HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Verdolini, F. Articles by Pascual-Villalobos, M. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Verdolini, F. Articles by Pascual-Villalobos, M. J. Agricola Articles by Verdolini, F. Articles by Pascual-Villalobos, M. J. Related Collections Other Crop Management Other Oil Crops Other Crops Plant and Environment Interactions

CROP ECOLOGY, MANAGEMENT & QUALITY

Indehiscence Expression and Capsule Anatomy in Vernola

^a Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Alimentario, Estación Sericícola, 30150 La Alberca, Murcia, Spain and Istituto Sperimentale per le Colture Industriali, 60027 Osimo (AN), Italy
^b Istituto Sperimentale per le Colture Industriali, 60027 Osimo (AN), Italy
^c Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Alimentario, Estación Sericícola, 30150 La Alberca, Murcia, Spain

^* Corresponding author (mjesus.pascual{at}carm.es).

Euphorbia lagascae Spreng. is a potential new industrial crop because of the synthesis of vernolic acid in about 65% of the total fatty acids in its seed oil. Breeding research in the 1990s gave rise to the indehiscent Vernola cultivar as opposed to a complete dehiscence of the wild types. With the aim to evaluate the environmental influence in the expression of the nonshattering trait, field trials were sown in spring and autumn in Murcia, Spain, and Ancona, Italy, during 2001 and 2002. To further examine the basis of partial indehiscence, a capsule wall histological study was also performed. There was a significant decrease (P < 0.01) from 86.9 to 67.9% in the number of capsules retained per plant in the spring sowing, when mister sprinklers were used to increase relative humidity (RH) during pod formation. Overall, 37.9% indehiscent capsules per plant were retained in the autumn cycle vs. 77.4% in the spring cycle, indicating a strong influence of the growing season, which was associated to a combined effect of higher moisture and lower temperatures during capsule development. Transversal sections of carpel walls from Vernola capsules showed that the physical reason of the partial dehiscence observed in this cultivar is a small portion of the mesocarp remaining near the valve sutures, which makes the fruits susceptible to a slower opening under some environmental conditions.

Abbreviations: RH, relative humidity