Effect of pre-harvest foliar application of amino acids and seaweed (Ascophylum nodosum) extract on growth,yield, and storage life of different bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivars grown under hydroponic conditions

The study was set up to evaluate the efficiency of amino acids and seaweed on vegetative growth, reproductive phase, yield, and postharvest storage quality of hydroponically grown bell pepper cultivars “Sven Rz F-1” and “Red Knight.” Different concentrations of amino acid and seaweed were sprayed on bell pepper plants under hydroponic conditions. Pre-harvest foliar application of amino acids and seaweed significantly increased plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, yield per plant, number of marketable fruits per plant, average fruit diameter, fruit wall thickness, and average single fruit weight. Amino acid and seaweed significantly improved postharvest physicochemical quality of both bell pepper cultivars under extended cold storage conditions. Conclusively, amino acid as well as seaweed extract not only improved growth, development, yield, and overall quality of bell pepper cultivars but also increased storage life with reduced weight loss and decay along with better physicochemical quality.     

Perspectives of folate biofortification of cereal grains

One sixth of the world’s population is suffering from hidden hunger that indicates a gross malnutrition particularly among children and women of third world countries. The deficiency of micro nutrients, especially iron (Fe) causes a number of ailments such as megaloblastic anemia and neural tube defects in poor population. There is a dire need to supplement iron in the diet. Current efforts implicate fortification of wheat flour and other grains with different iron formulations such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), FeSO₄ and elemental iron. However, all such interventions are not sustainable due to logistic and quality assurance problems in resource-limited settings. For a long term solution, development of crop plants with increased micronutrients and iron bioavailability is essential. Therefore, biofortification of cereal grains using translational genomics approaches for enhancement of folate through genome editing in cereals is inevitable to mitigate the folate deficiency in poor remote population in a cost effective manner.     

Boron nutrition for improving the quality of diverse canola cultivars

Abstract

Canola (Brassica napus L.), is the most important oilseed crop due to high oil contents and low concentration of erucic acid and glucosinolates. In Pakistan, oil seed production is not sufficient to fulfill the needs of the country. Thus, the planned experiment was aimed to evaluate the performance of different canola cultivars i.e. Faisal Canola, Pakola, PARC Canola hybrid and Rainbow at grown under various soil applied boron (B) levels viz., 0, 1, 2?kg ha^?1 under a rainfed environment. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with four replications. Among the canola cultivars, the maximum seed oil contents were recorded in cultivar ‘Pakola’ whereas, higher linolenic acid and protein were recorded in cultivar ‘Faisal canola’ as compared to other cultivars. A synergistic effect was found between various levels of B and quality parameters of the canola seed; as higher concentration of oil contents were found when B was applied 2?kg ha^?1. Conversely the linolenic acid showed the antagonistic behavior with the various B levels. On the other hand, protein contents, oleic acid and erucic acid revealed non-significant differences under different B application rates. In conclusion, the cultivar ‘Pakola’ provided the highest oil content when the B was applied at 2?kg ha^?1; the low concentration of unsaturated fatty acid was observed in ‘PARC canola’ cultivar in the Pothwar region of Punjab, Pakistan.     

Effect of salinity on nitrogen metabolism in wheat

Objectives of our studies were to quantify effects of salinity on growth and nitrogen metabolism of wheat and to measure variation in response of different cultivars, hybrids, and classes. Methods and criteria for identifying resistance to salinity in wheat, particularly effects on nitrogen metabolism also were tested. Variation in response to salinity was measured by subjecting seedlings of six wheats to one control treatment (‐0.1 bars) and two stress treatments (‐3.5 and ‐10.4 bars) from NaCl, MgSO₄, and MgCl₂ in hydroponic solutions. Both stress treatments retarded growth; wheats significantly varied at ‐3.5 bars but not at ‐10.4 bars. Stress decreased root and shoot nitrate N and total N contents. Studies with one wheat cultivar showed that salinity decreased activity of nitrate reductase enzyme and stimulated accumulation of proline. Salinity more adversely affected vegetative stages than reproductive stages of plants grown to maturity. We concluded that salinity affected wheat by both osmotic effects and antagonism of nitrate metabolism from chloride. Absolute growth and relative growth at different stress levels were superior to differences in nitrogen metabolism as selection criteria for salinity tolerance.     

小麦茎生长点转化研究初报

为了躲避转基因技术对组织培养的过分依赖,本研究以小麦为材料尝试了一种对生长点直接进行转化的方法,并初步证明了这一方法的可行性。具体做法是：将种子萌芽,然后剥去胚芽鞘暴露出生长点,再用玻璃纤维制作的小刷子将生长点刺伤,最后用带有外源基因的农杆菌进行侵染处理。用携带hph-GUS基因的LBA4404农杆菌,侵染处理1～11日龄幼苗(生长点),共培养7d后检测新生芽中GUS的瞬时表达情况;侵染1～2日龄幼苗(生长点),取长成植株的2～3朵小花进行GUS稳定表达检测。又用携带BADH和npt Ⅱ基因的AGL1农杆菌菌株侵染1日龄的幼苗(生长点),在含：100mg／L卡那霉素的蛭石中进行选择。结果表明,GUS的瞬时表达率随被处理幼苗的日龄增加而降低,以2日龄幼苗为最高(10．7％)。用花序检测GUS的稳定表达,被侵染受体为1日龄幼苗时的表达率高于2日龄的幼苗。蔗糖的存在并不提高GUS基因在花序中表达的频率。不过花序表现为GUS阳性的植株后代,经PCR检测后并没有证实GUS基因存在。用AGL1菌株进行转化,获得了13．6％的抗卡那霉素的绿色植株,但只有3株呈现PCR阳性,且只有1株结了实。     

Yield potential and salt tolerance of quinoa on salt‐degraded soils of Pakistan

Quinoa is recently introduced to Pakistan as a salt‐tolerant crop of high nutritional value. Open field trials were conducted to evaluate its performance on normal and salinity/sodicity‐degraded lands at two locations of different salinity/sodicity levels, S₁ (UAF Farm, Normal Soil), S₂ (Paroka Farm UAF, saline sodic), S₃ (SSRI Farm, normal) and S₄ (SSRI Farm, saline sodic) during 2013–2014. Two genotypes (Q‐2 and Q‐7) were grown in lines and were allowed to grow till maturity under RCBD split‐plot arrangement. Maximum seed yield (3,062 kg/ha) was achieved by Q‐7 at normal field (S₁) soil which was statistically similar with yield of same genotype obtained from salt‐affected field S₂ (2,870 kg/ha). Furthermore, low yield was seen from both genotypes from both S₃ and S₄ as compared to S₁ and S₂. Q‐7 was best under all four conditions. Minimum yield was recorded from Q‐2 (1,587 kg/ha) at S₄. Q‐7 had higher SOD, proline, phenolic and K⁺ contents, and lower Na⁺ content in leaves as compared to Q‐2. High levels of antioxidants and K⁺/Na⁺ of Q‐7 helped to withstand salt stress and might be the cause of higher yields under both normal and salt‐affected soils. Seed quality (mineral and protein) did not decrease considerably under salt‐affected soils even improved seed K⁺, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺.     

Rooting behavior of rice cultivars under different planting methods

An experiment was carried out at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh in Old Brahmaputra Alluvial Flood Plain (AEZ-9) during December 2005 to May 2006 to examine the root growth of different rice cultivars under various establishment methods. This experiment comprised two sets of treatment (i) three methods of planting viz., dry direct seeding, wet direct seeding and transplanting, and (ii) six rice cultivars, two inbreds viz., BRRI Dhan 28 and BRRI Dhan 29, two hybrids, viz., Aalok 6201 and Sonarbangla 1 and two local improved cultivar viz., Habigonj IV and Habigonj VIII. Cultivars had more remarkable effect on different root parameters i.e. number of roots, root length, root length density, root biomass, root weight ratio and root shoot ratio of hybrid, inbred and local improved rice cultivars than method of planting. BRRI Dhan 28 performed the best for most of the parameters. At harvest, BRRI Dhan 29 showed the best rooting behavior among the cultivars. For both stages hybrid rice cultivars showed intermediate and local improved cultivars performed lower in rooting behavior. Direct seeding method performed better than transplanting method for most of the root parameters but wet direct seeding and dry direct seeding methods were identical. Interaction effect between method of planting and cultivar in most of the root parameters were insignificant. But, BRRI Dhan 28 and BRRI Dhan 29 under wet direct seeding method and Sonarbanngla 1 under transplanting method showed the best rooting performance among the other combinations.     

A greenhouse method for screening lettuce for resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Agar blocks colonized by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, causal agent of lettuce drop, were used as inoculum in screening for resistance to this pathogen in the greenhouse.Since the degree of resistance to the pathogen among cultivars varied with the time observed after inoculation, resistance was assessed by the number of days for 50% of the plants of each cultivar to die, as well as the number of plants that died. The cultivars ‘PI (Plant Introduction) 250427’, ‘Taiwan’, ‘PI 251790’, ‘PI 255568’, ‘MSU 73-44’ and ‘Bibb’ were found to have a higher level of resistance to S. sclerotiorum than the cultivar ‘Grand Rapids’ at 12 or 15 days following inoculation.