A new species of Liriomyza Mik (Diptera, Agromyzidae) on okra in Brazil.[Pubmed: 29690139]

Liriomyza okrae sp. n. is a new species from Brazil that does not have the yellow thoracic spots usually characteristic of the genus. The specimens were collected in Rondônia state (Brazil), reared from okra-Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench (Malvaceae). Detailed descriptions of adult male, larva and puparium are made, and images of the male, male terminalia, larva, puparium and host-plant are given. A key is provided for Neotropical Liriomyza with an entirely dark thorax.

Citrus Epicarp-Derived Biochar Reduced Cd Uptake and Ameliorates Oxidative Stress in Young Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench (okra) Under Low Cd Stress.[Pubmed: 29666898]

Due to the important role of biochar (BC) in reducing metal-toxicity in plants, this study was aimed at assessing the potential of citrus epicarp-derived BC in ameliorating Cd toxicity in young Abelmoschus esculentus (okra) under low Cd toxicity. Okra was grown in soil amended with BC at four treatment levels for 49 days as follows: control (A), sole 1.4 mg Cd/kg-spiked soil (B), 1.4 mg Cd/kg-spiked soil + 1% BC (C) and 1.4 mg Cd/kg-spiked soil + 3% BC (D). The results showed a dose-dependent reduction in shoot accumulation of Cd due to the BC application. In addition, compared to control and sole Cd-amended soil, BC treatments (both at 1% and 3% w/w) decreased the oxidative stress, and enhanced activities of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in the young okra. Generally, the application of BC to the soil was effective in ameliorating the Cd-induced oxidative stress in okra with limited shoot bioaccumulation of Cd.

Genetic control of yellow vein mosaic virus disease tolerance in Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench.[Pubmed: 29666322]

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Deciphering microRNAs and Their Associated Hairpin Precursors in a Non-Model Plant, Abelmoschus esculentus.[Pubmed: 29657290]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial regulatory RNAs, originated from hairpin precursors. For the past decade, researchers have been focusing extensively on miRNA profiles in various plants. However, there have been few studies on the global profiling of precursor miRNAs (pre-miRNAs), even in model plants. Here, for the first time in a non-model plant-Abelmoschus esculentus with negligible genome information-we are reporting the global profiling to characterize the miRNAs and their associated pre-miRNAs by applying a next generation sequencing approach. Preliminarily, we performed small RNA (sRNA) sequencing with five biological replicates of leaf samples to attain 207,285,863 reads; data analysis using miRPlant revealed 128 known and 845 novel miRNA candidates. With the objective of seizing their associated hairpin precursors, we accomplished pre-miRNA sequencing to attain 83,269,844 reads. The paired end reads are merged and adaptor trimmed, and the resulting 40-241 nt (nucleotide) sequences were picked out for analysis by using perl scripts from the miRGrep tool and an in-house built shell script for Minimum Fold Energy Index (MFEI) calculation. Applying the stringent criteria of the Dicer cleavage pattern and the perfect stem loop structure, precursors for 57 known miRNAs of 15 families and 18 novel miRNAs were revealed. Quantitative Real Time (qRT) PCR was performed to determine the expression of selected miRNAs.

Rapid and high-performance adsorptive removal of hazardous acridine orange from aqueous environment using Abelmoschus esculentus seed powder: Single- and multi-parameter optimization studies.[Pubmed: 29649730]

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