Effects of foliar selenium application on some physiological and phytochemical parameters of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Sultana under salt stress

Abstract

In this research the effect of foliar application of selenium (Se) at four levels (Na₂OSe₄; 0, 5, 10 and 20?mg L^?1) was evaluated on some phytochemical characteristics of Sultana grapevine under different salinity levels (NaCl; 0 or 75?mM). The vines were fed twice a week with Hoagland nutrient solution and Se was foliar applied twice with 24 intervals. During growing period, plant height, leaf number and leaf area were recorded. Moreover, at the end of experiment, mature leaves from middle nods of canes were used for measurement of some phytochemical indices. According to results, Se application had a positive effect on plant height, leaf numbers, leaf area and photosynthetic pigments content especially at 5?mg L^?1 and to some extent 10?mg L^?1 Se levels. Under salinity stress, foliar application of Se at 5?mg L^?1 considerably decreased vines leaves electrolyte leakage and lipid peroxidation values compared to non se-treated plants under salinity stress condition. Selenium had an additive effect on salinity stress (75?mM NaCl) induced accumulation of total phenol, total flavonoid, soluble sugars and proline content in leave of vines. Moreover, the interaction of salinity and Se at 5 and 10?mg L^?1 improved leaves antioxidant enzymes activities in Sultana grapevine. Likewise, foliar application of Se improved leaf mineral content in 75?mM NaCl -treated vines. Totally, foliar application of selenium (Se at 5 or 10?mg L^?1) increased salt tolerance through improvement in nutritional balance and by enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity in grapevine leaves.     

Postharvest application of gum arabic and essential oils for controlling anthracnose and quality of banana and papaya during cold storage

Management of anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum spp. is the most important issue for the tropical fruit industry because of resulting financial losses. Antifungal effects of gum arabic (GA) (10%), lemongrass oil (LG) (0.05%), cinnamon oil (CM) (0.4%), and their combinations were investigated in vitro and in vivo for controlling postharvest anthracnose of banana and papaya. LG at 0.05% and 0.4% CM showed fungicidal effects against Colletotrichum musae and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, causal organisms of banana and papaya anthracnose, respectively. GA alone did not show any fungicidal effects while the combination of 0.05% LG and 0.4% CM with Ten percent GA alone showed more fungicidal effects. However, potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium modified with 10% GA combined with 0.4% CM showed the most promising results among all treatments against C. musae and C. gloeosporioides in suppressing the mycelial growth (73.4%) and (70.0%) and spore germination inhibition (88%) and (85%), respectively. In vivo studies also revealed that 10% GA combined with 0.4% CM was the optimal concentration in controlling decay (80%) and (71%), showing a synergistic effect in the reduction of C. musae and C. gloeosporioides, respectively, in artificially inoculated bananas and papayas. The results regarding quality evaluation also confirmed the efficacy of 10% GA combined with 0.4% CM coatings since ripening was significantly delayed, in terms of percentage weight loss, fruit firmness, soluble solids concentration and titratable acidity. The results suggest the possibility of using 10% gum arabic combined with 0.4% cinnamon oil as a biofungicide for controlling postharvest anthracnose in major tropical fruit such as banana and papaya.     

Effect of Combination Therapy Using Hypothermia and Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor in a Rat Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Model

Background: Stroke is the third leading cause of death. Hypothermia has been recognized as an effective method in reducing brain injury. In this study, we assessed the effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) as a neuroprotective agent and mild hypothermia on mortality, behavioral function, infarct volume, and brain edema in Wistar rats. Methods: Forty male rats were used in five groups (eight rats in each group): control, hypothermy, G-CSF, combination hypothermy + CSF, and sham. Rats were anesthetized by injection of chloral hydrate (400 mg/kg) intraperitoneally. Transient cerebral ischemia was induced by 60-min intraluminal occlusion of left middle cerebral artery. Hypothermia, initiated at the time of reperfusion and G-CSF was started one hour after reperfusion at a dose of 15 mg/kg subcutaneously. The motor behavior was measured using Garcia’s index and animals were assigned for the assessments of infarction, brain swelling, and mortality rate. Results: The mortality was 38.46% (control group) and reduced in other groups. Neurological deficit score of control group (40.31 ± 1.56) was significantly lower than in treatment groups. The total cerebral infarct volume of treatment group was significantly lower than control group (43.96 ± 44.05 mm³). Treatment with hypothermy plus G-CSF (2.69 ± 0.24%) could significantly reduce brain swelling volume than other treatment groups. Conclusion: Our major finding is that mild hypothermic treatment plus G-CSF significantly reduced mortality rate and edema and improved neurological function. The results suggest that the combination of hypothermia and G-CSF is more effectively than other treatment groups being used alone. Key Words: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), Rats, Brain ischemia, Hypothermia     

Comparative in vitro study of the intestinal absorption of titanium and iron in rats

Rat Everted Gut Sac (EGS) model was employed to study the intestinal uptake of titanium and iron. Incubation of freshly prepared rat EGS in Earle's medium pH = 7.4 containing titanium showed that the absorption of titanium as well as iron was a dose dependent process. Ascorbic acid enhanced the absorption of both metal ions, while NaF (1 mM) as an inhibitor of glycolytic energy supply, decreased their absorption. The Na+-K+ ATPase inhibitor, ouabain (1 mM) reduced intestinal absorption of Titanium. This suggests that titanium uptake is an active transport process as is iron uptake. Iron absorption was reduced approximate by 17% when titanium was presented to incubation medium EGS whereas, the absorption of titanium was decreased by 35% when iron was added to the reaction mixture.     

Genetic diversity and population structure of diverse Iranian Nepeta L. taxa

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - In the present study, we utilized ISSR molecular markers to investigate infraspecific and infrageneric genetic variations in 34 populations from 25 Nepeta L....     

Accumulation and remobilization of assimilates in different genotypes of durum wheat under terminal drought stress

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - The present research was conducted to examine the accumulation and remobilization of some promising lines of durum wheat assimilates using a randomized...     

In vitro antifungal activities of Allium cepa, Allium sativum and ketoconazole against some pathogenic yeasts and dermatophytes

By using an agar dilution assay, the antifungal activity of aqueous extracts prepared from Allium cepa (onion; AOE) and Allium sativum (garlic; AGE) were evaluated against Malassezia furfur (25 strains), Candida albicans (18 strains), other Candida sp. (12 strains) as well as 35 strains of various dermatophyte species and compared with the activity of a known antifungal drug, ketoconazole (KTZ). All the AOE, AGE and KTZ were found to be able to inhibit growth of all fungi tested in a dose-dependent manner with maximum of 100% at defined concentrations. The results indicate that onion and garlic might be promising in treatment of fungal-associated diseases from important pathogenic genera Candida, Malassezia and the dermatophytes.     

Comparative effectiveness of different infiltration models in estimation of watershed flood hydrograph

The present study aims to evaluate performance of different infiltration models, namely initial and constant rate, soil conservation service (SCS) curve number and Green–Ampt in simulation of flood hydrographs for the small-sized Amameh Watershed, Iran. To achieve the study purpose, the infiltration rates were measured using rainfall simulator in work units acquired through overlaying topography, land use, drainage network and soil hydrologic group maps. All parameters of the study infiltration models were determined with the help of the Infilt. software package. The performances of the models in simulation of the observed output hydrographs from the entire watershed were ultimately evaluated for 28 rainfall–runoff events in the HEC-HMS environment. The different components of the observed and estimated hydrographs including time to peak, runoff volume, peak discharge, discharge values and peak time deviation were compared using relative error (RE), coefficient of determination (R²), peak-weighted root mean square error (PWRMSE) and Nash–Sutcliffe (NS) criteria. The general performance of estimations was also qualitatively assessed using scatter plot and distribution of study variables around standard lines of 1:1 slope. The results revealed that the SCS infiltration model with PWRMSE = 0.61 m³ s^?1 and NS = 0.53 performed better than initial and constant rate model with PWRMSE = 1.1 m³ s^?1 and NS = 0.54, and Green Ampt model with PWRMSE = 1.35 m³ s^?1 and NS = 0.29 in estimation of flood hydrograph for the Amameh Watershed.     

Interaction study of biochar with phosphate-solubilizing bacterium on phosphorus availability in calcareous soil

A large proportion of phosphate fertilizer applied to calcareous soils reacts with calcium. Changes in soil phosphorus (P) availability after single application of biochar and phosphate-solubilizing bacteria have been reported. However, interaction of biochar (increasing soil pH) and phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (decreasing soil pH) on P availability in calcareous soil is not well known. An incubation experiment was conducted to study how the interactive effects of biochars (produced from wheat straw and cow manure at 300°C and 500°C with residence time of 1, 3 and 6 h) at different rates (0, 5 and 10 t ha^?1) and phosphate-solubilizing Pseudomonas sp. IS8b2 affected on content of soil available P after 0, 60, 120 and 180 days of incubation (DOI) in a calcareous soil. After 60 DOI, the maximum value of available P (50.31 mg kg^?1) was observed in the compound treatment of Pseudomonas sp. IS8b2 and wheat straw biochar (10 t ha^?1) produced at 500°C with residence time of 3 h. We conclude that the combination use of wheat straw biochar and phosphate-solubilizing bacterium is promising to potentially improve soil P availability in calcareous soil, but further research at field scale is needed to confirm this.     

Potential of blended organic acids to improve performance and health of broilers infected with necrotic enteritis

Organic acids (OA) and their blends have been shown to positively affect performance and health of broilers. However, the data in the literature are not consistent. This study examined the potential of blended short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) with medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) as alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) on performance, health and welfare of broilers infected with necrotic enteritis (NE). The additives used were: A) a blend of SCFA, MCFA, and a phenolic compound (SMP); B) a blend of free and buffered SCFA with MCFA (SMF); C) a blend of free and buffered SCFA with a high concentration of MCFA (SHM). A total of 1,404 Ross 308 one-day-old male parental chicks were randomly distributed into 78-floor pens with 13 replicates of 18 birds each. Six treatments were the following: T1, unchallenged control (UCC); T2, challenged control (CHC); T3, challenged group plus zinc bacitracin (BAC); T4, challenged group plus additive SMP; T5, challenged group plus additive SMF; T6, challenged group plus additive SHM. Challenged birds were gavaged with Eimeria spp. on d 9 and Clostridium perfringens EHE-NE18 on d 14. Post NE challenge and cumulatively, BWG, FCR, and nutrient digestibility of birds were compromised (P < 0.05) by NE challenge indicating a successful induction of sub-clinical NE. Additive SHM had higher BWG compared to CHC and BAC groups (P = 0.001; d 10 to 24) but not different from SMP and SMF groups (P > 0.05). All the 3 additive groups had lower FCR compared to CHC (P = 0.001; d 0 to 35), and exhibited similar jejunal lesions (d 16) compared to BAC and apparent ileal protein digestibility (d 21) compared to UCC and BAC groups (P > 0.05). Birds in additive SHM group had a higher concentration of serum IgA compared to all groups (P = 0.001) except additive SMF (P > 0.05; d 21). All the additive groups had lower footpad dermatitis and hock burns compared to CHC (P < 0.05). The findings suggest the potential of blended OA as alternatives to BAC to protect broilers from NE indicated by improved FCR, immunity, digestibility, and bird welfare.