Genetic diversity and population structure in Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) based on molecular markers

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) is an oleaginous potential, howetever, some studies report that there is low genetic diversity in Brazilian genotypes....     

Insecticidal Effect of Labramin, a Lectin-Like Protein Isolated from Seeds of the Beach Apricot Tree, Labramia bojeri, on the Mediterranean Flour Moth, Ephestia kuehniella

Abstract The objective of this work was to study the insecticidal effect of labramin, a protein that shows lectin-like properties. Labramin was isolated from seeds of the Beach Apricot tree, Labramia bojeri A. DC ex Dubard (Ericales: Sapotaceae), and assessed against the development of the Mediterranean flour moth Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), an important pest of stored products such as corn, wheat, rice, and flour. Results showed that labramin caused 90% larval mortality when incorporated in an artificial diet at a level of 1% (w/w). The presence of 0.25% labramin in the diet affected the larval and pupal developmental periods and the percentage of emerging adults. Treatments resulted in elevated levels of trypsin activity in midgut and fecal materials, indicating that labramin may have affected enzyme-regulatory mechanisms by perturbing peritrophic membranes in the midgut of is. kuehniella larvae. The results of dietary experiments with E. kuehniella larvae showed a reduced efficiency for the conversion of ingested and digested food, and an increase in approximate digestibility and metabolic cost. These findings suggest that labramin may hold promise as a control agent to engineer crop plants for insect resistance.     

Fluorescence properties of humic acid interaction products with s-triazine and bipyridilium herbicides and their Cu complexes: a multivariate approach

Purpose

Excitation–emission matrices spectroscopy (EEMS) of soil humic acids (HAs) contains large amount of information on their properties, as well as on the dynamics related to their intra- and inter-molecular interactions. The objective of this research was (i) to show that EEMS represents a useful tool to investigate the molecular and mechanistic aspects of HA adsorbing capacity towards atrazine (A) and paraquat (P) with or without Cu²⁺ ions and (ii) to evaluate if additional information on these mechanisms can be obtained by combining EEMS with principal component analysis (PCA).

Materials and methods

HAs have been isolated from soil samples collected in a citrus field at three locations, within the plant rows (HAa); between the rows (HAb) and in a adjacent, control soil (HAc). Interaction products were obtained between each HA and A and P, with or without Cu ions. Elemental analysis and Fourier-transorm Infrared Spectroscopy were applied to support fluorescence data. Fluorescence spectra were recorded on aqueous solutions, and fluorescence intensity (FI) values were normalized using a quinine sulphate standard. PCA analysis was performed using the software STATGRAPHICS Centurion XV.I.

Results and discussion

The EEM spectra of the three unreacted HAs are characterized by the presence of two fluorophores α and β, in the region of longer wavelengths pairs (EEWP). The EEM spectra of the HA-A interaction products are featured by the same two fluorophores, with FI values decreased of about 50%, whereas those of the HA-P interaction products show a unique peak, γ, at intermediate EEWP. Finally, the EEM spectra of HA-A-Cu²⁺ show, with respect to HA-A samples, a blue shift of the α peak with an additional decrease of FI values (about 60%) and the disappearance of the peaks β, whereas those of HA-P-Cu²⁺ feature, in comparison with those of HA-P, a small red-shift of the peak γ. PCA data suggest that Cu ions do not affect the interaction mechanism between HA and P, whereas it appears to exercise a strong influence on interaction between HA and A.

Conclusions

The results obtained indicate that EEMS allows direct measurements of the adsorbing capacity of HA towards atrazine and paraquat. Additional information obtained by PCA analysis show that Cu ions behave like a good antagonist in preventing the formation of ionic bonds between HA and atrazine, whereas Cu is not able to affect the prevalent mechanism of HA interaction with paraquat, which is a charge-transfer bond.

     

From monospecific to mixed forest after fire?: An early forecast for the montane belt of Majella,Italy

Alternative hypotheses on post-fire successions of monospecific European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) forests are investigated. The research area is located in the centre of the Apennine montane belt, Italy and covers portions of the Roccamorice and Lettomanoppello municipalities within the Majella National Park. Temporal moderate-resolution (MODIS) and spatial mid-resolution (ASTER) imagery are combined for the assessment of the 2007-fire features. Tree seedlings were surveyed on the ground in post-fire forests and their unburnt equivalents during September 2008. The satellite imagery analysis provides records on spread, intensity, location and extent of the forest fires. The evidence suggests an abandoned farmland fire spreading secondarily uphill into the forests.     

Zinc distribution and speciation within rocket plants (Eruca vesicaria L. Cavalieri) grown on a polluted soil amended with compost as determined by XRF microtomography and micro-XANES

Zinc distribution and speciation within different organs (root, petiole, and leaf) of the edible plant Eruca vesicaria L. Cavalieri were determined using synchrotron microbeam X-ray techniques (XRF microtomography and mu-XANES) for plants grown in polluted soil with or without compost amendment. Data on soil derived from different extraction procedures and using mu-XANES analyses on rhizospheric soil indicated that compost amendment did not significantly influence the Zn speciation and availability in soil. However, major differences were observed within the plants. Plants grown in the presence of compost were able to partly block zinc immediately outside the root endodermis in the form of zinc-phytate, while a smaller Zn fraction was allowed to xylem transport as zinc-citrate. In the leaves, zinc was largely excluded from leaf cells, and about approximately 50% was in the form of phosphate precipitates, and the other 50% was complexed by cysteine and histidine residues. The reported data provide new information concerning the mechanisms of zinc tolerance in E. vesicaria L. Cavalieri, a very common edible plant in Mediterranean regions, and on the role of compost in influencing the molecular strategies involved in zinc uptake and detoxification.     

Evaluation of Five Microalgae Diets for Juvenile Pen Shells Atrina maura

–Juvenile pen shells Atrina maura were fed for 21 d with equal daily rations, equivalent to 6.5% of their live weight, of monoalgal cultures of Tetraselmis suecica, Isochrysis galbana, Chaetoceros muelleri, Chaetoceros calcitrans , and Thalassiosira pseudonana. Pen shell survival was 100% in all cases. All microalgae diets produced shell growth, and live and ash-free dry weight increases. However, the two Chaetoceros strains gave significantly better results, with shell height increases of 4.7 to 2.9 mm, live weight gains of 0.5 to 0.3 g, and final ash-free dry weights of 0.16 to 0.14 g after 3 wk. These results are not related to the algae gross biochemical composition, suggesting that other factors are involved in their nutritional value for this mollusc species.     

Occurrence and abundance of carbohydrates and amino compounds in sequentially extracted labile soil organic matter fractions

Purpose

The study aimed to describe the carbohydrates and amino compounds content in soil, the light fraction (LF), the >53 μm particulate organic matter (POM), and the mobile humic acid (MHA) fraction and to find out whether the carbohydrates and amino compounds can be used to explain the origin of SOM fractions.

Materials and methods

Soil samples were collected from two agricultural fields managed under organic farming in southern Italy. The LF, the POM, and the MHA were sequentially extracted from each soil sample then characterized. Seven neutral sugars and 19 amino compounds (amino acids and amino sugars) were determined in each soil sample and its correspondent fractions.

Results and discussion

The MHA contained less carbohydrate than the LF or the POM but its carbohydrates, although dominated by arabinose, were relatively with larger microbial contribution as revealed by the mannose/xylose ratio. The amino compounds were generally less in the LF or the POM than in the MHA, while the fungal (aspartic and serine) and bacterial (alanine and glycine) amino acids were larger in the MHA than in the LF or the POM, underlining the microbial contribution to the MHA. Results from both sites indicated that total carbohydrates content decreased moving from the LF (younger fraction) to the MHA (older fraction), which seems to follow a decomposition continuum of organic matter in the soil-plant system.

Conclusions

The study showed that the MHA is a labile humified fraction of soil C due to its content of carbohydrates and concluded that the content of carbohydrates and amino compounds in the LF, the POM and the MHA can depict the nature of these fractions and their cycling pattern and response to land management.

     

Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-7,8-dimethoxyisochroman-3-one and its plant growth-regulating properties on tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Petit Havana)

The synthesis of 6,7-dimethoxy-4-hydroxyisochroman-3-one 10 from 2,3-dimethoxytoluene (11) via glyoxylate 12 is reported. Compound 10 strongly inhibited vegetative growth of tobacco plants, whereas developmental patterns (protein levels, protein profile, pigments, and chlorophylls) were not affected. Morphological changes were observed in the leaves of the treated plants.     

Potassium Fertilization in Sugarcane Ratoon Yield Grown in a Tropical Region

ABSTRACT

Potassium (K) is closely associated to the improvement of sugarcane quality, acting in the conversion of reducing sugar (RS) to recoverable sugars (TRS). The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of different levels of K-fertilization on the yield and technological quality of sugarcane ratoons grown under edaphoclimatic conditions in the Brazilian central region. The experiment was carried out using the sugarcane variety CTC-4, in a Distrofic Latosols, medium texture (270 g clay kg^?1). The study was arranged in a randomized complete block design, with five treatments (0; 50; 100; 150 and 200 kg K₂O ha^?1), and five replicates. Potassium content in soil and plant, biometric variables, stalk yield and the technological quality at harvest were evaluated. The 200 kg ha^?1 dose increased the K content in 160, 156, 56 and 3% in 0–0.20 and 0.20–0.40 m layers at 180 and 360 days after budding (DAB), respectively, promoting greater absorption of the nutrient by plants (X ? = 15.22 g kg^?1). The higher potassium absorption reflected in yield gains, with an increasing of 7.9%, compared to the control treatment, yielding 100.37 t ha^?1. However, soil K fertilization did not affect the technological quality of the sugarcane ratoon.

Abbreviations: K: potassium; RS: reducing sugars; TRS: recoverable sugars; DAB: days after budding; SB: Sum of Bases; CEC: Cation Exchange Capacity; V: Saturation Base; Kcl: potassium chloride; AWC: Available water capacity; PC: Pol percent in sugarcane; Brix: total soluble solids; dRYL: Dystrophic Red Yellow Latosol; eRYA: Eutrophic Red Yellow Argisol.     

Dehydrogenase activity in Mediterranean forest soils

The dehydrogenase activity (DHA) in the upper 10 cm of forest soils was measured in three experimental plots (1 ha) in Los Alcornocales Natural Park (southern Spain). In each plot, a sylviculture treatment of thinning and shrub-clearing had been previously carried out in one half, while the other half was left as a forest control. Soil samples were taken during the dry season (July 2000) and after the first autumn rains (October 2000). The DHA of forest soil in autumn [527끭 nmol p-iodonitrotetrazolium formazan (INTF) g^-1 h^-1] was almost double that in summer (289ᇳ nmol INTF g^-1 h^-1), for one of the studied plots. During the dry season, DHA of forest control soils (324ᇩ nmol INTF g^-1 h^-1) was higher than in the thinned and shrub-cleared forest (253ᇱ nmol INTF g^-1 h^-1). During the autumn (wet season), however, the effects of the sylvicultural practices on the soil dehydrogenase were negligible. Significant differences in DHA were found between the three sites. Multiple regression analysis identified pH as the best predictor of DHA of these soils. Other soil properties (pH, K, Ca, Mg, and soil moisture) also showed significant correlations with DHA. In addition, clay content appeared to enhance the enzyme activity. Our results suggest that thinning and shrub-clearing in Mediterranean forests seem to affect negatively the soil DHA, and their impact is more marked during the dry season. However, season and site effects are better determinants of DHA than management practices.