Brotações de macieira (Malus domestica, Borkh), cv. Fred Hough, oriundas do processo de multiplicação in vitro, foram inoculadas em meio MS e MS/2, testando-se os reguladores de crescimento: ácido indol-3-acético (AIA); ácido indolbutírico (AIB) e ácido naftaleno acético (ANA), nas concentrações de 0, 1, 3 e 5 miM com o objetivo de observar o efeito dessas auxinas sobre o enraizamento da cultivar. Foram acrescentadas aos meios as vitaminas MS mio-inositol (100 mg/L) e sacarose (30 g/L) em meio de ágar (6 g/L). O pH do meio foi ajustado para 5,8 e a cultura foi incubada a 25 ± 2º C e 16 horas de fotoperíodo a 2.000 lux, permanecendo por 30 dias. Os tratamentos foram repetidos cinco vezes e cada repetição constou de cinco explantes inoculados em frasco de 250 mL contendo 40 mL do meio. O meio MS/2 em todas as concentrações testadas foi melhor que o MS. O ANA e o AIB, ambos na concentração de 3 miM, em meio MS/2, tiveram comportamento semelhante na porcentagem de enraizamento e no número de raízes produzidas; no entanto, o ANA provocou efeitos indesejáveis na qualidade destas, havendo formação de calo na base das brotações e raízes grossas. O AIA obteve melhor resposta nas altas concentrações, mas não foi melhor que o AIB e ANA.

The efficacy of Prohexadione-Ca on vegetative and reproductive parameters was tested for 3 years on three apple cultivars (Golden Delicious, Braeburn, and Fuji) at concentrations ranging from 125 up to 350 ppm. The Prohexadione-ca was applied after shoots reached 5 cm length, for 1 month. In all cases, Prohexadione-Ca reduced shoot growth, showed the tendency to increase fruit size and to enhance return bloom. In addition, it increased leaf coloration and higher chlorophyll content, and it induced higher photosynthetic efficiency than the control. The relationships among shoot reduction, chlorophyll content and photosynthetic efficiency are discussed. Experiments were carried out for 3 years on 'Gala' and 'Fuji' apple cultivars. The efficacy of the compounds applied during blooming (ATS, Armothin) and at 10 mm king fruit diameter (BA, CPPU, and NAA) was studied. Results showed a poor efficacy of the chemicals applied during bloom, while compounds applied at fruit set showed interesting results. Among the new chemicals, citokinins were the most effective, although their effects were related to the cultivar: BA performs better than CPPU on 'Fuji' while vice versa on 'Gala'. In addition, both chemicals induced a slightly higher °Brix content, and acidity level showed the tendency to increase L/D ratio of the fruits as compared to controls. Fruit thinning and the strategies to enhance fruit size are applied early in the season and the problem remains, to assess their effectiveness as early as possible in order to adapt the management techniques (e.g., further thinning, if applicable, or fine-tuning of nutrition and irrigation, etc.) to enable the fruit to reach their maximum potential development. A modelling approach proposed by Lakso et al. (1995) postulates that apples grow in weight according to an equation termed "expolinear" (Goudriaan and Monteith, 1990) because after an initial phase of exponential growth (cell division), the apple enters a phase of linear growth (cell expansion) lasting up to harvest. The effectiveness of a thinning agent can therefore be evaluated-and explained-in terms either of the number of cells of the cortex tissue, or of their volume, or both. In addition, assessing the slope of the linear phase as early as possible might provide a prediction tool to evaluate size at harvest. This paper presents data from apple thinning trials on several cultivars. The effectiveness of these applications has been evaluated via an analysis of the cell parameters (number, volume and intercellular spaces) of the fruit's parenchyma cortex tissue. Also, fruit growth data have been used to test the possibility to predict fruit size at harvest once the fruit reaches the phase of linear growth. 'Golden Delicious' apples (Malus xdomestica Borkh.) were pressure-infiltrated after harvest with 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, or 4% CaCl 2 solutions (w/v) and the chemical composition of the cell wall of the cortical tissue 2 to 4 mm under the epidermis was studied. The mineral composition of the control cell wall (0% CaCl 2 ) was...

A palmeira Butia yatay (Mart.) Becc. ocorre naturalmente no município de Giruá, localizado no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Atualmente, encontra-se em declínio populacional, devido às atividades de agricultura e pecuária extensiva que estão em plena expansão. Em resposta às pressões ecológicas, muitos compostos secundários são sintetizados pelas plantas, os quais desempenham várias funções ecológicas. O principal objetivo deste estudo foi caracterizar os metabólitos secundários foliares de Butia yatay. Foram coletadas dez amostras das folhas da espécie, sendo cinco selecionadas na zona urbana e cinco na zona rural do município de Giruá. A partir dos extratos foliares, realizou-se a caracterização fitoquímica qualitativa dos metabólitos secundários por meio de ensaios cromáticos específicos. Constatou-se a presença de quatro classes de metabólitos secundários: cumarinas, flavonoides, saponinas e taninos. A estes compostos são atribuídas importantes funções nas plantas contra fatores bióticos e abióticos. Além disso, são de grande interesse para a saúde humana, sobretudo do ponto de vista farmacológico devido a descrição de seus efeitos biológicos.

Asparagus is a vegetable of great economic importance. It is a dioecius and perennial species mainly propagated by seeds, which makes difficult the breeding work as far as results are concerned. New biotechnological techniques such as tissue culture have been used in order to shorten the release of new cultivars. On the order hand, this process depends mainly on the rooting phase, which, for this species, is to some extent difficult. The aim of this work was to verify the influence of spear number on asparagus rooting. Two genotypes were studied: Clone M14 and cv. Deco, which is a hybrid (M14 × G27). These genotypes were tested with one, two, three, and four spears in a medium containing in mg/L: NAA (0.1); kinetin (2.0); ancymidol (0.5). Sucrose was added to 30 g/L and agar at 6.0 g/L. The pH was adjusted to 5.9. The evaluations were performed 30 days later. Four-spear asparagus rooted better than the others; it was also observed longer roots for this treatment. Clone M14 rooted better than cv. Deco. These results show the importance of the starting explants to improve the in vitro rooting in asparagus.