A male-specific SCAR marker (CsMale1) was developed in the dioecious rattan species Calamus simplicifolius. The marker was 509 bp in size and had a GC content of 50.1%. The sequence contained two open reading frames, indicating that CsMale1 represented probably a coding genome region. No highly similar sequence was found within the GenBank database. The SCAR marker could be used for precise and quick identification of plant sex types in C. simplicifolius, especially at very early developmental stages.

The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) molecular marker technique was used to determine the sex of Calamus simplicifolius C. F. Wei In the present study, DNA samples were extracted individually from 10 male and 10 female plants. After a total of 1040 decamer primers had been tested, an approximate 500-bp male-specific DNA fragment was generated with the S 1443 primer. It is feasible to identify sex at the early stages of plant life, which is beneficial for improving breeding programs of this dioecious species. In addition, we have obtained a proper RAPD protocol that is useful for other species of rattan.

This paper dealed with the differences between albino and normal seedlings of Calamus nambarensis var.xishuangbanensis in terms of growth and photosynthesis.Thirteen families among 22 families were found to have one to three albinos,the percent of which varying from 0.4 to 2.2 percents,while the percent of albinos among all 22 families was about 0.7 percent.The number of albino leaves and the length of longest leaves were 1.9±0.3 and 22.32±3.49 cm respectively, which were less than that of 2.0±0.0 and 26.09±3.26 cm of normal seedlings,accounting for 95% and 85% of normal seedlings.The albinos hadn't chlorophyll a,but some chlorophyll b.The total content of chlorophyll was 0.02 mg·g~(-1)FW, much less than that of 8.15 mg·g~(-1)FW of normal seedlings, accounting for 0.2 percent.Whether photosynthesis active radiation(PAR) was 800 μmol·m~(-2)·s~(-1) or (1 600) μmol·m~(-2)·s~(-1),the photosynthetic rate of albinos was less than that of normal seedlings,accounting for about 20 percents.The data of net photosynthetic rate of albino evaluatde by the authors were also analyzed