Dramatic changes in anatomical traits of a C4 grass Chrysopogon serrulatus Trin.(Poaceae)over a 1000 m elevational gradient

Chrysopogon serrulatus(false beard-grass)is a dominant component of vegetation in the foothills of the Himalayas.To study whole plant morphology,individuals of C.serrulatus were collected from three plots at each of six locations spanning from 400 to 1,400 m.The population colonizing the highest elevation modifications in different plant organs.Roots showed increased metaxylem number and area.In the stem,especially outside of the vascular tissue,there was intensive sclerification indicative of increased xeromorphy as a survival strategy.At the highest elevation,leaves were wider;aerenchyma formation and increased sclerification were noted in the leaf sheath;and a greater proportion of storage parenchyma was observed in the leaf blade,all indicators of succulence.In contrast,leaves at lower elevations had xeric morphological features such as increased epidermal thickness,sclerification and more developed metaxylem area.In conclusion,shifting of morphological features in below-and above-ground plant parts of C.serrulatus were linked to shifts in environmental factors along this elevation gradient,thus enabling the successful distribution of this species along this elevation gradient.

Growth, yield and fiber quality characteristics of Bt and non-Bt cotton cultivars in response to boron nutrition

Background Boron(B)deficiency is an important factor for poor seed cotton yield and fiber quality.However,it is often missing in the plant nutrition program,particularly in developing countries.The current study investigated B’s effect on growth,yield,and fiber quality of Bt(CIM-663)and non-Bt(Cyto-124)cotton cultivars.The experimental plan consisted of twelve treatments:Control(CK);B at 1 mg·kg^(−1) soil application(SB1);2 mg·kg^(−1) B(SB2);3 mg·kg^(−1) B(SB3);0.2%B foliar spray(FB1);0.4%B foliar spray(FB2);1 mg·kg^(−1) B+0.2%B foliar spray(SB1+FB1);1 mg·kg^(−1) B+0.4%B foliar spray(SB1+FB2);2 mg·kg^(−1) B+0.2%B foliar spray(SB2+FB1);2 mg·kg^(−1) B+0.4%B foliar spray(SB2+FB2);3 mg·kg^(−1) B+0.2%B foliar spray(SB3+FB1);3 mg·kg^(−1) B+0.4%B foliar spray(SB3+FB2).Each treat-ment has three replications,one pot having two plants per replication.Results B nutrition at all levels and methods of application significantly(P≤0.05)affected the growth,physiological,yield,and fiber quality characteristics of both cotton cultivars.However,SB2 either alone or in combination with foliar spray showed superiority over others,particularly in the non-Bt cultivar which responded better to B nutrition.Maxi-mum improvement in monopodial branches(345%),sympodial branches(143%),chlorophyll-a(177%),chlorophyll-b(194%),photosynthesis(169%),and ginning out turn(579%)in the non-Bt cultivar was found with SB2 compared with CK.In Bt cultivar,although no consistent trend was found but integrated use of SB3 with foliar spray performed relatively better for improving cotton growth compared with other treatments.Fiber quality characteristics in both cultivars were improved markedly but variably with different B treatments.Conclusion B nutrition with SB2 either alone or in combination with foliar spray was found optimum for improving cotton’s growth and yield characteristics.

Assessment of Left Ventricular Radial Deformation by Speckle Tracking Imaging

The left ventricular radial strain in the inner and outer layers was evaluated by using two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging （2DS）. Twenty-five piglets were studied. The short axis views were acquired. Peak systolic radial strain was measured from 6 circumferential points related to 6 standard segments in the inner and outer layers respectively using 2DS methods. The peak positive first derivative （dp/dt） of left ventricular pressure was compared to the radial strain from 2DS. The inner band showed higher peak radial strain values as compared to the outer band at all of the segments （P〈0.0001）, but the differences had significance just in anteroseptal, posterior, inferior and septal segments （P〈0.05）. Good correlation could be found between radial strain of inner and outer layers and peak dp/dt （P〈0.001）. These preliminary results showed that the degree of local deformation or wall thickening of the ventricular wall in its inner layer was more obvious than its outer layer. It is suggested that the 2DS technique is useful and sensitive for better understanding the regional and global myocar- dial motion and its relationship to the complex architecture of myocardium.

Genetic variability for yield and fiber related traits in genetically modified cotton

Background:Cotton(Gossypium hirsutum L.)is grown for fiber and oil purposes in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world.Pakistan is the 4th largest producer of cotton.It has a significant contribution in the GDP of Pakistan.Therefore,the present study was performed to assess the genetic variations and genetic diversity of yield and fiber quality traits in cotton and to analyze the associations present among them.Results:Analysis of variance exhibited significant variation for all studied traits except total number of nodes and the height to node ratio.The phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation for all studied traits.Plant height,monopodial branches,total number of bolls,lint index,seed index,and seed cotton yield displayed high heritabilities in a broad sense with maximum genetic advanee.Correlation analysis revealed that seed cotton yield had a significant positive association with plant height,the nu mber of monopodial branches,the nu mber of sympodia I branches,ginning outturn(GOT),the number of bolls,seed per boll,seed index,uniformity index,the number of sympodial branches,reflectance,and seed index at the genotypic level while a significant positive relationship was observed with plant height,the number of sympodial branches,boll number,and GOT.Plant height,monopodial branches,GOT,boll weight,seeds per boll,and short fiber index exerted direct positive effects on seed cotton yield.The first 6 principal component analysis(PCs)out of the total fourteen PCs displayed eigenvalues(>1)and had maximum share to total variability(82.79%).The attributes that had maximum share to total divergence in eluded plant height,uniformity index,the nu mber of sympodial branches,seed per boll,GOT,seed cotton yield,and short fiber index.Conclusion:The genotype AA-802,IUB-13,FH-159,FH-458,and CIM-595 were genetically diverse for most of the yield and fiber quality traits and could be utilized for the selection of better performing genotypes for further improvement.