Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Shiuli Ahmed Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Agriculture Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia Author-Workplace-Name: Biotechnology Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh Author-Name: Wan Aina Sakeenah Wan Azizan Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Agriculture Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia Author-Name: Farahziatul Roshidah Nazri Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Agriculture Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia Author-Name: Muhammad Asyraf Md Hatta Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Agriculture Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia Title: Harnessing CRISPR/Cas9 system to engineer disease resistance in solanaceous crops: Current progress and future prospects Abstract: Crops belonging to the Solanaceae family, including potato, tomato, pepper, and tobacco possess considerable economic importance worldwide. However, their production is continuously under threat from plant pathogens. Farmers typically rely on resistant cultivars carrying one or several disease resistance (R) genes introduced through conventional breeding. Over time, a competitive host-pathogen coevolution can lead to major resistance breakdown. Genome editing is a significant research tool and avenue for the genetic improvement of crop species, as it enables the precise introduction of targeted genetic changes. This technology has been successfully used in various food crops, including those belonging to the Solanaceae family. The advent of the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system allows the rapid knockout of desirable genes. Plant pathogens often exploit host genes known as susceptibility (S) genes to facilitate their proliferation. Inactivation of these S genes may reduce the pathogen's ability to infect plants and confer durable and broad-spectrum resistance. This review provides an overview of the current application of CRISPR/Cas9 to disrupt the S genes for the development of disease-resistant solanaceous crops. The technological limitations and potential strategies for overcoming these challenges are discussed. Keywords: genome editing, pepper, potato, susceptibility genes, tobacco, tomato Journal: Horticultural Science Pages: 1-14 Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Year: 2025 DOI: 10.17221/19/2024-HORTSCI File-URL: http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/19/2024-HORTSCI.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/hor-202501-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlhor:v:52:y:2025:i:1:id:19-2024-HORTSCI Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: R Priyadharsini Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam, Theni, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu, India Author-Name: K R Rajadurai Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Post Harvest Technology, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam, Theni, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu, India Author-Name: A Beaulah Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Agricultural Research Station, Vaigai Dam, Tamil Nadu, India Author-Name: M Madhan Mohan Author-Workplace-Name: 4Department of Natural Resource Management, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam, Theni, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu, India Author-Name: K Venkatesan Author-Name: S Rajesh Title: A review on crop improvement strategies and breeding methods in ornamental annuals Abstract: The availability of a broad variety of cultivars in many ornamental species has increased recently, in particular for attractive annuals, which are valued commercially for their use as cut flowers, potted plants, loose flowers, and in landscape gardening. The breeding of ornamental plants in the current scenario is a challenging endeavour with constantly evolving new obstacles. Modern genomic technologies provide prospects for improved precision breeding and selection for characteristics that are more difficult to determine. Traditionally, ornamental breeding has been focused on increasing resistance to biotic or abiotic stress, novelty, yield, and quality. However, accomplishing these objectives necessitates tedious cross-breeding, and exact breeding methods have been noticed to be not applied constantly. Though the purposes of ornamental crop breeding may vary, the process generally does not differ from the breeding of other crops. Furthermore, vegetatively propagated ornamentals constitute most of the crops. The expanding interest in ornamental crops that are produced by modern crop breeding methods such as genome editing, chromosome manipulation, molecular marker-assisted breeding, mutation breeding, and exploiting somaclonal variations, particularly in relation to altering desirable plant features and producing new ornamental traits of the crops which is the main objective of crop improvement practices. Hence, it has become obligatory to evaluate the current state of any technology created following an in-depth study carried out by several research organisations. Keywords: breeding strategies, crop improvement, cross breeding, genome editing, mutation, precision breeding Journal: Horticultural Science Pages: 15-32 Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Year: 2025 DOI: 10.17221/31/2024-HORTSCI File-URL: http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/31/2024-HORTSCI.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/hor-202501-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlhor:v:52:y:2025:i:1:id:31-2024-HORTSCI Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Kishan Lal Kumawat Author-Workplace-Name: ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Rajasthan, India Author-Name: Wasim Hassan Raja Author-Workplace-Name: ICAR-Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar, India Author-Name: Javid Iqbal Mir Author-Workplace-Name: ICAR-Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar, India Author-Name: Susheel Kumar Raina Author-Workplace-Name: ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, India Title: Effect of genotype and leader type on benzyladenine induced sylleptic branching in apple nursery trees Abstract: The planting of branched nursery trees is an essential component of most high-density orchard planting systems to induce precocity. However, in apples, most cultivars do not produce the desired numbers of sylleptic shoots naturally due to the presence of apical dominance. Benzyladenine (BA) applications alter the apical dominance and consequently encourage sylleptic shoot formation in nursery trees. However, the response to an exogenous BA application can vary with the genotype. Currently, most nurseries produce branched apple nursery trees using the renewal leader method. However, apart from the renewal leader method, branched nursery trees can also be produced using the central leader method. A comparative study of these two methods had not been conducted previously, and this investigation aimed to determine the effects of both the central and renewal leader methods, as well as the genotype, on sylleptic branching in apple nursery trees in response to repeated BA sprays. The genotype showed significant variation in the sylleptic shoot numbers (5.25-9.41), their average length (26.86-33.34 cm), and crotch angle (48.95˚-54.27˚) in response to the BA application. Among the genotypes, 'Shireen' produced the highest number of sylleptic shoots, whereas the opposite results were obtained in 'Top Red'. Furthermore, irrespective of the genotype, the central leader method was found to be more effective than the renewal leader for the development of high-quality branched nursery trees. The central leader method not only significantly increased the number of sylleptic shoots on the tree but also positively affected their length, final tree height, and diameter. Keywords: central leader, cytokinin, feathering, lateral branching, renewal leader Journal: Horticultural Science Pages: 33-41 Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Year: 2025 DOI: 10.17221/139/2023-HORTSCI File-URL: http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/139/2023-HORTSCI.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/hor-202501-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlhor:v:52:y:2025:i:1:id:139-2023-HORTSCI Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Zijian Li Author-Workplace-Name: College of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Functional Genomics of Resource Plants, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, P.R. China Author-Name: Yuxuan Zhu Author-Workplace-Name: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Functional Genomics of Resource Plants, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: College of Life Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, P.R. China Author-Name: Xinai Yang Author-Workplace-Name: College of Life Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, P.R. China Author-Name: Yajun Xiang Author-Workplace-Name: College of Life Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, P.R. China Author-Name: Ying Zhang Author-Workplace-Name: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Functional Genomics of Resource Plants, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, P.R. China Author-Name: Hongbing Wang Author-Workplace-Name: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Functional Genomics of Resource Plants, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, P.R. China Author-Name: Zheng Wang Author-Workplace-Name: College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, P.R. China Author-Name: Shuiyan Yu Author-Workplace-Name: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Functional Genomics of Resource Plants, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, P.R. China Author-Name: Yonghong Hu Title: Selection of high-quality tree peony varieties suitable for the south Yangtze River area Abstract: To select tree peony varieties with high ornamental value suitable for the hot and humid environment of the south Yangtze River area, 74 tree peony varieties from the Chenshan Botanical Garden in Shanghai were selected as experimental materials. The experiment involved initial selection for leaf humidity and heat tolerance, assessing the ornamental value during the flowering period of the following year and measuring a series of indicators such as the relative chlorophyll content of the leaves. Methods including principal component analysis, cluster analysis, and comprehensive membership function were employed. The results indicated that among the varieties assessed for humidity and heat tolerance, 43 obtained a composite score of 3.75 or above. Upon further assessment of the flowering period for these 43 varieties in the subsequent year, 14 varieties clustered in the top tier based on their scoring for ornamental value. Then, during the summer season, physiological indicators were measured for the previously selected 14 tree peony varieties. Combining these data with the comprehensive membership function, the humidity and heat tolerance of each variety were quantified. The synthesis of scores, combined with cluster analysis, revealed that varieties including 'Yinhong Qiaodui', 'Shengge Jin', 'Linghua Zhanlu', 'Baixue Gongzhu', 'Di Guan', and 'Cunsong Ying' exhibit both high ornamental value and tolerance to humidity and heat, making them suitable for cultivation in the south Yangtze River area. Keywords: luster analysis, ornamental evaluation, plant heat and humidity tolerance, principal component analysis, tree peony Journal: Horticultural Science Pages: 42-52 Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Year: 2025 DOI: 10.17221/11/2024-HORTSCI File-URL: http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/11/2024-HORTSCI.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/hor-202501-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlhor:v:52:y:2025:i:1:id:11-2024-HORTSCI Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Engin Gür Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Canakkale, Türkiye Author-Name: Mehmet Ali Gündoğdu Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Canakkale, Türkiye Author-Name: Tuba Başaran Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Canakkale, Türkiye Title: Determination of the variation in volatile components during the ripening of Sorbus domestica L. fruit Abstract: Sorbus domestica L. is a deciduous shrub-like tree in the Rosaceae family that reaches different heights (3-25 m). The service tree commonly grows in the Marmara region, Central and Western Black Sea regions, and Central Anatolia in Türkiye. The fruit of the service tree called Sorbus domestica, has an essential place in regards to human health in terms of its antioxidant values. The aroma components and phenolic compounds it contains display a variety of physiological traits. This study was carried out to determine the changes in the pomological characteristics and volatile compounds of Sorbus domestica L. fruits in the Tokat region at harvest and the consuming maturities in 2019 and 2020. The aroma extraction from the Sorbus fruits identified esters, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, terpenes, and other volatile aroma compounds. As a result of the study, differences in aldehydes, esters, and terpene compounds were notable within the scope of the volatile aroma compounds. According to the obtained information, our results identified total aldehydes of 70.64%, esters of 7.49%, and terpenes of 21.35% in Sorbus domestica during the harvest maturity. When Sorbus fruits were left at room temperature until consuming for consumption was reached, the volatile compound rates varied which were 60.59% for the aldehydes, 22.49% for the esters, and 13.20% for the terpenes. Keywords: aroma, maturity, service tree, rowan Journal: Horticultural Science Pages: 53-60 Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Year: 2025 DOI: 10.17221/157/2023-HORTSCI File-URL: http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/157/2023-HORTSCI.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/hor-202501-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlhor:v:52:y:2025:i:1:id:157-2023-HORTSCI Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: K Soumiya Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Fruit Science, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Author-Name: I Muthuvel Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Fruit Science, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Author-Name: C Kavitha Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Fruit Science, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Author-Name: K Chandrakumar Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Indi Author-Name: K A Shanmugasundaram Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Fruit Science, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Author-Name: N Manikanda Boopathi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Biotechnology, Center for Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Title: Simple and robust sex determination in papaya (Carica papaya L.) cultivars using SCAR marker Abstract: For viable papaya production, more hermaphrodite plants are needed than male and female (though they produce inferior fruits). To this end, the sex of the plants must be ascertained early in their growth cycle, which is not possible with conventional methods. Molecular marker has shown its utility for this purpose, and in this study, 100 seedlings of the CO 7 gynodioecious variety and 100 seedlings of the CO 8 dioecious variety that were released from this university were analysed for their sex using the RAPD-SCAR (randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-sequence characterised amplified region) marker, T12. In those lines under investigation, the T12 marker's presence indicated male lines, while its absence indicated female or hermaphrodite lines. To confirm that there was no experimental error - that is, the lack of the SCAR marker was caused by the non-existence of the complementary target region - an oligomer primer called OPA 04 was initially employed as a control to validate the molecular marker system among the lines under investigation. Results of this study have shown that T12 has achieved 97% and 98% accuracy in correctly identifying the male and hermaphrodite flowers in the field in CO 7 and CO 8 accessions, respectively. A similarity search of the sequences of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product amplified by T12 from CO 7 and CO 8 has highlighted that they matched with male-specific regions of the papaya Y chromosome. Further, it was estimated that by employing molecularly certified papaya seedlings with predetermined sex, farmers could save up to 55% on labour costs when compared to approaches that use seedlings from conventional ways by implying the removal of male plants. Thus, the findings of this study help growers and breeders to identify sex early and guarantee profitable papaya production. Keywords: male, female and hermaphrodite flowers, molecular markers, papaya, sex expression Journal: Horticultural Science Pages: 61-66 Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Year: 2025 DOI: 10.17221/145/2023-HORTSCI File-URL: http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/145/2023-HORTSCI.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/hor-202501-0006.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlhor:v:52:y:2025:i:1:id:145-2023-HORTSCI Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Yanyan Wu Author-Workplace-Name: Biotechnology Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, P.R. China Author-Name: Guoying Shi Author-Workplace-Name: Microbiology Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, P.R. China Author-Name: Junniu Zhou Author-Workplace-Name: Biotechnology Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, P.R. China Author-Name: Qinglan Tian Author-Workplace-Name: Biotechnology Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, P.R. China Author-Name: Jieyun Liu Author-Workplace-Name: Biotechnology Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, P.R. China Author-Name: Weihua Huang Author-Workplace-Name: Biotechnology Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, P.R. China Author-Name: Xiuzhong Xia Author-Name: Haifei Mou Author-Workplace-Name: Biotechnology Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, P.R. China Author-Name: Xinghai Yang Title: Identification and validation of stem rot disease resistance genes in passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) Abstract: Stem rot disease poses a significant challenge in passion fruit production, necessitating the identification of resistant genes for the development of stem rot resistant varieties. In this study, we conducted artificial inoculation of Fusarium solani on leaves of two passion fruit varieties, 'Huangjinguo' and 'Ziguo 7'. Leaf samples were collected at 0 h, 24 h, and 48 h post-inoculation for RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis, and 3 370, 4 464, and 3 974 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at these stages. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed associations with functions such as response to reactive oxygen species (ROS), response to hydrogen peroxide, and protein complex oligomerisation. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis highlighted the enrichment of DEGs in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway, including genes such as ZX.06G0025070, ZX.01G0064640, ZX.04G0011040, ZX.05G0011380, all implicated in lignin biosynthesis. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified three modules significantly associated with passion fruit stem rot resistance. Network analysis highlighted ZX.08G0013660 as the gene with the highest connectivity in these modules, featuring a leucine-rich repeat domain. Reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis further validated ZX.08G0013660 and other genes as potential candidates for passion fruit stem rot resistance. Overall, genes related to ROS, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and leucine-rich repeat domain protein likely play critical roles in passion fruit stem rot resistance. This study provides new insights for breeding passion fruit varieties resistant to stem rot disease. Keywords: candidate genes, disease resistance, Fusarium solani, Huangjinguo, RNA-sequencing, WGCNA Journal: Horticultural Science Pages: 67-80 Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Year: 2025 DOI: 10.17221/161/2023-HORTSCI File-URL: http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/161/2023-HORTSCI.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/hor-202501-0007.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlhor:v:52:y:2025:i:1:id:161-2023-HORTSCI Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Adam Tadeusz Wojdyła Author-Workplace-Name: he National Institute of Horticultural Research, Skierniewice, Poland Author-Name: Jacek Stanislaw Nowak Author-Workplace-Name: he National Institute of Horticultural Research, Skierniewice, Poland Author-Name: Jan Bocianowski Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Mathematical and Statistical Methods, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poznań, Poland Author-Name: Artur Kowalski Author-Workplace-Name: he National Institute of Horticultural Research, Skierniewice, Poland Author-Name: Jacek Wiśniewski Author-Workplace-Name: Horticulture Farm Jacek Wiśniewski General, Wiązowna, Poland Author-Name: Emilia Waszkiewicz Author-Workplace-Name: Emi Agro Emilia Waszkiewicz, Otwock, Poland Title: Effect of treatment of narcissus bulbs with hydrogen peroxide with silver and fungicides on plant growth and development Abstract: The aim of the research was to demonstrate the possibility of using hydrogen peroxide with silver (H2O2-Ag+) and selected fungicides for treating narcissus bulbs and their impact on plant growth and development. In the experiments were used compounds such as hydrogen peroxide with silver (H2O2-Ag+) and captan (Biszop 80 WG), pyraclostrobin + boscalid (Signum 33 WG) and methyl thiophanate + tetraconazole (Yamato 303 SE) to soak narcissus bulbs before planting for the period of 20 minutes. The research showed that stimulation of growth and development by some of the tested concentrations of H2O2-Ag+ used to treat bulbs was shown with regard to plant height, leaf length, fresh flower weight, dry flower weight, the number of days from taking plants out of cold storage to flowering, the weight of fresh above-ground parts without flowers, the weight of dry above-ground parts without flowers, the diameter of the flowers, the height of the flowers, petals length, the width of the petals and the length of the corolla. In turn, the tested fungicides stimulated the length of leaves, the fresh weight of plants without flowers, and Signum 33 WG and Biszop 80 WG also the dry weight of flowers. No phytotoxicity of hydrogen peroxide with silver and tested fungicides was found for narcissus. Keywords: bulb soaking, compounds, cooling chamber, narcissus, new technology production, rooting Journal: Horticultural Science Pages: 81-90 Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Year: 2025 DOI: 10.17221/43/2024-HORTSCI File-URL: http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/43/2024-HORTSCI.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/hor-202501-0008.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlhor:v:52:y:2025:i:1:id:43-2024-HORTSCI Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Editorial Office Title: List of Reviewers 2024 Journal: Horticultural Science Number: 0 Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Year: 2025 File-URL: http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/artkey/hor-202501-0009_list-of-reviewers-2024.php File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlhor:v:52:y:2025:i:1:id:hor-202501-0009