Bu çalışma, Giresun ili Şebinkarahisar ilçesinde doğal olarak yetişen Şebinkarahisar Karadut’unun (Morus nigra L.) ilçedeki yetiştiricilik kültürü ve potansiyelini belirlemek üzere yapılmıştır. Ekşi karadut ağaçlarında yaş tahmini üzerine bilimsel bir dendrokronolojik çalışma mevcut olmadığından belirlenen 69 adet karadut ağacından 47 adedinin Cumhuriyet öncesinden kalma anıtsal nitelikte antik ekşi karadut ağacı olduğu belirlenmiştir. Anıt ağaç niteliği taşıdığı saptanan asırlık ağaçlar Şebinkarahisar ilçesinin mahalle ve köylerine yayılmış durumda olmasına rağmen yoğun olarak bağlar bölgesi olarak adlandırılan Avutmuş, Kırkgöz, Biroğul ve İkioğul mahallelerinde yer almaktadır. İlçede ekşi karadut yetiştirilen arazilerin yükseltileri GPS cihazıyla, eğim ve bakı değerleri de ArcGIS-ArcMap 10.3 programı kullanılarak hazırlanan haritalar ile belirlenmiştir. Elde edilen arazi topoğrafyasına ilişkin bu verilerin ilerleyen zamanda Şebinkarahisar koşullarında ekşi karadut (Morus nigra L.) yetiştiriciliğine uygun arazilerin haritalanmasında kullanılabileceği düşünülmektedir. 950-1500 m aralığındaki yükselti değerlerine sahip, % 6-20 (orta) eğim sınıfında yer alan ve güneydoğu, güney, güneybatı, doğu, kuzeydoğu, batı ve kuzey (0°-22.5°) bakılı arazilerin ekşi karadut yetiştiriciliği için uygun olacağı değerlendirilmektedir.

Ex vitro root formation of micro cuttings of Pyrodwarf pear rootstock (Pyrus communis L.) using floating perlite bed and the effects of Indole-3-butric acid (IBA) treatments on the growth performance after five months were determined. Micro cuttings were dipped in 25, 50, 100 or 150 mg L–1 IBA solutions for 10 s for ex vitro rooting, except for the control. The floating perlite bed cultures were kept for 4 weeks at 25 ± 2ºC with a photoperiod of 16 h light (35 μmol∙m−2∙s−1). At the end of the rooting experiment, there were no statistically significant differences among treatments in terms of rooting percentages (77.8

In this study, the potential of float hydroculture for the acclimatization of in vitro plantlets of two wild pear types (Pyrus elaeagrifolia Pall.) and Old Home x Farmingdale 333 (OHxF 333) pear rootstock (P. communis L.) was investigated. The wild pear types are obtained from our dwarf clone rootstock breeding program and are resistant to drought and chlorosis stresses. In vitro plantlets were generated by rooting micro cuttings with 250 mg L - 1 IBA by quick-dip method for 10 s under aseptic conditions. After this treatment, the micro cuttings were cultured on MS basal medium with 1/2 strength of macro and micro elements without growth regulators for 4 weeks. The cultures were incubated in the dark for the first 5 days. For acclimatization by float hydroculture, in vitro plantlets were placed in the cells of a styrofoam tray on plastic tubs (25 cm x 25 cm x 12 cm) filled with tap water. The water was not replaced during acclimatization. The float hydrocultures were incubated for 4 weeks in a climate room at 25 & PLUSMN;2 degrees C with 16 h light (35 & mu;mol & BULL;m - 2 & BULL;s - 1) and 8 h dark photoperiod for 4 weeks. At the end of this period, the percentage of viable plantlets removed from float hydroculture was 84.0%, 62.7% and 64.7% in OHxF 333, AH-32 and AH-75, respectively. These percentages are quite high in wild pear types that could not acclimatize to external conditions with known methods. There was no significant difference between leaf mesophyll thickness of Pyrus plantlets removed from float hydroculture and the mature plants in the orchard. These values varied between 153.0 & PLUSMN; 18.2 & mu;m and 202.4 & PLUSMN; 4.8 & mu;m. In conclusion, float hydroculture is identified as an easy and successful acclimatization technique for genotypes that are particularly difficult to acclimatize in vitro plantlets such as wild pear types.

Salt stress influences the physiological, biochemical, and molecular processes in plants affecting growth and development. This research aims to determine the salt stress tolerance of wild pear genotypes AH-1, AH-2, AH-3 (Pyrus elaeagrifolia Pall.), Ankara Pear clone 19 (AN-19) (P. communis L.) and clonal pear rootstocks OHxF 333 (P. communis L.) and quince (QA) (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) under in vitro conditions. Microshoots of each genotype were cultured in MS medium and subjected to NaCl combined with CaCl2 at four different concentrations for 4 weeks. The survival percentage of the OHxF 333, AN-19, QA, and AH-3 microshoots was found to be high (77.66–97.16

Determination of Fe-efficient rootstock genotypes is important for the success of pear cultivation in calcareous soils. Otherwise, the use of iron-containing fertilizers against Fe-chlorosis for a long time may cause significant environmental hazards. In the present study, the morphological, antioxidant and molecular responses of Pyrus elaeagrifolia (AH-0 and AH-1 wild pear clones), P. communis (OHxF 333) and Cydonia oblonga (QA) as pear rootstocks to iron deficiency were determined in vitro micro shoots. Iron deficiency was created by reducing the amount of ferric-sodium EDTA added as 0.1 mM at full strength in modified Murashige and Skoog's basal medium to 0.03 mM or 0.0 mM. After six weeks in cultures, shoot proliferation percentage, shoot number per explant, shoot length, dry and fresh weight, proline content, H2O2, total chlorophyll and Fe content, CAT (EC 1.11.1.6), SOD (EC 1.15.1.1) and APX (EC 1.11.1.11) activities were determined. The expression of the dehydrin gene DQ660905 originated from Malus domestica associated with stress response was evaluated in Fe-deficient micro shoots at 1, 2, 4, 8 days after stress. According to the findings, the percentage of decrease in the number of shoots and length of wild pear clones were lower than those of OHxF 333 and QA under Fe deficiency. Fresh and dry weights of all genotypes were increased in media containing ferric-sodium EDTA. Under Fe deficiency conditions, total chlorophyll of micro shoots was reduced in all genotypes. However, the decrease was not statistically significant only in the AH-0 wild pear clone. Also, prolin remained statistically the same in this clone with the decrease of ferric-sodium EDTA level in the medium, but increased significantly in other genotypes. APX and SOD activities of AH-1 clone were higher than other genotypes in deficient conditions. Differential expression of the dehydrin gene DQ660905 revealed that the highest increase was determined in QA, AH-1 at day 1, and in AH-0 at day 4. The overall expression of OHxF 333 was lower than the other genotypes. In conclusion, according to the findings of the study, tolerance of wild pear clones to Fe deficiency was higher than OHxF 333 and QA rootstocks.

Turkey has a diverse apple germplasm and Northeastern Anatolia had great contributions to domestication of the Malus genus. Despite quite high rainfall (900-2300 mm) and humidity (70-85%) levels, several local apple cultivars have been successfully grown for centuries at the coastal zone of Eastern Black Sea region of Northeastern Anatolia without any pesticide applications. In this study, a set of 206 local genotypes, including 6 international cultivars as references was analyzed using 13 SSR primers with the aim of assessing the genetic diversity and population structure among the genotypes. Bayesian genetic structure analysis was used to reveal differentiation of the groups and the results were confirmed by factorial correspondence analysis (FCA). A total of 234 alleles (average 18) were generated by 13 SSR markers. CH02c06 was the most informative (PI: 0.017) and CH03g07 was the least informative (PI: 0.07) locus. The average He was 0.859 with a range of 0.775-0.929 and the average Ho was 0.760 with a range of 0.556-0.872. Considerable genetic variation was detected among the genotypes and genetic similarity varied between 11 and 96%. A Bayesian genetic structure analysis indicated three subpopulations (K) and admixture among the accessions. Several loci yielded three alleles in 39 accessions. No synonyms or identical cultivars were detected but several genotypes known by the same names formed 22 homonym groups. The present SSR data will have great contributions to future germplasm management efforts as well as to further comparative studies that investigate genetic relationships among the local apples of Northeastern Anatolia.

In the micropropagation of difficult-to-root plants, the low rates of rooting cause high economic losses. The local apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivar #67, which is highly resistant to fire blight disease, has been shown to have low rooting success. Nanoparticles loaded with auxins could increase the rooting success with their physicochemical properties. To increase rooting percentage, the effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (nZnO), nZnO loaded with indole-3-acetic acid (IAA-nZnO) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA-nZnO) at different concentrations (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0 mg L-1) on in vitro rooting of microcuttings were investigated. The concentrations of auxin carried by the nanoparticles were 2.8, 5.7, 8.0, 10.8, 13.7, 16.0 μM IAA or 2.5, 4.4, 6.9, 9.3, 11.3, 13.8 μM IBA. The various concentrations of IAA (0.0, 2.8, 5.7, 11.4, 17.1 μM) and IBA (0.0, 2.5, 4.9, 9.8, 14.8 μM) were also examined. All substances as described previously were incorporated to half-strength Murashige and Skoog (½ MS) medium containing 2% sucrose at pH 5.8, and solidified with 0.7% agar. The microcuttings were cultured on these media for 5 days in the dark before being transferred to a 16 h photoperiod conditions at 25 ± 1 °C for 6 weeks. It was found that rooting did not occur at 0.0 μM IAA and IBA concentration and nZnO treatments. IBA-nZnO and IBA were more effective on the rooting of microcuttings. In the comparison of IBA-nZnO and IBA, the percentage of rooting was higher in IBA-nZnO (58.4%) than IBA (47.5%). In addition, 4.4 μM or 4.9 μM IBA, particularly, induced many favorable properties with high rooting percentage (62.7%) and root length (16.5 ± 3.5 mm) and a small callus diameter (5.3 ± 0.2 mm). In conclusion, IBA-nZnO loaded with 4.4 μM IBA could be a promising treatment for in vitro rooting of difficult-to-root apple cultivar #67.

The Cappadocia Region in Central Anatolia, Turkey is rich in wild apricot genetic resources. In this study, a multivariate analysis method of metric and nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS) was used to classify 43 wild apricot genotypes and 5 standard cultivars by using Euclidean distance. MDS was applied, based on dissimilarities, to quantitative traits of weight, height, width and thickness of fruit, stone and kernel weight, flesh/stone ratio, total soluble solids content, titratable acidity and pH in fruit juice, and sensory attributes of fruit size and shape, cavity depth, suture (cheek line), fruit apex, fruit attractiveness, skin pubescence, ground and over color (blush), eating quality, aroma, firmness and juiciness of flesh, uniformity of ripening of fruit, flesh color and texture, skin cracking and pit burn susceptibility, separation of stone, stone size and shape (lateral view), stone surface and kernel taste. The results showed that most of the wild apricots (91.66%) had small sized fruits ranging from 10.5 g (type #53) to 79.3 g (type #68) with an average of 25.27 ± 2.44 g. The genotypes had fair or good eating quality and aroma, good fruit attractiveness and light bitter or sweet kernel taste in general. The harvest date showed quite a wide range between late June and early September among the genotypes. The sufficient number of dimensions was determined by stress value and pseudo-R2 statistics, then relative positions of genotypes were displayed on graphics. The Aprikoz was the most distinct cultivated apricot from the wild genotypes. Both MDS analyses revealed that most of the wild genotypes had similar fruit characteristics while genotypes of #13, #20, #39, #60, #64, #68 differed the most. The wild apricot individuals with interesting features could be used as a parent in apricot breeding programs for the development of commercial cultivars.

Nanocarriers for encapsulation and sustained release of agrochemicals such as auxins have emerged as an attractive strategy to provide enhanced bioavailability and efficacy for improved crop yields and nutrition quality. Here, a comparative study was conducted on the effectiveness of chitosan‐as a biopolymeric nanocarrier‐ and silver‐as a metallic nanocarrier‐ on in vitro adventitious rooting potential of microcuttings in apple rootstocks, for the first time. Auxins indole‐3‐acetic acid (IAA) and indole‐3‐butyric acid (IBA) loaded silver (nAg) or chitosan nanoparticles (nChi) were synthesized. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies showed the spherical shape of the nanoparticles. The average particle size of IAA‐nChi was 167.5 ± 0.1 nm while that of IBA‐nChi was 123.2 ± 2.6 nm. The hydrodynamic diameter of the nAg‐IAA and nAg‐IBA particles were measured as 93.66 ± 5 nm and 71.41 ± 3 nm, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses confirmed the encapsulation of IAA or IBA in the chitosan nanoparticles. Meanwhile, the characteristic peaks of IAA or IBA were detected on silver nanoparticles. In‐vitro adventitious rooting of microcuttings of Malling Merton 106 (MM 106) was significantly higher both in chitosan and silver nanoparticles loaded with IAA or IBA (91.7%–62.5%) compared to free IAA or IBA applications (50.0%–33.3%), except for 2.0 mg L –1 IBA (66.7%). However, the application of 2 mg L –1 IBA and IBA‐nChi at all concentrations caused an undesirable large callus development.

Ahlat (Pyrus elaeagrifolia Pall.), özellikle kuraklık ve kloroz streslerine dayanıklılığın amaçlandığı armut klon anaç ıslah programları için önemli bir gen kaynağıdır. Bu çalışma, köklenmesi zor olan türler arasında yer alan ahlatta ümitvar dört klonda (Ahlat 32, Ahlat 50, Ahlat 75 ve Ahlat 78) mikro çeliklerin köklenmesi üzerine farklı indol bütirik asit (IBA) dozlarının etkilerini belirlemek amacıyla yapılmıştır. İn vitro köklendirme çalışmalarında makro ve mikro element düzeyi ½ kuvvetindeki Murashige ve Skoog temel besin ortamı kullanılmıştır. Büyümeyi düzenleyici madde içermeyen bu ortama %2 sakaroz ilave edilmiş, ortamın pH’sı 5.8’e ayarlanmış ve %0.7 agar ile katılaştırılmıştır. Kontrol uygulaması dışında mikro çeliklere 250, 500, 1000 ve 2000 ppm IBA, aseptik koşullarda 10 saniye süreyle hızlı daldırma yöntemiyle uygulanmıştır. Kültürler ilk 5 günü tamamen karanlıkta olmak üzere toplam 4 hafta süreyle 16 saat aydınlık koşullarda inkübe edilmiştir. Bu sürenin sonunda mikro çeliklerde köklenme oranı, köklenmiş mikro çeliklerde köklenme düzeyi ve kallus düzeyi tespit edilmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda, ahlat mikro çeliklerinde köklenme oranlarının genotiplere ve IBA dozlarına göre önemli düzeyde değiştiği belirlenmiştir. Kontrol grubundaki genotiplerde köklenme meydana gelmemiştir. En yüksek köklenme oranları Ahlat 32’de %72.5, %84.0 (500 ve 1000 ppm), Ahlat 50’de %90.0 (250 ppm), Ahlat 75’de %57.5, %48.0, %48.0, %51.4 (250, 500, 1000 ve 2000 ppm), Ahlat 78’de %92.6, %85.7 (250 ve 500 ppm) olarak kaydedilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, köklenme ve kallus düzeyleri açısından 250 ppm ve 500 ppm IBA dozlarının ümitvar ahlat klonlarının mikro çeliklerinin in vitro köklendirilmesi için uygun olduğu belirlenmiştir.

In this study, antioxidant activity and total phenolics in fruit flesh and fruit flesh + skin tissue of local apple cultivars encountered along the coastal zone of Northeastern Anatolia Region (Turkey) and 5 standard cultivars were determined. In local cultivars, antioxidant activities (mu mol Trolox equivalent (TE) antioxidant g fresh weight (fw)(-1)) varied between 0.17-1.70 in fruit flesh and between 0.35-1.55 in fruit flesh + skin tissue; in standard cultivars, the values varied between 0.24 ('Royal Gala') and 0.29 ('Granny Smith' and 'Pink Lady') in fruit flesh and between 0.27 ('Jonagold') and 0.61 ('Royal Gala') in fruit flesh + skin tissue. In local cultivars, total phenolics (Gallic acid equivalent (GAE) kg fw(-1)) varied between 53.26- 00.54 in fruit flesh and between 89.32-406.91 in fruit flesh + skin tissue; the values in standard cultivars varied between 56.30 ('Royal Gala') and 124.64 ('Jonagold') in fruit flesh and between 102.73 ('Summerred') and 198.72 ('Jonagold') in fruit flesh + skin tissue. Present findings revealed that local cultivars generally had 3-4 times greater antioxidant activity and total phenolics than the standard cultivars. Fruit flesh + skin tissue generally had greater antioxidant activity and total phenolics than the fruit flesh alone. However, the local apple cultivar of - 'Hemsin Elmasi' had greater values of both parameters in fruit flesh than in fruit flesh + skin tissue.

Spring late frost is the most important problem in apricot growing. One of the effective and long-lasting solutions is the development of genotypes with frost resistance as well as late flowering. In this study, low temperature resistance of 36 wild apricots (Prunus armeniaca L.), selected for their survival after severe spring late frosts in their natural environments among the rich genetic resources of Cappadocia (Nevsehir-Turkey) was determined by artificial freezing tests in controlled conditions. Apricot cultivars of Hacihaliloglu, Kabaasi, Hasanbey, Aprikoz and Levent were used as control. Low temperatures were applied to flower buds, flowers and young fruits at red calyx (-8 degrees C), balloon (-8 degrees C), full flowering (-4 degrees C), petal fall (-3 degrees C) and young fruit (-3 degrees C) stages for 2 hours. The cooling rate was 2 degrees C h(-1) with linear decline. Survival rates (%) of female organs in flowers and seeds in young fruits were determined by visual assesments, and by electrical conductivity (mu S.cm(-1)) measurements which is an indication of ion leakage from damaged tissues in genotypes. The results showed that resistance of the wild apricots to low temperatures varied by developmental stage. Overall, most of the genotypes had higher survival rates than the standard apricot cultivars. However, genotypes # 24 and 45 exhibited high viability rates (68.3% <) and low EC values (< 30.1%) at many stages of development in both years, and were considered resistant to spring late frosts. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis with the genotypes' survival rate (%) and electrical conductivity (mu S cm(-1)) data together without discrimination of growth stage placed these two genotypes in the same group.

Cappadocia region of Anatolia hosts the third largest wild apricot population in Turkey. The objective of the study was to characterize 44 wild apricot genotypes selected from Cappadocia Region (Nevşehir-Turkey) as prominent with their late flowering, resistance to spring late frosts, large fruit sizes and/or late fruit ripening characteristics and 5 reference apricot cultivars (‘Hacıhaliloğlu’, ‘Kabaaşı’, ‘Hasanbey’, ‘Aprikoz’ and ‘Levent’) with SSR (simple sequence repeats) markers. A total of 16 SSR primers were used and 13 of them were successfully amplified. Total number of alleles was107, average number of alleles was 8.23; average He and Ho values were 0.722 and 0.669, respectively. Polymorphism information content (PIC) values varied between 0.471 and 0.845. There was a quite high genetic diversity among wild apricot genotypes that genetic similarity values varied between 12 and 96%. Homonymous and synonymous genotypes were not encountered.

The aim of this work was to investigate the use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (nZnO) as nanocarriers for plant auxins indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and determine the effects on rhizogenesis in micro cuttings of different Pyrus species. Auxin loaded nanoparticles (IAA-nZnO and IBA-nZnO) were characterized for particle size, morphology, thermal behavior and chemical structure. A high loading capacity was observed for both auxins (˜90%). Bioactivity assays were performed by using micro cuttings of Pyrus genotypes (Pyrus elaeagrifolia Pall and Pyrus communis L.) under aseptic conditions by dilute solution soaking method. In vitro rooting efficiency was increased at least two folds for the difficult-to-root wild pear (Pyrus elaeagrifolia Pallas) with IAA or IBA loaded ZnO nanoparticles. In this genotype, the highest rooting percentage was achieved for IBA-nZnO and IAA-nZnO at 400 mgL-1 concentration as 50.0% and 41.7%, respectively. Thus, auxin loaded ZnO nanoparticles could be used as efficient nanocarriers in agricultural applications.

North Eastern Anatolia had a significant contribution to development of cultivated apple. A lot of local apple genotypes have been successfully grown without any pesticide applications despite to high rainfall (900-2300 mm) and humidity (70-85%) especially at the coastal part of the Eastern Black Sea Region of North Eastern Anatolia. We have investigated and selected local apple genotypes from the region which could be of importance for apple breeding by fruit attributes. In this study, sensory characteristics (186 accessions) and quantitative characteristics (176 accessions) determined based on Apple Descriptor, and were analyzed by Multidimensional Scaling analysis. Harvest maturity dates classified the genotypes into early season (19), mid season (13) and late season (154) apples. Among the genotypes, 39.25% had medium-sized fruits, 53.23% had intermediate attractiveness, 50% had ground color of green-yellow, 59.68% had skin over color of red, 61.29% had good eating quality and 53.76% had fine flesh texture. Quantitative characters showed large variation that fruit weight ranged from 27.4 g to 246.4 g, SSC from 8.6% to 15.4%, TA from 0.08% to 2.24%. Multidimensional Scaling analysis indicated that the genotypes harvested in early and mid-season exhibited larger variation for sensory and quantitative characteristics than did late season apples. Although several genotypes were differentiated for investigated characteristics and/or variables in early and late season groups, mid-season apples did not tend to form any cluster.

In this study, 50 promising cultivars, suitable for fresh consumption and without alternate bearing from 241 local apple genotypes of Coastal Zone of Eastern Black Sea Region which were planted in the collection orchard at Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture were characterized by morphological traits as fruit attributes based on UPOV and apple descriptor. Fruits of local apple cultivars were, in general, small to medium or medium to large, globose, skin ground color was yellow green, over color was solid flush pink red, flesh was firm and white in color, fruit attractiveness and eating quality was good, and texture was fine. The average fruit weight was 74.3-258.2 g, fruit length was 48.0-71.7 mm, fruit diameter was 54.3-77.3 mm, length/diameter ratio was 0.76-1.03, flesh firmness 71.7-104.8 N, SSC was 11.8-16.9%, titratable acidity was 0.27-1.78%. Among the 50 genotypes, 3 summer type, 4 fall type and 10 winter type genotypes, 17 in total, were found promising based on pomology. These were 41, 50, 150 (summer types); 103, 111, 180, 208 (fall types) and 29, 46, 58, 93, 100, 120, 131, 152, 194, 213 (winter types) coded local cultivars.

Turkey ranks the third in the production of chestnuts in the world having an important place both in domestic and global markets. However, the chestnut production and the number of trees have been diminishing in recent years. Therefore, in vitro propagation of the chestnut, in addition to the classical propagation techniques, should be applied. Especially the propogation of the early maturing cultivars and production of the quality chestnuts will provide a better income to the producer. Here, somatic embryo production and regeneration from the immature cotyledons of the early maturing cultivars of the European chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill), Haciibis and Karamehmet, were studied using the somatic embryogenesis, one of the in vitro propagation techniques. To induce the somatic embryogenesis, 168 different combinations were applied to both cultivars. The somatic embryogenesis rate in Haciibis cultivar, in which the interactions were observed among the applications, was found to be 9.9% while it was 11.1% for the Karamehmet cultivar. Dessication, cold treatment, gibberellic acid (GA3) and benzyladenine (BA) + naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) applications were performed on the regeneration of the somatic embryos, and 40% conversion to plant was obtained with desiccation together with BA + NAA supplementation to the medium.