September 2013 issue | 2(3) 2013
Southern Cross Publishing Group©2013
Australia

                          



>>> Back to Home Page
Plant Knowledge Journal | September 2013
Research Article Open Access

Preliminary evaluation of artificial pollination in pistachio using pollen suspension spray

Hajar Zeraatkar1, Hamid Reza Karimi1*, Mohammad Hossein Shamshiri1, Ali Tajabadipur2


1Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, Iran
2Department of Plant Breeding, Pistachio Research Institute of Iran, Rafsanjan, Iran

Abstract
Pistachio trees (Pistacia vera L.) are dioecious and pollination is necessary in order to get filled nuts. The effects of suspension media containing agar (A) and boric acid (B) combined with either 0.05% or 0.15% (w/v) pollen (P) used for spray pollination on pollen grain viability were investigated in pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) cv. Owhadi. We also evaluated the effects of spray pollination on fruit set, fruit and kernal quality. The pollen grain viability was measured by germination rates. It was determined that the pollen grain has the ability of germination in suspension media and the pollen grain germination percentage significantly increased by the application of the media containing agar and boric acid as compared with other media. Application of medium containing agar (A) and 0.01 % boric acid (B1) combined with 0.15% (w/v) pollen (P2) produced better fruit set than suspension media without boric acid. The medium containing agar and 100 mg L-1 boric acid combined with 0.05% (w/v) pollen increased fresh and dry weight of kernel. Moreover the pollination treatments affected kernel nutrient elements concentration so that highest concentration of the kernel P, Ca, Mg, Cu and Fe were obtained with spray pollination method. Our finding showed that the spray pollination may be the effective method in pistachio trees.

Plant Knowledge Journal | Pages 94-98 | Full Text PDF | Published Online 2 October 2013

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Research Article
Open Access

Effect of post-anthesis water deficiency on storage capacity and contribution of stem reserves to the growing grains of wheat cultivars

Majid Abdoli1*, Mohsen Saeidi2, Saeid Jalali-Honarmand2, Sirus Mansourifar2 and Mohammad-Eghbal Ghobadi2

1Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, Maragheh University, Maragheh, Iran
2Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Campus of Agriculture and Natural Recourse, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

Abstract
The experiment described here was carried out to determine the effects of post-anthesis water deficiency stress on dry matter and carbohydrate accumulation and their remobilization from different parts of stem to the growing grain in different wheat cultivars. To this end, an experiment was laid out as a split-plot arranged in a randomized completed block design with three replications during the years 2010-2011. The results showed that post-anthesis water deficit significantly decreased grain yield, TGW and grain number per spike and biomass in evaluated cultivars. The results showed that in all evaluated cultivars maximum weight of peduncle, penultimate and lower internodes, on average, were reached at 14 and 7 days after anthesis and at anthesis, respectively. Post-anthesis water deficiency stress had no significant effect on internodes length and stem weight, but, significantly increased dry matter remobilization and remobilization efficiency of lower internodes by 16.8% and 17%, respectively. Lower internodes had the highest storage capacity of dry matter and remobilization efficiency. Our analyses suggest that, with respect to high amount of dry matter accumulation in lower internodes, increasing of remobilization efficiency of lower internodes can significantly raises grain yield of wheat cultivars especially in arid and semi-arid regions.

Plant Knowledge Journal |
Pages 99-107 | Full Text PDF | Published Online 2 October 2013

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Research Article
Open Access

Effect of different plant growth regulators on callus induction of stem explants in Pistacia atlantica subsp. kurdica

P. Aghaei, B. Bahramnejad*1, A. A. Mozafari

1Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
2Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

Abstract
Wild pistachio (Pistacia atlantica subsp. kurdica) is one of tree species that cover much of the forest in northwest of Iran and used in industries, medicine and as food. The present study describes callus induction of the P. atlantica subsp. kurdica using seedling stem explants and the influence of different plant growth regulators including kinetin, benzyladenine (BA), thidiazuron (TDZ), 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) on the growth of calli. To determine the best concentration and composition of plant growth regulators to induce callus in wild pistachio, 13 treatments were compared in a completely randomized design with five replicates. Explants were excised from 7-10 days old in vitro grown seedlings and transferred to Woody Plant Medium (WPM) containing 3% sucrose and 0.7% agar supplemented different plant growth regulators.  The data were collected for callus fresh weight, callus dry weight and callus induction percentage. GC-MS analysis of essential oil constituents of P. atlantica subsp. kurdica callus was performed. Results showed that concentrations and combination of various plant growth regulators had significant effect on callus induction and callus weight. The high efficient callus formation was observed in the medium containing different concentration of 6-BAP individually. The lowest and highest percentage of callus induction were in the treatment of BA 2 mg/l with NAA 1mg/1 (40%) and 6BAP 1mg/l (85%), respectively. GC-MS separated eight kinds of substances in callus. Main compositions of callus were Bornyl acetate (9.18%), Spathulenol (5.89%) and Ledol (5.37%).

Plant Knowledge Journal | Pages 108-112 | Full Text PDF | Published Online 2 October 2013

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Research Article Open Access

A new report of in vitro flowering and multiple shooting in a wild epiphytic orchid Oberonia recurva Lindl. from asymbiotically germinated seedlings

Uma Thakur, Nitin Dongarwar*

Department of Botany, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Campus, Amravati Road, Nagpur, 440033, India

Abstract
Anthropogenic activities are sparingly high from past many decades that are a major threat for the genetic diversity. Oberonia recurva is distributed in South West of India mainly in the areas of Western Ghats. The Western Ghats were once covered with dense forests. But now, a large part of the area has been logged or converted to agricultural land or cleared for livestock grazing, reservoirs and roads. The growth of populations around protected areas and other forests has also led to habitat destruction, increased fragmentation, wildlife poaching and human-wildlife conflict. Major threats to this species are from deforestation and habitat destruction. Endemism and particular habitat makes it prone to threats. Therefore, the aim is to set up in vitro protocol for this delicate species. Asymbiotic seed germination, seedling development and effect of cytokinins on germination and seedling development were investigated in O. recurva. Five different media (Vacin and Went, Modified Knudson C, ½ MS, Lindemann and BM1) were examined for their effectiveness in promoting seed germination. Three light treatments for seed germination (0/24, 16/8, 24/0 h light/dark cycle) and three light treatments for seedling development were examined (8/16, 12/12, 16/8 h light/dark cycle). Effect of cytokinins (BAP, KN, ZEA) were also examined along with five media and percentage seed germination was also observed. Out of all the five media tried, BM1, LM and ½ MS showed high germination percentage 86.66%, 84.23% and 80.75% respectively, but the seedling development was high in BM1 and ½ MS. The best responded light treatment was 16/8 for germination and the same results were observed for the seedling development too. Effect of cytokinins was observed on germination and seedling development.  Higher concentrations of cytokinins were used for multiple shooting and in vitro flowering.  KN and BA were the best responded cytokinins for the multiple shooting and in vitro flowering.

Plant Knowledge Journal | Pages 113-118 | Full Text PDF | Published Online 2 October 2013

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Review Article
Open Access

Management of direct seeded rice for enhanced resource-use efficiency

Ekta Joshi1, Dinesh Kumar1, B. Lal2*, V. Nepalia3, Priyanka Gautam2 and A. K. Vyas1

1Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India-12
2Crop Production Division, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, India-753006
3Department of Agronomy, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur-313001, Indian


Abstract

Rice (Oryza sativa), the staple food of more than half of the population of the world, is an important target to provide food security and livelihoods for millions. Imminent water crisis, water-demanding nature of traditionally cultivated rice and climbing labour costs ramble the search for alternative management methods to increase water productivity, system sustainability and profitability. Direct seeded rice (DSR) technique is becoming popular nowadays because of its low-input demanding nature. It offers a very exciting opportunity to improve water and environmental sustainability. It involves sowing pre-germinated seeds into a puddled soil surface (wet seeding), standing water (water seeding) or dry seeding into a prepared seedbed (dry seeding). The development of short duration, early-maturing cultivars and efficient nutrient management techniques along with increased adoption of integrated weed management methods have encouraged many farmers to switch from transplanted to DSR culture. This technology is highly mechanized in some developed nations like U.S, Europe and Australia. This shift should substantially reduce crop water requirements and emission of greenhouse gases. The reduced emission of these gases helps in climate change adaptation and mitigation, enhanced nutrient relations, organic matter turnovers, carbon sequestration and also provides the opportunity of crop intensification. However, weed and nematode infestation are major problems, which can cause large yield losses in DSR. Other associated problems with DSR are increased incidences of blast disease crop lodging impaired kernel quality, increased panicle sterility and stagnant yields across the years. Based on the existing evidence, the present paper reviews the integrated package of technologies for DSR, potential advantages and problems associated with DSR, and suggest likely future patterns of changes in rice cultivation.

Plant Knowledge Journal | Pages 119-134 | Full Text PDF | Published Online 2 October 2013