Traditional Cultivars as a Genetic Source of Stress Tolerance and Quality Enhancement

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Response to Abiotic Stress and Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 May 2024 | Viewed by 5336

Special Issue Editors

Agrochemical Laboratory, Agricultural Institute Osijek, HR-31000 Osijek, Croatia
Interests: abiotic stress; biotic stress; senescence; photosynthesis; chlorophyll fluorescence; stress defence mechanisms; ROS; phenolics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department for Fruit Growing, Agricultural Institute Osijek, HR-31000 Osijek, Croatia
Interests: abiotic stress; stress tolerance; photosynthesis; chlorophyll fluorescence; stress defense mechanisms; ROS; fruit quality; in vitro culture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Traditional cultivars are related to specific regions, mostly grown in backyards and small orchards, and their origins are mostly unknown. They are locally adapted to their natural environments. Due to global climate change, the most important characteristic of plants is their tolerance to different abiotic and biotic stresses, such as drought, extreme temperatures, diseases and pest resistance. Recent studies have shown that fruits or grains of traditional cultivars have valuable nutritive characteristics and a better capacity to tolerate biotic and abiotic stresses compared with commercial ones. Therefore, the preservation of traditional cultivars is very important in order to harness the genetic variability for breeding and for the revitalization of the production assortment for specific conditions. A description of the characteristics of traditional cultivars and their resistance to stress is the first step in achieving this goal. Therefore, all original articles and reviews covering any aspect of traditional cultivar analysis, including pomology, phenology, morphology, plant ultrastructure, metabolism, biochemistry, proteomics, transcriptomics and other related topics on any crop or fruit species, or any other cultivated plant species, are welcome to contribute to this Special Issue.  

Dr. Marija Viljevac Vuletić
Dr. Ines Mihaljević
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • yield
  • pomology
  • crop production and quality
  • stress tolerance
  • breeding
  • physiology
  • bioactive compounds
  • photosynthesis
  • metabolism
  • abiotic stress
  • biotic stress

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3097 KiB  
Article
Genetic Variability in Carotenoid Contents in a Panel of Genebank Accessions of Temperate Maize from Southeast Europe
by Domagoj Šimić, Vlatko Galić, Antun Jambrović, Tatjana Ledenčan, Kristina Kljak, Ivica Buhiniček and Hrvoje Šarčević
Plants 2023, 12(19), 3453; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12193453 - 30 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 613
Abstract
Carotenoids are an abundant group of lipid-soluble antioxidants in maize kernels. Maize is a key target crop for carotenoid biofortification focused on using conventional plant breeding in native germplasm of temperate areas traced back partially to traditional cultivars (landraces). In this study, the [...] Read more.
Carotenoids are an abundant group of lipid-soluble antioxidants in maize kernels. Maize is a key target crop for carotenoid biofortification focused on using conventional plant breeding in native germplasm of temperate areas traced back partially to traditional cultivars (landraces). In this study, the objectives were to determine the variability of lutein (LUT), zeaxanthin (ZEA), α-cryptoxanthin (αCX), β-cryptoxanthin (βCX), α-carotene (αC), and β-carotene (βC) contents in the grain of 88 accessions of temperate maize from the Croatian genebank, and to evaluate the relationships among the contents of different carotenoids as well as the relationships between kernel color and hardness and carotenoid content. Highly significant variability among the 88 accessions was detected for all carotenoids. On average, the most abundant carotenoid was LUT with 13.2 μg g−1 followed by ZEA with 6.8 μg g−1 dry matter. A Principal Component Analysis revealed a clear distinction between α- (LUT, αCX, and αC) and β-branch (ZEA; βCX, and βC) carotenoids. β-branch carotenoids were positively correlated with kernel color, and weakly positively associated with kernel hardness. Our results suggest that some genebank accessions with a certain percentage of native germplasm may be a good source of carotenoid biofortification in Southeast Europe. However, due to the lack of association between LUT and ZEA, the breeding process could be cumbersome. Full article
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18 pages, 2718 KiB  
Article
Croatian Native Grapevine Varieties’ VOCs Responses upon Plasmopara viticola Inoculation
by Petra Štambuk, Iva Šikuten, Darko Preiner, Edi Maletić, Jasminka Karoglan Kontić and Ivana Tomaz
Plants 2023, 12(2), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12020404 - 15 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1189
Abstract
The Plasmopara viticola pathogen causes one of the most severe grapevine diseases, namely downy mildew. The response to P. viticola involves both visible symptoms and intricate metabolomic alterations, particularly in relation to volatile organic compounds, and depends on the degree of resistance of [...] Read more.
The Plasmopara viticola pathogen causes one of the most severe grapevine diseases, namely downy mildew. The response to P. viticola involves both visible symptoms and intricate metabolomic alterations, particularly in relation to volatile organic compounds, and depends on the degree of resistance of a particular variety. There are numerous native grapevine varieties in Croatia, and they vary in susceptibility to this oomycete. As previously reported, in vitro leaf disc bioassay and polyphenolic compound analysis are complementary methods that can be used to separate native varieties into various resistance classes. This research used the Solid Phase Microextraction-Arrow Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry method to identify the early alterations in the VOCs in the leaves after P. viticola inoculation. Based on the absolute peak area of sesquiterpenes, some discrepancies between the sampling terms were noticed. The presence of certain chemical compounds such as humulene, ylangene, and α-farnesene helped distinguish the non-inoculated and inoculated samples. Although specific VOC responses to P. viticola infection of native varieties from various resistance classes could not be identified, the response of less susceptible native varieties and resistant controls was associated with an increase in the absolute peak area of several compounds, including geranylacetone, ß-ocimene, and (E)-2-hexen-1-ol. Full article
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20 pages, 2001 KiB  
Article
Early Antioxidative Response to Desiccant-Stimulated Drought Stress in Field-Grown Traditional Wheat Varieties
by Krešimir Dvojković, Ivana Plavšin, Dario Novoselović, Gordana Šimić, Alojzije Lalić, Tihomir Čupić, Daniela Horvat and Marija Viljevac Vuletić
Plants 2023, 12(2), 249; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12020249 - 05 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1342
Abstract
Extended drought affects the production and quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), one of the world’s most important food crops. Breeding for increased drought resistance is becoming increasingly important due to the rising demand for food production. Four old traditional Croatian wheat [...] Read more.
Extended drought affects the production and quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), one of the world’s most important food crops. Breeding for increased drought resistance is becoming increasingly important due to the rising demand for food production. Four old traditional Croatian wheat cultivars were used in the present study to examine the early antioxidant response of flag leaves to desiccant-stimulated drought stress and to identify drought-tolerant cultivars accordingly. The results indicate that the enzymatic antioxidant system plays the most significant role in the early response of adult wheat plants to drought stress and the removal of excessive H2O2, particularly GPOD and APX. Nada and Dubrava cultivars revealed the strongest activation of the enzymatic defense mechanism, which prevented H2O2 accumulation and lipid peroxidation. Additionally, the Nada cultivar also showed increased synthesis of proline and specific phenolic compounds, which both contribute to the increased stress tolerance. Among the cultivars investigated, cultivar Nada has the broadest genetic base, which may explain why it possesses the ability to activate both enzymatic and non-enzymatic defense mechanisms in an early response to drought stress. This suggests that old traditional wheat cultivars with broad genetic bases can be a valuable source of drought tolerance, which is especially important given the current climate change. Full article
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15 pages, 2793 KiB  
Article
Photosynthetic Variability of Oblačinska Sour Cherry Ecotypes under Drought
by Marija Viljevac Vuletić, Daniela Horvat, Ines Mihaljević, Krunoslav Dugalić, Domagoj Šimić, Tihomir Čupić, Vlatka Jurković and Hrvoje Lepeduš
Plants 2022, 11(13), 1764; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11131764 - 01 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1343
Abstract
The selection of drought-tolerant sour cherry genotypes is essential for developing sustainable fruit production in today’s climate-change conditions. The phenotypic heterogenic population of sour cherry Oblačinska, with high and regular yield suitable for mechanical harvesting and industrial processing, is a traditional and predominant [...] Read more.
The selection of drought-tolerant sour cherry genotypes is essential for developing sustainable fruit production in today’s climate-change conditions. The phenotypic heterogenic population of sour cherry Oblačinska, with high and regular yield suitable for mechanical harvesting and industrial processing, is a traditional and predominant cultivar in northern Croatia (Pannonian region) and Serbia commercial orchards. In this context, 2-year old virus-free sour cherry plants of 4 isolated Oblačinska sour cherry ecotypes (OS, 18, D6, and BOR) produced by micropropagation were exposed to severe drought in a greenhouse under semi-controlled conditions to evaluate its photosynthetic intra-varietal variability. Relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF), and photosynthetic pigments were evaluated during the ten days of the experiment. As a visible symptom of stress, the withering of plants was followed by a diminution of RWC and photosynthetic pigments in the drought exposed leaves of sour cherry ecotypes compared to the control treatment. ChlF elucidated variability in the photosynthetic efficiency within studied sour cherry ecotypes, highlighting PIABS, PItotal, and ψE0 as the most sensitive and thus the most informative JIP parameters for drought screening. Among the investigated ecotypes, BOR proved to be the most sensitive. The Oblačinska sour cherry ecotype OS showed the highest tolerance to drought conditions and, therefore, can be used as a source of tolerance in sour cherry breeding programs. Full article
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