Lilik Astari^1,2,*, Benoit Belleville¹, Kenji Umemura³, Alex Filkov⁴, Barbara Ozarska¹, Robert H. Crawford⁵

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.12, No.10, pp. 1729-1756, 2024, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2024.054786 - 23 October 2024

Abstract The demand for particleboard is increasing along with economic and population growth. However, two major barriers to the manufacture of particleboard are a shortage of raw materials (woodchips) and the emission of formaldehyde from conventional adhesives. Agricultural by-products such as corn stalks contain an abundance of renewable lignocellulosic fiber. This study evaluates the effect of citric acid as a natural adhesive and fire retardant addition on the physical, mechanical, and fire retardancy properties of particleboards fabricated from corn stalks. A cost-effective and inorganic salt, calcium carbonate, was tested to enhance the fire retardancy. Ammonium dihydrogen… More > Graphic Abstract

Bushra Rehman¹, Asma Zulfiqar¹, Houneida Attia², Rehana Sardar³, Muneera A. Saleh², Khalid H. Alamer⁴, Ibtisam M. Alsudays⁵, Faisal Mehmood⁶, Qamar uz Zaman^7,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.8, pp. 1819-1838, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.048780 - 30 August 2024

Abstract Salinity is a major abiotic stress that hinders plant development and productivity and influences agricultural yield. Seed priming is a technique used to boost germination and seedling growth under abiotic stress. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of seed priming with potassium nitrate (KNO₃) at various levels (0%, 0.50%, 1.00% and 1.50%) under salt stress (0, 75, 100 mM NaCl) on two maize verities (MNH360 and 30T60) for the growth, development and metabolic attributes results revealed that in maize variety MNH360, KNO₃ priming’s significantly enhanced growth parameters than in maize variety 30T60 under… More >

Xin Qi^1,#, Yu Wang^1,#, Xing Zhang¹, Xiaoshuang Wei¹, Xinyang Liu¹, Zhennan Wang¹, Zhenhui Wang^1,*, Fenglou Ling^2,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.7, pp. 1767-1779, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.052844 - 30 July 2024

Abstract DNA methylation is an important epigenetic regulatory mechanism, it regulates gene expression by recruiting proteins involved in gene repression or by inhibiting the binding of transcription factor(s) to DNA. In this study, a novel methyltransferase 2a gene (Zmet2a) was cloned in maize and identified by polymerase chain reaction-base (PCR-base) using a bioinformatics strategy. The Zmet2a cDNA sequence is 2739 bp long and translates to 912 amino acid peptides. The Zmet2a protein revealed that it contains BAH and CHROMO structural domains, is a non-transmembrane protein that is hydrophilically unstable, and has no signal peptide structure. Meanwhile, we verified More >

Anindita Das¹, Kanu Murmu², Biplab Mitra³, Pintoo Bandopadhyay², Ritesh Kundu⁴, Moupiya Roy⁵, Saleh Alfarraj⁶, Mohammad Javed Ansari⁷, Marian Brestic⁸, Akbar Hossain^9,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.4, pp. 763-776, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.049473 - 29 April 2024

Abstract Nutrient management plays a crucial role in the yield and quality of sweet corn. A field experiment was conducted in consecutive two kharif seasons in 2018 and 2019 to investigate the effect of various organic sources of nutrients in combination with inorganic sources on the yield and quality of sweet corn under new alluvial soils of West Bengal, India. Treatments were: T: Control (without fertilizers); T: 100% recommended dose (RDF) of chemical fertilizers (CF) (RDF CF); T: 100% recommended dose of N (RDN) through vermicompost (VC) (RDN VC); T: 50 RDN through CF + 50%… More >

Xiaojie Jing^1,2,3,#, Chunyan Li^1,2,3,#, Chengjuan Luo^1,2,3, Chaonan Yao^1,2,3, Jiahao Zhang^1,2,3, Tingting Zhu^1,2,3, Jiuguang Wang^1,2,3, Chaoxian Liu^1,2,3,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.3, pp. 707-723, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.024338 - 29 November 2022

Abstract The zinc finger homeodomain (ZF-HD) genes belong to the homeobox gene family, playing critical roles in flower development and stress response. Despite their importance, however, to date there has been no genome-wide identification and characterization of the ZF-HD genes that are probably involved in stress responses in maize. In this study, 24 ZF-HD genes were identified, and their chromosomal locations, protein properties, duplication patterns, structures, conserved motifs and expression patterns were investigated. The results revealed that the ZF-HD genes are unevenly distributed on nine chromosomes and that most of these genes lack introns. Six and… More >

M. Ashraf Ahangar¹, Shabir Hussain Wani^1,*, Zahoor A. Dar², Jan Roohi¹, Fayaz Mohiddin¹, Monika Bansal³, Mukesh Choudhary⁴, Sumit K. Aggarwal⁴, S. A. Waza¹, Khursheed Ahmad Dar⁵, Ayman El Sabagh^6,7, Celaleddin Barutcular⁸, Omer Konuşkan⁹, Mohammad Anwar Hossain^10,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.10, pp. 2111-2133, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.020721 - 30 May 2022

Abstract Maize is cultivated extensively throughout the world and has the highest production among cereals. However, Northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) disease caused by Exherohilum turcicum, is the most devastating limiting factor of maize production. The disease causes immense losses to corn yield if it develops prior or during the tasseling and silking stages of crop development. It has a worldwide distribution and its development is favoured by cool to moderate temperatures with high relative humidity. The prevalence of the disease has increased in recent years and new races of the pathogen have been reported worldwide. The… More >

Lingyan Hu, Haiyan Chen, Guangqun Zhang, Zihao Yu, Kai Yan, Fangdong Zhan, Yongmei He^*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.9, pp. 1933-1944, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.020041 - 13 May 2022

Abstract Indoleacetic acid (IAA) is an important regulator that plays a crucial role in plant growth and responses to abiotic stresses. In the present study, a sand cultivation experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of IAA at different concentrations (0, 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 2.5 mmol/L) on maize growth, root morphology, mineral elements (Ca, Mg) and Cd uptake under 20 mg/kg Cd stress. The results showed that 0.01 mmol/L is the optimal IAA concentration for enhancing the Cd tolerance of maize. Compared with the control treatment, 0.01 mmol/L IAA promoted maize growth, with… More >

Jing Qu¹, Shuang Liu², Peng Jiao², Zhenzhong Jiang², Jianbo Fei², Shuyan Guan^1,*, Yiyong Ma^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.8, pp. 1709-1719, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.018854 - 14 April 2022

Abstract To develop cold-tolerant maize germplasms and identify the activation of INDUCER OF CRT/DRE-BINDING FACTOR EXPRESSION (ICE1) expression in response to cold stress, RT-PCR was used to amplify the complete open reading frame sequence of the ICE1 gene and construct the plant expression vector pCAMBIA3301-ICE1-Bar. Immature maize embryos and calli were transformed with the recombinant vector using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformations. From the regenerated plantlets, three T1 lines were screened and identified by PCR. A Southern blot analysis showed that a single copy of the ICE1 gene was integrated into the maize (Zea mays L.) genomes of the three T1 generations.… More >

Hameed Gul¹, Mengya Qian¹, Mohammad G. Arabzai^1,2, Tianhui Huang¹, Qiannan Ma¹, Fangyu Xing¹, Wan Cao¹, Tingting Liu¹, Hong Duan¹, Qianlin Xiao^1,*, Zhizhai Liu^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.7, pp. 1429-1443, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.019842 - 14 March 2022

Abstract Kernel size-related traits, including kernel length, kernel width, and kernel thickness, are critical components in determining yield and kernel quality in maize (Zea mays L.). Dissecting the phenotypic characteristics of these traits, and discovering the candidate chromosomal regions for these traits, are of potential importance for maize yield and quality improvement. In this study, a total of 139 F2:3 family lines derived from EHel and B73, a distinct line with extremely low ear height (EHel), was used for phenotyping and QTL mapping of three kernel size-related traits, including 10-kernel length (KL), 10-kernel width (KWid), and 10-kernel… More >

J. David García-Ortíz¹, Rebeca González-Centeno¹, María Alejandra Torres-Tapia², J. A. Ascacio-Valdés¹, José Espinoza-Velázquez², Raúl Rodríguez-Herrera^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.5, pp. 929-941, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.018368 - 24 January 2022

Abstract Because of the growing worldwide demand for maize grain, new alternatives have been sought for breeding of this cereal, e.g., development of polyembryonic varieties, which agronomic performance could positively impact the grain yield per unit area, and nutritional quality. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the phytochemicals present in the embryo and endosperm of grain from maize families with high, low, and null polyembryony frequency, which were planted at different locations, and (2) state the relationship between these compounds and seed germination. The extracted phytochemicals from corn were identified by HPLC-MS. The… More >