Yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims) yield and longevity have been drastically reduced by bacterial spot (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. passiflorae -Xap) and passion fruit woodiness disease (PWD) (Cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus -CABMV). This study was aimed at evaluating the reaction of 11 genotypes of yellow passion fruit, based on the reaction of their progenies, to both mechanically inoculated Xap and CABMV, under greenhouse conditions. There was a progressive increase in bacterial spot and PWD severity with time. BRS Gigante Amarelo, MAR20#12, and MAR20#34 were selected as the progenies with lowest bacterial spot severity and disease progress over time. MAR20#2005, EC-L-7, UnB2015-1, and EC-3-0 presented the lowest PWD severity and disease progress over time. These progenies, along with individual plants from other progenies in which disease severity was significantly low until the last evaluation, will be cloned and tested again for Xap and CABMV, including other isolates.

Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] is a multipurpose plant due to the different uses for its

Variability in floral, fruit, and seed characteristics, and oil content of 15 accession of Jatropha curcas during early development were assessed during two flowering periods in south Florida subtropical climate. The two flowering periods had leaf flushing in March. Field evaluation using 18 quantitative traits showed significant variation among accessions. The number of female flowers and female : male flower ratio ranged from 1 to 15 and 1 : 8.8 to 1 : 67.8, respectively. Fruit set by natural pollination was 89 and 66% during the first (1st) and second (2nd) flowering periods, respectively. A higher number of female-type inflorescences were observed during summer. There were significant differences in seed traits, except for number of seeds per fruit. Accession TREC 31 had the highest individual seed dry weight and 100-seed weight (0.83 g and 79.7 g, respectively). The oil content varied from 19.30% to 35.62%. Seed dry weight had positive correlation with seed fresh weight, seed length, seed thickness, seed width, and 100-seed weight, but negative correlation with oil content. Based on the cluster analysis using 15 morphological traits, jatropha accessions were grouped into five main clusters and accessions from different geographic regions grouped together in a cluster. Principal component analyses (PCA) revealed morphological variation. The first three components explained 73.5% of the total variation and seed dry weight, 100-seed weight, total flowers per inflorescence, male flowers per inflorescence and fruit set can be used to distinguish accessions. The PCA also indicated that flowering traits were more influenced by seed origin while seed traits were affected by flowering spans. Although evaluations were performed in plants during the juvenile phase, accessions TREC 31 and TREC 55 had superior averages for almost all characters evaluated. These results provide a preliminary assessment of the high variability in jatropha accessions evaluated and their potential for use in breeding and genetic improvement programs.

This study developed and validated a standard area diagram set (SADs) for severity assessment of bacterial spot (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. ) in passifloraefruits of yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis). The SADs consisted of eight severity levels (1%; 3%; 5%; 10%; 21%; 38%; 65%; and 80%). For its validation, 20 raters, who initially estimated the disease severity without the aid of the SADs, were divided into groups (G1 and G3, inexperienced; G2 and G4, experienced). Subsequently, G1 and G2 performed the second evaluation without the proposed SADs, and G3 and G4 completed the second evaluation using the proposed SADs. The accuracy and precision of the assessments were determined by simple linear regression and by the Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient. The increase in the accuracy was confirmed by the reduction in the constant and systematic errors, indicating that the estimated severities were close to the actual values when the SADs was used. Inexperienced raters benefited the most from the use of the SADs, and 60% and 100% of them presented constant and systematic error-free estimates, respectively. Precision increased with the increase in the coefficient of determination, the reduction in absolute errors, and the increase in the reproducibility of the estimates between pairs of raters.

The use of resistant varieties is a promising strategy for passion fruit woodiness disease (PWD) (Cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus -CABMV) and bacterial spot (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. passiflorae -Xap) control in yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims). This study aimed at evaluating the reaction of nine genotypes of yellow passion fruit to both mechanically inoculated CABMV and Xap, under protected cultivation. The experiment was conducted using a randomized block design with subdivided parcels comprised of nine treatments, four repetitions, six replications per genotype, and five evaluations. Disease incidence (% plants infected) and severity (% of total leaf area with necrotic lesions or leaf symptoms) were calculated at 7-day intervals. All genotypes evaluated were classified as moderately susceptible to PWD. MAR20#10, MAR20#41, and Rosa Intenso were classified as moderately resistant to bacterial spot whereas the remaining genotypes were classified as moderately susceptible. Genotypes Rosa Intenso, MAR20#41, MAR20#15, and MSCA stood out for presenting the lowest PWD mean severity scores as well as the greatest numbers of plants presenting resistance to PWD after five evaluations. MAR20#10, MAR20#41, and Rosa Intenso demonstrated the lowest bacterial spot mean severity scores. Among the genotypes selected, Rosa Intenso and MAR20#41 were the most promising genotypes for presenting the lowest severity scores for both PWD and bacterial spot disease.

The development of resistant varieties is a promising strategy for bacterial spot disease (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. passiflorae-Xap) and passion fruit woodiness disease (PWD; Cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus-CABMV) control in sour passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims). This study aimed at evaluating the reaction of 12 sour passion fruit half-sib progenies to both mechanically inoculated Xap and CABMV, under protected cultivation. The bacterial spot and PWD severity degrees observed reveal the existence of variability within progenies. MAR20#2005 and BRS GA1 revealed the lowest bacterial disease severity scores while MAR20#41, MAR20#2005, and Rosa Intenso 1 showed the lowest PWD severity scores. MAR20#41 presented the lowest disease incidence in all evaluations, demonstrating a slow increase in the number of plants with symptoms over time. Also, MAR20#41 stood out as the progeny with the greatest number of plants presenting resistance to PWD at the end of the study. Among the progenies selected, MAR20#2005 was the most promising for presenting the lowest severity scores for both bacterial spot and PWD.

Jatropha curcas L. has been identifi ed for biofuel production but it presents limited commercial yields due to limited branching and a lack of yield uniformity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of single application of ethephon or a combination of 6-benzyladenine (BA) with gibberellic acid isomers A 4 and A 7 (GA 4+7 ) on branch induction, fl owering and fruit production in jatropha plants with and without leaves. Plants with and without leaves showed differences for growth and reproductive variables. For all variables except infl orescence set, there were no signifi cant statistical interactions between the presence of leaves and plant growth regulators concentration. The total number of fl owers per infl orescence was reduced as ethephon concentration was increased. As BA + GA 4 +7 concentration increased, seed dry weight increased. Thus, ethephon and BA + GA 4 +7 applications appeared to affect fl owering and seed production to a greater extent than branching. The inability to discern signifi cant treatment effects for most variables might have been due to the large variability within plant populations studied and thus resulting in an insuffi cient sample size. Therefore, data collected from this study were used for statistical estimations of sample sizes to provide a reference for future studies.

Basil (Ocimum spp.) is an essential oil producing plant and it is used as a condiment for diferent foods, besides serving as raw material for medicinal purposes. This crop has also been showing great importance as an ornamental plant in recent years. However, basil lacks studies concerning its different usages with special regards to its ornamental potential. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating the vegetative development and the ornamental potential of the basil cultivars ‘Grecco a Palla’ (O. minimum), ‘Alfavaca Basilicão Vermelho’ (O. basilicum), and ‘Thai Basil’ (O. basilicum), under protected cultivation. The following characteristics were evaluated: germination percentage, germination speed index, plant canopy diameter (cm), leaf and inflorescence length (cm), plant height (cm), and fresh and dry leaf mass (g). The ornamental potential was estimated based on visual evaluations of plant canopy volume; leaf shape, texture, size, and color; stem and flower color; and number of days to flowering. Cultivar ‘Thai Basil’ presented the highest leaf dry mass and ‘Grecco a Palla’ showed the highest germination speed index and seed germination percentage. All cultivars bloomed within 60 days after planting and exhibited color and brightness variability, which are desirable traits for a landscape composition. ‘Grecco a Palla’ stood out for its short and compact inflorescences, dwarf size and globular shape when grown as a potted plant. The studied cultivars demonstrated favorable characteristics for ornamental usage based on visual assessments.