Biochemical changes in barberries during adventitious root formation: the role of indole-3-butyric acid and hydrogen peroxide

Peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase (PPO), phenolic compounds and total sugars (TS) were investigated during root formation in cuttings of Berberis vulgaris var. asperma (BVA) and Berberis thunbergii var. atropurpurea (BTA) treated with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and IBA+H2O2. Rooting was observed on BTA cuttings but not on BVA cuttings. The BTA cuttings treated with IBA and IBA+H2O2 showed higher rooting percentages, number of roots, and root length over the control. Those treated with IBA+H2O2 recorded the lowest peroxidase activity after planting. BTA cuttings treated with IBA+H2O2 showed the highest peroxidase activity at 50 d after planting; BVA cuttings under different treatments showed no significant difference for peroxidase activity at planting time or up to 80 d after planting. PPO activity for the BTA cuttings in the control treatment was lower than for other treatments during root formation. The cuttings in the IBA and IBA+H2O2 treatments showed increased PPO activity from 0 to 50 d after planting and a slight decrease in PPO activity from 60 to 80 d after planting. PPO activity for the BVA cuttings was significantly lower than for BTA during root formation. The BTA cuttings treated with IBA and IBA+H2O2 showed the highest phenolic compound content during root formation. The BVA cuttings displayed higher TS than BTA during the initial stage of root formation. A comparison of the anatomical structure of easy-to-root and difficult-to-root cuttings indicated that physical inhibitors did not affect the rooting capacity of BVA

The Effects of Organic, Chemical and Biological Fertilizers on Seed Yield and Yield Components of Dwarf Chicory (Cichorium pumilum Jacq.)

Introduction: In order to response to greater demand for wild medicinal plants consumption, it has been recommended that wild medicinal plants can be brought into cultivation systems. Cichorium pumilum Jacq. is an annual species of Asteraceae family, that has a long history of herbal use and is especially of great value for its tonic effects upon the liver and digestive tract. The root and the leaves of chicory are digestive, hypoglycemic, diuretic, laxative and tonic. Using chemical fertilizers can be easily lost from soils through fixation, leaching or gas emission that can lead to reduced fertilizer efficiency. The applications of organic fertilizers such as compost and vermicompost can be considered as a good management practice to increase cropping system sustainability, reducing soil erosion and improving soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Soil microorganisms have a significant role in regulating the dynamics of organic matter breakdown and the availability of plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphate and sulfur. Materials and Methods: For evaluating the effects of organic, mineral and biological fertilizers on seed yield and yield components of dwarf chicory (Cichorium pumilum Jacq.), a field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station, the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (36016/ N, 59036/ E, elevation 985 m) during growing season of 2011-2012. The experimental layout was factorial based on randomized complete block design with four replications. The experimental treatments were all combination of organic and chemical fertilizers (compost 4 t/ha, vermicompost 4 t/ha, urea fertilizer 130 kg/ha and control) and biological fertilizer (biosulfur biofertilizer + pure sulfur 100 kg/ ha and control). Before conducting the experiment, soil sample were taken from the depth of 0-30 cm, and physical and chemical characteristics of the soil and also used compost and vermicompost were determined. All fertilizer treatments were added to the soil and mixed well with the soil before sowing. In order to avoid leaching, all urea fertilizer was divided to two parts and these were used in two dates during the growth period. Cichorium pumilum Jacq seeds were hand sown in 2.5 ×4 m plots in five rows and with plant density 20 plants m−2. Before harvesting the grain, five plants were randomly selected in each plot from 2500 cm2 (50×50cm) and their characteristics and traits such as plant height, number of tiller per plant, number of branch per plant, number of inflorescence per plant, number of seed per inflorescence, number of seed per plant and seed weight were determined. For statistical analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan multiple range test at 0.05 level were performed using SAS version 9.1 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Results and Discussion: The Results indicated that studied factors and their interactions had not significant effect on morphological traits (plant height, number of tiller per plant, number of branch per plant) and on yield components of seed such as: number of seed per inflorescence, 1000-seed weight, seed weight per plant, seed yield and harvest index (HI). The results showed that organic and chemical fertilizers had significant effect on number of inflorescence per plant, number of seed per plant, biological yield (p< 0.05).The highest number of inflorescence per plant, number of seed per plant and seed weight per plant were observed in chemical fertilizer + biosulfur biofertilizer treatment. The highest seed yield (1489 kg.ha-1) obtained from compost + biosulfur biofertilizer treatment. Chemical fertilizer + biosulfur biofertilizer treatment (7576 kg.ha-1) produced the highest biological yield. It seems that because of high solubility of chemical fertilizer, nutrients are immediately available to the plants therefore, plants can use nutrients of chemical fertilizer faster than other fertilizers. Biofertilizer and organic fertilizer can improve soil properties and also through nutrient supply, improves plant growth. Conclusion: In this study, it seems that the morphological traits (plant height, number of tiller and number of branches per plant) and yield components such as the number of seeds per inflorescence and seed weight were influenced by genetic characteristics and fertilizer treatments had little effect on mentioned traits and the plant was able with nutrient available in soil, overcome its needs. Overall in this study, results showed that the use of compost combination with biosulfur biofertilizer had positive effect on studied traits of dwarf chicory and use of them can be an effective step towards sustainable production and replacement use of chemical fertilizers

Biochemical changes in barberries during adventitious root formation: the role of indole-3-butyric acid and hydrogen peroxide

Peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase (PPO), phenolic compounds and total sugars (TS) were investigated during root formation in cuttings of Berberis vulgaris var. asperma (BVA) and Berberis thunbergii var. atropurpurea (BTA) treated with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and IBA + H2O2. Rooting was observed on BTA cuttings but not on BVA cuttings. The BTA cuttings treated with IBA and IBA + H2O2 showed higher rooting percentages, number of roots, and root length over the control. Those treated with IBA + H2O2 recorded the lowest peroxidase activity after planting. BTA cuttings treated with IBA + H2O2 showed the highest peroxidase activity at 50 d after planting; BVA cuttings under different treatments showed no significant difference for peroxidase activity at planting time or up to 80 d after planting. PPO activity for the BTA cuttings in the control treatment was lower than for other treatments during root formation. The cuttings in the IBA and IBA+H2O2 treatments showed increased PPO activity from 0 to 50 d after planting and a slight decrease in PPO activity from 60 to 80 d after planting. PPO activity for the BVA cuttings was significantly lower than for BTA during root formation. The BTA cuttings treated with IBA and IBA + H2O2 showed the highest phenolic compound content during root formation. The BVA cuttings displayed higher TS than BTA during the initial stage of root formation. A comparison of the anatomical structure of easy-to-root and difficult-to-root cuttings indicated that physical inhibitors did not affect the rooting capacity of BV