Shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler) popular as both edible and medicinal, is one of the most cultivated and consumed mushroom species in the world. Cultivation of this mushroom on different agricultural wastes has been experimented in many studies until today. Nevertheless, agricultural waste trials are going on as agricultural production patterns of the countries are different. In this study, volatile aroma composition of shiitake mushroom produced on different agricultural wastes (wheat stalk, wheat bran, peanut shell, corn cob and vine pruning waste) was compared. Oak sawdust was selected as control because of its common use in literature and substrate materials were mixed at different ratios. In addition, some substrate mixtures were prepared with poplar sawdust. Volatile compounds of the shiitake mushroom were determined by using headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) technique combined with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS). At the end of study, 41 volatile compounds were detected and dimethyl trisulfide, benzaldehyde, dimethyl disulfide, 1-octen-3-ol and 3-octanone were found to be dominant volatile components. Flavour and fragrance of mushrooms are dependent on many volatile aroma compounds and their proportions. While the concentration of eight-carbon components and hydrocarbons was found the highest by using wood straw, amount of sulphur containing compounds and alcohols increased by agricultural wastes in this study. In addition, corn waste positively affected aldehyde compounds.

Garlic ( Allium sativum L.) is an important plant species because of its nutritional and medical value. One of the important advantages of plant tissue culture is in vitro selection. The tolerance of garlic to some heavy metals under in vitro conditions was studied. In vitro experiments were carried out in Murashige and Skoog (MS) nutrient medium supplemented with different doses of cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb) at 100 µm, 200 µm, 300 µm, 400 µm, and 500 µm. During experiments, plant length, number of leaves, leaf length, root number, and root length parameters were considered. In the findings, there was a decrease in both leaf and root development as doses of heavy metals increased. In addition, it has been found that the decrease in plant development at doses of 400 µm and 500 µm was higher compared with other doses. There was no root formation at high doses of Cd, Co, Ni, and Cu (400 µm and 500 µm). As a recommendation, further research should be conducted under in vivo conditions to evaluate the level of tolerance to heavy metals in garlic.

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus L. Thunb. Matsum. and Nakai) is a vegetable species with high water content that is rich in lycopene and refreshing; therefore, breeding studies are carried out intensively to develop new varieties. The breeding period in these plants can be shortened with the use of the haploidization technique, and determining the ploidy levels of plants in haploidization studies is very important. In this study, it was examined whether morphological and cytological analyses would be sufficient for ploidy determination of haploid plants obtained by ovary culture in watermelon. With this aim, the stomatal, morphological and cytological characteristics were determined, taken from 15 haploid and 19 double haploid plants. The ploidy level of the plants was detected by flow cytometry before these analyses. In this study, “Principal Component Analysis” was performed based on average values to analyze the structure of the relationship between the parameters examined. It is thought that stomatal features can be used as morphological markers in determining the ploidy levels of plants. The differences obtained from the study results may help to develop effective strategies in determining the ploidy levels of plants.

Çalışma süresince, gıda güvenliğini tehdit eden ağır metallerin in vitro koşullarda biber (Capsicum annuum L.) bitkisinin gelişimi üzerine etkileri incelenmiştir. Çalışma kapsamında, beş farklı konsantrasyonda yedi değişik ağır metal, MS (Murashige ve Skoog 1962) besin ortamına eklenmiştir. Kullanılan ağır metaller kadmiyum (Cd), kobalt (Co), nikel (Ni), alüminyum (Al), kurşun (Pb), krom (Cr), bakırdır (Cu) İçerisinde hiç ağır metal bulunmayan ortam kontrol grubunu oluşturmuş ve diğer ortamlar 100 µM, 200 µM, 300 µM, 400 µM ve 500 µM konsantrasyonunda ağır metal içerecek şekilde hazırlanmıştır. Çalışma süresince, tohum gelişimi, yaprak sayısı, kök uzunluğu ve sürgün uzunluğu parametreleri incelenmiştir. Çalışma sonuçları değerlendirildiğinde, artan konsantrasyonlarda kobaltın tohum gelişiminden başlayarak, yaprak sayısı, kök gelişimi ve sürgün gelişimi üzerinde durdurucu etkiye sahip olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Kromun 500 µM konsantrasyonu tohum gelişimi açısından faydalı olmuştur. Yaprak sayısı, kök ve sürgün gelişimi açısından, kromun artan konsantrasyonları, hiç krom içermeyen kontrol grubuyla kıyaslandığında aralarında fark bulunmamıştır. Krom ağır metalinin biber bitkisinde büyüme ve gelişmeyi etkilemediği önemli bir sonuçtur. Kurşunun artan konsantrasyonlarına bitki içerisinde bulunduğu fizyolojik büyüme dönemine göre farklı tepkiler vermiştir. Çalışma sonuçları, ağır metallerin zarar boyutunun bitkinin içerisinde bulunduğu gelişme dönemine, ağır metalin cinsine ve ortamda bulunan konsantrasyonuna göre farklılık gösterdiğini ortaya koymuştur.

In this study, the effects of different hormones and their doses on the micropropagation and rooting of two strawberry cultivar candidates (291 and 299) selected from last step of breeding program carried out by Horticulture Department of Cukurova University (Adana, Turkey) and their parents (Rubygem and Kaşka cultivars developed by Horticulture Department of Cukurova University) were investigated using shoot-tip culture. Nodal segments of strawberry runners were sterilized through keeping in 7% sodium hypochlorite solution containing 1–2 drops of Tween-20 for 10 minutes. Five different Murashige ve Skoog (MS) nutrient media combinations containing 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) and Thidiazuron (TDZ) at the ratios 0.75 and 1.50 mg L–1 were tested (Medium 1: MS + 30 g L–1 sucrose, 7 g L–1 agar, Medium 2: MS + 30 g L–1 sucrose, 7 g L–1 agar + 0.75 mg L–1 BAP, Medium 3: MS + 30 g L–1 sucrose, 7 g L–1 agar + 1.50 mg L–1 BAP, Medium 4: MS + 30 g L–1 sucrose, 7 g L–1 agar + 0.75 mg L–1 TDZ, Medium 5: MS + 30 g L–1 sucrose, 7 g L–1 agar + 1.50 mg L–1 TDZ). During the study, darkening, infection and rooting rates (%), shoot number per plant in both first and second sub-culture, root number per plant and root length (cm) parameters were examined. Use of four genotypes/cultivars and five nutrient media, this study was planned according to the factorial design of randomized plots with three replications. JMP package program and LSD test were used for statistical evaluation of data obtained. It was found that the media including TDZ was generally more effective than BAP in terms of shoot proliferation in both first and second sub-culture. The number of shoots per explant varied from 0 to 4.18 shoots per explant in the first sub-culture. Regarding to mean of genotypes and media, Kaşka cultivar (2.53 shoots per explant) and medium 5 (2.88 shoots per explant) gave the best results, respectively. In the second sub-culture, the number of shoots per explant changed between 0.33 and 4.83 shoots per explant. According to mean of genotypes and media, Kaşka cultivar (3.23 shoots per explant) and medium 4 (3.63 shoots per explant) were found to be the best material and medium, respectively. Regarding to rooting parameters, it was determined that the hormone-free MS medium was highly efficient. The number of root per in vitro plant varied from 0 to 30 roots per in vitro plant. According to mean of genotypes and media, Rubygem cultivar (9.60 roots per in vitro plant) and medium 1 (22.30 roots per in vitro plant) gave the best results, respectively. Root lenght changed between 0 and 5.04 cm. Regarding to mean of genotypes and media, the best values were obtained from Kaşka cultivar (2.10 cm) and medium 1 (3.89 cm), respectively. The value of 0 obtained from rooting parameters refers to in vitro plants that can not be rooted. Infection rate was low in both sub-cultures. Especially in the first sub-culture, it was observed only in the genotype 299 cultured in the medium 3. In the second subculture, infection was detected at low rates in the genotypes 291 and 299 and Rubygem cultivar cultured media 2, 3 and 5. No darkening was observed in the explants cultured in both sub-cultures. Based on genotypes, Kaşka cultivar developed in the Horticulture Department of Cukurova University (Turkey) was found to be superior in terms of both shooting and rooting criteria. Achieving successful results of this cultivar will speed up its use in breeding studies. Based on the study result and literature, it was concluded that the selection of the appropriate hormone type and dose are genotype-dependent.