In 2021, pak choi production in Indonesia was 727.47 Mg, marking an increase of 8.2% compared to the 2020 production, which was 667.47 Mg. Therefore, there is a clear need for cultivation improvement, particularly through the implementation of organic fertilisers. This study aimed to investigate the impact of liquid organic fertiliser (LOF) derived from fish waste and duck manure on the growth and yield of the pak choi plant ( Brassica rapa. L. var. Nauli F1). A randomised block design factorial was used with two factors and three replications. The first factor considered was LOF from fish waste, comprising three levels (LOF ₀ = control, LOF ₁ = 25 cm ³∙dm ^–3 of water, and LOF2 = 50 cm ³∙dm ^–3 of water). The second factor focused on duck manure fertiliser (DMF) and involved four levels (DMF ₀ = control, DMF ₁ = 3.7 kg∙plot ^–1, DMF ₂ = 5.55 kg∙plot ^–1, and DMF ₃ = 7.4 kg∙plot ^–1). The results showed that the application of LOF from fish waste positively influenced the growth and yield of pak choi, with the most effective treatment observed in LOF1 (25 cm ³∙dm ^–3 of water). However, the application of DMF did not yield a significant difference in its effect on the growth and yield of the pak choi plant. The control treatment (DMF ₀) reported comparable results and the combination of LOF from fish waste and DMF did not show a significant effect, with the most favourable findings observed in the LOF ₂DMF ₀ treatment (50 cm ³∙dm ^–3 and control).

The spontaneous diploidization rates in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) via in vitro androgenesis are too low for practical applications. In contrast, artificial doubling of chromosomes of the microspore has proven to be more successful and allows homozygous plants to be obtained in a short time. Here, we present the efficiency of diploidization of B. napus haploids using three different chromosome doubling methods.

Using the in vitro approach in microspores, the rate of chromosome doubling in 24 populations of androgenic plants ranged from 15.8% to 94.0%. An alternative in vivo method for the induction of chromosome doubling involves colchicine treatment of young haploid plants, and this yielded doubling rates ranging from 47.5% to 86.4% in 10 different plant populations. Another in vivo method of chromosome doubling is colchicine treatment of the excised young axillary shoots of haploid plants at the early flowering stage. The high efficiency of this method was confirmed in haploid plant populations from 11 genetically distinct donors in which the frequency of occurrence of diploids ranged from 53.3% to 100%. However, in this case, the time required for seed formation from doubled haploids increased by about 3–5 months. The availability of several methods of chromosome doubling at various stages of the androgenic process – from isolated microspores through to young plants and flowering plants – allows seeds to be obtained from nearly every selected individual haploid.

Control failure of pests and selectivity of insecticides to beneficial arthropods are key data for the implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the control failure likelihood of Plutella xylostella and the physiological selectivity active ingredients to parasitoid Oomyzus sokolowskii (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and to predators Polybia scutellaris (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) and Lasiochilus sp. (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae). In bioassays, P. xylostella larvae and O. sokolowskii, P. scutellaris and Lasiochilus sp. adults were used. Concentration-mortality curves of six insecticides for P. xylostella were established. These curves were used to estimate the mortality of P. xylostella at the recommended concentration, in order to check a control failure of insecticides to this pest. Furthermore, the lethal concentration for 90% of populations (LC90) and the half of LC90 were used in bioassays with the natural enemies to determine the selectivity of these insects to insecticides. All tested insecticides showed control failure to P. xylostella, indicated by high LC90 and low estimated mortalities (less than 80%). The cartap insecticide was selective in half of LC90 to Lasiochilus sp. and moderately selective in LC90 and the half of LC90, to Lasiochilus sp. and P. scutellaris, respectively. Deltamethrin was moderately selective in the half of LC90 to predator Lasiochilus sp. Cartap, carbaryl, and deltamethrin reduced the mortality of Lasiochilus sp. in the half LC90. The results also showed that the insecticides methamidophos, carbaryl, parathion methyl and permethrin were not selective to any of the tested natural enemies. The role of insecticides in IPM systems of Brassica crops is discussed based on their control failures to P. xylostella and selectivity to their natural enemies.

It has long been observed that toxic heavy metals at different concentrations can induce root hair development in plants. In oilseed rape we studied ethylene levels and root hair initiation under Cd2+ stress. Growth of the primary root was inhibited but close to root tips the development of subapical root hairs was significantly stimulated by Cd2+ at 30 μM. Versus the control, the distance between the root tip and the root hair zone and the length of the epidermal cell in the elongation zone were significantly reduced by Cd2+ at the same concentration. Exogenous application of Cd2+ and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) to roots had similar effects on subapical root hair development. Hair density increase and hair elongation in the presence of Cd2+ were reduced by the ethylene inhibitors CoCl2 at 15 μM and aminooxyacetic acid (AOA) at 10 μM. Exposing roots to Cd2+ caused a rapid increase in superoxide radical (O2 ·-) production in the root hair differentiation zone, and at the tips of emerging and newly formed root hairs. Cd2+-induced O2 ·- production at the growing hair tips was blocked in the presence of AOA. Our findings suggest that Cd2+-induced ethylene signaling may act upstream of O2 ·-. Cd2+ promotion of O2 ·- production may operate through an ethylene signaling pathway, and O2 ·- itself may stimulate root hair elongation.

Isozyme, RAPD and AFLP markers were evaluated and compared for their ability to determine genetic similarity in a set of 18 parental lines of winter oilseed rape F₁ hybrids developed using CMS ogura. Five isozyme systems, 64 RAPD starters and 23 EcoRI+3/MseI+3 AFLP primer combinations generated 597 polymorphic markers. These polymorphic fragments were chosen for estimation of genetic similarity. Of the total number of polymorphic products, polymorphic zymograms constituted only 3.0% of the markers, 57 RAPD primers 37.7%, and 23 AFLP primer combinations 59.3%. The size of RAPD polymorphic products ranged from 564 to 2100 bp. On average there were four amplified bands per primer, with 61.0% polymorphism. The AFLP polymorphic fragments ranged from 72 to 1352 bp in size. AFLP assays generated 15 bands per primer pair on average and detected roughly four times more bands than with RAPD analysis. The genetic similarity coefficients based on all marker data range from 0.52 to 0.84. The correlation of genetic similarities based on RAPD and AFLP markers was 0.58. Estimated genetic similarity based on isozyme data was not correlated with genetic similarity derived from the two DNA-based markers. The dendrogram constructed with the three types of markers taken together grouped all the winter oilseed rape parental lines into several similar clusters. The genomic distribution and frequency of the RAPD and AFLP markers can serve well as estimators of genetic similarity between parental lines of F₁ CMS ogura hybrids

We investigated direct and indirect formation of somatic embryogenesis in Brassica oleracea var. botrytis (cauliflower), a very important vegetable crop worldwide. Direct somatic embryogenesis, which is rather rare, was achieved in culture of 2-week-old hypocotyl explants of Brassica oleracea var. botrytis on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/l 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 0.5; 1.0; and 1.5 mg/l kinetin. Initial induction of embryogenic callus was achieved on MS supplemented with very low concentrations of 2,4-D (0.05 mg/l and 0.1 mg/l). Indirect somatic embryogenesis from leaf sections was obtained on MS supplemented with 0.05 or 0.1 mg/l 2,4-D. We examined various stages of somatic embryos (globular, heart, torpedo, cotyledonary). More embryos per explant were produced through the indirect pathway (23-25) than through the direct pathway (14-19). The number of embryos produced was high. There is a potential for recurrent, repeated or secondary somatic embryogenesis, possibly an unlimited source for mass propagation and ideal for synthetic seed production in this species. Plant regeneration was achieved on half-strength MS medium without any hormones.

To keep genetic diversity, flowering plants have developed a self-incompatibility system, which can prevent self-pollination.

It has been reported that calcium concentration in pistil papilla cells was increased after self-pollination

in transformed self-incompatible Arabidopsis thaliana. In this study, we found that CML27 changed its expression

level for both mRNA and protein when compared to transcriptome and proteome. At the same time, CML27 was

expressed in the anther and pistil at a high level and reached up to 5-fold up-regulated expression in the pistil

at 1 h post-pollination when compared to 0 min. In order to find out potential proteins that may interact with

BoCML27, BoCML27 was expressed in and isolated from E. coli. After its co-incubation with Brassica oleracea

pistil proteins, the products were separated on SDS-PAGE gels. We found a specific band at the position between

130–180 kDa. Through LC-MS-MS (Q-TOF) analysis, eight proteins were identified from the band. The proteins

include 26S proteasome non-ATPase regulatory (26S), Phospholipase D, alpha 2 (PLDα2) involved in Ca2+ binding

and Coatomer subunit alpha-2-like (Coatomer) involved in vesicle mediated transport. All of these identified

proteins provide new insights for the self-incompatibility response in B. oleracea, specific for increasing Ca2+

concentration in pistil papilla cells.