Munir Ozturk

Potential Use of Halophytes to Remediate Saline Soils

Salinity is one of the rising problems causing tremendous yield losses in many regions of the world especially in arid and semiarid regions. To maximize crop productivity, these areas should be brought under utilization where there are options for removing salinity or using the salt-tolerant crops. Use of salt-tolerant crops does not remove the salt and hence halophytes that have capacity to accumulate and exclude the salt can be an effective way. Methods for salt removal include agronomic practices or phytoremediation. The first is cost- and labor-intensive and needs some developmental strategies for implication; on the contrary, the phytoremediation by halophyte is more suitable as it can be executed very easily without those problems. Several halophyte species including grasses, shrubs, and trees can remove the salt from different kinds of salt-affected problematic soils through salt excluding, excreting, or accumulating by their morphological, anatomical, physiological adaptation in their organelle level and cellular level. Exploiting halophytes for reducing salinity can be good sources for meeting the basic needs of people in salt-affected areas as well. This review focuses on the special adaptive features of halophytic plants under saline condition and the possible ways to utilize these plants to remediate salinity.

Nitrogen-efficient rice cultivars can reduce nitrate pollution

IntroductionEnvironmental pollution by un-utilized nitrogenous fertilizer at the agricultural field is one of the key issues of the day. Rice-based cropping system, the mainstay of Indian agriculture, is one of the main sources of unused N-fertilizer since rice utilizes only 30–40% of total applied N, and the rest goes to waste and creates environmental as well as economic loss.MethodsIdentification of rice genotypes that can grow and yield well at low nitrogen levels is highly desirable for enhancement of nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). In the present study, we have identified large variability in the NUE of rice cultivars on the basis of plant with low, medium, and high levels of N in nutrient solution. To establish the basis of this wide variability in NUE, nitrate uptake kinetics and enzymes of nitrate assimilation were studied.Results and discussionThe data of nitrate uptake kinetics revealed that the nitrate uptake is mediated by low-affinity transporter system (LATS) in N-inefficient rice cultivars and by both LATS and high-affinity transporter systems (HATS) in N-efficient genotypes. Activities of nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, glutamine synthetase, glutamate synthase, and the soluble protein content were found to be increased in moderately N-efficient and low N-efficient cultivars with increase in external supply of nitrogen. However, a non-significant decrease in these enzymes was recorded in high N-efficient cultivars with the increase in N supply.ConclusionsThis study suggests that the HATS, high NR, and glutamine synthetase activity and the soluble protein content distribution have a key role in N efficiency of rice genotypes. These parameters may be considered in breeding and genetic engineering programs for improving the NUE of rice, which might be helpful in reducing the fertilizer loss, hence decreasing environmental degradation and improving crop productivity through improvement of nitrogen utilization efficiency in rice.

Relevance of Proteomic Investigations in Plant Abiotic Stress Physiology

Plant growth and productivity are influenced by various abiotic stresses. Stressful conditions may lead to delays in seed germination, reduced seedling growth, and decreased crop yields. Plants respond to environmental stresses via differential expression of a subset of genes, which results in changes in omic compositions, such as transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome. Since the development of modern biotechnology, various research projects have been carried out to understand the approaches that plants have adopted to overcome environmental stresses. Advancements in omics have made functional genomics easy to understand. Since the fundamentals of classical genomics were unable to clear up confusion related to the functional aspects of the metabolic processes taking place during stress conditions, new fields have been designed and are known as omics. Proteomics, the analysis of genomic complements of proteins, has caused a flurry of activity in the past few years. It defines protein functions in cells and explains how those protein functions respond to changing environmental conditions. The ability of crop plants to cope up with the variety of environmental stresses depends on a number of changes in their proteins, which may be up- and downregulated as a result of altered gene expression. Most of these molecules display an essential function, either in the regulation of the response (e.g., components of the signal transduction pathway), or in the adaptation process (e.g., enzymes involved in stress repair and degradation of damaged cellular contents), allowing plants to recover and survive the stress. Many of these proteins are constitutively expressed under normal conditions, but when under stress, they undergo a modification of their expression levels. This review will explain how proteomics can help in elucidating important plant processes in response to various abiotic stresses.

Effect of sodium carbonate-induced salinity–alkalinity on some key osmoprotectants, protein profile, antioxidant enzymes, and lipid peroxidation in two mulberry (Morus alba L.) cultivars

The changes in accumulation of two potential osmoprotectants (proline and glycine betaine), lipid peroxidation appraised as malondialdehyde (MDA) level, activities of key antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD: EC 1.15.1.1), catalase (CAT: EC 1.11.1.6), peroxidase (POD: EC 1.11.1.7), and glutathione reductase (GR: EC 1.6.4.2), and soluble protein profile in two cultivars of mulberry (S146 and Sujanpuri) differing in alkalinity (NaHCO3) tolerance were investigated at 2-month intervals up to 6-month growth under stress conditions. Varying levels of salinity–alkalinity developed in soil were 0, 30, 40, and 50 g of NaHCO3 kg−1 soil with pH 7.8, 9.1, 9.8, and 10.3, respectively. Alkali stress led to a consistent accumulation of proline and glycine betaine in mulberry leaves with time. The activities of leaf SOD, CAT, POD, and GR increased with increase in external salt concentration and pH. The increase in antioxidant enzyme activities was higher in cv. S146 than cv. Sujanpuri, whereas rate of lipid peroxidation measured in terms of MDA was higher in cv. Sujanpuri as compared to cv. S146. Protein profile revealed that some unknown proteins of low molecular mass (10–32.5 kDa) were induced by NaHCO3 stress, but differently in two cultivars.

Enhancing Plant Productivity Under Salt Stress: Relevance of Poly-omics

At present more than 20% of all the irrigated land in the world is estimated as affected by salinity and this trend is increasing with the rapid climate changes as well as the excess use of irrigation water. Salt stress is one of the most devastating abiotic stresses which severely affects the agricultural productivity in various ways. High concentration of salt in the soil or in the irrigation water can have a overwhelming effect on plant metabolism, disrupting cellular homeostasis and uncoupling major physiological and biochemical processes. Salinity cause both osmotic stress and ionic toxicity which hamper the plant productivity by inhibiting or altering the plant growth, dry matter partitioning, seed germination, photosynthesis and yield. Considering the devastating effect of salt stress on plants, one of the important tasks for plant biologists is to explore the approaches that are able to develop salt tolerance in crop plants. In fact, salt tolerance is a multigenic trait which is governed by various morphological and physiological factors. Thus omics approaches therefore, come in forefront to develop salt tolerance as a part of different strategies of conventional plant breeding. Transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, ionomics and micromics together have been a bloom in revealing plant stress responses and the mechanisms that underlie these responses. These techniques have been playing important part in discovering new genes, proteins and secondary plant metabolites those are responsible for plants adaptation to stress. In this review, we have focused on the causes and effects of salinity on crop plants and possible mechanisms of salt tolerance including the possible use of omics in conferring salt tolerance.

Airborne pollen calendar of Buca-Izmir, Turkey

This communication presents the level ofpollen in the atmosphere of Buca–Izmir, Turkey.The evaluation includes qualitative as well asquantitative results. Studies were carried outduring 1996–1997 using gravimetric method. Datawas recorded from lower (BUL. 1.60 m) andhigher (BHL. 20 m) levels. Aeropalynologicalresults revealed that the atmosphere in thisarea abounds in pollen from 55 taxa out ofwhich 24 are woody and 31 herbaceous. At bothlevels plant groups with higher pollendensities per square centimeter were trees(BHL. 89%, BUL. 73.7%), other herbs (BHL.6.6%, BUL. 20.4%), Gramineae (BHL. 3.8%,BUL. 4.9%) and unidentified taxa (BHL. 0.6%,BUL. 1%) respectively. However, at lowerlevel Pinus, Quercus, Oleaceae,Morus, Centaurea, Gramineae,Chenopodiceae/Amaranthaceae showed highestconcentration; whereasCupressaceae/Taxaceae, Quercus,Gramineae, Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae andPlantago were dominant at higher level.The concentration of allergic taxaChenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae, Cupressaceae/Taxaceae; Gramineae, Morus, Oleaceae, Pinus, Plantago and Quercus was highin the atmosphere of the study area. The pollencalendar of the area has been prepared inrelation to the atmospheric parameters.

Crop Production for Agricultural Improvement

Crop improvement through different means: Challenges and prospect, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Sajid Aqeel Ahmad, Munir Ozturk and Ahmad Aksoy PART I. Breeding for crop improvement Bridging genomic and classical breeding approaches for improving crop productivity, Mehboob-ur-Rahman, Tayyaba Shaheen, Muhammad Ashraf, Yusuf Zafar Breeding for improved drought tolerance, Abazar Rajabi, Eric Schmieder Ober Breeding for biotic stress resistance/tolerance in plants, Carlotta Balconi, Piergiorgio Stevanato, Mario Motto The American halophyte Prosopis strombulifera, a new potential source to confer salt tolerance to crops, Mariana Reginato, Veronica Sgroy, Analia Llanes, Fabricio Cassan, Virginia Luna Breeding for Biotic Stress Tolerance in Plants, L.F. De Filippis Breeding Wheat for Salt Tolerance and Stem Rust Resistance, Makhdoom Hussain, Aziz ur Rehman, Imran Habib, Mumtaz Hussain, Nadeem Ahmad, Muhammad Arif Khan, Muhammad Hussain and Faqir Muhammad The potential of breeding okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) for water stress tolerance, Abdul Naveed, Asif Ali Khan, Saeed Rauf PART II. Biotechnology , Molecular Biology and Genetics Biotechnology as an aid for crop improvement to overcome food shortage, Khalid ul Rehman Hakeem, Munir Ozturk, Parvaiz Ahmad, Abdul Razaque Memon Plant Genetic Engineering: Problems and Applications, Bushra Rashid, Tayyab Husnain, Sheikh RiazuddinAgrobacterium tumefaciens and its Use in Plant Biotechnology, Ibrahim Ilker Ozyigit Progress and prospects for efficient micropropagation of woody plants, Faheem Aftab Novel Methods in Micropropagation of Pistachio, Engin Tilkat, Yelda Ozden Ciftci, Hulya Akdemir, Ahmet Onay, Emine Ayaz Crop productivity and water use efficiency: The role of carbon isotope discrimination technique, Javed Akhter and Philippe Monneveux Behaviour of Plant Pathogens for Crops under Stress during the Determination of Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Approaches for Salt Stress Tolerance, Murat Dikilitas and Sema Karakas Biochemical and molecular aspects of drought tolerance in wheat Triticum L. Genotypes, Rada Mammad Huseynova, Samira Mahammadrahim Rustamova, Saftar Yusif Suleymanov, Jalal Alirza Aliyev Molecular basis of disease resistance in cereal crops: An overview, Hadi Bux, Muhammad Ashraf, Awais Rasheed, Dipak Sharma Poudyal, Alvina Gul Kazi, Muhammad Afzaal Polyamines: Role in plants under abiotic stress, Parvaiz Ahmad, Ashwani Kumar, Aditi Gupta, Xiangyang Hu, Khalid ul Rehman Hakeem, Satyawati Sharma PART III. Crop Management Practices in Saskatchewan, Canada, Ahmet Ruhi Mermut Invasive weed species: A threat to sustainable agriculture, Ghazala Nasim, Asad Shabbir An overview of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) for sustainable agriculture, Rifat Hayat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Rizwan Ali Sheirdil Arbuscular mycorrhizae for sustainable agriculture, Ghazala Nasim A site-specific potassium fertilization approach to overcome sporadic response of crops, Abdul Hannan, Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Waqas Optimal Supply of Micronutrients Improves Drought Tolerance in Legumes, Muhammad Yasin Ashraf, Khalid Mahmood, Muhammad Ashraf, Javed Akhter, Faqir Hussain Potential of Rhizobia for Sustainable Production of Non-legumes, Ijaz Mehboob, Muhammad Naveed, Zahir Ahmad Zahir and Muhammad Ashraf Effect of Drip and Subsurface Drip Irrigation with Saline Water on Tomato Crop, Besma Kahlaoui, Mohamed Hachicha, Saloua Rejeb, Mohamed Nejib Rejeb Lipid and carbohydrate metabolism of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. walp) cultivars in relation to temperature stress, Shahidul Islam, Carmen Rafaela Carvajal Rebanales, James Otis Garner, Jr. Transcriptomics and proteomics analysis of root nodules of model legume plants, Abdul Razaque Memon A Review on Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus, Syed Jawad Ahmad Shah, Muhammad Bashir, Naheed Manzoor Agrobacterium tumefaciens and its Use in Plant Biotechnology, Ibrahim Ilker Ozyigit Progress and prospects for efficient micropropagation of woody plants, Faheem Aftab Novel Methods in Micropropagation of Pistachio, Engin Tilkat, Yelda Ozden Ciftci, Hulya Akdemir, Ahmet Onay, Emine Ayaz Crop productivity and water use efficiency: The role of carbon isotope discrimination technique, Javed Akhter and Philippe Monneveux Behaviour of Plant Pathogens for Crops under Stress during the Determination of Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Approaches for Salt Stress Tolerance, Murat Dikilitas and Sema Karakas Biochemical and molecular aspects of drought tolerance in wheat Triticum L. Genotypes, Rada Mammad Huseynova, Samira Mahammadrahim Rustamova, Saftar Yusif Suleymanov, Jalal Alirza Aliyev Molecular basis of disease resistance in cereal crops: An overview, Hadi Bux, Muhammad Ashraf, Awais Rasheed, Dipak Sharma Poudyal, Alvina Gul Kazi, Muhammad Afzaal Polyamines: Role in plants under abiotic stress, Parvaiz Ahmad, Ashwani Kumar, Aditi Gupta, Xiangyang Hu, Khalid ul Rehman Hakeem, Satyawati Sharma PART III. Crop Management Practices in Saskatchewan, Canada, Ahmet Ruhi Mermut Invasive weed species: A threat to sustainable agriculture, Ghazala Nasim, Asad Shabbir An overview of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) for sustainable agriculture, Rifat Hayat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Rizwan Ali Sheirdil Arbuscular mycorrhizae for sustainable agriculture, Ghazala Nasim A site-specific potassium fertilization approach to overcome sporadic response of crops, Abdul Hannan, Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Waqas Optimal Supply of Micronutrients Improves Drought Tolerance in Legumes, Muhammad Yasin Ashraf, Khalid Mahmood, Muhammad Ashraf, Javed Akhter, Faqir Hussain Potential of Rhizobia for Sustainable Production of Non-legumes, Ijaz Mehboob, Muhammad Naveed, Zahir Ahmad Zahir and Muhammad Ashraf Effect of Drip and Subsurface Drip Irrigation with Saline Water on Tomato Crop, Besma Kahlaoui, Mohamed Hachicha, Saloua Rejeb, Mohamed Nejib Rejeb Lipid and carbohydrate metabolism of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. walp) cultivars in relation to temperature stress, Shahidul Islam, Carmen Rafaela Carvajal Rebanales, James Otis Garner, Jr. Transcriptomics and proteomics analysis of root nodules of model legume plants, Abdul Razaque Memon A Review on Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus, Syed Jawad Ahmad Shah, Muhammad Bashir, Naheed Manzoor

An overview of plant diversity, land use and degradation in the Mediterranean region of Turkey

The Turkish Mediterranean region covers an area of 198.165km2, including ten states and a coastline of about 4,389km. The area has served as a womb for several civilisations. However, its rich plant diversity has been victimized through anthropomorphic pressures. Southwestern shores of Turkey are the main centre of coastal endemism in the Mediterranean basin. The flora in the region on the whole includes more than 700 endemics, out of which about 600 are East‐Mediterranean elements. Out of the endemic taxa distributed in the region more than 40 are facing a threat of extirpation. The region embodies tertiary endemics as well, like Liquidamber orientalis, Eryngium thorifolium and Flueggea anatolica. High mountain zones abound in neoendemics. Although several protected areas have been created lately, demographic pressure, urbanisation, grazing, fires and erosion, are still posing a great threat to the plant diversity. This paper enlightens the impact of the aforementioned land degradation processes on the plant cover of this phytogeographical region in Turkey.

Boron and Plants

Boron is found naturally in the earth’s crust in the oxidized form as borax and colemanite, particularly in the oceans, sedimentary rocks, coal, shale, and some soils. It is never found in the elemental form in nature possessing a complex chemistry similar to that of silicon, with properties switching between metals and non-metals. Boron has become an important and strategic element in terms of developing technologies. It is released into the environment mainly through the weathering of rocks, volatilization from oceans, geothermal steam, burning of agricultural refuse and fuel wood, power generators (coal/oil combustion), glass industry, household use of boron-containing products (including soaps and detergents), borax mining and processing, leaching from treated wood and paper, chemical plants, and sewage/sludge disposal, but a major proportion originates from the weathering of rocks. Boron is regarded as an essential element for human beings, animals and plants. Boron occurs in soils at concentrations ranging from 10 to 300 mg kg−1 depending on the type of soil, amount of organic matter, and amount of rainfall. The treatments lead to significant increases in the productivity of some plants but in certain cases a decrease is seen as the boron level increases with the boron content of irrigation water, in particular on the soils with a heavy texture, high CaCO3 and clay content. Lack of boron in plants results in necrosis but excess amounts are said to produce poisonous effects. Turkey produces more than 60% of the world’s borax, with important boron reserves located in Susurluk, Bigadic and Sindirgi regions of Balikesir, Kestelek-Bursa, Emet-Kutahya, the largest reserves occur in Kirka-Eskisehir. Therefore, there is a naturally occurring high level of boron in the ground waters in some of these areas due to the excess amounts of boron given out to the environment during washing and purification processes which result in the pollution of cultivated areas. An attempt will be made here to present an overview of the plant diversity on the boron contaminated soils in Turkey, effects of different concentrations of boron on the germination ability of some plants and possible candidates for phytomining of the soils showing boron toxicity symptoms.

Recovery and Rehabilitation of Mediterranean Type Ecosystem: A Case Study from Turkish Maquis

The Mediterranean type ecosystem shows a restricted distribution as compared to other major ecosystem types of the world. Two of the typical Mediterranean ecosystems are maquis and phrygana, both being shrub formations. This vegetation type in general shows indisputable similarities in Mediterranean regions. Similarities are visible in forest formations as well as their principal stages of degradation. Studies on these ecosystems have attracted the attention of many investigators such as Akman (1982), Akman and Ketenoglu (1986), Akman et al. (1978,1979), Aschmann (1973), DiCastri and Mooney (1973), DiCastri et al. (1981), Flauhalt (1937), Kilickiran (1991), Mooney and Dunn (1970b), Mooney et al. (1970,1974b), Nahal (1981), Naveh (1971,1973,1975), Pons (1981), Specht (1969ab), Tomaselli (1974,1976), Trabaud (1981) and Zohary (1973). In these investigations, three types of studies have been followed; phyto-ecological, energy-budget ecology and an evolutionary approach. However, a complete synthesis of the results is rather difficult due to their multilingual publication as well as different approaches used in studying these heterogenous ecosystems.