Simone Abreu Asmar’s research while affiliated with Federal University of Uberlândia and other places

“Tetsukabuto” ou cabotiá é um híbrido interespecífico, que devido à esterilidade da flor masculina, é necessária a utilização de outra espécie para a polinização, porém, outra forma de se obter a frutificação é através do uso de fitohormônios, produzindo, desta forma, frutos partenocárpicos. O objetivo do trabalho foi quantificar características correlacionadas a produtividade de abóbora híbrida “Tetsukabuto” produzida por meio de partenocarpia induzida por 2,4-D, que possui princípio ativo do grupo auxina. Os tratamentos consistiram de diferentes concentrações de 2,4-D: T1 – 0,0 mg.L-1 ; T2 – 65 mg.L-1 ; T3 – 130 mg.L-1 ; T4 - 160 mg.L-1 ; T5 - 200 mg.L-1 e T6 – tratamento adicional composto de polinização artificial realizada com flores masculinas de Cucurbita máxima Duch. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados com quatro repetições, sendo seis plantas por parcela experimental. As dosagens do produto e o pólen das flores masculinas de C. máxima foram aplicados no interior das flores femininas logo após sua abertura. Avaliou-se a produtividade dos frutos, peso médio, diâmetro longitudinal e espessura da polpa dos frutos. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância (Teste F) e as médias dos tratamentos foram comparadas pelo teste de Tukey a 5% de probabilidade sendo estas médias ajustadas às equações de regressão. A concentração variando de 139 a 155 mg.L-1 foi eficaz na produção de frutos partenocárpicos de “Tetsukabuto”. E todas as concentrações testadas produzem efeito similar à polinização artificial.

The market for baby leaf vegetables has grown steadily, their cultivation is being done in protected environments, and these can be constructed of different materials. The aim of the work was to evaluate the development of two baby leaf arugula varieties in protected environments composed of different photoselective nets. The work was developed at the (FAEXP) Experimental Farm, of the University of the State of Minas Gerais-UEMG, Campus Unidad Ituitutaba-MG. The experimental design was in randomized blocks in a 2x5 factorial scheme, being two varieties of baby leaf arugula and five growing environments: no nets (witness); black shading net (mesh for 30% shading); white photoselective net (mesh for 20% shade); blue photoselective net (mesh for 20% shade) and red photoselective net (mesh for 20% shade) with four repetitions, being seven plants of each variety per experimental plot. The results evaluated were chlorophyll A and B, plant height, leaf number, stem diameter, plant length, plant height, aerial fresh phytophytomass, root fresh phytophytomass, aerial dry phytophytomass, root dry phytophytomass. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (F test) and the treatment means were compared by Tukey's test at 5% probability. Among the varieties, Antonella had a better performance than the Rokita variety. Regarding the photoselective screens, the white one stood out more in relation to the quantities of items evaluated. The use of red screens is the most indicated since there was a greater development of fresh phytomass, which is interesting since the vegetable is sold fresh by volume.

O Brasil é o maior produtor de cana-de-açúcar e por isso é notório o número de usinas implantadas no país. Tendo em vista que a mesma é uma cultura tecnificada e com alta exigência de nutrientes para produção de matéria prima adequada, torna-se importante atenção aos níveis de nutrientes ofertados às plantas ao longo do tempo de cultivo. É interessante que essas operações de correção da acidez e fertilidade do solo sejam realizadas de maneira mais localizada e sustentável a partir de análises de coletas de solo realizadas em número e posições representativas dentro de talhões homogêneos. Para que isso fosse alcançado foram realizadas comparações de amostragens de solo georreferencias coletadas a profundidade de 20 cm nos anos 2021 e 2022 em uma propriedade rural no município de Capinópolis-MG. As caraterísticas avaliadas nas amostras de solo foram: pH em CaCl, CTC, saturação de base (%), argila (%), níveis macro e micronutrientes após realização de adubação. Verificou-se que em virtude da calagem e adubação, os níveis dos nutrientes fósforo, potássio, cálcio, magnésio no solo aumentaram em 2022 e também houve uma maior área com pH entre 5,10 e 5,5 do que no ano 2021. Já o teor de alumínio não houve aumento o que é positivo e fruto da calagem realizada no período avaliado.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the use of the Murashige & Skook (MS) and Linsmaer & Skoog (LS) media and of filter caps on culture flasks on the morphological and physiological characteristics of basil cultivars in vitro, as well as to determine the composition of the essential oil of plants acclimatized in pots. For the evaluation of the cultivation media, cultivars Anise, Cinnamon, Grecco a Palla, and Italian Large Leaf were used. The Anise, Cinnamon, Italian Large Leaf, and Maria Bonita cultivars were used for the evaluation of the use of filter caps. The composition of the essential oils of cultivars Anise, Cinnamon, and Italian Large Leaf was also evaluated. The basil seedlings showed a higher aerial-part dry mass and a lower hyperhydricity rate when grown in the MS medium. The flasks without filter caps produced seedlings with lower contamination rates. When acclimatized in pots, cultivars Limoncino and Anise presented the tallest plants with the largest crown diameters. In the composition of essential oils, methyl cinnamate and linalool stood out in cultivar Cinnamon, methyl chavicol in Anise, and linalool in Italian Large Leaf. In the in vitro cultivation, the evaluated cultivars present a higher aerial-part production in the MS medium and a lower contamination without the use of filters, whereas, in the pots, the composition of essential oils varies according to the cultivar.

Paepalanthus chiquitensis Herzog (Eriocaulaceae) is a neotropical everlasting marketed internationally in the dry flower segment. In situ exploitation has led to the possibility of extinction, necessitating the identification of alternatives for maintaining its natural populations. In vitro cultivation, a promising biotechnological tool that allows plant regeneration under aseptic conditions, has been explored in several Brazilian ornamental plants. However, no reports on in vitro cultivation of P. chiquitensis have been reported. Here, we aimed to establish an in vitro cultivation protocol for P. chiquitensis from diaspores collected in their natural habitat. Explant disinfection with 0.75% sodium hypochlorite solution reduced the contamination rate and allowed better germination. Although the species developed well in a culture medium without the addition of cytokinins or auxins, supplementation of naphthalene-acetic acid (NAA; 1 mg L− 1) and isopentenyl adenine (1 mg L− 1) and the combination of NAA (0.25 mg L− 1) and activated charcoal (2 g L− 1) promoted shoot and root development, respectively. These results pave the foundation for future studies on in vitro cultivation of P. chiquitensis to mitigate the risk of extinction of everlastings.

Lavender is an aromatic ornamental plant that is used widely in the perfume, pharmaceutical, cosmetical and food industries. That is why it is important to study ways to promote a production of lavender raw material. For this, four experiments were carried out in order to study the germination and initial in vitro development of lavender. In the first part the efficiency of the use of hydrogen peroxide in the pre-treatment of seeds inoculated in culture media with different concentrations of gibberellic acid was evaluated. Besides that, the influence of the use of Growlux lamps and white fluorescent lamps on plantlets cultivated in MS and LS media at salts concentrations of 50 and 100% was evaluated. Finally, the effect of the gibberellic acid, putrescine, spermine and spermidine in different concentrations was evaluated. Better results were estimated when hydrogen peroxide pretreatment was applied to the seeds with subsequent inoculation in a medium containing 2,5 mg L-1 of gibberellic acid. The use of Growlux lamps did not influence the characteristics observed when compared to the use of white fluorescent lamps, however it was concluded that the species develops more in a LS medium. Concerning the use of polyamines was found that germination, aerial part and number of leaves of the seedlings were generally favored at the concentration of 0,5 mg L-1 except when spermine was applied, which resulted in a lower number of leaves under this condition.

Statistical analyses are an essential part of scientific research. Several choices, including the setup of the experiment, influence the selection of statistical procedures. Thus, successful planning implies accurate analysis. We used a 95% confidence interval and a 7% error margin to sample and characterize the statistical techniques used in studies on micropropagation and to discuss the effects of misusing these techniques. We quantified the following: sample size, number of replications, design, scheme (factorial or not factorial) and number of treatments, whether data transformation was used, transformation type and criteria for selection; variable type (quantitative or qualitative); statistical test and regression types. Although statistics were consistently used in these micropropagation experiments, there were several limitations such as small plot sizes, low replication numbers, employing data transformation while neglecting to inform the criteria used or even using the wrong criteria. Although statistical approaches were applied homogeneously, neglecting to use blocking can lead to errors. Blocking is recommended to increase sample size. For example, the times of an experiment or the number of people needed to set up an experiment can be used as blocks. Micropropagation studies typically employ factorial experiments to identify plant regulator types and application rates. Thus, these experiments have numerous treatments. The Tukey test is used for qualitative data while regression models (linear and quadratic) are more frequently used for quantitative data. © 2018, Universidade Federal de Uberlandia. All rights reserved.

Potato is the world’s most important non-cereal food crop, and therefore, it is considered one of the major food sources for humankind. Its conventional propagation is asexual, by using the tuber, which allows the accumulation and dissemination of pathogens to new cultivation areas. This fact not only impairs the yield of this solanaceous plant, but also threatens the maintenance of genotypes for commercial or breeding purposes. Due to the impossibility of using botanical seed, conservation and exchange of germplasm of this species by means of conventional methods are not feasible. In all potato-producing regions, the demand for high-quality tubers has been paramount to ensure crops production. Thus, biotechnological techniques based on tissue culture are very important. Plant tissue culture offers alternative methods of propagation by in vitro techniques that provide production and multiplication of material with high sanity. Thus, this literature review summarizes the history and current situation of tissue culture techniques applied to potato crop. Besides clonal multiplication, this biotechnological tool makes available initial indexed material to breeding programs and certified seed potato, and facilitates the exchange and conservation of germplasm. For all these reasons, the use of these techniques in potato production chain directly benefits producers by providing high-quality propagules. © 2018, Universidade Federal de Uberlandia. All rights reserved.

The objective of this work was to evaluate how salt concentrations in media used for in vitro cultures affect the early development of “barueiro” (Dipteryx alata) seedlings obtained from the shoot apex. Two different in vitro culture media - Murashige & Skoog (MS) and wood plant medium (WPM) - in different salt concentrations (25, 50, 75, and 100%) were used. At 120 days, the D. alata seedlings in the MS medium, in its original concentration (100%), developed better than in other concentrations or in the WPM. Therefore, the MS medium was considered the most suitable for ensuring in vitro establishment because it provided greater root length (27.65 cm) and number of leaves per plant (26 leaves) than the other medium.