Effect of Combined Foliar Spray on Heavy Metals Accumulation in Facility Fruit Vegetables

In order to explore the effects of combined foliar spray which was prepared from potassium fulvate and Zn on heavy metal accumulations in three kinds of facility fruit vegetables,cucumber,tomato and white melon,the foliar spray was applied from fruit setting to maturation.The results showed that the combined foliar spray significantly promoted the absorption of Zn and Cu in the three fruit vegetables,blocked the absorption of Cr,As and Pb in cucumber,significantly blocked the absorption of Cd in white melon,blocked the absorption of Pb in white melon,and showed a tendency of blocking the absorption of heavy metals Cd and As in tomato.

Efficacy of Beneficial Fungi Isolates in Solanum lycopersicum L. Protection against Lepidopteran Insects through a Leaf Inoculation Technique

Helicoverpa armigera is a key insect pest of tomatoes reducing drastically yields. The effect of the endophytic colonization of tomato plants by Beauveria bassiana using leaf spray as an inoculation method on damage and survival of H. armigera was assessed in a screen house. Two B. bassiana isolates (Bb 115 and Bb 11) and two tomato varieties (a local variety Tounvi and an improved variety Padma) were included in the study. The adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces were sprayed at a concentration of 107 conidia/ml and 109 conidia/ml for each isolate and each of the two tomato varieties. Thirty days after inoculation, five discs of tomato leaf and tomato root were cut for each isolate, each concentration per isolate and for each variety. The samples were incubated at room temperature (28°C ± 2°C) and periodically checked for fungal growth. Larval survival was checked and a damage assessment was done on tomato flowers and the leaves. The results show that the lowest Mean Survival Times (MSTs) were recorded on larvae feeding on plants inoculated with Bb 11 (4.2 ± 0.8 days against 11.5 ± 0.2 days for control). Compared to the other treatments, low damage rates of the flowers of the improved variety inoculated with Bb 11 at 109 conidia/ml were recorded from the 6th Day After Inoculation (DAI). This rate remains low until the end of treatment. Overall flower damage was lower than leaf damage. The results showed large differences in pathogenicity, with most endophytic isolate belonging to Bb 11 when inoculated at 109 conidia/ml using the leaf spraying technique. Data were discussed with regard to the use of endophytism B. bassiana in an integrated tomato pest control approach.

Roles of different fertilizer management practices on mulberry leaf yield and quality

Effects of fertilizer management practices on leaf yield and quality of mulberry plant are important for sustainable mulberry plant production.This study was undertaken to improve the growth,yield and biochemical contents in an instant available form in mulberry plant through different fertilizer management practices.There were four fertilizer management practices like control(CT),basal(BS),urea+magic growth(UM)and basal+urea+magic growth(BUM)were applied on mulberry plant(Morus SPP.).Results of this investigation revealed that among the various fertilizer treatments on the foliar application of(3 g urea+3 mL magic growth)per liter water with BSRTI recommended BS of NPK performed well in respect of growth parameters and biochemical constituents.The highest 10 leaf area(638.64 cm^(2)),leaf number per branch(50),total leaf weight per plant(785.64 g),node per meter(28.67),specific leaf weight(0.005817 g/cm^(2)),length of longest shoot(173.25 cm)and total leaf yield per hectare per year(41610 kg)were noticed in BUM treatment followed by UM,BS and CT treatments.Further the highest moisture(74.38%),moisture retention capacity(33.31%),total mineral(12.10%),total sugar(3.99%),reducing sugar(4.05%),crude protein(21.01%),starch(9.72%)and soluble carbohydrate(11.41%)were also recorded in BUM treatment as compare to UM,BS and CT treatments.The outcome of research implies that among the four fertilizer management practices foliar spray of(3 g urea+3 mL magic growth)per liter water with BSRTI recommended BS dose of NPK performed well and successfully augments the productivity and biochemical constituents of mulberry plant.

Arabidopsis under ammonium over-supply: Characteristics of ammonium toxicity in relation to the activity of ammonium transporters

Because of highly intensive farming practices, crop plants could suffer relatively long terms of ammonium(NH4+) excess stress introduced by overdose application of nitrogen fertilizers. However, the lack of sufficient understanding of plant responses to NH4+excess stress impairs the detection of effective solutions to this problem. The present work examined the biological influences of over-supplied NH4+in Arabidopsis thaliana using two mutant lines each with an ammonium transporter(AMT) gene(AtAMT1;1 or AtAMT1;3) knocked out. Our results indicated that lacking one of the major components of root NH4+-absorbing systems significantly alleviated the toxicity effects on Arabidopsis plants by reducing the accumulation of free NH4+, suggesting that persistent absorption of NH4+through AMT was the main cause of excessive accumulation of free NH4+in the plants. Shading treatment led to a reduced transpirational driving force and thereby constrained the accumulation of toxic NH4+in the plants, finally resulting in higher NH4+-promoted growth in the wild type(WT). Under the shading treatment, the amt1;1 and amt1;3 mutant plants acquired insufficient NH4+and showed reduced growth when compared with the WT. Furthermore, the foliar application of sucrose notably alleviated the inhibitory effects on plant growth in the WT but had no effect on either the amt1;1 or amt1;3 mutant plants, indicating that carbon scarcity associated with NH4+excess is probably a major cause of NH4+toxicity in plants. Accordingly,increasing carbon source could be a potentially effective approach that alleviates the inhibition caused by NH4+excess and increases nitrogen use efficiency under NH4+over-supply.