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Sego SupremeTM is a designated plant breeding and introduction program at the Utah State University Botanical Center and the Center for Water Efficient Landscaping. This plant selection program introduces native and adapted plants to the arid West for aesthetic landscaping and water conservation. The plants are evaluated for characteristics such as color, flowering, ease of propagation, market demand, disease/pest resistance, and drought tolerance. However, salt tolerance has not been considered during the evaluation processes. Four Sego SupremeTM plants [Aquilegia barnebyi (oil shale columbine), Clematis fruticosa (Mongolian gold clematis), Epilobium septentrionale (northern willowherb), and Tetraneuris acaulis var. arizonica (Arizona four-nerve daisy)] were evaluated for salt tolerance in a greenhouse. Uniform plants were irrigated weekly with a nutrient solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.25 dS·mL1 as control or a saline solution at an EC of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, or 10.0 dS·m-1 for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks of irrigation, A. barnebyi irrigated with saline solution at an EC of 5.0 dS·m-1 had slight foliar salt damage with an average visual score of 3.7 (0 = dead; 5 = excellent), and more than 50% of the plants were dead when irrigated with saline solutions at an EC of 7.5 and 10.0 dS·m-1. However, C. fruticosa, E. septentrionale, and T. acaulis had no or minimal foliar salt damage with visual scores of 4.2, 4.1, and 4.3, respectively, when irrigated with saline solution at an EC of 10.0 dS·m-1. As the salinity levels of treatment solutions increased, plant height, leaf area, and shoot dry weight of C. fruticosa and T. acaulis decreased linearly; plant height of A. barnebyi and E. septentrionale also declined linearly, but their leaf area and shoot dry weight decreased quadratically. Compared with the control, the shoot dry weights of A. barnebyi, C. fruticosa, E. septentrionale, and T. acaulis decreased by 71.3%, 56.3%, 69.7%, and 48.1%, respectively, when irrigated with saline solution at an EC of 10.0 dS·m-1. Aquilegia barnebyi and C. fruticosa did not bloom during the experiment at all treatments. Elevated salinity reduced the number of flowers in E. septentrionale and T. acaulis. Elevated salinity also reduced the number of shoots in all four species. Among the four species, sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl-) concentration increased the most in A. barnebyi by 53 and 48 times, respectively, when irrigated with saline solution at an EC of 10.0 dS·m-1. In this study, C. fruticosa and T. acaulis had minimal foliar salt damage and less reduction in shoot dry weight, indicating that they are more tolerant to salinity. Epilobium septentrionale was moderately tolerant to saline solution irrigation with less foliar damage, although it had more reduction in shoot dry weight. On the other hand, A. barnebyi was the least tolerant with severe foliar damage, more reduction in shoot dry weight, and a greater concentration of Na+ and Cl-. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notch receptors and their ligands have crucial roles in development and tumorigenesis. We present evidence demonstrating the existence of an antagonistic relationship between Notch 4 and Trp53, which is controlled by the Mdm2-dependent ubiquitylation and degradation of the Notch receptor. We show that this signal-controlling mechanism is mediated by physical interactions between Mdm2 and Notch 4 and suggest the existence of a trimeric complex between Trp53, Notch 4 and Mdm2, which ultimately regulates Notch activity. Functional studies indicate that Trp53 can suppress NICD4-induced anchorage-independent growth in mammary epithelial cells and present evidence showing that Trp53 has a pivotal role in the suppression of Notch-associated tumorigenesis in the mammary gland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ornamental chile peppers are popular bedding plants. As high-quality water supply becomes limited in many parts of the world, alternative waters such as municipal reclaimed water is encouraged to be used for landscape irrigation. The purpose of this study was to assess the relative salt tolerance of 10 cultivars of ornamental chile peppers by irrigating the mature plants with saline solutions and germinating seeds in saline substrate in a greenhouse. In the mature plant salt tolerance experiment, plants were irrigated with nutrient solution (no addition of salts, control) or saline solution at electrical conductance (EC) of 4.1 dS⋅m-1 or 8.1 dS⋅m-1 for 8 weeks. Plants in the EC of 4.1 dS⋅m-1 treatment did not have any foliar salt damage regardless of cultivar. At EC of 8.1 dS⋅m-1, 'NuMex Memorial Day' had the most severe foliar salt damage, whereas 'NuMex April Fool's Day', 'NuMex Cinco de Mayo', 'NuMex Thanksgiving', and 'NuMex Twilight' had little or no foliar damage. Shoot dry weight (DW) reduction at EC of 8.1 dS⋅m-1 compared with control was smallest in 'NuMex Thanksgiving' (15%), whereas 'NuMex Memorial Day' had the greatest reduction of 74% followed by 'NuMex Christmas' of 61%. The highest shoot DW reduction in 'NuMex Memorial Day' coincided with lowest visual score, indicating that this cultivar was the least tolerant to salinity. The leaf Na+ and Cl- concentrations increased dramatically with increasing EC of the irrigation water in all cultivars. The highest Na+ concentration of 10.9 mg⋅g-1 DW at EC of 8.1 dS⋅m-1 was observed in 'NuMex Christmas'. The highest Cl- concentration at EC of 8.1 dS⋅m-1 was found in 'NuMex Memorial Day' with 64.8 mg⋅g-1 DW, which was four times higher than the control. In the seedling emergence experiment, seeds of the 10 cultivars were germinated in substrate either moistened with reverse osmosis water (EC ≈0) or saline solution at EC of 17.1 dS⋅m-1 'NuMex Christmas' and 'NuMex Memorial Day' had the lowest relative seedling emergence index, indicating that these two cultivars were the least tolerant to salinity during the seedling emergence stage. 'NuMex Thanksgiving' and 'NuMex Cinco de Mayo' had the highest relative seedling emergence index. Combining the results from both experiments, we concluded that 'NuMex Cinco de Mayo' and 'NuMex Thanksgiving' were the most tolerant cultivars, whereas 'NuMex Christmas' and 'NuMex Memorial Day' were the least tolerant ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pomegranate is a drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant crop. Its fruits contain high levels of phytochemicals that have many health benefits. Pomegranate has the potential to be an alternative crop in areas where water availability is limited, such as west Texas. However, more than 500 pomegranate varieties are estimated to exist worldwide, and little is known about which varieties are suitable for growing in the west Texas region. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the field performance of 22 pomegranate varieties, specifically based on phenology, resistance to sunburn, fruit split, fruit rot (resistance was calculated by subtracting the percent incidence by 100), yield, fruit phytochemicals, and Brix over the course of 3 years from 2016 to 2018. Cold damage, caused by below-freezing temperatures encountered from Nov. 2018 to Feb. 2019, was also evaluated in Apr. 2019. Our results showed significant varietal differences in nearly all response variables measured, indicating that varietal selection is important for pomegranate production for specific regions, such as west Texas. Leaf budding ranged from 47 to 62 days in 2016, 41 to 54 days in 2017, and 49 to 60 days in 2018. Anthesis ranged from 87 to 119 days in 2016, 80 to 94 days in 2017, and 92 to 114 days in 2018. Fruit resistance to split was broad and ranged from 7.3% to 79.1% in 2017 and from 14.2% to 99.7% in 2018. Fruit sunburn resistance ranged from 14.0% to 64.6% in 2017 and from 28.3% to 90.0% in 2018. Fruit heart rot incidence was nominal for all varieties. Total phenolic compound contents of the pomegranate fruit juice ranged from 0.81 to 1.52 mg GAE/mL, and the total antioxidant capacity ranged from 3.44 to 6.81 mg TE/mL. The yield per tree ranged from 1.00 to 7.96 kg in 2017 and from 0.81 to 10.26 kg in 2018. Brix ranged from 12.5% to 17.4% in 2017 and from 13.9% to 18.4% in 2018. Early winter below-freezing temperatures caused different degrees of cold damage; however, 5 of 22 varieties that originated from Russia did not show any cold damage. Results of a hierarchical cluster analysis based on the means of the key response variables of yield and Brix indicated that four varieties (Al-Sirin-Nar, Russian 8, Ben Ivey, and Salavatski) were notable for having both high yield and high Brix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zelkova sinica Schneid. is a popular landscape plant in China because of its wide adaptation, strong disease resistance, large crown, and beautiful fall color. Immature embryos from Z. sinica seeds were cultured on woody plant medium (WPM) supplemented with 4.5 µM 6-Benzylaminopurine (BA) and 5.4 µM α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) to induce callus, and 60% of immature embryos formed callus. The cream-white, friable, nodular callus with proembryogenic structures was then cultured on WPM containing 5.4 µM NAA in combination with 9.0 or 11.2 µM BA to regenerate shoots; approximately five shoots per explant were induced on 70% callus. Shoots were rooted on WPM containing 0.5 µM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), on which 62.3% shoots developed roots with an average of 4.2 roots per shoot at 4 weeks. The regenerated plantlets were acclimatized and transplanted into the field. This protocol could be used for mass production for field plantation, genetic improvement, and germplasm exchange of Z. sinica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]