混合接种菌根真菌对喜树幼苗生长及喜树碱含量的影响

通过温室盆栽接种试验,研究了蜜色无梗囊霉(Acaulospora mellea)、弯丝硬囊霉(Sclerocystic sinosa)及二者混合接种(分别记为Am、Ss和Am-Ss)对喜树幼苗生长及喜树碱含量的影响.结果表明:丛枝菌根的形成促进了喜树幼苗的生长,菌根幼苗的生物量优于无菌根幼苗,混合接种Am-Ss的菌根幼苗显著高于无菌根幼苗和单接种的菌根幼苗.丛枝菌根形成影响了喜树幼苗的喜树碱代谢,菌根幼苗根、叶片和全株的喜树碱含量均显著高于无菌根幼苗,并且混合接种处理的喜树幼苗喜树碱含量最高.     

菌根生物技术应用现状与研究进展

论述了菌根的类型、功能及其在林业上的应用现状，并指出菌根生物技术研究进展与方向，为林业生产提供参考。     

菌根与植被恢复

菌根不仅可促进植物的营养吸收、生长发育、抗病、抗逆,而且在保持良好的土壤结构、控制水土流失方面具有直接的作用。在我国西北许多地区,菌根菌与植物间的共生关系已被中断,要恢复该地区的植被,治本的方法应是重建植物与菌根菌的共生关系,形成健康的生态系统。文中还提出了菌根技术在植被恢复中的应用策略。     

山东地方鸡种遗传距离与聚类分析方法比较研究

选用5个多态性较好的微卫星标记，检测了山东省仅存的5个地方鸡种：寿光鸡、日照麻鸡、莱芜黑鸡、济宁百日鸡、鲁西斗鸡，以及一个外来鸡种——安卡黄鸡和一个外省地方鸡种——广西黄鸡共7个鸡种的遗传多样性。根据测试结果计算了每个等位基因的频率，并以基因频率为基础计算了Nei氏标准遗传距离(Ds)和DA遗传距离，发现日照麻鸡与济宁百日鸡的距离最近，而鲁西斗鸡与其他6个鸡种距离都较远。根据两种遗传距离分别进行了NJ法和UPGMA法聚类，得到4个聚类图。结果表明：DA遗传距离的UPGMA聚类图比较可靠。     

Molecular analysis of the Arbuscular mycorrhiza symbiosis

The molecular analysis of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis started at the beginning of this decade. The paper summarises the work of the ‘Laboratorium für Molekulare Genetik arbuskulärer Mykorrhiza’ at the MPI für terrestrische Mikrobiologie in Marburg on three major topics. Firstly, the plant response to the mycorrhizal colonisation was analysed using both, targeted and non‐targeted approaches. As an example, the localisation of the gst1 mRNA in potato mycorrhiza is shown. Second, molecular techniques were established to analyse gene expression of the fungal partner of the symbiosis. We present a differential RNA display analysis of spore germination in two AM fungi and the cloning of a gene from Glomus mosseae that shows expression at all stages of the fungal life cycle. In the last part, we introduce the work we are carrying out with a new root endophytic fungus, Piriformospora indica. Infection experiments on maize showed that despite the fungus performs as a root necrotroph, it has a positive effect on plant growth.     

Effect of tillage and crop on arbuscular mycorrhiza colonization of winter wheat and triticale under Mediterranean conditions

Large‐scale inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is generally impractical in most regions and we have little understanding of the factors that determine inoculation success. Nevertheless, the ability to take full advantage of indigenous AMF for sustainable production needs to be developed within cropping systems. We used part of a long‐term field experiment to understand the influence of tillage and the preceding crop on AMF colonization over the growing season. Arbuscular mycorrhiza colonization rate was more affected by treatment (tillage or the combination of crop and preceding crop) than by the total number of AMF spores in the soil. Conventional tillage (CT) had a statistically significant negative effect (P ≤ 0.05) on spore numbers isolated from the soil, but only in the first year of study. However, the AMF colonization rate was significantly reduced by CT, and the roots of wheat, Triticum aestivum, L, cv. Coa after sunflower, Helianthus annuus L., were less well colonized than were those of triticale, X Triticosecale Wittmack, cv. Alter after wheat, but the affect of tillage was more pronounced than was the effect of crop combination. Under no‐till there was a significant increase in AMF colonization rate throughout the sampling period in both wheat and triticale, indicating that the extraradical mycelium previously produced acted as a source of inoculum. In general, triticale showed greater AMF colonization than wheat, despite the preceding crop being less mycotrophic. Under these experimental conditions, typical of Mediterranean agricultural systems, AMF colonization responded more strongly to tillage practices than to the combination of crop and preceding crop.     

The use of herders’ accounts to map livestock activities across agropastoral landscapes in Semi-Arid Africa

Improved understandings of the agricultural and range ecologies ofsemi-arid Africa require better information on the spatiotemporal distributionof domestic livestock across agropastoral landscapes. An empirical GIS-basedapproach was developed for estimating distributions of herded livestock acrossthree agropastoral territories (around 100 km² each)over a two-year period. Algorithms developed from regression analyses of herdtracking data (with R²s 0.67) are used to transform a morecomprehensive but incomplete set of data generated from herders accounts oftheir herds grazing itineraries (400 herds following 6500 itineraries). Theresulting characterization registers 40 000 days of livestock activitiesacross694 land units (averaging 70 ha) over the study period. This studydemonstrates that rural producers knowledge of their daily extractionpracticescan be translated to fine-grained characterizations of extraction densitiesacross mixed landscapes. The spatiotemporal distribution of livestock that isrevealed by this approach diverges strongly from that predicted bycommonly-usedpoint-diffusion estimation procedures. Instead, the distribution reflects localpatterns of land use, topography, vegetation, settlements, and water points.Grazing and nongrazing times spent in land units are not spatially correlatedand the seasonality of grazing pressure is spatially variable. Therefore, theecological impacts of livestock grazing are spatially variable at fine scalesand there is a significant potential for livestock-mediated nutrient transfersacross agropastoral landscapes. The georeferenced data produced by thisapproachnot only will help evaluate the impact and sustainability of differentmanagement practices but also provides a strong empirical base for improvedspatial modeling of herded livestock.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Protection of olive planting stocks against parasitism of root-knot nematodes by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

The effects were investigated, under controlled conditions, of single and joint inoculation of olive planting stocks cvs Arbequina and Picual with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) Glomus intraradices , Glomus mosseae or Glomus viscosum , and the root-knot nematodes Meloidogyne incognita and Meloidogyne javanica , on plant performance and nematode infection. Establishment of the fungal symbiosis significantly increased growth of olive plants by 88·9% within a range of 11·9–214·0%, irrespective of olive cultivar, plant age and infection by M. incognita or M. javanica . In plants free from AMF, infection by Meloidogyne spp. significantly reduced the plant main stem diameter by 22·8–38·6%, irrespective of cultivar and plant age. Establishment of AMF in olive plants significantly reduced severity of root galling by 6·3–36·8% as well as reproduction of both Meloidogyne spp. by 11·8–35·7%, indicating a protective effect against parasitism by root-knot nematodes. Infection by the nematodes influenced root colonization by AMF, but the net effect depended on the AMF isolate–olive cultivar combination. It is concluded that prior inoculation of olive plants with AMF may contribute to improving the health status and vigour of cvs Arbequina and Picual planting stocks during nursery propagation.     

Responses of field grown tomato plants to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization under varying intensities of drought stress

The effects of root colonization by the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Glomus intraradices Schenck and Smith on growth, flower and fruit production, and fruit quality were studied in field-grown tomato plants exposed to varying intensities of drought stress. Inoculated (M+) and non-inoculated (M−) tomato seedlings were exposed to varying intensities of drought stress by adjusting irrigation intervals. Mycorrhizal plants had significantly higher uptake of N and P in both roots and shoots regardless of intensities of drought stress. AM inoculation also significantly increased shoot dry matter and the number of flowers and fruits. The fruit yields of M+ plants under severe, moderate, mild drought-stressed conditions were higher than M− plants by 24.7%, 23.1%, 16.2% and 12.3%, respectively. Furthermore, M+ plants produced tomato fruits that contain significantly higher quantities of ascorbic acid and total soluble solids (TSS) than M− plants. Mycorrhizal effects increased with increasing intensity of drought. The overall results suggest that mycorrhizal colonization affects host plant nutritional status, water stratus and growth under field conditions and thereby alters reproductive behaviour, fruit production and quality of fruits under both well-watered and drought-stressed conditions.     

Postcards from the past: charting the landscape-scale conversion of tropical Australian savanna to closed forest during the 20th century

Repeated sequences of digitised and geo-referenced historical aerial photography provide a powerful means of understanding landscape change. We use this method to demonstrate a landscape wide expansion of closed forest (42% increase in total coverage) in the Australian monsoon tropics over the past five decades. Retrospective habitat suitability models (HSI) of closed forest derived using four landscape measures (drainage distance, slope angle, aspect and elevation) for imagery taken in 1947 correctly forecast the subsequent spatial distribution of the expansion, with topographic fire protection primarily determining the closed-forest distribution. The dynamics of the closed forest-savanna boundary were predicted accurately by generalised linear models, with closed-forest expansion in fire-protected sites along forest edges and regression in the more fire-prone areas. Two factors may plausibly explain the expansion of closed forests. First, eco-ethnographic records stress the skilful use of fire by Aboriginal people in protecting isolated and locally resource-rich closed-forest patches. Second, the recent global increase in atmospheric CO₂ may be changing the competitive balance between savanna and forest by enabling C₃ trees to grow fast enough to escape the fire trap presented by flammable C₄ grasses.