Singapore Botanic Gardens, National Parks Board, 1 Cluny Road, Singapore 259569 , Singapore.
Published: August 2012
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
Background And Aims: The popular hybrid orchid Vanda Miss Joaquim was made Singapore's national flower in 1981. It was originally described in the Gardeners' Chronicle in 1893, as a cross between Vanda hookeriana and Vanda teres. However, no record had been kept as to which parent contributed the pollen. This study was conducted using DNA barcoding techniques to determine the pod parent of V. Miss Joaquim, thereby inferring the pollen parent of the hybrid by exclusion.
Methodology: Two chloroplast genes, matK and rbcL, from five related taxa, V. hookeriana, V. teres var. alba, V. teres var. andersonii, V. teres var. aurorea and V. Miss Joaquim 'Agnes', were sequenced. The matK gene from herbarium specimens of V. teres and V. Miss Joaquim, both collected in 1893, was also sequenced.
Principal Results: No sequence variation was found in the 600-bp region of rbcL sequenced. Sequence variation was found in the matK gene of V. hookeriana, V. teres var. alba, V. teres var. aurorea and V. Miss Joaquim 'Agnes'. Complete sequence identity was established between V. teres var. andersonii and V. Miss Joaquim 'Agnes'. The matK sequences obtained from the herbarium specimens of V. teres and V. Miss Joaquim were completely identical to the sequences obtained from the fresh samples of V. teres var. andersonii and V. Miss Joaquim 'Agnes'.
Conclusions: The pod parent of V. Miss Joaquim 'Agnes' is V. teres var. andersonii and, by exclusion, the pollen parent is V. hookeriana. The herbarium and fresh samples of V. teres var. andersonii and V. Miss Joaquim share the same inferred maternity. The matK gene was more informative than rbcL and facilitated differentiation of varieties of V. teres.
Institute of Entomology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Weijin Road 94, Tianjin, 300071, China. Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, H-1088 Budapest, Baross u. 13, Hungary; Email:
Types of selected species of Lygaeoidea (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) described by Gustav Breddin, so far of unknown depository, were re-examined and the taxonomic and nomenclatural problems that existed among those species are discussed and resolved as required. The holotype of Dieuches schultheissi Breddin, 1906 is documented. Lectotypes are designated and documented for the following taxa: Lygaeidae: Aethalotus horni Breddin, 1907; Aspilogeton nubicola Breddin, 1901; Lygaeus hospes Fabricius, 1794 var.
Background And Aims: The popular hybrid orchid Vanda Miss Joaquim was made Singapore's national flower in 1981. It was originally described in the Gardeners' Chronicle in 1893, as a cross between Vanda hookeriana and Vanda teres. However, no record had been kept as to which parent contributed the pollen.
In vitro tests were carried out using extracts of Maesa lanceolata var. goulungensis weir against a broad range of fungal plant pathogens such as Phytophthora cryptogea, Trichoderma virens, Aspergillus niger, Phoma sp., Fusarium oxysporium, Pythium ultimum, Cochliobolus heterostrophus, Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotium rolfsii and Pyrenophora teres.
