CO 2 assimilation and protection of PSII by a reduction of light harvesting capacity. The data further suggests that stress tolerant cultivars suppress cell death and maintain growth and development via fine tuning of hormone signaling, and primary and secondary metabolism. This study highlights potential targets for the development of stress tolerant potato cultivars.

ABSTRACT. Biofuel tree species are recognized as a promising alternative source of fuel to conventional forms. Additionally, these 9544 S.A. Manzoor et al. ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 14 (3): 9543-9554 (2015) tree species are also effective in accumulating toxic heavy metals present in some industrial effluents. In developing countries such as Pakistan, the use of biofuel tree species is gaining popularity not only for harvesting economical and environmentally friendly biofuel, but also to sequester poisonous heavy metals from industrial wastewater. This study was aimed at evaluating the genetic potential of two biofuel species, namely, Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata, to grow when irrigated with industrial effluent from the Pak-Arab Fertilizer Factory Multan, Southern Punjab, Pakistan. The growth performances of oneyear-old seedlings of both species were compared in soil with adverse physiochemical properties. It was found that J. curcas was better able to withstand the toxicity of the heavy metals present in the fertilizer factory effluent. J. curcas showed maximum gain in height, diameter, and biomass production in soil irrigated with 75% concentrated industrial effluent. In contrast, P. pinnata showed a significant reduction in growth in soil irrigated with more than 50% concentrated industrial effluent, indicating that this species is less tolerant to higher toxicity levels of industrial effluent. This study identifies J. curcas as a promising biofuel tree species that can be grown using industrial wastewater.

efficiency. Meanwhile, the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) was reduced in both cultivars, proving that it is involved in the front-line tolerance mechanism against individual drought, heat, and their combination. In conclusion, our results prove that the stress tolerance could be enhanced by miR172b-3p-mediated negative regulation of ERTF RAP2-7-like gene in potato under drought, heat, and their combination. Our findings represent the first step towards the improvement of tolerance against multiple abiotic stresses in potato.

There is a signi cant interest while utilizing association mapping technique to determine the genes which are accountable for numerical dissimilarity of the more complex characteristics with agronomic and evolutionary signi cance. Recently improvements have been made in genomic technology, which motivates for the exploitation of natural diversity, and establishment of more vigorous and strong statistical analysis methods creates association mapping technique more demanding and reasonable to plant research programs. Genome-wide association mapping technique recognizes quantitative trait loci (QTLs) by studying the marker-trait associations which could be credited to the power of linkage disequilibrium between different molecular markers and functional polymorphisms through a pool of diversi ed germplasm. In this review, we will describe an overview of genetic mapping and the current status of association mapping studies in cereal crops i.e., wheat and rice.

This investigation was carried out at Experimental Farm, Faculty of Agriculture Science and Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan (Pakistan). The objective of this study was to produce high quality Celosia flower head as cut flower under the harsh environmental conditions of southern Punjab by using different plant spacing and different concentrations of Gibberellin (GA 3 ). The seedlings were grown by seed and then transplanted in the field in the first week of August. Seedlings were irrigated daily and fertilized with 100 ppm NPK solution with alternate irrigation before transplanting. Field was well prepared by irrigation and spading twice and adding about 1.5 kg Diammonium phosphate (DAP) at the rate of 150 kg/hectare as phosphorus source, about 2 kg Muriate of Potash (MOP) at the rate of 200 kg/hectare as potash source and about 1kg urea at the rate of 100 kg/hectare as nitrogen source prior to transplanting. Then, seedlings were transplanted in randomized complete block design. There were three levels/concentrations of GA 3 (0, 25 and 50 mg/l) and three levels of plant spacing (22.50, 30.00 and 37.50 cm) making overall 9 treatments and these treatments were tested in 3 replications. The analysis of variance indicated that best results were achieved when plant spacing of 37.5cm was used in combination with GA 3 application (at the rate of 50 mg/l) where significant increase in chlorophyll contents, leaf area and number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of stem, flower diameter and fresh and dry weight of flower of Celosia cristata were found compared to all other treatments tested. KEYWORDSCelosia cristata; Cockscomb; Flower head; Gibberellin.Celosia cristata, a member of amaranth family (Amaranthaceae) is an annual crop grown usually for landscape purpose. Some of its hybrid cultivars are commercially used as cut flowers as well. Celosia is commonly known as "Cockscomb" or "Kalgha" because of its resemblance to roosterhead (Wilkinson et al., 2006).C. cristata is known to have a great potential being cut flower. Over the years, the demand of high quality celosia cut flower has increased manifolds owing to its unique appearance and longer shelf life. Thus, to meet such demand, there must be availability of variety of high quality cut flower throughout the year.The production of high quality C. cristata flower head in tropical arid regions like those of Southern Punjab (Pakistan) has been a considerable problem since the harsh environmental conditions pose a significant threat to the appropriate growth and flower head