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Maize leaf length, leaf width, leaf angle, and leaf orientation value are determinant traits influencing leaf shape, yield potential, and can sense water stress signals. However, little is known regarding their genetic controls under drought stress. Using two F3 populations, we identified 72 QTLs under contrasting environments at V18 and R1 stages by single-environment mapping, 58.3% QTLs were identified under drought-stressed environments. Thirty-three joint QTLs were detected by joint analysis of all environments, 7 QTLs involved in QTL-by-environment interactions, 11 pair epistasis exhibited additive-by-additive effects. Twelve constitutive QTLs were dissected that will be potentially useful for genetic improvement of maize leaf development through QTL pyramiding. Additionally, 13 meta-QTLs were identified via meta-analysis, 15 candidate genes were identified in these meta-QTLs. These results provide valuable information for QTLs fine mapping, revealing genetic mechanisms of leaf shape under contrasting watering environments, and alleles provide useful targets for marker-assisted selection breeding.

In order to maintain soil fertility, NPK fertilizer applications that have been carried out by farmer need to be combined with non chemical fertilizer such as bokashi. Research on vegetative growth of kale land due to NPK and bokashi fertilizer has been carried out in Bajur Village, West Lombok Regency. The purpose of this research was to detemine: (1) vegetative growth of kale land due to different doses of NPK fertilizer, (2) vegetative growth of kale land due to different doses of bokashi, (3) the effect of interaction of NPK and bokashi fertilizer on growth of kale land, (4) Optimum dose of NPK fertilizer and bokashi for kale land. This research used 2 factors design. The first factor is the dose of NPK fertilizer and the second factors is the dose of bokashi. The growth parameters measured were stem height, leaf length, leaf width and number of kale land leaf. Reseach data analyzed using analysis of variance. The results showed that: (1) NPK fertilizer treatment significantly affected stem height, leaf length and kale leaf width, but have no significant effect on the number of kale land leaves, (2) bokashi aplication significantly affected stem heght, leaf length and kale land leaf width but did not significantly affect the number of kale land leaves, (3) the interaction of NPK fertilizer and bokashi did not significantly affect all growth parameters measured, (4) the optimun dose of bokashi for kale land is 1,2 kg for 8 kg of soil and the optimum dose of NPK fertilizer is 1,5 g per plant. It is recommended that kale land famers use 1,2 kg bokashi for 8 kg of soil and 1,5 g NPK fertilizer per plant.

In barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), lateral branches called tillers contribute to grain yield and define shoot architecture, but genetic control of tiller number and developmental rate are not well characterized. The primary objectives of this work were to examine relationships between tiller number and other agronomic and morphological traits and identify natural genetic variation associated with tiller number and rate, and related traits. We grew 768 lines from the USDA National Small Grain Collection in the field and collected data over two years for tiller number and rate, and agronomic and morphological traits. Our results confirmed that spike row-type and days to heading are correlated with tiller number, and as much as 28% of tiller number variance was associated with these traits. In addition, negative correlations between tiller number and leaf width and stem diameter were observed, indicating trade-offs between tiller development and other vegetative growth. Thirty-three quantitative trait loci (QTL) were associated with tiller number or rate. Of these, 40% overlapped QTL associated with days to heading and 22% overlapped QTL associated with spike row-type, further supporting that tiller development is associated with these traits. Some QTL associated with tiller number or rate, including the major QTL on chromosome 3H, were not associated with other traits, suggesting that some QTL may be directly related to rate of tiller development or axillary bud number. These results enhance our knowledge of the genetic control of tiller development in barley, which is important for optimizing tiller number and rate for yield improvement.

Gef��rdert im Rahmen des Projekts DEAL, Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt. Grant Number: 20016/464

Camelina [Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz] has two distinctive biotypes, summer and winter, with winter biotypes requiring a vernalization treatment to enter the reproductive phase. Increased interest in broadening the diversity of winter-hardy cover crops in the northern Great Plains of the U.S. to reduce soil erosion through the winter months has led seed companies to offer winter camelina seed outsourced from other states. Regrettably, in 2017, outsourced camelina seed from other states turned out to be summer biotypes that did not survive the North Dakota winter. The objectives of this study were to determine the morphological characteristics of seed and seedlings from summer- and winter-biotypes. Morphological characteristics of seedlings were determined by growing nineteen summer- and eleven winter-biotypes in an environmental chamber. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with three replicates. To determine differences in seed wavelength absorbance between winter- and summer-biotypes both visible and near infrared spectra were examined, which encompass 400–2498 nm wavelengths. Mixtures of cultivars Joelle (winter) and one summer type were analyzed using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Seed mixtures were prepared in increments of 5% of ‘Joelle’. Mixtures of different lots of Joelle were prepared in increments of 25%. Significant interactions were present and observed for pairs of vegetative leaves, growth stage, height, leaf length, leaf width and the number of lobes. The equation for the ratio of winter seed (r2 = 0.96) performed very well, being able to distinguish known field grown cultivars used in the equation. Differences in seed and seedling morphological characteristics can be used to differentiate winter- or summer-biotypes. Having a rapid method to determine the percentage of winter camelina in an unknown seed sample will be very favorable for all producers, as well as seed companies, interested in growing winter camelina as either a winter-hardy cover crop or as a winter annual cash crop.

BackgroundLeaf length and width could be a functioning relationship naturally as plant designs. Single-vein leaves have the simplest symmetrical distribution and structural design, which means that fast-growing single-vein species could interpret the scheme more efficiently. The distribution of leaf length and width can be modulated for better adaptation, providing an informative perspective on the various operational strategies in an emergency, while this mechanism is less clear. Here we selected six age groups ofCunninghamia lanceolatapure forests, including saplings, juveniles, mature, and old-growth trees. We pioneered a tapering model to describe half-leaf symmetric distribution with mathematical approximation based on every measured leaf along developmental sequence, and evaluated the ratio of leaf basal part length to total length (called tipping leaf length ratio).ResultsThe tipping leaf length ratio varied among different tree ages. That means the changes of tipping leaf length ratio and leaf shape are a significant but less-noticed reflection of trees tradeoff strategies at different growth stages. For instance, there exhibited relatively low ratio during sapling and juvenile, then increased with increasing age, showing the highest value in their maturity, and finally decreased on mature to old-growth transition. The tipping leaf length ratio serves as a cost-benefit ratio, thus the subtle changes in the leaf symmetrical distribution within individuals reveal buffering strategy, indicating the selection for efficient design of growth and hydraulic in their developmental sequences.ConclusionsOur model provides a physical explanation of varied signatures for tree operations in hydraulic buffering through growth stages, and the buffering strategy revealed from leaf distribution morphologically provides evidence on the regulation mechanism of leaf biomechanics, hydraulics and physiologies. Our insight contributes greatly to plant trait modeling, policy and management, and will be of interest to some scientists and policy makers who are involved in climate change, ecology and environment protection, as well as forest ecology and management.

Introduction: Light stress is an important factor limiting the biomass yield while combining forage production with crops or forestry. Guinea grass is a widely adapted perennial fodder grass. The species exhibits high degree of variation for morphology, adaptation and biomass yield. Objective: Since there is a need in identifying shade adapted forage grasses for the expanding area under agroforestry/silvipastures, the present investigation took the task of understanding how the morphologically distinct genotypes of guinea grass respond under different shaded intensities. Methods: In the present study, forty-four genotypes related with the shade response were studied in varying shading conditions (pure sunlight, 25, 50 and 75 % shade) created artificially. Results: Based on green and dry matter yields ranking, the genotype IG 01-98 performed the best followed by genotypes IG 01-92, IG 97-5, IG 97-6 and IG 01-89 in decreasing order. Particularly, IG 01-93 was identified as the best performing under 50 % shading conditions. On the other hand, most of the top ranking genotypes performed well both under open and up to 50 % of shade. Morphologically, these genotypes were taller and possessed longer and broader leaves. Under shaded conditions (over 50 %), leaf length and width showed an increasing trend compared to open conditions. Also, chlorophyll content increased with shading intensity. Conclusions: Most of the genotypes collected from the southern Indian humid tropical environment with early flowering nature were tolerant to shade. Differential genotypic response was observed for biomass yield and yield attributes under shade. The study established appreciable variability for shade tolerance among genotypes. Resumen Introducción: El estrés leve es un factor importante que limita el rendimiento de la biomasa al tiempo que combina laproducción forrajera con los cultivos o la silvicultura. El zacate guinea es una planta de forraje perenne ampliamente adaptada. La especie presenta un alto grado de variación en su morfología, adaptación y rendimiento de biomasa. Objetivo: Como existe la necesidad de la identificación de pastos forrajeros adaptados a la sombra para el área de expansión bajo agroforestería /silvicultura, la presente investigación se realizó para entender cómo los genotipos morfológicamente distintos al zacate guinea responden a diferentes intensidades de sombra. Métodos: Se estudiaron 44 genotipos y su respuesta a los niveles de sombra: luz solar pura y 25, 50 y 75 % de sombra (creados artificialmente). Resultados: Basado en la clasificación de rendimientos demateria verde y seca, el genotipo IG 01-98 fue el mejor, seguido de los genotipos IG 01-92, IG 97-5, IG 97-6 e IG 01-89 en orden decreciente. Por su parte, el IG 01-93 fue identificado como el de mayor rendimiento bajo el 50 % de condición de sombra. La mayoría de los genotipos de primer nivel tuvieron un buen desempeño, tanto bajo sombra abierta como al 50 %. Morfológicamente, estos genotipos fueron más altos y poseían hojas más largas y más anchas. En condiciones de sombra, de más del 50 %, la longitud y ancho de la hoja mostraron una tendencia creciente en comparación con la condición abierta. El contenido de clorofila aumentó con la intensidad de la sombra. Conclusiones: La mayoría de los genotipos recolectados al sur de la India en un ambiente tropical húmedo y tienen una floración temprana, fueron tolerantes a la sombra. Se observó una respuesta genotípica diferencial para los atributos de rendimiento y rendimiento de biomasa bajo sombra. El estudio mostró la existencia de una variabilidad apreciable para la tolerancia a la sombra entre los genotipos.

The aim of this study was to evaluate oat genotypes for grain yield and yield components in both 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 growing seasons using GGE biplot analysis. Experiments were laid out according to lattice design. Biomass at harvest, grain yield, number of grain per panicle, weight of grain per panicle, flag leaf width, flag leaf height, plant height, stem diameter, thousand kernel weight, time of panicle emergence, harvest index, panicle length, and spikelet per panicle were evaluated for 56 oat genotypes. GGE biplot graphics of the first and second years explained 54.4 and 55% of total variation, respectively. Grain yield, number of grains per panicle, and weight of grain per panicle were closely and positively associated in both growing seasons. Recently registered cultivar Sari and lines 26, 29, and 30 were found as promising genotypes for Canakkale conditions. Traits of genotype at different growing seasons can be visually studied using different genotype-by-trait (GT) biplots.

Oats are widely used in cold regions as forage and grain crop, with early maturing oat varieties having long planting history. More attention is paid to variety maturity, including both naked and hulled types, for production in cold regions. Despite wide planting of early maturing oat in the cold regions in China, no systematic evaluation on yield and quality of the oat varieties in these regions has been conducted. Qinghai and Inner Mongolia are typically cold regions in China due to high elevation and high latitude respectively, and are representative areas for experimentation on growing oats in cold regions. In this study, we tested production and quality of early and late maturing oat varieties at five locations in Qinghai Province and one location in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regions. We measured several growth, yield and quality parameters of four early maturing and three late maturing oat varieties in the former locations and six early maturing and one late maturing oat varieties at the latter locations. Parameters measured included leaf length, leaf width, panicle length, dry forage yield, seed yield crude protein and others. Attention was primarily paid to oats maturity due to the emphasis on forage and crop productivity without cons derma for to what the varieties were naked and hulled. The results showed that, in the regions of Qinghai Province with high altitude, forage yield and quality parameters of the early maturing varieties were not significantly different from those of the late maturing varieties. However, seed yield of the early maturing varieties (3702 kg/hm2) was significantly higher than that of the late maturing varieties (2759 kg/hm2) ( P

Research conducted an experiment using a completely randomized design environment with four replications, and the design of treatment used is six varieties of sweet corn. Analysis of data using polynomial regression, the parameters measured were plant height, leaf number, leaf length, leaf width, and sugar beans, followed by analyzing the relationship between the growth of plants with a sugar content of sweet corn kernels. The results showed that leaf width gives a weak relationship to the sugar content of sweet corn seed, and leaf length, number of leaves and plant height had a close relationship to the sugar content of sweet corn kernels. Keywords: varieties, sweet corn, correlation, sugar content

This study aims to determine the differences in leaf functional traits and phenotypic plasticity of leaf functional traits between exotic and native Compositae plant species. Leaf width of exotic plants was significantly lower than that of native species. Leaf length, specific leaf area (SLA), single-leaf wet and dry weights, leaf moisture, and leaf thickness of exotic plants were also lower than those of native species but not significantly. The leaf shape index of exotic plants was higher than that of native species but not significantly. This implies that the relatively low leaf construction cost for exotic plants may play an important role in the success of their invasions. The higher leaf shape index and lower leaf width of exotic plants can enhance the efficiency of resource capture (especially sunlight capture) via adjustments to leaf shape and size, thereby increasing the survival of exotic plants. The plasticity indices of single-leaf wet weight and leaf thickness of exotic plants were significantly lower than those of native species. The lower phenotypic plasticity of single-leaf wet weight and leaf thickness of exotic plants may be the result of a cost to plasticity. That is, if the plasticity is too high, the fitness of plant species might be reduced sharply under unfavorable environments. Thus, lower plasticity of leaf functional traits may compensate for the negative impact of adverse environments and stabilize leaf construction costs for exotic plants. Moreover, reduced phenotypic plasticity might be one of the key competitive strategies by which exotic plants successfully invade new habitats. Overall, exotic plants did not always exhibit higher values of leaf functional traits or increased phenotypic plasticity of leaf functional traits compared with native species.

A research was conducted at Debre Markos, North West Ethiopia in 2015. The objective of the study was to evaluate different rate of nitrogen fertilizer on growth and yield of cabbage. The experment was laidout in randomized complete block design with four treatments and three replication. Nitrogen fertilizer have no significant effect on plant height and number of outer leaves, while leaf length, leaf width, head diameter, head fresh weight and head dry weight had significant effect on cabbage. The widest leaf width (21.86 cm) was recorded from 150 kg/ ha and followed by 100 kg/ ha, while the narrowest leaf width (16.93 cm) was from 0 kg/ ha N. The highest leaf length (20.1 cm) obtained was from 150 kg/ ha and the lowest leaf length (16.166 cm) was obtained from 0 kg/ ha. The highest head diameter (11.043 cm) was obtained from 150 kg/ ha, while the lowest head diameter was 8.696 cm noticed from 0 kg/ha. The highest fresh weight (0.771 kg/plant) was recorded from 150 kg/ ha and the lowest (0.442 kg/plant) was from 0 kg/ ha. The highest dry weight (0.114 kg/plant) was recorded from 150 kg/ ha while the lowest (0.0437 kg/plant) dry weight was obtained from 0 kg/ha of Nitrogen. Key words: Cabbage, nitrogen, yield.

A total of 326 pearl millet accessions selected for fodder traits from the world collection at ICRISAT genebank, India were evaluated in rainy, postrainy and summer seasons to identify promising sources for fodder yield. In rainy season, majority of accessions grew significantly tall, produced thick stems, long and broad leaves compared with postrainy and summer seasons. Total tillers per plant were significantly more in rainy and summer seasons than in postrainy season. Significant (P = 0.05) positive correlations were observed among all traits in all seasons except total tillers, which showed significant negative correlation with all other traits but for a few cases. Accessions of cluster 1 flowered early and produced more tillers per plant, while those of cluster 3 flowered late, grew tall, produced thick stems, more leaves per plant, which were long and broad. Promising sources identified include IP 11839 and IP 11840 for plant height and number of leaves per plant, IP 15710, IP 15735 and IP 15752 for stem thickness and leaf width, and IP 3628, IP 15285, IP 15288, IP 15302, IP 15342, IP 15351, IP 15290, IP 20347 and IP 20350 for total tillers per plant. Further testing of these sources of fodder traits at different locations will be very useful.

Reuse for agricultural purposes of aquaculture wastewater containing high levels of nutrients can be integrated into a water management strategy, in order to conserve water and alleviate water pollution problems. However, rather than nutrients, some contaminants in aquaculture wastewater may pose detrimental effects on plants being nourished. This study assessed the growth and accumulation of toxic substances of Brassica chinensis in response to Malachite Green (MG)-contaminated water. Plant seedlings were hydroponically grown with MG at 1 mg/L, 2 mg/L or 4 mg/L under ambient air conditions in the laboratory for 4 wk. Growth parameters—the number of leaves, plant height, leaf length and width, root length and dry mass of the plants—were compared with plants grown without MG (control). The concentrations at 2 mg/L and 4 mg/L affected the growth of the plants as measured by leaf length, plant height and leaf width generally to a lesser degree than the control plants and those grown at 1 mg/L MG (p

The growth-survival trade-off hypothesis states that functional traits of stem, wood, leaves and fruits govern acquisitive and conservative strategies of plant species that grow/survive differently in forests. We aimed to determine whether heterogeneity during the colonization of a secondary Atlantic Forest fragment causes differences in colonization-related traits and determines taxonomic composition of subplots. A total of 5,078 subplots were censused with leaf and fruit traits and height measurements being determined for each tree of each species, and with averaged-abundance-weighted values calculated for each subplot. A dendrogram was generated from the taxonomic composition of subplots using Sorensen similarity and UPGMA clustering. A total of 74,335 trees of 178 species were recorded. Clustering revealed five main groups of subplots that were tested against each other and found to differ in terms of average leaf width, leaf-width/petiole-width, wood density, mean height, height mode, fruit width and fruit length. Greater leaf averages in subplots were associated with greater fruit averages, and with higher wood densities and greater heights among groups of subplots, revealing that heterogeneity during colonization directed the communities of the 50-ha plot. The averaged values of functional traits detected subplots associated with conditions favorable to colonization, thereby reinforcing the growth-survival trade-off hypothesis.

In barley (Hordeum vulgareL.), lateral branches called tillers contribute to grain yield and define shoot architecture, but genetic control of tiller number and developmental rate are not well characterized. The primary objectives of this work were to examine relationships between tiller number and other agronomic and morphological traits and identify natural genetic variation associated with tiller number and rate, and related traits. We grew 768 lines from the USDA National Small Grain Core Collection in the field and collected data over two years for tiller number and rate, and agronomic and morphological traits. Our results confirmed that spike row-type and days to heading are correlated with tiller number, and as much as 28% of tiller number variance is attributed to these traits. In addition, negative correlations between tiller number and leaf width and stem diameter were observed, indicating trade-offs between tiller development and other vegetative growth. Thirty-three quantitative trait loci (QTL) were associated with tiller number or rate. Of these, 40% overlapped QTL associated with days to heading and 22% overlapped QTL associated with spike row-type, further supporting that tiller development is influenced by these traits. Despite this, some QTL associated with tiller number or rate, including the major QTL on chromosome 3H, were not associated with any other traits, suggesting that tiller number can be modified independently of other important agronomic traits. These results enhance our knowledge of the genetic control of tiller development in barley, which is important for optimizing tiller number and rate for yield improvement.

Certain rice cultivars when get exposed to drought, develop morphology that enables them to acquire drought tolerance. In addition, general morphology of a plant before its exposure to drought may also be a determinant of its final response to drought. Ten Sri Lankan rice cultivars were clustered according to ten morphological parameters under well-watered conditions and their associations to relative water content (RWC) under drought was assessed. The cluster analysis, and the component 1 of principal component (PC) analysis (mainly contributed by plant height (PH), leaf length (LL) and culm length (CL)), grouped the cultivars as traditional and newly-improved (exception Kalu Heenati). No significant (pth, 12th and 18th day after imposing drought (DAID). When PC2 (mainly contributed by leaf width (LW) and leaf angle (LA)) and PC1 are considered together, the groups were significantly (pth DAID. Hence, PH, leaf length (LL), CL, LW and LA before exposure to drought has an effect on the RWC of a plant under drought.

Despite the areas restriction reserved for pearl millet cultivation in Hoggar region, there is an important diversity, which has occupied an essential place in the inhabitants’ diet. For a better knowledge of its biodiversity, seven sites were prospected during the plant maturation period. The morphological and cytological study was undertaken on the basis of the descriptors parameters of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The most widely varied variables were the Height of the Plant (HP), Stem Diameter (ST), Panicle size; Length (PL), Width (PW) and Color (PC). While very low variation was noted in 3rd leave dimensions; Leaf Length (LL), Leaf Width (LW), Number of Nodes (NN) and Seed Form (SF). Therefore, local millet (MLH.epc, MLH.Z1) and some domesticated (MDH. Saf, MDH.S) appeared as the best groups, based on their panicle characters and seed nutritional quality. Agro-morphological changes detected in this study, show that the majority of millet domesticated (MDH. Saf. P, MDH. Sepl) are generally, classified in second place and used as fodder in the Hoggar region.

The present field experiment was carried out with Knolkhol cv. EARLYWHITE VIENNA in a Randomized Block Design with three replications at Department of Horticulture Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University during 2015. The experiment comprised of 10 different combinations of five different sources of nutrients including organic, inorganic and biofertilizers. The effect of different treatments were observed and noted that plants treated with 50% RDF + VC @ 5 t ha -1 + biofertilizers @ 2 kg ha -1 (T 3 ) registered maximum growth parameters viz., plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf length, leaf width, root length and number of secondary roots in knolkhol cv. EARLY WHITE VIENNA.

Little research has been done on breeding orchardgrass for compatibility with legumes; yet this is an area that needs more attention because of the advantages of using legumes in pasture improvement. The objectives of this research were to study the genetic variation and predicted response to selection for legume-compatibility traits in orchardgrass. Ninety-seven different orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) germplasra sources were evaluated in a frequently-clipped, spaceplanted test during 1981 to 1984. Each individual plant was evaluated for spring and fall vigor, spring and summer canopy height, head height, winterhardiness, growth habit, anthesis date, tiller number, rust resistance, and leaf length and width. The 51 polycross progenies of the parents of Iowa 79-OGP-DT were chosen for more detailed study because of their superiority in rust resistance, vigor, and winterhardiness and their variability for traits that may affect compatibility with a legume. Narrow-sense heritabilities on an entry mean basis for the 51 polycross progenies were relatively high with values for spring canopy height, growth habit, anthesis date, and leaf width exceeding 0.70. Individual plant heritabilities were greater than 0.40 for spring canopy height, growth habit, anthesis date, and leaf width. Predicted genetic gains for mass selection and selection of superior plants within superior families were similar for all traits. Significant phenotypic correlations indicated that winterhardiness, vigorous growth, tall spring canopy height, erect growth habit, early anthesis, and narrow leaves tend to be

Phenetic analysis of all the black pepper cultivars in Malaysia is crucial to determine the morphological difference among them. The objective of this study is to ascertain the morphological distinctness and interrelationships among the cultivars to ensure registration of each variety under the Plant Variety Protection Act, as a prerequisite toward implementation of a monovarietal farm policy in the future. Cluster analysis revealed that cultivars “Semongok Aman” and “Semongok 1” have high distinctness values for identification; thus, varietal diagnosis for the two cultivars is easy. Cultivars “Nyerigai,” “India,” “Semongok Perak,” and “Semongok Emas” were grouped in the most diverse clusters among the ten cultivars studied. The four cultivars have a similarity index as high as 92%; however, investigation of leaf width, leaf width-length ratio, seed weight, and conversion rate (fresh to black pepper) gives the ability to determine the characteristic differences. Cultivars “Lampung Daun Lebar” and “Yong Petai” have a similarity of 96%; however, the two showed distinctive differences in leaf width, leaf length-width ratio, spike thickness, and spike length characteristics. On the contrary, cultivars “Kuching” and “Sarikei” showed the highest similarity index, at 98%, and thus are among the most difficult cultivars to diagnose the morphological difference. However, the principle component analysis showed that the fruit size and seed diameter were the important diagnostic key characteristics. Overall, the leaf width, leaf width-length ratio, fruit spike, and conversion rate characteristics are among the key characteristics to differentiate among cultivars of black pepper in Malaysia. At the same time, the principle component analysis carried out has enlightened some interrelationships on the morphological characteristics between cultivars. This information is crucial for the future of the plant varietal improvement program in Malaysia.

The use of warm season turfgrasses is a consolidated trend in the climatic transition zone of Mediterranean countries, in particular St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze) begins to be widespread in warm coastal areas. However, little is known about the performance of the different cultivars of this species in southern Europe. In 2016-2017 a trial was carried out in three locations in Italy, Padova, Pisa, and Palermo, located in the north, center and south of the country respectively. Four cultivars (Floratine, Captiva, Sapphire, Palmetto) and five ecotypes (CeRTES 201, CeRTES 202, CeRTES 203, CeRTES 204, CeRTES 205) were compared in terms of their growth characteristics and morphological traits during establishment. The results highlighted that stolon growth was significantly affected by the location, as well as green colour retention. Stolon growth rate, internode length and internode volume and turf quality were, however, significantly determined by the accession effect. The quality of the ecotypes was also in some cases comparable to that of the cultivars. In Padova, winterkill occurred in most of the accessions, while in Pisa and Palermo, all the entries survived. In conclusion, St. Augustinegrass is suitable for turf use in the central and southern coastal area of Italy.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-26T15:46:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2017-01-01. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2019-10-09T18:25:20Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 S0100-83582017000100286.pdf: 736860 bytes, checksum: a9e552d79f040a0cda8d110fd2663be7 (MD5) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Leaf length (L), leaf width (W), and leaf area (LA) were measured from 100 leaves aiming to determine a simple linear equation (Y=a*X) to predict the leaf area of Commelina diffusa, an important weed infesting annual and perennial crops in Brazil and worldwide. Results indicate the equation LA=0.7*LW reliably estimates the leaf area of C. diffusa, after correlating LA with LW, and then validating that equation by analyzing four new 25-leaf samples. Univ Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil Univ Estado Santa Catarina, Lages, SC, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil CNPq: 304855/2015-4

At an early stage of crop development, the rate of growth is largely determined by leaf characteristics. Plants with rapid leaf area development could save more water for transpiration and crop growth. In our study, a recombinant inbred family was used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling leaf length (LL), leaf width (LW), and leaf area (LA) in wheat seedlings under well-watered (WW) and PEG-induced water-deficit (WD) conditions. A total of five QTL for LW, LL, and LA were detected, most of which were reported for the first time. A “constitutive” QTL for LW (Qheb.LW-3B), located on the long arm of chromosome 3B, was consistently detected under two water conditions, explaining 17.7 % of the phenotypic variance with a LOD value of 7.20 under WW condition and 13.3 % of the phenotypic variance with a LOD value of 4.87 under WD condition. The other four “adaptive” QTL were detected under a single water condition only. These QTL include the following: Qheb.LW-5B for LW (WW condition), Qheb.LL-3A, and Qheb.LL-5B for LL (WD condition) and Qheb.LA-3B for LA (WW condition). Four pairs of near isogenic lines (NILs) were developed to validate the effects of Qheb.LW-3B. The allele from the parent “CSCR6” increased the LW by an average of 8.2 % under WW condition and 13.8 % under WD condition, respectively. The position and effects of Qheb.LW-3B was confirmed. Qheb.LW-3B would be a valuable genetic resource to improve wheat seedling early establishment. The NILs we have generated would be useful for further characterization of Qheb.LW-3B, in studying its interaction with other traits of agronomic importance and in developing markers that can be reliably used to follow this major locus.

 A Hydroponic System is a technique that is widely used in Agriculture especially in growing plants in urban areas. A study was conducted to determine the responses of lettuce grown under a modified hydroponic system to different organic solutions at Cebu Technological University – Barili Campus, Philippines. The treatments used in the study are T0 – commercial organic amino acid, T1 – Home-made concoction, T2 – Inorganic fertilizer and T3 - coconut water. Results showed that on the number of leaves, lettuces that were applied with home–made concoction had 10.13% and 15.23% more leaves than inorganic fertilizer and commercial organic amino acid applied treatments respectively (4th week). No significant difference were observed among commercial organic amino acid,  home-made concoction and inorganic fertilizer,  in terms of leaf length from the 2nd week to 4th week having. Furthermore, comparable results were observed between lettuce applied with home-made concoction and inorganic fertilizer on its leaf width on the 2nd week having 7.03 cm and 6.30 cm respectively. Moreover, comparable effects were also observed on commercial organic amino acid and home-made concoction in plant height having an average length of 17.03 cm and 17.00 cm, respectively. At harvesting, lettuces that were applied with home-made concoction had the heaviest weight having 43.23 g or 20.12% heavier than those applied with commercial organic amino acid and 23.67% heavier than inorganic fertilizer. Therefore, the home-made concoction is the best organic nutrient source in growing lettuce in a modified hydroponic system.Keywords – Agriculture, modified hydroponic system, organic liquid solution, experimental   research, Cebu Philippines

The benefits of increased hybrid vigor, which often occur crossing unrelated plants or animals, have been recognized for centuries. In this study, hexaploid oat genotypes E44, K1, and A52 belong to A. sativa and A45 belonging to A. byzantina species were crossed. Heterosis, heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis values were calculated for 11 traits on 12 hybrids belong to K1 x E44 cross (ten hybrids), K1 x A45 cross (one hybrid) and K1 x A52 cross (one hybrid) with the parents. According to the results, parents varied for all traits while hybrids were varied for flag leaf length (FLL), tiller number (TN), 1000-grain weight (1000-GW), grain number per panicle (GNP), grain weight per panicle (GWP), single plant grain yield (SPGY) and biomass (B). K1 x A52 cross had the highest plant height (PH, 201.0 cm), TN (22) and 1000-GW (47.1 g). On the other hand, the highest stem diameter (SD, 9.0 mm), flag leaf width (FLW, 4.0 cm), panicle length (PL, 53.0 cm), GNP(98.0) and GWP (3.2 g) were obtained from K1 x A45 cross. However, K1 x E44 cross had the highest FLL (42.7 cm), SPGY (42.6 g) and B (108.7 g) values. Heterosis values of the oat crosses were significant for all traits except stem diameter, flag leaf length and panicle length, while stem diameter and panicle length for heterobeltiosis and plant height and stem diameter for standard heterosis. Heterosis values were ranked between -26.8 and 282.3% while heterobeltiosis values were between -45.6 and 248.0%, and standard heterosis values were between -2.7 and 419.0%. The highest heterosis and standard heterosis values (282.3 and 419.0%, respectively) were determined for SPGY in K1 x E44 population, while the highest heterobeltiosis value (248.0%) was determined for biomass in K1 x A52 population., Çoğunlukla farklı bitki veya hayvanların melezlenmesiyle ortaya çıkan melez azmanlığının faydaları yüzyıllardır bilinmektedir. Bu çalışmada, A. sativa ve A. byzantina türlerine ait hekzaploid yulaf genotipleri E44, K1, A45 ve A52 melezlenmiştir. K1 x E44 (on adet hibrit), K1 x A45 (bir adet hibrit) ve K1 x A52 (bir adet hibrit) melezlerine ait 12 adet hibrit ile ebeveynleri üzerinde 11 özellik bakımından heterosis, heterobeltiosis ve standart heterosis değerleri hesaplanmıştır. Sonuçlara göre, ebeveynler bütün özelliklere göre farklılık gösterirken, yulaf hibritleri, bayrak yaprak uzunluğu (BYU), kardeş sayısı (KS), salkımdaki tane sayısı (STS), salkımdaki tane ağırlığı (STA), 1000-tane ağırlığı (1000-TA), tek bitki tane verimi (TBTV) ve biyomas (B) özellikleri bakımından farklılık göstermişlerdir. Diğer taraftan, en yüksek sap kalınlığı (SK, 9.0 mm), bayrak yaprak eni (BYE, 4.0 cm), salkım uzunluğu (SU, 53.0 cm), STA (98.0 adet) ve STA (3.2 g) K1 x A45 melez popülasyonundan elde edilmiştir. K1 x A52 popülasyonu en yüksek bitki boyu (BB, 201.0 cm), KS (22 adet) ve 1000-TA (47.1 g) değerlerine sahip olmuştur. Bununla birlikte, K1 x E44 melez popülasyonu ise en yüksek BYU (42.7 cm), TBTV (42.6 g) ve B değerlerine sahip olmuştur. Heterosis değerleri sap kalınlığı, bayrak yaprak eni ve salkım uzunluğu hariç bütün özellikler için önemli bulunurken, heterobeltiosis değerleri sap kalınlığı ve salkım uzunluğu özellikleri için önemli ve standart heterosis için ise bitki boyu ve sap kalınlığı özellikleri önemli bulunmuştur. Heterosis değerleri % -26.8 ve 282.3 arasında değişirken, heterobeltiosis değerleri % -45.6 ve 248.0 arasında ve standart heterosis değerleri % -2.7 ve 419.0 arasında değişmiştir. En yüksek heterosis ve standart heterosis değerleri (sırasıyla, % 282.3 ve 419.0,) K1 x E44 melez popülasyonunda tek bitki tane verimi özelliğinden elde edilirken, en yüksek heterobeltiosis değeri (% 248.0) K1 x A52 popülasyonunda biyomas özelliğinden elde edilmiştir.

Seeds of Sorghum (sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) Variety CSV – 23. Were mutagenesis with gamma rays and EMS to determine their mutagenic sensitivity in morphological and yield characters. The spectrum of Mutation and induced variability for various quantitative and yield traits were observed in M2 generation. Plant height (cm),total number of leaves, leaf length (cm), leaf width(cm), stem girth (cm),Days taken to first flowering (days),ear head length(cm),ear head width(cm), Grain weight(gm),100 seed weight(gm), Biomass weight(gm)

Highlight A combination of high-throughput leaf phenotyping and genome-wide association analysis provides valuable insights into the genetic basis of rice leaf traits., Leaves are the plant’s solar panel and food factory, and leaf traits are always key issues to investigate in plant research. Traditional methods for leaf trait measurement are time-consuming. In this work, an engineering prototype has been established for high-throughput leaf scoring (HLS) of a large number of Oryza sativa accessions. The mean absolute per cent of errors in traditional measurements versus HLS were below 5% for leaf number, area, shape, and colour. Moreover, HLS can measure up to 30 leaves per minute. To demonstrate the usefulness of HLS in dissecting the genetic bases of leaf traits, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed for 29 leaf traits related to leaf size, shape, and colour at three growth stages using HLS on a panel of 533 rice accessions. Nine associated loci contained known leaf-related genes, such as Nal1 for controlling the leaf width. In addition, a total of 73, 123, and 177 new loci were detected for traits associated with leaf size, colour, and shape, respectively. In summary, after evaluating the performance with a large number of rice accessions, the combination of GWAS and high-throughput leaf phenotyping (HLS) has proven a valuable strategy to identify the genetic loci controlling rice leaf traits.

Golabadi, M., Golkar, P. and Eghtedary, A.-R. 2015. Combining ability analysis of fruit yield and morphological traits in greenhouse cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Can. J. Plant Sci. 95: 377–385. Knowledge about the genetic control of the different quantitative characters related to fruit yield and its components is still insufficient in greenhouse cucumbers. This information is useful in planning breeding programs in this economically important crop. In this study, the genetics of morphological traits and fruit yield was investigated using a 9×9 full diallel population of cucumbers for the greenhouse market. Data were collected on internode length, leaf length, leaf width, fruit length, fruit diameter, number of fruits per plant, yield per fruit and yield per plant. Variance components showed that both the additive and the dominant gene effects played significant roles in the genetic control of the traits studied. Genetic control of internode length, leaf width and number of fruits per plant was accomplished by additive effects. The significant mean squares of reciprocal crosses for all of the studied traits suggested that maternal inheritance also played an important role in the inheritance of these traits. Significant general combining ability for fruit yield revealed that both selection and hybridization methods would lead to desirable genetic improvements in cucumber through accumulation of desirable alleles from parents in the target genotype, but that hybridization would be preferred.

In vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) is one of the most important traits for grass quality improvement. Analysis of IVDMD in laboratory with a large number of breeding populations is very laborious. The objectives of this study were to evaluate IVDMD of brachiariagrass germplasm as material in breeding program, and also to determine the appropriate selection criteria for high digestibility. IVDMD (pepsin-cellulase method), morphology traits and water content of 17 genotypes of Brachiaria spp. (B. brizantha, B. decumbens, B. ruziziensis and Brachiaria hybrid) were evaluated at two harvesting times, winter and early summer seasons. The correlations among traits were determined, and their heritability were also estimated. IVDMD ranged from 48.9 to 59.0% in winter, and 42.9 to 54.4% in early summer. Among morphological traits, leaf-stem index (ratio of leaf width/stem diameter) showed the highest correlation with whole plant IVDMD (r = 0.74) followed by leaf-shape ratio (leaf width/leaf length; r = 0.72), and leaf water content also highly correlated with whole plant IVDMD (r = 0.79). The broad sense heritability of IVDMD and the related traits of two harvests combination were high with the range of 0.75–0.93. The results demonstrate that leaf-stem index, leaf-shape ratio and water content could be the useful selection criteria for the breeding of brachiariagrass for high digestibility.

Lotus corniculatus is a highly diverse legume with good adaptability to different soil and climatic conditions. The objective of this research was to estimate the phenotypic diversity of individual L. corniculatus plants growing under two different habitat types with different grazing management. The collection of plant material was conducted in four forested and four open grassland sites in northern Greece. Plants from open grassland had significantly lower leaf area, leaf perimeter, leaf length, leaf width and internode length compared to those from the forest. This morphological differentiation could be contributed to by differences in grazing intensity. Plants from open grasslands had significantly higher total phenols and condensed tannins, but lower crude protein content compared to those from the forest. Environmental factors in association with grazing management are the main contributors to the highly divergent concentrations of phenols, tannins and condensed tannins.

This study was aimed to obtain information of heritability predictive value and correlations of vegetative and generative characters on six genotypes of J. curcas . The characters of plant height, leaf number, leaf width, number of primary and secondary branches, number of fruit bunches, number of fruits per plant, seed's and 100 seeds’ dry weight showed high predictive value of heritability. Characters related to positive correlation and high heritability values (leaf width, number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, number of fruit bunches, number of fruits per plant) are able to be used as criteria for selection of J. curcas plant.

Twenty four (24) traditional Sri Lankan rice landraces were screened for drought tolerance at seedling stage in the greenhouse at the Open University of Sri Lanka, Nawala. Four week old seedlings grown in pots filled with soil were exposed to drought condition by disconnecting water supply for two weeks. Drought tolerance was evaluated by measuring plant height and leaf width after two weeks of recovery. Agro-morphological characterization of rice landraces was made on vegetative characters and yield attributed characters. The Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) marker analysis was employed to determine the association between allelic diversity and drought tolerance of traditional rice landraces. Comparatively, the landraces Suwandal, Kirimurunga and Suduru samba showed tolerance to drought. Meanwhile, the SSR marker RM252 have shown the potential candidacy for tracing drought tolerance compared to other markers used in the study.

With the growing population and the reducing arable land, breeding has been considered as an effective way to solve the food crisis. As an important part in breeding, high-throughput phenotyping can accelerate the breeding process effectively. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is an active remote sensing technology that is capable of acquiring three-dimensional (3D) data accurately, and has a great potential in crop phenotyping. Given that crop phenotyping based on LiDAR technology is not common in China, we developed a high-throughput crop phenotyping platform, named Crop 3D, which integrated LiDAR sensor, high-resolution camera, thermal camera and hyperspectral imager. Compared with traditional crop phenotyping techniques, Crop 3D can acquire multi-source phenotypic data in the whole crop growing period and extract plant height, plant width, leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, leaf inclination angle and other parameters for plant biology and genomics analysis. In this paper, we described the designs, functions and testing results of the Crop 3D platform, and briefly discussed the potential applications and future development of the platform in phenotyping. We concluded that platforms integrating LiDAR and traditional remote sensing techniques might be the future trend of crop high-throughput phenotyping.

Investigation of native accessions of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) would be aid in the development of new genetically improved varieties, so in this research 121 spinach landraces, collected from the various spinach growing areas of Iran, were evaluated to determine their diversity using several agro-morphological traits. High coefficients of variation (CV) were recorded in fresh yield, leaf area and dry yield. Using principal component (PC) analysis, the first three PCs with eigenvalues more than 0.9 contributed 80.56% of the variability among accessions. The first PC was related to leaf yield performance (fresh and dry yields, leaf numbers at flowering and lateral branches) while the PC2 was related to leaf characteristic (leaf width, petiole length, petiole diameter and leaf area). The third PC was related to seed characteristic (seed yield and 1000-seed weight) and was named as seed property component. The 121 spinach landraces were grouped into six clusters using cluster analysis. Each cluster had some specific characteristics of its own and the clusters I and II were clearly separated from clusters III and V and also from clusters IV and VI. The studied accessions are an important resource for the generation of a core collection of spinach in the world. The results of present research will support tasks of conservation and utilization of landraces in spinach breeding programs.

Line (five) × tester (two) analysis was conducted to determine good parents and the nature of gene action governing yield and its component traits in rice. The line × testers showed significant differences for all traits except for number of spikelets per panicle and hundred grain weight. Parents with low × high general combining ability (GCA) effects resulted in heterotic hybrid combination like the IR62829A/IR57301-158-1R. A low × low GCA gave the best heterotic combination i.e. IR68888A/’Sepidroud’. The study showed GCA to only identify better parental lots and it will be unwise to discard the low GCA types. Predominance of dominance gene action for all the traits studied except for flag leaf width and number of spikelets per panicle suggests heterosis breeding must be strongly pursued for exploitation of the yield advantage over the inbred varieties. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.4038/jas.v9i3.7423 The Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2014, vol.9, no3: p.100-108

This study was conducted to determine the effects of seed storage methods (-20℃, stratification, 2℃ dry, 2℃ wet and room temperature) and GA3 application (control, dH2O, 10, 100, 1000 ppm) on seed germination and seedling growth of S. lyratum. As a result seed germination rate of S. lyratum was the highest at 91% when seeds were stored at room temperature and then soaked for 24 hours in GA3 10 ppm. And seedlings of S. lyratum showed the best quality when seed were stored at 2℃ dry and then soaked for 24 hours in GA3 1000 ppm, with the growth characteristics of plant height (47 ㎜), number of leaves (8), leaf width (12 ㎜), leaf length (19 ㎜), fresh weight (aerial/root part; 471/476 ㎎), dry weight (aerial/root; 106/41 ㎎) and seedling quality indices (106). Therefore, S. lyratum seed were stored at 2℃ dry, and then soaked for 24 hours in GA3 1000 ppm, seed germination rate was more than 80% and production of superior quality container seedlings.

The extent of genetic variability among 19 accessions of tomato ( Solanum spp .) was studied using genetic variability parameters as a basis for harnessing of the crop. Four weeks old seedlings were transplanted in a well levelled field with 0.6 x 0.6 spacing and replicated three times in randomized complete block design. High significant differences among the accessions for all attributes studied. Cluster analysis based on 37 agro-mophological attributes separated accessions into two distinct groups according to the fruit types i.e. cherry and classic fruit types. Values for genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation showed variability among the accessions. Correlation analysis showed fruit per plant is positively and significantly correlated to plant height, number of branches per plant and leaf length. Very high genetic advance and heritability estimates for leaf length, leaf width, days to flower, days to 50% flowering, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight and 1000 seed weight suggest simple inheritance system and thus amenability for these attributes to selection in tomato improvement.

Tillering determines the plant size of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and an understanding of its regulation is important to match genotypes to prevalent growing conditions in target production environments. The aim of this study was to determine the physiological and environmental regulation of variability in tillering among sorghum genotypes, and to develop a framework for this regulation. Diverse sorghum genotypes were grown in three experiments with contrasting temperature, radiation and plant density to create variation in tillering. Data on phenology, tillering, and leaf and plant size were collected. A carbohydrate supply/demand (S/D) index that incorporated environmental and genotypic parameters was developed to represent the effects of assimilate availability on tillering. Genotypic differences in tillering not explained by this index were defined as propensity to tiller (PTT) and probably represented hormonal effects. Genotypic variation in tillering was associated with differences in leaf width, stem diameter and PTT. The S/D index captured most of the environmental effects on tillering and PTT most of the genotypic effects. A framework that captures genetic and environmental regulation of tillering through assimilate availability and PTT was developed, and provides a basis for the development of a model that connects genetic control of tillering to its phenotypic consequences.

Leaf thickness is an important morphological trait in rice. Its association to the yield potential, as of now has not been documented because of the shortage of the equipment which could conveniently measure the leaf thickness in rice. In this study, the thickness of top three leaves of 208 cultivars had been determined by a nondestructive rice leaf thickness instrument for the research of the natural variation of leaves thickness and its association to yield traits in indica rice. The results showed that the flag leaf was the thickest, and the 2nd leaf was thicker than the 3rd leaf. Analysis of variance indicated the existence of wide genetic diversity of leaf thickness among the investigated indica rice genotypes. The tight correlation among the thicknesses of the top three leaves means that the leaf thickness traits share one genetic control system. Leaf thickness had a significant positive correlation with leaf length and a positive correlation with leaf width, indicated that thicker leaf was beneficial to increasing the single leaf area. The results of correlation analysis revealed that thicker leaf should be profitable to the leaf erection, higher numbers of grains per panicle and higher grains weight per panicle. However, the significantly negative correlation between leaf thickness and number of panicles per plant counteracted the profitability from increased grains weight per panicle, so that the correlations of the thicknesses of the top three leaves to yield and biomass were positive but not significantly. It has made great progress in the genetic improvement of leaves thickness in inbred indica rice breeding in Guangdong Province, China, since the 1990s.

In this study, one of the measures for the promotion of the growth of trees planted in poor drainage areas, which functionality pipe supplying oxygen in the soil, and promotes drainage, barren soil and poor drainage areas in planting design was to provide the basic data to compare the impact on the application of functionality pipe. The Zelkova serrata testing materials were selected, planted a total of 12 by three to four individual experiments were conducted. Growth measurements of the items Plot A > Plot C > Plot D > Plot B were excellent in the order of height, number of leaves, leaf width, and chlorophyll content, Plot A > Plot C > Plot D > Plot B was in good order of the growth of the length of the root-collar diameter, Plot C > Plot A > Plot B > Plot D in order rate of variation was good. This has adverse effects on plant growth, poor drainage planting base represents, promote drainage and oxygen supply technique can be applied good to the planting from Zelkova serrata growth based drainage is poor and barren presented as part of research to be done in the future include a means for promoting the growth of plants in soil, the planting design.

Global climate change, its impact on stable food production in the future and possibilities to overcome the problem are the major priorities for research. Breeding varieties with increase adaptability to changing environments, together with better tolerance/resistance to abiotic stress, pest and diseases are possible solution. Maize is one of the most important crops, with high grain yield reduction induced by drought stress. In the present study twenty-six maize landraces from drought tolerant mini-core collection were tested under optimal, drought, and a combination of drought and high density stresses in the field. Morphological traits, plant height, total number of leaves, leaf length, leaf width, anthesis-silking interval and grain yield were recorded for each entry in two replications in three experiments. Besides, drought tolerant indices were evaluated to test the ability to separate more drought tolerant accessions from those with less stress tolerance. Five stress tolerance indices, including stress tolerance index (STI), mean productivity (MP), geometric mean productivity (GMP), stress susceptibility (SSI), and stress tolerance (TOL) were calculated. Data analyses revealed that STI, MP and GMP had positive and significant correlations with grain yield under all conditions. Three-dimensional diagrams displayed assignment of landraces L25, L1, L14, L3, L26, L15 and L16 to group A, based on the stress tolerance index and achieved grain yield under optimal, drought stress, and a combination of drought and high density stress. A biplot analysis efficiently separated groups of landraces with different level of drought tolerance and grain yield. Based on all obtained results, maize landraces L25, L14, L1 and L3, as the most valuable source of drought tolerance, could be recommended for further use in breeding programs. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR31028: Exploitation of maize diversity to improve grain quality and drought tolerance]

This study was carried out to examine whether the leaf size is likely to be used as a selection criterion for large seed genotype in soybean (Glycine. max (L.) Merr.) breeding program. Two hundred twenty nine soybean germplasms which had collected in Korea, United States, China and Japan were used in this experiment. The area of unifoliate leaf, middle leaflet of first trifoliate and third trifoliate leaf ranged from 3.2 cm 2 to 33.8 cm 2 , 9.2 to 29.5 cm 2 , and 7.2 to 58.9 cm 2 , respectively. One hundred seed weight also showed great variation from 2.7 to 39.0 gram. The average leaf area of unifoliate, middle leaflet of first trifoliate and third trifoliate leaf were 15.7 cm 2 , 18.1 cm 2 and 32.7 cm 2 , respectively, and that of seed average weight was 17.2 gram per one hundred seed. Significantly positive correlations were observed between seed weight and leaf area of unifoliate (r=0.80**), first trifoliate (r=0.75**) and third trifoliate (r=0.67**), respectively. Both the leaf length and leaf width of unifoliate, middle leaflet of first trifoliate and third trifoliate leaf were significantly positively correlated with seed weight and both the correlations of unifoliate were higher than the other leaves. The correlations of leaf width in soybean leaflet were higher than those of leaf length. Leaf length/width (L/W) ratio of upper leaf was higher than that of lower leaf in the leaf size. Both the leaf area and leaf width of unifoliate leaf are the most suitable predictive characteristics of early selection in related to seed weight for soybean breeding program.Keywords : soybean, seed weight, leaf size, correlation, breeding

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics conserves 335 accessions of Pennisetum glaucum subsp. monodii originated in 13 countries. In the present study, the collection was evaluated and assessed for diversity and geographical gaps. A wide variation was observed in the collection for total tillers per plant (16 to 609), productive tillers per plant (12 to 368), leaf length (21.3 to 58.8 cm) and leaf width (8.1 to 33.1 mm), indicating high fodder yield potential of the collection. The accessions of cluster 3 flowered late, grew tall with thick stems and long and broad leaves, and differed significantly from those of cluster 1 and cluster 2. The accessions of cluster 2 were found to be promising for tillering. The highly significant positive correlation (r= 0.944) between total and productive tillers per plant suggests that the selection for total tillers will result in selection for productive tillers. A total of 354 districts located in 86 provinces of eight countries in the primary centre of origin for pearl millet were identified as geographical gaps. The probability map generated using FloraMap in the present study matched quite closely to the origin of pearl millet, supporting the prediction of P.glaucum subsp. monodii occurrence in the primary centre of diversity for pearl millet. The high fodder yield potential of P.glaucum subsp. monodii germplasm and low intensity of collection in countries under study suggest the need for launching germplasm collection missions, exclusively for pearl millet wild relatives to fill taxonomic and geographical gaps in the collection.

This study was carried out to develope new zoysiagrass cultivar ‘Semil’ (Registration no. 1749). Artificial crossing between the collected lines of typical Z. matrella, NM1 (collected in South Korea) and the different ecotype of Z. matrella, ASm (collected in South Korea) was made to develop a F1 hybrid plant (NM1 x ASm). Among the 30 progenies, (NM1 x ASm)-1 (Semil) showed superior performance in density rating. ‘Semil’ showed genetically light green color, with narrow leaf width (2.7±0.12 mm), and low plant height (10.3±3.7 cm), Length to lowest leaf blade of this cultivar was 1.8±0.15 cm, which may allow low mowing height upto 12 mm.

Flag leaf width (FLW) is directly related to photosynthetic capacity and yield potential in wheat. In a previous study, Qflw.nau-5A controlling FLW was detected on chromosome 5A in the interval possessing Fhb5 for type I Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance using a recombinant inbred line population derived from Nanda2419 × Wangshuibai.Qflw.nau-5A near-isogenic line (NIL) with the background of Mianyang 99-323 and PH691 was developed and evaluated. FLW inheritance was investigated using two F2 populations developed from crossing the Qflw.nau-5A NILs with their recurrent parents. One hundred ten and 28 recombinants, which included 10 and 5 types of recombinants, were identified from 2816 F2 plants with Mianyang 99-323 background and 1277 F2 plants with PH691 background, respectively, and phenotyped in field trials for FLW and type I FHB resistance. Deletion bin mapping was applied to physically map Qflw.nau-5A.The introduction of Wangshuibai Qflw.nau-5A allele reduced the FLW up to 3 mm. In the F2 populations, Qflw.nau-5A was inherited like a semi-dominant gene, and was therefore designated as TaFLW1. The FLW of the recombinant lines displayed a distinct two-peak distribution. Recombinants with wider leaves commonly have Mianyang 99-323 or PH691 chromatin in the 0.2 cM Xwmc492-Xwmc752 interval that resided in the 5AL12-0.35-0.57 deletion bin, and recombinants with narrow leaves were Wangshuibai genotype in this interval. Phenotypic recombination between FLW and type I FHB resistance was identified, implying TaFLW1 was in close linkage with Fhb5. These results should aid wheat breeders to break the linkage drag through marker-assisted selection and assist in the map-based cloning of TaFLW1.

The study investigated that the effect of sulfur solutions as foliar spray with different concentrations on some selected growth parameters of ladies fingers plants. Pot experiment was conducted with six treatments (2g/L, 4g/L, 6g/L, 8g/L and 10g/L sulfur solutions) and three replicates. For each pot,two plants were maintained throughout the experiment. After seedling emerging, sulfur solutions were sprayed in every week using OSATU sprayer (5 L), until all the leaves got wet. After 30 days physiological features (Number of leaves, leaf length andleaf width) were recorded. Pest and disease incident also recorded at the mean time. Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with five replicates was used. Statistical analysis was performed with Duncan’s multiple range test using SAS software (version 9.1.3). Result showed that the highest significant values in number of leaves (26), leaf length (21cm) and leaf width (24cm) were observed that in 10g/L solution of sulfur applied as foliar spray. With the increasing concentration of sulfur solutions the values for the selected physiological features also increased. Pest and disease incidence was significantly higher in control experiment while all the other treated plants don’t showed any physiological damage or symptom. The results revealed that the application of sulfur as a foliar spray can be effectively use in increase the net photosynthetic area and to reduce the pest and disease incidence.

The experiment was conducted to see the effect of nutrient spray on morphophysiological feature and growth of three orchid varieties namely Dendrobium Red Bull, D. Kasim Gold and D White 5 N. Results revealed that the morphophysiological and growth attributes significantly varied among the cultivars. D Red Bull showed the highest plant height, leaf length, leaf area and stem diameter among the varieties. D. White 5 N was superior in leaf number and total leaf area and D. Kasim Gold was superior in leaf area index and leaf width to the other varieties. On the other hand, the trend of increasing in leaf length, leaf width, leaf area index, leaf number, leaf area and total leaf area was the highest for N:P:K as 10:25:30. Plant height and stem diameter was maximum for N:P:K as 15:20:20. In conclusion, low level of nitrogen and high level of phosphorus and potassium was suitable for leaf length, leaf width, leaf area index, leaf number, leaf area and total leaf area while high level of nitrogen and low level of potassium was suitable for plant height and stem diameter. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jesnr.v5i1.11598 J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 5(1): 309-318, 2012