Regreening in spathes of Zantedeschia after anthesis: its physiology and control by fructification and hormones.

The mature pigmented spathe of Zantedeschia is characterized by a developmental process, wherein the spathe regreens after anthesis and prior to senescence of the inflorescence. Previous research has shown that spathe regreening involves redifferentiation of chloroplasts and re-accumulation of chlorophyll, but the detailed physiological changes associated with regreening are still largely unknown. Using Zantedeschia aethiopica and the Zantedeschia pentlandii variety 'Best Gold' as models, this study explores the physiological mechanism and possible roles of fructification, 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and gibberellin (GA3 ) in induction or progression of spathe regreening. Application of BAP stimulated regreening in spathe tissue of 'Best Gold' by enhancing accumulation of carotenoid and chlorophyll, and also increasing stacking of grana. In contrast, GA3 retarded formation of double-membrane lamella during chloroplast redifferentiation, thus delaying the onset of regreening. We suggest that these actions of BAP and GA3 have a synergistic effect in delaying the onset of regreening in 'Best Gold' so that when applied together retardation of chlorophyll accumulation, chloroplast redifferentiation and accumulation of carotenoids were enhanced. The elimination of fructification did not prevent the occurrence of regreening in either Zantedeschia model plants, indicating that fructification was not a prerequisite for the induction of regreening. It is still unclear how regreening in Zantedeschia is triggered. We propose that the onset of regreening in Zantedeschia is likely to be a genetically programmed event.

Mechanisms of glyphosate resistance in two perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) populations.

BACKGROUND: Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) has developed resistance to glyphosate within New Zealand vineyards following many years of herbicide application. The objectives of this work were to confirm resistance within two populations obtained from affected vineyards, and to determine the mechanism of resistance to glyphosate. RESULTS: Population O was confirmed to have a 25-fold resistance to glyphosate, whereas population J had a sevenfold resistance. Results of genotyping assays demonstrated a single nucleotide substitution at codon 106 of 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase in population O but not population J. Glyphosate-resistant and glyphosate-susceptible populations did not differ in glyphosate absorption. However, in both resistant populations, much more of the absorbed (14) C-glyphosate remained in the treated leaf than occurred in the susceptible population. Significantly more glyphosate was found in the pseudostem region of susceptible plants compared with resistant plants. CONCLUSION: Both target-site and non-target-site mechanisms of glyphosate resistance were found in the perennial ryegrass population with 25-fold resistance, whereas only the non-target-site mechanism of resistance was found in the population with sevenfold resistance. This is the first study of the mechanism of glyphosate resistance in perennial ryegrass.