Morphological and elemental composition of otoliths are a promising tool for fish stock identification. In this regard, European eel has not been sufficiently researched. The aim of this study was to ...determine otolith shape index values and microchemistry composition of 14 elements in otoliths of European eel between riverine and lacustrine stocks from the Adriatic Basin in Croatia and Montenegro. In terms of morphometry, the shape indices, form factor and circularity of the sagittal otolith were statistically different between lacustrine and riverine stocks. The European eel is considered to have a small otolith relative size. Canonical variate analysis indicated no statistical differences among the concentrations of trace elements in sagittal otoliths between riverine and lacustrine stocks. However, constrained redundancy analysis suggested a stronger relationship of width, total length, females and the silver stage with the Sr/Ca, Cr/Ca, Ba/Ca and K/Ca ratios of specimens from riverine than lacustrine habitats. Gender and stage dependent variations showed that females were better indicators of relationships between microchemistry composition and intrinsic factors. In conclusion, form factor and circularity of the sagittal otolith was able to distinguish between European eel stocks from different habitats. Also, it seems that the European eels' otolith fingerprint is homogenous, species specific and independent of ecological conditions.
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•Habitat has a significant influence on otolith shape in the European eel.•Trace element composition of eel otoliths reflects physiologically conditions.•Females is better indicators of microchemistry relationships.•European eels from different environments have common microchemistry fingerprints.
Heat stress seriously affects the production of cool-season food legume crops such as garden peas. Seed priming is a widely used technique that increases germination and improves plant growth and ...development, resulting in better field performance and higher yield of crops. In the current study, we investigated three seed priming treatments—hydropriming (dH2O), osmopriming (2.2% w/v CaCl2), and hormopriming (50 mg L−1 salicylic acid—SA)—and their effect on germination, initial seedling development, and physiological traits of two novel garden pea cultivars, under optimal conditions and heat stress. Seed priming with H2O, CaCl2, and SA enhanced garden pea performance under both optimal and stress conditions via significant improvements in germination energy, final germination, mean germination time, mean germination rate, seedling vigor index, shoot length, root length, fresh seedling weight, dry seedling weight, shoot elongation rate, root elongation rate, relative water content, chlorophyll content, and membrane stability index, as compared to control. The highest effect on the examined parameters was achieved by osmopriming and hormopriming in both cultivars, suggesting that these treatments could be used to improve the heat stress tolerance of garden pea, after extensive field trials.
Bio-priming is a new technique of seed treatment that improves seed germination, vigor, crop growth and yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Bradyrhizobium ...japonicum (commercial strains) and Bacillus megaterium (newly isolated strains) as a single inoculant and co-inoculant during seed bio-priming to improve seed germination and initial seedling growth of two soybean cultivars. The treated seeds were subjected to germination test (GT), cold test (CT) and accelerated aging test (AAT). B. megaterium significantly improved all parameters in GT and CT; final germination, shoot length, root length, root dry weight, and seedling vigor index in AAT, as compared to control. In addition, co-inoculation significantly increased all parameters except shoot dry weight in GT; all parameters in CT; germination energy, shoot length, root length, and seedling vigor index in AAT, in comparison to the control. Moreover, Br. japonicum significantly improved the germination energy, shoot length, shoot dry weight, root dry weight, and seedling vigor index in GT; all parameters in CT; shoot length, root length, and seedling vigor index in AAT, compared with non-primed seeds. Thus, B. megaterium strains could be used in soybean bio-priming as a potential single inoculant and co-inoculant, following proper field evaluation.
Tomatoes encounter many pathogens, such as fungi and bacteria, which reduce the yield and quality of plants and lead to large losses in production. The application of plant protection products (PPPs) ...is still an important and most effective measure to control plant diseases. However, the use of chemicals in agriculture contributes to environmental pollution and biodiversity loss, and it can also threaten non-target living organisms. Biological control is a widely accessible, environmentally safe, and cost-efficient alternative for the prevention and suppression of plant diseases.
species with antimicrobial and plant growth-promoting effects are most frequently used as biocontrol agents to increase the resilience of agricultural production against biotic stresses. The present review discusses the antagonistic mechanisms and the biocontrol potential of
spp. against tomato diseases caused by different pathogens. The main mechanisms of
spp. include the production of antimicrobial compounds (antibiotics, extracellular enzymes, siderophores, and volatile compounds), competition for nutrients and space, and induced systemic resistance (ISR). Although
-based PPPs have been developed and commercialised worldwide for various crops and pathogens, the efficiency issues are still subject to debate. Additionally, a combined strategy for controlling tomato diseases based on
spp. and other available methods (conventional or natural-based) is a promising research field.
Seed infection caused by
spp. is one of the major threats to the seed quality and yield of agricultural crops, including garden peas. The use of
spp. with multiple antagonistic and plant ...growth-promoting (PGP) abilities represents a potential disease control strategy. This study was performed to evaluate the biocontrol potential of new
spp. rhizosphere isolates against two
strains affecting garden peas. Six
isolates identified by 16S rDNA sequencing as
(B42),
(B43),
(B44, B46),
(B50), and
(B66) showed the highest in vitro inhibition of
PS1 and
PS18 growth (over 40%). The selected
isolates possessed biosynthetic genes for endoglucanase (B42, B43, B50), surfactin (B43, B44, B46), fengycin (B44, B46), bacillomycin D (B42, B50), and iturin (B42), and were able to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), siderophores, and cellulase. Two isolates,
B43 and
B50, had the highest effect on final germination, shoot length, root length, shoot dry weight, root dry weight, and seedling vigor index of garden peas as compared to the control. Their individual or combined application reduced seed infection and increased seed germination in the presence of
PS1 and
PS18, both after seed inoculation and seed bio-priming. The most promising results were obtained in the cases of the bacterial consortium, seed bio-priming, and the more pathogenic strain PS18. The novel
isolates may be potential biocontrol agents intended for the management of
seed-borne diseases.
This work highlights the potential for the synthesis of new PtSnZn catalysts with enhanced efficiency and durability for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in low-temperature fuel cells. In this ...research, PtZn and PtSnZn nanoparticles deposited on high surface area Vulcan XC-72R Carbon support were created by a microwave-assisted polyol method. The electrochemical performances of synthesized catalysts were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry and by the electrooxidation of adsorbed CO and the chronoamperometric method. The physicochemical properties of obtained catalysts were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The obtained findings showed the successful synthesis of platinum-based catalysts. It was established that PtSnZn/C and PtZn/C catalysts have high electrocatalytic performance in methanol oxidation reactions. Catalysts stability tests were obtained by chronoamperometry. Stability tests also confirmed decreased poisoning and indicated improved stability and better tolerance to CO-like intermediate species. According to activity and stability measurements, the PtSnZn/C catalyst possesses the best electrochemical properties for the methanol oxidation reaction. The observed great electrocatalytic activity in the methanol oxidation reaction of synthesized catalysts can be attributed to the beneficial effects of microwave synthesis and the well-balanced addition of alloying metals in PtSnZn/C catalysts.
Nanopriming is a newly developed seed technology that improves seed germination, initial plant growth, and crop yield by enabling plants to withstand a variety of abiotic stresses. The objective of ...this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of comprehensive metal-based (Co, Mn, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mo, and Se) nanopriming as compared to hydro- and non-primed seeds of three different pea cultivars in a germination test. Seed priming with nanoparticles (NPs) improved field pea quality via significant increase in germination energy (cv. E-244), final germination (cv. E-244, cv. Dukat), shoot length (cv. E-244, cv. Partner), root length (cv. E-244, cv. Dukat, cv. Partner), fresh shoot weight (cv. Partner), dry shoot weight (cv. Partner), seedling vigor index (cv. E-244, cv. Partner), and chlorophyll content (cv. Dukat, cv. Partner), as compared to both hydropriming and the control. Moreover, nanopriming led to significant improvements in shoot length, fresh shoot length, dry shoot length, seedling vigor index (cv. Dukat), and dry root weight (cv. E-244) as compared to the control only. In general, the highest effect on the examined parameters was achieved by nanopriming, indicating that this treatment may be utilized to raise field pea quality performance. To optimize the method, it is necessary to conduct extensive laboratory and field trials.
Pectobacterium is a diverse genus which comprises of multiple destructive bacterial species which cause soft rot/blackleg/wilt disease complex in a wide variety of crops by employing high levels of ...virulence factors. During the 2018, 2019 and 2020 potato growing seasons, numerous outbreaks of bacterial wilt, stem blackleg and tuber soft rot were recorded, and symptomatic plant samples from ten localities in the Province of Vojvodina (Serbia) were collected and analysed. Bacterial soft-rot pathogens were detected in 63 samples using genus and species-specific primers. Through 16S rRNA Sanger sequencing of 19 representative isolates, the identity of P. brasiliense (73.7%), P. punjabense (15.8%), and P. carotovorum (10.5%) species were revealed. To further validate the identification, genotypic profiling of Pectobacterium strains using rep-PCR (ERIC, BOX, REP) was conducted for 25 selected isolates and the phylogenetic assessment based on four selected housekeeping genes (gyrA, recA, rpoA, and rpoS). Physiological and biochemical properties were analysed using basic microbiological tests and VITEK® 2 GN card, and pathogenicity was confirmed on cv. VR808 and cv. Desiree potato tubers and plants. This study confirmed the distinctiveness of the newly described P. punjabense in Serbia as well as the high diversity of Pectobacterium brasiliense and Pectobacterium carotovorum species in Serbia.
Salinity is one of the greatest challenges of successful agricultural production worldwide. However, seed priming might be efficient practice for enhancing seed germination and initial plant growth ...and development. This experiment was undertaken with the aim of assessing the impact of different priming methods on seed quality parameters and early growth of garden pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars under salinity stress. Pea seeds of three different cultivars were primed with water (hydropriming), KNO
solution (0.5%), and PEG 6000 solution (-0.5 MPa) for 24h in the dark. Unprimed and primed seeds were germinated between filter papers saturated with 120 mM NaCl using the germination test. The results clearly showed that the examined parameters of primed pea seeds were substantially greater than the parameters of unprimed seeds under saline stress. Moreover, seed priming with KNO
and PEG solutions were more effective in improving seed quality and initial growth in garden peas than hydropriming.
The otolith morphology, biometry and otolith size and fish length relationship of three demersal fish species: red mullet Mullus barbatus, common pandora Pagellus erythrinus and hake Merluccius ...merluccius were examined. Based on otoliths relative sizes P. erythrinus and M. merluccius have Large otoliths, while M. barbatus has Small sagittal otoliths. The relationships between otolith variables and fish somatic growth were described by a linear function. All relationships were statistically highly significant (p<0.001). Otolith length (OL) was found to be the
variable most strongly related to fish size, with 61.2 – 95.3 % of the variability, while otolith weight had the lowest coefficient of determination (r2). No differences were found neither between left and right otoliths, nor between male and female otoliths in these relationships. For all species studied the relationships of otolith length, height and weight against total fish length were all found to have positive allometry, indicating that the accretion of otoliths is relatively faster than increase in fish body size. The shape indices of form factor (FF), roundness (RD), aspect ratio (AR), circularity (C), rectangularity (R) and ellipticity (E) were calculated and the relationships between otolith length (OL) and shape indices were determined.
Ispitana je morfologija otolita, biometrija i
odnos veličine otolita i duljine tri pridnene vrste riba: trlja
Mullus barbatus
, arbun
Pagellus erythrinus
i oslić
Merluccius merluccius
. Na temelju
relativnih veličina otolita
P. erythrinus
i
M. merluccius
imaju velike otolite,
dok
M. barbatus
ima male sagitalne
otolite. Odnosi između varijabli otolita i somatskog rasta riba opisani su
linearnom funkcijom. Svi odnosi bili su statistički visoko značajni
(p<0,001). Utvrđeno je da je duljina otolita (OL) pokazuje najveću
povezanost s veličinom ribe, sa 61,2 – 95,3 % varijabilnosti, dok je masa
otolita imala najniži koeficijent determinacije (r2). Nisu pronađene razlike ni između lijevog i
desnog otolita, niti između muških i ženskih otolita u tim odnosima. Za sve
proučavane vrste utvrđeno je da odnosi duljine, visine i mase otolita u odnosu
na ukupnu duljinu ribe imaju pozitivnu alometriju, što ukazuje da je
nakupljanje otolita relativno brže od povećanja duljine tijela ribe. Izračunati
su indeksi oblika faktora forme (FF), zaobljenosti (RD),
omjera stranica (AR), kružnosti (C), pravokutnosti (R) i
eliptičnosti (E) te su izračunati odnosi između duljine otolita (OL) i indeksa
oblika.
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