Proteomic profiles during adventitious rooting of Eucalyptus species relevant to the cellulose industry

New Forests - Adventitious rooting (AR) is an obligatory step for vegetative propagation of commercial woody species. Paper industries have interest in Eucalyptus globulus Labill and its hybrids...     

P0 protein of cotton leafroll dwarf virus-atypical isolate is a weak RNA silencing suppressor and the avirulence determinant that breaks the cotton Cbd gene-based resistance

Cotton blue disease (CBD) is the most important disease present in cotton crops in South America and cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) is the causal agent. The disease has been controlled by sowing cotton varieties resistant to CLRDV. However, in the 2009/10 growing season, an outbreak due to an atypical CLRDV isolate (CLRDV-at) occurred in northwest Argentina. Although CLRDV and CLRDV-at genomes are very closely related, the symptoms they produce in cotton plants are quite different. P0 is the most divergent protein between the isolates and in CLRDV is a silencing suppressor protein. This work characterized the silencing suppressor activity of the P0 protein encoded by CLRDV-at (P0^CL-at) and evaluated its role in Cbd-resistance break in cotton plants. It was demonstrated that P0^CL-at, despite having a mutation in the consensus of the F-box-like motif, was able to suppress local RNA silencing, but displayed lower activity than P0^CL. P0^CL and P0^CL-at showed no differences in the interaction with Gossypium hirsutum SKP1 orthologue (GSK1) and Nicotiana benthamiana SKP1 and both P0 proteins triggered destabilization of ARGONAUTE1. However, when the ability to enhance PVX symptoms was evaluated, P0^CL-at was shown to be a weaker pathogenicity factor than P0^CL in N. benthamiana. Interestingly, trans-expressed P0^CL-at enabled CLRDV to systemically infect CBD-resistant plants, and a chimeric CLRDV-P0^CL-at infectious clone succeeded in establishing infection in CBD-resistant cotton varieties with symptoms resembling those produced by CLRDV-at. These results strongly suggest that P0^CL-at is the avirulence (Avr) determinant involved in breaking cotton Cbd gene-based resistance.     

Connectedness of habitat fragments boosts conservation benefits for butterflies,but only in landscapes with little cropland

Landscape Ecology - Global change pressures (GCPs) imperil species and associated ecosystem functions, but studies investigating interactions of landscape-scale pressures remain scarce. Loss of...     

单萜酚类化合物与苯醚甲环唑和噻呋酰胺混配对立枯丝核菌的抑菌活性研究

为探究单萜酚类化合物与杀菌剂混配对立枯丝核菌的抑制效果,筛选能够防治水稻、玉米纹枯病的药剂,本研究分别将百里香酚、香芹酚与苯醚甲环唑、噻呋酰胺混配,通过菌丝生长速率法测定了其对R. solani的抑菌活性,并以孙云沛法评价了单萜酚与杀菌剂混配的增效作用。试验结果表明：香芹酚、百里香酚与噻呋酰胺以1:5、1:4、2:3、3:2、4:1和5:1比例混配均表现出协同增效作用,其中香芹酚和噻呋酰胺4:1混配的抑菌效果最好,EC₅₀值为0.928 mg/L,共毒系数(CTC)为1397.39;香芹酚与苯醚甲环唑以3:2、4:1和5:1比例混配以及百里香酚与苯醚甲环唑以2:3、4:1和5:1比例混配也表现出协同增效作用。百里香酚和香芹酚对苯醚甲环唑和噻呋酰胺增效作用明显,香芹酚与噻呋酰胺的4:1混剂对R. solani抑菌活性高,具备应用于水稻、玉米纹枯病的防治的潜力。天然单萜酚类化合物与杀菌剂以一定比例混配能够显著提高其抑菌活性,在杀菌剂研发、筛选中具备很高的研究价值。     

A 3-year assessment of nitrous oxide emission factors for urine and dung of grazing sheep in a subtropical ecosystem

Purpose

Grazing livestock has strong impact on global nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions by providing N sources through excreta. The scarcity of information on factors influencing N₂O emissions from sheep excreta in subtropical ecosystems such as those of Southern Brazil led us to conduct field trials in three different winter pasture seasons on an integrated crop–livestock system (ICL) in order to assess N₂O emission factors (EF-N₂O) in response to variable rates of urine and dung.

Materials and methods

The equivalent urine-N loading rates for the three winter seasons (2009, 2010, and 2013) ranged from 96 to 478 kg ha^?1, and the dung-N rates applied in 2009 and 2010 were 81 and 76 kg ha^?1, respectively. Air was sampled from closed static chambers (0.20 m in diameter) for approximately 40 days after excreta application and analyzed for N₂O by gas chromatography.

Results and discussion

Soil N₂O-N fluxes spanned the ranges 4 to 353 μg m^?2 h^?1 in 2009, ??47 to 976 μg m^?2 h^?1 in 2010, and 46 to 339 μg m^?2 h^?1 in 2013. Urine addition resulted in N₂O-N peaks within for up to 20–30 days after application in the 3 years, and the strength of the peaks was linearly related to the N rate used. Emission factors of N₂O (EF-N₂O, % of N applied that is emitted as N₂O) of urine ranged from 0.06 to 0.34% and were essentially independent of N rate applied. By considering a ratio of N excreted by urine and dung of 60:40, a single combined excretal EF-N₂O of 0.14% was estimated.

Conclusions

Our findings showed higher mean EF-N₂O for sheep urine than that for dung (0.21% vs 0.03%), irrespective of the occurrence or not of urine patches overlap. This value is much lower than default value of 1% of IPCC’s Tier 1 and reinforces the needs of its revision.

     

Distribution and diversity of leaf-cutting ants in Northeastern Argentina: species most associated with forest plantations

Abstract

Leaf-cutting ants (LCA) are considered one of the main herbivores and one of the most destructive pest insects of the Neotropics. Northeastern Argentina harbors the greatest species richness of these ants and in turn comprises the highest surface with forest plantations. Our aim was to establish which species of leaf-cutting ants are most commonly associated with forest plantations by analyzing their geographic distribution using published and unpublished species occurrence data. Also, estimate their potential areas of distribution along a latitudinal gradient that entirely encompasses northeastern Argentina using Ecological Niche Modeling. Only seven of the 20 species recorded were strongly associated with productive systems along the gradient, but only 2–3 species in each region could be considered high-risk species for forest plantations. High-risk species composition shows a turnover between regions. Our models show the potential distribution areas where LCA could become more abundant and dominant, and possibly causing a detrimental effect on the forest plantations in the studied region. We find that ecological niche models are useful tools to assess the environmental suitability of important LCA.     

Agriculturally productive yet biodiverse: human benefits and conservation values along a forest-agriculture gradient in Southern Ethiopia

Landscape Ecology - It remains unclear how agricultural landscapes can best serve multiple purposes such as simultaneously maintaining agricultural productivity and conserving biodiversity. Our...     

不同西兰花品种与硒肥浓度对硒富集的影响

为了研究不同西兰花品种、硒肥浓度对硒富集的影响,对硒富集量较高的西兰花品种进行了筛选,并在不同西兰花品种、不同硒肥浓度条件下,测定了不同处理的硒元素含量。结果表明:绿天使2号品种较其他品种具有优质、高产、硒元素含量高的特点,应用富硒叶力肥较不施肥的品种硒元素含量高,667 m~2喷施浓度以0.140%最佳,喷施硒肥后产量、硒元素含量较高。     

Dietary roughage sources affect lactating Holstein x Zebu cows under experimental conditions in Brazil: a meta-analysis

Tropical Animal Health and Production - To reduce costs, lactating cows are often fed a higher proportion of roughage and alternative feeds; however, such protocols may not lead to optimal milk...     

Landscape drivers of connectivity for a forest rodent in a coffee agroecosystem

Landscape Ecology - The majority of remaining tropical forests exist as fragments embedded in a matrix of agricultural production. Understanding the effects of these agricultural landscapes on...