NOTES ON VERBASCUM L., FROM SAUDI ARABIA WITH DESCRIPTION OF EIGHT NEW SPECIES
ABSTRACT:
Eight new species of Verbascum L., from Saudi Arabia viz., Verbascum abyadicum F.M. AI-Hemaid, V asiricum F.M. AI-Hemajd, V chaudharyanum F.M. AI-Hemaid, V hema-figranum F.M. AI-Hemaid, V medinecum F.M. AI-Hemaid, V sheilae F.M. AI-Hemaid, V shiqricum F.M. A1-Hemaid and V tabukum F .M. AI-Hemaid are described along with their relationship, habitats and key to the eight new species.

POLLEN MORPHOLOGY OF CARYOPHYLLACEAE SPECIES FROM TURKEY
ABSTRACT:
The pollen morphology of 45 species

DISTRIBUTION OF ELEMENTS IN MARINE ALGAE OF KARACHI COAST
ABSTRACT:
Seventeen species of green, brown and red seaweeds collected from Manora, Buleji and Paradise Point near Karachi coast of Pakistan were analyzed for their elemental composition with the help of Perkin Elmer 3100 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer. Several significant elements e.g., Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, Pb and Zn were detected quantitatively. Ca, Fe, K, Mg and Na were found in large amounts (223.79-13129.56 ppm), Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn were present in small quantities (1.27-10.49 ppm), while Cd and Co were detected in extremely small amounts (0.39-1.10 ppm). The average quantity of Na was found to be the highest among these algae (13129.56 ppm), followed by K (11655.71 ppm) and Ca (4242.17 ppm) with low quantity of Cr (1.27 ppm), Co (1.10 ppm) and Cd (0.39 ppm).

CYSTOTRICHIOPSIS ABBAS, SUTTON & GHAFFAR GEN.NOV., AN ADDITION TO COELOMYCETES FROM PAKISTAN
ABSTRACT:
Cystotrichiopsis gen.nov., and C. salvadorae sp.nov., on Salvadora oleoides is described, illustrated and compared with related taxa.

IN VlTRO CONTROL OF UROMYCES STRIATUS SCHROET., THE CAUSE OF LEAF RUST OF LUCERNE
ABSTRACT:
Spore germination of Uromyces striatus, the cause of leaf rust on lucerne was significantly reduced on tap water agar (TWA) pieces containing different doses (1

ACCUMULATION OF PHYTOALEXINS AND PHENYLALANINE AMMONIA LYASE IN CHICKPEA AFTER INOCULATION WITH ASCOCHYTA RABIEI AND THEIR ROLE IN DEFENCE MECHANISM
ABSTRACT:
The production of phytoalexins and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) was measured in resistant and susceptible varieties of chickpea after inoculation with Ascochyta rabiei. The pterocarpan phytoalexins, medicarpin and maackiain were produced in chickpea plant tissues in response to inoculation. Maximum production of both the phytoalexins was obtained 24 hours after inoculation in resistant varieties, whereas it took five to nine days to reach its maximum in susceptible varieties. This accumulation was preceded by a transient rise in activity of PAL, the first enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of phytoalexins. Maximum PAL activity was observed 12 to 24 hours after inoculation which coincided with the period of most rapid phytoalexin accumulation. These results suggested that rapid production of phytoalexins is the part of defence mechanism in chickpea and PAL has a regulatory role in the biosynthesis of these secondary metabolites.

EFFECT OF SOWING METHODS AND HERBICIDES ON WEEDS AND YEILD OF COTTON (GOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM L.)
ABSTRACT:
Effect of two sowing methods i.e., ridge and flat sowing and different herbicides viz., pendimethalin (Stomp 330E) @ 1.03 kg a.i.ha-¹, pendimethalin (Stomp 445SC) @ 0.89 & 1.11 kg a.i.ha-¹ and s-metolachlor (Dual gold 960EC) @ 1.92 & 2.40 kg a.i.ha-¹ on weeds and yield of seed cotton was studied under field conditions. All the herbicides significantly reduced the dry weight of weeds as compared to weedy check. Maximum reduction (76%) was observed in s-metolachlor @ 2.40 kg a.i.ha-¹. All the herbicides resulted in significantly maximum number of sympodial branches per plant than weedy check. Maximum number of mature bolls and seed cotton weight was recorded in s-metolachlor @ 1.92 kg a.i.ha-¹. Weedy check gave significantly minimum seed cotton yield of 547.39 kg ha-¹ compared with 1450.74 kg ha-¹ in s-metolachlor 1.92 kg a.i.ha-¹.

FATE OF THE 15N-LABELLED UREA APPLIED TO IRRIGATED WHEAT GROWN AFTER COTTON HARVEST UNDER SEMIARID SUBTROPICAL CONDITIONS
ABSTRACT:
Fate of the fertilizer-N applied to irrigated wheat grown after cotton harvest was studied under field conditions using 15N-balance method. Of the total urea-N applied (100 kg ha-1), 47.7 kg N ha-1 was utilized by the wheat crop, the recovery being maximum in the grain component (30.0 kg N ha-1), followed by straw (16.9 kg N ha-1) and roots (0.9 kg N ha-1. Of the 24.3 kg N ha-1 of the fertilizer-N remaining in the soil at the crop harvest, most (22.2 kg N ha-1 was present in the organic form, whereas maximum (15.6 kg N ha-1 was recovered in the upper 10 cm soil layer. Total fertilizer-N loss during the wheat-growing season amounted to 28 kg N ha-1, which was 1.5 times the denitrification loss directly measured from the same field.

SALT TOLERANCE IN SOYBEAN (GLYCINE MAX L.): EFFECT ON GROWTH AND ION RELATIONS
ABSTRACT:
A water culture experiment was conducted to study the growth and ions relations in four cultivars of soybean (Glycine max L., cv. Loppa, Egyptian, AGS-160 and ICAL-132) over a range of salinity (10-40 mM NaCl) at different stages of development. Increase in salinity caused a significant decrease in fresh and dry weight of shoot. Relative growth rate (RGR) decreased with increasing salt levels and at different stages of development. Cv. AGS-160 generally exhibited the lowest RGR and ICAL-132 the highest, while Loppa and Egyptian were intermediary. Sodium concentrations increased with increase in salinity while potassium concentration decreased. Salinity tolerance was generally associated with efficient sodium regulation in shoot. Potassium concentration and K fluxes were the highest in control and decreased under salinity. The magnitude of this reduction was dependent on the tolerance of the cultivars. A high K/Na ratio was generally associated with better salt tolerance.

IDENTIFICATION OF GENETICALLY SUPERIOR HYBRIDS IN CHICKPEA (CICER ARlETINUM L.)
ABSTRACT:
The direct utilization of heterosis in legumes is limited due to cleistogamous nature of their flower. However, information on genetic parameters such as heterosis, heritability and genetic Ann. advance may be used for the identification of superior hybrids. Such hybrids have high probability of developing better pure lines. In the present investigation F1 hybrids between 14 chickpea, 93: varieties were studied for heterosis and heritability estimates in various traits. The results showed that there were significant differences between genotypes for all the characters studied. The high heterotic effects were recorded for secondary branches, biological yield, number of pods/plant, grain yield and plant height. The hybrid of C727 and CM72 exhibited maximum heterosis for branches per plant, biological yield and pods/plant. Another hybrid, "ICC13416 X C727'. Showed k p maximum heterotic effect for grain yield. Heritability estimates for different characters revealed, that the hybrid. (F87508C X F85-114C) had high heritability for plant height, biological yield, and pods/plant, grain yield and 100 seed weight. Another hybrid (F87-508 X F85-114C) had high heritability for plant height and grain yield whereas F84-508C X ICC13301 showed high heritability for 100 seed weight. Simultaneous study of heterosis and heritability revealed that there an was no systematic relationship between these two parameters. High heterotic effects coupled with high heritability were observed in ICCI3728 X CAI18608 for number of secondary branches biological yield, pods/plant and grain yield/plant. The heterotic effects exhibited by this hybrid appeared to be genetically based as dominant proportion of its variability was heritable. Therefore, this hybrid could be used effectively for the simultaneous improvement of more than one character through selection of single plants with combination of various traits.

EVALUATION OF GENETIC STABILITY IN THE BLACKCURRANT PLANTS REGENERATED VIA MICROPROPAGATION USING RAPD-PCR TECHNIQUE
ABSTRACT:
Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) cultivar Ben Sark was multiplied using meristem culture up to 16 generations. The leaves from each generation/subculture were collected and used to isolate DNA. RAPD-PCR technique was used to evaluate the genetic purity of the regenerated plants. The DNA profile of parent explant source and 16 regenerated plants were screened using 12 ten base random primers. Only reproducible fragments with intense bands were scored which generated 77 DNA fragments, thus 1540 bases were explored in this set of experiment. All the regenerated plants upto 14 subculture showed 100% similarity. In subculture 15 and 16, the similarity were 93.7 and 86% with variation 6.2 and 13.4, respectively. Production of variant plants from meristem culture is not good for commercial propagation. However, it could be minimised by reducing the subculture cycle. Additionally, this variability could be used for further improvement and selection of new cultivars and an important source of variability be exploited.

EFFECT OF GAMMA RADIATION ON SECONDARY SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS IN NUCELLUS CULTURES OF CITRUS CULTIVARS
ABSTRACT:
Secondary somatic embryogenesis from 33 Citrus cultivars was studied with 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 Kr doses of gamma radiation. Somatic embryogenesis and radiation sensitivity was cultivar dependent. Kinnow, Jaffa, Valencia, Blood red, Feutrell's early and Gada dehi showed good aptitude for embryo development while Chakotra, Tangerin, Eureka lemon, Kharna khatta, Chinese lemon, Gada dehi showed suppression of embryogenesis at 12 Kr radiation dose.

GENOTYPING OF A NEW STRAIN OF LENTIL (LENS CULINARIS MEDIK.) BY DNA FINGERPRINTING
ABSTRACT:
The objective of the present study was to find out the extent of genetic diversity among the 4 lentil cultivars viz., Masur-85, Masur-93, an exotic variety Precos (introduced in NWFP, Pakistan as Mansehra-89) and a newly released strain NIAB-Lentil. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was used to evaluate the genetic diversity among the four lentil cultivars which were analysed with 20 random decamer primers. Out of 20, thirteen primers detected polymorphism in all varieties and six primers amplified the monomorphic DNA bands only a single primer could not amplify the genomic DNA of all the varieties. Similarity matrix was obtained after multivariant analysis using Nei and Li's coefficients. The coefficients of similarity matrix were used to construct dendrogram by the unweighted pair group method of arithmetic means (UPGMA). Three varieties viz., Masur-85, Masur-93 and NIAB-Lentil can be clustered in one group and the Precos in the second group. The similarity between the exotic variety Precos and the other three viz., NIAB-Lentil, Masur-93 and s. Masur-85 ranges from 45.15 to 64.25%. However, the similarity between the local adapted cultivars ranges from 77.88 to 86.36%. The analysis revealed that the inter-varietal genetic relationships of the varieties are related to their place of origin. It is therefore, proposed that the local varieties have narrow genetic base. The information collected can be utilised to map novel genes for different traits. Moreover, the information will provide a guideline to draw future breeding strategies and also help to enforce the intellectual breeders rights in the country.

SEASONAL VARIATION IN ECOPHYSIOLOGY OF AVICENNIA MARINA POPULATIONS GROWING IN POLLUTED ARABIAN SEA COAST AROUND KARACHI
ABSTRACT:
Seasonal variation in water relations and nutrient content of six Avicennia marina populations in various creeks of the Arabian Sea near Karachi, Pakistan was studied. Extra nutrients, both in sediments and plant samples increased with the onset of monsoon during July-August. Highest concentrations of nutrients were recorded in samples collected from Korangi creek population while lowest values were from Rehri. Ammonium and sodium concentrations were highest both in plant and sediment samples. Water potential of plants was more negative during the dry and more saline period, while stomatal conductance substantially decreased.