Double-haploidization (DH) is one of the favorable techniques to obtain 100% pure double haploid plants (DH’s) for generating the new F₁ cultivars in a short time. The fecundity of this technique depends on the high quantity of haploids and also fertile DH’s. However, there are no comprehensive reports on the chromosome doubling and fertility (fruit and seed-set) of winter squash and pumpkin haploids, currently. Thus, to obtain high frequency and fertile DH’s, the efficiency of different anti-mitotic agents (colchicine, amiprophos methyl, trifluralin and oryzalin) was tested at various concentrations and exposure times for both in vitro and in vivo conditions. Haploid plantlets recovered from anther cultures of winter squash and pumpkin lines were used for DH program. The haploid plants were wholly immersed in aqueous solutions of anti-mitotic agents in vitro and apical parts of haploid plantlets were treated with anti-mitotic agents three times in vivo. Since some plants remained haploid, and the highest DH efficiency was obtained from multiple treatments of colchicine to shoot tips of haploid plants in the rate of 93.3%. In vivo multiple treatments of 1% colchicine for an hour was found to be the best doubling procedure for the recovery of high-frequency fertile DH’s in our winter squash and pumpkin breeding program.

Successful vegetable cultivation begins with quality seedlings. Some quantitative parameters such as stem diameter (g), seedling dry weight (g) and specific leaf area (cm² g^–1) are used to determine the quality of seedlings. In this study, the effects of different seedling production systems (traditional and floating system), organic fertilizers (M – manure, B – blood fertilizer from slaughterhouse and O – commercial organic fertilizer) and seed tray cell size (ST1 – 2.2 × 2.2 cm and ST2 – 3.1 × 3.1 cm) on seedling quality of tomato, were investigated. It was determined that the most effective results in applications of BST1 and MST2, were obtained in terms of leaf dry weight (0.39 g), stem dry weight (0.15–0.16 g) and root dry weight (0.10–0.11 g). At the end of the study, the big celled seed tray, blood and manure fertilizers were significantly higher (P ˂ 0.01) than grown in the small celled seed tray and control plants.

Plants absorb light energy for photosynthesis, and some amount of potentially damaging range of solar radiation, ultraviolet B. It accounts for less than 0.5% of the total solar radiation and the ambient current level of UV-B during the growth season provide 10 kJ·m^–2 energy per day on the Earth’s surface. In the field conditions, increased UV-B radiation is often accompanied by drought, but negative effect of combined stresses is not so deleterious as the effect of one of them alone. We studied some changes in nitrogen me deficit and UV-B radiation. The stresses generally decreased the biomass and total dry matter production. Combination of water deficit and UV-B activated a stress tolerance mechanism in cucumber seedlings. The NR activity and synthesis of UV-B absorbing compounds were induced. Protection against UV-B radiation can partially involve increased production of UV-B protective pigments – slightly increased the SPAD value in cucumber cotyledons and leaves was observed. The deleterious effect of combined stresses was weaker than their additive or individual effects.

In this study, effects of two stress inhibitors (particle film – PF and dicarboxylic acid – DA) on aroma composition of Beauty Seedless and Tekirdag Seedless grape cultivars were investigated. Analysis of the aroma components was carried out using solid-phase microextraction technique with gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS). A total of 36 and 24 aroma compounds were identified in Beauty Seedless and Tekirdag Seedless, respectively. The C₆-compounds (hexanal and 2-hexenal) were determined as the most abundant compounds in both grape cultivars and they accounted for 40.1% and 72.3% of total aroma composition in Beauty Seedless and Tekirdag Seedless, respectively. Monoterpenes (geraniol, nerol and neric acid) and sesquiterpenes (α-ylangene and germacrene) had a significant contribution of 35% to the total flavor of Beauty Seedless. Benzophenone, maltol, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, 2-ethyl hexanol, 2-pentyl furan, acetic acid, hexanoic acid were other compounds detected at the highest amount. In Tekirdag Seedless, benzene acetaldehyde, 2-ethyl hexanol, maltol, 4-hexen-1-ol, acetic acid and hexanoic acid were determined as proportionally important compounds. When taken into consideration the use of stress inhibitors becoming an interesting area in viticulture, the effects of treatments in the aromatic composition is limited. In the presented study, proportional levels of any aroma compounds could not be attributed to influence of the stress inhibitors. However, findings presented useful contribution for future studies. On the other hand, this study is the first report on aroma composition of Beauty Seedless and Tekirdag Seedless grape cultivars.

Malus floribunda coccinella is a landscape tree that is generally planted for its pinky flowers and small reddish fruits. The red-fleshed fruits, called crab apples, are rich in anthocyanins and are assumed as an environmental pollution material during the fruit bearing season. The aims of this research were to determine the organic acids, sugars, sugar:acid ratio, color, phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of the fruit and also to identify the phenolic compounds, monomeric anthocyanins content and antioxidant activities in the peel, flesh and whole fruit. Malic acid (25.394 g kg^–1 FW) was the main organic acid of the fruit. In fruits, amounts of sucrose, glucose and fructose were found to be 0.497, 0.504 and 4.334 g 100 g^–1 FW, respectively. Highest total phenolic concentration and antioxidant activity values were observed in the peel among the fractions, while protocatechuic and cinnamic acids, rutin, isorhamnetin-3-glucoside, quercetin, procyanidin B1, (+)-catechin and cyanidin-3-galactoside were predominant phenolics of the peel. Highest amounts of chlorogenic acid and (-)-epicatechin were determined in the flesh. Cyanidin-3-galactoside concentration in the flesh was approximately half the amount of that in the peel.

In this study, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci were used to investigate the genetic relationships in a group of 22 raspberry accessions. Fifteen RAPD primers generated a total of 324 bands, among them 94.1% were polymorphic. From ten used SSR pairs of primers, nine generated only polymorphic bands and the average percentage of polymorphism was 97.8%. Genetic similarity indices calculated on the basis of RAPD and SSR data indicated a wide range of genetic variability of the analyzed raspberry collection. Cluster analysis by UPGMA (Unweighted Pair-Group Method with Arithmetic averaging) and PCA (Principal Component Analysis) clearly delineated the genetic relationships among all the accessions. The highest genetic similarity, determined on the basis of RAPD and SSR markers, was found between two Polish cultivars – ‘Polesie’ and ‘Polesie Żółte’, whilst ‘Jewel’ from USA, belonging to Rubus occidentalis, was found to be the cultivar that varied most from all the accessions. The obtained results confirmed the usability of RAPD and SSR markers for discriminating among closely related raspberries and for determining the genetic variability among cultivars. It might be helpful for breeders to plan their breeding strategy.

The study aimed to investigate the effects of commercially available AMF inoculate (a mixture of Rhizophagus intraradices, Claroideoglomus etunicatum, Funneliformis mossea, Funneliformis geosporum, Rhizophagus clarus) and plant growth promoting bacteria (Rhizobium leguminosarum and Burkholderia sp.), either supplied individually or in combination with each other, on growth, root morphology and nutrient uptake capabilities in field pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants. Inoculated and non-inoculated pea plants were subjected to three levels of salinity (0, 20 and 50 mM) by the addition of sodium chloride into tap water. Morphology of root system was analyzed and dry matter of roots and shoots were individually measured several times during the growing cycle in randomly selected plants. The dry matter of roots and shoots was mixed together and concentration of N, P, K and Na was analytically determined. The raise of salinity in the irrigation water has strongly diminished the growth of pea plants by significantly reducing the weight, length, and surface area of root system, and deteriorating its nutrient capabilities. The inoculation of either AM fungi or PGPB in the growing substrate has contributed to alleviating the salinity stress effects through promoting growth and enhancing nutrient uptake capabilities of the root system. The combined application of AM fungi and PGPB could further enhance the nutrient uptake capabilities of pea plants under adverse salinity conditions.

The mode of inheritance and the degree of phenotypic correlation between some more important agronomic traits in two offsprings obtained by direct and reciprocal crossing of cultivars ‘Smederevka’ and ‘Gewurztraminer’ were investigated in this study. In 62 genotypes from direct crossing (Smederevka S Gewurztraminer) and 66 genotypes from reciprocal crossing (Gewurztraminer Smederevka), the traits evaluated were as follows: time of bud burst, flowering time, ripening time, bunch weight, berry weight, grape yield, sugar content of must and total acidity of must. The genotypes of F₁ generation for the investigated traits were arranged into a number of categories by the OIV method. In both crossing combinations (direct and reciprocal) for most traits, the same mode of inheritance (partial dominance, dominance or heterosis) was determined. Differences in the mode of inheritance, depending on whether the parental varieties were used as a father or mother, were found only for ripening time (partial dominance and intermediate inheritance). The prevailing mode of inheritance established for most of studied traits, regardless of the crossing method, was negative heterosis. From all examined traits, a significant influence of maternal effect was determined for the inheritance of flowering time and ripening time. In both crossing combinations, statistically significant phenotypic correlations were found between some studied traits.

Endophytes produce a wide range of compounds with high application potential, mainly in medicine and agriculture. In this study, we test the hypothesis that endophytic bacteria produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), have positive influence on plant root development and are possible to application as plant-growth promoters. Endophytic bacteria were isolated from 3 native growing plant species: Chelidonium majus L., Elymus repens L., Solidago gigantea L. All endophytic strains produced IAA and the highest levels of IAA were observed for Pseudomonas azotoformans P3 strain. Triticale seed bacterization did not affect the seed germination, but had significant influence on root length and the longest roots were obtained after seed treatment with Pseudomonas sp. strains. Triticale roots were longer only in seedlings grown from seeds treated with endophytic strains producing high IAA levels (more than 22 µg ml^–1). Our results suggest that endophytic Pseudomonas sp. strains isolated from Elymus repens L. can be used as plant-growth promoter.

Sclerotinia scletoriorum (Lib.) de Bary is a serious pathogen of carrots that can cause up to 50% losses of stored roots. Fungicides were found not to be completely effective for its control and due to residues they are not permitted for the use in storage. Biological control agents such as Pythium oligandrum may be a chance. The aim of research was to determine the level of carrot infection with S. sclerotiorum during few-month storage with qPCR and the potential control ability of this pathogen by Polyversum WP containing oospores of P. oligandrum. We analyzed carrot roots in combinations treated with Polyversum WP on the field, fumigated with biopreparation before storage and untreated control. S. sclerotiorum developed on carrots treated and untreated with Polyversum WP. During the storage, pathogen was isolated from 44.4% samples and P. oligandrum from 53.8% ones, respectively in the range from 0.0001 to 130 200.0; pg and from 0.004 to 0.3440 pg per sample. The number of roots with S. sclerotiorum and degree of their infection increased with prolonged storage. Analyses suggest that Polyversum WP may potentially limit the growth of S. sclerotiorum.

The yield quantity and quality depend on genetic factors, cultivation system and environmental conditions. Growth conditions can be improved by mulching the soil with plastic and biodegradable materials. A 2-factor experiment was conducted in 2011–2013 in the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences. The method of random blocks in 3 repetitions was applied. The aim of the study was to compare the yielding of tomato cultivars: Awizo F₁, Brixol F₁ and Polonaise F₁ on synthetic mulches: transparent, black and white polyethylene film (0.05 mm thick), on black polypropylene nonwoven of the mass of 60 g·m^-2, and on biodegradable film BioAgri, 0.025 mm thick. Significant differences were observed in the quantity of marketable tomato yield in particular years of the experiment. In most favorable year 2012, the yield was by 26% and 56% larger, as compared to other years. The marketable yield of Awizo F₁ cultivar was higher, on average by 33.1% and 64.7%, than in the case of Brixol F₁ and Polonaise F₁. The plants mulched with polyethylene and biodegradable film revealed a tendency to a higher yields as compared to those cultivated on nonwoven or without any mulches.

The objective of the study was to develop effective chemical methods of protection of Gerbera jamesonii against Phytophthora cryptogea with consideration of the way of their application. In laboratory conditions, the activity of 7 tested agents was evaluated based on growth of P. cryptogea on a medium containing fungicides, and size of necrosis in inoculated gerbera leaf blades. In greenhouse tests, growth of plants in infected substrate was assessed. The study showed variable susceptibility of Phytophthora cryptogea to the tested plant protection products. The best solution protecting gerbera crops against P. cryptogea turned out to be Ridomil Gold MZ Pepite 68 WG. In programs of gerbera protection against Phytophtora, the agent should be introduced by means of watering. Products such as Acrobat MZ 69 WG, Infinito 687.5 SC, and Mildex 711.9 WG can be considered an element of integrated protection of gerbera.

Based on two-year experiments on inoculated corn, including genotypes of sweet corn (Zea mays var. saccharata) and popcorn (Zea mays var. everta), the analysis of fumonisin FB₁ content in kernels was performed. Infection degree of sweet corn was 2.00 and 2.13, which was distinctly stronger than infection of popcorn cobs (0.52 and 1.05). Despite of higher disease rating of Zea mays var. saccharata, the most dynamic increase in fumonisin FB₁ biosythesis was observed in kernels of Zea mays var. everta. During the two cropping seasons, the mean level of FB₁ in sweet corn ranged from 0.52 to 6.94 µg g^–1, while in popcorn kernels from 0.96 to 28.49 µg g^–1 in the 1^st and 8^th week after inoculation. Botanical varieties of maize as well as physiological state of kernels, determined by the water, amylose and starch contents, influenced on infection degree by Fusarium verticillioides and level of ear contamination by fumonisin FB₁. Efficiency of biosynthesis of mentioned metabolites was inversely proportional to kernel water content.

In this study, we compared the compositions, antimicrobial and potential antioxidant activities of essential oils of two Thymus endemic, wild-growing species – T. malyi Ronninger and T. lykae Degen et Jav. No information about its composition and biological activities of oils has been reported to the present day. Forty three compounds were identified from T. malyi and major component was α-pinene (26.4%). In the case of T. lykae, forty four compounds were identified, with geranyl acetate (35.1%) as the main component. Antioxidant activities of the oils were evaluated using DPPH assay. The antimicrobial effect of essential oils were tested against Gram-negative, Gram-positive bacteria, and two fungi. Results indicated higher antibacterial activity of the essential oils of T. lykae in comparison with T. malyi, while for antifungal activity, it was reverse. The essential oils from T. malyi and T. lykae possess antioxidant and antimicrobial activities and could be used as a potential source of natural antioxidants for the food industry.

Rosa rugosa petals, which have long been used in traditional medicine due to their attractive flavor and presence of bioactive components, are also commonly applied to produce minimally processed and non-thermally treated products with the addition of sucrose. Therefore, to ensure safety and high value of such products during storage, it is crucial to investigate changes in quality indicators. The examined material was non-thermally treated and homogenized petals of wrinkled rose with sucrose concentrations of 50%, 60%, and 70%. Products were stored at 6°C and 21°C for 54 weeks in darkness. Throughout the storage, they were analyzed for microbiological contamination and changes in vitamin C content, color and pH stability. Over the storage period, in samples containing 60 and 70% sucrose, a gradual reduction was observed in the total bacteria count and the yeast and mold count. After the storage period, the value of pH decreased very slightly, while very distinct changes were observed in color parameters at 21°C. Vitamin C content decreased sharply during the first 18 days of storage at both temperatures.

In the present study, using ultrasonic irradiations, a novel nano-sized iron complex has been prepared from aminolevulinic acid and iron(III) nitrate under greenhouse conditions. The obtained Fe nano-sized complex has been characterized by two methods of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and EDX spectra (Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy). Also, the morphology and size of the nano-complex were determined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and it showed an acceptable size in the nano range (5–20 nm). In this work, purslane plants were supplied with Fe(III)–aminolevulinic acid (Fe-ALA) as a new nano-sized complex and Fe-EDDHA [Fe-ethylenediamine-N,N'-bis(2-hydroxyphenylacetic acid)]. The mineral nutrients concentrations, total phenolic, ascorbic acid contents and antioxidant activity were the highest in plants treated with Fe-ALA nano-complex. Catechin was the predominant phenolic compound in all treated plants. Fe nano-complex at the rate of 0.2% induced extra high phenolic compounds value. Shoot Fe, Zn, N, Mg, Ca and K contents were also higher in Fe nano-complex treated plants than the control and in plants that were treated by Fe-EDDHA. Overall, the nutritional and pharmaceutical quality of Portulaca oleracea improved the use of the nano-sized Fe-ALA complex as a new iron source.

Khatouni melons are a major horticultural crop that is produced mainly in semi arid and arid regions of Iran. The plant root characteristics can significantly affect many growth traits, including water and nutrients uptake under such dry conditions. On the other hand, nutrient elements concentration and their ratios can strongly affect the root morphophysiological and structure. In this study, the growth and root system characteristics of Khatouni melon was evaluated under various potassium (K) levels of nutrient solution. A rhizobox system with sand-hydroponic culture was applied. Hoagland formula was used for nutrient solution preparation, and different potassium levels of 0, 59, 118, 176 and 235 mg L^–1 K of nutrient solution were applied to plants, while other nutrients were kept relatively unchanged. The results showed that the highest shoot fresh weight, leaf area and SPAD value were at 235 or 176 mg L^–1 K, whereas the root characteristics were affected by K treatments in different patterns. The highest root fresh weight was in plants treated with 118 mg L^–1 K, whereas root dry weight was significantly lower in treatment without K nutrition than other K levels of nutrient solution. Plant root diameter was thickest at 176 mg L^–1 K and it was longest at 118 mg L^–1 K, whereas the shortest roots were at 235 mg L^–1 K of nutrient solution. Root area was the highest at 118, 176 and 235 mg L^–1 K of nutrient solution. Root nutrient concentration of N, K, P, Ca and Fe was the highest at 118 or 176 mg L^–1 K; however, the lowest amount of root Mg and Fe was in plants treated with 235 mg L^–1 K. For other traits of root and shoot growth, the lowest records were in treatment without K nutrition. The results indicate that shoot or root growth characteristics of Khatouni melon can be improved by moderate to high, or moderate potassium levels.

The study aimed to determine the most appropriate irrigation scheduling for mini-type cucumber plants grown as a spring-summer cycle crop. The research was conducted in a greenhouse structure in the fields of the Research Institute in Kirklareli. Marathon cucumber plants were used as the plant material in the trials. The split plot design experimental layout in 3 replications was used in the research. Four different plant–pan coefficients (0.75, 1.00, 1.25 and 1.50) and two irrigation intervals (2 and 4 days) were applied as subplots and main plots of the study, respectively. As a result of the 3-year investigation, it was determined that yields, number of cucumber fruits, and fresh cucumber fruit weight, length and diameter increased with the increase in the irrigation water amount. The highest average total soluble solids (Brix) value of 5.0 was recorded under conditions of most severe stress imposed on the plots with lowest water application rates of Kcp 0.75. While the lowest values of 4.0–4.1 were obtained for plants growing under more favorable moisture conditions in plots with application of Kcp 1.25 and 1.50. Statistically significant positive linear relationships were obtained for irrigation water amount on one hand, and fruit number, fruit mean weight, fruit length and diameter on the other, while the relationship between water applied and TSS (Brix) was negative.