Fungicides are used to control plant diseases. New compounds with novel modes of action have been developed from the 1990s – strobilurins, phenylpyrroles, anilinopyrimidines, phenoxyquinolines and compounds that trigger the plant defence system. There are now 113 compounds registered worldwide as fungicides (Knight et al., 1997). However, none of them are effective against Ganoderma basal […]

Geospatial technology of global positioning system (GPS), remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) is widely used in mapping. Geospatial data as remotely sensed imagery and other raster formats are increasingly collected in fi ner resolution. Interpreting and visualizing information from the data has become an essential element in natural resources management, environmental planning […]

Down-regulating genes is one way to generate transgenic plants in genetic engineering. Knocking out a gene by antisense technology has been applied to modify the oil palm fatty acid biosynthesis pathway, but it is not the most effi cient approach. Recently, the discovery in plants of RNA interference (RNAi) mediated by sequence-specifi c degradation of […]

Cytogenetics is a branch of genetics involved in the study of chromosomes and cell division. Fluorescent and nonfluorescent dyes can be used to visualize chromosomes by simultaneously using various banding and molecular cytogenetic techniques. For an organism to grow and reproduce, its cells must divide. Mitosis and meiosis are both the processes of cell division, with […]

Cracked heels are a common foot problem often referred to as heel fi ssure (Figure 1). Currently, there is no known method to evaluate the performance of anti-cracked heel products. However, a new anti-cracked heel effi cacy test allows products to be evaluated for their performance. With the emergence of skin bioengineering instruments, the hydration […]