Red firespike (Odontonema strictum) is a tropical flowering plant that was selected as a potential flowering potted plant for its attractive red floral spikes. The objective of this study was to evaluate how light intensity, photoperiod, and temperature affect the growth and flowering of firespike. In Experiment 1, plants were grown under 0%, 45%, or 65% shade and two photoperiod conditions; long-day (LD = ≥14 h) and short-day (SD = 9 h), for 16 weeks. Plants grown under 45% shade + LD were tallest at 35.9 cm, while plants grown under 65% shade + SD were shortest at 22.8 cm. During the finishing stage, the number of inflorescences increased when plants were grown under 45% shade + SD, 45% shade + LD, and no shade, with 6, 7, and 9 inflorescences, respectively. In addition, the first open flower was observed in the 0% shade group (control) 92 days after starting the experiment. The time to first open flower increased when the plants were grown under 65% shade, either under SD or LD. In Experiment 2, plants were grown in controlled environment growth chambers with average daily temperatures of 15, 25, or 35 °C and an irradiance of 200 µmol·m−2·s−1 for 9 h per day. Plants grown at 25 °C were the tallest and had the largest leaf area. Plants grown at 15 and 35 °C had 28% and 22% less leaf area, respectively. The average number of inflorescences in plants grown at 25 °C was 1.6, while no inflorescence development was observed in plants grown at 15 or 35 °C by the termination of the experiment. There were no differences between plant growth index or branch number in response to temperature. Under the experimental conditions tested, the most rapid and uniform flowering of firespike occurred when plants were grown under no shade or at 25 °C.

This study investigated the exposure of subterranean termites to chitosan as a wood preservative. The results show that chitosan treatments at sufficiently high loadings could protect wood against termites, preferably under non-leaching conditions. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

A thorough understanding of microbial communities in the gut of lower termites is needed to develop target-specific and environmentally benign wood protection systems. In this study, the bacterial community from Reticulitermes virginicus was examined by Illumina sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) spanning the V3 and V4 regions. Prior to library preparation, the termites were subjected to five treatments over an 18-day period: three groups were fed on wood treated with 0.5% chitosan, 25% acetic acid, or water, the fourth group was taken directly from the original collection log, and the fifth group was starved. Metagenomic sequences were analyzed using QIIME 2 to understand the treatments’ effects on the dynamics of the gut bacteria. Four dominant phyla were detected: Bacteroidetes (34.4% of reads), Firmicutes (20.6%), Elusimicrobia (15.7%), and Proteobacteria (12.9%). A significant effect of chitosan treatment was observed in two phyla; Firmicutes abundance was significantly lower with chitosan treatment when compared to other groups, while Actinobacteria was lower in unexposed and starved termites. The results suggest that chitosan treatment not only affects the structure of the microbial community in the gut, but other treatments such as starving also cause shifts in termite gut communities.

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