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Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that significantly reduces seed cotton yield worldwide. Therefore, Drought tolerance is a complex phenomenon that comprises a combination of morphological and physiological parameters which results in the enhancement of drought tolerance in cotton. Therefore, in the present study 150 cotton genotypes were evaluated for drought tolerance by planting at two water regimes i.e., normal water and limited water conditions. Data were recorded for morphological and physiological parameters i.e. root fresh length (FRL), shoot fresh length (FSL), lateral root numbers (LRN), root fresh weight (FRW), shoot fresh weight (FSW), shoot dry weight (DSW), weight /length ratio(W), root dry weight (DRW), plant weight (PW), the difference in shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight (SDWR), stomatal conductance (SC), canopy temperature (CT), water potential (WP), osmotic potential (OP) and relative water contents (RWC) at the seedling stage. Principal component analysis (PCA) of seedling at normal water conditions explained PCA1 35.21% and PCA2 15.25% of the total variance. The cluster analysis of the recorded data for the morpho-physiological parameters grouped 150 genotypes into six clusters. First Cluster included 16 cotton genotypes, 2nd cluster having 44, clusters 3, 4, 5, and 6 contains 22, 52, 10, and 6 genotypes respectively. In water stress conditions PCA1 containing 18 cotton genotypes, 2nd cluster having of 32 cotton genotypes, clusters 3, 4, 5, and 6 contain 14, 35, 30, and 21 genotypes, respectively. The use of morpho-physiological seedling traits associated with drought resistance can facilitate breeding strategies to evolve cotton genotypes having tolerance against drought stress in the changing climatic conditions. Screening of available cotton genotypes for drought tolerance in controlled greenhouse conditions can shorten the duration with improvement in efficiency for screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc (Zn) is needed for plants growth and human's balanced diet. The non-availability or less mobilization of Zn affects crop yield and nutritional quality and when such produce is consumed, it causes malnutrition in the consumers. Biofortification of staple cereals and vegetables like tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the strategies to fight such type of hidden hunger, particularly to crumble Zn deficiency. This needs the understanding of the molecular mechanism of Zn assimilation in plants. ZIP genes have not been annotated and characterised earlier. Therefore, the genes of ZIP family were identified from genome database by homology search. After carrying out the phylogenetic analysis, the 10 diverse genes of tomato ZIP family were selected for the transcript profiling in two selected genotypes; one with the highest Zn assimilation (LA-2662) and the other with the lowest one (NTH-242) was done. The RT-PCR results showed that in genotype LA-2662, genes SLZIPL, SLZIP3 SLZIP5L and SLZIP5 were upregulated in roots and leaf tissues, while their transcript level was the lowest in genotype NTH- 242. In addition, the genes; SLZIPL, SLZIP3, LeIRT1 and LeIRT2 were upregulated under Zn deficient environment and downregulated in high Zn environment. The better performance of LA-2662 for Zn assimilation might be linked to the upregulation of SLZIPL and SLZIP3 genes. It showed that the attenuation of these candidate genes might improve the capability of tomato for the development of Zn fortified tomato genotypes. It further showed that tomato can be bred for biofortification of various nutritional elements to fight hidden hunger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of Cotton Leaf Curl Disease (CLCuD) and low crop stand are major impediments to sustainable cotton production in Pakistan. Early sowing provides protection against CLCuD but causes low seed germination. Early cotton planting overlaps with wheat harvesting, thus causing conflict with Wheat-Cotton-Wheat cropping pattern. To address these problems and suggest improvements, a series of field experiments was conducted to optimize cotton planting technology. Three sowing methods viz., transplanting cotton nursery in May, direct seeding in March, and direct seeding in May were compared for physiological indices, CLCuD incident and yield of seed cotton. For the production of seedlings, four nursery media were evaluated for their efficiency in terms of germination percentage, seedling survival, and convalescent period. On the basis of these parameters, SSM (Soil+Sand+Manure) media produced better seedlings. The early sown (transplanted) cotton gave good escape from CLCuD. The maximum incidence was observed in May sowing (22.2%) while the severity was maximum in the month of August. Maximum seed cotton yield was recorded in March sown-transplanted cotton. Income generated from March sowing was more than transplanting due to labor cost in transplanted cotton. The income from transplanted cotton was 60% more than the May sowing, on account of better production due to improved crop stand, number of growing days and escape from CLCuD. Therefore, early planting of cotton through seedlings transplantation is suggested to improve cotton production through better crop stand and escape from CLCuD in a cotton-wheat production cropping system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powdery mildew significantly hampers pea yield and deteriorate its quality as well. The resistance breakdown remained the main reason for failure in each attempt to incorporate powdery mildew resistance in well adapted pea cultivars. A precise selection of powdery mildew resistant source is the key to develop high yielding and stable powdery mildew resistant cultivars. Field screening alone is not an efficient method for making selection for powdery mildew resistance. Different physiological parameters viz., the concentration of total chlorophyll, chlorophyll b, chlorophyll a: chlorophyll b and the number of stomata were found to be in a tight positive correlation with disease severity while, the concentration of chlorophyll a had negative correlation. The differential behaviour of these traits in powdery mildew susceptible and resistant genotypes has suggested their use as reliable criteria for screening against powdery mildew. A 1-5 scale has been devised for screening against powdery mildew in pea; where score 1 is for highly resistant and 5 for highly susceptible genotype. The suggested scale is reliable and reproducible in making selections for powdery mildew resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirteen premium quality commercial mango cultivars grown in Pakistan were assayed with seven SSR primer series viz., mMiCIR, MiSHRS, MIAC, MITGIT, LMMA, UBC and MiIIHR. Among the 120 primers used, 101 produced bands and revealed a narrow genetic base ranging from 0.62-0.8 with maximum similarity among the cvs. 'Anwar Ratole' and 'Sensation' while the maximum divergence was between cvs. 'Sindhri' and 'Sensation'. Chaunsa was genetically more similar (74.2%) and 'Kala Chaunsa' was more dissimilar (31.2%) respectively when compared with all the other cultivars. Of 101 SSR primers, we have identified 30 (29.7%) highly informative primers (PIC value =0.6), which could be useful in the molecular characterization of mango germplasm. The primer series MIAC, UBC and MiIIHR had the maximum percentage of highly informative primers in descending order. The UPGMA based Euclidian dendrogram constructed with similarity indices placed all the cultivars according to regions of their origin and magnitude of diversity among them. The morphological characterization of the commercial cultivars was also done using 11 quantitative traits; however, none of the traits except fruit weight was informative for the assessment of genetic diversity. SSR based molecular characterization appeared to be reliable, reproducible and cost effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gossypols confer a good degree of resistance to bollworm and tobacco budworm. Most of the commercially grown cotton varieties have normal gossypol glanding. The objective of the study was to determine the inheritance of the glanding trait with both of the high glanded and glandless genotypes into the genetic background of normally glanded genotype. The information of the inheritance pattern for gossypol glands is very important for breeding high foliage glanding cotton genotypes. For this purpose two cross combinations were made involving a common normal glanding parent (HRVO-1) along with two other parents i.e; high glanding (HG-142) and zero glanding or glandless (Acala 63-74). The non-significant chi square values in F2 for these two crosses showed incomplete dominance for the glanding trait, which was further confirmed by the values of BC2 of both the crosses. Previous studies conducted on the genetics of gossypols were based on visual observations. The gossypol quantification reported herein is more reliable and can be judged more accurately to that of the previous findings; which could not differentiate between the segregated classes in F2 of high glanding and intermediate high glanding in a cross of normal glanding × high glanding and glandless and intermediate glandless in a cross of normal glanding × glandless [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants respond to external stimuli by altering metabolic pathways, resulting in a cascade of different interrelated changes in physiological and biochemical processes. The incidence of powdery mildew in pea induces change in reducing sugars; non-reducing sugars, total sugars, electrolyte leakage and plant dry weight. Powdery mildew resistant and susceptible pea genotypes respond differentially to these traits. Powdery mildew resistant genotypes had comparatively less electrolyte leakage and less concentration of reducing, non-reducing and total sugars before and after infection. A significant increase in electrolyte leakage, non-reducing and total sugars was induced in susceptible genotypes after powdery mildew infection. The reduction in plant dry weight and reducing sugars after infection was more pronounced in powdery mildew susceptible and resistant genotypes respectively. All the traits being significantly correlated with disease severity can be an important component of an effective powdery mildew screening procedure in pea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fodder production and livestock farming are major farming activities in peri-urban areas of Faisalabad. A baseline survey was conducted to study socio-economic aspects and farming practices of the fodder growing areas in 2010-11. A total of 109 households, selected by snowball method, were interviewed based on a structured questionnaire. Results revealed that all households were headed by male and most of them (53%) had only completed primary education or even less. Agriculture was the predominant occupation as 89% of the households rely on it for income. Average income per household was US$ 550 per month with great variability. Berseem, maize and sorghum were identified as major commercial crops of the area grown by around 90% of the respondents. Most of the farmers (86%) rely on integrated fertilizer use (combination of mineral fertilizer and farm yard manure). Alternate canal and tube well watering was common as reported by 80% of the respondents. Major problems reported were the scarcity of irrigation water (97%), poor access to fertilizer (55%) and marketing of the farm products (45%). It is concluded that high illiteracy rate, shortage of irrigation water and an imbalanced use of fertilizers are the major reasons for low productivity. Introducing water and nutrient efficient crops and extension services for improved technology could provide good perspectives for a sustained fodder production in these peri-urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty nine okra genotypes were assessed for genetic variability using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Twenty polymorphic RAPD primers amplified 111 DNA fragments, with an average of 5.5 fragments per primer. Among 39 okra genotypes, 107 fragments (96%) were found to be polymorphic. The UPGMA cluster analysis placed okra genotypes into seven main clusters. 'Sabzpari 2001' and 'Acc.No.019221' had shown maximum similarity (83%) while the minimum similarity (44.14%) was observed between the genotypes 'Punjab Selection' and 'Acc.No.019217'. Thus, by using RAPD primers a considerable polymorphism appeared to exist, which showed genetic variability in the okra genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato production in Pakistan is facing stagnation due to different biotic and abiotic stresses. Tomato crop thrives well at temperatures ranging from 13 to 30°C. Tomato plants are sensitive to chilling temperature (0-12°C), therefore, its yield is affected by frost and low temperature. Hence, chilling stress is the major yield limiting factor for tomato cultivation in the plain areas of Pakistan. In order to develop high yielding frost/chilling tolerant tomato varieties/hybrids, there is need to exploit the existing variability for different yield related traits in tomato. The present study was designed to undertake the genetic analysis of various quantitative traits of economic worth. Among all the screened genotypes, only 18 lines were identified as frost tolerant. The selected lines were crossed with three high yielding testers. The parents and the F1 hybrids were planted at two different locations (Faisalabad and Sialkot). The data for various fruit morphology traits were recorded and subjected to biometrical analysis to evaluate variability in parents and off springs. The yield performance of hybrids was evaluated at two different locations as a step towards the development of genetically improved indigenous hybrids/varieties in tomatoes. Maximum heterosis (78.11%) for marketable fruit yield per plant was calculated in F1 hybrid resulting from a cross involving 017856 and Roma. Likewise, maximum heterosis for fruit length, width and weight was recorded for F1 hybrids of BSX-717-1-1 × Roma (20.67%), Rutgar Sala × Nagina (50.80%) and CLN-2418 A × Roma (44.90%), respectively. Hence, suggesting the use of these parental genotypes for the development of frost tolerant and high yielding tomato varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whitefly-transmissible begomoviruses (Family-Geminiviridae) are the major pathogens of economically important crops and weeds. In 2004-05, during field surveys in Faisalabad, Pakistan, symptoms of leaf curling and leaf deformations were spotted on leaves of Chenopodium album. Chenopodium album is also known as Bathu (local name). This plant is commonly found in crop fields and around water channels. Fifteen plant leaves showing upward leaf curling were collected from different farmer's fields. Complete virus and associated satellite molecules were amplified through rolling circle amplification (RCA) followed by restriction digestion with suitable enzyme, cloning and sequencing. Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) showed that leaf curling disease of C. album is associated with Pedilanthus leaf curl virus (PeLCV) along with two different types of betasatellite molecules i.e., Digera yellow vein betasatelite (DiYVB), Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite (CLCuMB) and one alphasatellite i.e., Ageratum enation alphasatellite (AEA). Sequence analysis showed that PeLCV is a new variant showing 95-98% sequence homology to PeLCV isolated from India and Pakistan. Associated betasatellites i.e., DiYVB and CLCuMB showed 96-99% sequence homology to satellites isolated from India and Pakistan. Ageratum enation alphasatellite associated with PeLCV was also a new combination and showed 99% sequence homology with other isolates from Pakistan. This is the first report of PeLCV and associated satellites infecting C. album. The data presented in this paper would help in understanding the diversity and etiology of begomoviruses in C. album. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Date palm is an important fruit crop of Pakistan with rich economic, social and nutritional values. The Baluchistan province of Pakistan has been well known for date palm cultivation since long. In addition to its long history of date palm cultivation, Baluchistan's geo-political position with Iran and Oman also highlights its position as a rich source of genetic diversity. The present study was aimed to estimate the genetic diversity and population structure of date palm in Makran division (Baluchistan), which is considered as a major groove for production of high quality date palm. A set of 52 microsatellite markers were utilized to analyze the genetic relationship among 61 date palm genotypes. High polymorphism was found with an average polymorphic Information content (PIC) of 0.67 which indicates significant genetic variation in date palm accession under study. A total 387 alleles were scored with an average of 8.23 alleles for each locus. According to the Bayesian clustering approach, the entire population was partitioned into two clusters i.e., Turbat and Panjgur with few admixture lines. The presence of two subgroups corresponded to distinct adaptive behavior of genotypes to different ecological environment. Analysis of molecular variance revealed 80% of the variation within individuals, while 16% was due to differences among individuals and 4% variation was found among populations. Principal coordinate analysis and neighbor joining tree exhibited the same clusters as illustrated in STRUCTURE V.2.2 software. The variation detected through SSR markers supports that Baluchistan region may be another center of diversity for date palm. The genetic diversity information from this study can also be used for future breeding programs, association mapping, gene cloning and germplasm conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mango is the second major fruit crop of Pakistan. A large number of unexplored indigenous mango germplasm with great economic significance is present in the country. Hence, 425 mango accessions were studied from Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) as well as Northern and Southern Punjab to explore the genetic diversity. Total 33 traits (25 qualitative and 8 quantitative) enabled the assessment of morphological and physico-chemical diversity of the studied indigenous mango germplasm. The first three principal components (PCs) contributed 68.06% variability among all mango accessions. The PCs also successfully grouped mango accessions according to their morphological and physico-chemical characteristics. Trunk height, tree circumference, crown diameter, leaf colour, leaf blade length, petiole length, inflorescence length, inflorescence width, fruit shape, fruit weight, soluble solid contents, titratable acidity, sugar:acid ratio, reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars and total sugars were found highly variable. Many of these characters are of substantial economic significance and could be used as breeding goals to increase the germplasm repository as well as fruit yield and quality. In conclusion, morphological and physico-chemical traits were highly useful for mango germplasm characterization. Several accessions also showed potentially good traits which could be used to develop new mango cultivars through future breeding schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basic leucine zipper protein refers to a grand transcriptional factor family of all eukaryotes that is involved in various developmental and stress responses like flower development, plant height, maturation of seeds, biotic and abiotic stress signaling. About 127 bZIPs in Arabidopsis, 70 in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), 266 in soybean (Glycine max), 47 in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), 70 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), 140 in rice, 102 in wheat and 218 in maize have been discovered. In this review, the classification of bZIP is according to the binding specificities of bZIPs as well as their role in transcription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]