Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca
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Commercial and phytochemical quality in biofortified ‘Orejona’ lettuce with zinc oxide nanoparticles
Get PDFCrop biofortification is a recent strategy based on the production of plants rich in micronutrients for human consumption. The biofortification of plants with minerals is considered one of the least expensive and most efficient ways to improve the commercial and nutritional quality of horticultural products, in addition to improving crop yields. The objective of the research was to evaluate commercial and phytochemical quality, physiological parameters, and zinc concentration in lettuce leaves (Lactuca sativa L.) after foliar application of zinc oxide nanoparticles (NPsZnO) produced under a hydroponic system. The experiment was carried out with six treatments (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 mg.L-1 NPsZnO) of five replicates each, under a completely randomized design. Five applications every 15 days of each concentration of NPsZnO were made through the crop cycle. The results show no statistical differences in physiological parameters (height, number of leaves, leaf size, crown perimeter, fresh and dry weight), but that do show a slight tendency to increase on the treated lettuce mainly at concentrations of 20 and 25 mg.L-1. A positive correlation was found between the phytochemical variables (phenolics and total flavonols) and the concentration of NPsZnO. Even though there was not a clear correlation between NPsZnO concentration and the variables of commercial quality; Zn content in the plant tissue was improved, thereby obtaining a biofortified product for the final consumer
Changes on mutant pot chrysanthemums (Dendranthema × grandiflora Tzelev.)
Get PDFChrysanthemum (Dendranthema x grandiflora Tzvelev) is one of the most important ornamental plants in the world that has the richest mutant varieties with numerous colors. The objective of this study is to determine the effective mutagen dose (EMD50) for creating variations by gamma irradiation. It is aimed to get a mutagenesis protocol that could develop new mutants in pot chrysanthemums. To determine the EMD50, rooted cuttings of brownish-red color ‘Brandevil’ variety were irradiated by gamma radiation at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 Gray (Gy) doses. According to the shoot lengths, EMD50 was calculated as 27 Gy. The mutation frequency was calculated as 4.8%. Some changes were observed for flower numbers per plant, plant heights and widths, shapes and colors of both flowers and leaves. The color changes varied from brownish-red to yellow and orange. Two different colors appeared in the same pot at some genotypes as well as form changes of flowers. The similarity of the mutants was determined by the hierarchical cluster dendrogram involving five groups. Various colors were obtained for leaves and flowers. Remarkable mutations of the selected mutants were multiplied by tissue culture
The importance of assessing the population structure and biology of psylla species for pest monitoring and management in pear orchards
Get PDFThe species of pear sucker, also called pear psylla or pear psyllid, which are destructive insects belonging to the genus Cacopsylla (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) cause substantial damage to pear tree plantations. Two consecutive years of research were conducted on the population structure and biological cycle of psylla in a small, elderly, and unmaintained pear orchard in northern Romania. Of the two identified species (C. pyri L. and C. pyricola Forster), C. pyri dominated the psylla population with a percentage of 77.8-80.1%. Adults of both species emerge from hibernation in the first part of March and produce three generations per year. First-generation adults emerge in the first decade of June, the second generation in the last decade of July, and the third generation in the first decade of September as they enter the hibernation phase. Larvae of the first generation appear in the second half of April, the second generation at the end of June - the beginning of July, and the third generation in the second decade of August. There have been reports of up to 11 adults and 27 larvae per leaf, 9 larvae per petiole, and 14 larvae per fruit. The number of adults captured on yellow sticky traps exposed on the southern side of the tree crown was significantly higher compared to the northern side. Following the intense attack, the well-known cv. ‘Williams’ was heavily affected, pear trees were badly defoliated, blackened, and aged prematurely. The climatic conditions of the two years did not influence the phenology of the pests, but the importance of monitoring psyllids is widely argued, considering that it remains the key to integrated protection programs in pear orchards
The impact of droughts on sunflower production in the Republic of Moldova
Get PDFThe impact of climate change on agriculture is difficult to assess, but estimating the possible effects generated by the increase in the frequency and intensity of weather-climate risk phenomena is a necessity. The purpose of this study is to highlight the impact of droughts of different intensity and territorial expansion on the sunflower crop in the Republic of Moldova. For this, the data from the last twenty years were analyzed, regarding the area cultivated with sunflowers, the global production and the average yield in the administrative-territorial profile, as well as annual and semi-annual precipitation and temperatures. During the analyzed period, the global sunflower production in the Republic of Moldova registers general growth trends, explained, for the most part, by the constant increase of the cultivated area, but also due to the high productive and qualitative performance of the new hybrids introduced into the crop. The analysis of the relationship between precipitation and temperature, and the sunflower harvest, highlighted the temporal evolution of the parameters and the dependence of the sunflower yield on environmental factors, and the negative influence of the drought on the harvest. The years with the highest droughts had a significant impact on the average harvest per hectare, strongly affecting the yield of sunflowers and reducing it by about 50%. The sunflower harvest was closely related to the precipitation during the growing season and those in the cold half of the year and less to the amount of annual rainfall. In addition, the high temperatures associated with periods of precipitation deficit determined low yields
Foliar spray of Si and Ti nanoparticles affected enzymatic antioxidants in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)
Get PDFSome beneficial nanoparticles such as silicon and titanium are encouraging in foliar feeding due to their large surface area and biocompatible properties. In current experiment, seedling of rapeseed varieties (‘Hydromel’, ‘Nathalie’, ‘Alonso’) was sprayed with titanium dioxide and silicon dioxide nanoparticles (Ti and Si-NPs) and then responses of some enzymatic antioxidant and plasma membrane integrity were evaluated. Foliar application of Si-NPs significantly increased the activity of ascorbate peroxidase compared to the control, in all three varieties. Spray of both Ti and Si-NPs increased guaiacol peroxidase activity in ‘Nathalie’ and ‘Alonso’ varieties while in ‘Hydromel’ only Si-NPs spray had positive effects on activity this antioxidant. Behaviors of superoxide dismutase (SOD) isozymes under different foliar treatments and in varieties were different, but the highest activity of total SOD isozyme in ‘Hydromel’ and ‘Alonso’ varieties was obtained by foliar application of Si-NPs and Ti-NPs, respectively. The lowest amount of hydrogen peroxide was obtained by foliar application of Ti-NPs. Examination of malondialdehyde (MDA) also showed that the most vulnerable membrane belonged to ‘Hydromel’ variety and foliar application of Si-NPs and Ti-NPs could improve membrane integrity. These results suggest that foliar application of both Si-NPs and Ti-NPs improves the scavenging capacity of reactive oxygen species (ROS), although the response of the enzymatic antioxidants was largely influenced by the variety
Cloning and function analysis of DlWRKY9 gene in longan (Dimocarpus longan)
Get PDFWRKY is one of the largest plant transcription factors (TFs) which is widely involved in plant growth, development, and responses to stresses. In the present study, a WRKY TF DlWRKY9 was cloned from longan (Dimocarpus longan). The coding sequence (CDS) of DlWRKY9 is 762 bp in length and encodes 253 amino acids. It has a typical WRKY domain and zinc finger structure which belongs to type IIa WRKY protein. The molecular weight of DlWRKY9 protein was 30.27kda and the theoretical isoelectric point (PI) was 5.24. It is an unstable hydrophilic protein. The secondary structure of DlWRKY9 protein consists of helical structure (17.39%), extended chain (8.70%) and other structures (turn and random coil) (73.91%). The amino acid sequence of DlWRKY9 protein had the highest similarity with DlWRKY9 (xp_006450293.1) of citrus Clementina. DlWRKY9 gene promoter elements contain light, abscisic acid, gibberellin, jasmonic acid and other response elements. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the relative expression level of DlWRKY9 gene in pericarp was higher, followed by young fruits and floral organs. Meanwhile, DlWRKY9 gene specifically down-regulated in the early stage of flower induction in ‘Sijimi’ (SJ) longan. The results of transient expression of Arabidopsis protoplasts showed that the fluorescence signal was mainly concentrated in the nucleus. Moreover, overexpression of DlWRKY9 in Arabidopsis promoted early flowering. These results provide useful information for revealing the biological roles of DlWRKY9 in longan and increase our understanding of the WRKY family in fruit trees
Efficient micropropagation protocol of three cultivars of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.)
Get PDFHighbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is increasingly farmed for its nutritional and health benefits, but high yield and fruit quality require proper planting material. Modified Murashige and Skoog (MW), Anderson’s Rhododendron (AN), and Woody Plant Medium (WPM) were compared for in vitro organogenesis and rooting of three highbush blueberries ‘Elizabeth’, ‘Meader’, and ‘Liberty’. All media contained 0.1 mg L-1 zeatin applied with a combination of IBA, IAA, and GA3. The results showed that MW medium is more suitable for in vitro multiplication of ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Meader’, and WPM medium for ‘Liberty’. However, medium supplemented with a low concentration of IBA (≤ 0.4 mg L-1) and 0.1 mg L-1 zeatin increased the shoot regeneration rate of highbush blueberries multiplied in vitro. The rooting capability was studied by using WPM and AN medium with IBA and IAA with zeatin. The highest rooting rate (85%) and acclimatization (70%) were achieved in ‘Liberty’, and the lowest was in ‘Elizabeth’ (33.3% and 50%, respectively) and ‘Meader’ (33.3% and 43.8%, respectively). Rooted plantlets developed good quality roots and were transplanted into peat:perlite (4:1) substrates and acclimatized in a greenhouse under controlled conditions. We developed a complete micropropagation protocol for cvs. ‘Meader’, ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Liberty’ blueberry. This protocol can be used for the production of certified vegetative material or different biotechnological purposes
Cytotoxic activity of Thymus capitatus collected from Hail region in Saudi Arabia with mechanistic study via induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis and S-phase arrest
Get PDFThymus capitatus is a plant grows in Mediterranean area and some Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia. It possesses numerous medicinal values. Its common name is Zaatar and it belongs to family Lamiaceae Thymus capitatus leaves and stem were collected from Hail region, Saudi Arabia. Then both leaves and stem were extracted with ethanol. This study was performed to evaluate cytotoxic activity of Thymus capitatus leaves and stem ethanolic extract in details. Doxorubicin was used as a standard and the relevant half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were computed for each cell line by 3-(4,5- diemthylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. In addition, further mechanistic study was carried out by using Apoptosis assay to explore cytotoxic activity of plant extract. Both leaves and stems extracts were screened against HepG2, A-549, HCT-116 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines. It was found that leaves’ extract shows high and moderate cytotoxic activity against both A-549 and HepG2 cancer cell lines, respectively (with IC50 = 13.6 and 21.5 μg/ml, respectively), while stem’s extract exerted moderate cytotoxic activity against A-549 cancer cell lines (with IC50 = 21.38 μg/ml). Further mechanistic study was carried out on A-549 cells by using apoptosis assay. It showed that leaves’ extract resulted in arrest of S-phase and caused apoptosis through activation of caspase-3, p53 and Bax, in addition to down regulation of Bcl-2
Effects of nitrogen application on seed yield, dry matter and nitrogen accumulation of Siberian wildrye (Elymus sibiricus L.)
Get PDFSiberian wildrye (Elymus sibiricus L.) is a perennial and self-fertilizing forage grass that support animal husbandry and environmental sustenance in the world. In order to explore influence of nitrogen(N) application in Siberian wildrye seed production, the field experiments were conducted to evaluated the effect of different N treatments (of 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg/hm2) on dry matter, N accumulation, transport and utilization, yield components and seed yield of Siberian wildrye DJ-01, which was generated and stored in our lab. The results showed that the 90 kg/hm2 group significantly improved Fertile tillers m−2, spikelets per fertile tiller, 1000-grain weight and seed yield. Furthermore, the seed yield of 90 kg/hm2 group reached 899.3 kg/hm2 and elevated 45.6% compared with 0(CK) group. Moreover, we found that Siberian wildrye exhibited more advantages in dry matter and N translocation. The increment of grain N depended on pre-anthesis dry matter translocation (Pre-DMT) and pre-anthesis N translocation (Pre-NT), but not post-anthesis dry matter accumulation (Post-DMA) and post-anthesis N uptake (Post-NU) to seed yield. With the increase of N, N partial productivity and N absorption efficiency gradually decreased. All data showed the 90 kg/hm2 had the best effects on seed yield components, seed yield, dry matter accumulation (DMA), N accumulation and N efficiency. These results provide an ideal strategy to expand the plant area of Siberian wildrye
Exogenous application of agmatine improves water stress and salinity stress tolerance in turnip (Brassica rapa L.)
Get PDFThis study was carried out to determine the consequence of foliar application of agmatine (0 and 0.5 mM), on growth, physiological and biochemical traits, and yield of turnip (Brassica rapa L.) plants grown under water stress or salt stress conditions. The effect of three irrigation regimes (100%, 80% and 40% of field capacity) and three salt concentrations (0, 100 and 200 mM NaCl) on turnip plants grown in pots under greenhouse conditions were studied. Water deficit developed at 40% Field capacity (FC) and salinity stress, especially at 200 mM, resulted in significant decreases in all growth parameters when compared to control plants (100% FC) including root length and diameter as well as shoot weights per plant. Water stress and high salt stress negatively affected most physiological and biochemical characteristics such as total chlorophyll, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate. Water use efficiency (WUE) increased under 80% FC or 100 mM NaCl. Antioxidant enzymes activity, catalase and peroxidase and glutathione reductase, increased with water stress and salt stress. Foliar application of agmatine seemed to alleviate the adverse effects of water stress and salt stress on turnip. Alleviating harmful effects of salt stress and enhancing water stress tolerance by agmatine was associated with improving leaf gas exchange, antioxidant enzymes and protein profile