The First Report of Drought Tolerance Assessment of Iranian Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis is the most economically important species of asparagus worldwide. Commercial cultivars of asparagus are susceptible to some biotic and abiotic stresses. Drought stress is one of the most common stresses in agricultural crops cultivation. The main purpose of the current study was to compare Iranian asparagus accessions drought tolerance rate with that of ‘Mary Washington’ commercial cultivar and introducing superior accessions in terms of dry resistance rate. A factorial experiment was laid out based on a completely randomized design with three replications. The factors were a) asparagus accession in 10 levels including nine wild accessions of Iranian asparagus and ‘Mary Washington’ commercial cultivar (as control) and b) drought stress in four levels including 0 (as control), 5, 10 and 15% (w/v polyethylene glycol). Results showed that highest values of percentage and speed of seed germination and lengths of radicle and plumule were recorded in Gazanak accession. The lowest values of radicle length were recorded in Chalaki and Shiraz accessions (6.19 and 8.01?mm, respectively). Calli of ‘Mary Washington’ cultivar under highest applied level of drought stress showed the lowest value of relative growth rate (11.53?mg/day). Cluster analysis based on assessed characteristics under different applied levels of drought stress, divided Iranian asparagus accessions into four groups at Euclidean distance of 2.0. In conclusion, obtained results showed that Iranian asparagus accessions especially Gazanak accession could be a good candidate to apply in asparagus breeding programs with aim of producing asparagus dry tolerant cultivars.

     

Fabrication of Biocompatible PLGA/PCL/PANI Nanofibrous Scaffolds with Electrical Excitability

Application of electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds has received immense attention in tissue engineering. Fabrication of scaffolds with appropriate electrical properties plays a key role in neural tissue engineering. Since fibers orientation in the scaffolds affects the growth and proliferation of the cells, this study aimed to prepare aligned electrospun conductive nanofibers by mixing 1 %, 10 % and 18 % (w/v) doped polyaniline (PANI) with polycaprolactone (PCL)/poly lactic-coglycolic acid (PLGA) (25/75) solution through the electrospinning process. The fibers diameter, hydrophilicity and conductivity were measured. In addition, the shape and proliferation of the nerve cells seeded on fibers were evaluated by MTT cytotoxicity assay and scanning electron microscopy. The results revealed that the conductive nanofibrous scaffolds were appropriate substrates for the attachment and proliferation of nerve cells. The electrical stimulation enhanced neurite outgrowth compared to those PLGA/PCL/PANI scaffolds that were not subjected to electrical stimulation. As polyaniline ratio increases, electric stimulation through nanofibrous PLGA/PCL/PANI scaffolds results in cell proliferation enhancement. However, a raise more than 10 % in polyaniline will result in cell toxicity. It was concluded that conductive scaffolds with appropriate ratio of PANI along with electrical stimulation have potential applications in treatment of spinal cord injuries.     

Analysis of spatial and temporal risk of agricultural loss due to flooding in paddy farms

Evaluating agricultural loss due to flooding is essential for defining an appropriate risk level in flood management projects. This research introduces a method for computing annual damage risk for rice fields with respect to both spatial and temporal pattern of floods, while considering the effect of crop growth stages on the total damage. For finding the spatial pattern of floods, HEC-RAS was employed to derive selected physical parameters of floods of interest and then a physical loss function was used to calculate the unconditional loss over flood prone areas. A time-dependent loss function was introduced for rice to determine the effect of growth on damages derived through the physical loss function. Due to the seasonal nature of agricultural risk, frequency analysis was performed for seasonal discharges for each growth stage of rice. A method was introduced to use the concept of Expected Annual Damage in agricultural fields. A method called “AGEAD” was introduced for evaluating short-term risk for agricultural activities considering their inherent spatial and temporal characteristics. Results showed that damages evaluated by employing AGEAD were completely different from what was obtained by applying a flood of defined return period, i.e. from the results of long-term risk evaluation. While it is common to attribute a unique predicted loss to all flood prone areas, AGEAD application showed that different zones in flooded paddy fields were subjected to different amount of damages from 100 to 0%.     

Effect of polysaccharides extracts of algae Ulva rigida on growth,antioxidant, immune response and resistance of shrimp,Litopenaeus vannamei against Photobacterium damselae

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of water‐soluble polysaccharides extract of algae Ulva rigida (WPU) as dietary supplement on growth performance, antioxidant enzyme activity, lysozyme and phenoloxidase activity, and resistance of shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) subjected to bacterial infection with Photobacterium damselae. Three replicate groups of shrimp (1.0 g) were fed four diets containing four levels, 0 or control, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 g/kg of WPU for 8 weeks over the growth trial. Thereafter, 30 shrimps from each dietary treatment were infected with bacteria P. damselae to evaluate disease resistance of infected shrimp. The results of this study showed that WPU was effective as a growth promoter for L. vannamei. The best growth rate was observed in shrimp fed 1.5 g/kg of WPU diet. Regarding antioxidant defences, the diets supplemented with three levels of WPU stimulated glutathione peroxidase and catalase activates in experimental shrimps. MDA content of L. vannamei‐fed diet containing WPU 1.5 and WPU 1.0 was lower than WPU 0 and WPU 0. 5 diets. Also, lysozyme and phenoloxidase activities of shrimp receiving WPU at 1.0 and 1.5 level were significantly higher than those fed WPU 0 and WPU 0.5 diets. In addition, using WPU extract in all diets decreased mortality in L. vannamei in a dose‐dependent manner after challenge with P. damselae. These results suggest that incorporation of water‐soluble polysaccharides from green algae U. rigida at 1.5 g/kg doses improves growth and antioxidant activity and enhances the immune responses in shrimp L. vannamei.     

Reducing the build‐up of Plasmodiophora brassicae inoculum by early management of oilseed rape volunteers

Clubroot of oilseed rape (OSR), caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, is a disease of increasing economic importance worldwide. Previous studies indicated that OSR volunteers, Brassica crops and weeds play a critical role in the predisposition of the disease. To determine the effect of timing of foliar application of the herbicide glyphosate or mechanical destruction of OSR volunteers in reduction of clubroot severity and resting spore production, a series of studies was conducted under controlled conditions with a susceptible OSR cultivar and an isolate of P. brassicae. Plants were inoculated by injecting a spore suspension beside the root hairs at growth stage 11–12 (BBCH scale) and were terminated at 7 (early) or 21 (late) days post‐inoculation (dpi). Under controlled conditions, the first symptoms on roots were observed as early as 7 dpi. The early application of glyphosate as well as early mechanical destruction resulted in significant (P ≤ 0.05) reduction in the development of clubroot symptoms, root fresh weight and the number of resting spores?g root. Furthermore, the effect of volunteer management on clubroot severity in the succeeding OSR was studied by inoculating plants with the resting spores obtained from treated clubbed roots. Inoculated OSR exhibited root clubs similar to the initial symptoms after 35 dpi. Plants that were inoculated with spore suspension from early treated roots resulted in significant reductions in clubroot incidence and severity. Conversely, plants inoculated with the spore suspension from the late treated roots displayed levels of clubroot similar to the plants inoculated with the spore solutions of positive controls.     

Variation in pathotypes and virulence of Plasmodiophora brassicae populations in Germany

Between 2012 and 2015, 49 new clubroot‐infested fields were identified in 12 German federal states. Clubroot disease incidence varied within these fields from 22% to 92%. Field information revealed that in 85% of fields, oilseed rape was grown in rotation once every 2 or 3 years. Frequency of OSR in the rotation was significantly correlated with the incidence and prevalence of clubroot disease. The disease was detected in fields with soil pH ranging from 5.1 to 8.3, and a significant negative correlation was found between soil pH and the disease incidence of infested fields. Furthermore, more cases of disease and severe incidences were observed in sandy loam and loamy sand as compared with other soil types. Pathotype classification of the 49 Plasmodiophora brassicae populations was conducted on two differential sets, the European Clubroot Differential set and the set of Somé (1996). Additionally, the degree of virulence of the collected isolates was analysed on the clubroot‐resistant oilseed rape cv. Mendel. The results showed variation in pathotype distribution in different regions in Germany. The majority of isolates according to Somé were pathotypes 1 and 3, respectively, with pathotypes 2 and 5 in the minority. Detailed classification according to Buczacki showed the dominance of 16/31/31, 16/14/30 and 16/14/31 populations among 20 distinct virulence patterns of collected isolates. From all populations tested for virulence on cv. Mendel, 15 isolates were found to be moderately or highly virulent. These virulent populations were not restricted to a small geographical area in the country.     

Application of response surface methodology for evaluating particleboard properties made from cotton stalk particles

High-quality wood resource scarcity as well as population growth and demand of wood have encouraged the use of alternative sources of lignocellulosic materials. In this study, the possibility of producing particleboard from waste cotton stalks is evaluated. The effects of the independent variables included weight ratio of melamine-formaldehyde to urea-formaldehyde, shelling ratio and the percentage of cotton stalks to poplar in the core layer were analyzed in the form of response surface methodology based on second-order multiple linear regression model. The results showed that there was perfect agreement between the estimated values and observed data, as with an increase in the ratio of melamine-formaldehyde resin to urea-formaldehyde, shelling ration and amount of poplar in the core layer of panels, modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity and internal bonding increase. The optimal point of use of investigated variables included 18.30% melamine-formaldehyde, 30.35% thickness of the surface layers and 10.70% of poplar in the core layer.     

Salinity stress on various physiological and biochemical attributes of two distinct maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes

Present study investigates the effect of salinity stress on physiological and biochemical characteristics of two maize genotypes cultivated under controlled growth conditions. The selected maize genotypes being salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive were respectively designated as Sahwal-2002 and Sadaf. The experiment was conducted in triplicates, two varieties, three priming treatments and two salinity levels, in the Government College University, Faisalabad. The antioxidants activity was measured by comparing the tolerance in response to acute and prolonged salinity treatment. The difference of genotype with salinity tolerance as well as seed priming with phenylalanine were not dependent on antioxidant activity when salt exposure was prolonged. The results show that an indirect relationship was present for PAL seed priming and oxidative damage due to salt. The antioxidant enzymes present in plant effectively reduced the oxidative damage of salt and thus, increased the overall crop yield.