High vs. low yielding oleoresin Pinus halepensis Mill. trees GC terpenoids profiling as diagnostic tool

? A discriminant study based on samples taken from high and low yielding oleoresin trees of two Greek populations, Chalkidiki and Euboia, was carried out. Oleoresin of Pinus halepensis Mill. was characterised by GC/MS analysis.

? The objectives of this study were: (i) to identify in detail the composition of the oleoresin of P. halepensis and in particular of high yielding trees (plus trees) (ii) to investigate a potential relationship between the oleoresin compounds and the oleoresin yield and (iii) to investigate any correlations among the compounds.

? About forty monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and diterpenes were identified as main compounds representing 97.40% of the analyzed oleoresin. α-Pinene, methyl abietate, abietic acid, palustric acid, isopimaric acid and neoabietic acid were the major compounds. Efficient discrimination was achieved between the two populations and between the two groups of trees (high and low yielding). In both cases, the differentiation was due to the quantitative variability of certain compounds. High positive correlations were found among certain compounds.

? The results suggest that the oleoresin profile is a useful tool for the discrimination of trees according to their provenance or their oleoresin yield.

     

Recruitment of adult Colorado potato beetles inBt-transgenic potato fields

A refuge of conventional potato plants adjacent to Colorado potato beetle (CPB),Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)-resistant,Bt-potato (transgenic) plants may reduce opportunity for the development of tolerance to the resistant plants. The refuge strategy was developed on the basis of data available for CPB recruitment in conventional potato fields. This study was undertaken to provide information on CPB recruitment inBt-transgenic potato fields. A marking experiment was conducted over the 2000 and 2001 crop seasons to determine the relative contributions of beetle populations from fields 10 m, 175 to 300 m, and 1200 to 1280 m distant to the pattern of CPB recruitment (immigration) in aBt-potato field. Season-long CPB recruitment in theBt-potato field decreased with source distance in a manner similar to that previously reported in conventional potato fields. Although marked beetles from the 10-m field plot contributed more to the recruitment than the more distant fields, they contributed only 3.3% and 6.6% of the total beetle sightings in theBt-potato field. Therefore, results suggest that a larger acreage of conventional potato fields at some distance from the resistant crop could replace the adjacent designated refuge. Seasonally, beetles from the overwintering sites provided the first recruits to the resistant field. As their contribution declined, the overwintered beetles from the refuge were recruited until the beginning of the summer population. These results suggest that locating the resistant fields close to active overwintering sites will improve the probability that the refuge strategy will be effective by ensuring the presence of recruits at the very beginning of the crop season. The substantially lower recruitment level obtained for summer than for overwintered CPB in resistant and conventional potato fields highlights the need to reconsider the applicability of the refuge strategy for the summer population.     

Is crop N demand more closely related to dry matter accumulation or leaf area expansion during vegetative growth?

The critical crop nitrogen uptake is defined as the minimum nitrogen uptake necessary to achieve maximum biomass accumulation (W). Across a range of crops, the critical N uptake is related to W by a power function with a coefficient less than unity that suggests crop N uptake is co-regulated by both soil N supply and biomass accumulation. However, crop N demand is also often linearly related to the expansion of the leaf area index (LAI) during the vegetative growth period. This suggests that crop N demand could be also linked with LAI extension. In this paper, we develop theory to combine these two concepts within a common framework. The aim of this paper is to determine whether generic relationships between N uptake, biomass accumulation, and LAI expansion could be identified that would be robust across both species and environment types. To that end, we used the framework to analyze data on a range of species, including C₃ and C₄ ones and mono- and di-cotyledonous crops. All crops were grown in either temperate or tropical and subtropical environments without limitations on N supply. The relationship between N uptake and biomass was more robust, across environment types, than the relationship of LAI with biomass. In general, C₃ species had a higher N uptake per unit biomass than C₄ species, whereas dicotyledonous species tended to have higher LAI per unit biomass than monocotyledonous ones. Species differences in N uptake per unit biomass were partly associated with differences in LAI and N-partitioning. Consequently the critical leaf-N uptake per unit LAI (specific leaf nitrogen, SLN) was relatively constant across species at 1.8–2.0 g m⁻², a value that was close to published data on the critical SLN of new leaves at the top of the canopy. Our results indicate that critical N uptake curves as a function of biomass accumulation may provide a robust platform for simulating N uptake of a species. However, if crop simulation models are to capture the genotypic and environmental control of crop N dynamics in a physiologically functional manner, plant growth has to be considered as the sum of a metabolic (e.g. leaves) and a structural (e.g. stems) compartment, each with its own demand for metabolic and structural N.     

Wheat arabinoxylans: Exploiting variation in amount and composition to develop enhanced varieties

Arabinoxylans (AX) are the major polymers of wheat grain cell walls. The content and the structure of AX polymers show large differences between tissues and between wheat cultivars that affect the end-use properties and nutritional quality of the grain. The development of new wheat cultivars with enhanced quality, therefore, requires methods to exploit this variation and it is essential to understand and modulate the mechanisms controlling the key events of cell-wall polymer synthesis.This paper summarises recent knowledge on the structure and physicochemical properties of AX including variation between cultivars and tissues, methods for analysis and screening, biosynthetic mechanisms and approaches to identifying key genes. This knowledge is essential to understand AX properties and defined possible targets for plant breeding.     

Genotype and environment effects on the contents of vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B6 in wheat grain

The total contents of thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (B2), and pyridoxine (B6) and the bioavailable forms of niacin (B3) were determined on wholemeal flours of 24 winter wheat varieties grown on four sites (United Kingdom, Poland, France, and Hungary) in 2007 and of two spring varieties grown on the same sites with the exception of Poland. The contents of vitamins B1 (5.53-13.55 μg/g dw), B2 (0.77-1.40 μg/g dw), and B6 (1.27-2.97 μg/g dw) were within the ranges reported previously, while the content of bioavailable vitamin B3 (0.16-1.74 μg/g dw) was about 10-15% of the total contents of vitamin B3 reported in previous studies. Strong correlations were observed between the contents of vitamins B1, B3, and B6, and partitioning of the variance in the contents of these three B vitamins showed that between 48 and 70% was accounted for by the environment. By contrast, the content of vitamin B2 was not correlated with the contents of other B vitamins, and 73% of the variance was ascribed to the error term, which suggests that this trait may be influenced by genotype × environment interactions. Whereas the contents of vitamins B1, B3, and B6 were correlated positively with the mean temperature from heading to harvest (r > 0.8), the content of vitamin B2 was positively correlated with precipitation during the 3 months prior to heading. These results are discussed in relation to the development of new wheat varieties with enhanced health benefits.     

Long-term feeding ecology and habitat use in harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena from Scandinavian waters inferred from trace elements and stable isotopes

Background  

We investigated the feeding ecology and habitat use of 32 harbour porpoises by-caught in 4 localities along the Scandinavian coast from the North Sea to the Barents Sea using time-integrative markers: stable isotopes (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) and trace elements (Zn, Cu, Fe, Se, total Hg and Cd), in relation to habitat characteristics (bathymetry) and geographic position (latitude).     

Impact of city historical management on soil organic carbon stocks in Paris (France)

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Assessments of urban soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) are scant because citywide data are scarce. Moreover, we do not know which factors mostly explain SOCS spatial...     

Crop border and mineral oil sprays used in combination as physical control methods of the aphid‐transmitted potato virus Y in potato

BACKGROUND: The objectives of this work were to determine if the control of potato virus Y (PVY, genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae) in seed potato could be improved by combining border crops and mineral oil sprays, and if the border crop acts as a barrier or a virus sink. RESULTS: Field tests over 3 years confirmed that mineral oils alone are an effective barrier to PVY, and showed that borders alone act as a PVY sink. Combining the familiar mineral oil and the more recent crop border methods was almost twice as effective in reducing PVY incidence as either one used alone. The combination provided consistently high PVY control compared with the variable and often lower level of control by either method alone. The contribution of the oil to PVY reduction was similar whether it was applied to the border, the center seed plot, or both. Oil application to the border alone should not affect efficacy and would help keep control costs down. CONCLUSION: Combining border and oil provided the best reduction in PVY incidence 3 years out of 3, providing producers with a tool to reduce year‐to‐year variation in the effectiveness of crop borders or oil sprays used separately. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri‐Food Canada. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of temperature and wetness duration on conidial infection, latent period and asexual sporulation of Pyrenopeziza brassicae on leaves of oilseed rape

Experiments in controlled environments were carried out to determine the effects of temperature and leaf wetness duration on infection of oilseed rape leaves by conidia of the light leaf spot pathogen, Pyrenopeziza brassicae . Visible spore pustules developed on leaves of cv. Bristol inoculated with P. brassicae conidia at temperatures from 4 to 20°C, but not at 24°C; spore pustules developed when the leaf wetness duration after inoculation was longer than or equal to approximately 6 h at 12–20°C, 10 h at 8°C, 16 h at 6°C or 24 h at 4°C. On leaves of cvs. Capricorn or Cobra, light leaf spot symptoms developed at 8 and 16°C when the leaf wetness duration after inoculation was greater than 3 or 24 h, respectively. The latent period (the time period from inoculation to first spore pustules) of P. brassicae on cv. Bristol was, on average, approximately 10 days at 16°C when leaf wetness duration was 24 h, and increased to approximately 12 days as temperature increased to 20°C and to 26 days as temperature decreased to 4°C. At 8°C, an increase in leaf wetness duration from 10 to 72 h decreased the latent period from approximately 25 to 16 days; at 6°C, an increase in leaf wetness duration from 16 to 72 h decreased the latent period from approximately 23 to 17 days. The numbers of conidia produced were greatest at 12–16°C, and decreased as temperature decreased to 8°C or increased to 20°C. At temperatures from 8 to 20°C, an increase in leaf wetness duration from 6 to 24 h increased the production of conidia. There were linear relationships between the number of conidia produced on a leaf and the proportion of the leaf area covered by 'lesions' (both log₁₀-transformed) at different temperatures.     

Settlement behavior of American lobster (Homarus americanus): effect of female origin and developmental temperature

The benthic settlement success of American lobster (Homarus americanus) postlarvae is a key factor in population dynamics, with the temperature being a key factor. Given the spatial distribution of the species, its pelagic larvae probably encounter various thermal zones during development. Little information is available on the ability of lobster larvae to acclimate to temperature or if this ability varies among geographic areas. The main objectives of this study were to characterize (i) the settlement behavior of the postlarvae in relation to (a) temperature during larval development and (b) the geographic origin of the maternal parent and (ii) the behavioral response of postlarvae with different thermal histories in the presence/absence of a thermocline. Results did not support the hypothesis of thermal adaptation among local populations, as settlement behavior of postlarvae did not differ among females from different geographic regions. In contrast, larval survival and settlement behavior and postlarval energetic conditions varied with development temperature. Behavioral plasticity in the benthic settlement was observed in relation to temperature structure of the experimental water column. This study suggests that there may be links between development temperature and the natural variability in survival and settlement of American lobsters. Findings emphasize the need for an integrated approach in lobster recruitment studies with the inclusion of behavior in dispersion models.