Experiments were conducted with cut flowering stems of Estrella del Coral (Coral Star) (Echeveria gibbiflora DC). The aim was to explore the feasibility of keeping the stems in dry or wet vase and storing the stems under dry conditions, wrapped in paper in a semi-dark room. Later, the dry stored stems were placed in a dry or wet vase. The basal part of the stem showed the highest losses in water with ensuing collapse of the stem; which was more frequent in the southern window. The bracts did not modify the water status of flowering stems. Their removal at harvest is recommended. The daily water loss was low and varied from 1.0 to 3.6 g in four weeks. The hydration of dry matter (g H 2 0 • g-1 m. s.) in the dry stored flowering stem was: stem apex>lateral inflorescence>stem base, whereas in freshly harvested material stem base>stem apex>lateral inflorescences. The number of flowers opened in five weeks varied from 9 to 44 per stem. The average number of open flowers per one lateral, in one week was 1.2. The aesthetic value of the flowering stem is determined by the number of flowers, closed buds, closed flowers, peduncles appearing weekly per stem and the red color of the stem. The vase life is limited by the relatively early collapse of the stem. The stored stems should be kept vertically. The dry storage conditions should be determined in the future.

Illegal logging is a major problem in many European countries. Recent progress in molecular biology, however, has significantly improved the ability to accurately identify wood material. In this paper, the first application of microsatellite DNA markers is described in a case of illegal logging of European ash wood in Polish State Forests. The genetic fingerprints of seized ash wood samples were determined using six nuclear and four chloroplast microsatellite loci, characterized by sufficient stringency in forensic analyses. By comparing the DNA profiles obtained, the origin of one sample of ash wood used as evidence material was confirmed, from among three samples serving as reference material with 99.99999% of probability. This work demonstrates how DNA authenticity testing can serve as an important technical tool in monitoring the legality of the suspected ash timber and confirms the utility of these techniques in detecting illegally logged timber in general.

The following paper presents the results on the determination of the diversity of species from the Phytophthora genus occurring in the declining oak stands in Krotoszyn Plateau in Poland. From the 50s of the last century, significant deterioration of oak health was observed in these stands, and Phytophthora species were suggested as one of the factors of the decline. In order to determine the presence of pathogenic organisms from the Phytophthora genus in these stands, 180 rhizosphere soil samples from three forest districts throughout the Krotoszyn Plateau were collected and subjected to the isolation method. Phytophthora species were consistently isolated from all the sampled stands, and 194 isolates from 111 positive samples were obtained. However, 150 (77%) and 44 (23%) isolates originated from the samples taken under the symptomatic and asymptomatic trees, respectively. All the obtained isolates were morphologically classified using the light and scanning electron microscopy and divided into morphological groups. Genomic DNA was isolated from selected isolates representing each group, ITS regions were amplified and sequence analyses were performed. In total, four different Phytophthora species were detected, including P. cactorum, P. plurivora, P. quercina and P. europaea. The most often isolated species were P. cactorum and P. plurivora. This is the first report of P. europaea in oak stands in Poland.

No abstract

Abstract. The study was conducted in 2015 in six spruce stands situated in different forest districts administratively belonging to the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Krosno. Each spruce population was represented by 30 trees and assessed in terms of their current health status. Genetic analyses were performed on shoot samples from each tree using nine nuclear DNA markers and one mitochondrial DNA marker (nad1). The health status of the trees was described according to the classification developed by Szczepkowski and Tarasiuk (2005) and the correlation between health classes and the level of genetic variability was computed with STATISTICA (α = 0.05).Nuclear DNA analyses revealed a low level of genetic variability among spruce populations (only 3% of the total genetic variation (F st = 0.028) and a high variability within populations (97%). The total heterozygosity in all stands (H t ) was calculated as 0.646. Based on UPGMA analysis, the most genetically similar populations are spruce stands in the Bieszczady National Park and the Ustrzyki Dolne Forest District, which have the smallest genetic divergence of all populations (D n = 0.0165).Our analysis of the mitochondrial gene nad1 revealed the presence of six different haplotypes 'a', 'a1', 'b', 'c', 'd' and 'd 1 '. Comprising 56% of all haplotypes, 'a' was the most common showing a predominant impact on spruce migration from the Carpathian area. The analysis based on mitochondrial markers (by Nei) revealed a heterozygosity of 0.525.Based on the observations of disease symptoms, 29% of the trees belong to health class 1, 30% to class 2, 28% to class 3 and class 4 contains 13% of trees. The comparison between health status and the level of genetic variation in the analysed stands showed a positive correlation. Spruce stands with better health were also characterised by a greater degree of genetic variability.Since most of the investigated spruce populations shared the mitochondrial haplotype 'a', we have ascertained their Hercynian-Carpathian origin. Only one stand (Cisna) had a high frequency (43.3%) of the Nordic haplotype 'c' suggesting that this provenance is derived from the Baltic post-glacial refugium of P. abies in europe.