Biochar is suggested as a conditioner for salt-affected soils for various crops. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of biochar on the growth and physiology of sugarcane under saline and non-saline conditions at an early growth stage. The experiment was conducted in pots in the greenhouses with three replications. Three biochar rates (0, 5, and 10 tons ha⁻¹) were applied before transplanting sugarcane seedlings into the pots. Four weeks after transplanting, plants were irrigated with 300 mL of 100 mM NaCl every two days for 2 weeks. Salinity significantly affected the growth and physiology of sugarcanes. The application of biochar increased plant height, shoot dry weight, root volume, root dry weight, Fv/Fm, and chlorophyll content while decreasing the water saturation deficit and the relative ion leakage in the leaves under both saline and non-saline conditions. Thus, biochar application has positive effects on the growth and physiology of sugarcane at an early growth stage under both saline and non-saline conditions. However, further study is suggested to investigate the effects of biochar on sugarcane under saline stress in the field at different growth stages.

This study was conducted to evaluate the salt tolerance ability of two soybean cultivars under salinity conditions using a selection of growth and physiological parameters. Three weeks after germination, plants began being treated with either a 100 mM concentration of NaCl in Hoagland solution or a non-salinity (0 mM NaCl) solution. The results showed that the plant height, number of leaves, leaf area index, and shoot and root biomasses were significantly reduced under salt conditions. A similar tendency was observed in several physiological parameters (SPAD, Fv/Fm). Since all the salt-treated plants of the D8 cultivar were dead after 40 days under the 100 mM NaCl treatment, the yield of D8 could not be obtained, while the treated plants of the D140 cultivar experienced a marked decrease in yield compared to the control plants. In this study, we identified that the D140 soybean cultivar had a better salt tolerance than the D8 soybean cultivar at a 100 mM NaCl concentration.

Fe-toxicity is a critical and complicated constraint to rice growth that requires simple and quick screening methods for selection of tolerant rice to Fe-stress. This study revealed relative changes in the growth and recovery of rice responding to Fe-toxicity at germination and vegetative stages....

Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo is a kind of herb with high medicinal, ornamental, and commercial value, and is rich in polysaccharides. Polyploid breeding is an important breeding method for the genome doubling of medicinal species to increase biomass and polysaccharide production. Previous studies have revealed comparative transcriptome analysis and polysaccharide biosynthesis across the growth stages and plant parts, but there have been no studies dissecting such genes and pathways in tetraploid D. officinale. Therefore, this study aimed to unravel the molecular mechanisms of the increase in polysaccharide content in tetraploid D. officinale via the generation of four transcriptomic libraries for protocorm-like bodies and six-month-old seedlings of both diploid and tetraploid D. officinale plants. In this study, a total of 230,786,618 clean reads remained with a total of 34.62 Gb nucleotides generated; 274,403 unigenes were assembled, of which 73.99% were annotated to at least one of the protein databases; and of 17,451 unigenes, 6.35% were annotated to all seven protein databases (NR, NT, KO, Swiss-Prot, FAM, GO, and KOG). Putative genes encoding enzymes related to polysaccharide biosynthetic pathways were determined. RT-qPCR for 11 randomly selected genes involved in polysaccharides indicated consistency with RNA-Seq data and polysaccharide content. The expressions of nine genes were higher in tetraploid than in diploid plants, while the expressions of the other two genes encoding bifunctional enzymes were the opposite. This study has provided a foundation for subsequent works regarding the biosynthetic pathways of metabolites involved in the autoploidy of Dendrobium species in general, and D. officinale in particular.

The leaves, twigs and ripe fruits of Magnolia grandis (Hu & W.C.Cheng) V.S.Kumar, growing wild in Ha Giang Province of Vietnam, were hydrodistilled to obtain essential oils which had the respective average yields of 0.09%, 0.25% and 0.62% (v/w), calculated on a dry weight basis. The oils were analyzed using gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Major components of these three oil samples were: α-pinene (11.8%), linalool (15.4%) and (E)-β-caryophyllene (10.7%) (leaf oil); α-pinene (42.8%) and β-pinene (23.7%) (twig oil); α-pinene (52.2%) (ripe fruit oil). The essential oils from leaves showed stronger inhibitory effects on the seven tested microorganism strains than those from twigs and ripe fruits. To our best knowledge, this is the first time that information on essential oils of M. grandis leaves, twigs and ripe fruits is reported.

Hien PTT, Hang VTT, Cham LTT. 2024. Genetic diversity of Rose apple (Syzygium samarangense) varieties based on ISSR molecular markers. Biodiversitas 25: xxxx. Rose apple (Syzygium samarangense) exhibits a rich diversity in its varieties, metabolic compounds, and biological activities. Genetic diversity studies are crucial in understanding plant species taxonomy and evolutionary history. They provide a roadmap for researchers to trace the relationships between different varieties and offer insights into the evolutionary processes that have shaped the diversity within the species. Many traditional or indigenous varieties of plants may harbor unique traits adapted to specific local conditions. This study, therefore, holds immense value as it aims to evaluate the genetic relationship among rose apple varieties in Vietnam using morphological characteristics and ISSR markers. Sixteen local varieties of rose apple were collected from provinces in Vietnam for this purpose. The morphological characteristics of leaves and fruits were compared among samples, and the genetic diversity was evaluated using ISSR markers. The results revealed significant morphological diversity in the leaf base, blade shape, leaf color, and fruit shape and size. Based on the DNA profiles of 15 ISSR markers, 102 amplicons were produced, and the percentage of polymorphism ranged from 57 to 100%. The dendrogram constructed using the UPGMA method classified these varieties into two main clusters with a genetic diversity of 64%. Such comprehensive information underscores the genetic diversity among S. samarangense, thereby contributing to the germplasm resources for future plant breeding programs.