THE EFFECT OF NITROGEN SOURCES ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF SALAD ROCKET GROWN IN DIFFERENT MONTHS OF THE YEAR

WOS: 000287031200001The effects of months of the year and nitrogen (N) sources on salad rocket (Eruca sativa Mill.) yield, quality, and nitrate accumulation was investigated during the years 2002 and 2003. In both years, seeds were sown on the first day of April, May, June, July, August and September. Three different nitrogen sources were used: farmyard (cattle) manure (100 tonnes center dot ha-1), calcium nitrate [Ca(NO3)2]-15.5% N (150 kg N center dot ha-1) and ammonium sulfate [(NH4)2SO4)]-21% N (150 kg N center dot ha-1). Yield, leaf color, dry matter, vitamin C and total glucosinolate content and nitrate accumulation was assessed. Growing months affected all the assessed parameters significantly both years, with the exception of hue angle in 2003, whereas nitrogen source only influenced yield and nitrate accumulation in 2003. In both years the highest yield was obtained in April, but vitamin C and total glucosinolate contents were higher during summer months, and leaves were slightly darker colored. Chemical fertilizers increased the yield compared to farmyard manure; however, they also increased nitrate accumulation slightly, without any significant difference between them. Nitrate accumulation never exceeded 300 mg kg-1 fresh weight (FW), which is well below the acceptable daily intake of 3.7 mg nitrate per kg-1 bodyweight set by European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK); Science and Technical Center of Ege University (EBILTEM)Ege UniversityThe authors wish to thank to The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and Science and Technical Center of Ege University (EBILTEM) for the financial support

Diversity pattern among agromorphological traits of the Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. subsp vulgaris) genetic resources of Turkey

WOS: 000386907000004Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris) is a nutritionally rich leafy vegetable of moderate economic value. Despite being the first species among the genus Beta to be cultivated, knowledge regarding its biodiversity and agronomic and morphological properties is limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the agromorphological characteristics of the Turkish Swiss chard genetic resources, and to determine their genetic relationships and diversity. To achieve this, a total of 52 Swiss chard accessions from a wide range of environmental and geographical origins in Turkey and two cultivars (one local and one foreign) were investigated. Fourteen qualitative and 13 quantitative agromorphological traits of these accessions were analyzed over the two consecutive growing seasons. Principal component analyses (PCA) explained 77.26% of the total variations for the agromorphological traits, while the hierarchical agglomerative clustering methods separated the accessions into four clusters and leaf weight, petiole width, petiole thickness, lamina length, and lamina width were the primary characteristics to distinguish the Swiss chard accessions. An extremely high degree of agromorphological diversity was observed in the Turkish Swiss chard genetic resources, and promising germplasm was identified to improve the cultivars for yield and leaf traits.Ege University Scientific Research FundEge University [2008-ZRF-002]The authors thank the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute Gene Bank, Izmir, Turkey, for providing the seeds samples. Part of this work was supported through funds from the Ege University Scientific Research Fund under grant number 2008-ZRF-002

Yield and quality of garden cress affected by different nitrogen sources and growing period

WOS: 000290664800013The effects of different months of the year and nitrogen sources on garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) yield, quality and nitrate accumulation were investigated during the years 2002 and 2003. In both years, seeds were sown on the first days of September, October, November, January, February and March. Three different nitrogen sources were used: Farmyard (cattle) manure (100 ton.ha(-1)), Ca(NO3)(2)-15.5% N (150 kg N.ha(-1)) and (NH4)(2)SO4)-21% N (150 kg N.ha(-1)). Yield, leaf color, dry matter, vitamin C, total glucosinolate content and nitrate accumulation were assessed. No interaction between sowing date and nitrogen form was observed for any of the assessed parameters. Growing period affected all parameters significantly. Plants obtained from January and February sowings resulted in better yield, leaf color, dry matter and vitamin C content. But the nitrate contents also increased. Highest total glucosinolate content was observed during the warmer months. Nitrate nitrogen application increased yield, leaf greenness, vitamin C and nitrate content while farmyard manure application raised dry matter and total glucosinolate contents. Nitrate content of the garden cress plants did not exceed 391 mg kg(-1) fresh weight, which is below the accepted daily intake of 3.7 mg nitrate per kg(-1) bodyweight set by European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK); Science and Technical Center of Ege University (EBILTEM)Ege UniversityThe authors are grateful to The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and Science and Technical Center of Ege University (EBILTEM) for their financial support

GENETIC VARIABILITY AND ASSOCIATION PATTERN AMONG QUANTITATIVE NUTRITIONAL TRAITS IN SWISS CHARD (Beta vulgaris subsp L. var. cicla) ACCESSIONS AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR BREEDING

WOS: 000342659500016In addition to improving agronomic traits, enriched cultivar such as nutritional elements and health promoting compounds are new demands for today's and the future's perspectives of crop breeding. In this respect, among leafy vegetables Swiss chard is a good source of nutritional elements and supplies large amounts of health promoting compounds. The existing knowledge of genetic variability for mineral composition both at the phenotype and genotype level, heritability of characters and also relationships among investigated minerals is fundamental for variety selection in Swiss chard. This also applies for the assurance of desirable agronomic traits with optimum mineral concentrations. This research analysis of variance indicated highly significant differences among Swiss chard accessions for all investigated mineral concentrations and the accessions display higher phenotype coefficient variation than genotype coefficient variation for all traits. The results revealed that phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, nitrate and nitrite exhibited high genetic advance accompanied with high heritability (>60%). The remaining mineral content demonstrated high heritability with moderate genetic advance. Genotype correlations were higher than the phenotype correlation for significant mineral concentrations. Genotype and phenotype correlations followed similar trends in all significant cases indicating the high heritable nature of the characters and the results showed that Swiss chard accessions should allow for the selection of individuals for enriched mineral concentration in edible parts of the plant.Ege University Research FoundationEge University [2005-TTUM-002]Part of this work was supported through funds from the Ege University Research Foundation under grant number 2005-TTUM-002

Genetic variability for mineral concentration of Eruca sativa L. and Diplotaxis tenuifolia L. accessions

WOS: 000274429000012Eruca sativa L. (rocket or arugula) and Diplotaxis tenuifolia L. (perennial wall-rocket), are important leafy vegetables and are significant sources of minerals for human nutrition and commonly found in the Mediterranean basin, southern Europe, and Central Asia The objectives of this study were to determine genotypic variability among and within E sativa and D tenuifolia genotypes for NO(3,) NO(2,) N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Mn concentrations, to estimate genotype environment interaction, and to assess relationships among leaf mineral concentration during two consecutive spring seasons E sativa and D tenuifolia leaves contained significant amounts of nutritionally important minerals In general, genotype variations was lower than phenotype variation for all mineral concentrations considered, indicating the influence of environment on the expression of analyzed traits The variance between genotypes and relative importance within genotype variation indicates that NO(3), NO(2), K, Mn, Zn, and Cu concentrations may be improved by selecting among cultivars, if the heritability is adequateEge UniversityEge UniversityThe authors thank North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station, Iowa, USA for providing seed samples and research funds of the Ege University, which supported a part of this study

Diversity and genetic analysis through DArTseq in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) germplasm from Turkey

WOS: 000414902800008The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most consumed food legume in the world and is a major source of dietary protein, carbohydrates, and valuable micronutrients, especially in developing countries. Diversity Arrays Technology (DArTseq), based on genome reduction with restriction enzymes, provides a rapid, high-throughput, and cost-effective tool capable of generating thousands of genotyped single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for a genome-wide analysis of genetic diversity. In this study, we aimed to characterize common bean accessions using SNPs detected by a DArTseq approach. A total of 43,018 SNPs were identified from 173 common bean accessions, including Andean and Mesoamerican genotypes. After filtering raw and redundant data, a total of 16,366 SNPs were considered for further analyses. According to population structure analysis, the genotypes were roughly divided into 2 gene pools of Andean and Mesoamerican types. Pairwise fixation index (Fst) values were calculated to resolve the differentiation between populations. This study demonstrated that discovering SNPs from the whole genome is a potential resource for identifying naturally diverse accessions and also the information could be used in breeding programs to develop new common bean varieties.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [TUBITAK-114O555]The study was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with Project No. TUBITAK-114O555. We would like to thank Paul Gepts from the University of California-Davis (USA) for kindly sharing his control group of common bean accessions (Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools)