THE PRESS AND FOREIGN POLICY' IT IS a defect of some of the studies of the diplomatic background of the Great War that they tend to ignore the influence on pre-war diplomacy of public opinion in general and of the press in particular. Based primarily on official documents such studies unconsciously tend to overemphasize the parts played by the leaders with whose activities the documents are so largely concerned and to neglect some of the less obvious forces that affected the course of events. The influence of the press, it is true, can never be measured accurately. \"No diviniiig rod can locate it,\" says Miss Salmon, \"no plummet sound its depth, no instrument of precision measure it, no astronomer compute its orbit.\"2 And yet that influence in pre-war Europe was very real and very considerable. Professor Fay goes so far as to list \"the poisoning of public opinion by the newspaper press in all the great countries\"3 as one of the chief underlying causes of the war. If the influence of the press cannot be exactly determined, however, it can at least be roughly estimated; and even where no attempt is made to estimate influence, a kniowledge of newspaper views on questions of foreign policy is of assistance in clarifying the atmosphere out of which the Great WYar came.

The Press and Foreign Policy

The combined effects of gibberellic acid and salinity on some antioxidant enzyme activities, plant growth parameters and nutritional status in maize plants

Gibberellins (GAs) are plant growth regulators that are known to stimulate physiological responses in plants and alter the source–sink metabolism through their effect on photosynthesis and sink formation. GAs promote fructose-1,6-biphosphatase and sucrose phosphate synthase and stimulate phloem loading. Photosynthate translocation from source to the developing sink is a major contributing factor towards increasing the sink strength, and GAs are the key regulators of the process through which the extracellular invertase involved in phloem unloading, carbohydrate partitioning and growth of sink tissues is induced. Gibberellic acid is the major contributor in the process of source and sink formation and is one of the most commonly studied GAs. Recent studies indicate that GA signalling is involved in adjustment of plants under limiting environmental conditions and maintains source–sink relation. This adjustment could be mediated through the influence of GA on the regulation of salicylic acid biosynthesis. Here we focus on the developments and understanding of integration of GA action with the metabolic process under optimal and limiting environmental conditions for maintaining source–sink relation. Further advances in the crosstalk between gibberellins and salicylic acid are discussed with reference to abiotic stress tolerance and source–sink relation.

Role of gibberellins in regulation of source-sink relations under optimal and limiting environmental conditions

The effects of salt stress on plant growth parameters, lipid peroxidation and some antioxidant enzyme activities [superoxide dismutase (SOD; EC 1.15.1.1), catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6), peroxidase (POD, EC 1.11.1.7), glutathione reductase (GR; EC EC 1.6.4.2) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX, EC 1.11.1.11) activity] were studied in the leaves of mustard. Plants were exposed to two different concentrations of NaCl stress (100 and 150 mM) for 45 days and were sprayed with GA3 (75 ml pot−1, conc. 75 mg l−1) once a week. Salt stress resulted in decrease in the growth and biomass yield of mustard but the exogenous application of GA3 enhanced these parameters significantly. Application of GA3 counteracted the adverse effects of NaCl salinity on relative water content, electrolyte leakage and chlorophyll (Chl) content. GA3 was sufficient to attenuate partially the stimulatory effect of NaCl supply on proline and glycinebetaine biosynthesis. GA3 reduced lipid peroxidation in the leaves, which was increased during salt ...

Growth and antioxidant responses in mustard (Brassica juncea L.) plants subjected to combined effect of gibberellic acid and salinity

Salt stress alters a wide array of plant metabolic mechanisms. Different strategies of the application of nutrients and phytohormones are required to overcome the adverse effects of salt stress. The main objective of the present study was to determine if added nitrogen (N) and gibberellin (GA 3 ) in growth medium could alleviate the adverse effects of salt stress on plant metabolism. Two-week-old plants were fed with: (i) 0 mM NaCl + 0 mg N kg -1 sand + 0 M GA 3 (control), (ii) 100 mM NaCI + 0 mg N kg -1 sand + 0 M GA 3 , (iii) 0 mM NaCl + 40 mg N kg -1 sand + 0 M GA 3 , (iv) 0 mM NaCl + 0 mg N kg -1 sand + 10 -5 M GA 3 , (v) 100 mM NaCI + 40 mg N kg -1 sand + 0 M GA 3 , (vi) 100 mM NaCl + 0 mg N kg -1 sand + 10 -5 M GA 3 , (vii) 100 mM NaCl + 40 mg N kg -1 sand + 10 -5 M GA 3 . Growth and physio-biochemical attributes i.e. shoot length, leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, malondialdehyde concentration, electrolyte leakage, total chlorophyll concentration, nitrate reductase and carbonic anhydrase activities, proline and glycinebetaine concentration, leaf - N, potassium (K) and sodium (Na) concentration and K/Na ratio were affected by NaCl treatment. But application of N or GA 3 alone as well as in combination proved beneficial in alleviating the adverse effects of salt stress on these growth and physio-biochemical parameters. However, N applied with GA 3 proved more effective than N and GA 3 applied alone. The results revealed that combined application of N and GA 3 may ameliorate most of the attributes and prove to be a physiological remedy to increase the tolerance against the ill effects of salt stress in Brassica.

Role of Nitrogen and Gibberellin (GA3) in the Regulation of Enzyme Activities and in Osmoprotectant Accumulation in Brassica juncea L. under Salt Stress

Mustard is cultivated throughout the world for oil in its seeds. Itrequires high nitrogen input for improved productivity but the nitrogen appliedto the soil is not fully utilised by the crops due to various constraints. Theobjective of the reported research was to determine if foliar- appliedgibberellic acid (GA3) could enhance crop growth and increasenitrogen-use efficiency. A field experiment was conducted during 1997–98in which GA3 (10−5 M) was applied tofoliage at 40d after sowing (pre-flowering) to mustard grown with 0, 40(sub-optimal), 80 (optimal) and 120 (supra-optimal) kgN ha−1. Foliar spray of GA3 was effectiveonly when plants received sufficient N (80 kgN ha−1). GA3 sprays significantly enhancedplant dry mass, leaf area, carbon dioxide exchange rate, plant growth rate,cropgrowth rate and relative growth rate. GA3 -treated plants showedenhanced nitrogen-use efficiency through redistribution of N to seeds.

Effects of gibberellic acid spray on nitrogen yield efficiency of mustard grown with different nitrogen levels

Auxin and defoliation effects on photosynthesis and ethylene evolution in mustard

In a field trial, the effect of foliar spray of 0 (de-ionized water), 10 - 6 , 10 - 5 and 10 - 4 M ofindole acetic acid (IAA) gibberellic acid (GA 3 ) and kinetin (KN) at 40 days after sowing (pre-flowering stage) on growth and yield characteristics of mustard (Brassica juncea L.) was examined. GA 3 application at 10 - 5 M concentration was found to be more effective than IAA and KN in promoting shoot length, leaf number, lear area and plant dry weight at 60 and 80 days after sowing (DAS), net assimilation rate (NAR) at 60-80 d interval and yield at harvest. Application of 10 - 5 M GA 3 increased seed yield, oil yield and seed yield merit by 33.3, 31.2 and 50.3 % respectively compared to water sprayed control.

Effect of phytohormones on growth and yield of Indian mustard

Field studies were conducted during the winter seasons of 1995-96 and 1996-97 at the Agricultural Farm of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India on mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern & Coss., var. Alankar) under non-irrigated conditions, to evaluate the effect of foliar spray of 200 p.p.m. ethrel (2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid) at flowering growth stage along with basal 0, 40, 80 or 120 kg N ha -1 on net photosynthetic rate (P N ). stomatal conductance (C S ), stomatal resistance (R S ), leaf K content, relative water content (RWC). leaf area index (LAI) and total dry matter (TDM) production monitored at 20 days after spray application, and plant N content. seed N content, nitrogen harvest index (NHI). nitrogen yield merit (NYM), pods plant -1 , 1000 seed weight, seed yield, biological yield, harvest index (HI). seed yield merit it (SYM) and merit of genotype (MOG) at harvest. Results indicated that, at 0 or 40 kg N ha 1 , ethrel did not produce any significance effect, but at basal 80 kg N ha -1 , ethrel affected the parameters favourably with the exception of 1000 seed weight, HI, seed N and NHI. Ethrel-sprayed plants utilized N from the soil more effectively and showed increased NYM. Yield attributes, seed yield and merit of genotype (in terms of NYM and SYM) were also enhanced. Ethrel spray enhanced seed yield under water stress conditions mainly by increasing K uptake and retaining higher RWC, thereby decreasing R S and increasing LAI. P N and TDM production.

Response of Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) to Applied Nitrogen with or without Ethrel Spray under Non‐irrigated Conditions

Two field experiments were conducted during 1994-95 to study the effect of spray of 10 -5 M GA 3 at 40 days after sowing on mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss.) cv. Varuna grown with basally applied 0, 40, 80 and 120 kg N ha -1 (Expt. 1) and 0, 15, 30 and 45 kg P ha -1 (Expt. 2) on pod number per plant, seeds per pod, 1000 seed weight, seed yield, biological yield, harvest index and fatty acid composition of oil. No significant difference between water and GA 3 spray was found when basally applied nitrogen was 0 or 40 kg N ha -1 . N 80 proved to be the best for yield characteristics. In another experiment on phosphorus, GA 3 and 30 kg P ha -1 individually enhanced the yield, but interaction of GA 3 and P remained non-significant. The fatty acid composition of oil in both experiments was significantly affected only by nitrogen and phosphorus treatments for oleic acid and erucic acid. It was found that return in the form of yield was more for every kg applied fertilizer under GA 3 spray treatment. The response was more for N fertilizer in comparison to P. GA 3 at a low level of fertilization significantly increased the return from fertilization.

Samiullah

Papers

Effects of gibberellic acid spray on nitrogen yield efficiency of mustard grown with different nitrogen levels

Auxin and defoliation effects on photosynthesis and ethylene evolution in mustard

Effect of phytohormones on growth and yield of Indian mustard

Response of Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) to Applied Nitrogen with or without Ethrel Spray under Non‐irrigated Conditions

Effect of gibberellic acid spray and basal nitrogen and phosphorus on productivity and fatty acid composition of rapeseed-mustard