South African Journal of Botany最新文献

{"title":"6-Paradol exhibits antimicrobial, anti-quorum sensing and anti-virulence capacities on gram-negative bacteria: In vitro and in vivo studies","authors":"Hassan M. Okairy ,&nbsp;Abdulrahman E. Koshak ,&nbsp;Mahmoud A. Elfaky ,&nbsp;Hossam M. Abdallah ,&nbsp;Gamal A. Mohamed ,&nbsp;Sabrin R.M. Ibrahim ,&nbsp;Abdulrahim A. Alzain ,&nbsp;El-Sayed Khafagy ,&nbsp;Azza A.H. Rajab ,&nbsp;Wael A.H. Hegazy","doi":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.034","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.034","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Grains of paradise, which are native to Africa, contain 6-paradol, an antibacterial compound found in plants of the Zingiberaceae family. In this study, the antimicrobial and anti-virulence properties of 6-paradol were evaluated against significant Gram-negative bacteria. The assessment encompassed the impact of 6-paradol on the bacterial cell membrane, efflux mechanisms, bacterial motility, biofilm formation, and extracellular enzyme production. The findings demonstrated promising anti-quorum sensing activity of 6-paradol. Moreover, the outcomes unveiled that the antimicrobial activity of 6-paradol is primarily stems from its substantial influence on the bacterial cell membrane and efflux mechanisms. Furthermore, 6-paradol exhibited potential anti-virulence activities by effectively reducing the generation of biofilm and virulent enzymes, impeding bacterial motility, and inhibiting <em>in vivo</em> bacterial pathogenesis. These anti-virulence effects were attributed to the compound's interference with quorum sensing systems and the downregulation of genes associated with these systems. Additionally, when combined with antibiotics, 6-paradol demonstrated synergistic effects. In conclusion, 6-paradol possesses noteworthy anti-virulence activities and can be employed as an auxiliary alongside antibiotics for treating aggressive Gram-negative infections. This highlights its potential as a valuable addition to therapeutic strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21919,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142426657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A phytochemical content analysis, and antioxidant activity evaluation using a novel method on Melilotus officinalis flower","authors":"İlyas Yildiz ,&nbsp;Yunus Başar ,&nbsp;Ramazan Erenler ,&nbsp;Mehmet Hakki Alma ,&nbsp;Mehmet Harbi Calimli","doi":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.060","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.060","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Conducting content analysis is very important to elucidate and expand the different usage areas of plant components. Today's content analysis methods provide very reliable results. However, the high cost of these methods and the need for trained personnel bring other challenges. Therefore, simple, fast, and low-cost content analysis methods are a great need. In this study, the phenolic content of <em>Melilotus officinalis</em> flower extracts was investigated using LC-MS/MS analysis, and its antioxidant activity was determined with a novel method employing a PVC membrane sensor. In the method, for the first time, the antioxidant activities of <em>M. officinalis</em> flowers were determined in an economical, sensitive, fast, and stable manner using a PVC potentiometric sensor. Sensor measurements were performed using DPPH and FCR molecules, resulting in 25.71 mg.g^-1 activity values and 117.524 mg.g^-1, respectively. LC-MS/MS analysis was conducted to investigate the presence of 45 standard phenolic compounds in <em>M. officinalis</em>. The results revealed that coumarin and isoquercitrin were the major phenolic compounds in the <em>M. officinalis</em> flower extract. The findings of LC-MS/MS analyses of the extracts show moderate phenolic content presence in the <em>M. officinalis</em> flower extracts. The total phenolic content determined by LC-MS/MS analysis was consistent with the PVC membrane sensor analysis results. The studies of molecular docking aimed to identify the most effective active sites, and the Moldock scores (-57.13, -105.93) and binding energies (4.5 kcal.mol^-1, -7.9 kcal.mol^-1) of coumarin and isoquercitrin molecules. The results of molecular docking studies suggest that isoquercitrin exhibits a stronger inhibitory effect on DD-peptidase enzymes compared to coumarin.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21919,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142358205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Combined effects chitosan and genotype on agronomic, physiologic, and biochemical characteristics of soybean under drought stress conditions","authors":"Majid Esmaeeli ,&nbsp;Arash Roozbahani ,&nbsp;Jahanfar Daneshian","doi":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.036","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.036","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The current study investigated the responses of physiological, biochemical, and agronomic of four soybean genotypes to foliar application of chitosan under optimal water supply and drought stress conditions. A factorial split-plot experiment was set up in a randomized complete block design with three replications for two years (2022 and 2023). The enzymes activity of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) as well as chlorophyll content (a, b, and total), <em>ß</em>-carotene content, seed yield, protein yield, and oil yield were measured. Drought stress enhanced the <em>ß</em>-carotene content and the activity of SOD, POD, APX, and CAT compared with the full irrigation regime. By contrast, the chlorophyll content (a, b, and total) was reduced when soybean plants were grown under water-limited condition as compared with the water-limited condition. The drought stress regime led to decreases of 60 %, 12.5 %, and 23.3 % (on average across years, genotype, and chitosan treatments) in soybean seed yield, oil content, and protein content, respectively. The soybean genotypes differently responded to the foliar application of chitosan under both irrigation regimes in terms of the activity of SOD, POD, APX, and CAT enzymes. The chlorophyll a, b, and total contents roughly enhanced when the soybean plants were treated with chitosan compared with the control treatment. A slight reduction was observed for the <em>ß</em>-carotene content when the chitosan was applied under optimal water supply condition while the <em>ß</em>-carotene content was depleted for all studied genotypes under drought stress condition. On average across genotypes and chitosan treatments, applying chitosan boosted the soybean seed yield, oil content, and protein content by 6.9 %, 8.1 %, and 6.7 %, respectively. Overall, foliar application of chitosan and Williams genotype would be recommended under both irrigation regimes (drought and well-watered) to achieve the highest soybean seed yield, oil content, and protein content.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21919,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142358204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"SSR markers based QTL mapping and genetic analysis for yield and yield-attributing traits in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)","authors":"Ipsita Panigrahi ,&nbsp;Tusar Kanti Behera ,&nbsp;A.D. Munshi ,&nbsp;S.S. Dey ,&nbsp;A.B. Gaikwad ,&nbsp;Manoranjan Senapati","doi":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.049","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.049","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The present study was conducted for QTL mapping for yield and other yield attributing traits in bitter gourd using Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers. A total of 630 SSR markers were screened for polymorphism in two contrasting parents (DBGS-2 and Pusa Purvi), out of which only 35 were polymorphic. F₁ plants (10 individuals) in which hybridity was ascertained (using these polymorphic markers); were further employed for development of mapping population (F₂) consisting of 120 plants. Higher variation was present in the mapping population as evident from the wider range value of the characters. Continuous frequency distribution classes combined with bell-shaped, symmetrical normal distribution curve, revealed the quantitative inheritance nature of the traits studied. Higher PCV than the GCV for all the traits, along with high difference between the PCV and GCV for majority of traits indicated higher influence of environment in expression of these traits in the mapping population. Presence of transgressive segregation was also noted for majority of the traits. Amongst the various linkage groups (LG), LG 4 had the maximum number of markers, covering 171.07 cM map distance. LG4 also possessed the maximum number (nine) of QTLs while LG1 had six. QTL mapping using polymorphic SSRs resulted in detection of a total of 28 QTLs for fourteen traits viz. yield per plant (kg), earliness or flower related traits (node to first female flower, node to first male flower, days to first male flower, male to female flower ratio), fruit traits (fruit number per plant, fruit diameter (cm), fruit length/ diameter ratio, pericarp thickness (mm) and number of seed per fruit) and vegetative traits (internodal length (cm), number of primary branches, leaf width (cm), length and width ratio). The LOD score of these QTLs ranged from 3.01 to 64.47, the total phenotypic variances (PVE) ranged from 1.52 to 34.57 % and additive effects ranged from –3.69 to 17.07. Of the total, nineteen were major QTLs, having PVE &gt;10 %. Three QTLs were detected for yield per plant while a total of seven for the traits imparting earliness viz. days to first male flower, node to first female flower and node to first male flower. Amongst all the QTLs detected, qFrtLDR-4-1 (K) had the maximum LOD (64.47) and PVE (34.57 %) value. Two hotspots were detected with multiple QTLs clustered in the LG 1. The first hotspot possessed four QTLs [qLfW-1-1, qMFR-1-1 (K), qSPF-1-1, qNFmlF-1-1 (K)] while the second had two related to yield per plant [qYldpl-1-1 (K) and qYldpl-1-1]. Many of these QTLs are also being reported for the first time in bitter gourd. The findings of the present study can be used to fasten the bitter gourd improvement by utilizing these in MAS, DNA fingerprinting, genetic mapping, genomics analysis <em>etc</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21919,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142426124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Opuntia species: A comprehensive review of chemical composition and bio-pharmacological potential with contemporary applications","authors":"Hassiba Chahdoura ,&nbsp;Zeineb Mzoughi ,&nbsp;Ines Ellouze ,&nbsp;Ivana Generalić Mekinić ,&nbsp;Natália Čmiková ,&nbsp;Safia El Bok ,&nbsp;Hatem Majdoub ,&nbsp;Anis Ben Hsouna ,&nbsp;Rania Ben Saad ,&nbsp;Wissem Mnif ,&nbsp;Habib Mosbah ,&nbsp;Manel Ben M'hadheb ,&nbsp;Stefania Garzoli ,&nbsp;Miroslava Kǎcániová","doi":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.038","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.038","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aim of this review is to show the diverse applications and the phytochemical and pharmacological findings in connection with prickly pear plants of the Cactaceae family. <em>Opuntia</em> species, which are widely distributed in Africa, Asia, Australia and America and also play an important role in Mexico, have considerable health-promoting potential. Various parts of the plant, including cladodes, seeds, flowers, peels and fruits, contribute to its therapeutic efficacy. <em>Opuntia</em> is rich in phenolic antioxidants and pigments such as betalains and exhibits significant antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This review aims to provide scientific evidence for the chemical composition and beneficial properties of <em>Opuntia</em> sp. and to promote further research into their pharmacological and therapeutic effects. In addition, <em>Opuntia</em> sp. offer promising opportunities for various applications in both food and non-food sectors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21919,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142358203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insights into the culturable fungal endophytes of Dioscorea bulbifera L. in terms of their diversity, antidiabetic and antioxidant activity","authors":"Supriya Sharma ,&nbsp;Sanjana Kaul ,&nbsp;Manoj Kumar Dhar","doi":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.035","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.035","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The research on endophytes is focused on understanding the complex microbiome compositions, their interactions with host plants and their bioactive potential. Our study provided an overview of the diversity, distribution and bioactivities of culturable endophytic fungi associated with fungal endophytes of <em>Dioscorea bulbifera</em> L. The phylogenetic analysis depicted the evolutionary relationship among taxa of endophytic fungal isolates. The isolated fungal endophytes belonged to twenty-five genera and thirty-eight species. Further, diversity indices demonstrated significant diversity of fungal endophytes in the different tissues: stem, leaf, tuber and bulbil. A higher consistency of endophytic fungal isolates in the bulbils was found using Shannon index. Furthermore, Simpson's index revealed that the leaf tissue harboured highly diverse fungal endophytes. Likewise, Margalef's index depicted high taxonomic richness in bulbils. The isolates such as <em>Acrocalymma medicaginis, Curvularia lycoperscii, Talaromyces macrospora, Fusarium laceratum, Paecilomyces formosus</em> and <em>Microascus cirrosus</em> isolated in this study have been reported as endophytes for the first time from any plant. <em>In-vitro</em> antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of the ethyl acetate extracts revealed that <em>Nigrospora oryzae</em> (Z2) effectively inhibited α-glucosidase activity with IC₅₀ value of 0.6 µg/ml whereas IC₅₀ value of the acarbose, the positive control was reported to be 0.040 µg/ml. The results of antioxidant activity demonstrated that H15A (<em>Acrocalymma medicaginis</em>) and BD5 (<em>Phomopsis longicolla</em>) could be used as potential sources of antioxidant agents. Moreover, H15A (<em>Acrocalymma medicaginis</em>) was reported to produce 687.1 ± 0.17 µg GAE/mg of TPC and 78.55 ± 0.29 µg QE/mg of TFC quantitatively. These findings suggest that the potential endophytes could be explored using systematic bio-guided investigations to further discover novel natural products. Our study provides an important resource for a deeper understanding of endophyte-plant interactions at molecular and genetic levels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21919,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142326349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transcriptional regulation and expression networks involving exogenous nitric oxide in Kentucky bluegrass under cadmium stress","authors":"Jingping Xian ,&nbsp;Yong Wang ,&nbsp;Kuiju Niu ,&nbsp;Huiling Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cadmium (Cd) is harmful to the environment, as it is a non-essential biological element. It leads to the normal dysfunction and degradation of soil quality, and is toxic to plants. Many studies reported that the application of nitric oxide (NO) can effectively reduce the toxicity of Cd in plants. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of the positive effects of exogenous NO on plant Cd tolerance has not been well documented. In the present study, comparative transcriptome analysis was performed on Kentucky bluegrass seedlings treated with Cd (Cd alone) and Cd + NO (Cd and NO simultaneously) .Comparative transcriptional regulation analysis showed that Differential expressed genes (DEGs) was mainly involved in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction, plant hormone signal transduction, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, amino acid transport and metabolism, fatty acid metabolism and biosynthesis related pathways. These results suggest that exogenous NO may alleviate cadmium stress by regulating genes related to signal transduction, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, amino acid biosynthesis and phenylpropane biosynthesis. Additionally, the DEGs and metabolic pathways between Cd and Cd + NO treatment groups were analyzed in this study, and a series of key genes mediated by NO signal in response to cadmium stress were screened out, and they were listed as candidate genes related to NO alleviating cadmium stress in Kentucky bluegrass. This study helps to understand the transcriptional regulation and complex internal network of exogenous NO alleviating Cd -tolerance in Kentucky bluegrass.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21919,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142326347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sickle cell disease: Ethnopharmacological survey in the eastern part of Madagascar","authors":"Nantenaina Tombozara ,&nbsp;Fenitriniaina Judith Elyna Mahitasoa ,&nbsp;Zoarilala Rinah Razafindrakoto ,&nbsp;Denis Randriamampionona ,&nbsp;Marcellin Solofoniaina ,&nbsp;Paul Tata ,&nbsp;David Ramanitrahasimbola ,&nbsp;Charles Andrianjara","doi":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.033","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.033","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most devastating inherited haemoglobinopathy that affects mostly children. Its prevalence can reach up to 13 % in the south-eastern part of Madagascar. For socio-cultural and economic reasons, the majority of patients use plants to manage the symptoms of this genetic disease. This work aims to inventory these plants and collect all information on their use, their therapeutic effects, and their eventual side effects in order to compile a database. These plants will be the subject of future chemical, pharmacological and toxicological investigations in the laboratory. Semi-directive interviews were led among 208 respondents from January 2018 to January 2020 in the eastern part of Madagascar. After obtaining the informed consent of the interviewees, collected data on the used medicinal plants were analyzed for various ethnomedicinal parameters including frequency of citation (FC), use value (UV), relative frequency of citation (RFC), fidelity level (FL), family use value (FUV) and informant consensus factor (ICF) related to the SCD management and the other mentioned diseases. Among the 208 respondents, 30.29 % were male; 73.39 % received formal education; 53.37 % were farmers, 8.17 % were traditional healers and 6.73 % were herbal sellers. Most of them (94.23 %) have a good knowledge of SCD and 91.83 % of them use herbal medicine to manage SCD. They recommended 123 plant species belonging to 111 genera and 62 families. <em>Asteraceae</em> (14.50 %) was the most cited family however <em>Blechnaceae</em> was the most valued family (FUV = 0.356). The majority of the cited species (70.73 %) were wild plants. Herbs (42.28 %) were the most used plant life form and the most used common parts were leaves (44.68 %). They usually prepare tea by infusion of plant material (71.83 %). <em>Ficus polita</em> was the most important species with the highest FC (10.93 %), UV (0.393), RFC (75.92 %) and FL (94.94 %). ICF of SCD and its symptoms value was 0.50 showing the homogeneity, and the consensus among the informants in the use of medicinal plants for managing this disease. Some species (08) have been reported for their anti-sickling properties and some of the other species have been reported for their pharmacological properties related to SCD symptoms management. These results confirmed the importance of investigating the use of plant species to manage SCD and its symptoms in the eastern part of Madagascar, suggesting the fundamental role of ethnomedicinal studies for the sustainable use of plant species for future scientific investigations on phyto-drugs for SCD management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21919,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142323855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Efficacy of postharvest treatments with sodium nitroprusside and gibberellic acid on physio-biochemical modifications and vase life of dahlia cut flower","authors":"Chetan Chauhan ,&nbsp;Mukesh Kumar ,&nbsp;Varsha Rani ,&nbsp;Rajat Singh","doi":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.039","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.039","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The goal of the current study was to evaluate the impacts of both sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and gibberellic acid (GA₃) separately and in combination on the longevity of Dahlia cut flowers. Additionally, the potential physiological and biochemical changes associated with these treatments are also examined. Cut flowers treated with nitric oxide donor SNP and GA₃ significantly improved all postharvest characteristics of cut flowers, including vase life and other physiological characteristics, as compared to control. Flowers treated with T₁₅ (SNP 20 mg L^-l + GA₃ 20 mg L^-l) resulted in maximum vase life, followed by treatment T₃ (SNP 20 mg^-l) and minimum vase life recorded in control. Treatment T₁₅ (SNP 20 mg L^-l + GA₃ 20 mg L^-l) shows an improvement in all biochemical activities, including superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase activity, except malondialdehyde accumulation, as compared with untreated cut flowers. Thus, SNP alone or along with GA₃ as a pulsing solution could be a promising approach to improving the postharvest quality of dahlia cut flowers by influencing physiological and biochemical modifications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21919,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142323973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Carbon isotope composition of biomass and water use efficiency in young plants of Jatropha curcas L. under irrigated or water deficit conditions","authors":"F.P. Gomes ,&nbsp;H. Griffiths ,&nbsp;L.M.C. Gomes ,&nbsp;B.G. Laviola","doi":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.037","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sajb.2024.09.037","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Jatropha curcas</em> L. is a non-food crop quoted as a promising natural feedstock for biodiesel production in tropical and subtropical regions. Although an efficient mechanism of drought avoidance through stomatal control of transpiration has been demonstrated in this species, low carbon assimilation and growth rates preclude any advantage of such strategy under water limitation. Two greenhouse experiments were conducted with the objective of investigating varietal differences in water use as the trade-off between carbon isotope composition (δ¹³C) in different tissues and water use efficiency, in young plants of <em>J. curcas</em>. The first experiment was a survey with seven provenances of <em>J. curcas</em> under non-limiting water availability. There were no significant differences among provenances for leaf gas exchange rates, growth and whole-plant transpiration (T). However, significant effects of provenance and tissue (stem bark or leaf) in δ¹³C were demonstrated. The provenances CNPAE183 and CNPAE222 were selected for the second experiment, as variations in water use traits and δ¹³C between the two provenances were observed. Soil water deficit, imposed for 18 days, led to significant physiological, biochemical, and morphological changes. An early and sharp response to water deficit in CNPAE183 as compared to CNPAE222 was observed, as indicated by a 44% higher rate of decrease of T in the former. In addition, water deficit led to increase of δ¹³C, which was more pronounced in CNPAE222 (13% in young leaves) when compared to CNPAE183 (11% in young leaves). In both provenances, δ¹³C was less negative in young as compared to mature tissues. Significant and direct correlations between stem bark and leaf δ¹³C and leaf-level intrinsic water use efficiency were observed. Contrasting results, particularly on T and δ¹³C, suggest the existence of genetic diversity for water relations and metabolic traits linked to drought tolerance in <em>J. curcas</em>. Using stem bark or leaf δ¹³C measurements as the basis for large-scale screening of water-use efficient genotypes should be considered.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21919,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142323856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}