Research paper
Mahrin Binta Jahir Maliha; Mohammed Nuruzzaman; Belayet Hossain; Fariha Ahmed Trina; Nizam Uddin; Sajon Sarkar
Abstract
Micronutrients are required in small quantities for plant growth and development, nevertheless are indispensable for crop production. Soil application method of fertilizer is very common method for plant nutrition but foliar fertilization also plays effective role under certain circumstances. ZnSO4 applied ...
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Micronutrients are required in small quantities for plant growth and development, nevertheless are indispensable for crop production. Soil application method of fertilizer is very common method for plant nutrition but foliar fertilization also plays effective role under certain circumstances. ZnSO4 applied as a source of Zinc (Zn) and borax utilized as the source boron (B), which are two micronutrients playing significant roles in growth and yield-related attributes of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.). Despite of their importance, foliar application of Zn and B on this economically valuable crop received little attention so far. Therefore, to assess the possible response of two okra varieties (‘Chamak’ denoted here as ‘V1’ and ‘Jadoo’ denoted as ‘V2’) to Zn and B, individual foliar spray of Zn and combination of Zn and B were applied on okra plants. The treatment consisted of T0 (Control), T1 (0.2% Zn), T2 (0.3% Zn), T3 (0.2% Zn + 0.2% B) and T4 (0.2% Zn + 0.3% B). Results showed that foliar application of micronutrients significantly improved the growth and yield-related parameters. Among the varieties, ‘Chamak’ showed highest plant growth, yield and yield-related attributes over ‘Jadoo’. In the case of Zn and Zn-B combination, the highest yield (17.7 tone/ha) was noted from T4 compared to control (11 tone/ha). On the other hand, in terms of combination of varieties and treatments, the highest yield (15.77 tone/ha) was found in V1T4 whereas the lowest (8.35 tone/ha) yield was recorded in V2T0, indicating the good performance of Zn and Zn-B combination for the growth and yield-related attributes of okra.
Research paper
Narges Mehri; Mehdi Mohebodini; Mahdi Behnamian; Karim Farmanpour-Kalalagh
Abstract
Black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) is one of the most important plants in terms of medicine and economics in the world. Breeding of black cumin genotypes by using biotechnology and phytochemistry has always been an important area of different studies. In this study, 24 ISSR molecular markers were used to ...
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Black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) is one of the most important plants in terms of medicine and economics in the world. Breeding of black cumin genotypes by using biotechnology and phytochemistry has always been an important area of different studies. In this study, 24 ISSR molecular markers were used to evaluate the genetic diversity and population structure of Iranian black cumin genotypes. The primers produced a total number of 223 bands, of which 155 were polymorphic bands (indicating 69% polymorphism). By analyzing the similarity matrix based on the simple matching similarity coefficient, the similarity ranged from 0.46 to 0.84. The genotypes were classified into three main groups in the phylogenetic dendrogram, which was based on the similarity matrix and UPGMA algorithm. The average of Polymorphism Information Content, Marker Index, Resolving power, and Observed number of alleles, Effective number of alleles, Nei’s gene diversity, and Shannon's information index were 0.26, 1.56, 3.07, 15.79, 13.72, 0.26, and 0.38, respectively. In analyzing the population structure, when the K value was adjusted to range from 2 to 10, two subpopulations were revealed. However, there was a degree of inconsistency when comparing the results of the phylogenetic dendrogram with those of the population structure. The results of this study can expand future inquiries into the assessments of germplasms and provide opportunities for breeding black cumin genotypes.
Research paper
Mana Mombeini; Naser Alamzadeh Ansari; Vahid Abdossi; Abdali Naseri
Abstract
Seed priming is one of the most important measures in propagation of plants by seed, which leads to increase of percentage and rate of germination. This study was conducted as a factorial arrangement in a completely randomised design on two farm cucumber cultivars (‘Impress’ and ‘Emperor’). ...
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Seed priming is one of the most important measures in propagation of plants by seed, which leads to increase of percentage and rate of germination. This study was conducted as a factorial arrangement in a completely randomised design on two farm cucumber cultivars (‘Impress’ and ‘Emperor’). Priming treatments were silicic acid (SA) and ascorbic acid (AsA) at three levels of 50, 100 and 150 mg L-1, pyridoxine at three levels of 0.02%, 0.04% and 0.06% and compound treatment (SA 75 mg L-1 + AsA 75 mg L-1 + pyridoxine 0.03%). There was a positive and significant correlation between the Catalase (CAT) enzyme activity in the radicle and plumule and Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in the radicle and germination rate and percentage. In the ‘Impress’ cultivar, the highest CAT activity in the radical and plumule was observed after using of 150 mg L-1 AsA. The highest activity of Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in the radical was detected after using of 0.04% pyridoxine. In the ‘Emperor’ cultivar, the highest CAT enzyme activity was detected in the radical and plumule, respectively by using of 75 mg L-1 AsA, 75 mg L-1 SA, and 0.03% pyridoxine. AsA (50 mg L-1) induced the highest activity of PPO enzyme in the radicle. Finally, to increase the antioxidant enzyme activity in cucumbers against unfavourable environmental conditions, our results confirmed the effectiveness of 150 mg L-1 AsA and 0.04% pyridoxine for the ‘Impress’ cultivar and the compound treatment and 50 mg L-1 AsA for the ‘Emparator’ cultivar.
Research paper
Mehdi Nazari; Mohammad Sayyari
Abstract
The present investigations focused on the role of calcium ascorbate (CaAsc) on tomato seedlings under low-temperature stress. Study was conducted by spraying aqueous solution of CaAsc at 0, 50, and 100 mM, on tomato seedlings with 5-7 true leaves in order to counteract the adverse impacts of chilling ...
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The present investigations focused on the role of calcium ascorbate (CaAsc) on tomato seedlings under low-temperature stress. Study was conducted by spraying aqueous solution of CaAsc at 0, 50, and 100 mM, on tomato seedlings with 5-7 true leaves in order to counteract the adverse impacts of chilling stress. One week after foliar application of CaAsc, all seedlings were exposed to a chilling temperature of 3±0.5 °C for six days (six hours per day) in a growth chamber. Loss of membrane integrity due to chilling stress led to oxidation of phenolic compounds by activation of peroxides (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzymes. Higher phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity, which is responsible for phenolic compounds accumulation, due to chilling temperature, has been considered as defense mechanism of chilling stress. The results revealed that application of 50 mM CaAsc ameliorated chilling injury of tomato seedling, which was associated with lower electrolyte leakage (16.2 %) and malondialdehyde (1.54 nmol g-1 FW) accumulation. Also, CaAsc-treated seedlings with 50 and 100 mM of CaAsc exhibited higher total phenols accumulation (36.2 and 28.4 mg pyrogallol g-1 FW, Respectively) which results from higher PAL enzyme activity concurrent with lower POD and PPO enzymes activity. Enhancing chilling tolerance in tomato seedling treated with 50 mM CaAsc by triggering phenols metabolism was associated with better seedling growth rate.
Research paper
Hossein Astaraki; Hossein Ramshini; Mahmoud Lotfi; Ali Izadi Darbandi
Abstract
Development of cultivars with high yield under normal conditions and maintaining their yield under abiotic stresses is the main purpose of plant breeding programs in arid and semi-arid areas. The present study aimed to evaluate the yield stability of a collection of commercial melon varieties under drought ...
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Development of cultivars with high yield under normal conditions and maintaining their yield under abiotic stresses is the main purpose of plant breeding programs in arid and semi-arid areas. The present study aimed to evaluate the yield stability of a collection of commercial melon varieties under drought stress. The trial was conducted in a field under normal conditions (plants were irrigated after 50 mm evaporation of a class A evaporation pan) and drought stress conditions (irrigation was carried out after 100 mm evaporation of a class A evaporation pan). In average, 3.32 kg fruit/plant and 2.76 kg fruit/plant were obtained under normal and drought stress conditions, respectively. The highest reduction in yield as the consequence of drought exposure was recorded for 'Mazandarani' (52%) and 'Samsoori' (48%). The most drought-tolerant genotypes were 'Mamaghani', 'Nahavandi', 'Shadegan', 'Crenshaw' and 'Suski-e-Sabz' as they had constant yield under both growing conditions. On the other hand, 'Samsoori' and 'Saveh' were the most sensitive genotypes to drought. For most of the measured traits, the values of broad-sense heritability were over 0.50 i.e. there was a large genetic diversity among melon genotypes. This variation can be utilized for selecting high potential fruit yield and drought-tolerant genotypes. Total soluble solids (TSS) (ºBrix) was 15.2% for 'Honey-Dew'. TSS (ºBrix) was obtained 10.7, 10.09, and 9.2% for Iranian genotypes of 'Khatooni', 'Samsoori', and 'Saveh', respectively. In conclusion, although some Iranian melon genotypes were recognized as drought tolerant, they need to be improved for TSS (ºBrix).
Research paper
Aram Sharifi-Zagheh; Amir Gholizadeh; Behzad Sorkhilalehloo; Mostafa Khodadadi
Abstract
Development of drought-tolerant cultivars with high essential oil yield is important for production of medicinal plants. So far application of half-sib mating has not been used in the coriander breeding for high essential oil yield and drought tolerance. In this study, 14 half-sib families of coriander ...
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Development of drought-tolerant cultivars with high essential oil yield is important for production of medicinal plants. So far application of half-sib mating has not been used in the coriander breeding for high essential oil yield and drought tolerance. In this study, 14 half-sib families of coriander derived from poly-cross design were evaluated under three irrigation treatments including: well water, mild water deficit stress and intense water deficit stress. In each environment, the half-sib families were evaluated using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Six drought-tolerance indices, including stress tolerance index (STI), geometric mean productivity (GMP), mean productivity (MP), harmonic mean (HM), stress tolerance (TOL) and stress susceptibility index (SSI) were calculated based on essential oil yield under non-stress (YP), mild stress (YM) and intense stress (YS). The results of correlation coefficients and biplot analysis revealed that STI, GMP, MP and HM indices could be effectively used for screening of drought tolerant genotypes of the coriander. Selection by these indices can be useful to identify a genotype with desirable essential oil yield in both non-stress and stress conditions. According to the results of three-dimensional graphs and view of biplot, half-sib families’ No. 6, 7 and 14 under mild stress and half-sib families’ No. 6, 7 and 12 under intense stress were selected as drought tolerant, and with high essential oil yield under non-stress and stress conditions. Therefore, these half-sib families can be used as a source of elite parents for synthetic cultivars in the coriander.
Research paper
Sahar Toupchizadeh Tabrizian; Jafar Hajilou; Sahebali Bolandnazar; Gholamreza Dehghan
Abstract
Strawberry is one of the most important commercial fruits. This research aimed to ameliorate the negative effects of water deficit stress using silicon application on strawberry. The experiment was conducted as a factorial in a completely randomized design with three factors including cultivar (‘Selva’ ...
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Strawberry is one of the most important commercial fruits. This research aimed to ameliorate the negative effects of water deficit stress using silicon application on strawberry. The experiment was conducted as a factorial in a completely randomized design with three factors including cultivar (‘Selva’ and ‘Gavioita’), Na2SiO3 (Sodium silicate) concentrations [0, 3, and 6 mM), as the source of silicon, and water deficit stress (40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of field capacity (FC)], in three replications. ‘Gavioita’ cultivar showed the highest superoxide dismutase enzyme activity in leaves under sever water deficit stress (40% of FC) following Na2SiO3 (3 and 6 mM concentrations) application. Application of Na2SiO3 at concentration of 6 mM increased the catalase enzyme activity significantly in the leaves of ‘Gavioita’cultivar under severe water deficit stress (40% of FC). The activity of peroxidase enzyme was enhanced considerably under 80% of FC and lower water deficit in the fruits of both cultivars. The fruit total anthocyanin level was increased significantly by application of Na2SiO3 at 3 and 6 mM concentrations under water deficit stress (60% of FC). Also, Na2SiO3 (at concentrations of 3 and 6 mM) enhanced the proline level significantly in ‘Gavioita’ cultivar compared to the control treatment under normal conditions (100% of FC). In conclusion, the results of present study indicated that application of Na2SiO3 at 6 mM concentration is useful treatment to cope with sever water deficit stress (40% of FC) especially in ‘Gavioita’ cultivar of strawbery
Research paper
Morteza Mirza Hosseini Zarandi; Maryam Pahlavan Yali; Kamal Ahmadi
Abstract
The rose aphid, Macrosiphum rosae (L.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is one of the most important pests on Rosa species, which cause serious damage to plants. Salicylic acid (SA) and Potassium sulfate (PS) have the potential to affect the population of pests on plants. In this study, different concentrations ...
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The rose aphid, Macrosiphum rosae (L.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is one of the most important pests on Rosa species, which cause serious damage to plants. Salicylic acid (SA) and Potassium sulfate (PS) have the potential to affect the population of pests on plants. In this study, different concentrations of SA (0.7 and 1.4 mM), PS (11 and 28 mM) and SA (1.4 mM) + PS (28 mM) were used as foliar applications on rose plants to evaluate the life table parameters of M. rosae. The chemical constituents of rose leaves were also assessed using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Results showed that the life table parameters of M. rosae were significantly affected by various treatments. The longevity of the aphid was longest on control and shortest on SA (1.4 mM). M. rosae had the least fecundity on SA (1.4 mM) treatment. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm) of M. rosae ranged from 0.202 to 0.298 day-1 on different treatments, which was lowest on SA (1.4 mM) and highest on control. GC/MS analysis showed that Squalene, 2-(1,3-benzothiazol-2-ylsulfanyl)-1-(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl) ethanone, and 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid, as secondary metabolite, were the major compounds in SA (1.4 mM) treatment. The results of this study demonstrated that application of SA (1.4 mM) on rose plants has a good potential for reducing the population of M. rosae and can be used in integrated pest management programs.
Research paper
Aminu Mallam Bello; Kazem Kamali Aliabad; Afagh Tabandeh Saravi; Hamid Sodaei Zade
Abstract
Azadirachta indica is a tree with high medicinal value that is conventionally propagated by seed while exhibiting heterozygosity. The aim of this research was to determine the best culture media and plant growth regulators for the micropropagation of Neem. Lateral and terminal buds of A. indica were ...
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Azadirachta indica is a tree with high medicinal value that is conventionally propagated by seed while exhibiting heterozygosity. The aim of this research was to determine the best culture media and plant growth regulators for the micropropagation of Neem. Lateral and terminal buds of A. indica were sterilized with 0.15% and 0.2% mercuric chloride for 10, 11, 12, and 13 min, followed by washing with sterilized double-distilled water three times. At the proliferation and elongation stage, WPM and MS media were tested with different concentrations of BAP either alone or in combination with 0.01 mg L-1 IBA. LS and MS media containing four different levels of IBA (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mg L-1) were used for the rooting stage. Pulsing technique with different IBA concentrations was investigated at the rooting stage. Hardening of rooted plantlets was done in potting soil containing peat and perlite (2:1), at 23-24 °C prior to transfer into the natural environment. Maximum survival percentage (70.83%) with minimum browning (10.42%) was achieved by sterilizing the explant with 0.15% of mercuric chloride at all times. The longest shoots (3.66 cm) were observed in the media containing BAP (0.5 mg L-1). Furthermore, the highest number of leaves (14.2 leaves per plant) was recorded in MS medium. Additionally, the MS media containing BAP hormone alone at 0.7 mg L-1 produced the highest number of shoots (3.6 shoots per treatment). LS medium supplemented with IBA (4.0 mg L-1) using the pulsing technique gave the best result at the rooting stage.
Research paper
Dabit Bista; Dikshya Sapkota; Hemanta Paudel; Gaurav Adhikari
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted at Horticulture Farm of Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal from 1 December to30 April of 2018/19 to evaluate the effect of plant growth regulators on onion (Allium cepa cv. Nasik-53). The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block ...
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A field experiment was conducted at Horticulture Farm of Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal from 1 December to30 April of 2018/19 to evaluate the effect of plant growth regulators on onion (Allium cepa cv. Nasik-53). The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 13 treatments. Growth regulators including: GA3 and NAA each at 75, 150 and 200 mg L-1 concentrations together with the combined forms were applied at 3 and 7 leaf stages of onion crop and the obtained data were compared with the control (distilled water spray) plants. Each treatment was replicated three times. The application of combination of 150 mg L-1 NAA at 3 leaf stage and 150 mg L-1 GA3 at 7 leaf stage resulted in highest values for plant height (76.67 cm), number of leaves (11.33), stem diameter (2.19 cm), bulb diameter (7.55 cm) and fresh weight (72.66 gm) while the control treatment resulted in the lowest values for all these attributes. Therefore, the combined application of 150 mg L-1 of NAA at 3-leaf stage and 150 mg L-1 of GA3 at 7 leaf stage can be recommended to enhance the growth and yield of onion.
