TRICHODERMA ASPEREULLM ACCC30536 INOCULATION DIFFERENTLY REGULATES THE TIME-COURSE EXPRESSION OF FIVE INDOLE-3-ACETIC ACID AMIDO SYNTHETASE GENES AND THE LEVELS OF IAA, SA AND JA IN POPULUS DAVIDIANA x P-ALBA VAR. PYRAMIDALIS

Some indole-3-acetic acid amido synthetases (GH3 proteins) were confirmed to catalyze the connection between IAA, SA or JA with amino acid to regulate hormone dynamic balances in promoting plant growth; they can also improve plants' resistance to stress through activating SA, JA and ethylene signaling pathways. Trichoderma spp. are widely-known beneficial biocontrol agents. However, the expression pattern of plant GH3 genes induced by Trichoderma remained unexplored. In this study, five GH3 genes in Populus davidiana x P. alba var. pyramidalis (named PodaGH3-1, PodaGH3-2, PodaGH3-5, PodaGH3-9 and PodaGH3-10) were cloned. Their characteristic analysis showed that the five PodaGH3s genes were highly conservative and closely related at the residues linked to ATP binding with IAA or JA, and their expression levels changed obviously under Trichoderma inoculation. Moreover, IAA, JA and SA contents showed a fluctuating yet increasing trend during the 72 hours when poplar seedling rhizosphere was colonized by Trichoderma. In summary, all the five PodaGH3s could be activated by the interaction between biotrophic Trichoderma and poplar seedlings

INFLUENCE OF TRICHODERMA INOCULATION ON FOUR CRUCIAL DEFENSE-RELATED ENZYMES AND LEAF SOLUBLE PROTEIN LEVEL OF POPLAR

Trichoderma spp. are beneficial endophytic plant symbionts known as plant growth improving factors and control agents for plant pathogens. We report in this study that the mechanisms for biological control of T. asperellum was the inducing of increases of crucial defense-related enzymes SOD, POD, PPO and PAL, and increasing the soluble protein level in leaf. Four T. asperellum strains each had slightly differential effects but all have positive effects. T. asperellum ACCC30536 had the best promoting effects. The activities of SOD and POD in poplar leaf responded to T. asperellum inducing as early as four hours after inoculation and both reached peak on the third day after inoculation. In contrast, the activities of both PPO and PAL in poplar leaf shortly showed suppression within one day after inoculation before the following drastic increase both peaking on the sixth day after inoculation. On the gene expression level, the regulation of SOD, POD and PAL in leaf showed consistent patterns with enzyme activities while PPO in leaf and the four enzymes in root indicated more complex regulatory mechanisms. Leaf soluble protein level were highly induced by each of the four T. asperellum strains and maintained almost stable from four hours after inoculation

Allelopathic Impact of Sorghum and Sunflower on Germinability and Seedling Growth of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Sorghum and sunflower are considered as highly allelopathic plants with inhibitory efficacy on plants of other species. In a pot study, the phytotoxic potential of sorghum and sunflower shoot and root on germination and seedling growth of cotton was evaluated through soil incorporation of powders and spray of water extracts. The experiment was conducted at | department of Agronomy, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam during Kharif (summer) 2010 and 2011. The analysis of pooled data suggested that all the powders and water extracts of both allelopathic crops caused substantial suppression of germination and related traits of cotton seedlings as compared to control (untreated). Sorghum shoot powder (10 g kg-1 soil) caused highest allelopathic effects and reduced cotton seed germination by 12.8%, root length by 45.4%, shoot length by 51.9%, fresh weight seedling-1 by 41.7% and dry weight seedling-1 by 36.7%, followed by sunflower shoot powder (10 g kg-1 soil) in phytotoxic efficiency for inhibiting seed germination, seedling growth and weight in contrast to control (untreated). Sorghum showed superiority over sunflower in allelopathic efficiency. Powder of both crops was found more allelopathic in contrast to water extract. Among plant parts phytotoxic potential, shoot proved higher in inhibitory effect than root. However, it was concluded from the results of present study that both sorghum and sunflower possess allelopathic compounds with growth suppressing ability which could be utilized for effective weed management in cotton under field conditions as eco-friendly low-cost alternate of herbicides with wise strategy

Assessment of genetic variability in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) genotypes

The evaluation of phenotypic characteristics is critical in the selection of top cotton lines. Cotton breeders want to use a variety of genotypes in hybrids to segregate for desired characteristics while also allowing for selection and genetic gain. Breeders can use phenotypic diversity information to aid in parental selection. In this context, a set of 12 advance cotton lines were evaluated for genetic diversity at Cotton Research Institute, Tandojam during Kharif season 2020. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications, while seven agronomical traits were included in the experiment. The mean squares of genotypes were significantly differences (P<0.05) for all studied traits, representing that genetic diversity is existed in these cotton germplasms for further utilization. Considering the agronomic performance, the genotype B-2 was on top in average values for plant height (174.40 cm), bolls plant-1 (42.067), seed cotton yield plant-1(139.34 g), GOT% (37.800%) and staple length (28.00 mm), hence indicates its valuable breeding resources for future cotton breeding. The greater genetic distance of 92.683 was found between B5 and B2 genotypes, revealing that this pair may be used in hybridization program for vigorous hybrid production and better selection in subsequent generations. The variance percentages for the first, second, and third principle components were 42.70, 23.10, and 17.20, respectively; the first three components contributed 83.00 percent of the variation for genotypes, which is high enough for cotton crop improvements. The cotton genotypes were divided into three categories based on phenotypic data. The many groups obtained might be beneficial in generating cotton genotypes with a variety of characteristics and diversifying the cotton gene pool

Transcriptional and physiological analyses of short-term Iron deficiency response in apple seedlings provide insight into the regulation involved in photosynthesis

Abstract Background Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient for plants. Utilization of Fe deficiency-tolerant rootstock is an effective strategy to prevent Fe deficiency problems in fruit trees production. Malus halliana is an apple rootstock that is resistant to Fe deficiency; however, few molecular studies have been conducted on M. halliana. Results To evaluate short-term molecular response of M. halliana leaves under Fe deficiency condition, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analyses were conducted at 0 (T1), 0.5 (T2) and 3 d (T3) after Fe-deficiency stress, and the timepoints were determined with a preliminary physiological experiment. In all, 6907, 5328, and 3593 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in pairs of T2 vs. T1, T3 vs. T1, and T3 vs. T2. Several of the enriched DEGs were related to heme binding, Fe ion binding, thylakoid membranes, photosystem II, photosynthesis-antenna protein, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism and carotenoid biosynthesis under Fe deficiency, which suggests that Fe deficiency mainly affects the photosynthesis of M. halliana. Additionally, we found that Fe deficiency induced significant down-regulation in genes involved in photosynthesis at T2 when seedlings were treated with Fe-deficient solution for 0.5 d, indicating that there was a rapid response of M. halliana to Fe deficiency. A strong up-regulation of photosynthesis genes was detected at T3, which suggested that M. halliana was able to recover photosynthesis after prolonged Fe starvation. A similar expression pattern was found in pigment regulation, including genes for coding chlorophyllide a oxygenase (CAO), β-carotene hydroxylase (β-OHase), zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP) and 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED). Our results suggest that pigment regulation plays an important role in the Fe deficiency response. In addition, we verified sixteen genes related to photosynthesis-antenna protein, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism and carotenoid biosynthesis pathways using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) to ensure the accuracy of transcriptome data. Photosynthetic parameters, Chl fluorescence parameters and the activity of Chlase were also determined. Conclusions This study broadly characterizes a molecular mechanism in which pigment and photosynthesis-related regulations play indispensable roles in the response of M. halliana to short-term Fe deficiency and provides a basis for future analyses of the key genes involved in the tolerance of Fe deficiency

Assessing the genetic potential of mustard genotypes for water stress through PEG-6000 treatments

Water stress is a primary constraint to achieve the goal of sustainable crop production. Water stress severely affects the seed production and oil yield of mustard genotypes. To overcome this problem, the development of water stress resilient mustard cultivars with potential seed and oil yield is a sustainable solution. Therefore, in vitro screening of mustard genotypes through PEG-6000 treatments were carried out on ten mustard genotypes. Along with control, two PEG-6000 levels were set to impose osmotic stress, such as, 6% and 10% PEG-6000. Data analyses depicted significant differences among all genotypes and between PEG-6000 treatments for all the studied traits, such as, shoot and root length, shoot and root fresh weight, shoot and root dry weight, K+ content, Ca++ content and K+/Ca++ ratio, demonstrating the availability of genetic differences in mustard genotypes for future stress breeding. Under PEG-6000 (6% and 10%) treatments, the genotypes like AARI-Canola, Khanpur Raya, Dhoom-1, Super Raya, Galaxy and Coral-432 exhibited high performance for seedling traits and less reduction due to PEG-6000 treatments. Hence, these mustard genotypes tend to provide useful genetic potential for water stress breeding

Genome wide analysis of recurrent parent genome recovery in different backcross populations for blast resistance through SSR markers in rice

Marker-assisted backcross breeding technique has been widely applied for incorporation of blast resistance genes into rice varieties. The monitoring of resistance genes along with recovery of recurrent parent is an essential aspect for reducing the donor genome content in backcross population. Current research was conducted to determine the recovery of recurrent parent in each backcross population of rice. Malaysian high yielding but blast susceptible rice variety MR219 was taken as recurrent parent while PongsuSeribu 2 was donor parent. Microsatellite markers commonly called as Simple sequence repeat markers were used to estimate recovery of recurrent parent genome i.e. MR219 in early generation of backcross population. A total of 300 microsatellite markerswere randomly applied on 12 rice chromosomes. 72 SSR markers found distinct and clear polymorphic between the parent PongsuSeribu 2 and MR219. These 72 polymorphic markers were utilized to analyze the recovery of plants in further subsequent generations. The background recovery ranged from 73-93.9% and 79- 96.3% in BC1F1 and BC2F1 generation. The proportion of recurrent parent genome increased and donor genome content decreases after every backcross generation. The recovery of recurrent parent genome content ranged from 94-97.1% in the selected improved advance lines of BC2F2 generation. In the advance lines, the average percent for the proportion of recurrent parent genome was 96.16%. Marker-assisted backcrossing efficiently accelerated the recurrent parent genome recovery within few backcrosses, reduced the backcross generation and saved plenty of time to intogress the genes against blast disease. The present results will be helpful for rice breeders for selecting true blast resistant lines along with maximum resemblance with recurrent parent

Simulated CSM-CROPGRO-cotton yield under projected future climate by SimCLIM for southern Punjab, Pakistan

Climate change is widely affecting the agriculture sector in Pakistan with an estimated annual loss of up to 16 billion dollars by the end of 21st century (GOP, 2015). Southern Punjab is famous for producing more cotton than the entire province of Sindh in Pakistan but here the climatic variations largely affect the cotton production. The present research was carried out in Vehari, an arid area of Southern Punjab, Pakistan, to determine the intensity of the climatic impacts on the projected agricultural production of cotton in southern Punjab for 2025 and 2050 using SimCLIM(climate model) with CSM (crop simulation model)-CROPGRO-Cotton by comparing with observed data (2013 and 2014).The integrated assessment model (IAM) SimCLIM uses a statistical approach for regional downscaling. Scenarios for two general circulation models (GCMs) (BCC-CSM1-1 and MIR005) and three greenhouse gas concentration pathways (RCP-8.5, 6.0, 4.5) were developed. The three levels of phosphorous (0, 57, and 114 kg ha(-1)) were applied to find the yield output of cotton cultivars (MNH-886 and FH-142) for the prediction of development and yield with different GCMs. The model predicted that FH-142 would give a higher percentage yield than MNH-886 for 2025 and 2050; the lowest percentage yield would be for MNH-886 at maturity for three RCPs. The lowest percentage change in the yield was projected for MNH-886 by RCP-8.5 ( - 0.77) and ( - 0.85) for 2025 and 2050, respectively. Farmers might have to apply a moderate level of phosphorous (57 kg P ha(-1))to avoid the potential threat of climate change. Both the cultivars MNH-886 and FH-142 are suitable for 57 kg P ha(-1), but cultivar FH-142 performed better when compared to MNH-886 for GCM and three RCPs