Genetic analysis of Myanmar Vigna species in responses to salt stress at the seedling stage

Twelve (12) Vigna genotypes were investigated for the evaluation of their tolerance levels in responses to four concentrations of NaCl (0, 75, 150 and 225 mM) at seedling stage. In the investigation, salt stress inhibited almost all the growth parameters as well as relative water content;  however, the degree of reduction was highly dependent on different genotypes and salinity levels. Generally, the control plants showed higher degree of all measured parameters than those of salt stress plants. Analysis of the heredity parameters based on the 12 investigated genotypes showed different genotypic variance of the salt tolerance index (STI) values. Salinity stress induced two new bands between 45 and 22 kDa, respectively, in salt tolerant genotypes. Furthermore, band intensity of the salt treated genotypes was higher than the control plants. Ward’s clustering technique was clearly divided into two clusters, A and B, according to their levels of salt tolerance. Considering their STI values of growth parameters, two genotypes V7 and V4 were identified as salt tolerant, whereas, V2, V6, V9, V8, V11 and V1 were recognized as salinity susceptible genotypes. These results suggest that, the genetically diverseaccessions resistant to salt stresses within the Vigna genotypes can be of considerable practical value for studying the mechanism of salt tolerance and for the provision of genetic resources for salinity breeding program.Key words: Cluster analysis, heritability, salt tolerance, SDS-PAGE, Vigna

How context affects transdisciplinary research: insights from Asia, Africa and Latin America

Transdisciplinary research (TDR) has been developed to generate knowledge that effectively fosters the capabilities of various societal actors to realize sustainability transformations. The development of TDR theories, principles, and methods has been largely governed by researchers from the global North and has reflected their contextual conditions. To enable more contextsensitive TDR framing, we sought to identify which contextual characteristics affect the design and implementation of TDR in six case studies in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, and what this means for TDR as a scientific approach. To this end, we distinguished four TDR process elements and identified several associated context dimensions that appeared to influence them. Our analysis showed that contextual characteristics prevalent in many Southern research sites—such as highly volatile socio-political situations and relatively weak support infrastructure—can make TDR a challenging endeavour. However, we also observed a high degree of variation in the contextual characteristics of our sites in the global South, including regarding group deliberation, research freedom, and dominant perceptions of the appropriate relationship between science, society, and policy. We argue that TDR in these contexts requires pragmatic adaptations as well as more fundamental reflection on underlying epistemological concepts around what it means to conduct “good science”, as certain contextual characteristics may influence core epistemological values of TDR

How context affects transdisciplinary research: insights from Asia, Africa and Latin America

Transdisciplinary research (TDR) has been developed to generate knowledge that effectively fosters the capabilities of various societal actors to realize sustainability transformations. The development of TDR theories, principles, and methods has been largely governed by researchers from the global North and has reflected their contextual conditions. To enable more context-sensitive TDR framing, we sought to identify which contextual characteristics affect the design and implementation of TDR in six case studies in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, and what this means for TDR as a scientific approach. To this end, we distinguished four TDR process elements and identified several associated context dimensions that appeared to influence them. Our analysis showed that contextual characteristics prevalent in many Southern research sites—such as highly volatile socio-political situations and relatively weak support infrastructure—can make TDR a challenging endeavour. However, we also observed a high degree of variation in the contextual characteristics of our sites in the global South, including regarding group deliberation, research freedom, and dominant perceptions of the appropriate relationship between science, society, and policy. We argue that TDR in these contexts requires pragmatic adaptations as well as more fundamental reflection on underlying epistemological concepts around what it means to conduct “good science”, as certain contextual characteristics may influence core epistemological values of TDR.ISSN:1862-4065ISSN:1862-405