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There are limited numbers of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) cultivars in the world and their phenotypic appearance and productivity are variable. Understanding such variation would facilitate their use in cultivar breeding programs. Therefore, in this study, 69 pistachio cultivars and genotypes originating from seven countries were characterized by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR), and amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. The results showed that all three marker systems were able to reveal variability between pistachio cultivars and genotypes. The correlation coefficients for genetic distances were statistically significant among all three molecular marker types. The correlation between RAPD and AFLP data was the highest (r = 0.73) and the value between RAPD and ISSR data was the lowest (r = 0.58). AFLP proved to be the best technique among them. ISSR and AFLP assays were reliable and produced reproducible bands. ISSR was preferred over RAPD, especially when financial investment and technical knowledge are limited. The constructed unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) dendrogram obtained from combined data separated the genotypes into two main clusters: one cluster (“Iranian”) included genotypes originating from Iran and the second cluster (“Mediterranean”) contained most other genotypes. The “Mediterranean” cluster further divided into three subclusters: one (“Siirt”) consisted of the cultivars Siirt and Hacireso with a few other selections; the second subcluster (“Turkish”) included Turkish cultivars; and the third subcluster contained Syrian, Italian, and the remaining cultivars. The closeness of the clusters was “Iranian” - “Siirt” - “Turkish”/“Syrian.” These findings reveal a new understanding in the diffusion of pistachio cultivation from its center of origin, the Iranian-Caspian region, via southeastern Turkey to Syria, the Mediterranean region of Europe, and northern Africa.

A pot experiment was carried out with strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch) cultivars Oso Grande and Camarosa in sand culture to investigate the effects of foliar-applied calcium nitrate [Ca(NO 3 ) 2 ] to plants grown at high salinity (NaCl, 35 mmol/L). Treatments were (i) nutrient solution alone (C), (ii) nutrient solution + Ca(NO 3 ) 2 (9 mmol/L) as a foliar application (C+Fo), (iii) nutrient solution + NaCl (35 mmol/L) (C+S) and (iv) nutrient solution + NaCl (35 mmol/L) + Ca(NO 3 ) 2 (9 mmol/L) as a foliar application twice weekly (C+S+Fo). The plants grown at high NaCl had less dry matter and lower fruit yield and chlorophyll content than those grown in normal nutrient solution for both cultivars. Foliar Ca(NO 3 ) 2 sprays ameliorated the negative effects of salinity on plant growth, chlorophyll content and fruit yield. Membrane permeability increased with high NaCl and was reduced by Ca(NO 3 ) 2 sprays. Sodium concentration in plant tissues increased in both cultivars in the high NaCl treatment. Concentrations of calcium and nitrogen were much lower in plants grown in high NaCl than in unstressed plants and foliar Ca(NO 3 ) 2 sprays increased concentrations of both nutrients.

Mature "Earlyred" and Glohaven" peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] trees on peach seedling rootstocks were dormant and summer pruned (June, July, August and September). Average shoot length was lower in the second year than in first year; whereas, shoot diameter was higher in the second year than in first year. Summer pruning treatments reduced shoot growth, but increased shoot diameter. Generally, the control and dormant pruned trees had the highest trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) increment and yield efficiency (yield per trunk cross-sectional area). Summer pruned trees had a higher average fruit weight and soluble solids content than dormant pruned or control trees but at the two experimental years, fruit acidity showed no consistent response to pruning treatments. Dormant and summer pruning treatments had different effects on carbohydrate contents of peach trees. Generally, control and dormant pruned trees had higher carbohydrate content than summer pruned trees. Earlier summer pruning (June or July) lowered carbohydrate content more than late summer pruning.

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