• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.50
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• pp.190-199
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• 2023

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.: Arecaceae) is a dioecious species where only female trees bear fruits. In their natural state, date palms produce dates once a year. However, in Thailand, some trees were observed to produce dates during the off-season, despite no variations in morphology. The availability of such off-season fruits can significantly increase their market value. Interestingly, most female off-season date palms investigated in this study were obtained through micropropagation. Hence, there is an urgent need for genetic markers to distinguish female offseason flowering plantlets within tissue culture systems. In this study, we aimed to develop random amplification of polymorphic DNA-sequence characterized amplified region (RAPD-SCAR) markers for the identification of female off-season flowering date palms cultivated in Thailand. A total of 160 random decamer primers were employed to screen for specific RAPD markers in off-season flowering male and female populations. Out of these, only one primer, OPN-02, generated distinct genomic DNA patterns in female off-season flowering (FOFdp) individuals compared to female seasonal flowering genotypes. Based on the RAPD-specific sequence, specific SCAR primers denoted as FOFdpF and FOFdpR were developed. These SCAR primers amplified a single 517-bp DNA fragment, predominantly found in off-season flowering populations, with an accuracy rate of 60%. These findings underscore the potential of SCAR marker technology for tracking offseason flowering in date palms. Notably, a BLAST analysis revealed a substantial similarity between the SCAR marker sequence and the transcript variant mRNA from Phoenix dactylifera encoding the SET DOMAIN GROUP 40 protein. In Arabidopsis, this protein is involved in the epigenetic regulation of flowering time. The genetic potential of the off-season flowering traits warrants further elucidation.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.323-332
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• 1997

Drainage is needed to run off excessive water stress during the rainy season for soybean cultivation in the converted upland from paddy field. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of planting dates and drainage methods on growth and yield of sprout soybeans in the converted upland from paddy field. The stem and root growth at flowering stage showed no difference by drainage method but plant height, number of nodes and branches, and fresh weight of stem and root were much greater as planting date delayed. Seed yield was correlated positively with fresh weight of stem and root, and T/R ratio at the flowering stage, respectively. Lodging degree was not different by drainage method but was higher in planting at June 16 than May 15. Number of pods and 100 seed weight were not different by drainage method and 100 seed weight was heavy in Eunhakong, light in Kwangankong as planting date delayed. Higher seed yield was observed in surface drainage than open ditched drainage. Yield performance of Eunhakong was good in late planting, while that of Kwangankong was in early planting.