Wide hybridization and introgression breeding in safflower: Effectiveness of different selection methods

Possibility of using interspecific hybridization to increase genetic diversity of drought tolerance in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) and effectiveness of different selection methods is poorly understood. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of (a) interspecific hybridization to expand genetic diversity in safflower for agronomic traits and drought tolerance in advance generations and (b) different selection methods (direct vs. indirect) for improving seed yield. Interspecific hybridizations were performed between species of C. tinctorius × C. palaestinus (TP), C. palaestinus × C. oxyacantha (PO) and C. tinctorius × C. oxyacantha (TO). Based on the field screening of genotypes in F3 generation, four groups of selected genotypes (derived from combination of direct and indirect selection under both drought and normal environments along with selection based on drought tolerance index (STI)) were evaluated in F4 and F5 generations. Indirect selection for seed yield was significantly more efficient than direct selection. Selection in stress environment resulted to more efficiency than selection in normal environment. No significant difference was observed between direct selection and selection based on STI. The result showed that TP was the best population to combine high seed yield and drought tolerance in safflower.     

Correction to: Impact of leaf infestation by herbivorous insects on the elemental uptake of citrus trees

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - In the original publication, the article title was incorrectly published as ‘Impact of leave infestation by herbivorous insects on the elemental...     

Performance of Bangladesh indigenous rice in a weed infested field and separation of allelopathy from resource competition

This study aimed to identify the potential allelopathic indigenous rice (Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica) varieties from Bangladesh using a performance study in a weed‐infested field and to assess the extent of allelopathic interference relative to resource competition in a glasshouse experiment. Six varieties – namely, “Boterswar,” “Goria,” “Biron” and “Kartiksail” as the most allelopathic, “Hashikolmi” as weakly allelopathic and “Holoi” as nonallelopathic – were raised following a nonweed control method. The infestation levels of weed species were calculated using Simpson's Diversity Index (SDI), which ranged from 0.2 to 0.56. However, a significant correlation coefficient (0.87, P < 0.001) was obtained from these field data compared with the root inhibition percentage from the laboratory bioassay, and the “Boterswar” variety was the most allelopathic. The interactions between the allelopathic variety “Boterswar,” weakly allelopathic variety “Hashikolmi” and Echinochloa oryzicola via a target (rice)‐adjacent (E. oryzicola) cogrowth culture were determined in a hydroponic arrangement. The relative competitive intensity (RCI) and the relative neighbor effect (RNE) values showed that the crop–weed interaction was facilitation for “Boterswar” and competition for “Hashikolmi” and E. oryzicola in rice/E. oryzicola cogrowth cultures. The allelopathic effects of “Boterswar” were much higher than the resource competition in rice/E. oryzicola cogrowth cultures. The converse was observed for “Hashikolmi.” Moreover, the mineral content of E. oryzicola was severely affected by “Boterswar”/E. oryzicola cogrowth cultures’ exudate solution. Therefore, the allelopathic potential of “Boterswar” variety might be useful for developing the weed‐suppressing capacity of rice, which will likely have a significant influence on paddy weed control.     

球孢白僵菌不同施用方式对玉米促生作用的研究

采用土壤施用和叶面喷施2种方式将球孢白僵菌(Beauveria bassiana)菌株Bb202接种至玉米,研究不同接种方式及处理浓度对玉米生长的影响。结果表明,2种喷施方式对玉米苗均存在促生作用,且这种促生作用与孢子接种浓度密切相关。在叶面喷施处理中,白僵菌仅对玉米地上部分生长指标有促进作用,而对玉米苗的根长无显著影响;其中1.0×10~4孢子/m L处理组对玉米苗的促生效果最佳,其株高、叶长、叶宽、鲜重指标比蒸馏水对照组分别高出7.47%、15.42%、25.70%和16.85%。在土壤喷施处理中,白僵菌对玉米苗地上与地下部分均有显著促生作用;其中1.0×106孢子/m L和1.0×10~8孢子/m L处理组,玉米株高、叶长、根长、生物量指标较蒸馏水对照组分别提高了28.66%和29.59%、30.66%和37.85%、43.08%和33.60%、28.35%和32.55%。从对玉米苗的促生作用来看,用1.0×106孢子/m L的白僵菌悬浮液处理土壤,可以取得最经济、最显著的促生效果。     

New Approaches to Modeling Methyl Jasmonate Effects on Pomegranate Quality during Postharvest Storage

Adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and genetic algorithm–artificial neural network (GA-ANN) models were used to predict the effect of methyl jasmonate (at three levels 0, 0.01, and 0.1 mM) and storage time (0, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, and 84 days) on quality parameters and physiological changes of pomegranate fruits during storage. Methyl jasmonate reduced chilling injury and improved quality characteristics of pomegranates during postharvest storage. The GA-ANN and ANFIS were fed with two inputs of methyl jasmonate and storage time. The results showed that GA-ANN predictions agreed with experimental data and the GA-ANN with 14 neurons in one hidden layer can predict physiological changes and quality parameters of pomegranate (weight loss, pH, chilling injury index, ion leakage, ethylene, respiration, polyphenols, anthocyanins, and total antioxidant activity) with correlation coefficients equal to 0.87. The ANFIS model was trained by a hybrid method and agreement between experimental data and ANFIS predictions was significant (r = 0.90).     

Thermal,swelling and stability kinetics of chitosan based semi-interpenetrating network hydrogels

The present study is focused on studying the swelling kinetics, thermal and aqueous stabilities, and determination of various forms of water in the chitosan (CS) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) blend and semi-interpenetrating polymer network (sIPN). CS/PAN blend hydrogel films were prepared by solution casting technique. The blend film with optimum swelling properties was selected for the synthesis of sIPN. CS in the blend was crosslinked with the vapors of Glutaraldehyde (GTA) to prepare sIPN. The fabricated CS/PAN blend and sIPN hydrogels films were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The kinetics of swelling, bound and unbound waters and aqueous stability were determined experimentally. FESEM showed good miscibility between CS and PAN, FTIR showed no chemical interaction between CS and PAN; however, it did show a doublet for the sIPN, TGA showed improved thermal stability and swelling kinetic followed second order kinetics. The degree of swelling of the sIPN hydrogels samples at room temperature varied from ~2200 % (with a fair degree of stability (~30 %)) to ~1000 % (with high degree of aqueous stability (43 %)) with increase in the crosslinking time. The calculated unbound water (W_UB) max., for the blend was 52.3 % whereas for the bound (W_B) the max., was 41.9 %. However, for sIPN hydrogel films, the W_UB water decreased (max. 21.0 %) where as the W_B increased (max. 52.0 %). The decrease in W_UB and increase in the W_B is attributed to the formation of a compact structure and increase in the contact area between the water and polymers in sIPN hydrogels due to the induction of new water contacting point in these hydrogel films, respectively.     

Conductive 3D structure nanofibrous scaffolds for spinal cord regeneration

The complex nature of spinal cord injuries has provided much inspiration for the design of novel biomaterials and scaffolds which are capable of stimulating neural tissue repair strategies. Recently, conductive polymers have gained much attention for improving the nerve regeneration. In our previous study, a three-dimensional (3D) structure with reliable performance was achieved for electrospun scaffolds. The main purpose in the current study is formation of electrical excitable 3D scaffolds by appending polyaniline (PANI) to biocompatible polymers. In this paper, an attempt was made to develop conductive nanofibrous scaffolds, which can simultaneously present both electrical and topographical cues to cells. By using a proper 3D structure, two kinds of conductive scaffolds are compared with a non-conductive scaffold. The 3D nanofibrous core-sheath scaffolds, which are conductive, were prepared with nanorough sheath and aligned core. Two different sheath polymers, including poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) PLGA and PLGA/PANI, with identical PCL/PANI cores were fabricated. Nanofibers of PCL and PLGA blends with PANI have fiber diameters of 234±60.8 nm and 770±166.6 nm, and conductivity of 3.17×10^-5 S/cm and 4.29×10^-5 S/cm, respectively. The cell proliferation evaluation of nerve cells on these two conductive scaffolds and previous non-conductive scaffolds (PLGA) indicate that the first conductive scaffold (PCL/ PANI-PLGA) could be more effective for nerve tissue regeneration. Locomotor scores of grafted animals by developed scaffolds showed significant performance of non-conductive 3D scaffolds. Moreover, the animal studies indicated the ability of two new types of conductive scaffolds as spinal cord regeneration candidates.