In this study, genetic diversity of 119 accessions of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) from five former Yugoslav republics constituting the western Balkans was assessed by 13 microsatellite markers. This set of markers has proven before to efficiently distinguish between bean genotypes and assign them to either the Andean or the Mesoamerican gene pool of origin. In this study, 118 alleles were detected or 9.1 per locus on average. Four groups (i.e., Slovene, Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian) showed similarly high levels of genetic diversity as estimated by the number of different alleles, number of effective alleles, Shannon’s information index, and expected heterozygosity. Mildly narrower genetic diversity was identified within a group of Macedonian accessions; however, this germplasm yielded the highest number of private alleles. All five germplasms share a great portion of genetic diversity as indicated by the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA). On the basis of the scored number of migrants, we concluded that the most intensive gene flow in the region exists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cluster analysis based on collected molecular data classified the accessions into two large clusters that corresponded to two gene pools of origin (i.e., Andean and Mesoamerican). We found that Andean genotypes are more prevalent than Mesoamerican in all studied countries, except Macedonia, where the two gene pools are represented evenly. This could indicate that common bean was introduced into the western Balkans mainly from the Mediterranean Basin. Bayesian cluster analysis revealed that in the area studied an additional variation exists which is related to the Andean gene pool. Different scenarios of the origin of this variation are discussed in the article.

The use of grafted plants in vegetable crop production is now being expanded greatly. However, few data are available on the nutritional composition of grafted vegetables with emphasis on antioxidant properties. Therefore, the major objective of this study was to evaluate antioxidant components of tomatoes influenced by grafting technique. The tomato plants were grown in a greenhouse located at Krizevci, Croatia. The cultivars 'Efialto', 'Heman', and 'Maxifort' were used as rootstocks, while 'Tamaris' was used as scion. Grafting resulted in increase of number of marketable fruits per plant by 30%. Content of total vitamin C and total phenolics significantly decreased after grafting. The concentration of total extractable phenolics in tomatoes ranged from 287.1 to 977.4 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) kg -1 fresh weight, whereas lycopene content ranged from 11.44 to 60.99 mg kg -1 fresh weight. Antioxidant activities determined by 1,1-diphenyl-2 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method of grafts were significantly different compared to their respective rootstocks. The overall results showed that tomato grafting on suitable rootstocks has positive effects on the cultivation performance, but decreases nutritional quality of tomatoes.Additional key words: antioxidant activity; greenhouse; lycopene; plant production; total phenolics; vitamin C. Resumen Efecto del injerto en las propiedades antioxidantes del tomate (Solanum lycopersicum L.)En la producción de cultivos hortícolas se está expandiendo actualmente de forma considerable el uso de plantas injertadas. Sin embargo, hay pocos datos disponibles sobre la composición nutricional de las hortícolas injertadas, especialmente sobre sus propiedades antioxidantes. El principal objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar los componentes antioxidantes de tomates influenciados por la técnica de injerto. Se cultivaron plantas de tomate en un invernadero de Krizevcii, Croacia. Se utilizaron como portainjertos los cultivares 'Efialto', 'Heman', y 'Maxifort', mientras que 'Tamaris' fue utilizado como injerto. El resultado del injerto fue un aumento del 30% en el número de frutos comerciales por planta, mientras que el contenido de vitamina C y de fenoles totales disminuyó significativamente. La concentración del total de fenoles extraíbles en los tomates varió entre 287,1 y 977,4 mg de equivalentes de ácido gálico (GAE) por kilo sobre la base de peso fresco, mientras que el contenido de licopeno varió desde 11,44 hasta 60,99 mg kg -1 de peso fresco. Las actividades antioxidantes determinadas por el método DPPH (2,2-difenil-1-picrilhidrazilo) de los injertos fueron significativamente diferentes respecto de sus respectivos patrones. Los resultados globales muestran que el injerto de tomate sobre patrones adecuados tiene efectos positivos sobre el rendimiento de cultivo, pero la calidad nutricional de los frutos disminuye.

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Istraživanje utjecaja temperature (konstantna 20°C i izmjenljiva 20-30°C) i tretmana sjemena (NaOCl, M-metalaksil, karboksin+tiram i netretirano sjeme kao kontrola) na energiju klijanja, klijavost i zdravstveno stanje sjemena provedeno je u laboratorijskim uvjetima na sjemenu paprike sorte Slavonka. Rezultati su pokazali statistički značajan učinak temperature, tretmana i njihove interakcije na energiju klijanja sjemena paprike, dok kod klijavosti sjemena tretmani nisu pokazali signifikantne razlike. Najveća energija klijanja bila je u karboksin+tiram tretmanu kod izmjenljive temperature (76%). Statistički značajan učinak temperature, tretmana i njihove interakcije utvrđen je za razvoj fitopatogenih gljiva Alternaria spp, Cladosporium sp. i Penicillium sp. Za razvoj Fusarium spp. temperature nisu pokazale statistički značajnu razliku, kao niti interakcija temperature i tretmana za razvoj Aspergillus spp. Na temelju naših rezultata možemo zaključiti da se učinkovitim tretmanima može poboljšati kvaliteta sjemena i smanjiti količina fungicida potrebnih za suzbijanje bolesti sjemena.

Provedenim istraživanjem pokušalo se ustanoviti djelovanje stimulatora klijanja EkoBooster 1 na početni rast i razvoj paprike. Ispitivanja su provedena na sjemenu paprike sorte Podravka u laboratorijskim uvjetima na filter papiru pri temperaturama 20C i 20-30C. Sjeme paprike tretirano je 1%-tnom otopinom preparata EkoBooster 1 u trajanju od 20 minuta. Kod energije klijanja sjemena nije uočena statistički značajna razlika između sjemena tretiranog stimulatorom klijanja i netretiranog sjemena niti na jednoj razini temperature, ali je zato klijavost sjemena povećana kod sjemena tretiranog stimulatorom klijanja na obje razine temperatura. Klijavost je kod netretiranog sjemena u odnosu na sjeme tretirano stimulatorom klijanja pri tempera-turi ispitivanja od 20C bila manja za 9%, a pri temperaturi od 20-30C za 4%. Postotak nenormalnih klijanaca i neklijavog sjemena je smanjen u odnosu na netretirano sjeme. Masa svježih i zdravih klijanaca poveća-na je na obje razine temperatura ispitivanja u odnosu na netretirano sjeme. Temeljem rezultata provedenih istraživanja može se zaključiti da tretman sjemena stimulatorom klijanja daje pozitivne učinke na ispitivana svojstva što je naročito značajno u uvjetima nepovoljnih temperatura u početnim fazama razvoja paprike.