Jong Yeong Pyon

Production of phenolic compounds in hairy root culture of tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum Gaertn).

Fagopyrum tataricum Gaertn (tartary buckwheat) is an excellent medicinal and nutrient-rich crop. It has a high content of rutin and other phenolic compounds. An experiment was conducted to investigate in vitro production of phenolic compounds from hairy root culture of tartary buckwheat. Hairy root growth was promoted by increasing culture time in MS medium. The highest hairy root growth reached up to 11.2 g/l dry weight at 18 d after placement. Transformation was confirmed by PCR using rol genes, rol A (304 bp), B (797 bp), C (550 bp), and D (1035 bp) genes which is transferred into hairy roots from the Ri-plasmid in Agrobacterium rhizogenes and is responsible for the induction of hairy root from plant species. Rutin, quercetin, (−) epicatechin, (−) catechin hydrate, gallic acid, ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid, and caffeic acid were identified both in hairy and wild type roots of tartary buckwheat. The main compound found in the both types of root was epicatechin followed by rutin. The concentration of phenolic compounds in the hairy roots of tartary buckwheat was several-fold higher compared with wild type roots of same species. Our results indicate that hairy root culture of F. tataricum is a valuable alternative approach for the production of phenolic compounds.

Herbicidal Effects and Crop Selectivity of Sorgoleone, a Sorghum Root Exudate under Greenhouse and Field Conditions

Weeds are known to cause enormous losses due to their interference in agro ecosystems. Because of environmental and human health concerns, worldwide efforts are being made to reduce the heavy reliance on synthetic herbicides that are used to control weeds. In this regard phytotoxicity of allelochemical sorgoleone, which is a major component of the hydrophobic root exudates of Sorghum bicolor was evaluated in different weed species and also its crop selectivity in greenhouse and field conditions. Sorgoleone strongly inhibited the growth of different weeds by pre-emergence and post-emergence applications both in greenhouse and field conditions. Post-emergence application of sorgoleone on 21-day-old weed seedlings had a greater inhibitory effect than the pre-emergence application. Again, broadleaf weed species were more susceptible than grass species to the application of sorgoleone at both stages of growth. Growth of broadleaf weed species was suppressed by greater than 80% for most of the weed species except a few species and among them the species Rumex japonicus and Galium spurium were completely suppressed at 200㎍ mL -1 sorgoleone. Like greenhouse trial, sorgoleone was more effective for broadleaf weed species followed by sedge and grass weed species in the field condition. The growth inhibition of weeds was slightly lower in field condition compared to greenhouse condition. The crop species like rice, barley, wheat, corn, perilla, tomato, soybean and Chinese cabbage were tolerant to sorgoleone while lettuce and cucumber were slightly susceptible to sorgoleone. Consequently, sorgoleone may be applied to control weeds in organic farms without affecting the growth of crop.

Effects of Auxins on Sorgoleone Accumulation and Genes for Sorgoleone Biosynthesis in Sorghum Roots

Sorgoleone is a major component of the hydrophobic root exudate of Sorghum bicolor and is of particular interest to plant chemical ecology as well as agriculture. Sorgoleone was evaluated in this study to observe the expression levels of genes involved in its biosynthesis in response to auxins. Sorgoleone content varied widely according to the duration of application and the concentrations of the auxins. When the application time was increased, the sorgoleone content increased accordingly for all concentrations of IBA (1, 3, and 5 mg/L) and at 1 mg/L for both IAA and NAA. In this study, five different sorgoleone biosynthetic genes were observed, namely DES2, DES3, ARS1, ARS2, and OMT3, which are upregulated in response to IAA, IBA, and NAA. Transcript accumulation was apparent for all genes, but particularly for DES2, which increased up to 475-fold and 180-fold following 72 h exposure to NAA and IBA, respectively, compared to no treatment.

Rooting behavior of rice cultivars under different planting methods

An experiment was carried out at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh in Old Brahmaputra Alluvial Flood Plain (AEZ-9) during December 2005 to May 2006 to examine the root growth of different rice cultivars under various establishment methods. This experiment comprised two sets of treatment (i) three methods of planting viz., dry direct seeding, wet direct seeding and transplanting, and (ii) six rice cultivars, two inbreds viz., BRRI Dhan 28 and BRRI Dhan 29, two hybrids, viz., Aalok 6201 and Sonarbangla 1 and two local improved cultivar viz., Habigonj IV and Habigonj VIII. Cultivars had more remarkable effect on different root parameters i.e. number of roots, root length, root length density, root biomass, root weight ratio and root shoot ratio of hybrid, inbred and local improved rice cultivars than method of planting. BRRI Dhan 28 performed the best for most of the parameters. At harvest, BRRI Dhan 29 showed the best rooting behavior among the cultivars. For both stages hybrid rice cultivars showed intermediate and local improved cultivars performed lower in rooting behavior. Direct seeding method performed better than transplanting method for most of the root parameters but wet direct seeding and dry direct seeding methods were identical. Interaction effect between method of planting and cultivar in most of the root parameters were insignificant. But, BRRI Dhan 28 and BRRI Dhan 29 under wet direct seeding method and Sonarbanngla 1 under transplanting method showed the best rooting performance among the other combinations.

Herbicidal Activities and Crop Injury of Hairy Vetch Residues

This study was conducted to evaluate the growth inhibition of weeds and selectivity of crop species by hairy vetch residues. The growth of all the weed species was suppressed greater than 90% at the ratio 60:40 of hairy vetch residues and no weeds were emerged at 90:10 mixture in the greenhouse. It was noticed that broadleaf weed species were more suppressed compared to grass weed species. Growth of weeds was significantly reduced and the inhibition percent was increased with increasing application depths of hairy vetch mixture both in vinylhouse and in field conditions. Among the different application depths of hairy vetch mixture, 0.75 cm depth of application tended to inhibit more, but statistically no significant difference was observed between 0.5 cm and 0.75 cm application depth. The growth of weed species such as Galium spurium, Chenopodium album, Plantago asiatica, and Rumex japonicus was greatly suppressed in the vinylhouse and the growth of G. spurium, R. japonicus and Amaranthus retroflexus was suppressed significantly in the field condition. The growth inhibition of all the above mentioned sensitive weed species was approximately 80% at the application depth of 0.5 cm. Crop growth was not hampered by using the residues of hairy vetch. This study demonstrated that rotation crop residues of hairy vetch contained high allelopathic potential to different weed species without hampering the growth of crop species.

Seed Germination and Seedling Emergence of Indian jointvetch (Aeschynomene indica L.) in Different Conditions

Several experiments were conducted in growth chambers and a greenhouse to determine the influence of various environmental factors on seed germination and seedling emergence of Indian jointvetch. Fully matured seeds of Indian jointvetch germinated only 42%. The germination percent increased as the storage temperature increased with time. More than 90% seeds germinated when the seeds were kept at 40℃ for seven months, but germination was 58.9 and 55.1% when kept at 25 and 4℃, respectively. Non-dormant seeds of Indian jointvetch germinated 91.1 and 92.4% at 30 and 30/25℃, respectively. Germination percent increased with increasing both prethermal temperature and time. The prethermal temperature of 90℃ for 40 minutes was the best for maximum germination (94.5%). Germination and growth of Indian jointvetch tended to decrease slightly until -0.3 MPa osmotic potential (water stress induction) and then declined drastically and the seeds did not germinate at below -0.5 MPa osmotic potential. Indian jointvetch seems to grow well in moist and flooding conditions since emergence and growth of seedling increased with increasing soil moisture content and the water level.