A plant growth promoting rhizobacterium and temperature effects on performance of 18 clones of potato

A survey of genotypic responses to beneficial bacterium (Pseudomonas sp. strain PsJN) was conductedin vitro andex vitro, under two temperature conditions, using eighteen clones of potato of different heat stress tolerance: temperate adapted cultivars Kennebec and Russet Burbank; heat tolerant DTO-2, DTO-28, DTO-33, LT-1, LT-2, LT-5, LT-6, LT-7, LT-8, LT-9, Y84-02, NDD277-2, Désirée, and Maine-47; and heat sensitive abscissic acid (ABA)-deficient mutants 11401-01 and 9120-05. Nodal explants taken from 6-week-old bacterized and non-bacterized control plantlets were culturedin vitro on a hormone-free potato nodal cutting medium, and placed at either 20/15 C or 33/25 C day/night temperature, 12h photoperiod and 250 µE m^?2 s^?1 mixture of fluorescent and incandescent light, for six weeks. The tuberization response was studiedex vitro after two weeks acclimation of 2-week old plantlets at 33/25C. The acclimated plantlets were transplanted to 3L plastic nursery pots containing peat-based Pro-Mix growing medium and placed in growth chambers at either 20/15 or 33/25 C day/night temperature, 12 h photoperiod, 475 μE m^?2 s^?1 light and ≈80% RH, for 12 weeks. Compared to the non-bacterized controls, bacterization significantly increased stem length of 12, shoot biomass of 9, and root biomass of 2 clones at 20/15C; and stem length of 14, shoot biomass of 15, and root biomass of 13 clones at 33/25C. High temperature increased length of internodes and had either no effect or slightly decreased node number. Temperature increase had the most dramatic effect on root development. An average shoot to root ratio decreased from 3.7 at 20/15 C to 1.7 at 33/25 C for non-bacterized plantlets and, respectively, from 4.3 to 1.5 for bacterized. The beneficial effect of bacterization on root biomass was the most pronounced in LT-1 and Maine-47 at 20/15 C and LT-8, Maine 47, DTO-2, Kennebec, NDD277-2 and 11401-01 at 33/25C. The temperature elevation did not significantly affect root biomass of LT-6, DTO-28 and Désirée. Temperature stress caused severe reduction in tuber number and tuber fresh weight. ABA-deficient mutants did not produce any tubers and LT-8, LT-9, Y84-027 and DTO-28 tuberized very poorly at 33/25C. DTO-33, Désirée, LT-1 and Kennebec gave the highest number of tubers per pot and Kennebec, LT-1, Désirée and LT-7 the highest yields at this temperature. There was no significant effect of bacterization on tuberization at 20/15 C but at 33/25 C bacterization significantly enhanced tuber number and weight in LT-7 and reduced tuber weight in DTO-2. Although there was no clear link between thein vitro response of particular clones to bacterization and their heat stress tolerance, improvement ofex vitro performance of heat tolerant LT-7 indicates that rhizosphere bacteria may play a role in clonal adaptation of potato to heat stress.     

Light and plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria effects on Brachiaria brizantha growth and phenotypic plasticity to shade

This is the first report on the effect of light intensity and plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on the growth of a tropical forage grass, being a relevant study to improve pasture management in conventional farming and integrated crop‐livestock‐forestry systems. In this study, our aim was to evaluate the effects of light intensity and Burkholderia pyrrocinia and Pseudomonas fluorescens inoculation on Brachiaria brizantha cv. BRS Piatã growth, and phenotypic plasticity to shade. The experiment was conducted in a semi‐controlled environment. Seedlings of B. brizantha were allocated to full sun and shade. P. fluorescens and B. pyrrocinia were inoculated individually or co‐inoculated by soil drench, 14 days after seedling emergence. We evaluated morphogenesis, structural and growth parameters. Irrespective of the light regime, co‐inoculated plants had greater leaf area and SPAD index (chlorophyll content). Increase in total biomass production in co‐inoculated plants was over 100% and 300%, under full sun and shade respectively. Co‐inoculated P. fluorescens and B. pyrrocinia increased shade tolerance in B. brizantha, improving plant performance. Co‐inoculation promoted growth in B. brizantha under both sun and shade, indicating its potential as a bio‐fertilizer in conventional and integrated systems, especially in silvopastoral systems, where light availability to pasture growth may be limited.     

The influence of growth regulators GA3, ABA,kinetin and IAA on sprout and root growth and plant development using excised potato buds

Summary In a potato bud bioassay GA₃ appeared to stimulate sprout growth and to inhibit root development. The inhibition of root growth retarded the development of the sprouts into plants. Kinetin and IAA stimulated root development. ABA has an initially retarding effect on sprout growth. But during prolongation of the experiment this delay becomes less, and at low concentrations turns into a stimulating effect. During the subsequent development into plants, there is again a stimulating effect of ABA at the higher concentrations.

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Zusammenfassung Pflanzenhormone spielen eine wichtige Rolle in dem Ph?nomen der Keimruhe und der Keimung. Der Einfluss dieser Stoffe auf die Keimung, die Wurzelbildung und die Pflanzenentwicklung wurde mit Hilfe eines bereits früher beschriebenen Biotests mit ausgeschnittenen Augen untersucht (van Es & Hartmans, 1969). In diesem Versuch wurden nur die Seitenknospen nahe des apikalen Auges benutzt, da die Keimf?higkeit von der Lage der Augen auf der Kartoffelknolle abh?ngig ist (Abb. 1). Das wiederum ist eine Folge der unterschiedlichen chemischen Zusammensetzung des die Augen umgebenden Knollengewebes. W?hrend der Keimungsversuche lagen die ausgeschnittenen Augen st?ndig in der Testl?sung. Mit Ausnahme in den Abb. 1, 11 und 12 wurde der Prozentsatz Hemmung oder F?rderung auf die Wasserkontrolle berechnet. Die Keimruhe schien von keiner der getesteten Substanzen beeinflusst zu sein, was durch das Brechen der Keimruhe durch den nach dem Schneiden erh?hten GA-Gehalt verursacht sein kann. Wir fanden, dass der Einfluss auf das Keim- und das Wurzelwachstum entweder hemmend oder f?rdernd war, abh?ngig vom physiologischen Zustand des Materials, der Konzentration der zugesetzen Chemikalien und der Versuchsdauer. Hohe Konzentrationen hemmten das Wachstum, wahrscheinlich ein toxischer Effekt. GA₃, IES und Kinetin f?rderten das L?ngenwachstum der Keime w?hrend ABA hemmte (Abb. 2, 3, 4). Die Hemmung durch ABA nahm jedoch nach wenigen Tagen ab und in geringen Konzentrationen trat sogar eine f?rdernde Wirkung auf (Abb. 5), vielleicht verursacht durch eine Induktion der GA-Synthese durch ABA. Die Wurzelbildung wurde durch GA₃, gehemmt (Abb. 7) und stark gef?rdert durch IES und Kinetin in geringen Konzentrationen (Abb. 8 und 9). ABA hemmte die Wurzelbildung bei hohen und niedrigen Konzentrationen (Abb. 10). Der letztere Effekt kann durch einen Anstieg des GA-Gehaltes verursacht sein, induziert durch ABA. der über die ABA letztlich dominiert. Pflanzen, entstanden aus mit GA₃ behandelten Augen, wuchsen langsam (Abb. 11b), eine Folge der verz?gerten Wurzelentwicklung. Andererseits zeigte mit ABA behandeltes Material ein beschleunigtes Wachstum, das mit den zugeführten Konzentrationen positiv korreliert war (Abb. 12b). Dieser Effekt ist auch durch eine von ABA induzierte Aktivit?t der GA verursacht und ist offensichtlich ein indirekter Effekt.

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Résumé Les hormones des plants jouent un r?le important en ce qui concerne les phénomènes de dormance et de germination. Les effets de ces composés sur la germination, la formation des racines et le dévelopement des plantes ont été examinés au préalable par bio-essai sur des bourgeons excisés (van Es & Hartmans, 1969). Dans cette expérimentation, seuls les bourgeons latéraux situés près du bourgeon apical ont été utilisés, puisque la capacité de germination est dépendante de la localisation des bourgeons sur le tubercule (fig. 1). Ceci est une conséquence de la différence de composition chimique des tissus, environnant les bourgeons. Durant les essais sur la germination, les bourgeons excisés étaient continuellement en contact avec la solution test. Les pourcentages d'inhibition ou de stimulation, (sauf pour les fig. 1, 11 et 12) ont été calculés par rapport au témoin eau. Aucun des composés expérimentés n'a semblé avoir une influence quelconque sur la dormance, laquelle pouvait être due à la rupture de dormance occasionnée par exemple par l'augmentation du taux d'acide gibberellique après blessure. Dépendamment de l'état physiologique du matériel, de la concentration des produits chimiques appliqués et de la durée de l'expérimentation, nous avons, trouvé que l'effet sur la croissance des germes et celle des racines était soit inhibiteur, soit stimulateur. De hautes concentrations ont inhibé la croissance, probablement est-ce le résultat des effets toxiques. L'acide gibberellique, l'acide indol-acétique et la kinétine ont favorisé l'élongation des germes tandis que l'acide abscissique l'a inhibé (fig. 2, 3 et 4). Cependant, l'inhibition due à l'acide abscissique déclinait après quelques jours et pouvait même se transformer en stimulation à basse concentration (fig. 5): peut-être était-ce d? à la synthèse de l'acide gibberellique induite par l'acide abscissique. La formation des racines était inhibée par l'acide gibberellique (fig. 7) et fortement stimuléc par l'acide indol-acétique et la kinétine à basse concentration (fig. 8 et 9). Les plantes issues de bourgeons excisés traités à l'acide gibberellique poussaient lentement (fig. 11b) en conséquence du développement retardé des racines. Le matériel traité à l'acide abscissique présentait une croissance accélérée qui était positivement en corrélation avee les concentrations appliquées (fig. 12b). Cet effet est aussi attribué à l'acide abscissique induit, à l'activité de l'acide gibberellique et est manifestement un effet indirect.

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GA₃=gibberellic acid; ABA=abscisic, acid; IAA=indolacetic acid; kinetin=6-furfuryl-amino-purine.     

Modeling the effects of N application on growth,yield and plant properties associated with the occurrence of chalky grains of rice

The objective of this study was to propose a model for explaining rice responses to a wide range of N application rates in various growth attributes associated with the occurrence of chalky grains. We improved the sub-model for N uptake process of a previous rice model which was originally developed for explaining genotypic and environmental variations in the whole growth processes, considering the difference in the rate of N loss from the plant-soil system between indigenously supplied soil mineral N and fertilizer N. A total of 80 growth datasets of cultivar ‘Koshihikari’ grown at Shiga prefecture, Japan, in 2010 was utilized for the calibration and validation of the model. The rice growth model well explained the above-ground biomass growth (RMSD = 78.7 g m^?2) and rough dry grain yield (RMSD = 83.2 g m^?2) for the validation data-set, simultaneously. The simulated carbohydrate content available per single spikelet was negatively correlated with the observed percentage of the milky-white grain which includes white-cored grain (r = ?.77, p < .001) for all the data-sets of calibration and validation. On the other hand, the observed percentage of the sum of white-back and white-base grains was closely correlated with the simulated plant N content available per single spikelet (r = ?.59, p < .001). It was suggested that the present rice growth model would rationally explain the effects of N application on the occurrence of the chalky grains through the dynamic change of the carbohydrate content and plant N content available per single spikelet.     

Effects of the physical state of nanocarriers on their penetration into the root and upward transportation to the stem of soybean plants using confocal laser scanning microscopy

We determined whether nanocarriers can penetrate into plant roots and be transported upward, from the root to stem, as well as studied the effect of the physical state of the lipid matrix of the nanocarriers on their penetration and transportation in plants. Firstly, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC), and lipid-based nanoemulsions (NE) with similar characteristics (particle size, polydispersity index, and zeta potential) were successfully prepared by the combined method of hot homogenization and sonication, with beeswax as a solid lipid, corn oil as a liquid lipid, and Nile Red as a fluorescent active-ingredient. Penetration of nanocarriers into the roots and their transportation to the stem were visualized using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The images of vertical sections illustrated that NE penetrated into the root and was transported upward at a rate faster than did NLC and SLN, because of its relatively higher flexibility. While it took only 1 day for NE to penetrate into the center of the root and be transported upward to up to 4 cm of the stem, it took 3 and 6 days, respectively, for NLC and SLN to achieve the same. This study provides an important basic background required to generate a new generation of pesticide formulations, where pesticides will be encapsulated in nanocarriers, which in turn will be embedded into a patch that will be stuck on the root or stem. This would minimize pesticide loss, resulting in higher commercial profit and better environmental protection.     

Relationship between potato cyst nematodes and their principal host. IV. Tolerance of potato cultivars and the effect of potato cyst nematode on initial plant growth

Summary Greenhouse experiments on the effects of white potato cyst nematode infestations (Globodera pallida Stone) on initial growth and development of a series of potato cultivars are compared with the results of field experiments on sandy and sandy-peat soils on the effect of nematode density on tuber yield. A simple greenhouse test, assessing root growth response to potato cyst nematode infection, provided a good insight into a cultivar's tolerance performance in the field early in the growing season. As a very limited number of plants is needed for the greenhouse test, screening for tolerance can be conducted in the early stages of a breeding programme.