Compaction and shrinkage of sands and sand-kaolin mixtures

A comparison was made between the porosities of sands and of mixtures of sand and kaolin paste which had either been allowed to air-dry or had been consolidated under a load of 1.5 MPa. For all the mixtures of sand and kaolin, air-drying resulted in porosities which were from 0.1 to 0.05 (v/v) lower than those produced by consolidation. In contrast, two sands had porosities 0.01 and 0.05 (v/v) higher when air-dried than when consolidated. This demonstrates that some sandy-textured soils may compact significantly on drying.     

Analyse der K-Düngewirkung an einem Humuspelosol-Standort

Analysis of the K-fertilizing effect on a Humuspelosol site The result of a K-fertilizing experiment with a nearly pure cereal rotation on a Humuspelosol (eutric Cambisol) 1973 poor in ?available”? K and strongly K fixing (see Fig. 1) was analysed by investigating plant and soil samples taken 1981 and 1982. About 1200 kg K₂₀/ha were fixed, thus did not change the ?available”? K, but restored the reserves to such an extent that the plants were supplied sufficiently from it. Amounts exceeding 2400 kg K₂O/ha could not be held in the main rooting space (0–40 cm). Even 180 kg K₂O/ha/a in the course of the experiment restored the reserves sufficiently, leading to an (at best) normal fertilizer requirement at this site (with low Mg supply possibly limiting the yields), despite its still low content of ?available”? K. Apparently, here the LUFA threshold values are too high and/or the lactate method is not a suitable basis for statements about the fertilizer requirement.     

Breeding behavior for tuber protein in Solanum tuberosum and Tuberosum-phureja hybrids

Summary True protein content among tubers within a plant of Solanum tuberosum cv. Oneida was found to be negatively correlated with tuber size. A similar study of S. phureja genotype 148-17 revealed no correlation. Tuber protein was determined for 250 genotypes in each of four hybrid potato populations in a factorial mating design with four potato cultivars as stylar parents mated to four groups of pollen parents (4x cultivars, 4x high protein selections, 2x S. phureja, 2x high protein S. phureja). The hybrid population derived from the 4x high protein selections was significantly higher in protein content than the other populations. High estimates of general combining ability for tuber protein content were found for both stylar and pollen parents. Poor photoperiodic adaptation to growing conditions in northern latitudes was a possible explanation for the variable protein phenotypes typical of S. phureja and the lack of transmission of the high protein character in phureja to 4x-2x hybrids. Although protein content was negatively correlated with total yield, high protein segregates with good yield potential were identified in all four populations.Scientific Journal Series Article 11, 616 of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station.     

Genetical studies of embryo survival and embryo breakdown in Pelargonium × hortorum Bailey

Summary The 6×6×4 analysis of variance of the mean percentage embryo survival for six variegated cultivars of Pelargonium × hortorum Bailey, with mutant plastids in their germ layers, and for their isogenic green (G) clones, shows highly significant differences between females (81 to 91 per cent) and between plastid crosses (83 to 91 per cent). Between cultivar differences are attributed largely to additive effects corresponding to additive gene action, and between plastid differences to a lower survival after crosses with white (W) males than with green males. The relationship between overall fertility (% fertilization × survival) and plastid crosses is a stepwise decline in the order G×G>G×W>W×G>W×W (28 to 19 per cent) in which the white embryos growing in a white mother are approximately 30 per cent less fertile than the green embryos in a green mother. The non-surviving embryos are classified into empty, undeveloped and dwarf embryos and submitted to a 6×4 analysis of variance after summing through males. The significant heterogeneity between females is attributed largely to a difference between one cultivar-with a high frequency of dwarf and a low frequency of undeveloped embryos-and the other five cultivars. The absence of a significant plastid effect upon any stage of embryo breakdown indicates that the depressive effect of white plastids is spread evenly throughout development.     

The potential of ripening mutants for extending the storage life of the tomato fruit

Summary The effect of the fruit ripening mutants rin, gr, nor and Nr on storage life and pigmentation was investigated in homozygous material, in heterozygous F₁ combinations between the mutants with the colour mutant hp and with the normal cv. Kewalo. Crosses with nor showed a 3-to 5-fold increase in storage life in comparison with the normal cv. or with hp. Maximum pigmentation of the fruits of crosses with nor was pale-red with vineripened fruit and pink with fruit harvested at the breaker stage and ripened on the shelf. The ripening inhibitory effect of rin in the different F₁ combinations was less pronounced than that of nor, and the colour of the fruits was improved. Fruits of the F₁ cross between rin and nor showed greatly improved storage life and developed pink or pale red colour. Most heterozygotes with hp showed improved pigmentation. Problems anticipated in utilizing ripening mutants in breeding for improved keeping quality are discussed.     

Performance and Variability of Local Barley Landraces in Near-Eastern Environments

Homozygous lines from six Syrian and two Jordanian landrace populations were tested under highly productive growing conditions in Tel Hadia (1982/83), under drought stress in Breda (1983/84), and under dryland salinity stress in Hegla (1982/83/84) in Syria. Mean grain yield levels ranged between 260 kg/ha and 4850 kg/ha. Under drought and salinity stress, the majority of the landrace lines out-yielded the best cheeks significantly. In Tel Hadia the check cultivars mostly outyielded the landrace lines, but not always significantly. In all environments the harvest index of the landrace lines was near the optimum for barley. They expressed intermediate plant height and time to flowering, high lodging susceptibility under favorable growing conditions, high protein content, and a wide range of yield component combinations. In the stress environments highly significant genetic variation among the landrace lines was found. The heritabilities for gram yield were high in these trials. The correlations between performance under stress and under favorable growing conditions were poor. Therefore, the largest gains for variety improvement for the Syrian steppe area are expected from direct selection under stress conditions. Unique responses in proline accumulation and germination patterns in saline solution indicated specific adaptation in this material. These landraces, thus, are a useful source of breeding material, which also widens the genetic base of the present breeding program.     

Electrophoretic Characterization of Quinoa Seed Proteins

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) is an important domesticated food crop of the Andean highlands with potential as an alternative crop elsewhere. Among its most attractive characteristics are the quantity and favorable amino acid balance of the seed proteins. The objective of this study was to characterize quinoa seed proteins by electrophoretic mobility, solubility fractionation, and genetic variability from a wide genetic base. Electrophoretic profiles of denatured albumin, globulin, prolamin, and glutelin solubility fractions demonstrated that quinoa seed polypeptides could be classified as either albumin or globulin with most predominant polypeptides in the globulin fraction. Insignificant amounts of protein were present in the prolamin fraction and all polypeptides in the glutelin fraction had identical electrophoretic mobilities to albumins and globulins. Three globulin polypeptides of 34.3, 35.6, and 36.2 kilodaltons in size were highly variable within and among the accessions examined and appear to be coded by at least two loci. Two-dimensional peptide mapping revealed that these three polypeptides were homologous. These highly variable markers could be used for identification and classification of germplasm and elucidation of systematics and genetic variability within the quinoa germplasm pool. All other major polypeptides were electrophoretically invariant among the accessions examined.     

Stability Analysis of Yield in Maize,Wheat and Sorghum and its Implications in Breeding Programs*

Six stability statistics: (b_i, s²_di, , , and ) were estimated for maize, wheat and sorghum in different environments by using three statistical models. The significant linear portion of genotype × environment interaction for maize indicates different hybrids responded differently to environments, whereas the non-significant genotype × environment interaction (linear) were found for wheat and sorghum suggest that all genotypes responded similarly as the environments change. However, the highly significant pooled deviations (deviation from regression) for all three crops make yield predictions from the model less reliable. When regression coefficients (b_i) were non-significant, s²_di, became an important statistic in estimating stability. It appears that the regression coefficient, b_i, was best used to estimate genotypic adaptability, whereas s²_di, for stability. Maize and sorghum had negative correlations between the mean yield and stability statistics, s²_di, , and , suggesting that high yield and stability are not mutually exclusive in the range of environments used in this study; however, such correlations did not occur in wheat. Thus, maize and sorghum hybrids with high yield potential and high stability could be identified and selected. Correlations between mean yield and b_i, or , were positive and significant for maize and sorghum but were non-significant for wheat, indicating that such relationships may be species specific. Under a given set of testing environments, the stability ranking associated with each maize hybrid is correlated to and depends on other hybrids included in the analysis.