Interspecific facilitation between intercropped millets and peanuts: insights from root proteomics analysis

Intercropping is practised globally because of its advantages in terms of productivity and resource use efficiency. However, our knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying belowground interspecific interactions in intercropping systems is still very limited. Pot experiments involving both intercropped millet and peanut were conducted to quantify the differentially expressed proteins in each component crop under conditions of complete, partial and no interspecific interactions based on tandem mass tag (TMT) labelling. The results showed that the yields of both crops in the intercropping system increased in response to complete root interactions due to increases in nutrient acquisition as well as increases in root length and surface area. There were 73 differentially expressed proteins in the millet roots and 41 in the peanut roots, most of which were involved in C metabolism, N metabolism, transport and signal transduction. Additional bioinformatic analyses revealed that root interactions improved N and P assimilation via relatively high amounts of proteins such as urease and inorganic phosphate transporter in the millet roots and malate dehydrogenase increased P assimilation related proteins in the peanut roots. These results would contribute to a comprehensive understanding at molecular level in cereal/legume intercropping systems in response to interspecific root interactions.     

Seeding strategies of bahiagrass and pintoi peanut affect pasture establishment under weed competition

Pintoi peanut (Arachis pintoi Krapov. & W.C. Greg.) is a warm‐season perennial legume with potential for use in grass–legume mixtures in Florida; however, limited information exists about its establishment in mixtures with bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flügge). The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the establishment of bahiagrass cv. “Argentine” and pintoi peanut cv. “Amarillo” as monocultures or mixture. The experiment was conducted in Ona, FL, from June to October of 2014 and 2015. Treatments were a split‐plot design of seeding strategies (bahiagrass monoculture, pintoi peanut monoculture or bahiagrass‐pintoi peanut mixtures; main plots) and two N fertilization strategies (30 or 80 kg/ha N; 30N and 80N; subplots), with four replicates. Measurements of plant density and frequency were taken every 4 weeks after seeding. Ground cover and herbage mass (HM) measurements were taken 112 days after seeding. Pintoi peanut ground cover was affected by seeding strategy × N level interaction. Ground cover was greater with 80N than 30N when pintoi was seeded in monoculture (3.6% vs 1.5% respectively) but not when it was seeded with bahiagrass (2.1%). There was no effect of seeding or N strategy on pintoi peanut proportion in HM (1.4%). Bahiagrass ground cover was not affected by seeding or N strategy (15.9%); however, its proportion in the HM was greater in 80N than 30N (12.1% vs 9.4% respectively). Mixed seeding did not negatively affect the establishment of bahiagrass and pintoi peanut and greater N fertilization levels improved some establishment parameters, with no negative effect for pintoi peanut.     

Effects of including bioactive legumes in grass silage on digestion parameters,nitrogen balance and methane emissions in sheep

The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of feeding sheep with silage mixtures containing bioactive legumes on intake and digestive parameters. The bioactive legumes used were sainfoin (SF, Onobrychis viciifolia) and red clover (RC, Trifolium pratense), which contain condensed tannins (CT) and polyphenol oxidase respectively. Five treatments were assigned to two groups of sheep according to a replicated 5 × 5 Latin square design. The five types of silages tested were, on a dry matter (DM) basis: pure timothy grass silage (Phleum pratense, control, T), three binary mixtures of T‐SF, T‐RC and RC‐SF (500 g/kg each) and a ternary mixture of T‐RC‐SF (500, 250 and 250 g/kg respectively). The daily voluntary DM intake of silage mixtures containing both SF and RC was greater than for pure T silage, while the presence of SF resulted in lower organic matter digestibility compared to pure T. The rumen disappearance rate measured in situ increased linearly with the presence of SF and RC in silage. The nitrogen (N) digestibility was greater for pure T and T‐RC than for T‐SF, and the amount of N retained daily by the animals was greater for RC‐containing silages than for T and T‐SF. The methane (CH₄) yield was greater for pure T than for the silage mixtures containing SF. We conclude that the presence of RC in silage could boost performances through intake and N retention, while SF‐based mixtures appear to have reduced negative environmental impacts through the reduction of CH₄ emissions.     

Impact of fertilization on cover crops and microbial community on a bauxite‐mined soil undergoing reclamation

The reclamation of bauxite‐mined areas can be favored by the application of organic and/or chemical fertilization to restore the vegetation. Otherwise, the impact of fertilizations on soil microbiota or plant–microbe interactions as land reclamation progresses is less understood. To address this issue, we evaluated the impact of organic and chemical fertilization on plants and soil microbial community within the first 36 months of land reclamation in a bauxite‐mined site. The experiment was set up according to a split‐plot design in which the main plots received fertilizations [non‐fertilized control (NF), chemical fertilization (CF; NPK and rock phosphate), organic fertilization (OF; poultry litter), and CF+OF combined], and the subplots received cover crops [no cover crops (NC), grass (B; Brachiaria), legume (S, Stylosanthes), and B+S combined]. Cover crops biomass yield was assessed annually with five field campaigns per year. We used phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) to infer the impacts of mining and restoration practices on actinobacteria, Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and fungi. Accordingly, PLFAs were determined before bauxite mining (pre‐mining), six months after topsoil reconfiguration (post‐mining), and after 14 and 36 months following the application of the fertilizations and cover crops. PLFAs results indicated that in post‐mining, the living microbiota was significantly lower than in pre‐mining. Cover crops biomass yield was highest for B and B+S fertilized with CF+OF at 14 and 36 months. Both parametric and non‐parametric statistics showed a temporal variation in the response of living microbes to the treatments applied. After 14 months, living microbes showed greatest response to OF, while at 36 months their response was strongest in the treatments with highest plant biomass production (B and B+S). These results suggest that in the early stages of land reclamation, living microbial biomass benefit the most from organic fertilizers. As this initial boost decline, living microbes are more likely to thrive in areas undergoing reclamation where they can develop synergistic interactions with plants.     

混播比例和施氮肥对箭筈豌豆/燕麦草地根系特性的影响

豆科和禾本科牧草混播是栽培草地的重要模式之一,能显著改善土壤,提升系统可持续生产能力。牧草根系是土壤有机质返还的重要来源,但混播草地中牧草根系特性的变化尚不清楚。以箭筈豌豆和燕麦草地为对象,研究了不同施氮肥水平和混播比例下其根生物量、根性状的变化。结果表明:1)混播比例和施氮肥对草地根生物量和根性状有显著交互作用,混播草地根生物量显著大于单播;与高氮肥处理相比,根生物量在低、中氮肥处理下更高;高氮肥对根长、比根长、根表面积和比根面积在植物生长前期表现为抑制作用,在生长后期随混播中箭筈豌豆比例的增大,抑制作用减轻。2)混播条件下土壤硝态氮含量大于单播,而土壤铵态氮含量仅在乳熟期时大于单播,且随混播中箭筈豌豆比例增大,矿质氮含量增加;施氮肥对0~30 cm土层中的矿质氮含量有显著影响,其含量在施氮肥100 kg·hm^-2下最高,不施肥下最小。3)根生物量与土壤硝态氮含量间显著正相关,根长、根表面积、根体积与土壤硝态氮含量间显著负相关。综上,混播中箭筈豌豆比例的增加有助于改善土壤矿质氮,优化混播草地根性状。     

Grasslands in ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ Mediterranean‐climate zones: past trends,current status and future research priorities

Despite their ecological, economic and social importance, grasslands in areas with Mediterranean climates continue to receive limited scientific, political and media attention. The main objectives of this review are to compare and contrast dryland grasslands in the ‘Old World’ regions of the Mediterranean basin (southern Europe, western Asia and North Africa) with those of ‘New World’ regions with Mediterranean climates (Australia and Chile) and to identify common research priorities. The common characteristics and differences in climate, soils, native vegetation, importance of the livestock sector and the socio‐economic background for the different Mediterranean environments are examined. Past trends and the current status of temporary and permanent Mediterranean grasslands are also described. Some common issues between these regions are as follows: (i) adaptation to climate change; (ii) increasing persistence and drought survival of both annual and perennial species; (iii) the important role of forage legumes; (iv) maintaining grassland plant diversity; and (v) improved ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, control of soil erosion and wildfires, and preservation of both wild and domestic biodiversity. The favourable climate in these regions, which allows year‐round grazing and the growth of legumes, should be exploited to improve the sustainability of grassland‐based, extensive farming systems and the quality of their animal products, while at the same time improving ecosystem services. The decreasing support for grassland research and development programmes requires increased international scientific and technical cooperation among the few institutions operating in the different Mediterranean‐climate areas of the World to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to farmers.     

MicroRNA调节豆科作物营养胁迫响应的研究进展

micorRNA (miRNA)是一类长度为20~24个核苷酸的非编码小RNA(small RNA,sRNA),在植物生长发育、 生物和非生物胁迫响应方面起十分重要作用。越来越多的证据表明,miRNA在植物适应养分胁迫方面起重要的调节作用。豆科植物是一类具有生物固氮能力的植物,为人类提供蛋白和食用油,显然土壤养分胁迫会抑制豆科作物生长发育而降低产量。过去数十年对于miRNA介导模式植物拟南芥和水稻养分胁迫响应的研究较多,但近年来有关豆科作物养分胁迫相关的miRNA报道在增加。近年研究结果表明,miRNA通过对靶基因的调节在豆科植物适应营养胁迫中起关键作用,如感受外界养分状态的改变及维持体内养分的动态平衡。本文综述了近年来miRNA介导豆科作物适应养分胁迫的研究进展,主要对磷、 氮、 硫、 铁、 铜、 钙等养分亏缺或毒害反应的调控,讨论了miRNA调节豆科作物适应养分胁迫的机理,并对今后豆科作物miRNA的研究做出了展望。     

Estimates of the leaf area of forage peanut for use in morphogenetic assessment

Understanding the morpho-physiological responses of forage plants is critical for successfully managing pastures; however, there is no specific method for morphogenetically assessing Arachis pintoi. The present study aimed to develop and validate mathematical models to estimate leaf area in A. pintoi to enable assessments of leaf elongation and senescence. Two experiments were performed. The first experiment used 500 A. pintoi leaves to model leaf area. Three models were used: correlation, mechanistic and empirical. A total of 336 leaflets were collected to validate the models. For the second experiment, 786 leaflet pairs were collected to test the leaf symmetry. Leaf length (L), width (W) and area (A) were measured for each leaflet in both of the experiments. The model identity test was used. The leaflet area can be estimated using the following formula:  = W ×L × 0·25 × π. Experiment 2 showed that the initial leaflet pairs were equal, as were the terminal leaflet pairs. In conclusion, the mechanistic model should be used to estimate the leaf area for A. pintoi, and only half of each leaf can be measured.     

Zoospore chemotaxis of closely related legume‐root infecting Phytophthora species towards host isoflavones

Phytophthora niederhauserii, P. pisi, P. sojae and P. vignae are closely related species that are pathogenic to various legume plants. While P. sojae and P. vignae are reported to specifically infect soybean and cowpea, respectively, P. pisi is reported to attack pea and faba bean. Phytophthora niederhauserii is considered to have a broad host range. Zoospores of some Phytophthora species are chemotactically attracted to the isoflavones that are secreted by their host plants. The focus of the current study was to determine the chemotaxic behaviour of zoospores from closely related legume‐root infecting Phytophthora species and to investigate the correlation, if any, to host preference as determined by greenhouse pathogenicity tests. The results showed that P. sojae and P. vignae were attracted to the non‐soybean isoflavone prunetin as well as to the soybean isoflavones genistein and daidzein, which is in contrast with their host specificity on soybean and cowpea, respectively. On the other hand, P. pisi and P. niederhauserii were only attracted to prunetin, previously reported to be produced by pea, but not to the isoflavones associated with the non‐host soybean. The lack of responsiveness to genistein and daidzein in P. pisi may represent a recent adaptation to the host specialization towards pea. However, the affinity of P. niederhauserii to prunetin shows that this trait can also be present in taxa not specifically associated with legume hosts.     

Element interconnections in Lotus japonicus: A systematic study of the effects of element additions on different natural variants

Lotus japonicus was used to study the distribution and interconnections of 15 elements in plant tissues, including essential and non-essential elements: boron (B), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), strontium (Sr), molybdenum (Mo), cadmium (Cd) and cesium (Cs). Large amounts of B and Ca accumulated in plant leaves, while Fe, Na, Ni, As and Cd tended to mainly occur in the roots, and Mo was the only element to accumulate in the stems. The elemental compositions within plants were severely disturbed by treatment with toxic elements. Competition between element pairs in the same group (e.g. K and Cs; Ca and Sr) was not found. Iron, Cu and Zn accumulation were induced by Cd and Ni addition. When natural variants grew in a nutrition solution with subtoxic levels of As, Cd, Cs, Ni, Mo and Sr, intriguing relationships between the elements (such as Fe, As and K; Mg and Ni; Mn and Ca) were revealed using principal-component analysis. This study on the plant ionome offers detailed information of element interactions and indicates that chemically different elements might be closely linked in uptake or translocation systems.