Water deficit has devastating impacts on legume production, particularly with the current abrupt climate changes in arid environments. The application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) ...is an effective approach for producing natural nitrogen and attenuating the detrimental effects of drought stress. This study investigated the influence of inoculation with the PGPR Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae (USDA 2435) and Pseudomonas putida (RA MTCC5279) solely or in combination on the physio-biochemical and agronomic traits of five diverse Vicia faba cultivars under well-watered (100% crop evapotranspiration ETc), moderate drought (75% ETc), and severe drought (50% ETc) conditions in newly reclaimed poor-fertility sandy soil. Drought stress substantially reduced the expression of photosynthetic pigments and water relation parameters. In contrast, antioxidant enzyme activities and osmoprotectants were considerably increased in plants under drought stress compared with those in well-watered plants. These adverse effects of drought stress reduced crop water productivity (CWP) and seed yield-related traits. However, the application of PGPR, particularly a consortium of both strains, improved these parameters and increased seed yield and CWP. The evaluated cultivars displayed varied tolerance to drought stress: Giza-843 and Giza-716 had the highest tolerance under well-watered and moderate drought conditions, whereas Giza-843 and Sakha-4 were more tolerant under severe drought conditions. Thus, co-inoculation of drought-tolerant cultivars with R. leguminosarum and P. putida enhanced their tolerance and increased their yield and CWP under water-deficit stress conditions. This study showed for the first time that the combined use of R. leguminosarum and P. putida is a promising and ecofriendly strategy for increasing drought tolerance in legume crops.
Salinity is widespread environmental stress that poses great obstacles to rapeseed development and growth. Polyamines are key plant growth regulators that play a pivotal role in regulating salt ...tolerance. Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) seedlings were treated by spermine (Spm) and spermidine (Spd) versus untreated control under salt stress conditions. It was detected that the Spd-treated plants had significantly elevated chlorophyll and proline content and maintained higher photosystem II (PSII) activity than those treated with Spm as well as untreated control under salt-stressed conditions. Similarly, Spd alleviated the devastating effects of NaCl stress on CO2 assimilation and significantly elevated Rubisco activity (ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase). The application of Spd also enhanced the activities of different antioxidant enzymes under NaCl stress. It modulated their respective transcription levels, including ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR), and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR). In addition, exogenously sprayed Spd enhanced the polyamine pathway as observed by upregulated transcription of polyamine oxidase (PAO) and diamine oxidase (DAO). The Spd application enhanced expressions of Calvin cycle enzyme related genes such as Rubisco small subunit, Rubisco large subunit, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), 3-phosphoglyceric acid kinase (PGK), triose-3-phosphate isomerase (TPI), fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA), sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (SBPase), and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate phosphatase (FBPase). Consequently, this study demonstrates that exogenous application of Spd has a valuable role in regulating antioxidant enzyme activity, polyamine pathway, and Calvin cycle enzyme-related genes to alleviate salt stress damage in the plants.
Chocolate spot and heat stress devastatingly impact the production of faba bean, particularly under prevailing climatic changes and rising drastic environmental conditions. Hence, the adaptability of ...faba bean performance is a decisive objective of plant breeders to ensure its sustainable production. The present study aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance and stability of diverse eleven faba bean genotypes for yield characters, chocolate spot, and heat stress in eight different growing environments. The faba bean genotypes were evaluated at two sowing dates in two different locations during two growing seasons. The evaluated eleven faba bean genotypes were sown timely in autumn (25 October) and late sowing in early winter (25 November) in Bilbeis and Elkhatara during 2020 and 2021 growing seasons. The results exhibited substantial differences among the evaluated sowing dates, locations, and faba bean genotypes for all studied characters. The genotypes Sakha-3, Nubaria-3, Nubaria-5, Misr-3, and Wadi-1 were able to produce acceptable yield and quality characters under timely sowing in autumn and late sowing in early winter in all tested environments. Moreover, the genotypes Nubaria-3, Nubaria-4, Nubaria-5, Sakha-4, Giza-3, and Triple White exhibited better resistance to chocolate spot. The assessed faba bean genotypes were evaluated under late sowing to expose the plants to high temperature stress at flowering and throughout the anthesis and seed-filling stages. The genotypes Nubaria-5, Nubaria-3, Nubaria-4, Sakha-3, Sakha-4, Wadi-1, and Misr-3 possessed tolerance to heat stress more than the other genotypes. Different statistical methods were applied to study the stability of assessed genotypes such as joint regression, Additive Main Effect and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) analysis, AMMI stability value, Wricke's and Ecovalence values. The estimated stability parameters were consistent in depicting the stability of the assessed faba bean genotypes. The findings revealed that Sakha-1, Misr-3, Nubaria-4, and Nubaria-5 demonstrated stable and desirable performance across all tested environments. The heatmap was employed to classify the assessed faba bean genotypes into different groups based on agronomic performance, chocolate spot resistance and heat stress tolerance. Nubaria-3, Nubaria-4, Nubaria-5, and Misr-3 had the best performance for agronomic performance, chocolate spot resistance, and heat stress tolerance. The obtained results provide evidence of employing promising faba bean genotypes for improving the stability of agronomic performance, chocolate spot resistance, and heat stress tolerance in breeding programs principally under unprecedented climate fluctuations.
Developing high-yielding rice genotypes is decisive to ensure global food security with current population growth and the threat of environmental pressures. Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) system ...provides a valuable approach for commercial exploitation of heterosis and producing high-yielding and quality hybrid rice. Three CMS lines and ten diverse restorers were crossed using line × tester mating design. The obtained thirty F1 hybrids and their thirteen parents were evaluated. Yield traits as well as certain floral traits characters that influence the efficiency of crossing and hybrid seed production as the duration of floret opening (min), stigma exsertion (mm), stigma length (mm), opening floret angle, and anther length (mm) were assessed. Highly significant variations were detected among parents, crosses, and parents vs. crosses for all the studied traits. The CMS line L2 and the restorer T5 were determined as good combiners for stigma exsertion, stigma length, opining floret angle, and duration of floret opening. Besides, the hybrids L1 × T1, L1 × T3, L2 × T2, L2 × T5, L3 × T4, L3 × T5, and L3 × T9 exhibited positive SCA effects for most floral traits. Moreover, the CMS lines L1 and L3 as well as the restorers T1, T2, T3, T6, and T9 were identified as good general combiners for grain yield and certain related traits. The hybrids L1 × T1, L1 × T5, L1 × T7, L2 × T3, L2 × T4, L2 × T5, L2 × T10, L3 × T1, L3 × T2, and L3 × T6 displayed positive SCA effects for grain yield and one or more of its attributes. Both additive and non-additive gene effects were involved in the governing inheritance of all evaluated traits. The biochemical variations among the certain evaluated genotypes were further studied. The esterase and peroxidase isozymes were applied for verifying the genetic diversity at the protein level among the used CMS lines, restorers, and their crosses. All the applied isozymes displayed polymorphism for the parents and their crosses. The banding pattern and intensity differences provided accurate results on the reliable variability among the tested genotypes.
Orobanche is an obligate parasite on faba bean in the Mediterranean region, causes considerable yield losses. Breeding tolerant faba bean genotypes to Orobanche is pivotal to sustain production and ...ensuring global food security, particularly considering the challenges posed by population growth. In the present study, seven faba bean lines and four testers were used in a line×tester mating design during 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 growing seasons. The eleven parents and their 28 F
crosses were evaluated under Orobanche free and naturally infested soils.
The results demonstrated considerable variations among the evaluated genotypes, wide diversity among the parental materials, and heterotic effects for all studied agronomic traits under Orobanche-free and infested soils. Orbanche infestation displayed a significant adverse impact on all the studied agronomic traits. The genotypes Line1, Line2, Line3, and Line5 displayed superior performance under Orobanche-infested conditions and recorded the highest values of all studied agronomic traits. Additionally, Line1, Line2, Line3, Line5, and Line7 exhibited desirable significant GCA for most evaluated traits under the two infestation conditions. The obtained crosses displayed significant negative or positive heterosis for studied agronomic characters such as plant height, number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant
and seed weight per plant were observed. Furthermore, specific cross combinations such as Line2×Sakha3, Line3×Nubaria5, Line7 × Nubaria5, Line6×Nubaria1, Line5×Sakha3, Line1×Sakha3, and Line1 × Nubaria5 exhibited superior performance in seed yield and contributing traits under Orobanche-infested conditions. Moreover, these specific crosses showed superior efficacy in reducing dry weight of Orobanche spikes. The results obtained from GGE biplot analysis closely aligned with those from the line×tester procedure, affirming the significance of GGE biplot as a valuable statistical tool for assessing genotype combining ability in line× tester data. Both additive and non-additive gene actions were reported to be predominantly involved in the inheritance of the studied agronomic traits in faba bean.
The detected genetic diversity within the evaluated faba bean genotypes and their developed crosses exhibits substantial potential for improving faba bean productivity under Orobanche-infested conditions. The parental genotypes, Line1, Line2, Line3, Line5, and Line7, were identified as effective and promising combiners. Moreover, the developed crosses Line2×Sakha3, Line3×Nubaria5, Line7×Nubaria5, Line6×Nubaria1, Line5×Sakha3, Line1×Sakha3, and Line1×Nubaria5 could be considered valuable candidates for developing high-yielding and tolerant faba bean genotypes to Orobanche.
Nano-silicon application is an efficient novel approach to mitigate the deleterious impacts of drought stress on field crops, which is expected to increase owing to climate change, especially in arid ...regions. Two-season field studies investigated the influence of foliar-applied nano-silicon (0.5, 1, and 1.5 mM) on physiological and biochemical attributes and their impacts on crop water productivity (CWP) and the agronomic traits of faba beans (
Vicia faba
). The plants were evaluated under two irrigation regimes: well-watered (100% ETc giving 406 mm ha
−1
) and drought stress (65% ETc giving 264 mm ha
−1
). It was found that drought stress significantly decreased gas exchange (leaf net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and rate of transpiration), water relations (relative water content and membrane stability index), nutrient uptake (N, P, K
+
, and Ca
+2
), flavonoids, and phenolic content. In contrast, drought stress significantly increased oxidative stress (H
2
O
2
and
O
2
·
-
) and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities compared with the well-watered treatment. These influences of drought stress were negatively reflected in seed yield-related traits and CWP. However, foliar treatment with nano-silicon, particularly with 1.5 mM, limited the devastating impact of drought stress and markedly enhanced all the aforementioned parameters. Therefore, exogenously applied nano-silicon could be used to improve the CWP and seed and biological yields of faba bean plants under conditions with low water availability in arid environments.
A 30-year-old female presented to the rheumatology outpatient clinic of the Internal Medicine Department, Ain Shams University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt, complaining of a large right leg ulcer ...consistent with pyoderma gangrenosum. There was history of recurrent attacks of bleeding per rectum of one-year duration. During hospitalization she noticed blurring of vision in the left eye with diffuse blackish discoloration of the feet and toes, consistent with small-vessel vasculitis. Colonoscopy with biopsy and histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease-ulcerative colitis (IBD-UC). Meanwhile, the patient fulfilled the SLICC classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): recurrent oral ulcers, positive antinuclear antibody testing, proteinuria >0.5 gm/24-hour urine, positive test for lupus anticoagulant and consumed C3 complement component. Herein we report a rare case of coexistence of SLE and IBD-UC.
Water deficit is a pivotal abiotic stress that detrimentally constrains rice growth and production. Thereupon, the development of high-yielding and drought-tolerant rice genotypes is imperative in ...order to sustain rice production and ensure global food security. The present study aimed to evaluate diverse exotic and local parental rice genotypes and their corresponding cross combinations under water-deficit versus well-watered conditions, determining general and specific combining ability effects, heterosis, and the gene action controlling important traits through half-diallel analysis. In addition, the research aimed to assess parental genetic distance (GD) employing simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, and to determine its association with hybrid performance, heterosis, and specific combining ability (SCA) effects. Six diverse rice genotypes (exotic and local) and their 15 F
hybrids were assessed for two years under water-deficit and well-watered conditions. The results revealed that water-deficit stress substantially declined days to heading, plant height, chlorophyll content, relative water content, grain yield, and yield attributes. Contrarily, leaf rolling and the sterility percentage were considerably increased compared to well-watered conditions. Genotypes differed significantly for all the studied characteristics under water-deficit and well-watered conditions. Both additive and non-additive gene actions were involved in governing the inheritance of all the studied traits; however, additive gene action was predominant for most traits. The parental genotypes P
and P
were identified as excellent combiners for earliness and the breeding of short stature genotypes. Moreover, P
, P
, and P
were identified as excellent combiners to increase grain yield and its attributes under water-deficit conditions. The hybrid combinations; P
× P
, P
× P
, P
× P
, and P
× P
were found to be good specific combiners for grain yield and its contributed traits under water-deficit conditions. The parental genetic distance (GD) ranged from 0.38 to 0.89, with an average of 0.70. It showed lower association with hybrid performance, heterosis, and combining ability effects for all the studied traits. Nevertheless, SCA revealed a significant association with hybrid performance and heterosis, which suggests that SCA is a good predictor for hybrid performance and heterosis under water-deficit conditions. Strong positive relationships were identified between grain yield and each of relative water content, chlorophyll content, number of panicles/plant, number of filled grains/panicle, and 1000-grain weight. This suggests that these traits could be exploited as important indirect selection criteria for improving rice grain yield under water-deficit conditions.
Sesame is sensitive to waterlogging, and its growth is devastatingly impacted under excess moisture conditions. Thus, waterlogging tolerance is crucial to alleviate yield constraints, particularly ...under expected climate change. In this study, 119 diverse sesame genotypes were screened for their tolerance to 12, 24, 48, and 72 h of waterlogging relative to non-waterlogged conditions. All plants died under 72 h of waterlogging, while 13.45%, 31.93%, and 45.38% of genotypes survived at 48, 24, and 12 h, respectively. Based on the seedling parameters and waterlogging tolerance coefficients, genotypes BD-7008 and BD-6985 exhibited the highest tolerance to waterlogging, while BD-6996 and JP-01811 were the most sensitive ones. The responses of these four genotypes to waterlogged conditions were assessed at different plant growth stages—30, 40, and 50 days after sowing (DAS)—versus normal conditions. Waterlogging, particularly when it occurred within 30 DAS, destructively affected the physiological and morphological characteristics, which was reflected in the growth and yield attributes. Genotype BD-7008, followed by BD-6985, exhibited the highest chlorophyll and proline contents as well as enzymatic antioxidant activities, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT). These biochemical and physiological adjustments ameliorated the adverse effects of waterlogging, resulting in higher yields for both genotypes. Conversely, JP-01811 presented the lowest chlorophyll and proline contents as well as enzymatic antioxidant activities, resulting in the poorest growth and seed yield.
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