Testing the accuracy of using peroxidase activity to indicate stigma receptivity

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Candace Galen ◽  
R. C. Plowright

Stigma peroxidase activity was tested in flowers of Pedicularis canadensis and Clintonia borealis at discrete age-classes during the course of anthesis. For recipient flowers of each age-class pollen adhesion, rate of pollen germination, and total number of grains germinating on stigmas were scored following hand-pollination. In P. canadensis, the onset of detectable peroxidase activity occurred at the transition from the juvenile to pollen-dehiscing age-class. Concurrently, the stickiness of the stigma surface and total number of grains germinating on the stigma increased significantly. Stigma peroxidase was present to some degree throughout anthesis in C. borealis. However, the percentage of the stigma surface in which peroxidase was detectable increased significantly between straight-sided and medium-curled flower age-classes. Again, corresponding increases occurred in the stickiness of the stigma surface and total number of grains germinating. Results suggest that for both species stigma peroxidase activity is a reliable indicator of receptivity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Zenkteler ◽  
Maria Katarzyna Wojciechowicz ◽  
Łukasz Zarychta

The pollen–stigma interaction plays an important role in reproductive process and has been continuously studied in many interspecific and intergeneric crossing experiments. The aim of this study was to investigate stigma receptivity (SR) of willow in order to determine the most suitable period for its pollination with poplar pollen and improve the effectiveness of <em>Salix × Populus</em> crosses. Tissue samples were examined histologically using light, epifluorescent, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. Willow SR was determined by stigma morphological traits, test of pollen germination rate, Peroxtesmo test of peroxidase and esterase activity on stigma surface as well as papilla ultrastructure at anthesis. We have ascertained that the SR duration in willow is short, lasting from 1 to 2 DA. The poplar pollen germination rate on willow stigmas on 1 DA ranged from 26.3 to 11.2%.



Revista CERES ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-350
Author(s):  
Rúbia Santos Fonseca ◽  
Flávia Aparecida dos Santos ◽  
Milene Faria Vieira

The long-lived flowers of orchids increase the chances of pollination and thus the reproductive success of the species. However, a question arises: does the efficiency of pollination, expressed by fruit set, vary with the flower age? The objective of this study was to verify whether the flower age of Corymborkis flava(Sw.) Kuntze affects pollination efficiency. The following hypotheses were tested: 1) the fruit set of older flowers is lower than that of younger ones; 2) morphological observations (perianth and stigmatic area), stigma receptivity test by using a solution of hydrogen peroxide and hand-pollination tests are equally effective in defining the period of stigmatic receptivity. Flowers were found to be receptive from the first to the fourth day of anthesis. Fruit set of older flowers (third and fourth day) was lower than that of younger flowers. Morphological observations, the stigma receptivity test and hand-pollinations were equally effective in defining the period of stigmatic receptivity. However, to evaluate the maximum degree of stigma receptivity of orchid species with long-lived flowers, we recommend hand-pollinations, beyond the period of receptivity.



2018 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-117
Author(s):  
Szymon Bijak ◽  
Katarzyna Orzoł

Abstract This paper investigates the slenderness of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) trees in relation to the biosocial status of the trees, stand age class, crown parameters and habitat type. The research material was collected on 35 research plots in the Sława Śląska, Sulechów and Głogów forest districts in western Poland and comprises 1058 trees. For each tree, we measured height (h) as well as diameter at breast height (d) and determined its biosocial status (Kraft class), crown length (CL) and relative crown length (rCL). The age class and habitat type were assessed at the plot level. Because the obtained values for slenderness (s=h/d) diverged significantly from the normal distribution, we used Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests to investigate the influence of the above-mentioned parameters on the h/d ratio. Black locust slenderness ranged from 0.31 to 1.95 with an average of 0.91 (standard deviation 0.24). It furthermore differed significantly between Kraft classes (the higher the biosocial status, the lower the slenderness) and age classes (the older the trees, the lower their slenderness). We also found a significant effect of the habitat type (in oligotrophic sites trees formed more slender trunks than in mesotrophic sites) and crown parameters on the h/d ratio (decreasing with increasing crown length and relative crown length). The obtained results suggest that the slenderness of black locust does not differ substantially from native broadleaved trees in Poland.



2006 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 559 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Page ◽  
G. M. Moore ◽  
J. Will ◽  
G. M. Halloran

The onset and duration of stigma receptivity in K. pomifera was evaluated by observing stigma peroxidase activity, pollen-tube growth and seed set, following controlled pollination of flowers of different ages. Peroxidase activity was negligible from 1 day before to 4 days after anthesis, increasing to a peak of 65% at Day 13. The percentage of pistils bearing germinated pollen and ovaries exhibiting pollen-tube entry increased when pollen was applied to the stigma from the day before anthesis, to a maximum at Days 6 and 7 after anthesis, respectively, followed by a decline by Day 9. Under greenhouse conditions the optimum pollination period, measured as the level of set seed after pollination, ranged from 2 to 11 days after anthesis. The knowledge of this aspect of the species reproductive biology is of considerable value in controlled pollinations for its improvement as a new crop.



2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1296-1310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olli Tahvonen

This study combines timber production and environmental values, applying a dynamic forest-level economic model with any number of forest age-classes. The model includes endogenous timber price or nonlinear harvesting costs and various possibilities to specify the dependence of environmental values (related e.g. to species persistence) on the forest age-class structure. The nonlinearities in the net benefits from timber production have the consequence that fluctuations in optimal timber harvesting may totally vanish or at least become smaller than in forest scheduling models without ad hoc even flow constraints. If environmental values are specified to depend on the fraction of forest land preserved as old growth, the optimal long run allocation between timber production and old growth is represented by an equilibrium continuum. Thus the optimal long run allocation depends on the initial age-class distribution. The continuum and the dependence of initial age-class distribution vanish when the rate of discount approaches zero. If the environmental values of age-classes increase smoothly with age, the long run equilibrium may simultaneously include multiple rotation periods. The model determines the optimality of producing timber and environmental values separately at different parts of the forest or at the same piece of forest land. Numerical computation suggests that the optimal solution always converges toward some optimal long run stationary age-class distribution.



1915 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 713-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. C. Lathrop ◽  
Leo Loeb

1. In crossing strains known to diner in their tumor rates, the hybrids show in a considerable number of cases a tumor rate corresponding to the parent with a high tumor incidence; in some cases the offspring have the tumor rate of the parent with the low tumor incidence; in certain cases the tumor rate of the offspring is intermediate between those of the parents. That these results are not accidental follows from the fact that we could show in some cases that two sisters crossed with the same strains or with the same male give similar offspring, and in other cases we could show that the same individual crossed successively with two strains that behave similarly produces hybrids with a similar tumor incidence. 2. There exists some evidence for the conclusion that different strains in being crossed with other strains differ in their power to impress their tumor rate upon the crosses. Thus the English strain and the I and II daughters of No. 10 have the tendency to transmit to the offspring a high tumor rate, while Cream, Silver, and some European other than 151 have a tendency to transmit a low tumor rate. While crosses of these daughters of No. 10 with European 151 or with No. 8½ show the high tumor rate of the mothers, the crosses of one of the same females with Cream or Silver show an intermediate tumor rate. 3. We find further evidence for our conclusion previously stated that age class, of the tumors and tumor rate are not dependent on the same factor. The age class enters into the crosses as a factor independent of the tumor rate. Thus we find in the crosses between the first daughter of No. 10 and Cream, and in the crosses between the same female and English Silver a similar tumor rate, but the age classes differ in conformity with the difference in the age classes of the parents. We find, furthermore, that while in some cases a tumor rate and an age class that correspond to each other (high tumor rate, early tumors—low tumor rate, late tumors) are transmitted to the offspring, in other cases tumor rate and age class transmitted to the crosses diverge. 4. It seems that certain strains with very late tumors if mated with strains with earlier tumors have a tendency to transmit to the offspring their own tendency to very late tumors. With a certain strain lateness of the tumors seems to be dominant, while a low tumor rate is not necessarily dominant in the same crosses. This was noticeable in the crosses into which the strain European ± 102 or 103 entered as one of the parents. 5. If both parents have a similar tumor rate the offspring have usually a similar tumor rate. There was, however, one exception to this rule in the case of the German ± Carter mice, in which the offspring showed a much lower tumor rate and higher age class than either of the parent strains.



Author(s):  
Alastair Grant

The demographic parameters of a population (the number of age-classes present; growth rates; mortality as a function of age and recruitment levels) are of considerable interest to marine biologists. If individuals can be aged from growth rings in their hard parts, then the estimation of demographic parameters is relatively straightforward. If this is not possible, the next best alternative is to tag or mark individuals and use data on the recapture of these to give the information required. For many marine invertebrates, neither of these options is practical and we must resort to estimating the demographic parameters by making assumptions about recruitment and the size variation between individuals of the same age and then infer the age structure of the population from its size structure. This was first done by Petersen (1891) who interpreted each mode on a size/ frequency histogram as representing a single age-class. More recently, extensive use has been made of methods which assume that the sizes of individuals of the same age will be normally distributed. The size/frequency histogram can then be decomposed into a number of normal distributions, each of which represents a single age-class. This can be done graphically (Harding, 1949; Cassie, 1954; Bhattacharya, 1967) or with computerbased numerical methods (Macdonald & Pitcher, 1979). The graphical methods seem to be the most popular and are frequently taught to undergraduate students. The same methods can be used to dissect a size/frequency distribution into components other than age-classes (Harding, 1949), but the principles are the same.



2006 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynley M. Stone ◽  
Kevin A. Seaton ◽  
Margaret Byrne ◽  
Jen A. McComb

Blue-flowered Conospermum species are endemic to Western Australia, and are highly sought after in the horticulture industry. Aspects of the reproductive biology of several species were investigated. The paniculate inflorescences of Conospermum eatoniae E.Pritz. contain 6–10 florets; however, the uppermost two or three florets never open and only the basal one or two florets in an inflorescence set seed. When insect pollinators are excluded, flowers do not self-pollinate and set seed. Stigma receptivity occurred for up to 6 days following triggering of the style and was variable between C. eatoniae, C. amoenum Meisn. subsp. amoenum, C. caeruleum R.Br. and C. brownii Meisn. Hand-pollination with 10 pollen genotypes and two maternal C. eatoniae parents showed that although pollen tubes were observed in the style, no seed was set. Genetic analysis of open-set seed progeny showed that C. eatoniae outcrossed infrequently when grown in clonal rows in a plantation, but outcrossing was common in wild plants. This study demonstrates that the reproductive biology of blue-flowered Conospermum is complex and requires further investigation if the species are to be widely cultivated for horticulture.



2010 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 607-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
TMA. Pantoja ◽  
FCW. Da Rosas ◽  
VMF. Dos Silva ◽  
AMF. Santos

The Amazonian manatee, Trichechus inunguis (Natterer 1883) is endemic to the Amazon Basin and is currently considered a vulnerable species. In order to establish normality ranges of urinary parameters to help monitor the health of this species in captivity, chemical urinalyses were performed on twelve males and nine females of various age groups. Urine was collected once a month for twelve months in the tanks just after being drained, by placing stainless steel containers under the genital slit of females and applying abdominal massages to males in order to stimulate urination. Quantitative data of glucose, urea, creatinine, uric acid and amylase levels were obtained using colorimetric spectrophotometry. Dip strips were also useful for routine analyses, despite only providing qualitative results. Normal range to glucose levels, regardless of sex or age class, was 3.0 to 3.6 mg.dL-1, coinciding with qualitative values of glucose measured by dip strips. Statistical differences observed in some parameter levels suggest that some urine parameters analysed must take into consideration the sex and the age class of the animal studied, being these differences less remarkable in creatinine and amylase levels. To this last one, statistical difference was detected only in the calve's urine (7.0 to 11.5 mg.dL-1) compared to other age classes samples (4.1 to 5.3 mg.dL-1). The results presented here may be used as comparative data in future research on urinalysis in related species.



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