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In field experiments performed in two localities (Smolice, Wrocław) 18 xenic hybrids of winter rye, two testers and standard cultivar Dańkowskie Złote, were analysed. The objects of detailed evaluations were 11 traits. For six of them arithmetic means (x), standard deviations (S), coefficients of variation (cv), coefficients of genetic diversity (h2), correlation coefficients were calculated. Moreover, analyses of variance were carried out and the effects of general (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining ability were estimated. The existence of quantitative xenia in hybrids was confirmed. It was shown that xenic hybrids, in respect to most of the analysed traits, were insignificantly inferior to the testers and the standard cultivar. However, the decrease of plant height has shown to be significant and a tendency to higher yield was observed.

The paper examines the linguistic configuration of ritualized-friendship through a contrastive analysis of the Homeric poems and Herodotus’ Histories. First, the critical approaches to xenia in the Greek world are charted. Second, the overall characteristics of the language of ritualized-friendship in the Homeric epic are outlined through a lexical analysis of the semantic field of xenos and its cognates. Finally, the development of the conceptual framework of ritualized-friendship is traced in Herodotus’ narrative. The analysis shows that Herodotus draws on a nominal abstract form ξεινίη, absent in Homer, and employs it from a geopolitical and largely secular stance, as a relatively technical term to designate inter-aristocratic bonds of friendship or alliance., Este artículo examina la construcción lingüística de la amistad-ritualizada a partir del cotejo de los poemas homéricos y de su desarrollo ulterior en las Historias de Heródoto. En primer lugar, se encuadra el fenómeno de la ξενία en las elaboraciones teóricas de la crítica. Luego, se analizan los registros homéricos de la familia léxica organizada en torno al término ξένος, a los fines de precisar las características conjuntas que presenta el lenguaje de la amistad-ritualizada en la epopeya. Por último, se señala el desarrollo particular del esquema conceptual de la ξενία en la narración herodotea. Heródoto emplea una forma nominal abstracta, ξεινίη, inexistente en Homero, como término cuasi-técnico de orden geopolítico y eminentemente secular para designar vínculos inter-aristocráticos de amistad o alianza.

Ubiquitous in ancient Greek culture, the ethical principle of xenía may broadly translate as hospitality to strangers, doing so through taking interpersonal, political, and architectural form. Since xenía includes the accommodation of foreign guests, some evidence of xenía in architecture is logically found in houses and hostels, but surprisingly more evidence surrounds Athens’ Theatre of Dionysus, on stage in Aristophanes’ Peace and Euripides’ Cyclops, and off stage through the architects elected to look after the sanctuary of the theatre. This paper reveals the principle of xenía permeating the professional work of the architect to such a degree that Vitruvius and Demosthenes would reproach even slight digressions from the principle, and Vitruvius would call the education of xenía the most valuable thing to outlast a shipwreck.

This article investigates aspects of xenia or guest relationships – which forms a central aspect of Homer’s Odyssey – in Marlene van Niekerk’s novel Triomf. Hospitality and the lack thereof form the basis of several scenes in the novel. Examples include the visit of the agents canvassing for the National Party before the elections, the Jehovah’s witnesses, the AWB recruiters, as well as Lambert’s interaction with Sonnyboy and Mary. The latter scene in particular corresponds closely to the guidelines for proper hospitality as delineated by Homer.

This review describes strategies for the chemical synthesis of xenicane diterpenoids and structurally related metabolites. Selected members from the four different subclasses of the Xenia diterpenoid family, the xenicins, xeniolides, xeniaphyllanes and xeniaethers, are presented. The synthetic strategies are discussed with an emphasis on the individual key reactions for the construction of the uncommon nine-membered carbocycle which is the characteristic structural feature of these natural products. Additionally, the putative biosynthetic pathway of xenicanes is illustrated.

Table grapes represent true sources of antioxidants, with beneficial role on the health of the human body, can be considered, the intensely colored ones especially, as some of the fruits that contain considerable amounts of phenolic compounds in the skin and seeds, compounds with a wide range in pharmaceutical activity, antiallergenic, anti-cancer, also contributing in a fundamental way at defining distinctive organoleptic properties. Seven varieties of table grapes were analyzed with different ripening periods and the harvest was performed at technological maturity of the grapes, when carpometric and physical-chemical determinations were made. The recorded values show a high phenolic potential at varieties with intensely colored skin 1127.3 mg gallic acid/kg f.w. (Muscat d'Adda cv.) and 1093.9 mg gallic acid/kg f.w. (Muscat Hamburg cv.). Anthocyanins have a similar situation where red varieties contain much higher levels (Muscat d'Adda cv. - 682.7 mg malvidin-3-O glu/kg fw) than white varieties. The data gives an indication of nutritional valences of these varieties, which we recommend for expansion, while managing and overcoming boundaries in which they were obtained (Victoria, Xenia, Tamina cvs.).

The paper examines the linguistic configuration of ritualized-friendship through a contrastive analysis of the Homeric poems and Herodotus’ Histories. First, the critical approaches to xenia in the Greek world are charted. Second, the overall characteristics of the language of ritualized-friendship in the Homeric epic are outlined through a lexical analysis of the semantic field of xenos and its cognates. Finally, the development of the conceptual framework of ritualized-friendship is traced in Herodotus’ narrative. The analysis shows that Herodotus draws on a nominal abstract form ξεινίη, absent in Homer, and employs it from a geopolitical and largely secular stance, as a relatively technical term to designate inter-aristocratic bonds of friendship or alliance. Este artículo examina la construcción lingüística de la amistad-ritualizada a partir del cotejo de los poemas homéricos y de su desarrollo ulterior en las Historias de Heródoto. En primer lugar, se encuadra el fenómeno de la ξενία en las elaboraciones teóricas de la crítica. Luego, se analizan los registros homéricos de la familia léxica organizada en torno al término ξένος, a los fines de precisar las características conjuntas que presenta el lenguaje de la amistad-ritualizada en la epopeya. Por último, se señala el desarrollo particular del esquema conceptual de la ξενία en la narración herodotea. Heródoto emplea una forma nominal abstracta, ξεινίη, inexistente en Homero, como término cuasi-técnico de orden geopolítico y eminentemente secular para designar vínculos inter-aristocráticos de amistad o alianza.

Hickory (Carya cathayensis) is an important ornamental tree in China. Crossbreeding is carried out with hickory as female parent, pollinating with pecan (C. illinoensis) pollen and other different types of pollen treatments. Fruit set percentage, fruits and seeds characters, pollen germination in vitro and situ and identification of seedling using AFLP and RAPD are studied in order to get pollination characteristics on hickory. The results showed that hickory and pecan pollens were not germination on 14 different components media. Hickory pollens start germinating on the female flower stigma pollinated after 8 h and universal after 24 h using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). There is a small amount of fruits under cover treatment, without-pollination treatment and 2, 4-D treatment. The rate of fruit setting is the biggest up to 42.2% when female flowers are pollinated with mixed pollen within populations on hickory. Among harvested fruits and seeds, fruit phenotypic characteristics show large variation when pollinating with pecan. Fruits and seeds weight and size are significant difference comparing with the control. The frequency of polyembryony is about 9.04%. Offsprings of C. cathayensis × C. illinoensis are not true hybrids using AFLP and RAPD analysis. The variation of fruits is due to xenia effect. These results suggested that apomixis mechanism might exist on hickory.

Streszczenie Badano wpływ form rodzicielskich na cechy owoców duriana z zapyleń krzyżowych. Odmianami rodzicielskimi użytymi w krzyżowaniach były ‘Matahari’, ‘Kani’, ‘Otong’, ‘Sitokong’, ‘Lai’, ‘Kim’, ‘Sunan’, ‘Bokor’, ‘Hortimart’ i ‘Tangkue’. Badania wykazały, że odsetek zawiązywania owoców wynosił od 0% do 20% w różnych kombinacjach krzyżowań. Wpływ odmiany jako formy matecznej był istotny na takie cechy, jak zawiązywanie owoców, masę owoców, obwód owocu, długość owocu, grubość skórki owocu, grubość miąższu, udział części jadalnej, długość kolców, liczba komór bez miąższu, całkowita masa i liczba nasion w pełni wykształconych oraz procentowy udział nasion niewypełnionych. Odmiana Matahari użyta jako forma mateczna wytwarzała największe owoce z najgrubszym miąższem podskórnym, w najwyższym procencie części jadalnych i wszystkimi komorami wypełnionymi. Formy ojcowskie miały wpływ na zawiązywanie owoców, długość owocu, grubość skórki, liczbę nasion, całkowitą wagę nasion oraz udział nasion niewypełnionych. Odmiana Sitokong użyta jako forma ojcowska miała najniższą całkowitą masę nasion i najmniejszą liczbę nasion oraz najwyższy udział nasion niewypełnionych

Bitter kernel taste in almonds is a monogenic trait, being bitter recessive. Bitterness depends on the content of the cyanogenic glucoside amygdalin, whose concentration can be more than 1000 times higher in bitter kernels than in sweet ones. Although previous studies showed that the bitter taste of almonds was not influenced by the pollinizer, nothing is known about the influence of the pollinizer on the amygdalin content of the kernel. In order to study the possible effect of the pollinizer on the content of amygdalin, we analyzed seeds from four cultivars: Del Cid (SkSk: sweet), Marcona (Sksk: sweet), Garrigues (Sksk: slightly bitter) and S3067 (sksk: bitter), which were crossed with four different pollinizers: Ramillete (SkSk: sweet), Atocha (Sksk: sweet), S3065 (Sksk: slightly bitter) and S3067. Results showed that when a sweet pollinizer was involved, the content of amygdalin could be reduced by up to 21%, compared to the bitter × bitter crosses.

In order to improve the yield and quality of 5 new Castanea mollissima varieties “Zipo”, “Zunyu” and traditional Yan Mountain Castanea mollissima cultivars “Duanci”, “Yanhong” and “Donglingmingzhu”, we carried out an experiment to study effect from different varieties configuration on yield of Yan Mountain chestnut. The result indicated that: cross-pollination had a significant impact on both fruiting rate and seed-setting rate; cross-pollination improved the nut number in each burr of each variety, in which “Duanci” was the biggest beneficiary, whose number of nut per burr increased from 1.08 to 2.77, 156% higher than that of the self-pollination combination; nut weight showed no significant difference in Xenia Effection; “Zunyu” improved the yield of “Yanhong” most; “Donglingmingzhu” was regarded as the best tree to improve “Zunyu”’s yield; the best variety to improve yield of “Zipo” was “Zunyu”; “Donglingmingzhu” and “Duanci” improved yield of each other most.

Nutritious and functional foods from wheat have received great attention in recent years. Colored-grain wheat contains a large number of nutrients such as anthocyanins and hence the breeding is interesting. In this work, colored-grained wheat lines of mixed pollination of einkorn wheat (Triticum boeoticum, AA) and French rye (French Secale cereale, RR) were used as male parents and wheat line Y1642 (derived from common wheat and Agropyron elongatum, AABBDD) was used as the female parent. These colored wheat were used for diallel cross to study the segregation ratios of F1 colored grains. Results show that the color inheritance of purple-grained wheat follows a maternal inheritance pattern and that the blue-grained wheat expresses xenia in most cases. In some circumstances, the grains with different color shades appear in the same spike.

Oil content and grain yield in maize are negatively correlated, and so far the development of high-oil high-yielding hybrids has not been accomplished. Then a fully understand of the inheritance of the kernel oil content is necessary to implement a breeding program to improve both traits simultaneously. Conventional and molecular marker analyses of the design III were carried out from a reference population developed from two tropical inbred lines divergent for kernel oil content. The results showed that additive variance was quite larger than the dominance variance, and the heritability coefficient was very high. Sixteen QTL were mapped, they were not evenly distributed along the chromosomes, and accounted for 30.91% of the genetic variance. The average level of dominance computed from both conventional and QTL analysis was partial dominance. The overall results indicated that the additive effects were more important than the dominance effects, the latter were not unidirectional and then heterosis could not be exploited in crosses. Most of the favorable alleles of the QTL were in the high-oil parental inbred, which could be transferred to other inbreds via marker-assisted backcross selection. Our results coupled with reported information indicated that the development of high-oil hybrids with acceptable yields could be accomplished by using marker-assisted selection involving oil content, grain yield and its components. Finally, to exploit the xenia effect to increase even more the oil content, these hybrids should be used in the Top Cross™ procedure.

The Xenia and Apophoreta stand out: Martial's two early epigram books are not like the others. Relegated anachronistically to the end of his corpus as Books 13 and 14, the Xenia and Apophoreta have generally been passed over or treated with puzzlement by readers of Martial. The books are often described as repositories of gift tags or ideas for Saturnalia presents. The composition and coherence of these playful books, however, hint at a more sophisticated literary project. This essay suggests that the unique nature of the Xenia and Apophoreta can be illuminated through their surprising connection to a contemporary Flavian text, Pliny the Elder's sprawling encyclopedia, the Natural History: both works begin with an invitation to the reader to browse through the titles of the sections of the book and to read according to personal preference. 2

Who is in control of seed size, and do some fathers sire bigger seeds than others? We used isogenic male-sterile genotypes of the Arabidopsis thaliana accessions Col and Ler. By fertilising flowers side-by-side with either pollen from the same accession (‘self-pollination’) or pollen from another accession (outcrossing), we compared, on the same mother plant, seed set of flowers that were very similar in resource status. Some paternal genotypes had a significant effect on seed mass, with the most extreme father siring seeds 15.3% heavier than seeds resulting from ‘self-pollination’. There was no correlation between seed mass of paternal parents and the seeds they sired. We discuss the evolution of seed size as a tug-of-war between parent and offspring.

This work was carried out in Balteem area, Egypt on the ‘Hayany’ date palm cultivar. Spaths were pollinated using either one of the two selected males (M1 and M2). Fruit samples were taken at different stages of its development to determine the changes in IAA, GA and ABA content. Data indicated that there were obvious differences in ‘Hayany’ fruits that were produced from the two evaluated males. The concentration of the different growth regulators in consideration (IAA, GA, ABA) as well as the timing of their increase or decrease was also available between the two males. M1 maintained a higher level of IAA than M2 in most sampling dates. The highest IAA content coincided with rapid fruit growth. Moreover, M1 had higher GA content in most sampling dates especially in the 5 th and 6 th sampling date. This period coincided with the rapid growth phase. It was also shown that M1 had a higher ABA content than fruit resulting from using M2. This was clear especially in the 4-7 th sampling date. A possible relationship between fruit growth and growth regulators content during fruit growth and development is

13‐epi‐9‐desacetylxenicin (2), isoxeniolide‐A (3) and 7, 8‐oxido‐isoxeniolide‐A (4), three novel nine‐membered diterpenoids have been isolated from the alcyonarian Xenia novae‐britanniae. Their structures have been established on the basis of their spectral properties. Structure 2 has been confirmed by X‐ray diffraction analysis. Copyright © 1979 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Cherry tomato have various colour, shape and nutritious fruit. The aim of this research was to make population for genetic selection and to know about xenia and metaxenia effect on tomato crossing. The crossing was assigned in dialel crossing combination with Ranti tomato, Cherry tomato var. Grape, Red Pear and Indigo Rose as a crossing parents. The crossing combination was Ranti x Grape, Ranti x Red Pear, Ranti x Indigo Rose, Grape x Ranti, Grape x Red Pear, Grape x Indigo Rose, Indigo Rose x Grape, Indigo Rose x Ranti, Indigo Rose x Red Pear. Parameter measured were crossing ability, fruit set ability, fruit ripening age, seed number and fruit shape. The result showed that Grape x Red Pear crossing combination had the highest crossing ability and Indigo Rose x Red Pear had the highest fruit set ability. Xenia and metaxenia effects were showed in fruit ripening age, seed number and fruit shape. Genotype of Red Pear x Indigo Rose was found as superior genotype candidate for ripening age, seed number and had highest percentage of fruit shape alteration. Keywords : Hybridization, xenia, metaxenia, tomato, cherry tomato.

Xenia is the effect of genes from the male parent on the development of fruit or seeds. Xenia may be used to identify the best pollenizer parents to decrease fruit development period and increase yield in mixed cultivar plantings. Metaxenia is the effect of pollen on fruit shape and other fruit characteristics. Metaxenia may be able to be used to identify the best pollenizer parents to decrease fruit development period and increase yield in mixed cultivar plantings. In this type of experiment suitable maternal lines were crossed with different pollinizers to test their pollen effect on fruit and seed quality. There is little information on the effects of this type of crossing on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seed production and seed quality. When seed production is the goal in cucumber, line 605 had the best seed size, but when an appropriate pollinizer is desired, line 604 produced suitable fruit size. Lines 604 and 605 can be used for production of a new population for more selection in future. These li...

Kopyor coconut is one of the many unique coconut types existed in Indonesia. To overcome the problem of low kopyor fruit yield, it is necessary to study xenia effect on the fruit yield of this coconut. The combination of kopyor coconut and normal coconut population selected at infarmers’ coconut plantations consisted of 33 normal coconut trees, and 9 kopyor coconut trees. All adult trees surrounding the 9 kopyor heterozygous (Kk) palms were evaluated as potential male candidate parents (pollen donors). All samples genotypes were determined using four SNAP markers and six microsatellite marker loci, parentage analysis using CERVUS software version 2.0. Results of the analysis indicate that xenia effect reduced kopyor fruit yields. Kopyor heterozygous (Kk) female parents produced low number of kopyor fruits when they were surrounded by many normal homozygous (KK) pollen donors. Out of 99 harvested progeny arrays from the kopyor heterozygous (Kk) female parents, none exhibited kopyor phenotype. The results also indicate that the pollen dispersal from normal homozygous (KK) donor palms range from 0 m (self pollination) to 54 m (outcrossing). The occurence of outcrossing frequency was at least 95% and the selfing frequency is 5%.

Maize (Zea mays L.) Plus-Hybrids are a blend of cytoplasmic male-sterile (CMS) hybrids and unrelated male-fertile hybrids ensuring pollination of the whole stand. Combining potential benefits of male sterility (CMS effect) and allopollination (xenia effect), they often outperform the corresponding male-fertile sib-pollinated hybrids in terms of yield. The combining abilities of five CMS hybrids and eight pollinators were investigated in a factorial split-plot design in 12 environments in four countries and two years. The plant material from different breeders represented the three types of male-sterile cytoplasm. Plus-Hybrids increased grain yield, on average, by 10% or more and by up to 20% in specific environments. Three highly responsive CMS hybrids and four generally good pollinators were identified. The Plus-Hybrid effect affected both yield components, CMS leading mainly to a higher number of kernels (KN) and the xenia effect mainly to an increase in the thousand kernel weight (TKW). Despite some differences in the response of the three types of CMS, the effect of the cytoplasm was not significant. While the CMS effect depended strongly on environment, the xenia was consistent in all environments but its extent varied. As well as increasing yield, we can expect that Plus-Hybrids can make a large contribution to the coexistence of transgenic and conventional maize by biocontainment, that is, eliminating or reducing the release of transgenic pollen in Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) maize or herbicide-tolerant (HT) maize.

A new guaiane-type sesquiterpenoid, 10β-O-methyl-1αH,5αH-guaia-6-en-4β-ol (1) along with two known compounds, 10-O -methyl alismoxide (2) and alismoxide (3) were isolated from a population of Bornean soft coral Xenia stellifera. The structure of this metabolite was elucidated based on spectroscopic data such as NMR and HRESIMS. These compounds were evaluated for their biological activity against adult T-cell leukemia cell line., 論文

The combined effect of cytoplasmic male sterility and xenia on maize hybrid traits is referred to as the plus-hybrid effect. Two studied ZP hybrids differently responded to this effect for grain yield. All plus-hybrid combinations of the firstly observed hybrid had a higher yield than their fertile counterparts, but not significantly, while only one combination of the second hybrid positively responded, also without statistical significance. It seems that the observed effect mostly depended on the genotype of the female component. Plus-hibrid efekat odnosi se na kombinovani uticaj citoplazmaticne muške sterilnosti i ksenija na svojstva hibrida kukuruza. Dva ispitivana ZP hibrida različito su reagovala ovaj efekat za prinos zrna. Sve Plus-hibrid kombinacije prvog ispitivanog hibrida su imale veći prinos od svojih fertilnih analoga, ali ne značajno, dok je samo jedna kombinacija drugog hibrida pozitivno odreagovala, takođe bez statističke značajnosti. Ispitivani efekat izgleda zavisi najviše od genotipa majke.

The xenia effect results from the cross-fertilization of nonrelated lines of crops, which causes a grain to produce a germ or embryo that is much larger than average. It is a significant genetic component in TopCross grain production systems, which can affect grain yield and quality. This study measured hormone variations during grain filling of normal corn (Zea mays L.) hybrids, and normal corn crossed with a high-oil corn. Two normal corn hybrids, Nongda 108 (ND108) and Liaoyu 20 (LY20), were used as the females. A high-oil corn hybrid, HOC115, was used as the male. Compared with self-fertilization, the cross between ND108 and HOC115 resulted in higher yield, while the cross of LY20 with HOC115 had lower yield. The changes in grain yield were mainly due to grain weight. Both hormone levels and endosperm cell division rates increased rapidly during the early stage of grain development, and then declined gradually until maturity. The levels of indole-3-acetic acid, gibberellin (GA 3 ), zeatin riboside, and abscisic acid at an early developmental stage were closely related to the grain weight at maturity. Higher endosperm cell division rates and cell numbers were associated with lower levels of GA 3 , and higher filling rates were associated with higher GA 3 . The xenia effect was mainly mediated through changes of hormone contents, which affected endosperm cell division, grain sink strength, and, therefore, changed grain weight and grain yield.

High oil content is one of the most important characteristics of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) breeding. In order to understand the genetic basis of seed oil content, a series of reciprocal crosses between rapeseed parents with high oil content (53110, 61616 and 6F313), medium-oil content (Zhongshuang 9) and low oil content (51070 and 93275) were conducted. It was found that the oil content of F1 hybrid seeds in rapeseed was mainly controlled by the maternal genotype. The maternal effect value of oil content was estimated to be 0.86. The pollen parent had a xenia effect on oil content, estimated to be 0.14 which changed the mean value by 1.86 percent. The inheritance of oil content was studied in a set of 8 × 8 diallel crosses of different varieties. The results indicated that the inheritance of oil content could be explained by an additive-dominant-epistasis model. Although the dominant and additive effects played major roles and accounted for more than 70% of the total variance, there was also a small epistatic effect. The broad and narrow sense heritability of oil content was 83.88 and 36.94%, respectively. Based on the oil content differences between the reciprocal crosses in the same offspring generation (F1 and F2) in rapeseed, it could be concluded that there were significant cytoplasmic effects on oil content. In this study, two lines with significantly cytoplasmic effects, either positive or negative, were selected.

We studied outcrossing in a rice plant under field conditions over five years, to clarify the relationship between outcrossing, pollen flow, and meteorological factors. We employed two cultivars to discriminate hybrid grains: Okunomurasaki, a non-glutinous cultivar with purple grains, was used as the donor, and Himenomochi, a glutinous cultivar, was used as the recipient. Therefore, we could accurately discriminate hybrid grains by the presence of two phenotypic markers—the xenia grain and the leaf color of the F1 plant. The results indicated that outcrossing occurred when the difference in the heading date between the donor and recipient was 11 days or less. And it did not occur when the difference was 13 days or more. In 2004 and 2007, hybrid grains were detected at a distance of 20 m or more from the donor. The wind speed during the flowering period of the donor was higher in both of these years than during the other three years of the study period. This suggested that outcrossing often occurred when the flowering period of the donor and recipient overlapped and the wind speed was high. In addition, outcrossing was considerably depressed when the difference in the day of heading between the donor and recipient was large.

The coexistence between genetically modified (GM) and non-GM maize (Zea mays L.) fields is subjected to regulation in several countries. A strategy to reduce cross-pollination from GM to non-GM fields was evaluated, on the basis of reducing the flowering coincidence by sowing at separate times. The trial included narrow plots in which transgenic maize was sown before, simultaneously, and after adjacent non-GM maize. A three-week delay between GM and non-GM sowing dates resulted in flowering delays below 5 d for early sowings, but up to 10 to 15 d for late sowings. Cross-pollination was monitored by xenia effect and validated by real-time PCR. The combined effect of flowering delay and distance from the pollen source was evaluated. Cross-pollination dramatically decreased with distance between pollen source and receptor. Flowering delay interacted with distance to the pollen donor source and further reduced GM pollen flow in all cases. Thus, it acted as a regulatory factor. A flowering delay of 92.9 growing degree units (GDU) (7 d in our experimental conditions) was enough to reduce the adventitious presence of GM kernels in non-GM maize plots down to residual values. This study illustrates the possibility of improving coexistence through temporal separation of flowering dates on the basis of appropriate delays in sowing dates., This study was financed by the regional government of Catalonia, Spain (DAR. Generalitat de Catalunya).

An examination of xeniid octocorals was carried out on specimens held in the National Museum of Natural History, Naturalis, Leiden, Netherlands. Samples collected during the Tyro expedition to the Seychelles Islands in the Western Indian Ocean were identified. Six species belong to the genera Cespitularia, Heteroxenia, and Ovabunda are described; five of these are new records for this location. Three new species belonging to the genera Anthelia, Cespitularia and Ovabunda are illustrated. In addition, a new genus belonging to the family Xeniidae is introduced accompanied by scanning electron micrographs of its sclerites. Gross morphology and the ultra-structure of the sclerites indicate there are some similarities in this new genus with Anthelia. However, the colonial morphology is distinct enough to make this genus unique among the Xeniidae and thus the new genus Fasciclia is introduced.

Chromatographic investigation of an acetone extract of the octocoral Xenia puerto-galerae afforded three new cadinene sesquiterpenes; 8-epi-xenitorin A (1), 10-epi-xenitorin C (2), and 7-isopropenyl-4,10-dimethyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydronaphthalene (3), in addition to four known cadinene analogs (4, 11-13) and six xenicanes (5-10). The structures were elucidated through spectroscopic analysis, especially 2D NMR. A biogenetic pathway of 1-3 and analogs was proposed.

Plus-hybrid effect refere to a combined effect of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) and xenia in maize (Zea mays L.) It could be used in commercial production by growing a mixture of 80% CMS hybrid and 20% of another fertile hybrid. The aim of this research was to examine individual and combined CMS and xenia effects on two hybrids widely grown in Serbia. Sterile and fertile versions of ZP 1 and ZP 2 hybrids (three-way; Iodent x Lancaster dents) were used as females, while ZP 1, ZP 2, ZP 3, ZP 4, and ZP 5 (three-way or single cross; Iodent (BSSS) x Lancaster dents) were used as pollinators. All of them belong to medium maturity group. The trial was set up at one location in Serbia (Zemun Polje) in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Molecular analysis of the five genotypes was done using simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers. Plus-hybrid effect on grain yield ranged from -6.2% to 6.2%; on thousand kernel weight from -1.7% to 5.2%; on number of kernels per area from -1.0% to 8.0%. The poor response could be due to a use of three-way instead of single cross hybrids in S type of sterility. Modified Rogers’ distance between hybrids was in the range 0.211 to 0.378 and was not relevant for the effect, which depended mostly on the sterile hybrid genotype and the fertile hybrid pollinator ability. This approach should be more suitable for female hybrids with slightly poorer performance, already being produced on a sterile base.

Seed weight is a very important and complex trait in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). The seed weight of rapeseed shows great variation in its natural germplasm resources; however, the morphological, cytological and genetic causes of this variation have remained unclear. In the present study, nine highly pure inbred rapeseed lines with large seed weight variation and different genetic backgrounds were selected for morphological, cytological and genetic studies on seed weight. The results showed the following: (1) Seed weight showed an extremely significant correlation and coordinated variation with seed size (including seed diameter, seed surface area and seed volume), but it showed no significant correlation with bulk density, which suggests that seed weight is determined by size rather than bulk density. (2) Seed weight showed a higher correlation with the cell numbers of seed coats and cotyledons than the cell sizes of seed coats and cotyledons, which suggests that cell number is more tightly correlated with final seed weight. (3) Seed weight was mainly controlled by the maternal genotype, with little or no xenia and cytoplasmic effects. This is the first report on the morphological and cytological causes of seed weight natural variation in rapeseed. We concluded that the natural variation of seed weight is mainly controlled by maternal genotype. This finding lays a foundation for genetic and breeding studies of seed weight in rapeseed and opens a new field of research on the regulation of seed traits in plants.

In the early 1950s, the Greek National Tourism Organization made a nation-wide attempt to develop tourism in Greece. For a period of two decades, it developed the hotel buildings' substructure, a project known as the "Xenia project". During this period, Greek architects, devoted to modernism, designed and supervised 53 hotel compounds, which spread throughout the country. Today, the Xenia Hotels are internationally recognized as part of Greece's modern cultural heritage, based on the simplicity, the definition of the form and the truth in materials use, besides the integration of the buildings in the natural environment, components which reveal themselves as a unique venture. This paper aims to reveal that, despite the efforts to retain the Xenia Hotels, these procedures remain incomplete. They rightly focus on architectural shells, morphological and functional standardization, proper utilization of the Greek environmental conditions, and the use of authentic local materials. However, the cultural evaluation of these settlements can only be completed by their holistic design, which also comprises their interior spaces, lightening and furniture design, all these detailed aspects that form an organic entirety and which are not included in these efforts.

The thesis deals with ancient mosaics depicting food and so-called unswept floors. These mosaic-themes have been popular throughout the mediterranean regions from the Hellenistic period until Byzantine times., Die Arbeit befasst sich mit antiken Mosaiken, die Nahrungsmittel und Speisereste darstellen. Diese Mosaikthemen waren vom Hellenismus bis in die byzantinische Zeit im gesamten Mittelmeerraum verbreitet.

Seven new diterpenes, novaxenicins A–D (1–4) and xeniolides I–K (5–7), have been isolated from the Kenyan soft coral Xenia novaebrittanniae. The structures and relative stereochemistry of the compounds were elucidated by interpretation of MS, COSY, HSQC, HMBC, and NOESY experiments. The structure of novaxenicin A (1) was secured by X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 5 possesses anti-bacterial activity at a concentration of 1.25 μg/ml and compound 2 induces apoptosis in transformed mammalian cells at a concentration of 1.25 μg/ml.

Chromatographic investigation of an acetone extract of the octocoral Xenia florida afforded three new xenicane diterpenes, namely, florxenilide A (1), florxenilide B (2), and florxenilide C (3), in addition to seven known xenicane diterpenes and two known cadinene sesquiterpenes. Structures were elucidated through spectroscopic analysis, especially 2D NMR, and chemical derivatization. The absolute configuration of 1 was determined by NOESY, CD, and Mosher's methods. Florxenilides A (1) and B (2) exhibited cytotoxicity against human colon cancer (WiDr) cells at 4.5 and 3.7 muM, respectively.

Gene flow via pollen dispersal leading to the escape of transgenes is a potential concern associated with the introduction of transgenic plants. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between pollen dispersal and outcrossing rate for strict biosafety management during risk assessment. Maize (Zea mays) is one of the crops most at risk for gene leakage via pollen flow into the environment. Here, we report the results of a cross-pollination field investigation using maize varieties showing a xenia effect with tricolor kernels, which allowed us to designate a pollen donor with natural outcrossing and one with reduced outcrossing (via a screened greenhouse) in the same experimental field at the same time. Although a previous study showed that a special screened greenhouse covered by 1-mm single fine mesh may be effective in reducing outcrossing in maize, we used 1-mm duplex fine mesh to reduce further the possibility of outcrossing. We report how a special screened greenhouse covered by 1-mm duplex fine mesh reduced pollen dispersal, and affected the outcrossing rate of non-genetically modified (GM) yellow maize in the greenhouse and white maize outside the greenhouse, compared to natural outcrossing.

Eight new xenia diterpenoids, blumiolide-A (1) (novel carbon skeleton), blumiolide-B (2), 9-deoxy-isoxeniolide-A (3), 9-deoxy-7,8-epoxy-isoxeniolide-A (4), 9-deacetoxy-7,8-epoxy-13-epi-xenicin (5), 9-deoxy-7,8-epoxy-xeniolide-A (6), blumiolide-C (7), and blumicin-A (8), were isolated from the methylene chloride solubles of the Formosan soft coral Xenia blumi. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis, and their cytotoxicity against selected cancer cells was measured in vitro.

Three new xenicane diterpenoids, designated xeniolactones A ( 1 ), B ( 2 ), and C ( 3 ), were isolated from Xenia florida collected in Taiwan. Compound 1 possesses a novel structure having a heterotricyclic skeleton in cyclononane system. The structures of 1–3 were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis. The cytotoxicity of 1–3 was also evaluated against human cancer cell lines.

Cytoplasmic male sterility (cms) and xenia increase grain yield of maize in most cases, as shown here for three Swiss cms-hybrids. This combined effect is called Plus-Hybrid. It is of high interest to know if these factors change as well the competition for nitrogen and carbon. This was investigated for three cms-hybrids combined with six pollinator hybrids, including themselves, in small-plot trials in six environments in Switzerland in 1998 and 1999. Contents of grain nitrogen and carbon were similar and were not significantly influenced by cms. In contrast, xenia influenced the genotype-specific grain nitrogen content; the pollinator × genotype interaction was significant. The general pollinator ability for protein yield showed the same pattern as the one for grain yield. The results suggest that the protein yield can be enhanced, in parallel with grain yield, to an extent of 10% (P