Atmospheric pressure gliding arc discharge plasma treatments for improving germination, growth and yield of wheat

Wheat （Triticum aestivum） seeds were treated with atmospheric pressure gliding arc discharge plasmas to investigate the effects on water absorption, seed germination rate, seedling growth and yield in wheat. The surface architectures and functionalities of the seeds were found to modify due to plasma treatments. 6 rain treatment was provided 95%-100% germination rate. For the treatment duration of 3 and 9 rain the growth activity, dry matter accumulation, leaves chlorophyll contents, longest spikes, number of spikes/spikelet and total soluble protein content in shoots were improved. The grain yield of wheat was increased ,--20% by 6 min treatment with H2O/O2 plasma with respect to control.

Cowpea NAC1/NAC2 transcription factors improve growth and tolerance to drought and heat in transgenic cowpea through combined activation of photosynthetic and antioxidant mechanisms

NAC(NAM/ATAF1/2/CUC2)transcription factors are central switches of growth and stress responses in plants.However,unpredictable interspecies conservation of function and regulatory targets makes the well-studied NAC orthologs inapt for pulse engineering.The knowledge of suitable NAC candidates in hardy pulses like cowpea(Vigna unguiculata(L.)Walp.)is still in infancy,hence warrants immediate biotechnological intervention.Here,we showed that overexpression of two native NAC genes(VuNAC1and VuNAC2)promoted germinative,vegetative,and reproductive growth and conferred multiple abiotic stress tolerance in a commercial cowpea variety.The transgenic lines displayed increased leaf area,thicker stem,nodule-rich denser root system,early flowering,higher pod production(~3.2-fold and~2.1-fold),and greater seed weight(10.3%and 6.0%).In contrast,transient suppression of VuNAC1/2 caused severe growth retardation and flower inhibition.The overexpressor lines showed remarkable tolerance to major yielddeclining terminal stresses,such as drought,salinity,heat,and cold,and recovered growth and seed production by boosting photosynthetic activity,water use efficiency,membrane integrity,Na^(+)/K^(+)homeostasis,and antioxidant activity.The comparative transcriptome study indicated consolidated activation of genes involved in chloroplast development,photosynthetic complexes,cell division and expansion,cell wall biogenesis,nutrient uptake and metabolism,stress response,abscisic acid,and auxin signaling.Unlike their orthologs,VuNAC1/2 direct synergistic transcriptional tuning of stress and developmental signaling to avoid unwanted trade-offs.Their overexpression governs the favorable interplay of photosynthesis and reactive oxygen species regulation to improve stress recovery,nutritional sufficiency,biomass,and production.This unconventional balance of strong stress tolerance and agronomic quality is useful for translational crop research and molecular breeding of pulses.

Biological Control of Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne incognita in Psoralea corylifolia Plant by Enhancing the Biocontrol Efficacy of Trichoderma harzianum Using Press Mud

Meloidogyne incognita is a plant pathogen causing root-knot disease and loss of crop yield.The present study aimed to use Trichoderma harzianum as a biocontrol agent against plant-parasitic nematodes and used press mud,which is a solid waste by-product of sugarcane,as a biocontrol agent and biofertilizer.Therefore,the combined application of T.harzianum and press mud may enhance nematode control and plant growth.Elemental analysis of press mud using scanning electron microscopy(SEM)integrated with an Energy Dispersive X-ray(EDX)analyzer revealed the presence of different elements such as C,O,Mg,Si,P,K,Ca,Cu and Zn.In addition,a greenhouse study was conducted to investigate the combined effects of press mud and T.harzianum on M.incognita reproduction and growth and the biochemical features of Psoralea corylifolia.The results showed that plant length,dry biomass,leaf area,the number of seeds per plant,chlorophyll a,chl b,carotenoid content,nitrate reductase,carbonic anhydrase,and nitrogen content were significantly increased(P≤0.05)in the T2 plants(plants were treated with 100 g of press mud+50 mL T.harzianum before one week of M.incognita inoculation),over inoculated plants(IC).Antioxidant enzyme activity of ascorbate peroxidase(APX),catalase(CAT),peroxidase(POD),and superoxide dismutase(SOD)in the foliage of P.corylifolia was significantly increased when plants were treated with press mud+T.harzianum.A significant reduction in the number of egg masses,nematode population,and root-knot index(RKI)was found in plants with T2 plants.These results suggest that the combined application of T.harzianum and press mud has the potential to control the M.incognita infection and can be used as an environmentally safe alternative to chemical nematicides and also help in the removal of sugarcane waste that causes environmental pollution.

Geometry and size optimization of stiffener layout for three-dimensional box structures with maximization of natural frequencies

Based on the growth mechanism of natural biological branching systems and inspiration from the morphology of plant root tips,a bionic design method called Improved Adaptive Growth Method(IAGM)has been proposed in the authors’previous research and successfully applied to the reinforcement optimization of three-dimensional box structures with respect to natural frequencies.However,as a kind of ground structure methods,the final layout patterns of stiffeners obtained by using the IAGM are highly subjected to their ground structures,which restricts the optimization effect and freedom to further improve the dynamic performance of structures.To solve this problem,a novel post-processing geometry and size optimization approach is proposed in this article.This method takes the former layout optimization result as start,and iteratively finds the optimal layout angles,locations,and lengths of stiffeners with a few design variables by optimizing the positions of some specific node lines called active node lines.At the same time,thick-nesses of stiffeners are also optimized to further improve natural frequencies of three-dimensional box structures.Using this method,stiffeners can be successfully separated from their ground structures and further effectively improve natural frequencies of three-dimensional box structures with less material consumption.Typical numerical examples are illustrated to validate the effectiveness and advantages of the suggested method.