Concepts and Direction of Induced Systemic Resistance in Plants and its Application

Resistance to plant disease is often specific and metabolites and receptors contributing to this specificity may have specific structures. However, simple, structurally-unrelated compounds induce systemic resistance in unrelated plants to diverse pathogens including fungi, bacteria and viruses. Both resistance and induced systemic resistance (ISR) are associated with the rapid accumulation of the same structurally unrelated putative defense compounds that have diverse functions. It has been suggested that cultivar (race)-specific resistance is initiated by the specific interaction of a pathogen product (or pathogen induced product) and a plant receptor. However, restricted infection by pathogens can result in ISR and many different compounds can cause ISR. It is thus evident that there are both specific and non-specific routes to the master switch for ISR and there may be more than one master switch. Are reactive oxygen species and free radicals regulating the master switch(es) via both routes? It is also evident there are many switches, other than the master switch. Adding to the complexity of resistance and ISR are the observations that different compounds and pathways may mediate different biochemical resistances. Activation of one of the pathways may antagonize or enhance the activation or effectiveness of another. The review will address these complexities and questions and propose directions of research which require high priority. Factors which encourage and suppress the application of ISR in agriculture will also be addressed.     

St. John’s Wort Herbal Teas – Biological Potential and Chemometric Approach to Quality Control

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - St. John’s wort has been used for centuries in traditional medicine of many cultures, and nowadays it is well-known as a clinically important antidepressant...     

Maize defence mechanisms against the European corn borer,Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Maize is arguably the most widely grown crop in the world, but it is often associated with one of its major insect pests, the European corn borer (ECB). The damage caused by this species to maize production is generally variable, but in many cases it is economically significant. This review paper provides an overview of the research findings on the natural plant defence mechanisms against ECB larvae published till now. What is resistance and how it is achieved, what is the chemical response of maize plants to insect feeding and how tolerance can be increased. A short introduction in breeding for resistance and a discussion if the mentioned traits can be used in conventional breeding in order to create maize hybrids less affected by ECB are given.     

The Characterization of Heavy Metals in the Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) Cultivar Rkatsiteli and Wild Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) from East Serbia by ICP-OES and BAFs

Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, in combination with calculation of various biological factors, was used in this study not only for a simple illustration of the present status of some essential and non-essential metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), and cadmium (Cd) in the grapevine cultivar Rkatsiteli and wild blackberry from East Serbia but also for the estimation of plant bioaccumulation potentials. Great majority of detected metal concentrations were in normal ranges except in few cases: Zn concentrations were at the level of deficiency in almost all plant parts, and some Cu and As concentrations were at the levels that could be considered phytotoxic. Biological accumulation factors provided very informative data on metal accumulation and translocation in both plants and pointed to low accumulation rates of metals except in the case of Cu, Zn, and As in some wild blackberry tissues.     

中国西部六种特有松科植物核型及细胞地理学研究

本文分析的麦吊云杉、峨眉冷杉等４种２变种松科植物属我国特有种，主产中国西部，观察到的根尖细胞核型有５种为首次报导。麦吊云杉（Ｐｉｃｅａｂｒａｃｈｙｔｙｌａ）和变种油麦吊云杉（Ｐ．ｂ．ｖａｒ．ｃｏｍｐｌａｎａｔａ）为２Ａ核型，Ｋ（２ｎ）＝２４＝２０ｍ＋４ｓｍ；天山云杉（Ｐ．ｓｃｈｒｅｎｋｉａｎａｖａｒ．ｆｉａｎｓｈａｎｉｃａ）为２Ｂ核型，Ｋ（２ｎ＝２４＝１６ｍ＋８ｓｍ；峨眉冷杉（Ａｂｉｅｓｆａｂｒｉ）为２Ａ模型，Ｋ（２ｎ）＝２４＝１４ｍ＋８ｓｍ＋２ｓｔ；红杉（Ｌａｒｉｘｐｏｔａｎｉｎｉｉ）为２Ａ核型，ｋ（２ｎ）＝２４＝１２ｍ＋１０ｓｍ＋２ｓｔ；高山松（Ｐｉｎｕｓｄｅｎｓａｔａ）为１Ａ核型，ｋ（２ｎ）＝２４＝２４ｍ。试材来源于原始林区的自然居群，根据核型资料，结合各种的生态、地理分布，进行了遗传变异及进化程度的讨论。     

岷江柏木和西藏柏木的核型及亲缘关系研究

本文首次报导了岷江柏木（Ｃｕｒｐｒｅｓｓｕｓｃｈｅｎｇｉａｎａ）和西藏柏木（Ｃｕｐｒｅｓｓｕｓｔｏｒｕｌｏｓａ）的体细胞核型。两种有相同的核型公式Ｋ（２ｎ）＝２２＝２０ｍ＋２ｓｍ，同属１Ａ核型，其它核型数据相近。岷江柏木为中国特有种，西藏柏木主产我国，结合生态、地理分布特征及生化分析资料，讨论了两者的亲缘关系及生态同群种的一致性趋势。