Journal of Ornamental Plants - Webswebzoom.freewebs.com/jornamental/vol4(2)/JOPJune2014-FINAL-PRIN… · Off-Season Flower Induction of ‘Praying mantis ginger’ Larsenianthus careyanus

Growth of Dieffenbachia amoena ‘Tropic Snow’ in Growing Media Containing Sugarcane

Bagasse and Sawdust Vermicompost.....................................................................................61-67

Ali Mahboub Khomami and Mohammadoov Goshgar Moharam

Off-Season Flower Induction of ‘Praying mantis ginger’ Larsenianthus careyanus (Benth.)

W. J. Kress & Mood (Zingiberaceae) through Low Temperature and Night Break..........69-73

K. M. Prabhu Kumar, V. P. Thomas, M. Sabu and K. V. Mohanan

Propagation of Ficus benjamina var. Starlight by Stenting Technique under Different

Concentrations of IBA in Various Times of Taking Cutting...............................................75-79

Hamed Babaie, Hossein Zarei and Khodayar Hemmati

Effect of Various Vermicompost-Tea Concentrations on Life Table Parameters of Macrosiphumrosae L. (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on Rose (Rosa hybrida L.) Flower....................................81-92

Saeid Modarres Najafabadi

Cadmium Toxicity: The Investigation of Cd Toxic Level in Different Organs of Cherry

Tomato Plant and the Effect of Cd Accumulation.............................................................93-100

Shahrzad Salehi Eskandari

The Effect of Different Concentrations of Plant Growth Regulators on Micropropagation of

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cv. White.....................................................................................101-106

Behzad Kaviani, Davood Hashemabadi and Mohaddeseh Kordi

Effect of Cycocel and Daminozide on Vegetative Growth, Flowering and the Content of

Essence of Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis)...............................................................107-114

Shahram Shoa Kazemi, Davood Hashemabadi, Ali Mohammadi Torkashvand and Behzad Kaviani

The Effect of Natural Essential Oil Carvacrol and Some Growth Regulators on Vase Life of

Cut Flowers of Alstroemeria cv. Bridal..............................................................................115-122

Azam Isapareh, Abdollah Hatamzadeh and Mahmood Ghasemnezhad

Volume 4, Number 2

June 2014

Journal of Ornamental Plants


It is approved publication of Journal of Ornamental Plants (based on approbation of 61st session

of "Survey and Confirmation Commission for Scientific Journals" at Islamic Azad University dated

on 01/25/2010.

Publisher: Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran.

Executive Director: Dr. Ali Mohammadi Torkashvand

Editor-in-Chief: Professor Roohangiz Naderi

Executive Manager: Dr. Shahram Sedaghat Hoor

Editorial Board:

Professor Ramin, A., Isfahan University of Technology, Iran

Professor Abdollah Hatamzadeh, University of Guilan, Iran

Professor Honarnejad, R., Islamic Azad University-Varamin Branch, Iran

Associate Professor Shahram Sedaghathoor, Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch, Iran

Dr. Davood Hashemabadi, Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch, Iran

Associate Professor Moazzam Hassanpour Asil, University of Guilan, Iran

Assistant Professor Behzad Kaviani, Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch, Iran

Professor Nagar, P.K., Institute of Himalayan Bio-Resource Technology, India

Professor Salah El Deen, M.M., Al Azhr University, Egypt

Assistant Editor: Zahra Bagheramiri

Abstracting/Indexing

SID, Index Copernicous, Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC), Open-J-Gate, Magiran,

EBSCO, Directory of Research Journals Indexing (DRJI), Agricola and Journal Seek, DOAJ.

Journal of Ornamental Plants is an international journal devoted to the publication of original papers

and reviews in the Ornamental plants, Floriculture and Landscape. Articles in the journal deal with

Floriculture and Landscape. The scope JOP includes all Ornamental plants, Floriculture and Landscape.

All articles published in JOP are peer-reviewed. The journal is concerned with Ornamental plants, Flori-

culture, Landscape and covers all aspects of physiology, molecular biology, biotechnology, protected

cultivation and environmental areas of plants.

Publication schedule: The journal publishes: Article on original research in Ornamental plants,

Floriculture, Landscape and related fields that contain new information for solving Ornamental

plants, Floriculture and Landscape problems of world.

Submission of article: Typescripts should be submitted in Journal of Ornamental Plants (IAU-Rasht

Branch, Rasht, Iran) by email: [email protected]. Authors are urged to refer to “Instruction to

Authors” (published in all issues before submission of their typescripts).

Address: Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran.

Telfax: 0131- 4224069, email: [email protected]

Web Site: www. jornamental.com

Growth of Dieffenbachia amoena ‘Tropic Snow’ in Growing Media Containing Sugarcane Bagasse

and Sawdust Vermicompost........................................................................................................61-67

Ali Mahboub Khomami and Mohammadoov Goshgar Moharam

Off-Season Flower Induction of ‘Praying mantis ginger’ Larsenianthus careyanus (Benth.) W. J.

Kress & Mood (Zingiberaceae) through Low Temperature and Night Break..............................69-73

K. M. Prabhu Kumar, V. P. Thomas, M. Sabu and K. V. Mohanan

Propagation of Ficus benjamina var. Starlight by Stenting Technique under Different Concentrations

of IBA in Various Times of Taking Cutting.................................................................................75-79

Hamed Babaie, Hossein Zarei and Khodayar Hemmati

Effect of Various Vermicompost-Tea Concentrations on Life Table Parameters of Macrosiphum rosae L.

(Hemiptera: Aphididae) on Rose (Rosa hybrida L.) Flower..........................................................81-92


Cadmium Toxicity: The Investigation of Cd Toxic Level in Different Organs of Cherry Tomato

Plant and the Effect of Cd Accumulation................................................................................93-100


The Effect of Different Concentrations of Plant Growth Regulators on Micropropagation of Kalanchoeblossfeldiana cv. White.............................................................................................................101-106

Behzad Kaviani, Davood Hashemabadi and Mohaddeseh Kordi

Effect of Cycocel and Daminozide on Vegetative Growth, Flowering and the Content of Essence of

Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis).....................................................................................107-114

Shahram Shoa Kazemi, Davood Hashemabadi, Ali Mohammadi Torkashvand and Behzad Kaviani

The Effect of Natural Essential Oil Carvacrol and Some Growth Regulators on Vase Life of Cut

Flowers of Alstroemeria cv. Bridal..........................................................................................115-122

Azam Isapareh, Abdollah Hatamzadeh and Mahmood Ghasemnezhad

Content Page

www.jornamental.com

Journal of Ornamental Plants, Volume 4, Number 2: 61-67, June, 2014 61

Growth of Dieffenbachia amoena ‘Tropic Snow’ in

Growing Media Containing Sugarcane Bagasse and

Sawdust Vermicompost

Vermicompost produced from sugarcane bagasse (SBV) or sawdust

(S) were substituted at a range of different concentration in soilless bedding

plant container medium, as a peat: vermiculite: perlite (6:3:1), to evaluate

their effects on the growth of Dieffenbachia amoena in the greenhouse. Dief-fenbachia amoena was grown in container medium PE: VE: P (6:3:1), in that

peat substituted with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% (by volume)

SBV. The control consisted of PE: VE: P (6:3:1) alone without SBV or SV.

Plants were frequently treated with a nutrient solution for seven months. The

greatest growth of Dieffenbachia amoena plant resulted from substitution of

60% SBV or SV instead of peat in PE: VE: P (6:3:1) potting mixtures. We

concluded that vermicompost of sugarcane bagasse or sawdust was high

quality substitutes for peat.

Keywords: Cow manure, Eisenia foetida, Physicochemical characteristics.

Ali Mahboub Khomami 1* and Mohammadoov Goshgar Moharam2

1 Ornamental Plants and Flowers Research Station of Lahijan, Agricultural Research, Education and

Extension Organization, Iran.2 Soil Science and Agrochemestry Institute, Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Baku, Azerbaijan.

*Corresponding author,s email: [email protected]

Abstract

Journal of Ornamental Plants, Volume 4, Number 2: 61-67, June, 201462

INTRODUCTION

Utilization of earthworms to break down organic wastes is gaining increasing popularity

in different parts of the world (Edwards, 1998). During ingestion, the earthworms fragment the

waste substrate, accelerate the rates of decomposition of the organic matter, alter the physical and

chemical properties of the material, leading to an effect similar to composting in which the unstable

organic matter is oxidized and stabilized aerobically (Atiyeh et al., 2000b). The end product, termed

vermicompost, which is obtained as a result of such transformation, is very different from the orig-

inal waste material, mainly because of the increased decomposition and mummification. Vermi-

compost is finely peat-like materials with high porosity, aeration, drainage, water holding capacity

and microbial activity, which make them excellent soil amendments or conditioners (Edwards and

Burrows, 1988; Atiyeh et al., 1999).

They contain the most nutrients in Plant available forms such as nitrate, phosphates, and

exchangeable calcium and soluble potassium (Edwards, 1998). Vermicompost is rich in microbial

population and diversity. Partially fungi, bacteria and actinomycetes (Tomati et al., 1987). Atiyeh

(2000a) have shown in his laboratory that vermicompost consistently promote biological activity

which can cause plants to germinate, flower, grow and yield better than in commercial container

media, independent of nutrient availability. Vermicompost also contains large amounts of humic

substances (Tomati et al., 1987) and some of the effects of these substances on plant growth have

been shown to very similar to the effects of soil applied plant growth regulators or hormones (Mus-

colo et al., 1999). The disposal of large quantities of agro-based industrial waste causes, energy,

economic, and environmental problems. However, since these wastes have a high content of or-

ganic matter and mineral elements, they can potentially be used to restore soil fertility. Composting

is useful for waste recycling and produces a chemically stable material that can be used as a source

of nutrients and for improving soil structure (Castaldi et al. 2005). During composting, most of

the biodegradable organic compounds are broken down and a portion of the remaining organic

material is converted into humus-like substances, with production of a chemically stabilized com-

posted material. The agricultural application of partially decomposed or unstable compost causes

nitrogen immobilization and decreases the oxygen concentration around root systems due to the

rapid activation of microbes. In addition, chemically unstable compost is phytotoxic due to the

production of ammonia, ethylene oxide, and organic acids (Mathur et al. 1993; Tam and Tiquia

1994). Therefore, evaluation of compost stability prior to its use is essential for the recycling of

organic waste in agricultural soils. Compost quality lies at the core of the issue of composting and

biological treatment in general, as it defines the marketing potential and the outlets of the product

and in most cases, the viability of the treatment plant, but also the long-term acceptability of bio-

logical treatment as a valuable option in the waste hierarchy (Lasaridi, 1998). Germination tests

with sugarcane bagasse vermicompost extract and direct vermicompost seed tests were performed

to evaluate any phytotoxicity that the vermicompost could cause. Biological properties of vermi-

compost can be measured in many ways, and each one addresses a different characteristic that

makes compost either safe or unsafe for plants. The first test was performed to calculate germina-

tion index, and the second test was performed to compare germination results over time between

the vermicompost extract and deionized water. The first test for calculating the germination index

was a compost extract modified biological maturity test by Zucconi et al. (1981). The methodology

for this procedure is based on seed inhibition caused by toxic environmental conditions usually

associated with immature compost. It yields percent germination, which is an average of the seeds

germinated in the sample divided by the average of the seeds germinated in the control. It also

gives the percent root length in the same way. When these two numbers are multiplied together, it

gives the “Germination Index”. The idea of this germination index is to obtain a parameter that

can account for both low toxicity, which affects root growth, and heavy toxicity, which affects ger-

mination (Zucconi et al., 1981). Various types of seeds have been occasionally used in compost


phytotoxicity studies, with cress (Lepidium sativum) seemingly being the most common. A range

of GIs, with the use of cress, between 30% and 120% was reported in a study that evaluated 28

composts in the Greek market (Lasaridi et al., 2006). The above study mentioned that GI values

above 80% indicate maturity. Another study used a GI of 50% as a threshold compost maturity

index (Bernal et al., 1998). However, no justification was given for the use of the above threshold

values. The objective of this study in this paper was an evaluation of sugarcane bagasse vermi-

compost Properties for Use as Potting Media to assess the growth of Dieffenbachia amoena 'Tropic

Snow' plants, grown for 7 months in a potting medium PE: VE: P (6:3:1), in that peat substituted

with different concentration of SBV under greenhouse conditions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The experiment was carried out in fiberglass covered green house in factorial experiment

with randomized block design, with two types of vermicompost (a1 - vermicompost of sawdust, a2

- vermicompost of sugarcane bagasse), seven levels of vermicompost (b1- 0%vermicompost, b2-

10% vermicompost, b3-20% vermicompost, b4- 30% vermicompost, b5- 40% vermicompost, B6-

50%vermicompost, and B7-60% vermicompost) in four replications and three plants in any treat-

ment for a total of 336 plants. A common lightweight potting mix that contained peat (PE), ver-

miculite (VE) and perlite (P) was used, and vermicompost was substituted for peat. Some of initial

chemical characteristics of PE, SV and SBV medium presented in Table 1. The substitution was

made from 0 to 60% by volume percentages to determine, whether sawdust vermicompost (SV)

or sugar cane bagasse vermicompost (SBV) be a good container mix. The vermicompost were

screened with a 1 cm screen to have a uniform product.Kekkila peat was used for the treatments.

The following treatments were mixed by volume in the growth media mix (Table 2).

Waste N (%) P (%) K (%) OC (%) C:N ratio pH (1:5) EC (dS/m)

PE

SV

SBV

1.27

1.47

1.91

0.02

0.40

0.56

0.03

1.15

0.86

51.10

24.02

23.24

40.34

16.42

12.16

3.83

7.20

8.47

0.30

4.11

4.11

SBV: sugarcane bagasse vermicompost; PE: peat; V; vermicompost.

Table 1. Initial chemical characteristics of PE, SV and SBV.

Treatment number %Vermicompost Growth media mix

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

0 % SV

10 % SV

20 % SV

30 % SV

40 % SV

50 % SV

60 % SV

0 % SBV

10 % SBV

20 % SBV

30 % SBV

40 % SBV

50 % SBV

60 % SBV

60 % PE + 0%SV+30% VE + 10% P

50 % PE + 10%SV+30% VE + 10% P

40 % PE + 20%SV+30% VE + 10% P

30 % PE + 30%SV+30% VE + 10% P

20 % PE + 40%SV+30% VE + 10% P

10 % PE + 50%SV+30% VE + 10% P

0 % PE + 60%SV+30% VE +10% P

60 % PE + 0% SBV +30% VE + 10% P

50 % PE + 10% SBV +30% VE + 10% P

40 % PE + 20% SBV +30% VE + 10% P

30 % PE + 30% SBV +30% VE + 10% P

20 % PE + 40% SBV +30% VE + 10% P

10 % PE + 50% SBV +30% VE + 10% P

0 % PE + 60%SBV +30% VE + 10% P

SV: sawdust vermicompost, SBV: sugarcane bagasse vermicompost, VE: vermiculite, PE: peat, P: perlite

Table 2. Mixed volume of growth media.


Any rooted Dieffenbachia amonea cuttings were transplanted to 4 liter (about 10 cm diam-

eter) plastic pots containing the potting mixes described above. Any 10 day 200 cm3 solutions con-

sist of 130 mg/l N; 32 mg/l P and 117 mg/l K (as a KH2PO4, KNO3, Ca (NO3) 2) were used for any

pot (Chen and Griffiths, 1988), and irrigation was applied as needed. At the end of experiment

plants were cut from surface of the pot and oven-dried at 75 °C for 2 days to determine their dry

weight. The variables measured at the end of the experiment were: height, plant height, plant di-

ameter and leaves, root and shoot fresh and dry weight. The phytotoxicity test to assess vermi-

compost maturity was based on the method of (Zucconi et al., 1981), with some modifications.

One hundred grams of Every one of the dried vermicompost samples (oven dried for 72 h at 60°C)

and 1 L of distilled water were mixed and shaken for 12 h at high speed (250 rpm) at 4 ± 1°C;

then, centrifuged for 10 min at 4000 rpm. The extract was filtered through a Whatman filter paper.

Cotton wool was placed inside 20 sterilized glass petri dishes (15mm) and wetted with 10 ml of

either vermicompost water extract or distilled water (control) in a covered 9 cm glass petri dish.

Then, twenty Zea mays seeds were placed in the petri dishes, covered with petri dish lids and in-

cubated for 5 days, at 25°C under completely dark conditions. The results were expressed as the

percentage of seed germination with compost water extract considering the number with distilled

water equal to 100%. The experimental design was a completely randomized design and the treat-

ment was repeated four times.

The average number of germinated seeds in each petri dish treated with vermicompost ex-

tract (G) was counted and the percent germination (PG) calculated according to the formula:

PG=G/G0×100

Where G0 is the average number of germinated seeds in the deionize water.

The average root length of germinated seeds in each petri dish treated with vermicompost

extract (L) was counted and the root length (RL) calculated according to the formula:

RL=L/L0×100

Where L0 is the average root length of germinated seeds in the deionize water.

Germination Index =((PG × RL ))/100

The means of each parameter measured was analyzed statically by SAS, and then separated

Table 3. SV and SBV extract germination test.

Replication

Germination(%) Root length (cm) Germination(%) Root length (cm)

SV

extract

16.75

Deionize

water

18.25

SV

extract

61.27

Deionize

water

74.75

SBV

extract

19

Deionize

water

18.25

SBV

extract

60.45

Deionize

water

74.75

% Germination and

Root length (cm)

Germination index

91.7

75.56

82.4 104.1

84.17

80.86

S.O.V dfM.S.

Seed germination

Treatment

Error

Total

C.V.%

2

9

11

-

4.33ns

4.028

-

11.20

ns,*, **: respectively Non significant and significant at 5% and%1

Table 4. Analysis variance of seed germination


statistically using Tukey's multiple range tests.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In the SV and SBV extracts test the germination index was calculated respectable at 74.56

and 84.17 % (Table 3). It has been suggested that a germination index of ≥ 60% indicates the dis-

appearance of phytotoxicity in composts (Zucconi et al., 1985). A germination index of 40% or

less would denote phytotoxic potential (Lemus, 1998). The SV and SBV extracts germination tests

versus deionized water means separation analysis showed that (Table 4) the means from seeds ger-

minated in deionized water and the means from seeds germinated in SV or SBV extracts were not

significantly different. Biological tests did not show that the SV and SBV extracts would cause

any potential damage to plants.

Various types of seeds have been occasionally used in compost phytotoxicity studies, with

cress (Lepidium sativum) seemingly being the most common. A range of germination index between

30% and 120% was reported with the use of cress in a study that evaluated 28 composts in the

(Lasaridi et al., 2006). The above study mentioned that the germination index above 80% indicate

maturity. Another study used a germination index of 50% as a threshold compost maturity index

(Bernal et al., 1998). However, no justification was given for the use of the above threshold values.

In accordance with the results analysis variance of growth variables reported in Table 5,

effect of vermicompost kind were not significant. According to analysis variance results (Table 5)

and mean comparison of vermicompost rates on growth variables (Table 6), plants grown in pots

containing 60% SV or SBV were higher height (16.2 cm), diameter (9.6 mm), shoot fresh weight

(153.6 g), shoot dry weight (33.06 g), leaf fresh weight (203.7 g) and leaf dry weight (38.40 g)

S.O.V df

M.S.

Height Diameter Shoot fresh

weight

Shoot dry

weight

Leaf fresh

weight

Leaf dry

weight

V K

V L

V K*V L

Error

Total

C.V.%

1

6

6

42

55

-

1.358 ns

193.298 **

2.605 ns

4.898

-

26.72

0.939 ns

13.643 **

0.593 ns

5.755

-

30.29

1589.83 ns

11075.96 **

73.92 ns

457.90

-

19.76

17.09 ns

333.818 **

16.42 ns

246.06

-

8.03

1829.14 ns

15897.01 **

290.94 ns

366.02

-

12.32

12.333ns

129.640 **

2.027ns

7.627

-

8.21

ns,*, **:respectively Non Significant and Significant at 5% and%1, VK-Vermicompost Kind, VL- Vermicompost Level

Table 5. Analysis variance of growth variables.

Treatment Height (cm) Diameter (mm)Shoot fresh

weight(g)

Shoot dry

weight (g)

Leaf fresh

weight (g)

Leaf dry

weight (g)

Control

10%Vermicompost

20%Vermicompost

30%Vermicompost

40%Vermicompost

50%Vermicompost

60%Vermicompost

2.2 c

3.7 de

6.1 cd

7.7 c

9.2 bc

12.6 b

16.2a

5.8b

6.8ab

7.6ab

7.7ab

8.4ab

9.1ab

9.6a

51.84e

70.83de

95.31cd

119.6bc

126.1ac

140.7ab

153.6a

25.88b

27.42b

29.51ab

31.50a

31.62a

31.92a

33.06a

76.67e

116.5d

153.9c

168.5bc

177.9ac

189.9ab

203.7a

27.00d

30.04cd

32.41bc

35.48ab

35.89ab

36.37ab

38.40a

SBV: sugarcane bagasse vermicompost; PE: peat; V; vermicompost.

Table 6. Mean comparison of vermicompost rates on growth variables.


than (p = 0.05) control treatments. Atiyh et al. (2002) reported significantly increased growth of

marigold seedlings after substitution of 30% and 40% pig manure vermicompost in Metro- Mix

360. Results show that vermicomposting of sugarcane bagasse or sawdust provides an inexpensive,

high quality peat like substitute for Dieffenbachia amonea production, as well as solutions for en-

vironmental problems of waste disposal.

Literature Cited

Atiyeh, R.M., Arancon, N., Edwards, C.A. and Metzger, J.D. 2000a. Influence of earthworm-processed

pig manure on the growth and yield of greenhouse tomatoes. Bioresource Technology. 75:

175-180.

Atiyeh, R.M., Arancon, N.Q., Edwards, C.A. and Metzger, J.D. 2002.The influence of earthworm-processed

pig manure on the growth and productivity of marigolds. Bioresource Technology. 81:103-108.

Atiyeh, R.M., Subler, S., Edwards, C.A., Bachman, G., Metzger, J.D. and Shuster, W. 2000b. Effects

of vermicomposts and composts on plant growth in horticultural container media and soil.

Atiyeh, R.M., Subler, S., Edwards, C.A. and Metzger, J.D. 1999. Growth of tomato plants in horticulture

potting media amended with vermicompost. Pedobiologia 43, 1-5.

Pedobiologia 44, 579-590.

Bernal, M.P., Paredes, C., Sanchez-Monedero, M.A. and Cegarra, J. 1998. Maturity and stability

parameters of composts prepared with a wide range of organic wastes. Bioresource Technology

63:91–99.

Castaldi, P., Alberti, G., Merella, R. and Melis, P. 2005. Study of the organic matter evolution during

municipal solid waste composting aimed at identifying suitable parameters for the evaluation

of compost maturity. Waste Management 25:209–213.

Chen, Y., Inbar, Y. and Hadar, Y. 1988. Composted agricultural wastes as potting media for ornamental

plants. Soil Science 145: 298-303.

Edwards, C.A. 1998. The use of earthworms in the breakdown and management of organic wastes.

In: Edwards, C.A. (Ed.), Earthworm Ecology. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 327-354.

Edwards, C.A. and Burroes I. 1988. The potential of earthworm composts as plant growth media.

In: Edwards, C.A., Neuhauser, E. (Eds.), Earthworm in Waste and Environmental Management.

SPB Academic Press, The Hague, Netherlands, pp. 21-32.

Lasaridi, K., Loanna, P., Kotsou, M., Georg, P. and Thakis, M. 2006. Quality assessment of compost

in the Greek market: the need for standards and quality assurance. Journal of Environmental

Management. 80: 58-65.

Lasaridi, K.E., Stentiford, E.I. 1998. A simple respirometric technique for assessing compost stability.

Water Research 32, 3717–3723.

Lee, Y.S. and Bartlett, R.J. 1976. Stimulation of plant growth by humic substances. Soil Science

Society of America Journal. 40:876-879.

Lemus, G.R. 1998. Evaluation of dairy manure composts maturity. M.S. Thesis.

Mathur, S.P., Owen, G., Dinel, H. and Schnitzer, M. 1993. Determination of compost biomaturity.

I. Literature review. Biological Agriculture & Horticulture, 10: 65–85.

Muscolo, A., Bovalo, F., Gionfriddo, F. and Nardi, S. 1999.Earthworm humic matter produces

auxin-like effects on Daucus carota cell growth and nitrate metabolism. Soil Biology and

Biochemistry 31:1303-1311.

SAS, 2001. SAS Procedures Guide, Version 8, SAS Institute, Cary.

Tam, N.F.Y., and Tiquia, S.M. 1994. Assessing toxicity of spent pig litter using a seed germination

technique. Resources, Conservation and Recycling,11:261–274.

Tomati, U., Grappelli, A. and Galli, E. 1987. The presence of growth regulators in earthworm-worked

wastes. In: Bonvicini Paglioi, AM., Omodeo, P. (Eds.), On Earthworms. Proceedings of International

Symposium on Earthworms. Selected Symposia and Monographs, Unione Zoological Italiana,


2, Mucchi, Modena, pp. 423-435.

Zucconi, F. and Forte, M. 1981. Evaluating toxicity of immature compost. BioCycle 22 (2): 54-57.

Zucconi, F., Monaco, A., Forte, M. and de Bertoldi, M. 1985. Phytotoxins during the stabilization

of organic matter. In: Composting of Agricultural and Other Wastes, Grasser, J.K.R. (Ed.).

Elsevier, London, UK., Pp: 73-86.

www.jornamental.com


Off-Season Flower Induction of ‘Praying mantis ginger’

Larsenianthus careyanus (Benth.) W.J. Kress & Mood

(Zingiberaceae) through Low Temperature and Night Break

The experiment was carried out to study the impact of chilling and

night break on the flowering of ornamental plants in their off-season period.

Larsenianthus careyanus (Benth.) W.J. Kress & Mood is a wild potential or-

namental ginger naturally growing in the evergreen forest of North Eastern

states of India was selected for the current study. The rhizomes were collected

and stored at 15°C for 8 months during March to October. The sprouted

rhizomes after chilling treatment were planted at regular interval and sprouted

plants were transferred to greenhouse with controlled light during night hours

using incandescent lamp to extend flower production from December to

March. Off-season flowering was observed during January to March. A

detailed morphological analysis of 23 attributes of plants under study was

recorded.

Keywords: Hitchenia careyana, Larsenianthus careyanus, Night break, off-season flowering,

Zingiberaceae.

K. M. Prabhu Kumar1,2, V. P. Thomas1,3, M. Sabu1* and K. V. Mohanan1 Department of Botany, University of Calicut, Kerala – 673635, India2 Centre for Medicinal Plants Research, Arya Vaidya Sala, Kottakkal – 676 503, Kerala, India3 Department of Botany, Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, Pin- 689645


Abstract


INTRODUCTION

Ornamental horticulture has become one of the important commercial trade areas in

India due to steady increase in demand of cut flowers and landscape plants. Floriculture prod-

ucts include cut flowers, landscape, hedge and potted plants, cut foliage, seeds, bulbs, etc. The

various sizes, flower colors and postproduction longevity (up to 4 weeks or longer) are adding

needed diversity to the greenhouse industry (Kuehny, 2001). The family Zingiberaceae consists

of about 53 genera and more than 1200 species (Kress et al., 2002). Among this, more than

250 gingers are widely used as ornamental in other parts of the world viz. United States, Europe

and SE Asia. Gingers have become a prominent component of ornamental horticulture in many

countries such as Europe and SE Asia (Sabu et al., 2013). India is blessed with the rich diversity

of gingers with about 200 species, though we have a good number of potential ornamental

species in the wild, hardly 25 species are used in our gardens, of which majority are exotics

(Sabu, 2006).

The climate and soil of our country is suitable for the cultivation of these plants, Indian

horticultural field has to exploit its ornamental value. Now the gingers are slowly becoming popular

in the gardens in India. The main problem in their cultivation is most of them are dormant and

lose their leaves in winter and summer. It reduces the scope among floriculturists about the orna-

mental aspects of them (Prabhu et al., 2013). If we can produce the plants throughout the year then

it will become a great achievement in the floriculture field. With this objective, one wild and threat-

ened (Kress et al., 2010) potential ornamental ginger, Larsenianthus careyanus has been selected

for the present study.

L. careyanus (‘Praying mantis ginger’) is an under exploited wild ginger having good po-

tential as a cut flower and an ornamental plant (Prabhu et al., 2011). The plant was first described

by Benthum as Hitchenia careyana and recently it was transferred to Larsenianthus careyanus(Kress et al., 2010). The plant grows in the evergreen forests of North-East India especially in

Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and neighbouring country Bangladesh (Jain and

Prakash, 1995; Kress et al., 2010).

The plant is a rhizomatous perennial herb, almost reaching a height of 2-3 m and is

growing at an altitude ranging from 150-1000 m above MSL. It produces a number of tillers

from the rhizome and forms a clump within a year. Leaves are large, sub sessile with shining,

glossy upper side. The spikes are produced at the tip of the aerial stem. The size of the spike

varies from 12-25 cm with many recurved bracts arranged spirally on a stalk. The bracts are

green with white margins and fused to form a pouch with 3-7 flowers in each bract. The flowers

open from the base to top with 2-6 in a day, which will continue for 5-10 days. It is a tropical

plant well thriving in humus rich organic soil and full sun to partial shade. It performs well in

drained moist organic soil. Plants flower during July to January and set seeds. Flowers are pale

lilac in colour, with the shape of the insect ‘praying mantis’, so termed as ‘praying mantis gin-

ger’ (Nissar et al., 2008). The inflorescence shows a good vase life of 5-10 days hence they

can be keep for many days on an oasis. The plant can be grown in pots or as hedge plant in

gardens. It is a good foundation planting especially in front of blank walls and near garden

ponds. The bulbils are found produced from the base of the inflorescence after completion of

flowering. The propagation methods of this plant include suckers, bulbils and stem cuttings

(Sabu et al., 2011).


The rhizomes of praying mantis ginger was collected from North-East India and domes-

ticated in Calicut University Botanical Garden (CUBG), Kerala, India. All experiments were

carried out in the CUBG. The experiment was started from in the beginning of autumn season.

The rhizomes with root tubers were treated with Copper oxy chloride (COC) for 30 min. to


eliminate fungal contamination and were dried under shade (Prabhu et al., 2013). The COC

treated rhizomes were stored at 15 °C, for 6-9 months from March-November. Observations

were made at regular intervals to assess the condition of the rhizomes. The rhizomes were

started sprouting August onwards. The sprouted rhizomes after chilling were planted at regular

intervals with a gap of one month i.e., September, October and November. The rhizomes were

planted in 8″ earthen pots using potting mixture containing soil, sand and cow dung in 1:1:1

proportion. After sprouting each set were transferred to an experimental setup chamber in the

greenhouse.

The night break treatments were carried out in the greenhouse by exposing the plants to 2

hours additional illumination during 20 - 22 Hrs. using 100 Watt incandescent bulb controlled by

an electronic timer. There were four treatments: T1 - night break supplied from sprouting of the

first shoot until the floral spike emerged; T2 - the experiment continued until the first floret opened;

T3 - plants without night break., T4 - the control plants without chilling and night break. For each

treatment, 4 rhizomes were taken. All data regarding the morphological analysis of 23 attributes

of plants under study were observed and recorded.


An induced off-season flowering was obtained in praying mantis ginger through low tem-

perature and night break (Fig. 1). There was an extension of flower production from December to

March, when normal plants remain dormant under soil. Four sets of tests were carried out for the

current study. The first two experiments, T1

and T2 did not show any significant variation

in the growth performance, floral characters

and flowering. No flower initiation was ob-

served in T3 and growth pattern was similar

to that of T1 and T2. The control T4 did not

germinate and T1 and T2 showed better rate

of growth and performance than T3 (Table 1).

The induction of flowering of a plant

can be achieved by adjusting the factors affect-

ing flowering behavior, viz. photoperiod and

temperature. Interruption of dark period by

light, called night break, can lead to floral pro-

motion in Long Day plants (Thomas and

Vince-Prue, 1997). Plant absorbs red and blue

lights and used in controlling photosynthesis,

leaf development and flowering. Incandescent

light can supplement natural day light and give

a large amount of red light and infra red light

(Barkley, 2005). Thomas et al. (2010) success-

fully induced off-season flowering in three or-

namental gingers viz. Curcuma inodora, C.aurantiaca and Zingiber zerumbet and Ruam-

rungsri et al. (2007) in Curcuma alismatifolia

Gagnep. through chilling treatment and night

break. Recently Prabhu et al. (2013) also in-

duced off-season flowering in one rare and en-

demic ornamental ginger Boesenbergiasiphonantha through the same method.

Fig.1. Larsenianthus careyanus (Benth).

W.J.Kress & Mood. A. Vegetative phase of expri-

mental plants; B. Inflorescence; C. Off-season

flowering of plant (In sight-close up of flower).


CONCLUSION

Night break experiments gave 100% flowering in praying mantis ginger. The beautiful pur-

ple coloured flowers and shining broad leaves throughout the year through night break is a great

achievement and benefit to horticulturists and farmers to meet the requirements of customers. By

this method, we can produce highly important seasonal ornamental plants in off-season period and

increase our country to the top position in horticulture field. Comparatively the experiment is less

expensive than any other treatments. From the present studies and previous literatures it is clear

that L. careyanus is a suitable ornamental plant to the tropics as a hedge as well as cut flower plant,

they are easy to propagate, cultivate and are relatively disease and pest free.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, New Delhi for

the financial assistance to the research project on “Potential Ornamental Gingers: Domestication,

Improvement and Development of Agrotechniques” (BT/PR/5275/PBD/16/917/2011 dt.

15.03.2012). We express our thanks to Mr. Prasanth A.V. for his help during the study.

Literature Cited

Barkley, S. 2005. House Plants: Artificial Light at- http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/department/

eptdocs.nsf/all/webdoc1374.

Jain, S.K., Prakash, V. 1995. Zingiberaceae in India: Phytogeography and Endemism. Rheedea, 5: 154-169.

Kress, W.J., Mood, J.D., Sabu, M., Prince L.M., Dey, S., Sanoj, E. 2010. Larsenianthus, a new Asian

genus of gingers (Zingiberaceae) with four species, PhytoKeys, 1: 15-32.

Kress, W.J., Prince, L.M., Williams, K.J. 2002. The phylogeny and new classification of the gingers

(Zingiberaceae). Evidence from Molecular data. American Journal of Botany, 89 (11): 1682-1696.

Sl. No Characters (cm) Average of

T1 & T2

(Control)

T3

Without chilling

T4

After chilling

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

Standing duration of inflorescence (days)

Plant height

Leaf number

Leaf length

Leaf breadth

Length of inflorescence

Length of spike

Number of comma bracts

Number of fertile bracts

Number of flowers per inflorescence

Flower length

Length of sepal

Breadth of sepal

Length of petals

Breadth of petals

Labellum length

Labellum breadth

Staminode length

Staminode breadth

Length of stamen

Anther length

Length of epigynous glands

Length of ovary

38

37.5

8

28.5

10.6

12.8

9.2

6

28

21

5.95

1.28

0.55

1.32

0.28

1.80

0.70

0.30

0.28

2.40

0.50

0.45

0.42

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NG

NF**

36

8

25.5

9.8

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

NF

*NG – No Germination, **NF – No Flowering

Table 1: Comparison of characters: experimental plants with control plant


Kuehny, J.S. 2001. Potting ornamental ginger. Greenhouse Production News, pp. 30-32.

Nissar, M.V.A., Thomas, V.P., Sabu, M. 2008. Vegetative propagation of Hitchenia careyana Benth.

(Zingiberaceae) through stem cuttings. Indian Journal of Botanical Research, 4 (2): 325-328.

Prabhu K.K.M., Sabu, M., Thomas, V.P., Rajendran, A. 2011. Effect of sucrose, benzyl adenine

and 8-hydroxyquinoline sulphate in the promotion of cut flower vase life in Larsenianthus careyanus (Benth.) W.J. Kress & Mood (Zingiberaceae); a charming ornamental ginger

from Northeast India. In: Ramachandran VS (ed.) Taxonomy, Plant Diversity and Conservation.

Pointer Publishers Jaipur, India, pp. 227-232.

Prabhu K.K.M., Sabu, M., Thomas, V.P. 2013. Effect of temperature and light on the promotion

of off-season flowering in Island purple ginger, Boesenbergia siphonantha (Baker) M. Sabu

et al. (Zingiberaceae) – a promising ornamental ginger from Andaman Islands. Journal of

Horticulture, Forestry and Biotechnology, 17 (1): 144 - 147.

Ruamrungsri, S., Uthai-Butra, J., Wichailux, O., Apavatjrut, P. 2007. Planting date and night break

treatment affected off-season flowering in Curcuma alismatifolia gagnep. Gardens Bulletin

Singapore, 59 (1 & 2): 173-182.

Sabu, M. 2006. Zingiberaceae and Costaceae of South India. Indian Association for Angiosperm

Taxonomy. University of Calicut, Kerala.

Sabu, M., Thomas, V.P., Prabhu K.K.M. and Mohanan, K.V. 2011. Package of practices of ornamental

gingers. Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy, pp. 1-54.

Sabu, M., Prabhu K.K.M., Thomas, V.P., Mohanan, K.V. 2013. Variability studies in ‘Peacock Ginger’,

Kaempferia elegans Wall. Annals of Plant Science, 2 (5): 138-140.

Thomas, V.P., Prabhu K.K.M., Prasanth, A.V., Sabu, M., Mohanan, K.V. 2010. Induction of off-season

flowering in three species of Zingiberaceae through low temperature treatment and night

break. Indian Journal of Botanical Research, 6 (1 & 2): 129-134.

Thomas, B., Vince-Prue, D. 1997. Photoperiodism in Plants, 2nd ed. Academic Press, New York.

www.jornamental.com


Propagation of Ficus benjamina var. Starlight by Stenting

Technique under Different Concentrations of IBA in

Various Times of Taking Cutting

Ficus benjamina L. is indoor plant in temperate areas that is a tree

species belongs to Moraceae family. Propagation of this plant is down by

vegetative method. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of IBA

concentration and time of taking cutting on propagation of Ficus benjaminavia stenting technique in Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and

Natural Resources, in 2012. Treatments were consisted of auxin concentrations

in four levels (0, 2000, 4000 and 6000 mg/l) and the cutting time (late June

and early September). The experiment was performed as factorial in a

completely randomized design with four replications so that ten samples

were used at each replication. Percentage of graft success, rooting percentage,

root number, longest root length and root dry weight were evaluated. Based

on the results, largest percentage of graft success obtained in all the treatments

that the hormone was used (2000, 4000, 6000 mg/l) and lowest was achieved

in the control treatment. Highest rooting percentage and maximum of root

number were gained in 4000 mg/l and 6000 mg/l. Longest root length and

maximum of root dry weight were recorded in cuttings treated with 4000

mg/l IBA. In treatment of cutting time, all traits were the highest in early Sep-

tember. The results showed that IBA and time taking cutting had a large

impact on the success of graft and rooting.

Keywords: Auxin, Ficus benjamina L., Graft, Rooting, Stenting.

Hamed Babaie1*, Hossein Zarei2 and Khodayar Hemmati3

1Postgraduate, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and

Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran2Assistant professor Department of Horticultural Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences

and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran3Associate professor, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sci-

ences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran

*Corresponding author,s email: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract


INTRODUCTION

Ficus benjamina L. plant (weeping fig) is a tree species belongs to Moraceae family, it is

native to tropical Southeast Asia. Since it has been adapted to indoor conditions, it represents an

important component of the foliage interior landscape (Abdou et al., 2004; Veneklass et al., 2002).

This plant is propagated through vegetative method (Siddiqui and Hussain, 2007). Stenting is a

vegetative method for quick propagation of plants. Cutting and grafting is performed simultane-

ously. The scion is grafted onto a non-rooted rootstock. The formation of the union and adventitious

roots on the rootstock occurs simultaneously. Stenting is now being used worldwide by rose grow-

ers (Karimi, 2011; Nazari et al., 2009) and is also a valuable technique in propagating species of

conifers and also rhododendron, apple, plum and pear (Hartman et al., 2002). Essential role of

auxin has been demonstrated in induction of rooting and root formation. Auxin has an effect on

the speed and increasing the percentage of rooting of cuttings. Plants produce natural auxin in the

young shoots and leaves, but the synthetic auxin should be used for successful rooting to prevent

cuttings death (Stefanic et al., 2006; Kasim and Rayya, 2009). Siddiqui and Hussain (2007) studied

the effect of IBA on rooting of Ficus hawaii with various concentrations of IBA (1000, 2000, 3000,

4000 and 5000 mg/l) and showed that maximum length and number of roots per cutting, maximum

number of branches and leaves and highest sprouting percentage were obtained at a concentration

of 4000 mg/l. Time of taking cuttings plays an important role in success rooting and development

stages of cuttings. This may be related to changes in the indigenous plant growth regulators or car-

bohydrate conditions and environmental conditions in nursery (Abdou et al., 2004; Elgimabi, 2008).

Ercisli et al. (2002) in their study on kiwifruit showed that the highest rooting percentage, maxi-

mum length and number of root were in hormonal treatments of 6,000 mg/l. Also taking cuttings

in February was better rooting compared to January. Sharma and Verma (2011) studied the impact

of cutting time on the rooting response of Pinus roxburghii. In this study they collected cuttings

in four times (March, June, September, December) and then they were treated with 4000 mg/l IBA.

Results showed that June is the best time for rooting of cuttings in P. roxburghii. Considering the

positive roles of IBA and cutting time on rooting, in the present study, we investigated the effect

of different concentrations of IBA and time of taking cuttings in propagation of F. benjamina by

stenting technique.


This experiment was performed in a mist greenhouse, Gorgan University of Agricultural

Sciences and Natural Resources, in 2012. The experiment was performed as factorial in a completely

randomized design with two factors in four replications so that ten sample of cutting-grafting was

used at each replication. The first factor included different concentrations of IBA (0, 2000, 4000

and 6000 mg/l) and the second factor was the time of taking cuttings (late June and early September).

In this study, ‘F. benjamina var. starlight’ and ‘F. benjamina var. Green leaf’ were used as scion and

stock, respectively. Grafting operation was performed with “omega grafting tools”. The stock and

scion were taken from leafy shoots to be 5 to 10 cm in length and a 0.5-1 cm in diameter. Bottom

of the rootstocks were treated with IBA hormone at different concentrations and then were placed

in the medium of cocopeat and perlite in a 1:1 ratio. After 50 days, samples were removed from the

bed and the desired traits were measured. These traits included the percentage of graft success, per-

centage of rooting, longest root length, root number and root dry weight. To prevent of fungal in-

fection, samples were sprayed with fungicides ‘Benomyl’ every 15 days. Data analysis conducted

via SAS software and mean comparison was done using LSD test.


Based on analysis of variance (Table 1), different concentrations of IBA in level of %1 and

time of taking cutting in level of 5% were significant on the percent of graft success while the in-


teraction of experimental treatments did not affect on traits significantly. Data mean comparison

of auxin concentrations (Table 2) showed that the largest percentage of graft success obtained in

all the treatments that the hormone was applied (2000, 4000 and 6000 mg/l). So that they did not

make a significant difference but significant differences had with the control. Auxin levels of stock

and scion are variable. Plant hormones, especially auxin play an important role in callus induction,

stimulate of cell division, cambium layer formation and differentiation of vascular tissue play

(Kazankaya et al., 1997; Mehmet et al., 1997). Data mean comparison of time of taking cutting

(Table 3) showed that early September has highest percent of graft success compared with late

June. Environmental and physiological conditions of the plant have a significant impact on the

graft success. Suitable environmental conditions cause the rapid flow of plant sap at the stock and

scion which led to formation of cambium layer, vascular tissue and graft success (Islam et al.,2004; Sharma and Verma, 2011).

Based on analysis of variance (Table 1), different concentrations of IBA and time of taking

cutting were significant in level of %1 on percentage of rooting and number of root per sample.

The interaction of experimental treatment was significant in level of %1 on number of root while

did not affect on percentage of rooting significantly. Data mean comparison of auxin concentrations

(Table 2) showed that the highest percentage of rooting and number of roots obtained in 4000 and

6000 mg/l IBA. Natural or synthetic auxin is necessary for root formation on stem. Auxin also

stimulates the formation of adventitious roots in many species through facilitating of carbohydrates

transferring and nitrogen materials transferring to the cutting base and root primordia motivating

(Hartman et al., 2002). Data mean comparison of time of taking cutting (Table 3) showed that

early September has highest percentage of rooting and number of root per cutting compared with

late June. The amount of endogenous growth regulators, rooting cofactors and carbohydrates is

different during the growing season and for this reason, taking cuttings done at the suitable time

of year (Hartman et al., 2002). Environmental conditions in the greenhouse can also be effective

on rooting of cutting-grafting (Nair et al., 2008). High temperature and high light cause heat stress

Source of variations df

MS

Percent of graft

success

Root

percentage

Longest root

length

Root

number

Root dry

weight

Replication

Factor A (IBA)

Factor B (cutting time)

A × B

Error

CV (%)

2

3

1

3

14

-

35.62

323.04 **

276.96 *

10.10ns

32

6.57

1.1

1250 **

816.66 **

5.55ns

90.47

14.09

0.28

12.01 **

81.65 **

1.22ns

0.74

12.31

0.253

35.69 **

26.27 **

3.69 **

0.58

11.44

0.00001

0.0002 **

0.0025 **

0.00006**

0.000007

9.05

ns: Nonsignificant differences - * & **:significant difference at 1% and 5%

Table 1. Analysis of variance of treatments effect on the measured traits.

IBA concentration

(mg/l)

Percent of graft

success

Root percentage Longest root length

(cm)

Root number Root dry weight

(g)

0

2000

4000

6000

75.83b

87.61a

88.14a

93.14a

50b

61.66b

81.66a

76.66a

5.66c

6.24bc

8.90a

7.14b

4.41b

4.76b

8.31a

9.20a

0.023d

0.029c

0.037a

0.033b

The dissimilar letters in each column indicate significant differences between them.

Table 2. Data mean comparison of IBA concentration on the measured traits.


and loss of cutting moisture which may result in reduction of rooting in late June compared to early

September. Data mean comparison of the interaction of experimental treatment (Fig. 1) revealed

that the highest number of root was seen at 4000 and 6000 mg/l IBA and time of taking cutting of

early September.

Based on analysis of variance (Table 1), different concentrations of IBA and time of taking

cutting were significant in level of %1 on root length while the interaction of experimental treat-

ment did not affect on trait significantly. Data mean comparison of auxin concentration (Table 2)

showed that the longest root length was obtained in 4000 mg/l IBA. Auxin might have caused

hydrolysis and translocation of carbohydrates and nitrogenous substances at the base of cuttings

and resulted in accelerated cell elongation and cell division in suitable environment (Singh etal., 2003). High concentrations of auxin inhibit root elongation but causes cell differentiation

and cell division and the formation of lateral roots (Teale et al., 2005). Data mean comparison

of time of taking cutting (Table 3) showed that early September has longest root length compared

with late June. As stated, the physiological conditions and the amount of carbohydrates in cut-

tings and environmental conditions throughout the season of the year have great influence on

rooting and root size.

Based on analysis of variance (Table 1), different concentrations of IBA, time of taking

cutting and interaction of experimental treatment were significant in level of %1 on root dry weight.

Table 2 shows that maximum of root dry weight belongs to 4000 mg/l IBA. Data mean comparison

of time of taking cutting (Table 3) showed that early September has maximum of root dry weight

compared with late June. The higher dry weight of roots may be attributed to increased number of

roots and roots length (Ingle and Venugopal, 2009). Auxin causes transfer of leaf carbohydrate

and nitrogen to the roots and therefore causes an increase in the root dry weight (Hartman et al.,2002). Data mean comparison of the interaction of experimental treatment (Fig. 2) revealed that

the highest root dry weight was seen at 4000 mg/l IBA and time of taking cutting of early Septem-

ber. Fig. 2 shows that at all levels of IBA, cutting time in early September compared to late June

had higher root dry weight.

According to the results of this study, time taking cuttings and IBA concentration had sig-

nificant effects on the success of graft and rooting. The auxin concentration in 4000 mg/l and time

taking cutting in early September, were the best treatments in propagation of F. benjamina by stent-

ing Technique.

Fig. 1. The interaction of IBA concentration and cutting

time on root number per cutting.

Fig. 2. The interaction of IBA concentration and cut-

ting time on root dry weight.

Cutting time Percent of graft

success

Root percentage Longest root length

(cm)

Root number root dry weight

(g)

Late June

Early September

82.78b

89.58a

61.66b

73.33a

5.14b

8.83a

5.62b

7.72a

0.020b

0.041a

The dissimilar letters in each column indicate significant differences between them.

Table 3. Data mean comparison of cutting time on the measured traits.


Literature Cited

Abdou, M.A., Mohamed, M.A.H. and Attia, F. A. 2004. Physiological studies on Ficus benjamina plants. 1: Effect of cutting collection. IBA and nofatrein on chemical composition, root ability

of cutting and transplants growth. Journal of Agricultural Science, Mansoura University.

Mansoura Univ., 29 (2):775-785.

Elgimabi, M. E. N.E. 2008. Effect of season of cutting and humidity on propagation of (Ixora coccinea).

Advances in Biological Research 2 (5-6):108-110.

Ercisli, S., Anapali, O., Esitken, A. and Sahin, U. 2002. The Effects of IBA, rooting media and

cutting collection time on rooting of kiwifruit. Gartenbauwissenschaft. 67 (1): 34-38.

Hartman, H.T., Kester, D.E., Davies, Jr. F.T. and Geneve, R.L. 2002. Plant propagation: Principles

and Practices. 5th Ed, Prentice-Hall Inc. Englewood, Cliffs, NJ., USA. p.647

Ingle, M.R. and Venugopal, C. K. 2009. Effect of different growth regulators on rooting of stevia

(Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) cuttings. Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Science, 22 (2): 460-461

Islam, M.N., Rahim, M.A., Naher, M.N.A., Azad, M.L. and Shahjahan, M. 2004. Effect of time

of operation and age of rootstock on the success of inserted contact grafting in Mango.

Asian Journal of Plant Sciences. 3 (5): 636-641.

Karimi, H.R. 2011. Stenting (Cutting and Grafting) – A technique for propagating (Punica granatumL.). Journal of Fruit and Ornamental Plant Research. 19 (2): 73-79.

Kasim, N. E. and Rayya, A. 2009. Effect of different collection times and some treatments on rooting

and chemical interminal constituents of bitter almond hardwood cutting. J. Agri. Biol. Sciences.

5 (2): 116-122.

Kazankaya, A., Mehmet, S. and Tekintas, F.G. 1997. Relations between graft success and structural

hormones on walnut (Juglans regia L.). Acta Hort. 442: 295-298.

Mehmet, S., Kazankaya, A., Testereci, H. and Hakkiyoruk I. 1997. Changing of IAA (indol-3-acetic

acid) content at different organs of walnut (Juglans regia L.), after grafting. Acta Hort.

422:169-174.

Nair, A., Zhang, D. and Smagula, J. 2008. Rooting and overwintering stem cuttings of Stewartia pseudocamellia Maxim. Relevant to Hormone, Media, and Temperature. HortScience.

43(7):2124-2128.

Nazari, F., Khosh-Khui M. and Salehi, H. 2009. Growth and flower quality of four Rosa hybrida L. cultivars in response to propagation by stenting or cutting in soilless culture. Scientia

Horticulturae. 119:302-305.

Sharma, S.K. and Verma, S.K. 2011. Seasonal influences on the rooting response of Chir pine

(Pinus roxburghii Sarg.). Ann. For. Res. 54 (2): 241-247.

Siddiqui, M. I. and Hussain, S. A. 2007. Effect of Indole butyric acid and types of cutting on root

initiation of Ficus Hawaii. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture. 23 (4): 919-925.

Singh, A.K., Singh, R., Mittal, A.K., Singh, Y. P. and Jauhari, S. 2003. Effect of plant growth

regulators on survival rooting and growth characters in long pepper (Piper longum L.).

Prog. Hort. 35: 208-211.

Stefanic, M., Stamper, F., and Oster, G. 2006. The level of IAA, IAAsp and some phenolics in

cherry rootstock, Gisela 5, leafy cutting pretreated with IAA and IBA. Scientia Horticulturae.

112:399-405.

Teale, W.D., Paponov, I.A., Ditengou, F. and Palme, K. 2005. Auxin and the developing root of

Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of Plant Physiology. 123:130-138.

Veneklass, E.J., Santos Silva, M.P. and Den Ouden, F. 2002. Determination of growth rate in

Ficus benjamina L. compared to related faster-growing woody and herbaceous species. Scientia

Horticulturae. 93: 75-84.

www.jornamental.com


Effect of Various Vermicompost-Tea Concentrations on

Life Table Parameters of Macrosiphum rosae L. (Hemiptera:

Aphididae) on Rose (Rosa hybrida L.) Flower

The life table parameters of Macrosiphum rosae L. (Hemiptera:

Aphididae) on five vermicompost-tea (tea-compost) concentrations (20, 40,

60, 80 and 100%) and control treatment (0%) on Rosa hybrida L. were

determined under laboratory conditions. There were significant differences

among pre-imaginal period and adult longevity of the aphid on the five tea-

compost concentrations. The highest mortality occurred at first nymphal

instar on all treatments. The life expectancy (ex) of one-day-old adults was

estimated to be 30, 35, 37, 40, 42 and 20 days on various tea-compost con-

centrations and control treatment, respectively. The net reproductive rate (R0)

significantly differed on different treatments, which was the highest on

control (29.12 ± 2.21 female offspring) and lowest on 100% of tea-compost

concentration (15.47 ± 2.12 female offspring). The highest and lowest values

of the intrinsic rate of increase (rm) were 0.736 ± 0.171 day-1 (on control) and

0.105 ± 0.005 day-1 (on 100% treatment), respectively. The finite rate of

increase (λ) varied from 1.101±0.143 day-1 (on 100% treatment) to 1.853 ±

0.001 day-1 (on control). Doubling time ranged from 1.806 ± 0.023 (on

control) to 4.587 ± 0.161 days (on 100% treatment). The longest mean

generation time (T) of the rose aphid was obtained on 100% treatment. The

results showed that the 100% of tea-compost concentration had the highest

antibiotic effect on population growth of Macrosiphum rosae.

Keywords: Life table, Macrosiphum rosae, Population growth parameters, Tea-compost.


Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center,

Arak, Iran


Abstract


INTRODUCTION

Vermicomposts, which are produced from organic wastes by interactions between earth-

worms and microorganisms in a mesophilic process, are finely divided, fully stabilized organic

materials with large microbial populations and activity (Edwards and Arancon, 2004). Aqueous

extract of vermicompost (vermicompost tea) as an extract or leachate can be derived from com-

posted plant or animal waste. Such organic matter has been decomposed by soil micro-fauna such

as bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and soil arthropods (Diver, 2002; Sheuerell and Mahaffee, 2006).

Vermicompost tea applied as a foliar spray or soil drench has been demonstrated to improve plant

health, yield, nutritive quality and protection against pests and pathogens by (a) enhancing

beneficial microbial communities and their effects on agricultural soils and plants, (b) improving

the mineral nutrient status of plants and (c) inducing the production of plant defence compounds

that have beneficial bioactivities in humans (Carpenter, 2005; Diver, 2001; Hoitink et al., 1997;

Ingham, 2005; Scheuerell and Mahaffee, 2002; Weltzein, 1991). Although the chemistry and mi-

crobiology of vermicompost extract are complex, it is believed that soluble mineral nutrients ex-

tracted from vermicompost will have a positive effect on plant growth with foliar and soil

applications of vermicompost extract (Ingham, 2005). It is also postulated that the action of living

microorganisms and microbial metabolites will stimulate plant growth (Carpenter, 2005; Diver,

2001). Several studies have shown a positive effect of vermicompost tea on suppression of certain

plant disease factors such as botrytis on green beans, strawberries, grapes and geraniums, leaf spot

on tomatoes, bacterial speck in arabidopsis and powdery mildew on apples (Hoitink et al., 1997;

Al-Dahmani et al., 2003; Elad and Shtienberg, 1994; Haggag and Saber, 2007; Scheuerell and Ma-

haffee, 2004, 2006; Weltzein and Ketterer, 1986; Zhang et al., 1998). Moreover, compost extracts

have been shown to induce natural plant defenses against pathogens (Zhang et al., 1998; Welke,

2005). Vermicomposts have also been shown to suppress populations of plant parasitic nematodes

(Arancon et al., 2002) and plant pathogens in laboratory (Chaoui et al., 2002). There are reports

in the literature which indicate that various forms of organic matter applied to soils, may be able

to decrease populations of arthropod pests and resultant crop damage (Patriquin et al., 1995). In

preliminary experiments in the laboratory, vermicomposts have been shown to suppress populations

and damage by arthropod pests, such as aphids and cabbage white caterpillars (Arancon and Ed-

wards, 2004; Arancon et al., 2005). Other researchers have reported that vermicomposts suppressed

numbers of leafhopper, aphids and spider mites (Rao et al., 2001; Rao, 2002). The effect of fertil-

izers on the extent of pest infestations and plant damage were also studied, with the aim of iden-

tifying the effects of fertilization on arthropod pest suppression by vermicomposts (Scheuerell and

Mahaffee, 2004, 2006; Weltzein and Ketterer, 1986; Patriquin et al., 1995). Vermicompost tea may

be extracted under aerated or non-aerated (passive) conditions. During aerated extraction, air is pumped

through water containing vermicompost to maintain the oxygen level above 5 mg L-1 (Ingham,

2005). Sugar, grain, fish emulsion, kelp extract, humic acid and other products are often incorpo-

rated as additives during extraction of aerated tea to enhance microbial activity of the finished

product, but little work regarding the impact of these additives on tea quality or plant response has

been reported. For passive extraction, vermicompost is placed in a certain volume of water and al-

lowed to sit for several days, with occasional stirring (Weltzein, 1991). Several investigators have

reported that non-aerated compost tea has a consistent and significant positive effect on disease

control and plant growth compared with aerated compost tea, while other works suggest that non-

aerated compost teas can be inconsistent in quality, may cause phytotoxicity and are generally less

preferable than aerated compost teas (Weltzein, 1991; Scheuerell and Mahaffee, 2004 , 2006;

Cronin et al., 1996; Tranker, 1992).

Life table is powerful tool for analyzing and understanding the impact that an external factor

on the growth, survival, reproduction, and rate of increase of an insect population (Bellows et al.,1992; van den Boom et al., 2003; Musa and Ren, 2005; Greco et al., 2006). The host plants have


main effects on development, mortality, and fecundity rates of insects. Wittmeyer et al. (2001)

showed that the nutritional quality of food consumed during both nymphal and adult stage of de-

velopment influenced the fecundity and fertility of females Podisusma culiventris Say. Life table

parameters, including net reproductive rate (R0), mean generation time (T), doubling time (DT), fi-

nite rate of increase (λ), and intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm) have been used to evaluate the

susceptibility or resistance of several host plants in relation to various pests (Tsai and Wang, 2001;

Satar and Yokomi, 2002; Razmjou et al., 2009). Among these parameters, the intrinsic rate of in-

crease is commonly used to evaluate the level of plant resistance to insects (Razmjou et al., 2006).

The greenhouse experiments that are reported in this paper describe the effects of various concen-

trations of aqueous extracts produced from food waste-based vermicomposts (vermicompost tea),

on life table parameters of rose aphid (Macrosiphum rosae) on rose plants (Rosa hybrida).


Plant material: Rosa hybrida L. (cut-flower roses group) var. Dolce Vita, was selected as

test crop for the experiments. This variety was prepared from Flowers and Ornamental Plants Re-

search Institute of Mahallat - Iran (the entomology research laboratory, department of plant pro-

tection and research greenhouses). Greenhouse experiments were conducted during 2012-2013.

Rose plants were grown under both organic (chicken manure vermicompost) and chemical (Biozar,

20:20:20 NPK, Fannavar-Nano products Company, Biozar, Khomein, Iran) fertilization at a rate

of 25 kg N ha-1. Plants were grown in plastic pots (20 cm diameter, 25 cm height). One rose cutting

was sown in each pot. Plants were allowed to grow in the greenhouse on a bench fitted with over-

head sprinklers that operated for 5 m in every 6 h.

Rose aphid colony: Adults of rose aphid (Macrosiphum rosae) were originally collected

from common rose greenhouses of the Mahallat region, Iran in December 2011. These aphids were

reared on rose (Rosa hybrida L. var. Dolce Vita) grown in plastic pots (20 cm diameter 25 cm

height) in a growth chamber (27 ± 2o C, 70 ± 5% RH and a photoperiod of 16:8 L:D) for at least 2

months (several generations) before conducting the experiments. All experiments were performed

at the above mentioned conditions in growth chambers.

Preparation of vermicompost tea: The vermicompost used to prepare vermicompost tea,

was obtained from a commercial vermicompost source (Gilda vermicompost, Gildakoud products

Company, Tehran, Iran). Vermicompost tea was made based on Balfanz (2010) and Aracon et al.(2007) extraction methods.

Treatments and leaf samples: The treatments consisted of a range of five concentrations

of aqueous vermicompost extract (vermicompost tea), namely 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%,

and their effects were compared with those of a distilled water control. To perform the experiments,

the leaf sample method was used (Pedigo and Buntin, 1994; Naher et al., 2006). Each rose leaf

with 5 leaflets was selected and was placed on a water-saturated cotton in plastic glass (4 cm di-

ameter, 8 cm height). Thereafter, one fully expanded young leaf was randomly collected and used

for the leaf sample preparation. Finally, each rose aphid was transferred on leaf sample in plastic

glass (for each treatment of vermicompost tea) and the vermicompost tea effect on life table of

rose aphid was studied.

Experiments: The life table parameters of M. rosae were determined on rose plants in lab-

oratory conditions at 27±2oC, 70±5% humidity and a photoperiod of 16:8 L:D h. The study was

initiated with 60 nympha of the rose aphid (M. rosae) as cohort for each treatment. In this regards,

10 adult aphids of M. rosae (reared on each treatment), were transferred onto new leaf sample of

the same treatment. The 12 h later, the new nympha were collected from these leaf samples and

individually transferred with a fine camel hair brush onto new leaf sample. Thereafter, the mortality,

development and number of offspring were recorded daily up to the death of last individual.

Data Analysis: The age-specific fecundity (mx) and age-specific survival (lx) of aphid on


various concentrations of vermicompost tea were calculated according Brich (1948) and the life

table parameters estimated based on suggested formula by Carey (1993). The life table parameters

were included: net reproductive rate (R0), intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm), finite rate of increase

(λ), mean generation time (T), doubling time (DT) and life expectancy (ex). Data on immature de-

velopmental period and adult longevity of rose aphid were analyzed with one-way analyses of

variance (ANOVA). When the variation among treatments was significant, means comparison

were done based on Duncan’s multiple range test (P<0.05). The statistical differences of life table

parameters among various treatments were detected using the jackknife procedure (Meyer et al.,1986; Maia et al., 2000). In this procedure, jackknife pseudo values of each life table parameter

were calculated for n aphids by following equation:

A(j) = n × A(all) - (n - 1) × A(i)

Where A(j) is the jackknife pseudo value, n is the number of aphids, A(all) is the calculated

life table parameters for all aphids and A(i) is the calculated parameters for (n–1) aphids. All sta-

tistical analysis was carried out using the Minitab statistical software (MINITAB, 2000) and SPSS

statistical packages (SPSS, 2004).

RESULTS

Development and fecundity

Developmental times of viviparous wingless aphids were significantly different among tea-

compost concentrations (F=28.17; df =5,341; P<0.01) (Fig. 1A), indicating some patterns for the

effect of tea-compost concentrations on the development of rose aphid nymphs. The shortest and

longest developmental times were recorded on control (5.22±0.08 days) and 100% of tea-compost

concentration (8.10 ± 0.18 days). The subsequent results showed a significant difference in

longevity (F=94.83; df=5,341; P<0.01) (Fig. 1B) and total number of newly laid nymphs per female

(F=78.15; df=5,341; P<0.01) (Fig. 1C). The longest and shortest adult longevity of rose aphid

nymphs were observed on the 100% of tea-compost concentration (33.75 ± 1.04 days) and control

(20.45 ± 1.12 days), respectively. Total number of nymphs ranged from 111 ± 1.47 nymphs/female

Fig. 1. Biological parameters of M. rosae on five concentrations of tea-compost: A. Developmental time, B. Adult

longevity, C. Mean number of nymphs/female, D. Mean number of nymphs/female/day. Within columns, means in-

dicated by different letters are significantly different (P<0.05, one-way ANOVA).


on control to 65 ± 1.24 nymphs/female on 100% of tea-compost concentration. The mean number

of newly laid nymphs per female per day showed significant differences on various tea-tompost

concentrations (F=28.63; df=5,341; P<0.01). This parameter was highest on control (4.2 ± 0.14

nymphs/female/day) and lowest on 100% of Tea-Compost concentration (2.4±0.05 nymphs/fe-

male/day) (Fig. 1D). The pre-imaginal mortalities were 63, 58, 47, 39, 21 and 14% on 100, 80, 60,

40 and 20% of Tea-Compost concentrations and control treatment, respectively.

Life table parameters

The life expectancy (ex) at adult emergence time of Macrosiphum rosae was 30, 35, 37, 40,

42 and 20 days on various tea-compost concentrations (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%) and control treat-

ment, respectively. In the meantime, the highest and lowest life expectancies were found on 100%

of tea-compost concentration and control, respectively. The deaths of all examined aphids were

occurred in 27, 28, 29, 29, 29 and 30 days on various treatments (Fig. 2). Survival analysis showed

that there was significant difference among life-span of M. rosae (Table 1). Similar patterns of mx

(female nymphs/female/ day) were observed on all Tea-Compost concentrations. The number of

nymphs at the peak of nymphi position of females was determined to be 4, 4, 3.8, 2.5, 2 and 4.2

on various tea-compost concentrations and control treatment, respectively. The peak of oviposition

occurred at age of 13, 12, 14, 16, 16 and 13 days after nymph deposition, respectively (Fig.2).

There were significant differences among the net reproductive rates (R0) of M. rosae on

different Tea-Compost concentrations (F=67.58; df=5,341; P<0.01). The highest and lowest R0

were obtained on control (29.12±2.21 female offspring) and 100% of tea-compost concentration

(15.47±2.12 female offspring), respectively (Table 2). The intrinsic rates of natural increase (rm)

were found to be significantly different among treatments (F=55.19; df=5,341; P<0.01). The rm

values ranged from 0.105 to 0.736 day-1 on 100% of tea-compost concentration and control, re-

spectively (Table 2). Additionally, the mean generation time (T) of M. rosae showed significant

Age

– s

pec

ific

su

rviv

ors

hip

(lx

)

Age

– s

pec

ific

fec

un

dit

y (

mx)

Age (day)

Fig. 2. Age-specific survivorship (lx) (simple line) and age-specific fecundity (mx) (solid dia-

monds) of Macrosiphum rosae on various tea-compost concentrations.


differences (F=76.48; df=5,341; P<0.01) among treatments. DT values (Table 2) of M. rosaeshowed significant differences among the five Tea-Compost concentrations (F=84.13; df=5,341;

P<0.01), as well as the finite rate of increase (λ) (F=62.74; df=5,341; P<0.01).

DISCUSSION

The results in this research revealed significant effects of tea-compost concentrations on

the development and reproduction of Macrosiphum rosae. The M. rosae developed significantly

faster on control than other treatments. Also, the adult longevity was highest and the mean number

of newly laid nymphs/female/day was lowest on 100% of tea-compost concentration indicating

that this treatment has the worst feeding quality for M. rosae. Among the life table parameters, the

intrinsic rate of increase (rm) is the best parameter for evaluating the host plant species or treatment

effects, because it reflects the overall effects on both survivorship and fecundity (Soufbaf et al.,2010). A population with a higher intrinsic rate of increase (rm) will grow faster than one with a

lower rate of increase (Carey, 1993). Moreover, there were significant differences among T and

DT of M. rosae on different tea-compost concentrations. Total N, K, P, NO3-N, NH4-N and

carotenoids concentration and microbial activity in vermicompost extraction (Tea-compost) is the

most levels but total N concentration in tea-compost was lower than P and K concentration (Ing-

ham, 2005; Archana et al., 2009). Vermicompost tea consistently enhanced plant growth and min-

eral nutrient concentration in plant tissue under, in accordance with the findings of previous studies

(Sanwal et al., 2006; Hargreaves et al., 2008). The effect of vermicompost tea was most pro-

nounced under vermicompost fertilization. Soluble mineral nutrients and microbial by-products

in vermicompost tea can enhance nutrientuptake from the soil and increase foliar up take of nutri-

ents (Ingham, 2005; Xu et al., 2001). Nutrient analysis indicated that vermicompost tea supplied

a considerable amount of soluble mineral nutrients to plants. The strong correlation between above-

ground dry weight and nitrogen uptake by plant sex plains the yield response to vermicompost tea

(Archana et al., 2009). Increased above-ground fresh and dry weights, leaf area and extract able

mineral element concentration in plant tissue as a result of vermicompost tea treatment were ob-

served in Archana et al. 2009 study.

It has previously been demonstrated that stress, particularly low N, can induce greater con-

centrations of phenolics in plant tissue (Brown et al.,1984; Estiarte et al.,1994). Nutrient stresses

can reduce growth more than photosynthesis; the excess C relative to nutrients will be allocated

to C-based defensive compounds, including phenolics (Tuomi et al., 1988). An increased concen-

tration of total phenolics was associated with lower plant growth and low mineral N concentration

in plant tissue of control plants compared to vermicompost tea-treated plants (Archana et al., 2009).

A higher level of total phenolics was observed in plants grown under vermicompost fertilization

than in those grown under chemical fertilization. This could be due to a more rapid release of plant-

Tea-Compost concentrations

Life span (day)

(Mean±SEM) Range

0 % (control)

20 %

40 %

60 %

80 %

100 %

27.96 ± 1.25b

29.21 ± 1.02b

30.12 ± 1.89b

34.27 ± 1.33a

38.52 ± 1.54a

39.18 ± 1.14a

23-30

27-31

27-33

32-35

36-40

37-41

Different letters in the column indicate significant differences within various culti-

vars (P<0.05).

Table 1. Life-span of M. rosae on various Tea-Compost concentrations

using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.


available nutrients from chemical fertilization compared to vermicompost. Asami et al. (2003) and

Wang et al. (2002) also observed consistently higher levels of total phenolics in organically grown

crops compared with those produced by conventional agricultural practices. Dixon et al. (1995)

and Zhao et al. (2007) reported that a higher level of antioxidant capacity of leafy vegetables is

associated with reduced pant growth, lower N concentration and accumulation of higher levels of

phenolic compounds in plant tissue. There is a very sparse literature recording the suppression of

pest that attack crop plants by sucking plant foliage treated by vermicomposts. For instance, there

have been reports of vermicomposts suppressing attacks of sucking insects such as jassids, aphids,

and spider mites very significantly on ground nuts in India (Rao, 2002, 2003). Biradar et al. (1998)

reported a clear correlation between a mounts of vermicompost in a growing medium and decreased

incidence of psyllids (Heteropsylla cubana) on a tropical leguminous tree (Leucaena leuco-cephala). Arancon and Edwards (2004) and Arancon et al. (2005) reported suppression of aphids

(Myzus persicae) on cabbages by vermicomposts. Patriquin et al. (1995) reported more aphids,

Aphis fabae, on plants grown with urea applications than on those in organically managed soils.

Morales et al. (2001) recorded larger populations of aphids (Rhopalosiphum maidis) on corn grown

with an inorganic fertilizer. It has been reported by several authors (e.g. Phelan, 2004) that plants

grown with organic fertilizers are usually attacked by fewer arthropod pests, and can tolerate pest

attacks more than plants that receive conventional fertilizers; however possible ecological mech-

anisms driving this phenomenon are poorly understood. Some workers have suggested that inor-

ganic N fertilization may decrease plant resistance to insects, by improving the nutritional quality

and palatability of the host plants, and inhibiting the buildup of secondary metabolites concentra-

tions (Fragoyiannis et al., 2001; Herms, 2002). It has also been suggested that N may stimulate

the fecundity of insects, attract more individuals for oviposition on host plants grown with inorganic

N (Bentz et al., 1995), and also increase insect population growth rates (Culliney and Pimentel,

1986, Jansson., and Smiowitz, 1986). Additionally, a slower rate of nutrient release from organic

materials (Patriquin et al., 1995), an enhanced nutritional composition and decreased N levels in

plants grown with organic fertilizers (Steffen et al., 1995) could all contribute to the resistance of

these plants to arthropod pest attacks. Phelan et al. (1996) suggested that the acceptability of corn,

to the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner), could possibly be mediated by the plant’s

mineral balance and also by a biological buffering characteristic of organically managed soils (Phe-

lan et al., 1995, 2004).

Vermicomposts are known to provide a slow, balanced nutritional release pattern to plants,

in particular release of plant available N, soluble K, exchangeable Ca, Mg and P (Edwards and

Parameters

Tea-Compost concentrations

0% (control) 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

rm(day-1)

R0(female offspring)

T(day)

λ

(day-1)

DT

(day)

0.736 ± 0.17a

29.12 ± 2.21a

14.77 ± 0.147c

1.85 ± 0.001a

1.80 ± 0.023d

0.601 ± 0.112ab

28.07 ± 1.98ab

14.58 ± 0.119c

1.75 ± 0.014ab

2.56 ± 0.082c

0.543 ± 0.082b

26.06 ± 2.83b

16.81 ± 0.170b

1.66 ± 0.010b

2.90 ± 0.113c

0.379 ± 0.043b

19.56 ± 2.01b

18.03 ± 0.164a

1.46 ± 0.120b

3.06 ± 0.138b

0.171 ± 0.018d

16.06 ± 2.18d

18.40 ± 0.117a

1.18 ± 0.018cd

3.67 ± 0.150b

0.105 ± 0.005e

15.47 ± 2.12e

18.81 ± 0.179a

1.10 ± 0.143d

4.58 ± 0.161a

Means followed by similar letters in rows are not significantly different (one-way ANOVA, α=0.05).

Table 2. Data mean comparison of IBA concentration on the measured traits.


Fletcher, 1988; Edwards, 1998). Moreover, vermicomposts have a much greater microbial diversity

and activity than conventional thermophilic composts, because organic wastes fragmented by earth

worms have a greater surface area and therefore support much more microbial activity. Addition-

ally, microbial activity tends to be largely suppressed by the high temperatures reached during

thermophilic composting. In our experiments, the combination of slow release of nutrients and

high microbial activity from vermicomposts seems to have indirectly enhanced the plant’s capacity

to suppress pest insect attacks. We also suggest that a component of the mechanisms inhibiting at-

tack by arthropod pests by vermicomposts and similar organic materials, on the foliage and fruits

of crop plants, may be due to feeding responses to different forms of N in the plant foliage. It is

well known that phenolic substances are distasteful to secondary decomposers in soil systems and

inhibit the breakdown of dead plant materials (Edwards and Heath,1963; Heath and Edwards,

1964). Simmonds (1998) reviewed the modification of insect feeding behavior by phenolics and

non-protein amino acids and general inhibition of insect pest feeding. Asami et al. (2003) reported

that total amounts of phenolic substances were much higher in strawberries and corn grown or-

ganically than in those grown with inorganic fertilizers. It has also been shown that sprays of phe-

nols and phenolic acids extracted from gingko plants were effective in controlling attacks by cotton

aphids, vegetable aphids, caterpillars and thrips. Stevenson et al. (1993) reported inhibition of de-

velopment of Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) by a phenolic compound from the wild ground nut.

Haukioja et al. (2002) stated that phenolics in plant tissues changed rates of consumption of tissues

by a geometrid caterpillar Epirrita autumnata (Borkhausen).

We hypothesize that the decreased insect pest numbers and damage on plants grown with

vermicomposts and Tea-Compost concentrations (vermicompost tea), in both our greenhouse and

field experiments (Yardim et al., 2006), could be attributed at least partially to changes in the form

of N, a controlled slower release rates of mineral nutrients and particularly by the production of

phenolics through the use of vermicomposts. Further research is needed to support this hypothesis

and to further identify mechanisms by which vermicompost suppress arthropod pest feeding and

reproduction.

Litrature Cited

Al-Dahmani, J.H., Abbasi, P.A., Miller, S.A., and Hoitink, H.A.J. 2003. Suppression of bacterial

spot of tomato with foliar sprays of compost extracts under greenhouse and field conditions.

Plant Disease. 87: 913-919.

Arancon, N., Edwards, C.A., Yardim, F., and Lee, S. 2002. Management of plant parasitic nematodes

by use of vermicomposts. Proceedings of Brighton Crop Protection Conference Pests and

Diseases. vol. II, 8B-2, pp. 705-710.

Arancon, N.Q., and Edwards, C.A. 2004. Vermicomposts can suppress plant pest and disease attacks.

Biocycle March, 51-53.

Arancon, N.Q., Galvis, P.A., and Edwards, C.A. 2005. Suppression of insect pest populations and

damage to plants by vermicomposts. Bioresource Technology. 96: 1137-1142.

Arancon, N.Q., Edwards, C.A., Dick, R., and Dick, L. 2007. Vermicompost tea production and

plant growth impacts. Biocycle, 48: 51-52.

Archana, P.P., Theodore, J.K., Radovich, N.V., Hue, S., Talcottb, T., and Kristen, A.K. 2009. Vermicompost

extracts influence growth, mineral nutrients, phytonutrients and antioxidant activity in pakchoi

(Brassica rapa cv. Bonsai, Chinensis group) grown under vermicompost and chemical fertilizer.

Journal Science Food Agriculture. 89: 2383-2392.

Asami, D.K., Hong, Y., Barrett, D.M., and Mitchell, A.E. 2003. Comparison of the total phenolic

and ascorbic acid content of freeze-dried and air dried marionberry, strawberry, and corn

grown using conventional, organic, and sustainable agricultural practices. Journal of Agricultural

and Food Chemistry


Chem. 51: 1237-1241.

Balfanz, L. 2010. Nutrient analysis of vermicompost tea and its effects on turf at the Minnesota

Landscape Arboretum. Master of Agriculture Final Project. Department of Horticultural Science.

University of Minnesota, St. Paul.

Bellows, T.S.J., Van Driesche, R.G., and Elkinton, J.S. 1992. Life table construction and analysis

in the evaluation of natural enemies. Annual Review of Entomology, 37: 587-614.

Bentz, J.A., Reeves, J., Barbosa, P., and Francis, B. 1995. Nitrogen fertilizer effect on selection,

acceptance and suitability of Euphorbia pulcherrima (Euphorbiaceae) as a host plant to Bemisiatabaci (Hom: Aleyrodidae). Environmental Entomology. 24: 40-45.

Biradar, A.P., Sunita, N.D., Teggel, R.G., and Devarandavadgi, S.B. 1998. Effect of vermicompost

on the incidence of subabul psyllid. Insect Envi. 4 (2): 55-56.

Brich‚ L.C. 1948. The intrinsic rate of natural increase of an insect population. Journal of Animal

Ecology‚ 17: 15-26.

Brown, P.H., Graham, R.B., and Nicholas, D.J.D. 1984. The effects of manganese and nitrate supply

on the levels of phenolics and lignin in young wheat plants. Plant Soil, 81: 437-440.

Carey, J. R. 1993. Applied Demography for Biologists, with Special Emphasis on Insects. Oxford

University Press, 205 pp.

Carpenter, B. 2005. Diving into compost tea. Biocycle, 46: 61-62.

Chaoui, H., Edwards, C.A., Brickner, M., Lee, S., and Arancon, N. 2002. Suppression of the plant

diseases, Pythium (damping off), Rhizoctonia (root rot) and Verticillum (wilt) by vermicomposts.

Proceedings of Brighton Crop Protection Conference Pests and Diseases. vol. II, 8B-3, pp.

711-716.

Cronin, M.J., Yohalem, D.S., Harris, R.F., and Andrews, J.H. 1996. Putative mechanism and dynamics

of inhibition of the apples cab pathogen Venturia inaequalis by compost extracts. Soil Biology

& Biochemistry, 28:1241-1249.

Culliney, T.W., and Pimentel, D. 1986. Ecological effects of organic agricultural practices on insect

populations. riculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 15: 253-256.

Diver, S. 2001. Notes on Compost Teas: Supplement to the ATTRA Publication ‘Compost Teas

for Plant Disease Control’ . ATTRA, Fayetteville, AR.

Diver, S. 2002. Notes on Compost Teas; Methods of Compost Tea Production. ATTRA Publication

#IP118/103 Available at: http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/compost-tea notes.html.

Dixon, R.A., and Paiva, N.L. 1995. Stress-induced phenyl propanoid metabolism. Plant Cell,

7: 1085-1097.

Edwards, C.A., and Heath, G.W. 1963. The role of soil animals in breakdown of leaf material. In:

Doeksen, J., Van der Drift, J. (Eds.), Soil organisms. North Holland Pub. Co., Amsterdam,

pp. 76-87.

Edwards, C.A., and Fletcher, K.E. 1988. Interaction between earthworms and microorganisms in

organic matter breakdown. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 20: 235-249.

Edwards, C.A. 1998. The use of earthworms in processing organic waste into plant-growth media

and animal feed protein. In: Earthworm Ecology, C.A. Edwards Ed. Pub. American Soil

and Water Conservation Association, CRC Press/Lewis Publ., Boca Raton, FL, pp. 327-354.

Edwards, C.A., and Arancon, N.Q. 2004. The use of earthworms in the breakdown of organic

wastes to produce vermicomposts and animal feed protein. In: Edwards, C.A. (Ed.), Earthworm

Ecology, second ed. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fl, London, New York, Washington, pp. 345-438.

Elad, Y., and Shtienberg, D. 1994. Effect of compost water extracts on grey mould (Botrytis cinerea). Crop Protect. 13: 109-114.

Estiarte, M., Filella, I., Serra, J., and Pefiuelas, J. 1994. Effects of nutrient and water stress on leaf

phenolic content of peppers and susceptibility to generalist herbivore Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner). Oecologia. 99: 387-391.


Fragoyiannis, D.A., McKinlay, R.G., and D’Mello, J.P.F. 2001. Interactions of aphids herbivory

and nitrogen availability on the total foliar glycoalkoloid content of potato plants. Journal

of Chemistry. 27,: 1749-1762.

Greco, N.M., Pereyra, P.C., and Guillade, A. 2006. Host-plant acceptance and performance of

Tetranychus urticae (Acari, Tetranychidae). Journal of Applied Entomology. 130 (1): 32-36.

Haggag, W.M., and Saber, M.S. 2007. Suppression of early blight on tomato and purple blight on

onion by foliar sprays of aerated and non-aerated compost teas. Journal of Food Agriculture

& Environment. 5: 302- 309.

Hargreaves, J., Adl, M.S., Warman, P.R., and Rupasinghe, H.P.V. 2008. The effects of organic

amendments on mineral element uptake and fruit quality of raspberries. Plant Soil, 308: 213-226.

Haukioja, E., Ossipov, V., and Lempa, K. 2002. The interactive effects of leaf maturation and phenolics

on consumption and growth of a geanetrid moth. Futrand. Experimental and Applied

Acarology. 104 (1): 125-136.

Heath, G.W., and Edwards, C.A. 1964. Some methods for assessing the activity of soil animals in

the breakdown of leaves. Pedo Biologia. 4: 80-87.

Herms, D.A. 2002. Effects of fertilization on insect resistance of woody ornamental plants. Environmental

Entomolog. 31: 923-933.

Hoitink, H.A.J., Stone, A.G., and Han, D.Y. 1997. Suppression of plant diseases by composts. Hort.

Science. 32: 184-187.

Ingham, E. 2005. The Compost Tea Brewing Manual; Latest Methods and Research. Soil Food

Web., Corvallis, O.R.

Jannsson, R.K., and Smilowitz, Z. 1986. Influence of nitrogen on population parameters of potato

insects: abundance, population growth and within-plant distribution of the green peach

aphid, Myzus persicae (Hom: Aphididae). Environmental Entomology. 15: 49-55.

Maia, A.H., Luiz A.B., and Campanhola, C. 2000. Statistical inference on associated fertility life

table parameters using jackknife technique : computational aspects. Journal of Economic

Entomology, 93(2): 511-518.

Meyer‚ M.K.P.‚ Ingersoll‚ C.G.‚ McDonald‚ L.L., and Boyce‚ M.S. 1986. Estimating uncertainly

in population growth rates: Jacknife vs. bootstrap techniques. Ecology‚ 67: 1156-1166.

MINITAB. 2000. MINITAB User‚s Guide‚ Version 14.1 MINITAB Ltd‚ Mo‚ T.L.

Morales, H., Perfecto, I., and Ferguson, B. 2001. Traditional fertilization and its effect on corn insect

populations in Guatemalan. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 84: 145–155.

Musa, P.D., and Ren, S.X. 2005. Development and reproduction of Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera:

Aleyrodidae) on three bean species. Insect Science, 12 (1): 25-30.

Naher, N.‚ Islam‚ T.‚ Haque‚ M.M., and Parween‚ S. 2006. Effect of native plant and IGRs on the

development of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). Universal Journal of Zoology,

25: 19-22.

Patriquin, D.G., Baines, D., and Abboud, A. .1995. Diseases, pests and soil fertility. In: Cook, H.F.,

Lee, H.C. (Eds.), Soil Management in Sustainable Agriculture. Wye College Press, Wye,

UK, pp. 161-174.

Pedigo‚ L.P., and Buntin‚ G.D. 1994. Handbook of Sampling Methods for Arthropods in Agriculture.

CRC Press‚ Florida‚ 714 pp.

Phelan, P.L., Mason, J.F., and Stinner, B.R. 1995. Soil-fertility management and host preference

by European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner), on Zea mays L.: a comparison of organic

and conventional farming. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 56: 1-8.

Phelan, P.L., Norris, K.H., and Mason, J.F. 1996. Soil-management history and host preference by

Ostrinia nubilalis: evidence for plant mineral balance mediating insect-plant interactions.

Environmental Entomology. 25: 1329-1336.

Phelan, P.L. 2004. Connecting below-ground and above-ground food webs: the role of organic


matter in biological buffering. In: Magadoff, F., Well, R.R. (Eds.), Soil Organic Matter in

sustainable agriculture. CRC Press, Boca Raton, London, New York, Washington, DC, pp.

199-226.

Rao, K.R., Rao, P.A., and Rao, K.T. 2001. Influence of fertilizers and manures on the population

of coccinellid beetles and spiders in groundnut ecosystem. Ann. Plant Protect. Sci. 9, 43-46.

Rao, K.R. 2002. Induce host plant resistance in the management sucking pests of groundnut. Ann.

Plant Protection Science. Sci. 10: 45-50.

Rao, K.R. 2003. Influence of host plant nutrition on the incidence of Spodoptera litura and Helicoverpaarmigera on groundnuts. Indian Journal of Entomology. 65 (3): 386-392.

Razmjou, J., Moharramipour, S., Fathipour, Y., and Mirhoseini, S.Z. 2006. Effect of cotton cultivar

on performance of Aphis gossypii (Hom: Aphididae) in Iran. Journal of Economic Entomology,

99: 1820-1825.

Razmjou, J., Tavakoli, H., and Fallahi, A. 2009. Effect of soybean cultivar on life history parameters

of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). Journal of Pest Science, 82: 89-94.

Sanwal, S.K., Laxminarayana, K., Yadav, D.S., Rai, N., and Yadav, R.K. 2006. Growth, yield, and

dietary antioxidants of broccoli as affected by fertilizer type. Journal of Vegetation Science.

12: 13-26.

Satar, S., and Yokomi, R. 2002. Effect of temperature and host on development of Brachycaudus schwartzi (Homoptera: Aphididae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 95:

597-602.

Scheuerell, S.J., and Mahaffee, W.F. 2002. Compost tea: principles and prospects for plant disease

control. Compost Science And Utilization, 10: 313-338.

Scheuerell, S.J., and Mahaffee, W.F. 2004. Compost teaas a container medium drench for suppressing

seedling damping-off caused by Pythium ultimum. Phytopathology 94: 1156-1163.

Scheuerell, S.J., and Mahaffee, W.F. 2006. Variability associated with suppression of gray mold

(Botrytis cinerea) on geranium by foliar applications of nonaerated and aerated compost

teas. Plant Disease, 90: 1201-1208.

Simmonds, M.S.J. 1998. Chemoecology: the legacy left by Tony Swain. Phytochemistry. 49 (5):

1183-1190.

Soufbaf, M., Fathipour, Y., Karimzadeh, J., and Zalucki, M.P. 2010. Bottom-Up effect of different

host plants on Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae): A life-table study on canola.

Journal of Economic Entomology, 103 (6): 2019-2027.

SPSS. 2006. SPSS base 15.0 user's guide. SPSS Incoprporation, Chicago. IL.

Steffen, K.L., Dan, M.S., Harper, J.K., Fleischer, S.J., Mkhize, S.S., Grenoble, D.W., MacNab,

A.A., and Fager, K. 1995. Evaluation of the initial season for implementation of four tomato

production systems. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 120: 148-156.

Stevenson, P.C., Anderson, J.C., Blaney, W.M., and Simmonds, M.S.J. 1993. Developmental inhibition

of Spodoptera litura (Fab.) larvae by a novel caffeoylquinic acid from the wild ground,

Arachis paraguariensis .Journal of Chemical Ecology. 19: 2917-2933.

Tranker, A. 1992. Use of agricultural and municipal organic wastes to develop suppressiveness to

plant pathogens, in Biological Control of Plant Diseases, ed. by Tjamos E.S., Papavizas

G.C. and Cook R.J. Plenum, New York, NY, pp. 35-42.

Tsai, J.H., and Wang, J.J. 2001. Effect of host plants on biology and life table parameters of Aphis spiraecola. Environmental Entomology, 30: 44-50.

Tuomi, J., Niemeli, P., Chapin, F.S.I., Bryant, J.P., and Siren, S. 1988. Defensive responses of trees

in relation to their carbon/nutrient balance, in mechanisms of woody plant defenses against

Insects: Search for Pattern, ed. by Mattson W., Levieux J. and Bernard-Dagan C. Springer,

NY, pp. 57-72.

Van Den Boom, C.E.M., van Beek, T.A., and Dicke, M. 2003. Differences among plant species


in acceptance by the spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch. Journal of Applied Entomology.

27:177.

Wang, S.Y., and Lin, S. 2002. Compost as soil supplement enhanced plant growth and fruit quality of

strawberry. Journal of Plant Nutrition. 25: 1143-2259.

Welke, S.E. 2005. The effect of compost extract on the yield of strawberries and the severity of Botrytiscinerea. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture. 25: 57-68.

Weltzein, H.C., and Ketterer, N. 1986. Control of Phytophthora infestans on tomato leaves and potato

tubers through water extracts of composted organic wastes. Phytopathology 76: p. 1104.

Weltzein, H.C. 1991. Biocontrol of foliar fungal disease with compost extracts, in Microbial Ecology

of Leaves , ed. by Andrews J.H. and Hirano S.S. Springer, New York, NY, pp. 430-450.

Wittmeyer, J.L., Coudron, T.A., and Adams, T.S. 2001. Ovarian development, fertility and fecundity

in Podisus maculiventris Say (Heteroptera:Pentatomidae): an analysis of the impact of nymphal,

adult, male and female nutritional source on reproduction. Invertebrate Reproduction & Development.

39(1): 9-20.

Xu, H.L.,Wang, X., and Wang, J. 2001. Effect of a microbial inoculant on stomatal response of maize

leaves. J. Crop Prod.: Agric Manag Global Context. 3: 235-243.

Yardim, E.N., Arancon, N.Q., Edwrads, C.A., Oliver, T.O., and Byrne, R. 2006. Suppression of Manducaquinqemaculata and Acalymma vittatum and Diabotrica undecimpunctata populations and damage

by vermicomposts. Pedobiologia. 50: 23-29.

Zhang, W.H., Dick, W.A. Davis, K.R., and Hoitink, H.A.J. 1998. Compost and compost water extract-

induced systemic acquired resistance in cucumber and Arabidopsis. Phytopathology. 88: 450-455.

Zhao, X., Iwamoto, T., and Carey, E.E. 2007. Antioxidant capacity of leafy vegetables as affected by

high tunnel environment, fertilization and growth stage. Journal of the Science of Food and

Agriculture. 87: 2692-2699.


Cadmium Toxicity: The Investigation of Cd Toxic Level

in Different Organs of Cherry Tomato Plant and the

Effect of Cd Accumulation

This research was done in hydroponic environment in greenhouse at 3

stages (vegetative, flowering and full product) in 5 concentrations of Cd (0.1,

0.3, 0.9, 2.7, and 10 µm) for investigating physiological and biological

effects. This study revealed that the increase of Cd concentration in understudy

treatments causes the 49% reduction of sugar solution in 10 µm treatment. On

the other hand, the gradual increase of Cd in cultivation caused the increase

of starch, reduction of photosynthesis and blockage of carbon cycle enzymes.

Furthermore, in heavy metal stress conditions of vegetative stage, Cd has

negative effects on the protein amount of total treatments in p=0.01 signified

level. When treatment starts, the amount of protein reduced until 33% in 0.1

µm concentration and this reduction can be seen also in other treatments. In

contrast, in flowering stage the amount of protein is increased compared to

the control. The study of different heavy metal concentration effects showed

that plants are more sensitive to Cd (2-20 times more than others). The Gen-

eralized Linear Model variance test of aerial and underground plant organs

traced the high level of Cd concentration in root in10 µm concentration. This

increasing process in p=0.001 level also was seen in root, leaf, and fruit. The

accumulation of Cd expressed high speed of Cd transport from the soil to

upper organs of tomato, and this process reduced the amount of solvable

sugar and protein.

Keywords: Accumulation, Cadmium, Heavy metal, Protein, Pollution, Sugar, Starch.


MD. Plant Biology, Mehregan University, Mahallat, Iran.


Abstract


INTRODUCTION

Many parts of the world are located in arid or semiarid regions and lack of water sup-

plies forces many countries use their sewage for irrigating their fields. There are many toxic el-

ements in sewage such as As, Cd, Cu, and Pb. These elements are accumulated in soil horizon

and their accumulations have been increased 3 to 6 times. When these toxic elements are changed

to organic solutions or accumulated in environment due to hydrological or biological process,

their concentrations would be increased. The increase of toxic element concentration is very

hazardous for environment and public health. These toxic elements enter into biological cycle

and bond with soil sediments and they are never omitted. The first signs of heavy metal con-

tamination in plant are visible less than 30 minutes. These signs include the reduction of Ca2+

absorption, blockage of Ca2+ channels into plasma membrane, reduction of K+ diffusion, callus

accumulation, discharge of malic acid, increase of phytochelatins, duplication of heat shock

genes, and biosynthesis of heat shock protein. Many researchers believe that the toxic level of

Cd is related to its bond tendency with SH group in enzymes and protein structures. In fact, the

optimum growth of tomato is occurred in pH 5.5- 6 and acidic soil causes Cd accumulation and

transport to different plant organs. This accumulation and transport have destructive effects on

physiological quality of plant product.

This study can be a useful and applied research for genetic adjustment and production of

plant varieties with less ability of Cd absorption. This research is done in order to measurement

the effect of Cd in Cherry tomato in hydroponic culture environment. This study is based on qual-

itative and quantitative aspects including study of solvable/starch, protein concentration and the

accumulation of Cd in different plant organs such as root, stem, and leaf.

Cd transport is done basically in 2 path ways: short distance transport in the width of the

root cortex and long distance transport for stem in xylem and phloem. The most important matter

is the accumulation of Cd in different parts of plant and use of probable mechanism for reduction

of toxic effects of Cd and its destructive consequences on qualitative and quantitative aspects of

plant. Carbohydrates are crucial macro molecules which are used in plant. By increase of Cd treat-

ment in Phyllantus amarus, it can be seen that the level of solvable sugar and photosynthesis re-

duced. In contrast, the amount of starch is increased. The accumulation of starch in treated plants

is because of blockage of using sugar and starch. This matter is also can be seen in Zea mays and

Hordeum. The reduction of sugar level is indirectly related to photosynthesis process and stabi-

lization of CO2. By entering Cd into plant tissues, it causes reduction of carbon cycle enzymes.

Bivalent metal cations have important role in Robisco action and balance between CO2 and O2

bounded by protein. Cd blocks the action of some enzymes such as fructose-1,6- bis phosphates

and fructose-6 phosphate (Malik et al., 1992).

Cd has a direct effect on photosynthesis. It indirectly reduces the level of sugar and in-

creases the amount of starch. The study of distribution of carbohydrates in different organs of

rice under heavy metal treatment showed that the total amount of carbohydrates in stem was 4

times higher compared to the control. On the contrary, the amount of carbohydrate was reduced

in root and leaves (Moya et al., 1993). Zenk and Kneer (1992) argued that in plants under stress

of heavy metals, the action of enzymes used for protein production increased. There is a direct

relationship between the level of Cd accumulation and synthesis of protein. Many researchers

believe that plant species and their varieties have different absorption, accumulation, and resist-

ance to heavy metals. Among leaf plants, ornamental cabbage is the one with high capacity of

Cd accumulation. The leaves of cherry tomato absorbed 70 times more Cd compared to carrot

leaves (Rezai, 2004).

The analysis of different heavy metal concentration revealed that after As, Cd has higher

destructive power (Jana et al., 1987). In plants under high Cd concentration treatment, the ac-

cumulation of this element was seen in roots, lower leaves, stems, and also upper leaves (Marufi


et al., 2005). There is a correlation between available Cd and its concentration in different plant

organs. Cultivated plants in high Cd have more Cd in their root, stem, and leaves (Rezai, 2004).

Excretion of Cd is equal to 29019×10 ton in a year. Using unpurified phosphate fertilizer is an

important factor in increasing Cd concentration in soil. The standard amount of Cd in phosphate

fertilizer is 15-25 mg kg-1. On the other hand, the mean of Cd in soil is equal to 0.1 – 2 mg kg-

1 and its toxic level is 3 to 8 mg kg-1. The normal amount of Cd in plants is 1 ppm and if it ex-

ceeds higher than 20 ppm, it causes the plant to be toxic. The standard amount of Cd (based on

2001/22/CE) in leaf vegetables such as ornamental cabbage and bean, wheat, rice, and mush-

room is 0.2 mg kg-1 and in potato and other root plants is 0.1 mg kg-1 (Rezai, 2004).

Based on the researches done and comparison of toxic effect in different plant organs, this

study can be an applied research for improving and producing plant varieties with lower ability of

Cd absorption. In this research, the effect of different levels of Cd on the quality of cherry tomato,

an ornamental and edible plant, were investigated.


This research was conducted in Isfahan Center for Research of Agricultural Science and

Natural Resourses in 3 stages (germination, greenhouse, and laboratory) during one year.

Germination Stage

Tomato seed (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. var. Cerasiform) are very resistance to Mosaic

virus, vertislom, dejection. They have pome fruits with weight of 150-170g. These seeds were dis-

infected by 50% MnO4 in 30˚ C and 70% humidity. Then they were transported to seeding vases

(these vases were sterilized by Sodium Hypochlorite) of pitmas. After 3 weeks, 3 leave germs were

ready to transport to solution in hydroponic environment.

Greenhouse Stage

Based on this fact that this research was done in hydroponic culture environment, 9 replica-

tions were considered for each treatment in 3 harvesting stages in 54 vases. The nutrition solution

cycling was done by using 6 supplies in distinguish time and speed. For preparing Hoagland nutrition

solution (Gamburg and Walter, 1975), microelements were used in form of HBO3, MnSO4, CuSO4,

ZnSO4, Mo and macroelements were used in form of CaNO3, KNO3, MgSO4, K2HPO4FeSO4.

By using CdCl2, 21/2 H2O with molecule mass of 228.34 and 99.9 % purity. Treatments

were studied in their final volume. After preparing nutrition solution, germs were transported from

seeding vases to the vases containing substra perlite. After planting 3 leaves germs, their pH of

nutrition solution, temperature, green house humidity, and amount of imported/exported solution

were measured.

Laboratory Stage

Stage 1: Preparing Solutions with Solvable and Starch (Kochert, 1978)

In this stage for detachment of solvable and starch, 0.05 g of dry plant material from aerial

parts was used in 3 replications in two harvesting stages: vegetative and flowering. The dried plant

materials added to the jar containing 10 ml ethylic alcohol (80%). The refrigerant was put in the

Arleen and they were heated in 100˚C hot bath. Then the content of the Arleen were cooled and

filterized. After that their volume was increased to 100ml. The content of filter paper containing

starch in ethanol was put in 75˚Coven. Finally they were poured into a basher and boiled in hot

distilled water for 15 minutes. 5 ml of Ba (OH)3 (0.3 N) and 5 ml of ZnSO4 (5%) were added to

the volume of filterized solution containing solvable sugar. After 10 minutes centrifuging by G ro-

tation, 1000 ml supernatant in a sterilized water balloon was increased to 100 ml volumes. Finally,

the residual of pipe containing ZnSO4 and pigments were discarded.


Stage 2: Adding Indicator

For measuring and determining sugar, phenol indicator (5%) and H2SO4 were used. The 2

ml of prepared solutions was put in separate pipes and for each pipe 1 ml phenol (5%) and 5 ml

H2SO4 were added. When cooling was done, if sugar was in the solution, the environment would

be changed to yellow color. The absorption of each solution in the wave length of 485 nm was

read and the amount of sugar samples was investigated by using standard curve based on g kg-1.

For determining density of solvable and starch of samples, solutions with concentrations of 0, 1,

2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 ml L-1 in glucose were prepared (control sugar). The whole process was

conducted and repeated in 2 ml of each sample. Then by using written absorption numbers, the

standard curve was calculated based on this formula C = ABS × 0.0134 + 0.00157 and the amounts

of sugars were measured.

(C=sugar concentration, ABS= the amount of absorption in wave length of 485 nm)

Measuring Protein Amount Based on Kjeldahl Method (ISRC, 1990)

Measuring protein amount was conducted based on the measurement of total nitrogen (Ter-

racing method) after distillation. First, 0.25 g of plant dry material powder (aerial and digestive

parts) was put in the pipes containings salicylic acid and H2O2. Then 2 ml salicylic acid and 1ml

H2O2 were added again to pipes for discoloring samples. Then the samples volumes were increased

to 50 cc in balloon. After that, 5 ml of extract was pipette and transported to distillation balloon.

The amount of 2 ml of NaOH (12.5 mol L-1) was added and the balloon was heated in water bath

for 3 minutes. The solution was absorbed in 10 ml HBO3 containing 10 drops of indicator. Ulti-

mately, HBO3 solution containing NH3 was titrated with H2SO4 0.005 mol. This process changed

the color of the solution from blue to pink.

Boric acid is a weak acid and it releases NH3 in adjucent to strong acid. The percentage of

nitrogen absorbition (NA) in dry plant samples was calculated based on the following formula:

NA percentage = 0.56 × t × (a-b) × v/w × 100/DM

(t = the concentration of acid in titration, a= the amount of acid used in sample, b= the amount

of acid used in control ml, v = the volume of digestion ml, w=the weight of plant sample g, DM=

the percentage of dry plant material)

The total percentage of plant nitrogen absorbition is calculated based on g kg-1 and for con-

verting nitrogen absorbition into protein, it needs F special coefficient.

The Measurement of Elements (Moral, 1996)

Plant samples (1 g of each sample) were digested by mixture of H2O:HNO3 in ratio of 9:1.

Then the volume of samples increased to 25 ml. For measuring Cd, I.C.P system and standard

curve were used based on mg L-1.

Statistical Analysis

The total tests of Cd were conducted randomly in 3 stages and 9 replications in p≤0.01

probability level. The results were analyzed through SPSS (version=14.00) and Excel soft wares.


In this study the effects of Cd on Lycopersicum esculentum Mill. var. Cerasiform was in-

vestigated in six treatments (0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.9, 2.7 and 10 µm) with 3 replications in hydroponic en-

vironment. The study was conducted in 3 harvesting stages: vegetative, flowering and full product.

Firstly, 18 vases (3 replications for 6 treatments) were used for investigating the physiological and

biochemical parameters. The analysis of the results and statistical data of these two stages was

conducted by ANOVA and LSD in RCBD. At the third stage, the amounts of accumulated Cd in

root, leaf, and fruit were measured and compared to allowed level of Cd in the agricultural products.


In all stages, the increase of Cd concentration was shown compared to the control. Finally, the re-

sults and statistical data of different parameters such as growth, physiological and biochemical

changes were compared to each other.

The Effect of Cd on Solvable Sugar and Starch

The results obtained from ANOVA revealed that there isn’t significant differences among

six treatments in terms of solvable sugars in vegetative stage (p≤0.05) and starch (p≤0.05) in

dry plant weight (Fig. 1 and 2). After 40 days (at the end of flowering stage), Cd was demon-

strated as a blockage element in plant metabolism, and it caused solvable sugar reduction in

7.56 g kg-1 compared to the control plants (3.88 g kg-1) in 10 µm treatment. The 49% reduction

showed significant differences (p≤0.001) in all Cd concentrations compared to the control. On

the other hand, in case of negative acceleration of growth by increasing Cd in the medium,

amount of starch (5.19 g kg-1 DW in control) maximized to 8.11 g kg-1 DW in 2.7 µm Cd con-

centration. LSD test demonstrated differences (p≤0.05) between control and concentrations of

0.3, 0.9, 2.7 and 10 µM. Figs 3 and 4 show the means of solvable sugar and starch in dry weight

in flowering stage.

By Cd treatment, carbon cycle is blocked. Cd has a strong effect on rubisco and balance

between CO2 and O2. The effect of Cd on rubisco activity is an important factor due to its reaction

with SH group. On the other hand, when Cd stresses starts, it has effect on calvin cycle and its en-

Fig. 1. The effect of different levels of Cd on sol-

uble sugar in vegetative stage.

Fig. 2. The effect of different levels of Cd on

starch in sugar in vegetative stage.

Fig. 3. The effect of different levels of Cd on sol-

uble sugar in flowering stage.Fig. 4. The effect of different levels of Cd on

starch in sugar in flowering stage.


zymes (Vassilev and Yorrdanor, 1997).

The Effect of Cd on The Amount of Plant Protein

The results of the analysis showed that in vegetative stage the maximum amount of protein

(6.23 ±0.62 g kg-1) in control was reduced to 4.18 g kg-1 (in 0.1µm Cd concentration). This reduc-

tion in all treatments was due to gradual increase of Cd concentration (p≤0.01).

By starting of treatments the amount of protein accidentally reduced to 33% in 0.1µm Cd

concentrations and this gradual reduction could also be seen in other Cd treatments. On the con-

trary, the analysis of statistical data showed that the amount of protein increased in flowering stage

compared to control. This increase in heavy metal stress environment affected on protein synthase

enzymes (Prasad, 1997; Kneer and Zink, 1992). In Fig. 5, the amount of protein in aerial organs

shows significant difference.

Cd Accumulation in Root, Leaf, and Fruit

Plant species and varieties are very different in the ability of absorption, accumulation, and

resistance to heavy metals (Alloway, 1990). The previous studies on heavy metal concentration

indicated that plant species are important to Cd treatment and Cd accumulates in roots. Cd ac-

cumulation in other organs is related to Cd accumulation in root (Jana et al., 1987). There was

a significant difference between control and different Cd treatments (p≤ 0.001). There was a

correlation between available Cd and its concentration in different plant organs. In high Cd treat-

ment, higher Cd accumulation 0.0383, 0.0206, 0.0201 mg kg -1 dw was seen in root, leaf, and

fruit, respectively.

Fig. 5. The effect of different levels of Cd on plant protein in vegetative and flowering

stages.

Fig. 6. The comparison of the amount of Cd accumulation

in different organs.


GLM variance test of aerial (leaf – fruit) and underground organs exhibited high concen-

tration of Cd in root in 10µm (Fig. 6). Chauderi et al. (1995) reported that 12-18 percent Cd trans-

port from aerial organs of cereals to their seeds. Some researchers classified high concentrations

of Cd in order of roots, leaves, seeds, and reservation organs. There was a correlation between

available Cd and its concentration in different plant organs. The plant grown in soil contaminated

with Cd had high accumulation in their root, stem, and leaves. In the polluted calcareous soil, the

ratio of Cd in leaves and fruit of plant was 30 – 60 mg kg-1dw. In plants grown in accumulated soil

(100 ppm) the specific coefficient of Cd accumulation in fruits (fruit/soil=1.10) was due to high

speed of Cd transport from the soil to aerial organs of plant.

CONCLUSION

This study reveals that the increase of Cd concentration causes the 49% reduction of sugar

solution in 10 µm Cd treatment. On the other hand, the gradual increase of Cd in medium causes

the increase of starch, reduction of photosynthesis and blockage of carbon cycle enzymes. Fur-

thermore, in heavy metal stress condition in vegetative stage, Cd has negative effects on the protein

amount of total treatments in p≤0.01 signified level. When treatment starts, the amount of protein

reduced 33% in 0.1µm Cd concentration and this reduction can be seen in other treatments. In

contrast, in flowering stage the amount of protein increased compared to control. The GLM vari-

ance test of aerial and underground plant organs showed that the high level of Cd concentration in

root in10 µm Cd concentration. This increasing process was seen in root, leaf, and fruit. The ac-

cumulation of Cd expresses high speed of Cd transport from the soil to upper organs of cherry

tomato, and this process reduces the amount of solvable sugar and protein.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is necessary here to express warm thanks to Dr. Ali Shahabi from Faculty of Agronomy

Department of Isfahan University for his kind assistance and helpful cooperation during the conduct

of present study.

Litrature Cited

Alloway, B.J. 1990. Heavy metals in soils. Blackie and Son LTD. London, UK.

Chauderi, A., Zhao, F.S., Mcgrath, S.P. and Cross Land, A.R. 1995. The cadmium content of

British wheat grain. Journal of Environmental Quality, 24 (5): 850–855.

Jana, S., Dalal, T. and Barua, B. 1987. Effects and relative toxicity of heavy metals on Cusseta reflex. Water Air Soil Pollution. Vol. 33: 23 – 27.

Kneer, R. and Zenk, M.H. 1992. Phytochelatins protect plant enzymes from heavy metal poisoning.

Photochemistry, 31: 2663–2667.

Kochert , G. 1978. Carbohydrate determination by the phenol sulfuric acid method. In: He Lebust, J. A.,

Craig, J.S. (Ed): Hand book of physiological methods. pp: 96-97. Cambridge University

Press, Cambridge.

Malik, D., Sheoran, I. and Singh, R. 1992. Carbon metabolism in leaves of cadmium treated wheat

seedlings. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 30: 223-229.

Marufi, S., Diehl, S.V., Han, F.X., Monts, D.L. and Su, Y. 2005. Anatomical changes due to uptake

and accumulation of Zn and Cd in India mustard (Brassica junceac). Environmental and

Experimental Botany, 54: 131-141.

Moral, R., Cortes, A., Gomez, I. and Mataix – Beneyton, J. 2002. Assessing changes in Cd

phytoavailability to tomato in amended calcareous soils. Bioresource Technology. 85 (1):

63-68.

Moya, J.L., Ros, R. and Picazo, I. 1993. Influence of cadmium and nickel on growth, net photosynthesis

and carbohydrate distribution in rice plants. Photosynthesis Research, 36 (2): 75-80.


Rai, V., Khatoon, S., Bisht, S. S. and Mehrotra, S. 2005. Effect of Cd on growth, ultramorphology

of leaf and secondary metabolites of Phyllanthus amarus Schum. and Thonn. Chemosphere,

61 (11): 1644-1650.

Rezaei, Sh. 2004. Effect of K+ in Triticum under tension of heavy metal environment. Ph.D. Thesis,

Isfahan University.

Vassilev, A. and Yordanor, L. 1997. Reductive analysis of factors limiting growth of cadmium – treated

plants: A Review. Bulgarian Journal of Plant Physiology, 23: 114-133.


The Effect of Different Concentrations of Plant Growth

Regulators on Micropropagation of Kalanchoe blossfeldianacv. White

Shoot tips from actively growing, greenhouse maintained plants of

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana were cultured in vitro for shoot proliferation and root

initiation on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with

NAA and BA, both in concentrations of 0.00, 0.50, 1.00 and 2.00 mg l-1.

Results showed that the maximum plantlets height (7.012 cm), node number

(4.516), root number (8.860) and root length (10.160 cm) were obtained in

MS medium containing 1 mg l-1 BA + 1 mg l-1 NAA. Maximum shoot

number (5.886), leaf number (8.980) and proliferation index (1.791) were

calculated in medium supplemented with 1 mg l-1 BA + 0.5 mg l-1 NAA.

Minimum plantlets height (1.988 cm), node number (1.283), root number

(2.720), root length (3.016 cm), shoot number (1.221), leaf number (2.015)

and proliferation index (0.405) were obtained in medium without BA and

NAA (control). Fresh and dry weights of plantlets were calculated, too.

About 85% of the micropropagated plantlets were established successfully

in acclimatization medium containing peat, perlite and sand (1:1:1).

Regenerated plantlets were morphologically identical with mother plants.

Keywords: Crassulaceae, In vitro propagation, Plant growth regulators, Proliferation index, Shoot

explants.

Abbreviations: BA_benzyladenine; NAA_naphtaleneacetic acid; MS_Murashige and Skoog.

Behzad Kaviani1*, Davood Hashemabadi1 and Mohaddeseh Kordi1

1 Department of Horticultural Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran


Abstract


INTRODUTION

Kalanchoe is used as ornamental potted plant around the world and contains medicinal val-

ues (Ofokansi et al., 2005; Nahar et al., 2008). Kalanchoe is very famous for its antimicrobial, an-

tiinflammatory, antidiabetic and antitumor activity (Torres-Santos et al., 2003; Tadeg et al., 2005).

Genus Kalanchoe consists of about 130 species of annual and perennial shrubs, climbers and small

trees. Usually, it is cultivated as garden ornamental in rock and sand gardens with a medium hu-

midity. Since, Kalanchoe is a slow growing plant therefore it is extremely necessary to develop a

tissue culture system for rapid production of plant for commercial and medicinal purposes (Khan

et al., 2006). Because of its medicinal importance and potential to produce value added secondary

metabolites in tissue culture, it is of great interest to develop biotechnological methods to improve

the production of this plant in vitro (Khan et al., 2006). One of the most extensive tissue culture

techniques is micropropagation. Micropropagation is an effective technique for propagation of

pathogen-free ornamental plants. In vitro propagation could be a valuable alternative to propagation

by seeds or cuttings. Studies on micropropagation of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, as an ornamental

plant, are relatively low. Some studies on in vitro proliferation of Kalanchoe have been done by

several researchers (Frello et al., 2002; Khan et al., 2006; Sanikhani et al., 2006). Micropropagation

of some Kalanchoe species were obtained on a hormone free medium (Khan et al., 2006). Also,

some studies on the micropropagation of Kalanchoe reported the use of different plant growth reg-

ulators like IAA, 2, 4-D, NAA and TDZ (Dickens and Staden, 1990; Ioannou and Ioannou, 1992;

Frello et al., 2002, Kordi et al., 2013). The aim of the present study was the effect of different con-

centrations of BA and NAA on micropropagation of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, an ornamental plant.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Mother plants of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cv. White were prepared from a commercial

greenhouse in Karaj city, Alborz province, Iran. Micro-cuttings, apical buds containing two young

leaves, were isolated from the mother plants and used as primary explants. Apical buds were

washed thoroughly under running tap water for 20 min and disinfected with a 20% (v/v) NaOCl

aqueous solution for 15 min then rinsed three times in sterile distilled water (10 min each). At the

end, apical buds were sterilized for 3 min in 70% ethanol followed by three times rinses with sterile

distilled water (15 min each). Shoot tips were excised from apical buds using binocular and used

as final explants. Shoot tips were cultivated on MS (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) basal medium

supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mg l-1 of BA and 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mg l-1 of NAA. The media were

adjusted to pH 5.7-5.8 and solidified with 7 g l-1 Agar-agar. The media were pH adjusted before

autoclaving at 121°C, 1 atm. for 20 min. Five shoot tips were cultivated in culture flasks. The cul-

tures were incubated in growth chamber whose environmental conditions were adjusted to 26 ±

1°C and 75-80% relative humidity, under a photosynthetic photon density flux 50 µmol/m2/s with

a photoperiod of 16 h per day. Plant height, shoot number, node number, leaf number, root number,

root length, fresh weight, dry weight and proliferation index were measured 5 wk after shoots tips

culture. For determination of dry weight, plantlets produced in vitro were dried in Oven at 105°C

for 24 h, following obtaining of fresh weight. Proliferation index was calculated via shoot number

divided by explants number. The experimental design was R.C.B.D. Each experiment was carried

out in three replicates and each replicate includes five specimens. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)

was done using SPSS statistical software and means were compared using LSD at 0.05 level of

probability.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

An effective micropropagation method was done for the in vitro plant regeneration of

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana. For establishing a plant regeneration protocol, current study investigated

the effect of different concentrations of BA and NAA on the efficiency of growth and development


in Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (Table 1, Fig. 1). Minimum plantlets height (1.758 cm) was shown in

the absence of exogenous BA and NAA. BA and NAA at 1.00 mg l-1 in the MS media performed

the best for increasing plant height (7.012 cm). Effect of NAA on induction of plant height was

less than that of BA (the average of 2.25 vs. 3.70 cm) (Table 1). BA at 1.00 mg l-1 (4.650 cm) and

NAA at 0.50 mg l-1 (2.438 cm) have been shown to have highest influence on plant height, singu-

larly. In most cases, the combined treatments of BA and NAA showed a synergistic effect, with

the increasing plant height greater than that of the singular treatments. After 5 weeks of culture,

fully developed plantlets were produced from the explants (Fig. 1). Data analysis showed that the

effect of BA and NAA were significant on the plant height (p≤0.01), but plant height was not sig-

nificantly affected by kind of variety. The positive influence of BA and NAA was clear in enhancing

the number of leaf and shoot. The highest shoot number (5.886), leaf number (8.980) and prolif-

eration index (1.791) were obtained in medium containing 1 mg l-1 BA + 0.5 mg l-1 NAA. Also,

apical buds cultured on MS media supplemented with 1 mg l-1 BA + 0.5 mg l-1 NAA including

5.39 shoots showed good growth of shoot (Table 1). The lowest shoot number (1.128) leaf number

(2.015) and proliferation index (0.405) were obtained in medium without BA and NAA (control).

BA had a significant effect on increasing leaf and shoot number (Table 1). Data presented in Table

1 shows that the least leaf and shoot number have been induced in media without BA. Minimum

node number (1.283) was obtained in medium without BA and NAA (control). BA and NAA at

1.00 mg l-1 in the MS media performed the best for increasing node number (4.516) (Table 1, Fig.

1). Effect of BA on induction of node number was higher than that of NAA (the average of 2.800

vs. 1.800) (Table 1). BA at 1.00 mg l-1 (3.516) and NAA at 0.50 mg l-1 (1.983) have been shown

to have highest influence on node number, singularly. In most cases, the combined treatments of

BA and NAA showed a synergistic effect, with the increasing node number greater than that of

the singular treatments. Data analysis showed that the effect of BA and NAA, singularly and in

combination with each other were significant on the node number (p≤0.01 and p≤0.05, respec-

tively), but node number was not significantly affected by kind of variety. The effects of different

concentrations of BA and NAA were found significant on fresh and dry weight of plantlets. The

Treatments

(mg l-1)

Plant

height

(cm)

Shoot

number

Node

number

Leaf

number

Root

length

(cm)

Root

number

Fresh

weight

(g)

Dry

weight

(g)

Proliferation

index

NAA 0 + BA 0

NAA 0 + BA 0.5

NAA 0 + BA 1

NAA 0 + BA 2

NAA 0.5 + BA 0

NAA 0.5 + BA 0.5

NAA 0.5 + BA 1

NAA 0.5 + BA 2

NAA 1 + BA 0

NAA 1 + BA 0.5

NAA 1 + BA 1

NAA 1 + BA 2

NAA 2 + BA 0

NAA 2 + BA 0.5

NAA 2 + BA 1

NAA 2 + BA 2

1.758g

2.657efg

4.650abc

3.700cdef

2.483fg

3.400cdefg

5.950ab

3.466cdef

2.266fg

3.033defg

7.012a

4.316cde

2.000g

3.660cdef

4.483bcd

3.383cdefg

1.128h

2.106fgh

3.720bc

2.551def

1.545gh

2.608def

5.886a

2.885cdef

1.496gh

2.663def

3.275bcde

3.996b

1.551fg

2.718def

3.386bcd

2.328ef

1.283ef

2.333cdef

3.516abc

2.833cde

1.983def

2.483cdef

4.466ab

2.700cde

1.666ef

2.666cdef

4.816a

3.416abcd

1.816f

2.616cdef

3.282bcd

2.416cdef

2.015i

3.498fgh

6.115bc

4.165def

2.535hi

4.318def

8.980a

4.651cdef

2.476hi

4.388def

5.400bcde

6.630b

2.573ghi

4.458def

5.623bcd

3.821efg

3.016h

4.133fgh

7.838bc

5.900cdef

3.766fgh

5.416defgh

10.160ab

5.583cdefg

3.866fgh

4.716efgh

10.360a

6.700cde

3.316gh

6.083cde

7.150cd

5.633cdefg

2.420a

3.650a

6.860a

5.130a

3.330a

4.570a

9.100a

4.830a

3.320a

4.100a

8.860a

6.020a

2.800a

5.200a

6.840a

4.840a

1.695ghi

2.903efg

4.803ab

3.535cde

1.741fghi

2.865efgh

4.598abc

3.230de

1.736hi

3.053de

5.628a

3.463cde

1.840i

2.945ef

4.220bcd

2.793efgh

0.715fgh

1.260de

2.066ab

1.495cde

0.863gh

1.198efg

1.995abc

1.320de

0.960gh

1.350de

2.553a

1.565bcde

0.811h

1.216efg

1.796bcd

1.200efg

0.405i

0.696fghi

1.238bc

0.845defg

0.511hi

0.866def

1.791a

0.958cdef

0.495hi

0.883def

1.090bcde

1.326b

0.531ghi

0.901def

1.128bcd

0.770efgh

In each column, means with the similar letters are not significantly different at 5% level of probability using Duncan’s test

Table 1. Mean comparison of the effect of different concentrations of BA and NAA on some traits of Kalanchoeblossfeldiana cv. White


highest average fresh (5.628 g) and dry (2.553 g) weight of plantlets was found with 1.00 mg l-1 BA

along with 1 mg l-1 NAA (Table 1). Average fresh (1.695 g) and dry (0.715 g) weight of plantlets

was minimum in absence of BA and NAA (control). It was appeared that less average weight of

plantlets had found at all hormone concentrations of NAA without BA (Table 1).

Studies of Naz et al. (2009) on micropropagation of two species of Bryophyllum pinnatum

and Bryophyllum daigremontianum from Crassulaceae family showed that thidiazuron (TDZ) has

more potent as its lower concentrations (5 and 10 µM) for multiple shoots in B. daigremontianum.

The regeneration frequency and number of shoots per explants were also enhanced on these con-

centrations. Contrary to our findings, these researchers showed that the concentrations of BAP (1,

2, and 3 μM) and combinations of BAP and NAA did not improve shoot regeneration. Only shoots

were produced from leaf sections in lower concentrations of BAP (1 μM) while the higher con-

centration of BAP did not show the optimum response. The beneficial effect of BA on shoot re-

generation and proliferation and induction of multiple shoots was reported in other species (Fuller

and Fuller, 1995; Nhut, 2003; Fráguas et al., 2004; Raj Poudel et al., 2005). Some species may re-

quire a low concentration of auxins in combination with high levels of cytokinins to increase shoot

proliferation (Van Staden, 2008). Study of Hashemabadi and Kaviani (2010) on micropropagation

of Aloe vera L. using BA, IBA and NAA showed that the best proliferation of shoot per explants

was shown on medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l-1 BA + 0.5 mg l-1 NAA. Naz et al. (2009)

showed that 100% shoots frequency was observed in MS medium + 2 μM BAP in B. pinnatum

Fig. 1. Micropropagation process of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana. cv. White. a) Establishment

of explants, b) Callus formation and production of shoots, c) Plantlets containing prolifer-

ated shoots, d) Plantlets containing roots, e) Hardening of plantlets, f) Hardened plants

transferred to plastic pots containing a mixture of peat, perlite and sand (1:1:1).

a b c

d e f


and in MS medium + 2 μM BAP + 10 μM NAA in B. daigremontianum. This result is agreement

with current study. In our work, combination of BA and NAA, both at 1.00 mg l-1 promoted shoot

proliferation. In both the Bryophyllum species different BAP concentrations did not affect the

number of shoots per explant as in all the concentrations only one shoot per explant was produced.

Our results do not confirm those of obtained by Khan et al. (2006). These workers showed that

the maximum number of shoots, length of shoots, number of leaves, number of roots and number

of plants were obtained on a hormone free MS based medium (control), suggesting that there is a

little role of plant growth regulators in the in vitro development, multiplication and organogenesis

of Kalanchoe tomentosa. In our work minimum of these traits were obtained in control plants.

Some other studies on the micropropagation of Kalanchoe reported the use of different plant growth

regulators like IAA, 2,4-D, NAA and TDZ for optimal in vitro proliferation (Dickens and Staden,

1990, Ioannou and Ioannou, 1992; Frello et al., 2002, Naz et al., 2009).

The medium containing 1 mg l-1 BA + 1 mg l-1 NAA resulted in the maximum root length

(10.36 cm) and root number (8.860). Minimum root number (2.420) and root length (3.016 cm)

was obtained in control medium (Table 1). Data analysis showed that the effect of BA and NAA

were significant on root length (p≤0.01). There was no noticeable difference among different con-

centrations of NAA to response to root number and root length. Among different concentrations

of BA, maximum root number (6.860) and root length (7.838 cm) were calculated in explants

grown on medium containing 1.00 mg l-1. The number and length of root per explants were no in-

creased with increasing the concentration of NAA and BA (Table 1).

Naz et al. (2009) showed that simple BAP failed to produce roots in Bryophyllum species

(contrary to our finding), so combination of BAP with NAA proved to be excellent for root growth

(consistent to our finding). In our studies, BA improved root formation and growth. Also, combi-

nation of BA and NAA proved to be excellent for root number and root length. Contrary to current

study, Naz et al. (2009) revealed that there is difference between two cultivars for root production,

because B. pinnatum produced 4.2 roots per explants and B. daigremontianum produced 7.2 roots

per explants. Our findings demonstrated that the addition of BA and NAA in culture media was

effective for increasing the number of root and root length. Current study showed the positive

effect of NAA on root induction and root length. Some studies showed the positive effect of cy-

tokinins on rooting (Gomes et al., 2010). Our studies demonstrated the positive effect of NAA in

concentrations of 0.5 and 1 mg l-1 on both root induction and root length.

Literature Cited

Dickens, C.W.S. and Staden, J. 1990. The in vitro flowering of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Poellniz.

II. The effects of growth regulators and gallic acid. Plant Cell Physiology, 31 (6): 757-762.

Fráguas, C.B., Pasqual, M., Dutra, L.F. and Cazzeta, O. 2004. Micropropagation of fig (Ficus carica L.) ‘Roxo de Valinhos’ plants. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol-Plant, 40: 471-474.

Frello, S., Venerus, E. and Serek, M. 2002. Regeneration of various species of Crassulaceae with

special reference to Kalanchoe. Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology, 77 (2):

204-208.

Fuller, M.P. and Fuller, F.M. 1995. Plant tissue culture using Brassica seedlings. Journal of Biology

Education, 20 (1): 53-59.

Gomes, F., Simões, M., Lopes, M.L. and Canhoto, M. 2010. Effect of plant growth regulators and

genotype on the micropropagation of adult trees of Arbutus unedo L. (strawberry tree). New

Biotechnology, 27 (6): 882-892.

Hashemabadi, D. and Kaviani, B. 2010. In vitro proliferation of an important medicinal plant aloe- A

method for rapid production. Australian Journal of Crop Science, 4 (4): 216-222.

Ioannou, M. and Ioannou, N. 1992. Micropropagation of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Poelln., from

leaf-blade segments. Miscellaneous Reports Agricultural Research Institute, Ministry of


Agriculture and Natural Resources Nicosia, 53: 4.

Khan, S., Naz, S., Ali, K. and Zaidi, S. 2006. Direct organogenesis of Kalanchoe tomentosa (Crassulaceae)

from shoot tips. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 38 (4): 977-981.

Kordi, M., Kaviani, B. and Hashemabadi, D. 2013. In vitro propagation of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana using BA and NAA. European Journal of Experimental Biology, 3 (1): 285-288

Murashige, T. and Skoog, F. 1962. A revised medium for rapid growth and biomass with tobacco

Etissue cultures. Physiology Plant, 15: 473-497.

Nahar, K., Mohammad, J.U.K. and Mohammad, R.S. 2008. Antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities

of Bryophyllum daigremontianum. Journal of Pharmaceutical Science, 7 (1): 99-101.

Naz, S., Javad, S., Ilyas, S. and Ali, A. 2009. An efficient protocol for rapid multiplication of Bryophyllum pinnatum and Bryophyllum daigremontianum. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 41 (5): 2347-2355.

Nhut, D.T. 2003. The control of In vitro direct main stem formation of Lilium longiflorum derived

from receptacle culture and rapid propagation by using In vitro stem nodes. Plant Growth

Regulation, 40 (2): 179-184.

Ofokansi, K.C., Esimone, C.O. and Anele, C.R. 2005. Evaluation of the in vitro combined antibacterial

effect of the leaf extracts of Bryophyllum pinnatum and Ocimum gratissimum (Labiatae).

Plant Product Research Journal, 9: 6-10.

Raj Poudel, P., Kataoka, I. and Mochioka, R. 2005. Effect of plant growth regulators on in vitro propagation of Vitis ficifolia var. Ganeba and its interspecific hybrid grape. Asian Journal

of Plant Science, 4 (5): 466-471.

Sanikhani, M., Stefan, F. and Margrethe, S. 2006. TDZ induces shoot regeneration in various

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana pollen cultivars in the absence of auxin. Plant Cell, Tissue and

Organ Culture, 85 (1): 75-82.

Tedge, H., Mohammad, E., Asres, K. and Mariam, G. 2005. Antimicrobial activities of some selected

traditional Ethiopian medicinal plants used in the treatment of skin disorders. Journal of

Ethnophormacology, 100 (1/2): 168-175.

Torres-Santos, E.C., Da Silva, S.A.G., Costa, S.S., Santos, A.P.P., Almeida, A.P. and Rossi-Bergmann,

B. 2003. Toxicological analysis and effectiveness of oral Kalanchoe pinnata on a human

case of Cutaneous leishmaniasis. Phytotherapy Research, 17: 801-803.

Van Staden, D. 2008. Plant growth regulators, II: cytokinins, their analogues and inhibitors. In:

Plant Propagation by Tissue Culture (eds 3) (George EF et al eds), pp 205-226, Springer.


Effect of Cycocel and Daminozide on Vegetative Growth,

Flowering and the Content of Essence of Pot Marigold

(Calendula officinalis)

Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) is a medicinal and ornamental

plant. The effect of different concentrations of chlormequat (cycocel), and

daminozide, two plant growth retardant, on plant height, flowering, the

content of essence and some other traits in pot marigold (Calendulaofficinalis) was assessed. Plant growth retardants are commonly applied to

limit stem elongation and produce a more compact plant. The experiment

was done as a factorial in randomized completely blocks design (R.C.B.D.)

with 16 treatments and 3 replications in Rasht. Cycocel at 4 concentrations

(0, 500, 1000 and 1500 mg/L) and daminozide at 4 concentrations (0, 1500,

3000 and 4500 mg/L) were used. Investigated characteristics were plant

height, leaf number, flower number, flowering time, fresh weight, dry

matter, the content of essence and carotenoid in flowers. Based on analysis

of variance (ANOVA), the effect of different treatments and their interaction

on most traits was significant at 0.05 level of probability. The minimum

height (24 cm/plant) in treatment of 500 mg/L cycocel + 3000 mg/L

daminozide, the largest number of flowers (4.66 flowers/plant) in treatment

of 1000 mg/L cycocel + 4500 mg/L daminozide and most essence content

(0.154 mg/100 g) in treatment of 4500 mg/L daminozide without cycocel

were obtained.

Keywords: Chlormequat, Drench, Plant height, Ornamental plants.

Shahram Shoa Kazemi1, Davood Hashemabadi2*, Ali Mohammadi Torkashvand2 and Behzad Kaviani2

1MSc. Student, Department of Horticultural Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht,

Iran2Department of Horticultural Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran


Abstract

108 Journal of Ornamental Plants, Volume 4, Number 2: 107-114, June, 2014

INTRODUCTION

Calendula officinalis (pot marigold) from the family Asteraceae is probably native to south-

ern Europe. It is a short-lived aromatic perennial plant, growing to 80 cm tall, with sparsely

branched lax or erect stems. The inflorescences are yellow, comprising a thick capitulum or flower

head 4-7 cm diameter surrounded by two rows of hairy bracts. Calendula are considered by many

gardening experts as one of the most versatile flowers to grow in a garden, especially since they

are easy to grow, and tolerate most soils. Calendula officinalis L. is an annual, aromatic, medicinal

and ornamental herb (Gazim et al., 2008). The composite flowers blossom in the spring-summer

seasons for 3 times per year (Gilman and Howe, 1999; Omidbaighi, 2005). The leaves and flowers

of marigold are applied in horticulture, medicine, cosmetics, perfume, pharmaceutical preparation,

food and other industries (Van Wyk and Wink, 2004; Gazim et al., 2008). One of the main com-

ponents of active ingredient in Calendula officinalis L. are essential oils which the most of them

synthesize in its orange petals (Omidbaighi, 2005). Flower essence is using for food and medicine

(Hamburger et al., 2003; Janke, 2004; Jimenez-Medina et al., 2006). Plant growth retardants are

commonly applied to limit stem elongation and produce a more compact plant. Production of high

quality, compact pot plants may be achieved through the use of plant growth retardants including

cycocel (Tayama et al., 1992). Effectiveness of plant growth retardants depends on time and method

of application, concentration, type of species and cultivar, and type of target organ as well physi-

ological and environmental conditions (Pobudkiewicz and Nowak, 1994; James et al., 1999). The

most common methods of application of growth retardants are foliar sprays and media drenches

(Al-Khassawneh et al., 2006). Plant growth retardants can delay cell division and elongation of

plant aerial parts as well restrict gibberellins biosynthesis, resulted in reduces internodes length

and vegetative growth (Magnitskiy et al., 2006). Adding cycocel has also proven to be effective

in controlling growth of some other plants (Al-Khassawneh et al., 2006; Rossini Pinto et al., 2005;

Leclerc et al., 2006). Proper doses of cycocel and daminozide foliar spray and drench rate need to

be assessed because they can either inhibit or promote growth and development. Therefore, the

objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of cycocel and

daminozide on some growth characters especially plant height and the content of essence in Cal-endula officinalis L.


Seeds of Calendula officinalis L. were obtained from Bazr va Nahal Company, Tehran,

Iran. Investigation was carried out in an experimental field in Rasht city located in the northern

part of Iran. Seeds were sown in pots filled with 60% sand, 20% cocopeat and 20% animal fertilizer

on November 2011. Plants were treated with a drench application at the rate of 0, 500, 1000 and

1500 mg/L of cycocel and 0, 1500, 3000 and 4500 mg/L of daminozide 5-6 weeks after potting.

Control plants were drenched with water. Investigated characteristics were the plant height, leaf

number, flower number, flowering time, fresh weight, dry matter, the content of essence (essential

oil) and carotenoid in flowers. Data were calculated at 60-70 days after transplanting. Plant height

was measured by a ruler. Leaf number was obtained by counting leaves from center of each plot

and their mean was calculated. Fresh weight of plants was weighted by a digital balance. To obtain

the plant dry matter, they were cut from crown and dried at 105°C for 24 h. For determination of

the essential oil, the plant materials (flowers) were dried in 45°C. The essential oil was obtained

in a Clevenger apparatus by steam distillation. Thus, the 50 g of dried plant materials was extracted

with 1000 ml of water. The water collected was re-extracted with 0.5 ml hexane. The essence and

hexane was separated from water physically and weighted until the plant essence obtained. Leaf

carotenoids were determined using acetone as extracting solvent and the absorbance was measured

at 440, 645 and 663 nm. Sample extract was prepared as follows: 0.5 g of dry sample was thor-

oughly crushed and homogenized in a mortar with a pestle using 20 ml of 80% acetone. Filtered


extract was reached to 50 ml by adding of 80% acetone. Concentration of carotenoids was calcu-

lated by following formula after spectrophotometry:

The amount of carotenoids = 4.69 × A440 – 0.268 × (20.2) A645 + (8.02) A663

Where; A is wave length. Data processing of the results was carried out by an EXCEL.

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done using SPSS statistical software and means were com-

pared using Duncan's test.

RESULTS

The overall results of the effects of different concentrations of cycocel and daminozide on

the plant height, leaf number, flower number, flowering time, fresh weight, dry matter, the content

of essence and carotenoid in flowers are summarized in Tables 2 and 3.

Plant height

Based on analysis of variance (Table 2), the effect of different treatments and their in-

teraction on the plant height was significant at 0.05 level of probability. Plant height did not de-

crease linearly with increasing the cycocel concentration (Table 3). Calendula officinalis L. plants

treated with all concentrations of cycocel and daminozide were shorter than the control plants

(Table 3). 500 mg/L cycocel and 4500 mg/L daminozide produced the shortest plants, individually

(25.43 and 24.16 cm/plant, respectively). Among all treatments, plants treated with 500 mg/L cy-

cocel along with 1500 mg/L daminozide (C2D2) had the least plant height (23.33 cm/plant) (Table

3). C2D3 treatment was good for control of plant height (24.00 cm/plant), too. The highest plant

height (38.33 cm/plant) was obtained in C1D1 treatment (control). Comparison between different

concentrations of cycocel and daminozide shows that daminozide is more suitable plant retardant

than cycocel for reduction of plant height (Table 3).

Leaf number

Analysis of variance (Table 2) showed that the effect of different treatments and their in-

teraction had no significant effect on leaf number. Table 3 shows that the largest number of leaf

(5.00/plant) was obtained in C1D2 and C2D3. The smallest number of leaf (2.75 and 2.83/plant)

was calculated in C1 and D1.

Flower number

Mean comparison obtained from the data showed that the maximum (4.66/plant) and min-

imum (1.41/plant) number of flower were obtained from plants treated with 1000 mg/L cycocel

along with 4500 mg/L daminozide (C3D4) and C1 (control), respectively (Table 3). Plants treated

with highest concentration of cycocel (C4) had 1.58 flower/plant. Treatments of C3D1, C2D3 and

C2D2 by induction of 4.33 flowers/plant were proper, too. Analysis of variance presented in Table

2 showed that the effect of cycocel and interaction effect of cycocel and daminozide on the number

Treatments (mg/L) Treatments Symbol

Cycocel 0

Cycocel 500

Cycocel 1000

Cycocel 1500

Daminozide 0

Daminozide 1500

Daminozide 3000

Daminozide 4500

C1

C2

C3

C4

D1

D2

D3

D4

Table 1. Treatments used in the present study and their symbols.


of flower per plant were significant at 0.05 probability. The effect of daminozide on the number

of flower per plant was no significant.

Time to flowering

Variance analysis of data (Table 2) showed that the impact of cycocel, daminozide and their

interaction effect was significant at 0.05 probability on time to flowering. The mean comparison

of data in different treatments (Table 3) showed that the lowest time of flowering is related to C4D2

treatment (98.00 days). The longest time of flowering was obtained in treatments of C1D1 (122.60

Source of

variations

df Plant

height

Leaf

number

Fresh

weight

Dry

matter

Flower

number

Time to

flowering

Essence

content

Carotenoid

content

C

D

C × D

Error

CV (%)

3

3

9

32

-

8.13*

3.90*

4.37*

6.50

7.36

2.02ns

0.58ns

0.52ns

0.29

28.11

33.05*

9.38*

7.88*

69.27

26.21

0.27ns

1.03ns

0.05ns

0.08

18.92

0.07*

0.18ns

0.50*

1.33

45.8

155.96*

14.85*

39.55*

85.16

7.85

45.91*

5.32*

2.55*

32.12

28.61

12.59*

6.11*

52.55*

9.12

35.91

ns: Non significant, *: Significant at 5%

Table 2. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the effect of different concentrations of cycocel and daminozide on

plant height, leaf number, fresh weight, dry matter, flower number, time to flowering, essence and carotenoid con-

tents of Calendula officinalis L.

Treatments

(mg/L)

Plant

height

Leaf

number

Fresh

weight

Dry

matter

Flower

number

Time to

flowering

Essence

content

Carotenoi

d content

C1

C2

C3

C4

D1

D2

D3

D4

C1D1

C1D2

C1D3

C1D4

C2D1

C2D2

C2D3

C2D4

C3D1

C3D2

C3D3

C3D4

C4D1

C4D2

C4D3

C4D4

35.83a

25.43b

34.25a

34.08a

35.41a

24.58b

24.25b

24.16b

38.33a

35.00ab

32.23bc

35.66ab

24.66cd

23.33cd

24.00cd

34.00b

34.33ab

25.33c

25.00cd

32.33bc

34.33ab

24.66cd

26.66c

26.66c

2.75a

4.25a

4.33a

3.83a

2.83aa

4.08a

4.33a

3.91a

4.33a

5.00a

4.66a

3.33a

3.33a

4.33a

5.00a

4.33a

4.66a

3.00a

3.00a

3.00a

3.33a

4.00a

3.63a

4.33a

24.41b

32.00a

32.25a

33.33a

25.50b

30.91a

31.58a

33.00a

21.33c

23.33c

29.66b

26.33b

25.66b

33.00a

31.66ab

32.66ab

26.00b

31.33ab

31.00ab

34.66a

27.00b

33.00a

34.00a

34.33a

4.33a

5.66a

5.58a

5.41a

4.41a

5.41a

5.91a

5.41a

5.33a

5.00a

6.00a

5.00a

6.00a

5.66a

6.33a

4.66a

4.66a

6.00a

5.66a

6.00a

5.00a

5.00a

5.00a

6.00a

1.41b

2.58a

2.50a

1.58b

2.58a

2.66a

2.41a

2.41a

2.00d

3.33b

3.00c

2.33cd

2.33cd

4.33a

4.33a

2.33cd

4.33a

2.66cd

3.66b

4.66a

2.33cd

3.00c

3.33b

3.66b

119.66a

114.16a

104.58b

121.33a

118.00a

121.33a

106.91b

118.66a

122.60a

112.66b

115.00b

115.33ab

101.66c

116.33ab

113.33b

115.33ab

108.66c

120.66a

120.00ab

117.33ab

111.33b

98.33d

121.66a

119.66ab

0.12c

0.13b

0.14a

0.14a

0.12c

0.13b

0.14a

0.14a

0.12c

0.13b

0.12c

0.15a

0.14ab

0.14a

0.13b

0.14a

0.13b

0.14ab

0.14ab

0.14a

0.12b

0.14ab

0.14ab

0.14a

5.21b

5.87b

6.51a

6.91a

5.11b

6.14a

6.53a

6.64a

5.11c

5.16bc

6.68b

7.02ab

6.23b

6.14bc

6.58b

7.11ab

6.12bc

6.89b

7.01ab

8.23a

6.35b

6.95ab

7.21ab

7.69a

In each column means followed by the same letters are not significantly different at 5 % level of

probability using Duncan's test.

Table 3. Mean comparison of the effect of different concentrations of cycocel and daminozide on

plant height, leaf number, fresh weight, dry matter, flower number, time to flowering, essence and

carotenoid contents of Calendula officinalis L.


days). Time to flowering in treatments of C3 (104.58 days) and D2 (106.91 days) were also good

(Table 3). On the other hand, time to flowering in treatments of C3D2, C3D3 and C4 (about 120.00

days for all) was not suitable (Table 3).

Fresh weight

Based on Table 2, the effect of different concentrations cycocel, daminozide and the inter-

action effect was significant at 0.05 probability on plant fresh weight. Among concentrations of

cycocel, C4 treatment had maximum effect on fresh weight (33.33 g/plant), also, C1 (control) treat-

ments with 24.41 g fresh weight was minimum (Table 3). Plant fresh weight increased as the con-

centration of cycocel and daminozide increased. Among concentrations of daminozide, D4

treatment had maximum effect on fresh weight (33.00 g/plant), also, D1 (control) treatments with

25.50 g fresh weight was minimum (Table 3). Among all treatments, maximum (34.66 and 34.33

g/plant) and minimum (21.33 g/plant) of plant fresh weight were obtained in C3D4, C4D4 and C1D1

(control), respectively (Table 3).

Dry matter

Table 2 shows that the effects of cycocel, daminozide and the reciprocal effect were no sig-

nificant effect on plant dry matter. Table 3 shows that dry matter in plants treated with 500 mg/L

cycocel along with 3000 mg/L daminozide (6.33 g/plant) was higher than that of other treatments.

The 6.00 g dry matter was obtained in 5 treatments including C1D3, C2D1, C3D2, C3D4 and C4D4

(Table 3). Mean comparison obtained from the data showed that the least dry matter (4.33 and

4.41 g/plant) was calculated from C1 and D1 treatments.

Essential oil contents

The effect of cycocel, daminozide and interaction effect of these two factors were significant

(p≤0.05) on the content of petal essential oil (Table 2). Maximum essential oil (0.15 ml/100 g FW)

was obtained when pot marigold was planted in treatment of C1D4 (Table 3). Minimum essential

oil (0.12 ml/100 g FW) was obtained when pot marigold was planted in C1, D1, C1D1, C1D3 and

C4D1 (Table 3).

Carotenoid content

ANOVA showed that the effect of cycocel, daminozide and interaction effect of these two

factors were significant (p≤0.05) on the content of petal carotenoid (Table 2). Maximum carotenoid

(8.22 mg/L) was obtained when pot marigold plants were planted in treatment of C3D4 (Table 3).

Minimum essential oil (5.11 mg/L) was obtained when pot marigold plants were planted in D1,

C1D1 (Table 3).

DISCUSSION

One of the most important applications of plant growth retardant is elevation of plant qual-

ity, especially ornamental plants by reduction of vegetative growth. Plant growth retardants de-

crease the internodes length and eliminate the apical dominance (Lee et al., 1999). Plant growth

retardants increase cytokinins which enhance the amount of leaf chlorophyll (Rossini Pinto et al.,2005). Some of the most important factors concerning plant growth retardants are type, time, num-

ber, application method and concentration of growth retardant (Cramer and Bridgen, 1998). Cy-

cocel and daminozide are two important plant growth retardant. Several studies revealed

effectiveness of cycocel in decreasing plant height (Rossini Pinto et al., 2005; Olivera and Browing,

1993; Garner, 2004; Karlovic et al., 2004; Hashemabadi and Zarchini, 2010). Studies of Al-Khas-

sawneh et al. (2006) on growth and flowering of Iris nigricans showed that cycocel reduced plant

height only at the highest drench concentration. These researchers revealed that cycocel spray at


the higher concentrations (1000-1500 mg/L) reduced plant height. In current study, cycocel caused

decreasing of plant height in Calendula officinalis L. Karlovic et al. (2004) reported decreasing

height in Chrysanthemum by 2000, 3000 and 4000 mg/L cycocel. Hashemabadi and Zarchini

(2010) showed that the least stem length (29.93 cm) was obtained by using 1500 mg/L cycocel in

rose. Saffari et al. (2004) sprayed Rosa damascena with cycocel and found that 3000 mg/L cycocel

decreased stem length about 5 cm relative to the control. Increasing application rates did not pos-

itively influence plant development when compared to the lower rates used in the study. Cycocel

(1000 and 2000 mg/L) decreased Zinnia plant height (Hojjati et al., 2009). Current study confirms

these studies. Cycocel, also, reduced plant height in Euphorbia and Bougeinvillia (Shekari et al.,2004), Rosa (Saffari et al., 2004) and Pelargonium (Latimer and Beden, 1994). Other plant growth

retardants such as prohexadione-Ca, uniconazole, paclobutrazol and bayleton are applied for de-

creasing the plants growth as spray or drench (Gibson and Whipker, 2000; Bazzocchi and Gior-

gioni, 2003). Gholampour et al. (2012) showed that the 1500 mg/L of cycocel resulted in about 50

and 20% shorter Brassica oleracea cultivar ‘Kamome White’ and ‘Nagoya Red’ plants than the

control plants, 60 and 90 days after transplant, respectively. The growth of these cultivars decreased

with increasing the concentration of cycocel. Some other researches demonstrated the positive ef-

fect of cycocel and daminozide on reduction of stem length in some species such as Euphorbia,Rosa, Pelargonium and Bougainvillea (Saffari et al., 2004; Joyce et al., 2004; Shekari, 2006).

Studies of Al-Khassawneh et al. (2006) on growth and flowering of Iris nigricans showed

that maximum number of leaves (average of 12.2-13.6) was obtained when the plants were un-

treated with cycocel and paclobutrazol, sprayed with 250 mg/L paclobutrazol, or drenched with

0.25 mg/L. Our finding is consistent with these results. Study of Agrawal and Dikshit (2008) on

Achras sapota L. demonstrated positive effect of cycocel on leaf number. Current study showed

that the highest dry matter percentage was obtained from untreated plants with cycocel. In agree-

ment with our finding, Al-Khassawneh et al. (2006) also showed that untreated plants had the

highest leaf dry weight. Study of Garib Sahi (2009) on Zinnia elegans revealed that spraying plants

with 2000 mg/L cycocel and 1 mg/L CaCl2 increased leaves and roots dry weight. Our study

showed the positive effect of plant growth retardants on increasing the content of essential oil and

carotenoid in pot marigold petals. Some studies confirm these findings (Khalid and El-Ghorab,

2006; Gliozeris, 2007). Optimum concentrations of cycocel in these studies were 500 and 1000

mg/L. Plant growth retardants increase cytokinins synthesis and this hormones enhances the content

of pigments in plants (Fletcher et al., 2000).

In conclusion, some concentrations of cycocel and daminozide increased morphological

and physiological characteristics in Calendula officinalis L. The 500 mg/L of cycocel along with

1500 mg/L daminozide resulted in shorter plants than the other concentrations and control plants.

Maximum flower number, fresh weight, dry matter and carotenoid content were obtained in plants

treated with 1000 mg/L cycocel along with 4500 mg/L daminozide. The 4500 mg/L caused the

highest amount of essential oil.

Literature Cited

Agrawal, S. and Dikshit, S.N. 2008. Studies on the effect of plant growth regulators on growth

and yield of sapota (Achrassapota L. cv. ‘Cricket Ball’). Ind. J. Agric. Res. 42: 207-211.

Al-Khassawneh, N.M., Karam, N.S. and Shibli, R.A. 2006. Growth and flowering of black iris

(Iris nigricans Dinsm.) following treatment with plant growth regulators. Sci. Hort. 107:

187-193.

Bazzocchi, R. and Giorgioni, M.E. 2003. Effect of prohexadione-Ca, uniconazole and paclobutrazol

on ornamental kale growth and performance under high temperature. Acta Hort. 614: 499-505.

Cramer, C.S. and Bridgen, M.P. 1998. Growth regulator effects on plant height of potted Mussaenda

‘Qeen Sirikit’. HortSci. 33: 78-81.


Flecher, R.A., Sankhla, G.N. and Davis, T. 2000. Triazoles as plant growth regulators and stress

protectants. Hortic. Rev. 24: 55-122.

Garib Sahi, B. 2009. Effect of cycocel spray and calcium chloride on the growth and flowering of

Zinnia elegnas Taeq. The 2th Kurdistan Conf. Biol. Sci. pp. 39-43.

Garner, W. 2004. PGR General Uses and Overview. Technical Service, 800: 4556-4647.

Gazim, Z.C., Rezende, C.M., Fraga, S.R. and Svidzinski, T.I.E. 2008. Antifungal activity of the

essential oil from Calendula officinalis L. (Asteraceae) growing in Brazil. Braz. J. Microbiol.

39: 61-63.

Gholampour, A., Hashemabadi, D., Sedaghathoor, Sh. and Kaviani, B. 2012. Controlling ornamental

cabbage and kale (Brassica oleracea) growth via cycocel. J. Ornamen. Hort.Plant, 2 (2):

103-112.

Gibson, B. and Whipker, B.E. 2000. Research progress report: the effect of B9, bonzi and sumagic

on the growth of ornamental cabbage and kale. North Carolina Flower Growers Bulletin,

44: 6-9.

Gilman, E.F. and Howe, T. 1999. Calendula officinalis. Cooperative Extension Service Institute

of Food and Agricultural Science, University of Florida, Fact Sheet, FPS-87.

Gliozeris, S., Tamosiunas, A. and Stuopyte, L. 2007. Effect of some growth regulators on chlorophyll

fluorescence in Viola × Wittrockiana 'Wesel Ice'. Biologia, 2007. 53: 24-27.

Hamburger, M., Adler, S., Baumann, D., Forg, A. and Weinrech, B. 2003. Preparative purification

of the major anti, inflammatory triterpenoid esters from marigold (Calendula officinalisL.). Fitorapia, 74: 328-38.

Hashemabadi, D. and Zarchini, M. 2010. Effect of some plant growth regulators on growth and

flowering of Rosa hybrida "Poison". Plant Omics J. 3 (6): 167-171.

Hojjati, M., Etemadi, N. and Baninasab, B. 2009. Effect of paclobutrazol and cycocel on vegetative

growth and flowering of Zinnia elegans. Agricultural sciences and Technologies and Natural

Resources. 47: 649-656 (In Persian).

Karlovic, K., Vrsek, I., Sindrak, Z. and Zidovec, V. 2004. Influence of growth regulators on the

height and number of inflorescence shoots in the chrysanthemum cultivar Revert. Agric.

Conspec. Sci. 69: 63-66.

Khalid, K.A. and El-Ghorab, A.H. 2006. The effect presowing low temperature on essential

oil content and chemical composition of Calendula officinalis. J. Essen. Oil-Bearing Plant.

9 (1): 32-41.

James, L., Gibson, B. and Whipker, E. 1999. The effect of B9 + cycocel on the growth of Brassica juncea var. Rugosa Red Giant. SNA Res. Con., 44: 284-287.

Janke, R. 2004. Farming a Few Acres of Herbs: Calendula, Kansas State University Agricultural

Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, MF- 2610.

Jimenz-Medina, E., Garcia-Lora, A., Paco, L., Algarra, I., Collado, A. and Garrido, F. 2006. A new

extract of the plant Calendula officinalis produces a dual in vitro effect: cytotoxic anti-tumor

activity and lymphocyte activation. BMC Cancer, 6: 119.

Joyce, G., Latimer, H., Scoggins, L. and Thomas, J. 2004. Using plant growth regulators on containerized

herbaceous perennials. Virginia State University.

Latimer, J.G. and Beden, S.A. 1994. Persistent effect of plant growth regulators on landscape performance

of seed geraniums. J. Environ. Hort. 12 (3): 150-154.

Leclerc, M., Caldwell, C.D. and Lade, R.R. 2006. Effect of plant growth regulators on propagule

formation in Hemerocallis spp. and Hosta spp. HortSci. 47: 651-653.

Lee, J.H., Jin, E.S. and Kim, W.T. 1999. Inhibition of auxin-induced ethylene production by SA in

mungbean hypocotyls. J. Plant Biol. 42: 1-7.

Magnitskiy, S.V., Pasian, C.C., Bennett, M.A. and Metzger, J.D. 2006. Controlling plug height of

verbena, celosia, and pansy by treating seeds with paclobutrazol. HortSci. 47: 158-167.


Olivera, C.M. and Browning, G. 1993. Studies on the induction of flowering in juvenile Prunus aviumL. J. Hort. Sci. 68: 731-739.

Omidbaigi, R. 2005. Production and processing of medicinal plants. Behnashr Publication, Mashhad,

Iran.

Pobudkiewicz, A.K. and Nowak, J. 1994. The influence of florprimidol and uniconazole on growth

of the CMM draft Dianthus caryophyllus L. ‘Snowmass’. J. Fruit and Ornamental Plant

Res. 2 (4): 135-142.

Rossini pinto, A.C., Rodrigues, Td.J.D., Leits, C.I. and Barbosa, J.C. 2005. Growth retardants on

development and ornamental quality of potted. ‘Liliput’ Zinnia elegans JACQ. Sci. Agric.

62: 337-345.

Saffari, V.R., Khalighi, A., Lesani, H., Babalar, M. and Obermaier, J.F. 2004. Effect of different

plant growth regulators and time of pruning on yield components of Rosa damascena Hill.

Int. J. Agric. Biol. 6 (6): 1040-1042.

Shekari, F., Ebrahimzadeh, A. and Esmaeilpour, B. 2005. Plant Growth Regulators in Agriculture

and Horticulture. Zanjan University Press, Iran (In Persian).

Tayama, H.K., Larson, R.A., Hammer, P.A. and Rolls, T.J. (eds.) (1992). Tips on the use of chemical

growth regulators on floriculture crops. Ohio Florists’ Assn., Columbus, Ohio.

Van Wyk BE, wink M (2004). Medicinal plants of the world. Briza Publications, Pretoria.


The Effect of Natural Essential Oil Carvacrol and

Some Growth Regulators on Vase Life of Cut Flowers

of Alstroemeria cv. Bridal

The abscission of Alstroemeria petals is the serious problem at the

industry of cut flowers of this plant. In this study, cut Alstroemeria cv.

Bridal flowers were pulsed with solutions containing natural essential oil

carvacrol, gibberellic acid and benzyladenine (50 and 100 mg L-1), -5-sul-

fosalicylic acid (1 and 1.5 mM) and sucrose (5 and 10%) for 24 hours. The

distilled water was used as control. After treatment, the flowers were placed

in distilled water, and maintained at temperature of 22 ± 2°C, 70 ± 5%

relative humidity, and 15 µmol m-2 s-1 light intensity 12 hours per day. The

results showed that 50 and 100 mg L-1 gibberellic acid could significantly

delay flower senescence with 3.33 and 3 days, respectively as compared to

the other treatments. The highest petal anthocyanin content was found at

gibberellic acid (50 and 100 mg L-1), benzyladenine (100 mg L-1) and 5-sul-

fosalicylic acid (1.5 mM) than other treatments. Conversely, lipid proxidation

content and catalase enzyme activity was lower in these treatments as compared

to the control. The protein content of gibberellic acid (50 and 100 mg L-1)

pulse treated flowers was higher than other treatments. In contrast, the

flowers treated with 100 mg L-1 gibberellic acid showed the lowest peroxidase

enzyme activity. Overall, the vase life of Alstroemeria cut flowers cv.

Bridal increased in both gibberellic acid treatments (50 and 100 mg L-1)

than other studied solutions.

Keywords: Alstroemeria, Benzyladenine, Senescence, 5-Sulfosalicylic acid, Vase life.

Azam Isapareh1*, Abdollah Hatamzadeh2 and Mahmood Ghasemnezhad 3

1MSc. Student, Department of Horticultural Science, Guilan University, Rasht, Iran 2,3 Department of Horticultural Science, Guilan University, Rasht, Iran


Abstract


INTRODUCTION

In the past two decades, Alstroemeria was one of the most popular cut flowers in the coun-

tries like Japan, Holland, England and America commercially (Ezhilmathi et al., 2007). Although,

Alstroemeria cut flowers have long vase life, but rapid leaf yellowing in postharvest and before

that, the falling petals are the most important of limiting factors (Chanasut et al,. 2003). By adding

some chemicals to the preservation solutions and provide suitable conditions for the flowers can

delay decreasing of quality during postharvest (Ebrahim-Zadeh and Saifi,1999).

The flower preservation solutions are often acidic solution with microbicide to prevent

growth of fungi and bacteria (Sobhani et al., 2005), and thus that prevents the blocking of vessels

that reduces water uptake by the flowers. Also, in order to improve the postharvest quality of cut

flowers, plant growth regulators can add to preservative solution. Cytokinins, gibberellins, ethylene

inhibitors and retardants of plants growth interfere in metabolic processing of plants, and cause the

delaying senescence. Cytokinin have been identified as a retarder leaves of senescence processes,

delaying the breakdown of proteins, reduced chlorophyll and increased the activity of many of the

hydrolyzates (Skutnik et al., 2001). Gibberellic acid increases the hydrolysis of starch and sucrose

to glucose and fructose, also increases hasten flower opening, reducing the amount of dry matter in

the stems and petals and delays in the loss and fading of petals (Emongor and Tshwenyana, 2004).

In recent years, the use of natural compounds such as plant essential oils as the new idea

for control of bacterial and fungal contamination and reducing postharvest losses of horticultural

crops such as fruits, vegetables and flowers is raised. Researches and commercial applications

have revealed that natural compounds can be suitable replace for common chemical compounds

(Solgi et al., 2009). Hegazi and El-Kot (2009) showed that the essential oils of clove hindi, cinna-

mon, ginger, marjoram and fennel for gladiola reduce microbes accumulation in containers and

increase the vase life. Solgi et al. (2009) showed that treatment with essential oils (thymol, car-

vacrol, garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and thyme (Zataria multiflora)) was significant effect in

the solution uptake, fresh weight and vase life cut gerbera ‘Dune’.

This study compared the effects of natural essential oils, carvacrol, with some growth reg-

ulators on postharvest life of cut Alstroemeria and finding the best concentrations treatments to

enhance the vase life of cut flowers.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Plant materials

Alstroemeria cut flowers cv. Bridal was obtained from commercial greenhouses in Pakdasht

and immediately was transferred to postharvest labratoary; university of Guilan. The flower was har-

vested when the color was observed but the florets were not open. The flowers were pulsed in 250 ml

chemical solution for 24 hours and then were transferred to containers containing 250 ml distilled water.

Flowers were placed in vase life room with temperature of 22±2 °C, a relative humidity of 70±5%,

light intensity of 15 µmol m-2s-1 and 12 hours day length. In this experiment vase life, anthocyanin con-

tent, lipid peroxidation, protein, peroxidase and catalase enzyme activity were evaluated.

The 12 different solutions was used in this experiment are:

1. Distilled water (DW) 2. Ethanol 1%

3. Sucrose 5% (S 5%) 4. Sucrose10% (S 10%)

5. 5-Sulfo salicylic acid 1 mM + Ethanol 1% (5-SSA 1) 6. 5-Sulfo salicylic acid 1.5 mM + Ethanol 1% (5-SSA 1.5)

7. Gibberellic acid 50 mg L-1 (GA 50) 8. Gibberellic acid 100 mg L-1 (GA 100)

9. Carvacrol 50 mg L-1+ Ethanol 1% (Car 50) 10. Carvacrol 100 mg L-1+ Ethanol 1% (Car 100)

11. Benzyladenine 50 mg L-1 (BA 50) 12. Benzyladenine 100 mg L-1 (BA 100)


Vase life

The end of Alstroemeria vase life was determined with yellowing of 50% leaves or falling

50% florets (Ferrante et al., 2002; Mutui et al., 2006).

The total anthocyanin

In order to measure this trait, sampling was performed on the ninth day of the petals. Total

anthocyanin content of petals was measured by the spectrophotometer according to the pH-dif-

ferental method (Laitinen et al., 2008). The acidified methanol (methanol with a volume ratio of

1% hydrochloric acid) was used for anthocyanin extraction. To determination total anthocyanin,

two wavelengths (520 and 700 nm) were used.

Lipid proxidation

In order to measure this trait, sampling was conducted on the third day of the petals. Lipid

proxidation was assayed by measuring the concentration of malondialdehyde according to the

method of Heath and Packer (1968). This procedure produce red malondialdehyde–tio barbitoric

acid (MDA-TBA) that quantified by spectrophotometry (PG Instrument + T80) at 532 nm. and

other specific pigments were absorbed at wavelength of 600 nm.

Protein

In order to measure this trait, sampling was performed on the ninth day of the petals. Brad-

ford method was used to measure protein content. The protein concentration of petals was assayed

by the standard protein, bovine albumin serum (BSA) and the absorption was read at 595 nm by

the spectrophotometer (PG instrument + T80). Standard curve were plotted according to the ab-

sorption standard protein and protein concentration in the samples was calculated by obtain the

line equation (Bradford, 1976).

Peroxidase (POD) activity

In order to measure this trait, sampling was conducted on the third day of the petals. The

activity of POD was determined according to the method of In et al. (2007). The reaction solution

(1 mL) contained H2O2, guiacol and 50 µL of enzyme extract. Changes in absorbance at 470 nm

were read every 10 s for 60 s using a spectrophotometer.

Catalase (CAT) activity

In order to measure this trait sampling was conducted on the sixth day of the petals. The

activity of CAT was determined based on the oxidation of H2O2 using the method of Chance and

Maehly (1955) with modifications. The reaction solution (0.5 mL) contained 25 mM phosphate

buffer (pH = 7), 10 mM H2O2 and 10 µL of extracted enzyme solution. The reaction was initiated

by adding the enzyme solution. Changes in absorbance at 240 nm were read every 10 s for 60 s

using a spectrophotometer.

Statistical analysis

This experiment arranged based on RCD with 12 treatments, 3 replications, 36 plots and

108 cut flowers. In this experiment, distilled water and ethanol 1% were considered as control.

Means comparison of data was performed using LSD test. Analysis of variance carried out with

SAS software and diagrams were designed with Excel software.

RESULTS

Vase life

The results showed that, there is a significantly different preservative solutions and control


(distilled water and ethanol 1%) at 5% level (Table 1). The mean comparison showed that the high-

est flowers vase life was related to the gibberellic acid 100 and 50 mg L-1 with a mean vase life of

13.33 and 13 days, respectively. The vase life of control (distilled water and ethanol 1%) was 10.33

and 10 days respectively, while the best treatments with control treatments had not significant dif-

ference (Fig. 1).

Anthocyanin content

There was a significant difference for pulsed treatments and control on anthocyanin content

of Alstroemeria petals at the 1% level (Table 1). The higher anthocyanin content was found in gib-

berellic acid (50 and 100 mg L-1), compared to other treatments (Fig. 2).

Lipid peroxidation

Analysis of variance of pulsed flowers and control showed that there is a significant differ-

ence on lipid peroxidation at 1% level (Table 1). Ethanol 1% had highest levels of malondialde-

hyde, but gibberellic acid (50 and 100 mg L-1) had lowest MDA (2.4215 and 2.4022 nmol g-1 FW),

respectively.

Protein content

Analysis of variance of pulse treatment and control showed that there is a significant dif-

ference on protein content at 5% level (Table 1). The results showed that gibberellic acid (50 and

100 mg L-1) had highest protein content, while, control (DW and ethanol 1%), and sucrose 5 and

10%, had lowest protein content (Fig. 4).

POD activity

There was a significant difference between pulsed and contol cut flowers for POD activity

Fig. 1. Effect of different treatments on the vase

life of cut Alstroemeria ‘Bridal’

Fig. 2. Comparison of the treatments in antho-

cyanin of cut Alstroemeria ‘Bridal’

Fig. 3. Comparison of the treatments in the malon-

dialdehyde amount of cut Alstroemeria ‘Bridal’Fig. 4. Comparison of the treatments on the pro-

tein content of cut Alstroemeria ‘Bridal’


at 1% level (Table 1). The ethanol 1% had significantly higher POD activity. In contrast, the lowest

POD activity was found with 100 mg L-1 gibberellic acid (Fig. 5).

CAT activity

The analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference at 5% level for

CAT activity (Table 1). The highest CAT activity was found with ethanol 1%. While gib-

berellic acid (50 and 100 mg L-1 ), benzyladenine (50 and 100 mg L-1) and 5-sulfosalicylic

acid (1 and 1.5 mM) significantly reduced CAT activity compared to other preservation so-

lutions (Fig. 6).

DISCUSSION

Positive effect of gibberellic acid on vase life could be related to maintaining chlorophyll

content, soluble carbohydrates and improving the quality of flower color. Mutui et al. (2006)

showed that GA4 +7 delayed the start of leaf senescence to 7 days and falling petals to 2 days.

Ezhilmathi (2001) showed that 5-sulfosalicylic acid make the most impact on the increased glad-

iolus cut flowers vase life. Solgi (2009) proved that 100 mg L-1 thymol and 50 mg L-1 carvacrol

compared to the control treatment had most effective in increasing the vase life of cut gerbera.

Negative effects of carvacrol and 5-sulfosalicylic acid in this experiment on vase life may be due

to low concentration of them or ethanol used to dissolve it in distilled water. It appears that the

cause of negative effect of ethanol on vase life of cut Alstroemeria is sensitivity of this flower to

ethanol and 1% ethanol was toxicity and caused to early yellowing in the leaves. Hatamzadeh etal. (2012) showed that sucrose 1% in pulse solution is more effective on extending vase life of Al-stroemeria cut flowers. So, we can conclude from this study that perhaps the use of sucrose 5 and

10% without antimicrobial compounds provides the conditions for the growth of microorganisms.

Mackay et al. (2005) showed that gibberellic acid with sucrose increased longevity of cut

lupine, increased flower size and opening rate and improve the quality of petal color. Joyce et al.

Fig. 5. Comparison of the treatments on the peroxi-

dase activity of cut Alstroemeria ‘Bridal’

Fig. 6. Comparison of treatments on the catalase ac-

tivity of cut Alstroemeria ‘Bridal’

Sources of

changesDegrees of

freedom

Mean square

Vase life Anthocyanin MDA Protein POD CAT

Treatment

Error

CV (%)

11

34

2.916*

1.277

9.485

2.365**

0.106

9.668

0.071**

0.016

4.827

1.492*

0.641

7.889

0.59**

0.007

8.072

4.874*

1.993

16.746

* and** Significant at p ≤0.05 and p ≤0.01 level, respectively.

Table 1. Analysis of variance of treatments effect on the measured traits.


(2004) showed that short-term treatments with 1 mM to 10 mM benzyladenine increased longevity

and delayed the aging parameters such as loss of fresh weight, wilting, delayindg in opening of

flower, colorless and abscission of cut Grevillea flowers.

Ghasemi Chlan and Haji Zadeh (2011) in their experiment on the rose ‘Black Magic’ con-

cluded that the highest levels of anthocyanin leakage was observed in control flowers while flowers

treated with 8-hydroxyquinoline citrate and silver nitrate were lowest anthocyanin leakage. It seems

to be that two mentioned treatments are more effective in protecting cell membranes and prevent

from electrolyte leakage. Bosma and Reid (2002) demonstrated that sugar increased number of

open buds, bud opening speed, improved color of petals and extended longevity of cut Campanulaflower. It seems that sucrose concentration used in our experiments provides an environment for

growth of microorganisms and had negative effect on petals color.

Malondialdehyde accumulation is an index for degradation of the plasma membrane. Sing

and Sharma (2003) in a study on the effects of plant growth regulators and sucrose on postharvest

physiology, membrane stability and vase life of cut gladiolus, reported that gibberellic acid with

sucrose reduced the lipid peroxidation, decreased lipoxygenase enzyme activity and improved the

strength of the petals cell wall. The role of salicylic acid in plant protection against lipid peroxi-

dation as an antioxidant compound is protect of the cell membrane. Salicylic acid is a plant hor-

mone that stimulate resistance system. Significant difference was observed between carvacrol and

control cut flowers in MDA content of cut alstromeria cv. Sukari (Solgi et al., 2009, Madadzade

et al., 2012).

Eason et al. (2007) showed that gibberellic acid by delay in protease enzyme activity and

protein breakdown, delayed the aging process of Sandersonia cut flowers. According to results of

Ranwala and Miller (2000), oriental lily cut flowers that treated with GA4 +7 had lower respiration

than the control flowers and soluble carbohydrate levels of these plants was higher than control

flowers. Lack of carbohydrates, destroyed the proteins so that the proteins can used as respiratory

substrate, it seems that gibberellic acid with maintaining from soluble carbohydrates, prevented

from protein degredation. According to Skutnik et al. (2001) cytokinins are known as delaying of

the senescence process in leaves, and proteins degradation, reducing chlorophyll and increasing

the activity of hydrolase. Benzyladenine, that was used in this experiment, had not significant

effect on cut Alstroemeria. Also, the lack of a positive effect of 5-sulfosalicylic acid and carvacrol

in maintaining the protein in Alstroemeria can be attributed to ethanol. In relation to carvacrol,

our results is agreement with Solgi (2009) results on gerbera cut flowers and Madadzadeh (2012)

on the Alstroemeria cut flowers; so these investigators reported that the preservative solutions con-

taining silver nanoparticles, thymol and carvacrol with sucrose delayed senescence.

Gibberellic acid (100 mg L-1) delayed the senescence and had lower peroxidase activity.

But the ethanol 1%, distilled water and sucrose 5% treatments due to lower vase life, had more

enzyme activity. Also, according to the Joyce et al. (2004), short-term treatment with 1-10 mM

benzyladenine, increased vase life and delayed the senescence parameters such as loss of fresh

weight, wilting, delaying in opening of flower, colorless, and abscission of Grevillea cut flowers,

so we can conclude that the gibberellic acid and benzyladenine can reduce stress effects on plants

with reduction of peroxidase and catalase antioxidant enzymes activities. Madadzadeh (2012) with

the use of silver nanoparticles compound, thymol and carvacrol on Alestroemeria cv. ‘Sukari’ cut

flowers showed that these compounds caused significantly reduced enzyme peroxidase activity

compared to the control plants. These results are agreement with our results related to the use of

carvacrol in two concentrations (50 and 100 mg L-1) and 5-sulfosalicylic acid (1 and 1.5 mM), on

cut Alstroemeria cv. Bridal. Indeed, salicylates as antioxidant compounds decreased ROS damages.

The significant difference was observed for catalase activity between 5-sulfo salicylic acid

1 and 1.5 mM with 1% ethanol. Ethanol could not to neutralize a positive impact 5-sulfosalicylic

acid. The increase of antioxidant enzyme activity increases the senescence of flowers. Therefore,


the using higher concentrations of essential oils cause the decreasing the enzymes activity (Ponce etal., 2003), because phenolic compounds are one of the important antioxidant compounds that have an

important role in ROS scavengering and protecting from the membrane leakage. As was described,

gibberellic acid and benzyladenine by decreasing plant stresses, reduced antioxidant enzyme activity.

Ethanol and sucrose, respectively, to creating a toxic and for microbial growth environment, were pro-

vided conditions to increase antioxidant enzyme activities.

Literature Cited

Bosma, T. and Reid, J.M. 2002. Postharvest handling of cut Campanula medium flowers. Horticultural

Science. 37: 954-958.

Bradford, M.M. 1976. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities

of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Annals of Biochemestry. 72: 248-254.

Chanasut, U., Rogers, H.J., Leverenttz, M.K., Griffiths, G., Thomas, B., Wagstaff, C. and Stead,

A.D. 2003. Increasing flower longevity in Alstroemeria. Postharvest Biology and Technology.

29: 324-332.

Chance, B. and Maehly, A.C. 1955. Assay of catalase and peroxidase. Methods in Enzymology

2: 764-775.

Eason, J.R., Devre, L.A., Somrfield, S.D. and Heyes, J.A. 1997. Physiological chages associated

with Sandersonia aurantica flower senescence in response to sugar. Postharvest Biology

and Technology. 12: 43-50.

Ebrahim-Zadeh, A. and Saifi, Y. 1999. Storage and handling of cut flowers, potted plants and ornamental

greenery. Akhtar Publications. Page 233 (In Persian).

Emongor, V.E. and Tshwenyana, S.O. 2004. Effect of accel on postharvest vase life of easter lily.

Tanzania Agricultural Science. 3: 170-174.

Ezhilmathi, K. 2001. Physiological and biochemical studies of senescence in gladiolus. M.Sc. Thesis,

Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India, 67p.

Ezhilmathi., K., Singh, E.V. P., Arora, E.A. and Sairam, E.R. K. 2007. Effect of 5-sulfosalicylic

acid on antioxidant activity in relation to vase life of Gladiolus cut flowers. Plant Growth

Regulation. 51: 99–108.

Ferrante, A., Hunter, D.A., Hackett, W.P. and Reid, M.S. 2002. Thidiazuron-A potent inhibitor

of leaf senescence in Alstroemeria. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 25: 333-338.

Ghasemi Chlan, V. and Haji Zadeh, H. 2011. Use a preservative solution in maintaining quality ‘Black

Magic’ rose. Proceedings of the Sixth National Conference on New Ideas in Agriculture. Islamic

Azad University Branch, 11 to 12 March.

Hatamzadeh, A., Rezvanypour, S. and Hassanpour Asil, M. 2012. Postharvest life of Alstromeria cut

flowers is extended by thidiazuron and benzyladenine. South Western Journal of Horticulture,

Biology and Environment. 3(1): 41-53.

Heath, R. and Packer, L. 1968. Photoperoxidation in isolated chloroplasts. I. Kinetics and stoichimotery

of fatty acid perpxidation. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 125: 189-198.

Hegazi, M.A. and El-Kot, G. 2009. Influences of some essential oils on vase life of Gladiolus hybrid,

l. Spikes. International Agro Journal Veterinary Medicine Science. 3: 19-24

In, B. C., Motomura, S., Inamoto, K., Doi, M., Mori, G. 2007. Multivariente analysis of relation between

preharvest environmental factors, postharvest morphological and physiological factors and

vase life of cut ‘Asomi Red’ roses. Journal of the Japanese Society for Horticultural Science.

76: 66-72.

Joyce, D.C., Irving, D.E. and Simons, D.H. 2004. Effects of 6-benzylaminopurine treatment on the

longevity of harvested Grevillea ‘Sylvia’ inflorescence. Plant Growth Regulation. 43: 9-14.

Laitinen, A.E., Ainasoja, R.K., Broholm, M.H., Teeri, S.T. and Elomaa, P. 2008. Identification of

target genes for a MYB-type anthocyanin regulator in Gerbera hybrid. Journal of Experimental

Botany. 59 (13): 3691-3703.


Mackay, W.A., Sankhla, N. and Davis, T.D. 2005. Gibberellic acid and sucrose delay senescence of

cut Lupinus densiflorus benth flowers. Proceeding of American Plant Growth Regulation Society.

31: 104-106.

Madadzadeh, N., Hassanpour Asil , M. and Roein, Z. 2012 . Effect of essential oils on postharvest

quality of cut Alstromeria flowers. National Congress of Medicinal Plants, 16-17 May. vol. 11,

No. 2 . Kish Island, pp: 351.

Mutui, T.M., Emongor, V.E. and Hutchinson, M.J. 2006. The effects of gibberellin4+7 on the vase

life and flower quality of Alstroemeria cut flowers. Plant Growth Regulation. 48: 207-214.

Ponce, A.G., Frirz, R. Delvalle, C.E. and Roura, S.I. 2003. Antimicrobial activity of essential oils

on the native microflora of organic Swiss chard. LWT-Food Science Technology. 36: 679-684.

Ranwala, A. P. and Miller, W. B. 2000. Preventive mechanism of gibberellin4+7 and light on low temperature-

induced leaf senescence in Lilium cv. Stargazer. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 19: 85-92.

Sing, P. V. and Sharma, M. 2003. The postharvest life of pulsed gladiolus spikes the effect of preservative

solution. Acta Horticulturae. 22:389-398.

Skutnik, E., Lukaszewska, A., Serek, M. and Rabiza, J. 2001. Effect of growth regulators on postharvest

characteristics of Zantedeschia aethiupica. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 21: 241-246.

Sobhani, M.I., Hatamzadeh, A. and Hamid Oghli, Y. 2005. Evaluation of different chemical treatments

to extend the life of cut flowers chrysanthemums. Agricultural University of Tabriz. Leather

15, Number 2.

Solgi, M., Kafi, T., Taghavi, S. and Naderi, R. 2009. Essential oils and silver nanoparticles (SNP) as

novel agents to extend vase-life of gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii cv. ‘Dune’) flowers. Postharvest

Biological and Technological. 53: 155-158.

ریـــزش گلرگ هـــای آلســـرومریا مشـــکل جـــدی در پـــرورش ایـــن گیـــاه می باشـــد. در ایـــن مطالعـــه گل هـــای شـــاخه بریـــده آلســـرومریا رقـــم ‘بریـــدال’ بـــا محلول هـــای حـــاوی اســـانس کارواکـــرول، اســـید جیرلیـــک و بنزیـــل آدنیـــن )50 و 100 میلی گـــرم در ـــه ـــاکارز )5 و 10 درصـــد( ب ـــوالر( و س ـــید )1 و 1/5 میلی م ـــر( ، 5- سولفوسالیســـیلک اس لیـــتفاده ـــاهد اس ـــوان ش ـــر به عن ـــدند. آب مقط ـــار ش ـــس تی ـــورت پال ـــاعت به ص ـــدت 24 س مـــای 2±22 درجـــه ســـانتی گراد، ـــا دم ـــی ب ـــار، گل هـــا در آب مقطـــر در اتاق ـــس از تی شـــد. پ5±70 درصـــد رطوبـــت نســـبی، شـــدت نـــور 15 میکرومـــول در ثانیـــه در مـــر مربـــع و ـــر ـــرم در لی ـــه 50 و 100میلی گ ـــان داد ک ـــج نش ـــد. نتای ـــرار گرفتن ـــاعت، ق ـــول روز 12 س طـــب 3/33 و 3 روز ـــه ترتی ـــری گل را ب ـــی داری پی ـــه صـــورت معن ـــد ب ـــک اســـید می توان جیرلیـــیانین در ـــدار آنتوس ـــرین مق ـــدازد. بیش ـــر بیان ـــه تاخی ـــر ب ـــای دیگ ـــا تیاره ـــه ب در مقایستیارهـــای 50 و 100 میلی گـــرم در لیـــر جیرلیک اســـید، 100 میلی گـــرم در لیـــر بنزیـــن آدنیـــن و 1/5 میلی مـــول 5- سولفوسالیســـیلیک اســـید مشـــاهده شـــد. در ایـــن تیارهـــا ـــود. ـــر ب ـــاهد کم ـــه ش ـــاالز نســـبت ب ـــم کات ـــت آنزی ـــدی و فعالی ـــیون لیپی ـــزان پراکسیداس میــر ــک بیشـ ــید جیرلیـ ــر اسـ ــرم در لیـ ــای 50 و 100 میلی گـ ــن در تیارهـ ــدار پروتئیـ مقـاز ســـایر تیارهـــا بـــود. در عـــوض، گل هـــای تیـــار شـــده بـــا 100 میلی گـــرم در لیـــر اســـید جیرلیـــک کمریـــن فعالیـــت پراکســـیداز را نشـــان دادنـــد. بطورکلـــی عمرگلجایـــی آلســـرومریا رقـــم ‘بریـــدال’ در تیارهـــای اســـیدجیرلیک )50 و 100 میلی گـــرم در لیـــر(

بیشـــر از محلول هـــای دیگـــر بـــود.

دهــیـکـچ

اثـر اسـانس طبیعـی کارواکـرول و برخـی تنظیم کننده هـای رشـد روی عمـر گلجایـی گل شـاخه بریـده آلسـترومریا رقـم ‘بریدال’

اعظم عیسی پره1*، عبداهلل حاتم زاده2 و محمود قاسم نژاد1 دانشجوی کارشناسی ارشد، گروه علوم باغبانی، دانشگاه گیالن، رشت، ایران

2 گروه علوم باغبانی، دانشگاه گیالن، رشت، ایران

تاریخ تایید: 13 خرداد 1393 تاریخ دریافت: 3 اردیبهشت 1393 [email protected] :ایمیل نویسنده مسئول *

کلیــد واژگــان: آلسترومریا، بنزیل آدنین، پیری، -5 سولفوسالیسیلیک اسید، عمر گلجایی

مجله گیاهان زینتیwww.jornamental.com قابل دسترس در سایت

شماره استاندارد بین المللی چاپ: 6433-2251 شماره استاندارد بین المللی آنالین: 2251-6441

مجله گیاهان زینتی، سال چهارم، شماره 2، )1393(8

مجله گیاهان زینتیwww.jornamental.com قابل دسترس در سایتشماره استاندارد بین المللی چاپ: 6433-2251 شماره استاندارد بین المللی آنالین: 2251-6441

اثـر سایکوسـل و دامینوزید روی رشـد رویشـی، گلدهی و مقدار اسـانس گل همیشـه بهار

شهرام شعاع کاظمی1، داود هاشم آبادی2*، علی محمدی ترکاشوند2 و بهزاد کاویانی21 دانشجوی کارشناسی ارشد، گروه علوم باغبانی، دانشگاه آزاد اسالمی، واحد رشت، رشت، ایران

2 گروه علوم باغبانی، دانشگاه آزاد اسالمی، واحد رشت، رشت، ایران

تاریخ تایید: 16 اسفند 1392 تاریخ دریافت: 15 دی 1392 [email protected] :ایمیل نویسنده مسئول *

کلیــد واژگــان: کلرومکوات، کاربرد خاکی، ارتفاع گیاه، گیاهان زینتی.

7 مجله گیاهان زینتی، سال چهارم، شماره 2، )1393(

ــف دو ــای مختلـ ــر غلظت هـ ــت. اثـ ــی اسـ ــی- دارویـ ــاه زینتـ ــک گیـ ــه بهار یـ همیشـ

کندکننـــده رشـــد گیاهـــی بـــه نـــام سایکوســـل و دامینوزیـــد روی ارتفـــاع گیـــاه، گلدهـــی،

ـــای ـــد. کندکننده ه ـــی ش ـــار ارزیاب ـــه به ـــت از گل همیش ـــد صف ـــانس و چن ـــدار اس مق

رشـــد گیاهـــی، طویـــل شـــدن ســـاقه را کاهـــش و گیاهـــان فرشده تـــری تولیـــد کـــرد.

ـــهر ـــرار در ش ـــه تک ـــار و س ـــا 16 تی ـــه RCBD ب ـــر پای ـــل ب ـــورت فاکتوری ـــش بص آزمای

ـــرم ـــت )0، 500، 1000 و 1500 میلی گ ـــار غلظ ـــل در چه ـــد. سایکوس ـــام ش ـــت انج رش

در لیـــر( و دامینوزیـــد در چهـــار غلظـــت )0، 1500، 3000 و 4500 میلی گـــرم در

ـــرگ، ـــداد ب ـــاه، تع ـــاع گی ـــامل ارتف ـــه ش ـــورد مطالع ـــات م ـــدند. صف ـــتفاده ش ـــر( اس لی

تعـــداد گل، زمـــان گلدهـــی، وزن تـــر و خشـــک، مقـــدار اســـانس و کاروتنوئیـــد در

گل هـــا می شـــود. نتایـــج نشـــان می دهـــد کـــه تاثیـــر تیارهـــای مختلـــف و واکنـــش

ـــوده اســـت. ـــی دار ب ـــاری معن ـــات در ســـطح 5 درصـــد آم ـــل آن هـــا در بیشـــر صف متقاب

حداقـــل ارتفـــاع )24 ســـانتی مر( در تیـــار 500 میلی گـــرم در لیـــر سایکوســـل

ــانس ــدار اسـ ــد و باالتریـــن مقـ ــد بدســـت آمـ ــر دامینوزیـ ــرم در لیـ + 4500 میلی گـ

)0/154 میلی گـــرم درصـــد گـــرم( در تیـــار 4500 میلی گـــرم در لیـــر دامینوزیـــد

ـــد. ـــل ش ـــل حاص ـــدون سایکوس ب

دهــیـکـچ

حفظ کیفیت و دوام گل هاي بریده یکی از مسائل مهم صنعت تولید گل و گیاه

به ویژه در زمینه گل هاي شاخه بریده می باشد و مهمرتين مشكل داودی به عنوان

یکی از با ارزش ترين گل هاي شاخه بريده، نگهداری پس از برداشت آن مي باشد. لذا

بدین منظور آزمایشی بر پایه طرح کامال تصادفی به صورت تیامر پالس با سه فاکتور

سولفات کینولین ۸-هیدروکسی درصد)، و۴۰ ۲۰ ،۱۰ ،۵) غلظت های با چای عصاره

با ریفامپیسین بیوتیک آنتی و ( لیرت در میلی گرم (۱۰۰، ۲۰۰ و ۴۰۰ با غلظت های

غلظت های (۱۰۰، ۲۰۰ و ۴۰۰ میلی گرم در لیرت) و شاهد بر روی داودی خوشه ای (رقم

بنفش) در سه تکرار مورد آزمون قرار گرفت. نتایج نشان داد که تیامر ۲۰ درصد عصاره

چای و تیامر ۱۰۰ میلی گرم در لیرت ۸- هیدروکسی کینولین سولفات باالترین عمرگلجایی،

پروتئین گلربگ، کلروفیل کل، جذب آب و کاروتنوئید گلربگ را نشان دادند.

دهــيـكـ چ

تاثيـر عصـاره چـاى، 8- هيدروكسـى كينوليـن سـولفات و ريفامپيسـين Denderanthema بـر عمـر پس از برداشـت گل شـاخه بريـده داودى

grandiflorum L.cv. Purple

داود هاشم آبادى1* و حميده باقرى21 استاديار گروه باغبانى، دانشگاه آزاد اسالمى واحد رشت

2 فارغ التحصيل كارشناسى ارشد علوم باغبانى، دانشگاه آزاد اسالمى واحد رشت و عضو باشگاه پژوهشگران جوان واحد رشت، رشت، ايران

تاريخ تاييد: 30 خرداد 1393 تاريخ دريافت: 11 خرداد 1393 [email protected] :ايميل نويسنده مسئول *

كليــد واژگــان: پروتئين گلبرگ، جذب محلول، عمرگلجايي، كاروتنوئيد گلبرگ، كلروفيل كل

مجله گياهان زينتىwww.jornamental.com قابل دسترس در سايت

شماره استاندارد بين المللى چاپ: 6433-2251 شماره استاندارد بين المللى آنالين: 2251-6441

مجله گياهان زينتى، سال چهارم، شماره 2، (1393)6

ایــن مطالعــه بــه صــورت هیدروپونیــک در گلخانه در ســه مرحله )رویشــی، گلدهی

ــا و باردهــی کامــل( در پنــج غلظــت کادمیــوم )0/1، 0/3، 0/9، 2/7 و 10 میکرومــول( ب

هــدف تحقیــق روی اثــرات فیزیولوژیکــی و بیولوژیکــی Cd انجــام شــد. نتایــج نشــان داد

کــه افزایــش غلظــت Cd باعــث 49% کاهــش قندهــای محلــول در تیــار 10 میکرومــول

کادمیــوم شــد. از ســوی دیگــر، افزایــش تدریجــی Cd باعــث افزایــش نشاســته، کاهــش

ــط تنــش ــن شــد. به عــاوه، در رشای ــم هــای چرخــه کرب ــت آنزی فتوســنتز، توقــف فعالی

ــه ــن هم ــدار پروتئی ــی روی مق ــرات منف ــی، اث ــه رویش ــوم در مرحل ــنگین کادمی ــز س فل

تیارهــا در ســطح آمــاری 1% معنــی دار شــد. بــا آغــاز تیارهــا، مقــدار پروتئیــن در غلظــت

ــر ــای دیگ ــش در تیاره ــن کاه ــت و ای ــش یاف ــا 33% کاه ــوم ت ــول کادمی 0/1 میکروم

ــه گلدهــی مقــدار پروتئیــن در مقایســه ــل، در مرحل ــز مشــاهده شــد. در نقطــه مقاب نی

بــا شــاهد افزایــش یافــت. مطالعــه روی اثــرات غلظــت فلــزات ســنگین مختلــف نشــان

داده کــه گیاهــان بــه Cd بیــن دو تــا بیســت برابــر حســاس تر هســتند. آزمــون واریانــس

مــدل خطــی بــر روی اندام هــای هوایــی و زیرزمینــی نشــان دهنــده مقــدار زیــاد Cd در

ریشــه در تیــار 10 میکرومــول بــوده اســت. ایــن افزایــش در ســطح احتــال 0/001 در

ریشــه، بــرگ و میــوه مشــاهده شــده اســت. تجمــع Cd حاکــی از رسعــت زیــاد انتقــال

ــد باعــث کاهــش قندهــا و ــاه اســت و ایــن فرآین ــه اندام هــای فوقانــی گی آن از خــاک ب

پروتئین هــای محلــول می شــود.

دهــیـکـچ

ــای ــمیت Cd در اندام ه ــدار س ــر روی مق ــه ب ــوم: مطالع ــمیت کادمی سCd ــع ــر تجم ــر آن ب ــی و تاثی ــی آلبالوی ــف گوجه فرنگ مختل

شهرزاد صالحی اسکندری*1 گروه فضای سبز، دانشکده کشاورزی، دانشگاه آزاد اسالمی، واحد چالوس

2 دانشجوی دکتری، گروه علوم باغبانی، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد، مشهد، ایران3 گروه اگرواکولوژی، موسسه تحقیقات علوم محیطی، دانشگاه شهید بهشتی، تهران، ایران

تاریخ تایید: 24 تیر 1392 تاریخ دریافت: 30 دی 1391 [email protected] :ایمیل نویسنده مسئول *

کلیــد واژگــان: انباشتگی، کادمیوم، فلز سنگین، پروتئین، سمیت، قند، نشاسته



پارامرهــای طــول عمــر)Macrosiphum rosae L. )Hemiptera: Aphidichea روی پنج

ــد( و ــت( )20، 40، 60، 80 و 100 درص ــای )چای-کمپوس ــت- چ ــت ورمی کمپوس غلظ

تیــار شــاهد )صفــر درصــد( روی گل رز در رشایــط آزمایشــگاهی بررســی شــد. تفاوت های

ــوغ شــته در هــر غلظــت وجــود دارد. ــل رویــت و دوره بل معنــی داری بیــن دوره غیرقاب

ــه شــفیره در همــه تیارهــا رخ داد. طــول عمــر ــن مرحل ــر در اولی بیشــرین مــرگ و می

e( بالغ هــای یــک روزه بــه ترتیــب 30، 35، 37، 40، 42 و 20 روز بــرای xقابــل انتظــار )

R( بیــن Oغلظت هــای گوناگــون چای-کمپوســت تخمیــن زده شــد. رسعــت تکثیــر خالــص )

تیارهــای مختلــف بــه شــدت معنــی دار بــود و بیشــرین آن در شــاهد )2/21 ± 29/12

فرزنــد مــاده( و کمریــن آن در تیــار 100درصــد چای-کمپوســت )2/21 ± 15/47فرزنــد

ــر روز )در ــش 0/171 ± 0/736در ه ــت افزای ــن رسع ــرین و کمری ــود. بیش ــاده( ب م

تیــار شــاهد( و 0/005 ± 0/105 در هــر روز )در تیــار 100درصــد( مشــاهده شــد.

محــدوده ی رسعــت تکثیــر )λ( بیــن 1/143 ± 1/101 در روز )در تیــار 100درصــد( تــا

ــدوده ــان در مح ــدن زم ــر ش ــود. دو براب ــاهد( ب ــار ش 0/001 ± 1/853 در روز )در تی0/023 ± 1/806 )در شــاهد( تــا 0/161 ± 4/587 روز )در تیــار 100درصــد( مشــاهده ــد ــار 100درص ــته رز در تی ــل )T( از ش ــک نس ــت ی ــه غلظ ــان داد ک ــج نش ــد. نتای ش

مشــاهده شــد. نتایــج نشــان داد کــه غلظــت 100درصــد چای-کمپوســت بیشــرین تاثیــر

آنتی بیوتیکــی را بــر رشــد جمعیــت شــته داشــته اســت.

دهــیـکـچ

اثر غلظت های مختلف ورمی کمپوست- چای روی پارامترهای طول عمر در )Rosa hybrida L.( روی گل رز

سعید مدرس نجف آبادی*استادیار گروه حشره شناسی مرکز تحقیقات منابع طبیعی و کشاورزی، اراک، ایران

تاریخ تایید: 15 خرداد 1393 تاریخ دریافت: 23 فروردین 1393 [email protected] :ایمیل نویسنده مسئول *

کلیــد واژگــان: Macrosiphum rosae، پارامترهای رشد جمعیت، چای-کمپوست

مجله گیاهان زینتیwww.jornamental.com قابل دسترس در سایت

شماره استاندارد بین المللی چاپ: 6433-2251 شماره استاندارد بین المللی آنالین: 2251-6441

مجله گیاهان زینتی، سال چهارم، شماره 2، )1393(4

فیکـوس بنجامیـن گیـاه آپارمتانـی اسـت کـه در نواحـی معتـدل یـک گیـاه درختی از

خانـواده تـوت اسـت. تکثیـر ایـن گیاه بـا روش غیر جنسـی انجام می شـود. ایـن مطالعه به

منظـور ارزیابـی تاثیـر غلظت هـای IBA و زمـان قلمه گیـری روی تکثیـر فیکـوس بنجامیـن

بـا تکنیـک قلمه-پیونـد در دانشـگاه کشـاورزی گـرگان در سـال 2012 انجـام شـد. تیارهـا

شـامل چهـار غلظـت IBA )0، 2000، 4000، 6000 میلی گـرم در لیـر( و زمـان قلمه گیـری

)اواخـر ژوئـن و اوایـل سـپتامر( بودنـد. آزمایش بصـورت فاکتوریل در قالـب CRD با چهار

تکـرار و ده منونـه در هـر تکـرار انجـام شـد. درصـد موفقیـت پیونـد، درصـد ریشـه زایی،

تعداد ریشـه، طول بلندترین ریشـه و وزن خشـک ریشـه ارزیابی شـد. نتایج نشـان داد که

بیشـرین درصـد موفقیـت پیونـد، در همـه تیارهای هورمونـی و کمریـن آن در قلمه های

شـاهد بدسـت آمد. بیشـرین درصد ریشـه زایی و تعداد ریشـه در تیارهای 4000 و 6000

میلی گـرم در لیـر حاصـل شـد. بلندتریـن طول ریشـه و بیشـرین وزن خشـک در قلمه های

تیـار شـده بـا 4000 میلی گـرم در لیر بدسـت آمـد. از نظر زمـان قلمه گیری اوایل سـپتامر

در متـام صفـات برتری داشـت. نتایج نشـان داد کـه IBA و زمان قلمه گیـری اثر معنی داری

روی موفقیـت پیونـد و ریشـه زایی این گیـاه دارد.

دهــیـکـچ

تکثیـر فیکـوس بنجامیـن رقـم ‘اسـتارالیت’ بـه روش قلمـه - پیونـد بـا قلمه گیـری مختلـف زمان هـای در IBA مختلـف غلظت هـای

حامد بابایی 1*، حسین زارعی2 و خدایار همتی31 دانش آموخته گروه علوم باغبانی، دانشگاه علوم کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی گرگان، گرگان، ایران

2 استادیار گروه علوم باغبانی، دانشگاه علوم کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی گرگان، گرگان، ایران3 دانشیار گروه علوم باغبانی، دانشگاه علوم کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی گرگان، گرگان، ایران

تاریخ تایید: 4 خرداد 1393 تاریخ دریافت: 22 دی 1392 [email protected], [email protected] :ایمیل نویسنده مسئول *

کلیــد واژگــان: اکسین، فیکوس بنجامین، پیوند، ریشه زایی، قلمه-پیوند



ایــن آزمایــش بــا هــدف مطالعــه بــر روی تاثیــر رسمادهــی و شب شــکنی بــر روی

Larsenianthus careyanus گلدهــی خــارج از فصــل گیاهــان زینتــی انجــام شــد. گل

ــه ــل اســت ک ــواده زنجبی ــاه خــودرو از خان ــک گی W.J. Kress & Mood (.Benth) ی

ــد. ــد می کن ــد رش ــور هن ــی کش ــامل رشق ــای ش ــبز ایالت ه ــه س ــای همیش در جنگل ه

ــه مــدت هشــت ــرب ب ــا اکت ــارچ ت ــاه م ــس از جمــع آوری از م ــاه پ ــن گی ریزوم هــای ای

مــاه در دمــای ۱۵ درجــه ســانتی گراد نگهــداری شــدند. ریزوم هــای جوانــه زده پــس از

تیــامر رسمایــی بــا فواصــل زمانــی منظــم کاشــته و بــه گلخانــه ای بــا نــور کنــرتل شــده و

المپ هــای اینکاندســنت منتقــل شــدند؛ از ایــن المپ هــا در شــب بــرای افزایــش دوره

ــا مــارچ اســتفاده می شــد. گلدهــی خــارج از فصــل ــن ماه هــای دســامرب ت گلدهــی بی

از ژانویــه تــا مــارچ اتفــاق افتــاد. تجزیــه و تحلیــل ۲۳ صفــت مورفولوژیکــی از گیاهــان

تحــت مطالعــه نیــز انجــام شــد.

دهــيـكـ چ

القـاء گلدهـى خـارج از فصـل در گيـاه Larsenianthus careyanus از خانـواده زنجبيـل از طريـق كاهـش دما و شـب شـكنى

ک.ام.پرابهوکومار 1،2، وى.پى توماس1،3، ام. سابو1* و ك.وى. موهانان 1 گروه گياهشناسى دانشگاه كاليكوت، كراال، هندوستان

2 مركز تحقيقات گياهان دارويى، آريا وايديا ساال، كوتاكال، كراال، هندوستان

3 گروه گياهشناسى كالج كاتوليكت، كراال

تاريخ تاييد: 23 خرداد 1393 تاريخ دريافت: 18 فروردين 1393 [email protected] :ايميل نويسنده مسئول *

كليــــد واژگــــان: Larsenianthus careyanus، Hitchenia careyana، شــب شــكنى، گلدهــى خــارج از فصل،

خانــواده زنجبيــل

مجله گياهان زينتىwww.jornamental.com قابل دسترس در سايت

شماره استاندارد بين المللى چاپ: 6433-2251 شماره استاندارد بين المللى آنالين: 2251-6441

مجله گياهان زينتى، سال چهارم، شماره 2، (1393)2

ورمی کمپوسـت تولید شـده از باگاس نیشـکر)SBV( یا خاک اره )S( در غلظت های

مختلـف جایگزیـن بسـرهای بـدون خـاک ، در گلدان هایـی حـاوی پیـت، ورمی کولیت و

پرلیـت )1 : 3 : 6( شـد و تاثیـر آن هـا روی رشـد دیفـن باخیـا در گلخانـه و در محیـط

کشـت )6 : 3 : 1( PE:VE:P ارزیابـی شـد. دیفـن باخیـا در بسـر حـاوی )1 : 3 : 6(

SBV )کـه در آن پیـت بـا 0، 10، 20، 30، 40، 50 و 60 درصـد )حجمـی PE:VE:P

جایگزیـن شـده بـود، کشـت شـد. شـاهد بسـر کاشـت )PE:VE:P )6 : 3 : 1 بـدون

SBV یـا SV بـود. گیاهـان بـه دفعـات بـا محلـول غذایـی به مـدت 7 ماه تغذیه شـدند.

بیشـرین رشـد دیفـن باخیـا از جایگزینـی 60 درصـد SBV یـا SV بجای پیت در بسـر

کشـت )PE:VE:P )6 : 3 : 1 بدسـت آمـد. نتایـج نشـان داد کـه ورمی کمپوسـت بـاگاس

نیشـکر یـا خـاک اره جایگزین هایـی مناسـب بـرای پیـت هسـتند.

دهــیـکـچ

رشــد Diffenbachia amoena ‘تروپیــک اســنو’ در محیط کشــت های حــاوی بــاگاس نیشــکر و ورمی کمپوســت خــاک اره

علی محبوب خمامی 1* و محمدوف گوشکار محرم21 ایستگاه تحقیقات گل و گیاهان زینتی الهیجان، سازمان تحقیق، آموزش و توسعه کشاورزی، ایران

تاریخ تایید: 23 مهر 1393 تاریخ دریافت: 9 اسفند 1392 [email protected] :ایمیل نویسنده مسئول *

کلیــد واژگــان: Eisenia foetida، کود دامی، ویژگی های فیزیکوشیمیایی



www.jornamental.comThe Journal of Ornamental Plants, is an open access journal that provides rapid publication of manuscripts

on Ornamental plants, Floriculture and Landscape. Journal of Ornamental Plants is published in English,

as a printed journal and in electronic form.

All articles published in Journal of Ornamental Plants are peer-reviewed. All manuscripts should convey im-

portant results that have not been published, nor under consideration anywhere else. Journal of Orna-

mental Plants will be available online around the world free of charge at http://www.jornamental.com.

In addition, no page charge are required from the author(s). The Journal of Ornamental Plants is pub-

lished quarterly by Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch, Rasht, Iran.

Manuscript Submission

Please read the “Instructions to Authors” before submitting your manuscript. Submit manuscripts as e-

mail attachment to Dr. Ali Mohammadi Torkashvand, Executive Director of Journal of Ornamental Plants,

at [email protected]. Electronic submission of manuscripts is strongly encouraged, provided that

the text, tables, and figures are included in a single Microsoft Word 2003 file. A manuscript acknowledg-

ment including manuscript number will be emailed to the corresponding author within 72 hours.

Please do not hesitate to contact meif you have any questions about the journal. We look forward to

your participation in the Journal of Ornamental Plants.

Address: Islamic azad University, Rasht Branch

Horticultural Department,

Agriculture Faculty,

Rasht,

Iran.

P.O.Box 41335-3516

Email: [email protected]

URL: http:// www.jornamental.com

Topics and Types of PaperJournal of Ornamental Plants is an international journal to the publication of original papers and reviews

in the Ornamental plants, Floriculture and Landscape fields. Articles in the journal deal with Ornamental

plants, Floriculture and Landscape. The scope of JOP includes all Ornamental plants, Floriculture and

Landscape. The journal is concerned with Ornamental plants, Floriculture and Landscape and covers

all aspects of physiology, molecular biology, biotechnology, protected cultivation, and environmental areas

of plants. The journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of signif-

icance and scientific excellence, and will publish:

● Research articles

● Short Communications

● Review

Papers are welcome reporting studies in all aspects of Ornamental plants, Floriculture and Landscape

including:

Any Novel Approaches in Plant Science

Biotechnology

Environmental Stress Physiology

Genetices and Breeding

Photosynthesis, Sources-Sink Physiology

Postharvest Biology

Seed Physiology

Soil-Plant-Water Relationships

Modelling

Published by:Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch, Iran


Documents

Journal of Ornamental Plants - Webswebzoom.freewebs.com/jornamental/vol4(2)/JOPJune2014-FINAL-PRIN… · Off-Season Flower Induction of ‘Praying mantis ginger’ Larsenianthus careyanus