Salicylic acid alleviates chilling injury in anthurium (Anthurium andraeanum L.) flowers

We tested if salicylic acid (SA) can alleviate chilling injury in anthurium flowers (Anthurium andraeanum). Cut flowers of five cultivars, individually placed in water, were held at 4 °C and 12 °C. Symptoms of chilling injury (CI) were found in the flowers stored at 4 °C. These symptoms included desiccation of the spadix (the compound floral stalk) and a colour change of the spathe (the large floral bract) to pink and then to brown. The time to the CI symptoms depended on the cultivar. CI symptoms were accompanied by an increase in electrolyte leakage, by loss of fresh weight, and by an increase in catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. SA at 2.0 mM in water was applied as a 15 min dip. It delayed the CI symptoms, as well as the loss of fresh weight, the increase in electrolyte leakage, and the increase CAT and SOD activity. The data suggest that CI in this system is related to an increase in the concentrations of active oxygen species.     

Evaluation of attract-and-kill strategy for management of cocoa pod borer,Conopomorpha cramerella,in Malaysia cocoa plantation

Abstract

In South-East Asia, cocoa production is dramatically affected by cocoa pod borer (CPB) infestations. As an alternative tool to chemical control, the efficacy of attract-and-kill strategy (CPB sex-pheromone as attractant and Delta trap without sticky liner sprayed with cypermethrin solution as killing station) was evaluated and compared with current standard CPB management approach as control treatment during two main cocoa harvest seasons in Malaysia (with 100 µg and 33.3 µg CPB-pheromone loading per station, respectively). In both seasons, attract-and-kill strategy was highly effective at reducing male flight activity (p?<?0.05) in attract-and-kill plots comparing with standard CPB management plots. For the percentage of CPB-infested pods, the attract-and-kill strategy (100 µg) was as good as the conventional pesticide spray applications of cypermethrin (p?=?0.083) in first season. However, it was significantly (p?=?0.021) reduced in the second season with lower pheromone loading (33.3 µg), indicating that this semiochemical based strategy is far superior to and more feasible than the currently applied conventional synthetic pesticide treatment and is therefore a good alternative in CPB integrated pest management.     

Sediment Load in Runoff Under Laboratory and Field Simulated Rainfall

Soil erosion is one of the most important problems in the Loess Plateau of China affecting sustainable agriculture. Near Luoyang (Henan Province, China), field plots were constructed to measure soil erosion rates under conventional tillage practices using field-simulated rainfall. Field rainfall experiments were carried out to compare previous results from laboratory rainfall simulations on the same soil for interrill conditions. Although in the laboratory experiments, a strong correlation was found between the stream power of the runoff water and the unit sediment load, this sediment transport equation overestimated the field rainfall simulation results. Another sediment transport equation derived by Nearing et al. for rill erosion was in better agreement with the results of the field experiments, although it also overestimated these values. The measured sediment load values during the field rainfall simulations were also lower than those found during field experiments on the same soil but with a loosened surface layer. This difference indicates the importance of soil physical condition of surfce like soil structure and aggregate size, which may contribute to the discrepancy between the field and laboratory experiment results.     

Breeding for resistance to rhizomania in sugar beet: A review

Currently rhizomania is the most important disease in sugar beet worldwide, and attack can lead to serious yield losses. The disease is caused by beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) that is transmitted by the soil-borne fungus Polymyxa betae. Breeding sugar beet cultivars with resistance to rhizomania is regarded as the most appropriate way to enable continued production of this crop in BNYVV-infested fields and also to slow the spread of the disease. Breeding for resistance started with selection by scoring disease symptoms in field experiments. The development of non-destructive greenhouse tests, with determination of the virus concentration in rootlets using ELISA, has greatly improved the efficiency of selection. In this paper the impact of scientific research on the progress in breeding cultivars with resistance to rhizomania is reviewed. This includes the distribution, composition, and pathogenicity of the virus, the sources of resistance to virus and vector, the genetics of virus resistance, progress with breeding methods, and the use of molecular markers and pathogen-derived resistance. The yields and quality characteristics of recently introduced resistant cultivars now equal those of the commercial susceptible cultivars. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Field determination of soil hydraulic properties for simulation of the optimum watertable regime

A field experiment to evaluate accurate cost and time efficient methodologies for determining soil hydraulic properties was done at the NIAB Research Station at Faisalabad, Pakistan. The experiment was performed on a freely draining loamy soil. This soil type is representative of 75% of the topsoil in a tile drainage area known as the Fourth Drainage Project. Redistribution of water was monitored at five locations, for seven depths, following a steady state infiltration for prolonged time. The data were analyzed with Darcian flow analysis, three simplified methods, and two parameter optimization programs to calculate unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. The Darcian flow analysis was used as a reference against which the simplified methods were compared. Two simplified methods produced satisfactory results with less effort. The drawback is that the simplified methods alone do not provide enough information for use in simulation models. The advantage of the two optimization programs — SFIT and RETC — is that they are based on a continuous function which describes complete h() and K() curves. This is a requirement for computer simulation of salt and water movement in the unsaturated soil. The results of the optimizations were evaluated by their correspondence to field measurements and to laboratory measurements and by their ability to simulate soil water flow. Both programs fit the observed field data well, but only the SFIT optimized parameters were suitable for soil water flow simulations.Abbreviations IWASRI International Waterlogging and Salinity Research Institute - NRAP Netherlands Research Assistance Project - NIAB Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology - SSP Soil Survey of Pakistan Revised paper from Field determination of soil hydraulic properties presented in ICID, CIID IDW5, Lahore, Pakistan (1–55 — 1–64).     

Amendment-Induced Immobilization of Lead in a Lead-Spiked Soil: Evidence from Phytotoxicity Studies

Lead immobilization was evaluated on soils spiked with increasingconcentrations of Pb (as Pb-acetate) using the following soilamendments: bentonite, zeolite, cyclonic ash, compost, lime,steelshot, and hydroxyapatite. The immobilization efficacy of theamendments was evaluated according to the following criteria:Ca(NO₃)₂-extractable Pb as an indicator of Pbphytoavailability, morphological and enzymatic parameters of beanplants (Phaseolus vulgaris) as indicator of phytotoxicity, and Pb concentration in edible tissue of lettuce (Lactuca sativa). The lowest reductions in Ca(NO₃)₂-extractablesoil Pb occurred when bentonite and steelshot were applied. Phytotoxicity from application of steelshot was confounded by toxic amounts of Fe and Mn released from the by-product which killed the lettuce seedlings. Addition of zeolite induced poorplant growth independent of Pb concentration due to its adverseeffect on soil structure. Substantial reductions in Ca(NO₃)₂-extractable Pb were observed when cyclonic ash, lime, compost and hydroxyapatite were applied. In general,these amendments reduced Pb phytotoxicity concomitant with reduced Pb concentration in lettuce tissue. Cyclonic ash, limeand compost further improved plant growth and reduced oxidativestress at low soil Pb concentrations due to soil pH increase mitigating Al or Mn toxicity.     

Regional variability of volcanic ash soils in south Ecuador: The relation with parent material,climate and land use

The high Andes region of south Ecuador is characterised by intense land use changes. These changes affect particularly the páramo, which is a collection of high altitudinal grassland ecosystems. In this region, the interaction between airborne volcanic ashes and the cold and wet climate results in very typical soils, with an elevated organic C contents. The physical soil properties are closely related to the high and reliable base flow in rivers descending from the páramo, which makes them important for the socio-economic development of the region. In this study, we analyse the regional variability of the soils in the south Ecuadorian rio Paute basin. In a first part of the study, data from soil profiles along north–south transects are used to determine the soil properties, and to relate the spatial variability of these properties to the major trends in parent material, volcanic ash deposits and climate. The profiles are Histic Andosols and Dystric Histosols devoid of allophane, with very high amounts of organic matter. Significant differences between the western and central mountain range are observed, as well as a general decrease in Andic properties from north to south, coinciding with the decrease in volcanic influence. Finally, the impact of human activities on the soil properties is assessed in a case study in the Machangara valley. Data from 5 profiles, located in an area with natural grass vegetation and a low degree of human impact are compared with 4 profiles in a heavily disturbed, intensively drained cultivated area. Despite the intensity of the land use, very few significant differences are found.     

The crossing of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with cultivated rye (Secale cereale L.). II. Fertilization and early post-fertilization developments

Summary Fertilization and early seed development was studied in the variety Chinese Spring of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) after pollination with rye (Secale cereale L.) and selfing, and in the common wheat variety Hope after selfing. In all three combinations the first pollen tube reached the micropyle in about 40 min after pollination. When pollinated with rye the migration of the sperm nuclei to the egg cell and the polar nuclei was delayed by about an hour. In the subsequent development until 72 hours after pollination the average cellular and nuclear doubling times of embryo and endosperm were about 16 and 8 hours for the interspecific combination. 18 and 9 hours for Chinese Spring selfed and 20 and 12 hours for Hope selfed.