A procedure for the rapid screening of strawberry seedlings for resistance to Verticilluum wilt

Summary A technique is described which promises to be of great assistance in breeding for resistance to verticillium wilt in strawberries.Strawberry seeds were sown on moist terylene wool, covered with black polyethylene beads and suspended over aerated liquid nutrient solution. Good germination of the seeds occurred, and the seedlings developed rapidly reaching the third-leaf stage with a well-established root system after 45 days. At this stage, the seedlings were inoculated with pathogenic isolates of Verticillium dahliae Kleb, by immersing the root systems in a conidial suspension (100000/ml) for 1 h, then replacing the seedlings in the liquid nutrient solution. Wilt symptoms, i.e. leaf wilting and necrosis, were first observed on the most susceptible seedlings 21 days after inoculation. All seedlings were re-inoculated 35 days after the initial inoculation, and those which were visually healthy 50 days later were graded as tolerant and subjected to further tests.     

Genotype × environment interaction amongst spring barley lines grown at sites in the northern and southern hemispheres

Summary Measurements and scores for juvenile plant habit, time to ear emergence, plant height, leaf diseases and 1000 kernel weight were recorded on 123 lines of spring barley grown at Palmerston North, (40°S) New Zealand, and at Cambridge, (52°N) England. The material was grown at both sites from F₄ to F₇.For juvenile habit, time to ear emergence, plant height and 1000 kernel weight highly significant correlations were found between sites and seasons though few accounted for more than 50 per cent of the variation. There was no evidence of closer correlation between seasons within sites than between sites and seasons, and it was concluded that selection at either site should be equally effective.Analysis of yield performance over sites and seasons within sites revealed large effects due to genotypes and seasons within sites but small effect due to sites. Large interactions were found between genotypes and sites but the genotypes × seasons within sites effect was relatively small; better agreement was found in relative yields between seasons within sites than between sites, so that yield performance in one country was a poor indication of potential performance in the other country.The implications of these results for the use of a selection nursery in New Zealand are discussed.     

The effects of cis-trans ABA on embryo germination and seed dormancy in wheat

Pre-harvest sprouting of wheat grain can cause economic losses especially in cultivars with low levels of seed dormancy. The aim of this study was to determine genotype differences in embryo sensitivity to germination in response to exogenous (+/–) cis-trans ABA treatments at different concentrations. Six white and four red seed-colored bread wheat genotypes that differed in dormancy were grown in a field near Swift Current, Saskatchewan in 2000 as a randomized complete block design with four replicates. The seed samples from this experiment were germinated in a controlled environment at 20 °C without light. The exogenous ABA treatments were 0 μM – whole seed (control), 0 μM-embryos, 25 μM – embryos and 50 μM – embryos. The ABA experiment was a factorial design with four randomized complete blocks with four ABA treatments in all combinations with the ten genotypes. A weighted (by day) germination index (WGI) was calculated for each genotype in each ABA treatment. Genotypes differed in response to ABA. The genotypes, ABA concentration and genotype by ABA concentration interaction effects were significant (p ≤ 0.05). Excised embryos showed significantly decreased dormancy in most of the experimental genotypes. The addition of exogenous ABA enhanced embryo dormancy of most genotypes. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Geographical ‘handicaps’ and small states: Some implications for the Pacific from a global perspective

Abstract: Research on the economic performance of small states has concentrated on the implications of small size and thin local markets. An interesting feature of many of the world's smallest states, of which the Pacific region has many, is that they face additional challenges than just small size. Many are remote from global markets for their products. In addition, a large number are also islands, many of which are also mountainous. Many of the smaller states are not just islands, but are also archipelagos. Hence in addition to small size, many of the world's small states also exhibit four other characteristics that may affect their economic performance: insularity, remoteness, being archipelagos and being highly mountainous entities. This paper examines the nature of the challenges posed by these four characteristics and seeks to produce empirical evidence of how difficult it has been to overcome these challenges. The paper draws on empirical evidence for 126 very small global states, dependent territories and highly autonomous regions. The paper then turns to the position of the Pacific small states and dependent territories.     

Impact of land-use changes and sedimentation on the Muhammad Nur Reservoir, South Kalimantan, Indonesia

The Muhammad Nur Reservoir (MNR) is a major multipurpose reservoir located on the Riam Kanan River in the Indonesian Province of South Kalimantan. The MNR has a high sediment trap efficiency and there is concern that accelerated erosion in the catchment, resulting from inappropriate land use, poses a significant threat to the storage capacity and effective life span of the reservoir. Furthermore, on-going deforestation of large parts of the catchment may have changed the inflow pattern to the reservoir. This paper uses data from fieldwork and published information from different sources to examine the extent of erosion and sedimentation in the catchment and the sediment delivery to the reservoir. Water level variations in the reservoir over a 22-year period are examined for changes that might indicate an alteration of the hydrologic balance in the catchment.     

Temporal variation in precipitation chemistry on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay

We studied precipitation chemistry at the Rhode River on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. We sampled on an event basis, beginning in 1973 for some constituents in bulk precipitation. Beginning in 1981, we also sampled wet precipitation separately from bulk precipitation. In this report, we examine temporal variability of precipitation chemistry at different time scales. Several constituents showed long-term trends. In bulk precipitation, hydronium concentration increased by 27% of its mean concentration per decade, calcium by 67%, ammonium by 28%, and nitrate by 25%, while organic nitrogen decreased by 41%, organic phosphorus by 31%, and organic carbon by 16%. In wet precipitation, ammonium increased by 33% and calcium by 100%, while magnesium decreased by 78% per decade. Concentrations differed greatly among precipitation events, increasing as the volume of precipitation decreased and as the interval since the previous event increased. Most constituents also showed marked seasonal variation. We used a regression model to predict concentrations for each event from month, precipitation volume, and the time since the previous event. We evaluated how much of the interannual variability could be explained by these factors. The event-scale model accounted for almost half of the variability among annual means for ammonium, sodium, and magnesium in bulk precipitation, and for potassium in wet precipitation. This suggests that much of the interannual variability of concentrations may result from interannual variation in the temporal distribution of precipitation.     

Field Evaluation of Selected Soil Erosion Models for Catchment Management in Indonesia

Three models, viz., areal non-point source watershed environment response simulation (ANSWERS), universal soil loss equation (USLE) and adapted universal soil loss equation (AUSLE) are evaluated for their performance under the field conditions of the Riam Kanan catchment in South Kalimantan province of Indonesia. While ANSWERS is evaluated for its accuracy to predict both runoff and soil loss, USLE and AUSLE are evaluated for soil loss only. The study was carried out in the context of sedimentation concerns for the Muhammad Nur Reservoir—an important source of drinking and irrigation water supply for the catchment. The models are evaluated using field data collected under four different land uses and during 2 years of field experiments. The land uses considered are cropland with minimum tillage, cropland with conventional tillage, grassland and areas reforested with rubber trees. The ANSWERS model in general has a tendency to overpredict runoff values. The ANSWERS model also was relatively better for predicting soil loss followed by the AUSLE and USLE models. Overall, the ANSWERS model proved superior for predicting soil loss in the Riam Kanan catchment. However, given that the AUSLE model produced sufficiently reliable results and is relatively easy to use, the AUSLE model would also appear to be a useful tool for predicting soil erosion in the catchment.     

Fruit maturity affects the response of apples to heat stress

Quality changes of apple fruit at different maturity stages in response to heat stress were investigated. ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Cortland’ apples at immature (pre-climacteric), commercial harvest maturity (CHM) and post climacteric maturity (PCM, CHM plus 4 weeks) were harvested and held at 46 °C for 0, 4, 8, or 12 h. Following treatments, fruits were stored in air at 0 °C and evaluated after 0, 1, 2, or 3 months. Quality indices including peel and flesh browning, firmness, titratable acidity, soluble solids, chlorophyll fluorescence (CF), and ethanol production were measured. Results indicated that different cultivars and maturities affected the fruit's resistance to heat stress. ‘Jonagold’ was more resistant to heat stress than ‘Cortland’. Fruit at PCM were most sensitive to heat stress, followed by fruits at CHM and immature stages. When ‘Jonagold’ apples at immature and CHM stages were held at 46 °C for 12 h and then stored for 3 months, flesh browning ratings were negligible compared with 1.4 or 2.9, respectively in ‘Cortland’. Flesh browning rating increased to 1.4 or 4.5 in PCM ‘Jonagold’ held at 46 °C for 8 or 12 h and then stored for 3 months while it was 4.9 or 5.0, respectively, in ‘Cortland’. Heat treatment-induced flesh injury was associated with a decrease in CF. After fruit were exposure to 46 °C for 12 h and then stored for 3 months, Fv/Fm was reduced by 13%, 30%, and 55% in ‘Jonagold’ at immature maturity, CHM and PCM, respectively, while it was reduced by 51%, 58% and 75%, respectively, in ‘Cortland’. Heat stress also caused a decrease in fruit titratable acidity, but had no effect on soluble solids contents. The 8 or 12 h heat treatment resulted in an increase in ethanol production, which was greatest in PCM apples.