Search results for "botany"
showing 10 items of 4586 documents
Food-attraction conditioning in the snail, Helix pomatia
1995
Adult pulmonate snails (Helix pomatia) were released equidistant between two types of food, carrot and potato, respectively. Naive snails moved in different directions and did not locate either food above chance, although both foods were readily eaten upon direct contact. After a single carrot feeding episode, 75% of the carrot-fed snails moved directly towards the carrot and ate it. Conversely, potato-fed snails located the potato in 67% of the cases. Snails that were fed apple or lettuce behaved like naive animals, with the majority of animals (75% in both cases) locating neither the carrot nor the potato. The ability of snails to locate this particular food after a single feeding episode…
Kairomonal effect of walking traces from Euschistus heros (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) on two strains of Telenomus podisi (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae)
2003
. The semiochemical cues used by geographically isolated strains of the parasitoid, Telenomus podisi (Ashmed), to find eggs of the stink bug Euschistus heros were investigated. Two strains of Te. podisi, maintained on eggs of a South American host (E. heros) were studied. One parasitoid strain originated from specimens collected near Brasilia, Brazil (SA strain), and a second strain originated from specimens collected at Beltsville, Maryland (NA strain). Cold tolerance tests of adults from the NA and SA Te. podisi strains, analyses of the cuticular hydrocarbons between the two strains, and crossing experiments between strains each indicated consistent differences between the NA and SA stra…
Source of the host marking pheromone in the egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae).
2001
After oviposition, Trissolcus basalis females always mark the host's surface, depositing host marking substances for herself and to warn other ovipositing females. The perception of these host marking substances, probably through the antennae, can induce the female to leave and seek healthy hosts. Parasitoid females exposed to conspecific parasitized egg masses left the host egg masses significantly more often than when exposed to non-parasitized egg masses. More egg mass leaving behavior also was observed when the egg masses were treated with Dufour's gland secretion but not when treated with secretion from the common oviducts. The common oviduct has a secretory epithelium that produces el…
Morpho-physiological variations in response to NaCl stress during vegetative and reproductive development of rice
2012
The complex nature of plant resistance to adverse environmental conditions, such as salinity and drought requires a better understanding of the stress-induced changes that may be involved in tolerance mechanisms. Here we investigate stress-related morpho-physiological effects during vegetative and reproductive growth in two Japonica rice cultivars (Bomba and Bahia) exposed to a range of NaCl concentrations from the seedling stage. The stress-related detrimental effects were observed either earlier or to a higher extent in cv. Bomba than in Bahia. Damages to the photosynthetic apparatus were related to loss of chlorophyll (Chl) and to a decrease of the maximum potential efficiency of PSII (F…
Wound-induced responses in leaves of strawberry cultivars differing in susceptibility to spider mite
2002
Summary The effect of leaf detachment and wounding on the activities of oxidative enzymes and ethylene production was studied in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cultivars, differing in susceptibility to the spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch.). Strawberry plants were cultivated during winter in two growth conditions - with and without overwintering, in greenhouse and laboratory, respectively. Polyphenol oxidase activity, peroxidase activity and catalase activity in strawberry leaves depended on the cultivar analysed, type of treatment (detachment or detachment and wounding), as well as on plant growth conditions. Activities of all analysed enzymes were higher in control plants grown in …
Investigation on the Nitrogen Metabolism of Spruce Needles in Relation to the Occurrence of Novel Forest Decline
1988
Summary In order to obtain information on the nitrogen metabolism of undamaged and damaged spruce ( Picea abies ), investigations were performed in 1985 and 1986 on the activity of glutamine synthetase and on the content of free ammonium and soluble proteins in spruce needles. In addition, the chlorophyll content was determined. Needles from the second needle year and the seventh whorl were used. The investigations were carried out in pair comparison on a 20-year-old spruce plantation and in comparison with damage classes on an 80-year-old spruce plantation. Both the pair comparison and the contrasting of different damage groups show an unequivocal decrease of the chlorophyll content correl…
Seasonal Variation in Nutrient Status of Foxglove Leaves
2006
The seasonal variation of mineral elements and the relationships among them were studied in natural populations of foxglove (Digitalis obscura). Young and mature leaves were collected in 10 different populations and on four sample dates (May, July, October, and February). Leaf mineral elements [nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu)] were determined. The highest concentrations of N, P, and K in young leaf were recorded in May, followed by a decrease in the other months, while in contrast Ca and Fe showed the lowest concentration in May. Mature leaves showed differential seasonal behavior. Besides seaso…
(Z)-dodec-3-en-1-ol, a novel termite trail pheromone identified after solid phase microextraction from Macrotermes annandalei
2001
0022-1910 (Print) Journal Article; (Z)-dodec-3-en-1-ol was isolated and identified by GC-MS as the major component of the trail-following pheromone from whole body and sternal gland extracts of workers of the fungus-growing termite, Macrotermes annandalei (Silvestri) (Termitidae, Macrotermitinae). For the first time, this trail pheromone was also identified by using solid phase microextraction from the surface of the secretory sternal gland of workers. Bioassays showed that synthetic dodecenol induced both orientation and recruitment behavioral effects. The activity threshold of (Z)-dodec-3-en-1-ol in eliciting trail-following is similar to that of (3Z,6Z,8E)-dodeca-3,6,8-trien-1-ol in the …
The relationship of hydraulic conductance to root system characteristics of peach (Prunus persica) rootstocks
2006
Specific rootstocks can differentially influence the vegetative growth and development of fruit trees. However, the physiological mechanism involved in this phenomenon has been elusive. Recent research comparing different peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) rootstocks suggests that the rootstock effect on vegetative growth in peach trees is associated to water relations and more specifically to differences in rootstock hydraulic conductance. This study was intended to confirm differences in hydraulic characteristics of similar size peach trees grafted on different rootstocks and to examine root system characteristics that could be associated with rootstock hydraulic limitations. Trees on roots…
Energy metabolism and metabolic rate of the alder leaf beetle Agelastica alni (L.) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions…
2003
In early fall, adult alder leaf beetles (Agelastica alni L.) retreat, for overwintering, to the top layer of the soil near their forage trees where the ground gets easily waterlogged so that the beetles will be submerged and cut off from atmospheric oxygen. Hence, unlike most other adult insects, alder leaf beetles encounter hypoxia/anoxia in their natural habitat and this may occur at moderate temperature. Exposing beetles to pure nitrogen gas at 20 degrees C had similar behavioral and metabolic effects as submerging them in water, causing rapid immobility and increasing the content of lactate about sevenfold to some 5mgr;molg(-1) body weight during 10h anoxia. Recovery from 10 h hypoxia/a…