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1. Morphological and Anatomical Development of Solanum Lycopersicum Seedlings Grown With Non-Conventional Water

   Anoruo, Ambrose; Turner, Benjamin; Garcia, Michelle; Nelson, Shad; Donato-Molina, Maria (May 2024, Int J Agri Res Env Sci)

   Morphological and anatomical measurements of Solanum lycopersicum L. seedlings grown with diluted seawater in the greenhouse were analyzed to understand the effects of non-conventional water on the growth and development of the species. The salinity of the non-conventional water ranged from 8.15mS/cm to 9.85mS/cm which corresponds to 0.5% to 2.0% seawater (v/v) in freshwater dilution. The results indicate that no significant difference exists in anatomical and morphological growth and development of the species compared to those grown with freshwater. Thee study concludes that adoption of this type of non-conventional water resource in greenhouse crop production will save between 415,000 to 1,660,000 liters of freshwater for the United States fresh harvest-producing greenhouses per day. It further concludes that the results represent an effective freshwater conservation strategy for the United States and the world at large. 

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2. Studies on production of Anaheim pepper in greenhouse media supplemented with organic and inorganic nutrient sources, and water conservation

   https://doi.org/10.24154/jhs.v18i2.2005  

   Lebaka, Rishitha; Tuner, Benjamin; Nelson, Shad; Anoruo, Ambrose (November 2023, Journal of Horticultural Sciences)

   Kumar, R (Ed.)

   An experiment was conducted in the greenhouse to study growth, development, yield and water-use by Anahein pepper grown in a potting mixture supplemented with MiracleGro® (9:4:12) and milled alfalfa (3:1:2) as sources of nutrient. The study was comprised of 5 treatments, control (C), 3 gL-1 MiracleGro® (MG), 9 g alfalfa mill supplement (SA-1), 18 g (SA-2), and 27 g (SA-3), and replicated 6 times. Ten physiological and morphological parameters were used to evaluate growth, development and yield of the Anaheim pepper, and two parameters used to evaluate the water holding capacity of the potting mixture. The results indicate that the potting medium supplemented with alfalfa mill required significantly less water to support growth and development of the species. Also, growth, development and yield of Anaheim pepper was significantly higher in the organic supplements at SA-2 and SA-3. 

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3. Using oxygen isotopes and a high-resolution ocean model to investigate the influence of bottom water temperature on Arctica islandica growth on the continental shelf of the northeastern United States

   Whitney, N; Thatcher, D; Berg, J; Hauser, A; Sun, H; Walton, A; Ummenhofer, C; Wanamaker, A; Biastoch, A; Martin, T; et al (February 2024, Ocean Sciences Meeting)

   Arctica islandica (ocean quahog), a commercially-important, long-lived bivalve species, is abundant on much of the northeastern United States continental shelf. Several recent studies have noted increases in growth rates of these clams over the last 200 years at some locations in the southern Mid-Atlantic Bight region whereas growth rates at sites farther north have remained constant through time. It has been suggested that these changes in growth rate are related to warming in the more southerly sites. However, a direct comparison between site-specific bottom-water temperatures and A. islandica growth rates has not been done. We present oxygen isotope data measured in Arctica islandica shells, a proxy for seawater temperature, paired with simulated temperature from high-resolution ocean model output to investigate the relationship between A. islandica shell growth rate and bottom water temperatures throughout the northeastern United States continental shelf. The relationship between oxygen isotopes and growth rate in A. islandica is assessed at several locations, including the continental shelf offshore New Jersey and Long Island, and the Georges Bank region. Bottom water temperature trends at these locations are further assessed using the VIKING20X ocean model, which uses JRA55-do (55-year Japanese Atmospheric Reanalysis for driving ocean-sea-ice models) atmospheric forcing from 1958 to present and nests a 1/20° Atlantic Ocean in a 1 ⁄ 4° global domain. The results of this work have implications for the ocean quahog fishery, in particular as water temperatures off the eastern coast of the United States are predicted to continue to increase in response to global climate change. Additionally, this research lends insights into the use of A. islandica growth as a paleoclimate proxy for bottom water temperature. 

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4. Tocopherols, Phylloquinone, Ascorbic Acid, and Sugar Contents in Hydroponically Grown Lettuce

   https://doi.org/10.21273/JASHS05298-23  

   Murray, Jesse J.; Latimer, Scott R.; Simonne, Amarat H.; Basset, Gilles J.; Hochmuth, Robert C.; Sandoya, Germán V. (May 2023, Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science)

   Growing vegetables in controlled environments (CEs), such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and vertical structures, is a rapidly expanding industry in Florida and the United States, especially in nearby urban areas. Although lettuce ( Lactuca sativa ) is still mostly produced in fields, growing in CEs proximal to urban areas has become increasingly popular because it may facilitate reduced transportation time and associated postharvest degradation. Lettuce is among the top-most consumed vegetables in the United States and could provide some of the nutrition missing in the US diet. This research was planned to understand the levels of some vitamins that are key for human health, including vitamin E (tocopherols), vitamin K 1 (phylloquinone), and vitamin C (ascorbic acid), in lettuce grown in greenhouse hydroponics. Lettuce germplasm was grown using the hydroponic nutrient film technique system in three greenhouse experiments: at the beginning, middle, and end of the Florida, USA, growing season (from Aug 2020 to Mar 2021). Genetic variation for these vitamins were found among the germplasm tested in the four morphological types of lettuce, romaine, Boston, Latin, and leaf. In addition, a sugar analysis was conducted in this germplasm, of which fructose was the most abundant sugar. A significant genotype × environment (G × E) interaction was observed, indicating that the levels of these compounds, especially vitamins, was environment dependent. However, the presence of certain non-crossover G × E interactions indicates that selecting lettuce in a representative environment could result in new cultivars with higher vitamin content. This research marks the initial steps to improve lettuce for these vitamins, which can contribute to better health of US consumers, not for the highest amount of these compounds in lettuce but for the offset due to its high consumption. 

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5. Effects of Deficit Irrigation in Pepper Plants (Capsicum annuum) Grown Under Greenhouse Conditions

   Morgan, Eva I; Zamora, Erik; Nelson, Shad D; Donato-Molina, Consuelo; Anoruo, Ambrose (January 2024, World Journal of Agriculture and Soil Science)

   Water is a vital component for agricultural productivity; however, freshwater supplies are limited and are dwindling worldwide. Water for agriculture is an extreme issue for the southern region of Texas, where water supplies from reservoirs are used for municipal, industrial, and agricultural purposes. Due to intensive and prolonged intermittent droughts in south Texas, freshwater sources can deplete rapidly leaving growers on water restrictions. One potential solution of reducing the amount of water for crops is by applying less water than recommended crop evapotranspiration requires. Deficit irrigation (DI) is the practice of applying lower amounts of water than general crop requirements to increase water use efficiency for economic benefit. Deficit irrigation practice has been shown to be beneficial to some fruit and vegetable crops, but to a lesser extent in south Texas for mild heat pepper plant production. The purpose of this project was to analyze how watering jalapeño and serrano pepper plants at different levels of DI would impact plant growth and fruit yield in a greenhouse study. Deficit irrigation treatments were performed by irrigating pots at increasing the number of days between irrigation events (water application: 2, 4, 8, and 12 days) to create increasing water stress levels to plants. Plant growth and biomass data was collected to determine the impact of increasing deficit irrigation on plant shoot productivity. In both varieties, plant biomass steadily decreased as water application decreased. Serrano peppers grown at both 4d and 2d between water application events produced identical yields, however, increased water stress immediately impacted jalapeño peppers with lower yield. The encouraging results from serrano peppers suggest a potential economic benefit for deficit irrigation water use practices applied to this pepper variety. 

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