Sensitivity assessment of lawn grasses to salt pollution of Moscow soil-like grounds by laboratory phytotesting

Water extracts obtained from the roots, shoots, and fruits of mature wild onion (Asphodelus tenuifolius) plants and soil taken from an A. tenuifolius field were used to determine their allelopathic effects on the germination and seedling growth of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) in the laboratory. The roots, shoots, and fruits of A. tenuifolius were soaked individually in water in a ratio of 1:20 (w/v) for 24 h to prepare the extracts. Distilled water was used as the control. The germinated seeds were taken out from the Petri dishes and counted every day for 12 days. The seeds of chickpea were also sown in sand and in each of the controlled, normal soil and the soil taken from the A. tenuifolius‐infested field in Petri dishes to record the length and weight of the roots and shoots 18 days after sowing. The mean germination time reached the maximum amount for the stem and fruit extracts. The fruit extract caused the most reduction in the germination index and the germination percentage of chickpea. The different wild onion organ extracts significantly reduced the root and shoot length and biomass of the chickpea seedlings compared with the distilled water. The fruit extract of wild onion proved to be the most detrimental to the root length, shoot length, and dry weight of the chickpea seedlings. The soil beneath the A. tenuifolius plants significantly reduced the emergence, root length, shoot length, shoot dry weight, and seedling dry weight but increased the root dry weight of the chickpea seedlings. It is suggested that A. tenuifolius releases phytotoxic compound(s).

An Engineering Approach Investigating the Uptake and Phytotoxicity of One Type of Engineered Nanoparticle (CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots) by Solanum Lycopersicum

Germination is the first important step of the plant growth in the land. The germination and growth of sorghum in marginal land can be optimized by inoculating with PGPR (inoculants), hydrogel and CMC (carriers). The aim of the research was to evaluate the response of germination and seedling growth of sorghum using PGPR inoculation with hydrogel and CMC as carriers (in vitro) and pots containing sterile sand (in vivo). The experiment used PGPR (Azospirillum lipoferum 1103D, Azotobacter chroococcum 4103D, and Bacillus sp. 3D), and hydrogels as the reserve water, as well as carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as the adhesive media. The results showed that the combination of PGPR-mix (Azospirillum, Azotobacter, Bacillus) with hydrogels as bio-organic fertilizer and CMC as carriers has promoted the growth of the roots, shoots and vigour index of in vitro sorghum germination, as well as increased the root length, shoot length and total dry weight of sorghum seedlings in pots containing sterile sand. The best result of in vitro experiment (root length = 8.67 cm; shoot length = 12.6 cm; and vigor index = 2127.00) was obtained by sorghum seed inoculated with single PGPR inoculant (A. lipoferum) with carrier of CMC. The root length, shoot length and total dry weight of the highest sorghum seedlings were obtained by PGPR-mix inoculants without carriers (46.5 cm, 12 cm, and 0.477 g), PGPR-mix with carrier of CMC (48.67 cm, 15.67 cm, and 0.431 g), and PGPR-mix with carrier of hydrogel (48.67 cm, 15 cm, and 0.430 g).

The effect of nursery manuring in rice was studied at Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute, Aduthurai during 1985-1987. Two forms of fertilizers, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea plus super phosphate with different levels and time of application were compared. It was inferred that root and shoot length of rice seedlings were significantly influenced by the application of either DAP or urea plus super phosphate. Shoot length of seedlings was significantly increased by applying the fertilizer 10 days after sowing compared to basal application. Increased shoot length with lesser root length eased the pulling out operation with lesser per cent of seedling damage. Grain yield was not influenced by nursery manuring.

Haloxylon persicum is a well-known plant of sandy deserts, but yet, its allelopathic and phytochemical potential has not been explored. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of different concentrations (1, 2, 4, and 8%) of the aqueous extract of H. persicum shoots on seed germination and seedling growth of wheat crop and black mustard weed. The effects of the same extract on the biochemical parameters (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carbohydrates content, and proline content) of wheat seedlings were also investigated. Low and moderate concentrations (1, 2, and 4%) of H. persicum aqueous extract nonsignificantly affected seed germination, shoot length, root length, fresh weight, and dry weight of wheat seedlings, whereas these parameters were negatively affected by the application of the highest extract concentration (8%). The results revealed a significant increase in proline content in wheat seedlings under all the applied concentrations of H. persicum extract. Low and moderate concentrations (1–4%) of H. persicum extract significantly enhanced chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll content in wheat seedlings, whereas these parameters were significantly reduced when the highest extract concentration (8%) was applied. Only the lowest concentration (1%) of H. persicum extract reduced the carbohydrates content of wheat seedlings, while other concentrations showed nonsignificant effects. Concentrations of 4 and 8% of H. persicum extract reduced the seed germination percentage of black mustard. The root length, shoot length, and fresh weight of black mustard seedlings were significantly decreased by the application of 1 and 2% extract concentrations and completely inhibited in response to treatment with 4 and 8% concentrations. The dry weight of black mustard seedlings was not affected by 1 and 2% extract concentrations but completely inhibited at 4 and 8% concentrations. The methanol extract of H. persicum contains high contents of bioactive secondary metabolites, such as phenolics, flavonoids, flavonols, anthocyanins, tannins, saponins, as well as proved to has a very strong antioxidant activity of the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity (DPPH). Based on our results, we recommend the potential application of the aqueous extracts of H. persicum to control black mustard weed in wheat crops. Furthermore, H. persicum revealed an interesting phytochemical pattern with sound antioxidant activity that assigns this plant as a promising candidate to explore its detailed metabolomics profile along with potential bioactivities.

This study was conducted to assess the impact of magnetopriming on seed germination, root and shoot length in six vegetable species: tomatoes, peppers, onions, cauliflowers, cabbages, and carrots. The seeds of the first three species were exposed to magnetopriming for approximately 5 minutes at 15-17 mT, while the remaining species underwent a 15-minute room temperature treatment. Magnetopriming was found to be more effective in enhancing regular germination across all species. Although the improvements observed in tomatoes, cabbages, and carrots were not statistically significant (p<0.05), it increased regular germination percentages by 8-14% in all species. The most significant benefit from the treatment was observed in onions, with a 14% increase, while the lowest enhancement was recorded in cabbages and tomatoes as 8%. While the mean germination time increased significantly for onions, it remained unchanged for the other species. Additionally, magnetopriming significantly (p<0.05) influenced the shoot and root lengths of seedlings in all species. The most substantial improvement in shoot length was observed in tomatoes and onions, with an increase of 1.4-1.3 cm, while the maximum enhancement in root length was found in cabbages and tomatoes, increasing by 3.5-2 cm, respectively. The results indicate that magnetopriming not only improves germination but also significantly enhances the potential for root and shoot growth in these vegetable species.

The study focused on germination parameters as the most critical stage of plant development in dry bean cultivars under different salt treatment. For two used cultivars (Akman-98, Karaman-2016) the data on germination percentage, mean germination time, seedling shoot length, seedling root length, seedling length and seedling vigor indexes were reached under the different salinity levels of irrigation water (0 mM, 25 mM, 50 mM, 100 mM, 150 mM, and 200 mM of NaCl) in Petri plates. The data indicates that these parameters could be used as screening the dry bean cultivars against salt stress levels. This study was carried out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with a total of 12 treatments (6 salinity x 2 cultivars) for the germination and seedling data each comprising of three replicates. The results demonstrated that; i) From the overall observation of the germination characters, at 100 mM and over salt treatments showed decreasing in the germination percentage, the seedling length and the seedling vigor index in the mean of the cultivars, ii) Significantly decreasing in the seedling shoot length were observed in the mean of the cultivars at just after 25 mM and gradually at all salt concentrations, iii) Although the root length showed increasing in 25 and 50 mM treatments than the control plants, a sudden decrease occurred after 100 mM salt treatment in the mean of the cultivars and in each cultivars separately, iv) The mean germination time were sharply in increasing starting with 25 mM treatment in the mean of the cultivars, v) Except the seedling shoot length, in the mean of all the salt treatments between the cultivars did not show statistically differences in the calculated parameters, vi) Any correlation was found between the salt concentrations and the cultivars.

To understand the interference mechanism of the weed, cogongrass,Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv., its effect on nutrient availability and mycoflora of its soil rhizosphere as well as nodule characteristics, root length, and root/shoot ratio of Melilotus parviflora Desf. were investigated. Additionally, the effect of the leachates of leaves and root/rhizome of cogongrass on seed germination and seedling characteristics of radish, mustard, fenugreek, and tomato were examined. Furthermore, to assess the qualitative and quantitative differences in phytochemical components, the leachates and the soils from three sampling sites (with cogongrass and 1.5 m and 3 m away from cogongrass) were analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a C18 column. No significant difference in nutrient availability was found, but qualitative and quantitative differences in phenolic fractions were recorded in the three sampling sites. Furthermore, of the 19 fungi recorded in the soils, decreases in the number of colonies (per gram of soil) ofAspergillus fumigatus, A. niger, A. candidus, and an increase of A. flavus was recorded in the soils with cogongrass. The inhibition in nodule number, weight, nitrogen fixation (acetylene reduction activity), root length, and root/shoot ratio of Melilotus parviflora were noted. Percent seed germination, root and shoot length, fresh and dry weight of seedlings of different seeds were affected by the leachates of leaves and root/rhizome. It was found that root/rhizome leachate was more inhibitory than leaf leachate. However, the inhibition was higher in soil+leaves leachate than soil+root/rhizome leachate. HPLC analysis established that four compounds were contributed by the weed to the soil system even though their relative concentration varies in various leachates. It is surmised that these compounds cause allelopathic inhibition of growth characteristics of seeds tested. Significance of the data vis-a-vis the interference potential of the cogongrass is discussed.

Seed priming enhances seedling growth in cowpeas, a crop of nutritional and economic importance. However, its physiological effects, particularly its interaction with antioxidants like ascorbic acid, remain underexplored. We hypothesized that priming cowpea seeds with ascorbic acid would enhance germination percentage, root and shoot length, and seedling biomass. The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of ascorbic acid seed priming on cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) germination and seedling growth. An experiment was conducted using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three treatments and three replications. Treatments included three levels of ascorbic acid (0 as control, 0.5, and 1 mM), where seeds were soaked for 12 hours for priming and air-dried for an hour. Each dish contained ten seeds subjected to the respective treatments. The results indicated a significant effect of ascorbic acid priming on germination and seedling growth. The highest germination percentage (100%), shoot length (10.84 cm), root length (9.97 cm), and fresh weight of seedlings (5.60 g) were observed in seeds primed with 1 mM of ascorbic acid. However, the control (0 ascorbic acid) exhibited lower values with 80% germination, shoot length of 6.84 cm, root length of 5.54 cm, and seedling fresh weight of 3.77 g. These findings suggest that ascorbic acid enhances early-stage cowpea growth and improves metabolic activation during germination. Further research is recommended to explore the interaction of ascorbic acid priming with mixed-seed systems and other vegetable crops to determine its broader agricultural applications.

Heavy metal (HM) stress is an important abiotic stress along with drought, salinity, extreme temperature, etc. Specifically, HM pollution causes potential risk for crop yield and in turn for human beings. In the present study, screening of HMs on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and horse gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) seed germination and seedling growth were carried out. Particularly, screening of non-essential chromium (Cr) on seeds of sorghum including horse gram and essential manganese (Mn) on seeds of sorghum were performed under in vitro conditions. In addition, physiological, and biochemical aspects were studied to assess the growth promotion or damage in both Cr and Mn treatments. The percentage of sorghum seed germination was reduced with increasing chromium concentration. In contrast, seed germination was unaffected in horse gram even in a high concentration of chromium. In extent, increasing chromium doses reduces the root and shoot lengths of both sorghum and horse gram seedlings but the impacts were more in an earlier one. High concentrations of essential manganese exhibit a minor reduction in germination of sorghum seeds and root and shoot lengths of seedlings. Total chlorophyll contents were reduced with high concentrations of chromium or manganese in sorghum seedlings. But interestingly minor augmentation of total chlorophyll contents was noticed in horse gram seedlings with increasing doses of chromium. Proline contents were increased in 206all the HM treatments, but horse gram generated more proline in chromium treatment which indicates its chromium tolerance nature.

The in vitro assay of the leaf extracts of selected botanicals was carried out to assess the inhibitory potentials of the extracts on fungal growth, seed germination, seedling growth characters and frequency of seed-borne fungi. selected plants include: Azadirachta. indica, Moringa oleifera, Vernonia amygdalina, Tithonia diversifolia and Carica papaya. Fungal isolates characterized from Cucumis sativus were Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Trichoderma viride and Nigrospora sphaerica. Azadirachta indica had the highest percentage inhibitory effect at p ≤ 0.01 on F. oxysporum (82.21%), while Moringa oleifera had the highest inhibition of 68.72% on T. viride, but not significantly different from T. diversifolia. Seeds treated with C. papaya extract produced the highest seedling length, germination and seedling vigour, while control was least. Concentration of 10% produced significant highest seedling (17.72cm), root length (11.59cm), percentage germination (82.67%) and seedling vigour (1469.08). Seedling length is positive and strongly correlated with shoot length, root length and seedlingvigour with r = 0.87, 0.67 and 0.89 respectively. Seedling vigour is positive and strongly associated with seedling length (0.89), shoot length (0.72) and root length (0.67).
 Keywords: botanical extracts, Cucumis sativus, fungi, growth response

This study aimed to determine the effect of seed priming (on-farm, hydro, halo, osmo, vitamin c priming, and hardening) on the germination and seedling growth of spring rice varieties: hardinath-3, hardinath-1, and chaite-5 at ambient room temperature. A factorial completely randomized design (CRD) was carried out with two factors: methods of priming and varieties at agriculture knowledge center (AKC), kapilbastu during march 2020. There were, in total, 21 treatment combinations and four replications. Parameters observed were germination percentage, speed of germination, vigor index, root length, shoot length, fresh weight, and dry weight of rice seedlings. Hardinath-3 had superior performance in terms of germination percentage (95.35 %), vigor index (183.86), root length (11.51 cm) and shoot length (7.39 cm) compared to hardinath-1 and chaite-5; the speed of germination, however, was greater in hardinath-1. Seed hardening - alternate soaking (tap water for 24 hours) and drying - induced higher germination percentage (94.91 %), speed of germination (96.00), and vigor index (197.43) than did other priming methods; germination percentage of vitamin c primed seeds (94.75 %), nevertheless, were at statistical par with hardened seeds. Hardened hardinath-3 seeds were better in regards to germination percentage (97.50 %) and root length (12.92 cm), while the speed of germination (97.50) and vigor index (210.50) was greater in hardened hardinath-1. Vitamin c primed seeds of hardinath-3 and hardinath-1 were finer with dry weight, shoot length, and vigor index. In conclusion, farmers' are suggested to hardened seeds of hardinath-3 before sowing to promote uniform germination and growth.

The performance of seed treatment products for maize usually is evaluated in field experiments, where it is difficult to assess their effects on specific important pathogens such as fungi in the genus Fusarium. To evaluate three fungicidal seed treatments (captan, difenoconazole, and fludioxonil) against six Fusarium species that infect maize seed or seedlings, we conducted experiments in the laboratory and in growth chambers. In the laboratory experiments, treated and nontreated seeds of two maize hybrids were incubated on the surface of an agar medium colonized by each of 12 Fusarium isolates. The fungi did not reduce seed germination, but most Fusarium isolates caused decay of the seed and radicle, and arrested the development of the radicle. All three fungicides significantly reduced the colonization and decay of the seeds and radicles by Fusarium isolates and resulted in greater radicle lengths, but there were significant interactions between the effects of fungicide treatments and Fusarium isolates. Overall, difenoconazole was the most effective fungicide for the prevention of seed colonization and decay. Fludioxonil was overall the most effective fungicide in terms of increased radicle length, particularly when seed was exposed to isolates of F. graminearum, which were among the most aggressive isolates in the experiments. In the growth chamber experiments, seeds were planted in a Fusarium-infested potting medium, which resulted in lower emergence, shoot length, root length, and dry weight of seedlings compared to the noninfested control. Some isolates also caused root rot symptoms. All three fungicides significantly improved shoot and root length and root health, difenoconazole and fludioxonil significantly improved emergence, and only difeno-conazole significantly improved dry weight compared to the nontreated control. There were significant rank correlations between the results of the laboratory and growth chamber experiments in terms of relative aggressiveness of the isolates and relative efficacy of the fungicides. The laboratory experiments were more sensitive in terms of detecting differences in fungicide performance. These results indicate that all three fungicides were effective against Fusarium, but difenoconazole and fludioxonil generally were more effective than captan; the fungicides also differed in efficacy against different Fusarium species.

The aim of the study was to examine the biophysical conditions necessary for seed biopriming of Lepidium sativum L. by investigating the different morphological parameters at various developmental stages of plant growth. In order to achieve maximum growth and yield, Trichoderma harzianum at a concentration 108 CFU/mL (colony forming unit/mL) suspended in 1% NaCl solution of pH 7 was used for the treatment of garden cress seeds and kept it for 16 hours at 20°C. Seed bio-priming with the combined application of Trichoderma asperellum and Trichoderma harzianum leads to highest germination percentage (98.89 ± 0.79%), average shoot (10.10 ± 0.14 cm) and root length (8.57 ± 0.29 cm) of seedlings, seed vigour index (1,846.22 ± 47.77), seed stamina index (18.46 ± 0.48), relative water content (93.1 ± 2.77%), and seed metabolic efficiency (0.31 ± 0.02 g/g) followed by the individual application of T. harzianum, T. asperellum as compared to untreated seeds. A similar result was found at the mature stage, where combined application of fungus possesses higher biomass (12.27 ± 0.29 g/plant), number of branches (16.6 ± 0.43 branches/plant), shoot length (59.27 ± 0.42 cm), root length (12.37 ± 0.79 cm) and yield (5.55 ± 0.11 g/plant) followed by individual application of T. harzianum, T. asperellum as compared to control. Overall, biopriming of garden cress seeds with the combination of T. harzianum and T. asperellum showed a viable strategy for improving crop growth and yield.

Along with the rapid growth of nanoparticle consumption in various industries, concerns about the unknown effects caused by the presence of these materials in the natural environment and agricultural systems are being highlighted. Due to the growing trend of Nano Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle (ZnO-np) which is one of the most widely used nanoparticles being released into the environment, it has attracted the attention for more studies to be done on the effects of this nanoparticle on organisms. This study was carried out to investigate the phytotoxicity effect of ZnO-np on peanut seedlings in Murashige and Skoog medium (MS medium). The experimental treatments of this study include nine concentrations of ZnO-np (0, 10, 30, 50, 100, 200, 400, 1000, 2000 ppm) added to MS medium. Peanut seedlings were incubated for 3 weeks in optimum condition and after that, seedling characteristics such as length, wet and dry weight of root and shoot were measured and the water content of root and shoot were calculated. Results of this study showed that the root and shoot length of peanut seedlings were affected by ZnO-np exposure, in a way that root length in 50 ppm ZnO-np and higher concentrations was significantly lower than that of control treatment and the shortest shoot length was observed to be from 2000 ppm ZnO-np concentration treatment. Also, both the root and shoot wet weight decreased as the nanoparticle concentration increased. However, despite the decreasing root and shoot dry weight with increasing concentration, there was no significant difference. On the other hand, the root dry weight in 10 ppm ZnO-np was significantly higher than the peanut seedlings treated with more than 200 ppm ZnO-np.