Genetic and Environmental Factors Influencing the Growth of Horticultural Crops

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2024 | Viewed by 1618

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Mid-Florida Research and Education Center, Environmental Horticulture Department, University of Florida, 2725 S. Binion Road, Apopka, FL 32703, USA
Interests: bioremediation; environmental plant physiology; plant biotechnology; plant breeding; plant genetics; specialty crops
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Fujian Key Laboratory On Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Marine Biodiversity, Fuzhou Institute of Oceanography, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Interests: biotechnology; plant–microbe symbiosis; plant nutrition; plant stress resistance mechanism; phytoremediation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants are shaped by their genetic makeup and the environment. Genetic makeup determines inherited traits, while environmental factors affect plant growth and development. A large group of plants are produced as horticultural crops; these include vegetables, fruits, ornamentals, culinary herbs and spices, medicinal and aromatic plants. Horticultural crops are sustained in a wide range of environments using different cultural practices. Vegetables, fruits, culinary herbs and spices are mainly consumed as fresh products, and their yield, freshness and nutritional value are critical to consumers. Ornamental plants are produced for their beauty and display, placing their overall quality as key for attracting attention. Environmental factors that affect plant growth and development include light, temperature, air, humidity, soil, water, nutrients, pollutants and plant growth regulators, as well as insects and beneficials or detrimental microbes. Diverse production conditions can substantially affect the growth and overall quality of horticultural crops. Some of these production environments include open fields or greenhouses using fertile soils, hilly mountainous terrains using marginal soils, and containers filled with soilless substrates positioned either outdoors or under a controlled environment. This Special Issue is intended to publish manuscripts concerning genetic and environmental factors influencing horticultural crop growth at morphological, physiological and molecular levels. Both research and review manuscripts addressing these concerns, including crop responses to abiotic and biotic stresses, are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Jianjun Chen
Prof. Dr. Xiangying Wei
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • abiotic and biotic stresses
  • cultural practices
  • environmental factors
  • fruit
  • herbs
  • horticultural crops
  • medicinal plants
  • plant growth and development
  • ornamental plants
  • vegetables

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 2640 KiB  
Article
Regeneration of Sesuvium portulacastrum through Indirect Shoot Organogenesis and Influence of an Endophytic Fungus on Rooting of Microshoots
by Xiuli Jiang, Dan Wang, Jianjun Chen, Weihong He, Boya Zhou, Ziling Li, Lingyan Chen, Donghui Peng, Qiang Chen and Xiangying Wei
Agriculture 2024, 14(8), 1221; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14081221 - 25 Jul 2024
Viewed by 817
Abstract
Sesuvium portulacastrum L. is a dicotyledonous halophyte belonging to the family Aizoaceae. Its young leaves are highly nutritious, and many ecotypes are used as leafy vegetable and medicinal crops. Additionally, due to their tolerance to soil salinity, flooding, and high temperatures, some ecotypes [...] Read more.
Sesuvium portulacastrum L. is a dicotyledonous halophyte belonging to the family Aizoaceae. Its young leaves are highly nutritious, and many ecotypes are used as leafy vegetable and medicinal crops. Additionally, due to their tolerance to soil salinity, flooding, and high temperatures, some ecotypes are used for the remediation of saline soils. As a result, there is an increasing need for a large number of disease-free S. portulacastrum propagules. This study developed an efficient protocol for the regeneration of S. portulacastrum through indirect shoot organogenesis. Leaf explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog basal medium supplemented with different concentrations of zeatin (ZT) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Callus was induced in all explants cultured with 1.5 mg/L ZT only or 1.5 mg/L ZT with 0.5 mg/L IAA. The callus was cut into small pieces and cultured on the same medium on which it was initially induced. ZT at 1.5 mg/L induced 73.7% of callus pieces to produce adventitious shoots, and the shoot numbers per callus piece were up to 20. To improve the in vitro rooting of adventitious shoots, commonly known as microshoots or microcuttings, an endophytic fungus, Cladosporium ‘BF-F’, was inoculated onto the rooting medium. ‘BF-F’ substantially enhanced rooting and plantlet growth, as the root numbers were three times more and plantlet heights were 70% greater than those without ‘BF-F’ inoculation. To detect the genes involved in the enhanced rooting and plantlet growth, qRT-PCR analysis was performed. Results showed that genes related to auxin responses and nitrogen uptake and metabolism were highly upregulated in ‘BF-F’-inoculated plantlets. Plants inoculated with ‘BF-F’ grew vigorously after being transplanted into a sand–soil substrate. Thus, this study not only established an efficient protocol for the regeneration of S. portulacastrum but also developed a novel method for improving the rooting of microshoots and plantlet growth. The established propagation system could be used for producing a large number of S. portulacastrum plantlets for commercial use and also for genetic transformation. Full article
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