Effect of the rootstock and interstock grafted in lemon tree (Citrus limon (L.) Burm.) on the flavonoid content of lemon juice

The grafting of the rootstock with the lemon tree is an agronomical technique used to improve production and/or quality of the fruit. The interstock has been used with different fruit trees to modulate the tree size, fruit production and quality, and the aging of the tree. The lemon trees grafted with interstocks increase their longevity, lemon production and quality; interstocks are also used to decrease the thickness of the trunk at the grafting point. This enlarging of the trunk provokes a decrease of the sap flow. In our study, "Verna" lemon trees were grafted with interstock between the rootstock and the lemon tree to follow the flavonoid content of the lemon juice. The lemon juice was obtained from the lemons collected of the grafted lemon trees. Two types of rootstocks were used: Citrus aurantium L. and Citrus macrophylla L. Seven interstocks from five cultivars of orange tree, one cultivar of lime tree, and one cultivar of tangerine tree were used. "Verna" lemon trees were also grafted directly to the rootstock. The rootstock was more important agronomic factor than the interstock on the total flavonoid content of lemon juice. The interstock grafting had only a small influence on the flavonoid content of the lemon juice, and it modulated the individual flavonoid content. Citrus aurantium L. rootstock and "Berna" and "Washington Navel" interstocks were the most appropriate to graft in the lemon tree. This interstock grafting technique does not increase the flavonoid content of the lemon juice. Regarding the individual flavonoids, the 6,8-di-C-glucosyl diosmetin was the most affected flavonoid by the type of rootstock used. The interstock used is able to alter the individual quantitative flavonoid order of eriocitrin, diosmin, and hesperidin. In addition, the HPLC-ESI/MS(n) analyses provided the identification of two new flavonoids in the lemon juice: Quercetin 3-O-rutinoside-7-O-glucoside and chrysoeriol 6,8-di-C-glucoside (stellarin-2). The occurrence of apigenin 6,8-di-C-glucoside (vicenin-2), eriodictyol 7-O-rutinoside, 6,8-di-C-glucosyl diosmetin, hesperetin 7-O-rutinoside, homoeriodictyol 7-O-rutinoside and diosmetin 7-O-rutinoside was also confirmed in lemon juice by this technique.     

Diterpenoids from Cascarilla (Croton eluteria Bennet)

Cascarilla is a commercially available and cheap source of polyfunctionalized diterpenoids belonging to the clerodane structural type. In addition to the bitter triol cascarillin, 10 additional new diterpenoids (eluterins A-J) have been isolated and characterized by spectroscopic means. Structural diversity within cascarilla clerodanes involves mainly the linkage between the carbocyclic and the heterocyclic moieties and the functionalization of C-3, C-4, and C-6 of the decalin core. Cascarillin was shown to be a mixture of interconverting gamma-lactols and not a gamma-hydroxyaldehyde as previously reported.     

A case of lymphocytic-plasmacytic jejunitis diagnosed by double-balloon enteroscopy in a dog

A 3 yr old male English setter dog was presented for evaluation of a 6-wk history of intermittent diarrhea. After standard gastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy showed normal mucosa, double-balloon endoscopy (DBE) was used via both oral and anal approaches. Gross changes consistent with inflammation in the jejunum were seen, and biopsy specimens were obtained. Histologic analysis confirmed a diagnosis of lymphocytic-plasmacytic jejunitis. Clinical remission of the disease occurred after 3 mo of therapy with prednisone, metronidazole, and a novel protein diet. Use of DBE has not been previously reported in dogs with inflammatory bowel disease, and isolated lymphocytic-plasmacytic jejunitis has not been described. The described cases of intestinal inflammatory disease diagnosed by conventional endoscopy were related to pathologic changes in the duodenum, ileum or colon, but not the jejunum. The main advantage of the DBE technique allowed examination of portions of the small intestine (jejunum) that were not commonly accessible by standard endoscopic techniques, and permitted a minimally invasive collection of biopsy samples compared with surgical biopsy. This case highlights the need to consider using DBE in animals with gastrointestinal disorders, whose symptoms are not readily explained by routine tests, conventional endoscopy, and dietary or therapeutic trials.     

Physiological host range of Trissolcus mitsukurii,a candidate biological control agent of Halyomorpha halys in Europe

Journal of Pest Science - The invasive stink bug Halyomorpha halys, native to East Asia, is a severe agricultural pest of worldwide importance, and chemical insecticides are largely sprayed for its...     

A tree species range in the face of climate change: cork oak as a study case for the Mediterranean biome

Species distribution models are feasible methods for projecting theoretical responses of living organisms’ occurrence under several future climate change scenarios. The major interest is focused on trees, which regulate the equilibrium within ecosystems and guarantee the survival of many life forms on the Earth. The repercussions of climatic drivers are expected to pose the strongest threats for the Mediterranean biome, an acknowledged hotspot of biodiversity. Here, we focused on cork oak (Quercus suber L.), a keystone species of many landscapes, sustaining a rich biodiversity, ecological processes and economic incomes. Results of 8 combined ecological modelling techniques and two Global Circulation Models highlight a broad contraction of the species potential range over the twenty-first century, both under intermediate and high emissions scenarios. Coupled northward and upward shifts are predicted, mostly pertaining Iberia and North Africa. The potential areas detected at Levantine will likely undergo disappearance. To exacerbate the impacts of climate change, the future of the ecosystems linked to cork oak remains uncertain, because of the expected implications on the phenotypic plasticity or evolutionary responses. A synergy among niche-based, physiological and eco-genetic investigations is strongly needed in the field of applied research, to improve the assessment of conservation and reforestation actions.     

Nursery fertilisation affects the frost-tolerance and plant quality of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. cuttings

Eucalyptus globulus is widely used in productive exotic plantations but the expansion of these plantations is limited by low temperatures, as its cold hardening capacity is limited (0.5 to 3.0 °C). It is not well understood how nursery fertilisation affects the field performance of plants. This led us to study the effect of three mineral nutrients (N, P and K) on both plant quality and frost tolerance. The experiment comprised eight growth treatments in which a high dose (H-) or a low dose (L-) of each nutrient was applied. Nitrogen was the nutrient that determined shoot growth, new root growth after transplanting (root egress), frost tolerance and field performance. Performance was better with treatment H-N than with treatment L-N, leaf nitrogen contents being 1.53 and 0.89% respectively. The effects of phosphorus and potassium were not significant between treatments for any parameter. The exception was P which, when interacting with N, favoured root egress for the H-N treatment. It was concluded that nursery fertilisation offers a management tool for eucalyptus growers concerned with plant stock quality.     

Assessing temporal variation of primary and ecosystem production in two Mediterranean forests using a modified 3-PG model

Context

Forest ecosystem carbon uptake is heavily affected by increasing drought in the Mediterranean region.

Aims

The objectives of this study were to assess the capacity of a modified 3-PG model to capture temporal variation in gross primary productivity (GPP), and ecosystem net carbon uptake (NEE) in two Mediterranean forest types.

Methods

The model was upgraded from a monthly (3-PG) to a daily time step (3-PG_day), and a soil water balance routine was included to better represent soil water availability. The model was evaluated against seasonal GPP and NEE dynamics from eddy covariance measurements.

Results

Simulated and measured soil water content values were congruent throughout the study period for both forest types. 3-PG_day effectively described the following: GPP and NEE seasonal patterns; the transition of forest ecosystems from carbon sink to carbon source; however, the model overestimated diurnal ecosystem respiration values and failed to predict ecosystem respiration peaks.

Conclusions

The model served as a rather effective tool to represent seasonal variation in gross primary productivity, and ecosystem net carbon uptake under Mediterranean drought-prone conditions. However, its semi-empirical nature and the simplicity inherent in the original model formulation are obstacles preventing the model working well for short-term daily predictions.     

Multiple attribute decision making for individual tree detection using high-resolution laser scanning

A canopy height model (CHM) is a standard LiDAR-derived product for deriving relevant forest inventory information, including individual tree positions, crown boundaries and plant density. Several image-processing techniques for individual tree detection from LiDAR data have been extensively described in literature. Such methods show significant performance variability depending on the vegetation characteristics of the monitored forest. Moreover, over regions of high vegetation density, existing algorithms for individual tree detection do not perform well for overlapping crowns and multi-layered forests. This study presents a new time and cost-efficient procedure to automatically detect the best combination of the morphological analysis for reproducing the monitored forest by estimating tree positions, crown boundaries and plant density from LiDAR data. The method needs an initial calibration phase based on multi attribute decision making-simple additive weighting (MADM-SAW). The model is tested over three different vegetation patterns: two riparian ecosystems and a small watershed with sparse vegetation. The proposed approach allows exploring the dependences between CHM filtering and segmentation procedures and vegetation patterns. The MADM architecture is able to self calibrate, automatically finding the most accurate de-noising and segmentation processes over any forest type. The results show that the model performances are strongly related to the vegetation characteristics. Good results are achieved over areas with a ratio between the average plant spacing and the average crown diameter (TCI) greater than 0.59, and plant spacing larger than the remote sensing data spatial resolution. The proposed algorithm is thus shown a cost effective tool for forest monitoring using LiDAR data that is able to detect canopy parameters in complex broadleaves forests with high vegetation density and overlapping crowns and with consequent significant reduction of the field surveys, limiting them over only the calibration site.     

Effects of thinning and canopy type on growth dynamics of Pinus sylvestris: inter-annual variations and intra-annual interactions with microclimate

We assessed the effects of thinning (0, 20 and 30 % extraction of basal area) and canopy type (pine–beech vs. pine plots, beech accounting for 12 % of total basal area) on radial growth of dominant and codominant Scots pine at inter-annual scale and on microclimatic conditions, radial growth and xylogenesis 9 years after thinning at intra-annual scale. Thinning weakly affected pine growth, which was enhanced 3 years after harvesting. Over time, a gradual reduction in pine growth in mixed canopy relative to pure canopy occurred only in unthinned plots apparently due to beech expansion. Indeed, 9 years after thinning, a higher seasonal radial increment and a greater number of tracheids were produced under pine canopy in the unthinned plots, whereas no differences between canopy types were observed in the thinned plots. Radial increment and tracheid production were mainly affected by tree water status (air and soil humidity, throughfall). The differences of tree water status caused by treatments, and plausibly disparities in tree size and tree-to-tree competition, were the main drivers explaining the patterns observed for radial increment and xylogenesis. Our results suggest that the negative effects of beech competition on Scots pine growth in similar mixed forest may be controlled to some extent by thinning.