N applications that increase plant N during panicle development are highly effective in increasing spikelet number in rice

Efficient use of nitrogen fertilizer is critical in improving yield stability in rice. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of nitrogen (N) top-dressing on the number of total spikelet (fertile plus sterile) production and evaluate the effect among rice cultivars. We analyzed 136 sets of experimental data on growth and spikelet production for three lowland cultivars, grown under various regimes of N over 10 seasons at Kyoto, Ibaraki and Kanagawa, Japan. In each season, one to three of the lowland cultivars, Nipponbare (japonica), Koshihikari (japonica) and Takanari (indica), were studied. In 1986, 1995 and 1999-2001, the N regimes included basal application only, light basal and heavy top-dressing from the panicle initiation stage onward, heavy basal and heavy top-dressing from the spikelet formation stage onward, and no applications. In 2002 and 2005-2008, we set up experimental plots with varied time of N top-dressing, with or without N basal application. Takanari had the largest spikelet number averaged over all plots and was considered better efficient in spikelet production per applied N than the other cultivars. Although the trend is not clear, the effect of time of top-dressing on spikelet number was generally the greatest when N was top-dressed from 35 to 30 days before heading. The variation of observed spikelet number was analyzed with a linear regression of plant N 14 days before heading and by a model that estimates spikelet production accounting for plant N 14 days before heading and crop growth rate (CGR) during the 14-day period preceding heading. For the variation of spikelet number within each cultivar, the linear function model expressed the observed spikelet number than the two function model with R² 0.43** versus 0.13*-0.28** for the former and later models, respectively. When the results of all cultivars were combined, the two function model was much better for estimation of spikelet number than the linear function model (R² = 0.36** vs. 0.20*). This indicates that yearly and varietal variation of spikelet number was caused mainly by plant N status at the late spikelet differentiation stage. The varietal variation in spikelet production efficiency is explained by CGR during this 14-day period. We concluded that N applications that increase plant N 14 days before heading is highly effective in maximizing spikelet production among cultivars.     

Factors regulating acetylene reduction assay for measuring heterotrophic nitrogen fixation in water-logged soils

In the C₂H₂-C₂H₄ assay for measurement of heterotrophic N₂ fixation in water-logged soils, the diffusion of C₂H₂ into the soil and the recovery of C₂H₄ from it are critical factors regulating the assay result. To establish an C₂H₂-C₂H₄ assay technique suitable for waterlogged soils, the C₂H₂-reducing activities (ARA), assayed by varying the method of assay gas filling, the pC₂H₂ of the assay gas, the duration of assay incubation and of soil vibration before the gas sampling, were compared.

A maximum ARA was measured when the following set of procedures were applied to the soil sample in assay flasks: 1) a 4-fold repetition of I-min evacuation under 0.01 atmospheric pressure and the subsequent I-min filling under 1 atmospheric pressure with assay gas at pC₂H₂ of 0.1 atm, 2) an assay incubation for 3 hr, and 3) a sampling of an aliquot of the headspace gas after strongly vibrating the flask for 1 min.

The ARA measured by this technique was several times larger than those measured by the techniques hitherto applied, and corresponded to an almost 80% of the V _max of the sample. This technique was, therefore, proposed for the assay of heterotrophic N₂ fixation in waterlogged soils.

A striking depression of ARA in the soil sample prepared with agitation indicated that a microbial ecosystem established in the soil should be kept as undisturbed as possible throughout the C₂H₂-C₂H₄ assay.     

Predicting chronosequential changes in carbon stocks of pachymorph bamboo communities in slash-and-burn agricultural fallow,northern Lao People’s Democratic Republic

In northern Lao People’s Democratic Republic, rising human population has drastically reduced the fallow period of slash-and-burn agriculture which has led to a considerable decrease in the carbon stock in these communities. We estimated chronosequential changes in the communities' carbon stocks, and established the relationship between the fallow period and fallow-period-average carbon stocks in three carbon pools of bamboo-dominated communities in hilly areas of the Luang Prabang Province, northern Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Based on measurements by destructive sampling, we devised a model and root-to-shoot ratios for estimating bamboo biomass. In six secondary plant communities established after slash-and-burn cropping, we estimated community biomass using the above model and others, and measured deadwood and litter stocks. The communities’ biomass and deadwood significantly increased with time after the last cropping and the former reached about 100 Mg ha⁻¹ after 15 years, whereas litter stocks did not show significant trends over time. Extending the fallow period from 2 to 5 years would increase fallow-period-average carbon stock from 14.2 to 25.1 Mg C ha⁻¹. The overstory height was significantly correlated with biomass, deadwood, and litter carbon stocks of these communities. Based on our findings, changes in a community’s carbon stocks can be estimated using the changes in overstory height, which should be taken into account in future studies to reduce uncertainty in estimating carbon stocks in tropical ecosystems.     

Application of DGGE analysis to the study of bacterial community structure in plant roots and in nonrhizosphere soil

To analyze the structure of bacterial communities in spinach roots and in the nonrhizosphere soil, we used PeR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments separated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). DGGE revealed a large number of band patterns, which were ascribed to various bacterial species composing each of the bacterial communities. The pattern from the roots was less complex than that from the soil. It is considered that DGGE analysis is suitable for studies of bacterial community structure in soil-plant ecosystems.     

Studies on microbial population in the rhizosphere of higher plants with special reference to the method of study

Introduction

Many previous investigations, beginning with the observations of Hiltner¹⁹, have established the fact that soil in the rhizosphere contains a higher quantity of microorganisms than soil which is not within the influence of the plant root. It has been shown also that the balance between certain physiological groups^4,21,43,45, as well as that between morphological types of bacteria or fungi^30,50 is changed in the rhizosphere. In addition, Canadian investigators^23,34,62) have reported a change in the balance of certain nutritional groups of soil bacteria in the rhizosphere. Two excellent reviews^6,22) covering these papers have recently appeared. Since then a number of papers^{2,7,9,11,13,15-18,25,26,33,36,38-40,48,54,57-60,63)} concerning various aspects of the microbial population of the rhizosphere have been published.     

Differential expression of genes encoding neurotrophic factors and their receptors along the septal‐temporal axis of the rat hippocampus

The hippocampus plays a key role in learning and emotional regulation. The hippocampus’ function varies along its septotemporal axis, with the septal pole being more frequently involved in spatial learning and memory, and the temporal pole playing a greater role in emotional behaviors. In this study, we present findings aimed at checking the expression level of the genes encoding neurotrophins and their receptors, including nerve growth factor (NGF), brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin‐3 (NT‐3), and their receptors (TrkA, TrkB and TrkC) in the hippocampus along the septotemporal axis. Using real‐time PCR, several different expression patterns were observed. Remarkably, the expression of both NT‐3 and TrkA genes in the septal hippocampus was higher than in the middle and temporal hippocampus. Higher expression of NT‐3 and TrkA may implicate active neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the septal hippocampus because more neurogenesis occurs in the septal than the temporal DG of rats. Finally, the results obtained in this study emphasize the importance of choosing the hippocampal portion along its septotemporal axis for any hippocampal molecular and biochemical experimental studies.     

Seed yield and its components of indeterminate and determinate lines in recombinant inbred lines of soybean

The present study was conducted to evaluate the benefits of indeterminate growth habit in breeding to improve yield potential of Japanese soybean varieties, which exclusively have determinate growth habit. Two populations of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from crosses between determinate Japanese cultivars and indeterminate US cultivars were grown in Akita and Kyoto, and seed weight per plant (SW) and its components were compared between indeterminate and determinate RILs. The difference of SW between the two growth habits in RILs varied depending on maturation time. The SW of early indeterminate lines was significantly higher than that of early determinate ones in Akita, but not in Kyoto. Among yield components, the number of seeds per pod was constantly larger in indeterminate lines than that in determinate ones irrespective of maturation time. The number of seeds per plant and the number of pods per plant of the indeterminate lines were greater than those of the determinate lines in early maturation in Akita. These results suggest that the indeterminate growth habit is an advantageous characteristic in breeding for high yield of early maturing soybean varieties in the Tohoku region.     

Rapid screening of wood chemical component variations using transmittance near-infrared spectroscopy

A rapid transmittance near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy method was developed to predict the variation in chemical composition of solid wood. The effect of sample preparation, sample quantity (single versus stacked multiple wood wafers), and NIR acquisition time on the quantification of alpha-cellulose and lignin content was investigated. Strong correlations were obtained between laboratory wet chemistry values and the NIR-predicted values. In addition to the experimental protocol and method development, improvements in calibration error associated with utilizing stacked multiple wood wafers as opposed to single wood wafers are also discussed.     

Soil management: The key factors for higher productivity in the fields utilizing the system of rice intensification (SRI) in the central highland of Madagascar

The system of rice intensification (SRI) developed in Madagascar in the 1980s has been promoted as an integrated crop and resource management approach to rice-cultivation, especially for resource-limited smallholder farms. While advocates have claimed that SRI could boost rice yields with less external input, many criticisms have challenged its effectiveness regarding yields and applicability to larger-scale rice farming systems. In this study, we conducted a field survey and on-farm experiments to assess rice yield performance and key management practices on a few of the early SRI-practicing smallholder farms in the central highland of Madagascar.Rice grain yields at the survey fields were 9.9 t ha⁻¹ maximum without using mineral fertilizer. Deep plowing to the depth of 25–30 cm as well as SRI practices have been conducted continuously since the early 1990s. In addition, an effective drainage system facilitated intensive water management at these high-yielding fields. On-farm experiments demonstrated some yield increases with no interaction for the examined SRI practices, though the effects were not great enough to explain the high yields at these fields. The soils of these high-yielding fields contained relatively large amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC) from the surface to the deep soil layers, and the soil mineralizable nitrogen was closely correlated with rice grain yields.The results indicated that the high yields at the fields of those who were early to adopt SRI were mainly due to the soil fertility associated with great nitrogen-supplying ability, rather than ‘synergetic effects’ of the SRI components. This high N-supplying ability of the soil and accumulated SOC from surface to deep soil layers were attributable to the long-term combined practices of extensive organic applications and deep plowing. Soil hydrology could be another key factor stimulating high rates of soil N-mineralization.These management practices were, however, only applied to the limited numbers of fields within less than 1.0 ha of total landholdings of these farmers due to the great demand in labor and organic resources and the difficulty in controlling irrigation water. Intensive weeding and widely spaced transplanting of young seedlings were also performed in the fields with irrigation and drainage systems sufficient to avoid yield losses from flooding and drought. Although extensive and long-term systematic research is further required to fully assess the benefits of this sort of intensive management as opposed to conventional methods, the preferential allocation of intensive management by the successful SRI-adopters might be the implication of its location-specificity and difficulty in scaling up even within the resource-limited smallholder farms.     

Studies on microörganisms and their activities in soil Part. 2. Virgin and cultivated soil of the same origin

The nature of soil is modified differently depending upon the artificial condition such as its utilization or management. It is therefore expected that the microbiological characteristic of soil is changed also. Greaves¹⁾ and Williams²⁾ reported that the reclamation of virgin soil brought about a change of bacterial count. Suzuki et al³⁾ observed that the kind of fungi differed between a virgin and a cultivated soil and that the vegetative mycelium was numerous in the former than in the latter. On the other hand, according to W aksman and Starkey⁴⁾, the bacterial count differed depending upon the fertility of soil. Singh⁵⁾ reported also that the number of fungi and actinomycetes was higher in a fertile than in an infertile soil. Lochhead⁶⁾, and Lochhead and Chasen studied the bacterial flora of a fertile (long-continued application of manure) and an infertile (no fertilizer for many years) soil and found that a certain difference could be observed when morphological, physiological and nutritional classification are tried.