Spring frost is a major limiting abiotic stress for the cultivation of almonds [Prunus dulcis (Mill.)] in Mediterranean areas or the Middle East. Spring frost, in particular, damages almond fully open flowers, resulting to significant reduction in yield. Little is known about the genetic factors expressed after frost stress in Prunus spp. as well as in almond fully open flowers. Here, we provide the molecular signature of pistils of fully open flowers from a frost-tolerant almond genotype. The level of frost tolerance in this genotype was determined for all three flowering stages and was confirmed by comparing it to two other cultivars using several physiological analyses. Afterwards, comprehensive expression profiling of genes expressed in fully open flowers was performed after being exposed to frost temperatures (during post-thaw period). Clean reads, 27,104,070 and 32,730,772, were obtained for non-frost-treated and frost-treated (FT) libraries, respectively. A total of 62.24 Mb was assembled, generating 50,896 unigenes and 66,906 transcripts. Therefore, 863 upregulated genes and 555 downregulated genes were identified in the FT library. Functional annotation showed that most of the upregulated genes were related to various biological processes involved in responding to abiotic stress. For the first time, a highly expressed cold-shock protein was identified in the reproductive organ of fruit trees. The expression of six genes was validated by RT-PCR. As the first comprehensive analysis of open flowers in a frost-tolerant almond genotype, this study represents a key step toward the molecular breeding of fruit tree species for frost tolerance.

GF677 is a vigorous rootstock, used for both peach and almond worldwide. Nowadays, it is propagated is mainly through micro propagation. Widening and undesirable growth of leaves as well as poor rooting are major problems during its in vitro culture. In this study, effects of myo-inositol at 10 and 100 mg/l In MS medium were studied at explants establishment and shoot growth stages. Thiamine was also used in LS medium at 0, 1.6, 2.8 and 4 mg/l at rooting stage. This experiment was conducted in Randomized Complete Design with 10 replications. Myo-inositol at 10mg/l could prevent undesirable widening of leaves as well as rosetting of shoots. Thiamine at 1.6 mg/l was highly effective in rooting of shoots.

Strawberries are an extremely perishable fruit mainly due to their soft texture and sensitivity to fungal infection. Postharvest application of conventional fungicides to fruits is prohibited. As an alternative to fungicides, salicylic acid has been found to enhance disease resistance of horticultural crops. In order to study the effect of salicylic acid as a phenolic compound on the postharvest durability and quality characteristics of strawberry fruit. 'Gaviota' strawberries were treated with SA at different concentrations (0, 25, 50 and 100 µlL -1 ), then stored for 12 days at 4 ˚C and 75 % RH in darkness. Two different methods were applied (spray SA on fruits and paper disk method). Quality attributes such as weight loss, pH, TA, TSS, vitamin C, anthocyanin, calcium, pectin, CAT, POD, PG activity, decay percentage and sensory analyses evaluated every 3 days during storage. Results showed that, treated fruits with SA had lower weight loss, pH, TSS, POD, PG, decay and higher TA, vitamin C, anthocyanin, calcium, pectin, CAT and fruit quality compared with controls. Between two methods of treatment, paper disk method had higher effect on fruit decay and quality compared to spray method and as a general result, caused longer storability.

No abstract