Plant Biology Commons^™

Phytochemical And Antibacterial Evaluations Of Chloroform Extract Of Mondia Whitei (Hook F) Skeels, Abdullahi Shehu, Ojochide Inikpi Egwemi, Olufunmilayo Adeola Ajayi, Abdulmumeen Amao Hamid

Tanzania Journal of Science

Mondia whitei, also known as Mondia, is an aromatic plant of Apocynaceae family. It is used as aphrodisiac, antidepressant, fertility medication and to improve appetite. The present study aimed to evaluate the phytochemical and antibacterial properties of the plant. The chloroform extract of M. whitei was screened for its antibacterial effects using agar diffusion method against five bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella typhi). The extract was active against S. typhi, K. pneumoniae and S. aureus at 400, 400 and 200 mg/mL, respectively. The antibacterial activity of the extract was observed in a dose-dependent …

Enhancing Germination Of Seeds Of A Multipurpose Tree Species Combretum Molle, Samora Macrice Andrew

Tanzania Journal of Science

Combretum molle R. Br. ex G. Don (Combretaceae) is a highly valued indigenous multipurpose tree species that has gained considerable attention in recent times due to its importance as a medicinal plant as well as an alternative species for wood and charcoal production. However, we lack adequate information on simple and appropriate methods that could be used to break its distinct seed dormancy to support domestication of wild populations apparently undergoing over exploitation and the negative impacts of deforestation. Eight pre-treatment methods involving complete removal of wing, complete removal of mesocarp, overnight soaking in cold water (24 °C) and partial …

Antibacterial Potency Of Allium Sativum, Psidium Guajava, Zingiber Officinale Roots Against The Food Poisoning Strains (Escherichia Coli 0157:H7 And Staphylococcus Aureus), Godfrey O. Mauti

Tanzania Journal of Science

Escherichia coli 0157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus are notorious food poisoning bacteria of great effect on human health. This study determined the phytochemical constituents of ethanolic, vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) filtrates of Allium sativum (garlic), Psidium guajava (guava), Zingiber officinale (ginger) and their antibacterial activities on E. coli 0157:H7 and S. aureus. In a laboratory-based controlled experiment, the antibacterial and inhibitory activities of the VLC filtrates in doses of 0.01, 0.02, 0.04, and 0.08g/mL were investigated on E. coli 0157:H7 and S. aureus using the agar well diffusion method and compared with a standard antibiotic. The indices of the zone of …

Impacts Of Dietary Chrysophyllum Albidum Fruit Pulp On Brain Cholinesterase Function In High-Fat Diet/Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats, Seun Funmilola Akomolafe, Sunday Idowu Oyeleye, Ifeoluwa Adebayo Odeniyi, Iyabo Folake Oladapo, Ayodele Jacob Akinyemi, Folake Lucy Oyetayo, Olubunmi Bolanle Ajayi

Tanzania Journal of Science

Epidemiologic studies have shown strong correlations between Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes mellitus. The exact mechanism through which this happens remains unclear. However, the dependence on glucose for brain function has been proposed as one possible mechanism. Hence, this study investigated the neuroprotective potential of Chrysophyllum albidum fruit pulp (CAPP) with hypoglycaemic properties in diabetic rats induced with high-fat diet/streptozotocin (STZ). The animals were grouped into seven units as follows: control, STZ-induced, STZ + metformin (positive control), STZ + 5% CAPP, STZ + 10% CAPP, control + 5% CAPP and control + 10% CAPP and each group was made up of …

Phytochemical Constituents, Haematological Activities And Gc-Ms Analysis Of Isolated Oil Of Rosary Pea (Abrus Precatorius) In Wistar Rat Fed With High Lipid Diet, Osaro Iyekowa, Opara V Ndubuisi

Tanzania Journal of Science

The study is aimed at investigating the phytochemical constituents and haematological activities of the isolated oil in Wistar rat fed with high lipid diet. Powdered leaves of Abrus precatorious were extracted and phytochemical screening was done according to prescribed standard methods, while vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) was adopted for oil isolation of the crude extract and characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thirty adult Wistar rats were randomly arranged into six groups (A, B, C, D, E and F) and treated under certain conditions. Haematological analyses were performed according to standard procedures. Saponins, alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids and glycosides were present. …

Application Of Mobilenets Convolutional Neural Network Model In Detecting Tomato Late Blight Disease, Richard C Rajabu, Juma S Ally, Jamal F Banzi

Tanzania Journal of Science

Late blight (LB) disease causes significant annual losses in tomato production. Early identification of this disease is crucial in halting its severity. This study aimed to leverage the strength of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) in automated prediction of tomato LB. Through transfer learning, the MobileNetV3 model was trained on high-quality, well-labeled images from Kaggle datasets. The trained model was tested on different images of healthy and infected leaves taken from different real-world locations in Mbeya, Arusha, and Morogoro. Test results demonstrated the model's success in identifying LB disease, with an accuracy of 81% and a precision of 76%. The trained …

Morphological Variabilities And Identification Of Yam (Dioscorea Spp.) Genotypes From Major Growing Regions In Tanzania, Joseph I Massawe, Gladness E Temu

Tanzania Journal of Science

Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a vegetatively propagated crop that belongs to the family Dioscoreaceae. In Tanzania, yam is mainly grown as a source of food and income generation, especially for smallholder farmers. In this study, an assessment of morphological variations among 74 genotypes of Dioscorea spp. collected from six major growing regions was conducted. Yam genotypes were maintained and planted at Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute-Kibaha for characterization. Data from fifty morphological variables were subjected to multivariate analysis using principal component analysis and cluster analysis. The first nine principal components with Eigenvalues > 1 accounted for 86.28% of the total variations. Some …

Antibacterial, Antioxidant, And Repellency Potential Of The Essential Oil From Spartium Junceum L. Grown In Lebanon, Hawraa Zahrddin, Mahmoud Khalil, Akram Hijazi

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

The goal of our present study is to assess the pharmacological potential of essential oil extracted from Spartium junceum cultivated in Lebanon. This oil was obtained by hydrodistillation using the Clevenger apparatus. Then, an organoleptic characterization and an evaluation of its antioxidant, repellent/insecticidal, and antibacterial activities have been evaluated. The obtained results showed that this oil had an antioxidant activity reaching 82 % dependent on the dilution used. In addition, it showed an insecticidal effect and an antibacterial effect.

Transformation And Gene Editing In The Bioenergy Grass Miscanthus, Anthony Trieu, Mohammad B. Belaff, Pradeepa Hirannaiah, Shilpa Manjunatha, Rebekah Wood, Yokshitha Bathula, Rebecca L. Billingsley, Anjali Arpan, Erik J. Sacks, Thomas E. Clemente, Stephen P. Moose, Nancy A. Reichert, Kankshita Swaminathan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Miscanthus, a C4 member of Poaceae, is a promising perennial crop for bioenergy, renewable bioproducts, and carbon sequestration. Species of interest include nothospecies M. x giganteus and its parental species M. sacchariforus and M. sinensis. Use of biotechnology-based procedures to genetically improve Miscanthus, to date, have only included plant transformation procedures for introduction of exogenous genes into the host genome at random, non-targeted sites.

Results: We developed gene editing procedures for Miscanthus using CRISPR/Cas9 that enabled the mutation of a specific (targeted) endogenous gene to knock out its function. Classified as paleo-allopolyploids (duplicated ancient …

Yield Prediction Through Integration Of Genetic, Environment, And Management Data Through Deep Learning, Daniel R. Kick, Jason G. Wallace, James C. Schnable, Judith M. Kolkman, Barış Alaca, Timothy M. Beissinger, Jode Edwards, David Ertl, Sherry Flint-Garcia, Joseph L. Gage, Candice N. Hirsch, Joseph E. Knoll, Natalia De Leon, Dayane C. Lima, Danilo E. Moreta, Maninder P. Singh, Addie Thompson, Teclemariam Weldekidan, Jacob D. Washburn

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Accurate prediction of the phenotypic outcomes produced by different combinations of genotypes, environments, and management interventions remains a key goal in biology with direct applications to agriculture, research, and conservation. The past decades have seen an expansion of new methods applied toward this goal. Here we predict maize yield using deep neural networks, compare the efficacy of 2 model development methods, and contextualize model performance using conventional linear and machine learning models. We examine the usefulness of incorporating interactions between disparate data types. We find deep learning and best linear unbiased predictor (BLUP) models with interactions had the best overall …

Genetic Variation In Common Bunt Resistance In Synthetic Hexaploid Wheat, Amira M. I. Mourad, Alexey Morgounov, P. Stephen Baenziger, Samar M. Esmail

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Common bunt (caused by Tilletia caries and T. Foetida) is a major wheat disease. It occurs frequently in the USA and Turkey and damages grain yield and quality. Seed treatment with fungicides is an effective method to control this disease. However, using fungicides in organic and low-income fields is forbidden, and planting resistant cultivars are preferred. Due to the highly effective use of fungicides, little effort has been put into breeding resistant genotypes. In addition, the genetic diversity for this trait is low in modern wheat germplasm. Synthetic wheat genotypes were reported as an effective source to increase the …

6k1, Nia-Vpg, Nia-Pro, And Cp Ofwheat Streak Mosaic Virus Are Collective Determinants Of Wheat Streak Mosaic Disease In Wheat, Satyanarayana Tatineni, Jeffrey Alexander, Haritha Nunna

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV; genus Tritimovirus, family Potyviridae) is the causal agent of the most economically important wheat streak mosaic disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum) in the Great Plains region of theUnited States.WSMVdeterminants responsible forwheat streak mosaic disease in wheat are unknown. Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV), a wheatinfecting virus,was used as an expression vector for the transient expression of each of the WSMV-encoded cistrons in wheat. WSMV-encoded 6K1, NIa-VPg, NIa-Pro, and CP cistrons in TriMV elicited symptoms specific to different stages of wheat streak mosaic disease without significantly affecting the genomic RNA accumulation. WSMV 6K1 …

Population Genomics Provide Insights Into The Global Genetic Structure Of Colletotrichum Graminicola, The Causal Agent Of Maize Anthracnose, Flávia Rogério, Riccardo Baroncelli, Francisco Borja Cuevas-Fernández, Sioly Becerra, Joanne Crouch, Wagner Bettiol, M. Andrea Azcárate-Peril, Martha Malapi-Wight, Veronique Ortega, Javier Betran, Albert Tenuta, José S. Dambolena, Paul D. Esker, Pedro Revilla, Tamra A. Jackson-Ziems, Jürg Hiltbrunner, Gary Munkvold, Ivica Buhiniček, José L. Vicente-Villardón, Serenella A. Sukno, Michael R. Thon

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Understanding the genetic diversity and mechanisms underlying genetic variation in pathogen populations is crucial to the development of effective control strategies. We investigated the genetic diversity and reproductive biology of Colletotrichum graminicola isolates which infect maize by sequencing the genomes of 108 isolates collected from 14 countries using restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) and wholegenome sequencing (WGS). Clustering analyses based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms revealed three genetic groups delimited by continental origin, compatible with short-dispersal of the pathogen and geographic subdivision. Intra- and intercontinental migration was observed between Europe and South America, likely associated with the movement of contaminated germplasm. Low …

6k1, Nia-Vpg, Nia-Pro, And Cp Ofwheat Streak Mosaic Virus Are Collective Determinants Of Wheat Streak Mosaic Disease In Wheat, Satyanarayana Tatineni, Jeffrey Alexander, Haritha Nunna

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV; genus Tritimovirus, family Potyviridae) is the causal agent of the most economically important wheat streak mosaic disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum) in the Great Plains region of theUnited States.WSMVdeterminants responsible forwheat streak mosaic disease in wheat are unknown. Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV), a wheatinfecting virus,was used as an expression vector for the transient expression of each of the WSMV-encoded cistrons in wheat. WSMV-encoded 6K1, NIa-VPg, NIa-Pro, and CP cistrons in TriMV elicited symptoms specific to different stages of wheat streak mosaic disease without significantly affecting the genomic RNA accumulation. WSMV 6K1 …

Inheritance Of 2,4‑Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4‑D) Resistance In Amaranthus Palmeri, Chandrima Shyam, Dallas E. Peterson, Amit J. Jhala, Mithila Jugulam

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In this study, the inheritance of 2,4-D resistance in a multiple herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth (KCTR) was investigated. Direct and reciprocal crosses were performed using 2,4-D-resistant KCTR and susceptible KSS plants to generate F₁ progenies. 2,4-D dose–response assays were conducted to evaluate the response of progenies from each F₁ family along with KCTR and KSS plants in controlled environmental growth chambers. Additionally, 2,4-D-resistant male and female plants from each of the F₁ families were used in pairwise crosses to generate pseudo-F₂ families. Segregation (resistance or susceptibility) of progenies from the F₂ families in response to a …

A Stealth Health Approach To Dietary Fibre, P. Stephen Baenziger, Katherine Anna Frels, Steve Greenspan, Julie Jones, Alison Lovegrove, Devin J. Rose, Peter Shewry, Rod Wallace

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Average dietary fibre intakes have increased little in the past twenty years in many countries, including the USA¹ . Multi-million-dollar campaigns promoting fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other foods high in fibre have delivered only small changes in diets² , and consumers have not changed from traditional staples to whole-grain options³ . UK millers report that consumption of whole-wheat bread has actually declined over the past decade (P. Shewry, personal communication). In the US, white flour, which is lower in fibre than whole-wheat flour, accounts for nearly 40% of the fibre intake⁴ . We believe that …

Genetic Variations Of Narcissus Tazetta And Selected Narcissus Cultivars Based On The Sequence Analysis Of Nrits And TrnL‑Is‑TrnF Regions, Seo Young Park, Mi Jin Jeon, Young Hee Joung, Keenan L. Amundsen, Gianluca Burchi, Angelo Porcelli, Mark S. Roh

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Narcissus tazetta var. chinensis (N. taz. var. chi.) accessions collected from the coastal areas of China, Korea, and Japan were compared with accessions of lower ranks of Narcissus tazetta (N. taz.) from Italy to study the genetic variations and with several morphologically similar cultivars available in the trade. Sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrITS) dendrogram and the chloroplast trnL-IS-trnF intergeneric spacer-gene (cpIS) were analyzed by maximum likelihood (ML) and posterior probability using STRUCTURE program. All single fower form of N. taz. var. chi. collected from China, Korea, and …

Dynamics Of Redox-Driven Molecular Processes In Local And Systemic Plant Immunity, Philip Berg

Theses and Dissertations

The work here presents two main parts. In the first part, chapters 1 – 3 focus on dynamical systems modeling in plant immunity, whereas chapters 4 – 6 describe contributions to computational modeling and analysis of proteomics and genomics data. Chapter 1 investigates dynamical and biochemical patterns of reversibly oxidized cysteines (RevOxCys) during effector-triggered immunity (ETI) in Arabidopsis, examines the regulatory patterns associated with Arabidopsis thimet oligopeptidase 1 and 2’s (TOP1 and TOP2), roles in the RevOxCys events during ETI, and analyzes the redox phenotype of the top1top2 mutant. The second chapter investigates the peptidome dynamics during ETI …

The Emerging Value Of The Viroid Model In Understanding Plant Responses To Foreign Rnas, Junfei Ma

Theses and Dissertations

RNAs play essential roles in various biological processes. Mounting evidence has demonstrated that RNA subcellular localization and intercellular trafficking govern their functions in coordinating plant growth at the organismal level. Beyond that, plants constantly encounter foreign RNAs (i.e., RNAs from pathogens including viruses and viroids). The subcellular localizations of RNAs are crucial for their function. While numerous types of RNAs (i.e., mRNAs, small RNAs, rRNAs, tRNAs, and long noncoding RNAs) have been found to traffic in a non-cell-autonomous fashion within plants, the underlying regulatory mechanism remains unclear. Viroids are single-stranded circular noncoding RNAs, which entirely rely …

Evaluating The Impacts Of Waterlogging Stress On Cowpea (Vigna Unguiculata L.) Growth Traits And Physiological Performance, Omolayo Joshua Olorunwa

Theses and Dissertations

The progressive increase in the global population and the rapidly changing climate have put unprecedented pressure on crop production. Cowpea is one of the world’s most important leguminous crops, contributing to food security and environmental sustainability. However, cowpea productivity is limited due to waterlogging stress. The main objective of this study was to explore physiological and biochemical mechanisms to understand how cowpea genotypes respond to waterlogging stress. Four studies were conducted in controlled and field conditions to achieve these objectives. Study 1 characterized the waterlogging tolerance of 30 cowpea genotypes in a controlled environment using 24 morphophysiological parameters with waterlogging …

Insights Into Early-Stage Inbreeding Depression In Hawaiian Metrosideros, Rosalie Chaleunsouck

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Inbreeding depression is the reduced biological fitness of offspring resulting from the conception of two genetically related gametes. Selfing, the fusion of gametes from the same individual, is the most extreme form of inbreeding, common in many plant species. Inbreeding depression is most prevalently seen at the seed-development stage (Levin, 1981).

Poisson Hurdle Model-Based Method For Clustering Microbiome Features, Zhili Qiao, Elle Barnes, Susannah Tringe, Daniel P. Schachtman, Peng Liu

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Motivation: High-throughput sequencing technologies have greatly facilitated microbiome research and have generated a large volume of microbiome data with the potential to answer key questions regarding microbiome assembly, structure and function. Cluster analysis aims to group features that behave similarly across treatments, and such grouping helps to highlight the functional relationships among features and may provide biological insights into microbiome networks. However, clustering microbiome data are challenging due to the sparsity and high dimensionality.

Results: We propose a model-based clustering method based on Poisson hurdle models for sparse microbiome count data. We describe an expectation–maximization algorithm and a …

In Vitro Rooting Techniques In Prunus Spp. For Propagation And Disease Screening For Armillaria Root Rot (Arr) Resistance, John Lawson

All Theses

Prunus is a genus widely cultivated to produce edible fruit including almond (P. amygdalus), peach (P. persica (L.) Batsch), cherries (P. avium and P. cerasus), among others. The cultivation of Prunus is economically important for several regions of the United States and relies on appropriate cultivars and rootstocks that are adapted to a growing region. Encroaching plant pathogens are forcing breeders to use sexually compatible germplasm from related species for introgression of novel alleles that confer tolerance or resistance. This is especially true in the rootstock breeding where interspecific hybridization is often used …

A Glass Bead Semi-Hydroponic System For Intact Maize Root Exudate Analysis And Phenotyping, Martha G. Lopez-Guerrero, Peng Wang, Felicia Phares, Daniel P. Schachtman, Sophie Alvarez, Karin V. Van Dijk

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Although there have been numerous studies describing plant growth systems for root exudate collection, a common limitation is that these systems require disruption of the plant root system to facilitate exudate collection. Here, we present a newly designed semi-hydroponic system that uses glass beads as solid support to simulate soil impedance, which combined with drip irrigation, facilitates growth of healthy maize plants, collection and analysis of root exudates, and phenotyping of the roots with minimal growth disturbance or root damage. Results: This system was used to collect root exudates from seven maize genotypes using water or 1 mM CaCl2, …

Nitrification Inhibitor, Nitrogen Source, And Herbicide Effects On Soil Nitrogen Transformations And Corn Yield, William Neels

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nitrogen fertilizer management continue to be challenging due to potential nitrogen losses under variable weather conditions. The objective of this was to evaluate the performance of nitrification inhibitors, nitrogen sources and herbicides on in-season nitrogen availability and agronomy indicators. A two site-year field experiment was conducted in silty clay loam soil in corn phase of the corn-soybean rotation at Central Nebraska. The treatments included three herbicide (no pre-emergence, Acuron, Resicore) and five nitrogen treatments: 1) control, 2) anhydrous ammonia, 3) anhydrous ammonia without nitrification inhibitor, 4) urea with nitrification inhibitors, and 5) urea without nitrification inhibitors. Results indicated that nitrogen …

Addressing Challenges Of Dryland Production Of Sunflowers And Corn In The Semi-Arid High Plains Of Nebraska, Zhan Orazov

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Corn and sunflower are value crops for America. Cultivation of corn and sunflower often vary depending on growing environment. Selecting appropriate planting dates, hybrids and plant density frequently concerns farmers. This concern is understandable because the decision made directly impacts final income. The objectives were to evaluate interaction of corn and sunflower planting dates and hybrid maturity and evaluate interaction of corn flex hybrids and plant density under conditions of western Nebraska. Nine corn hybrids with relative maturity ranging from 86 to 105 days were sown between early May and late June in first and between late April and early …

Deciphering The Genetic Architecture Of Key Female Floral Traits For Hybrid Wheat Seed Production, Juan David Jimenez

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a staple cereal that provides 20% of the calories and proteins in human intake (Ray et al., 2013). Global population is projected to increase to 9.7 billion by 2050. Food production must increase by 70% to feed this future population. Wheat production is in crisis due to political and environmental challenges and is projected to decline by 0.8% in 2022 (FAO, 2022). To ensure food security yield genetic gain must increase by around 1.4% annually. Taking advantage of heterosis, hybrid wheat has the potential to boost grain yield. However, hybrid wheat seed production systems …

Callery Pear Allelopathy Study, Michaela J. Woods, Jonathan T. Bauer, Dena Schaeffer, Ryan W. Mcewan

Five Rivers MetroParks Collaboration Data Archive

No abstract provided.

Comparative Genomics Of Five Valsa Species Gives Insights On Their Pathogenicity Evolution, Guangchao Sun, Shichang Xie, Lin Tang, Chao Zhao, Mian Zhang, Lili Huang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Valsa is a genus of ascomycetes within the Valsaceae family. This family includes many wood destructive pathogens such as the well known Valsa mali and Valsa pyri which cause canker diseases in fruit trees and threaten the global fruit production. Lack of genomic information of this family is impeding our understandings about their evolution and genetic basis of their pathogenicity divergence. Here, we report genome assemblies of Valsa malicola, Valsa persoonii, and Valsa sordida which represent close relatives of Valsa mali and Valsa pyri with different host preferences. Comparative genomics analysis revealed that segmental rearrangements, inversions, and translocations …

Etiology And Epidemiology Of Mini-Ring In Ultradwarf Bermudagrass Putting Greens, Lukas Dant

All Dissertations

Mini-ring is a disease in ultradwarf bermudagrass (UDBG) [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × C. transvaalensis (Burtt-Davy)] putting greens caused by Waitea zeae (Voorhees) J.A. Crouch & Cubeta, (formerly Rhizoctonia zeae). Symptoms typically resemble frog-eye patches that are 10 to 40 cm in diameter with a bronze to orange outer ring and green center. In the southeastern United States, mini-ring symptoms appear in late-summer and generally persist until UDBG dormancy in late-fall. Mini-ring is often problematic in UDBG when nitrogen (N) fertility is reduced to manage organic matter production and improve putting green performance and perceived green speed. While …