^{7th Global Summit on} Plant Science October 07-08, 2019 Madrid, Spain

Biography:

Adamu Muhammad was born 46 years ago (03-09-1973) in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria. He obtained his B. Agriculture and M. Sc. Crop Science in Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria. He completed his PhD in Agronomy at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. He is currently the Head of Department of Crop Science, Deputy Dean of the Postgraduate School and was one time the Director of Examinations and Registration of the Kebbi state University of Science and Technology, Aliero, Nigeria. He has published more than 40 papers in reputed journals nationally and internationally.      

Abstract:

Potato is a temperate crop requiring low temperatures for growth and yield. Production of potato in the semi-arid lowland Nigeria is restricted to periods of low temperatures that prevailed from early November to late February. The general approach for potato in this region is to relate the planting date to coincide with the period of relatively low temperatures, as high temperature inhibits growth and yield. Based on the above, field experiments were conducted in two locations at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero, during 2016/2017 dry season. The aim was to determine the most appropriate planting date and most suitable variety in the study area. Treatments consisted of factorial combinations of four Planting dates (1st November, 15th November, 1st December and 15th December 2016) and four potato varieties (Bertita, Diamant, Lady-christl and Nicola). The experiments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Results revealed that stand count, plant height, number of leaves per plant, shoot dry weight, number of tubers per plant, weight of tubers per plant, mean tuber weight, mean tuber diameter and fresh tuber yield were higher when planted on 1st - 15th November. Bertita proved to be the most robust in terms of growth; and with Nicola, in terms of yield compared to the other varieties. Based on the results of this study, it could be concluded that, planting of potato from 1st November to 15th November coupled with either Bertita or Nicola give the highest potato yield in the study area.

Biography:

Ahmed Eisa obtained his bachelor degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Glasgow (UK). Subsequently, he pursued master degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Vienna (Austria). He did his master thesis under the supervision of Jürgen Kleine-Vehn. Using biochemical and microscopical techniques, he looked at the effect of auxin in vacuolar morphology (Scheuring et al., 2016). He is currently pursuing his PhD in Plant Biology under the supervision of Serena Schwenkert at the laboratory of Jürgen Soll at the University of Munich (Germany). His research focuses on the regulation of a chloroplast precursor phosphorylating STY kinase and their role in the protein import process in acclimation. Using biochemical and biophysical techniques, he is investigating the mode of function of STY kinases in Arabidopsis thaliana, as well as the regulatory function of preprotein phosphorylation for chloroplast biogenesis.

Abstract:

Plants are continuously exposed to various environmental trigger factors. Due to their immobile nature, plants need to employ mechanisms to acclimate to varying light intensities or temperatures. A plethora of nuclear-encoded chloroplast proteins are post-translationally modified in the cytosol before being imported to the chloroplast. So far, it has been shown that specific serine/threonine/tyrosine (STY) kinases, STY8, STY17, and STY46 are involved in the phosphorylation preproteins prior their targeting to the chloroplast. In addition, the import process itself is highly regulated at different levels where distinct signaling cascades lead to dynamic acclimation of import activity. Therefore, tight regulation of these processes in plays a critical role in plants survival. Our aim is to investigate the regulation of the STY kinases and to elucidate the effects of high light and temperature on phosphorylation and import of established preproteins into the chloroplast in Arabidopsis thaliana. So far, our data shows that the STY kinase activity is negatively regulated by an uncharacterized metabolite-binding ACT domain and its deletion leads to protein misfolding and increase in kinase auotphorylationa nd precursor phosphorylation yield. Using microscale thermophoresis we show secondary metabolite S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and Isoleucine to negatively regulate kinase activity via the ACT domain. Furthermore, we observed preprotein phosphorylation and kinase expression is enhanced in high light adapted Arabidopsis thaliana. Knockdown mutant plants showed reduced precursor phosphorylation under normal and high light conditions. Finally, we show significant decrease in import capacity of high light acclimated plants in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Biography:

Anna Nadolska-Orczyk is a Full Professor of PBAI – NRI, head of Department of Functional Genomics. She has her expertise in development of RNAi technology to functional genomics and biotechnology of cereals: i) functional analysis of CKX genes involved in cytokinin-dependent regulation of barley and wheat development and productivity, ii) characterization of Pina and Pinb wheat genes determining grain texture; development of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology to analyze gene function and to generate plants with improved characteristics of agricultural traits.

Abstract:

Multigene family of CKX genes encoding cytokinin oxidase / dehydrogenase (CKX) enzymes, affect cytokinin-regulated processes including plant growth and plant productivity. Their expression in different plants is tissue and developmentally specific. The detailed biological function of most of the TaCKX genes in wheat is not known. The goal of this research is to select those, which correlate with yield-related traits in wheat breeding material. In our earlier research we showed that expression level of HvCKX genes in developing kernels and seedling roots of barley may indicated  their role in growth and productivity (Zalewski et al. 2010, 2014). Therefore the first step of current project was to analyze specificity of expression of all 11 TaCKX family genes in developing plants of wheat and their cooperation within and among organs (Ogonowska et al. 2019). Based on these and other our research on the role of TaCKX genes in determining yield-related traits, we have been chosen the most important ones to test breeding material of wheat (30 breeding lines and cultivars, selected F1 and segregating progeny). There were: TaCKX1, TaCKX2.1, TaCKX2.2 and TaCKX3 for 7-14 DAP (days after pollination) spike development, and TaCKX1, TaCKX5 and TaCKX6 for seedling root development. Correlation coefficients between expression levels of TaCKX genes and activity of CKX enzymes with phenotypic traits were calculated. In 7 DAP spikes expression level of TaCKX1 strongly and positively correlated with expression level of TaCKX3 and in seedling roots with TaCKX5 and TaCKX6. Moreover expression of TaCKX1 significantly and positively correlated with the mass of seedling roots and thousand grain weight (TGW), and expression of TaCKX6 with the productivity. Negative, significant correlation was also observed between levels of expression of some TaCKX genes in developing kernels and selected phenotypic traits. The possible mechanism of cooperation of TaCKX genes in regulation of growth and productivity of common wheat will be discussed.

Biography:

Anna Nadolska-Orczyk is a Full Professor of PBAI – NRI, head of Department of Functional Genomics. She has her expertise in development of RNAi technology to functional genomics and biotechnology of cereals: i) functional analysis of CKX genes involved in cytokinin-dependent regulation of barley and wheat development and productivity, ii) characterization of Pina and Pinb wheat genes determining grain texture; development of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology to analyze gene function and to generate plants with improved characteristics of agricultural traits.

Abstract:

Multigene family of CKX genes encoding cytokinin oxidase / dehydrogenase (CKX) enzymes, affect cytokinin-regulated processes including plant growth and plant productivity. Their expression in different plants is tissue and developmentally specific. The detailed biological function of most of the TaCKX genes in wheat is not known. The goal of this research is to select those, which correlate with yield-related traits in wheat breeding material. In our earlier research we showed that expression level of HvCKX genes in developing kernels and seedling roots of barley may indicated  their role in growth and productivity (Zalewski et al. 2010, 2014). Therefore the first step of current project was to analyze specificity of expression of all 11 TaCKX family genes in developing plants of wheat and their cooperation within and among organs (Ogonowska et al. 2019). Based on these and other our research on the role of TaCKX genes in determining yield-related traits, we have been chosen the most important ones to test breeding material of wheat (30 breeding lines and cultivars, selected F1 and segregating progeny). There were: TaCKX1, TaCKX2.1, TaCKX2.2 and TaCKX3 for 7-14 DAP (days after pollination) spike development, and TaCKX1, TaCKX5 and TaCKX6 for seedling root development. Correlation coefficients between expression levels of TaCKX genes and activity of CKX enzymes with phenotypic traits were calculated. In 7 DAP spikes expression level of TaCKX1 strongly and positively correlated with expression level of TaCKX3 and in seedling roots with TaCKX5 and TaCKX6. Moreover expression of TaCKX1 significantly and positively correlated with the mass of seedling roots and thousand grain weight (TGW), and expression of TaCKX6 with the productivity. Negative, significant correlation was also observed between levels of expression of some TaCKX genes in developing kernels and selected phenotypic traits. The possible mechanism of cooperation of TaCKX genes in regulation of growth and productivity of common wheat will be discussed.

Biography:

Sandra Cichorz is an adjunct at Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute – National Research Institute (PBAI-NRI), Poland, and the head of Laboratory of Cytogenetics and Breeding Methods. Her current research focused on molecular, cytological and immunohistochemical analysis during the induction of gametic embryogenesis in sugar beet breeding lines. She is particularly interested in investigating the role of arabinogalactan proteins and pectins during embryo formation, with the aim of gaining better understand of the complex mechanisms that control gynogenesis for potential improvement of its efficiency.

Abstract:

The production of haploid and doubled haploid plants (DH) is now recognized as the most convenient method to produce homozygous lines. As opposed to conventional inbreeding, which requires several cycles of self-pollination, in vitro cultures enables greatly time reduction during breeding process. Over the last decades, advances in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) doubled haploid production have been achieved. Numerous endogenous and exogenous factors, which affect the embryo genic response of gametes in culture have been described and improved. But still, ovule embryogenesis efficiency in this species varies between 1 and 15%. The arabinogalactan proteins (AGP) and pectins have proved to pay many important roles in the reproductive processes or differentiation and development of plant cells and tissues. As cell wall structural proteins, are one of the most widespread protein family in the plant kingdom. Based on this, we combine our own latest results describing the characterization of AGP and pectin extracts from unfertilized ovules from sugar beet genotypes of different embryogenic potential with the current achievements.

Biography:

Karamchand Bramdeo, Skeldon, Guyana, South America. He is a Lecturer at University of Guyana and Agriculturist. Currently he is a PhD student at the University of Debrecen, Hungary with interest in maize production and the impact of various crop management factors on yield.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Maize (Zea mays L.), is major grain crop in Hungary, cultivated on approximately one million hectares. Besides being an excellent feed source, maize is also a cheap source of energy and raw material for industry. Annual production over the last decade ranged from 4.8 to 9.3 million tons, with significant fluctuation in yield.  Optimizing and sustaining yield requires proper harmonization of the agroecological, biological and agrotechnical factors. This research is therefore aimed at identifying the best combination of tillage systems and fertilizer dosage which will optimize yield of maize hybrids.  

The effect of three tillage systems (Moldboard plowing-MT, Strip tillage-ST  , Rip tillage-RT) and three levels of fertilizer treatments (N0 kg ha-1,  N80 kg ha-1, N160 kg ha-1) on the yield of maize hybrids (Armagnac- FAO 490 & Loupiac-FAO 380) were evaluated over a two-year period (2015-2016).     The findings revealed RT produced the highest yield of 10.37 t ha-1, followed by MT and ST with 10.22 and 9.60 t ha-1 respectively. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in yield between the RT and MT treatments. However, both the RT and MT were found to be statistically significant (p<0.05) when compared to ST treatment. In 2015, a relatively dry year, ST yield was almost on par with MT and RT.

A positive interaction between tillage and fertilization was evident, with higher yield variation (CV=40.07) in the non-fertilized (N0) tillage plots, compared to those which received the N80 and N160 kg ha-1 treatments (CV=22.42).

Fertilizer application greatly increased the yield of maize and accounted for 43 % of yield variances. The highest yield (11.88 t ha-1) was obtained with N160 kg ha-1 treatment, followed by N80 kg ha-1 (10.83 t ha-1), while the lowest yield (7.48 t ha-1) was recorded in the  nonfertilised plots(N0 kg ha-1).

Crop year interaction was highly significant with vast variation in yield between the two years, ranging from 8.36 t ha-1 in 2015 to 12.43 t ha-1 in 2016 for the same set of agro technical inputs. In 2016, higher yield was obtained with increase fertilizer dosage due to favorable growing conditions which allowed for better fertilizer utilization. However, with 2015 being a relatively dry crop year there was no yield increasing effect with higher fertilizer dosage (N160 kg ha-1).

FAO 380 was the better performing of the two hybrids, with a yield of 11.09 t ha-1 compared to FAO 490 with 10.60 t ha-1.

A positive correlation exists between fertilizer dosage and water supply. Lower dosage of fertilizer produced optimum results in the drier year with limited water supply. Ripper tillage and strip tillage can be suitable alternatives for the conventional mouldboard tillage, especially in drier conditions.

Biography:

Elżbieta Bilińska is a graduate of the Faculty of Biology at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (Poland). Since 2006, she has been associated with the Institute of Natural Fibers and Medicinal Plants in Poznan. She works at the Department of Botany, Breeding and Agro technical Technology of Medicinal Plants. She is involved in maintain the collection of medicinal plants of Botanical Garden in Plewiska and co-creating the Index Seminum. Her research activities are focused on seed quality assessment and seed science. She is interested in the following fields: pharmacognosy, landscape architecture and photography.

Abstract:

The Garden of Medicinal Plants at the Institute of Natural Fibers and Medicinal Plants in Plewiska is one of 40 polish botanical gardens. It was founded in 1946 on the historic area of 3 hectares in the old manor park from the end of the 19th century.

Currently the Garden has rich collection of medicinal plant comprising at present about 1200 taxa.  It is divided into two areas, in which one is open for public. It consists of plant taxonomy division of 399 species and division of trees and shrubs (about 200 species). The other one consists of division of experimental cultivation (500 species) and small division of greenhouse plants. There is also the collection of rare and legally protected medicinal   plants obtained from natural site. There are species such as: Arnica montana, Angelica archangelica, Asarum europaeum, Helichrysum arenarium and Rhodiola rosea. Experimental cultivation of these species are being conducted as part of Multiannual Programme ‘Protection of crop genetic resources’.

Worth noticing is also the collection of wild growing rose which consist of rare species such as: R. agrestis, R.zalana, R. jundzillii, and R. villosa.

Unique collections are used primarily for scientific research, but also for dissemination of the knowledge about medicinal plants. The scientific investigations are focused mainly on the content of active compounds in plants and are also devoted to agrotechnical conditions for cultivation of herbs. The raw material obtained from the garden is also the basis for further research in the field of biotechnology, pharmacology, immunology, microbiology and genetics.

The garden staff participates in the organization of the practical trainings on herbal medicine for: schoolchildren, university students of Pharmacy and Horticulture,     farmerand and any others which are acquainted with medicinal plants and their cultivation.