Relations in the Size Variation of Plant Organs: a Case Study of Staghorn Sumac Leaves and Longleaf Pine Cone Scales

Plants automatically control the size variations in organs to achieve efficient exploitation of resources. However, it is unclear whether the scaling relationships of plant organs share a similar character for different individuals under varied micro-conditions (e.g., light and soil water). We conducted a case study of the lengths of staghorn sumac leaves and longleaf pine cone scales to test the relationships. Our results indicated that although there were size variations, there existed power laws of frequency in the lengths of staghorn sumac leaves and longleaf pine cone scales. The exponents differed but were positively correlated with the minimum length of leaves or cone scales. Taylor’s Law existed in the lengths of cone scales and some tree leaves, and scale break was observed. This study provides new information on scaling relationships and self-organization in the patterns of tree parts arrangement. Taylor’s Law may be used to detect minor changes in the growth regime.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Plant Studies, Vol. 10, No. 2

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Plant Studies, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2021.

Variability, Heritability and Genetic advance of introduced upland rice genotypes at Fogera in North Western Ethiopia

Variability, heritability and genetic advance are basic in order to provide information for plant breeding programs. Forty nine upland rice genotypes were tested in 7*7 simple lattice design at Fogera in Wereta station of Adet Agricultural Research Center in 2012/13. The objectives of the study were to estimate the genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance of the genotypes tested. Analysis of variance revealed that there was highly significant difference among the 49 genotypes for all the characters studied. Accessions IR 78937-B-3-B-B-1 and IR 78937-B-3-B-B-2 had the highest yield with a score of 5374.5 kg/ha and 5305.6 kg/ha respectively. The high yielding genotype IR 78937-B-3-B-B-1 had a yield advantage of 57% and 22.2%, respectively, as compared to standard checks Nerica-4 and Hidasie. Phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) values ranged from 2.5% for panicle length to 49.98% for number of spikelet per panicle. While the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) ranged from 2.4 % for panicle length to 47.6 % for number of spikelet per panicle. Number of tiller per plant (22.47%), number spikelet per panicle (49.98%), thousand seed weight (25.56%) and yield (23.93%) had higher PCV values. The PCV values for flag leaf length (14.79%), flag leaf width (16.12%), and culm length (16.42%) and number of panicle per plant (16.32%) were medium. Flowering cycle (7.81%), maturation cycle (2.9%), and panicle length (2.5%) had lower PCV values. GCV values were low for flowering cycle (7.21%), maturation cycle (1.82%) and panicle length (2.4%); medium for flag leaf length (14.26%), flag leaf width (15.39%), culm length (15.19 %) and number of panicle per plant (15.72%); high for number of tillers per plant (22.18 %), yield (23.07%), thousand seed weight (25.18%) and number of spikelet per panicle (47.60%). The high GCV values of these characters suggest that genetic impact is higher and environmental influence is lower. This study generally had indicated that there was significant genetic variability or divergence among the genotypes. Thus, the improvement program of the upland rice genotypes through direct selection rather than a lengthy crossing program is recommended.

Enset (Enset ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) Breeding for Various Purposes - A Review

Enset (Enset ventricosum (Welw) Cheesman) is a well-known cultivated crop in Ethiopia and a cultural staple food for over 20 million humans in different parts of Ethiopia. It bears flowers that developed into fruits and seeds. It bears seeds and propagated vegetativly. Attempts have been done for maintenance, conservation, improving cultivars, diversity, and variability study. About 623 Enset germplasm were collected from 12 main growing areas and ex-situ conserved at Areka. Seeds of Enset were stored at the millennium gene bank. Seedlings and specimens are held in the garden of Cambridge Cottage and Wakehurst. In the research effort 6 cultivars: 3 early set cultivars: Yanbulle, Gewada, Endale, and 3 late set cultivars: Kelisa, Zerita, Mesena were released. Variability study revealed that corn yields were significantly affected by location, cultivar, and cultivar Vs location. Genotypes: Suite, Warke, Bidu, Astera, and Kekari showed 100% disease symptoms after 30 days of inoculation. Symptoms weren't observed on Meziya, Bedadet, Hiniba, and Nech Enset clones after 90 days of inoculation. ISSRs primers revealed that, in all parameters, Kefficho genotypes have been more diversified than genotypes from Essera areas. The Partitioning of Shannon's diversity index indicated that the major variations were occurred within populations than between the two populations.

Available Phosphorus in Soils Amended with Organic N-Enriched Composts during Periods of Incubation

Inorganic nitrogen (N) fertilizers, microbial inoculum and biologically-active substances are used to fortify composts which characteristically contain low amounts of N. The potentials of organic wastes from agriculture for N enrichment of composts were indicated by significant increase in soil N while there can be fortuitous improvement in the available phosphorus (P) contents on which information about the extent is lacking. In this study, composts: cow dung + sawdust (CDSD) and poultry droppings + sawdust (PDSD) were enriched with meals from bone (BN), blood (BM), hoof (HF) and horn (HN); and neem leaf (NM) and tithonia leaf (TM) to attain 150, 300, 450 and 600 g kg-1 N and the available P was monitored at four-week intervals during 16 weeks of incubation in soil. Available P increased with all N sources and enrichment rates slightly at week 4 but highly from week 8 and for each source, the enrichment to 600 g kg-1 N gave the highest values. The composts enriched to 450 and 600 g kg-1 N gave 15-20 and 20-29 mg kg-1 available P in week 12 and 16 respectively. CDSDBM and PDSDHF enriched to 600 g kg-1 N at week 4 and 8 respectively can be used for short-season crops while PDSDBM and PDSDNM enriched to 600 g kg-1 N in week 12 and 16 respectively would be suitable for long-season crops. The PDSDNM enriched to 600 g kg-1 N gave the highest available P (29.0 mg kg-1) and was followed by PDSDBN and PDSDHF at the same enrichment level, with 28.0 mg kg-1 each. Although the PMSDNM enriched to 600 g kg-1N had the highest available P in week 16, the enriched composts with values exceeding 20 mg kg-1 also have potentials for the cultivation of long-season vegetables.

In vitro Bioassay of Allelopathic Activities of a Mangrove Tree, Kandelia obovata, and Fast-growing Trees, Betula platyphylla and Populus alba, Using Protoplast Co-culture Method

Allelopathic activities of a salt-tolerant and low-temperature tolerant mangrove tree, Kandelia obovata, which grows in brackish water regions of sub-tropical areas, and two fast-growing trees, Betula platyphylla and Populus alba, which grow in the temperate area, were examined by two in vitro bioassay methods, the sandwich method using dried leaves and the protoplast co-culture method using leaf protoplasts. Lettuce root growth examined by the sandwich method, was inhibited 50% by 50 mg dried mature leaves of K. obovata. In the protoplast co-culture method, inhibition rates of cell division of lettuce protoplasts were 31% and 69% by leaf protoplasts of K. obovata at densities of 1 × 104 mL-1 and 5 × 104 mL-1, respectively. These results were compared with the inverse relationship between allelopathic activities and salt tolerance of mangrove plants of different families. B. platyphylla showed 37% inhibition by the sandwich method using dried young leaves, but only 10% inhibition at 5 × 104 mL-1 by the protoplast co-culture method using leaf protoplasts of B. platyphylla. Dried young leaves of P. alba showed 66% inhibition, but the leaf protoplasts at the density of 5 × 104 mL-1 showed highly stimulatory activity. Abscisic acid, of which contents in leaf protoplasts of three tree species varies from high to low in relation to salt tolerance and recalcitrance of tissue culture, was discussed as a putative allelochemical.

Effective Utilization of Citrus unshiu Plant Waste Extracts with Lipase Inhibitory Activities

During the course of Citrus unshiu fruit cultivation, large amounts of plant material including pruned leaves, thinned-out flowers and unripe fruit are obtained; these materials are generally considered unusable and discarded as plant wastes. We have previously attempted to establish an effective use of such plant wastes as beneficial natural resources and found that a methanolic extract of pruned Citrus leaves (CUL-ext) exhibited inhibitory activity against porcine pancreatic lipase. In this study, we sought to identify further the effective uses of C. unshiu plant wastes by determining the lipase inhibitory activity of methanolic extracts of thinning out flowers (CUF-ext) and unripe fruit (CUUF-ext). We accordingly found that the inhibitory activity of CUF-ext was superior to that of CUUF-ext and comparable to that previously observed using CUL-ext. Fractionation of CUF-ext and CUUF-ext, followed by chromatographic analyses, revealed that the pancreatic lipase inhibitory activities of these extracts could be attributed, at least in part, to the flavonoids hesperidin, nobiletin, narirutin and rutin. On the basis of present findings, we propose that, in addition to pruned Citrus leaves, the thinned-out flowers and unripe fruit of C. unshiu are natural resources which are suitable for preparing constituents with lipase inhibitory activity.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Plant Studies, Vol. 10, No. 1

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Plant Studies, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2021.

Identification and Characterization of Bacterial Agents Causing Moderate Damage and Souring of the Fig Fruits

In order to determine the factors of decay and sourness of fig fruits, in the summer of 2016-17, 60 leaf, fruit and stem samples from different regions of Tehran, Varamin (Qal'e No), Mazandaran (Amol, Noor and Sari), Lorestan from Iran and a branch of fig fruit sample from Italy were collected. We obtained 30 isolates from the sample. The pathogenicity of 30 isolates were confirmed by artificially inoculation using fig fruits. They were also characterized based on key phenotypic traits. All 30 isolates showed hypersensitivity reaction to tobacco, pelargonium and did not show pathogenicity to potato tubers. 16S rRNA gene of the 10 representative isolates were sequenced. Ten isolates were identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas fulva, Brevibacterium linens, Pseudomonas fragi, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus paralicheniformis and Bacillus cereus based on the determined sequences. None of the isolates caused fruit rot but typical disease symptoms were observed on fig leaves and fruits. This is the first report of the presence of pathogenic bacteria on fig trees in Iran.

Macroscopic and Microscopic Modifications of Wood after Debarking of Trees in the South Cameroon

Wounding of trees by debarking has been reported to form a callus tissue. This work aims to investigate macroscopic and microscopic modifications of wood after the removal of barks in Alstonia boonei, Scorodophloeus zenkeri, and Garcinia lucida. Species that are not yet barking were wounded to conducting experimental debarking. The wound was rectangular with 30 cm vertically with a lateral extent of 10 cm. Every three months, there was a follow-up for fifteen months during which the macroscopic and microscopic phenomena were observed and recorded. Microsections of 15–20 μm thickness were taken on a piece of wood from the regenerated and intact wood, with a sledge microtome. Staining of cell walls was done with safranin and fast green to increase contrast in an anatomical slide. Analyzes of the variability of xylem anatomical features were done by semi-automatic measurements using the SpectrumSee digital image analysis software. The speed of recovery of the bark of these three species is 9.04 cm/year for A. boonei, 5.9 cm/year for S. zenkeri, and 3.85 cm/year for G. lucida. The recovery of A. boonei’s bark is the fastest, and it just takes 15 months to heal its wound. Densities of vessels were 8, 38, and 17 per mm², respectively, for the wood of A. boonei, S. zenkeri, and G. lucida before barking. These values increased for A. boonei (26) and G. lucida (20) except for S. zenkeri (25). In all species, the diameter of the vessels has decreased in the regenerated wood. Management practices that enhance the monitoring of sustainable harvesting levels of species and promote alternative plants for the same uses should be considered as part of conservation strategies.