Celosia Argentea Research Articles

Floral Crop Production in High Tunnels

High tunnels are well suited for use in the production of floral crops, especially cut flowers. Through the increases in temperature afforded at both ends of the growing season, high tunnels allow earlier and later harvests than are possible in the field. During summer, rain protection and a relatively calm environment provides an ideal growing environment to cut flower crops. In U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Hardiness Zones 3 through 5, the higher temperatures of a high tunnel permit culture of warm-season crops like celosia (Celosia argentea) during summer. Cut flower production allows intensive production on a small land area and provides a high level of income. For these reasons, high tunnels have become a standard part of cut flower growers' farms. Most commonly, they are single-bay structures with roll-up sides, but use of multi-bay complexes is becoming more popular for larger-scale growers. In USDA Hardiness Zones of 7 and higher, high tunnels are shaded in summer to lower interior temperatures and enhance production of shade-tolerant species. Overall, techniques of moderating temperature extremes with shading and ventilation, or use of low tunnels inside to increase minimum temperatures are important options for cut flower production. In the presentation, comparisons will be made in growth and earliness of production and yield for several cut flower species grown in the field and an adjacent high tunnel.

Storage behavior of immune-enhancing enteral formulation from natural sources

Nutrition support has become an important therapeutic intervention for improving outcomes in hospitalized patients. The present study was carried out with the objective of studying appropriate packaging and storage studies of enteral formulation from natural sources comprising finger millet (Eleusine coracana), soyprotein isolate, tomato powder, carrot powder, anne greens (Celosia argentea), groundnut oil and fish oil. Two type of packages—namely, polypropylene pouches and metallized polyester/polyethylene pouches—were used. The storage conditions were 27°C and 42°C at 65% relative humidity. The chemical, microbiological and sensory qualities of the formulation were assessed at regular intervals. The moisture sorption studies revealed that the formulation had an initial moisture content of 3.59%, which equilibrated to 13%. The product was acceptable at 64% relative humidity, after which it tend to become soggy. Analysis of peroxide value and free fatty acid content of the equilibrated samples revealed that moisture content of 4–5% was ideal for the storage of the formulation. An increase in the peroxide value and free fatty acid content was observed during 90-day storage period but the formulation was organoleptically acceptable. The microbial analysis of the formulation revealed an initial total bacterial count of 1.5×102 colony-forming units and increased to 7.9×102 colony-forming units (polypropylene) and 5.0×102 colony-forming units (metallized polyester/polyethylene). No fungal and coliform was detected at 90 days of storage. Thus it was concluded that the formulation can be stored for a period of 3 months at 27°C and 65% relative humidity. Such formulations can be primarily a supportive strategy to an active therapeutic intervention.

NUTRITIONAL IMPORTANCE OF INDIGENOUS LEAFY VEGETABLES IN CÔTE D'IVOIRE

Indigenous leafy vegetables (ILVs) production is rapidly increasing in urban and peri-urban areas of Cote d'Ivoire. They are often consumed by the population. Nutritional composition of samples of selected ILVs collected in urban and peri-urban farms and markets of Abidjan City were determined. Analysis included pH, total proteins, sugars, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), β-carotene (provitamin A), ash content, magnesium, iron, calcium, phosphorus, and oxalic acid. The results revealed that ILVs are all characterized by acid tissues. Protein levels are noticeable varying from 20.2% in roselle to 46.6% in black nightshade. Total sugar content varied from 1.85 g/100 g dry weight (DW) in spinach to 13.36 g/100 g DW in jute mallow. Ascorbic acid concentration is more important in jute mallow (34.82 mg/100 g of fresh weight (FW)) than in spinach (22.67 mg/100 g FW). β-carotene content is high in Lagos spinach (2.84 mg/100 g FW). Ash content varies from 8.88% (roselle) to 22.4% (spinach). Spider plant has the highest amounts of phosphorus (45.04 mg/100 g DW) and iron (51.32 mg/100 g DW). The lowest magnesium and calcium concentration is contained in roselle (0.62 and 1.28 mg/100 g DW respectively). Roselle also has the highest content of oxalic acid (16.65 mg/100 g DW) while amaranth has the lowest (5.92 mg/100 g DW). The study showed that these indigenous leafy vegetables have high nutritive contents and could significantly contribute to the strengthening of nutrition security in Cote d'Ivoire.

Using compost of grape manufacture and farm wastes as growing media in vegetable ad ornamental nurseries

This work was conducted at private nursery in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate during 2006 and 2007 seasons to investigate the possibility of using grape manufacture waste compost (GMWC) and farm wastes compost (FWC) in ornamental and vegetable nurseries as partially or totally replacement of coconut peat (CP) and vermiculite (V) in the growing medium and also to find out the optimum media of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum, cv. Castle Rock) and Cockscomb (Celosia plumosa) as comparing to a mixture of CP and V (1:1 v/v). The authors used a ten mixtures as followed: 1- Control (CP+V at 1:1 v/v), 2-GMWC (100 %), 3- GMWC +CP (1:1 v/v), 4- GMWC + V(1:1 v/v),5- GMWC +CP + V (1:1:1 v/v/v), 6- FWC (100 %),7- FWC+ CP (1:1 v/v), 8- FWC+ V (1:1 v/v), 9- FWC+ CP+ V (1:1:1 v/v/v), 10- GMWC+FWC+CP+V (1:1:1:1 v/v/v/v). Data recorded as seedling height, No. of leaves, total pigments, shoot fresh and dry weights, root length and root fresh and dry weights in order to assess the quality of both transplants of tomato and cockscomb. Both seedlings grown in medium contain a mixture of GMWC+CP+V displayed quality traits similar or better as to those of recorded from the control treatment.

Evaluation of Tomato Culktivar for resistance to wilt disease and their host efficiency to Meloidogyne Incorgnita Infestation

Field and screen house studies were conducted to evaluate the resistance of some tomato cultivars to wilt diseases in Meloidogyne incognita Race 2 naturally infested soil and to test their host efficiency to the nematodes infestation. Five-week old tomato seedlings from each cultivar raised in steam-sterilized soil were transplanted into plots naturally infested with species of plant-parasitic nematodes. The experimental design was a randomized complete block replicated four times. In the screen house trial, five-week old seedlings from each cultivar raised in steam-sterilized soil were transplanted into plastic pots (22.5 cm diameter). Eggs of M. incognita were extracted from pure cultures of the nematodes earlier raised on Celosia argentea L. plant using the chlorox method of extraction. Each seedling was infested with 10,000 eggs of the nematodes. The experiment was laid-out in a completely randomized design with three replications. In the field trials, there were significant incidences of tomato wilt among the tested lines. Three cultivars Tomato-Dalila, Tomato-Akash and Indam-2103 showed tolerance to wilt infection with a range of 9.8 % to 19.7 % seedling loss in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Severities of roots damage caused by nematodes were significantly low in the two field trials. In the screen house evaluation however, none of the cultivars was immune or resistant. The host efficiency test showed that all the tested cultivars were efficient hosts to M. incognita. Growth and yield assessment of the cultivars under field conditions indicated that cultivar F13109 flowered earliest (69.7 days) in 2003 and 72.1 days in 2004 while INDAM-2107 recorded the best luxuriant growth (vigour) in 2004. The highest number of fruit-set per flower cluster was observed in F143 in 2003 and 2004. Cultivar F13019 recorded significantly the highest number of fruits (169.3 and 143.3) while the heaviest weight was observed in AKASH (2.24 kg and 2.7 kg) respectively in both trials. Tomato-Marina recorded statistically the lowest numbers (9.6 and 11.17) and weights (0.23 kg and 0.73 kg) of fruits respectively in both evaluations. Keywords:Meloidogyne incognita Resistance, Tomato, Wilt disease. Nigerian Journal of Horticultural Science Vol. 10 2005: pp. 30-37

Growth Response and Susceptibility of Telparia Occidentalis Hook Lines to the Root-knot Nematode Meloidogyne Incognita

The productivity and host suitability of fifteen lines of fluted pumpkin Telfairia occidentalis HOOK f. were evaluated in a root-knot nematode infested field in the early seasons of 2001 and 2002. The root systems of twelve week-old root-knot nematode-infected Celosia argentea L. cv. TLV-13 plants earlier grown on the plot were ploughed into the plot to serve as primary source of inoculum. Pre-planting soil nematode population (Pi) of the experimental plot was assessed from composited 200cm 3 soil. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Growth response of line EN2000-4 was statistically outstanding when compared with the other tested lines. The vine lengths recorded for lines EN2000-4, EN2000-6, EN2000-11 and EN2000-12 were significantly longer than the other tested lines. The lower values however occurred in lines EN2000-1, EN2000-5, EN2000-7 and EN2000-8. Line EN2000-3 recorded the highest soil and root nematode populations, gall index as well as the highest number of egg-mass. Line EN2000-4 showed the highest level of resistance with significantly low nematode populations, gall index and number of egg-mass. Significant negative correlation was respectively observed between the growth characters and measured indices of nematode infection i.e. (nematode populations (soil and root), gall rating as well as number of egg-mass). Significant positive correlation was also observed between number of pods and plant vigour. Leaf fresh weight was significantly correlated with shoot fresh weight and number of pods. Similarly, number of leaf was correlated with shoot fresh weight. Correlation between soil nematode population, root nematode populations, gall rating and egg-mass were highly significant. Fresh shoot weight was negatively correlated with all the measured indices of nematode infection, but they were not significant.. Keywords : Growth, susceptibility, root-knot nematodes, Telfairia occidentalis Nigerian Journal of Horticultural Science Vol. 10 2005: pp. 52-58

Application of secondary-treated effluents for cultivation of sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.) and celosia ( Celosia argentea L.) as cut flowers

In this study we have examined the effects of irrigation with municipal secondary-treated effluents on growth of sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.) and celosia ( Celosia argentea var cristata L.) plants for cut flower production. The applied treated effluents contained higher levels of Na (∼X6), Cl (∼X4.5), N–NH 4 (30–50 mg/l), B, HCO 3, P, K, and Fe than the potable water. The effect of the two types of irrigation water on the chemical composition of soil and leaves, flower yield and postharvest performance was examined. Our results demonstrate higher accumulation of Cl, Na, B, and NO 3 in soils irrigated with effluents as compared to potable water only in the 40–60 cm soil layer. Phosphorus accumulated to higher levels in the upper soil layer (0–20 below ground), as well as in the lower soil layer, irrigated with effluents. SAR levels as well, were higher under irrigation with the treated effluents in the soil until 40 cm below ground indicating higher Na absorption in comparison to Ca and Mg. In both sunflower and celosia, boron accumulated to higher levels in leaves of plants irrigated with effluents. In addition, under irrigation with effluents, celosia accumulated higher levels of N and Mn and sunflower higher levels of P and lower levels of Fe. Despite these differences in mineral contents, the quality of the irrigation water did not affect cut flower yield. In both species spike length, receptacle size, number of flowers and flower weight were not affected. However, flowers’ quality, examined during vase life, was compromised by irrigation with the effluents. Celosia leaves appeared more yellow and sunflower petal edges became browner. Nevertheless, leaf yellowing in celosia occurred mainly on the lower leaves of the stem, which can be removed to maintain high commercial value. The reduction in sunflower quality as well, will most likely not pose any commercial problem since these negative symptoms appeared at a late stage of vase life. Overall, our results demonstrate that secondary-treated municipal effluents can be used for production of sunflower and celosia for cut flowers, in the northern-eastern part of the ‘Negev’ desert in Israel. Due to the high SAR values of the water, and in order to avoid damage to the soil structure, dilution of this water should be considered for commercial growth.

Productivity and quality of statice ( Limonium sinuatum cv. Soiree Mix) and cockscomb ( Celosia argentea cv. Chief Mix) under organic and inorganic fertilization regiments

Very little information is available on organic specialty cut flower production, especially fertilization requirements. In order to better understand organic fertilization requirements of two specialty cut flower crops, Limonium sinuatum and Celosia argentea, we initiated a field and greenhouse experiment to study the effect of compost (organic) and conventional (inorganic) fertilization treatments on the growth and productivity of these crops. Optimum yields in the field, expressed as fresh weight per plot, were achieved at compost applications of 98.8 t ha −1 for both Limonium and Celosia. However, when number of stems, height of the stems, and the environmental impacts of such compost applications are considered we concluded that the optimal organic fertilizer amounts were 12.4 and 24.7 t ha −1, for Limonium and Celosia, respectively. Limonium and Celosia plants in the greenhouse experiment were fertilized with 100, 200, 300, and 400 mg L −1 nitrogen, combined with 0, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 60 mg L −1 phosphorus. The generation of response surfaces for total weight per pot, number of stems per pot, average weight per stem, and average stem length were attempted for each species. The results showed that nitrogen did not significantly contribute to any of the models, except for Celosia average weight and length per stem models. Total weights per pot on the other hand showed both a linear and quadratic relationship over the range of phosphorus applications we tested. Maximum number of stems and total weight per pot were observed between 30 and 46 mg L −1 P in both Limonium and Celosia. Our results suggest that organic fertilizer recommendations, in the form of animal manure composts should be based on phosphorus content of the compost rather than nitrogen content especially for soils high in initial phosphorous content.

Detection and Characterization of Phytoplasmas Infecting Ornamental and Weed Plants in Iran

AbstractDuring field surveys in 2004, ornamental and weed plants showing symptoms resembling those caused by phytoplasmas were observed in Mahallat (central Iran). These plants were examined for phytoplasma infections by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays using universal phytoplasma primers directed to ribosomal DNA (rDNA). All affected plants gave positive results. The detected phytoplasmas were characterized and differentiated through restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and sequence analysis of PCR‐amplified rDNA. The phytoplasmas detected in diseased Asclepias curassavica and Celosia argentea were identified as members of clover proliferation phytoplasma group (16SrVI group) whereas those from the remaining plants examined proved to be members of aster yellow phytoplasma group (16SrI group) (‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’). In particular, following digestion with AluI, HaeIII and HhaI endonucleases, the phytoplasma detected in Limonium sinuatum showed restriction profiles identical to subgroup 16SrI‐C; phytoplasmas from Gomphocarpus physocarpus, Tanatacetum partenium, Lactuca serriola, Tagetes patula and Coreopsis lanceolata had the same restriction profiles as subgroup 16SrI‐B whereas Catharanthus roseus‐ and Rudbeckia hirta‐infecting phytoplasmas showed restriction patterns of subgroup 16SrI‐A. This is the first report on the occurrence of phytoplasma diseases of ornamental plants in Iran.

Relative Efficacy of On-Farm Weeds as Soil-Amendement for Managing Dry Root Rot of Clusterbean in an Arid Environment

The effectiveness of certain on-farm weeds as soil amendments was ascertained against Macrophomina phaseolina, a soil-borne pathogen causing dry root rot of crops grown under rainfed conditions in arid regions. Population changes in M. phaseolina were determined in soils amended separately with residues (1%, w:w) of Aerva persica, Celosia argentea, Corchorus depressus, Euphorbia hirta, Heliotropium subulatum and Polycarpaea corymbosa, for a period of 90 days. Significant reductions by 90.4–100% in the population of M. phaseolina were achieved with all the weed residues except P. corymbosa. Celosia and Euphorbia residues completely eradicated viable propagules of M. phaseolina. A strong increase (44–61%) in the population of antagonistic actinomycetes was also found in soil amended with Corchorus and Euphorbia. In field tests, soil amended (50 g m2) with Euphorbia, Aerva and Celosia residues significantly reduced dry root rot incidence on clusterbean and also reduced M. phaseolina propagules in the soil. However, dry root rot incidence in Polycarpaea-amended soil (5.8–24.6%) was not significantly different from that in non-amended soil (4.3–25.3%) in both years of the experiment. P. corymbosa also increased the number of propagules of M. phaseolina in the soil. The results demonstrate that dry root rot of rainfed-cultivated annual crops in arid land can be managed with certain weeds as a soil amendment.

Responses of Leaf Yield and Chemical Composition of Amaranthus cruentus L. and Celosia argentea L. to Land Use Types and Fertilizer Regimes

Responses of Leaf Yield and Chemical Composition of Amaranthus cruentus L. and Celosia argentea L. to Land Use Types and Fertilizer Regimes

Pro- and Antioxidant Effects and Cytoprotective Potentials of Nine Edible Vegetables in Southwest Nigeria

Antioxidant and cytoprotective activities of boiled, cold, and methanolic extracts of nine edible vegetables in Southwest Nigeria were evaluated in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical assay and hemagglutination assay in bovine erythrocytes, respectively. Crassocephalum rubens showed the highest antioxidant activity (56.5%), Solanum americanum and Vernonia amygdalina exhibited moderate antioxidant activity (26.0-37.5% and 14.8-36.2%, respectively), Solanum macrocarpon, Telfaria occidentalis, Amaranthus hybridus, and Jatropha tanjorensis produced weak activity (1.6-15.8%, 1.6-7.7%, 2.8-6.62%, and 10.7-12.1%, respectively), while Celosia argentea and Talinum triangulare were pro-oxidants. It was also shown that extracts from all the vegetables are pro-oxidants at high concentrations of either 1 or 5 mg/mL or both. On the other hand, the studies on the cytoprotective effect showed that all the plant extracts demonstrated a very low hemagglutination titer value between 0.32 and 5.56 except S. americanum methanolic extract, which had a titer of 50.0. These results indicated correlation between the antioxidant properties and the hemagglutination values of these plant extracts; however, the membrane stabilizing capacity of the extracts supports the plants' antioxidant activity.

Modeling Growth and Development of Celosia and Impatiens in Response to Temperature and Photosynthetic Daily Light Integral

Commercial greenhouse growers often produce bedding plants from midwinter to early summer, and thus crops are grown under a wide range of environmental conditions. Despite bedding plants' high economic value, the interactions of temperature and photosynthetic daily light integral (DLI) on growth and flowering have not been determined for many bedding plants. We grew celosia (Celosia argentea L. var. plumosa L.) and seed impatiens (Impatiens wallerana Hook.f.) in glass greenhouses in a range of temperature (15 to 27 °C) and DLI (8 to 26 mol·m-2·d-1) conditions to quantify effects on growth and flowering. Growth (e.g., plant dry mass at flowering) and flowering characteristics (e.g., time to flowering and flower bud number) were modeled in response to the average daily temperature and DLI by using multiple regression analysis. Rate of progress to flowering (1/days to flower) of celosia increased as temperature increased up to ≈25 °C and as the average DLI increased to 15 ·mol·m-2·d-1. Impatiens grown under a DLI <15 mol·m-2·d-1 flowered progressively earlier as temperature increased from 14 to 28 °C, whereas temperature had little effect on flowering time when plants were grown under the highest DLI treatments. Number of flowers and flower buds at first flowering increased in both species as temperature decreased or DLI increased. Shoot dry mass at first flowering followed a similar trend, except celosia dry mass decreased as temperature decreased. The models developed to predict flowering time and plant quality could be used by commercial growers to determine the impacts of changing growing temperature, growing plants at different times of the year, and providing supplemental lighting.

Celosia argentea Linn. leaf extract improves wound healing in a rat burn wound model

Celosia argentea (CA) is used in traditional medicine for sores, ulcers, and skin eruptions. The present study was aimed at investigating the healing efficacy of CA extract in an ointment formulated (10 % w/w) as an alcohol extract of CA using a rat burn wound model. Wound closure occurred earlier in the treated rats (15 days vs. 30 in the untreated group; p < 0.05). Granulation tissue collected on every fifth day of healing showed an increase in collagen and hexosamine content at a faster rate in the treated wounds. This correlated with the accelerated wound closure observed in the treated groups. To probe the cellular basis of this effect, we investigated the effect of this extract on two major cellular responses; cell proliferation and cell motility, in two key cell lineages, fibroblasts and keratinocytes. CA was not toxic at concentrations of < 3 microg/ml in fibroblasts and < 30 microg/ml in keratinocytes. The alcohol extract promoted cell motility and proliferation of primary dermal fibroblasts at 0.1-1.0 microg/ml but did not alter these responses in primary keratinocytes. In an initial examination of molecular mechanisms, we found that the CA extract did not alter fibroblast and keratinocyte responses to the wound repair-associated epidermal growth factor receptor ligands. In short, we demonstrate a salutary action of the CA extract on wound healing, and suggest that this may be due to mitogenic and motogenic promotion of dermal fibroblasts.

Celogentin K, a New Cyclic Peptide from the Seeds of Celosia argentea and X‐Ray Structure of Moroidin.

A new cyclic peptide with a 3-hydroxyoxindole ring, celogentin K (1), has been isolated from the seeds of Celosia argentea and the structure including its absolute stereochemistry was assigned by using extensive NMR, MS/MS, and CD spectra. The stereostructure of a known related bicyclic peptide, moroidin (2), was confirmed by a single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.

OCCURRENCE AND PREVALENCE OF VIRUSES OF LEAFY VEGETABLES IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

Four commercial leafy vegetable farms in Lagos State were surveyed from October 1989 to September 1990 for the occurrence and prevalence of leafy vegetable viruses. Mechanically transmissible viruses were isolated from Amaranthus hybridus, Celosia argentea, Cucurbita moschata, Telfairia occidentalis and Brassica oleracea, while virus-like symptoms (causal agents not sap-transmissible), were observed on Solanum macrocarpon. Two previously uncharacterized viruses, one each from C. argentea and C. moschata were isolated. The identification of viruses such as telfairia mosaic virus (TeMV) and amaranthus mosaic virus (AMV), that had been reported in the literature, were confirmed on the basis of host range, symptomatology, insect transmission and particle morphology. Virus-like symptoms were not observed on Corchorus olitorus and five other exotic vegetables. Amaranthus mosaic virus and celosia mosaic virus (ClMV), the latter isolated for the first time in Nigeria in the course of this study, were recorded from all the farms and were therefore the most prevalent. The incidence of AMV was 19.7% at Amuwo Odofin while it was 0.7% and 0.6% at Tejuoso and Abule Ado farms respectively. For ClMV, an incidence of 27.5% was recorded at Amuwo Odofin while Tejuoso and Abule Ado had 0.6% and 1.4% respectively. Telfairia mosaic virus and viruses on C. moschata and B. oleracea were limited to the Tejuoso farm. Generally, virus incidence was higher during the wet season for most of the viruses. Elimination of plant remains and volunteer crops may be exploited in the control of the viruses. KEY WORDS: Survey, Leafy vegetables, viruses. Global Jnl Pure & Applied Sciences Vol.10(1) 2004: 61-67

136 Celosia Argentea Linn. Leaf Extract Improves Wound Healing in Rat Burn Wound Model

Celosia argentea is used in traditional medicine for sores, ulcers, and skin eruptions. Therefore, we investigated the healing efficiency of an ointment formulated on a alcohol extract of Celosia argentea leaves (CA) in a rat burn wound model. Wound closure occurred earlier in the treated rats (15 days versus 30 in the untreated group; P &lt; 0.05). Collagen and hexsoamine content of the granulation tissue increased at a faster rate in the treated wounds. To probe the cell biologic basis of this effect, we found that this extract promoted cell motility and proliferation of primary dermal fibroblasts but did not alter these responses in primary keratinocytes. In short, we demonstrate a salutary action of the Celosia argentea extract on wound healing and suggest that this may be due to mitogenic and motogenic promotion of dermal fibroblasts.

Antimicrobial screening of plants used for traditional medicine in the state of Perak, Peninsular Malaysia

Seventy-two extracts (methanol) obtained from the leaves, barks, and roots of 50 plant species used in the traditional medicine of Perak, Peninsular Malaysia, have been screened for antibacterial and antifungal activities. Peristrophe tinctoria, Polyalthia lateriflora, Knema malayana, Solanum torvum, Celosia argentea, Eclipta prostrata, Ancistrocladus tectorius, Dillenia suffruticosa, Piper stylosum and Rafflesia hasseltii displayed the broadest spectrum of activity .

Antibacterial activity of two plant extracts on eight burn pathogens

Antibacterial activity of crude alcoholic extract of Datura alba and Celosia argentea leaves were studied against pathogens isolated from infected burn patients. The disc-diffusion method showed significant zone of lysis against all the pathogens studied and the results are comparable to the conventional antibiotic cream namely Silver Sulphadiazine (SSD). On comparing the efficiency of the two extracts, extract of D. alba exhibited more than 50% increase in antibacterial activity compared to C. argentea.

Preparation and Isolation of Oligogalacturonic Acids and Their Biological Effects in Cockscomb (Celosia argentea L.) Seedlings

A mixture of oligogalacturonic acids, the partial degradation substances of polygalacturonic acid, promoted shoot growth in cockscomb (Celosia argentea L.) seedlings, which generally had a high sensitivity for growth-promoting substances. The effect of the mixture of oligogalacturonic acids on shoot growth of cockscomb was higher than that of the polygalacturonic acid at concentrations above 30 ppm. These oligomers were loaded onto an anion exchange column, DEAE Sephadex A-25, and separated into individual oligomer sizes using the NH4HCO3 eluent system. This separation method has the advantage of using NH4HCO3 as the eluent solution; NH4HCO3 in the sample solution is effectively removed by lyophilization. Each of the isolated oligogalacturonic acids gave a single band on a fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE), and they showed the m/z value which corresponded to their molecular ion peaks [M-H]- on a fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS) analysis. These results showed that the successive chromatography method used in this study is well suited for the preparation of oligogalacturonic acid for the plant growth test. Furthermore, we showed that the effective degree of polymerization (DP) of oligogalacturonic acid was around 8 on shoot growth of cockscomb seedlings, and the effects of both smaller and larger oligogalacturonic acids were slightly lower than that of octa-galacturonide. Octa-galacturonide promoted shoot growth of cockscomb at concentrations above 10 mM, and showed a 66% promotion at the most effective concentration of 300 mM. Root growth was slightly inhibited at concentrations above 300 mM. These results suggest that DP around 8 of oligogalacturonic acids has the function to control shoot growth in cockscomb as a growth-promoting substance.