Nursery Garden Research Articles

First report of Pestalotiopsis lushanensis causing leaf spot of Manglietia decidua (Magnoliaceae) in China.

Manglietia decidua is an extremely endangered species, known for its limited population and a narrow distribution range restricted to China (Yu 1994). In October 2021, a leaf disease affecting the foliage of 3-year-old M. decidua was observed at the nursery garden of the Yichun Forestry Institute of Jiangxi Province (27°55'52.7"N, 114°17'36.4"E), with approximately 60% disease incidence. Initially, small reddish-brown specks with round or oval-shaped spots appeared. These spots gradually expanded, resulting in large irregular lesions with grayish-white centers. Furthermore, the affected areas exhibited desiccation and curling, with lesion diameters exceeding two cm. Fifteen diseased leaves were collected to isolate the pathogen using the method described by Zhang et al. (2021). Out of 40 fungal isolates obtained, 28 exhibited consistent culture characteristics and were identified as Pestalotiopsis sp.. We chose HML2-1 as the representative for morphological research. Colonies on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) reached a diameter of 80 mm after seven days at 25°C, displaying a pale honey-colored appearance with fluffy aerial mycelia arranged in a concentric-pattern, while the back of the colony appeared orange. Conidia were fusoid and ellipsoidappearing straight to slightly curved, composed of five cells, with four septa at which were slightly constricted, and measured 17.5-22.5 × 5-7.5 µm. The 3 median cells exhibited a brown color; the apical cells were conical and colorless, featuring 2-3 branches at the top as flagella; the basal cells were conical, transparent, and smooth. For further identification, three isolates were selected for the amplification and sequencing of three loci: the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), the partial translation elongation factor1-alpha (TEF1) and beta-tubulin (TUB2). The sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS: OR415306-OR415308; TEF1: OR420799, PP278043, PP278044; TUB2: OR420798, PP278045, PP278046). All three DNA sequences of HML2-1 had a high identity to P. lushanensis (the ex-type isolate LC4344) with the accession numbers KX895005 (100%), KX895223 (100%) and KX895337 (99.34%), respectively. The multi-locus phylogenetic tree employing W-IQ-TREE (Trifinopoulos et al. 2016), revealed that the studied three isolates clustered in P. lushanensis clade with strong support. Based on morphological and molecular evidence, the isolate HML2-1 was identified as P. lushanensis, despite the fact that conidia sizes are smaller than those of type strain (Liu et al. 2017). To verify pathogenicity, a 20 µL conidial suspension (5×105 conidia/mL) of isolate HML2-1 was added to each leaf from an 8-year-old tree in the field, with 10 leaves punctured and 10 leaves left intact. Control including wounded or unwounded leaves were treated with sterile water in another tree. The treated leaves were wrapped in plastic bags to maintain moisture. After three to seven days, field-inoculated leaves exhibited typical reddish-brown lesions with grayish-white centers, primarily on wounded leaves, while the lesions on unwounded inoculated leaves were smaller. The control remained symptomless. The re-isolated HML2-1A was identified as P. lushanensis by ITS sequence. At present, the pathogens of M. decidua include Calonectria ilicicola (Yi et al. 2022), Sclerotium rolfsii (Yi et al. 2021) and Colletotrichum fructicola (Liu et al. 2023), while this study expands understanding of M. decidua's diseases.

ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТЬ НЕКОРНЕВОГО ВНЕСЕНИЯ КОМПЛЕКСНЫХ УДОБРЕНИЙ НА ШКОЛКЕ ПРИ ВЫРАЩИВАНИИ ПРИВИТЫХ САЖЕНЦЕВ ВИНОГРАДА

The purpose of research is to study the effectiveness of foliar fertilization when growing grafted grape seedlings on a nursery garden in the conditions of the Rostov Region. The studies were carried out at the production complex and experimental field of ARRIV&W (a branch of FSBSI FRARC) located in Novocherkassk. The study examined the inclusion of foliar application of modern complex fertilizers of the following names: Bio-Don 10 Fe (0.2 %); Beres (0.05 %); Juss Argentum Agro (0.2 %); Helios Boron Molybdenum (0.3 %); Nano Silicon (0.06 %); Fertigrain Foliar (0.2 %) in the technology of growing grafted seedlings of the technical white grape variety Sibirkovy (rootstock Kober 5 BB). The development of the main biometric indicators of the annual growth of the experimental variants using fertilizers increased significantly in comparison with the variant without additional treatments (control) by: 45.0–189.7 cm along the total length of the increase (LSD05=32.84); 23.7-104.7 cm along the length of the hardwood part (LSD05=15.46); 2.7–29.4 % on aging (LSD05= 6.37); 0.2-4.0 mm in diameter (LSD05=0.75); 693.1-5101.5 cm2 of the leaf surface area (LSD05=630.76). The survival rate in the control was 22.4%, and when using fertilizers, it increased to 32.4–51.9 %, which is significant for LSD05 = 1.4. The yield of seedlings in the control was the lowest (19.0%), non-root treatment increased the bottom indicator to 27.5–44.1 %, which is significant at LSD05= 1.31. An increase in the multiplicity of foliar fertilization (Bio-Don 10 Fe; Beres; Helios Boron Molybdenum; Nano Silicon; Fertigrain Foliar) from 2 to 4 times increased the survival rate by 1.4–14.8 %, and the yield of seedlings by 1.2–12.5 %. Correlation analysis showed positive linear dependencies: 1 – increase in the diameter of the increment with an increase in the multiplicity of processing (r=0.589); 2 – increase in survival rate and yield of seedlings with an increase in the frequency of processing (r = 0.659).

First Report of Anthracnose Caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides on Lucky Bamboo in China

Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana hort. ex. Mast. = Dracaena braunii) is a popular decorative plant in China. In March 2022, a severe outbreak of anthracnose disease occurred on the stems of lucky bamboo plants in a nursery garden in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. Thirty-two fungal isolates were obtained from the infected stem tissues and were morphologically identified as Colletotrichum species. A multilocus phylogenetic analysis based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, the actin (ACT) gene, and the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene indicated the isolate FGZ-1 as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. and Sacc. The pathogenicity of isolate FGZ-1 was verified by inoculating mycelial plugs on stem segments and spraying spores on the whole one-year-old lucky bamboo plants. Koch’s postulates were fulfilled via the re-isolation of C. gloeosporioides from the diseased tissues. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of C. gloeosporioides causing anthracnose on lucky bamboo in China. The detection of C. gloeosporioides on lucky bamboo in China expands the range of Colletotrichum species that are associated with anthracnose in this popular ornamental plant. This study lays a solid foundation for future investigations into the pathogenic mechanisms of anthracnose on D. sanderiana and control strategies for this disease, such as biocontrol agents and the construction of resistant cultivars.

Co-benefits of preserving urban farmland as climate change adaptation strategy: An emergy approach

The potential of urban green infrastructure (UGI) for adapting to climate change has been recognized, but the inclusion of urban farmland as a measure of nature-based solutions (NBS) and its co-benefits to alleviate flood risk has rarely been assessed. This case study of the Guandu Plain in Taipei City assesses the co-benefits of using urban farmland as an NBS measure to adapt to extreme climate events. Five alternative land use practices (increasing the ridge height of paddy rice fields, citizen farming, simple leisure farms, nursery gardens, and large nature parks) were proposed to assess their co-benefits when using existing farmland to alleviate flood risks; co-benefits were also identified through a workshop. Emergy synthesis was applied to estimate the inflows of energy and materials, performance, costs, and environmental sustainability of each alternative land use practice. Results indicated that all proposed alternative land use practices had higher co-benefits than traditional practices such as paddy rice fields. The use of earth banks to withhold excess runoff improved renewable energy flows and decreased environmental loading by reducing inflow energies from the economic system. Citizen farming had the highest return of co-benefits. Our findings suggest that the use of UGI to alleviate excess runoff and other benefits can co-exist with use for adaptation to extreme climate events. NBS are an important concept and should be integrated into land use planning to promote urban farmland as an effective UGI strategy to adapt to climate change.

Diagnosis of neurosyphilis in HIV-negative patients with syphilis: development, validation, and clinical utility of a suite of machine learning models

The ability to accurately identify the absolute risk of neurosyphilis diagnosis for patients with syphilis would allow preventative and therapeutic interventions to be delivered to patients at high-risk, sparing patients at low-risk from unnecessary care. We aimed to develop, validate, and evaluate the clinical utility of simplified clinical diagnostic models for neurosyphilis diagnosis in HIV-negative patients with syphilis. We searched PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and UpToDate for publications about neurosyphilis diagnostic guidelines in English or Chinese from database inception until March 15, 2023. We developed and validated machine learning models with a uniform set of predictors based on six authoritative diagnostic guidelines across four continents to predict neurosyphilis using routinely collected data from real-world clinical practice in China and the United States (through the Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University in Guangzhou [659 recruited between August 2012 and March 2022, treated as Development cohort], the Beijing Youan Hospital of Capital Medical University in Beijng [480 recruited between December 2013 and April 2021, treated as External cohort 1], the Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University in Xiamen [493 recruited between November 2005 and November 2021, treated as External cohort 2] from China, and University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle [16 recruited between September 2002 and April 2014, treated as External cohort 3] from United States). We included all these patients with syphilis into our analysis, and no patients were further excluded. We trained eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) models to predict the diagnostic outcome of neurosyphilis according to each diagnostic guideline in two scenarios, respectively. Model performance was measured through both internal and external validation in terms of discrimination and calibration, and clinical utility was evaluated using decision curve analysis. The final simplified clinical diagnostic models included neurological symptoms, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein, CSF white blood cell, and CSF venereal disease research laboratory test/rapid plasma reagin. The models showed good calibration with rescaled Brier score of 0.99 (95% CI 0.98-1.00) and excellent discrimination (the minimum value of area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.84; 95% CI 0.81-0.88) when externally validated. Decision curve analysis demonstrated that the models were useful across a range of neurosyphilis probability thresholds between 0.33 and 0.66 compared to the alternatives of managing all patients with syphilis as if they do or do not have neurosyphilis. The simplified clinical diagnostic models comprised of readily available data show good performance, are generalisable across clinical settings, and have clinical utility over a broad range of probability thresholds. The models with a uniform set of predictors can simplify the sophisticated clinical diagnosis of neurosyphilis, and guide decisions on delivery of neurosyphilis health-care, ultimately, support accurate diagnosis and necessary treatment. The Natural Science Foundation of China General Program, Health Appropriate Technology Promotion Project of Guangdong Medical Research Foundation, Department of Science and technology of Guangdong Province Xinjiang Rural Science and Technology（Special Commissioner）Project, Southern Medical University Clinical Research Nursery Garden Project, Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals Incubating Program.

First Report of stem rot in Cymbidium sinense Caused by Fusarium oxysporum (FOSC) in China.

Cymbidium sinense (Jackson ex Andr.) Willd is a perennial terrestrial plant in the orchid family mainly distributed in China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia that occupies a strong position in the flower market due to its bright green leaves and fragrant flowers (Zhang et al. 2013). Cymbidium sinense is not only valued by people for its ornamental and economic value, but its roots have antiasthmatic medicinal properties (Ke et al. 2004). In August 2020, about 15% stem rot on two-year old C. sinense with varying severity was observed in five nursery gardens located in Enshi city (N 30° 16', E 109° 29'), Hubei province, China. Typical symptoms of C. sinense included roots and inner part of the pseudobulbs changing from white to brown and rotting. Leaves became brown and withered from bottom to top, and there was an obvious blight yellow halo at the junction of diseased and healthy tissue, which eventually caused the whole plant to wilt and die (Fig. 1d). To isolate the pathogen, a total of 15 leaf tissues from the disease-health junction (3 × 3 mm) from 5 individual plants (3 leaves/plant) with symptoms were surface sterilized with 75% ethanol for 30 s and 2% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) for 3 min. The sterilized tissue was rinsed three times with sterilized water, and then placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) for incubation at 28°C in the dark for 5 days. Isolated colonies were subcultured by a hyphal tip protocol. Thirteen fungal isolates were obtained. Through preliminary pathogenicity tests, we found that ten isolates induced leaf blight. These ten isolates with pathogenicity showed similar morphological characteristics, with initial white-flocculent aerial mycelium that secreted a lavender pigment and produced colonies with an irregular edge after 3 days on PDA. The ten strains were cultured on PDA plates at 28℃ for 5 and 15 days to observe colony and conidial characteristics. The ten strains were identified as Fusarium based on morphological characteristics (Leslie and Summerell 2006). Strain ML0303 was selected for further identification. Macroconidia were falciform, hyaline, slightly pointed at both ends with two to four septa, 24.0 ± 5.6 µm × 4.7 ± 0.8 µm (n = 50). Microconidia were hyaline, oval, globose, with zero to one septum, 5.5 ± 1.3 µm × 2.2 ± 0.5 µm (n = 50) (Fig. 1c). Total genomic DNA of strain ML0303 was extracted with a CTAB protocol (Stenglein and Balatti 2006). The translation elongation factor (EF-1α), RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) and β-tubulin (Tub2) genes were amplified respectively using primer pairs EF1/EF2, RPB2-5F2/RPB2-7cR and T1/T22 respectively (O'Donnell. et al. 2010, O'Donnell. et al. 1997). The EF-1α, RPB2 and Tub2 (accession numbers-MW719874, OL614838, OL689398, respectively) gene sequences were submitted to GenBank. EF-1α, RPB2 and Tub2 sequences of ML0303 showed 99.5% - 100% identity respectively with Fusarium oxysporum in the Genbank and FUSARIUM-ID databases. The multilocus sequence data was used to infer a phylogenetic tree via a Neighbor-joining (NJ), Maximum-likelihood (ML) and Maximum-Parsimony(MP) together with reference sequences from GenBank. The topology of the three trees was similar; only the NJ tree is presented here. Strain ML0303 and F. oxysporum formed a clade supported with high values (NJ/ML/MP: 96,95,97). The results indicated that the fungus was F. oxysporum based on the phylogenetic analysis and BLASTn queries. For pathogenicity tests, conidia of strain ML0303 were collected by rinsing PDA plates. Two-year-old C. sinense grown in plastic pots filled with sterilized autoclaved sandy loam soil were used for the tests. Three pots (two plants/pot) were included in each treatment. Spore suspensions (106spores/ml) of strain ML0303 were used to irrigate the stem-zone of the plants, and sterile water was used as control. The two treatments were placed in a greenhouse and incubated at 28±2℃ with a 14-hour light/10-hour dark cycle. The experiment was repeated twice. After three weeks, stem rot symptoms were observed on C. sinense inoculated with ML0303, that were the as same as observed in the nursery (Fig. 1e-h). No symptoms were observed on the negative control. Fusarium oxysporum was re-isolated from the infected plants to fulfill Koch's postulates. Partial EF-1α and RPB2 gene sequences were used for molecular identification. Members of the FOSC are notorious for causing many diseases, which includes stem rot of Sulcorebutia heliosa and root rot of Torreya grandis (Garibaldi et al. 2020; Zhang et al. 2016). To our knowledge, this is the first report of stem rot by F. oxysporum on C. sinense in China. The finding of this pathogen provides a clear target for stem rot control.

Regenerative ability of grafted cuttings in the callusing room by using solutions of physiologically active substances

Relevance. Currently, growth regulators are gaining increasing popularity and are in great demand both among amateur gardeners and among scientists and researchers; this is due to the ir ability to stimulate and regulate the growth and development of various crops. Currently, the use of cultivar stimulants in nursery practice has been studied variants with non-root treatments in the callusing room at nursery garden and when soaking the basal part of the cuttings immediately before planting. There is no study of the use of growth stimulants on the components of grafting immediately before its implementation in the literature, which makes our research desirable and relevant. The aim of the study is to improve the elements of the technology of production of grafted grape seedlings by soaking the components of grafting in growth-stimulating preparations to improve the quality and yield of grafted grape seedlings from the callusing room. Methods and results. Methods of research – generally accepted in the practice of grape nursery (Kolesnik L. V., Melnik S. A., Shchiglovskaya V. I.). It was found that the greatest regenerative activity for the Tsimlyansky Cherniy variety was shown in the variant with soaking of the rootstock component of the grafting in the “NanoCremniy” preparation, in which 96.7% of plants had budding on the 15th day of callusing and 95.9 % of grafting seedlings had a circular callus. On the Cabernet Sauvignon variety, a variant with soaking of the graft part in the “NanoCremniy” preparation was distinguished (93.3 % and 92.5 % respectively). The most complete stimulation of growth processes after planting is reflected in the variants with the use on the Tsimlyansky Cherniy variety preparations “NanoCremniy” (80.0 %) and “Cultimar” (88.3 %).

The use of Albit in the technology of growing grafted seedlings of technical grape variety

In 2014-2016 were laid 2 experiments: 1. Processing during the stratification period; 2. Processing during the growing season in the nursery garden, the purpose of which was to determine the effectiveness of including foliar fertilizing (Albit) in the conditions of the Lower Don region in the technology for the production of grafted planting material for industrial grapes. The treatment of vaccinations during the stratification period has a positive effect on their yield, which increases to 65.6-92.2%, which is 5.6-32.2% more than the control, with a positive correlation to an increase in concentration. The final yield in this experimental variants varied from 32.2 to 48.9%, significantly exceeding the control by 14.4-31.1%. Treatment of grafts during the growing season in a nursery garden with a solution of Albit in a similar concentration contributed to the aerial parts, roots, increasing the survival rate to 50.3-64.6% (increase to control 2.1-16.4%) and the final yield up to 33.3-57.2% (increase to control 10.0-33.9%), with a positive correlation to an increase in concentration. Foliar treatment during the growing season in a nursery garden with a solution of the Albit preparation provided the formation of a more powerful annual growth with increased quality indicators compared to the control.

Using U. V. C Ray for Inducing Resistance Against Tobacco mosaic virus

The research discusses the use of flashes of ultraviolet-C rays in inducing resistance against viral pathogens and the possibility of its employment in covered houses or garden nurseries. A number of tomato and tobacco plants of type Nicotiana tabacum, uder protected cultivation conditions, were exposed to UV-C rays at wavelengths 200-280 nm using an electronic LED lamp, for 5 and 10 minutes, all plants were inoculated 48 hours after the last exposure to UV rays. The number and size of local lesions were calculated on the leaves of inoculated tobacco plants, as well as monitoring the development of symptoms on tomato plants inoculated with the virus for 12 days of inoculation, and the virus concentration was estimated based on the amount of absorbance at 405 nm by ELISA test. The results indicated that the ultraviolet rays used enhanced the plant's resistance to viral infection through a noticeable increase in the enzyme peroxidase, as it reached (59220 nanometers) in the treated plants compared to the untreated plants that were (28,016 nanometers). The irradiation for the first five minutes had a higher effect than the longer irradiation that lasted for ten minutes, in addition to that the irradiation for intermittent periods and for a short period was better than the continuous exposure for one time. It was found that the leaves far from the radiation exposure area acquired an inducible character of resistance against the pathogen.

Isolation of Individual Compounds from the Aerial Part of <i>Comarum palustre </i>L. and Their Structure Elucidation Using Spectroscopic Methods

Introduction. Medicinal plants are a rich, almost inexhaustible source of medicinal substances, and due to their large chemical diversity of metabolites available for isolation their research is always an important task. One of the promising medicinal plants for research is marsh cinquefoil (Comarum palustre L.), widely used in folk medicine for the treatment of diseases of the musculoskeletal system.Aim. Isolation of individual secondary metabolites from the aerial part of C. palustre and their subsequent structural elucidation by NMR experiments.Materials and methods. The aerial parts of the marsh cinquefoil, were collected next to the Saint Petersburg State Chemical-Pharmaceutical University Nursery Garden of Medicinal Plants (Leningrad region, Vsevolozhsky district, Priozerskoe highway, 38 km) in July 2021. Fraction analysis was performed through analytical high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a LC-20 Prominence (Shimadzu corp., Japan) equipped with a SPD-M20A diode-array detector. The isolation of compounds was carried out by open column chromatography using sorbents with different selectivity, as well as by preparative HPLC using a Smartline system (Knauer, Germany) equipped with a spectrophotometric detector. The structures of the isolated compounds were established by 1D NMR experiments (Bruker Avance III 400 MHz, Germany).Results and discussion. Seven individual compounds (1–7) were isolated and their structures elucidated. Two compounds (1 and 2) are derivatives of ellagic acid, namely 4-O-α-L-arabinofuranoside ellagic acid (1) and 4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside ellagic acid (2), while the other five compounds are derivatives of flavonoids: kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucuronide (3), quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucuronide (4), quercetin-3-O-β-D-(6’’-β-D-glucopyranosyl)-glucopyranoside (5), quercetin-3-O-β-D-(2’’-galloyl)-glucopyranoside (6) and (+)-catechin (7).Conclusion. As a result of the current research, seven individual compounds were isolated from the aerial part of the marsh cinquefoil and their structure were elucidated. Compounds 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 were found and isolated from the aerial part of C. palustre L. for the first time.

The Influence of Plant Species, Origin and Color of Garden Nursery Flowers on the Number and Composition of Pollinating Insect Visitors

With recent publicized pollinator declines, citizens are becoming motivated to design gardens that support pollinators. As a result, garden centers have become a venue for advancing pollinator conservation, especially in urbanised areas. However, there is a paucity of evidence-based guidelines on what plant species or plant characteristics attract pollinators, especially native bees. Systematic surveys were conducted to identify what plants are most attractive to pollinating insects at a garden nursery (Zanthorrea Nursery) located in Western Australia. In the austral spring and summer of 2020/2021, each blooming plant species for sale was observed and all insect visitors were recorded over a 200-sec observation period. A diversity of native bees was recorded, however, the introduced Apis mellifera L. dominated. Of the 181 plant species present, less than half received visitors, and plant species varied greatly in their attractiveness to different insect taxa. Greater abundance of a plant species positively influenced visitation. Native bees preferred native flora, whereas honeybees preferred both native and horticultural varieties. The ten most visited plants by all insects were identified; three of these (Melaleuca lanceolata, Boronia crenulata, and Babingtonia virgata) were also most visited by native bees. Bipartite plant-pollinator networks revealed that resource overlapped and potential for competition varied among insect taxa and months. This study indicated clear preferences by insects among garden plant species offered at nurseries, and visited plants, especially those by native bees, should be promoted, and planted in larger abundances. Similar surveys can be used to identify “pollinator friendly” flora for the public.

Research of <I>Rhodiola rosea</I> Rhizomes and Roots Using High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography

Introduction. The research results obtained through the analysis of different varieties of Rhodiola rosea rhizomes and roots using high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), grown in the Saint-Petersburg State Chemical-Pharmaceutical University (SPCPU) medicinal plants nursery garden, are represented.Aim. To carry out a comparative analysis of Rhodiola rosea rhizomes and roots samples, grown in the SPCPU medicinal plants nursery using HPTLC.Materials and methods. HPTLC analysis was performed on a CAMAG device (Switzerland), using MERCK HPTLC silica gel 60 F 254, 20 × 10 cm plates. Extracts were obtained from raw materials using an ultrasonic bath "Sapphire-4.0 TTC" (Russia). The Rhodiola rosea rhizomes and roots were harvested in the SPCPU medicinal plants nursery garden (Leningrad Region, Vsevolozhsk district, Priozerskoe Highway, 38 km) in August 2019.Results and discussion. In the course of the research, extracts from Rhodiola rosea rhizomes and roots were obtained using 70 % ethyl alcohol and methyl alcohol as extractants. The extracts were investigated by HPTLC in ethyl acetate – methanol – water – formic acid (77 : 13 : 10 : 2) solvent system. After scanning densitometric analysis at 254 nm, the much better separation of methanol extracts in this solvent system was found than ethanol extracts. The densitograms of individual tracks were compared with each other in order to identify samples of Rhodiola rosea rhizomes and roots with a higher biologically active compounds content. As a result of the comparison of 18 samples tracks of the Rhodiola rosea rhizomes and roots (the extractant was ethyl alcohol 70 %), samples № 6 and 17 have been proposed as promising for further research and cultivation.Conclusion. As a result of the analysis of alcohol extracts from Rhodiola rosea rhizomes and roots by HPTLC, the samples 6 (Tomsk, Russia) and 17 (Valla Di Aposta/Hirvos varieties, country of origin – Italy/Finland) were found to have a higher content of biologically active compounds.

Geographically driven differences in microbiomes of Acropora cervicornis originating from different regions of Florida's Coral Reef.

Effective coral restoration must include comprehensive investigations of the targeted coral community that consider all aspects of the coral holobiont—the coral host, symbiotic algae, and microbiome. For example, the richness and composition of microorganisms associated with corals may be indicative of the corals’ health status and thus help guide restoration activities. Potential differences in microbiomes of restoration corals due to differences in host genetics, environmental condition, or geographic location, may then influence outplant success. The objective of the present study was to characterize and compare the microbiomes of apparently healthy Acropora cervicornis genotypes that were originally collected from environmentally distinct regions of Florida’s Coral Reef and sampled after residing within Mote Marine Laboratory’s in situ nursery near Looe Key, FL (USA) for multiple years. By using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, we described the microbial communities of 74 A. cervicornis genotypes originating from the Lower Florida Keys (n = 40 genotypes), the Middle Florida Keys (n = 15 genotypes), and the Upper Florida Keys (n = 19 genotypes). Our findings demonstrated that the bacterial communities of A. cervicornis originating from the Lower Keys were significantly different from the bacterial communities of those originating from the Upper and Middle Keys even after these corals were held within the same common garden nursery for an average of 3.4 years. However, the bacterial communities of corals originating in the Upper Keys were not significantly different from those in the Middle Keys. The majority of the genotypes, regardless of collection region, were dominated by Alphaproteobacteria, namely an obligate intracellular parasite of the genus Ca. Aquarickettsia. Genotypes from the Upper and Middle Keys also had high relative abundances of Spirochaeta bacteria. Several genotypes originating from both the Lower and Upper Keys had lower abundances of Aquarickettsia, resulting in significantly higher species richness and diversity. Low abundance of Aquarickettsia has been previously identified as a signature of disease resistance. While the low-Aquarickettsia corals from both the Upper and Lower Keys had high abundances of an unclassified Proteobacteria, the genotypes in the Upper Keys were also dominated by Spirochaeta. The results of this study suggest that the abundance of Aquarickettsia and Spirochaeta may play an important role in distinguishing bacterial communities among A. cervicornis populations and compositional differences of these bacterial communities may be driven by regional processes that are influenced by both the environmental history and genetic relatedness of the host. Additionally, the high microbial diversity of low-Aquarickettsia genotypes may provide resilience to their hosts, and these genotypes may be a potential resource for restoration practices and management.

Efficacy of Hendersonia on the growth of seedlings of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) and Ganoderma disease control: A field-based study using GanoEF biofertilizer at Medan, Indonesia

The present study aimed to test the efficiency of Hendersonia GanoEF biofertilizer against Ganoderma disease in the seedlings of oil palm (OP) Elaeis guineensis, and was carried out from February 2020 – January 2021 in Pulo Mandi Garden Nursery, at Medan, Indonesia. Experimental set up followed a completely randomized design with four treatments. Observation results showed that the percentage of root colonization by Hendersonia sp. in OP roots reached an average of 70.6% in the treatment with Ganoderma inoculation, and an average of 69.6% in the treatment without Ganoderma inoculation. The GanoEF treatment provided higher growth of seedlings and faster growth of bowl diameter when the seedlings were 9 months old. Three instances of GanoEF application had high potential to inhibit the development of Ganoderma on OP seedlings. Endophytic fungi Hendersonia sp. was capable of symbiosis with OP roots with a colonization rate reaching 70.6%. Disease incidence or percentage of plants infected with Ganoderma in GanoEF treatment reached 20.4% which was significantly (P<0.05) lower than under the control treatment (44.2%). Meanwhile, the level of severity of Ganoderma disease in seedlings with GanoEF treatment reached 5.23% which was significantly (P<0.05) lower than the control treatment (11.1%). The efficacy of Hendersonia GanoEF as a biocontrol method for the OP pathogen G. boninense to control the basal stem rot of E. guineensis seedlings was well proven in this field study.

Host-specific epibiomes of distinct Acropora cervicornis genotypes persist after field transplantation

Microbiome studies across taxa have established the influence of host genotype on microbial recruitment and maintenance. However, research exploring host-specific epibionts in scleractinian corals is scant, and the influence of intraspecific differences across environments remains unclear. Here, we studied ten Acropora cervicornis genotypes to investigate the relative roles of host genotype and environment in structuring the epibiome. Coral mucus was sampled in a common garden nursery from replicate ramets of distinct genotypes (T0). Coral fragment replicates (n = 3) of each genotype were then transplanted to nine different field sites in the Lower Florida Keys, and mucus was again sampled one year later from surviving ramets (T12). 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing was used to assess microbial composition, richness, and beta-diversity. The most abundant and consistent amplicon sequencing variants (ASVs) in all samples belonged to Midichloriaceae (MD3-55 genus) and Cyanobacteria (Synechococccus). The relative abundances of these bacterial taxa varied consistently between genotypes, whereas neither the composition nor taxonomic relative abundance were significantly different among field sites. Interestingly, several high MD3-55 hosting genotypes showed rapid diversification and an increase in MD3-55 following transplantation. Overall, our results indicate healthy A. cervicornis genotypes retain distinct epibiome signatures through time, suggesting a strong host component. Lastly, our results show that differences in MD3-55 abundances can be consistently detected in the epibiome of distinct host genotypes of A. cervicornis. As this organism (sensu Aquarickettsia rohweri) has been implicated as a marker of disease resistance, this finding reinforces the potential use of microbial indicators in reef restoration efforts via non-invasive surface/mucus sampling.

Kiambang Extract Effectiveness Test (Salvinia molesta D.Mitch.) as Bioherbicide in Controlling Pre-growth of Peanut Weed (Cyperus rotundus L.)

Kiambang extract (Salvinia molesta D.Mitch.) is an alternative to control Teki Weed (Cyperus rotundus L.), The aim of the study was to test the effectiveness of kiambang extract as a bioherbicide and to obtain the best concentration in controlling pregrowth of puzzle weed (Cyperus rotundus L.) . The research was carried out at the Experimental Garden Nursery, Riau University, Jalan Bina Widya km 12.5, Simpang Baru Village, Tampan District and at the Natural Materials and Minerals Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, Riau University. This research was conducted experimentally using one factor Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The treatment for the pre-growth test used 5 treatments of kiambang extract concentration, namely: 0%, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% repeated 4 times. The data obtained were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) at the 5% level, then further tested using Duncan's Multi Range Test (DMRT) at the 5% level with SPSS 23. The results showed that kiambang extract was considered effective as a pre-emergent bioherbicide to control nut weeds. . the best concentration of kiambang extract in inhibiting the shoots of nut weed tubers was the treatment with a concentration of 80%.

Evaluation of chemical properties of organic briquettes developed from slaughterhouse waste

Service slaughter houses in the country generate large quantities of animal blood, manure and rumen contents as waste material. Eco-friendly disposal of such waste often requires long time or expensive equipment. The study was conducted to develop organic briquettes using biomass originating from slaughterhouse wastes and to investigate its chemical properties to be used as an organic nutrient source in crop cultivation. Dried rumen contents were mixed with fresh blood collected after bleeding of animals in different proportions and dried using tray drier. The dried rumen content-blood (RB) mixture was further mixed with commercially available coir pith in 12 different proportions. The rumen content-blood-coir pith (RBC) mixture was formed into briquettes using a hydraulic biomass briquetting machine. Each organic briquette was five centimetres in diameter and had an average weight of 30-40 grams. The treatments were analyzed for organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen and carbon: nitrogen ratio. The organic briquette that had rumen content with 100 per cent blood and 80 per cent coir pith (T10) recorded the highest total nitrogen (1.76±0.09 per cent) and lowest carbon: nitrogen ratio while highest organic carbon content (45.97±0.93 per cent) was noted in organic briquette that had rumen content with 80 per cent blood and 60 per cent coir pith (T8 ). The study showed that there is considerable potential for development of organic briquettes that are compact, easy to transport and market, and ideal for grow bag cultivation and garden nurseries by using slaughter house wastes as sources of organic nutrient.

Comparative phytochemical analysis of the aerial parts of Empetrum nigrum L. samples, collected in various regions of the Russian Federation

Introduction. A number of studies have shown that various genetic and environmental factors can affect the biosynthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites. In particular, it is known that the local geoclimate, seasonal changes, external conditions such as light, temperature, moisture and soil fertility can affect the chemical composition and, as a result, the therapeutic properties of plants used in the pharmaceutical and food industries. Empetrum nigrum L. is a rich source of various pharmacologically active secondary metabolites – chalcones, dihydrochalcones, bibenzyls, 9,10-dihydrophenanthrenes, flavonoids, and proanthocyanidins. In the scientific literature, there is no data on the variation in the chemical composition of E. nigrum depending on the growing area. The obtained data are necessary for a reasonable choice of the collecting location for the plant, with the aim of its further chemical and pharmacological research for the development of promising drug candidates.Aim. To carry out a comparative analysis of secondary metabolites composition in the aerial parts of Empetrum nigrum growing in different regions of the Russian Federation.Materials and methods. Samples collected in three different areas were used to compare HPLC profiles: sample 1 was collected next to SPCPU nursery garden of medicinal plants (Leningrad region, Vsevolozhsky district, Priozerskoe highway, 38 km) in July 2020, sample 2 was collected on the Kola Peninsula, around the Khibiny mountains in July 2020, sample 3 was collected on the Kamchatka Peninsula, next to Khalaktyrsky beach (Pacific Ocean coast) in July 2020. Extracts were analyzed by analytical high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a Prominence LC-20 device (Shimadzu, Japan) equipped with a diode array detector.Results and discussion. As a result of the research, for the first time, a significant variation in the qualitative chemical composition in the aerial parts of Empetrum nigrum growing in different regions of Russian Federation was established. Sample 3, collected on the Kamchatka Peninsula, in comparison with samples 1 and 2, contain the greatest variety of polar secondary metabolites belonging to the classes of flavonoids, tannins, and phenol carboxylic acids, while in the shoots collected in the Leningrad region, the major metabolites were weakly polar compounds belonging to the classes of chalcones, dihydrochalcones, bibenzyls, and 9,10-dihydrophenanthrenes, and in sample 2, collected in the Khibiny mountains, the lowest qualitative content of secondary metabolites was found. This variation may be caused by various environmental factors (biotic and abiotic).Conclusion. For the first time, the comparison of HPLC profiles of aerial part samples of E. nigrum, collected in different regions of the Russia Federation has been carried out. As a result, significant variations in the secondary metabolites composition of the studied samples were established, depending on the regions and growing conditions of the plants. The data obtained can be used for a reasonable choice of the collection location for the plant, with the aim of its further chemical and pharmacological research for the development of promising drug candidates.

Using high performance thin layer chromatography for the detection of pharmacologically active secondary metabolites in Empetrum nigrum L.

Introduction. The article presents the results of the detection of pharmacologically active secondary metabolites in black crowberry Empetrum nigrum L. using the method of high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC).Aim. To show the efficiency of HPTLC for conducting preliminary phytochemical analysis to determine the main groups of metabolites in promising medicinal plant species.Materials and methods. HPTLC analysis was carried out on a CAMAG device (Switzerland), using MERCK HPTLC silica gel 60 F154, 20 × 10 cm plates. For the evaporation of the samples, a Heidolph vacuum rotary evaporator (Germany) was used. The aerial parts (shoots) of Empetrum nigrum were harvested next to St. Petersburg State Chemical and Pharmaceutical University (SPCPU) nursery garden of medicinal plants (Leningrad Region, Vsevolozhsky District, Priozerskoe Highway, 38 km) in August 2019.Results and discussion. In the course of the research, four fractions from the aerial parts of Empetrum nigrum were obtained: hexane, dichloromethane, butanol, and water. Then, these fractions were investigated by HPTLC in two solvent systems – n-butanol : acetic acid : water (BAW) (4 : 1 : 2) and hexane : dichloromethane : methanol (HDM) (1 : 2 : 0.5). After scanning densitometric analysis of the plates eluted in the HDM system, it was revealed, that the hexane and dichloromethane fractions have a similar composition and contain the greatest amount of compounds, compared to the butanol and water fractions, and in the BAW system, it was found, that the butanol fraction contains the greatest variety of metabolites. As a result of UV spectroscopy, it was found, that the main groups of compounds contained in the hexane and dichloromethane fractions are derivatives of chalcones, dihydrochalcones, bibenzyls and 9,10-dihydrophenanthrenes. While in the butanol fraction, the main groups of secondary metabolites were derivatives of flavonoids and tanninsConclusion. The data obtained allow us to note the efficiency, speed and simplicity of HPTLC for conducting preliminary phytochemical analysis to determine the main groups of metabolites of promising medicinal plant species.

INTRODUKSI HIJAUAN UNGGUL RUMPUT ODOT (Pennisetum purpureum cv. Mott) SEBAGAI SUMBER PAKAN UNTUK PETERNAK SAPI DESA SIDANGKASIH

Farmers in rural areas generally take advantage of the available feed sources around them. Their feed is fulfilled by utilizing agricultural by-products and natural forage available. Sindangkasih Village is well known as a transmigrant community from Java and Bali. Most of the people of Sindangkasih work as farmers and ranchers who are not familiar with high quality forages and how to cultivate them for animal feed. This program is to introduce the community in Sindangkasih Village to the potential of odot grass that can be cultivated as animal feed. So, the location is expected to be an area that has a variety of high-quality forage feeds for livestock, one of which is odot grass. The introduction of odot grass as a high-quality forage program is carried out as one of the leading service programs integrated with KKN thematic Program in 2021. The method used in implementing this program is to carry out counselling, direct practice and assistance in making odot grass nursery garden demo plots. The participants understanding the principles of odot grass cultivation easily and are able to adopt good cultivation techniques.