Journal of the Japanese Society for Horticultural Science
Online ISSN : 1882-336X
Print ISSN : 1882-3351
ISSN-L : 1882-3351
Volume 77, Issue 4
Displaying 1-16 of 16 articles from this issue
REVIEWS
  • Akira Tateishi
    Article type: Review
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 329-340
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Fruit softening and textural changes are two important factors of fruit quality. The loss of galactosyl and arabinosyl residues from cell wall polysaccharides is observed in many fruit species during ripening. The release of neutral sugar residues could change wall polysaccharides properties of accessibility or reactivity for other cell wall hydrolases. β-Galactosidase and α-L-arabinofuranosidase contribute to the loss of neutral sugar residues. Thus, the enzymes alter polysaccharide properties and might contribute to fruit softening or textural changes during ripening. β-Galactosidase is composed of multiple isozymes and they are clearly distinguishable by their substrate specificity and expression pattern of the related gene. A transgenic experiment revealed that a β-galactosidase isozyme plays an important role in tomato fruit softening. In addition to fruit softening, the contribution of β-galactosidase to plant development is also indicated. α-L-Arabinofuranosidase genes constitute a gene family and the isozymes are expressed in various organs and stages. Moreover, several α-L-arabinofuranosidases possess β-xylosidase activity in addition to α-L-arabinofuranosidase activity, therefore, substrate specificity against native polysaccharides is very complex. Arabinose containing polysaccharides seem to contribute to cell to cell adhesion but the crucial roles of α-L-arabinofuranosidase in fruit development or softening remain unclear. Further biochemical and physiological studies of the enzyme are required.
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  • Munetaka Hosokawa
    Article type: Review
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 341-349
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Viroids are the smallest and one of the most problematic pathogens known in horticulture. Despite not coding for proteins they replicate in nuclei or chloroplasts using host enzymes. From many pathological studies, it is obvious that viroids are completely different agents from viruses. For the past 40 years, elimination of viroids from infected plants has been the main theme in horticulture and several approaches have been established; however, these procedures remain complicated. Leaf primordia-free shoot apical meristem culture is a newly established method that can effectively eliminate viroids. Therefore, in this review, the method is summarized and the mechanism of viroid elimination is discussed.
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ORIGINAL ARTICLES
  • Manabu Watanabe, Hideyuki Segawa, Masanobu Murakami, Satoru Sagawa, Sa ...
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 350-357
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    We applied auxin, cytokinin, gibberellins, and gibberellin synthetic inhibitor to flowers of ‘Ohrin’, which is parthenocarpic, and ‘Fuji’, which is non-parthenocarpic, to elucidate the relationship between plant growth regulators and parthenocarpy in apple. The percentage of fruit set in gibberellin A3 (GA3) was about 60% in ‘Ohrin’ and about 7% in ‘Fuji’. Forchlorfenuron (CPPU) combined with GA3 treatment increased the fruit retention rate more than 14 days after treatment (DAT) than GA3 alone. Dichlorprop (2,4-DP) combined with GA3 slightly enhanced the gibberellin effect of inducing parthenocarpy. In ‘Ohrin’, GA3 and gibberellin A4 + 7 (GA4 + 7) showed a higher fruit retention rate before flowering than after. Parthenocarpic fruits were induced even when uniconazole (UCZ) was sprayed after flowering, but not before flowering. The calyx end was large in GA4 + 7, and in GA3 and CPPU singly, and GA3 and CPPU combined treatments, which increased the percentage of fruit set. These results suggest that gibberellins before flowering trigger parthenocarpic apple fruits. Subsequent fruit growth requires cytokinins and auxin.
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  • Hiroyuki Chijiwa, Minoru Kuwahara, Nobuyuki Hirakawa, Takuya Tetsumura
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 358-363
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    We obtained nonaploid plants by embryo culture of imperfect seeds derived from a cross between ‘Fuyu’ and ‘Taishuu’, both of which are commercially important persimmon cultivars. Furthermore, we aimed to clarify the origin of nonaploid plants derived from imperfect seeds. Of 1078 seeds, 68 were imperfect; this accounted for 6.3% of the total number. Ten of the 68 seeds germinated into seedlings, and two produced abnormal plantlets without meristems at both the shoot apex and root tip. The remaining eight produced normal-appearing plantlets with normal growth. Two seedlings were recovered from the abnormal plantlets via callus, and grew vigorously in the greenhouse. Cytogenetic analysis confirmed that these two seedlings were nonaploids. Parental analysis using four simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers, D.CT-13, 24, 61 and 179, showed that each nonaploid seedling had alleles originating from the parents, indicating that they were generated by syngamy. The two nonaploid seedlings had alleles of 222 bp at D.CT-61, which is peculiar to the pollen parent, ‘Taishuu’, whereas they did not have an allele of 136 or 140 bp at D.CT-179, which is peculiar to the seed parent, ‘Fuyu’. These results suggest that they might be derived from fertilization of a reduced female gamete with an unreduced male gamete.
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  • Yutaka Sawamura, Norio Takada, Toshiya Yamamoto, Toshihiro Saito, Tets ...
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 364-373
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    S-RNase alleles and 18 simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers were used to analyze 55 Japanese pear cultivars, including 47 hybrid cultivars, 6 bud sport mutants, and 2 derived from open pollinations. Fifteen cultivars used in the breeding of some of the hybrid cultivars were also examined. Each cultivar was genotyped at the S-locus and SSR loci. Parent-offspring relationships were analyzed by comparing genotypes among the cultivars. Of the 47 crossbreeding cultivars and selections, parent-offspring relationships of 37 were re-confirmed because the hybrids inherited S-RNase and SSR alleles from both parents without any discrepancies. Discrepancies at 3 or more SSR loci were found between 10 hybrid cultivars (‘Kisui’, ‘Tanzawa’, ‘Niitaka’, ‘Seiryu’, ‘Akemizu’, ‘Atago’, ‘Echigonishiki’, ‘Ishiiwase’, ‘Shusui’, and ‘Yachiyo’) and their previously reported parents, suggesting that these hybrid cultivars have different parents than reported. Furthermore, ‘Momoeduki’ and ‘Sanko’, which were previously reported as bud sports of ‘Niitaka’ and ‘Kosui’, respectively, exhibited SSR genotypes that were different from their reported parents. Paternal cultivars were previously unknown in ‘Shinko’ and ‘Yoshikaori’, which are open-pollinated seedlings of ‘Nijisseiki’. SSR genotypes revealed that their paternal cultivars are ‘Amanogawa’ and ‘Chojuro’, respectively.
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  • Tsuyoshi Habu, Daiki Matsumoto, Kyoko Fukuta, Tomoya Esumi, Ryutaro Ta ...
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 374-381
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    In this study, we cloned and sequenced PCR products from S-RNase alleles of 12 cultivars to determine their S-RNase genotypes or S haplotypes. We identified a novel S11-RNase, which was previously misidentified as S6-RNase. In addition, the first and second intron sizes of S1- to S11-, and Sf-RNases were presented. Since differences among the second intron sizes of S3-, S9-, and S10-RNases, as well as those among S5-, S6-, and S11-RNases, appeared to be very small, we developed primer sets for allele-specific PCR amplification to distinguish these S-RNase alleles. Consequently, 12 S-RNase alleles could be distinguished by PCR amplification using consensus primers for the second intron and/or the allele-specific primer sets. Using these PCR amplification, we determined S-RNase genotypes of 14 cultivars, including ‘Kagajizo’ (S6S10), ‘Baigo’ (S6S10), and ‘Orihime’ (S11Sf), whose S-RNase genotypes have been updated. The DNA sequence information for S-RNases and the allele-specific primer sets developed in this study would be useful for future S-RNase genotyping and thus S haplotyping in Japanese apricot.
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  • Yoon-Pyo Hong, Seung-Koo Lee, Youn-Moon Park, Hee-Seung Park
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 382-387
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Causal process and characteristics of three physiological disorders on ‘Niitaka’ pear fruit was analyzed through an anatomical approach. Anatomical differences in the skin layers suffered from surface-stain, skin-blackening, and peeling-off disorders were observed and analyzed using microphotography. The skin layer of surface-stain fruit was 11.6 μm thicker than that of sound fruit. The thicker skin layer of surface-stain fruit seemed to be resulted from the formation of two or three cork cell layers. In contrast, the fruit skin of skin-blackening suffered fruit was 95.8 μm thinner than that of sound one. The thinner skin layer of skin-blackening fruit was induced by the collapse of the hypodermal layer. The third disorder, peeling-off symptom was characterized by a newly developed decorking layer beneath the cork cell layer. The developmental process of decorking leading to peeling-off consisted of reactivation of phellogen, vertical elongation of phellogen cells, and physical force up to the cork layer. The term, decorking was first suggested to describe anatomical process of peeling-off disorder.
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  • Manabu Watanabe, Toshiya Yamamoto, Mari Ohara, Chikako Nishitani, Shig ...
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 388-394
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Here we established a DNA marker-based method to identify cultivars of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers derived from pears and apples. A total of 24 loquat cultivars commercially grown in Japan were used for genetic identification, including 15 diploid-, 6 triploid-, and 3 tetraploid cultivars. Analysis using the 88 SSR markers derived from pears and apples, which belong to the same subfamily (family Rosaceae, subfamily Maloideae) as the loquat, indicated that 26 SSR markers were applicable to the identification of loquat cultivars. A total of 82 putative SSR alleles were obtained by the 26 SSR markers. SSR analysis enabled the identification of all loquat varieties tested, except for ‘Tomihusa’ and ‘4N-Tomihusa’. In addition, the parentages of several cultivars, including ‘Oohusa’ and ‘Mizuho’, were confirmed from the SSR genotype data obtained. Triploid and tetraploid varieties could be identified from the SSR genotypes because some SSR loci generated 2 or more alleles for polyploids. The relationship between ‘Kibou’ and its parents was confirmed since SSR alleles of the seedless triploid offspring ‘Kibou’ were clearly inherited from the female parent ‘4N-Tanaka 1’ and the male parent ‘Nagasakiwase’. The phenogram obtained by cluster analysis showed no distinctive separation of Japanese commercial cultivars from Chinese cultivars. This result was consistent with the hypothesis that Japanese commercial cultivars were derived from introduced Chinese loquat.
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  • Laila Khandaker, Md. B. Ali, Shinya Oba
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 395-401
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    The total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity were compared in the leaves of seven red amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.) cultivars. The effect of the sunlight level on the accumulation of total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity was also investigated by growing plants under full sunlight and shaded conditions. The total phenolic content and antioxidant activity differed among the cultivars studied, and leaves from the cultivar ‘Rocto Joba’ and ‘Rocto Lal’ had the highest phenolics and antioxidant activity, respectively. These values were lowest in the leaves of the cultivar ‘Red Queen’. Comparatively, red-fleshed cultivars had more total polyphenols and antioxidant activity than red green-fleshed cultivars. Total polyphenol and antioxidant activity were greater in leaves from plants grown under full sunlight without shading. The positive correlation between antioxidant activity and total polyphenols (R2 = 0.824) suggests that phenolic compounds are the major antioxidant components in red amaranth. The results indicate that red amaranth containing high phenolics may provide a source of dietary antioxidants. The combination of cultivar variation and responsiveness to specific growing conditions can create opportunities for the production and processing of vegetable red amaranth with improved antioxidant properties.
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  • Natsu Tanikawa, Teruhiko Kashiwabara, Akiko Hokura, Tomoko Abe, Michio ...
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 402-407
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    The yellow coloration mechanism of Camellia chrysantha flowers has been a mystery because the pigments which produce their deep yellow color could not be found in the flower. We sought to solve the mystery regarding the characteristic accumulation of aluminum ions by camellia plants. Deep yellow C. chrysantha flowers contained aluminum ions at three times the concentration found in pale yellow flowers. Three quercetin derivatives, 3-rutinoside, 3-glucoside, and 7-glucoside, were identified as major flavonoids in both flowers. There were no significant differences in their flavonoid content or pH, which was 5.8. The deep yellow flowers of C. chrysantha contained flavonoids and aluminum ions in a ratio of 1 to 0.5. When quercetin 3-rutinoside solution, which was originally almost colorless and had an absorption maximum around 350 nm at pH 5.8, was prepared with an aluminum ion concentration similar to the endogenous ratio, the solution developed a deep yellow color. This mixture also had an absorption spectrum like that of C. chrysantha petals, which had an absorption maximum around 420 nm. After removing the cations using an ion exchange column, the yellow coloration of the C. chrysantha petal extract changed to a paler color; the coloration was restored by the addition of aluminum ions. We concluded that the deep yellow color of the C. chrysantha flower is generated by the chelation of aluminum ions by quercetin derivatives, which is a unique yellow ‘dyeing’ system of these flowers.
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  • Natsu Tanikawa, Takashi Onozaki, Masayoshi Nakayama, Michio Shibata
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 408-417
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Camellia is an ornamental tree that is grown worldwide. There are many excellent classical cultivars whose origins are unclear. Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) is a good material for tracing maternal lineages and we therefore conducted polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of the cpDNA atpI-atpH region from 162 accessions derived from 49 species of the genus Camellia. In order to specifically and accurately amplify the atpI-atpH region, camellia-specific primers were designed and utilized with some of the accessions. PCR amplification of the atpI-atpH region resulted in two major bands of approximately 800 bp and 1200 bp. TaqI digestion resulted in 3 different band patterns derived from the 800 bp fragment and 5 patterns derived from the 1200 bp fragment. Most of these eight PCR-RFLP patterns were distributed widely amongst species and sections of the genus. In particular, it was possible to use this approach to distinguish between the main species from which ornamental camellia cultivars are derived. Sequence analysis of the atpI-atpH region showed a number of mutations, which were characteristic of particular species. These results indicate that PCR-RFLP analysis of the atpI-atpH region will be very useful for investigating variations in the genus Camellia.
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  • Yoshikuni Kitamura, Munetaka Hosokawa, Chihiro Tanaka, Susumu Yazawa
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 418-425
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    In some plant species, bacterial contamination frequently occurs in in vitro culture. Also, in hydrangea (Hydrangea spp.), microbial contamination frequently occurs when their explants are cultured in vitro. We identified bacterial flora near hydrangea shoot apical meristems (SAMs) by analyzing their 16S ribosomal DNA (16S rDNA) sequences. Sequences of 16S rDNA fragments amplified from bacteria isolated from SAMs of 8 hydrangea cultivars were identical to those of 12 bacterial species. Because 1 to 9 bacterial species were detected only once in each cultivar, and we focused on bacteria that can colonize on Nutrient Broth medium, in this reserch we could not cover all bacterial species existing near SAMs. The appropriate chlorine concentration for sterilizing SAMs was decided using ‘Miss Hepburn’. When shoot tips with stripped SAMs were dipped in chlorine solution with 0.0005%–0.5% available chlorine concentration for 30 min, no bacterial colony was observed in the treatment with 0.05% chlorine. From this result, direct exposure of the stripped meristem to chlorine solution is a suitable method for sterilizing hydrangea shoot tip culture explants, and the bacteria causing in vitro contamination in hydrangea shoot-tip culture are not endophytic but epiphytic. A successful method for in vitro culture of hydrangea was established using 8 hydrangea cultivars in Exp. 3 and in 7 cultivars, we could gain 5 to 19 viable plants from 20 cultured explants without bacterial contamination by sterilizing shoot tips for 30 min with a sterilization solution of 0.05% available chlorine concentration after removal of all but two pairs of leaf primordia. No viable explant was gained from ‘Flambeau’, so the chlorine concentration must be reconsidered to sterilize such cultivars that have chlorine-sensitive meristems. One hundred and thirty days after culture initiation, no contamination was observed and cultured explants grew sufficiently to be transplanted out of the bottle. Surface sterilization of the SAM can be applied for many plants in which bacterial contamination poses a big problem in shoot-tip culture.
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  • Eiichi Kodaira, Seiichi Fukai
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 426-430
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Inflorescence initiation of Lachenalia unicolor occurred in early September before planting. Flower primordia at the lowest position of the inflorescence formed perianth and stamen primordia in early October and pistil primordia in early November. They maintained the same stage until early January in a greenhouse without heating. Mature pollen was formed in mid-February, with subsequent flowering in mid-April. Additional inflorescences were formed at the axil of storage leaves in some bulbs. Bulbs grown in a growth chamber kept at 20°C showed deformed inflorescence, although bulbs grown at 15°C flowered normally. Bulbs grown at 25°C produced no scapes. Bulbs stored at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30°C for 8 weeks from 6 August showed inflorescence initiation at any temperature, except at 5°C. The optimum temperature for floral development was 20–25°C. After floral initiation at 20, 25 + 20, or 25°C, bulbs were cultured in a growth chamber in a temperature combination of 20°C and 15°C. Bulbs grown at 20°C failed in normal flowering with a high frequency of seriously deformed inflorescences. Once bulbs had been exposed to 15°C for at least 2 months, flowering was accelerated by transferring to 20°C. Growing temperature at a constant 15°C delayed anthesis because of the long period from budding to anthesis.
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  • Panida Boonyaritthongchai, Sikhanat Manuwong, Sirichai Kanlayanarat, Y ...
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 431-439
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Lycoris plants are extensively cultivated as ornamental plants in Japan and China. Some Lycoris (for example, a hybrid; L. traubii × L. sanguinea) plants grown in temperate zones are likely to show high sensitivity to high temperatures. We have investigated the effect of high temperatures on chlorophyll degradation in Lycoris plants, using leaf sections under 12 h-light and 12 h-dark conditions. A rapid decrease in chlorophyll levels was observed when all sections were exposed to continuous high temperature at 35°C or 45°C, in contrast to control sections at 15°C. The high temperature treatment (for 12 or 18 h at 35°C), followed by incubation at 20°C for 1 to 3 days induced significant chlorophyll degradation. Experiments using two kinds of protease inhibitors showed that 10 mM Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and 4 mM N-tosyl-L-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone (TPCK) significantly suppressed the decrease in chlorophyll content and in the cell viability of leaf sections treated with the high temperature (35°C for 18 h). We found that the remarkable decrease in chlorophyll levels was followed by DNA laddering, which was induced by high temperature treatment at 35°C for 18 h. Other characteristic events, such as the activation of caspase-3-like activity and release of cytochrome c to the cytosolic fraction, were also observed in this system. These results implied that high temperatures accelerated leaf senescence, including the programmed cell death (PCD)-like phenomenon in Lycoris leaves.
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  • Shinichiro Kuroki, Takanori Hanada, Minami Tohro, Tadayuki Wako, Akio ...
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 440-446
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    The acoustic vibration signals of 9 cultivars in 3 groups (Kaga, Senju and Kujo) of bunching onion were acquired using a device for acoustic measurement of food texture. To imitate biting bunching onion with an incisor, a stainless steel wedge-type head was introduced to fresh tissue perpendicularly and parallel to the longitudinal axis. A half-octave multifilter was developed to analyze the obtained signals in the frequency domain, and then the root-mean-square amplitude in each frequency band was computed and defined as a texture index. The results showed that the signals obtained with the perpendicular insertion were larger than those obtained with the parallel insertion. The total texture index, which is the summation of texture indices in 18 frequency bands, of each cultivar was grouped together as the same cultivar group, except for ‘Shimonita’ cultivar of the Kaga-group. Principal components analysis (PCA) also clustered successfully each cultivar group in the space of the first two principal components (PCs), also excluding ‘Shimonita’. Furthermore, the ratios of the texture index of perpendicular to parallel penetration clearly distinguished each group. These results suggested that the device could detect textural differences among cultivar groups of bunching onion.
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  • So-Young Park, Jin-Su Song, Hyoung-Deug Kim, Kenji Yamane, Ki-Cheol So ...
    2008 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 447-454
    Published: 2008
    Released on J-STAGE: November 19, 2008
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Case studies were performed in two high schools (designated K and J) in Seoul, Korea in order to examine how in-class plantscapes consisting of ornamental plants affected the indoor environment and the stress level of students. Forty-two healthy female students, 16 to 17 years old, were assigned to classrooms with or without plantscapes. Although the differences were small, plants lowered the temperature, raised the relative humidity in the classrooms, and reduced the amount of airborne fine particles. Positive descriptors such as ‘clean’, ‘soft’, ‘comfortable’, and ‘fresh’ were used by the students to describe the classrooms with plants in both schools after installation of the plants. The stress level of the students was lower in rooms with plants than without in school K and but not in school J; students in control rooms in both schools did not show a significant change in stress. Saliva cortisol content, a physiological indicator of stress, was not reduced by the presence of plants in either school; however, the number of visits to the infirmary was lower for students in rooms with plants than in the control rooms at both schools. The results indicate that the presence of plants improved the physical environment, the general ambience (i.e., appropriate place for classes’ and ‘relaxed place’), and reduced the level of stress among the students. The role of the interior plantscapes in living spaces is discussed.
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