A scanning electron microscopy study of the seed and post-seminal development in Angelonia salicariifolia Bonpl. (Scrophulariaceae)

The external morphology of seeds and post-germination developmental stages of Angelonia salicariifolia Bonpl. (Scrophulariaceae) were investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Some structural features of the seed exotesta and seedling in Angelonia are presented for the first time and are of potential taxonomic value for this neotropical genus. The seeds are very small (0.9-1.7 mm long and 0.5-0.9 mm wide), ovate, with a reticulate-crested exotesta, reticules arranged uniformly in longitudinal rows, with a high density of microcilia-like projections on the cell wall of the reticule base and on the edge of the crests. The hilum is located beside the micropyle at the narrow end of the seed. Germination is epigeal. During germination the radicle develops, followed by elongation of the hypocotyl and primary root. At this stage dense root hairs develop on the lower part of the hypocotyl. The apical bud-located between the cotyledons-begins to develop after the cotyledons have unfolded. The cotyledons are equal in size, sessile and ovate. The seedlings have two types of trichomes, one characteristic of the cotyledons and first pair of leaves (glandular, sessile, four-celled head with quadrangular shape) and the other characteristic of the hypocotyl and epicotyl (stalked, erect, elongate and three-celled with dome-shaped unicellular head). (C) 2001 Annals of Botany Company.

Effect of neem extract on the cotton aphid

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The amount of solar energy made available for the production of a sabia (Mimosa caesalpinaefolia Benth.) seed has a determinating effect on its becoming dormant

The amount of solar energy made available for the production of a sabid seed varied as a function of the time of the year, the face of the plant in which, the position in the plant on which and the position in the pod in which it was produced.Variation in solar energy availability as a consequence of the time of the year was a direct consequence of latitude. At 21degrees5'22 S the highest amounts of Global Solar Radiation (GSR) reaching the site where the experiment was conducted took place during the months from November through February. During these months there were no marked differences between any two of the amounts of GSR reaching faces North (N), South (S), West (W) East (E). From February through November (period during which the sabid plants of this study flowered and the resulting seeds matured and were harvested) the total GSR's were the lowest and marked differences were found between faces N and S, with face N receiving much more GSR than face S. During that period, faces W and E received practically the same amount of GSR and it was much less than that received by face N and much more than the one received by face S.The amount of biological energy made available for the development of a seed seemed also to vary according to a dry matter partitioning strategy by the plant -the central third of the plant seemed to be the one receiving the highest amounts of energy, followed either by the upper or the lower third of the plant- it was not very clear which third of the plant immediately followed the central one. The partitioning of biological energy at the pod level also seemed to follow a strategy by which the central seeds would be the ones to receive more, followed by the proximal seeds and these by the distal ones.This availability of energy seemed to have a direct effect on seed size, weight and on the percentage of seeds which showed a degree of dormancy deep enough to prevent their germinating under the conditions of a standard germination test.The implications of these results for the improvement of methods for the overcoming of dormancy of sabia seeds are discussed.

Eletrical conductivity and deterioration of soybean seeds exposed to different storage conditions

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Electrical conductivity and mineral composition of the imbibition solution of bean seeds during storage

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Efeito do vigor e do tratamento fungicida nos testes de germinação e de sanidade de sementes de soja

Soybeans seeds with different levels of vigour, treated and or no with fungicide were submitted to the test of germination in the sand and roll substrates of paper and the test of sanity. In test of germination, there were only significant differences between treatments that used soybeans with high vigour and with low vigour, regardless of the presence or absence of fungicide treatment, in the two substrates. The soybeans with low vigour no treated provided the largest percentages of seed contaminated with fungi, in contrast, the seeds with high vigour treated. There was only a slight contamination in soybeans with low vigour treated, unlike seeds with low vigour untreated, which showed the incidence of most fungi found. In the germination of seedlings normal, there are differences between treatments that used seeds with high vigour and low vigour, and is independent of the fungicide treatment and the type of substratum used. The effect of a fungicide depends of the vigour of seeds when of the occurrence of fungi associated to the soybean seeds of the cultivar analyzed.

Seed anatomy and germination of Phoenix roebelenii O'Brien (Arecaceae)

O objetivo desse trabalho foi estudar a morfologia, anatomia e o processo germinativo de sementes de Phoenix roebelenii. Para o levantamento dos dados biométricos foram utilizadas 100 sementes de frutos recém-colhidos, deixados secar ao ar por um dia. Para a germinação, quatro repetições de 50 sementes tratadas com Vitavax-Thiran foram semeadas em bandejas de plástico, contendo Sphagnum sp. como substrato e mantidas sob condições ambientais de laboratório. Detalhes da morfologia da semente foram documentados com o uso de microscopia eletrônica de varredura e esquematizados com auxílio de câmara clara, acoplada ao estereomicroscópio. Foram confeccionadas lâminas permanentes com cortes do embrião, para o estudo de sua anatomia. As dimensões médias das sementes foram: 10,32mm comprimento, 5,21mm largura e 3,91mm espessura. O peso de 1000 sementes foi de 151,1g e 1kg continha 6600 unidades. O início da germinação variou entre 27 e 58 dias. As sementes são albuminosas, com endosperma duro e o embrião é pouco diferenciado, lateral e periférico. A germinação inicia-se pela abertura de um opérculo, através do qual é emitido o pecíolo cotiledonar com o eixo embrionário na extremidade. O pecíolo funciona, internamente, como um haustório, digerindo gradativamente o endosperma. Na sua parte posterior, desenvolve-se a plúmula, que emerge através de uma fenda. Nota-se o aparecimento de raízes secundárias na porção anterior da raiz primária.

Testes de vigor em sementes de Guazuma ulmifolia Lam.

O trabalho teve como objetivo estudar a eficiência dos testes de vigor para identificação do potencial fisiológico em sementes de Guazuma ulmifolia Lam. O estudo foi desenvolvido no Laboratório de Análise de Sementes – UNESP/Jaboticabal/SP, utilizando-se quatro lotes de sementes: sendo lotes I e II, coletados no município de Jaboticabal em 2000 e 2001, respectivamente lote III em Santa Rita do Passo Quatro e lote IV, em Luiz Antonio, ambos em 2001. Para superação da dormência, realizou-se a escarificação das sementes com ácido sulfúrico durante 50 minutos e lavagem em água corrente durante 20 minutos. Foram avaliados: teor de água, percentual de germinação, primeira contagem, índice de velocidade de germinação e condutividade elétrica, realizada com diferentes quantidades de sementes (50, 75, 100), postas para embeber em copos de plástico contendo 50 e 75mL de água deionizada, durante 72 horas à 250 C. As sementes do lote III apresentaram potencial fisiológico superior às sementes dos demais lotes estudados. Para o teste de condutividade elétrica são necessários outros estudos, visando à possibilidade de uso como teste padrão de vigor para a espécie, enquanto que os testes de primeira contagem e índice de velocidade de germinação mostraram-se adequados para avaliação do vigor dos lotes.

In vitro acaricidal activity of neem (Azadirachta indica) seed extracts with known azadirachtin concentrations against Rhipicephalus microplus

The effect of four extracts from neem seeds (Azadirachta indica) containing 2000, 5000, 9000 and 10,000 ppm of azadirachtin A (AZA), quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and diluted to 1.25%; 2.5%; 5.0%; 10.0% and 12.8% was verified by in vitro tests with engorged females and larvae of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus micro plus. The results from the bioassays with the engorged females showed that the main toxic effect of the extracts was reduction of the reproductive parameters, with a sharp drop in the number of eggs laid and the hatching rate, mainly when the extracts were diluted to 10.0% and 12.8%. The product effectiveness (PE) calculations for all the solutions tested showed that the AZA solution at 10,000 ppm (N10) was the most effective. However, statistical analysis of the PE data obtained for the proportional AZA concentrations in the different diluted extracts showed significance (P<0.05) of the effects included in the model (extract dilution, principle effect (classificatory) of the assay (extract) and the interaction between the two), indicating significant variations due to the dilution, the test and the interaction between the two factors in the tests with engorged females. For solutions N2, N5, and N9, it was not possible to estimate LC(90) values in the dilution range tested. The lowest LC(50) was observed for extract N5, and although extract N10 was the only extract for which the LC(90) could be estimated within the range tested, the LC(50) was higher than for N5 and N9. These results suggest that substances other than AZA present in the extracts influenced the efficacy, especially up to a certain LC range. In the tests with larvae, no mortality was observed, indicating zero effectiveness of all the extracts tested. The results of the tests with engorged females showed that the neem extracts had acaricide activity, inhibiting egg laying and the larval hatching rate. Complementary studies are necessary to develop new methods to isolate and/or identify other substances besides AZA contained in this plant, to enable using products made from it as acaricides. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Performance of advanced generation from a hybrid Japanese cucumber

A endogamia reduz o vigor em plantas pela diminuição da proporção de loci heterozigotos. Entretanto, a influência da endogamia é diferente entre as espécies. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a depressão causada por endogamia em uma população de pepino do tipo japonês. A partir do intercruzamento entre plantas do híbrido Natsu suzumi foi obtida a geração F2, considerada como população S0. Obtiveram-se progênies S1, S2, S3, S4 e S5, através de autofecundações sucessivas pelo método do SSD ('Single Seed Descent'). Foram sete tratamentos (híbrido Natsu suzumi, populações S0 a S5) e o delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso, com seis repetições e cinco plantas por parcela cultivadas em ambiente protegido de 21/08/2002 à 29/11/2002. Foram avaliados o número de folhas, semanalmente, o número e a massa de frutos, total e comercial, número de nós e porcentagem de nós com brotações laterais. Na comparação entre as populações S0 a S5 não foram observadas diferenças para todas as características avaliadas demonstrando não haver perda de vigor por endogamia nesta população.

Depression by inbreeding after four sucessive self-pollination squash generations

The strategy for breeding F-1 hybrid squash is to develop parental lines through self-pollination. However, it increases plant mean homozygosis, which is not the natural genetic state of a cross-pollinated species, and can cause inbreeding depression. The objective of this work was to evaluate this depression with sucessive generations of self-pollination (without selection) in Cucurbita moschata, cv. Piramoita. Populations were obtained from lines with one to four generations of self-pollination (obtained by the SSD method), from the original cv. Piramoita (population SO). Randomized blocks were used with five treatments (different generations of self-pollination -S-0 to S-4), six replicates and five plants per plot. Regression analysis was made by the Wright inbreeding coefficient (F) to measure the homozygosis level effect on vigor loss. There was a linear reduction of mean weight and fruit length, seed production (number and weight) per fruit with the increase of the homozygosis level; however inbreeding did not affect seed quality (weight of 100 seeds and germination).

Mechanism and control of Genipa americana seed germination

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Tamanho e secagem de sementes de palmeira Jussara sobre a germinação e o vigor

With the objective to determine the influence of the dehydration and of the size and/or weight on germination percentage and the vigor of jussara palm seeds (Euterpe edulis Mart.), 10 individuals' ripe fruits, picked in the Experimental Station of Ubatuba (IAC) they were classified by size in 5 sieves of circular sieve: 26/64" (10,31mm), 28/64" (11,11mm), 30/64" (11,90mm), 32/64" (12,69mm) and 34/64" (13,49mm). It was determined, the medium weight of the classified seeds. The quality of the seeds was evaluated through the following parameters: water content of the seeds; germination and vigor (first germination counting). It was evaluated the drying speed of different seed sizes for 48 hours, in dry chamber. The sizes of 28/64", 30/64" and 32/64" represented 98,7% of the total weight of the harvested seeds and showed similar drying speed, percentage of germination and vigor. With the increase of the drying period, the smaller seeds (28/64") had their germination less affected them the intermediate (30/64") and bigger sized seeds (32/64").

Corn seed treatment with naphthalic anhydride against isoxaflutole phytotoxication action

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)