Life Sciences Commons^™

In Vitro Propagation, Regeneration, Attempted Tetraploid Induction, And Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation Of Euphorbia Pulchurrima ‘Winter Rose’™, Kimberly Ann Pickens

Doctoral Dissertations

Poinsettia, Euphorbia pulchurrima, is the number one potted flowering plant in the United States. ‘Winter Rose’™ is a very popular cultivar with more than one million plants sold each year. To further improve this cultivar, particularly for larger flower heads and free branching, this research aimed at establishing some in vitro systems for application of biotechnology to poinsettia genetic improvement.

A protocol was established for in vitro axillary bud proliferation using greenhouse grown terminal buds. Buds were placed on Murashige-Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with benzlyaminopurine (BA). Explants produced the greatest number of axillary buds on medium containing between 2.2-8.8 …

Systematics And Species Concepts In The Genera Lentinus Fr. And Panus Fr., With Emphasis On The Lentinus Tigrinus, L. Crinitus And Panus Lecomtei Complexes, Edward A. Grand

Doctoral Dissertations

The monographic work of Pegler (1983) on Lentinus has established the taxonomic guidelines for most recent studies involving members of the genus (Moncalvo et al. 2002, Rolen 2001, Krüger 2002). Pegler’s taxonomic hierarchy combined both Lentinus Fr. and Panus Fr. into one large genus, Lentinus Fr. The combination of these genera and its validity was one of the reasons for beginning this study. For generic level comparisons, ribosomal DNA sequence data can be helpful for determining relationships among taxa (Binder and Hibbett 2002, Hibbett and Vilgalys 1991, 1993, Hibbett and Donoghue 2001, Moncalvo et al. 2002, Thorn et al. 2000). …

Molecular Systematics Of North American Eupatorium, Kunsiri Chaw Siripun

Doctoral Dissertations

This study had two primary goals: first, to prepare a thorough taxonomic revision of North American Eupatorium, and second, to conduct initial evaluations using molecular techniques of how diploid and polyploid populations of Eupatorium rotundifolium and E. sessilifolium relate to one another. Nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and chloroplast DNA (trnC-psbM) sequences were used for molecular analysis, which allowed assessment of relationships of the polyploidy samples based on both a biparentally and a maternally inherited marker. The Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) method was used for examining the relationships among diploid and polyploid populations …