Adalberto Benavides-Mendoza¹, Rebeca Betancourt-Galindo², Nazario Francisco-Francisco^3,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.6, pp. 1831-1840, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.028085

Abstract

Micronutrient nanoparticles (NPs) are currently an option for chemical fertilization and biostimulation in crops. However, there is little information on the phytotoxic or biostimulatory effects of NPs at low concentrations of some elements, such as Zn. In this study, the effect of low concentrations of Zn oxide (ZnO) NPs on germination, growth variables, and nutritional attributes of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) was evaluated in comparison to Zn sulfate. Romaine lettuce seeds were treated with ZnSO₄^-- × 7H₂O and ZnO NPs at Zn molar concentrations of 1 × 10⁻³, 5 × 10⁻³, 1 × 10⁻⁴, 5 × 10⁻⁴, 1… More >

Xiaotian Liang^1,#, Qi Wen^1,#, Rui Luo¹, Yanxin Zhang¹, Mingda Yin¹, Yanpeng Wen¹, Xuemei Hu¹, Zhiyan Wang¹, Yumiao Huo¹, Fenglan Huang^{1,2,3,4,5,6,*}

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.6, pp. 1765-1792, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.026935

Abstract Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.), is one of the top 10 oilseed crops in the world and, therefore, of high economic value. Hybridization is one of the most effective ways to breed new varieties with high yield, high oil content, and better stress resistance. Therefore, prediction of desired traits in castor hybrid offspring is particularly important. In this study, proteomic analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in seeds between castor hybrid offspring and their female (Lm female line aLmAB₂) and male parents (CSR·181). Among the DEPs upregulated in the seeds of hybrid offspring, the majority were related… More >

Yanyan Pu^1,#, Liwen Wang^2,#, Leilei Li³, Yujun Si⁴, Shubin Xie², Yunzhe Cong¹, Dong Wang¹, Yongchao Gong¹, Rumei Tian¹, Xue Chen³, Xiaoyan Zhang¹, Min Liu¹, Hanfeng Ding^1,3,*, Nana Li^1,3,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.6, pp. 1793-1812, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.026822

Abstract During the life cycle of a plant, seed germination is crucial. Upon ingestion of water, the dry seeds resumed energy metabolism and cellular repair. To dissect the complex mechanisms at the very beginning of seed germination, two approaches including transcriptome and small RNA sequencing were conducted during the water imbibition process of mung bean seeds compared with dry seed. The transcriptome sequencing analysis identified 10,108 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between dry and imbibed mung bean seeds. KEGG enrichment analyses demonstrated numerous DEGs involved in hormone signaling pathways, carbohydrate, and energy metabolism. Out of the total DEGs, 129 genes were investigated… More >

Ziyang Feng^1,#, Xinqi Cheng^2,#, Tianwen Wang³, Yongchao Han¹, Haihong Chen¹, Xinyu Zhang¹, Jie Sun¹, Wei Zhang^1,*, Feng Liu^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.5, pp. 1633-1647, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.027542

Abstract Fatty Acyl-ACP thioesterase (FAT) is a key enzyme controlling oil biosynthesis in plant seeds. FATs can be divided into two subfamilies, FATA and FATB according to their amino acid sequences and substrate specificity. The Upland cotton genome contains 20 GhFAT genes, amongst which 6 genes were of the GhFATA subfamily and 14 of the GhFATB subfamily. The 20 GhFAT genes are unevenly distributed on 14 chromosomes. The GhFATA genes have 5 or 7 exons and the GhFATB genes have 6 or 7 exons. All GhFAT proteins have the conserved Acyl-ACP_TE domain and PLN02370 super family, the typical characteristics of plant… More >

Luqian Zhang^1,#, Xilin Fang^1,#, Nan Yu¹, Jun Chen¹, Haodong Wang¹, Quansheng Shen¹, Guanghui Chen^2,*, Yue Wang^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.5, pp. 1571-1587, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.025481

Abstract Drought stress is a serious threat to the germination of plant seeds and the growth of seedlings. Melatonin has been proven to play an important role in alleviating plant stress. However, its effect on seed germination under drought conditions is still poorly understood. Therefore, we studied the effects of melatonin on rice seed germination and physiological characteristics under drought stress. Rice seeds were treated with different concentrations of melatonin (i.e., 0, 20, 100, and 500 μM) and drought stress was simulated with 5% polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG6000). The results showed that 100 μM melatonin can effectively improve the germination potential,… More >

Jameel M. Al-Khayri^1,*, Salha M. Alshamrani², Adel A. Rezk¹, Wael F. Shehata¹, Mustafa I. Almaghasla³, Tarek A. Shalaby^3,4, Ahmed M. Saad⁵, Fatmah A. Safhi⁶, Muhammad N. Sattar⁷, Arafat A. Abdel Latef⁸, Mahmoud Z. Sitohy⁵, Abdallah A. Hassanin^9,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.5, pp. 1493-1512, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.027375

Abstract Appropriate knowledge of the parental cultivars is a pre-requisite for a successful breeding program. This study characterized fruit yield, quality attributes, and molecular variations of ten tomato cultivars during three consecutive generations under greenhouse conditions. Peto 86, Castle Rock, and Red Star cultivars showed the highest fruit yield (kg/plant), total phenolic compounds (TPC), and sap acidity. Principal component analysis categorized the evaluated fruit yield into three groups based on their quality attributes. A robust positive correlation appeared among traits inside each group. A positive correlation was likewise noticed between the first and the second groups. However, a negative correlation was… More >

Zhengguang Liu¹, Jun Yang¹, Tobi Fadiji², Zhiguo Li^1,*, Jiheng Ni³

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.4, pp. 1071-1090, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.026408

Abstract Wind disturbance as a green method can effectively prevent the overgrowth of tomato seedlings, and its mechanism may be related to root system mechanics. This study characterized the biophysical mechanical properties of taproot and lateral roots of tomato seedlings at five seedling ages and seedling substrates with three different moisture content. The corresponding root system-substrate finite element (FE) model was then developed and validated. The study showed that seedling age significantly affected the biomechanical properties of the taproot and lateral roots of the seedlings and that moisture content significantly affected the biomechanical properties of the seedling substrate (p < 0.05).… More >

Sasa Jing¹, Yuan Tian¹, Heng Zhang², John T. Hancock³, Ying Zhu^2,*, Ping Li^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.4, pp. 1203-1214, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.026305

Abstract The crop seeds have been a staple food for humans, and seed yield is important for sustaining agriculture development and enhancing human adaptability to food risks. The phenomenon of pre-harvest sprouting (PHS), caused by seed dormancy deficiency, and the phenomenon of low seedling emergence caused by seed deep dormancy, will lead to a reduction in agricultural production. Therefore, it is particularly important to understand the regulation mechanisms of seed dormancy. There are many studies on the regulation of seed dormancy in rice, but there are few studies on the regulation of seed dormancy in other crops, and the research on… More >

Muhammad Zafar¹, Siraj Ahmed¹, Muhammad Kashif Munir¹, Nawal Zafar¹, Muhammad Saqib¹, Muhammad Aleem Sarwar², Saba Iqbal¹, Baber Ali³, Naveed Akhtar¹, Basharat Ali^4,*, Sadam Hussain^5,*, Muhammad Saeed⁶, Mohammad Khalid Al-Sadoon⁷, Aneela Gulnaz⁸

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.4, pp. 983-999, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.025813

Abstract Deficiencies of essential vitamins, iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) affect over one-half of the world’s population. A significant progress has been made to control micronutrient deficiencies through supplementation, but new approaches are needed, especially to reach the rural poor. Agronomic biofortification of pulses with Zn, Fe, and boron (B) offers a pragmatic solution to combat hidden hunger instead of food fortification and supplementation. Moreover, it also has positive effects on crop production as well. Therefore, we conducted three separate field experiments for two consecutive years to evaluate the impact of soil and foliar application of the aforementioned nutrients on the… More >

Tobias Drieschner^1,2,*, Andreas Kandelbauer¹, Bernd Hitzmann², Karsten Rebner¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.4, pp. 1643-1660, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2023.024429

Abstract For optimization of production processes and product quality, often knowledge of the factors influencing the process outcome is compulsory. Thus, process analytical technology (PAT) that allows deeper insight into the process and results in a mathematical description of the process behavior as a simple function based on the most important process factors can help to achieve higher production efficiency and quality. The present study aims at characterizing a well-known industrial process, the transesterification reaction of rapeseed oil with methanol to produce fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) for usage as biodiesel in a continuous micro reactor set-up. To this end, a… More >