Gene flow between congeners in natural systems can have important consequences for the species involved. Cistus ladanifer plays a significant role in natural ecosystems and is also considered a valuable source of natural resources. The objective of this study is to investigate the pollen dispersal pattern from this species to its congener, Cistus laurifolius. To this end, an analysis of pollen analog dispersal (using fluorescent dye) was conducted in a mixed population of both species. The pollen dispersal pattern of C. ladanifer to C. laurifolius was estimated, and the relationship between the dispersal distance and the distance from the pollen analog source of C. ladanifer plants was investigated. The results showed the ability of C. ladanifer to pollinate C. laurifolius. Cistus laurifolius plants closer to the particle emission source provided by C. ladanifer individuals received a greater amount of pollen analogs (fluorescent dye) on their stigmas than those farther away. Most of the detected pollen analogs (80%) dispersed within 60 meters of the donor plants. The evidence of pollen transfer from C. ladanifer to C. laurifolius highlights the importance of studying pollen dispersal patterns in species that are potential candidates for exploitation and use as new crops. This is crucial to avoid impacts on populations of other wild congeners.

In this study, we evaluated the effects of micronutrients at different doses of zinc and boron on chili plants to identify the optimum combination for enhancing growth, yield, and quality. We exposed the plants to four levels of zinc and Boron: Control (M0), 2kg of boron per hectare (M1) as H3BO3, 4kg of zinc per hectare (M2) as ZnSO4.H2O, and a combined application of 2 kg of boron plus 4 kg of zinc per hectare (M3), all in a Randomized Completely Block Design with three replications. The application of zinc (Zn) and boron (B) combinedly in M3 treatments significantly influenced the early growth of the plants, leading to more branches and leaves, increased fresh weight, and large numbers of flowers and fruits. The yield per plant as well as total yield increased in M3-treated plants compared to other treatments. The yield increased by 19% in M1, 28% in M2, and 41% in M3 (1st year), 17% in M1, 32% in M2, and 43% in M3 (2nd year) compared to the control. The quality parameters of green chili, including vitamin C, carbohydrates, Ca, Zn, β-carotene, and protein, showed significant differences in M3-treated plants compared to other treatments in both seasons. In the first year, Vit-C increased by 5%, 10%, and 17%; in the second year, it increased by 6%, 13%, and 22%. The findings suggest that combining zinc and boron as M3 treatments is more effective in maximizing chili growth, yield, and quality.

Biofortification of edible seedlings (sprouts) is a promising strategy to combat dietary nutrient deficiency. In the present study, we made an attempt to enrich broccoli seedlings through imbibition with Fe at two concentrations, 100 mg Fe · dm<sup>–3</sup> and 500 mg Fe · dm<sup>–3</sup>, of four chemical forms: FeCl<sub>2</sub>, FeCl<sub>3</sub>, FeSO<sub>4</sub>, or Fe<sub>2</sub>(SO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub>. The imbibition in all of the solutions resulted in a significant increase in Fe content in the seedlings, wherein it was the highest by the imbibition in sulphates applied at the highest concentration (500 mg·dm<sup>-3</sup>). In addition, the imbibition in sulphates in general did not affect the germination rate, whereas the imbibition in chlorites hampered the germination process. The application of Fe at a concentration of 500 mg Fe · dm<sup>–3</sup> in the form of FeSO<sub>4</sub> enhanced antioxidant activity, while the application of Fe in the form of FeCl<sub>2</sub> and FeCl<sub>3</sub> stimulated the accumulation of anthocyanins. It can be concluded that seed imbibition in Fe in the form of FeSO<sub>4</sub> is an easy and cheap method for biofortification of broccoli seedlings, leading to a nearly 10-fold increase in Fe content and significant enhancement of antioxidant activity, without affecting the germination rate.

Bear garlic (<i>Allium ursinum</i> L.) and its value for human health have been known for centuries. Its leaves, flowers, and bulbs contain many health-promoting compounds, and can be essential raw materials for the production of food and dietary supplements of natural origin. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the possibility of growing bear garlic in field conditions that differed significantly from those required by this plant, using unconventional treatments: catch crops (phacelia), shade plant (turnip rape), and biopreparations (Bio-Algeen S90 and Kelpak SL). The plowing of phacelia biomass had a beneficial effect on the number of <i>A. ursinum</i> progeny bulbs, the unit weight of bulbs and their yield per unit area, and the leaf yield not only in the first year of cultivation but also in the follow-up. Winter turnip rape applied as a shade crop caused a slight increase in the unit weight of bulbs and their yield in the first and second years of cultivation and in the number of progeny bulbs in the second and third years of cultivation. The cultivation of <i>A. ursinum</i> with turnip rape increased the percentage of garlic root weight and leaf yield. There was a positive effect of the applied biopreparations on the studied traits of <i>A. ursinum</i> bulb yield and leaf yield and on the formation of progeny bulbs in relation to the control object. The analysis of the interaction of the factors of the experiment showed that the combination with the application of the phacelia catch crop and the simultaneous cultivation of the shade crop had the most favorable effect on <i>A. ursinum</i> progeny bulb formation, bulb unit weight, root system development, and leaf yield. In all years of the study, the worst effect was obtained in the control object, i.e., in the cultivation without the catch crop, rapeseed, and application of biopreparations.

In the current study, the influence of silicon (Si) on KDML 105 rice plants exposed to drought and salt stress was observed. The 28-days old rice plants were arranged into control, drought, and salinity conditions. The drought and salinity conditions were achieved by addition of 20% W/W polyethylene glycol 6000 and 120 mM NaCl to the nutrient solution, respectively. Si was concurrently applied in all groups by adding 0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 mM Na2SiO3. The results showed that some growth and physiological parameters were positively changed by the Si-application. The relative water content was significantly improved in the 1.5 mM Si-supplemented drought group and the 2.0 mM Si-supplemented salt group. Additionally, Si at 2.0 mM significantly improved photosynthetic activity in the rice and slightly reduced plant temperature under salt stress. Moreover, exogenous Si ameliorated NaCl toxicity from the sodium-potassium ratio decline. The results suggested that 2.0 mM silicon was a proper concentration to recover plants exposed to abiotic stress.

Abstract A set of Gentiana L. species was successfully grown in vitro under the same conditions, and 72 samples from various cultures of these species (root, shoot, cotyledon callus, hypocotyl callus, and root callus) were obtained. The investigated species were G. affinis, G. andrewsii, G. bhutanica, G. burseri, G. cachemirica, G. capitata, G. crassicaulis, G. dahurica, G. decumbens, G. freyniana, G. frigida, G. gelida, G. grossheimii, G. kurroo, G. macrophylla, G. paradoxa, G. robusta, G. scabra, G. septemfida, G. siphonantha, and G. tianschanica. The obtained samples were extracted with a methanol-acetone-water (3:1:1) mixture, evaporated to dryness, and subjected to thin layer chromatography (TLC) on silica gel in sandwich mode with ethyl acetate-methanol-water (8:2:2) as the mobile phase. The resulting dry extracts were subjected to gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS) fingerprinting of the headspace volatile fraction. Total ion count and average mass spectrum vectors were collected as two blocks and scaled independently to form a complex dataset. The major direction separating root or shoot samples from callus samples was found not to be fully associated with the highest variance as this information was placed in the first and fourth principal components of the principal component analysis (PCA). Therefore, linear discriminant analysis was performed on the first four (only the informative) components to reveal features responsible for the separation of culture types in the multivariate space.

Leaf rolling is a common response to drought among members of the grass family. A detailed understanding of the structural changes that occur when rice leaves roll in response to drought may assist in determining the physiological mechanisms underlying this feature and determining its potential utility in plant breeding. The anatomical characteristics of rice cultivars native to northeastern Thailand in response to drought stress were evaluated in this study. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatments were applied to seedlings of 28 native rice cultivars and two rice breeding cultivars for 10 d. When cultivated in drought-prone environments, the native rice cultivars had a leaf rolling index between 4 and 7, which was classified as moderate to high leaf rolling. Rice leaf anatomy exhibited profound changes in response to drought, with smaller bulliform cells (36.8%), thicker epidermis (10.98%), smaller vascular bundles (7.41%), and smaller bundle sheath cells (11.95%). Decision trees were used to explore the association between the degree of leaf rolling and anatomical traits. According to the decision tree models generated on the basis of the gain ratio, information gain, and Gini index, the epidermis, leaf thickness, and bulliform cells were the major factors of the root nodes, and the maximum accuracy of the models was 70.90%. Overall, the models indicated that rice leaves with a thin epidermis, large bulliform cells, thin leaves, and small vascular bundles are more likely to display high leaf rolling adaptations under drought stress conditions.

Water stress is one of the major environmental constraints on wheat grain yield worldwide. One way to overcome this limitation is to evolve genetically stress-tolerant wheat genotypes that produce sustainable grain yields in water-scarce conditions. A field experiment was carried out to investigate the genetic diversity of 34 advanced wheat genotypes (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) and two commercial check varieties (Khirman and TD-1) for grain yield and yield-associated agronomic traits in moisture stress (MS) and well-watered (WW) conditions. Plants were grown in residual moisture in rice fallow land in rainfed conditions without supplementary irrigation, i.e., MS conditions, while two rounds of irrigations were applied for the WW control conditions. Analysis of variance indicated a highly significant (<i>p</i> < 0.05) variation among genotypes for all the observed agronomic traits in MS and WW conditions. In the MS group, the exotic line IBWSN-1010, mutant line MASR-64, and doubled haploid line DH-12/7 produced the highest grain yield compared to all the contesting wheat genotypes, including check varieties. Grain yield per plot was positively correlated (<i>r</i> = 0.93) with biological yield per plot in MS conditions. Principal component analysis showed total variations of 21.9%, 20.4%, and 10.1% explained by PC-1, PC-2, and PC-3 in MS, and 22.9%, 14.8%, and 12.1% for PC-1, PC-2, and PC-3 in WW conditions. Our study provides valid information for the selection of newly evolved wheat genotypes and will be useful in future breeding programs.

Abstract The general morphology, micromorphology, and anatomy of the flowers of Clivia miniata , Clivia nobilis , and Scadoxus multiflorus were studied using light microscopy. The studied species have large syntepalous and trimerous flowers, short floral tubes with adnate stamens, and inferior ovaries that develop baccate fruit. The gynoecium in the studied species consists of synascidiate, symplicate, and hemisymplicate zones. The style is composed of postgenitally fused carpels. The few ovules are located in a locule in the synascidiate and symplicate zones in C. miniata and C. nobilis , whereas in S. multiflorus , solitary ovules occupy the synascidiate zone in each locule. The septal nectaries are located in the hemisymplicate zone and occupy the uppermost 29% to 56% of the ovary height. Septal nectaries are of the nonlabyrinthine lilioid-type, covered with secretory tissue only in its lower portion. Nectary channels are apical or subapical and open near the style base. A common pattern of the venation of the floral parts was observed in all species: Tepal traces and stamen traces were fused in the ovary wall, the style was supplied by dorsal carpellary bundles, and ovules were supplied by ventral carpellary bundles entering the ovary from the bottom. The observed gynoecium inner structure provides adaptations for the development of fleshy fruit, with thickened parenchymous ovary wall, ovary base, and ovary roof, and numerous branched vascular bundles in the ovary wall around locules.

Abstract The genus Crataegus L. is one of the largest species in the family Rosaceae Juss. The fruits are used as medicinal raw materials ( Crataegus fructus ), as they contain a set of biologically active compounds. The genus is voluminous and taxonomically problematic due to significant variability, hybridization, apomixis, and polyploidy. As a result, it is difficult to determine the species of the genus. Species of the genus have a number of diagnostic features, one of which is a distinct fruit with seeds. The aim of our study was to identify and compare the diagnostic features of the fruits of seven species of the genus Crataegus flora of Ukraine, which are most often used as medicinal raw materials and are the most common in Ukraine – Crataegus laevigata , C. monogyna , C. pentagyna , C. pseudokyrtostyla , C. sanguinea , C. fallacina , and C. rhipidophylla . The study was performed using scanning and digital microscopy, and descriptions were made by standard methods. As a result, we identified features that clearly distinguished the studied species from each other. We identified mature fruits that contain only one pyrene ( C. monogyna , C. pseudokyrtostyla , C. fallacina , and C. rhipidophylla ), and several pyrenes ( C. laevigata , C. pentagyna , and C. sanguinea ) among the studied species of the genus. The studied species are characterized by spherical and ellipsoidal fruits. The predominant color is fulvous/brown with different shades, but almost-black fruits of the species C. pentagyna are well distinguished. Fruits of all studied species of the genus are fleshy, except C. sanguinea , which is floury. The species is characterized mainly by yellow flesh fruits, except C. pentagyna , which has ribbed fruits. The fruits of C. monogyna plants differ from those of other studied species by the spinous-tuberous surface relief. Pyrenes of triangular shape are observed only in C. pentagyna . We suggest that these features can be used as additional diagnostic tools to determine the species of the genus Crataegus flora in Ukraine.