International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology
Volume:4 Issue: 2, Summer - Autumn 2017

Plum local varieties and forms are widespread in all regions of Georgia. Despite the wide dissemination of this crop, the number of cultivars is not quite a lot. Due to this reason, study of cultivars has been carried out in a collection plot of the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture, in village Jighaura. Eight plum (Prunus domestica L.) cultivars including: Amers, Bluefree, Chanchuri, Empresss, President, Stanley, Shaviqliavi, Tophit were used in this study. The following agronomic and biological characteristics were studied for the cultivars: calendar periods of phenological phases, pomological description of fruits, fruit chemical analysis and productivity. The results showed that average time of maturity was from 02.08. to 30.09. The average fruit yield in this trial for Empress and President Stanley cultivars was 88.4- 98.1 kg per tree. The weight of fruit ranged from 58.4 g to 26.2 g. The cultivars Tophit, Empresss and President contain the highest contents for soluble solid substance – respectively 14.23%, 12.81%, 12.64%. According to the obtained results, the following cultivars of plum can be chosen for further cultivation which can improve the local assortment of plum like Tophit and President (fresh production), Empress and Stanley (fresh/dry production). They are characterized by early starting production, high-productivity and high quality of fruits.

The genus Tulipa L. (Liliaceae) comprises about 100 species and Iran is considered as one of the main origins of tulips. In this research, genetic diversity and population structure of 27 wild populations of tulips collected from Iran were studied by 15 highly polymorphic and reproducible expressed sequenced tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers and 8 nucleotide binding site (NBS)-enzyme combinations. According to EST-SSR genotyping, the average of gene diversity (GD) and polymorphism information content (PIC) were 0.66 and 0.62, respectively. However, the values of GD and PIC were equal for each NBS primer–enzyme combination which ranged between 0.85-0.95 with a mean value of 0.91. The mean value of resolving power (EST-SSR = 1.93; NBS-LRR = 17.39) indicated that the NBS markers had higher discriminatory power compared to the EST-SSR markers. UPGMA clustering confirmed the results of PCA which was further confirmed by Bayesian model-based STRUCTURE analysis. Population structure analysis detected 3 and 4 gene pools for 27 wild tulip germplasms with EST-SSR genotyping and NBS-LRR profiling, respectively. The AMOVA results indicated that molecular variation among populations (ΦPT = inter-population variation) was 82% and 93% of the total variation for EST-SSR and NBS-LRR markers, respectively. The results of this study will help the conservation and phylogenetic studies of tulips.

Plum pox or sharka, a viral disease caused by Plum pox virus (PPV), severely affects the production of Prunus species in Europe. The first evidence of sharka was reported in Iran in 2000 . Due to the economic impact of this disease on crop production, recent advances in the term of biology, epidemiology, and disease management are provided in this paper to assure awareness among growers and professionals involved in Prunus production. This study will provide fundamental knowledge about this virus to guaranty the successful detection and controlling of sharka disease in Iran.

The pomegranate fruit is a good source of bioactive compounds. The present study has investigated the biochemical and sensory characteristics of the arils of four Iranian commercial pomegranate cultivars namely Malase Shirine Saveh (MSS), Malase Torshe Saveh (MTS), Alak Shirine Saveh (ASS) and Agha Mohammad Ali (AMA) for several developmental and ripening stages during 45–180 days after fruit set (DAFS). The results showed that the total soluble solids (TSS), individual and total anthocyanin concentrations, and color parameters including chroma and a* values significantly increased, in contrast, the total phenolic concentration and color parameters (L* and hue angle) gradually decreased during developmental stages. Six anthocyanin pigments were found responsible for the red color of pomegranate juice. The quantity and the quality of the anthocyanin pigments were different among the cultivars and the various developmental stages. The predominant anthocyanin pigment at all developmental stages in all cultivars was cyanidin 3,5-diglucosides. The maximum total phenolic concentration was recorded at 45 DAFS for all cultivars. The highest antioxidant activity was recorded at 45 DAFS, and gradually decreased until 135 DAFS. Similar decrease was observed in total phenolic and flavonoid concentrations. Notably, increasing of antioxidant activity at the late-developmental stage was due to induction of the flavonoids and anthocyanins accumulation.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of altitudinal gradients on the anatomy of Salvia limbata C.A.Mey. (Lamiaceae). . The S. limbata species were collected from their natural habitats from various regions of West Azerbaijan province in Iran. The thickness of cuticle, collenchymas, phloem, xylem and pith of stem and leaf thickness were measured. Moreover, width, length and number of stomata on both adaxial and abaxal epidermal surfaces were analyzed. Statistical analyses were done on a completely randomized design. The results indicated that by increasing altitude leaf thickness increased from 239.1 to 300.1 µm. Number of leaf epidermal cells was also increased in higher altitude on both upper (4.30 to 5.61) and lower (1.05 to 6.55) epidermal surfaces. The results confirmed that more stomata on both adaxial and abaxial epidermis in high altitude samples were associated with presence of narrower and longer stomata on their leaves. Significant differences in the cuticle, collenchyma, xylem, phloem and parenchymatous pith thickness in the stem were observed in all the six studied populations. At higher altitudes thicker cuticle, increased number of collenchyma and wider xylem, phloem and parenchymatous pith were detected. Plants in Mahlamlu region had the thickest studied parameters and Plants in Kabudan Island region had the thinnest tissues.

Salicylic acid (SA) plays an important role in the regulation of plant ripening and responses to abiotic stresses. In this study, the protective effect of SA on cold stress-caused oxidative damage in grape (Vitis vinifera L.) bunches was investigated during cold storage. Grape bunches treated with 2 mM SA and stored at 0°C with 85-90% RH for 30 days. Samples were selected from each treatment for physical and chemical analysis before storage, midpoint of storage, end of storage and end of shelf life. The results showed that the cold storage induced lipid peroxidation, decay incidence and loss of fresh weight, while SA pretreatment mitigated these effects in “Bidaneh Sefid” and “Qzl uzum” cultivars. In these cultivars, SA-induced protection against cold damage was accompanied by decrease in malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and caused an increase in catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Additionally, SA-induced protection against cold injury was mediated through promoting total phenolics concentration and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity. The present findings suggest that although variability in the protective effect of SA against cold damage was observed between grape cultivars, SA could alleviate the cold-induced oxidative stress in grape bunches during cold storage.

Most Japanese plum-type cultivars are self-incompatible and therefore cross pollination is necessary to ensure fruit set. Moreover, pollen can directly affect fruit development process and quality. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of 6 pollen sources (‘Goje Sabz’, ‘Simka’, ‘Shablon’, ‘Methley’, ‘Myrobalan’ and ‘Black Star’) on fruit quantitative and qualitative characteristics of Prunus salicina cultivar ‘Black Star’, and identify the most effective pollinizer in the north region of Iran. The results showed that the pollen sources significantly affected different fruit characteristics such as fruit set, length, diameter, fresh weight, dry matter content and firmness. In contrast, total soluble solid, pH, total acid, vitamin C and total phenol did not significantly affect by pollen sources. Furthermore, it was found that the highest fruit set, physical dimensions, fresh weight and dry matter content were achieved when ‘Simka’ was used as pollen source. Finally, these results suggest that the pollen sources had xenia effects in Japanese plum and ‘Simka’ is the most suitable pollen source for Japanese plum ‘Black Star’ cultivar.

Verticillium dahliae Kleb. the causal agent of vascular wilt is an important pathogen of olive trees in growing areas of the world. Nine-month-old nursery olives including ‘Bladi’, ‘Conservalia’, ‘Kalamon’, ‘Koroneiki’, ‘Manzanilla’, ‘Mission’, ‘Marry’, ‘Picual’, ‘Rowghani’, ‘Sevillana’ and ‘Zard’ cultivars were root-dip inoculated with a defoliating (VCG1) isolate of V. dahliae obtained from diseased olives. Resistance was evaluated by assessing symptom severity using 0-4 rating scale and estimating the area under disease progress curves. The percentage of plants killed and final mean severity of symptoms were used as additional parameters for classifying the cultivars. Most of the tested cultivars were susceptible or highly susceptible to Verticillium wilt. However, two genotypes ‘Kalamon’ and ‘Koroneiki’ exhibited high resistance or resistance to this disease. Vegetative growth was reduced in inoculated plants due to infections caused by V. dahliae, although the reduction was remarkably higher in susceptible than in resistantcultivars. Correlation coefficient analyses revealed a negative relation between disease severity and vegetative growth. Dendrogram of olive cultivars based on all parameters represented two main clusters, major and minor. Minor cluster comprised only ‘Kalamon’ and ‘Koroneiki’ cultivars as resistant to V. dahliae. The major cluster could be divided into two groups, exhibiting extremely susceptible or susceptible reaction to V. dahliae.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is an important medicinal plant that contained a wide range of secondary metabolites such as rosmarinic acid. In this study, essential oil content and composition and rosmarinc acid were determined at three phenological stages (before flowering, full flowering and fruit set stages). Hydro distillation method was used for essential oil extraction and GC and GC/MS was used for essential oil composition. On the basis of the obtained results rosemary plants in full flowering stage had higher amount of essential oil (1.99 ml/100 g dry weight) than in before flowering and fruit set stages (1.2 and 1.01 ml/100 per g dry weight, respectively). The extracted essential oil was contained 1,8-cineole, α-pinene, verbenone, camphor, geraniol, borneol acetae, camphene and linalool as major constituents. These constituents were affected by phenological stages. Before flowering, 1,8-cineole, α-pinene and verbenone (13.68%), in full flowering, 1,8-cineole (17.90%) and in fruit set α-pinene (21.77%) were the main constituents of the reosemary essential oil. Using HPLC analysis on leaf extract showed that the highest amount of rosmarinic acid (25.92mg/g DW) was observed in the fruit set stage. In conclusion, for essential oil content full flowering stage can be recommended for harvesting of Rosmarinus officinalis L. and for rosmarinic acid, fruit set stage can be the best time for harvesting of this medicinal plant.