Development of colchicine‐induced tetraploid St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) lines

St. Augustinegrass is well suited for lawns and commercial landscapes. While many genotypes are cross‐fertile, all cultivars are propagated vegetatively in sod production. To ensure varietal purity, development of sterile triploid hybrids by crossing tetraploid and diploid genotypes has been successfully used in other warm‐season turfgrasses. Applying this model in St. Augustinegrass would be beneficial to sod producers and turf managers who require purity for certification and uniformity for performance, respectively. This study was conducted to develop colchicine‐induced tetraploid lines of St. Augustinegrass. Seeds of cultivar ‘Raleigh’ were treated with four colchicine concentrations at four exposure times. A non‐treated control was included among the treatments. Seedlings that germinated were screened for genome size changes using flow cytometry. Line DSA 13005 and two progeny lines derived through selfing, DSA 16001 and DSA 16016, were corroborated as tetraploids (2n = 4x = 36) through chromosome counts. These lines will be used in future breeding efforts to attempt development of sterile triploid cultivars of St. Augustinegrass.     

基于遥感指数的草原火后植被恢复研究

草原火是草原生态系统重要的干扰因子，严重影响着系统的结构与功能。基于遥感数据，以2015年“4·16”特大草原火灾为例，利用ENVI和ArcGIS等软件，分别对NDVI和GPP指数及火烧严重度下的植被恢复过程进行定量分析。结果表明，基于NDVI和GPP指数的火后植被恢复过程表现相似，不同年份植被恢复情况存在一定差异。火灾发生当年（2015年）火烧迹地植被恢复状况高于未发生火灾区域，而在火后第1年（2016年）却又稍低于未发生火灾区域，直到火后第2年（2017年），火烧迹地植被基本恢复到火前状态。同时，不同火烧严重度下的植被恢复过程在存在明显差异。草原火灾发生后当年（2015年），中强度火烧下植被恢复最好，其次是轻度，重度表现最差。草原火烧严重度对植被恢复的影响，主要表现在火后第1个植被生长季。在之后的年份里，由于草原更新能力强大，不同火烧严重度对草原植被的影响不明显。本研究可丰富草原火灾及火烧迹地植被恢复等相关研究成果，同时为草原火灾管理和草原生态系统的可持续发展提供科学依据。     

基于RGB颜色空间的早稻氮素营养监测研究

针对双季稻区水稻过量施肥带来环境污染和成本提高问题,设计不同品种氮肥梯度大田试验,应用数码相机获取早稻冠层数字图像,研究不同色彩参数及早稻氮素营养指标的时空变化特征,以期确立双季早稻氮素营养预测模型。结果表明:不同品种同一氮肥处理下图像色彩参数差异不大;拔节期数字图像参数对氮素营养指标敏感;模型构建结果显示,图像参数INT与水稻氮素营养指标构建的模型决定系数(R2)最大,模型预测效果最佳,R2分别为0.895 7和0.924 7;进一步采用多元回归分析和BP神经网络分析法进行预测,预测效果均较好。对预测结果进行检验,发现品种对于模型的构建影响不大,以BP神经网络分析法构建的叶片氮浓度(LNC)模型和以INT为敏感色彩参数构建的叶片氮积累量(LNA)回归模型效果最优,而多元回归分析方法则效果不佳。早稻冠层RGB颜色空间敏感参数与氮素营养指标间相关性较好,可以实现氮素营养的无损监测诊断。     

Predicting the potential geographic distribution of Bactrocera bryoniae and Bactrocera neohumeralis(Diptera: Tephritidae) in China using MaxEnt ecological niche modeling

Bactrocera bryoniae and Bactrocera neohumeralis are highly destructive and major biosecurity/quarantine pests of fruit and vegetable in the tropical and subtropical regions in the South Pacific and Australia. Although these pests have not established in China, precautions must be taken due to their highly destructive nature. Thus, we predicted the potential geographic distribution of B. bryoniae and B. neohumeralis across the world and in particular China by ecological niche modeling of the Maximum Entropy(Max Ent) model with the occurrence records of these two species. Bactrocera bryoniae and B. neohumeralis exhibit similar potential geographic distribution ranges across the world and in China, and each species was predicted to be able to distribute to over 20% of the globe. Globally, the potential geographic distribution ranges for these two fruit fly species included southern Asia, the central and the southeast coast of Africa, southern North America, northern and central South America, and Australia. While within China, most of the southern Yangtze River area was found suitable for these species. Notably, southern China was considered to have the highest risk of B. bryoniae and B. neohumeralis invasions. Our study identifies the regions at high risk for potential establishment of B. bryoniae and B. neohumeralis in the world and in particular China, and informs the development of inspection and biosecurity/quarantine measures to prevent and control their invasions.     

The efficiency of nitrogen in cattle manures when applied to a double‐annual forage cropping system

The use of cattle manure (CM) for fertilization presents challenges for optimizing nitrogen (N) use. Our work aimed to assess N efficiencies, in a 6‐year experiment with three biennial rotations of four crops: oat–sorghum (first year) and ryegrass–maize (second year) in a rainfed humid Mediterranean area of Spain. Fertilization treatments included the following: control (no N), 250 kg mineral N ha^?1 year^?1 (250MN), three CM rates (supplying 170, 250 and 500 kg N ha^?1 year^?1) and four treatments where the two lowest CM rates were complemented with either 80 or 160 kg mineral N ha^?1 year^?1. Treatments were distributed randomly in each of three blocks. Maximum dry‐matter yield (~44–49 t ha^?1 rotation^?1) was achieved in the third rotation, and only the control and the 170CM yielded significantly less. Within the limitations of the EU Nitrate Directive, the N steady state supply of 170CM always requires a complement of mineral N (80 kg N ha^?1) to maximize N agronomic efficiency. The maximum N‐fertilizer replacement value (250CM vs. 250MN) was 0·67, without significant differences between the two treatments in other N‐related efficiency indexes, which indicates that plants took advantage of residual‐N effects. Nitrogen losses by leaching in the 250CM treatment were around 5–7% of the N applied. This reinforces the sustainability of manure recycling in long cropping seasons.     

Getting cosy in freshwater: Assumed to be brackish pike are not so brackish after all

Pike (Esox lucius) occupy coastal streams and rivers of the Baltic Sea, where they attain large sizes (>5 kg). These large sizes are perhaps due to the fact that they can tolerate relatively high salinities and can thus forage in the nearby more productive brackish environments. In an attempt to quantify the extent to which pike utilise brackish environments, and to provide some insight into the underlying causes for brackish water migrations, we tagged 30 pike from a western Baltic river with acoustic transmitters and were able to track 21 individuals for 1 year. Based on experienced from local anglers, this population was assumed to be brackish in nature, where individuals underwent freshwater migrations to spawn. Our findings however suggest that the smallest and most active individuals make short exits into brackish waters and do so on rare occasions. Our results further indicate that neither sex nor size is related to activity level. We suggest that these patterns reflect two distinct behaviours—active and passive—and that large pike can be supported by the food availability in the river, without the need to venture into coastal zones, thus defying the conventional view that Baltic pike are all brackish in nature.     

Whitened kernel surface: A fast and reliable method for assessing Fusarium severity on cereal grains by digital picture analysis

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a cereal disease of major importance responsible for yield losses and mycotoxin contaminations in grains. Here, we introduce a new measurement approach to quantify FHB severity on grains based on the evaluation of the whitened kernel surface (WKS) using digital image analysis. The applicability of WKS was assessed on two bread wheat and one triticale grain sample sets (265 samples). Pearson correlation coefficients between Fusarium‐damaged kernels (FDK) and WKS range from r = 0.77 to r = 0.81 and from r = 0.61 to r = 0.86 for the correlation between deoxynivalenol (DON) content and WKS. This new scoring method facilitates fast and reliable assessment of the resistance to kernel infection and shows significant correlation with mycotoxin content. WKS can be automated and does not suffer from the “human factor” inherent to visual scorings. As a low‐cost and fast approach, this method appears particularly attractive for breeding and genetic analysis of FHB resistance where typically large numbers of experimental lines need to be evaluated, and for which WKS is suggested as an alternative to visual FDK scorings.     

红茶菌的国内外研究现状

红茶菌是以糖茶水为主要原料,经微生物发酵后形成的一种功能性茶饮品。近年来,随着人们生活水平的提高和保健意识的增强,具有多种保健功效的红茶菌受到国内外研究者的广泛关注,其全球销售量也呈指数增长。本文重点梳理了红茶菌中的微生物组成及其共生关系,概括了原料、培养条件和菌种组成对红茶菌发酵的影响,并归纳了红茶菌在抗氧化、抑菌、护肝、提高免疫力和防癌抗癌方面的保健功能研究。红茶菌生产中,活性大分子的鉴定和形成机制、各菌种的益生效果、发酵罐水平的精准调控、产品稳定性提升等方面还需进行深入研究。另外,本文展望了红茶菌在多个领域的应用前景,以期为红茶菌工业化生产提供参考。     

不同贮藏年限老芒麦种胚线粒体抗氧化功能的变化规律

种子在自然贮藏过程中常常伴随着内部生理机能的恶化，线粒体作为种子内活性氧（reactive oxide species，ROS）产生的主要位点是最先遭到破坏的细胞器。为探讨不同贮藏年限对老芒麦种胚线粒体抗氧化功能的影响，本试验以室温贮藏0～4年的老芒麦种子为材料，分析比较其老化规律及种胚线粒体抗氧化特性的变化规律。结果表明：随着贮藏年限的延长，老芒麦种子发芽势、发芽率和种苗鲜重逐渐下降，死种子逐渐增多，种胚线粒体苹果酸脱氢酶（mitochondria malate dehydrogenase，MDH）、谷胱甘肽还原酶（glutathione reductase，GR）、单脱氢抗坏血酸还原酶（monodehydroascorbate reductase，MDHAR）活性逐渐下降，但在死种子中超氧化物歧化酶（superoxide dismutase，SOD）活性显著升高。此外，在贮藏过程中老芒麦种胚线粒体O₂^·-产生速率不断上升，而H₂O₂含量则呈现逐渐降低的趋势，表明线粒体中O₂^·-的积累与细胞氧化损伤密切相关。