First Report of Crown and Stem Rot of Orchid (\u3ci\u3eOrchis palustris\u3c/i\u3e) Caused by \u3ci\u3eSclerotinia minor\u3c/i\u3e

Orchis palustris Jacq. is a wild orchid native to wetlands in eastern Anatolia. During June of 2003, near Erzurum, Turkey, a decline of this orchid was observed in several meadows that had been irrigated for forage production. Stems were chlorotic, wilted, and collapsed. There was a soft, watery rot at the crowns and lower stems. White mycelium and black sclerotia formed on necrotic stem and crown tissues. The fungus was isolated from sclerotia on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and identified as Sclerotinia minor Jagger on the basis of small sclerotia (0.5 to 2.5 mm long) scattered throughout the colonies (2). Pathogenicity was confirmed by inoculating stems of 8-week-old plants with mycelial plugs from 5-day-old PDA cultures and enclosing inoculated plants in transparent plastic bags for 3 days. After 2 weeks, symptoms similar to those in the field were observed, and S. minor was reisolated from inoculated plants. Noninoculated control plants remained asymptomatic. The disease was previously observed on O. laxiflora Lam. in Turkey (1), but to our knowledge, this is the first report of S. minor infecting O. palustri

A Field Survey of Promising Mulberry (Morus spp.) Genotypes from Turkey [Eine Feldstudie zu vielversprechenden Maulbeer-Genotypen aus der Türkei]

In this study the mulberry population in the Mediterranean and Eastern Anatolia Turkey was examined with regard to fruit properties. The research material consisted of uncultivated mulberry (Morus spp.) trees. Thirty five mulberry genotypes for table, 6 genotypes for fruit juice, 11 genotypes for syrup (pekmez) and 9 genotypes for drying, were selected, 32 of which belonged to Morus alba, 12 to Morus rubra and 8 genotypes to Morus nigra. Continued and more detailed selection studies with this population of genotypes are necessary to provide material that is suitable for future breeding efforts. It may also be possible to select some of this native material that has sufficient commercial value to justify its release to growers. © 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria enhanced leaf organic acids, FC-R activity and Fe nutrition of apple under lime soil conditions

Iron chlorosis in the calcareous soils is one most important stress factors worldwide that limits photosynthesis and decreases fruit yield and quality. Certain soil rhizobacteria produce organic compounds such as plant acids and they may reduce the soil rhizosphere pH and affect ferric chelate reductase (FC-R) activity in root. However, there is no knowledge regarding changes in organic acids content and FC-R activities of leaf due to rhizobacterial root inoculation. Therefore, the efficiency of six plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) were tested on apple cv. Braeburn on M9 and MM106 rootstocks. The results of the experiment showed leaf organic acid contents, iron quantity of soil, root and leaf and root and leaf FC-R activity were significantly affected via rhizobacteria applications in apple plants. In MM106 and M9, there was a remarkable increase in Fe in M3 inoculated soil by 95 and 89%, respectively, compared to control. Average increases in citric, malic, malonic, butyric and lactic acid in the leaf were obtained from rhizobacterial root inoculations of 25.1, 21.8, 29.6, 18.0 and 18.2% in Braeburn/MM106, respectively. In Braeburn/M9, MFDCa1 application increased all organic acid concentrations compared to the control. MFDCa2 treatment caused the maximum leaf FC-R activity in Braeburn on M9 and MM106 (60.9 and 50.3 nmol Fe+2 g-1 FW h-1, respectively) while the least values were determined in the control (33.5 and 29.9 nmol Fe+2 g-1 FW h-1, respectively). This study showed the bacterial strains tested in our study may be used as a biofertilizer instead of Fe fertilizers. © 2018, Franciszek Górski Institute of Plant Physiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków.TOVAG 111O704Acknowledgements This study was supported by TUBITAK (TOVAG 111O704), The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey

Effect of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria on Fe Acquisition in Peach (Prunus Persica L) Under Calcareous Soil Conditions

The effects of Alcaligenes 637Ca, Agrobacterium A18, Staphylococcus MFDCa1, MFDCa2, Bacillus M3 and Pantoea FF1 were tested on peach cv. ‘Elegant Lady’ on GF677 and Nemaguard rootstocks. Average increases in citric, malic, oxalic, butyric and fumaric acid in the leaf were obtained from rhizobacterial root inoculations of 33.1, 17.5, 21.7, 26.5, and 44.7% in Elegant Lady/Nemaguard, respectively. FF1 showed the highest FC-R activity in the roots of Nemaguard (112.4 nmol FW gr-1 hr-2) and GF677 (162 nmol FW gr-1 hr-2). The highest FC-R activity in the leaf was with MFDCa2 in Elegant Lady/Nemaguard (57.1 nmol FW gr-1 hr-2) and 637Ca in Elegant Lady/GF677 (87.9 nmol FW gr-1 hr-2). PGPR strains used in this study expressed increased leaf organic acid content, FC-R activity in the roots and leaf, increased active Fe content in the leaf, and possessed a great potential for the improvement of iron availability to plants. © 2018, © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.TOVAG 111O704This study was supported by TUBITAK (TOVAG 111O704), The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey

Root plant growth promoting rhizobacteria inoculations increase ferric chelate reductase (FC-R) activity and Fe nutrition in pear under calcareous soil conditions

Iron deficiency occurring in calcareous soil is a problem in various plants. It is well known that some soil bacteria can release organic acids that can decrease the pH of the soil rhizosphere. However, there have been no attempts to study the effects of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), including organic acid releasing bacteria, on the organic acid contents of the leaf and FC-R activity in the roots and leaves under calcareous soil conditions. Therefore, pear plants were inoculated with 6 bacterial strains with the aim of acquiring iron under calcareous conditions. Uniform 1-year-old pear cv. Deveci sapling grafted on BA-29 and OHF-333 rootstocks were planted in plastic pots containing 10 L of loamy soil at 29.6% CaCO3. All bacteria were applied to the roots as an inoculation before planting. The root and leaf Fe content, FC-R activity, leaf organic acids, and soil Fe content were compared in the Alcaligenes 637Ca, Agrobacterium A18, Staphylococcus MFDCa1, MFDCa2, Bacillus M3 and Pantoea FF1 strains. The study showed that the leaf organic acid content and the Fe content in the soil, root and leaf were significantly affected by the bacterial treatments in pear plants. It was determined that the total and active Fe in the leaf was higher in OHF-333 compared to BA-29 by 7% and 14%, respectively. Furthermore, the leaf FC-R activity of Deveci on OHF-333 was 8% higher than that on BA-29. In the Deveci/BA-29 plants, the 637Ca treatment had the highest root FC-R activity value (107 nmol Fe+2 gr-1 FW h-2). The highest leaf FC-R activity value was obtained from the MFDCa1, MFDCa2 and FF1 treatments (58.4, 56.3 and 55.7 nmol Fe+2 gr-1 FWh-2, respectively). The bacterial strains used in the present study have an important potential to be used as a biofertilizer to replace the use of iron fertilizers. © 2017 Elsevier B.V