Plant Productions
Year:2014 | Volume:37 | Issue:1|Papers Count:14

Somatic embryogenesis is an alternative method for genetic improvement of commercially important cultivars and is an effective technique for plant propagation. In this research, effects of different factors were studied on embryogenic callus formation from different explants (petal, filament, receptacle, leaf and stem) in M.26 apple dwarf rootstock. MS basal medium supplemented with different concentrations of NAA and 2, 4-D (0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 mg/l) was used for embryogenic callus induction. Auxin treatments showed significant effects on callus induction and percentage of induced explants in mediums containing NAA was higher than that of mediums containing 2, 4-D. Petal explantson medium with 4 mg/l NAA had higher percentage of embryogenic callus. Higher percent of globular embryosinduction was observed in B3 treatment (MS+ 1 mg/l TDZ+l mg/l ABA+0.5 mg/l GA7).

Grape is non-climacteric fruit and as a result, the quality of fruit does not change after harvest. Application of ethephon in recent years is known as an effective way to increase the quantity and quality of grape. In this study, the effect of pre harvest application of ethephon at four levels (0, 150, 250 and 300 mg/l) and ethephon treatment time at two levels (10-20% and 50-70% of berry veraison) were evaluated on quality indices of Bidane -Ghermez grape cultivar at harvest time. The experiment was carried out with a factorial design in a randomized complete block with three replications. Evaluated indices were soluble solids content, titratable acidity, palatability, pH, ascorbic acid content, tissue firmness and fruit color. Application of ethephon increased soluble solids content, ascorbic acid content, palatability and fruit color but had no effect on pH. Colorimetric results showed that ethephon treatment reduced L parameter, Hue angle and Chroma and increased a/b ratio. Titratable acidity and tissue firmness were decreased with application of ethephon. Results showed that spray of 150mg/l ethephon at 50-70% of berry veraison increased soluble solids content, palatability and fruit color but had no more effect on reducing tissue firmness. Based on the obtained results, application of ethephon with the optimum concentration in the proper time can be an effective strategy to improve color and optimum quality of berries.

The effects of different levels of salicylic acid (0, 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg. l -1) and three time periods (7, 14 and 21 days) were studied on quality of mango fruits (total soluble solids, density, pH, acidity and phenolics in pulp and skin). The experimental design used was a 4×3 factorial trial based on randomized complete block design with four replications. Results showed that total soluble solids and phenol contents in fruit skin significantly (p<0.05) decreased with increasing storage time but fruit pH and decay increased with increasing storage time. Salicylic acid treatment changes acidity and phenol contents in fruit skin and pulp as in control, and salicylic acid 1500 mg. l -1 treatment was the highest level of fruit acidity. Phenol contents in fruit skin significantly increased with increasing salicylic acid concentration but phenol contents in fruit pulp was invariable with increasing salicylic acid concentration. Fruit decay significantly decreased after application of two levels of salicylic acid (1000 or 2000 mg. l -1) after 14 days. Application of salicylic acid had no significant effects on ascorbic acid or gravity.

Understanding milk thistle genetic diversity is essential for breeding programs of this plant. In order to investigate genetic diversity of some Iranian ecotypes, an experiment was performed based on randomized complete block design in three replications using Iranian collected ecotypes and foreign cultivar "Bodaklazi" in the experimental field of Shahid Chamran University . Morphological traits including plant height, diameter of the main capitol per plant, number of capitol in plant, grain number in capitol, grain weight in capitol, thousand kernel weight, grain yield, starting and ending days to flowering, and phytochemical traits including phenol level, flavonoid level and antioxidant capacity were measured. Analysis of variance showed significant differencs (a≤0.01) for different traits. Sari and Mobarakeh showed the highest performance among  ecotypes. The phenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity of ecotypes ranged between 8.18-14.19 mg Tanic acid per g plant matter,5.36-11.08mg per 100g and 32.07-52.40  mg per 100g dry extract respectively. Silymarin ranged bet ween 32.07 and 55.40 mg per 100g dry extract. Cluster analysis indicated that ecotypes can be divided into two major groups. Thus, Molasanie, Amol, Sari, Ahvaz, Shoushtar, Esfahan, Babol and Njafabad were categorized in one group and Mobarakeh and Majari in one another. The results of this study showed that the Iranian ecotypes of milk thistle inherit noticeable diversity in respect to morphological, phonological and phytochemical traits. This diversity can be used in breeding programs.

In this research , the effect various temperatures was studied on pollen tube dynamics in in vitro and controlled conditions ‘Nec Plus Ultra, ‘Sahand, and ‘Ferragnes, almond cultivars and ‘K100’ genotype. The collected pollens were cultured in a suitable medium. Cross-pollinations were performed in the chambers at different temperatures. Germination and pollen tube growth were studied at different temperatures. Results showed significant differences among the studied cultivars and genotype in different temperatures for pollen germination and pollen tube growth. The highest percentage of pollen germination in in virto condition and under controlled condition was observed in ‘Sahand’. The highest percentage of pollen tube at style base was observed in ‘Nec plus ultra’.

To assess the effects of two types of substrate (wheat straw and sugar cane bagasse) and different levels of calcium carbonate (0.2%, 0.4% and 0.6% of dry weight of substrate) and different levels of ammonium sulfate (200, 500 and 700 mg/ kg dry weight of substrate) on growth and yield of P. florida a factorial experiment in 3 replications was done. Based on the growth results, yield and biological efficiency of wheat straw substrate (267.43g in per bag, 67.88%) was significantly higher than sugarcane bagasse substrate (110.5g in per bag, 33.64%). The use of calcium carbonate and ammonium sulfate in the substrate increased the yield and biological efficiency of P. florida but various levels of them showed no significant difference. Both substrates were not significantly different in terms of protein content of pinhead. The use of calcium carbonate in substrate decreased the protein content of pinhead and the use of ammonium sulfate in substrate increased the protein content of pinhead.

Cover plants application has several advantages such as beauty in landscape, inhibition of soil erosion and the best way of using water. Frankenia (Frankenia Leavise) is one of the valuable cover plants in the environment. According to water deficit, estimation of water requirement can reduce the irrigation volume and human power. Drought is an important inhibiting factor in plants which affects growth and development. This research was conducted to study the effects of regulated irrigation (100, 70 and 50% field capacity) on Frankenia under a randomized complete blocks design in boxes (50*70cm) with three replications. After 60 days of drought treatment, chlorophyll concentration, proline, electrolyte leakage, fresh and dry weight of roots and shoots were measured. The results indicated that chlorophyll concentration significantly decreased by declining soil moisture in field capacity (F.C.), while proline contant and electrolyte leakage increased. There was no significant difference in fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots between 100 (control) and 70% treatments.

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of plant-derived smoke extract on some under-ground and above-ground traits of two winter cultivars of wheat (Pishgam and Navid) as a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. In this research, the effect of three concentrations of smoke extract (0, 1:10 and 1:100) on some growth traits of wheat including, number of tillage, shoot length, spike length, awn lenght, flag length, spiklet number per spike, leaf area, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root number, root length, root fresh weight, root dry weight, root dry weight/ root fresh weight, shoot dry weight/ shoot fresh weight, root/shoot fresh weight, root/shoot dry weight was studied. The results showed significant differences among various concentrations of smoke extract for the majority of traits. Concentration of 1: 100 was the best treatment compared to control. Futhermore, there was a significant diference between the two wheat cultivars, and the Pishgam cultivar was more than Navid in terms of majority of traits. The interaction of cultivar with smoke water concentration was significant for shoot length, shoot dry weight, shoot dry weight/ shoot fresh weigth, root fresh weight/shoot fresh weight, and in this case, the slicing method was used for data analysis. Finally, the consentration of 1:100 was the best smoke solution for all traits and the Pishgam cultivar showed a better response to smoke water.

In this study, the effect of 5-Aminolevolinic acid (ALA), a key precursor in the biosynthesis of porphyrin and the new plant growth regulator, was studied on some physiological responses of coriander plant under drought stress. The layout was a factorial experiment in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three levels of drought stress (irrigation within 100%, 60% and 30% field capacity) and four concentrations of ALA (0, 0.25, 0.5 and 1mM) as factors. The experiment was conducted in the greenhouse of agricultural faculty of Ilam University in 2010. Statistical analysis showed the significant effects of the drought and ALA on plant physiological parameters including leaf relative water content (RWC), water use efficiency (WUE), praline, malondialdehyde (MDA) and chlorophyll content. In drought conditions, chlorophyll content and RWC were reduced but MDA accumulation, praline content and WUE increased. ALA application significantly caused increasing of RWC, WUE, chlorophyll content and proline accumulation and decreasing of MDA content in plant. In this study, ALA treatment with increasing of praline and chlorophyll content and reducing of MDA accumulation decreased  the adverse effects of drought stress on the coriander plant.

This study has been conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of nitrogen on nitrate reductase activity, nitrate content and vegetative growth (based on shoot and root dry weight) in selected Iranian land races of spinach. The experiment ws carried out in 2010-2011 as factorial design under randomize complete blocks in Agriculture College of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. Seedlings of 10 land races of spinach were subjected to three nitrogen treatments (modified Hoagland solution with recommended level of KNO3 as control, Hoagland solution with two or three- fold level of KNO3). Results showed that nitrate reductase activity in leaves of ‘Gorgan’ and ‘Kerman’ land races were higher than other land races. In leaves of ‘Tonekabon’, ‘Zanjan-1’, ‘Sari-1’, ‘Sari-2’, ‘Khoor Abad- Qom’, nitrate reductase activitywere lower than other land races. Nitrate reductase activity at control (1 M KNO3) and two or three fold KNO3 level were significantly different in roots all land races.There was significant differences in root or shoot nitrate accumulation among the plants of all land races treated with different concentrations of KNO3.When grown under control or KNO3 treatment (2 M), plants of ‘Gorgan’ had the highest content of  nitrate in shoot followed by plants of ‘Sari-1’ and ‘Saqri-2’ treated with KNO3 (3M). The results ofpresent study demonstrate that increasing nitrogen is highly effective in the metabolism of nitrate in roots and leaves of Iranian spinach land races. These differences may be important for selecting of a spinach land race as an efficient genotype for nitrate metabolism.

In order to investigate the yield and components of safflower under plant residue treatments, nitrogen and micro element in Ahvaz, this experiment was conducted during 2010-2011 cropping season in Agriculture College of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz by using split plot based on Randomized Complete blocks design with three replications. Different values of plant residues at four levels (complete residues (5 ton/ha straw), incomplete plant residues (3 ton/ha straw), burning of plant residues and elimination of the plant residues) and sub-factor different values of nitrogen fertilizer at 3 levels (consumption of 150, 100 and 50 kg N/ha) and sub-sub-factor micro elements of spray at 2 levels (micro elements unsparing and spraying recommendeddose of fertilizer) was considered. Based on the results, a significant difference in grain yield, captiual per plant, grain per captiual, 1000 grain weight, and oil percentage was showed. Maximum grain yield resulted from treatment of incomplete plant residues, 100 kg N/ha and spray of micro elements (with mean 6278.87 kg/h). Minimum grain yield resulted from burning of plant residues, 50 kg/h and micro elements (with mean 1771.48 kg/h). The highest percentage of oil was equal to 33.5% (in complete plant residues with 150 kg N/ha and spraying micro elements) but that was not significant from 31% that was obtained in incomplete plant residues with 100 kg N/ha with spraying micro elements.