IntroductionIris germanica L. (1753), commonly known as bearded iris, is a popular ornamental plant species appreciated for its beautiful and diverse flower colors and forms. Despite its aesthetic appeal, there is limited knowledge about the genetic diversity and relationships among Iris germanica cultivars.MethodsTo address this, in this study, we investigated the genetic diversity and molecular clustering of Iris germanica cultivars through ISSR and SRAP molecular markers.ResultsOur analysis identified that ISSR analysis revealed a high level of genetic diversity among Iris germanica cultivars. The 9 ISSR primers generated 72 amplified bands, of which 66 were polymorphic, yielding a polymorphism percentage of 89.86%. Similarly, SRAP analysis demonstrated substantial intraspecific genetic diversity. 12 SRAP primer pairs produced 693 amplified bands, with 669 exhibiting polymorphisms, corresponding to a polymorphism rate of 96.54%. Genetic similarity coefficients ranged from 0.513 to 0.868 for ISSR and 0.595 to 0.801 for SRAP markers, highlighting variations and relationships among Iris germanica accessions. ISSR Molecular marker cluster analysis categorized divides Iris germanica cultivars with similar morphological characteristics into distinct groups to a certain extent based on genetic similarity coefficients, and SRAP marker could also make the same species from different regions first cluster into one group based on classifying the similar phenotypic Iris germanica varieties, indicating that the SRAP marker used to analyze the genetic diversity of Iris germanica cultivars were more accurate than the ISSR marker. Combining both ISSR and SRAP markers not only effectively distinguished between dwarf and tall species of Iris germanica, but also separately isolated two Iris germanica species from Shanxi province. It had also been found that Iris germanica Antique Red, Iris germanica Indian leader were clustered into one group and Iris germanica Bloodstone and Cherry Garden were gathered together in three kinds of clustering methods, indicating that these varieties had very close relationship.DiscussionOverall, this study provides valuable insights into the genetic diversity and relationships within Iris species, offering important implications for breeding and conservation efforts.
The objective of this work was to analyze the effect of Thidiazuron (TDZ) treatment on floral initiation, flowering time, ornamental characteristics and physiological metabolism of potted <i>Dendrobium nobile</i>. Three TDZ concentrations (200, 500 and 1000 mg L<sup>−1</sup>) were applied as solution to water the root zone of the plants. Control plants (plants watered with water) showed a good vegetative development but no floral branches. TDZ greatly influenced the flowering process. For all the tested TDZ concentrations, the first flower bud occurred at 55–60 days after the last irrigation (DAI), the highest TDZ concentration showing the major delay in its occurrence. The initial flowering (30% of flowered plants) began 47 days after the first flower bud initiation with no statistical differences among the treatments. Plants treated with TDZ 500–1000 mg L<sup>−1</sup> showed the longest period of flowering (about 32 days) and the single flowers delayed the withering of about 2–3 days compared to the lowest TDZ treatment (200 mg L<sup>−1</sup>). The number of flowers, floral branches and flowering percentage were distinctly influenced by the TDZ concentration. The highest percentage of flowering (40%) was scored when plants were watered with a TDZ solution at 500 mg L<sup>−1</sup> and this was a performant treatment providing the best morphological flower features for the ornamental value of this plant. Among the physiological factors affecting the flowering, this study showed that TDZ increased the relative membrane permeability which facilitated the transport of macromolecular flower-forming substances into and out of the membrane. Therefore, the membrane permeability change could be an indicator of shifts in physiologically active substances during the flowering transition process in <i>Dendrobium nobile</i> plants.
AbstractThe in vitro tissue cultures are, beyond all difficulties, an essential tool in basic research as well as in commercial applications. Numerous works devoted to plant tissue cultures proved how important this part of the plant science is. Despite half a century of research on the issue of obtaining plants in in vitro cultures, many aspects remain unknown. The path associated with the reprogramming of explants in the fully functioning regenerants includes a series of processes that may result in the appearance of morphological, physiological, biochemical or, finally, genetic and epigenetic changes. All these changes occurring at the tissue culture stage and appearing in regenerants as tissue culture-induced variation and then inherited by generative progeny as somaclonal variation may be the result of oxidative stress, which works at the step of explant preparation, and in tissue culture as a result of nutrient components and environmental factors. In this review, we describe the current status of understanding the genetic and epigenetic changes that occur during tissue culture.
Plants employ an array of photoprotection mechanisms to alleviate the harmful effects of high light intensity. The violaxanthin cycle, which is associated with non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), involves violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE), and zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP) and is one of the most rapid and efficient mechanisms protecting plants under high light intensity. Woody bamboo is a class of economically and ecologically important evergreen grass species widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. However, the function of VDE in bamboo has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we found that high light intensity increased NPQ and stimulated the de-epoxidation of violaxanthin cycle components in moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), whereas, samples treated with the VDE inhibitor (dithiothreitol) exhibited lower NPQ capacity, suggesting that violaxanthin cycle plays an important role in the photoprotection of bamboo. Further analysis showed that not only high light intensity but also extreme temperatures (4 and 42°C) and drought stress upregulated the expression of PeVDE in bamboo leaves, indicating that PeVDE is induced by multiple abiotic stresses. Overexpression of PeVDE under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter in Arabidopsis mutant npq1 mutant could rescue its NPQ, indicating that PeVDE functions in dissipating the excess absorbed light energy as thermal energy in bamboo. Moreover, compared with wild-type (Col-0) plants, the transgenic plants overexpressing PeVDE displayed enhanced photoprotection ability, higher NPQ capacity, slower decline in the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) under high light intensity, and faster recovery under optimal conditions. These results suggest that PeVDE positively regulates the response to high light intensity in bamboo plants growing in the natural environment, which could improve their photoprotection ability through the violaxanthin cycle and NPQ.
Alessandro Genovese, Boris Basile, Simona Antonella Lamorte
et al.
The harvest time of grapes is a major determinant of berry composition and of the wine quality, and it is usually established through empirical testing of main biochemical parameters of the berry. In this work, we studied how the ripening stage of Aglianico grapes modulates key secondary metabolites of wines, phenolics and volatile compounds. Specifically, we analyzed and compared four berry ripening stages corresponding to total soluble solids of 18, 20, 22, and 25 °Brix and related aged wines. Wine color intensity, anthocyanins level and total <i>trans</i>-resveratrol (free + glycosidic form) increased with grape maturity degree. Wines obtained from late-harvested grapes significantly differed from the others for a higher content of aliphatic alcohols, esters, acetates, α-terpineol and benzyl alcohol. The content of glycosidic terpene compounds, such as nerol, geraniol and α-terpineol, was higher in wines obtained with grapes harvested at 25 °Brix compared to the earlier harvests. Our work indicated that the maturity of the grape is a determining factor in phenolic and volatile compounds of red Aglianico wines. Moreover, extending grape ripening to a sugar concentration higher than 22 °Brix improves the biochemical profile of aged wine in terms of aroma compounds and of phytochemicals with known health-related benefits.
Travis K. Chapin, Michelle D. Danyluk, Renee M. Goodrich-Schneider
et al.
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Andrés Javier Peña Quiñones, Melba Ruth Salazar Gutierrez, Gerrit Hoogenboom
A common problem for decision makers in selecting frost control options is uncertainty about the level of injury that can be caused by low temperatures. During the past few years, the concept of lethal temperature (LT) at which 10% of the bud population dies (LT10) has been used as an index for evaluating the vulnerability of flower buds to low temperature conditions. This concept has shown to be a useful tool for frost control decision-making. However, the current methods used to obtain LT values assume no spatial or temporal variability, which results in a high level of uncertainty. The goal of this study was to develop an approach that decreases the uncertainty based on the known effects of temperature on bud vulnerability. A growth chamber experiment was conducted to determine flower bud vulnerability to low temperature as a function of temperature. The results from this study showed that thermal time expressed in degree days could explain changes in floral bud development and vulnerability to frost injury. According to our findings, LT10 is a fully acceptable index for determining flower bud vulnerability to low temperatures in orchard crops. Based on this information, we found that among the five apple and cherry cultivars analyzed, ‘Gala’ is the least vulnerable to low temperature because it starts at the beginning of spring with a high level of hardiness and increases its vulnerability at a low rate. The approach described in this article may enhance decision-making certainty associated with the timing and methods to increase air temperature in orchards during low-temperature events to avoid frost damage.
Abstract Background The increasing number of novel approaches for large-scale, multi-dimensional imaging of cells has created an unprecedented opportunity to analyze plant morphogenesis. However, complex image processing, including identifying specific cells and quantitating parameters, and high running cost of some image analysis softwares remains challenging. Therefore, it is essential to develop an efficient method for identifying plant complex multicellularity in raw micrographs in plants. Results Here, we developed a high-efficiency procedure to characterize, segment, and quantify plant multicellularity in various raw images using the open-source software packages ImageJ and SR-Tesseler. This procedure allows for the rapid, accurate, automatic quantification of cell patterns and organization at different scales, from large tissues down to the cellular level. We validated our method using different images captured from Arabidopsis thaliana roots and seeds and Populus tremula stems, including fluorescently labeled images, Micro-CT scans, and dyed sections. Finally, we determined the area, centroid coordinate, perimeter, and Feret’s diameter of the cells and harvested the cell distribution patterns from Voronoï diagrams by setting the threshold at localization density, mean distance, or area. Conclusions This procedure can be used to determine the character and organization of multicellular plant tissues at high efficiency, including precise parameter identification and polygon-based segmentation of plant cells.
Drobnjaković Tanja, Marčić Dejan, Potočnik Ivana
et al.
The impact of a bioinsecticide based on azadirachtin (Ozoneem trishul 1 %) on the abundance of mushroom flies (Sciaridae: Diptera) was compared to the effect of a commercial formulation of the malathion-based chemical insecticide Etiol tečni. Experiments were conducted in three growing chambers (B6, B7 and B8) of a commercial mushroom farm "Delta Danube" d.o.o., Kovin. Casing treatments were performed in eight replications in a random block design. The azadirachtin-based bioinsecticide was applied in chamber B8 four times (0.5 ml/m2): during casing and later at seven-day intervals. The standard chemical insecticide based on malathion was applied in chambers B6 and B7 twice (2 x 0.3 ml/m2), on the third and sixth day after casing. In all three chambers, the abundance of mushroom flies was monitored by using yellow sticky traps, which were collected weekly and replaced with new ones four times at seven days intervals. The yellow sticky traps were examined in the laboratory under a binocular microscope to determine the presence and density of mushroom flies. Only one species of mushroom fly, Lycoriella ingenua (Dufour), was found on the yellow sticky traps throughout the experimental period. The average number of sciarid flies per mushroom block 15 and 22 days after treatment (DAT) was significantly lower in the test chamber B8 than in chambers B7 and B6, while there was no significant difference 30 and 36 DAT, compared to the control chamber B6. The average number of sciarid flies per mushroom row throughout the experiment was significantly lower in the test chamber B8 than in chambers B6 and B7. The results of our study suggest that the azadirachtin-based bioinsecticide can suppress populations of the mushroom fly L. ingenua and may provide a good alternative to conventional chemical insecticide.
Monocotyledonous plants were believed to be not transformable by the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens until two decades ago, although convenient protocols for infection of leaf disks and subsequent regeneration of transgenic plants had been well established in a number of dicotyledonous species by then. This belief was reinforced by the fact that monocotyledons are mostly outside the host range of crown gall disease caused by the bacterium and by the failures in trials in monocotyledons to mimic the transformation protocols for dicotyledons. However, a key reason for the failure could have been the lack of active cell divisions at the wound sites in monocotyledons. The complexity and narrow optimal windows of critical factors, such as genotypes of plants, conditions of the plants from which explants are prepared, tissue culture methods and culture media, pre-treatments of explants, strains of A. tumefaciens, inducers of virulence genes, transformation vectors, selection marker genes and selective agents, kept technical hurdles high. Eventually it was demonstrated that rice and maize could be transformed by co-cultivating cells of callus cultures or immature embryos, which are actively dividing or about to divide, with A. tumefaciens. Subsequently, these initial difficulties were resolved one by one by many research groups, and the major cereals are now transformed quite efficiently. As many as 15 independent transgenic events may be regenerated from a single piece of immature embryo of rice. Maize transformation protocols are well established, and almost all transgenic events deregulated for commercialization after 2003 were generated by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Wheat, barley, and sorghum are also among those plants that can be efficiently transformed by A. tumefaciens.
W artykule poruszono problem ryzyka ubóstwa i wykluczenia społecznego w kontekście zrównoważonego rozwoju obszarów wiejskich. Materiały empiryczne zawarte w artykule pochodzą z badań cząstkowych EU-SILC (Europejskie badanie warunków życia ludności). Stanowią one punkt odniesienia dla porównania statystyk dotyczących dystrybucji dochodów i integracji społecznej w Unii Europejskiej. Za jeden z ważniejszych milenijnych celów rozwoju uznano niwelację ubóstwa i przeciwdziałanie marginalizacji społecznej. Z badań wynika, że co czwarty mieszkaniec obszarów wiejskich w UE jest zagrożony ubóstwem lub marginalizacją społeczną. W największym stopniu marginalizacją lub/i ubóstwem zagrożeni są mieszkańcy obszarów wiejskich w Bułgarii (54,8%) i Rumunii (50,8%), ale także w Polsce i na Litwie poziom ten przekracza średnią unijną (odpowiednio o 4,5 p.p. oraz 9,2 p.p.). Na drugim biegunie wykluczenia są Holandia i Czechy z poziomem ryzyka na poziomie 12,8%. Czynnikiem konstytuującym bezpieczeństwo ekonomiczne gospodarstwa domowego, a w efekcie poczucie pewności, są dochody. Ich wielkość wpływa na poziom ubóstwa obiektywnego mierzonego metodą parametryczną. W UE przyjmuje się, że zagrożone ubóstwem są osoby, których dochody nie przekraczają 60% mediany dochodów w danym kraju. Tym samym niemal co piąty mieszkaniec wsi w UE jest zagrożony ubóstwem. Ubóstwo i wykluczenie społeczne są zjawiskami wielowymiarowymi. Powodują niezaspokojenie potrzeb na wielu płaszczyznach – ochrony zdrowia, edukacji, warunków mieszkaniowych, kultury i czasu wolnego. Brak odpowiednich dochodów powoduje pewnego rodzaju sprzężenia zwrotne i jest zarówno przyczyną, jak i konsekwencją deprywacji potrzeb, a także sprzyja niezrównoważonemu rozwojowi obszarów wiejskich.
Economic history and conditions, Agriculture (General)
Plant responses to salinity are complex, especially when combined with other stresses, and involve many changes in gene expression and metabolic fluxes. Until now, plant stress studies have been mainly dealt only with a single stress approach. However, plants exposed to multiple stresses at the same time, a combinatorial approach reflecting real-world scenarios, show tailored responses completely different from the response to the individual stresses, due to the stress-related plasticity of plant genome and to specific metabolic modifications. In this view, recently it has been found that γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) but not glycine betaine (GB) is accumulated in durum wheat plants under salinity only when it is combined with high nitrate and high light. In these conditions, plants show lower reactive oxygen species levels and higher photosynthetic efficiency than plants under salinity at low light. This is certainly relevant because the most of drought or salinity studies performed on cereal seedlings have been done in growth chambers under controlled culture conditions and artificial lighting set at low light. However, it is very difficult to interpret these data. To unravel the reason of GABA accumulation and its possible mode of action, in this review, all possible roles for GABA shunt under stress are considered, and an additional mechanism of action triggered by salinity and high light suggested.
Since the advent of modern drug treatments, traditional medicine has greatly receded in occidental societies. Moreover, only a limited number of medicinal plants have received detailed scientific scrutiny thereby prompting the World Health Organisation to recommend that this area be comprehensively investigated. Cassia fistula Linn is used extensively in various parts of the world against a wide range of ailments, the synergistic action of its metabolite production being most probably responsible for the plant’s beneficial effects. This paper reviews the primary and secondary metabolite composition of vegetative and reproductive plant parts and cell cultures thereby derived, with emphasis on potent phenolic antioxidants such as anthraquinones, flavonoids and flavan-3-ol derivatives. This paper also appraises the antioxidant and free radical propensities of plant parts and cell culture extracts. The data so far generated clearly sets the basis for a clearer understanding of the phytochemistry of the plant and derived cultures and opens the possibility of the potential utilization of the phenolic rich extracts from medicinal plants in food system or as prophylactics in nutritional/food supplement programs. Thus traditional medicinal plant- derived antioxidants may protect against a number of diseases and reduce oxidation processes in food systems. In order to establish this, it is imperative to measure the markers of baseline oxidative stress particularly in human health and disease and examine how they are affected by supplementation with pure compounds or complex plant extracts from the traditional medicinal plants.
Most microorganisms of the phyllosphere are nonculturable in commonly used media and culture conditions, as are those in other natural environments. This review queries the reasons for their ‘noncultivability’ and assesses developments in phyllospere microbiology that have been achieved cultivation independently over the last 4 years. Analyses of total microbial communities have revealed a comprehensive microbial diversity. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and metagenomic sequencing were applied to investigate plant species, location and season as variables affecting the composition of these communities. In continuation to culture-based enzymatic and metabolic studies with individual isolates, metaproteogenomic approaches reveal a great potential to study the physiology of microbial communities in situ. Culture-independent microbiological technologies as well advances in plant genetics and biochemistry provide methodological preconditions for exploring the interactions between plants and their microbiome in the phyllosphere. Improving and combining cultivation and culture-independent techniques can contribute to a better understanding of the phyllosphere ecology. This is essential, for example, to avoid human–pathogenic bacteria in plant food.