March 2012
Articles
March 2012 [6(3) 2012]
Table of Contents
March 2012 [6(3) 2012]
Table of Contents
Southern Cross Publishing Group©2012
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Antioxidant activity, phenolic and flavonoid contents in the leaves of different varieties of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) Seow-Mun Hue, Amru Nasrulhaq Boyce and Chandran Somasundram Abstract The study of antioxidants from natural sources has gained popularity in the recent years. Six Ipomoea batatas leafy varieties namely Batu Kelantan, Batu Biasa, Biru Putih, Oren, Vitato and Indon were compared to assess the total phenols, flavonoids, reducing power and antioxidant activity. In this study, the Indon variety showed the highest level of total phenolic contents at 5.35 ± 0 g GAE/100 g DW. The flavonoid contents in the leaves ranged from 96 ± 47.6 µg/ g in Indon variety to 263.5 ± 43.5 µg/g in Batu Biasa variety. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) was used to determine the radical scavenging activity in leaves, in which the Indon and Biru Putih variety had the highest and lowest scavenging activities of 372.4 µg/ ml (IC50) and 597.61 µg/ ml (IC50), respectively. All varieties, except Biru Putih, showed the high radical scavenging activity compared to the ascorbic acid standard. Besides, all the leaf varieties also showed increment in their reducing power with increasing concentrations. Thus, Ipomoea batatas leaves can be used as a potential source of natural antioxidants. Pages 375-380 | Full Text PDF |
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Effects of nutrition and water supply on the yield and grain protein content of maize hybrids VÁNYINÉ SZÉLES ADRIENN, NAGY JÁNOS Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the problems caused by unfavourable weather (dry and wet) at the R1 growth stage of maize (Zea mays L.), the treatment of these problems and the prevention of yield decrease, as well as the opportunities to increase quality using agrotechnical factors (fertilisation, irrigation). There was a further objective to determine whether Chl content of maize leaves at the R1 growth stage provided a reliable forecast on yield per hectare and grain protein content. This study was carried out in a moderately warm and dry production area on calcareous chernozem soil in Eastern Hungary (47o33’ N, 21o26’ E, altitude 111 m) in 2007 and 2008. Six different N fertilisers (0,30,60,90,120,150 kg ha-1) were applied in the field experiment, in irrigated and non-irrigated treatments, respectively. The obtained results show that there is a strong and significant positive correlation between Chl content and yield both in the non-irrigated treatment (P<0.001; R=0.777) and the irrigated treatment (P<0.001; R=0.801). A weak stochastic correlation (R2=26.2%) was found between the protein content and the Chl content in the irrigated treatment. A regression analysis showed a weak negative correlation (P<0.001; R=0.345) between yield and protein content in the non-irrigated treatment. In the irrigated treatment, a medium positive correlation was observed (P<0.001; R=0.685). The results of the yearly performed correlation analyses showed that while weather factors greatly affected the strength of correlations, they are still positive in all cases. The Chl content of maize leaves at the R1 growth stage provided a reliable forecast on yield per hectare and grain protein content at maturity. The observed correlation is always closer in the irrigated treatment than in the non-irrigated treatment. Pages 381-390 | Full Text PDF |
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Induced mutations for enhancing variability of banana (Musa spp.) shoot tip cultures using ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS) Siamak Shirani Bidabadi, Sariah Meon, Zakaria Wahab, Sreeramanan Subramaniam and Maziah Mahmood Abstract The aim of this study was to induce variations in banana cultivars through in vitro mutagenesis by treating the shoot tips with varying doses (150, 200 and 250 mM) and time periods (30 and 60 min) of EMS and to apply RAPD analysis for discovery of genetic polymorphism among the variants. The results of analysis of variance indicated that the average number of shoots per explant, survival (%) and fresh weight of treated shoot tips were influenced by EMS doses and gave significant differences caused by time period of treatments. The highest percentage (31.04 ± 0.99) of dormant explants was observed in ‘Rastali’ with 200 mM EMS for 30 min treatment. Whilst, in ‘Berangan Intan’ and ‘Berangan’, 60 min/ 250 and 30 min/ 200 mM indicated the maximum increase in terms of dormant explants production. Based on the proliferation rate of ‘Berangan Intan’, ‘Berangan’ and ‘Rastali’, LD50 was estimated 189.8, 177.58 and 152.04 mM for 30 min duration treatment and 154.17, 148.21 and 141.83 mM for 60 min duration treatment respectively. After three months of culture, percentage of phenotypic variations derived from mutated shoot tips indicated an increase of 10 to 14 % with 60 min/ 200 mM and 30 min/ 250 mM of EMS treatments compared to those of controls. At the molecular level, the RAPD primers opc01, opc04, opa11, opa14, opd16, opk03 exhibited different amplification patterns in the variants. The results showed the variability among lines isolated through tissue culture and EMS mutagenesis, confirmed by using RAPD markers for banana. Pages 391-401 | Full Text PDF |
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Quantitative and qualitative comparison of antioxidant activity in the flavedo tissue of three cultivars of citrus fruit under cold stress Mansour Afshar Mohammadian, Zahra Khosravi Largani, Reza Hasan Sajedi Abstract Low temperatures constitute a major risk for the production of citrus fruit because citrus plants are sensitive to low temperatures and harvesting coincides with winter. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a biochemical change in plants facing cold stress. Plants may increase levels of antioxidants as an adaptation for preventing oxidative stress. In this study, three citrus cultivars (Citrus unshiu, Citrus sinensis and Citrus lemon) were examined to compare the activities of three antioxidants: ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), in the flavedo tissue of unripe and ripened fruits. Enzyme activity levels were examined under various cold temperature treatments (range: 3, 0, -3 and -6°C) and a control (15°C). The results indicate that SOD activity was highest in all three cultivars under cold treatments. Unripe and ripened Citrus unshiu fruits had the maximum level of APX enzyme activity in the cold treatments. Similarly, the activity of POD enzyme in Citrus unshiu fruits significantly increased during temperature reductions. Overall, Citrus unshiu appears the most resistant to cold treatments compared with the other two cultivars. Pages 402-406 | Full Text PDF |
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Salicylic acid priming in Hedysarum carnosum and Hedysarum coronarium reinforces NaCl tolerance at germination and the seedling growth stage Hanen Dallali, Elhem Mallek Maalej, Néziha Ghanem Boughanmi, Rabia Haouala Abstract In this study, the effect of 100 µM salicylic acid (SA) priming on Hedysarum coronarium (a cosmopolitan species) and Hedysarum carnosum (a species endemic to Tunisian salt flats) subjected to 200 mM of NaCl at germination and seedling growth stages was analyzed. SA priming had a beneficial effect on germination, which was related to imbibition rather than reserve mobilisation, since the dry biomass of cotyledons was unchanged by salt stress and SA priming. The results showed that SA priming at the seedling growth stage alleviated salt-induced oxidative stress by reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) and H2O2 content. In addition, the two species demonstrated differential H2O2 detoxification with the stimulation of catalase (CAT) activity in both species, but guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) stimulation was found to only occur in H. coronarium. Surprisingly, H. coronarium seedlings proved to be more tolerant to NaCl stress than H. carnosum seedlings. SA priming reinforced the salt tolerance of H. coronarium at both germination and seedling growth stages. Pages 407-414 | Full Text PDF |
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Genetic behaviour for plant capacity to produce chlorophyll in wheat (Triticum aestivum) under drought stress Mohammad Reza Naroui Rad, Mihdzar Abdul Kadir, Mohd Rafii Yusop Abstract The study was conducted with the objective of identifying parents to be used in a breeding program to develop high chlorophyll varieties. Combining ability, heterosis and inheritance of chlorophyll content, including chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll (a+b), were investigated in bread wheat obtained from half-diallel crossings among eight parental lines. Cultivars with names of Irena/Babax//Pastor, S-78-11, Tajan, Chamran, Moghan3, Hamoon, Veery/Nacozari and Hirmand have different capacities to produce chlorophyll. Eight parental genotypes and their resulting 28 F1s were grown in three replications of randomised complete block design. Drought stress was performed with irrigation at 75% soil moisture depletion, the data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and combining abilities were carried out according to Griffing’s method 2, model 1. The study was conducted with the objective of identifying parents to be used in a breeding program to develop high chlorophyll varieties. General combining ability and specific combining ability effects were significant for traits’ chlorophyll content, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll; however, non-additive gene effects were predominant over additive effects. The line Irena/Babax//Pastor transmitted high chlorophyll content based on general combining ability to progenies that were made with it. Broad-sense heritabilities were high and strict-sense heritabilities were low for the traits, confirming the importance of non-additive gene effects. This could bring definition of reduced selection efficiency for these mentioned traits. Pages 415-420 | Full Text PDF |
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Physiological characterization of gamma-ray induced salt tolerant rice mutants J.Y. Song, D.S. Kim, M.-C. Lee, K.J. Lee, J.-B. Kim, S.H. Kim, B.-K. Ha, S.J. Yun and S.-Y. Kang Abstract High salinity in soil is one of the major abiotic stresses leading to the reduction of rice yield. In this study, two salt-tolerant rice mutants induced by gamma-irradiation were selected for in vivo and vitro screening techniques, and their physiological characteristics were evaluated. Using a salt stress screening based on the Standard Evaluation System, 2 candidate lines for salt tolerance (ST-87 and ST-301) were selected out of 1,500 M6 mutant lines. The two ST-lines were further characterized through a physiological analysis, which examined factors such as the electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA), antioxidant, chlorophyll, total amino acid, and Na+/K+ contents. Compared with the WT, the ST-lines demonstrated lower levels then the activity of the enzymatic catalase in the contents of EL and MDA and the higher peroxidase under the salt condition. The chlorophyll and total carotenoid contents decreased more severely in the WT-lines than in those of the ST-lines. The total amino acid contents in the seedling leaves of the ST-lines were 2.2 and 1.4-times higher than in the WT. In the ratio of K+/Na+ of the ST and WT-lines, the ST-87 (2.7 fold) was significantly higher than that of the WT (1.4 fold). The selected rice mutant lines in our study will be used to increase the salt tolerance in the rice breeding program. Also, the screening methods used in this study will help to develop an excellent variety of rice with a tolerance to salt. Pages 421-429 | Full Text PDF |
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The effect of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) as companion crop on leaf histological parameters of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) L. Zoric, Dj. Krstic, B. Cupina, A. Mikic, S. Antanasovic, J. Lukovic, Lj. Merkulov Abstract In this work, structural modifications of lucerne lamina were examined using light microscopy, in order to evaluate the effect of cover crop pea cultivar and sowing density on lamina anatomy. The plants were grown under companion cropping conditions with two field pea cultivars (Jezero - afila type, and Javor - type with small leaflets), at three cover crop sowing densities (30, 60 and 60 plants/m2). The results showed that companion cropping did not significantly affect the lamina structure, proportion of lamina tissues or the size of the cells. All treatments showed low variability of measured parameters and high level of homogeneity, which was confirmed by PCA analysis. Heliomorphic parameters, such as higher palisade/spongy tissue ratio, larger palisade cells and thicker epidermis, were more expressed in control group plants and those grown under lower cover crop density. As both cover crop cultivars, at three applied sowing densities, transmitted sufficient sunlight to lucerne, companion growing did not negatively affect the leaf photosynthetic tissue. Our anatomical results indicate a potential for development of a new, reliable and environmentally friendly method of the lucerne establishment, without negative effect on the process of photosynthesis. Pages 430-435 | Full Text PDF |
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Changes in the panicle-related traits of different rice varieties under high temperature condition Young-Jun Mo, Ki-Young Kim, Hyun-Su Park, Jong-Cheol Ko, Woon-Chul Shin, Jeong-Kwon Nam, Bo-Kyeong Kim, Jae-Kwon Ko Abstract The size and structure of panicles are important factors which contribute both yield and quality of rice. Changes in the panicle-related traits by elevated temperature were studied using 40 rice varieties including 27 japonica and 13 Tongil-types (derived from indica-japonica crosses). Tongil-type rices showed larger sink size than japonica either in ambient and high temperature conditions, mainly due to the higher number of secondary rachis-branches (SRBs) and spikelets on SRBs per panicle, which showed highly positive correlations (>0.95) with the numbers of spikelets and rachis-branches per panicle. On the other hand, percentages of ripened grains and head rice (%) were significantly higher in japonica than in Tongil-type under both conditions. Under high temperature, Tongil-type showed significant increase in the numbers of spikelets, rachis-branches, SRBs and spikelets on SRBs per panicle, while japonica did not show any significant change in sink size. However, the percentages of ripened grains and head rice were significantly reduced by high temperature in both ecotypes. While the decrease in ripened grains percentage was higher in Tongil-type, head rice percentage reduced more in japonica than in Tongil-type. For both ecotypes of rice, the percentage of ripened grains was higher in primary rachis-branches (PRBs) than in SRBs in ambient and high temperature conditions. Moreover, the decrease in the ripened grains percentage by temperature rise was higher in SRBs than PRBs. Therefore, it would be desirable to breed varieties with increased number of PRBs rather than SRBs to minimize the negative impact of warmer climate on the ripening of rice grains. Pages 436-443 | Full Text PDF | Supplementary data |
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Variability of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) alleles located on chromosomes 2A and 2D can change the wheat kernel PPO activity Hongqi Si, Chuanxi Ma, Xiaobo Wang, Xianfang He Abstract Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is primarily responsible for the enzymatic browning of Asian noodles and other flour products. In order to investigate how the allelic variability of PPO genes affect the kernel PPO activities, we used the two currently available sequence-tagged-site (STS) markers of PPO genes PPO18 and STS01 located on chromosomes 2A and 2D, for detecting PPO allelic variability in 300 F4 plants obtained from hybridization of Yangmai 158 × Huaimai 18 and 362 other wheat cultivars. Our results confirmed previous findings that variations in the alleles of PPO genes located on chromosomes 2A and 2D contributed to approximately 50% of the PPO activities. In addition, we divided the average PPO activity of the varieties that contained only one gene by the average PPO activity of all varieties. We found that the contribution of the two PPO genes on chromosome 2A was as much as twice that of the two PPO genes on chromosome 2D. PPO activity was reduced by 23.7% and 8.5% by the allelic genes PPO-2Ab and PPO-2Da, respectively, and increased by 18.7% and 20.8% by PPO-2Aa and PPO-2Db. Our study shows that the allelic genes PPO-2Ab and PPO-2Da are responsible for maintaining the PPO activities at low and medium levels, and PPO-2Aa, and PPO-2Db at medium high levels. These findings emphasize the selection of the PPO-2Ab allelic gene for breeding wheat varieties with low PPO activity. Pages 444-449 | Full Text PDF |
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Soil water retention and maize (Zea mays L.) growth as effected by different amounts of Pumice Ashraf Malekian, Einollah Valizadeh, Mona Dastoori, Sohaila Samadi, Vahid Bayat Abstract Water availability is one of the most important factors influencing plant growth. Water absorbing materials have been reported to be effective tools in increasing water holding capacity. With regard to problems associated with water resources in the Semi-arid areas, laboratory and greenhouse studies were conducted in 2009-2010 to evaluate the absorption of water by pumice and to study the effect of its application on moisture content, and growth properties of maize. The studied growth characteristics including plant height, leaf area index (LAI), stem diameter, 1000-seed weight and grain yield. Under laboratory study, the water absorption value of 1g pumice was measured in 1000 ml beaker and the pumice was weighed after 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 minutes. Based on the results, water absorption improved with time which ranged from 35-90 times their weight over 20-120 minutes. Different Pumice treatments (0.10, 0.20 and 0.30 %), corresponding to 1.2, 2.4 and 3.6 g kg-1, respectively were applied in a greenhouse experiment. A control treatment (without Pumice) was included. Pumice levels were uniformly mixed with soil and pots were filled with twelve kg of soil mixture. The results showed that pumice significantly (p< 0.05) increased the amount of soil moisture retention compared to control. Growth characteristics of maize (vegetative growth and yield) were significantly improved (p< 0.05) with increasing amount of pumice concentration. Maximum height, LAI, stem diameter, 1000-seed weight and grain yield were obtained with 0.30% pumice application which was followed by 20, and 10%, and control plants, respectively. Pages 450-454 | Full Text PDF |
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Heterosis for yield and agronomic attributes in diverse maize germplasm Farhan Ali, Irfan Ahmed Shah,Hidayat ur Rahman, Mohammad Noor, Durrishahwar, Muhammad Yasir Khan, Ihteram Ullah and Jianbing Yan Abstract Combining ability estimation are important genetic attributes for maize breeders in anticipating improvement in productivity via hybridization and selection. Maize exhibits heterosis for all traits and the extent of heterosis is significantly variable depending on the choice of parents and the trait(s) measured. We developed hundreds of S2 lines in 2009 and out of these S2 lines, several selected lines were crossed with three different testers in three isolations to generate testcrosses (spring 2010). The testcrosses were evaluated in a partial lattice square design with two replications to divulge combining ability and heterosis for particular traits of economic importance (summer-2010). Phenotypic data were recorded for flowering time, morphological traits and total yield to calculate total variability, combining abilities and mid parent (MPH) and better parent (BPH) heterosis. The 87 testcrosses possessed highly significant differences (P = 0.01) for the investigated traits. Proportional contribution of lines, tester and their interaction to the total variability for anthesis silking interval (ASI) was 38.33, 2.34 and 59.33%, respectively. Means yield ranged from 2547.45 to 9842.02 kg ha-1. Maximum yield was observed for CMI-76, using OPV Jalal as a tester, while minimum yield was detected for CMI-190-2, using WD3x 6 as a tester. In general, tester parent OPV Jalal showed better heterotic effect with each line as compared to other testers. Based on these results we conclude that maize unveiled excessive ability for heterotic expression, even several inbred lines exhibit enough variability to find out appropriate genotypes for a successful breeding program and generating stable inbred lines for production of commercial hybrids. Genetic variability and harboring of excessive hybrid vigor makes maize as a model crop for all kind of studies. Furthermore, these results suggested that the input cost of hybrids can easily be minimized by avoiding losses of resources and time in production of desirable inbred lines, as it is obvious that the breeding community always preferred hybrids maize rather than OPV or synthetics varieties because of its high productivity. Pages 455-462 | Full Text PDF | Supplementary data |
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Effect of pH on stability, Sunflower growth promotion and biocontrol potential of a talc-based formulation of Pseudomonas fluorescens UTPF61 Mirnaseri Seyedeh Sadi, Ahmadzadeh Masoud Abstract Sunflower is attacked by many phytopathogens which one of the most important of them is Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Application of Pseudomonas fluorescens UTPF61, as an antagonistic bacterium, is one of the successful ways to control this disease. Also different chemical factors in natural conditions cause variation in antagonistic activity of strains. One of them is pH factor which has an important role in the efficiency and survival of biocontrol agent. The aim of this study was to find the efficient pH that increases the efficiency and long stability of UTPF61. This pH data is also useful in economic purposes, especially in industrial and half-industrial scale of bacterial productions. Formulations are one of these functional products. Bacterial existence in Talc-based formulation was studied after growing up in media with pH stresses in between 4-10. This study was carried out under in vivo conditions. The formulations were stored at 90 consecutive days and two different temperatures, room temp (26 şC) and refrigerator temp (4 şC). The bacterial ability was tested to suppress the development of Sclerotinial damping of sunflower, caused by S. scleotiorum. Formulation prepared with bacteria, which had grown up in pH7 and stored in 4 şC, had the longest stability and biocontrol activity, also this formulation showed significant effect on sunflower growth compare to control (PGPR effect). So, on the basis of the all out coming results, it seems that medium with exact pH7.0 showed appropriate ability to use in commercial production of bacterial agent, also had maximum growth yield of sunflower in lab and green house conditions. Pages 463-469 | Full Text PDF |
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Sequence analysis of a specific fragment associated with Ogura CMS in Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) Pengfang Zhu, Xing Wang, Jian Zhang, Ming Xu, Yutang Wei Abstract In our previous works, we bred stable cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) lines and their corresponding maintainer lines by inter- and intra-specific crosses and subsequent backcrosses in kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala). In this study, we cloned a gene related to CMS based on orf138, a chimeric gene believed to closely associate with Ogura cytoplasmic male sterility in radish. Polymorphisms were detected among the kale CMS lines and their maintainer lines with a specific 474-bp full-length nucleotide sequence. Among the specific sequence, we identified an entire coding region contained 420-bp open reading frame (Accession No. HQ191478). Compared with the original orf138 coding sequence, four insertions of nucleotide in 5´terminus and one deletion at the 21st site were found in coding region. The ORF encodes 139 amino acids polypeptide, which had five substitutions with ORF138, orf138 coding sequence. Sequence analysis of the orf138 under kale nuclear background contributes a better understanding to nucleocytoplasmic interaction mechanism in cruciferous crops. Pages 470-474 | Full Text PDF |
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Inheritance analysis of fertility restoration genes (Rf) in a male sterile system of eggplant using cytoplasm of Solanum grandifolium Mst. Hasnunnahar, Md. Mizanur Rahim Khan, S. Isshiki Abstract Analysis of pollen and seed fertility of the test cross progenies was performed to assess the inheritance and relevancy of male fertility restoration ability of Solanum grandifolium, an induced male-sterile eggplant. In this study, ‘Taibyo VF’ (S. grandifolium × S. melongena) was continuously backcrossed to recurrent pollen parent S. melongena, to develop a cytoplasmic substitution line of eggplant. All the examined BC1 plants were male fertile while the BC2 plants segregated into male fertile and sterile types. The BC3, BC4, BC5 and BC6 progenies, obtained from the male fertile seed parents, were also segregated into the above mentioned types, whereas backcross progenies obtained from male-sterile seed parents were all male-sterile without any segregation. Backcross and selfed progenies obtained from male fertile plants were fitted well to either 1:1 or 3:1 and 3:1 or 15:1 ratios, respectively. The progenies obtained from crossing between male fertile and sterile backcross progenies were fitted to 3:1 ratio. The segregation patterns indicated that two independent dominant fertility restorer (Rf) genes control the pollen formation of the S. melongena with the cytoplasm of S. grandifolium. It is suggested that progenies containing one or both of dominant Rf loci will allow pollen formation while recessive Rf loci will result the non pollen-forming plants. The pollen stainability was about 50% and 85%, when the male fertile plants pollinated with a male donor containing S. melongena and S. grandifolium cytoplasms, respectively. Knowledge of male fertility restoration inheritance of this Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is useful to develop and utilize the restorer lines in the breeding of eggplant. Pages 475-479 | Full Text PDF |
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Growth, photosynthesis and biomass allocation of different kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) accessions grown on sandy soil M. D. Hossain, M. M. Hanafi, G. Saleh, M. Foroughi, R. Behmaram, Z. Noori Abstract Growth, photosynthesis, and biomass allocation of kenaf accessions were investigated. Forty kenaf accessions from tropical and subtropical regions of the world were grown on marginal sandy soil in a field at Kelantan to determine differences in their growth, photosynthesis and biomass allocation. The experiment was arranged using three replicates in a randomized complete block design. Basal diameter, plant height, leaf number, leaf area and photosynthesis were measured, these being the determinants of growth and biomass production. Plant roots, stems and leaves were separated and biomass content determined at harvest. Accession 35 had the highest value for basal diameter (17.44 mm), plant height (251.73 cm), leaf quantity (81.55), leaf area (1455.62 cm2 plant-1) and photosynthesis (16.92 µmol m-2s-1), followed by accession 28. A positive relationship was noticed between plant height, leaf area, photosynthesis, biomass production, root mass and leaf area. Total biomass for the different kenaf accessions ranged from 26.26 to 93.06 g plant-1. Stems accounted for the greatest proportion of dry mass (67.05%), followed by roots (21.15%). Dry mass accumulation in the stem was highest in accession 35, followed by accession 28. Using cluster analysis, the accessions were divided into two major groups, in which accessions 35 and 28 from the first group had the highest values of all measured parameters. The results of the study will aid in the selection of better accessions for growers to produce kenaf that is best suited to marginal sandy soil. Pages 480-487 | Full Text PDF |
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Review article Reproductive biology and early generation's selection in conventional potato breeding Jane Muthoni, Hussein Shimelis, Rob Melis, Jackson Kabira Abstract This article gives an overview of potato reproductive biology as well as selection in early generations’ in conventional breeding programmes. Potato is an autotetraploid (2n=4x=48, 4EBN) with tetrasomic inheritance. Both interlocus and intralocus interactions occur and the more they are, the greater the heterosis. Both additive and non-addititve gene actions are important in controlling various traits. Favourable traits are fixed in F1 generation due to clonal propagation. Potato is predominantly self pollinated; flowering and fruiting are mainly affected by genotype, day length, and temperature. Continued self-pollination results in inbreeding depression; this results in reduction of germination percentage, plant vigour, flowering, male fertility, and open-pollinated fruit set. Hybrids are generally more vigorous than open-pollinated seeds; the open-pollinated seeds are generally selfs. The principal method of potato breeding is the conventional hybridisation followed by recurrent selection in the clonal generations. The choice of parents is determined by the breeding objective; crossability and unrelatedness should also be considered. The simplest method for predicting the value of cross combinations is to evaluate progenies at seedling stage. Conventional potato breeding takes long (about 10 years) before a cultivar is released, mostly due to the slow multiplication rate of the crop. This time can be reduced through use of marker assisted selection in identifying parents with desirable traits and selecting superior clones genotypically at seedlings stage. Pages 488-497 | Full Text PDF |
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Plant density and mixture ratio effects on the competition between common vetch and wheat Ibrahim Atis, Kagan Kokten, Rustu Hatipoglu, Saban Yilmaz, Mehmet Atak, Ersin Can Abstract Mixtures of annual forage legumes with winter small grains for forage are practiced traditionally in the Mediterranean countries. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of variable seed mixture rates and different plant densities on the forage yield. The study also investigated the competition effects among mixture partners in the mixture of common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivium L.). Field trials were conducted at two locations (L1, Hatay and L2, Adana) during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 growing seasons. Three plant densities (200, 400, 600 plants m-2) and five seed mixture ratios (100 % V, 75% V + 25% W, 50% V + 50% W, 25% V + 75% W, 100 % W) of common vetch (V) and wheat (W) were used. The results of the study showed that increased plant density in the mixture resulted in increased dry matter yield per unit area. In addition, increased seed ratio of wheat in the mixture caused increased dry matter yield per unit area. Also, elevated dry matter yield resulted in increased crude protein yield. Land equivalent ratio (LER), aggressivity (A) and competitive ratio (CR) indexes showed that common vetch was the dominant species in all common vetch-wheat mixtures. Pages 498-505 | Full Text PDF |
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Light interception and radiation use efficiency response to narrow-wide row planting patterns in maize Tiedong Liu, Fengbin Song, Shengqun Liu, Xiancan Zhu Abstract The light deficiency in the canopy is not the main factor limiting maize (Zea mays L.) production but the lower radiation use efficiency (RUE). Conservation tillage planting patterns were used to construct a sustainable agricultural system for soil protection and higher RUE. On these bases, we tried to create more uniform light distribution in crop canopy for increasing radiation use efficiency by narrow-wide row planting patterns. Maize were cultivated in three planting patterns: (1) narrow-wide rows of “30 cm + 170 cm” (P1, i.e. narrow row is 30 cm, wide row is 170 cm with density 6.4 plants m-2), (2) “40 cm + 90 cm” (P2, i.e. narrow row is 40 cm, wide row is 90 cm with density 6.4 plants m-2); and (3) uniform row of “65 cm” (CK, i.e. uniform row is 65 cm with density 6.4 plants m-2). The mechanisms of the maize canopy creation during the growth development period were examined. Moreover, the fractions of light interception (F), leaf area index (LAI), leaf mass per unit area (LMA), canopy extinction coefficient (K) and RUE were compared. In three planting patterns, K values exhibit a P1<P2<CK feature. The differences in LMA of the three patterns were not significant (LSD, p<0.05). The fractions of light interception value (F) in P1 was significantly lower than that in P2 and CK, whereas its LAI was almost equal to that of CK and P2. RUE was the largest in P2. Therefore, with similar plant density, LAI was not affected by planting patterns. Although light interception was lower in narrow-wide row planting patterns while CK was highest in three patterns, the canopy light environment in narrow-wide row planting patterns was improved and RUE was significantly increased, especially in P2. Pages 506-513 | Full Text PDF |
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Comparison of parametric and non-parametric stability statistics for selecting stable chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes under diverse environments Ezatollah Farshadfar, Sayed Hosein Sabaghpour, Hasan Zali Abstract In order to study phenotypic stability of 17 chickpea genotypes and comparison among parametric and non-parametric stability procedures, a randomized complete block design with four replications was carried out in five different research stations of Iran across two years (2004- 2005). Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the first four PCAs explained 88% of the variance of original variables. Biplot analysis of stability measures revealed that stability measures can be classified into four groups. Group 1 included the mean yield with non-parametric measures Ysi and TOP (proportion of environments in which a genotype ranked in the top third). Group 2 consisted of non-parametric measures (Si (1), Si (2), Si (3) and NPi (1)) and parametric measures (bi, S2xi, ASV, S2di and Wi2), which were correlated with mean yield (except for bi and NPi (1)). Group 3 included the non-parametric measures Si(6), NPi(2), NPi(3) and NPi(4) which were not correlated with mean yield and group 4 consisted of parameters R, Ri2, RSM and Pi that were negatively associated with most of the stability methods and mean yield, hence they can be excluded as suitable stability indices. The results of biplot analysis based on rank correlation showed that ASV, S2xi, W2i, Si(1), Si(2), Si(3) and NPi (1) can be used for evaluating the responses of chickpea genotypes to changing environments. Most of the stability methods indicated that the genotype G13 (FLIP 97-114) was the most phenotypically stable with high mean yield. Pages 514-524 | Full Text PDF |
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Improvement of early seedling growth of dry direct-seeded rice by urease inhibitors application Xiaoli Qi, Wei Wu, Shaobing Peng, Farooq Shah, Jianliang Huang, Kehui Cui, Hongyan Liu, Lixiao Nie Abstract Poor crop establishment associated with urea-induced ammonia volatilization inhibits the optimum plant growth of dry direct-seeded rice. The objective of this study was to examine the reduction of soil ammonia volatilization by urease inhibitors when urea is applied at seeding and to identify the sensitivity of shoot and root growth of dry direct-seeded rice to ammonia volatilization. Two Petri-dish incubation experiments were conducted using three different soils with three urease inhibitors. N as urea was applied to the Petri-dish at the rate of 1mg g-1 of soil. To simulate soil water content suitable for direct-seeded rice, soil inside the Petri-dishes was kept under aerobic conditions. Ammonia volatilization due to application of urea at seeding reduced early seedling growth of dry direct-seeded rice. Urease inhibitors significantly reduced ammonia volatilization. Among the three urease inhibitors, N-(N-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT) was the most effective one in reducing ammonia volatilization, followed by phenyl phosphorodiamidate (PPD) and hydroquinone (HQ), respectively. The findings imply that application of suitable urease inhibitors can significantly improve seedling growth of dry direct-seeded rice by reducing ammonia volatilization from added urea. This study also suggests that root growth was more sensitive to ammonia volatilization than shoots when urea was applied at seeding. Pages 525-531 | Full Text PDF |
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Morphological, anatomical and cytological investigation on alpine Lamium cymbalariifolium endemic to Turkey Canan ÖZDEMIR, Pelin BARAN Abstract In this study, some morphological characters, anatomical features and chromosome numbers of alpine Lamium cymbalariifolium Boiss. (Lamiaceae) endemic to Turkey are firstly described in detail. Lamium cymbalariifolium is an east mediterrenean element growing on north-facing limestone screes at an altitude of 2100-2280m in the Southwest Anatolia. The investigated species is closedly allied to L. microphyllum and L. sandrasicum which are other alpine endemic species to Turkey. Taxonomically significant characters for L. cymbalariifolium are tried to be pointed out. Morphologically, the corolla tube length, the upper lip length, lobe length of the upper lip, the lower lip length and lobe length of the lower lip, the length of pistil, filament, anther and the seed dimensions of the species are firstly reported in the present study. Anatomically, spring and autumn woods of the root, which are forming annual rings are clearly distinguishable. Stem has a thin collenchymatous layer at the corners whereas does not bear any extraxilar sclerenchyma tissue. Leaf is bifacial. Prismatic crystals occur in leaf and generative organs. Pollen type is trizonocolpate and pollen shape is subprolate. Cross-section of seed is triangular. Glandular hairs are classified into two main types, peltate and capitate. Furthermore, capitate glandular hairs are separated into two types, as type I and type II. The chromosome number is determined as 2n=18. The results are presented with photographs, illustrations and tables. Pages 532-540 | Full Text PDF |
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The impact of copper ion on growth, thiol compounds and lipid peroxidation in two maize cultivars (Zea mays L.) grown in vitro Amina A. Aly, Amal A. Mohamed Abstract The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of increasing copper concentrations (0-100 µM Cu) on the growth, thiol compounds and some other biochemical parameters of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars. For that, plantlets of two different Zea mays cultivars (Single Cross 122 and Single Cross 10) characterized by different levels of response to heavy metals stress) were exposed to four Cu levels (0.0, 25.0, 50.0 and 100.0 µM) for 15 days. At seedling stage, significant differences in some parameters were noticed between both cultivars followed by different Cu treatments. For example, copper stress gradually depressed shoots length, roots length and number of roots with increasing Cu levels in MS media. Furthermore, there was an increase in Cu accumulation in the treated shoots compared to the non-treated one, but the accumulation being more pronounced in Single Cross 10 (SC 10) than in Single Cross 122 (SC 122). Chlorophylls and carotenoid pigments were generally decreased by Cu stress, especially under the highest Cu treatment (100 µM) in both cultivars. Proline and total soluble sugars were measured and more pronounced increase was observed in SC 122 compared to SC 10, possibly due to a better capacity to copper stress response. Levels of glutathione, cysteine and lipid peroxidation were increased with increasing of Cu stress. Moreover, the content of total thiols, non protein thiols, protein bound thiols and acid soluble thiols were altered under Cu stress. The basic knowledge of copper stressed responses may further be applied as effective indices for copper tolerance in maize breeding program. Pages 541-549 | Full Text PDF |
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Optimal fermentation time and temperature to improve biochemical composition and sensory characteristics of black tea Moazzam Hassanpour Asil, Babak Rabiei, Reza Hojjat Ansari Abstract The effects of variations in fermentation time and temperature on the changes in theaflavins (TF), thearubigins (TR) as well as sensory characteristics of color liquor brightness, briskness and astringency of black tea were investigated in two cultivars; Promising 100 and Chinese. The two independent variables investigated in this experiment were fermentation duration at four levels (30, 60, 90 and 120 min) and fermentation temperature at three levels (20, 25 and 30şC).The results indicated that TR content and total color in black tea varied with cultivars showing higher levels in cultivar “Promising 100” than in cultivar “Chinese”, while TF, brightness and organoleptic properties did not differ in the two cultivars. The processing of black tea at low fermentation temperatures improved black tea quality, because low fermentation temperatures caused higher TF levels. Moreover, higher levels of TF can also be produced with reduction in fermentation time. Positive correlation was seen between TF levels and total color, taster’s briskness and astringent taste (r= 0.385, 0.863 and 0.407, respectively, P< 0.01) while TR levels showed positive correlation with color (r= 0.704, P< 0.01) and negative correlation with spectrophotometer brightness and taster’s brightness (r= -0.401, P< 0.01). Pages 550-558 | Full Text PDF |
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Pollen morphology of the genus Lathyrus L. (Fabaceae) with emphasis on its systematic implications Ahmet Kahraman, Hüseyin Çildir, Musa Dogan, Fatma Günes, Ferhat Celep Abstract The pollen morphology of 21 taxa of the genus Lathyrus, representing 9 sections Orobus, Lathyrostylis (=Platystylis), Lathyrus (syn. Cicercula), Orobon, Pratensis, Aphaca, Viciopsis, Linearicarpus and Nissolia from Central Anatolia, Turkey was investigated using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The pollen grains of the studied taxa are 3-zonocolporate, spheroidal to prolate and medium to large (P = 28.67-54.32 µm, E = 20.17-52.58 µm). Their outline in the equatorial view is quadratic-obtuse-emarginate in L. tukhtensis, L. cilicicus and L. inconspicuus var. inconspicuus or elliptical to rectangular-obtuse-convex in the other taxa, and in the polar view it is circular, triangular or quinquangular-obtuse-convex. The surface ornamentation of the mesocolpium varies from obscurely reticulate-perforate in L. incurvus, L. brachypterus, L. armeus and L. hirsutus; perforate in L. tukhtensis and L. cilicicus; reticulate-granulate in L. cicera; perforate-granulate in L. inconspicuus var. inconspicuus to finely reticulate-perforate in the rest of the taxa. The apocolpium and colpus area are psilate or perforate in all taxa except L. chloranthus, which exhibits the finely reticulate-perforate pattern. The findings of the study reveal that pollen morphological characters such as the surface sculpturing type, pollen size, shape and outline in equatorial view are mostly useful in distinguishing the studied taxa, but they do not provide strong evidence for the infrageneric delimitation of the genus. Pages 559-566 | Full Text PDF |
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In vitro selection and characterization of water stress tolerant lines among ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS) induced variants of banana (Musa spp., with AAA genome) Siamak Shirani Bidabadi, Sariah Meon, Zakaria Wahab, Sreeramanan Subramaniam, Maziah Mahmood Abstract Water stress enforces a serious threat to banana productivity. Therefore, the attempts to develop tolerant lines are of massive worth to increase cop productivity. To develop an efficient in vitro screening of banana for water stress tolerance, twelve EMS - induced variants derived from cultivars; ‘Berangan Intan’ and ‘Berangan’ involving shoot tips were subjected to a stepwise selection procedure contained three levels (10, 20 and 30 g L-1) of PEG induced water stress. Water stress adversely affected fresh weight increase, shoot vigour and multiplication rate. However, L2-5 on the medium fortified with 30 g L-1 PEG, had significantly the greatest fresh weight increase (1.85 ± 0.18 g) while the parental lines (L1-1 and L2-1) exhibited the lowest fresh weight increase (0.29 ± 0.08 and 0.28 ± 0.1 g, respectively). Higher proliferation rate was observed with L2-5 and L1-5 followed by L2-4, L1-4 and L2-6.at each stress level. Proline content was increased noticeably in L2-5 and L1-5 followed by L1-4, L1-6, L2-3, L2-4 and L2-6. A significant decrease in leaf water loss associated with the lessened levels of MDA and H2O2 were recorded with the water stress tolerant lines as compared to susceptible and non - mutated parental lines exposed to PEG. It was concluded that in vitro selection of banana could provide a method for distinguishing the variants for their morphological and physiological responses to water stress whereby L2-5, L1-5, L2-6, L1-6, L1-4 and L2-3 demonstrated better tolerance against water deficit than the rest and control plants. Pages 567-575 | Full Text PDF |