遮阴对冀中南优质强筋小麦形态和品质的影响

选用4个适于冀中南种植的优质强筋小麦进行花后遮阴处理,测定了株高和旗叶形态特征、千粒重以及品质性状,研究不同遮阴条件下这些主要形态特征和品质性状的变化。结果表明：与对照(S0)相比,25%遮阴(S1)增加小麦株高,50%遮阴(S2)株高增幅低于S1,藳优2018甚至低于S0；不同品种旗叶对遮阴处理响应不同,师栾02-1和石优20通过增加叶片长度增加旗叶叶面积,藳优5766叶片厚度降低,藳优2018无显著变化；遮阴造成千粒重降低,蛋白含量、沉降值和湿面筋含量品质指标增加,但是面筋指数下降；遮阴对面团流变学特性影响在品种间存在较大差异,遮阴提高石优20和藳优5766的面团形成时间、稳定时间、拉伸能量和最大拉伸阻力,但是降低师栾02-1的面团形成时间、稳定时间、拉伸面积和最大拉伸阻力,降低藳优2018面团形成时间、稳定时间和最大拉伸阻力,却增加拉伸面积。优质强筋小麦品质对遮阴的响应有共同点,但也存在品种间差异, 可能是遮阴降低小麦光合速率导致光合产物合成和运输受阻,蛋白含量的相对提高使得不同小麦在遮阴处理中有共性的反应,例如4个小麦品种的蛋白含量和湿面筋含量都增加,同时品种间籽粒的蛋白组成不同,可能是导致粉质参数和拉伸参数存在差异的重要原因。     

增施氮肥、硼肥对花期遮阴条件下玉米籽粒产量的影响

遮阴已成为影响夏玉米产量的重要因子，提高玉米耐阴性可为高产、抗逆栽培提供理论依据。以‘苏玉29’为试验材料，系统研究了小喇叭口期增施氮肥、硼肥缓解花期遮阴胁迫对夏玉米形态建成、物质积累和产量的影响。结果表明：遮阴处理降低了株高、茎粗、单株叶面积和干物质积累量，并延长了散粉吐丝间隔期。与遮阴处理比，小喇叭口期增施硼肥、氮肥不同程度提高了株高、茎粗、单株叶面积和干物质积累量，且同时增施硼肥、氮肥增幅最大。遮阴处理显著增加了秃尖长，降低了穗粒数和粒重，增施硼肥氮肥缓解了遮阴对突尖长、穗粒数和粒重的影响。增施硼肥、氮肥和同时增施硼肥、氮肥处理产量分别较遮阴处理提高36.7%、8.0%和43.1%。遮阴处理降低叶面积影响干物质积累，产量的降低与突尖增长、穗粒数较少和粒重降低有关。小喇叭口期增施硼肥和氮肥是缓解花期遮阴对产量不利影响的有效措施。 关键词：玉米；遮阴；氮肥；硼肥；产量；农艺性状     

作物根系形态对施肥措施的响应

氮磷钾是植物生长所必需的营养元素,但土壤中植物能利用的有效成分低,限制作物生长发育,而植物可以形成特有的适应机制来应对不同的生长环境。本文综述了作物为适应不同施肥条件所产生的一系列根系形态学变化。分析了不同施肥处理对作物根系形态指标(根长、根表面积、根直径、根体积和根冠比等)的影响：氮对作物影响主要在侧根,低氮胁迫下,根系纵向伸长,增加根长、根体积；低磷条件下,植物普遍抑制主根生长,刺激侧根发育生长,诱导根毛形成；缺钾抑制细根生长,根表面积、根体积等也显著降低；普遍随元素水平的提高,作物根长、根体积、根直径、根表面积和其他根系特征均呈先增加后减少的趋势,植物根系发育产生“低促高抑”的现象；有机肥比化肥可以弥补化肥养分单一和供肥不平衡的缺点,与化肥配合施用更能促进根系生长发育,增加根系体积和总表面积；作物不同基因型品种对肥料胁迫的响应也不尽相同,高效基因型具有良好的根系形态和根系分布,以获得更多的养分。为有效利用有限的肥料资源以及高效作物品种的选种提供理论基础,对作物进一步达到经济收益最大化和环境污染最小化具有重要意义。     

印度谷螟成虫喙的感器及分布

为了很好地理解印度谷螟成虫取食适应性,利用扫描电子显微镜观察其口器的超微形态及感器种类和分布。印度谷螟成虫口器与其他螟蛾口器相似,由小的上唇,左、右下颚的外颚叶嵌合形成的喙,3节的下唇须组成。口器感器主要分布于喙管上,共有4种感器:刺形感器、毛形感器、锥形感器和栓锥形感器。毛形感器数量最多,大量分布于整个喙管;栓锥形感器仅位于喙的端部;锥形感器分布于喙的外表面端部区域和食道内侧,纵向排列。雌雄虫间差异主要表现为,栓锥形感器雌虫较雄虫数量多,锥形感器在食道内雌虫多于雄虫。     

Artificial neural network modeling of microbial community structures in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Microbial communities vary across the landscape in forest soils, but prediction of their biomass and composition is a difficult challenge due to the large numbers of variables that influence their community structures. Here we examine the use of artificial neural network (ANN) models for extraction of patterns among soil chemical variables and microbial community structures in forest soils from three regions of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. At each location, variations in soil chemical properties and FAME profiles of microbial community structures were mapped at 20 × 20 m intervals within 10 ha parcels. Geostatistical analyses showed that spatial variability in soil physical and chemical variables could be mapped at scale distances of 20 m, but that FAME profiles representing the microbial communities were highly variable and had no spatial dependence at the same scale in most cases. RDA analysis showed that FAME signatures representing different microbial groups were positively associated with soil pH, OM, P and base cations concentrations, whereas microbial biomass was negatively associated with the same environmental factors. In contrast, ANN models revealed clear relationships between microbial community structures at each parcel location, and generated verifiable predictions of variations in FAME profiles in relation to soil pH, texture, and the relative abundances of base cations. The results suggest that ANN modeling provides a useful approach for describing the relationships between microbial community structures and soil properties in tropical forest soils that were not able to be captured using geostatistical and RDA analyses.     

Soil sterilization effects on root growth and formation of rhizosheaths in wheat seedlings

Sterilized soils are frequently used in experiments related to soil biology. Soil sterilization is known to alter physicochemical characteristics of soil, plant growth and community structure of the newly developed bacterial population. However, little information exists regarding soil sterilization effects on belowground processes mediated through root–microbe–soil interactions, e.g., development of rhizosheaths which significantly promote the plant growth under stress environments. The present study was conducted to elucidate effects of soil sterilization on wheat root growth and formation of rhizosheaths in relation to chemical changes caused by soil sterilization and the proportion of expolysaccharide (EPS)-producers in bacterial population recolonizing the sterilized soils. Wheat plants were grown for two weeks under greenhouse conditions either in the unsterilized soil or in soils sterilized by autoclaving (121 °C, 1 h) or by gamma (γ)-irradiation (50 kGy). While soil sterilization had no effect on the release of macronutrients, both sterilization procedures significantly increased the electrical conductivity, water-soluble carbon and DTPA-extractable Mn. Seedlings grown in sterilized soils produced higher root biomass and the rhizosheath soil (RS) mass as compared to those grown in the unsterilized soil. Soil sterilization also increased the root length, surface area, volume and number of tips. In bulk soil, RS and on roots, the proportion of EPS-producers in the total bacterial population was higher in sterilized treatments than in the unsterilized. Amending the unsterilized soil with glucose-C increased the root biomass, whereas adding Mn II increased the RS mass. The results showed that soil sterilization by autoclaving or γ-irradiation increases the root growth and RS mass of wheat seedlings. The water-soluble C and DTPA-extractable Mn released upon sterilization, and the increased proportion of EPS-producers in the bacterial population recolonizing the sterilized soils were involved in the observed effects. The results may have implications in studies using autoclaved or γ-irradiated soils to investigate soil–plant–microbe interactions and signify the need to account for intrinsic stimulatory effects of soil sterilization.     

Living on the edge: morphological and behavioral adaptations to a marginal high-elevation habitat in an arboreal mammal

Habitats are characterized by different local environmental conditions that influence both behavior and morphology of species, which can result in habitat-dependent phenotypic differences among animals living in heterogeneous environments. We studied 3 alpine populations of Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), 1 living in a marginal high-elevation habitat at the edge of the species’ altitudinal distribution, and 2 occurring in higher-quality habitats. Here, we investigated whether squirrels living in the marginal area differed in 2 morphological parameters (body size and body mass) and/or in the expression of 4 personality traits estimated with an open field test and a mirror image stimulation test (activity, exploration, activity-exploration, and social tendency). Furthermore, we tested whether within-individual variance of the traits (behavioral plasticity) was higher in the edge habitat. Male squirrels in the edge habitat were smaller and weighed less than in the other study areas, while among females, size–habitat relationships were less marked. These sex-specific patterns were explained by a strong association between body mass and reproductive success in female squirrels. Squirrels in the marginal habitat were more active, explorative, and had a more social personality than in the other habitats. However, in contrast to our predictions, behavioral plasticity was smaller in the marginal habitat, but only for the trait exploration. Our results suggest that animals choose the habitat that best fits their personality, and that habitat-related differences in selective pressures may shape animals’ morphology.     

Unraveling the morphological patterns of a subantarctic eelpout: a geometric morphometric approach

Phenotypic variation in organisms depends on the genotype and the environmental constraints of the habitat that they exploit. Therefore, for marine species inhabiting contrasting aquatic conditions, it is expected to find covariation between the shape and its spatial distribution. We studied the morphology of the head and cephalic sensory canals of the eelpout Austrolycus depressiceps (4.5–22.5 cm TL) across its latitudinal distribution in South Pacific (45°S–55°S). Geometric morphometric analyses show that the shape varied from individuals with larger snout and an extended suborbital canal to individuals with shorter snouts and frontally compressed suborbital canal. There was size variation across the sampled populations, but that size does not have a clear latitudinal gradient. Only 8% of the shape variation relates to this size variation (allometry), represented by a decrease in the relative size of the eye, and a depression of the posterior margin of the head. There were spatial differences in the shape of the head, but these differences were probably caused by allometric effects. Additionally, 2 of the canals of the cephalic lateralis pores and the head shape showed modularity in its development. This study shows that the morphology of marine fish with a shallow distribution varies across distances of hundreds of kilometers (i.e., phenotypic modulation).     

Challenges and opportunities of unmanned aerial vehicles as a new tool for crop pest control

The application of pesticides is not simply delivering chemicals to the target area. It also involves considering the negative aspects and developing strategies to deal with them during the application process, to ensure the maximization of pesticides use efficiency and the maintenance of the ecosystem. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sprayers demonstrate unique advantages compared to traditional ground sprayers, particularly in terms of maneuverability and labor intensity reduction, showed great potential for chemical application in pest control. It is undeniable that there exist challenges in the practice of UAV spraying, such as higher potential risks of pesticide drift or pathogen transmission, uncertainty canopy deposition for different crops, and unexpected leaf breakage induced by downwash flow. Maximizing the utilization of downwash flow while avoiding lateral air movement outside the intended target crop area is a major issue for chemical application with UAV sprayers, particularly in light of the increasingly apparent consensus on the need for enhanced environmental protection during the chemical application process. It must be considered that the operation strategy in different scenarios and for different crop targets is not the same, unique requirements should be given on nozzle atomization, flight parameters, adjuvants and aircraft types in specific working situations. In future, the implementation of spray drift prediction, technical procedures development, and other solutions aimed at reducing pesticide drift and improving deposition quality, is expected to promote the adoption of UAV sprayers by more farmers. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.