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-Eruca sativa L. (rocket or arugula) and Diplotaxis tenuifolia L. (perennial wall-rocket)

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Mineral concentration levels in cultivated vegetables have received very little concern in the context of biodiversity despite the fact that most vegetables have a rich micronutrient composition. Swiss chard is an important salad crop which is high yielding and rich in minerals, vitamins and phenolic compounds. It is also extremely easy to grow. However, there is a lack of information on the genetic variability of mineral concentration of Swiss chard. Mineral composition diversity of 54 genetically diverse Swiss chard accessions, representative of all Turkish Swiss chard genetic resources, was investigated using multivariate analysis. These traits are useful in evaluating germplasm diversity in the nutritional concentration context and for use in further breeding programmes which will focus on improving mineral concentrations in Swiss chard cultivars. The results displayed significant differences among accessions and remarkably high nutrient contents. The data gathered were analyzed using principal components (PCs) and cluster analysis and revealed five major groupings. The data also observed 74.39% of total variation. The first three PCs accounted for 49.86% of the total variation in the population. Present values provided great variability among accessions and the results demonstrate that it is possible to identify genetic differentiation among Swiss chard accession for some nutritional elements. The genetic resources that exist indicate that potentially important accessions could be used as a gene source due to their high levels of K, Ca, Cu and Zn in breeding programmes.

2017): Genetic diversity of farmerpreferred cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. walp) landraces in Turkey and evaluation of their relationships based on agromorphological traits. Vol 49, No.3, Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) is one of the important vegetable, grain, and fodder legume species grown in the tropics and subtropics. Cowpea is grown on small farms, and locally adapted landraces or populations are cultivated, and genetic improvements are limited by the lack of knowledge of genetic diversity of the indigenous and cultivated germplasm. Characterization and classification of diversity of the germplasm is valuable for both plant breeders and germplasm curators in the development of conservation strategies and identification of plant genetic resources. In the present study, 36 qualitative and quantitative agromorphological traits were used to characterize and assess the genetic diversity of 32 farmer preferred cowpea genotypes collected from diverse cultivated locations. Genetic variation was highly significant, and phenotypic diversity was observed for agromorphological traits. Agromorphological traits were classified by principal components analysis (PCA) into 10 components, which explained 81.18% of the total variation. PCA revealed that seed properties such as weight, diameter, width, length, eye color and immature pod pigmentation, leaf and pod color properties were the primary characteristics to discriminate cowpea genotypes. The hierarchical analysis grouped the genotypes into five clusters, and significant association was not apparent between geographic origin and agromorphological traits. The promising germplasm was identified to improve the landraces for fresh pod, grain, and fodder.

Rocket (Eruca spp. and Diplotaxis spp.) is widely cultivated as a green vegetable in Mediterranean countries, Europe, United States and Brazil, but few rocket cultivars are available and limited variety selection has taken place. Plant genetic resources and germplasm are fundamental sources for plant breeding, and the assessment of the genetic diversity among germplasm accessions is useful to facilitate the more efficient use of plant genetic resources. The objective of this study was to characterize phenotypic diversity and relationships among genotypes of Eruca and Diplotaxis originating from 11 countries across three regions (Europe, Africa and Asia). Principal component analyses explained over 85% of total variation for 51 qualitative and quantitative agromorphological traits. Cluster analyses divided the accessions into five major clusters according to plant traits, siliqua properties and geographical origin of genotype with a few exceptions. These findings indicate a number of useful traits in the gene pool and a wide range of phenotypic variation that provides a good source of diversity for use in modern Eruca breeding programmes.

In many parts of the world, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) are field produced from transplanted seedlings previously grown in greenhouses. Commercially, the transplants are grown in plug trays with different numbers of cells. A major problem in commercial plug production is control of plant height when seedlings are grown in small plug cells at high plant densities. Small cells increase plant density and thus, stem elongation. There are several drawbacks of excessive seedling elongation; tall seedlings with weak stems are difficult to handle and often lodge after transplanting. To facilitate handling of transplants by machines, short, sturdy plug grown vegetable seedling transplants are required. Further, mechanical transplanters are designed to accommodate plants of a specific size. The goal is to produce seedlings that will withstand the physical stress of handling, shipping and transplanting, and adapt rapidly to the field environment. However, unfavourable soil and weather conditions can delay field preparation for transplanting. For these reasons, seedling height control is necessary. Many methods are used to control seedling height, one of them is the use of growth retardants. Adler and Wilcox (1987) reported a 48% reduction in the height of tomato plants AbstractDuring production of plug transplants, high plant density and small cell size increases seedling height. The resulting tall, weak-stemmed, plants are difficult to transplant and can be easily damaged. One technique that can prevent excessive seedling elongation is irrigation with cold water. Seedlings of tomato, pepper and eggplant were planted in cell plug trays in greenhouses and irrigated daily, in the morning, with water at different temperatures. The temperatures tested were 3°C, 9°C and tap water (15.5-16.5°C). Irrigation with cold water reduced seedling stem height by 48-58% in tomato, 24-42% in pepper and 17-36% in eggplant. Cold water irrigation significantly affected stem diameter, number of leaves, shoot and root dry weights and leaf chlorophyll content. These results show that irrigation with cold water can effectively control plant height in plug-grown seedlings.Additional key words: Capsicum annuum, Lycopersicon esculentum, Solanum melongena, seedling, stem length, water temperature. ResumenComunicación corta. Efecto de la temperatura de riego sobre el crecimiento de la plántula y la calidad del transplante en tomate, pimiento y berenjena Durante el proceso de transplante en bandejas, debido a la alta densidad de siembra y al pequeño tamaño de las celdas, las plantas resultantes son altas y de tallo débil, por lo que pueden dañarse fácilmente al ser transplantadas. Regar con agua fría es una técnica que puede prevenir una elongación excesiva de las plántulas. Se sembraron en bandejas en invernadero semillas de tomate, pimiento y berenjena y se irrigaron diariamente por la mañana con agua a diferentes temperaturas, 3°C, 9°C y temperatura ambiente (15.5-16.5°C). El rie...