No abstract

Zinc is an essential microelement, but its excess exerts toxic effects in plants. Heavy metal stress can alter the metabolism of reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen species (RNS) leading to oxidative and nitrosative damages; although the participation of these processes in Zn toxicity and tolerance is not yet known. Therefore this study aimed to evaluate the zinc tolerance of Brassica organs and the putative correspondence of it with protein nitration as a relevant marker for nitrosative stress. Both examined Brassica species (B. juncea and B. napus) proved to be moderate Zn accumulators; however B. napus accumulated more from this metal in its organs. The zinc-induced damages (growth diminution, altered morphology, necrosis, chlorosis, and the decrease of photosynthetic activity) were slighter in the shoot system of B. napus than in B. juncea. The relative zinc tolerance of B. napus shoot was accompanied by moderate changes of the nitration pattern. In contrast, the root system of B. napus suffered more severe damages (growth reduction, altered morphology, viability loss) and slighter increase in nitration level compared to B. juncea. Based on these, the organs of Brassica species reacted differentially to excess zinc, since in the shoot system modification of the nitration pattern occurred (with newly appeared nitrated protein bands), while in the roots, a general increment in the nitroproteome could be observed (the intensification of the same protein bands being present in the control samples). It can be assumed that the significant alteration of nitration pattern is coupled with enhanced zinc sensitivity of the Brassica shoot system and the general intensification of protein nitration in the roots is attached to relative zinc endurance.

The cultivation and consumption of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) are increasing globally. As the usage of chemical fertilizers and pest control agents during its cultivation may lead to soil, water and air pollution, there is an emerging need for environment-friendly, biological solutions enabling increased amounts of healthy crop and efficient disease management. Microbiological agents for agricultural purposes gained increasing importance in the past few decades. Our goal was to develop an agricultural soil inoculant from multiple microorganisms and test its application potential in sweet potato cultivation. Two Trichoderma strains were selected: Trichoderma ghanense strain SZMC 25217 based on its extracellular enzyme activities for the biodegradation of plant residues, and Trichoderma afroharzianum strain SZMC 25231 for biocontrol purposes against fungal plant pathogens. The Bacillus velezensis strain SZMC 24986 proved to be the best growth inhibitor of most of the nine tested strains of fungal species known as plant pathogens, therefore it was also selected for biocontrol purposes against fungal plant pathogens. Arthrobacter globiformis strain SZMC 25081, showing the fastest growth on nitrogen-free medium, was selected as a component with possible nitrogen-fixing potential. A Pseudomonas resinovorans strain, SZMC 25872, was selected for its ability to produce indole-3-acetic acid, which is among the important traits of potential plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). A series of experiments were performed to test the selected strains for their tolerance to abiotic stress factors such as pH, temperature, water activity and fungicides, influencing the survivability in agricultural environments. The selected strains were used to treat sweet potato in two separate field experiments. Yield increase was observed for the plants treated with the selected microbial consortium (synthetic community) in comparison with the control group in both cases. Our results suggest that the developed microbial inoculant has the potential to be used in sweet potato plantations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report about the successful application of a fungal-bacterial consortium in sweet potato cultivation.

In Hungary, dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) has been being popular as food and even as kitchen garden crop for centuries but currently only 20% of the annual domestic consumption is produced by the Hungarian agriculture, with the missing 80% coming from import. Improvement of production technology adapted to the new varieties of higher yield potential can contribute to the increase in domestic production. In our experiment, no significant differences could be found between the yield component and yield data of inversion (2.66 tons ha-1) and non-inversion (2.62 tons ha-1) tillage methods. Strip-tillage, however, resulted in higher values for almost all parameters compared to the other two methods. In the case of yield per plant, the difference was significant (24.35 vs. 18.33-18.57 grams ha-1). As the plant density was significantly lower for strip-tillage, despite the significantly higher yield per plant, the yield per hectare results became the lowest (1.39 tons ha-1) here. From the conditions detected after emergence, it was obvious that the harmonization of strip-tillage and sowing was not perfect. As the higher yield component and yield per plant data can be explained both by the lower plant density and the superiority of strip-tillage, the repetition of the experiment is essential.

Due to the intensified production of reactive nitrogen species (RNS) proteins can be modified by tyrosine nitration (PTN). Examination of PTN is a hot topic of plant biology, especially because the exact outcome of this modification is still pending. Both RNS and ascorbic acid (AsA) are redox-active molecules, which directly affect the redox state of cells. The possible link between RNS-dependent PTN and AsA metabolism was studied in RNS (gsnor1-3, nia1nia2) and AsA (vtc2-3) homeostasis Arabidopsis mutants. During physiological conditions, intensified PTN was detected in all mutant lines compared to the wild-type (WT); without altering nitration pattern. Moreover, the increased PTN seemed to be associated with endogenous peroxynitrite (ONOO -) levels, but it showed no tight correlation with endogenous levels of nitric-oxide (NO) or AsA. Exogenous AsA caused intensified PTN in WT, vtc2-3 and nia1nia2. In the background of increased PTN, significant NO and ONOOaccumulation was detected, indicating exogenous AsA-induced RNS burst. Interestingly, in AsA-triggered stress-situation, changes of NO levels seem to be primarily connected to the development of PTN. Our results point out for the first time that similarly to human and animal systems exogenous AsA exerts pro-nitrant effect on plant proteome. ABSTRACT Arabidopsis exogenous ascorbic acid protein nitration pro-nitrant KEY WORDS Volume 62(2):115-122, 2018 Acta Biologica Szegediensis