□ Growth and nutrient acquisition of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) cv ‘Amani’ were studied under induced salt stress in Hoagland's solution. The plants were treated for 37 days with salinity induced by incorporating different concentrations [0.0 (control), 50, 100, 150, or 200 mM] of sodium chloride (NaCl) to the nutrient solution. Slight reduction was obtained in growth represented by (shoot length and number, leaf number, and dry weight) when seedlings were directly exposed to NaCl stress from 0.0 to 100 mM. At higher concentrations (150 or 200 mM), growth parameters were adversely affected and seedlings died thereafter. Elevated salinity significantly reduced crude protein and fiber in shoots and roots. Tomato shoot and root contents of potassium (K), iron (Fe), and ash were reduced significantly in response to increased levels of salinity. Tissue contents of sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl) increased with elevated salinity treatments.

An efficient procedure for the in vitro propagation and cryogenic conservation of Syzygium francissi was developed. The maximum number of shoots per explant was obtained on a Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 4.5 μM benzyladenine and 0.5 μM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). The in vitro-propagated shoots produced roots when transferred to MS medium containing IBA, indold-3-acetic acid, or naphthaleneacetic acid at various concentrations. Rooted microshoots were transferred to a coco-peat, perlite, and vermiculite (1∶1∶1) mixture, and hardened off under greenhouse conditions. Ninety-five percent of rooted shoots successfully acclimatized in the greenhouse. Shoot tips excised from in vitro-grown plants were successfully cryostoraged at −196°C by the encapsulation-dehydration method. A preculture of formed beads on MS medium containing 0.75 M sucrose for 1 d, followed by 6 h dehydration (20% moisture content) led to the highest survival rate after cryostorage for 1h. This method is a promising technique for in vitro propagation and cryopreservation of shoot tips from in vitro-grown plantlets of S. francissi germplasm.

Superoxide dismutase is considered to be a crucial component in biological defense against oxidative stress. A full-length cDNA clone encoding a putative chloroplastic Cu/Zn-SOD from barley seedlings (Hordeum vulgar cv. Rum) was isolated by RT-PCR from cDNA synthesized from leaf mRNA. HvSOD cDNA is 760bp in length, which translates an ORF of 201 amino acids that correspond to a protein of predicted molecular mass of 20.21kDa and a pI of 5.31.The deduced amino acid sequence of HvSOD showed higher identity (72–95%) with the sequences of the chloroplastic Cu/Zn-SODs than those of the cytosol from other species. Moreover the cloned sequence showed all the typical structural motifs of plant chloroplastic SODs with a 47bp plastid targeting peptide. These results suggested that the HvSOD is chloroplastic. Reverse transcription-PCR analysis was used here to investigate the expression patterns of HvSOD in response to abiotic stresses. The HvSOD gene was induced in leaf tissues in response to drought, cold stress and exposure to stress related chemicals, indicating that it is involved in the antioxidative process under various environmental stresses