ABSTRACT Lily pollen causes many problems affecting humans’ quality of life and health, such as clothing contamination and skin or nasal allergies. The manual removal of anthers is time-consuming and labour-intensive, and thus, not conducive to commercial production. It is of great importance to produce pollen-free lily varieties with beautiful shapes. In this study, we studied the morphological characteristics of flower organs and polyploids of six pollen-free filial generations of four lily species and their micropropagations. Lily ‘5-21’ is male sterile and produces uncrackable anthers with inactive pollens under natural conditions. Lily ‘3-12’ is unable to produce anthers, because the petals become stamens, thereby leading to infertility. Lilies ‘3-1’, ‘5-4’, ‘5-35’ and ‘0-0.2’ are unable to produce anthers, because they lack floral organs. Polyploids of six hybrid lilies were identified by flow cytometry and chromosome counting, and the results showed that lily ‘5-4’ was triploid and the rest were diploid. Morphological observation indicated that flowering periods were from early July to early August and lasted for about 11 days. Six male sterile lilies had low seed setting rates when they were used as female parents. Most of the seeds were flaky with developed embryos. Therefore, asexual reproduction is optimal for these six male sterile lilies. The male sterility of six lilies was associated with their parents’ pollen activity. Scales of ‘5-4’ and ‘5-35’ were used as explants for in vitro micropropagation. The findings of the present study lay a foundation for breeding of pollen-free lilies.

Abstract Development of efficient and green methods for extracting bioactive phytochemicals has great industrial value. Increasing environmental sensitivity at the global level has tremendously enhanced the demand for such methods. Azadirachta indica is a well-known medicinal tree. As glycerol has emerged as a green and safe extraction solvent for bioactive phytochemicals, this study aimed to investigate the efficacy of a glycerol–water solvent system to extract bioactive compounds from A. indica leaves. Modelling and optimisation were carried out by using response surface methodology (RSM) as per the Box–Behnken design with three variables, namely, solvent concentration, time and temperature. The responses were total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and metal chelating activity (MCA). The optimum conditions found by numerical optimisation were a solvent concentration of 69.713%, a time period of 38.328 min and a temperature of 32.114 °C with the predicted values of TPC, TFC, %DPPH and %MCA as 5.27 mg gallic acid equivalents · g−1 DW (dry weight), 9.869 mg rutin equivalents · g−1 DW, 73.8% and 54.366%, respectively. The validation experiments showed almost the same results for each response with very low% errors (5.431–7.661). Increasing glycerol concentration in the extracting medium favoured the extraction of TPC, TFC and antioxidant phytochemicals, but for MCA, the trend was the opposite. In conclusion, 70% aqueous glycerol is an effective medium for the extraction of polyphenolic and antioxidant phytochemicals from A. indica leaves. Extraction models suggested by RSM have high prospects to be used on a large industrial scale.

Abstract A controlled environment and composition of the compost used for the commercial production of Agaricus bisporus can allow fruiting bodies with increased nutritional value to be obtained. The present study aimed first to investigate the content of bioelements in fruiting bodies of A. bisporus harvested from three flushes of cultivation and to estimate which elements are accumulated most effectively by determination of bioconcentration factor (BCF). The second aim of the study is to determine the amount of selected organic compounds in the A. bisporus fruiting bodies harvested from three flushes of cultivation and to evaluate their antioxidant activity. Among the three examined A. bisporus flushes, the first is considered the most valuable, since it was rich in dietary and nutritional substances, and has shown promise of antioxidant and antidepressant activities. The present study is the first to describe a complex evaluation of the content of bioactive substances and antioxidant activity in three different cultivation flushes of A. bisporus fruiting bodies.

Abstract Plant biostimulants have been used to reduce the damage caused by different types of biotic and abiotic stresses. Iodine (I) is a non-essential element in plants. Still, it is considered beneficial and a biostimulant, since exogenous application can enhance the redox metabolism, which improves antioxidants, synergies with essential minerals and increases tolerance to adverse factors. However, little is known about the mechanism of action of iodine; so, it is advantageous to undertake research that elucidates the impact of this element on plant physiology, which is expected to encourage the productive agricultural sector to use this element with additional biofortification benefit. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of foliar KIO3 applications every 15 days at 100 μM, on growth, mineral content and antioxidants in tomato plants grown under greenhouse conditions subjected to salinity stress (100 mM NaCl). The results showed that iodine did not mitigate the adverse impact of salinity on fresh or dry biomass but increased fruit production by 23%. A greater amount of N and Fe was also found in the leaves but not in the fruits; the same happened with the iodine concentration, which was high in the leaves of the treated plants but not in tomato fruits. The content of Ca and Mg in fruits was decreased in plants treated with iodine, as well as the activity of the GPX, lycopene and the antioxidant potential. None of the fruit quality variables were affected by salinity with or without application of iodine.

Abstract In the present study, the biochemical composition and shape and dimensional traits of 25 rosehip ( Rosa canina ) genotypes were investigated. The shape and dimensional traits were determined by image processing technique. Seed-propagated rosehip genotypes belonging to R. canina were collected from the natural flora of Mesudiye (Ordu) and Talas (Kayseri) districts. Antioxidant activity (39.510–72.673 mmol · kg −1 ), total flavonoids (287.80–1,686.20 mg quercetin equivalent (QE) · kg −1 ) and total phenolics (38,519.40–79,080.60 mg gallic acid equivalent · kg −1 ) of the genotypes exhibited large variations. Width (12.2 mm) and thickness (12.5 mm) of fruits averages were found to be close to each other. The genotypes exhibited fruit lengths between 12.0 mm and 29.5 mm. Average projected area at horizontal orientation (179.7 mm 2 ) was greater than the projected area at vertical orientation (120.4 mm 2 ). Sphericity average was calculated as 71.4%. According to principal component (PC) analysis, the most important dimensional traits discriminating genotypes from each other were identified as surface area, geometric mean diameter and volume. In terms of shape attributes, distinctive differences were observed in sphericity, circularity, elongation and surface closure rates (SCR) of the genotypes. According to elliptic Fourier analysis (EFA), genotypes look like a sphere. In terms of shape, there were long, spherical, flat bottomed, pointed bottomed and asymmetric-looking genotypes indicating how environment and genotype affect the fruit shape. The greatest shape variation was transverse contraction and expansion. According to the clustering analysis for shape attributes, rosehip genotypes were classified into six groups. Dendrogram, scatter plots of linear discriminant analysis and paired comparison test results put forth the shape differences of the genotype successfully.

Abstract Salicylic acid (SA) plays an important role in protecting plants from biotic stresses. Lelliottia amnigena is a newly identified potato soft rot pathogen and there are no adequate studies on this soft rot pathogen. Therefore, this paper focussed on the effect of SA on the mechanism under which L. amnigena causes potato soft rot. L. amnigena was examined and detected to secrete pectinase, proteases, pectin lyase and cellulase, which are the most important pathogenic enzymes involved in the production of plant diseases. Sterilised healthy potato tubers were inoculated with 0.2 mL of L. amnigena suspension (3.69 CFU · mL −1 × 10 7 CFU · mL −1 ). After 24 h, 200 μL of four different SA concentrations (0.5 mM, 1.0 mM, 1.5 mM and 2.0 mM) were used to treat the tubers. Co-culture of L. amnigena and SA significantly reduced the activity of pectinase, protease, pectin lyase and cellulase by an average of 33.8%, 43.4%, 67.7% and 46.9%, across the four concentrations (0.5 mM, 1.0 mM, 1.5 mM and 2.0 mM), respectively, compared to the control. The average disease index was reduced by 54.7% across the four SA concentrations. Treatment with SA induced transcriptional levels of the superoxide dismutase, peroxide, catalase and glutathione S-transferase across the four levels by an average of 3.87, 3.25, 3.97 and 3.94-fold, respectively, compared to control. Based on our results, we could state that SA could reduce the activities of these extracellular enzymes produced by L. amnigena by modulating both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities and gene expression that induce natural resistance in plants against bacterial infections.

Abstract Cold storage is used to improve the efficiency of storage and handling of orange fruits, but the fruits are exposed to chilling injury (CI). Antioxidant enzymes are part of the antioxidant defence system against CI of ‘Washington’ oranges during cold storage, which controls storage/handling efficiency. In this study, melatonin (ME) was used on fruits to reduce cold damage. To assess the action of ME influences; fruits were picked from the tree at the commercial maturity stage and divided into two groups that were uniform in size and colour. Then, they were immersed in ME solution at 0 mmol, 10 mmol, 100 mmol or 1,000 mmol for 20 min at 20 ± 1 °C. The treated fruits were stored at 4 ± 1 °C and 95 ± 1% RH for 4 weeks during 2019 and 2020 seasons. The physical and chemical characteristics of the stored fruits were measured every week up to the end of the storage period. Results indicated that immersing fruits in 1,000 μM ME minimised the CI-index and the water loss%, while preserving the orange peel colour (h°) during cold storage. On the other hand, the same treatment caused slight changes in soluble solid content (SSC%), maintained ascorbic acid (AA) content and the stability of total acidity (TA%), enhanced the antioxidant enzymes activities (AEAs) such as ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), and superoxidase dismutase (SOD) and also reduced the rate of malondialdehyde (MDA) and ion leakage (IL) during cold storage. Moreover, it minimised hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and superoxide anion (O 2 •− ) production and caused pronounced results to be exhibited in antioxidant capacity. Overall, the 1,000 μM ME treatment for orange fruits afforded more tolerance against cold storage stress.

Abstract Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is one of the most significant horticultural cash crops in the world. The study aimed to identify and analyse the 2,930 articles and review type papers of strawberry research from the Plant Sciences category based on the Web of Science. Papers mainly written in English (2,894, 98.771%), were from a total of 8,838 authors, 96 countries/territories, 1,845 organisations and published in 197 journals and book series. The top seven core journals are ranked as Plant Disease (252, 8.601%), Phytopathology (229, 7.816%), Plant Pathology (93, 3.174%), Frontiers in Plant Science (89, 3.308%), Canadian Journal of Plant Science (86, 2.935%), European Journal of Plant Pathology (86, 2.935%) and Journal of Experimental Botany (86, 2.935%), and these journals each published >86 papers. The top five countries and regions were the USA, People's Republic of China, Spain, Canada and England. The top five organisations were the University of Florida, USDA ARS, University of Malaga, University of California Davis, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The top five authors are Peres, Natalia A. (Peres, Natalia; Peres, N.A.); Madden, LV; Munoz-Blanco, Juan (Munoz-Blanco, J); Schwab, Wilfried (Schwab, W) and Ellis, MA, each published >25 papers. All keywords of the strawberry research from the Plant Sciences category were separated into 11 clusters for different research topics. Visualisations offer exploratory information on the current state in a scientific field or discipline as well as indicate possible developments in the future. The review could provide a valuable guide for designing future studies.

Abstract This work aimed to investigate the interaction between salt stress and the application of silicon dioxide-nanoparticles. In this study, gerbera plants grown in soilless culture were supplied with nutrient solutions with different NaCl concentrations (0, 5, 10, 20 and 30 mM) in combination with SiO2-NPs spray (0, 25 and 50 mg · L−1). Exposure of gerbera to salinity increased sodium concentration but decreased potassium and calcium concentrations in leaf as well as stem length/diameter, fresh/dry weight, leaf/flower number, flower diameter and leaf area. It also increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes and electrolyte leakage. Results indicated that SiO2-NPs could improve growth, biochemical and physiological traits. It increased stem thickness but slightly affected stem length. Flower diameter was not affected by salinity rates up to 10 mM of NaCl. However, a significant difference was observed between controls and plants treated with 30 mM of NaCl. Salinity increased the electrolyte leakage (32.5%), malondialdehyde (83.8%), hydrogen peroxide (113.5%), and the antioxidant enzyme activities such as ascorbate peroxidase (3.4-fold) and guaiacol peroxidase (6-fold) where SiO2-NPs activated them more, except for superoxide dismutase. Under salinity (30 mM), the increase in SiO2-NPs (especially at 25 mg · L−1) led to the increase in the uptake of Ca2+ (25.3%) as well as K+ (27.1%) and decreased absorption of Na+ (6.3%). SiO2-NPs has potential in improving salinity tolerance in gerbera. It seems that the sensitivity threshold of gerbera to the salinity was 10 mM and the use of SiO2-NPs is also effective in non-saline conditions.

Abstract The aim of the experiment was to assess the effects of supplemental lighting of cucumber grown in greenhouse using lamps with differentiated light spectra: sodium lamps – high-pressure sodium (HPS) and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Plants (cucumber ‘Pacto’ F 1 ) were grown in two greenhouse compartments with five light treatments: I – HPS + LED (top light with HPS LEDs as interlighting), II – only HPS as top light, III – LED R (LED chips on board (COB) type with an increased level of red band), IV – LED W (LED COB type, white), V – LED B (LED COB type with an increased level of blue spectrum). Light treatments: HPS + LEDs and HPS were grown in one greenhouse compartment and the other three light treatments: LED R (red light supplementation), LED W (without additional supplementation) and LED B (red spectrum supplementation) in the second compartment in analogous climatic conditions. The LED lamps using COB technology are known to be a very efficient source of light. Plants were cultivated from December 2018 to March 2019 in mineral wool slabs Grotop Master (100 × 15 × 10) with four plants on one mat. They were illuminated for 18 h (from 5 am to 11 pm), setting the threshold value (on and off) at 130 W. The plants were drip-irrigated with a complete nutrient solution. The irrigation was controlled based on a weighting system. The assessment of the effect of lighting on early yield and quality of cucumbers was completed after 8 weeks of cropping. It was shown that it was possible to obtain 3.59 kg from one plant during the 8-week period of evaluation by illuminating plants with sodium lamps (HPS), while using HPS and LEDs as additional illuminated inter-rows 3.89 kg. The yield of plants illuminated by LED lamps varied depending on the variant of the spectrum used and was respective for LED R, LED W and LED B, 3.30 kg, 3.90 kg and 3.25 kg. The obtained results indicated that the yield of cucumber ‘Pacto’ F 1 grown with HPS lamps at top lighting and at the same time using interlighting with LED lamps was similar to LED W lamps (i.e. without additional supplementation in the range of red (LED R) and blue (LED B) light). Due to good results of LED lamps (type COB for top lighting or as interlighting) used for the cucumber supplemental lighting and high energy efficiency of LEDs, the promising future for that type of lamps compared with traditionally used HPS during winter cultivation in a greenhouse was demonstrated.