In Vitro Synthetic Seed Production of Potato under Different Fungicide Levels and Storage Intervals

Potato propagation through tubers and seed is an inefficient way of propagation thus we propose an alternative method in this study which is in vitro propagation.Plantlets were raised from True Potato Seeds(TPS)in test tubes containing 10 mL of Murashige Skoog(MS)medium.Subculturing was done after every 21 days and after four subsequent subculturing,when there was an adequate quantity of stock material,uninodal cuttings of about 3-4 mm in length were prepared from in vitro proliferated potato plants by excising leaves of 1-2 mm on each side of the node.Prepared uninodal cuttings were cultured on 1/2 strength MS medium for root primordia development.The selected uninodal cuttings with root primordia were encapsulated with sodium alginate solution(3.5%(w/v)),mixed with 1.25%charcoal and different concentration of fungicide(thiophanate methyl,sigma)to enhance the viability percentage of synthetic seed.Furthermore,these encapsulated uninodal cuttings were subjected to different storage intervals to check maximum storage.Results showed that optimum dose for fungicide is 150 mg/L as it resulted in good viability percentage,shoot number,shoot length,rooting percentage,root number,root length and ideal for bead formation with sodium alginate.Similarly,results revealed that encapsulated uninodal cuttings can be stored at a temperature of 4℃ up to 45 days with a survival rate of 63.33%.Encapsulated uninodal cutting stored for 60 days showed a poor viability percentage of about 43.03%.It can be concluded that optimum dose of 150 mg/L with storage time of 45 days should be used to get a better outcome for synthetic potato seed production.

Changes in Germination and Seedling Traits of Sesame under Simulated Drought

Drought is considered one of the leading abiotic constraints to agricultural crop production globally.Present study was conducted to assess the effects of different drought treatments(viz.Control,10%PEG,and 20%PEG)on seed germination,germination indices,seedling traits,and drought tolerance indices of sesame.Our results showed that maximum reduction in the studied parameters was observed at higher PEG concentration(i.e.,20%PEG).As compared to control,the drought treatments viz.10%and 20%PEG decreased the values for germination indices,such as germination percentage,coefficient of variation of germination time,germination index,and seedling vigor index.Similarly,for seedling traits,the values were decreased for root length,shoot length,root shoot ratio,root fresh weight,shoot fresh weight,root dry weight and shoot dry weight under 10%and 20%PEG treatments significantly in comparison with control.Furthermore,relative to control,the values for drought tolerance indices,such as germination drought tolerance index,root length drought tolerance index,shoot length drought tolerance index,total seedling length drought tolerance index,root fresh weight drought tolerance index,shoot fresh weight drought tolerance index,total fresh weight drought tolerance index,root dry weight drought tolerance index,shoot dry weight drought tolerance index and total dry weight drought tolerance index were also reduced under 10%and 20%PEG treatments,respectively.Our results confirms that drought impact on seed germination and seedling traits could be quantified by using different indices which can further help to design drought adaptation and mitigation strategies.Based on these results it can be concluded that germination indices,seedling traits,and drought tolerance indices have great potential to simulate drought stress impacts on different crop traits thus they should be used in all kinds of stress related studies.

Integrated Nutrient Management of Safflower (<i>Carthamus tinctorius</i>L.) under Rainfed Conditions

Optimistic and sustainable supply of soil available nutrients to crop plants enhances productivity. Integrated nutrient management (INM) approach can improve soil fertility on long term basis. The present study was conducted to determine effects of INM on quantitative and qualitative characters of two Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) cultivars “Thori-78 and Leed-00”. Five treatments using different composition of poultry litter, farm yard manure, nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizers with recommended dose as a control measure were replicated thrice in randomized complete design. The results of field trial depicted maximum plant height (174.6 cm), number of heads plant-1 (42.67), number of seeds head-1 (59.0), thousand seed weight (42.26 g), biological yield (3089 Kg·ha-1) and seed yield (455.2 Kg·ha-1) recorded from combined application of FYM @ 2 t·ha-1and Half (N-P) (soil application) (T5) in Genotype “Leed-00” which was statistically different from all other treatments. Thori-78 also showed increase in yield and yield components under the same treatment (T5) i.e.2 t·ha-1 FYM and Half (N-P).No effect of INM was found on fatty acid composition of safflower cultivars. The correlation coefficients illustrated positive and significant association of seed yield with plant height (0.89), number of heads pod-1 (0.86) and number of seeds head-1 (0.83) as a result of application of selected treatment. These results demonstrated the significance of INM in safflower yield improvement under rainfed conditions.

Analysis of Bifenthrin Degrading Bacteria from Rhizosphere of Plants Growing at Tannery Solid Waste

Bifenthrin is an insecticide which is used to control insects, mites, and ticks. It poses a solemn en-vironmental threat and health risk to living organisms. It may be bioaccumulated or biomagnified at different trophic levels in the food chain by biota. Microbes are hidden creature of earth’s biodiversity. For isolation of bifenthrin degrading bacteria, rhizospheric soil samples of plants like Pisum sativum, Triticun aestvum, Chenopodium album were taken from tannery solid waste, Kasur, Pakistan. Enrichment culture techniques were used for the isolation of bacterial strains that showed luxurious growth on minimal growth media with bifenthrin dose was selected for biodegradation study. Bacteria were further screened out based on their morphological, biochemical parameters and degradation efficiency. Furthermore the effect of different growth factors like temperature, pH, inoculum concencentration, minimal inhibitory concentration of heavy metals and antibiotics were also studied. Bacterial strains of Xanthomonas and Bacillus sp. were identified as efficient degrading microbes. Maximum bifenthrin utilization were observed at 25°C (pH 7), with 500 μL inoculum of Bacillus sp., while Xanthomonas sp. gave optimm utilization at 30°C (pH 7) at the same inoculum volume of bacteria. The Rf values of Bacillus sp. and Xanthomonas sp. were 0.91 and 0.90 respectively, which indicated their potential to metabolize bifenthrin into nontoxic forms. These strains can be used to clean up the sites polluted with pesticides and tannery wastes when present in rhizosphere of plants.

Evaluating Fertilization Effects on Soil Physical Properties Using a Soil Quality Index in an Intensive Rice-Wheat Cropping System

Soil quality assessment has been suggested as an effective tool for evaluating sustainability of soil and crop management practices.The objective of this study was to develop a sensitive soil quality index(SQI) based on bulk density(BD),water-holding capacity(WHC),water-stable aggregates(WSA),aggregate mean weight diameter(AMWD),total organic C(TOC) and C input to evaluate the important rice-wheat cropping system on an Inceptisol in India.A long-term experiment has been conducted for 18 years at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research,Modipuram,India.The treatments selected for this study were comprised of a no-fertilizer control and N,P and K fertilizers(NPK) combined with Zn and S fertilizers(NPK+ Zn+S),farmyard manure(NPK+FYM),green gram residues(NPK+GR) and cereal residues(NPK+CR),laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications.Soil samples were collected and analyzed for BD,WHC,WSA and TOC.Correlation analysis revealed that both rice and wheat yields signi?cantly increased with the increases in AMWD,TOC and C input,but decreased with the increase in BD.The SQI values were then generated based on regression analysis of BD,WSA,AMWD,TOC and C input with rice and wheat yields for the 0–15 and 15–30 cm soil layers,respectively.Regression analyses between crop yields and SQI values showed a quadratic type of relation with the coeffcient of determination(R^2) varying from 0.78 to 0.89.With regard to soil sustainability,applying crop residues to both rice and wheat could maintain soil quality for a longer period,whereas the highest yields of both the crops were recorded in the NPK+Zn+S treatment.The regression equations developed in this study could be used to monitor soil quality in a subhumid tropical rice-wheat cropping system.

Genotoxicity of ferric oxide nanoparticles in Raphanus sativus：Deciphering the role of signaling factors,oxidative stress and cell death

We have studied the genotoxic and apoptotic potential of ferric oxide nanoparticles（Fe_2O_3-NPs） in Raphanus sativus（radish）.Fe_2O_3-NPs retarded the root length and seed germination in radish.Ultrathin sections of treated roots showed subcellular localization of Fe_2O_3-NPs,along with the appearance of damaged mitochondria and excessive vacuolization.Flow cytometric analysis of Fe_2O_3-NPs（1.0 mg/m L） treated groups exhibited 219.5%,161%,120.4% and 161.4% increase in intracellular reactive oxygen species（ROS）,mitochondrial membrane potential（ΔΨm）,nitric oxide（NO） and Ca2＋influx in radish protoplasts.A concentration dependent increase in the antioxidative enzymes glutathione（GSH）,catalase（CAT）,superoxide dismutase（SOD） and lipid peroxidation（LPO） has been recorded.Comet assay showed a concentration dependent increase in deoxyribonucleic acid（DNA） strand breaks in Fe_2O_3-NPs treated groups.Cell cycle analysis revealed 88.4% of cells in sub-G1 apoptotic phase,suggesting cell death in Fe_2O_3-NPs（2.0 mg/m L） treated group.Taking together,the genotoxicity induced by Fe_2O_3-NPs highlights the importance of environmental risk associated with improper disposal of nanoparticles（NPs） and radish can serve as a good indicator for measuring the phytotoxicity of NPs grown in NP-polluted environment.