Tobacco Research Institute Research Articles

First Report of Black Rot on Persimmon Fruit Caused by Diaporthe eres in China.

The fruit of persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) is popular with consumers for its delicious taste and is widely grown in China. In September 2022, fruit rot symptoms were found on persimmons grown at the Tobacco Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (120°26'43.879″E, 36°7'59.794″N) in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China. Diseases incidence on fruit is 70%. Typical symptoms were small, black spots, which gradually expanded, and became rot lesions, causing fruit rot and serious losses. To isolate the pathogen, small sections (approximately 2 × 2 mm) of symptomatic tissues from five persimmon fruits were surface-sterilized in 5% NaClO, followed by 75% ethanol, rinsed with sterile distilled water, and then incubated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates incubated at 28℃ for 5 days. By single spore isolation method, seven dominant fungal isolates developed with similar colonies. They were initially white and gradually turned to gray after 7 d. The alpha conidia were unicellular, colorless, elliptic or fusiform, and 5.0 to 8.0 μm × 2.5 to 3.5 μm in size. Beta conidia were unicellular, colorless, filiform, often hooked at one end and 18 to 28 μm × 1.3 to 1.5 μm in size. These morphological features were consistent with Diaporthe spp (Udayanga et al. 2014). To confirm identity of the causal fungus, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA, translation elongation factor 1-a (TEF1-a), b-tubulin (TUB), and histone H3 (HIS) genes of three representative isolates (De2, De3 and DeR2) were amplified and sequenced using primers ITS1/ITS4, EF1-728F/EF1-986R, Bt2a/Bt2b and CYLH3F/H3-1b as described by Chaisiri et al. (2021). The resulting sequences were deposited in GenBank (accession nos. OP963195, OP963386 and OP963389 for ITS; OP968958, OP968959 and OP9689600 for EF1-α; OP978141, OP978142 and OP978143 for TUB; OP968955, OP96896 and OP968957 for HIS), and showed 99-100% similarity with D. eres by NCBI blast. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted using MEGA-X software, with the NJ method. In the phylogenetic tree, the combined sequences attributed the three isolates to the D. eres. On the basis of morphological and molecular characteristics, the pathogen was identified as D. eres. The strain De2 was preserved in the Agricultural Culture Collection of China (preservation number: ACCC 35482). Pathogenicity tests were performed by wound inoculation on healthy persimmon fruit. These were surface sterilized with 75% ethanol for 1 min, rinsed in sterile water three times, and allowed to dry. A 5-mm agar disc with mycelium of the causal pathogen was placed on the surface of fruit, which was wounded with a sterile needle in advance, with the sterile PDA plugs used as control. Three persimmons were used for each treatment, repeat three times. All the treated fruits were incubated in the sterilized transparent plastic cans at 28°C and 90% RH. After 3 days inoculation, the first symptom of rot lesion appeared on the fruit with mycelial plugs, whereas the control fruit remained symptomless. The same causal pathogens were re-isolated from the lesions and identified by morphologyand confirmed to fulfill Koch's postulates. This is the first report of D. eres causing fruit rot on persimmon. This finding showed that Diaporthe eres is a causal agent of persimmon fruit rot in China.

Tobacco Agridaksh: An Online Expert System

New advances in information technology led to the development of Expert Systems and their application in various sectors including farming. In India, agricultural production has been transformed into a multifaceted business enterprise. Indian agriculture to remain competitive needs the accumulation and integration of scientific knowledge, and information from many diverse sources. Indian farmer often relies on agricultural specialists, advisors and agricultural research and development institutes for agricultural information for better decision making at the actual farm situation. Unfortunately, timely specialist assistance is not available when the farmer needs. Thus the situation demand for a ‘virtual expert’ who can give personalized expert advice to a large community of farmers, specific to their needs and aspirations considering various knowledge sources. The role of expert systems in tobacco sector and its applications in effective production and protection technologies have been discussed in this article. It is almost impossible for any human expert to consider every piece of available information before arriving at optimal decisions. To overcome this problem and provide precise information to the farmers, “expert systems” have been developed with a primary goal to make expertise available to clients and decision makers who need answers swiftly. The main aim is to deliver the required information and disseminate the up-to-date scientific knowledge in a readily accessible and easily understood form to the farmers. It is one of the most efficient extension tools to take the technology from scientists to the growers directly without any distortion of content which normally creeps in because of multiple agencies involved in conventional technology transfer systems. With this aim, ICAR-Central Tobacco Research Institute has developed a web-based expert system on tobacco using “Agridaksh”- an online tool developed by ICAR-Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute. This, online expert systems has the tremendous capacity to transfer location specific technologies and advice to the farmers with a greater precision

Suitability of Blended Minjingu Fertilisers for Flue-Cured Tobacco Production in Tanzania's Sandy Soils

Objective: To evaluate the suitability of minjingu N10P18K24 top-dressed with minjingu CAN27% N fertilizer blends for tobacco yield and quality. Methods: The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design in 3 sites during the 2020-2021 farming season at Mtanila (Chunya), Tumbi (Tabora) and Songambele (Urambo). The experiment was done 3 times and used 5 types of treatment as described below: T1=standard N10P18K24+standard CAN27%, T2=minjingu N10P18K24+minjingu CAN27%, T3=minjingu N10P18K24 standard CAN27%, T4=standard N10P18K24 minjingu CAN27% and T5=Absolute control. The plot measured was 6m×6m. Tobacco variety (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. K326) seed sourced from the Tobacco Research Institute of Tanzania was used in the experiment. Seedbeds were first raised in a nursery with a spacing of 1.5×20m before being transplanted in field plots after 60 days. Basal application of N10P18K24 fertilizer was done a week after transplanting tobacco seedlings, followed by top-dressing CAN27N% fertilizer 2 weeks after application of N10P18K24 fertilizer. All agronomic management procedures were strictly observed. Results: Across the sites, the tobacco plants fertilized with minjingu basal N10P18K24 fertilizer and top-dressed with minjingu CAN27% (T2) yielded 1942.59kg ha-1 of dry tobacco leaf, which did not significantly (P≤0.001) differ with the yield of 2033.64kg ha-1 from plots fertilized with the standard N10P18K24 and top-dressed with the standard CAN27% (T1). The tobacco plants fertilized with standard N10P18K24 and top dressed with minjingu CAN27% produce higher yields of dry leaf (1738.88kg ha-1). This indicates that minjingu CAN27% fertilizer significantly contributed to the increased yield when applied in combination with minjingu N10P18K24. Conclusion: Minjingu N10P18K24 and minjingu CAN27% yielded tobacco plants that were not significantly different to those yielded by application of standard N10P18K24 and standard CAN27%. Additionally, the minjingu CAN27% contributed significantly to the dry leaf yield and quality of the tobacco.

Abstract 5731: Synergistic effect of cigarette smoke and bacterial-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease type airway inflammation on promotion of K-ras mutant lung cancer

Abstract Lung cancer, particularly K-ras mutant lung cancer, is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and cigarette smoking (CS) is its main cause. Epidemiologic studies had consistently revealed a strong association (3 to 9 fold increase) between lung cancer and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), after controlling for CS exposure. COPD is an inflammatory disease of the airways with smoking being the main cause of it. Importantly, lung inflammation persists and lung function continues to deteriorate as does the increased risk of lung cancer even after cessation of cigarette smoking among former smokers with COPD. These facts suggest a strong link between COPD-related airway inflammation and lung cancer promotion independent of smoking. We have previously shown that weekly exposure to an aerosolized bacterial lysate of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), induces lung inflammation with a profile of mediators and inflammatory cells similar to that observed in COPD patients excluding mucous metaplasia. We further showed that NTHi-induced COPD type airway inflammation promotes lung cancer 3.2-fold in a K-ras mutant mouse model remarkably similar to that in the epidemiologic literature. NTHi is the most common colonizing bacteria in the lower respiratory tract of patients with COPD and could be a potential cause of perpetuating and promoting persistent airway inflammation after CS exposure in these patients. Therefore, we further studied the effect of combined CS and NTHi exposure in the induction of COPD phenotype and promotion of lung cancer. Briefly, 6-week old K-ras mutant mice were exposed to NTHi lysate once a week for 8 weeks and to cigarette smoke (CS) daily for 2 hours/day, 5 days/week for 8 weeks and studied at the age of 14 weeks. The CS exposure was conducted by burning 3R4F reference cigarettes (University of Kentucky, Tobacco Research Institute), using an InExpose System (SCIREQ Scientific Respiratory Equipment Inc). We found that CS exposure alone caused a mild macrophage dominant airway inflammation, induced airway epithelial mucous metaplasia, and led to a 2.3 fold increase in lung tumor burden. Notably, combined NTHi and CS exposure resulted in a robust neutrophilic lung inflammation and mucous metaplasia and promoted K-ras mutant lung cancer by 4.3 folds (2 times more than CS alone). Our experimental results suggest that CS exposure and colonization of smoke-injured airways with NTHi induce an inflammatory and structural COPD phenotype fully recapitulating human COPD and provide a microenvironment that has a significant promoting effect on K-ras mutant lung cancer. Citation Format: Marco A. Ramos, Misha Umer, Susana Castro, Berenice Adriana Gutierrez, Nassim Khosravi, Seyed Javad Moghaddam. Synergistic effect of cigarette smoke and bacterial-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease type airway inflammation on promotion of K-ras mutant lung cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5731.

Bio-nutrition for improving the vigour of FCV tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) seedlings

The efficacy of different biofertilizers on tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) seedbeds was evaluated at the nursery site of ICAR-Central Tobacco Research Institute, Rajahmundry during 2010-11. The combined inoculation of nitrogen fixing (Azospirillum/Azotobacter), phosphorus solubilizing (Bacillus subtilis) and K-mobilizing (Frateuria aurantia) bacteria increased the percent germination, seedling height, leaf area, chlorophyll content, dry weight of the seedlings and total number of transplantable seedlings as compared to individual inoculation and uninoculated control after 60 days of sowing. Besides increasing the nitrogen fixing, phosphorus solubilizing and potassium mobilizing abilities, microbial inoculants have played a vital role in suppressing the population of fungal pathogen Pythium aphanidermatum causing damping-off in tobacco seedbeds. Improvement in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content of the seedlings was observed due to the inoculation of these beneficial microbes individually or in consortia. The results suggest that PGPR based inoculants can be used and should be further evaluated in nursery management practices.

Weed seeds stratification in contrasting soil texture on the bank of river godavari

The experiment was conducted at Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI), Rajahmundry, Andra Pradesh, 2013 to investigate the role of soil texture in weed seed germination and effect of depth of soil profile on emergence of weed seeds. The soil samples were collected from 3 places viz. Rajahmundry, Katheru farm under CTRI both belong to East Godavari district and Chainnaigudem village in West Godavari district with sandy, clay and sandy loam in texture respectively. Soil samples were collected from 0–10, 10–20, 20–30 and 30–40 cm depth of soil profile using core sampler. Each site represents were approximately 1300 m2 area and 32 samples from 4 depths for every site. So, total 144 samples were collected to conduct the experiment. Germinated weeds identified and counted every week and 10 weeks study was carried out. Sandy, sandy loam and clay soil texture found significant non-linear relationship between weed germination and soil depth. All three places recorded significant interaction between depth and seed germination. Soil depth upto 20 cm recorded maximum weed emergence both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous; however, dicotyledonous weeds recorded more in number than monocotyledon in four consecutive depths. Sandy soil found highest number of germinated weeds than sandy loam and clay texture soils.

UJI EFEKTIVITAS Trichoderma harzianum DAN PEMBERIAN ARANG BATOK KELAPA SEBAGAI PENGENDALIAN HAYATI PENYAKIT LANAS (Phytophtora nicotianae de Hann ) PADA TANAMAN TEMBAKAU DELI

Test Effectiveness of Trichoderma harzianum and Coconut Shell Charcoal Granting of controlBiological Disease As Lanas (Phytophtora nicotianae de Hann) In Tobacco Plants Deli. The studyaims to determine the concentration of T. harzianum and charcoal administration is most effectivein controlling diseases in plants Tobacco P.nicotianae Deli. The experiment was conducted at theExperimental Farm Deli Sampali Tobacco Research Institute, Medan. This research used arandomized block design factorial with two factors and three replications. The first factor T.harzianum (T) consists of (T0) without treatment, (T1) T.harzianum that in cultures on corn mediawith a dose of 10 g / plant, (T2) T.harzianum that in cultures on corn media with a dose of 15 g /plant, (T3) T.harzianum that in cultures on corn media with a dose of 20 g / plant and the secondfactor consists of charcoal administration (A0) without treatment, (A1) coconut charcoal with adose of 20 g / plant. The results showed the highest percentage of attacks are on treatment T0A0amounting 99.71% and the lowest percentage of attacks are on treatment T3A1 (T.harzianum that incorn cultured on medium with a dose of 20 g / plant and coconut shell charcoal with a dose of 20 g /plant ) by 0.71%. The highest number of leaves found in treatment T3 (T.harzianum that in cultureson corn media with a dose of 20 g / plant strands at 11.67 and the lowest at treatment T0 (control) of7.17strands.Keywords: T.harzianum, coconut Shell charcoal, P.nicotianae, TobaccoDeli

施用纳米碳对烤烟氮素吸收和利用的影响

为明确纳米碳在提高烤烟氮素吸收利用方面的效果，在盆栽条件下，研究了纳米碳不同用量对烤烟根系生长发育、干物质积累和氮素吸收利用的影响。结果表明，在常规肥料中添加纳米碳能够促进烤烟根系生长发育，明显提高烟株根系活力和单株根系生物量，增加植株干物质积累量。施用纳米碳增加了烤烟植株成熟期各器官氮素含量和积累量，而未明显影响氮素在植株不同器官的分配。施用纳米碳不仅增加了植株对肥料氮的吸收量，还增加了对土壤氮的吸收量，这与其促进烤烟根系生长发育、提高根系吸收能力有密切关系。纳米碳无论做基肥还是做追肥，均显著提高了氮肥利用率，提高幅度分别达到14.44%和9.62%，有效降低了氮素土壤残留和损失。;With the improvement of the agricultural technology, especially the application of chemical fertilizers, the crop yields have greatly increased in the past few decades. Nitrogen application is one of the most important measures to increase yield and improve quality in tobacco production. Although nitrogen supply drives productivity, excessive nitrogen fertilizers and irrational application have become the serious problems in many fields. The residual nitrogen in the soil caused not only the decrease of nitrogen use efficiency, but also the increasing risk of environmental pollution. Thus, improving fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency and reducing fertilizer losses are significant to the agricultural development and environmental protection.<br>Nanomaterials have some particular properties such as surface effect, volume effect, quantum size effect, and so on, which macro materials do not have. Nanotechnology has become one of the hot topics in the scientific research field because of its wide applications. Many studies found that nanomaterial can enhance crop seed germination and promote plant growth. And chemical fertilizer utilization rate can be increased by nanomaterial application in soil. Tobacco is an important economic crop in our country, and excessive fertilization occurs occasionally in tobacco production. A recent study has shown that carbon nanotubes induce growth enhancement of tobacco cells. However, to date, only few reports exist on the effects of nanomaterial on tobacco growth and nutrient absorption. So this study was conducted to determine the effects of nanocarbon on nitrogen absorption, assimilation and use efficiency of tobacco plant using ¹⁵N tracer technique, to provide theory basis for nanocarbon research and application. A pot culture experiment was carried out with tobacco cultivar Zhongyan100 in the greenhouse of Zhengzhou Tobacco Research Institute. Four treatments (T1, T2, T3, T4) were set up and each treatment had 15 pots. Eight pots of T1 and T3 treatment were used for ¹⁵N tracer experiment. Plant organ and soil samples were taken for analysis at the resettling growth stage, vigorous growth stage and maturity stage. <br>The results showed that nanocarbon application promoted root growth, increased root biomass and root vigor, and increased dry matter accumulation of tobacco plant. At maturity stage, compared with T1, the dry matter accumulation of root, stem and leaf increased 6.73%, 19.17%, 7.92% (T3) and 9.12%, 12.44%, 3.89% (T4), respectively. Nanocarbon application increased nitrogen content and nitrogen accumulation amount, without effect on nitrogen distribution of different organs of flue-cured tobacco. At vigorous growth stage and maturity stage, the plant nitrogen uptake, 25.29%-34.62% of which derived from fertilizer and 65.38%-74.01% from soil. Nanocarbon application increased nitrogen absorption amount both from soil and fertilizer, which attributed to strong root absorption ability. The total nitrogen uptake increased by 14.11% and 15.63% at vigorous growth stage and maturity stage by the nanocarbon application. Nanocarbon application increased nitrogen utilization rate by 14.44% (base fertilizer) and 9.62%(top dressing), respectively. Meanwhile, the residual ratio and loss ratio decreased significantly by the nanocarbon application, which had great benefit of decreasing nitrogen loss. Therefore, nanocarbon is suitable for making new fertilizer and using in tobacco production.

Knowledge-based Weather Information System

For the effective management of crop production system, Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI), Rajahmundry has been collecting and using weather data since 1960 in record books. Retrieval of data from these records is cumbersome and time consuming and the records are prone to damage for long period of storage. Hence, for easy storage and retrieval, a Knowledge-Based Weather Information System (KBWIS) was developed based on 10 weather parameters available in the records using. Net technology. The KBWIS not only safeguards the available meteorological data but also reduces large number of clerical operations for its retrieval. The KBWIS allows the user to add, view and modify the weather data. Hard/soft copy of the required data on any combination of weather parameters can be retrieved in the form of text along with graphs or exported to Microsoft Word. The KBWIS can also acts as an input for developing forecasting/prediction models. At present, the weather data collected from 1960 at CTRI and its six regional stations are stored and updated daily in this database. This software can also be customised by the users for storing the weather data collected by them.

Professor ZHU Zunquan - 1919-2012

Abstract “I do hope that in another twenty years, 2028, CORESTA would meet in China again and I certainly would be here in welcoming you”, said 89-year-old Professor ZHU Zunquan, at the 2008 CORESTA Congress, where he received an enthusiastic ovation for his sincere wish. It was very sad to hear the information that he died on July 16, his magnetic voice is still lively in my mind. I have met Professor ZHU so many times since my first visit to the Zhengzhou Tobacco Research Institute in 1984. Having worked in CORESTA and as a consultant in China for many years, I knew that he had been actively pushing the China tobacco industry to play roles in international tobacco research organisations. In 1988, the CORESTA Congress was held in Guangzhou due to his unremitting efforts, this was the first CORESTA Congress ever held in China. He made an invited report and became a member of the Scientific Commission from 1988 to 1990. In 2008, he received the award of the CORESTA Prize at the age of 89, acknowledging his life-long work in tobacco science. During the congress, he made an impressive report “Leaf Tobacco Production in China: Past, Present, and Perspective”. Over the years he has been truly my teacher about tobacco in China and not only tobacco. Without his inspiration, I would never have enjoyed the successes that China has brought me in my professional career. Professor ZHU was well known as the expert in tobacco agronomy and cigarette manufacturing technology. He devoted himself to the research work on reducing the harmful components and tar level of cigarettes. He put forward the concept “reducing tar level and hazard” in the early 1980s and switched it to “reducing hazard and tar level” in 2003, which guided and is still guiding the direction of Chinese style cigarette development. Also, he was the one, who developed the first Chinese low-tar blended cigarette. We shared the ideas about low-tar cigarette development. “Professor ZHU Zunquan's death was a big loss for Zhengzhou Tobacco Research Institute of CNTC, a big loss for China tobacco industry, and a big loss for China engineering of science and technology”, said XIE Jianping, ZHU's student and the vice president of Zhengzhou Tobacco Research Institute of CNTC. Besides that, he has in fact helped me quite a lot in understanding Chinese culture and humour. I still remember, in May 1984, when we met for the first time, he told me the most important sentence that I had to remember in Chinese language: He showed me the wall and said: what is it? I said it's a “wall”, then he showed me his eye and said: what is it? I said it's an “eye”, then he showed me his knee and said: what is it? I said it's a “knee”. Good he said, now please repeat the 3 words together, and I said: Wo Ai Ni! Indeed this was the most important sentence in Chinese language, meaning “I love you”. I will remember professor ZHU for the rest of my life.

Effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer on yield, quality and some quantitative parameters of flue-cured tobacco cv. K326

In order to investigate the effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers on yield, quality and some quantitative parameters of flue-cured tobacco, 2 year experiment was carried out in tobacco research institute of Rasht located in Guilan province on factorial based with 3 replications. The applied fertilizer levels included 35 (N1), 45 (N2), 55 (N3) and 65 (N4) kg N/ha of pure nitrogen of urea source and potassium in two levels of 150 (K1) and 200 (K2) kg K/ha of potassium sulphate. The measured parameters in this experiment included leaf dry weight, leaf wet weight, stem height, stem diameter, leaf number in plant, leaf length, leaf width, stem dry weight, biomass, nicotine and sugar content. The effect of year on parameters such as leaf dry weight, leaf wet weight, stem height, leaf number, leaf length, stem dry weight, biomass and sugar content was significant (P<0.01). Likewise nitrogen had significant effect on leaf wet weight, leaf length, stem dry weight, biomass and sugar content at 1% statistical level and also on leaf dry weight, leaf wet weight, stem diameter, leaf width and stem dry weight at 5% statistical level. The interaction between year and nitrogen on parameters of leaf length (in 1% statistical level), leaf width and biomass (at 5% statistical level) was significant. In second year, more leaf dry weight, leaf wet weight, stem height, leaf number, stem dry weight, biomass and sugar content were obtained but the amount of leaf length and sugar content were greater in first year of experiment. The highest amount of leaf dry weight, leaf length, stem dry weight and biomass belonged to applying 35 kg N/ha and the greatest amounts of leaf wet weight and sugar content obtained when 35 and 45 kg N/ha was applied respectively. The greatest amounts of stem diameter and leaf width obtained when 35 and 55 kg N/ha was applied respectively. The highest sugar content was derived when 200 kg K/ha and was applied. Usage of 35 kg N/ha plus 200 kg K/ha led to the greatest amount of leaf dry weight, leaf wet weight, stem diameter, leaf number, leaf length and biomass. The highest amounts of leaf width and stem dry weight were gained when 35 kg N/ha plus 200 kg K/ha and 55 kg N/ha plus 200 kg K/ha were applied. Key words: Nitrogen, potassium, yield, quality, quantitative characteristics of flue-cured tobacco.

The effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer on yield, quality and some quantitative characteristics of flue-cured tobacco cv.Coker347

In order to investigate the effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers on yield, quality and some quantitative characteristics of flue-cured tobacco cv.Coker347, 2 years experiment was carried out in Tobacco Research Institute of Rasht city located in Guilan province on factorial based using a factorial experiment with 8 treatments and 3 replications. The applied fertilizer levels included 35(N1), 45(N2), 55(N3) and 65 (N4) Kg N/ha as pure nitrogen and potassium in two levels of 150 (K1) and 200 (K2) Kg K/ha potassium as potassium sulphate. The measured parameters in this experiment included leaf yield, stem height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf length, leaf width, stem dry weight, biomass, flowering, nicotine and sugar content. The highest of leaf yield, plant height, leaf number were obtained by using 55 and 65 Kg N/ha. The highest amount of stem diameter, stem dried weight and biomass obtained when 55 Kg N/h was applied. The greatest leaf length belonged to usage of 45, 55 and 65Kg N/ha. The longest flowering period was gotten when 65 Kg N/ha was utilized. The maximum dried leaf yield, stem height, stem sickness, leaf number, leaf length, stem dried weight and biomass belonged to 200 Kg K/ha level and the highest nicotine percentage was detected when 150 Kg K/ha was used. 65 Kg N/ha and 200 Kg K/ha level had the highest amount of dried leaf yield. The greatest number of leaves and leaf length were associated with using 55 Kg N/ha and 200 Kg K/ha as well as using 65 Kg N/ha and 200 Kg K/ha. Applying 65 Kg N/ha and 200 Kg K/ha, 55 Kg N/ha and 150 Kg K/ha indicated the highest amount of biomass. Utilizing 150 Kg K/ha in fist year led to the longest flowering period. Key words: Nitrogen, potassium, yield, quality, flue-cured tobacco.

The Effect of Nitrogen and Potassium Fertilizer on Yield and Mineral Accumulation in Flue-Cured Tobacco

In order to investigate the effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers on yield and mineral accumulation of cv.coker347 and cv.k326 of flue-cured tobacco, 2 year experiment was carried out in tobacco research institute of Rasht located in Guilan province on factorial based with 3 replications. The applied fertilizer levels included 35(N1), 45(N2), 55(N3) and 65 (N4) Kg/ha of pure nitrogen from urea source, and potassium in two levels of 150 (K1) and 200 (K2) Kg/ha potassium from potassium Sulfate. The measured parameters in this experiment included dried leaf weight, stem nitrogen, stem potassium, stem phosphorus, leaf nitrogen, leaf phosphorus, leaf potassium, plant nitrogen, plant phosphorus, plant potassium, nitrogen harvest Index, potassium harvest Index, phosphorus harvest Index. The effect of variety on dried leaf yield, stem nitrogen and plant potassium was significant on 1% level, and the variety had also significant effect on leaf potassium, plant nitrogen and nitrogen harvest Index on 5% level. The nitrogen had significant effect on parameters such as stem nitrogen, plant nitrogen on 1%level and similarly had significant effect on stem phosphorus, stem potassium and potassium harvest Index on 5% level. The potassium had significant effect on dried leaf, stem potassium on 1% level and also on plant potassium, potassium harvest Index on 5% level. The interaction between cultivar and nitrogen was significant on parameters like dried leaf yield, stem potassium, leaf nitrogen, plan nitrogen, plan potassium, nitrogen harvest Index and potassium harvest Index on 1% level and it was significant on stem nitrogen and leaf phosphorus on 5%level. The interaction between cultivar and potassium was significant on dried leaf, stem nitrogen, stem phosphorus, leaf nitrogen, leaf potassium, potassium harvest Index and nitrogen harvest Index on 1% level. This interaction on stem potassium was also significant on 5 % level. The interaction between nitrogen and potassium was significant on stem phosphorus, leaf potassium and potassium harvest Index on 1% level. This interaction on dried leaf yield, stem phosphorus, leaf nitrogen, and plant nitrogen and plant phosphorus was also significant on 5%level. The interaction among cultivar, nitrogen and potassium on parameters like dried leaf yield and stem phosphorus was significant on 1% level and this interaction on 5% level was also significant on plant potassium, leaf potassium and potassium harvest Index on 5% level

Targeted Deletion of Jun/AP-1 in Alveolar Epithelial Cells Causes Progressive Emphysema and Worsens Cigarette Smoke–Induced Lung Inflammation

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease appears to occur slowly and progressively over many years, with both genetic factors and environmental modifiers contributing to its pathogenesis. Although the c-Jun/activator protein 1 transcriptional factor regulates cell proliferation, apoptosis, and inflammatory responses, its role in lung pathogenesis is largely unknown. In this study, we report decreased expression levels of c-Jun mRNA and protein in the lung tissues of patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and the genetic deletion of c-Jun specifically in alveolar epithelial cells causes progressive emphysema with lung inflammation and alveolar air space enlargement, which are cardinal features of emphysema. Although mice lacking c-Jun specifically in lung alveolar epithelial cells appear normal at the age of 6 weeks, when exposed to long-term cigarette smoke, c-Jun-mutant mice display more lung inflammation with perivascular and peribronchiolar infiltrates compared with controls. These results demonstrate that the c-Jun/activator protein 1 pathway is critical for maintaining lung alveolar cell homeostasis and that loss of its expression can contribute to lung inflammation and progressive emphysema.

Brief History of Mass Spectrometry in Korea Related to the Establishment of the Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry

In the early 1970s, there were only a limited number of mass spectrometers in Korea and experts to whom you could ask about mass spectrometers. Two magnetic sector instruments were bought to Korea by the Japanese reparations as a result of the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea signed in 1965. One was operated at the Seoul National University (SNU) and the other was at the Ginseng and Tobacco Research Institute. It was too early to see any quadrupole mass spectrometer even at laboratories of developed countries. The first mass spectrometer installed for research purpose was the VG ZAB-E at the Professor MyungSoo Kim’s (MSK) laboratory at SNU. It is fair to say that his laboratory was the only one in Korea where students could be trained as mass spectroscopist. In the middle of 1970s the Korean government had a loan from both IBRD and ADB to invest into modernization of analytical instruments to be used for educational purposes. But most of instruments became idle after several months or so due to lack of infrastructure needed for proper maintenance. It was the time when foreign currency was tightly controlled by the central government. The main surge of mass spectrometers into Korea was some time before the Game of the Olympiad, Seoul in 1988 by installing modern analytical instruments needed to setup the Doping Control Center (DCC) established in 1986. Many of GC/MS were installed and scientists with analytical backgrounds were recruited. The DCC laboratory was headed by Dr. Jong-Sei Park (JSP). Many

The development of the scientific bases of horticulture and the history of horticultural innovation in the Northern Great Plain region and in Debrecen

It can be told about the second half of the XXth century that, apart from preferring the large-scale growing of field plants and the largescalelivestock farming, corresponding to the central political will of the communist era, the significance and innovation output ofhorticultural education in Debrecen was rather of follow-up trait, of secondary importance. The Tobacco Research Institute continued theresearch work, and then even this activity was stopped. According to a survey finished in 1997, the mentioned institute had no invention,granted patent, protection for registered model or any application for patent in progress at the Hungarian Patent Office. Until this time, invention activity at the University of Agricultural Sciences was of medium standard. In the National Patent Office, seven patent applications related to agricultural production and nine patent applications for other fields submitted under the inventors’ names were recorded. In the same period, the Cereal Research Institute (Szeged) led the absolute innovation list of Hungarian agricultural R+D institutions and university education institutes by submitting 164 own patent applications. Both in domestic and international terms, the horticultural innovation conducted at the University of Agricultural Sciences, despite the individual research results and achievements deserving recognition, without appropriate background – remained unnoticed. Let us put it this way: for the past decades, the light of the Debrecen Flower Carnival has not been thrown on the horticultural teachers and researchers of Debrecen.

Effect of drip irrigation on productivity and quality of chewing tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)

A field experiment was conducted during the rabi seasons of 2008-10 at the farm of Central Tobacco Research Institute, Regional Station, Vedasandur to find out the suitability of drip irrigation for chewing tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). Drip daily and alternate day drip at 50, 75 and 100% ETc along with furrow irrigation at 1.0 IW/CPE ratio and conventional method of irrigation were tested in a randomized block design with three replications. The first grade leaf yield (FGLY) with daily drip at 100% ETc was comparable with alternate day drip at 100% ETc. The yield recorded with daily drip at 100% ETc and alternate day drip at 100% ETc were 2.54 and 2.48 t/ha respec- tively. The FGLY increase with daily drip at 100% ETc and alternate day drip at 100% ETc were 14 and 11% re- spectively, over the conventional method of irrigation. Total cured leaf yield (TCLY) with daily drip at 100% ETc and alternate day drip at 100% ETc increased by 10 and 8% respectively, over the conventional method of irriga- tion. The TCLY recorded with daily drip and alternate day drip at 100% ETc were 3.43 and 3.37 t/ha respectively. Chewing quality scores were higher (69 out of 80) with daily drip and alternate day drip at 100% ETc over the con- ventional method of irrigation. Water use efficiency (WUE) was higher (9.9513.8 kg/ha-mm) with drip treatments as against 4.74 to 8.62 kg/ha-mm with surface irrigation. Nicotine content increased (2.442.46 %) and reducing sugars decreased (2.613.21%) with drip daily and alternate day drip at 50% ETc. Net returns with drip irrigation daily at 100% ETc ( 69,800/ha) and alternate day drip at 100% ETc ( 67,600/ha) are comparable. Though drip daily and alternate day drip at 100% ETc recorded comparable cured leaf yield and net returns, considering the labour availability and feasibility, it could be concluded that alternate day drip at 100% ETc would be sufficient for higher productivity, profitability, better chewing quality and lamina chemical quality .

Cadmium studies on the effect of environment, soil and variety on tobacco and cadmium transfer into cigarette smoke

The results as outlined in this paper are based on a 10-year-investigation by the Tobacco Research Institute, Forchheim. Emissions into the environment may lead to higher Cd-content of tobacco and other crops. Geological soil conditions may influence the soil/plant--Cd-transfer. Genetically dependent variety differences in Cd-uptake can be found in field as well as in greenhouse experiments. A comparison between domestic and foreign leaf tobaccos showed Cd-levels at the same order of magnitude. Analyses of German cigarette brands (with and without filter) demonstrated that 0.05 micrograms Cd/cigarette are transferred from cigarette tobacco into the mainstream smoke, corresponding to a mean transfer rate of 5.1%.

Carbon monoxide kinetics following simulated cigarette smoking.

Carbon monoxide kinetics were measured in the blood (% carboxyhemoglobin) and alveolar phase (ppm carbon monoxide) after simulated cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking was simulated using the same amount of carbon monoxide that 2R1F cigarettes manufactured by the Tobacco Research Institute would contain. Ten boluses of air containing carbon monoxide equivalent to smoking one cigarette were inhaled by six healthy nonsmoker volunteers. Carbon monoxide in the air phase was measured by an Ecolyzer and carboxyhemoglobin was measured by a CO-Oximeter. The mean rise in alveolar carbon monoxide immediately and 20 min after inhaling the last bolus was 3.3 and 3.1 ppm, respectively (P less than .005). The mean rise in carboxyhemoglobin immediately and 20 min after inhalation of the last bolus was 0.8 and 0.5%, respectively (P less than .005). The changes in carboxyhemoglobin were found to be similar to changes that occur when on cigarette is actually smoked.

Disease resistant flue-cured tobacco breeding lines for north Queensland 2. Resistance to bacterial wilt, Pseudomonas solanacearum and black shank, Phytophthora nicotianae var. nicotianae

Two soil borne diseases, bacterial wilt, Pseudomonas solanacearum, E. F. Smith and black shank, Phytophthora nicotianae (B. De Haan) var. nicotianae, cause economic harm to tobacco crops in certain parts of north Queensland. Host plant resistance is the main means of control for both diseases. During the period from 1969 until the closure of the Tobacco Research Institute at Mareeba in 1975, part of the plant breeding programme was directed towards combining black shank resistance and bacterial wilt resistance with resistance to blue mould, Peronospora tabacina, Adam in a commercially acceptable cultivar. As a result of this programme, fourteen lines have been selected which have a good level of resistance to the three diseases and an acceptable commercial potential. Further improvement can be expected from selection. The development of a new strain of blue mould will preclude the general release of these lines for commercial production but they will be of value as breeding lines and for restricted release in areas where either of the soil borne diseases is a problem.