Comparative Study on the Epidermal Features of Twelve Under-Utilized Legume Accessions

Seeds of six species of twelve accessions of miscellaneous legumes were obtained from the germplasm unit of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The seeds were planted into plots of 5m long, spaced 1 meter apart at the botanical garden of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (UNAAB), Ogun State, Nigeria. Leaves of the plants were assessed for their genetic and phylogenetic relatedness through diagnostic epidermal studying of the cell shapes, anticlinal wall types and stomatal characteristics at the abaxial and adaxial surfaces. The cell shapes, anticlinal wall types and the stomatal characteristics revealed some correlations among the studied taxa. All the species were amphiostomatic possessing stomata on both the abaxial and adaxial surfaces. Proportions of the stomata distributions among the taxa were 75% (paracytic), 16.67% (anomocytic) and 8.3% (anisocytic) at both surfaces. There was no accession with diacytic stoma. Cell shapes were 75% polygonal, 25% irregular at the abaxial surfaces and 66.67%, 33.33% irregular and polygonal respectively at the adaxial surface. The prevalent anticlinal wall type was curved (41.67%) followed by curved/slightly straight (33.3%) and slightly straight (25%) at both surfaces. Result of the epidermal features of the studied taxa revealed some diagnostic characteristics that could be used for taxonomic decisio

Genome-wide association analysis of phenotypic traits in Bambara groundnut under drought-stressed and non-stressed conditions based on DArTseq SNP

Open Access JournalIntroduction: Bambara groundnut (BG) (Vigna subterranea [L.] Verdc) is an indigenous, resilient, but underutilized leguminous crop that occurs mostly as genetically heterogeneous landraces with limited information on the drought tolerant attributes. This study elucidates the associations between sequencing-based diversity array technology (DArTseq) and phenotypic character as well as differing indices related to drought tolerance in one hundred accessions of Bambara groundnut. Methods: The field experiments were conducted at IITA research stations in Kano and Ibadan between 2016 and 2018 planting seasons. The experiments were arranged in randomised complete block design with three replications, under the different water regimes. The phenotypic traits evaluated was further to construct the dendrogram. Genome-wide association mapping was conducted based on 5927 DArTs loci with < 20% missing data. Results and Discussions: The genome wide association study predicted drought tolerance in Bambara accessions for geometric mean productivity (GMP) and stress tolerance index (STI). TVSu-423 had the highest GMP and STI values (28.50, 2.40), while TVSu-2017 had the lowest at GMP (1.74) and STI (0.01) respectively. The relative water content (%) was significantly higher for accessions; TVSu-266 (60.35, 61.49), TVSu-2 (58.29, 53.94), and TVSu-411 (55.17, 58.92) in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, respectively. The phenotypic characters studied delineated the accessions into two major clusters and five distinct sub-clusters, indicating variations across all the geographical locations. The 5,927 DArTseq genomic markers in association with STI further grouped the 100 accessions into two main clusters. TVSu-1897 from Botswana (Southern Africa) was in the first cluster, while the remaining 99 accessions from Western, Central, and Eastern Africa made up the second cluster. The eight significant Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) (24346377|F|0-22:A>G-22:A>G, 24384105|F|0-56:A>G33 :A> G, 24385643|F|0-53:G>C-53:G>C, 24385696|F|0-43:A>G-43:A>G, 4177257|F|0-44:A>T-44:A>T, 4182070|F|0-66:G>A-66:G>A, 4183483|F|0-24:G>A-24:G>A, 4183904|F|0-11:C>T-11:C>T) identified with Bonferroni threshold was in association with STI, indicative of variations under the drought-stressed condition. The observation of consistent SNPs in the 2016 and 2017 planting seasons, as well as in combination with the 2016 and 2017 planting seasons, led to the designation of these QTLs as significant. The drought selected accessions could form basis for hybridization breeding. The identified quantitative trait loci could be useful in marker-assisted selection in drought molecular breeding programs

Inhibitory potentials of five botanicals on associated fungi in relation to germination and morphological characters of Cucumis sativus Linn

The in vitro assay of the leaf extracts of selected botanicals was carried out to assess the inhibitory potentials of the extracts on fungal growth, seed germination, seedling growth characters and frequency of seed-borne fungi. selected plants include: Azadirachta. indica, Moringa oleifera, Vernonia amygdalina, Tithonia diversifolia and Carica papaya. Fungal isolates characterized from Cucumis sativus were Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Trichoderma viride and Nigrospora sphaerica. Azadirachta indica had the highest percentage inhibitory effect at p ≤ 0.01 on F. oxysporum (82.21%), while Moringa oleifera had the highest inhibition of 68.72% on T. viride, but not significantly different from T. diversifolia. Seeds treated with C. papaya extract produced the highest seedling length, germination and seedling vigour, while control was least. Concentration of 10% produced significant highest seedling (17.72cm), root length (11.59cm), percentage germination (82.67%) and seedling vigour (1469.08). Seedling length is positive and strongly correlated with shoot length, root length and seedlingvigour with r = 0.87, 0.67 and 0.89 respectively. Seedling vigour is positive and strongly associated with seedling length (0.89), shoot length (0.72) and root length (0.67). Keywords: botanical extracts, Cucumis sativus, fungi, growth respons

Variability studies on qualitative and quantitative characters of Mangifera indica Linn. (mango) in Oyo State, Nigeria

Mango is one of the edible tree crops cultivated globally. Therefore, this study investigated the variation among 36 accessions of mango collected from genebank and selected locations in Oyo State, Nigeria. The field experiment was conducted in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with three replicates. A total of 17 quantitative and 43 qualitative characters were evaluated on mango stem, leaf and fruit. Analysis of hierarchical cluster was performed on the characters scored. The results showed that the fruit length (18.18 cm), fruit weight (751.75 g) and fruit width (18.23 cm) performed best in Big Mango (BIGMCB Acc-1), while Ogbomosho 2 Mango (OGBM Acc-10) had the highest for leaf area (198.79 cm ), petiole length (6.54 cm), lamina length (32.68 cm) and stone width (6.36 cm). Moreover, leaf length had strong positive correlation with leaf width (r= 0.87), petiole length (r= 0.74), internodal length (r= 0.60), plant height (r= 0.71), lamina length (r= 0.99) and leaf area (r= 0.56) at p£0.05. However, BUTM Acc-1 (fruit ground colour), PALMER (pulp colour), BIGMCB Acc-1 (fruit weight), SHRIM Acc-2 (fruit beak), OGBM Acc-3 (stone dry weight), OGBM Acc-8 (fruit thickness) and OGBM Acc-10 (fruit stone width) accessions varied morphologically, thereby enhanced characterization which could be recommended for future breeding of mango

Antibacterial Activities of Daldina concentrica

Activities of the distilled water, ethanolic and chloroform extracts of Daldina concentrica an ascomycetous fungus was investigated on Escherichia coli , Proteus mirabilis , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus ) using agar well diffusion method. Ethanolic extract of Daldina concentrica showed significantly antibacterial activity against all the test microorganisms except Bacilllus cereus (P ≤0.05). Staphylococcus aureus was the most sensitive organism to the extracts of this fungus with 17.0mm zone of inhibition with ethanol extract. It was also shown that chloroform extract of Daldinia concentrica possessed higher anti-bacterial activity against the five tested microorganisms. The effect of fresh tissues of the fungus on test bacteria indicated that Proteus mirabilis was the only sensitive organism with 5.0mm zone of inhibition while other bacteria were resistant. The implications of these findings were discussed

Influence of Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) on drought tolerance and charcoal rot disease of cowpea

The influence of Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) (Glomus deserticola and Gigaspora gigantea) were evaluated on drought tolerance and charcoal rot disease of cowpea genotypes: IT90K-277-2, IT84S-2246-4 and IT06K123-1. IT90K-277-2 and IT84S-2246-4 were sown in 3 kg of sterilized soil for drought experiment with five treatments. Treatment was established thirty days after germination with inoculation of G. deserticola, the mycorrhizal treated cowpea withstand the water stress and produced high yield. Biocontrol experiment had 2 kg sterilized soil potted into bags with cultivars IT90K-277-2 and IT06K123-1, fourteen treatments were established with soil drenched before planting and simultaneous inoculation. Soil drenched with AMF before planting and inoculation of M. phaseolina after 10 days of germination recorded higher growth parameters, while the simultaneous inoculated plant was the most effective in reducing disease severity. However, simultaneous treatment of G. deserticola, G. gigantea and M. phaseolina were most effective for both growth parameters and reduction of disease severity

YIELD PERFORMANCE AND ADAPTATION OF EARLY AND INTERMEDIATE DROUGHT-TOLERANT MAIZE GENOTYPES IN GUINEA SAVANNA OF NIGERIA

Drought-tolerant maize genotypes belonging to two different maturity (10 early and 10 intermediate) groups were evaluated for yield and other related characters in the Southern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria for two years (2009 and 2010). The differences among genotypes between and within maturity groups differed significantly (P<0.01) for grain yield, plant height, days to anthesis and silk. The effects of year x maturity group and year x maturity within group interactions were highly significant (P<0.01) only for grain yield. The rainfall patterns were favourable in both cropping years with comparable values of growth parameters. Intermediate maturing genotypes (TZL COMP1- W C6 F2, SUWAN-1-SR-SYN, TZB-SR, OBA SUPER I, EV 8435-SR) out-yielded early maturing ones with yield advantage of 34.29% and taller by 17.04% compared to early ones. However, early genotypes were early to anthesis with 6.57% advantage over intermediate genotypes. Four early genotypes (DMR-ESR Y CIF2, AC 90 POOL 16 DT, STR, TZE-W DT STR C4 and ACR 95TZE COMP4 C3) were superior for grain yield withn a range of 4.39 to 4.68 t ha-1 . These genotypes could be selected either as parental breeding cultivars to overcome the problem of moisture stress during the later part of the cropping season or introgressed with favourable cultivars for high yield adaptable to drought-prone areas in the SGS agro-ecology. Key words: Maize yield, early genotypes, intermediate genotype

AGRO-NUTRITIONAL VARIATIONS OF QUALITY PROTEIN MAIZE (ZEA MAYS L.) IN NIGERIA

Quality protein maize (QPM) combining the enhanced levels of lysine and tryptophan with high grain yield and desirable agronomic traits could reduce food insecurity and malnutrition in West and Central Africa. Twenty-two varieties of QPM and two local checks were evaluated for agronomic characteristics and nutritional qualities in the southern Guinea savanna of Nigeria for two years (2009 and 2010). Though crude protein levels are good indicators of quality, amino acid composition analyses, especially lysine and tryptophan that would provide a final proof are in progress. The genotypes comprised five open pollinated varieties (OPVs), nine inbred lines, eight hybrids and two local varieties. Differences among the varieties were significant (P<0.01) for grain yield, days to tasselling as well as plant and ear heights, while year x variety interaction was only significant (P<0.05) for days to tasselling. Most of the QPM inbred lines (CML 437, CML 490 CML 178) and hybrids (Dada-ba, ART98-SW5-OB, ART98-SW4- OB and TZPB-OB) have superior performance for grain yield, other yield attributes and nutritional qualities compared with the OPVs and local checks. These inbreds could be potential sources of favorable alleles useful for future maize breeding, while the hybrids could be evaluated in different environments of Nigeria for comparative advantages in different environments and quality of the grains to be released to farmers. Key words: crude protein, inbred lines, open pollinated varieties, hybrid

Interactive Effects of Genotype X Year on Disease Reactions, Grain Yield and other Agronomic Traits of Newly Developed Quality Protein Maize in Nigeria

Experiments were conducted on six newly developed open pollinated quality protein maize (QPM) genotypes and two check entries for three years (2009-2011). The objective was to assess their yield potentials and disease tolerance/ resistance in the southern Guinea savanna agro-ecology of Nigeria. Genotype and year of evaluation were significant for (P<0.01 and <0.05) for grain yield, harvest moisture and lodging characteristics. Genotypes x year interactive effect for grain yield revealed different genotypic performance of the genotypes tested with two checks (Oba-Super 1 and DMRLSR-Y) being responsible for the significant differences obtained in the three years of evaluation. Average grain yield was significantly higher in the year 2011 compared to 2009 and 2010. All the genotypes tested were moderately tolerant to the five diseases ranging from 1.5 (Streak virus) in Oba-Super 1 (check) to 2.9 (Southern leaf blight, Curvularia leaf spot and Leaf rust) in the ART98-SW6-OB and ART98-SW4-OB respectively. Ear rot mostly affected the leaves among diseases with a range of 2.3 to 2.8 in TZPB-OB and DMR-LSR-Y respectively.. Four QPM genotypes (ART98-SW5-OB, ART98-SW4-OB, TZPB-OB and ART98-SW6-OB) were superior for grain yield with yield advantage of 28% over the best OPV check. These QPM genotypes can therefore serve as useful replacement for existing cultivars and also as source of genes for future maize breeding activities in the development of superior maize varieties with high protein contents for the savanna agro-ecology. Keywords: Tolerance, streak virus, ear rot, leaf spot and blight