Ecotoxicological Study of Insecticide Effects on Arthropods in Common Bean

Arthropods are an important group of macroorganisms that work to maintain ecosystem health. Despite the agricultural benefits of chemical control against arthropod pests, insecticides can cause environmental damage. We examined the effects of one and two applications of the insecticides chlorfenapyr (0.18 liters a.i. ha-1) and methamidophos (0.45 liters a.i. ha-1), both independently and in combination, on arthropods in plots of common bean. The experiment was repeated for two growing seasons. Principal response curve, richness estimator, and Shannon–Wiener diversity index analyses were performed. The insecticides generally affected the frequency, richness, diversity, and relative abundance of the arthropods. In addition, the arthropods did not experience recovery after the insecticide applications. The results suggest that the insecticide impacts were sufficiently drastic to eliminate many taxa from the studied common bean plots.     

Lodging resistance and yield potential of winter wheat: effect of planting density and genotype

Improved lodging resistance is important for achieving high yield in irrigated environments. This study was conducted to determine genotypic variation in lodging resistance and related morphological traits among winter wheat cultivars planted at two densities, and to identify key traits associated with lodging resistance. Lodging performance of 28 genotypes, including 24 released cultivars and four advanced lines, was evaluated at 250 plants per square meter and 500 plants per square meter in Shandong province during the 2008–2009 and 2009–2010 crop seasons. At the higher density, the average grain yield was 2.6% higher, even though lodging score rose by as much as 136%. The higher planting density increased lodging through increased leaf area index (LAI), plant height, center of gravity and length of basal internodes, and reduced grain weight per spike and diameter of the lower two stem internodes. LAI, center of gravity and diameter of first internodes, as the important indicators for lodging resistance, were significantly correlated with lodging score, with R= 0.62, 0.59 and −0.52 (P<0.01), respectively. Plant pushing resistance was significantly associated with diameter and length of the first internodes (R = 0.71–0.77, P<0.01), indicating it could be used to assess the strength of the lower stem. Higher planting density could be used to select genotypes with lodging resistance in irrigated environments. Cultivars carrying high plant density tolerance and high yield potential, such as Jimai 22 and Liangxing 66, were recommended as leading cultivars for production as well as elite crossing parents for further increasing yield potential in the Yellow and Huai Valleys Winter Wheat Zone in China.     

Microsatellite DNA variation within and among invasive populations of Ambrosia artemisiifolia from the southern Pannonian Plain

Although the Pannonian Plain presents one of the areas in Europe most highly infested by Ambrosia artemisiifolia, previously reported population genetic studies of the invasive species have included only a few populations from this region. Our goal was to determine the level of genetic diversity and genetic structure of A. artemisiifolia populations from the southern Pannonian Plain using microsatellite DNA markers. We documented a high level of genetic diversity within the Pannonian populations, as compared with the genetic diversity parameters previously published for the other invasive populations of A. artemisiifolia in Europe. The mean number of alleles per locus (N_A) ranged between 6.8 and 9.4, allelic richness (r) between 6.59 and 8.53 and mean number of rare alleles per locus (N_R) ranged between 3.4 and 6.4 per analysed population. A low level of among‐population differentiation was detected, with percentage of variation between populations of 3.3%, generally low pairwise F_ST values (ranged from ?0.007 to 0.152) and also according to principal coordinate analysis. A Bayesian approach revealed that most individuals did not strongly associate with any single genetic cluster, confirming a lack of genetic structuring in the analysed region. Together with the results of quantification of the level of gene flow (N_m = 5.671), these observations indicated a presence of extensive gene exchange and admixture between the populations. Therefore, A. artemisiifolia in the Pannonian Plain region has the potential for rapid expansion.     

Inducing competition: intensive grassland seeding to control Ambrosia artemisiifolia

The invasion of Ambrosia artemisiifolia across European countries has been favoured by its ecological amplitude and by its ability to colonise and dominate disturbed/ruderal areas that have lost competition from native species. We supposed that a strong competition for habitat resources may inhibit A. artemisiifolia growth, generating a negative feedback to its establishment. Based on this hypothesis, in this study, we undertook a 1‐year field experiment to assess the effect of mixtures of grassland species on A. artemisiifolia growth and fitness in bare soils. We applied three different treatments within an abandoned quarry area invaded by A. artemisiifolia: (i) spontaneous succession, (ii) hayseed and (iii) a commercial seed mixture. Within plots, we recorded vegetation parameters, A. artemisiifolia abundance and traits. Results obtained after one growing season showed that the commercial seed resulted in the strongest reduction of A. artemisiifolia growth rate in terms of plant height, lateral spread and leaf size. This was ascribed to higher density of plants that play a key role in reducing biomass and fitness of A. artemisiifolia. However, hayseed should be preferred, as it preserves local biodiversity. Seeding mixtures of grassland species can successfully suppress A. artemisiifolia in the first year of establishment on a vegetation‐free soil derived from quarry activities. This study indicated that inducing dominance of different native species in a newly developing plant community should enhance competition for resources, reducing the success of early coloniser non‐native species.     

丛枝菌根菌丝桥传递作用对烟草抗病性相关酶活性的影响

为明确供体与受体植株间菌丝桥传递抗病信号对受体植株生长以及抗病性相关酶活性的影响,利用丛枝菌根真菌在供体与受体烟苗植株间建立菌根菌丝桥,对供体植株接种青枯菌的方法进行研究。结果表明:在供体烟苗接种丛枝菌根真菌条件下,再接种青枯菌,比只有菌丝连接的受体烟苗叶片内的过氧化物酶(peroxidase,POD)、多酚氧化酶(polyphenol oxidase,PPO)、苯丙氨酸解氨酶(phenylalanine ammonialyas,PAL)的活性分别提高了21%、29%和14%,地上部干重和植株磷含量也有相同的趋势;而在不接种丛枝菌根真菌条件下,供体烟苗接种青枯菌与否对酶的活性、植株干重及氮、磷含量均无显著影响。表明供体烟苗产生的抗病信号可以通过菌丝桥传递给受体烟苗,增强受体烟苗的抗病性。     

Fine‐tuning of a mowing regime,a method for the management of the invasive plant,Ambrosia artemisiifolia,at different population densities

Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is an invasive annual plant with highly allergenic pollen. Its spread in introduced and native ranges often occurs on roadsides, where it builds stable and rapidly growing populations. The most sustainable way of controlling the population size of this species is to prevent seed production in order to deplete the soil seed bank. Populations on roadsides are submitted to regular mowing management, which can even exacerbate the situation by inducing resprouting after cutting or by accidentally spreading seeds along the road. The population density in the juvenile stages of development could play an important role in the success of cutting regimes, as it might influence the resprouting capacity of this plant. The influence of the juvenile population density and of seven cutting regimes, differing in the timing and frequency of cuts, on easily measurable reproductive traits was investigated in a glasshouse experiment. The cutting regimes had a strong influence on the reproductive success and on the phenology of the development stages of ragweed. The population density in the juvenile stages did not play a role in further phenological development, but did influence the reproductive traits. The reproduction of ragweed can be lowered by locally adapted combinations of the timing and frequency of mowing. As the optimal management option for the reduction of both the male and female flowers, the authors suggest a first cut just before the start of male flowering, followed by subsequent cuts every 3–4 weeks.     

Introducing host‐plant resistance to anthracnose in Kyrgyz common bean through inoculation‐based and marker‐aided selection

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the most important legume crops for human consumption. However, its grain yield can be reduced by up to 90% by the seedborne disease, anthracnose. Fungicide treatment is costly and time‐consuming. The introduction of host plant resistance against this disease appears, therefore, to be crucial for enhancing the productivity of this crop in Kyrgyzstan. The use of DNA‐based markers in backcrossing programmes may help speed up the breeding for resistance. In this study, we used a combination of inoculation tests and a DNA marker (SCAreoli marker) to track the transfer of host‐plant resistance (Co‐2 gene) from two donor cultivars, ‘Vaillant’ and ‘Flagrano’, to susceptible Kyrgyz cultivars ‘Ryabaya’, ‘Kytayanka’ and ‘Lopatka’, which are widely grown in the country. The segregating offspring were evaluated to test the reliability of the SCAreoli marker as selection aid for host‐plant resistance to anthracnose. Our study showed that a co‐dominant DNA marker can successfully be used in backcross breeding to distinguish segregating material in different market classes of common bean.     

小麦规模化转基因技术体系构建及其应用

在主要农作物中,小麦属于遗传转化比较困难的作物,转化效率较低,重复性较差,转化规模较小,优良转基因材料较少,基因工程育种进程明显落后于大豆、玉米、棉花、水稻等作物。目前,应用于小麦中的转基因技术主要包括基因枪介导法和农杆菌介导法,有些实验室也采用花粉管通道、离子束注入、激光微束穿刺、PEG、花粉介导和农杆菌浸花等方法。在外植体利用方面,多数研究主要利用小麦幼胚及其愈伤组织作为起始转化材料,以成熟胚、幼穗、花药愈伤组织为材料转化成功的报道还比较少,需要进一步探索。在转化效率方面,基因枪报道为0.1%-16.7%,农杆菌报道为0.7%-44.8%,变化幅度较大。在目标基因转化方面,除了nptⅡ、bar、hpt、GUS、GOX、pmi、ALS等筛选基因和报告基因外,转化的功能基因主要涉及小麦品质、抗病性、耐旱性、抗蚜虫和抗除草剂等性状改良。农杆菌介导和基因枪介导转化小麦幼胚的转化效率除与受体基因型有关外,还与受体材料的生理状态有关,供体植株生长期间的温度条件、光照条件、营养条件和水分条件对转化效率有至关重要的影响,开花到幼胚取样期间适宜的昼夜温度有利于转化后胚性愈伤组织诱导和候选转基因植株的获得。从整体水平看,中国小麦转基因技术研究虽然取得了较大进展,如建立了小麦成熟胚高频率再生体系并应用于小麦转化,改进了小麦幼胚再生体系和转化体系,将一批抗病、耐旱和品质改良相关基因转入小麦,初步建立了小麦规模化转基因技术体系,但与国际先进水平相比,尤其与一些跨国生物技术公司相比,在转化规模和转化效率方面仍然存在较大差距。认为转化效率较低、基因型依赖性强、人工气候条件不够先进、转化队伍不稳定是限制中国小麦规模化转基因技术发展的瓶颈;建立主栽品种转化体系、提高转化效率、开展多基因转化、开发安全型转化技术、避免载体骨架序列插入、减少基因沉默、实现定点整合等是小麦转基因技术研究的发展趋势;通过对组织培养技术、植株再生和转化相关基因的研究,以及优良受体基因型筛选、培养基改良和各个转化影响因素的优化、集成等,克服农杆菌转化小麦的瓶颈,提高小麦转化效率,扩大转化规模。文章重点综述了基因枪和农杆菌转化技术在小麦中的应用和发展,回顾了近5年中国小麦规模化转基因技术研究进展,对于促进转基因小麦新品种培育和小麦功能基因组学研究具有一定参考价值。     

两个小麦LEA基因的特征及其对非生物胁迫的响应

【目的】分析小麦LEA基因TaLEA4和TaLEA5及其编码蛋白的特征,比较它们在干旱、高盐、热和冷胁迫过程中的表达模式,探讨这两个LEA基因在小麦抗逆调控过程中的生物学功能,为其在小麦抗逆分子育种中的应用提供理论依据。【方法】利用RT-PCR技术克隆小麦的LEA基因,通过生物信息学方法分析克隆基因及其编码蛋白的结构特性,采用qRT-PCR技术检测克隆基因对ABA及非生物胁迫的响应模式。【结果】克隆了2个包含完整编码框的小麦LEA基因TaLEA4和TaLEA5,分别编码180和163个氨基酸,推断其分子量分别为18.8和16.9 kD,理论等电点分别为5.6和7.2。基因组序列分析发现,2个LEA基因中均包含1个100 bp的内含子。氨基酸序列分析发现,这两个LEA基因编码蛋白均富含极性氨基酸（约占整个氨基酸序列的71%）,具有较强的亲水性。结构域分析显示,TaLEA4和TaLEA5蛋白中均包含1个典型的LEA_4（pfam:02987）保守域,属于LEA_4类蛋白。蛋白质高级结构分析显示,α-螺旋分别占TaLEA4和TaLEA5蛋白的96.7%和96.3%,并可形成弓形的空间结构;在TaLEA4中,检测到1个配体PEV（C₃₉H₇₈NO₈P）的结合位点,而在TaLEA5中存在2个这样的配体结合位点。表达特性分析显示,2个LEA基因均可被植物激素ABA诱导而上调表达,其中,TaLEA4的表达水平显著高于TaLEA5;TaLEA4在干旱、高盐和高温胁迫过程中均受胁迫诱导而迅速上调表达,但TaLEA5却只受干旱胁迫的诱导,且其表达水平显著低于TaLEA4;2个LEA基因对冷胁迫均无响应;干旱和高盐胁迫过程中,TaLEA4在根系中的诱导表达水平显著高于叶片,而热胁迫过程中该基因在叶片中的表达水平要显著高于根系,这可能与根系直接感受渗透胁迫而叶片直接感受热胁迫有关。【结论】小麦TaLEA4和TaLEA5均属于LEA基因家族的LEA_4亚类,具有较强的亲水性,它们属于依赖于ABA胁迫响应基因调控网络;TaLEA4可能在干旱、高盐和热胁迫过程中均发挥重要功能,TaLEA5仅参与小麦对干旱胁迫的响应,其作用要弱于TaLEA4。