Monitoring vegetation cover on mine dumps with ERTS-1 imagery: Some initial results

ERTS-1 imagery is being used in an attempt to differentiate between mine dumps having varying degrees of vegetative cover. At this stage it is clear that the various mine dumps can be located and identified. Differences in vegetative cover can be seen and measured. Patterns of vegetative growth, some characteristic to particular dumps, can also be seen. It is therefore tentatively concluded that mine dumps can be differentiated with respect to their vegetative cover on the imagery received to date. Subsequent imagery showing seasonal variations should facilitate this program

Influence of two acyclic homoterpenes (Tetranorterpenes) on the foraging behavior of anthonomus grandis Boh

Previous studies have shown that the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, is attracted to constitutive and conspecific herbivore-induced cotton volatiles, preferring the blend emitted by cotton at the reproductive over the vegetative stage. Moreover, this preference was paralleled by the release of the acyclic homoterpenes (tetranorterpenes) (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene (DMNT) and (E,E)-4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene (TMTT) in Delta Opal cotton being higher at the vegetative than at the reproductive stage. Here, we evaluated whether this difference in release of acyclic homoterpenes also occurred in other cotton varieties, and if boll weevils could recognize these compounds as indicators of a specific cotton phenological stage. Results showed that cotton genotypes CNPA TB-90, BRS-293 and Delta Opal all produced higher levels of DMNT and TMTT at the vegetative stage than at the reproductive stage and that these homoterpenes allowed for principal component analysis separation of volatiles produced by the two phenological stages. Electroantennograms confirmed boll weevil antennal responses to DMNT and TMTT. Behavioral assays, using Y-tube olfactometers, showed that adding synthetic homoterpenes to reproductive cotton volatiles (mimicking cotton at the vegetative stage in terms of homoterpene levels) resulted in reduced attraction to boll weevils compared to that to unmodified reproductive cotton. Weevils showed no preference when given a choice between plants at the vegetative stage and the vegetative stage-mimicked plant. Altogether, the results show that DMNT and TMTT are used by boll weevils to distinguish between cotton phenological stages

Correlations between Leaf Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium and Leaf Chlorophyll, Anthocyanins and Carotenoids Content at Vegetative and Generative Stage of Bitter Leaf (Vernonia amygealina Del.)

Vernonia amygdalina Del. (Asteraceae) is a nutritional and medicinal plant that is used widely throughout tropical Africa and other countries. The leaves are proved to have strong antioxidant property. The concentration of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, anthocyanins and carotenoids in five different leaf positions of vegetative and generative phases were studied. The aim of the study is to understand and to correlate the content of the three nutrients and the bioactive compounds along the five leaf positions at vegetative and generative stage of the crop growth. The study showed that the concentration of chlorophyll a and b was higher, and anthocyanin concentration was almost zero in the generative than in the vegetative stage. The leaf concentration of N, P, and K were higher in vegetative than in generative stage. At vegetative stage, N positively correlated with chlorophyll a at the 1st leaf; K had strong correlations with anthocyanins at the 2nd and 3rd leaf and with chlorophyll a at the 2nd and 5th, and with chlorophyll b and carotenoids at the 5th leaf. At the generative stage, P had a strong positive correlation with carotenoids at 4th and 5th leaves, and K positively correlated with chlorophyll a and b at 5th leaf. The findings suggest that bitter leaf is better to be harvested at vegetative stage, and that potassium level is important to increase ­anthocyanins and carotenoids content

Effect of drought stress and subsequent recovery on protein, carbohydrate contents, catalase and peroxidase activities in three chickpea (Cicer arietinum) cultivars

Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses in agriculture worldwide. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of drought stress and subsequent recovery on protein, carbohydrate content, catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POX) activities in three varieties of chickpea (drought tolerant Bivaniej and ILC482 and drought sensitive Pirouz). A field experiment with four irrigation regimes was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments included control (well-watering), drought stress imposed during the vegetative phase, drought stress imposed during anthesis and drought stress during the vegetative phase and anthesis. Drought stress imposed during vegetative growth or anthesis significantly decreased soluble protein content and increased water soluble carbohydrate concentration. The tolerant variety accumulated more soluble carbohydrate than the sensitive one. Drought stress at flowering stage had significantly higher POX activity compared to than that at vegetative stage. Compared with the stress, there was significantly more soluble protein after exposure to recovery conditions but POX decreased in all three varieties. These results suggest that CAT and POX activities play an essential protective role against drought stress in chickpea. Antioxidants act as a major defense against radical mediated toxicity by protecting the damages caused by free radicals. An increase was observed in POX and CAT activity of three cultivars under stress conditions throughout the experiment. Results showed that POX acts as the major antioxidant enzyme in chickpea leaves under oxidative stress condition. So activity of this enzyme in stress condition can be used as an index for chickpea cultivars tolerance assessment

Effect of growth stages on phenolics content and antioxidant activities of shoots in sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana L.) varieties under salt stress

We investigated the contributions of salinity and development stage on total polyphenols, flavonoids,  condensed tannins contents, phenolic content, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and superoxide  scavenging activities at three phenolic stages: early vegetative stage (EVS), late or prefloral vegetative (LVS) stage and flowering stage (FS). The total phenolic, flavonoids and condensed tannins contents were more  important in the presence and absence of salt at prefloral or building stage than at EVS and FS. In addition, salt stress increased total polyphenol and individual phenolic contents in shoots of Origanum majorana. This  increase was more important in LVS than in EVS and FS. Moreover, the antiradical activity of the shoots (DPPH) decreased with the addition of NaCl. In fact, LVS extracts showed the highest antioxidant properties.  Furthermore, at LVS, marjoram grown at 75 mM showed a higher antiradical ability against DPPH radical and antioxidant activity, compared to EVS and LVS. Data reported here revealed the variation of phenolic  compound contents at different stages of growth of O. majorana, and the possible role of these changes in the response of the plant to salt was also discussed.Key words: Antiradical activity, Origanum majorana, early vegetative stage (EVS), late or prefloral vegetative (LVS) stage and flowering stage (FS), phenolic content

The SNARE protein FolVam7 mediates intracellular trafficking to regulate conidiogenesis and pathogenicity in Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici.

Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) are conserved in fungi, plants and animals. The Vam7 gene encodes a v-SNARE protein that involved in vesicle trafficking in fungi. Here, we identified and characterized the function of FolVam7, a homologue of the yeast SNARE protein Vam7p in Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol), a fungal pathogen of tomato. FolVam7 contains SNARE and PX (Phox homology) domains that are indispensable for normal localization and function of FolVam7. Targeted gene deletion showed that FolVam7-mediated vesicle trafficking is important for vegetative growth, asexual development, conidial morphology and plant infection. Further cytological examinations revealed that FolVam7 is localized to vesicles and vacuole membranes in the hyphae stage. Moreover, the ΔFolvam7 mutant is insensitive to salt and osmotic stresses and hypersensitive to cell wall stressors. Taken together, our results suggested that FolVam7-mediated vesicle trafficking promotes vegetative growth, conidiogenesis and pathogenicity of Fol

Studies on morpho-physiological characters of different Avena species under stress conditions

Seven species of oat (Avena) were evaluated for their relative drought tolerance under soil moisture stress. The plant height, leaf area production and biomass yield reduced under soil moisture stress. Among the species tested, minimum reduction in height was recorded in Avena vaviloviana, Avena abyssinica and Avena sterilis at vegetative and flowering stages. Significant decrease in leaf area production was recorded at vegetative stage, whereas at flowering stage, the decrease in leaf area production was marginal in A. sterilis followed by A. abyssinica predicting their more adaption to stress environment. The increase in specific leaf weight (SLW) of all the species of Avena showed increase in leaf thickness, exhibiting high water retention capacity under soil moisture stress condition which is a requisite trait for drought tolerance. Soil moisture stress imposed at vegetative and flowering stages reduced fresh biomass yield in all the species. Minimum reduction in dry biomass accumulation under stress environment at vegetative stage was recorded in A. sterilis followed by A. strigosa and A. sativa, exhibiting their tolerance to drought at early stages of growth. However, at flowering stage, minimum decrease in dry biomass production was recorded in A. sterilis (3.47%) followed by A. marocana (12.56%) indicating their relative drought tolerance at flowering stage of crop growth. A  significant positive correlation between total leaf area and dry biomass (r2=0.738) under stress environment indicates that dry biomass accumulation was governed by total leaf area production. A. sterilis accumulated maximum fresh and dry biomass under soil moisture stress with minimum reduction over the non stress environment, indicating its drought tolerance potential as compared to other genotypes tested.Keywords: Avena, biomass, flowering stage, leaf area, soil moisture stress, vegetative stage

Dynamics of steviol glycosides (stevioside and rebaudioside-A) with growth and development of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

In the present investigation, the dynamics of steviol glycosides (stevioside and rebaudioside-A) of Stevia rebaudiana with their growth stages were studied. The study aimed to examine the best stage of harvesting (month of the year) the crop with respect to maximum accumulation of stevioside and rebaudioside-A content in different plant parts (leaves, green stem and woody stem). The results showed that the maximum stevioside content in leaves (8.55%) was found in June month (vegetative stage). Rebaudioside-A content in leaves (7.00%) was at its peak in August (vegetative stage). Whereas, higher stevioside and rebaudioside-A content was found for green stem (0.93%) and woody stem (0.18%) during September month (flowering stage). Leaves showed maximum yields of stevioside (17.60g) and rebaudioside-A (13.75g) per plant in July month. The study indicated that it is economical to harvest the leaves of S. rebaudiana rather than harvesting whole aerial biomass in vegetative phase (July month)

Impact of Multiple Insect-Pest Incidence on Yield in Basmati Rice

The experiments for determining the multiple insect-pest incidence on yield loss in basmati rice was conducted for two crop seasons. Five treatments were, viz. application of imidacloprid in vegetative stage; application of granular insecticide in vegetative stage; application of higher dose of Urea; augmentive releases of yellow stem borer egg mass at vegetative and booting stage; untreated control. During both the years, the correlation between grain yield and dead heart, leaf folder damage and planthopper population at 50 and 65 DAT and white ear at maturity was negative. The analysis of variance of regression analysis of yield Vs damage levels at different crop growth stages during both the years revealed a significant linear relationship. The yield loss was highly related to incidence of stem borer and leaf folder damage at 50 and 65 DAT during both the years. For integrated pest management, effective monitoring of stem borer and leaf folder from 50 to 65 DAT is required, which appeared as a critical crop growth stage. The farmers should remain cautious during this period to prevent yield loss