Papers by Zulkarami Berahim

Plants
This current investigation was undertaken both in laboratory and glasshouse for documentation and... more This current investigation was undertaken both in laboratory and glasshouse for documentation and quantification of phytochemicals from different parts of the parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorus L.) plant through LC-MS and HPLC to study their effect on two crops namely, Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean L.) and maize (Zea mays L.), and six different types of weed e.g., Digitaria sanguinalis, Eleusine indica, Ageratum conyzoides, Cyperus iria, Euphorbia hirta, and Cyperus difformis. The parthenium methanolic leaf extracts at 25, 50, 75, and 100 g L−1 were sprayed in the test crops and weeds to assess their physiological and biochemical reactions after 6, 24, 48, and 72 h of spraying these compounds (HAS). The LC-MS analysis confirmed seven types of phytochemicals (caffeic acid, ferulic acid, vanillic acid, parthenin, chlorogenic acid, quinic acid, and p-anisic acid) in the parthenium leaf extract that were responsible for the inhibition of tested crops and weeds. From the HPLC a...

Water stress is one of the key restriction factors in rice cultivation worldwide. It reduces the ... more Water stress is one of the key restriction factors in rice cultivation worldwide. It reduces the production of rice, the incomes of farmers, and stockpiles of rice and leads to increases in rice imports. Under conditions of limited water supply, filled grains are the most affected part of rice plants, especially at the booting stage. However, plants can adapt to such situations, using different approaches in combination with better management practices. The foliar application of polyamines to rice plants could represent an alternative method of managing water stress. The application of polyamines could affect the synthesis of starch and sucrose and enhance enzyme activity in rice grains. This chapter discusses the role of polyamines in enhancing the grain filling of rice by improving starch and sucrose synthesis in both greenhouses and field trials under water-stressed conditions as a possible approach to developing sustainable rice cultivation practices.

Scientific Reports, Nov 15, 2022
WeedLock is a broad-spectrum plant-based bioherbicide that is currently on the market as a ready-... more WeedLock is a broad-spectrum plant-based bioherbicide that is currently on the market as a ready-touse formulation. In this study, we investigated the physiological and biochemical effects of WeedLock (672.75 L ha-1) on Ageratum conyzoides L., Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn, Zea mays L., and Amaranthus gangeticus L. at four different time points. WeedLock caused significant reductions in chlorophyll pigment content and disrupted photosynthetic processes in all test plants. The greatest inhibition in photosynthesis was recorded in A. conyzoides at 24 h post-treatment with a 74.88% inhibition. Plants treated with WeedLock showed increased malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline production, which is indicative of phytotoxic stress. Remarkably, MDA contents of all treated plants increased by more than 100% in comparison to untreated. The activity of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) was elevated following treatment with WeedLock. Significant increases were observed in the SOD activity of A. conyzoides ranging from 69.66 to 118.24% from 6 to 72 h post-treatment. Our findings confirm that WeedLock disrupts the normal physiological and biochemical processes in plants following exposure and that its mode of action is associated with ROS (reactive oxygen species) production, similar to that of PPO (protoporphyrinogen oxidase) inhibitors, although specific site-of-action of this novel bioherbicide warrants further investigation.
Journal of Natural Fibers, Mar 30, 2023

IOP conference series, Jun 1, 2022
Rice is the staple food for most people in Southeast Asia, mainly Malaysia. Unfortunately, Malays... more Rice is the staple food for most people in Southeast Asia, mainly Malaysia. Unfortunately, Malaysia does not reach a 100% self-sufficiency level on rice production due to inefficiency of rice farm management, pest and disease outbreak, poorly irrigation system, and climate change. Each spectral band of electromagnetic signature in the rice crops can be identified to analyse the crop condition based on the reflectance value. Therefore, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can capture different spectral band images of the rice field depending on the sensors used. This study aims to produce a paddy growth map based on the normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) value and validate the paddy growth map using the soil plant analysis development (SPAD) data. This study was carried out at the paddy field planted with PadiU Putra rice variety in Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA), Jitra in Kedah. Three reading samples for each point at the paddy field within 1 m radius were recorded. Then, the samples from each point were scanned using SPAD chlorophyll meter. The image data were collected using multispectral and RGB cameras at the altitude of 60 m, and a calibrated reflectance panel was used to calibrate the image. Ground control point (GCP) was placed at the four corners of the study plot, and it was being used as a georeferencing point for aerial imagery mapping. Those images were undergone orthomosaic process to produce a single overlapped image. NDVI was used to measure the healthy level of rice crops. NDVI map had shown the distribution of NDVI value across the study plot, which includes the healthy and less healthy vegetative area. SPAD value has no significant relationship with the aerial imagery of NDVI value. The NDVI map allows the farmers to monitor the paddy growth status and effectively improve their rice farm management. In the future, advanced classification methods based on the reflectance of weed, water, and soil can be prioritized and separated into different classes, whereby the NDVI map can be plotted on the paddy crops.

Scientific Reports, Jun 10, 2022
Nine morphologically distinct kenaf genotypes were hybridized to produce 36 hybrids following a h... more Nine morphologically distinct kenaf genotypes were hybridized to produce 36 hybrids following a half diallel mating design. The combining ability and gene action of 15 yield and yield components were assessed in hybrids and their parents across two environments. Except for the mid diameter and plant height traits, there were highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) between the environments and the interaction of genotype and environment. Additive gene effects were considerable for the inheritance of these traits, and the expression of these additive genes was heavily influenced by the environment. Significant differences were found for all studied traits for GCA except top diameter and SCA except plant height and top diameter, implying the presence of both additive and non-additive gene action for the inheritance of the concerned characters. For all features except top diameter and number of nodes, the magnitude of GCA variation was significantly higher than that of SCA variance, indicating the additive gene's predominance. The parental lines P 1 , P 3 and P 4 were outstanding general combiners for fiber yield and yield-related parameters. Considering combining ability and genetic analysis study, the crosses P

Bioscience Journal, 2015
Drought stress has now become a severe threat to ensure food security in the developing world as ... more Drought stress has now become a severe threat to ensure food security in the developing world as well as in Malaysia. To dertermine physiological and molecular determinants of drought stress and screening of drought tolerant rice varieties, an experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at Universiti Putra Malaysia using eleven rice varieties and two irrigation regimes (well irrigated and water stressed). The present study indicated that traditional rice variety Puteh Perak and Siam is superior drought tolerant while IRRI 2011-IRLON Plot no: 064, MR 220 and BRRI Dhan 56 are moderately drought tolerant, and IRRI 2011-IRLON Plot no: 050 and MR 84 are drought sensitive rice variety. Drought tolerance of those varieties were measured based on rate of tiller reduction, leaf rolling score and drought score during water stress condition. Leaf rolling score was positively correlated to drought score, chlorophyll content and proline accumulation. Significant increase in the proline accumulation and antioxidant enzyme activities (peroxidase and catalase) were also observed under drought stress in all the rice varieties except Siam and Puteh Perak. All the rice varieties including drought tolerant and sensitive showed the existence of OsLEA 30 genes.
Research on Crops, 2014
ABSTRACT

Nine morphologically distinct kenaf genotypes were hybridized to produce 36 hybrids following a h... more Nine morphologically distinct kenaf genotypes were hybridized to produce 36 hybrids following a half diallel mating design. The combining ability and gene action of 15 yield and yield components were assessed in hybrids and their parents across two environments. Except for the mid diameter and plant height traits, there were highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) between both the analysis of variance of environments and the interaction of genotype and environment. For the inheritance of these traits, additive gene effects were considerable, and the expression of these additive genes was heavily influenced by the environment. Significant differences were found for all studied traits for GCA except top diameter, and SCA except plant height and top diameter, implying the presence of both additive and non-additive gene action for the inheritance of the concerned characters. For all features except top diameter and number of nodes, the magnitude of GCA variation was significantly high...

Rice
Tillering and yield are linked in rice, with significant efforts being invested to understand the... more Tillering and yield are linked in rice, with significant efforts being invested to understand the genetic basis of this phenomenon. However, in addition to genetic factors, tillering is also influenced by the environment. Exploiting experiments in which seedlings were first grown in elevated CO2 (eCO2) before transfer and further growth under ambient CO2 (aCO2) levels, we found that even moderate exposure times to eCO2 were sufficient to induce tillering in seedlings, which was maintained in plants grown to maturity plants in controlled environment chambers. We then explored whether brief exposure to eCO2 (eCO2 priming) could be implemented to regulate tiller number and yield in the field. We designed a cost-effective growth system, using yeast to increase the CO2 level for the first 24Â days of growth, and grew these seedlings to maturity in semi-field conditions in Malaysia. The increased growth caused by eCO2 priming translated into larger mature plants with increased tillering, p...

Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science
During low rainfall periods, rice plants often face drought stress, which would significantly aff... more During low rainfall periods, rice plants often face drought stress, which would significantly affect rice yield. One of the methods to mitigate the problem is incorporating rice plants with fungi such as Trichoderma. This study evaluated the effects of encapsulated Trichoderma asperellum (UPM 40) on the growth and yield of rice plants planted in saturated and flooded soil conditions in response to drought stress. A randomized complete block factorial design was implemented with four replications and two factors. The first factor was encapsulated T. asperellum (UPM 40) concentration of 0 and 5 g. The second factor was the soil condition: saturated and flooded soil. The drought stress was imposed by halting watering during early anthesis for 14 days and resumed afterward. One of the significant interaction effects detected was on the relative water content of rice plants planted in flooded soil conditions and treated with T. asperellum (UPM 40), where the value was 78.51%, higher than...

Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science
Various attempts have been made to increase rice production, including breeding for high-yielding... more Various attempts have been made to increase rice production, including breeding for high-yielding and stress-tolerant varieties, a good crop management system, and increased agricultural input in rice production. Soundwave stimulation has been demonstrated to affect plant growth; thus, this method can be employed in the current rice production methods to improve yield. The study aims to determine the effects of different sound wave qualities on the general growth, physiological, and morphological of rice seedlings. Rice seeds of the MR219 variety were grown under a glasshouse condition in a nested design with five replications and were stimulated with various sound wave frequencies. Various sound wave frequencies, 380, 359, 357, 353, and 350 Hz, were obtained by placing the pot at varying distances (80, 160, 240, 320, and 400 cm, respectively) from the sound source, except control treatment. There were significant effects in some of the parameters: plant height, leaf physiology, and...
Plants, Nov 23, 2022
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

BioMed Research International, Oct 19, 2022
Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is a natural fibre crop that can be used for a variety of purposes... more Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is a natural fibre crop that can be used for a variety of purposes and has various applications in industry. Despite this, its potential has not been fully exploited because of low yields and a narrow genetic base, limiting hybrids' development. Based on this background, eight kenaf mutants and one commercial cultivar were selected and crossed in a half-diallel for general and specific combining abilities (GCA and SCA) to get the desired results done in this investigation. The 36 hybrid offspring and their parental lines were tested in the field over two environments. Diallel results based on Griffing B method 2 indicated significant differences for all characters studied except for GCA in top diameter and plant height and top diameter SCA, indicating the existence of both additive and nonadditive gene actions for the inheritance of the traits. The amplitude of GCA variation was much higher than that of SCA variation for all parameters except top diameter and node number, showing the additive gene's prevalence and the likelihood of genetic advancement through selection. In both conditions, Hayman and Jinks graphical studies demonstrated that partial dominance controlled various fibre yield component parameters such as plant height, middle diameter, stick weight, and fibre weight. On the other hand, fibre yield and the majority of physical features indicated either dominance or overdominance gene action. Plant height, base diameter, core diameter, middle diameter, fresh stem weight, and stick weight all strongly positively correlated with fibre yield. These traits also had a higher proportion of additive effects, a moderate narrow-sense heritability, and a higher baker ratio, indicating successful indirect selection for fibre yield. The parents P 1 , P 3 , and P 4 had the most dominant alleles for most of the features, while the parents P 2 , P 7 , and P 9 had the most recessive alleles. The hybrids P
MDPI eBooks, Sep 20, 2022
IOCAG 2022
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Journal of Natural Fibers
Journal of Natural Fibers
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Papers by Zulkarami Berahim