Relationships between soil and foliar nutrients in young densely planted mini-plots of Pinus radiata and Cupressus lusitanica

The long-term nature of forest crop rotations makes it difficult to determine impacts of forestry on soil nutrients that might be depleted by forest growth. We used small scale, highly stocked plots to compress the length of the rotation and rapidly induce nutrient depletion. In the study, two species (Pinus radiata D. Don and Cupressus lusitanica Miller) are compared under two disturbance regimes (soil undisturbed and compacted), and two fertiliser treatments (nil and plus fertiliser), applied in factorial combination at 33 sites, covering the range of climatic and edaphic variation found in plantation forests across New Zealand. To assess our ability to rapidly highlight important soil properties, foliar nutrient concentrations were determined 20 months after planting. It was hypothesised that the densely planted plots, even at a young age, would create sufficient pressure on nutrient resources to allow development of relationships between properties used as indicies of soil nutrient availability and foliar nutrient concentrations. For both species significant relationships between foliar nutrients and 0–10 cm layer soil properties from unfertilised plots were evident for N (total and mineralisable N) and P (total, acid extractable, organic, Bray-2 and Olsen P). With the exception of Ca in C. lusitanica, foliar K, Ca and Mg were correlated with their respective soil exchangeable cation measures. The results thus confirm the utility of the experimental approach and the relevance of the measured soil properties for forest productivity.

In unfertilised plots foliar N and P concentrations in P. radiata exceeded those in C. lusitanica, the differences being eliminated by fertiliser application. Foliar N/P ratios in P. radiata also exceeded those in C. lusitanica. In contrast to N and P, foliar K, Ca and Mg concentrations were all higher in C. lusitanica, the difference being particularly marked for Ca and Mg. P. radiata contained substantially higher concentrations of the metals Zn, Mn and Al than C. lusitanica, whereas the latter contained higher B concentrations. Possible reasons for differences between species in foliar nutrient concentrations are discussed.     

Identifying climate refugia for 30 Australian rainforest plant species,from the last glacial maximum to 2070

Landscape Ecology - Climate refugia—areas that remain suitable for species during periods of climate disruption—have played an important role in species persistence over time....     

Correction to: Individual based modelling of fish migration in a 2-D river system: model description and case study

Landscape Ecology - In the original publication of the article, the third author name has been misspelt. The correct name is given in this Correction. The original version of this article was revised.     

CRISPR-Cas Technology in Plant Science

CRISPR-Cas technology has raised considerable interest among plant scientists, both in basic science and in plant breeding. Presently, the generation of random mutations at a predetermined site of the genome is well mastered, just like the targeted insertion of transgenes, although both remain restricted to species or genotypes amenable for plant transformation. On the other hand, true genome editing, i.e. the deliberate replacement of one or several nucleotides of the genome in a predetermined fashion, is limited to some rather particular examples that generally concern genes allowing positive selection, for example tolerance to herbicides. Therefore, further technological developments are necessary to fully exploit the potential of genome editing in enlarging the gene pool beyond the natural variability available in a given species. In principle, the technology can be applied to any quality related, agronomical or ecological trait, under the condition of upstream knowledge on the genes to be targeted and the precise modifications necessary to improve alleles. Published proof of concepts concern a wide range of agronomical traits, the most frequent being disease resistance, herbicide tolerance and the biochemical composition of harvested products. The regulatory status of the plants obtained by CRISPR-Cas technology raises numerous questions, in particular with regard to the plants that carry in their genomes the punctual modifications caused by the presence of the Cas9 nuclease but not the nuclease itself. Without clarification by the competent authorities, CRISPR-Cas technology would continue to be a powerful tool in functional genomics, but its potential in plant breeding would remain untapped.     

Comparing mating designs to restore seed production of interspecific hybrids between Trifolium repens (white clover) and Trifolium uniflorum

Interspecific hybrids between Trifolium uniflorum and cultivated white clover (Trifolium repens) have highly useful characteristics for temperate pastoral systems derived from both parent species. However, the early hybrids (F₁ and BC₁) also have unacceptably poor seed production for commerce. This study analysed the basis for the poor seed production and investigated breeding strategies for overcoming the problem. The BC₁F₁ generation produced lower‐than‐expected numbers of heads per plant and seeds per floret. Backcrossing of selected hybrids to white clover corrected these deficiencies and created new variation. Seed numbers were also returned to near target levels by recurrent selection within the BC₁ generation. Thus, it was possible to retain a theoretical average of 25% of T. uniflorum genome and still achieve high seed production per plant. The BC₁F₂ and BC₂F₁ generations produced high seed numbers per plant, along with reasonable variation. Both of these second‐generation hybrid forms have high reproductive potential and should be the focus for the selection of the desired combinations of agronomic and seed production traits.     

System for quasi‐continuous simultaneous measurement of oxygen diffusion rate and redox potential in soil

Oxygen diffusion rate (ODR) and redox potential (E_H) are quantitative indices representing oxygen availability and redox status in soils, which is valuable information for better understanding causes and effects of soil aeration. Because these indices are spatially and temporally highly variable, continuous measurements and adequate numbers of repetitions are essential for accurate in situ monitoring. Here, we present a new, fully automated recording system for in situ measurements where ODR and E_H are measured at the same platinum electrode. The conflict between electrode polarization for ODR and the resulting biased E_H readings is solved by reducing the polarization time and introducing a recovery interval between two consecutive measurement cycles. The shorter polarization time ensures accurate E_H readings. It also results in moderately overestimated ODR readings, but this can be corrected before data analysis. The recovery interval restricts temporal resolution of the E_H‐ODR data pairs to 8 h. We illustrate the use of the system with measurements in a field experiment in Zürich, Switzerland. ODR curves at different depths ran roughly parallel to the corresponding curves of O₂ concentration in soil air but ODR was much more sensitive to precipitation. Low ODR was a necessary but not a sufficient condition for declining E_H. E_H ran parallel to O₂ concentration in soil air rather than to ODR. The fully automated system allows for time series of replicate measurements in multifactorial field studies with reasonable labor requirements. It may be particularly suitable for studies examining the effects of soil tillage, compaction, and irrigation, where structure‐related soil properties such as porosity, gas permeability, and soil aeration play a dominant role.     

Comparative proteomic analysis of mushroom cell wall proteins among the different developmental stages of Pleurotus tuber-regium

Cell wall proteins (CWPs) play a vital role in the development of the different morphological stages including mycelium, fruiting body, and sclerotium in mushrooms which are important human food sources. Using fractionation by detergents and reducing agents, mushroom cell wall fractions from the different developmental stages of Pleurotus tuber-regium (PTR) were prepared. Using one-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with LC-MS, there were 103, 91, and 48 noncovalently linked CWPs identified in the cell wall fractions of the PTR mycelium, fruiting body, and sclerotium, respectively. Comparing the CWPs in these cell wall fractions, 19 of them were in common, among which 17 belonged to the functional categories of translation, ribosomal structure, and biogenesis. This is the first study to provide important biochemical insights into the different developmental stages of PTR mediated by CWPs, and the identified CWPs helped to explain the morphological changes of PTR mushrooms during cultivation.