Zinc (Zn) deficiency caused by inadequate dietary intake is a global nutritional problem, particularly in developing countries. Therefore, zinc biofortification of wheat and other cereal crops is being urgently addressed and highly prioritized as a research topic. A field study was planned to evaluate the influence of zinc application on grain yield, grain zinc content, and grain phytic acid concentrations of wheat cultivars, and the relationships between these parameters. Three wheat cultivars, C1 = Faisalabad-2008, C2 = Punjab-2011, and C3 = Millet-2011 were tested with five different methods of zinc application: T1 = control, T2 = seed priming, T3 = soil application, T4 = foliar application, and T5 = soil + foliar application. It was found that grain yield and grain zinc were positively correlated, whereas, grain phytic acid and grain zinc were significantly negatively correlated. Results also revealed that T5, T3, and T4 considerably increased grain yield; however, T2 only slightly enhanced grain yield. Grain zinc concentration increased from 33.1 and 33.7 mg kg−1 in T1 to 62.3 and 63.1 mg kg−1 in T5 in 2013–2014 and 2014–2015, respectively. In particular, T5 markedly decreased grain phytic acid content; however, maximum concentration was recorded in T1. Moreover, all the tested cultivars exhibited considerable variation in grain yield, grain zinc, and grain phytic acid content. In conclusion, T5 was found to be most suitable for both optimum grain yield and grain biofortification of wheat.
Background and aimsAspergillus terreus Thom is a pathogen of public health and agricultural importance for its seamless abilities to expand its ecological niche. The aim of this study was holistically to investigate A. terreus morphological and immunoadaptations and their implication in antifungal resistance and proliferation during infection.Materials and methodsIn-depth unstructured mining of relevant peer-reviewed literature was performed for A. terreus morphological, immune, resistance, and genetic diversity based on the sequenced calmodulin-like gene.ResultsAccessory conidia and phialidic conidia produced by A. terreus confer discrete anti-fungal resistance that ensures survivability during therapies. Interestingly, by producing unique metabolites such as Asp–melanin and terretonin, A. terreus is capable of hijacking macrophages and scavenging iron, respectively. As such, A. terreus has established a rare mechanism to mitigate phagocytosis and swing the interaction dynamics in favor of its proliferation and survival in hosts.ConclusionIt is further unraveled that besides A. terreus genetic diversity, morphological, biochemical, and immunologic adaptations associated with conidia germination and discharge of chemical signals during infection enable masking of the host defense as an integral part of its strategy to survive and rapidly colonize hosts.
A survey was conducted in chili and a leaf spot disease with approximately 46% incidence was observed in the field. Morphological characteristics of the isolates correspond to those reported for Phytophthora capsici. The resulting sequences of ITS and TEF1 gene had high similarity after BLAST analysis with those of P. capsici isolates. The pathogenicity of one isolate was tested by spraying the zoospore suspension and symptoms of leaf spots similar to those observed in the field developed on all the inoculated leaves.Keywords Chili . Phytophthora . ITSIn June 2016, a survey was conducted in chili (Capsicum frutescens L.) growing areas of Punjab Province (Pakistan) and a leaf spot disease with approximately 46% incidence was observed in the field. The symptoms on leaves appeared as small brown-red spots that slowly enlarged with the central part light brown and dark brown to black margin. Leaf samples (number of plants = 10, number of leaves per plant = 3-4) were cut into small pieces (3 × 3 mm), excised from the edge of lesions, surface disinfected with 70% ethanol, then placed on plates containing corn meal agar (CMA) at 25 ± 2°C. White cottony colonies appeared on plates and ovoid, papillate sporangia produced on long pedicels ranging from 30 to 238 μm long. Sporangia were 43.2 to 56.4 μm in length and 24.5 to 42.2 μm in breadth. Chlamydospores 25 to 37 μm in diameter were observed by inoculating isolates into clarified V8 broth for three weeks in darkness at 18 ± 2°C. Morphological characteristics of the isolates correspond to those reported for Phytophthora capsici Leonian (Erwin and Ribeiro 1996). The ITS1/ITS4 primers were used for the amplification of ITS region (White et al. 1990) and translation elongation factor 1α (TEF1) was amplified with EF1-728F/ EF1-986R primers. The resulting sequences of ITS (LT707525) and TEF1 gene (LT707545) had high similarity (99%) after BLAST analysis with those of P. capsici isolates (EU515171 and KF318773, respectively). The pathogenicity of one isolate was tested by spraying the zoospore suspension of P. capsici (1 × 10 5 zoospores/ml) on healthy chili plants maintained in a greenhouse at 30°C. The control plants were sprayed with sterile water. After 6 days, symptoms of leaf spots similar to those observed in the field developed on all the inoculated leaves. No symptoms were observed on control plants. From affected leaves, colonies were reisolated with morphological characteristics identical with P. capsici. According to our knowledge, this is the first record of P. capsici causing leaf spot on chili in Pakistan.
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