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This study aimed to reuse discarded coir substrates and optimize irrigation as a low-cost solution for addressing waterlogging in paddy-converted farmland. We employed a 2 × 4 factorial design, with two cultivation methods consisting of paddy soil (PS) and coir substrates (CS), and four irrigation levels (IL) set as 140% crop evapotranspiration (ETc140), 100% ETc (ETc100), 60% ETc (ETc60), and non-irrigated control (ETc0). We evaluated the growth and physiological characteristics of cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. Capitata), including the outer leaf growth, yield components, water use efficiency (WUE), photosynthetic parameters, chlorophyll content, proline content, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and glucosinolates (GLs) content. The results indicated that the interaction between the CS and IL significantly improved cabbage growth, photosynthetic activity, and stress resistance compared with PS. Notably, when CS was combined with ETc100 and ETc60 irrigation levels, cabbage exhibited optimal growth parameters, and CS-ETc60 achieved the highest WUE. This study indicated that using discarded coir substrates combined with appropriate irrigation levels offers an effective and low-cost solution for mitigating waterlogging problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irrigation is one of the most important cultural practices in sustainable cabbage cultivation. While most studies on irrigation in cabbage have focused on conventional deficit irrigation (DI) practices, some plants' water requirements under the partial root drying (PRD) technique are not yet very clear. In this study, the possible responses of cabbage, such as growth, some quality, yield, yield parameters, water use efficiency (WUE), irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), and yield response factor (ky), were investigated at four irrigation water levels (125%, 100%, 75%, and 50%) with DI and PRD techniques for 2 years. Irrigation treatments were carried out by the drip irrigation method, and the amount of irrigation water for the control (I-100) was calculated using the measurements taken from the Class-A evaporation container. A total of eight irrigation treatments—four conventional deficit irrigation (I-125, I-100, I-75, I-50) and four partial root drying (PRD-125, PRD-100, PRD75, PRD-50)—were considered in the study. ET values were determined between 47.69–60.78 mm in the first year and 80.11–101.37 mm in the second year. Total and marketable yield values, WUE and IWUE values, were significantly affected by the irrigation treatments. As a result of the research, the highest total and marketable yields were found in I-125, PRD-125, I-100, and PRD-100 treatments. It was important that WUE and IWUE values reached their highest levels in full irrigation and 25% more irrigation treatments as well as in deficit irrigation treatments. In conditions where irrigation water is scarce and expensive, I-75 and PRD-75 applications are also recommended. While an increase in cabbage head height and diameter was observed with increasing irrigation water level, SSC and L values increased at deficit irrigations. According to the correlation coefficients, a positive relationship was determined between marketable yield and head and stem diameter, head height, WUE, and ET for marketable yield. In addition, it was predicted that I-50 and PRD-50 treatments may also be advantageous if the "kc" plant coefficient cover percentage was increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document "Influence of Irrigation and Water Use on the Agronomic Traits of Crops" explores the impact of irrigation on crop yield and efficiency in arid regions. It discusses how crops adapt to varying soil moisture levels and the importance of understanding the relationship between agronomic traits and water use efficiency. The document includes research on integrating irrigation strategies with nutrient management, benefits of deficit irrigation, water-saving strategies in arid regions, and insights on saline and seasonally changing environments. Overall, the research findings provide valuable strategies for enhancing agricultural productivity in the face of water scarcity, global population growth, and climate change. [Extracted from the article]

Excessive use of conventional fertilizers in agricultural soils can lead to environmental contamination, particularly affecting aquifers and surface waters. Nanofertilizers, with smaller particles and greater nutrient efficiency, offer a promising alternative. This study evaluates the application of nanofertilizers by reducing NPK-doses compared to conventional fertilizers in the cultivation of Brassica oleracea L. convar. capitata var. sabauda (Savoy cabbage). Field assays were conducted in experimental plots with different NPK doses and treatments using urea-hydroxyapatite and potassium sulfate nanoparticles (optimum dose: 80 N, 100 P2O5, 250 K2O kg ha−1; and half optimum dosage). The assay was monitored throughout the crop cycle, and cabbages were harvested to determine biometric parameters, yield, and nutrient contents. The results indicated that nanofertilizers at half the recommended dosage yielded similar results to conventional fertilization in terms of cabbage growth and yield. Specifically, soil pH and available P increased by the end of the crop cycle, while total N, C, CEC, and soil texture remained unchanged, regardless of the fertilizer dose applied. Cabbage plants treated with nanofertilizers showed no significant differences in nutrient content compared to those treated with conventional fertilizers. This study supports the potential of nanofertilizers as an environmentally sustainable alternative that can reduce nutrient inputs in agriculture without compromising crop yield and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the effects of different cropping rotations on soil moisture and economic benefit. Cabbage–maize–cabbage (CMC), beans–maize–cabbage (BMC), and cabbage–cabbage–cabbage (CCC) treatments were set up to study the effects of different crop rotation combinations on soil water storage, evapotranspiration (ET), water use efficiency (WUE), and economic benefit. The results showed that the average soil moisture content decreased initially and then increased with crop rotation, whereas it continued to decrease with continuous cabbage cropping as the crop grew. CMC reduced ET, whereas BMC increased ET from the nodulation to maturation stages of cabbage compared with CCC in the third experimental year. WUE of different crops showed that cabbage > maize > beans. The economic benefit of the CMC was higher than the other treatments in the third planting year. Therefore, the best crop rotation combination in this area is cabbage–maize–cabbage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The return of agricultural waste to the field is one of the most effective strategies of increasing crop yield, improving the soil's physicochemical properties, and improving the soil rhizosphere environment. In the present study, sheep manure (SM), cow manure (CM), tail vegetable (TV), mushroom residue (MR), and corn straw (CS) were used as raw materials, and no fertilization (CK1) and local commercial organic fertilizer (CK2) treatments were used as controls. Eight composts were set up using specific mass ratios of different compost materials. After fermentation, field experiments were conducted to determine the cabbage yield, soil's physicochemical properties, and soil rhizosphere conditions. The eight composts increased the soil organic matter and nutrient contents significantly. Among the eight fermentation formulas, T6 (CM:CS:TV:SM = 1:1:2:6), T7 (MR:CS:TV:SM = 1:1:2:6), and T8 (CM:MR:CS:TV:SM = 1:1:1:2:5) were relatively effective. Therefore, high-throughput sequencing was performed on T6, T7, T8, CK1, and CK2. T6, T7, and T8 exhibited increased relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Actinomycetes, and Firmicutes, while the Acidobacteria abundance was decreased. In addition, Ascomycota's and Basidiomycetes' relative abundance decreased, and the oil chytrid and mortierella increased. The microbial community structure was affected significantly by pH, electrical conductivity, available potassium, available nitrogen, and organic matter. In general, the three composts increased yield by improving the soil's physicochemical properties, fertility, and microbial community structure. Among them, T6 had the most significant effect and is the optimal formula for use as a local organic cabbage fertilizer, and it could facilitate sustainable agricultural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cabbage is an annual vegetable crop species cultivated throughout the year. The development of high-yielding cabbage hybrids and the optimization of several agronomic management practices such as fertilization and crop rotation have resulted in increased soil fertility, crop yield and product quality. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the farming system (organic and conventional) and the applied rotation scheme on soil nutrient content, head yield and the nutrient content of cabbage. The preceding crops included either pea (P), faba bean (F) or cabbage (C), and thus, the rotation schemes were P-C, F-C and C-C. Sheep manure was applied in the organic farming system, and the inorganic fertilizer 11-15-15 (N-P2O5-K2O) was applied to the conventionally cultivated plants. The results reveal an interaction between the farming system and the preceding crop for the head yield, with the lowest values (57.00 t ha−1 and 53.87 t ha−1 in 2015/2016 and 2016/2017, respectively) recorded in plots where cabbage was cultivated as a preceding crop under the organic farming system. The N, P and K contents in head tissues were affected only by the farming system, with the greatest values recorded in the conventional farming system. Both factors affected the nutrient content in the soil. Specifically, the highest values of NO3− and total N content in the soil were recorded in the P-C and F-C rotations, and the K content was higher in the continuous cabbage cropping system (C-C). Moreover, the NO3−, P and K contents in the soils were higher in the conventional farming system compared to the organic system. To conclude, combining inorganic fertilization in a crop rotation scheme with legume species such as pea and faba bean as preceding crops for cabbage can result in increased soil fertility and head yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cabbage serves as an important food and nutrition source for numerous communities in the world, yet its production requires substantial quantities of chemical fertilizers. In this study, we assessed the impact of both increasing nitrogen and phosphorus mineral (NP) fertilization, along with the application of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) on the N and P uptake, quality, and yield of cabbage. To this end, we conducted two consecutive field experiments following a randomized block design with four replicates and two factors: NP doses and PGPB inoculation. PGPB inoculation used a bacterial consortium comprising Azospirillum brasilense D7, Herbaspirillum sp. AP21, and Rhizobium leguminosarum T88. Our results showed a significant influence of both biofertilization and NP fertilization across both crop cycles; however, no interaction between these factors was observed. In the first crop cycle, 75% of NP mineral fertilization (equivalent to 93.6 kg ha−1 of N and 82.1 kg ha−1 of P) positively impacted yield and N uptake. Also, microbial inoculation significantly influenced crop yield, resulting in a 9-ton increase in crop yield per hectare due to biofertilization. In the second crop cycle, we observed a significant positive effect of mineral fertilization on cabbage yield and nutritional quality. The relative agronomic effectiveness (RAE) index showed that combining biological fertilization with 50% and 75% of the NP fertilization, respectively, increased yield by 66% and 48% compared to the commercial NP dosage without PGPB. Collectively, our results demonstrated that within our experimental setup, NP fertilization dosage can be reduced without any detrimental impact on yield. Moreover, biofertilization could enhance cabbage quality and yield in field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring the technical and technological possibility of regularly obtaining fresh, high-quality plant production in Antarctic stations is an urgent task of our time. This work is devoted to studying the growth and development of leaf vegetable crops and the main quality indicators of their edible parts when grown in the phytotechnical complex greenhouses at the "Vostok" Antarctic station and at the agrobiopolygon of the Agrophysical Research Institute (AFI). The plants, belonging to 13 varieties of 9 types of leaf vegetable crops (arugula, garden cress, cabbage, mustard, leaf radish, leaf lettuce, amaranth, dill, parsley leaf), were studied during five growing seasons at the "Vostok" station and at the AFI agrobiopolygon under controlled conditions (control). The experimental data obtained demonstrate the high productivity of the phytotechnical complex for most of the investigated crops per unit of useful area, with lower costs of electricity and water consumption per unit of production compared with a number of greenhouses at foreign Antarctic stations and greenhouse complexes with controlled conditions located on other continents. Lettuce crops were the most adapted to the growing conditions at the Antarctic station "Vostok". They did not differ in their evaluated characteristics from the control. All other investigated crops, while not differing in their development rate and quality, had statistically significant (16–61%) decreases in their yield per 1 m2 per year. This may demonstrate the difference in the "genotype–environment" interaction in plants grown at the Antarctic station and AFI agrobiopolygon, probably due to the different barometric pressure and partial pressure of oxygen at the two locations. The positive psychological effects of the greenhouses were identified along with nutritional and other qualities of the plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agrivoltaic systems, which combine the cultivation of crops with solar panel installations, offer a novel solution to the dual challenges of energy production and agricultural productivity. This research verifies the impact of agrivoltaic (APV) conditions on the growth and quality of garlic and kimchi cabbage over two consecutive years in Naju-si, Jeollanam Province, Republic of Korea. In the 2019–2020 cultivation season, both kimchi cabbage and garlic grown under APV conditions experienced weight reductions of 18% and 15%, respectively, when compared to those grown in conventional settings. Intriguingly, despite the altered light conditions of APV leading to microenvironmental changes (mainly 41% light reduction), the quality of these crops, particularly in terms of their sulfur compound concentrations, remained consistent. This suggests that there was no discernible difference in the sensory quality of APV-grown kimchi cabbage and garlic compared to their traditionally grown counterparts. These findings highlight the potential of APV systems in promoting sustainable agriculture by balancing both crop yield and quality. Based on these results, the study suggests three innovative cultivation techniques to enhance crop growth in APV environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuous cropping of cabbage or kidney bean results in a decrease in yield by influencing the soil environment. To decrease the damage caused by continuous cropping, ten treatments of cabbage–maize–cabbage (CMC), kidney bean–maize–cabbage (BMC), cabbage–cabbage–cabbage (CCC), cabbage–maize–kidney bean (CMB), kidney bean–maize–kidney bean (BMB), kidney bean–kidney bean–kidney bean (BBB), cabbage–cabbage–maize (CCM), cabbage–kidney bean–maize (CBM), kidney bean–kidney bean–maize (BBM) and kidney bean–cabbage–maize (BCM) rotation combinations were set up. The changes in soil nutrients, fungal community structure, composition and diversity in topsoil under the ten crop rotation combinations were analyzed using Illumina NovaSeq high-throughput sequencing technology and chemical technology. Fungal species were abundant in the ten treatments. The OTUs (operational taxonomic units) showed no significant differences. The richness index values of each treatment had significant differences. The diversity index value of the CCC treatment was significantly lower than those of the other treatments. The dominant soil fungal phylum was Ascomycota, and the subordinate soil fungal phylum was Basidiomycota. No significant differences were observed in Ascomycota between the treatments. Basidiomycota in the BBM treatment was significantly higher than that in the CCM treatment. Kickxellomycota was not found in the CCM and CCC treatments. The BBM treatment had no Entorrhizomycota. The dominant soil fungal class belonged to Ascomycota. The common distinction between continuous cropping and crop rotation was Diaporthales, which might be the main fungal order causing continuous cropping disorders. As the best choice, the BBM treatment could prevent soil-borne fungal diseases and provide the basis for the rational crop rotation of cabbage, kidney bean, and maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present investigation was carried out to study the differential responses to assimilated nutrient management in the cabbage–capsicum–radish cropping system to develop an integrated plant nutrient supply. The experimental trial was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates and included assimilations of 15 various combinations: T1—recommended dose of fertilizers (RDFs) + farmyard manure (FYM) (Control); T2—nitrogen and phosphorus (NP) + vermicompost (VC) (75% + 2.5 t/ha); T3—NP + VC (50% + 2.5 t/ha); T4—NP + enriched compost (EC) (75% + 2.5 t/ha); T5—NP + EC (50% + 2.5 t/ha); T6—NP + plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) (75% + 5 kg/ha); T7—NP + PGPR (50% + 5 kg/ha); T8—NP + VC + PGPR (75% + 2.5 t/ha + 5 kg/ha); T9—NP + VC + PGPR (50% + 2.5 t/ha + 5 kg/ha); T10—NP + EC + PGPR (50% + 2.5 t/ha + 5 kg/ha); T11—NP + EC + PGPR (50% + 2.5 t/ha + 5 kg/ha); T12—NP + VC and EC (75% + 2.5 t/ha and 2.5 t/ha); T13—NP + VC and EC (50% + 2.5 t/ha and 2.5 t/ha); T14—NP + VC and EC + PGPR (75% + 2.5 t/ha and 2.5 t/ha + 5 kg/ha); T15—NP + VC and EC + PGPR (50% + 2.5 t/ha and 2.5 t/ha + 5 kg/ha) for two consecutive years. Seedlings of the cabbage cultivar were transplanted with a spacing of 45 × 30 cm, whereas the capsicum seedlings were transplanted with a spacing of 60 × 45 cm. The radish cultivar was sown directly in the field with a spacing of 30 × 7.5 cm. The yield and growth attributes of all three crops were notably impacted by the INM modules. The utilization of a combination of 75% of the recommended quantity of NP + VC and EC, along with PGPR, at a rate of 2.5 t/ha, during cabbage cultivation, led to a noteworthy rise in plant height, equatorial diameter, gross head weight, net head weight, and ultimately, the maximum head yield, as per the statistical analysis. In the case of capsicum, the treatment (T14) module demonstrated superior performance in terms of the major yielding components, namely, fruit size, fruit weight, and number of fruits per plant, resulting in the highest yield compared to the other modules, including RDFs. The cabbage exhibited high protein content and inorganic modules in terms of quality traits, whereas ascorbic acid and total soluble solids (TSSs) levels were high due to strong organic support across all three crops. Thus, it can be inferred that the integrated combination of 75% NP, VC, and EC at 2.5 t/ha, and PGPR, along with the basic application of the full recommended potash and farmyard manure (FYM), led to a reduction of 25% in fertilizers (NP), improved growth and yield, and higher annual net returns. Thus, this incorporation can be suggested as an economically efficient strategy for consistently attaining increased productivity with enhanced excellence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is increasing evidence that the reliance on synthetic chemical pesticides and mineral fertilizers in agriculture has significant negative environmental and/or health impacts and poses a risk for future food security. Systematic reviews/meta-analyses showed that organic production systems, which omit the use of agrochemicals, produce crops with lower yields, but superior nutritional composition. However, the agronomic parameters responsible for differences in crop yields and nutritional quality are poorly understood. Methods: Here we report results for four field vegetable crops from the Nafferton Factorial Systems Comparison (NFSC) trial. This long-term factorial field experiment was designed to (i) identify effects of growing season/climatic variation, and contrasting rotational designs, crop protection protocols and fertilization regimes used in organic and conventional systems on crop health, yield and nutritional parameters and (ii) estimate the relative importance of climatic and agronomic drivers for crop health, yield and nutritionally relevant quality parameters. Quality parameters monitored in harvested products, included phenolic, glucosinolate, vitamin C, vitamin B9, carotenoid, cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and glycoalkaloid concentrations. Results: Climatic conditions during the growing season were found to have a larger impact on crop yield and quality than the agronomic factors (pre-crop, crop protection, fertilization) studied. However, the (i) interactions between growing season with contrasting climatic conditions and agronomic factors identified by ANOVA for crop health, yield and quality parameters and (ii) the associations between the three climatic drivers (precipitation, temperature, radiation) and crop yield and quality parameters differed substantially between the four crop plant species. Among the agronomic factors, fertilization had a substantially larger impact compared with both pre-crop and crop protection. Specifically, crop yields were found to be significantly increased by the use of (i) conventional fertilization and crop protection methods in potato, (ii) conventional fertilization, but organic crop protection methods in cabbage, and (iii) conventional fertilization regimes in lettuce, while none of the agronomic factors had a significant effect on onion yields. When important crop pest and diseases were assessed, (i) conventional crop protection resulted in significantly lower late blight severity in potato, while (ii) organic crop protection resulted in lower bird damage and cabbage root fly (CRF) incidence in cabbages, and Sclerotinia incidence in lettuce and (iii) organic fertilization resulted in lower CRF and Sclerotinia incidence in cabbage and lettuce respectively. When concentrations of nutritionally relevant phytochemicals were compared, organic fertilization resulted in significantly higher phenolic concentrations in potato, cabbage and lettuce, higher glucosinolate and carotenoid concentrations in cabbage, higher vitamin C concentrations in potato and cabbage and higher vitamin B9 concentrations in potato and lettuce—but lower concentrations of toxic glycoalkaloids in potato. Significant effects of crop protection protocols on phytochemical concentrations were only detected in cabbage with conventional crop protection resulting in higher glucosinolate and vitamin B9 concentrations. When toxic metal concentrations were compared, organic fertilization resulted in significantly lower Cd concentrations in all four crops and lower Ni concentrations in potato, cabbage and onion. Significant effects of crop protection were only detected in cabbage, where organic crop protection resulted in lower Ni concentrations. Pb concentrations were not affected by any of the agronomic factors. The potential implications of results for improving (i) strategies to reduce the use of non-renewable resources and environmental impacts of vegetable production and (ii) the productivity of organic and other low-input vegetable production systems without compromising food quality are discussed. Conclusions: The study confirms that organic vegetable production protocols result in higher concentrations of phenolics and other nutritionally desirable phytochemicals, but lower concentrations of the toxic metals Cd and Ni in harvested products. It also demonstrates, for the first time, that this is primarily due to differences in fertilization regimes. The finding that in three of the four crops (cabbage, lettuce and onion) the application of synthetic chemical crop protection products had no measurable positive impact on crop health and yield should be considered in the context of the growing concern about health impacts of pesticide use in field vegetable crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term use of polyethylene mulch (PEM) films can cause plastic film residual pollution that has an adverse effect on soil health and crop quality. To address this issue, poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), an aliphatic–aromatic copolyester, is widely used in the production of commercially biodegradable plastic mulch (BDM) films. The use of BDMs can alleviate soil plastic pollution and reduce the labor cost of retrieving plastic film residues from the field. The effects of BDM and PEM on the agronomic and nutritional quality traits of cabbage cultivar 'Sugan No. 35', as well as the physicochemical properties and microbial communities of the soil were analyzed during two consecutive years of the experiment. No significant difference was observed in the cabbage agronomic and nutritional quality traits among three mulching treatments. Nonetheless, the mulching and degradation of BDM reduced the pH value and increased the organic matter content of the soil samples compared with PEM mulching. In the soil bacterial and fungal communities, Proteobacteria and Ascomycota were the most abundant bacterial phylum and fungal phylum across all the soil samples, respectively; the use of BDM increased the relative abundance of soil Proteobacteria and Ascomycota compared with PEM mulching. The overall cost of BDM mulching was much lower than that of PEM mulching during the cabbage production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the problem of herbicide residues exceeding the safety standard due to continuous spraying of herbicides on open-field cabbage, we propose an intermittent weed spraying control method integrating cabbage position, cabbage canopy size, and spraying machine operation speed. It is based on an early-stage cabbage target identification method obtained in the early stage and the operation requirements in open-field cabbage. Built with a C37 controller, a stable pressure spray system and an intermittent weed spraying control system for open-field cabbage, an integrated system was designed. Experimental verification was carried out through measurement indexes such as spraying precision, herbicide saving rate, herbicide efficacy, and herbicide residue. Since the industry is faced with a status quo of a lack of relevant operational norms and national standards for the precise weed spraying operation mode, this paper provides a relatively perfect experiment and evaluation method for this mode. The experimental results on the accuracy of weed spraying at different speeds showed that the mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and average spray cabbage coverage rate (ASCCR) of intermittent weed spraying increased, but the average effective spray coverage rate (AESCR) decreased with increasing operation speed. When the working speed was 0.51 m/s, the MAE and RMSE of intermittent weed spraying were less than 2.87 cm and 3.40 cm, respectively, and the AESCR was 98.4%, which verified the feasibility of operating the intermittent weed spraying of cabbage. The results of a field experiment showed that the average weed-killing rate of intermittent weed spraying for open-field cabbage was 94.8%, and the herbicide-saving rate could reach 28.3% for a similar weeding effect to that of constant-rate application, which not only met the needs of intermittent weed spraying in open-field cabbage but also had great significance for improving the herbicide utilization rate. Compared with the constant-rate application method, the herbicide residue concentration detected using intermittent weed spraying for cabbage decreased by 66.6% on average, which has important research significance and application value for ensuring the normal growth of crops and the safety of agricultural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has a significant impact on the agricultural sector, negatively affecting plants' growth and development, with predicted strong consequences on food availability in the future. Although we are experiencing more frequent and intense heavy rainfall events, a major contributor to field flooding, there is still not much known about the impact of these events on different crops. In this study, we investigated the effects of waterlogging on a model plant white cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. alba), with the aim to follow its response to both single and recurrent short-term (72-h length) waterlogging, as well as to track difference in the sensitivity between plants in different growth stages (38- and 48-day-old plants). In our 22-day experiment, settled under fully controlled conditions (16 h day/8 h night, 25 °C day/20 °C night, 60–70% relative air humidity, 250 µmol m−2 s−1 photosynthetic active radiation), with the aim to more comprehensively recognize consequences of waterlogging on plants, we measured changes in plants on multiple levels: (i) within its morphological traits (number and length of leaves, leaf area, and blade width), (ii) within chlorophyll fluorescence and multispectral traits (20 parameters), (iii) following the levels of plant stress parameters (salicylic acid, abscisic acid, proline, and total polyphenols), and (iv) following changes in the plants' elemental and mineral composition. According to our results, white cabbage was shown not to be very sensitive to waterlogging, with only plants exposed to repeated waterlogging showing signs of the congestion stress. These signs, observed in the changes of molecular stress parameters salicylic and abscisic acids, were not so clearly evident at the aboveground level. We did not observe changes in the plants' morphologies, nor their photosynthetic performance. In addition, removal of waterlogging stress resulted in complete recovery of our model plants, suggesting a prompt adaptation response of white cabbage. With the projected increased frequency of occurrence of flooding events, it will become increasingly more important to recognize crops being highly sensitive to flooding with the aim to try to adapt to the changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the diversity within and among cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata L.), cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis), and Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) variants are essential for the development of healthy diets. However, most studies on them have been limited to a single species, with little integrated analysis between them. In this study, the diversity within and among these species and varieties is assessed by determining the contents of 15 major characteristic nutrients, antioxidants, and minerals in 12 varieties of cabbage, 9 varieties of cauliflower, and 12 varieties of Chinese cabbage cultivated under the same conditions. The results show that there are significant differences in the compositional distributions of cabbage, cauliflower, and Chinese cabbage. Cabbage has the highest contents of soluble sugars (27.73 mg·kg−1 FW), flavonoids (5.90 mg·g−1 FW), and Fe (46.90 mg·kg−1 DW). Cauliflower is an ideal source of soluble protein (603.04 mg·kg−1 FW), polyphenols (1.53 mg·g−1 FW), glucosinolates (25.27 μmol·g−1 FW), and Cu (4.25 mg·kg−1 DW). Chinese cabbage is rich in vitamin C (0.45 mg·g−1 FW) and minerals (K, Ca, Mg, P, Mn, and Zn, at 9206.67 mg·kg−1 DW, 3297.00 mg·kg−1 DW, 3322.79 mg·kg−1 DW, 5614.78 mg·kg−1 DW, 15.36 mg·kg−1 DW, and 21.87 mg·kg−1 DW, respectively). There is a correlation between the quality, antioxidant properties, and minerals of the three species. In principal component analysis, a wide distribution of cabbage varieties and a high degree of overlap with the confidence ellipse of cauliflower are observed, indicating that certain cabbage varieties share compositional characteristics with cauliflower. These findings provide a reference for selecting varieties with higher nutritional value and antioxidant properties, as well as breeding new varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of environmentally safe products of natural origin is a global trend today. A particular point of interest is the use of humic fertilizers. This is due to the growing awareness of the positive impact of humic substances on plant growth and development as well as on the quality of agricultural products and soil fertility. Humates are physiologically active substances. As a result, they regulate and intensify metabolic processes in plants and soil, and contribute to the bioavailability of nutrients to plants. EldORost is a new-generation humic product that contains humic substances with a high humification degree. In addition to humates, this product contains a complex of amino acids, macro-, and microelements in a bioavailable form for plants. The product is eco-friendly and completely soluble in water, which is a substantial advantage for drip irrigation systems. It can be used for all types of agricultural crops on a wide diversity of soils and climatic zones. It displays the properties of plant hormones while its optimum concentration is as low as 0.0001% (wt). The efficiency of this novel humic product was tested in laboratory and field tests conducted on potatoes and vegetable crops (tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, onions, beets). The obtained results showed high efficiency displayed in the significantly improved sowing quality of vegetable seeds, nominally increased the germination degree and seed germination energy, intensively stimulated the side root development in plants, accelerated the growth of biomass, increased the fruiting period, and reduced maturation on the yield of potatoes and vegetable crops. The obtained data allowed us to characterize this novel humic product from the perspective of an eco-friendly fertilizer and growth promoter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal stress causes the reduction in productivity and harvest quality. To adapt to different temperature ranges, plants activate protecting metabolic pathways. Previous studies have reported that stressful environments due to abiotic stresses have an impact on the accumulation of glucosinolates (GSLs) in Brassicaceae plants. In order to determine the role of GSLs in the plant response to thermal stress, we conducted a study comparing four populations with a high and low GSL content. The GSL levels were analysed at different temperatures [control (20), 12 and 32 °C], detecting that populations with a higher GSL content increased their resistance to the cold. In addition, populations subjected to the cold increased the content of indolic GSLs. Populations with high levels of GSLs show higher levels of glucobrassicin (GBS) and sinigrin (SIN) under cold temperatures than plants grown under control conditions. High temperatures have a lower impact on GSLs accumulation. To elucidate the induced metabolic changes due to the accumulation of GSLs under cold conditions, we performed an untargeted metabolomic analysis and identified 25 compounds differentially expressed under cold conditions in the populations with a high GSL content. Almost 50% of these compounds are classified as lipids (fatty amides, monoradylglycerols, diterpenes, glycosylglycerols, linoleic acids and derivatives). Organoheterocyclic and nitrogenous organic compounds are also over-represented. Therefore, the current results suggest that GSLs play a key role in cold tolerance. Although the associated molecular mechanisms have not been elucidated, the non-targeted metabolomics assay shows a significant change in the lipid profile, with compounds that need to be studied further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to large line spacing and planting distances, the adoption of continuous and uniform pesticide spraying in vegetable farming can lead to pesticide waste, thus increasing cost and environmental pollution. In this paper, by applying deep learning and online identification methods, control technology for target-oriented spraying is studied with cabbages as the research object. To overcome motion blur and low average precision under strong light conditions during the operation of sprayers, an innovative YOLOV5 model implanted with a transformer module is utilized to achieve accurate online identification for cabbage fields under complex environments. Based on this concept, a new target-oriented spray system is built on an NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX. Indoor test results show that the average precision is 96.14% and the image processing time is 51.07 ms. When motion blur occurs, the average precision for the target is 90.31%. Then, in a field experiment, when the light intensity is within the range of 3.76–12.34 wlx, the advance opening distance is less than 3.51 cm, the delay closing distance is less than 2.05 cm, and the average identification error for the cabbage diameter is less than 1.45 cm. The experimental results indicate that changes in light intensity have no significant impact on the identification effect. The average precision is 98.65%, and the savings rate reaches 54.04%. In general, the target-oriented spray system designed in this study achieves the expected experimental results and can provide technical support for field target spraying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyst nematodes are one of the most important pathogens worldwide. Most cyst nematode species have been reported recently in China. From 2016 to 2020, an extensive survey of cyst nematodes was conducted in the Bashang region of Hebei Province. A total of 158 soil samples were collected, and cyst-forming nematodes were isolated from five soil samples. Morphological and molecular characterization showed that four of the cyst-forming nematode populations were Heterodera glycines (SCN), named populations of ZM, KM, CB and FN, respectively. These SCN populations were collected from Zhangbei County, Kangbao County, Chabei Management Area of Zhangjiakou and Fengning Manchu Autonomous County of Chengde, respectively, where the corresponding cyst densities were 57, 41, 103 and 31 cysts/200 cc soil. Furthermore, the populations of ZM, KM and CB were identified as race 4, whereas the FN population was identified as race 3. The cyst-forming nematode population was collected from Zhangbei County of Zhangjiakou, which was confirmed to be Heterodera schachtii (SBCN), named population ZZ, and the cyst density was 94 cysts/200 cc soil. It is a new disease of Chinese cabbage caused by SBCN based on Koch's postulates. Fourteen cultivars from five plant families were evaluated as hosts for SBCN. Chinese cabbage (cv. Linglonghuang012) and cabbage (cv. Chunwang) were suitable hosts, while celery (cv. Yuhuang), potato (cv. Helan 15) and eggplant (cv. Junlang) were nonhosts. The obtained results regarding the occurrence, distribution, races of SCN and hosts of SBCN in the Bashang region in this study provide a reference for SCN and SBCN management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physiological, agricultural and toxicological impact of an excess of Zn in the soil is an important issue, as Zn is a heavy metal and impairs many processes of plants and animals. The novelty of this work is that it is a comprehensive approach to facilitate visualization not only of the condition of cabbage plants under Zn stress, but also prediction of the toxicity associated with consumption of such cabbages. We treated plants of two cabbage cultivars, differing in their earliness, with 50 and 200 mg Zn kg−1 soil (Zn50 and Zn200, respectively) above the natural Zn levels of 118.13 mg kg−1 soil (Zn0). Leaf cell membrane integrity, condition of the photosynthetic apparatus (reflected by relative chlorophyll content (SPAD) and Fv/Fm parameter of chlorophyll a fluorescence), head biomass, and Zn bioaccumulation in the heads were analyzed. Toxicological risk was also assessed by Daily Intake of Metal (DIM) and Health Risk Index (HRI) indicators. The data revealed that plants of the late cultivar were more sensitive to soil Zn than those of the early one. Detrimental effects of Zn (especially at the higher dose, Zn200) were manifested in the seedlings just after three weeks of treatment, and then reflected in the yield. We assume that, due to their fast and prolonged response to Zn, the seedlings of the late cultivar can be used as biomarkers of Zn toxicity. Although Zn plants did not indicate toxicological risk, based on DIM and HRI, Zn concentration in the soil should be taken into account prior to cabbage planting, because plants which do not reveal symptoms of injury can accumulate Zn above the permissible level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the production efficiency and reduce the labor cost of seedling operations, cabbage was selected as the research subject, and a novel approach based on the attention mechanism combining the deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) is proposed. First, the cabbage growth data and environmental monitoring data were normalized, and input samples were obtained by sliding the time window. Then, the DCNN and the LSTM were used to extract the spatial feature information and temporal correlation of the samples, respectively. At the same time, the attention mechanism was used to set the weight coefficients of different feature information and highlight the role of the main features of the sample in the model, thereby improving the prediction accuracy. By analyzing the experimental data collected by the Shandong Seedling Plant, the DCNN-LSTM method based on the proposed attention mechanism achieved good prediction results, providing experience for the engineering application of decision-making regarding seedling transplanting time. The experimental data showed that the mean absolute error, root-mean-square error, mean absolute percentage error, and symmetric mean absolute percentage error of the prediction results of this method were 0.356, 0.507, 0.157, and 0.082, respectively. Compared with the CNN, LSTM, LSTM-Attention and CNN-LSTM models, this model showed higher prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous cropping has become a key factor limiting the sustainable development of greenhouse vegetables. It is a matter of great importance to maintain and improve the effective fertility of greenhouse soil. Catch crops planted as green manure is an effective method to improve soil quality. In order to determine the effects of catch crops on soil characteristics and the growth of afterculture vegetables, onion, corn, wheat, soybean and cabbage were planted as catch crops for two years during the summer fallow season, with no catch crop as CK. The results showed that the total porosity and organic matter content of the soil, with corn and wheat as catch crops, was significantly increased by 2.93%, 5.25% and 21.32%, 51.61%, respectively, while pH was decreased, compared with CK. The urease, sucrase, invertase, catalase and FDA enzyme activity of the soil with corn and wheat as catch crops was significantly increased by 30.14% and 30.21%, 14.81% and 25.31%, 15.43% and 15.21%, 29.37% and 28.69%, 46.32% and 44.23%. Meanwhile, the enzyme activity of the soil was increased with each catch crop planted. The amount of culturable bacteria and actinomycetes in the soil with corn and wheat as catch crops was increased by 33.42% and 38.12% at the period of 150dayII, while fungi was decreased by 59.95%. The yield of vegetables with corn and wheat as catch crops significantly increased by 5.59~13.33% and 4.35~11.18% compared with CK. Overall, catch crops could improve the soil quality as well as the growth of afterculture vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In organic horticulture, living mulches (LM) are used for weed suppression and erosion prevention. In addition, leguminous LM can contribute to higher nitrogen (N) import into vegetable cultivation systems via biological N2 fixation (BNF). In order to investigate the effect of LM systems, a two- as well as three-year field experiment was conducted between 2019 and 2021 at two locations in Southwest Germany. White cabbage was intercropped with two different clover varieties (Trifolium repens cv. 'Rivendel', with regular growth and T.repens cv. 'Pipolina', a micro clover) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne cv. 'Premium'). Bare soil (with spontaneous vegetation) without intercropping was the control treatment. The second factor was the growth management of the LM: incorporation by rototilling before planting the cabbage, intercropping with the cabbage and no LM growth management, and intercropping with mulching of the LM during the cabbage growing. The results show that rototilling LM before planting the cabbage did not lead to higher weight of cabbage residues or differences in total head yield among the treatments for growth management. Intercropping without further LM growth management did not result in a reduced total head yield of cabbage compared to mulching. The micro clover 'Pipolina' showed no reduced competition with cabbage compared to the regular-growing white clover 'Rivendel'. Therefore, we conclude that leguminous LM systems, regardless of growth management, can achieve high yields with sufficient irrigation and additional fertilization while increasing the inputs of N via BNF into the entire cropping system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Squamosa promoter-binding protein-like (SPL) is a major family of plant-specific transcription factor, which is involved in multiple biological processes, such as plant growth and development, hormone response, light response and stress response. Therefore, it has been profoundly significant to systematically analyze the SPL Transcription Factors family in Brassica oleracea. In this study, a total of 33 BoSPLs were identified in the B. oleracea genome, and they were further divided into six subgroups based on the phylogenetic tree constructed from the SPL proteins of B. oleracea, B. rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana. The expression profile of BoSPLs in different organs/tissues showed that a large number of BoSPLs were expressed in the callus, root, stem, leaf, bud, flower and silique. In addition, the expression levels of two BoSPLs (BoSPL9b and BoSPL10b) were up-regulated in chilling tolerance cabbage ‘CT-923’ at 6 h after chilling stress when compared with normal treatment (mock), while two BoSPLs (BoSPL9b and BoSPL15a) in chilling sensitive cabbage ‘CS-D9’, five BoSPLs (BoSPL1, -9a, -9b, -10b, -11b) in ‘CT-923’ and two BoSPLs (BoSPL9b and BoSPL16a) in ‘CS-D9’ were up-regulated after 24 h chilling stress, indicated that these genes may play an important role in the chilling-tolerance of cabbage. We analyzed the characteristics of BoSPLs and provided the basis for further functional research.

Polyamines (PAs) are organic molecules that are found in plants and animals. In plants, they are involved in the regulation of cellular growth, apoptosis, rooting, flower development, and stress responses. The effect of exogenously applied polyamines on the development of Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata protoplast cultures was studied. Protoplasts were isolated from hypocotyls of 2-week-old seedlings of three accessions and they were cultured in liquid media supplemented with putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd), and spermine (Spm) at concentrations of 0 (control), 10, 20, and 40 µM. In the very early culture (24 and 48 h), cellular reactive oxygen species levels (ROS) in live cells were monitored using a fluorescent probe. The Put- and Spd-treated protoplasts exhibited lower fluorescence intensities, which corresponded to lower ROS accumulation as compared to the PA-free control. The protoplast viability was affected by the type of polyamine applied rather than its concentration. Put and Spd had a beneficial effect on the mitotic activity of the cultured cells, which was observed in all tested accessions. The highest frequency of shoot organogenesis (21%) was obtained from microcalli derived from the protoplasts cultured on the medium supplemented with 10 µM Put. Analysis of the ploidy level of the regenerants showed that the vast majority were diploids. Our results demonstrated that exogenously applied PAs maintained the viability of B. oleracea L. var. capitata protoplasts by alleviating oxidative stress and stimulating mitotic activity, which further affected the plant regeneration process.

Iodine uptake and translocation was studied in cabbage and tomato cultivated on different soil types (sand, sandy silt, silt) by applying irrigation water containing iodine at concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5 mg/L. Iodine treatment at the concentrations applied did not significantly influence the photosynthetic efficiency and chlorophyll concentration of cabbage and tomato leaves. The growth of cabbage leaves cultivated on sand and sandy silt soil with iodine treatment was slightly stimulated, while, on silt soil, it remained unchanged; for tomato plant parts, independent of the soil-type, the dry mass values remained constant. It can be concluded that iodine treatment had no negative effect on the physiological characteristic of cabbage and tomato plants. Applying 0.5 mg/L in the irrigation water, the highest biofortification with iodine was achieved in plants cultivated in sandy soil and the iodine concentration calculated in the dry matter amounted to 10 and 3.6 mg/kg in the leaves and fruits of cabbage and tomato, respectively. Considering the iodine and moisture content of cabbage leaves and tomato fruits, the consumption of 100 g of fresh vegetable would cover about 80% and 15% of the recommended iodine intake, respectively. The presence of iodine resulted in a reduction in Fe and P concentrations in tomato fruits independent of the soil-type; however, the concentration of Mg, Cu, Mn, Zn, and B remained practically unchanged. However, for cabbage, no similar trend for Fe and P was observed.

Keeping green leaf color at the time of harvest is one of the important traits for breeding of Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. alba, and this trait is related to low anthocyanin contents. To understand the differential accumulation of anthocyanins in cabbage, we selected high anthocyanin accumulators (HAAs) and low anthocyanin accumulator (LAAs) of cabbages and examined the anthocyanin content and the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes. Among many genes investigated, BoDFR1 was found to be closely related to anthocyanin accumulation, even under low temperature (LT) conditions. BoDFR1 sequence analyses between HAAs and LAAs revealed that there is a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (1118T/A) in the coding sequence, which substitutes one amino acid from Leu261 to His261; we named BoDFR1 with His261 substitution as BoDFR1v. This amino acid substitution did not affect dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) activity and substrate specificity, but the polymorphism showed tight association to the BoDFR1 expression, i.e., high level expression of BoDFR1 and low level expression of BoDFR1v under LT conditions. The high levels of BoDFR1 expression were due to the high levels of BoMYB114 and BobHLH expressions combined with low level expression of BoMYBL2, a repressor MYB. On the other hand, low levels of BoDFR1v expression seemed to be related to very low level expressions of BoMYB114 and BobHLH combined with a high level expression of BoMYBL2. It seems that different expression levels of these regulatory genes for MBW (MYB-bHLH-WD40) complex between HAAs and LAAs regulate BoDFR expression and anthocyanin accumulation. Using a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) between BoDFR1 and BoDFR1v, molecular markers for PCR and high resolution melt analyses were developed and validated to distinguish between HAAs and LAAs. Combined use of the BoDFR1 SNP marker with other stress markers, such as a cold tolerant marker, will greatly improve cabbage breeding.

Changes in the bacterial spectrum of cabbage heads after storage under commonly used storage conditions were examined in this study. Cabbage seeds (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.) were artificially inoculated with X. campestris pv. campestris (Xcc), a serious pathogen of cruciferous plants causing black rot. Isolation of bacterial cultures from Xcc-inoculated and non-inoculated cabbage heads were carried out in two time points—at the day of harvest and after four months of storage. According to our previous research and literature reports, the most frequent genera of bacteria were chosen for PCR testing, i.e., Bacillus cereus group, Bacillus subtilis group, Pseudomonas sp., and X. campestris pv. campestris. A few of the obtained bacterial cultures were negative for the four above-mentioned species. In those, other bacteria were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. In both Xcc-inoculated and non-inoculated cabbage heads, changes of the bacterial spectrum over time were observed. The severity of Xcc infection of heads increased after four months of storage. Bacillus species represented the most frequently occurring bacterial genus. The presence of the Bacillus subtilis group increased significantly after storage in non-inoculated cabbage heads. The minor part of the other genera identified by sequencing in the first sampling were not detected in the stored cabbage heads. This was associated with a possible antagonistic behavior of Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp.

Biochar has been proposed mainly as a soil amendment, positively affecting plant growth/yield, and to a lesser degree for growing media. In this study, four commercial grade biochars (A-forest wood; B-husks and paper fiber; C-bamboo and D-fresh wood screening), mostly wood-based materials, were selected. Initial mixtures of peat (P) with different Biochar type and ratios (0-5-10-15-20%) were selected for cabbage seedling production. Biochar material had high K content and pH ≥ 8.64 which resulted in increased pH of the growing media. Biochar A and C at 20% reduced cabbage seed emergence. Biochar A, B and D maintained or improved plant growth at low ratio (i.e., 5−10%) while all Biochars increased N, K and P content in leaves. Biochars A and D were further examined at 7.5% and 15% with the addition of two doses of minerals (1-fold and 1.5-fold). Biochar A and D, initially stimulated seed emergence when compared to the control. High dose of fertilizer favored plant growth in Biochar A at 7.5% and Biochar D at 15%. Leaf stomatal conductance was decreased at Biochar A+Fert at 7.5% and Chlorophyll b content was decreased at Biochar A+Fert at 15%. The presence of Biochar A increased the antioxidant activity (as assayed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl-DPPH). Lipid peroxidation was higher in plants grown with fertilized peat and Biochar A at 15%, activating antioxidant enzymatic metabolisms. Potassium, phosphorous and copper accumulation and magnesium deficiency in cabbage leaves were related to the Biochar presence. Wooden biochar of beech, spruce and pine species (Biochar A) at 7.5% and fertilized biochar of fruit trees and hedges (Biochar D) were more promising for peat replacement for cabbage seedling production.

Geospatial technologies are presented as an alternative for the monitoring and control of crops, as demonstrated through the analysis of spectral responses (SR) of each species. In this study, it was intended to determine the effects of the application of nanonutrients (Zn and Mn) in cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitate L.) by analyzing the relationship between the vegetation indices (VI) NDVI, GNDVI, NGRDI, RVI, GVI, CCI RARSa and the content of chlorophyll (CC), from two trials established in the field and in the greenhouse, together with the calculation of dry biomass production in the field through the use of digital models and its further validation. The results indicated that for greenhouse experiments no significant differences were found between the VIs in the implemented treatments, rather for their phenological states. Whereas in the field assays it was evidenced that there were significant differences between the VIs for the treatments, as well as for the phenological states. The SR issued in the field allowed the evaluation of the behavior of the crop due to the application of nanonutrients, which did not occur in the greenhouse, in the same way. The SR also enabled the spectral characterization of the crop in its phenological states in the two trials. All this information was stored in a digital format, which allowed the creation of a spectral library which was published on a web server. The validation of the dry biomass allowed, by statistical analysis, the efficiency of the method used for its estimation to be confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants grow better when they are supplied with a combination of ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3−) than when either one is supplied as the sole N (nitrogen) source. However, the effects of N forms on N metabolism and major N assimilation enzymes in different plants, especially vegetables, are largely neglected. This study was conducted on two plants with distinct NH4+ tolerances to compare the responses of two popular leafy vegetables, Korean cabbage (Brassica campestris L.) 'Ssamchu' and lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) 'Caesar green', to the N source. To this end, plant growth and quality, photosynthesis, carbohydrate, N contents (in the forms of NO3−, NO2−, NH4+, total protein), and key N assimilation-related enzyme (NR, NIR, GS, GDH) activities were investigated. When plants were subjected to one of three NH4+:NO3− regimes, 0:100, 50:50, or 100:0, lettuce was relatively more tolerant while cabbage was extremely sensitive to high NH4+. Both plants benefited more from being grown with 50:50 NH4+:NO3−, as evidenced by the best growth performance, ameliorated photosynthesis, and enriched carbohydrate (C) stock content. In addition, as compared to cabbage, the GS and GDH activities were reinforced in lettuce in response to an increasing external NH4+ level, resulting in low NH4+ accumulation. Our findings suggested that boosting or maintaining high GS and GDH activities is an important strategy for the ammonium tolerance in vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Squamosa promoter-binding protein-like (SPL) is a major family of plant-specific transcription factor, which is involved in multiple biological processes, such as plant growth and development, hormone response, light response and stress response. Therefore, it has been profoundly significant to systematically analyze the SPL Transcription Factors family in Brassica oleracea. In this study, a total of 33 BoSPLs were identified in the B. oleracea genome, and they were further divided into six subgroups based on the phylogenetic tree constructed from the SPL proteins of B. oleracea, B. rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana. The expression profile of BoSPLs in different organs/tissues showed that a large number of BoSPLs were expressed in the callus, root, stem, leaf, bud, flower and silique. In addition, the expression levels of two BoSPLs (BoSPL9b and BoSPL10b) were up-regulated in chilling tolerance cabbage 'CT-923' at 6 h after chilling stress when compared with normal treatment (mock), while two BoSPLs (BoSPL9b and BoSPL15a) in chilling sensitive cabbage 'CS-D9', five BoSPLs (BoSPL1, -9a, -9b, -10b, -11b) in 'CT-923' and two BoSPLs (BoSPL9b and BoSPL16a) in 'CS-D9' were up-regulated after 24 h chilling stress, indicated that these genes may play an important role in the chilling-tolerance of cabbage. We analyzed the characteristics of BoSPLs and provided the basis for further functional research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) is an important vegetable crop that is cultivated worldwide. Previously, we reported the identification of two dominant complementary hybrid lethality (HL) genes in cabbage that could result in the death of hybrids. To avoid such losses in the breeding process, we attempted to develop molecular markers to identify HL lines. Among 54 previous mapping markers closely linked to BoHL1 or BoHL2, only six markers for BoHL2 were available in eight cabbage lines (two BoHL1 lines; three BoHL2 lines; three lines without BoHL); however, they were neither universal nor user-friendly in more inbred lines. To develop more accurate markers, these cabbage lines were resequenced at an ~20× depth to obtain more nucleotide variations in the mapping regions. Then, an InDel in BoHL1 and a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in BoHL2 were identified, and the corresponding InDel marker MBoHL1 and the competitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) marker KBoHL2 were developed and showed 100% accuracy in eight inbred lines. Moreover, we identified 138 cabbage lines using the two markers, among which one inbred line carried BoHL1 and 11 inbred lines carried BoHL2. All of the lethal line genotypes obtained with the two markers matched the phenotype. Two markers were highly reliable for the rapid identification of HL genes in cabbage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyamines (PAs) are organic molecules that are found in plants and animals. In plants, they are involved in the regulation of cellular growth, apoptosis, rooting, flower development, and stress responses. The effect of exogenously applied polyamines on the development of Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata protoplast cultures was studied. Protoplasts were isolated from hypocotyls of 2-week-old seedlings of three accessions and they were cultured in liquid media supplemented with putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd), and spermine (Spm) at concentrations of 0 (control), 10, 20, and 40 µM. In the very early culture (24 and 48 h), cellular reactive oxygen species levels (ROS) in live cells were monitored using a fluorescent probe. The Put- and Spd-treated protoplasts exhibited lower fluorescence intensities, which corresponded to lower ROS accumulation as compared to the PA-free control. The protoplast viability was affected by the type of polyamine applied rather than its concentration. Put and Spd had a beneficial effect on the mitotic activity of the cultured cells, which was observed in all tested accessions. The highest frequency of shoot organogenesis (21%) was obtained from microcalli derived from the protoplasts cultured on the medium supplemented with 10 µM Put. Analysis of the ploidy level of the regenerants showed that the vast majority were diploids. Our results demonstrated that exogenously applied PAs maintained the viability of B. oleracea L. var. capitata protoplasts by alleviating oxidative stress and stimulating mitotic activity, which further affected the plant regeneration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential role of NaCl (50–200 mM) as an eustressor for the accumulation of health promoting phytochemicals and maintaining the homeostasis of macro- and micro-elements in three, hydroponically grown Brassica leafy vegetables (Chinese cabbage, white cabbage, and kale) was investigated. Considering K+/Na+ ratio and proline contents as reliable stress markers, we confirmed more prominent stress status in Chinese cabbage followed by white cabbage and kale. Low to moderate salinity treatments (50 and 100 mM NaCl) caused an increase in most of the phenolic compounds in the analyzed Brassica leafy vegetables. Total glucosinolates were elicited by NaCl in a dose dependent manner. Salt treatment caused an increase in total chlorophylls but did not significantly affect carotenoid content. Furthermore, low to moderate treatments did not significantly disturb homeostasis of macro- and micro-elements, particularly in white cabbage and kale where the K level did not decrease significantly and Ca was even increased in white cabbage. We may conclude that salinity may elicit phytochemical accumulation in selecting vegetables grown on saline soils without undesirable disturbance in macro- and micro-elements homeostasis depending on salt concentration and species/varieties. This information may be of great importance in the selection of crops grown on saline soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brassica L. microgreens are a fresh microscale vegetable crop of high antioxidant value and naturally dense in nutrients without the intervention of biofortification or genetic engineering. A climate chamber experiment on peat-based substrate was set up to test microgreens growth and accumulation of secondary metabolites in response to nutrient supplementation. Microgreens mineral content was analyzed through ion chromatography and total ascorbic acid through UV-Vis spectrophotometry, while carotenoids and phenolic acids were quantified by HPLC-DAD and UHPLC-HRMS, respectively. Brussels sprouts and cabbage yield was only reduced by 10%, while nitrate was reduced by 99% in the absence of nutrient supplementation. Rocket yield was prominently reduced by 47%, with a corresponding nitrate reduction of 118%. Brussels sprouts secondary metabolites were not improved by the absence of nutrient supplementation, whereas cabbage microgreens demonstrated a 30% increase in total ascorbic acid and a 12% increase in total anthocyanins. As for rocket, the absence of nutrient supplementation elicited an extensive increase in secondary metabolites, such as lutein (110%), β-carotene (30%), total ascorbic acid (58%) and total anthocyanins (20%), but caused a decrease in total phenolic acids. It is hereby demonstrated that growing microgreens on a commercial peat-based substrate without nutrient supplementation can be feasible for certain species. Moreover, it might elicit a species-dependent spike in bioactive secondary metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cabbage whitefly (CW), Aleyrodes proletella (L.) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is an important pest in Brassica oleracea L. crops. Little is known about the mechanisms of resistance to CW of savoy cabbage and kale cultivars. Light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were used to determine the relationship between the morphological and anatomical features of savoy cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. convar. capitata (L.) Alef. var. sabauda L.) and kale (Brassica oleracea L. convar. acephala (DC.) Alef. var. sabellica L.) leaves and host suitability to colonization by CW. Two kale cultivars, "Redbor" and "Starbor", and two savoy cabbage cultivars, "Gloriosa" and "Alcosa", that differed in the degree of infestation by A. proletella were taken for histological analysis. The lowest infestation by all forms of A. proletella was observed on savoy cabbage cultivar "Alcosa" and kale cultivar "Starbor". The reduced colonization by cabbage whitefly may be related to the structure of the epidermis and the anatomical features of the leaf. The leaves of "Starbor" and "Alcosa" had more folds in the epidermis, less numerous but larger stomata, and a more compact mesophyll structure compared to "Redbor" and "Gloriosa". In both analysed species, there was no clear relationship between the thickness of the abaxial epidermal layer, thickness of the lamina, number of vascular bundles, and degree of infestation by the cabbage whitefly. This study identified promising sources of resistance to A. proletella among cultivars of savoy cabbage and kale. Varying infestation by CW was associated with morphological and anatomical characteristics of leaves. Further study is needed to confirm the relationship between insect resistance and leaf surface and morphological characteristics of leaves in a broader range of Brassica spp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to develop and validate growth and photosynthetic models of Kimchi cabbages under extreme temperature conditions at different growth stages. Kimchi cabbage plants were subjected to low and high air temperatures 7–10 days after transplanting (DAT) and 40–43 DAT using extreme weather simulators. Except during these periods, the air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, and precipitation were set according to previous meteorological data. The experiments were performed over two years: in the first year, data were used to develop the models; the second-year experimental data were used for validation. The growth parameters and relative growth rate of Kimchi cabbage decreased due to low and high air temperature treatments. Photosynthetic CO2 response curves, which were measured using a portable gas exchange system, were used to calculate three biochemical parameters from measured data: photochemical efficiency, carboxylation conductance, and dark respiration. These parameters were used to develop the photosynthetic models (modified Thornley's models) representing predictions of net photosynthetic rate by CO2 concentration and growth stage. The simulated photosynthetic rate with extreme high temperature treatment (35/31 °C) was 19.7 μmol m−2 s−1 which was evaluated approximately 3% deduction compared with control. Results of this study indicate that the growth and photosynthetic models developed here could be applied to evaluate retarded growth and net photosynthetic rate under extreme temperature conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kimchi cabbage grows in South Korea and is an essential ingredient for making kimchi with the kimjang method. The technique of accurately managing and monitoring crops such as kimchi cabbage plays an important role in stabilizing consumer prices. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are expected to be used more widely in global and local agriculture. The agricultural sites at which kimchi cabbages are cultivated are affected by various climatic, terrain, and soil conditions, requiring technologies that can accurately and quickly acquire such information. UAVs and sensors are able to provide some of these data. In this study, we set up a cultivation environment for kimchi cabbage and investigated the correlation between a UAV-attached multispectral sensor and a field-portable spectroradiometer. Reflectance measurement using a spectroradiometer was performed on 99 kimchi cabbages in a Mt. Maebong testbed. We aimed to find a method for obtaining accurate vegetation information by combining the high spatial and temporal resolution information of the UAV observation with the spectral resolution of the spectroradiometer. Spectral analysis was used to identify the difference between healthy and poorly growing cabbage and to find the wavelength that most affected the growth. The hyperspectrum of the spectroradiometer reflected the accurate vegetation characteristics and contributed greatly to the identification of vegetation indices. A method for correcting the errors that occurred in the ground and UAV monitoring and the difference arising from the application of the broadband wavelength of the UAV and the single wavelength of the spectroradiometer through correlation analysis is presented. The calibration equation method was applied to UAV spatial information and was used to create a precise normalized distribution vegetation index (p-NDVI) map. The p-NDVI map was organized into four categories for the selection of cabbages with healthy (good) growth. Our results show that (1) the merged spectral analysis method was found to be more accurate and distinct than conventional methods, and (2) methods for estimating cabbage growth status showed a higher significant correlation than the UAV-based NDVI. At the maturity stage, high accuracy (R2 = 0.7816, RMSE = 0.06) was achieved for NDVI. Although this map is the result of the limited vegetation monitoring of UAV images taken during the maturity stage, it could be of great help for managing the quality and production of cabbage. However, the efficient management of highland kimchi cabbage requires continuous research under various conditions to enable periodic and systematic monitoring using UAVs and sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing (RS) has been an effective tool to monitor agricultural production systems, but for vegetable crops, precision agriculture has received less interest to date. The objective of this study was to test the predictive performance of two types of RS data—crop height information derived from point clouds based on RGB UAV data, and reflectance information from terrestrial hyperspectral imagery—to predict fresh matter yield (FMY) for three vegetable crops (eggplant, tomato, and cabbage). The study was conducted in an experimental layout in Bengaluru, India, at five dates in summer 2017. The prediction accuracy varied strongly depending on the RS dataset used. For all crops, a good predictive performance with cross-validated prediction error < 10% was achieved. The growth stage of the crops had no significant effect on the prediction accuracy, although increasing trends of an underestimation of FMY with later sampling dates for eggplant and tomato were found. The study proves that an estimation of vegetable FMY using RS data is successful throughout the growing season. Different RS datasets were best for biomass prediction of the three vegetables, indicating that multi-sensory data collection should be preferred to single sensor use, as no one sensor system is superior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given a rising demand for quality assurance, rather than solely yield, supplemental irrigation plays an important role to ensure the viability and profitability of vegetable crops from unpredictable changes in weather. However, under drought conditions, agricultural irrigation is often given low priority for water allocation. This reduced water availability for agriculture calls for techniques with greater irrigation efficiency, that do not compromise crop quality and yield, and that provide economic benefit for producers. This study developed vegetable growing models for eight different vegetable crops (bush bean, green bean, cabbage, peppermint, spearmint, yellow straight neck squash, zucchini, and bell pepper) based on data from several years of field research. The ALMANAC model accurately simulated yields and water use efficiency (WUE) of all eight vegetables. The developed vegetable models were used to evaluate the effects of various irrigation regimes on vegetable growth and production in several locations in the Winter Garden Region of Texas, under variable weather conditions. Based on our simulation results from 960 scenarios, optimal irrigation amounts that produce high yield as well as reasonable economic profit to producers were determined for each vegetable crop. Overall, yields for all vegetables increased as irrigation amounts increased. However, irrigation amounts did not have a sustainable impact on vegetable yield at high irrigation treatments, and the WUEs of most vegetables were not significantly different among various irrigation regimes. When vegetable yields were compared with water cost, the rate decreased as irrigation amounts increased. Thus, producers will not receive economic benefits when vegetable irrigation water demand is too high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is affecting all sectors of human activities worldwide, including crop production. The aim of the paper was to evaluate the average daily air temperatures measured at one hundred meteorological stations across Slovakia in 1961–2010 and calculate the maximum length of the vegetation period for Solanum lycopersicum L., Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata and Daucus carota L. Future trends predictions of the temporal and spatial development across the duration of the vegetation period in Slovakia were elaborated for decades 2011–2020, 2041–2050, 2071–2080 and 2091–2100. Our results show that there was an earlier start to the vegetation period in spring and a later termination in autumn for past 30 years. There is a predicted trend of prolongation of the maximum duration of the vegetation period up to 20 days (Solanum lycopersicum L., Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata) and 15 days (Daucus carota L.) in comparison with the refence decade 2001–2010. The maximum vegetation period duration will extend from the south of Slovakia towards the north of the country. The predicted potential increase in crop vegetation periods will be limited by other constraints such as the availability of arable land and soil water availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iodine uptake and translocation was studied in cabbage and tomato cultivated on different soil types (sand, sandy silt, silt) by applying irrigation water containing iodine at concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5 mg/L. Iodine treatment at the concentrations applied did not significantly influence the photosynthetic efficiency and chlorophyll concentration of cabbage and tomato leaves. The growth of cabbage leaves cultivated on sand and sandy silt soil with iodine treatment was slightly stimulated, while, on silt soil, it remained unchanged; for tomato plant parts, independent of the soil-type, the dry mass values remained constant. It can be concluded that iodine treatment had no negative effect on the physiological characteristic of cabbage and tomato plants. Applying 0.5 mg/L in the irrigation water, the highest biofortification with iodine was achieved in plants cultivated in sandy soil and the iodine concentration calculated in the dry matter amounted to 10 and 3.6 mg/kg in the leaves and fruits of cabbage and tomato, respectively. Considering the iodine and moisture content of cabbage leaves and tomato fruits, the consumption of 100 g of fresh vegetable would cover about 80% and 15% of the recommended iodine intake, respectively. The presence of iodine resulted in a reduction in Fe and P concentrations in tomato fruits independent of the soil-type; however, the concentration of Mg, Cu, Mn, Zn, and B remained practically unchanged. However, for cabbage, no similar trend for Fe and P was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keeping green leaf color at the time of harvest is one of the important traits for breeding of Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. alba, and this trait is related to low anthocyanin contents. To understand the differential accumulation of anthocyanins in cabbage, we selected high anthocyanin accumulators (HAAs) and low anthocyanin accumulator (LAAs) of cabbages and examined the anthocyanin content and the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes. Among many genes investigated, BoDFR1 was found to be closely related to anthocyanin accumulation, even under low temperature (LT) conditions. BoDFR1 sequence analyses between HAAs and LAAs revealed that there is a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (1118T/A) in the coding sequence, which substitutes one amino acid from Leu261 to His261; we named BoDFR1 with His261 substitution as BoDFR1v. This amino acid substitution did not affect dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) activity and substrate specificity, but the polymorphism showed tight association to the BoDFR1 expression, i.e., high level expression of BoDFR1 and low level expression of BoDFR1v under LT conditions. The high levels of BoDFR1 expression were due to the high levels of BoMYB114 and BobHLH expressions combined with low level expression of BoMYBL2, a repressor MYB. On the other hand, low levels of BoDFR1v expression seemed to be related to very low level expressions of BoMYB114 and BobHLH combined with a high level expression of BoMYBL2. It seems that different expression levels of these regulatory genes for MBW (MYB-bHLH-WD40) complex between HAAs and LAAs regulate BoDFR expression and anthocyanin accumulation. Using a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) between BoDFR1 and BoDFR1v, molecular markers for PCR and high resolution melt analyses were developed and validated to distinguish between HAAs and LAAs. Combined use of the BoDFR1 SNP marker with other stress markers, such as a cold tolerant marker, will greatly improve cabbage breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in the bacterial spectrum of cabbage heads after storage under commonly used storage conditions were examined in this study. Cabbage seeds (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.) were artificially inoculated with X. campestris pv. campestris (Xcc), a serious pathogen of cruciferous plants causing black rot. Isolation of bacterial cultures from Xcc-inoculated and non-inoculated cabbage heads were carried out in two time points—at the day of harvest and after four months of storage. According to our previous research and literature reports, the most frequent genera of bacteria were chosen for PCR testing, i.e., Bacillus cereus group, Bacillus subtilis group, Pseudomonas sp., and X. campestris pv. campestris. A few of the obtained bacterial cultures were negative for the four above-mentioned species. In those, other bacteria were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. In both Xcc-inoculated and non-inoculated cabbage heads, changes of the bacterial spectrum over time were observed. The severity of Xcc infection of heads increased after four months of storage. Bacillus species represented the most frequently occurring bacterial genus. The presence of the Bacillus subtilis group increased significantly after storage in non-inoculated cabbage heads. The minor part of the other genera identified by sequencing in the first sampling were not detected in the stored cabbage heads. This was associated with a possible antagonistic behavior of Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming accelerates the development of high temperature (HT)- and high humidity (HH)-tolerant varieties. This is further facilitated by the identification of HTHH-tolerant genes and the development of molecular markers based on these genes. To identify genes involved in HTHH tolerance in cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), we performed RNA-seq analysis of two inbred lines, BN1 (HTHH-tolerant) and BN2 (HTHH-susceptible), and selected trehalose 6- phosphate phosphatase I-2 (BoTPPI-2) as one of the HTHH-tolerant-associated genes. We also developed a segregating F2 population from a cross between BN1 and BN2. RNA-seq results showed that BoTPPI-2 transcript levels were high in the HTHH-tolerant inbred line BN1, but not detectable in the HTHH-susceptible inbred line BN2. The expression pattern of BoTPPI-2 was not related to the expression of heat shock-related genes. Soft rot resistance, used as an indicator of HTHH tolerance, was higher in BN1 than in BN2. F2 individuals similar to BN1 with respect to phenotype appeared to be HTHH-tolerant, whereas BN2-types were susceptible to HTHH. Analysis of the genomic DNA revealed the presence of a long terminal repeat (LTR; ca. 4.6 kb) in the ninth intron of the BoTPPI-2_BN2 allele, thereby suppressing its transcription and exhibiting HTHH phenotype. Except for the LTR insertion, the sequence of BoTPPI-2_BN2 was almost identical to that of BoTPPI-2_BN1. On the basis of the LTR and BoTPPI-2 sequences, we developed a molecular marker to identify HTHH-tolerant genotypes and validated its efficiency using F2 individuals, inbred lines, and cultivars from diverse sources. The marker explained the genetic basis of HTHH tolerance in at least 80%, but not 100%, of the cabbage genotypes. Thus, additional markers associated with HTHH tolerance are needed for perfect selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic farming systems are considered not compatible with conservation tillage mainly because of the reliance of conservative systems on herbicides. In this three-year field experiment, we tested the performances of an innovative vegetable organic and conservative system (ORG+) combining the use of cover crops (exploited as either living or dead mulch) and no-till techniques. This system was compared to "business-as-usual" organic farming (ORG) and integrated farming system (INT) based on the same crop sequence: savoy cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. sabauda L. cv. Famosa), spring lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv. Justine), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill. Cv. Montebianco), and summer lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv. Ballerina RZ). The results of crop yield parameters and weed abundance contribute to spotlight potentialities and weaknesses of organic-conservative management of field vegetables. In particular, ORG+ caused significant yield depletion for all the crops and revealed suboptimal weed control and N availability. The agroecosystem services provided by the cover crops grown in the ORG+ as dead mulch or living mulch were affected by weather conditions and not always resulted in significant crop gain. Nevertheless, interesting results in terms of P availability and reduced N surplus encourage further development of the system targeting more sustainable organic vegetable production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iodine (I) is an essential micronutrient, which plays a critical role in human metabolism. However, its concentration is known to be low in most soils, making it deficient in crops. With most I agronomic biofortification studies conducted under controlled environments, limited information currently exists on this approach of enriching I deficient crops under farmer field conditions. Two-year field experiments were conducted in 2017 and 2018 to examine efficacy of cowpea and cabbage in the uptake of foliar applied potassium iodide (KI) and potassium iodate (KIO3), each with 0, 5, 10, and 15 kg I ha−1 under farmer field conditions. Results indicate that KI was 34% more efficient than KIO3. Iodine concentration increased with application rate. In cabbage, the lowest I concentration (8.2 mg kg−1) was registered at 5 kg I ha−1 with KIO3 while the highest was 109.1 mg kg−1 at 15 kg I ha−1 with KI. Cowpea registered the lowest I concentration of 531.5 mg kg−1 at 5 kg I ha−1 with KIO3 while the highest (5854.2 mg kg−1) was registered at 15 kg I ha−1 with KI. Therefore, cowpea and cabbage can be effectively biofortified through foliar application of both KI and KIO3 under farmer field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]