Identification of DNA Markers Linked to Blooming Time in Almond

In this study flowering time and other important morphologic traits were evaluated during two years in F1 almond progenies of seventy two seedlings from cross between the intermediate flowering Italian cultivar ‘Tuono’ and the extra-late blooming Iranian cultivar ‘Shahrood-12’. A modified-bulk segregant analysis in combination with the application of the 140 RAPD primers, 87 nuclear SSR markers spanning the whole almond genome and 5 chloroplast SSR markers, were used to identify molecular markers linked to flowering time. Results showed a quantitative inheritance of this trait in the studied progenies. The seedlings showed a wide range of flowering dates between both progenitors although some of these descendants were earlier in flowering than the early progenitor ‘Tuono’. Results showed that among RAPD markers evaluated, BA-17600,1000, BC-05320, BC-06800, BC-141750, BC-17600, BC-20250, OPC-05850 and OPC-09700,1100 markers were linked to late blooming time. In addition, markers BA-04720, BB-10630,BC-092000, BD-12510andOPC-12350 were linked to early blooming time. Two microsatellite loci (CPPCT008 and EPPCU2584) were also found to be tightly linked to flowering time. After construction the genetic map of population, QTL analysis was performed for blooming time. QTL analysis showed that OPC-09700,1100 and BA-17600,1000, markers were respectively located in 2 and 4 cM distance from one of the late flowering time loci. Also the BA-04720marker was located in 3 cM distances from one of the loci controlling early flowering time. These results are applicable in almond breeding programs for markers assisted strategy. The application of these results to other Prunus species has been also discussed

Morphological and physiological responses of in vitro-grown cucurbita sp. landraces seedlings under osmotic stress by mannitol and PEG

Screening and identification of tolerant genotypes using osmotic materials under in vitro culture could be rapid, easy, and even accurate. In this research, three Iranian landraces of Cucurbita sp. included Tanbal Ajili (Cucurbita maxima Duch.), Ajili Razan (Cucurbita pepo L.), and Balghabakhi (Cucurbita moschata Duch.) seeds were cultured in 1/4 MS medium. After germination, plantlets were transferred to MS media containing mannitol and PEG 6000. Mannitol and PEG at three concentrations of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 M and 0.009, 0.012, and 0.015 M, respectively, were added into the MS medium, while the MS medium without any adding was used as control. Our findings revealed that osmotic treatments significantly increased shoot and root dry weight (DW), malondialdehyde (MDA), and proline content, but significantly reduced coleoptile length, shoot and root fresh weight, and photosynthesis pigments content. Protein content, phenols, and flavonoids content, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant including ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) activity, reduced ascorbate (AsA), reduced ascorbate/dehydroascorbic acid (AsA/DHA), reduced glutathione (GSH), dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG), and reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) were significantly increased at moderate osmotic stress induced by mannitol and PEG. In contrast, the previous physiological parameters were significantly reduced at higher water deficit conditions. With respect to most attributes and concentrations, mannitol simulated osmotic stress better than PEG. Our results revealed that applying PEG and mannitol under in vitro conditions could be an efficient way to evaluate and screen cucurbit genotypes for future breeding programs.IGA/FT/2022/004; University of MaraghehUniversity of Maragheh, Iran; [IGA/FT/2022/004

Polyethylene glycol and sorbitol-mediated in vitro screening for drought stress as an efficient and rapid tool to reach the tolerant cucumis melo l. genotypes

An efficient method to instantly assess drought-tolerant plants after germination is using osmoregulation in tissue culture media. In this study, the responses of three Iranian melon genotypes to sorbitol (0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 M) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) (0.009, 0.012, and 0.015 M) were evaluated as drought stress simulators in MS medium. 'Girke' (GIR), 'Ghobadloo' (GHO), and 'Toghermezi' (TOG) were the genotypes. GIR is reputed as a drought-tolerant genotype in Iran. The PEG or sorbitol decreased the coleoptile length, fresh weight, and photosynthetic pigments content while enhancing proline and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents. Protein content and antioxidant enzyme activity were utterly dependent on genotype, osmotic regulators, and their concentration. Coleoptile length, root and shoot fresh weight, root dry weight, proline and MDA content, and guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) activity can be used as indicators for in vitro screening of Cucumis melo L. genotypes. The results showed that sorbitol mimics drought stress better than PEG. Overall, our findings suggest that in vitro screening could be an accurate, rapid, and reliable methodology for evaluating and identifying drought-tolerant genotypes.IGA/FT/2023/003; University of MaraghehUniversity of Maragheh, Iran; TBU in Zlin [IGA/FT/2023/003

The Study of Morphological Traits and Identification of Self-incompatibility Alleles in Almond Cultivars and Genotypes

The evaluation of an almond collection using morphological variables and identification of self-incompatibility genotype  is useful for selecting pollinizers and for the design of crossing in almond breeding programs. In this study, important morphological traits and self-incompatibilities in 71 almond cultivars and genotypes were studied. Simple and multiplex specific PCR analyses were used in order to identify self-incompatibility alleles. Based on the results, cultivars and genotypes including ‘Dir Ras–e-Savojbolagh’, ‘D-124’, ‘D-99’, ‘Shahrood 12’, ‘Tuono’, ‘Nonpareil’, ‘Price’, ‘Mirpanj-e-Tehran’, ‘Pakotahe-e- Taleghan’, ‘V-13-34’, ‘V-16-8, ‘V-11-10’, ‘Zarghan 10’, ‘Uromiyeh 68’, ‘Barg dorosht-e-Hamedan’ and ‘Yazd 60’ were late flowering and had the highest quality of nut and kernel characters. The result of the PCR method using combined primers AS1II and AmyC5R showed amplification of ten self-incompatibility alleles (S1, S2, S3, S5, S6, S7, S8, S10, S12,and S unknown allele) and three Sfalleles. Moreover, S1 had the highest frequencies in comparison with other known S-alleles. Also, unknown alleles with different sizes were detected and 58 new bands were found in some cultivars

Effect of supplementary pollination by different pollinizers on fruit set and nut physicochemical traits of ‘Supernova’, a self-compatible almond

Introduction. Most commercial almonds are self-incompatible and growing these cultivars would increase orchard management costs. Self-compatible almond cultivar cultivation seems to be the solution to increase the yield and reduce the production costs. Materials and methods. In this study, the self–compatible almond cultivar Supernova was used as a seed parent and hand pollinated by the pollen of ‘Shahrood 21’, ‘Shahrood 12’, ‘Fra Giulio Grande’, ‘4–10’, ‘11–5’, and ‘Supernova’ itself. Also, two pollination methods were used, using ‘Supernova’ non–emasculated vs. emasculated flowers. Pollen tube growth of these pollinizers was studied by fluorescent microscopy at different times from flower samples harvested at 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h after hand pollination. The composition of fatty acids and the main characteristics of the fruit in the seed parent ‘Supernova’ were recorded after fruit harvest. Results and discussion. Although all pollens of the used pollinizers were compatible on ‘Supernova’ and had satisfied fruit set, significant differences were observed among pollinizers in stages 2 and 3. The highest fruit set was achieved when ‘Shahrood 21’ pollen was used, while the lowest fruit setting was recorded in ‘Supernova’ by self-pollination. Microscopic observation at 120 h after pollination revealed that pollen tubes of all pollinizers reached the ovary of ‘Supernova’. In this study, fatty acid content was varied with oleic acid between 70.11 to 77.76%, linoleic acid from 4.0% to 5.5%, palmitic acid from 6.17 to 6.73%, stearic acid from 1.50 to 1.91%, palmitoleic acid from 0.40% to 0.47%, arachidic acid from 0.1 to 0.4%, gadoleic acid from 0.05 % to 0.06% and total oil content was between 50.25 to 51.59%. Conclusion. This experiment revealed that different pollen sources had a significant effect on fruit setting, but not in the oil content and fatty acid composition of the seed parent kernels

Using DEA Models to Measure Energy Efficiency of Grape Production

Energy ratio and technical efficiency are the ways to explain the efficiency of farmers in crops production. The objective of this study was the application of non-parametric method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to analyze the efficiency of orchards, discriminate efficient farmers from inefficient ones and to identify wasteful uses of energy for grape production in Hamadan province, Iran. For this purpose, data were collected from 48 farmers by using a face to face questionnaire. The results revealed that the average value of technical, pure technical and scale efficiency scores of orchards were about 0.74, 0.86 and 0.84, respectively. The contribution of saving energy for chemical fertilizers was the highest and followed by diesel fuel & electricity with shares of 61.7 and 28.7 percent, respectively. The total energy savings calculated to be 14.3 percent of total input energy. Optimization of energy use improved the energy use efficiency, energy productivity and net energy by 16.8, 13.3 and 19.6 percent, respectively

The Effect of Methyle Jasmonate on Anthocyanin Synthesis in Oriental Hybrid Lily cv. Sorbbone

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate the effects of methyl jasmonate spraying on anthocyanin synthesis in florets of oriental hybrid lily cv Sorbonne and its relationship with other qualified traits of cut flower. Two concentration of methyl jasmonate (0.2 and 0.4 mM) were separately sprayed on plants at three stages of inflorescence growth (flower buds initiation, florets length of 3 to 5 cm, and 2 to 3 days before harvest). Results showed that there was no significant difference between applied concentrations regarding postharvest characteristics. In case, there was obvious difference in traits among three stages of spraying. Spraying with methyl jasmonate didn't have any significant difference on leaf greenness over postharvest period but it could preserve higher amount of fresh weight for cut flowers in the late storage life. Other traits such as petal anthocyanin content, vase life, total soluble solid and antioxidant activity were also in the highest amount in this treatment. Methyl jasmonate spraying 2 to 3 days before harvest, may enhance flowers vase life by avoiding fresh tissue disruption due to increments in anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity of petals. This may be a good way to improve flowers marketing value

Tracing Superior Late-Leafing Genotypes of Persian Walnut for Managing Late-Spring Frost in Walnut Orchards

Evaluating genetic diversity in walnut (Juglans regia L.) populations is a rapid approach used by walnut breeding programs to distinguish superior genotypes. The present study was conducted on the walnut population of Hamedan Province, one of the richest and most genetically diverse regions in Iran, during 2018–2019. After the initial screening, 47 genotypes were selected for further evaluation of pomological and phenological traits based on International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) descriptors. Nut and kernel weights among the selected genotypes ranged from 7.15 to 21.05 g and 3.0 to 10.8 g, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) categorized the genotypes into three distinct groups. Whereas the cluster analysis (CA) revealed the similarities and dissimilarities among the genotypes by identifying four major clusters. Spearman correlation analysis showed a positive correlation (p p < 0.01) between shell thickness (STH) and packing tissue thickness (PTT) with kernel percentage (KP) was observed. Lastly, 10 of 47 genotypes (TAL8, TAL9, TAL10, TAL14, TAL19, TAL22, TB2, TB4, TB6, and RDGH5) were considered superior. Superior genotypes were late-leafing (25–40 days after the standard) and displayed a lateral bearing (LB) habit with heavy nuts (12.52–16.82 g) and kernels (6.53–8.15 g), thin shells (1.06–1.25 mm), and lightly colored kernels

Tracing Superior Late-Leafing Genotypes of Persian Walnut for Managing Late-Spring Frost in Walnut Orchards

Evaluating genetic diversity in walnut (Juglans regia L.) populations is a rapid approach used by walnut breeding programs to distinguish superior genotypes. The present study was conducted on the walnut population of Hamedan Province, one of the richest and most genetically diverse regions in Iran, during 2018&ndash;2019. After the initial screening, 47 genotypes were selected for further evaluation of pomological and phenological traits based on International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) descriptors. Nut and kernel weights among the selected genotypes ranged from 7.15 to 21.05 g and 3.0 to 10.8 g, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) categorized the genotypes into three distinct groups. Whereas the cluster analysis (CA) revealed the similarities and dissimilarities among the genotypes by identifying four major clusters. Spearman correlation analysis showed a positive correlation (p &lt; 0.01) between nut weight (NWT), nut size, and kernel weight (KW), while a negative correlation (p &lt; 0.01) between shell thickness (STH) and packing tissue thickness (PTT) with kernel percentage (KP) was observed. Lastly, 10 of 47 genotypes (TAL8, TAL9, TAL10, TAL14, TAL19, TAL22, TB2, TB4, TB6, and RDGH5) were considered superior. Superior genotypes were late-leafing (25&ndash;40 days after the standard) and displayed a lateral bearing (LB) habit with heavy nuts (12.52&ndash;16.82 g) and kernels (6.53&ndash;8.15 g), thin shells (1.06&ndash;1.25 mm), and lightly colored kernels