Drought tolerance among accessions of eggplant and related species

[EN] Adapting eggplant (Solanum melongena) cultivars to climate change requires the development of drought tolerant cultivars. In order to identify sources of variation for drought tolerance we have characterized nine accessions of eggplant and six of related species for tolerance to drought using a control with optimum irrigation and a drought treatment with a 50% reduction of irrigation. Many differences were found in the materials studied for the four parameters measured (leaf length and width, plant height and dry biomass). The materials with better performance have been S. elaeagnifolium and one accession of eggplant, while the most discriminant traits have been plant height and dry biomass. Overall, the results indicate that there is a large diversity in the germplasm of eggplant and related species for tolerance to drought.This work was completed as part of the initiative “Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives”, which is supported by the Government of Norway. The project is managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust with the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and is implemented in partnership with national and international gene banks and plant breeding institutes.Fita Fernández, AM.; Fioruci, F.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Rodríguez Burruezo, A.; Prohens Tomás, J. (2015). Drought tolerance among accessions of eggplant and related species. Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca : Horticulture. 72(2):461-462. doi:10.15835/buasvmcn-hort:11600S46146272

Ublažavanje stresa suše kod biljaka u uslovima promene klime

This review paper addresses possible adaptation strategies to mitigate drought effects on plants that will increase under climate change. The focus will be on two approaches: use of water-saving deficit irrigation methods (partial root-zone drying-PRD and regulated deficit irrigation-RDI) and breeding of genotypes with increased drought resistance. Both approaches are based on knowledge of plant stress physiology.O vaj revijalni rad se odnosi na adaptivne strategije kojima bi se umanjio efekat suše kod biljaka, a koji će se povećati pod dejstvom klimatskih promena. Fokus je na dva pristupa: korišćenje metoda deficita navodnjavanja pomoću kojih se može smanjiti utrošak vode (regulisani deficit navodnjavanja-RDI i delimično sušenje korenova-PRD) i selekciju genotipova sa povećanom otpornošću na sušu. Oba pristupa su zasnovana na poznavanju fizioloških reakcija biljaka u stresnim uslovima

Effects of CaCl2 solutions to alleviate drought stress effects in potted ornamentals Salvia splendens and Ageratum houstonianum

Bedding plants are often subjected to soil water deficit – either after planting and/or during the market chain. Methods to alleviate the negative water stress effects are sought for to preserve ornamental values of plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response of two bedding plants, Ageratum houstonianum Mill. and Salvia splendens Sellow ex Scult., to water stress and treatments with calcium chloride aimed to alleviate drought effects. Plants were subjected either to 45 days of periodical stress (five cycles when watering was off for 5 consecutive days, followed by four cycles on for 5 consecutive days) or 10 days of radical drought (complete water withdrawal). On the first day, before the onset of drought, plants were watered with 0.5% Ca or 1% Ca w/v as a solution of calcium chloride (5 g or 10 g Ca per 1 dm3 of the growing substrate). The similarly Ca-treated but routinely watered plants provided controls to evaluate the water shortage effects. Plant height, inflorescence length/number, leaf number, leaf area (in Salvia splendens only), aboveground plant part weight, and root weight (in Salvia splendens only) as well as leaf relative water content (RWC) were measured at the beginning and at the end of the experiments. Water withdrawal during 10 days of growth (radical drought) reduced by half RWC in leaves of withering Salvia splendens and Ageratum houstonianum plants. Its effects on the growth parameters were less pronounced and mitigated by Ca applications. Also in the periodically stressed plants of both species, RWC and most growth parameters were reduced by water shortage but Ca applications alleviated the negative stress effects

Mobilizing the past in revolutionary times: memory, counter‐memory, and nostalgia during the Lebanese uprising

Social movement studies have addressed the issue of nostalgia within two perspectives, focusing, respectively, on emotions and on memory. Our contribution looks at nostalgia in social movements by building upon the combination of these two streams in social movement studies. Going beyond a stereotypical vision of reactionary movements as backward looking and progressive ones as forward looking, we will suggest that while both types of movements look at some aspects of the past with nostalgia, they do it in a very different combination of emotions and memory. To compare how different movements perform their emotional and memory work, we focused on the recent uprising in Lebanon as a critical case in which mobilizations and counter-mobilizations have been carried out by different actors at the same time. In both cases, nostalgia was strategically developed for different moments of Lebanon's history through the movements' choices of the very spaces for the performance of contentious acts, but also the symbolic meaning attributed to them and the emotional work performed around the protest events. By developing a “tick description” of some main contentious moments where nostalgia emerged in the Lebanon uprisings, we aim to understand the ways in which nostalgia intervenes in the social construction of memories and counter-memories, in an emotionally dense environment

Microbial Dynamics and Biogas Production during Single and Co-digestion of Cow Dung and Rice Husk

Anaerobic digestion is achieved by the combined effort of hydrolytic, acetogenic and methanogenic bacteria. Microbial dynamics and biogas production during anaerobic digestion of cow dung and rice husk were studied in this research. The experiment lasted for 30 days using a 10 L scale bio-digester. All proximate parameters reduced significantly after digestion for CD (cow dung), RH (rice husk), and CD:RH (cow dung and rice husk) except moisture content, which increased for all substrates. Ash content (1.08-1.67 mg) and crude fibre (1.27-1.96 mg) increased in CD only. The pH ranges for the substrates were CD (7.0-7.5), RH (6.1-7.6), and CD:RH (6.1-7.8). Temperature ranges were CD (27.4 oC-33.5 oC), RH (27.2 oC-33.3 oC) and CD:RH (27.3 oC-33.4 oC). The total biogas production of the substrates and components of each gas produced were, CD (4327.65 cm3 : 62.4 % CH4, 37.4 % CO2, 0.2 % H2S), RH (150 cm3 : 100 % CO2), and CD:RH (4730.55 cm3 : 73.8  % CH4, 25.8 % CO2, 0.4 % H2S). Percentage distribution of the digester’s microflora include aerobes (40.75 %), anaerobes (31.25 %), fungi (25 %) and methanogenic bacteria (3 %). Hydrolytic bacteria and fungi isolated were Bacillus spp, Enterobacter spp, Pseudomonas spp, Proteus spp, Micrococcus spp, Aspergillus spp, Penicillium spp and Streptococcus spp. Acetogens isolated were Clostridium spp, Streptococcus spp and Pseudomonas spp. Methanococcus spp and Methanobacterium spp were the only isolated methanogens. Rice husk produced the least amount of biogas