Pub Date : 2024-05-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17693-24
A. Keinath
Specialty eggplants (Solanum melongena L.), cultivars with fruit shapes, sizes, and colors different from the typical teardrop-shaped, dark purple eggplant fruit, are an underproduced vegetable commodity in the southeastern United States. Seven cultivars representing seven different fruit types were grown in Charleston, SC, USA, in Spring and Fall 2018 and 2019 to assess cultivar productivity and net return. Despite year-to-year variability, Hansel (Chinese type), Millionaire (Japanese type), and Gretel (white fruit) generally had greater weights of both marketable (US Fancy and No. 1 fruit) and edible (US Fancy, No. 1 and No. 2) fruit than Fairy Tale (Sicilian type) and Patio Baby (Indian type), whereas the globe-fruited cultivars Black Beauty (heirloom) and Rosa Bianca (Italian type), had intermediate yields. Yields of plants after ratooning in the fall were lower than in the spring before ratooning. Prices per carton paid by local food hubs for US Fancy, No. 1, and No. 2 fruit were two to three times greater than wholesale terminal market prices. Nevertheless, fruit weights were a greater determinant of net returns than prices were. Growers in the southeastern coastal plain can maximize net returns from specialty eggplant crops by choosing cultivars that produce high fruit weights.
{"title":"Productive Specialty Eggplant Cultivars Suitable for Small Farms in the Southeastern Coastal Plain","authors":"A. Keinath","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17693-24","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17693-24","url":null,"abstract":"Specialty eggplants (Solanum melongena L.), cultivars with fruit shapes, sizes, and colors different from the typical teardrop-shaped, dark purple eggplant fruit, are an underproduced vegetable commodity in the southeastern United States. Seven cultivars representing seven different fruit types were grown in Charleston, SC, USA, in Spring and Fall 2018 and 2019 to assess cultivar productivity and net return. Despite year-to-year variability, Hansel (Chinese type), Millionaire (Japanese type), and Gretel (white fruit) generally had greater weights of both marketable (US Fancy and No. 1 fruit) and edible (US Fancy, No. 1 and No. 2) fruit than Fairy Tale (Sicilian type) and Patio Baby (Indian type), whereas the globe-fruited cultivars Black Beauty (heirloom) and Rosa Bianca (Italian type), had intermediate yields. Yields of plants after ratooning in the fall were lower than in the spring before ratooning. Prices per carton paid by local food hubs for US Fancy, No. 1, and No. 2 fruit were two to three times greater than wholesale terminal market prices. Nevertheless, fruit weights were a greater determinant of net returns than prices were. Growers in the southeastern coastal plain can maximize net returns from specialty eggplant crops by choosing cultivars that produce high fruit weights.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141037831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17677-23
Yuandong Cui, Shuhong Zhang, Xiangyang Dong, Qun Li, Yufang Huang, Xiangping Meng, Yang Wang, Youliang Ye
Traditional methods of garlic fertilization involve large amounts of balanced fertilizer with equal proportions of N, P, and K, leading to nutrient imbalances, reduced yield and nutritional quality, and elevated risk of environmental pollution. This study for the first time measured garlic nutrient absorption and mineral elements status in garlic fields. In addition, a garlic-specific fertilizer formula and recommended rate were designed and applied in multiple garlic fields during the 2019–21 growing season. We assessed the performance of garlic-specific fertilizer in terms of yield, quality, and nutrient utilization efficiency. We showed that garlic prefers to absorb N and K, and its absorption of P was much lower. Deficiencies in Cl, Mn, S, and Fe are found in 98.7%, 56.1%, 22.8%, and 11.9% of garlic fields. Compared with farmer fertilization, the garlic-specific fertilizers increased sprout yield by 12.9% to 30.5%, bulb yield by 11.0% to 33.5%, and net income by 18.2% to 45.6%. Furthermore, it improved the nutritional quality [vitamin C (Vc), soluble sugar (SS), and soluble protein] of the garlic and reduced the accumulation of nitrate. The formula of special fertilizer was more in line with the law of garlic nutrient absorption, increasing the nutrient utilization effect, reducing the environmental risks. Application of specific fertilizer increased N, P, and K partial productivity by 26.6% to 50.1%, 82.6% to 116.5%, and 54.6% to 83.3%, respectively. These results suggest that replacing balanced fertilizers in the garlic market with garlic-specific fertilizers can improve garlic farmers' incomes and soil health.
{"title":"Garlic-specific Fertilizer Improves Economic and Environmental Outcomes in China","authors":"Yuandong Cui, Shuhong Zhang, Xiangyang Dong, Qun Li, Yufang Huang, Xiangping Meng, Yang Wang, Youliang Ye","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17677-23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17677-23","url":null,"abstract":"Traditional methods of garlic fertilization involve large amounts of balanced fertilizer with equal proportions of N, P, and K, leading to nutrient imbalances, reduced yield and nutritional quality, and elevated risk of environmental pollution. This study for the first time measured garlic nutrient absorption and mineral elements status in garlic fields. In addition, a garlic-specific fertilizer formula and recommended rate were designed and applied in multiple garlic fields during the 2019–21 growing season. We assessed the performance of garlic-specific fertilizer in terms of yield, quality, and nutrient utilization efficiency. We showed that garlic prefers to absorb N and K, and its absorption of P was much lower. Deficiencies in Cl, Mn, S, and Fe are found in 98.7%, 56.1%, 22.8%, and 11.9% of garlic fields. Compared with farmer fertilization, the garlic-specific fertilizers increased sprout yield by 12.9% to 30.5%, bulb yield by 11.0% to 33.5%, and net income by 18.2% to 45.6%. Furthermore, it improved the nutritional quality [vitamin C (Vc), soluble sugar (SS), and soluble protein] of the garlic and reduced the accumulation of nitrate. The formula of special fertilizer was more in line with the law of garlic nutrient absorption, increasing the nutrient utilization effect, reducing the environmental risks. Application of specific fertilizer increased N, P, and K partial productivity by 26.6% to 50.1%, 82.6% to 116.5%, and 54.6% to 83.3%, respectively. These results suggest that replacing balanced fertilizers in the garlic market with garlic-specific fertilizers can improve garlic farmers' incomes and soil health.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141043206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Phalaenopsis is a globally popular potted plant possessing a few aromatic cultivars, but analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in these cultivars is limited. Here, using nonaromatic cultivar Phal. Big Chili as a control, flower VOCs of four aromatic cultivars were investigated by headspace solid-phase microextraction in conjunction with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results revealed that 43 VOCs classified into seven categories were identified in the nonaromatic Phal. Big Chili and four aromatic cultivars. Hexyl acetate and hexan-1-ol were common VOCs in aromatic cultivars. On the basis of partial least squares discriminant analysis, the five cultivars were classified into three groups, the nonaromatic Phal. Big Chili (group 1) and the strong-aromatic Phal. Cherry Tomato (group 2) were easily distinguished from the other three aromatic cultivars (group 3). Moreover, 17 key VOCs with the different aromatic thresholds and characteristics were identified in the four aromatic cultivars, and the types and relative contents of key VOCs varied among the aromatic cultivars, resulting in different characteristics and intensities of floral fragrance in aromatic cultivars. In aromatic cultivars, the types and relative contents of key VOCs in Phal. Cherry Tomato significantly exceeded those in the other three cultivars. Eight key VOCs belonging to terpenoids, olefins, and alcohols had the highest relative contents in Phal. ‘Cherry Tomato’, which led to a strong and mixed aromatic type containing cedarwood, camphor, and mint fragrances.
{"title":"Investigation of Volatile Organic Compounds in Aromatic Phalaenopsis Cultivars Using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry","authors":"Qixuan Song, Chunmei Yang, Guoxian Wang, Lifang Wu, Jiwei Ruan, Suping Qu, Rongpei Yu","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17628-23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17628-23","url":null,"abstract":"Phalaenopsis is a globally popular potted plant possessing a few aromatic cultivars, but analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in these cultivars is limited. Here, using nonaromatic cultivar Phal. Big Chili as a control, flower VOCs of four aromatic cultivars were investigated by headspace solid-phase microextraction in conjunction with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results revealed that 43 VOCs classified into seven categories were identified in the nonaromatic Phal. Big Chili and four aromatic cultivars. Hexyl acetate and hexan-1-ol were common VOCs in aromatic cultivars. On the basis of partial least squares discriminant analysis, the five cultivars were classified into three groups, the nonaromatic Phal. Big Chili (group 1) and the strong-aromatic Phal. Cherry Tomato (group 2) were easily distinguished from the other three aromatic cultivars (group 3). Moreover, 17 key VOCs with the different aromatic thresholds and characteristics were identified in the four aromatic cultivars, and the types and relative contents of key VOCs varied among the aromatic cultivars, resulting in different characteristics and intensities of floral fragrance in aromatic cultivars. In aromatic cultivars, the types and relative contents of key VOCs in Phal. Cherry Tomato significantly exceeded those in the other three cultivars. Eight key VOCs belonging to terpenoids, olefins, and alcohols had the highest relative contents in Phal. ‘Cherry Tomato’, which led to a strong and mixed aromatic type containing cedarwood, camphor, and mint fragrances.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141055312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17737-24
Timothy P. Hartmann, James D. Spiers, Larry A. Stein, Justin J. Scheiner
Warm temperature exposure during winter has reportedly resulted in the apparent negation of chilling in several fruit species. This study was conducted to investigate the floral and vegetative response of two pistillate kiwifruit cultivars to intermittent warm temperature interruption during chilling accumulation. Dormant 1-year-old canes of Actinidia chinensis ‘AU Golden Dragon’ and Actinidia deliciosa ‘AU Fitzgerald’ were collected in December 2018 and 2019 (334 and 360 chilling units, respectively), shortly after leaf abscission. Canes were cut to 10 nodes after removing the first six basal nodes, placed in jars filled with distilled water, and transferred to respective chilling treatments. Treatments included continuous chilling (CC) (in addition to base chilling) at 1-week (168 chilling units) increments (0–5 weeks) and chilling exposure at the same increments with intermittent warm temperature (WT). For the WT treatments, each week of chilling was followed by 3 days of exposure to warm conditions. Chilling and warm temperature exposure were simulated by 7/4 °C and 25/17.2 °C (day/night) air temperatures, respectively, using separate climate-controlled growth chambers. After treatments, canes were forced in a third chamber at 21.1 to 25.0 °C with light-emitting diode lighting. Vegetative budbreak, floral bud number (from here on defined as floral response), and floral development stage were recorded for each cane at 2-day intervals. For ‘AU Golden Dragon’, WT did not result in any reduced floral response at any of the observed chilling levels. However, lower mean floral response was observed with WT, as compared with CC for ‘AU Fitzgerald’ at 5 weeks of chilling over the 2 years (P = 0.05). WT also lessened the effect of apical dominance with respect to vegetative/floral response to node position for both cultivars. Chilling type had no significant effect on vegetative response in either cultivar. Estimated chilling requirements (CC) in this experiment were similar to those reported previously for these cultivars. Results suggest that A. chinensis cultivars may respond more favorably than A. deliciosa to the erratic winter temperature patterns experienced in the southeastern United States.
{"title":"Effect of Warm Temperature Interruption on the Accumulation of Winter Chilling in Kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis Planch. and A. deliciosa A. Chev.)","authors":"Timothy P. Hartmann, James D. Spiers, Larry A. Stein, Justin J. Scheiner","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17737-24","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17737-24","url":null,"abstract":"Warm temperature exposure during winter has reportedly resulted in the apparent negation of chilling in several fruit species. This study was conducted to investigate the floral and vegetative response of two pistillate kiwifruit cultivars to intermittent warm temperature interruption during chilling accumulation. Dormant 1-year-old canes of Actinidia chinensis ‘AU Golden Dragon’ and Actinidia deliciosa ‘AU Fitzgerald’ were collected in December 2018 and 2019 (334 and 360 chilling units, respectively), shortly after leaf abscission. Canes were cut to 10 nodes after removing the first six basal nodes, placed in jars filled with distilled water, and transferred to respective chilling treatments. Treatments included continuous chilling (CC) (in addition to base chilling) at 1-week (168 chilling units) increments (0–5 weeks) and chilling exposure at the same increments with intermittent warm temperature (WT). For the WT treatments, each week of chilling was followed by 3 days of exposure to warm conditions. Chilling and warm temperature exposure were simulated by 7/4 °C and 25/17.2 °C (day/night) air temperatures, respectively, using separate climate-controlled growth chambers. After treatments, canes were forced in a third chamber at 21.1 to 25.0 °C with light-emitting diode lighting. Vegetative budbreak, floral bud number (from here on defined as floral response), and floral development stage were recorded for each cane at 2-day intervals. For ‘AU Golden Dragon’, WT did not result in any reduced floral response at any of the observed chilling levels. However, lower mean floral response was observed with WT, as compared with CC for ‘AU Fitzgerald’ at 5 weeks of chilling over the 2 years (P = 0.05). WT also lessened the effect of apical dominance with respect to vegetative/floral response to node position for both cultivars. Chilling type had no significant effect on vegetative response in either cultivar. Estimated chilling requirements (CC) in this experiment were similar to those reported previously for these cultivars. Results suggest that A. chinensis cultivars may respond more favorably than A. deliciosa to the erratic winter temperature patterns experienced in the southeastern United States.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141027791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17717-24
Kumuditha D. Hikkaduwa Epa Liyanage, Aditya Khanal, Anthony Witcher, P. Liyanapathiranage, F. Baysal-Gurel
Early and accurate detection of diseases, and implementation of efficient disease management practices are crucial to reducing the economic impact associated with plant disease outbreaks. Based on survey responses from dogwood nursery growers in Tennessee, USA, scouting was identified as an important disease management practice adopted by a majority of growers for disease management in field-grown, container-grown, and pot-in-pot production systems. Our results show a significant positive correlation between disease severity and scouting frequency for dogwood plants grown in container and pot-in-pot production systems. Our efficiency measure is a self-rated efficacy scale perceived by the nursery growers about their existing disease management system in nursery plants. A significant positive correlation was found between the efficacy of disease management and the number of workers involved in scouting and a negative association between the worker hours spent in scouting and the grower's experience/exposure to other disease detection methods. The majority of nursery growers followed a set spray schedule between May and October, with applications scheduled every other week. In addition, our results showed significant positive correlations between efficacy and spray-related factors, such as disease severity and worker hours spent in spraying; efficacy of disease management and spraying frequency in field-grown dogwoods; and foliar spray costs and efficacy of disease management. We estimated ≈$379/acre per year average costs for dogwood disease management, which the growers find to be one of the major components of the dogwood production budget. Moving to automated systems of disease scouting and management has the potential to reduce the cost of these labor-intensive disease management practices of dogwood production.
{"title":"Assessing the Impact of Integrated Dogwood Disease Management Practices on Labor Needs and Production Costs in Tennessee Nurseries","authors":"Kumuditha D. Hikkaduwa Epa Liyanage, Aditya Khanal, Anthony Witcher, P. Liyanapathiranage, F. Baysal-Gurel","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17717-24","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17717-24","url":null,"abstract":"Early and accurate detection of diseases, and implementation of efficient disease management practices are crucial to reducing the economic impact associated with plant disease outbreaks. Based on survey responses from dogwood nursery growers in Tennessee, USA, scouting was identified as an important disease management practice adopted by a majority of growers for disease management in field-grown, container-grown, and pot-in-pot production systems. Our results show a significant positive correlation between disease severity and scouting frequency for dogwood plants grown in container and pot-in-pot production systems. Our efficiency measure is a self-rated efficacy scale perceived by the nursery growers about their existing disease management system in nursery plants. A significant positive correlation was found between the efficacy of disease management and the number of workers involved in scouting and a negative association between the worker hours spent in scouting and the grower's experience/exposure to other disease detection methods. The majority of nursery growers followed a set spray schedule between May and October, with applications scheduled every other week. In addition, our results showed significant positive correlations between efficacy and spray-related factors, such as disease severity and worker hours spent in spraying; efficacy of disease management and spraying frequency in field-grown dogwoods; and foliar spray costs and efficacy of disease management. We estimated ≈$379/acre per year average costs for dogwood disease management, which the growers find to be one of the major components of the dogwood production budget. Moving to automated systems of disease scouting and management has the potential to reduce the cost of these labor-intensive disease management practices of dogwood production.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141057738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17691-24
N. Buthelezi, L. Mugivhisa, S. Gololo
Cancer bush (Lessertia frutescens L.) is an important medicinal plant that is rich in health beneficial compounds. It is commonly used in traditional medicine and as an ornamental plant. Heat stress is the most threatening abiotic factor restricting plant growth, thus causing crop yield and economic losses worldwide. The application of plant-derived biostimulant is as an innovative and promising approach for improving plant growth and productivity. The study was aimed to investigate the effect of moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) seed extract (MSE; 5%) either alone or in combination with salicylic acid (SA; 40 mg/L) on the growth, bioactive, and phytohormone attributes of cancer plants subjected to heat stress (38 °C for 2 hours for 5 days). Plants that were not treated were used as control. Plant pots were arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) for treatments (MSE, SA, and MSE + SA) at 7-day intervals during the experiment. Both MSE and MSE + SA foliar application effectively increased plant growth characteristics and total carotenoids contents, and reduced electrolyte leakage and had no symptoms of wilting compared with SA and control. Plants treated with MSE showed higher number of branches and concentrations of abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA), and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and lower superoxide and hydrogen peroxide compared with other treatments and control. Also, plants treated with MSE + SA showed higher total chlorophylls and glutathione concentrations compared with other treatments and control. Overall, the application of MSE either alone or in combination with SA enhanced plant growth and productivity of heat-stressed cancer bush plants.
癌症灌木(Lessertia frutescens L.)是一种重要的药用植物,富含有益健康的化合物。它常用于传统医药和观赏植物。热胁迫是限制植物生长的最具威胁性的非生物因素,从而在全球范围内造成作物产量和经济损失。应用植物源生物刺激剂是提高植物生长和生产率的一种创新且前景广阔的方法。本研究旨在探讨辣木(Moringa oleifera Lam.)种子提取物(MSE;5%)单独或与水杨酸(SA;40 mg/L)结合使用对热胁迫(38 °C,2 小时,5 天)下癌症植物的生长、生物活性和植物激素属性的影响。未经处理的植物作为对照。实验期间,每隔 7 天将盆栽植物按随机完全区组设计(RCBD)进行处理(MSE、SA 和 MSE + SA)。与 SA 和对照组相比,MSE 和 MSE + SA 叶面喷施均能有效提高植物生长特性和类胡萝卜素总含量,减少电解质渗漏,且无枯萎症状。与其他处理和对照相比,施用 MSE 的植株表现出更高的分枝数和脱落酸(ABA)、茉莉酸(JA)和吲哚-3-乙酸(IAA)浓度,以及更低的超氧化物和过氧化氢含量。此外,与其他处理和对照相比,用 MSE + SA 处理的植物叶绿素总量和谷胱甘肽浓度更高。总之,单独施用 MSE 或与 SA 联合施用都能提高热胁迫癌丛植物的生长和产量。
{"title":"Foliar Application of Moringa Seed Extract Alone or in Combination with Salicylic Acid Enhanced Growth, Bioactive, and Phytohormone Compositions of Cancer Bush Plants under Heat Stress","authors":"N. Buthelezi, L. Mugivhisa, S. Gololo","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17691-24","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17691-24","url":null,"abstract":"Cancer bush (Lessertia frutescens L.) is an important medicinal plant that is rich in health beneficial compounds. It is commonly used in traditional medicine and as an ornamental plant. Heat stress is the most threatening abiotic factor restricting plant growth, thus causing crop yield and economic losses worldwide. The application of plant-derived biostimulant is as an innovative and promising approach for improving plant growth and productivity. The study was aimed to investigate the effect of moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) seed extract (MSE; 5%) either alone or in combination with salicylic acid (SA; 40 mg/L) on the growth, bioactive, and phytohormone attributes of cancer plants subjected to heat stress (38 °C for 2 hours for 5 days). Plants that were not treated were used as control. Plant pots were arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) for treatments (MSE, SA, and MSE + SA) at 7-day intervals during the experiment. Both MSE and MSE + SA foliar application effectively increased plant growth characteristics and total carotenoids contents, and reduced electrolyte leakage and had no symptoms of wilting compared with SA and control. Plants treated with MSE showed higher number of branches and concentrations of abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA), and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and lower superoxide and hydrogen peroxide compared with other treatments and control. Also, plants treated with MSE + SA showed higher total chlorophylls and glutathione concentrations compared with other treatments and control. Overall, the application of MSE either alone or in combination with SA enhanced plant growth and productivity of heat-stressed cancer bush plants.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141036357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17673-23
C. Arlotta, Martina Cortese, A. Ciacciulli, D. P. Paolo, Riccardo Russo, Chiara Catalano, Grazia Licciardello, C. Licciardello, Alessandra Gentile, S. Di Silvestro, M. Caruso
Mal secco, caused by the fungus Plenodomus tracheiphilus, is a xylem disease that is a limiting factor for lemon production in the Mediterranean. Resistance or field tolerance are major goals for lemon breeders; however, there is scant information regarding the heritability of mal secco resistance in breeding populations. As with other vascular diseases, phenotyping is the bottleneck for ascertaining resistance and susceptibility, and a validated protocol for greenhouse phenotyping would be valuable to accelerate the selection of tolerant trees before field evaluation. We report phenotyping of 148 hybrids of Khasi papeda (Citrus latipes; tolerant to mal secco) × lemon (susceptible to the disease) in field and greenhouse conditions. Field evaluation was performed on all hybrids for 2 to 3 consecutive years on trees subjected to high natural-pathogen pressure. Detection of the fungal infection was performed by visual observation and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The first infections occurred ≈6 months after planting, but 2 years of observations were needed for a reliable estimation of susceptibility. The spread of the disease did not occur uniformly throughout the plot, with patterns of spread within rows, probably resulting from infections from plant to plant. The possible errors in the estimation of susceptibility as a result of the uneven distribution of infections in the plot were reduced by using more than one replicate tree per hybrid. The correlation between phenotyping scores and cycle threshold values was weak (r = –0.48, P < 0.001). Three years after planting, hybrids clustered into three groups—susceptible, tolerant, and intermediate—based on symptom progression. A subset of 65 self-rooted hybrids was also subjected to stem inoculation in an unheated greenhouse, with two to seven biological replicates per hybrid. Three months after inoculation, the samples were monitored for symptoms appearance and subjected to real-time PCR pathogen quantification. We observed a weak (r = 0.41) but significant (P < 0.001) correlation between phenotypes in the field and the greenhouse, indicating that, in our conditions, field evaluation remains the best method for phenotyping. However, artificial inoculations might help to discard the highly susceptible hybrids before field evaluation.
{"title":"Phenotypic Evaluation of a Lemon Hybrid Population to Identify Sources of Resistance to Plenodomus tracheiphilus","authors":"C. Arlotta, Martina Cortese, A. Ciacciulli, D. P. Paolo, Riccardo Russo, Chiara Catalano, Grazia Licciardello, C. Licciardello, Alessandra Gentile, S. Di Silvestro, M. Caruso","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17673-23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17673-23","url":null,"abstract":"Mal secco, caused by the fungus Plenodomus tracheiphilus, is a xylem disease that is a limiting factor for lemon production in the Mediterranean. Resistance or field tolerance are major goals for lemon breeders; however, there is scant information regarding the heritability of mal secco resistance in breeding populations. As with other vascular diseases, phenotyping is the bottleneck for ascertaining resistance and susceptibility, and a validated protocol for greenhouse phenotyping would be valuable to accelerate the selection of tolerant trees before field evaluation. We report phenotyping of 148 hybrids of Khasi papeda (Citrus latipes; tolerant to mal secco) × lemon (susceptible to the disease) in field and greenhouse conditions. Field evaluation was performed on all hybrids for 2 to 3 consecutive years on trees subjected to high natural-pathogen pressure. Detection of the fungal infection was performed by visual observation and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The first infections occurred ≈6 months after planting, but 2 years of observations were needed for a reliable estimation of susceptibility. The spread of the disease did not occur uniformly throughout the plot, with patterns of spread within rows, probably resulting from infections from plant to plant. The possible errors in the estimation of susceptibility as a result of the uneven distribution of infections in the plot were reduced by using more than one replicate tree per hybrid. The correlation between phenotyping scores and cycle threshold values was weak (r = –0.48, P < 0.001). Three years after planting, hybrids clustered into three groups—susceptible, tolerant, and intermediate—based on symptom progression. A subset of 65 self-rooted hybrids was also subjected to stem inoculation in an unheated greenhouse, with two to seven biological replicates per hybrid. Three months after inoculation, the samples were monitored for symptoms appearance and subjected to real-time PCR pathogen quantification. We observed a weak (r = 0.41) but significant (P < 0.001) correlation between phenotypes in the field and the greenhouse, indicating that, in our conditions, field evaluation remains the best method for phenotyping. However, artificial inoculations might help to discard the highly susceptible hybrids before field evaluation.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141026004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}