Adaptation of endemic mediterranean Sternbergia candida Mathew Et T. Baytop in the continental climate of central anatolia

Sternbergia candida is an important endemic bulbous plant with beautiful white flowers. It grows on the rock slopes of Baba mountains under Lebanon Cedars in the Mugla province of Turkey with Mediterranean climate. The plant is vulnerable and endangered due to illegal collection for local and foreign flower industry. Fast developing tourism industry and rapid urbanization has also shown negative implications on its population. The study reports three years successful adaptation results of S. candida in the continental climate of Ankara in the Central Anatolia. Four groups of bulbs based on diameter (>2.45, 2.15–2.44, 1.85–2.14 and <1.84 cm) were collected from its natural habitat during March, April and May 1998 and were evaluated for frequency (%) of emergence, mean number of leaves per plant, mean plant height, frequency (%) of flowering, frequency (%) of fruit setting. mean number of bulbs per plant, and mean diameter (cm) of regenerated bulbs. All categories of bulbs could be multiplied and adapted successfully with variable frequency of fruit setting. However, the highest fruit set was recorded from 2.15–2.44 cm April collected bulbs. This indicated that the bulb diameter and collection time had clear implications on multiplication, propagation and adaptation of the plant.     

Computer aided data acquisition tool for high-throughput phenotyping of plant populations

Background  

The data generated during a course of a biological experiment/study can be sometimes be massive and its management becomes quite critical for the success of the investigation undertaken. The accumulation and analysis of such large datasets often becomes tedious for biologists and lab technicians. Most of the current phenotype data acquisition management systems do not cater to the specialized needs of large-scale data analysis. The successful application of genomic tools/strategies to introduce desired traits in plants requires extensive and precise phenotyping of plant populations or gene bank material, thus necessitating an efficient data acquisition system.     

Peroxidase gene-based estimation of genetic relationships and population structure among Citrus spp. and their relatives

Many stress-related interactions such as pathogen infection, insect tolerance, salt tolerance, auxin degradation, cell wall lignification, tissue suberization, and plant senescence involve various isoforms of peroxidases. Peroxidase gene polymorphism (POGP) markers have been used to estimate diversity, relationships and population structure among 80 Citrus and their relatives in Aurantioideae by using unweighted pair group method arithmetic average (UPGMA) and bayesian substructuring analysis. Fourteen primers produced a total of 148 fragments and 147 of them were polymorphic. The UPGMA analysis demonstrated that the accessions had a similarity range from 0.27 to 0.98 and were distinguished. The results of this study were mostly consistent with previous reports of different marker systems, but few different findings were also detected. The subtribe Clauseninae (tribe Clauseneae) did not clearly separate from the subtribes of the tribe Citreae. Substructuring analysis indicated that there were six subpopulations among the accessions studied. This study revealed that the POGP markers can be utilized to estimate genetic diversity, relationships and population structure in Citrus and related species in the Aurantioideae subfamily.     

机采棉花品种AW05特性及栽培技术要点

AW05在新疆南疆早中熟机采棉模式下生育期133 d左右,植株呈塔形,Ⅱ式果枝,棉铃卵圆形,单株结铃7.0个,铃重5.9 g。2016－2017年新疆维吾尔自治区早中熟机采棉区域试验中,2年平均籽棉、皮棉和霜前皮棉产量分别为6 550.5 kg·hm^－2、2 769.0 kg·hm^－2、2 739.0 kg·hm^－2;2年平均纤维上半部平均长度32.8 mm,断裂比强度32.5 cN·tex^－1,马克隆值4.2;高抗枯萎病,耐黄萎病。简要介绍了AW05的选育过程、生物学特性、产量、纤维品质、抗病性及栽培技术要点。     

Antibody seroprevalences against Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) virus in sheep and goats in Sudan

Counter immnuo-electrophoresis (CIEP) and Competitive ELISA (C-ELISA) tests were employed for seroprevalence of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) infection in Sudan. The result of both tests showed high prevalence of PPRV antibodies in sheep and goats sera collected from six different regions of Sudan. Of the 519 serum samples examined for the presence of PPRV antibodies 307(59.15%) were positive by CIEP while 263(50.67%) were positive by C-ELISA. CIEP technique was shown to be more sensitive than C-ELISA technique for detection of PPRV antibodies (Kappa statistics 0.259). C-ELISA allowed rapid, simple, specific, sensitive and differential sero-diagnosis of PPRV and RPV in sheep, goats and cattle. CIEP is, unlike competitive ELISA, is group-specific test and can not differentiate between PPR and RP infections. Despite its low specificity CIEP can be a useful indicative screening test for PPRV antibodies in flocks that neither been vaccinated nor otherwise exposed to PPR or RP virus. Results obtained suggest that CIEP, like the HI test, could be a useful screening test where it is not possible to use C-ELISA.     

Chemical and flavour changes in jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) cultivar J3 during ripening

Chemical composition (titratable acidity, moisture content, crude fibre, colour, pH, soluble solids, sugars, organic acids) and flavour changes during ripening of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) cultivar J3 were evaluated. Significant (p < 0.05) changes in titratable acidity and colour was obtained, but no significant changes were found in moisture and crude fiber contents during ripening. Total soluble solids and total sugars increased significantly (p < 0.05) throughout the ripening process. Total soluble solids at the top portion of the fruit were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than middle and bottom portions of the same fruit. A high content of malic acid was found in unripe fruit (day 1). In contrast, ripened fruit (days 5 and 6) contained a high amount of citric acid. Overall, the total amount of organic acids was found to decrease from the early to later stage of ripening. A total of 23 volatile compounds were tentatively identified by GC and GC–MS. The number of peaks was observed to increase throughout the ripening process. In this study, data obtained suggest that the ripening process of jackfruit was at its optimum at day 5 after harvest.     

Effect of carbonate in clay fraction on fixation of zinc

The results indicate that CaCO3 in the clay fraction of Egytian soils has a greater affinity for Zn than silicate clay. Moreover, in the presence of carbonate, Zn was retained more tightly to form complexes hard to be extracted and, thus, relatively unavailable for plant uptake. Therefore, CaCO, plays an important role in zinc deficiency which is commonly found in calcareous soils.     

Effect of maturity on chlorophyll, tannin, color, and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity of sugarcane juice (Saccharum officinarum Var. Yellow Cane)

A study was conducted to determine the effect of sugarcane maturation on the contents of chlorophyll, tannin, and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity and on color change of sugarcane juice. The maturation period of the cane studied was between 3 and 10 months after planting. Different parts of the cane, namely, the top, middle, and bottom portions, were analyzed. Results obtained indicated that there were significant (P < 0.01) decreases in total chlorophyll a and b and tannin contents during maturity followed by slower rates of decrease of both parameters at the end of maturity stages. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in chlorophyll and tannin contents between the middle and bottom portions. On the other hand, the top portion of the stem had a significantly (P < 0.01) lower concentration of chlorophyll and a significantly (P < 0.01) higher content of tannin. PPO activity of sugarcane juice was determined using chlorogenic acid as a substrate. There was a highly significant difference (P < 0.01) in PPO activity of cane juice during maturity. PPO activity was high at the early development stage, decreased during maturation, and then remained relatively constant at the end of maturity. PPO activity was higher when chlorogenic acid was used as substrate. There were also significant differences (P < 0.01) in juice color (L*, a*, b* values) from different portions at different maturity stages. At the early stages, the color of extracted juice was dark, and then the juice turned to yellowish green during maturity. The decrease in green color or the increase in the yellow color could be associated with the decline in chlorophyll. The overall color change (DeltaE) at maturity indicated that the color of the middle and bottom portions was lower than that of the top portion.