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The present study aimed to investigate the Cd-induced transgenerational effects on plants. Grafted tomato plants, which exhibited the same cultivar as scion and distinct cultivars with contrasting Cd-tolerance as rootstocks, were grown in soil without and with artificial addition of Cd (less than 2.0, and 6.9 mg kg-1 of Cd, respectively) in a pot experiment carried out in a greenhouse. Their fruits were harvested to extract seeds (i.e., the progenies), which were sown over either Cd-free (control) or Cd-containing germitest paper (germination testing paper with 0 and 35 μM of CdCl2, respectively) and grown in a growth chamber. The immediate progeny of all grafting combinations from stressed plants presented an elevated germinability, despite high internal Cd concentration. When sown in Cd-containing germitest paper, the immediate progeny of plants grown in soil with no Cd addition was generally able to maintain or even increase the content of carotenoids and chlorophylls a and b (up to 93.3, 62.8 and 76.1%, respectively), indicating a Cd-induced hormetic effect on photosynthetic pigments. Two of the grafting combinations from stressed plants yielded seeds that generated seedlings with enhanced dry mass when they were sown in Cd-free media (~41%), suggesting a Cd-induced transgenerational enhancement of biomass production. Because only one tomato cultivar was used as scion, data indicated that type and degree of Cd-induced transgenerational effects depend strongly on signals generated and/or processed in roots of the parental plants. When sown in Cd-contaminated germitest paper, the immediate progeny of Cd-treated plants presented major reductions in the leaf area (35-69%) and content of photosynthetic pigments (57-93%) in comparison to the progeny from control plants. However, one of the grafting combinations exhibited satisfactory performance after "double" exposure to Cd, showing 91% of the biomass that was produced in the seedlings of control seeds from control plants. Further investigation indicated that adjustments in the chlorophyll fluorescence behavior might counterbalance losses in leaf pigments and area. Taken together, our data provide new insights on the origin, outcomes and mode of action of the Cd-induced transgenerational effects.

Nodal segments from secondary branches of saplings of Phyllostachys bambusoides were inoculated in MS medium to assess the in vitro morphogenic response of leaf sheath through the induction to callogenesis by Picloram (4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid) at different concentrations of carbohydrate under the same conditions with presence or absence of luminosity. In our experiment, secondary explants were kept in MS medium containing 8.0 mg·L−1 of Picloram for the callus formation. Calluses were transferred in MS medium supplemented with sucrose, fructose and glucose (control, 2%, 4% and 6%). Results show that Picloram induced the callogenesis in leaf sheath. The secondary embryogenesis was formed in yellow-globular callus. The sucrose as carbohydrate source in the absence of light was more efficient to induce rhizogenesis. Glucose was more efficiency in the presence of light. Callogenic induction and further embryogenesis evidenced the competence and determination of leaf sheath cells.

SummaryEucalyptus cloeziana is a species of great commercial interest due to the technical characteristics of its wood. However, the expansion of areas planted is limited by difficulties encountered with its clonal propagation. The objective of this study was to develop a method for cloning select adult trees of this species by a micropropagation technique. Epicormic shoots were induced in branches of adult trees and were viable as explants for in vitro establishment. Shoots were multiplied in vitro using Woody Plant Medium (WPM) culture supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) growth regulators. The optimum concentration of these for promoting proliferation of shoots was genotype-dependent. The best multiplication results were obtained with BA concentrations greater than 0.60 mg L–1 combined with 0.10 mg L–1 NAA for adult tree genotypes numbered 03 and 13, while for tree 05 the optimal result was found for the shoots cultured in culture medium free of the growth regul...

Xenia, the transmission of traits from the pollinizer to the female's tissues, is a phenomenon hitherto unknown in tomatoes. Here, we describe xenia effects on the seeds and fruits of Solanum lycopersicum, the tomato, elicited by S. galapagense. The wild tomatoes, such as S. galapagense, have highly pilose fruit surface and minute seeds, unlike the domesticated species. Crossings between S. galapagense (pollinizer) and two large-seeded, glabrous cultivars of S. lycopersicum (females) tested the former's ability to raise the trichome density and trichome-to-1000-cell ratio and to reduce the seed weight in the latter's fruits. Selfed fruits of the two cultivars, Micro-Tom and Pusa Ruby, were compared to the crossed fruits. The pollen of S. galapagense was able to raise pilosity and to reduce seed weight in the crossed fruits of both cultivars, but with different magnitudes: seed reduction was more intense in Pusa Ruby, while pilosity increase was greater in Micro-Tom, both of which characterize xenia. Pilosity increase is not completely dependent on variation in epidermal cell density, which displayed no xenia effect. The difference between the maternal cultivars in the magnitude of pilosity increase may be due to the higher dilution of a putative male chemical signal (either hormone or RNA) in the larger fruits of Pusa Ruby. However, one cannot use the signal diffusion hypothesis to explain the xenia effects on seed weight.