Evaluating the performance of mungbean genotypes for grain yield,phosphorus accumulation and utilization efficiency

Ten mungbean (Vigna radiata R. Wilczek) genotypes were evaluated for grain yield and phosphorus (P) efficiency at adequate and deficient P in soil. Genotypes differed significantly in plant height, grain yield, P accumulation (PA), and other P-efficiency parameters at both P levels. The genotype “AEM-40/30” had maximum plant height, grain yield, and phosphorus physiological efficiency index (PPEI) under P deficiency. The genotypes were distributed into nine groups based on their relationship between total PA and grain yield at deficient P level. Moreover, genotypes were categorized into low, medium, or high efficient for each parameter by allotting index score (1, 2, or 3). Maximum cumulative index score (25) was attained by the genotypes “AEM-40/30 and AEM-20/3/87”, and genotype “AEM-30/5/8/90” scored least total index (14). The significant differences among mungbean genotypes for PA, phosphorus harvest index (PHI), PPEI, and grain yield can be exploited to select or identify P-efficient mungbean genotypes.     

Significance of sulfur in heat stressed cluster bean (Cymopsis tetragonoloba L. Taub) genotypes: responses of growth,sugar and antioxidative metabolism

A sand culture experiment was carried out to study the effects of sulfur deprivation on heat stress tolerance of two cluster bean (Cymopsis tetragonoloba L. Taub) cultivars (GC-1 and Pusa Nau Bahar (PNB)). Three weeks old sulfur-starved and sulfur-supplemented plants were subjected to heat stress (45°C/35°C) treatment for 24 h. Total dry weight, chlorophyll content, Chlorophyll a:b ratio, electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation, H₂O₂ content, sugar, glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P), fructose-6-phosphate (F-6-P), ascorbate and glutathione concentrations and antioxidant enzyme activity (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)) were monitored, at the end of the heat stress treatment. Heat stress enhanced and sulfur starvation depleted the contents of sugar metabolites, but the accumulation of sugar, G-6-P and F-6-P were not related with heat stress tolerance. Antioxidant enzyme activities of SOD and CAT were influenced significantly more by sulfur starvation than heat stress. The results showed that under heat stress, the addition of sulfur helps to mitigate the oxidative damage in both the cultivars. However, GC-1 was more heat tolerant as it was characterized by significantly higher total dry weight, chlorophyll content, ascorbate and glutathione content and lower H₂O₂, MDA, electrolyte leakage than PNB.     

Effects of drip irrigation regimes on potato tuber yield and quality

To evaluate the effects of drip irrigation regimes on potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tuber yield and quality, an experiment was conducted in 2009 and 2010. Experimental factors were the irrigation regimes including: FI, providing 100% of the water requirement of potato; IR1, providing 70% of the water requirement of potato by reducing the applied irrigation water between planting and tuber initiation by 30%; and IR2, providing 70% of the water requirement of potato by reducing the applied irrigation water during the whole growing season by 30%; and three potato cultivars Agria, Almera and Sinora. The results indicated that cultivars Agria and Almera were much better than Sinora in terms of tuber yield under all irrigation regimes. For Agria and Almera, the experiments show that the full irrigation regime had the highest yield and water productivity. For Sinora, however, deficit irrigation yields higher water productivity than the full irrigation regime. Consequently, deficit irrigation IR1 and IR2 should be applied to Sinora, but not to Agria and Almera.     

Biosorption of Chromium (III) and Chromium (VI) by Untreated and Pretreated Cassia fistula Biomass from Aqueous Solutions

The present study explained the effect of pretreatments on the biosorption of Cr (III) and Cr (VI) by Cassia fistula biomass from aqueous solutions. For this purpose Cassia fistula biomass was pretreated physically by heating, autoclaving, boiling and chemically with sodium hydroxide, formaldehyde, gluteraldehyde, acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, commercial laundry detergent, orthophosphoric, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, and hydrochloric acid. The adsorption capacity of biomass for Cr (III) and Cr (VI) was found to be significantly improved by the treatments of gluteraldehyde (95.41 and 96.21 mg/g) and benzene (85.71 and 90.81 mg/g) respectively. The adsorption capacity was found to depend on pH, initial metal concentration, dose, size, kinetics, and temperature. Maximum adsorption of both the Cr (III) and Cr (VI) was observed at pH 5 and 2. When Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms were tested, the latter had a better fit with the experimental data. The kinetic studies showed that the sorption rates could be described better by a second order expression than by a more commonly applied Lagergren equation.     

The rise of the rhizosolenid diatoms

The 18S ribosomal DNA molecular phylogeny and lipid composition of over 120 marine diatoms showed that the capability to biosynthesize highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes is restricted to two specific phylogenetic clusters, which independently evolved in centric and pennate diatoms. The molecular record of C25 HBI chemical fossils in a large suite of well-dated marine sediments and petroleum revealed that the older cluster, composed of rhizosolenid diatoms, evolved 91.5 +/- 1.5 million years ago (Upper Turonian), enabling an accurate dating of the pace of diatom evolution that is unprecedented. The rapid rise of the rhizosolenid diatoms probably resulted from a major reorganization of the nutrient budget in the mid-Cretaceous oceans, triggered by plate tectonics.     

Effect of oral administration of fenitrothion on biochemical and hematological parameters in rats

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of acute exposure to various doses of fenitrothion (FNT) on level of serum glucose, total protein, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and some hematological parameters. The study was conducted on 8-week-old male Wistar rats that divided into four groups (three experimental groups and one control group), were treated orally with different doses (25, 50 and 100 mg kg(-1)) of fenitrothion for 28 consecutive day. After treatment, blood samples were collected for biochemical and hematological studies. Present results demonstrated that exposed groups led to significant dose-dependent increase in serum glucose and cholesterol levels. Significant decrease was observed in some hematological parameters [Red Blood Cell (RBC) counts, Hemoglobin (Hb), Haematocrite (Ht) and Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH) values]. Serum total protein and triglycerides were also decreased not significantly in exposed groups when compared with control. Generally, the degrees of observed variations were found to be dose dependent.     

Quantitative Assessment of Proliferative Effects of Oral Vanadium on Pancreatic Islet Volumes and Beta?Cell Numbers of Diabetic Rats

Background:

Oral vanadyl sulfate (vanadium) induces normoglycemia, proliferates beta cells and prevents pancreatic islet atrophy in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Soteriological method is used to quantitate the proliferative effects of vanadium on beta-cell numbers and islet volumes of normal and diabetic rats.

Methods:

Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were made diabetic with intravenous streptozotocin injection (40 mg/kg). Normal and diabetic rats were divided into four groups. While control normal and diabetic (CD) groups used water, vanadium-treated normal (VTN) and diabetic (VTD) groups used solutions containing vanadyl sulfate (0.5-1 mg/mL, VOSO₄+5H₂O). Tail blood samples were used to measure blood glucose (BG) and plasma insulin. Two months after treatment, rats were sacrificed, pancreata prepared, and stereology method was used to quantitatively evaluate total beta cell numbers (TBCN) and total islet volumes (TISVOL).

Results:

Normoglycemia persisted in VTN with significantly decreased plasma insulin (0.190.08 vs. 0.970.27 ng/dL, P<0.002). The respective high BG (53249 vs. 14446 mg/dL, P<0.0001) and reduced plasma insulin (0.260.15 vs. 0.540.19 ng/dL, P<0.002) seen in CD were reversed in VTD during vanadium treatment or withdrawal. While the induction of diabetes, compared to their control, significantly decreased TISVOL (1.90.2 vs. 3.030.6 mm³, P<0.003) and TBCN (0.990.1 vs. 3.20.2 x 10⁶, P<0.003), vanadium treatment significantly increased TISVOL (2.90.8 and 4.071.0 mm³, P<0.003) and TBCN (1.50.3 and 3.80.6 x 10⁶, P<0.03).

Conclusion:

Two-month oral vanadium therapy in STZ-diabetic rats ameliorated hyperglycemia by partially restoring plasma insulin. This action was through proliferative actions of vanadium in preventing islet atrophy by increasing beta-cell numbers.Key Words: Vanadium, Pancreas, Islet volumes, Rats     

Surface drainage nitrate loading estimate from agriculture fields and its relationship with landscape metrics in Tajan watershed

Pasture, forest, and farmland are the dominant land covers in the Tajan River watershed and this landscape status has a direct connection with nitrate pollution. Understanding the correlations between landscape variables and nitrate pollutant is a priority in order to assess pollutants loading and predicting the impact on surface water quality. The soil and water assessment tool was used to simulate nitrate loads in different land cover types in different years. The landscape pattern was calculated by FRAGSTATS. The contributing share of each land use/land cover shows nitrate pollutant produced by grassland (5.7%) and forest (29%) are less than those produced by agricultural land (64.2%). Agricultural land was identified as the main source of nitrate pollution. Paddy fields and orchards had the most intensive soluble nitrate loss especially in spring and summer. Statistical analysis indicated that nitrate was positively associated with patch density, edge density, patch number, total edge, effective mesh size, largest patch index, and landscape shape index (p ≤ 0.01). We then analyzed how nitrate was related to landscape attributes in six different sites. Also the regression analysis results suggested that landscape metrics could account for more than 94% of the variance of nitrate in the whole catchment. The regression models confirmed the great importance of the agriculture metrics and forest metric in predicting nitrate in watershed. Defining the generation and extent of pollution in this particular watershed which discharges into the Caspian Sea can constitute an important step toward protecting this ecosystem.     

A bioplastic-based seed coating improves seedling growth and reduces production of coated seed dust

Although recently introduced, film-coating of agronomic seeds is now widely accepted in modern agriculture as an effective technology for protecting germinating seeds and seedlings. These experiments explored the possibility of using a bioplastic-based formulation to film-coat corn (maize; Zea mays L.) and canola (Brassica napus L.) seeds, alone and in combination with synthetic pesticides and plant growth-promoting bacteria. The thin bioplastic coat did not affect percent germination or seedling growth. However, incorporating spores of the plant growth-promoting bacterium Bacillus subtilis QST 713 into the bioplastic matrix resulted in a greater elongation of corn and canola seedlings than that of seedlings from untreated seeds. Specifically, stems and roots of seedlings that germinated from corn seeds coated with bioplastic containing spores were 18.0% and 21.4% longer, respectively, than stems and roots from uncoated control seeds. In canola seeds, these values were 19.9% and 20.9% higher for stem and roots, respectively. Incorporating a neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid, and a fungicide, pyraclostrobin, into bioplastic coatings, along with B. subtilis spores, provided results comparable to spores and bioplastic alone. Coated seeds were also evaluated for their potential to generate dust after abrasion testing, using a novel image-based method made possible because seed coatings are typically artificially colored. Abraded seed coat fragments are consequently easily detectable with conventional optical instruments. Corn and canola seeds coated with bioplastic released up to 86.1% and 97.6% less dust during abrasive handling than seeds coated with a commercial seed coating matrix measured by the optical approach described here.     

Controlling the Properties of OPEFB/PLA Polymer Composite by Using Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> for Microwave Applications

Microwave-absorptive polymer composite materials provide protection against interference to communication systems caused by microwave-inducing devices. Microwave-absorptive polymer composites were prepared from polylactic acid (PLA) biocomposite blended with oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fiber and commercial Iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) as filler using the melt-blending method. The composites characterization was carried out using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. The coefficient of reflection S₁₁ and coefficient of transmission S₂₁ of the composites for various Fe₂O₃ filler percentages were determined using a rectangular waveguide in connection with microwave vector network analyser (HP/Agilent model PNA N5227). These coefficients were then used to calculate microwave-absorption properties (in decibels). XRD analysis showed that increasing amounts of reinforced material (Fe₂O₃) reduces the crystallinity of the composites. SEM data indicated that Fe₂O₃ filler ratio increased in the composites, and adhesion to the cellulose fiber grew gradually until the highest percentage of filler was added. The complex relative permittivity and relative permeability were obtained within the broad frequency range of 8–12 GHz at room temperature for various percentages of filler and were measured by the transmission/reflection method using a vector network analyser. Fe₂O₃ embedment in OPEFB/PLA was observed to have resulted in enhancing the dielectric and magnetic properties. The values of permittivity and permeability increased with increasing Fe₂O₃ filler content. Theoretical simulation studied the relation between ε′ and ε″ of the relative complex permittivity in terms of Cole-Cole dispersion law. The result indicated that the processes of Debye relaxation in Fe₂O₃/OPEFB/PLA, the unique dielectric characteristics of Fe₂O₃ cannot be accounted for by both the Debye dipolar relaxation and natural resonance. Results further showed that the material transmission, reflection, and absorption properties could be controlled by changing the percentage of Fe₂O₃ filler in the composites.