Khalid Mahmood Khawar

miR408 overexpression causes increased drought tolerance in chickpea

Drought stress limits yield severely in most of the crops. Plants utilize complex gene regulation mechanisms to tolerate water deficiency as well as other abiotic stresses. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that are progressively recognized as important regulators of gene expression acting at post-transcriptional level. miR408, conserved in terrestrial plants, targets copper related genes. Although, expression level of miR408 is influenced by various environmental factors including drought stress, the biological action of miR408 is still unclear. To examine the miR408 function upon drought stress in chickpea, transgenic lines overexpressing the miR408 were generated. Induced tolerance was observed in the plants with enhanced miR408 expression upon 17-day water deficiency. Expression levels of miR408 target gene together with seven drought responsive genes were measured using qRT-PCR. Here, the involvement of miR408 in drought stress response has been reported. The overexpression leading plantacyanin transcript repression caused regulation of DREB and other drought responsive genes.

Interaction between seed size and NaCl on germination and early seedling growth of some Turkish cultivars of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Chickpea is an important food legume crop of Turkey and is largely grown for human consumption on low moisture or salt-affected soils. The objective of the study was to find the effects of NaCl stress at electrical conductivities of 4.5, 8.6, 12.7 and 16.3 dS/m and seed sizes (7, 8 and 9 mm) on germination and early seedling growth of three popular chickpea cultivars (AKN-97, Gokce and Uzunlu-99). Mean frequency of germination, germination time, germination index, root length, shoot length and seedling fresh weight showed seed size-dependent responses of cultivars to salt stress. In general, small seeds germinated and grew more rapidly compared to medium and large seeds of the same cultivars against all levels of salt stress, with the best results in cultivar Uzunlu-99. No effect of NaCl treatments was observed on frequency of germination; however, a drastic decrease in early seedling growth was recorded at increased NaCl concentrations. Regression analysis results showed a significantly positive relationship (P<0.01) between seed size and mean germination time, whereas a significantly negative relationship was recorded between seed size and germination index, root length, shoot length. Moreover, linear regression values apparently confirmed that increased seed size in each cultivar affected decreased germination index, root and shoot lengths with enhanced mean germination time. Thus, it was concluded that the use of small seeds could considerably reduce the production costs of chickpea in salt-affected soils.

Adventitious Shoot Regeneration and Micropropagation in Calendula officinalis L.

Hypocotyl, cotyledon and cotyledonary node explants of Calendula officinalis L were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with various concentrations of thidiazuron (TDZ), kinetin (KIN), α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) to induce adventitious shoot regeneration and micropropagation. The highest frequency of adventitious shoot regeneration was achieved from hypocotyl and cotyledon explants on MS media supplemented with 0.75 mg dm−3 TDZ and either 0.25 or 0.50 mg dm−3 IBA. Efficient in vitro clonal propagation was also induced from cotyledonary nodes on a range of media supplemented with 0.75 mg dm−3 TDZ and 0.05 mg dm−3 NAA or 2 mg dm−3 KIN and 1 mg dm−3 NAA. Regenerated shoots were excised and rooted in MS medium supplemented with 1 mg dm−3 NAA. The rooted plantlets were finally transferred to pots.

Fatty Acid Compositions of Linseed (Linum Usitatissimum L.) Genotypes of Different Origin Cultivated in Turkey

ABSTRACT The study assessed the levels of variation in oil content and fatty acid composition among the linseed cultivars, lines and populations of different origins grown in Turkey. The oil content ranged from 23.28 to 40.36% in the experimental materials. Three saturated (C16:0, C18:0 and C20:0) and four unsaturated (C18:1, C18:2, C18:3 and C20:1) fatty acids, identified by GC represented 10.02% and 89.91% of the total oil, respectively. The C18:3 acid content ranged 48.08% to 57.58%. The contents of the C18:1, C18:2, C16:0, and C18:0, acids were 15.81 to 27.99, 11.18 to 16.13, 4.07 to 7.02 and 3.21 to 6.70%, respectively. The C20:0 and C20:1, acids were minor fatty acids in these materials and ranged 0.11 to 0.24 and 0.10 to 0.24%, respectively.

Effect of different developing stages on some agronomical characteristics and essential oil composition of Oregano (Origanum onites)

Abstract This study reports effects of three plant development stages (pre‐flowering, full flowering, and post‐flowering) of Oregano (Origanum onites) on plant height, fresh herbage yield, dry herbage yield, dry leaf yield, essential oil content, and essential oil yield. The results showed that the highest fresh, dry herbage, and dry leaf yield were obtained at the post‐flowering stage. However, dry leaf and essential oil yield showed a variation between 4.45–5.68 t ha−1 and 119.3–190.1 litre ha−1, respectively. Essential oil content was significantly affected by plant development stages and the highest oil content (3.65%) was obtained at the full flowering stage. The major components of essential oil were determined as carvacrol (42.12–57.0%), thymol (13.21–21.88%), and linalool (8.23–20.28%).

In Vitro Micropropagation of Garden Thyme (Thymbra Spicata L. Var. Spicata L.) Collected from Southeastern Turkey using Cotyledon Node

ABSTRACT Thymbra spicata L. from Labiaceae family is perennial plant that prefers dry sunny hillsides and high dry meadows. It bears beautiful purple white flowers and bloom from June to August. The essential oils found in different parts of Thymbra spicata make it an important antibacterial and antioxidant natural source. It is used in food industry as spice and for treatment of asthma and bronchitis in the traditional system. Micropropagation can help to produce large number of true to type plants in short period of time. The study reports micropropagation from cotyledon node explants obtained from in vitro grown plants. These were cultured on MS medium containing 0.05 mg/l TDZ (Thidiazuron), 0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08 and 0.12 mg/l NAA (α naphthalene acetic acid). Developing shoots were rooted on MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l IBA (Indole-3-butyric acid). All plants were acclimatised in the greenhouse.

High Frequency Shoot Regeneration from Cotyledonary Node Explants of Different Lentil (Lens Culinaris Medik) Genotypes and In Vitro Micrografting

ABSTRACT Shoot regeneration capacities of 21 different lentil genotypes were tested on MS medium containing 0.225 μM thidazuron (TDZ) using cotyledonary node explants. It was observed that 0.225 μM TDZ contributed positively in multiple shoot regeneration from cotyledonary node based calli. The highest frequency of shoot regeneration (20.6 shoots/explants) was achieved from Ahn 362 genotype. Regenerated shoots were excised and cultured in MS medium supplemented with 1.25 μM IBA for rooting. However, root formation was not achieved on most of the regenerated shoots. To overcome this problem, regenerated shoots of seven most promising genotypes were micrografted on 3–4 days old root stocks of cultivar Kayi 91 succesfully. Micrografted plantlets were acclimatized to ambient conditions and later established under greenhouse conditions.

Blooming stages of Turkish hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.) affect essential oil composition

Abstract Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.), native to the Caucasus, North Western Iran, Turkish North Eastern Black Sea region, and Southern Anatolia, is a highly valued medicinal plant. The experiment was conducted to find the effect of harvesting at different blooming stages of the plant on fresh and dry herbage yield, dry leaf yield, essential oil content, and essential oil components. In total, twenty-nine components were identified in hyssop essential oil by GC/MS. Isopinocamphone was the dominating component (47.9–51.4%) in the all analysed oil samples. The results clearly demonstrated that oil contents are seriously affected by the environmental conditions and stage of blooming, with the highest oil yield and oil contents at the post-blooming stage.

In vitro propagation of Caralluma tuberculata and evaluation of antioxidant potential

Present study describes rapid in vitro propagation of Caralluma tuberculata, a traditional medicinal plant, and antioxidant potential of calli and plants extracts. The highest callus induction rate (93.3%) with maximum weight of calli 5.2 g was achieved from shoot tip explants on MS medium supplemented with 9.04 μM 2,4-D and 4.44 μM BA. The maximum shoot induction rate (71.1%) with mean number of shoots 3.66 ± 1.53 and 4.6 cm average shoot length was observed on 13.32 μM BA, 4.52 μM 2,4-D and 2.89 μM GA3 appended in MS medium. The developed shoots were best rooted in the presence of 5.07 μM IAA with 3.0 ± 0.15 roots per plantlet. The plants were successfully acclimatized under in vivo conditions. The plants and calli extracts exhibited good antioxidant activities, however, plant extract activities were more pronounced. The phenolic compounds in plant and calli extracts were 0.16% and 0.057%, respectively. While the flavonoids were 0.092% in plant and 0.039% in calli extract. Total Phenolics, flavonoids; DPPH radical scavenging activity and reducing power potential distributed among different fractions depending upon polarity of the solvent. The highest DPPH scavenging activity and reducing power was exhibited by water fractions; 4.95 mg/mL and 0.729 OD at 10 mg/mL, respectively. The micropropagation protocol can be successfully used for large-scale multiplication and conservation of germplasm of this threatened plant. Furthermore, antioxidant value describes importance of this valuable plant as food and medicine.

In vItro RegeneRatIon of Red SquIll UrgInea marItIma (l.) BaKeR. uSIng thIdIazuRon

ABSTRACT The study reports an efficient in vitro micropropagation of Red squill (Urginea maritima (L.) Baker), an important medicinal plant of Mediterranean region, from single and double scale explants. The explants were cultured on MS medium containing different concentrations of Thidiazuron with initial culturing in darkfor eight weeks followed by transfer to 16 h light photoperiod or culturing them in 16 h light photoperiod only. The results showed that initial growth of explants in dark for eight weeks was inhibitory and produced negligibly low number of bulbs on both explants. Contrarily, 16 h light photoperiod resulted in varying frequency of bulblet regeneration on single and double scale explants. Double scale explants were more potent for bulblet regeneration compared to single scale explants. Single scales produced only axillary bulblets with a frequency of 0.90–1.33 bulblets per expalnt. Contrarily, both adventitious and axillary bulblets were recorded on double scales. These explants produced maximum number of 1.17 adventitious bulblets and 3.58 axillary bulblets per explant on MS medium containing 0.55 mg/l TDZ. The frequency of axillary bulblets regeneration remained higher compared to the frequency of adventitious bulblet regeneration on all concentrations of TDZ. All axillary bulblets rooted on the mother regeneration media. However, the adventitious bulblets could only be rooted on MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/l IBA. All bulblets established in the growth chamber were transferred to the field for further observations and flowering.