Number Of Fruiting Branches Research Articles

Artificial Neural Networks to Predict Melon (cucumis melo L.) Production in Tropical Greenhouse, Indonesia

Quality of melon indicated by size (fruit weight), appearance, and sweetness. In Indonesia, weight of high quality melon was 800 to 1,200 grams each. Mainly, the melon was cultivated in open fields during the dry season with several limitations of cultivation. To cope with those problems, melon was cultivated inside the greenhouse. However, there are several parameters influenced to melon quality inside the tropical greenhouse with hydroponic system. There were a few studies on the prediction model development of melon inside the greenhouse in a tropical area, Indonesia. The aim of this study was to develop an artificial neural networks (ANNs) model to predict the melon production inside the greenhouse (fruit weight) using several parameters such as the number of days to fruit formation, number of days to maturity, plant length, fruit width, fruit length, fruit cavity diameter, flesh diameter, branch number, fruit branch number, and leaf number. The result of this study was the ANN model with configurations of 10 input layers, 6 hidden layers, and 1 output layer with R2 was 0.93. This study concluded that there is a correlation between the input parameters with the weight of the melon.

滴施缩节胺与氮肥对棉花生长发育及产量的影响

<p id="C3">In order to explore the effects of DPC (1,1-dimethyl-piperidinium chloride) and nitrogen fertilizer on agronomic traits and clarify the interaction effect of DPC and nitrogen fertilizer through drip irrigation in cotton, we performed a two-factor randomized block design with three nitrogen levels (pure N, N1: 150 kg hm ^-2, N2: 300 kg hm ^-2, and N3: 450 kg hm ^-2) and three DPC levels (D1: 525 g hm ^-2, D2: 1050 g hm ^-2, and D3: 2100 g hm ^-2). These groups interacted with each other and formed nine treatments. The effects of different groups on agronomic traits, the spatial and temporal distribution of boll, the accumulation and distribution of dry matter, yield, and fiber quality were investigated in cotton. The results showed that the interaction between DPC and nitrogen fertilizer had a significant impact on the agronomic traits of cotton; The retarding effect of DPC on cotton growth was weakened or even disappeared under the low nitrogen condition. Under N1 treatment, compared to D1 treatment, plant height, initial node height of fruit branch, length of fourth, and seventh fruit branch of D3 treatment increased by 12.07, 1.54, 1.28, and 1.20 cm, respectively. Under normal or high nitrogen conditions, DPC had a certain retarded effect on cotton growth, but the control effect did not increase with the increasing DPC doses. Under N3 treatment, compared with D1 treatment, the plant height, first fruit branch length, and the average internode length of the second fruit of D3 treatment decreased by 1.05, 1.68, and 1.52 cm, respectively. Plant height, stem diameter, and fruit branch number of cottons increased with the increase of nitrogen application rate. Compared with N1 treatment, N3 treatment increased 3.30 cm, 0.75 mm and 0.29 sets, respectively. There were no significant differences in the length of fruit branch and internode among the different nitrogen application rates. The drip application of D2 treatment was beneficial for dry matter accumulation and translocation to reproductive organs. It promoted pre-ambient and ambient peaches growth, but there was not significant effect on cotton yield and fiber quality. The total dry matter accumulation was 13.14%-44.50% higher in N1 than that in other treatments. The percentage of reproductive organs increased by 2.05%-6.30% compared with N3 treatment. When applying 2100 g hm ^-2 DPC and 150 kg hm ^-2 nitrogen fertilizer with water drop, the cotton fiber quality, seed cotton yield, boll number per plant, and boll weight per plant were the highest; and the effect of yield increase was better. In conclusion, we recommended to apply 1050-2100 g hm ^-2DPC and 150 kg hm ^-2 nitrogen fertilizer with drip irrigation in the cotton area of northern Xinjiang.

Screening of Key Drought Tolerance Indices for Cotton at the Flowering and Boll Setting Stage Using the Dimension Reduction Method.

Drought is one of the main abiotic stresses that seriously influences cotton production. Many indicators can be used to evaluate cotton drought tolerance, but the key indicators remain to be determined. The objective of this study was to identify effective cotton drought tolerance indicators from 19 indices, including morphology, photosynthesis, physiology, and yield-related indices, and to evaluate the yield potential of 104 cotton varieties under both normal and drought-stress field conditions. Combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and a regression analysis method, the results showed that the top five PCs among the 19, with eigenvalues > 1, contributed 65.52, 63.59, and 65.90% of the total variability during 2016 to 2018, respectively, which included plant height (PH), effective fruit branch number (EFBN), single boll weight (SBW), transpiration rate (Tr) and chlorophyll (Chl). Therefore, the indicator dimension decreased from 19 to 5. A comparison of the 19 indicators with the 5 identified indicators through PCA and a combined regression analysis found that the results of the final cluster of drought tolerance on 104 cotton varieties were basically consistent. The results indicated that these five traits could be used in combination to screen cotton varieties or lines for drought tolerance in cotton breeding programs, and Zhong R2016 and Xin lu zao 45 exhibited high drought tolerance and can be selected as superior parents for good yield performance under drought stress.

QTL mapping for plant height and fruit branch number based on RIL population of upland cotton

BackgroundPlant height (PH) and fruit branch number (FBN) are important traits for improving yield and mechanical harvesting of cotton. In order to identify genes of PH and FBN in cotton germplasms to develop superior cultivars, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these traits were detected based on the phenotypic evaluation data in nine environments across four locations and 4 years and a previously reported genetic linkage map of an recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of upland cotton.ResultsIn total, 53 QTLs of PH and FBN, were identified on 21 chromosomes of the cotton genome except chromosomes c02, c09-c11, and c22. For PH, 27 QTLs explaining 3.81%–8.54% proportions of phenotypic variance were identified on 18 chromosomes except c02, c08-c12, c15, and c22. For FBN, 26 QTLs explaining 3.23%–11.00% proportions of phenotypic variance were identified on 16 chromosomes except c02-c03, c06, c09-c11, c17, c22-c23, and c25. Eight QTLs were simultaneously identified in at least two environments. Three QTL clusters containing seven QTLs were identified on three chromosomes (c01, c18 and c21). Eleven QTLs were the same as previously reported ones, while the rest were newly identified.ConclusionsThe QTLs and QTL clusters identified in the current study will be helpful to further understand the genetic mechanism of PH and FBN development of cotton and will enhance the development of excellent cultivars for mechanical managements in cotton production.

An Arabidopsis E3 ligase HUB2 increases histone H2B monoubiquitination and enhances drought tolerance in transgenic cotton

SummaryThe HUB2 gene encoding histone H2B monoubiquitination E3 ligase is involved in seed dormancy, flowering timing, defence response and salt stress regulation in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this study, we used the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter to drive AtHUB2 overexpression in cotton and found that it can significantly improve the agricultural traits of transgenic cotton plants under drought stress conditions, including increasing the fruit branch number, boll number, and boll‐setting rate and decreasing the boll abscission rate. In addition, survival and soluble sugar, proline and leaf relative water contents were increased in transgenic cotton plants after drought stress treatment. In contrast, RNAi knockdown of GhHUB2 genes reduced the drought resistance of transgenic cotton plants. AtHUB2 overexpression increased the global H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub1) level through a direct interaction with GhH2B1 and up‐regulated the expression of drought‐related genes in transgenic cotton plants. Furthermore, we found a significant increase in H3K4me3 at the DREB locus in transgenic cotton, although no change in H3K4me3 was identified at the global level. These results demonstrated that AtHUB2 overexpression changed H2Bub1 and H3K4me3 levels at the GhDREB chromatin locus, leading the GhDREB gene to respond quickly to drought stress to improve transgenic cotton drought resistance, but had no influence on transgenic cotton development under normal growth conditions. Our findings also provide a useful route for breeding drought‐resistant transgenic plants.

A genome-wide association study uncovers novel genomic regions and candidate genes of yield-related traits in upland cotton.

A total of 62 SNPs associated with yield-related traits were identified by a GWAS. Based on significant SNPs, two candidate genes pleiotropically increase lint yield. Improved fibre yield is considered a constant goal of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) breeding worldwide, but the understanding of the genetic basis controlling yield-related traits remains limited. To better decipher the molecular mechanism underlying these traits, we conducted a genome-wide association study to determine candidate loci associated with six yield-related traits in a population of 719 upland cotton germplasm accessions; to accomplish this, we used 10,511 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped by an Illumina CottonSNP63K array. Six traits, including the boll number, boll weight, lint percentage, fruit branch number, seed index and lint index, were assessed in multiple environments; large variation in all phenotypes was detected across accessions. We identified 62 SNP loci that were significantly associated with different traits on chromosomes A07, D03, D05, D09, D10 and D12. A total of 689 candidate genes were screened, and 27 of them contained at least one significant SNP. Furthermore, two genes (Gh_D03G1064 and Gh_D12G2354) that pleiotropically increase lint yield were identified. These identified SNPs and candidate genes provide important insights into the genetic control underlying high yields in G. hirsutum, ultimately facilitating breeding programmes of high-yielding cotton.

Impact of Integrated Mineral and Organic Fertilization and Foliar Spraying of some Micronutrints on Cotton Productvity

Two field experiments were conducted at Sids Agricultural Research Station, Beni - Suef Governorate, Egypt in 2015 and 2016 seasons to study the effect of the integrated inorganic NPK fertilizers in combined with organic manure as well as foliar spraying of micronutrients on some growth parameters (plant height, first fruiting branch, number of fruiting branches, number of green branches and total bolls/plant), seed cotton yield and its components (number of open polls/plant, boll weight, yield/plant, lint percentage and seed cotton yield/fed) as well as some soil properties. The experimental design was split plot in four replication, where the inorganic – organic treatments, i.e.,100 % NPK (100 RDF), 75 % NPK (75 % RDF) + 5 t FYM /fed and 50 % NPK (50 % RDF) + 10 t FYM /fed were located in main plots and micronutrient treatments (without micronutrients, Fe, Mn, Zn, Fe + Mn, Fe + Zn, Mn + Zn and Fe + Mn + Zn) were set up in sub plots. The statistical analysis showed that, in general, 50 % RDF+ l0 t FYM / fed produced tallest plant, greatest number of fruiting branches and best node number of first fruiting branches, while 100 % RDF recorded higher number of green branches and number of total bolls / plant. Meanwhile, 75 % RDF + 5t FYM /fed showed the best seed cotton yield and its attributes, except lint % which did not affect. Foliar spraying of Fe, Zn, Fe + Zn and Mn + Zn found to have the best treatment for growth and yield attributes as well as seed cotton yield. The interaction between treatments indicated that 75 % RDF + 5t FYM /fed + foliar spraying of Fe, Zn, Fe + Zn or Mn + Zn found to be the best treatments for cotton production. FYM application improved soil properties, except soil salinity, which increased due to organic manure.

Research Article Correlation among traits as criterion of cotton genotypes indirect selection

The cotton crop has notable importance for Brazilian and worldwide economy. Relationships knowledge among characters allows developing alternatives that increase the genetic progress with simultaneous selection of several traits. The use of correlation estimates for use in indirect selection helps the breeder in the selection of characters and facilitates progress in the selection. This work evaluates the phenotypic correlation and unfolding of the direct and indirect effects of morphological and technological fiber traits as criterion of indirect selection in cotton genotypes. The experiment was carried out at Fazenda Capim Branco, a research station of Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, 2014/2015 season. 21 genotypes were evaluated, 19 commercial genotypes F3 proceeding from the Programa de Melhoramento Genetico Algodoeiro (PROMALG) and two commercial control: FM 966 and DP 555. The experimental design was the randomized complete block with four replications. The experimental parcel was made of four rows of 5 meters cotton plants length, spaced of 0.9 meters. The morphological and agronomic traits evaluated were: a) chlorophyll content (TCA and TCB); b) number of fruiting branches (NFB); c) 1st fruit node height (NH); d) first, second and third-position bolls percentage (FPB, SPB, TPB); e) leaf Area Index (LAI); f) cotton seed yield (CSP); g) lint yield (LP); and h) Lint yield (LY). The fiber quality traits evaluated with HVI (High Instrument Volume): i) Fiber Length average (UHML); ii) Uniformity of length (UI); iii) Short fiber Index (SFI); iv) Fiber Strengh (STR); v) Elongation (ELG); vi) Micronaire (MIC), and vii) Fiber Maturity (MR). Statistical analyses and multicollinearity diagnosis were carried out with the software GENES. The intrinsic traits of fiber quality, according to correlations, influenced cotton seed yield and also morphological traits. Based on phenotypic correlations and according to path analysis, the higher micronaire index of favorable effect on cotton seed yield was identified due to a positive correlation and direct effect. Thus, micronaire index can be an indirect selection criterion of cotton genotypes.

Quantification of Fusarium oxysporum in fumigated soils by a newly developed real-time PCR assay to assess the efficacy of fumigants for Fusarium wilt disease in strawberry plants

Two soil fumigants, chloropicrin (CP) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), were used to control Fusarium wilt disease (FWD) which caused large economic losses in strawberries. The fumigants were evaluated alone and in combination in a laboratory study and in strawberry greenhouses. Laboratory tests found that combinations of CP and DMDS indicated a positive synergistic activity on Fusarium oxysporum. A newly developed quantitative assay for F. oxysporum involving real-time PCR was used successfully to evaluate F. oxysporum control by the fumigants; it provided similar results to the selective medium but was less time-consuming and less labor intensive. Greenhouse trials revealed that the combination of CP and DMDS successfully suppressed the incidence of FWD and sharply reduced the population density of F. oxysporum, which significantly increased fruit branch number and maintained a good strawberry yield, higher than methyl bromide (MB) treatment. All of the treatments provided significantly better results than the non-treated control. This study confirms that the newly developed real-time PCR quantitative assay for F. oxysporum was suitable for the control efficacy evaluation of soil fumigants and that the novel fumigant combination of CP and DMDS offers a promising effective alternative to MB for the control of F. oxysporum in strawberry greenhouses.

COMBINING ABILITY ANALYSIS IN F2 GENERATION FOR YIELD AND SOME OF ITS COMPONENTS IN UPLAND COTTON Gossypiom hirsutum L.

Cotton varieties, Halab1, SP8886, Coker5114, Deltapine5409, Lachata, Dunn1047 and Deer22, and all their F2 half diallel crosses were planted at field of Agriculture and Forestry college (Center of Mosul university) in May, 4, 2006 using randomized complete block design with three replications to study general and specific combining abilities for parent and crosses respectively, phenotypic variance components and some genetic parameters for characters: plant height, number of vegetative and fruiting branches, number of bolls per plant, boll weight, seed and index indices and seed cotton yield per plant. Analysis of variance results showed that mean square of genotypes, general and specific combining ability was significant for all characters. The variety Halab 90 appeared as a good general combiner, and (SP8886 x Coker5114), (SP8886 x Deltapine5409) and (Coker5114 x Deer22) crosses as good specific combiners for largesr number of characters. The total genetic variance was high as compared with environmental variance for plant height and number of fruiting branches, and the reverse for the remainder characters. Broad sense heritability ranged from 24.051% for seed cotton yield per plant and 71.101% for plant height, and it was high for plant height, number of fruiting branches and lint index, moderate for number of vegetative branches and boll weight, and low for number of bolls, seed index and seed cotton yield per plant. It was shown that selection for plant height gave higher percent of response to selection (5.275%) from original mean of yield, followed by number of bolls which gave percent of response to selection (2.783%) from original mean of yield.

Study of Radiation Effects on Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Pollen Grain Irradiated by 60Co-gamma Ray

This paper studied the effects of 60Co-gamma ray on the pollen grains of upland cotton. The irradiation effects on pollen grains were tested in terms of the ultrastructural changes in the exine and interior of pollen grains, their germination rate, the single primer amplification reaction polymorphism of ovule developed after the pistils were pollinated by the pollen grains which had been irradiated with 60Co-gamma ray, and the law of genetic variation of their M1, M2 progeny. The results showed that 60Co-gamma ray had no effects on the exine wall of the pollen grains. The interior structure of pollen grain were destroyed significiantly. The interior wall became thin and irregular, and part of it concavitied to the inner. The endoplasmic reticulum depolymerized. The amount and the density of pollen grain inclusions increased. The number of pollen tubes in style decreased by 38%, compared with the control group (natural pollen grain). The single primer amplification reaction polymorphism of ovule increased. The germination percentage of M1 progeny was decreased by 41.03%. And with the cotton plants of M1 progeny, the length of taproot, longest lateral root, average lateral root, the number of lateral root, and the height of seedling decreased by 22.24%, 18.93%, 11.80%, 28.02%, 23.05%, respectively, compared with the control group. The percentage of sterility plants was 56.7%. The coefficients of variations of boll number, lint percentage, perimeter of stem, seed index, fruit branch number, longissimus fruit branch and plant height increased by 103.206%, 74.588%, 75.96%, 69.83%, 33.25% and 29.624%, 11.843%, respectively., compared with the control group. With the cotton plants of M2 progeny, the percentage of sterility plants was 56.7%. And the coefficients of variations of boll number, seed cotton yield, fruit branch number, plant height, boll height, and lint percentage increased by 21.944%, 16.261%, 3.827%, 3.986%, 7.25% and 0.497%, respectively., compared with the control group. The coefficients of variations and change range of agronomic traits in M2 progeny were less than them in M1 progeny.

Genetic Diversity of the Upland Cotton Varieties Bred in North Xinjiang Region Revealed by Agronomic Phenotypes

We attempted to reveal the genetic background and phenotypic characteristics of the varieties bred in Northern Xinjiang through the study on genetic diversity of the 38 cultivated varieties approved in Xinjiang. The results showed that the trait of the fruit branch number in the 13 tested phenotypic traits had the highest genetic diversity index; along with the year in different breeding period, the bred cotton varieties exhibited that the growing period gradually shortened, fruit-branch number increased, cotyledon node and plant height significantly increased; and boll weight per boll obviously increased, seed index also showed an upward trend with boll weight changes; the boll number per plant and lint percentage also presented overall increasing trend, however, the lint percentage left a great space to be enhanced; the fiber length and strength gradually increased in the bred varieties, and micronaire values showed a downward trend. Overall the quality traits went to be reasonable with each passing periods. Genetic analysis indicated that 38 domestic bred varieties could be clearly divided into two groups with similar phenotypic traits, similar genetic background, the same breeding unit and the same type varieties were better clustering together. The clustering results would be relatively accord with the evolution trend in their real characteristics and genetic background. Overall, the domestic bred varieties had become major cultivating varieties in Northern Xinjiang, The reason would lie in the reasonable utilization of the genetic composition from the American components and the Yellow River cotton germplasms as well as Liaomian cotton series of special early maturing cotton area, which would provide insights, basis and developing direction to break out the genetic component narrow issues in Xinjiang cotton breeding program.

Quantitative trait loci mapping for yield and its components by using two immortalized populations of a heterotic hybrid in Gossypium hirsutum L.

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping provides a powerful tool for unraveling the genetic basis of yield and yield components as well as heterosis in upland cotton. In this research, a molecular linkage map of Xiangzamian 2 (Gossypium hirsutum L.)-derived recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was reconstructed based on increased expressed sequence tag–simple sequence repeat markers. Both the RILs and immortalized F2s (IF2) developed through intermating between RILs were grown under multiple environments. Yield and yield components including seed-cotton yield, lint yield, bolls/plant, boll weight, lint percentage, seed index, lint index and fruit branch number were measured and their QTL were repeatedly identified across environments by the composite interval mapping (CIM) method. From a total of 111 non-redundant QTL, 23 were detected in both two populations. In the meantime, multi-marker joint analyses showed that 16 of these QTL had significant environmental interaction. QTL for correlated traits tended to be collocated and most of the QTL for seed-cotton yield and lint yield were associated with QTL for at least one yield component, consistent with the results observed in correlation analyses. For many QTL with significant additive effects, positive alleles from CRI12, the inferior parent with lower yield performance, were associated with trait improvement. Trait performance of IF2s and the large number of QTL with positive dominant effects implied that dominance plays an important role in the genetic basis of heterosis in Xiangzamian 2 and that non-additive inheritance is also an important genetic mode for lint percentage in the population. These QTL can provide the bases for marker-assisted breeding programs of upland cotton.