Nitrogen fertility and abiotic stresses management in cotton crop: a review.

This review outlines nitrogen (N) responses in crop production and potential management decisions to ameliorate abiotic stresses for better crop production. N is a primary constituent of the nucleotides and proteins that are essential for life. Production and application of N fertilizers consume huge amounts of energy, and excess is detrimental to the environment. Therefore, increasing plant N use efficiency (NUE) is important for the development of sustainable agriculture. NUE has a key role in crop yield and can be enhanced by controlling loss of fertilizers by application of humic acid and natural polymers (hydrogels), having high water-holding capacity which can improve plant performance under field conditions. Abiotic stresses such as waterlogging, drought, heat, and salinity are the major limitations for successful crop production. Therefore, integrated management approaches such as addition of aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG), the film antitranspirant (di-1-p-menthene and pinolene) nutrients, hydrogels, and phytohormones may provide novel approaches to improve plant tolerance against abiotic stress-induced damage. Moreover, for plant breeders and molecular biologists, it is a challenge to develop cotton cultivars that can tolerate plant abiotic stresses while having high potential NUE for the future.

Assessment of genes controlling area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) for stripe rust (P. striiformis f. sp. tritici) in two wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) crosses.

Genetic effects on controlling stripe rust resistance were determined in two wheat crosses, Bakhtawar-92 x Frontana (cross 1) and Inqilab-91 x Fakhre Sarhad (cross 2) using Area under Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) as a measure of stripe rust resistance. The resistant and susceptible genotypes for crosses were identified by initial assessment of 45 wheat accessions for stripe rust resistance. Mixed inheritance model was applied to the data analysis of six basic populations P1, F1, P2, B1, B2, and F2 in the crosses. The results indicated that AUDPC in cross 1 was controlled by two major genes with additive-dominance epistatic effect plus polygenes with additive-dominance epistatic effects (model E). Whereas in case of cross 2, it was under the control of two major genes with additive-dominance epistatic effect plus additive-dominant polygenes (model E-1). Additive effect was predominant then all other types of genetic effects suggesting the delay in selection for resistance till maximum positive genes are accumulated in the individuals of subsequent generations. Occurrence of transgressive segregants for susceptibility and resistance indicated the presence of resistance as well as some negative genes for resistance in the parents. The major gene heritability was higher than the polygene heritability in B1, B2 and F2 for the crosses. The major gene as well as the polygene heritability was ranging from 48.99 to 87.12% and 2.26 and 36.80% for the two crosses respectively. The highest phenotypic variations in AUDPC (2504.10 to 5833.14) for segregating progenies (BC1, BC2 and F2) represent that the character was highly influenced by the environment.

Genetic behavior of controlling area under disease progress curve for stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) in two wheat (Triticum aestivum) crosses.

Genetic effects on controlling resistance to stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici Eriksson)were determined in two wheat crosses, Bakhtawar-92 (B-92) x Frontana and Inqilab-91 x Fakhre Sarhad using area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) as a measure of stripe rust resistance. The resistant and susceptible parents involved in developing genetic populations were identified by initial assessment of 45 wheat accessions for stripe rust reaction. Mixed inheritance model was applied to the data analysis of six basic populations (P(1), F(1), P(2), B(1), B(2), and F(2)) in the crosses. The results indicated that AUDPC in cross 1 was controlled by two major genes with additive-dominance epistatic effect plus polygenes with additive-dominance-epistatic effects (model E) whereas, in the case of cross 2, it was under the control of two major genes with additive-dominance epistatic effect plus additive-dominant polygenes (model E-1). Additive effect was predominant over all other types of genetic effects, suggesting that the delay in selection for resistance until maximum favorable genes are accumulated in the individuals is desired. The tendency of backcrosses toward their respective pollen donor parents indicated the control of resistance through nuclear genes rather than the cytoplasmic factors. Occurrence of resistant as well as susceptible transgressive segregates (though very few in F(2) for each cross) indicated the presence of favorable as well as some adverse genes for resistance to stripe rust in the parents. The major gene heritability was higher than that of the polygene in B(1), B(2), and F(2) for the crosses. The major gene as well as the polygene heritability was 48.99 to 87.12% and 2.26 to 36.80% for the two crosses, respectively. The highest phenotypic variations in AUDPC (2,504.10 to 5,833.14) for segregating progenies (B(1), B(2), and F(2)) represent that the character was highly influenced by the environment. The experimental results of the two crosses indicate that resistance to stripe rust is under control of two major genes in association with several polygene rather than cytoplasmic inheritance.