An update to the La Tène plant economy in northern Serbia

The archaeobotanical research of the macrobiotic remains from archaeological sites provides a valuable insight into the plant economy of the continental Celtic (Gaulish or Galatian) tribe of Scordisci, which lived around the rivers of Sava, Drava and Danube during the last three centuries before Christ. The field crop production of Scordisci was based upon cereals, grain legumes and oil crops. The importance of spelt wheat (Triticum spelta L.) in the everyday diets of Scordisci has been underestimated so far. Recent researches proved the presence of Byzantine oat (Avena byzantina K. Koch) at the Celtic tilths in the northern Balkans. Cereals were stored in mud-plastered granary baskets. The spectrum of grain legumes is as diverse as that of cereals. The latest analyses expand the list of oil plants with a new species-dragon's head (Lallemantia iberica (M.Bieb.) Fisch. & C.A.Mey.). There is also the first evidence of a beer production facility in one of the Scordisci oppida, Čarnok.

Seed nutrients and bioactive compounds of underutilised oil crop Carthamus tinctorius L.

Seeds of seven different genotypes of underutilised oil crop Carthamus tinctorius L. (Asteraceae) from alternative oil species collection of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops (Novi Sad, Serbia), were analysed for their protein, oil, fatty acids, tocopherols and total phenolics contents, with a view to test their diversity and potential as an alternative source of these valuable compounds. Seeds of the tested safflower genotypes had total protein (determined by Kjeldahl method) content from 11.5 to 16.0%, while total oil content (determined by Soxhlet method) ranged from 16.8 to 24.5% of dry matter, on average. Two main unsaturated fatty acids in safflower seeds, oleic and linoleic acids, represent approximately 90% of the total fatty acid content (determined by gas chromatography). Linoleic acid was the dominant fatty acid in all genotypes (61.2-80.2% of oil), while oleic acid was in a negative correlation with linolenic acid content and ranged from 9.6 to 29.5% of oil. The amount of saturated fatty acids ranged from 5.5 to 6.05% for palmitic, and 2.1 to 3.5% for stearic acid. Safflower seed is a source of a-tocopherol (determined by high performance liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection) and its amount ranged from 358.8 to 461.8 mg/L of oil. The content of total phenolics (determined spectrophotometrically) ranged from 4.0 to 6.0 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of dry weight. This comprehensive screening of valuable chemical compounds of safflower seeds shows the importance of this alternative oil seed crop as a good source of important nutrients and bioactive constituents.

Molecular characterization of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma solani' in celery: Case study in Futog

'Candidates Phytoplasma solani', known by its trivial name stolbur phytoplasma, is a plant pathogen infecting numerous crops in Serbia. Celery plants with prominent leaf yellowing and chlorosis, sporadically with tissue necrosis, were observed during August 2020 in Futog, situated in Novi Sad suburbia in Vojvodina. Total of 12 sampled celery plants, 8 symptomatic and 4 asymptomatic ones, were analysed for 'Ca. P. solani' presence. All symptomatic celery plants were infected with stolbur phytoplasma according to the stoll 1 gene detection and therefore were further subjected to multigene molecular characterization on three genes: tuf, stamp and vmpl. Combining molecular tools PCR/RFLP and sequencing reviled two 'Ca. P. solani' multilocus genotypes in celery: tuf-b/Rqg31/V14 and tuf-b/ Rpm35/V14, present in 4 samples each. Obtained results of the strain genotyping are in concordance with previous data on the 'Ca. P. solani' diversity on celery, but supplemented with genotyping of the vmpl gene. Outbreak of stolbur phytoplasma in the assessed locality in Futog is linked to tuf-b epidemiological cycle correlated in Serbia mainly with weed Convolvulus arvensis which was present in the subjected celery plot, and could have been the phytoplasma inoculum source. Visual evaluation of the symptom occurrence suggests on 10-15% of 'Ca. P. solani' affected celery plants scattered throughout the plot corresponding to the pathogen dispersal in crop by cixiid planthoper Hyalesthes obsoletus (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha) associated with C. arvensis, main vector of stolbur phytoplasma in Serbia.

Effect of different carbon and nitrogen sources combination in medium for production of biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum

The increasing usage of chemicals for plant protection in recent years has become a serious problem. One of the possible solutions is use of beneficial microorganisms instead of synthetic fungicides, which will contribute to the protection of the environment and human health. Since the fungi Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium graminearum are the most important pathogens that cause maize diseases and produce mycotoxins, the potential of Trichoderma harzianum for biocontrol of both phytopathogens was examined in this paper. The aim of this paper was to study the influence of different carbon and nitrogen combinations in the medium for T. harzianum production. T. harzianum was cultivated in Erlenmeyer flasks and the effect of cultivation broth against selected maize pathogens was tested using well diffusion method. The results of this study showed that the combination of different carbon and nitrogen sources in the T. harzianum cultivation medium statistically significantly affects the production of Trichoderma cultivation broth effective on two tested phytopathogens. Dextrose as a carbon source and soybean flour as a nitrogen source proved to be the best combination in the medium for production of T. harzianum cultivation broth effective on A. flavus and F. graminearum. Maximal inhibition zone diameters of 31 mm and 56.33 mm were registered in those medium formulations for A. flavus and F. graminearum, respectively. These researches represent an important step for further research in which a medium of low market value would be selected. This would reduce the price of the production process but also the final product.

Archaeoentomological assessment of weevil (Coleoptera, Bruchidae) infestation level of pea (Pisum sativum) at the Late Bronze Age settlement Hissar

A find of 2572 charred seeds of pea (Pisum sativum L.) was detected at the Late Bronze Age tell settlement Hissar near Leskovac, in Serbia, belonging to the Brnjica cultural group, 14-10 cent. BC. Two types of pea seeds were observed: apparently healthy seeds and seeds damaged by the activity of a weevil (Coleoptera, Bruchidae). At least two-fifths of all finds have apparently been infested most probably by pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum L.), one of the most important pea pests worldwide, especially in medium-moist and dry climates, such as Southern Europe and Australia. A large amount of infested pea seeds indicates a developed pea production on small plots, strongly indicating that cultivating this ancient pulse crop must have been well-rooted in field conditions. Previous DNA analyses of charred pea placed the ancient Hissar pea at an intermediate position between extantly cultivated pea (P. sativum L. subsp. sativum var. sativum) and a wild, winter hardy, 'tall' pea (P. sativum subsp. elatius (Steven ex M. Bieb.) Asch. et Graebn.). Based on an assumption of its late harvest time and combined with pea weevil life cycle stage in charred seeds, it was possible to estimate the season during which the seeds were carbonized, namely, the second half of July or the first days of August at the latest. Older, final weevil instars were predominant before seed carbonization. The pea infestation rate at Hissar is one of the highest noted among pulses in the Old World and the highest among peas, so far.

Chamomile essential oil quality after postharvest separation treatments

Ecological conditions of the growing areas, growing practices as well as harvest and postharvest processing influence the yield and quality of chamomile. The aim of this research was to determine the influence of chamomile separation methods, as postharvest treatments, on the essential oil quality and content, with a view to improve current primary processing of this valuable medicinal plant. In order to explain the structure of laboratory data that would give deeper assessment of similarities among various samples of chamomile essential oil, PCA was employed. Tested results showed that separation of chamomile plant material, as postharvest and pre-drying treatment, had significant influence on the number of identified compounds in the chamomile essential oil. The highest content of individual essential oil compounds had chamomile flowers with short stems, especially a-bisabolol, chamazulene, Z-spiroether and E-b-famesene. In the essential oil obtained from chamomile flowers with long stems, content of a-bisabolol and chamazulene were significantly lower, while E-b-famesene and Z-spiroether contents were significantly higher. Furthermore, in the essential oil obtained from chamomile plant material without separation, the lowest content of abisabolol and Z-spiroether, and the highest content of E-b-farnesene were recorded. The correlation analysis was performed to investigate the likeness in the amounts of the active compounds of essential oil from differently processed chamomile samples. All these results indicate the importance of precise and controlled postharvest treatments, since it clearly affects the essential oil quality and content in the primary processing of this valuable medicinal plant.

Classification of rapeseed genotypes based on quantitative traits using multivariate techniques

The genetic variability of 13 rapeseed genotypes created in Serbia was assessed at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, in three consecutive years. The genotypes were evaluated and classified based on 10 quantitative traits (plant height, height to the first branch, stem width, number of lateral branches, number of leaves, number of pods, seed yield per plant, 1000 seed weight, oil content and protein content), using principal component analysis (PCA) and two-way cluster analysis. The first four PCs with eigenvalues >1 contributed to 83% of the total explained variance. The PC analysis revealed that plant height, height to the first branch, number of lateral branches and number of leaves contributed maximum to the total divergence of the material. The genotypes were classified in two main clusters: the first cluster comprised three genotypes, while the other genotypes belonged to the second cluster which can further be divided to two subclusters. One genotype was not classified in these two clusters. The selected genotypes that have desirable traits may be used in hybridization programs for improvement of seed yield and traits that contribute to seed yield most.

A study of correlations and path analyses of some traits in sunflower parental lines

The trial in this study was carried out in field conditions throughout three years from plots where seed production of sunflower parental lines was established. Eight genotypes were examined; namely RHA-UK, RHA-ST-59, RHA-SES-IMI, RHA-SNRF, RHA-E-ANN-65, RHA-RU-3, RHA-CDN, and RHA-N-M-1. All the examined genotypes are parental components of the best sunflower hybrids developed by the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, Serbia. Relationships between seed yield and eight different traits in sunflower were studied - oil and protein content, seed germination, 1000-seed weight, head diameter, number of branches and leaves and plant height. The same analyses were carried out for comparison of oil content. A highly significant positive correlation was determined between plant height and number of branches; plant height and the number of leaves; plant height and head diameter; plant height and seed yield; number of branches and yield; the number of leaves and yield; head diameter and seed yield; number of leaves and number of branches; number of leaves and head diameter and between seed germination and oil content. Path analysis indicated highest significant direct effect of plant height on yield (0.439**). The number of branches had a significant positive direct effect on yield (0.260*). In the study of indirect effects on yield, thirteen significant effects were determined. The study of direct effects on oil content showed that the plant height and number of leaves diameter had high significant effects (0.800** and -0.847**). The existence of indirect significant effects on oil content was determined in nine cases.

In vitro anther culture as efficiently applied technique for doubled haploid production of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

In vitro anther culture is the most commonly-used technology for doubled haploid production in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and various cereals. The technology application allows the genetic attainment of homozygous pure lines from heterozygous breeding material in a single generation, and has become a rapid alternative to the conventional breeding methods. This technology also contributes to more accurately assess QTL × environmental interactions and has been applied in: genetic researches for marker-trait association study, genomics and as a target for transformation, genetic engineering, gene mapping, and mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTLs). This paper reviews the most important factors that limit the efficiency of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) anther culture, such as genotype dependency and albinism, in addition to other affecting factors including the collection time of tillers and physiological growth environments of plants. Factors that improve the efficiency of wheat anther culture in mitigating both genotypic dependency and albinism have been included in this review, too, for example, genetic improvements by following a strategy to realize this purpose through using responsive breeding material for crossing, application of convenient stress pre-treatments (cold pre-treatments, heat shock treatment, colchicine, hormones, and chemicals) to induce androgenesis, and improvement of the composition of anther culture media and culture conditions. We have also highlighted the methods of chromosome doubling for the haploid wheat produced by anther culture androgenesis, such as spontaneous chromosome doubling or use of colchicine and anti-mitotic chemicals at an early stage of anther culture or as root immersion treatment.

Chemical composition of hyssop cv. 'Domaći ljubičasti' essential oil and its antimicrobial activity

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L., Lamiaceae) is a perennial shrub or subshrub violet-blue flowers in verticillasters and spicy taste with a pungent flavour. Besides being used as a culinary herb for flavouring and food preservation, this plant is also an ornamental, bee attracting plant and a traditional remedy for respiratory diseases and digestive disturbances. Hyssop is an essential oil-bearing plant, and its essential oil (Hyssopi aetheroleum) is used in the pharmaceutical, perfume and cosmetics industries as well as in aromatherapy. The objective of this study was to determine the chemical composition of essential oil of hyssop CV. "Domaći ljubičasti", grown in Serbia, and investigate its antimicrobial activity against 16 bacteria, mainly pathogens in the food industry. A total of 61 compounds were detected in the hyssop essential oil. The bicyclic monoterpene ketones CIS-pinocamphone (43.8%) and trans-pinocamphone (18.3%) were the most abundant, comprising 62.1%, followed by b-pinene (6.3%) and pinocarvone (6.1%). Hyssop essential oil expressed antibacterial activity against: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Proteus hauseri, Listeria monocytogenes, Rhodococcus equi, Listeria ivanovii, Salmonella Enteritidis, Enterococcus faecalis, Listeria innocua and Bacillus spizizenii. Hyssop essential oil did not express antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella Typhimurium, Klebsiella aerogenes and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Results of this study show that hyssop essential oil has potential for using as natural supplement for control of foodborne diseases of microbiological origin, as well as flavor compositions (herbaceous, camphor-like odour with warm and spicy undernotes), especially for meat products, sauces, soups and seasonings.