Diversity of root-knot nematodes in Moroccan olive nurseries and orchards: does <Emphasis Type="Italic">Meloidogyne javanica</Emphasis> disperse according to invasion processes?

Background

Root-knot nematodes (RKN) are major pest of olive tree (Olea europaea ssp. europaea), especially in nurseries and high-density orchards. Soil samples were collected from main olive growing areas of Morocco, to characterize Meloidogyne species and to discuss the contribution of biotic and abiotic factors in their spatial distribution.

Results

RKN were found in 159 soil samples out of 305 from nurseries (52.1% occurrence) and in 11 out of 49 soil samples from orchards (23.2% occurrence). Biochemical and molecular characterisation (PAGE esterase and SCAR) revealed the dominance of M. javanica both in nurseries and orchards with minor presence of M. incognita only in nurseries, and M. arenaria in only one nursery. RKN were distributed on aggregated basis. Frequent presence of M. javanica in orchards might have come from nurseries. In contrast, the detection of M. incognita in nurseries alone suggests that this species could not reproduce in orchards because of either the competition with other plant-parasitic nematodes or unfit local habitats. The impact of environmental variables (climate, habitat origin and physicochemical characteristics of the substrates) on the distribution of Meloidogyne species is also discussed.

Conclusion

Olive nurseries in Morocco are not able to guarantee the safety of rooted plants. As a result, olive production systems are exposed to strong RKN invasion risks. Consequently, the use of healthy substrates in nurseries may prevent plant-parasitic nematode induction in orchards.

     

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Use Efficiency in Improved Potato (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanum tuberosum</Emphasis> L.) Cultivars in Southern Ethiopia

Use of nutrient efficient crop species or cultivars within species in combination with improved crop production practices offer the best option for meeting the future food requirements of growing world populations. Efficiency improvement has a key role for nutrient use and it improves both productivity of yield and minimizes risks of losses that potentially harm the environment. To improve nutrient use efficiency (NUE), one strategy is to select cultivars of crops with high NUE. Both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are among essential macronutrients commonly applied to agricultural crops to optimize yields. Evaluation of potato cultivars with high N and P efficiency is essential for sustainable production of the crop. In Ethiopia, however, little research has been done to elucidate better NUE of potato crop until recently. This study was, thus, designed to evaluate selected potato cultivars (Belete, Gudene, Jalene, Marachere and one local check) for NP use efficiency under low levels of the nutrients in Wolaita Sodo University, Ethiopia during 2014 and 2015. Factorial combination of 3 levels of each N (0, 55.5 and 111 kg N ha^?1 ) and P (0, 19.5 and 39 kg P ha^?1 ) were assigned to the main plots and the 5 cultivars to subplots of split-plot design in three replications. Efficiency indices such as agronomic efficiency, physiological efficiency and recovery efficiency were computed for combined NP nutrients. Results showed that agronomic nitrogen use efficiency, apparent phosphorus use efficiency and phosphorus use efficiencies were significantly influenced by the interaction effect of rates of NP nutrition and variety. Application of NP more than 55.5:19.5 kg ha^?1 will not beneficial due to their less or equal use and recovery efficiencies to 55.5:19.5 kg NP ha^?1. Belete was the most NP efficient variety followed by Jalene and Gudene in all efficiency indices. Therefore, Belete, Jalene and Gudene return better for NP at 55.5:19.5 kg ha^?1 for economical use of fertilizes while obtaining satisfactory yield. It can be concluded that yield response variation of the varieties was related to their differences in NP uptake and use efficiencies; and the improved potato varieties were superior to local check in using NP nutrients efficiently.     

Nano-calcium carbonate reinforced polypropylene and propylene-ethylene copolymer nanocomposites: Tensile vs. impact behavior

Improvement of both the tensile and impact strength of the same polymeric material has always been a great challenge for the plastic industry. The study focuses on the effect of incorporation of calcium carbonate nanoparticles (0.3 wt% to 15 wt%) into three polypropylene (PP) based matrices viz. PP homopolymer, propylene-ethylene (PP-PE) copolymer and the blend of PP:PP-PE (30:70) to improve their impact behavior without hampering the tensile strength much. A loss in both the tensile and impact properties was observed in PP based nanocomposite. However, PP-PE based nanocomposites showed a significant improvement in impact strength (47 %) at 10 wt% loading with a loss of tensile strength by 22 %. To minimize this loss a blend of PP:PP-PE (30:70) was explored as a matrix. At 10 wt% loading, this matrix showed an improvement of 30 % in impact strength whereas the tensile loss was minimized to 10 %. Further, silane coupling agent which promoted good interfacial adhesion was used for best compositions. The variation of crystalline morphology of the nanocomposites with various formulations was analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction.     

Identification of favorable alleles in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">non</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">yellow coloring 1</Emphasis> gene by association mapping in maize

Association mapping was conducted to explore favorable alleles of the chlorophyll-related non-yellow coloring 1 (NYC1) gene under light and dark using an association panel of 146 maize inbred lines. A total of 14 polymorphic sites were identified to be significantly associated with at least one of the chlorophyll-related traits at the seedling stage. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (S320, S2951, S3901, and S3355) from the NYC1 gene were respectively strongly associated with chlorophyll b (chlb), the ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b (chl_ratio), chlorophyll a degradation (chla_deg), and total chlorophyll degradation (total_chl_deg). SNPs S320 (C/A) in exon 1, and S2951 (A/G) in intron 8 was related to chlb, with 6.01 and 8.89% of phenotypic variation under light treatment, respectively. Under dark treatment, SNP S3901 (C/T), located in 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR), was associated with chl_ratio, explaining 7.01% of the observed phenotypic variation, whereas SNP S3355 (C/G) in intron 9 explained 6.48 and 5.18% of phenotypic variations in chla_deg and total_chl_deg, respectively. Taken together, these results indicated that the NYC1 gene plays an important role in chlorophyll content and other related traits, and different sites act on chlorophyll metabolism under different light intensities in maize seedlings. Furthermore, these findings improve our understanding of the genetic basis of chlorophyll metabolism under different light conditions.     

Association mapping reveals loci associated with multiple traits that affect grain yield and adaptation in soft winter wheat

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are useful to facilitate crop improvement via enhanced knowledge of marker-trait associations (MTA). A GWAS for grain yield (GY), yield components, and agronomic traits was conducted using a diverse panel of 239 soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes evaluated across two growing seasons and eight site-years. Analysis of variance showed significant environment, genotype, and genotype-by-environment effects for GY and yield components. Narrow sense heritability of GY (h ²  = 0.48) was moderate compared to other traits including plant height (h ²  = 0.81) and kernel weight (h ²  = 0.77). There were 112 significant MTA (p < 0.0005) detected for eight measured traits using compressed mixed linear models and 5715 single nucleotide polymorphism markers. MTA for GY and agronomic traits coincided with previously reported QTL for winter and spring wheat. Highly significant MTA for GY showed an overall negative allelic effect for the minor allele, indicating selection against these alleles by breeders. Markers associated with multiple traits observed on chromosomes 1A, 2D, 3B, and 4B with positive minor effects serve as potential targets for marker assisted breeding to select for improvement of GY and related traits. Following marker validation, these multi-trait loci have the potential to be utilized for MAS to improve GY and adaptation of soft red winter wheat.     

球孢白僵菌不同施用方式对玉米促生作用的研究

采用土壤施用和叶面喷施2种方式将球孢白僵菌(Beauveria bassiana)菌株Bb202接种至玉米,研究不同接种方式及处理浓度对玉米生长的影响。结果表明,2种喷施方式对玉米苗均存在促生作用,且这种促生作用与孢子接种浓度密切相关。在叶面喷施处理中,白僵菌仅对玉米地上部分生长指标有促进作用,而对玉米苗的根长无显著影响;其中1.0×10~4孢子/m L处理组对玉米苗的促生效果最佳,其株高、叶长、叶宽、鲜重指标比蒸馏水对照组分别高出7.47%、15.42%、25.70%和16.85%。在土壤喷施处理中,白僵菌对玉米苗地上与地下部分均有显著促生作用;其中1.0×106孢子/m L和1.0×10~8孢子/m L处理组,玉米株高、叶长、根长、生物量指标较蒸馏水对照组分别提高了28.66%和29.59%、30.66%和37.85%、43.08%和33.60%、28.35%和32.55%。从对玉米苗的促生作用来看,用1.0×106孢子/m L的白僵菌悬浮液处理土壤,可以取得最经济、最显著的促生效果。     

Correction to: Impact of leaf infestation by herbivorous insects on the elemental uptake of citrus trees

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - In the original publication, the article title was incorrectly published as ‘Impact of leave infestation by herbivorous insects on the elemental...