Growing vegetables
Karim Arabsalmani; Amirhooshang Jalali; Peyman Jafari
Abstract
Introduction
Cucumis sativus L. (2n=2x=14) originates from the south of the Himalayan mountains and has at least 3000 years of history of cultivation in India. According to the latest statistics published by the Ministry of Agriculture, about 75% of greenhouse production belongs to greenhouse cucumbers. ...
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Introduction
Cucumis sativus L. (2n=2x=14) originates from the south of the Himalayan mountains and has at least 3000 years of history of cultivation in India. According to the latest statistics published by the Ministry of Agriculture, about 75% of greenhouse production belongs to greenhouse cucumbers. This plant, with a cultivated area of 7539 ha-1 and a production amounting to 1923865 t year-1, is considered one of the most important vegetable and summer greenhouse products in the country. Cucumber varieties should have characteristics such as high yield, quality of taste, shelf life and resistance to diseases. Based on this, modified cultivars and imported cultivars must pass compatibility tests in order to be able to enter commercial fields. Recent research in Japan shows that by creating suitable conditions for various factors in the greenhouse (light distribution, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, irrigation, nutrition and pruning), the yield of greenhouse cucumbers can be up to 40 kg m-2 year-1 year. The difference between different varieties of cucumber is primarily due to characteristics such as the number of fruits per plant, fruit size (fruit length and length-to-diameter ratio) and fruit surface characteristics (the presence of grooves, surface smoothness, and fruit color). The number of cucumbers per plant is one of the most important yield components. The study of 9 varieties of cucumbers in greenhouse conditions showed that the range of changes in the number of cucumbers per plant varied from 19 to 54.3, and Khasib variety had the highest yield with the production of 14.9 kg of fresh weight per square meter.
Material and Methods
In order to compare the yield, yield components and some morpho-physiological characteristics of greenhouse cucumber hybrids produced in the country, a research was conducted in 2022 under greenhouse conditions in Varamin city. In this research, 11 greenhouse cucumber hybrids along with 4 regional control cultivars were evaluated in a completely randomized block design with three replications. The initial tillage including plowing, disc and soil disinfection was done through sunning the soil. The width of the seed planting bed was considered to be 70 cm in order to provide the possibility of two-row cultivation. The width of the corridors was considered to be 80 cm in order to provide proper ventilation and access of workers to the bushes for operations and harvest during the period. The drip irrigation system was chosen so that one tape strip could be used for each row of crops. The plant needed fertilizer during the growth period and was determined based on the soil test and provided to the plant through the irrigation system. Fruit yield for different harvests (once every 10 harvests) and total fresh fruit yield based on the total area of the plot (after removing the margins) and traits such as plant height (meters), internode length (cm), leaf length (cm), Leaf width (cm), petiole length (cm), fruit length (cm), fruit diameter (mm), number of fruits per plant and fruit weight per plant (grams) based on the selection of 10 plants per plot was taken. The fruit shape index was obtained from the ratio of the length to the diameter of the fruit. For the experimental hybrids, after harvest fruit color was determined by grouping (light green to green), (green), (green to dark green) and dark green.
Results and Discussion
Based on the obtained results, the hybrid (IR4) with a total fresh fruit yield of 11.49 kg m-2 had a significantly higher performance than other hybrids, but there is not a significant difference between this hybrid and the hybrid (IR5) with a fruit weight of 10.61 kg m-2. 10 harvested stages for two hybrids (IR4) and (IR5) constituted 24.6 and 22.9% of the total yield, respectively. The hybrids (IR11) and (IR6) had the longest and shortest fruit length with 16.60 cm and 11.12 cm, respectively. The fruit shape index (the ratio of fruit length to diameter) in hybrid (IR11) had the highest value (6.35). The hybrids (IR4) and (IR5) that produced the highest yields per hectare had the highest number of fruits plant-1 with 108.72 and 84.22 cucumbers plant-1, respectively. The presence of this number of fruits is one of the important factors for producing high yields in these two hybrids, and the number of fruits in the rest of the hybrids is often in the range of 50 to 70 cucumbers per plant. Although in some studies the number of 135 fruits plant-1 is also mentioned for greenhouse cucumbers, but in most cases this number is less than 50. The color of the fruit is also an important quality attribute that is very important in the cucumber market. This trait varies from light green to dark green. Hybrid (IR9) dark green, hybrids (IR2), (IR6), (IR13) (IR15) dark green to green, hybrids (IR1), (IR3), (IR4), (IR5), (IR12) and (IR14) was green and hybrids (IR7), (IR8), (IR10) and (IR11) had light green to green color. The superior performance of two experimental hybrids and the equal performance of 7 other experimental hybrids (out of 11 studied hybrids) compared to the control hybrids can be a good promise for the production of greenhouse cucumber hybrid varieties by domestic companies.
Sanaz Khezerloo; Babak Abdollahi Mandoulakani
Abstract
Introduction: Commercial tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), one of the most widely grown vegetable crops worldwide, belongs to the Solanaceae family. The marketability of the commercial tomato mostly depends on the fruit quality. Tomato fruit quality is determined mainly by color, texture, shape and flavor. ...
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Introduction: Commercial tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), one of the most widely grown vegetable crops worldwide, belongs to the Solanaceae family. The marketability of the commercial tomato mostly depends on the fruit quality. Tomato fruit quality is determined mainly by color, texture, shape and flavor. Fruit shape, one of the important traits affecting the quality of tomato fruit, is controlled by multiple minor genes and quantitatively inherited. Two important genes, involved in fruit shape, are SUN and OVATE genes. The SUN gene, which is a member of the IQD (IQ-domain) gene family and the Calmodulin binding protein, controls fruit length. The more expression of both SUN and OVATE genes leads to increased fruit length. Moreover, the increased expression of OVATE gene reduces the size of flower and leaf components. Due to the important role of these genes in tomato fruit shape, identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as a new generation of robust, frequent and reliable bi-allelic markers, in the coding regions of these genes might be necessary for generating functional markers associated with fruit shape. Materials and Methods: Seeds of 96 tomato genotypes from 12 populations were grown in the research greenhouse of Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Urmia University. The genotypes had been collected from different regions of West Azerbaijan of Iran and Turkey (Iğdır). The young and green plant leaves were used for genomic DNA extraction. The quality and quantity of the extracted DNA was assessed using spectrophotometry and agarose gel electrophoresis. To identify SNPs in SUN and OVATE genes, specific primers were designed by using FastPCR and Gene Runner software for amplifying fragments from coding regions of these genes in 96 tomato genotypes. Then, the amplified fragments of both genes were digested by using restriction enzymes TruI and PstI. Due to the lack of polymorphism in the digested patterns obtained by the used enzymes, four individuals from populations with close geographical distance were selected and amplified. The amplified bands were then purified by a purification kit (Kiagen, USA) and sequenced (Bioneer, South Korea). Sequencing was performed from both ends of the PCR fragments using both the forward and reverse primers used in the PCR reactions. The exon and intron regions of the sequenced fragments were identified by Softberry software. Following the retrieval of the sequenced fragments of each gene using FastPCR and Softberry software, multiple sequence alignment using Clustal Omega was used to identify SNPs in the exon and intron of the genes. Results and Discussion: Digestion of the amplified fragments of the genes using TruI and PstI restriction enzymes produced no polymorphism in the studied genotypes. Thus, four individuals were selected from geographically different populations and gene fragments were amplified, purified and sequenced in these genotypes. Sequencing of the amplified fragment of SUN gene revealed an intron region with a size of 369 bp. Out of the 10 SNPs detected in the SUN gene, four was found in the exon region, while the number of SNPs in intron was six. Of the total SNPs found in the SUN gene, the percentage of transition and transversion substitutions was 80 (50% T/C and 30% A/G) and 20 (T/G), respectively. In the OVATE gene, five SNPs were identified. The percentage of transition (40% G/A and 40% C/T) and transversion (20% G/T) substitutions in this genes were the same as SUN. The ratio of transition to transversion substitutions was 1:4 for both genes. The average number of SNPs in a 100 bp fragment in exonic and itronic region of SUN was 0.9 and 1.62, respectively, while it was 0.5 for exonic region of OVATE gene. Conclusion: The results of the current study revealed low polymorphisms and point mutations in the exon regions of SUN and OVATE genes, suggesting that the coding regions of these genes were conserved during the tomato evolution. Also, the number of SNPs in intron was more than those of exon. Considering the important role of fruit quality, especially fruit shape, in tomato market, the SNPs found in the current study may be used in genetic diversity studies, genetic map preparation, and saturation and identification of the functional markers associated with tomato fruit shape. These markers could accelerate tomato breeding programs aimed fruit shape improvement.
Rahim Barzegar; Sadollah Hooshmand; Gholamali Peyvast
Abstract
In order to evaluation of squash (Cucurbita pepo) seed yield per fruit and its relations with other characteristics of fruit include: length, diameter, length: diameter ratio (fruit shape), flesh thickness, thousand seed weight and fruit weight, an experiment was conducted using 24 accessions of squash ...
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In order to evaluation of squash (Cucurbita pepo) seed yield per fruit and its relations with other characteristics of fruit include: length, diameter, length: diameter ratio (fruit shape), flesh thickness, thousand seed weight and fruit weight, an experiment was conducted using 24 accessions of squash as a randomized complete-block design with three replications. Morphological traits were evaluated according to UPOV descriptor and UPGMA clustering algorithm clustered the accessions in 4 groups (predominantly on the basis of fruit shape). Correlation, regression and path analysis were done for mentioned characteristics in 4 type-fruit groups. There was negative correlation between seed yield of individual fruit and its length and fruit length: diameter ratio. But fruit weight, fruit diameter, and thousand seeds weight had positive correlation with seed yield. Seed weight: fruit weight ratio had negative relationship with fruit weight. Therefore small size fruit is more suitable for seed yield per area. Path analysis was showed fruit weight had the most positive direct effect on seed yield per fruit in all groups.
