Characterization of Egyptian <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phytophthora infestans</Emphasis> population using simple sequence repeat markers

The plant pathogenic oomycete, Phytophthora infestans, is the causal agent of late blight disease in tomato and potato. For characterizing Egyptian P. infestans isolates by DNA marker analysis, 40 isolates of P. infestans were collected from different locations in Egypt during two growing seasons (2012/2013 and 2013/2014). The 40 isolates were grouped into seven genotypes, in which 24 alleles were detected. The identified genotypes were not completely associated with geographic location and sample collection years. These results provide genetic and geographical information for developing a program to manage late blight disease.     

Comparative Studies on the Role of Organic Biostimulant in Resistant and Susceptible Cultivars of Rice Grown under Saline Stress - Organic Biostimulant Alleviate Saline Stress in Tolerant and Susceptible Cultivars of Rice

Plants are sessile organisms that experience various abiotic stresses during their lifespan and try to adapt to these environmental stresses by manipulating their physiological, biochemical, cellular, and molecular mechanisms. Salinity is one of the important abiotic stress that affects the metabolism and physiology of plant cells that leads to serious damage to crops and productivity. We investigated the response of two contrasting (salt susceptible and tolerant) cultivars during saline stress by modulating its effect with the application of an important natural biostimulant panchagavya (PG). The results showed that the salinity stress greatly influenced and negatively affects the plant growth, biochemical attributes, and induces the expression of various genes in both cultivars. Furthermore, we assessed the effect of PG alone and by amending with NaCl to alleviate the saline stress which showed a significant enhancement of biochemical and physiological characteristics in both cultivars. Furthermore, we assessed the response of seven autophagy associated gene (ATG1, ATG3, ATG4, ATG6, ATG7, ATG8, and ATG9), BAX Inhibitor -1 (BI-1), Mitogen activated Protein Kinase–1 (MAPK-1), WRKY53, Catalase -1 (CAT-1), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), and Glutathione Peroxidase (GPX) genes in rice that displayed the differential expression pattern during saline stress in both cultivars. We concluded that saline stress can be manipulated by the application of PG and positively regulate the physiological, biochemical, and gene expression response in salt-susceptible and -tolerant rice cultivars. Furthermore, the current study also suggested that salinity is a mutifactorial and multigenic response. Autophagy and programmed cell death regulated along with salinity and was helpful in adapting the tolerance against the stress condition.     

Soil impact and radiation dose to native plants in forest ecosystem

A radiation dose assessment model was applied to determine naturally occurring radionuclides ²³⁸U, ²¹⁰Po and ²³²Th in trees like Elaeocarpus oblongus, Evodia roxburghiana (Juice of the leaves that are used to treat fever), Vaccinium neilgherrense, Viburnum hebanthum and Michelia nilagirica and shrubs like Lasianthus coffeoiaes and Hedyotis stylosa in the agroforests of the Western Ghats, India and these areas were used for different agroforestry models of land development systems. The concentration of radionuclides in the biota and corresponding soil was measured using a gamma ray spectrometer and an alpha counter. The concentration ratios of these radionuclides varied substantially between the species, and E. oblongus showed a preferential uptake of all the radionuclides and hence useful for bio-indication of radionuclides in such soils. ERICA assessment tool was employed to provide an assessment of the potential doses to biota’s growing in agro forest E. oblongus appears to be much prone to radiation absorption from the dose risk point of view. The annual effective dose (AED) due to ingestion of these radionuclides in E. roxburghiana was also estimated, and was found to be lower than the world average.     

Morph-physiological responses of cotton interspecific chromosome substitution lines to low temperature and drought stresses

Limited knowledge about genetic and physiological traits associated with drought and low temperature stresses and narrow genetic diversity in Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) are serious impediments in its genetic improvement. The objectives of this research were to determine the genetic and physiological traits associated with drought and low temperature effects and to identify chromosomal effects on these traits using chromosome substitution (CS) lines from three alien species of Gossypium, G. barbadense, G. tomentosum, and G. mustelinum, respectively. Two experiments were conducted to study low temperature and drought stress effects during seedling emergence and early growth stages in 21 cotton CS-lines with parent, Texas Marker (TM)-1. In Experiment I, plants were grown at optimum (30/22 °C) and low (22/14 °C) temperature conditions under optimum water and nutrient conditions. In Experiment II, plants were grown at optimum water (soil moisture content of 0.167 m³ m^?3) and in drought (soil moisture content 0.105 m³ m^?3) conditions under optimum temperature conditions. Above- and below-ground growth traits including several root traits of the CS lines were assessed at 25 days after sowing. The findings suggest which substituted chromosome or chromosome segment from the alien species likely harbors one or more genes for higher and lower tolerance to low temperature, respectively. CS-T04 and CSB08sh showed higher and lower tolerance to low temperature, respectively and CS-T04 and CS-B22sh showed higher and lower tolerance, respectively, to drought. CS lines are valuable analytical tool and useful genetic resources for targeted exploitation of beneficial genes for drought and low temperature stresses in Upland cotton.     

Methodological Approaches toward Chemico-Biological Diagnostics of the State of Soils in Technogenically Transformed Territories

The comprehensive diagnostics of the state of soils in the impact zone of thermal power station (TPS-5) in the city of Kirov was performed on the basis of the soil chemical analyses and the study of biota response to the loads at different organization levels. The chemical analyses attested to a satisfactory state of the soils. However, the use of soil cyanobacteria and bird’s-foot trefoil (Lótus corniculátus) as test objects showed the toxicity of studied soil samples. The toxicity of the samples was judged from the bioindication effects of cyanophytization and melanization of soil microbial complexes. The obtained results demonstrated that at relatively low concentrations of total and mobile heavy metal compounds in the soil samples, their amount released into the tested soil water (1: 4) extract exceeded the limit allowable for normal functioning of living organisms. For the first time, the express cyanobacterial tetrazole-topographic method of biotesting was applied in the geoecological study to estimate the toxicity of the soil samples. The results obtained with the help of traditional and express methods proved to be comparable. The express-method was sufficiently sensitive and efficient. It allowed the determination of the samples' toxicity in five hours, i.e., four to five times faster than the traditional technique. An inverse relationship between the number of viable cells of cyanobacteria (as judged from the inclusion of formazan crystals) and the concentration of lead ions in the tested soil extracts was found. This finding can be considered a prerequisite for further study and application of the express method in the practice of geoecological monitoring. Our study demonstrated the necessity of a comprehensive approach for the assessment of the real ecological state of soils in the investigated impact zone of the thermal power station.     

Root distribution patterns of peanut genotypes with different drought resistance levels under early‐season drought stress

Drought severely limits crop yield of peanut. Yet cultivars with enhanced root development enable the exploration of a greater volume of soil for water and nutrients, helping the plant survive. Root distribution patterns of three genotypes (ICGV 98305, ICGV 98324 and Tifton‐8) were compared when grown in well‐watered rhizoboxes and when grown in rhizoboxes where an early‐season drought was imposed using rain‐exclusion shelters. The treatments were arranged in a completely randomized design with three replications, and the experiment was conducted during two seasons at the Field Crop Research Station of Khon Kaen University, in Khon Kaen, Thailand. The root system of ICGV 98305, when grown under drought, had a significantly higher root length in the 30–110 cm deep soil layers and less roots in the 0–30 cm soil layers when under drought than when grown under well‐watered conditions. Roots of Tifton‐8 had the largest reductions in root length in upper soil layer and reduced in most soil layers. Tifton‐8 grown under drought was smaller than under well‐watered control for all root traits, showing negative response to drought. The peanut genotypes with high root traits in deeper soil layer under early‐season drought might contribute to drought avoidance mechanism.     

Modelling Thermal Diffusivity of Differently Textured Soils

A series of models has been proposed for estimating thermal diffusivity of soils at different water contents. Models have been trained on 49 soil samples with the texture range from sands to silty clays. The bulk density of the studied soils varied from 0.86 to 1.82 g/cm³; the organic carbon was between 0.05 and 6.49%; the physical clay ranged from 1 to 76%. The thermal diffusivity of undisturbed soil cores measured by the unsteady-state method varied from 0.78×10^–7 m²/s for silty clay at the water content of 0.142 cm³/cm³ to 10.09 × 10^–7 m²/s for sand at the water content of 0.138 cm³/cm³. Each experimental curve was described by the four-parameter function proposed earlier. Pedotransfer functions were then developed to estimate the parameters of the thermal diffusivity vs. water content function from data on soil texture, bulk density, and organic carbon. Models were tested on 32 samples not included in the training set. The root mean square errors of the best-performing models were 17–38%. The models using texture data performed better than the model using only data on soil bulk density and organic carbon.     

Seasonal critical concentration and relationships of leaf phosphorus and potassium status with biomass and yield traits of soybean

Analysis of uppermost fully expanded leaves is useful to detect a deficiency of mineral nutrients such as phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in soybean. Although, the leaf P or K status aids in fertilizer management, information on nutrient seasonal relationships with growth and yield traits at maturity are limited. To investigate this, soybean was grown under varying P or K nutrition under ambient and elevated CO₂ concentrations. Results show significant relationships of the relative total biomass and yield‐related traits with the foliar P and K concentrations measured several times in the season across CO₂ levels. However, the relationships established earlier in the season showed that the growth period between 25 and 37 d after planting (DAP), representing the beginning of flowering and pod, respectively, is the best for leaf sampling to determine the foliar P or K status. The leaf P and K status as well as the critical leaf P (CLPC) and K (CLKC) concentrations for traits such as seed yield peaked around 30 DAP (R2 stage) and tended to decline thereafter with the plant age. The CLPC and CLKC of seed yield indicate that the leaf P and K concentration of at least 2.74 mg g^?1 and 19.06 mg g^?1, respectively, in the uppermost fully expanded leaves are needed between 25 and 37 DAP for near‐optimum soybean yield. Moreover, the greatest impact of P and K deficiency occurred for the traits that contribute the most to the soybean yield (e.g., relative total biomass, seed yield, pod and seed numbers), while traits such as seed number per pod, seed size, and shelling percentages were the least affected and showed smaller leaf critical concentration. The CLPC or CLKC for biomass and seed yield was greater under elevated CO₂ 24–25 DAP but varied thereafter. These results are useful to researchers and farmers to understand the dynamics of the relationship of pre‐harvest leaf P and K status with soybean productivity at maturity, and in the determination of suitable growth stage to collect leaf samples.