forty two Mexican isolates of Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands were examined for genetic diversity by the random amplified polymorphic DNA assay. The amount of genetic variation was evaluated by polymerase chain reaction amplification with a set of twenty one random 10-mer primers. All amplifications revealed scorable polymorphisms among the isolates, and a total of 23 band positions were scored for the 21 primers tested. Genetic distances among the isolates were calculated, and cluster analysis was used to generate a dendogram which showed relationships between them. These results suggest that the geographic groups were strong. More >

Peláez¹ DV, RM Bóo², MD Mayor³, OR Elia⁴, SA Martínez⁵

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 17-24, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.017

Abstract Plant growth in semiarid rangelands may be affected by time grazing is excluded during the post-fire regeneration period. The objective of this field work was to study the effect of post-fire defoliation at different phenological stages [vegetative (early-season defoliation) and internode elongation (late-season defoliation)] on growth of Piptochaetium napostaense and Poa ligularis, two very important perennial native grasses in the temperate semi-arid region of central Argentina (Caldenal). In general, the post-fire defoliation treatments did not affect the number of green leaves on tillers of P. napostaense. Early-season post-fire defoliation generally reduced the number of green leaves on tillers of… More >