The effect of amf (glomus clarum) on tomato resistance to early leaf blight (alternaria solani) on tomato

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), is an economic plant which belongs to Family Solanaceae and is widely consumed as food and other processed natural products. Tomato production areas are faced with economic losses due to early blight disease caused by Alternaria solani. Early blight disease reduce yield and renders fruit unmarketable, Cultural practices and fungicides are majorly adopted in the management of this disease. The use of tolerant varieties and Glomus clarum as alternatives which are environmental friendly necessitated this study. Therefore, this study investigated genetic resistance of tomato to early blight disease using Glomus clarum as revealed by SSR marker . Eight tomato accessions obtained from NACGRAB and Technoserve were evaluated, while Ojoo market accession served as check. The experimental treatments Control, Glomus clarum + Pathogen and Pathogen only were laid out in a complete randomized design with three replicates. The result showed that Rukuta Jubia and NGB00727 accessions had the highest mean values for stem girth (0.59cm) and leaf width (3.74cm) respectively, while Ojoo Market performed best for leaf length (6.78cm). Glomus clarum significantly (p˂0.05) influenced the resistance of NGB00727 to Alternaria  solani ,and enhanced the production of flowers (2.53) and  mean weight of  fruit per plant (0.94g). The NGB00727 accession showed the highest resistance to early blight disease, while NGB00754 accession was the most susceptible to Alternaria solani

In vitro Regeneration and Proliferation of Maize (Zea mays L.) Genotypes through Direct Organogenesis

The variability of in vitro regeneration and proliferation of maize genotypes POOLISSRQPMX, DTSR-WCO, TZLCOMP4C3, TZE COMP 3C2, EV99QPM, POP66 SR/ACR94-YQPM, DTSR-WC, SAMMAZ 19S-14DT and TZEE-YPOPSTRC4 was investigated. Explants were regenerated through direct organogenesis using 0.1 mg/l NAA + 2.0 mg/l BAP, 0.1 mg/l NAA + 2.0 mg/l KIN, 0.3 mg/l NAA + 3.0 mg/l BAP, 0.3 mg/l NAA + 3.0 mg/l KIN, 0.5 mg/l NAA + 4.0 mg/l BAP, 0.5 mg/l NAA + 4.0 mg/l KIN and MS medium only. The regenerated maize yielded the highest number of multiple shoots (1.70 cm) and shoot length (3.35 cm) on MS medium supplemented with 0.3 mg/l NAA + 3.0 mg/l BAP within 31 days. Genotype EV99QPM and DTSR-WCO had the highest number of shoots, rooting traits respectively. Keywords: Maize, regeneration, hormones, variability, survival, character DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/9-6-09 Publication date:March 31st 201

Improvement of Provitamin A in Maize Varieties Using Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus, Glomus clarum

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF, Glomus clarum) has been used widely as a bio-amendment and bio-control agent in several biotechnological studies. In this study, biofortification of maize with provitamin A using AMF was investigated. Five maize varieties (V1 = white drought-resistant maize, V2= yellow provitamin A maize, V3= white drought-tolerant maize, V4= yellow striga-resistant maize and V5= white striga-resistant maize) were evaluated in a screen house experiment laid out in a completely randomized design with three treatments: T1 = maize + AMF before planting, T2 = maize + AMF, inoculated two weeks after planting and T3 (control) = maize only, and four replications. The result showed that AMF significantly (p<0.05, p = 0.0029) increased the provitamin A level of the maize varieties. White drought-tolerant maize (V3) had the highest provitamin A content (581.57 µg) after harvest, while the least (288.33 µg) was found in white drought-resistant maize (V1). Also, the effect of the treatments on the growth traits (plant height, leaf length, number of leaves per plant) of the maize varieties was highly significant.  Therefore, AMF could be considered in breeding maize with high provitamin A content and improved morphological characters

Interactive effects of some botanicals and Fusarium spp. on the growth of millet seedlings

Millets are economically important cereal crop with high protein contents that benefits man and animals. However, the cultivation of this cereal in Southwestern Nigeria is greatly affected by some soil borne pathogens, of which Fusarium species has been reported. Hence, this study investigated the interactive effects of some pathogenic Fusarium species (F. anthophilum, F. scirpi, F. verticillioides and F. oxysporum) and aqueous botanicals on the growth of millet seedlings. In vitro and in vivo studies of Mangifera indica and Jatropha caucas (0.15, 0.30 and 0.45 mg/ml concentrations), Moringa oleifera, Manihot esculenta and Senna alata (0.05, 0.10 and 0.15 g/ml concentrations) were conducted. The Extracts and Concentration levels, Fusarium species, as well as time of observation, recorded significant (p<0.05) effects with respect to the millet seedlings growth. However, high significant (p<0.01) interactions were obtained from Extracts x Fusarium species, Extracts x Concentration levels, Concentration levels x Time of observation and Extracts x Concentration levels x Time of observation. The order of efficacy of the extracts showed that; J. curcas > M. indica and M. oleifera > M. esculenta > S. alata increases with concentration levels and time of observation, thus, significantly (p<0.05) antagonized the pathogenic effect of the Fusarium species. This study therefore, provides valuable information on the interactive treatments that best enhances the optimum performance of the botanicals against the pathogenic Fusarium species of millet seedlings

Effect of sodium azide on Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean (L.) verdc.) as revealed by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (sds-page)

This study investigated the mutagenic effects of Sodium Azide (NaN3) on the agromorphological and protein content of eight Bambara groundnut genotypes. The seeds of six genotypes; TVSu-86, TVSu-91, TVSu-186, TVSu-235, TVSu-242, TVSu-350 were collected from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and two landraces from Abia State and Enugu State North East, Nigeria local markets. The seeds were treated with five concentrations: 0.00%(control), 0.01%, 0.03%, 0.05% and 0.07% of NaN3 after pre-soaking for 6hrs in distilled water and sown in pots arranged in a Complete Randomized Design with three replicates. There was reduction in germination percentage and growth characters as concentrations of NaN3 increases. Early  flowering was recorded at 37 days mutated with 0.07% of NaN3 compared to control which flowered late at 42 days. NaN3 (0.07%) caused lethal effect on Abia and Enugu landraces. There was no significant (P>0.05)  difference in yield traits among mutants and control. Mutant seeds significantly (P<0.05) increased protein content (19.12%) at 0.05% of NaN3 compared to control (18.5%). The number of seeds (0.99), seed yield (0.89) and pod yield (0.96) strongly correlated with seeds per pod (0.85). The SDS-PAGE revealed the presence of polypeptide bands in mutants compared to control. TVSu-235 and TVSu-350 genotypes had higher tolerance and yield traits to 0.01% concentration of NaN3, thus could be further improved in subsequent breeding. &nbsp

Role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as biocontrol agents against Fusarium verticillioides causing ear rot of Zea mays L. (Maize)

The protection of plants from pathogens results to better performances in growth and yield characters. Therefore, the efficacy of Glomus clarum and G. deserticola as biocontrol agents against Fusarium verticillioides (AKR 05, ILR 06 and ERW 05) strains on maize T2L COMP.4 was investigated. Concentration 10 g (20 spores), 20 g (48 spores) and 30 g (72 spores) of Glomus clarum and G. deserticola were inoculated separately into 8 kg of soil at four weeks after planting (WAP), with a control (0 g). In addition, spore suspension (1.0 × 106 spores/mL) of Fusarium verticillioides was inoculated at 8 WAP. The treatments were arranged in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The pathogenic effects of F. verticillioides on plant height and shoot weight were significantly reduced by the application of 20 g of G. clarum and 30 g of G. deserticola. Also, 10 g of both G. clarum and G. deserticola significantly enhanced the production of the husk cover, while 30 g G. clarum and G. deserticola significantly reduced the severity of maize ear rot. Therefore, 30 g G. clarum and G. deserticola had biocontrol potential against Fusarium verticillioides. Hence, they are recommended to maize producers in Fusarium endemic agro-ecological zones for optimal production. Keywords: Biocontrol, Concentration, Disease severity, Glomus clarum, Spore suspensio

Genetic assessment of Mangifera indica Linn. (Mango) from selected locations in Oyo State, Nigeria

This study characterized five (5) varieties of mango comprising 15 accessions collected from Ogbomosho, Saki, Ibadan and other locations in Oyo State. The field experiment was laid out in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with three replicates. Morphological characters were assessed on the stem, leaf and fruit. Also, Molecular studies (DNA amplification and sequencing) were carried out on 15 accessions of mango. The edited sequences were blasted in the National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) data website. The Results showed variability in morphological characters of Mango. Ogbomosho Acc-2 performed best for leaf width (4.53cm) and lamina length (16.25cm) while Isehin Acc-1 had the highest number of leaves per seedling (7.76cm), leaf length (17.06cm), leaf area (38.84cm), petiole length (2.27cm), plant height (24.07cm) respectively. The Number of leaves had positive correlation with Leaf length (r=0.53), Leaf Area (r=0.59), Internodal Length (r= 0.55) and strong positive correlation with plant height (r=0.73) at p≤0.05.  The success rate of amplified DNA products and sequencing was 77.78%. The query coverage of 99% and 100% confirmed positive amplification and sequencing of rbcL gene in the mango varieties.  The sequences blasted in the NCBI data website were identified to be similar to accession KX871231.1. Sequences of rbcL marker showed genetic differences among samples; Grafe and OGBM Acc -1. Genetic distance between varieties from the same location was most often lower with Grafe mango being the most distant variety with genetic distance of 0.114-0.117. There were morphological and molecular variations in mango varieties and accessions. Isehin Acc-1, Saki Acc-1 and OGBM Acc-6 accessions had better growth performanc