Publications by authors named "Koyro Hans Werner"

(Decne.) is a leaf succulent C perennial found in arid saline areas of southern Pakistan and neighboring countries, where it is utilized as herbal medicine. This study investigated how growth, water relations, ion content, chlorophyll fluorescence, and antioxidant system of change as salinity levels increase (0, 150, 300, 600, and 900 mM NaCl).

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In agriculture, soil amendments are applied to improve soil quality by increasing the water retention capacity and regulating the pH and ion exchange. Our study was carried out to investigate the impact of a commercial biochar (Bc) and a superabsorbent polymer (SAP) on the physiological and biochemical processes and the growth performance of (variety ICBA-5) when exposed to high salinity. Plants were grown for 25 days under controlled greenhouse conditions in pots filled with a soil mixture with or without 3% Bc or 0.

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There exists a global challenge of feeding the growing human population of the world and supplying its energy needs without exhausting global resources. This challenge includes the competition for biomass between food and fuel production. The aim of this paper is to review to what extent the biomass of plants growing under hostile conditions and on marginal lands could ease that competition.

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The unpredictable climatic perturbations, the expanding industrial and mining sectors, excessive agrochemicals, greater reliance on wastewater usage in cultivation, and landfill leachates, are collectively causing land degradation and affecting cultivation, thereby reducing food production globally. Biochar can generally mitigate the unfavourable effects brought about by climatic perturbations (drought, waterlogging) and degraded soils to sustain crop production. It can also reduce the bioavailability and phytotoxicity of pollutants in contaminated soils via the immobilization of inorganic and/or organic contaminants, commonly through surface complexation, electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, adsorption, and co-precipitation.

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The application of biochar is mostly used to improve soil fertility, water retention capacity and nutrient uptake. The present study was conducted in order to study the impact of biochar at water deficiency conditions on the physiological and biochemical processes of seedlings. Seedlings were cultivated under greenhouse conditions in pots filled with a mixture of soil and sand mixed in the presence or absence of 2% biochar.

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Plant photosynthesis and biomass production are closely associated traits but critical to unfavorable environmental constraints such as salinity and drought. The relationships among stress tolerance, photosynthetic mechanisms, biomass and ethanol yield were assessed in . The growth parameters, leaf gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence of were studied when irrigated with the control and 100 and 300 mM NaCl in a nutrient solution and water deficit conditions (drought, at 50% water holding capacity).

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Crop resistance to environmental stress is a major issue. The globally increasing land degradation and desertification enhance the demand on management practices to balance both food and environmental objectives, including strategies that tighten nutrient cycles and maintain yields. Agriculture needs to provide, among other things, future additional ecosystem services, such as water quantity and quality, runoff control, soil fertility maintenance, carbon storage, climate regulation, and biodiversity.

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(Zingiberaceae) is a unique ornamental and medicinal plant primarily used in food ingredients and traditional medicine. While organic amendments such as biochar (BC) and compost (Co) have been demonstrated to improve plant productivity, no studies have examined their effects on the growth, physiology, and secondary metabolites of . This study evaluated the impact of the amendment of BC, Co, or a biochar and compost mixture (BC+Co) on modifying and improving the growth, photosynthesis, antioxidant status, and secondary metabolism of grown on sandy loam soil.

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Soil salinity is one of the most important environmental factors that adversely affect plant growth and productivity. Quinoa emerges as a good food candidate due to its exceptional nutritive value, and its adaptability to various abiotic stresses. This high quinoa potential was investigated in the present study by evaluating the impact of salinity and post-stress restorative processes, in order to test how a pulse of saline water affects the growth and survival of two quinoa genotypes differing in salt resistance, Kcoito (salt sensitive) and UDEC-5 (salt resistant).

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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of NaCl salinity (0, 100 and 300 mM) on the individual response of the quinoa varieties Kcoito (Altiplano Ecotype) and UDEC-5 (Sea-level Ecotype) with physiological and proteomic approaches. Leaf protein profile was performed using two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). UDEC-5 showed an enhanced capacity to withstand salinity stress compared to Kcoito.

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Salinity and drought are two often simultaneously occurring abiotic stresses that limit the production of food crops worldwide. This study aimed to distinguish between the separate and combined impacts of drought and salinity on the plant response. was cultivated in a greenhouse under the following growth conditions: control, 100 mM NaCl (100) and 300 mM NaCl (300) salinity, drought (D; 30% irrigation), and two combinations of salinity and drought (100 + D and 300 + D).

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The importance of the plant microbiome for host fitness has led to the concept of the "plant holobiont". Seeds are reservoirs and vectors for beneficial microbes, which are very intimate partners of higher plants with the potential to connect plant generations. In this study, the endophytic seed microbiota of numerous barley samples, representing different cultivars, geographical sites and harvest years, was investigated.

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The effect of water salinity on plant growth and photosynthetic traits of Stevia rebaudiana was investigated to determine its level and mechanisms of salinity tolerance. It was also attempted to assess how short-term elevated CO concentration would influence the boundaries and mechanisms of its photosynthetic capacity. The plants were grown in gravel/hydroponic system under controlled greenhouse conditions and irrigated with four different salinity levels (0, 25, 50 and 100 mol mNaCl).

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Soil amendment with pyrogenic carbon (biochar) is discussed as strategy to improve soil fertility to enable economic plus environmental benefits. In temperate soils, however, the use of pure biochar mostly has moderately-negative to -positive yield effects. Here we demonstrate that co-composting considerably promoted biochars' positive effects, largely by nitrate (nutrient) capture and delivery.

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The combination of traits that makes a plant successful under saline conditions varies with the type of plant and its interaction with the environmental conditions. Knowledge about the contribution of these traits towards salt resistance in grasses has great potential for improving the salt resistance of conventional crops. We attempted to identify differential adaptive response patterns of salt-excreting versus non-excreting grasses.

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Studies of the convergence of the expression of enzymes and the physiology of salt resistance are rare, and give the general impression of a jigsaw puzzle with many missing pieces. To date, only minor responses of plasma membrane and tonoplast proteins of halophytes have been reported. Mostly, subunits of the catalytic portions of ATPases were found to change.

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Responses of the halophyte Cakile maritima to moderate salinity were addressed at germination and vegetative stages by bringing together proteomics and eco-physiological approaches. 75 mM NaCl-salinity delayed significantly the germination process and decreased slightly the seed germination percentage compared to salt-free conditions. Monitoring the proteome profile between 0 h and 120 h after seed sowing revealed a delay in the degradation of seed storage proteins when germination took place under salinity, which may explain the slower germination rate observed.

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Mining, smelting, land applications of sewage sludge, the use of fungicides containing copper (Cu), and other human activities have led to widespread soil enrichment and contamination with Cu and potentially toxic conditions. Biochar (BC) can adsorb several substances, ranging from herbicides to plant-inhibiting allelochemicals. However, the range of potential beneficial effects on early-stage plant growth with regard to heavy metal toxicity is largely unexplored.

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In the present work, we studied the potential of the obligate halophyte, Sesuvium portulacastrum L., to desalinize an experimentally-salinized soil after the following criteria: (i) decrease in soil salinity and sodicity, (ii) plant biomass capacity to accumulate sodium ions, and (iii) phytodesalinized soil quality (equivalent to growth of a glycophytic test culture of Hordeum vulgare L.).

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Our study aimed at investigating the influence of elevated atmospheric CO(2) concentration on the salinity tolerance of the cash crop halophyte Aster tripolium L., thereby focussing on protein expression and enzyme activities. The plants were grown in hydroponics using a nutrient solution with or without addition of NaCl (75% seawater salinity), under ambient (380 ppm) and elevated (520 ppm) CO(2).

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This study investigated the interaction of NaCl-salinity and elevated atmospheric CO(2) concentration on gas exchange, leaf pigment composition, and leaf ultrastructure of the potential cash crop halophyte Aster tripolium. The plants were irrigated with five different salinity levels (0, 25, 50, 75, 100% seawater salinity) under ambient and elevated (520 ppm) CO(2). Under saline conditions (ambient CO(2)) stomatal and mesophyll resistance increased, leading to a significant decrease in photosynthesis and water use efficiency (WUE) and to an increase in oxidative stress.

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The perennial smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, has been successfully introduced in salty ecosystems for revegetation or agricultural use. However, it remains unclear whether it can be introduced in arid ecosystems. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological response of this species to water deficiency in a climate-controlled greenhouse.

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Cakile maritima is a halophyte with potential for ecological, economical and medicinal uses. We address here the impact of salinity on its growth, photosynthesis and seed quality. Whole plant growth rate and shoot development were stimulated at moderate salinity (100-200 mM NaCl) and inhibited at higher salt concentrations.

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