Plant Vegetative Growth Research Articles

Five improved sesame reference genomes and genome resequencing unveil the contribution of structural variants to genetic diversity and yield-related traits variation.

Five improved sesame reference genomes and genome resequencing unveil the contribution of structural variants to genetic diversity and yield-related traits variation.

A Simple Formula of the Endophytic Trichoderma viride, a Case Study for the Management of Rhizoctonia solani on the Common Bean.

The utilization of beneficial endophytic microorganisms presents a promising and innovative strategy for attaining environmental sustainability and fostering development. The majority of microbial bioagents are unsuitable for preparation in a suitable granular formula, and few are prepared in complicated formulas. In this work, Trichoderma viride was simply prepared in a marketable granular formula to manage Rhizoctonia solani and improve common bean growth. The GC-MS analysis showed several antimicrobial compounds in the fungal filtrate. T. viride was able to suppress the phytopathogenic R. solani in the laboratory. The formula had up to 6 months of shelf-life viability. Under greenhouse conditions, the formula improved plant resistance against R. solani. Moreover, the vegetative plant growth and physiological performance (peroxidase, polyphenol, total phenols, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, and photosynthetic pigments) of the common bean showed obvious promotion. The formula reduced the disease incidence by 82.68% and increased the yield by 69.28%. This work may be considered a step in the right direction for producing simple bioactive products on a large scale. Moreover, the study's findings suggest that this method can be considered a novel approach to enhancing plant growth and protection, in addition to reducing costs, improving handling and application, and maintaining fungal viability for enhancing plant growth and protecting against fungal infections.

Abscisic acid mimic-fluorine derivative 4 alleviates water deficit stress by regulating ABA-responsive genes, proline accumulation, CO2 assimilation, water use efficiency and better nutrient uptake in tomato plants.

Water deficit represents a serious limitation for agriculture and both genetic and chemical approaches are being used to cope with this stress and maintain plant yield. Next-generation agrochemicals that control stomatal aperture are promising for controlling water use efficiency. For example, chemical control of abscisic acid (ABA) signaling through ABA-receptor agonists is a powerful method to activate plant adaptation to water deficit. Such agonists are molecules able to bind and activate ABA receptors and, although their development has experienced significant advances in the last decade, few translational studies have been performed in crops. Here, we describe protection by the ABA mimic-fluorine derivative 4 (AMF4) agonist of the vegetative growth in tomato plants subjected to water restriction. Photosynthesis in mock-treated plants is markedly impaired under water deficit conditions, whereas AMF4 treatment notably improves CO2 assimilation, the relative plant water content and growth. As expected for an antitranspirant molecule, AMF4 treatment diminishes stomatal conductance and transpiration in the first phase of the experiment; however, when photosynthesis declines in mock-treated plants as stress persists, higher photosynthetic and transpiration parameters are recorded in agonist-treated plants. Additionally, AMF4 increases proline levels over those achieved in mock-treated plants in response to water deficit. Thus water deficit and AMF4 cooperate to upregulate P5CS1 through both ABA-independent and ABA-dependent pathways, and therefore, higher proline levels are produced Finally, analysis of macronutrients reveals higher levels of Ca, K and Mg in AMF4- compared to mock-treated plants subjected to water deficit. Overall, these physiological analyses reveal a protective effect of AMF4 over photosynthesis under water deficit and enhanced water use efficiency after agonist treatment. In summary, AMF4 treatment is a promising approach for farmers to protect the vegetative growth of tomatoes under water deficit stress.

EFEKTIFITAS PENGGUNAAN LIMBAH AIR CUCIAN BERAS DALAM MENGURANGI PENGGUNAAN PUPUK NPK MUTIARA TERHADAP PERTUMBUHAN DAN PRODUKSI TANAMAN JAGUNG MANIS (Zea mays L.)

Zea mays L. is one of the food crops that people like because it has a lot of nutritional content. In increasing the growth and production of Zea mays L. plants, it can be done by integrating rice washing water waste with inorganic fertilizers in order to minimize the use of chemical fertilizers. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of using rice washing water waste in reducing the use of pearl NPK on vegetative growth and production of Zea mays L. plants. This research was carried out at the Greenhouse of the Agrotechnology Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Musamus University in June - September 2022 with a cultivation scale in polybaq. The design used was a completely randomized design (CRD) with 7 treatments and 3 replications, namely: K0 = Control; K1=rice washing water without pearl NPK; K2=rice washing water+25% pearl NPK; K3=rice washing water+50% pearl NPK; K4=rice washing water+75% pearl NPK; K5 = rice washing water + 100% pearl NPK; A6= 100% NPK pearl. Parameters observed were: plant height, number of leaves, stem diameter, leaf area, cob weight, cob weight without cob, number of rows of seeds per ear, cob diameter, cob length, and 100 seed weight. Observations were analyzed using the method of variance. If there are significantly different treatments, then proceed with the BNT test at the 95% confidence level. The results showed that the treatment of rice washing water + pearl NPK had a significant effect on the growth and production of Zea mays L.. Based on data from the analysis carried out by treating rice washing water waste + 50 % to 75% Pearl NPK can increase the vegetative and generative growth of corn plants so as to minimize the use of inorganic fertilizers by 25% -50% of the recommended dose.
 Keywords: Rice washing water, Zea mays L., Pearl NPK Fertilizer

Breeding of Lotus japonicus that can overcome adverse seasonal environment by coupling flowering time and abiotic stresses

AbstractManipulation of floral transition may allow for a free change in the duration of plant vegetative and reproductive growth, thus rendering them to avoid adverse seasonal environmental conditions. In this report, we investigated the effect of the stress‐inducible promoter RD29A on driving the rice FT ortholog Hd3a expression in Lotus japonicus ‘MG20’ in response to environmental changes. Constitutive overexpression of Hd3a (HOE) in ‘MG20’ hastened its flowering in contrast to non‐transformed control (wild type; WT), which did not flower in winter hampered by long days and low temperatures. RD29A promoter had low activity under non‐stress conditions and was induced by cold, drought and salinity in transgenic ‘MG20’. Transgenic plants of Hd3a driven by the RD29A promoter (RH) could flower under unfavourable weather conditions that prohibited the flowering of WT plants. In addition, RH transgenic plants exhibited thriving clumps of branching, inflorescence, and pods because of the low temperature‐induced expression of Hd3a. These results demonstrate that inducible expression of florigen has the potential to tackle unfavourable weather conditions and boost plant production.

Coppice growth traits in sand dune willow (Salix cordata) and comparisons with two common North American shrub willows used for biomass production

Among eight native North American willow species examined for coppice growth performance, the sand dune willow, Salix cordata Michx. (COR) has proved to be one of the most productive and useful for woody biomass production. In a common garden study, clones from the eastern and southwestern regions of Ontario, Canada, outperformed those from northern populations. Geographic region, populations within regions, and clones within populations all accounted for large portions of total variation in coppice growth traits that were compared with two other willows commonly used for biomass production, S. discolor Muhl. and S. eriocephala Muhl. Each species varied significantly in coppice structure and growth. The number of coppice stems per plant (coppice stem number) showed strong positive relationships to stem dry mass in 1- and 3-year-old coppices. Female COR plants were often slightly larger than male plants in this dioecious species, but these differences were not statistically significant, and provided no evidence of a reproductive cost expressed as a differential reduction in subsequent vegetative growth in female vs. male plants. This indicated that a zero sum model in which reproductive and vegetative structures compete for assimilates was not supported by our results. In all three species, clonal selection for growth and commercial biomass production, coppice stem number (not plant sex, longest stem length or corresponding basal stem diameter) was the best criteria for selecting superior willow clones.

Changes in morphological traits, anatomical and molecular alterations caused by gamma-rays and zinc oxide nanoparticles in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) plant

Spinach seeds were irradiated with gamma-rays after that soaked in zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO–NPs) at 0.0, 50, 100 and 200 ppm for twenty-four hours at room temperature. Vegetative plant growth, photosynthetic pigments, and proline contents were investigated. Also, anatomical studies and the polymorphism by the SCoT technique were conducted. The present results revealed that the germination percentage was at the maximum values for the treatment of 100 ppm ZnO–NPs (92%), followed by 100 ppm ZnO–NPs + 60 Gy (90%). The application of ZnO–NPs resulted in an enhancement in the plant length. The maximum of chlorophylls and carotenoids content was recorded in the treatment, 100 ppm ZnO–NPs + 60 Gy. Meanwhile, the irradiation dose level (60 Gy) with all ZnO–NPs treatments increased proline content and reached its maximum increase to 1.069 mg/g FW for the treatment 60 Gy combined with 200 ppm ZnO–NPs. Also, the anatomical studies declared that there were variations between the treatments; un-irradiated and irradiated combined with ZnO–NPs plants which reveal that the leave epidermal tissue increased with 200 ppm ZnO–NPs in both the upper and lower epidermis. While irradiated plants with 60 Gy combined with 100 ppm ZnO–NPs gave more thickness of upper epidermis. As well as SCoT molecular marker technique effectively induced molecular alterations between the treatments. Where, SCoT primers targeted many new and missing amplicons that are expected to be associated with the lowly and highly expressed genes with 18.2 and 81.8%, respectively. Also, showed that the soaking in ZnO-NPs was helped for reducing molecular alteration rate, both spontaneous and induced by gamma irradiation. This nominates ZnO–NPs as potential nano-protective agents that can reduce irradiation-induced genetic damage.

Effect of Calcium Nitrate and Calcium Carbonate on Plant Growth, Fruit Quality and Yield of Papaya Cv. Red Lady

A field experiment was performed to study the effects of foliar applications of CaCO3 and Ca(NO3)2 on growth, quality, yield, and shelf life of papaya (Carica papaya) Cv. Red lady. Calcium (Ca) is one of the major plant nutrients which affects significantly the formation of the cell walls and cell membranes and also enables the production of biomass with proper plant growth and function. In the current experiment, papaya seedlings were well established in the orchard, well-irrigated with standardized nutrient solutions with all required inter-culture activities. Four different pre-harvest foliar application sprays were provided with two varying sources of Ca (CaCO3 and Ca(NO3)2) at three concentrations of each with CaCO3 (2%, 1%, 0.5%) Ca(NO3)2 (2%, 3%, 4%) at different stages of growth like flowering stage, fruit set stage, pre-harvest stage. The study revealed that foliar spray of above mentioned concentrations showed a profound improvement in vegetative growth of plants in terms of their height and diameter as compared to the plants in control treatment and also affected the fruit quality of papaya fruit.

Vegetative Growth Response of Corn (Zea mays) Against Actinomycetes, Azospirillum, and Azotobacter from the Rhizosphere Neem (Azadirachta indica)

This research is an experimental study that aims to determine the effect of the application of N2-fixing bacteria Actinomycetes, Azospirillum, and Azotobacter on the vegetative growth parameters of corn plants and on the nitrogen content of corn plants. Parameters for measuring the growth of corn plants include: formation rate of radicle length, plant height, number of leaves, leaf length, fresh weight of plants, fresh weight of plant roots, dry weight of plants, dry weight of plant roots, total N content in plants, as well as physical and chemical qualities of the ground. Experiments on the application of N2 -fixing bacteria on corn plants on a laboratory scale were carried out to determine the in vitro effect of microbes on corn seeds. The pot test was carried out to determine the effect of N2-fixing bacteria on the vegetative growth of corn plants in vivo. Data were analyzed using ANOVA with Duncan's test. The results showed that corn plants inoculated with Actinomycetes, Azospirillum and Azotobacter showed a significant different growth from corn plants without nitrogen fixing bacteria, namely formation rate of radicle length, plant height, number of leaves, leaf length, fresh weight, dry weight, total N content (%) of crops, and soil physical and chemical quality. It can be concluded that the inoculation of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in corn plants has a significant effect on plant vegetative growth parameters and plant nitrogen content.Keywords: Nitrogen fixing bacteria, Actinomycetes, Azospirillum, Azotobacter, Plant vegetative growth.

Aplikasi Pupuk Trichokompos dan Vermikompos pada Produktivitas Cabai Merah Besar (Capsicum annuum L)

The mass production of red chili was 95,541 t/ha (2016), increased to 100,997 t/ha (2017), decreased to 91,541 t/ha (2018), while in 2019 it was 104,667 t/ha and decreased to 20,997 t/ha. The method in this study was a randomized block design (RBD) with 1 factor, 3 treatments, namely P0 = cow manure 20 t/ha, 5 kg/bed, P1 = trichocompost 20 t/ha, 5 kg/bed, and P2 = vermicompost 20 t/ ha, 5kg/bed. Based on the results of the study it can be concluded that the treatment with Trichocompost at a dose of 20 t/ha had no significant effect on plant reproductive growth, but the effect was significantly different on plant vegetative growth at week 4, 6, 7 and 9, and treatment with vermicompost at a dose of 20 t/ ha had a significant effect on vegetative growth, namely the addition of plant height in weeks 4, 6, 7 and 9.

Optimizing the Growth of Porang Plants (Amorphophalus Muelleri) using a Combination of Market Waste Compost and Growmore Fertilizer

Porang (Amorphophalus Muelleri) is a tuber plant from Araceae family that is easily live in various types and soil condition. In the food industry porang flour is used as a thickening agent, emulsion stabilizer and gel former, while in the pharmaceutical industry it is used as a coating material. This was do the increased in demand for exports of porang tubers in the form of flour and chips. The increasing demand for porang, so that porang cultivation has economic value. The selection of the appropriate fertilizer is one of the efforts to increase porang productivity. Therfore, the aim of this research was to obtain the scintific data about interaction of organic waste market fertilizerand growmore fertilizer toward of vegetative growth of porang plant. This research used RAL Factorial have 2 factor with 3 treatments level each others were the first factor is doses of organic waste market fertilizer (0g/polybag, 200 g/polybag and 400 g/polybag) and the second factor is doses of growmore fertilizer (0 g/l, 1 g/l and 2 g/l). The parameters in this research were plant height, petiole diameter, number of petioles and number of lateral roots of porang plant. The result on this research showed that interaction of organic waste market fertilizer and growmore fertilizer was signicantly affected of plant height, petiole diameter and number of lateral roots, but did not significantly affected of number of porang petioles. The best treatment obtained from interaction of organic waste market fertilizer at dosage 400g/polybag and growmore fertilizer at a dosage 1g/l.

Development of Zn biofertilizer microbeads encapsulating Enterobacter ludwigii-PS10 mediated alginate, starch, poultry waste and its efficacy in Solanum lycopersicum growth enhancement

In the present farming era, rhizobacteria as beneficial biofertilizers can decrease the negative effects of Zinc (Zn) agrochemicals. However, their commercial viability and utility are constrained by their instability under field conditions. Thus, to enhance their stability, microbial formulations are considered, which will not only offer an appropriate microenvironment, and protection but also ensure a high rate of rhizospheric-colonization. The goal of this study was to create a new formulation for the Zn-solubilizing bacteria E. ludwigii-PS10. The studied formulation was prepared using the extrusion technique, wherein a composite solution containing alginate, starch, zinc oxide, and poultry waste was uniformly mixed with the bacterial strain PS10 to develop low-cost, eco-friendly, and slow-release microbeads. The produced microbead was spherical, and characterized by SEM, FTIR, and XRD. Further, the microbeads were analyzed for their survival stability over 3 months of storage at room temperature and 4 °C. The effect of the microbead on the vegetative growth of tomato plants was investigated. Results showed that 94 % of the encapsulated microbial beads (EMB) matrix was able to encapsulate the bacterial strain PS10. The dried EMB demonstrated a moisture content of 2.87 % and was able to preserve E. ludwigii-PS10 survival at room temperature at the rate of 85.6 %. The application of the microbead to the tomato plants significantly increased plant biomass and Zn content. As a result, our findings support the use of this novel EMB prepared using an alginate/poultry waste/starch mixture to increase bacterial cell viability and plant growth.

Application of Seaweed Generates Changes in the Substrate and Stimulates the Growth of Tomato Plants

Ulva ohnoi is a cosmopolitan green seaweed with commercial potential given the biomass that may be generated. We evaluated the effects of substrate changes induced by U. ohnoi application on the vegetative response of tomato plants under greenhouse conditions. First, the decomposition dynamics and N release of the dry seaweed biomass were studied using the litterbag method. Subsequently, we evaluated the effect of seaweed powder (SP) or seaweed extract (SE) applications on substrate and plant growth. Additionally, the growth parameters responses evaluated were related to the changes in substrate properties associated with each treatment. The results showed that the dry seaweed biomass has a rapid rate of degradation (k = 0.07 day-1) and N release (k = 0.024 day-1). The SP application improved the physicochemical and biological characteristics of the substrate by increasing the availability of minerals, the fungi:bacteria ratio, and the growth morphophysiological parameters (length, area, dry and fresh weight), chlorophyll and mineral content. In contrast, SE treatment showed a positive effect on the root, mineral content, and soil microbes. This study highlights the agricultural potential of U. ohnoi powder as an alternative supplement that supports nutrition and promotes the vegetative growth of plants cultivated in soilless horticultural systems.

Effectiveness of Long Immersion of Rice Seeds in Local Microorganism Culture (MOL) of Banana Weevils on Rice Growth and Production

The need for rice from year to year continues to increase due to the growing population of Indonesia, but this is not balanced with sufficient rice production. This is what makes it difficult for Indonesia to be self-sufficient in food so that efforts are needed to increase rice production nationally so that domestic rice needs are met. This panel aims to see the effectiveness of long soaking of rice seeds in MOL banana weevil on vegetative growth and yield of Ciherang variety rice plants. The research was conducted in November 2021 – March 2022 on open land of BPP Caringin, Legok District, Tangerang Regency. The study was conducted using the Randomized Complete Group Design (RKLT) method consisting of 5 treatments, namely control (without soaking MOL banana weevil), soaking rice seeds for 6 hours, 12 hours, 18 hours, and soaking for 24 hours. Each treatment was repeated 5 times so that there were 25 experimental units. Each experimental unit consists of three plants, the number of plants to be studied is 75 plants. Soaking seeds in MOL banana weevil for 24 hours gives the best results for the growth and production of Ciherang rice plants.

Genome-Wide Identification, and In-Silico Expression Analysis of YABBY Gene Family in Response to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses in Potato (Solanum tuberosum).

YABBY is among the specific transcription factor (TF) gene family in plants and plays an important role in the development of the leaves and floral organs. Its specific roles include lateral organ development, the establishment of dorsoventral polarity, and response to abiotic stress. Potato is an important crop worldwide and YABBY genes are not still identified and characterized in potato. So, little has been known about YABBY genes in potato until now. This study was carried out to perform genome-wide analysis, which will provide an in-depth analysis about the role of YABBY genes in potato. There have been seven StYAB genes identified, which are found to be located on seven different chromosomes. Through multiple sequence analyses, it has been predicted that the YABBY domain was present in all seven genes while the C2-C2 domain was found to be absent only in StYAB2. With the help of cis-element analysis, the involvement of StYAB genes in light, stress developmental, and hormonal responsiveness has been found. Furthermore, expression analysis from RNA-seq data of different potato organs indicated that all StYAB genes have a role in the vegetative growth of the potato plant. In addition to this, RNA-seq data also identified StYAB3, StYAB5, and StYAB7 genes showing expression during cadmium, and drought stress, while StYAB6 was highly expressed during a viral attack. Moreover, during the attack of Phytophthora infestans on a potato plant StYAB3, StYAB5, StYAB6, and StYAB7 showed high expression. This study provides significant knowledge about the StYAB gene structures and functions, which can later be used for gene cloning, and functional analysis; this information may be utilized by molecular biologists and plant breeders for the development of new potato lines.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of lipoxygenase genes related to the English grain aphid infestation response in wheat.

44 wheat LOX genes were identified by silico genome-wide search method. TaLOX5, 7, 10, 24, 29, 33 were specifically expressed post aphid infestation, indicating their participation in wheat-aphid interaction. In plants, LOX genes play important roles in various biological progresses including seed germination, tuber development, plant vegetative growth and most crucially in plant signal transduction, stress response and plant defense against plant diseases and insects. Although LOX genes have been characterized in many species, the importance of the LOX family in wheat has still not been well understood, hampering further improvement of wheat under stress conditions. Here, we identified 44 LOX genes (TaLOXs) in the whole wheat genome and classified intothree subfamilies (9-LOXs, Type I 13-LOXs and Type II 13-LOXs) according to phylogenetic relationships. The TaLOXs belonging to the same subgroup shared similar gene structures and motif organizations. Synteny analysis demonstrated that segmental duplication events mainly contributed to the expansion of the LOX gene family in wheat. The results of protein-protein interaction network (PPI) and miRNA-TaLOXs predictions revealed that three TaLOXs (TaLOX20, 22 and 37) interacted mostly with proteins related to methyl jasmonate (MeJA) signaling pathway. The expression patterns of TaLOXs in different tissues (root, stem, leaf, spike and grain) under diverse abiotic stresses (heat, cold, drought, drought and heat combined treatment, and salt) as well as under diverse biotic stresses (powdery mildew pathogen, Fusarium graminearum and stripe rust pathogen) were systematically analyzed using RNA-seq data. We obtained aphid-responsive candidate genes by RNA-seq data of wheat after the English grain aphid infestation. Aphid-responsive candidate genes, including TaLOX5, 7, 10, 24, 29 and 33, were up-regulated in the wheat aphid-resistant genotype (Lunxuan144), while they were little expressed in the susceptible genotype (Jimai22) during late response (48h and 72h) to the English grain aphid infestation. Meanwhile, qRT-PCR analysis was used to validate these aphid-responsive candidate genes. The genetic divergence and diversity of all the TaLOXs in bread wheat and its relative species were investigated by available resequencing data. Finally, the 3D structure of the TaLOX proteins was predicted based on the homology modeling method. This study not only systematically investigated the characteristics and evolutionary relationships of TaLOXs, but also provided potential candidate genes in response to the English grain aphid infestation and laid the foundation to further study the regulatory roles in the English grain aphid infestation of LOX family in wheat and beyond.

Influence of Foliar Application of Growth Regulators on Vegetative Growth and Flowering Of Chrysanthemum

The pot experiment was conducted at the Floriculture field of Horticulture Research Centre (HRC), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur during August 2020 to May 2021 to evaluate the foliar spray of gibberellic acid (GA3), benzyl adenine (BA) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) on growth and flowering traits of chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium). The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Four weeks old seedlings of chrysanthemum genotype CM-019 (flower class: Pompon and flower colour: Orange yellow) were transplanted in pot keeping under natural sunlight. The aqueous solution of GA3, BA and NAA @ 100 and 200 ppm of each were sprayed on the flower plants at monthly interval starting after one month of transplantation of seedlings along with control (water). The results revealed that vegetative growth and flowering parameters were significantly influenced by plant growth regulators. Maximum number of leaves per plant (50.0) and leaf area per plant (7.5 cm2) were recorded from the spraying of BA @ 100 ppm closely followed by BA @ 200 ppm (48.0 and 7.0 cm2/plant) and GA3 @ 100 ppm only for number of leaves (47.0/plant). Spraying of GA3 @ 100 ppm produced the tallest plant (70.0 cm) and the highest plant spread (23.0 cm). Number of flowers (26.0/plant), flower size (7.8 cm), average weight of stalk (37.0 g) and vase life (15.0 days) were also found maximum from the application of GA3 @ 100 ppm, closely followed by GA3 @ 200 ppm (23.5/plant, 7.2 cm, 36.0 g, 14.0 days) and NAA @ 100 ppm (18.5/plant, 7.0 cm, 36.0 g, 13.0 days) and irrespective of concentrations, BA failed to improve these characters. GA3 @ 100 ppm recorded maximum length of stalk (37.5 cm) and rachis (29.0 cm), which was identical with GA3 @ 200 ppm (34.6 cm and 25.0 cm), and BA @ 100 ppm gave the lowest length of stalk and rachis. GA3 also caused faster initiation of flowering, whereas NAA and BA delayed it. GA3 @ 100 ppm took the minimum days to flowering (50.0 days) was observed when plants were sprayed with GA3 @ 100 ppm whereas it was maximum (69 days) from BA @ 100 ppm treatment. It can be concluded that GA3 @ 100 ppm provided the best results for obtaining better vegetative growth of plants, maximum number of cut blooms with longer stalk as well as bigger flower size with prolonged vase life in chrysanthemum.
 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 47(1): 69-80, March 2022

Dysfunction of GmVPS8a causes compact plant architecture in soybean

Vacuolar Protein Sorting 8 (Vps8) protein is a specific subunit of the class C core vacuole/endosome tethering (CORVET) complex that plays a key role in endosomal trafficking in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). However, its functions remain largely unclear in plant vegetative growth. Here, we identified a soybean (Glycine max) T4219 mutant characterized with compact plant architecture. Map-based cloning targeted to a candidate gene GmVPS8a (Glyma.07g049700) and further found that two nucleotides deletion in the first exon of GmVPS8a causes a premature termination of the encoded protein in the T4219 mutant. Its functions were validated by CRISPR/Cas9-engineered mutation in the GmVPS8a gene that recapitulated the T4219 mutant phenotypes. Furthermore, NbVPS8a-silenced tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) plants exhibited similar phenotypes to the T4219 mutant, suggesting its conserved roles in plant growth. The GmVPS8a is widely expressed in multiple organs and its protein interacts with GmAra6a and GmRab5a. Combined analysis of transcriptomic and proteomic data revealed that dysfunction of GmVPS8a mainly affects pathways on auxin signal transduction, sugar transport and metabolism, and lipid metabolism. Collectively, our work reveals the function of GmVPS8a in plant architecture, which may extend a new way for genetic improvement of ideal plant-architecture breeding in soybean and other crops.

Effects of elevated temperature on the vegetative growth and flowering of lace plant (Aponogeton madagascariensis)

Effects of elevated temperature on the vegetative growth and flowering of lace plant (Aponogeton madagascariensis)

Influence of potting media composition on quality flower production of petunia (Petunia hybrida)

An experiment was conducted at Banda University of Agriculture & Technology, Banda to evaluate the effect of different growing media compositions containing cocopeat, Vermicompost, FYM, Leaf Mold, Perlite, and vermiculite in different ratios on vegetative growth and flowering of petunia plant. The results revealed that, the maximum root length and root spread were observed in media composition T5 [Cocopeat + Vermicompost + Vermiculite (2:1:1)] whereas, vegetative growth with no of leaves per plants, no of branches per plant and plant spread in T4 [Cocopeat + Perlite + Vermicompost (2:1:1)]. The better flower quality parameters like flower diameter, flower bud diameter, stalk length of flower were observed in T5 media containing Cocopeat + Vermicompost + Vermiculite (2:1:1) while minimum days taken to bud initiation (60.75) and first flower opening (66.66) in T2 [Soil + Sand + Vermicompost (2:1:1)]. However, plants showed the significant root growth, vegetative growth with better flowering time and quality was highest in media containing Cocopeat + Vermicompost + Vermiculite (2:1:1). Therefore, the findings suggest that for quality flower production of potted petunia growing media composition of T5 [Cocopeat + Vermicompost + Vermiculite (2:1:1)] was ideal with better plant morphological development and sustained flowering for display.