Field Evaluation of Cocksfoot,Tall Fescue and Phalaris for Dry Marginal Environments of South‐Eastern Australia. 1. Establishment and Herbage Production

Newly developed candidate cultivars of cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), phalaris (Phalaris aquatica L.) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb. = syn. L. arundinaceum (Schreb) Darbysh.) were evaluated over four years for persistence and productivity against current commercial cultivars in small plots at five locations selected for lower and less reliable rainfall and difficult soils (low pH and high Al) in south‐eastern Australia known to be marginally too dry for these grass species. The five locations were ‐ representing summer dominant rainfall, Inverell, in northern New South Wales (NSW); ‐ representing uniform rainfall; Trungley Hall, (medium rainfall), and Beckom (lower rainfall) both in southern NSW; and; representing a winter dominant pattern ‐ Eversley, (higher rainfall), and Bealiba, (lower rainfall), in central Victoria. The objective was to determine if the new candidate cultivars were more likely to persist and to be productive than current commercial cultivars. The study showed that most phalaris and cocksfoot treatments were highly productive in high rainfall years at one or both sites in southern NSW. However, all treatments had become much less productive by the end of the experimental period due to plant loss under hot, dry conditions in the final summer. At Bealiba in central Victoria, cocksfoot was the most productive species with several cocksfoot treatments of both subsp. hispanica and subsp. glomerata still present at the final harvest despite a hot and dry final summer‐autumn. Tall fescue was the most productive species in the two higher rainfall environments (Inverell, Eversley) although most treatments of all species performed well at those sites. Continental tall fescues were more productive on average than Mediterranean tall fescues at the strongly acidic Eversley site. As a result of this work, two of the new cocksfoot candidates (Moroccan Fine and AVH48 Selection) and one of the tall fescue candidates (Summer Active 1) have been licensed for commercial development and release.     

Consortial associations of cyanobacteria in a typical chernozem contaminated with oil

Associations of cyanobacterial communities in a typical chernozem contaminated with oil (0.05, 0.5, and 5% of the soil weight) were investigated. The high concentration of oil in the soil favored the development of other microorganisms (mostly, hydrocarbon oxidizers) on the surface and in the colonial mucus of cyanobacteria.     

A novel role of ammonia in appressorium formation of Alternaria alternata (Fries) Keissler,a tobacco pathogenic fungus

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Alternaria alternata (Fries) Keissler is a facultative parasitic fungus which causes brown spot disease of senescing tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)...     

Unique gliadin patterns in Chinese winter wheat cultivars

Cultivated Chinese wheat germplasm has been a valuable genetic resource in international plant breeding. Patterns of gliadin among cultivated Chinese accessions are unknown, despite the proven value and potential novelty. The objective of this work was to analyse the diversity within improved Chinese wheat germplasm. The electrophoretic banding patterns of gliadin in winter wheat cultivars and advanced lines were determined by acid-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. For 148 leading commercial cultivars and promising advanced lines used in this study, 48 patterns were identified, 29 corresponding to ω -gliadin, nine to γ -gliadin, five to β -gliadin and five to α -gliadin. The most frequent patterns were A6 in ω ; B in γ ; B in β and A in the region of α . A total of 116 band types appeared in the 148 samples: 94 accessions had unique gliadin types, and 22 gliadin, types while not unique, were found in 54 accessions. The gliadin patterns of Chinese wheat cultivars and lines greatly differed from the patterns of wheat lines from other countries. Three patterns, E, J, H, M, N and O in the ω -zone had not been reported previously. Three wheat zones of China, the Northern Winter Wheat Region, the Yellow and Huai Valley River valleys Winter Wheat Region and the Southwestern Winter Wheat Region, showed different frequencies in their gliadin patterns. This information can be used to monitor genetic diversity with Chinese wheat germplasm.     

Development of two multiplex PCR assays targeting improvement of bread-making and noodle qualities in common wheat

Wheat quality properties are genetically determined by the compositions of high and low molecular weight glutenin subunits, grain hardness, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity and starch viscosity. Two multiplex PCR assays were developed and validated using 70 cultivars and advanced lines from Chinese autumn‐sown wheat regions. Multiplex PCR I includes molecular markers for genes/loci ω‐secalin, Glu‐B1‐2a (By8), Glu‐D1‐1d (Dx5), Glu‐A3d, Glu‐B3 (for non‐1B·1R type) and Pinb‐D1b targeting improved gluten parameters and pan bread quality. Multiplex PCR II comprises markers for genes/loci Ppo‐A1, Ppo‐D1 and Wx‐B1b targeting improved noodle quality. The results were consistent with those achieved by SDS‐PAGE and RP‐HPLC, indicating that the two multiplex assays were highly effective, with good repeatability and low costs enabling their use in wheat breeding programmes. In total, nine alleles (subunits) at locus Glu‐B1, four at Glu‐D1 and five at Glu‐A3 locus were identified, and the alleles (subunits) Glu‐B1b (7 + 8), Glu‐B1c (7 + 9), Glu‐D1a (2 + 12), Glu‐D1d (5 + 10), Glu‐A3a, Glu‐A3c and Glu‐A3d were most frequently present in the cultivars and lines tested. The 1B·1R translocation was present in 28 (40.0%) lines, whereas the Wx‐B1 null allele for better noodle quality was present in only seven (10.0%) cultivars and advanced lines, and 37 (52.9%) lines had Pinb‐D1b associated with hard grains. The allele Ppo‐A1b on chromosome 2AL associated with lower PPO activity was present in 38 (54.3%) genotypes, whereas the less effective allele Ppo‐D1a on chromosome 2DL, also associated with low PPO activity was present in 45 (64.3%) of genotypes. These two multiplex PCR assays should be effective in marker assisted selection targeting improved pan bread‐making and noodle qualities.     

Genic microsatellite markers for discrimination of spinach cultivars

A set of simple sequence repeat (SSR or microsatellite) markers was used to discriminate a collection of 33 Spinacia oleracea hybrid cultivars from seven different breeding stations all over the world. All SSR markers were genic microsatellite markers located in coding or non-coding regions of genes of known function. Cluster analysis based on 13 of the SSR markers showed that the spinach hybrids grouped into three clusters. The first two clusters consisted of European spinach types, which were well discriminated according to their origin from different breeding stations. The third cluster was a mixture of Asian as well as European types of spinach. Subclusters in this group did not reflect differences in morphology, earliness or company origin. The data show that genic microsatellites are a powerful tool for discrimination of spinach cultivars.     

Struktur und Einzelbaumzuwachs in montan-subalpinen Lärchen-Fichten-Mischbeständen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Salt‐Induced Regulation of Some Key Antioxidant Enzymes and Physio‐Biochemical Phenomena in Five Diverse Cultivars of Turnip (Brassica rapa L.)

A greenhouse experiment was carried out to examine the differential morpho‐physiological responses of five cultivars of turnip (Brassica rapa L.) to salt stress. Five diverse cultivars of turnip (shaljum desi surakh, shaljum purple top, shaljum golden bal, neela shaljum, and peela shaljum) were subjected for 6 weeks to varying levels of NaCl, i.e. 0, 80 and 160 mm in Hoagland’s nutrient solution in sand culture. Imposition of varying levels of salt substantially decreased shoot and root fresh and dry weights, chlorophyll contents, leaf osmotic potential, relative water contents, different gas exchange attributes, total phenolics, malondialdehyde, activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase catalase, and leaf and root K⁺ levels while enhanced the proline contents, membrane permeability, level of H₂O₂, leaf and root Na⁺ and Cl^? and leaf Ca²⁺ in all turnip cultivars under study. Of all cultivars, peela shaljum and neela shaljum were consistently higher in their growth than the other turnip cultivars at all salt concentrations of the growth medium. Photosynthetic capacity (A) and stomatal conductance (g_s) were higher in high biomass‐producing cultivars, i.e. peela shaljum and neela shaljum, which provide to be potential selection criteria of salt tolerance in turnip. However, the regulation of antioxidant system was cultivar‐specific under saline conditions.     

Synthesis of carbonated fatty methyl esters using supercritical carbon dioxide

The two-step syntheses of the cyclic carbonates carbonated methyl oleate (CMO) and carbonated methyl linoleate (CML) are reported. First, synthesis of epoxides through well-precedented chemical reactions of unsaturated fatty methyl esters with hydrogen peroxide and formic acid was accomplished. Next, a carbonation reaction with a simple tetrabutylammonium bromide catalyst was performed, allowing the direct incorporation of carbon dioxide into the oleochemical. These syntheses avoid the use of the environmentally unfriendly phosgene. The carbonated products are characterized by IR, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR spectroscopy and studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Also reported is the synthesis of a similar cyclic carbonate from the commercially available 2-ethylhexyl epoxy soyate. These carbonates show properties that may make them useful as petrochemical replacements or as biobased industrial product precursors.