Determinants of fenhexamid effectiveness against grey mould on grapevine: Respective role of spray timing,fungicide resistance and plant defences

Botrytis bunch rot of grapes is mainly controlled by applying fungicides at three crop growth stages: the end of flowering (BBCH 68), bunch closure (BBCH 77) and the beginning of veraison (BBCH 81). The hydroxyanilide derivative fenhexamid is among the most effective fungicides registered to control Botrytis cinerea. Its effectiveness was examined in relation to spray timing, fungicide resistance and defense responses of grapevine. Overall, the earlier fenhexamid was applied, the more effective it was at controlling B. cinerea. Frequencies of B. cinerea strains which were resistant to fungicides were evaluated at harvest. The frequencies of resistant phenotypes were similar among treatments and years with the exception of a class of multidrug resistant strain (MDR 2) whose frequency appeared to increase after fenhexamid applications. If current spray programs including fenhexamid appear to control bunch rot at the current MDR frequency, a propagation of MDR 2 strains might lead to a decline in disease control. Finally, defense responses were studied in grapevine flowers/berries following fenhexamid application. None of the defense processes tested was induced in flowers/berries at stages 68 and 77. Only an increase in chitinase activity was observed in treated-berries at stage 81, suggesting that fenhexamid effectiveness was not related to a stimulation of defense responses.     

用基因组原位杂交方法分析甘蔗-斑茅杂种及回交后代的染色体组成

斑茅(Erianthus arundinaceus Retz)是甘蔗的近缘属植物,具有多种优良特性,是甘蔗育种的重要种质资源之一。本实验使用基因组原位杂交(GISH)技术分析了甘蔗-斑茅杂种及回交后代F1、BC1和BC2的染色体构成与传递行为。结果表明:在F1代,来自斑茅HN92-77的染色体数目介于28～30条,来自热带种Badila的染色体数目介于38～40条,体细胞染色体数为2n=68～70,基本符合n+n的染色体传递方式;在BC1和BC2代,来自斑茅的染色体数分别为22～28条和13～15条,来自甘蔗的染色体数分别是87～94条和98～101条,其体细胞染色体数2n分别为110～121条和112～115条,基本上分别符合2n+n和n+n的染色体传递方式。在所观察的渐渗系中,均存在有染色体丢失的现象,但未观察到染色体发生交换与重组。     

Mining the genetic diversity of Ehrlichia ruminantium using map genes family

Understanding bacterial genetic diversity is crucial to comprehend pathogenesis. Ehrlichia ruminantium (E. ruminantium), a tick-transmitted intracellular bacterial pathogen, causes heartwater disease in ruminants. This model rickettsia, whose genome has been recently sequenced, is restricted to neutrophils and reticulo-endothelial cells of its mammalian host and to the midgut and salivary glands of its vector tick. E. ruminantium harbors a multigene family encoding for 16 outer membrane proteins including MAP1, a major antigenic protein. All the 16 map paralogs are expressed in bovine endothelial cells and some are specifically translated in the tick or in the mammalian host.In this study, we carried out phylogenetic analyses of E. ruminantium using sequences of 6 MAP proteins, MAP1, MAP1-2, MAP1-6, MAP1-5, MAP1+1 and MAP1-14, localized either in the center or at the borders of the map genes cluster.We show that (i) map1 gene is a good tool to characterize the genetic diversity among Africa, Caribbean islands and Madagascar strains including new emerging isolates of E. ruminantium; (ii) the different map paralogs define different genotypes showing divergent evolution; (iii) there is no correlation between all MAP genotypes and the geographic origins of the strains; (iv) The genetic diversity revealed by MAP proteins is conserved whatever is the scale of strains sampling (village, region, continent) and thus was not related to the different timing of strains introduction, i.e. continuous introduction of strains versus punctual introduction (Africa versus Caribbean islands).These results provide therefore a significant advance towards the management of E. ruminantium diversity. The differential evolution of these paralogs suggests specific roles of these proteins in host–vector–pathogen interactions that could be crucial for developing broad-spectrum vaccines.     

High-contrast three-dimensional imaging of the Arabidopsis leaf enables the analysis of cell dimensions in the epidermis and mesophyll

Background  

Despite the wide spread application of confocal and multiphoton laser scanning microscopy in plant biology, leaf phenotype assessment still relies on two-dimensional imaging with a limited appreciation of the cells' structural context and an inherent inaccuracy of cell measurements. Here, a successful procedure for the three-dimensional imaging and analysis of plant leaves is presented.     

Adventitious shoot regeneration from leaf segments of in vitro cultured shoots of the apple rootstock Jork 9

SUMMARY

Adventitious shoot formation was investigated using leaf segments of in vitro cultured shoots of the apple rootstock Jork 9. Regeneration capacity was influenced by the pretreatment of the mother shoots, macroelements, hormone concentrations, the gelling agent and the carbohydrate source. The highest regeneration rate and most shoots per leaf explant resulted from young leaves on a medium based on MS macroelements supplemented with 22 µM BAP and 0.1 µM_NAA together with sorbitol, at concentrations of 165 mM or 220 mM. Sorbitol was more effective than sucrose, glucose, fructose or a combination of these sugars. A cold and dark pretreatment of the shoots enhanced the formation of adventitious shoots.     

Do railway edges provide functional connectivity for plant communities in an urban context?

Functional connectivity is essential to maintaining biodiversity in fragmented landscapes but little attention has been given to structures that can provide it in an urban context. Using both the taxonomic and functional diversity of semi-natural grassland plant communities, we assessed the functional connectivity of linear transportation infrastructures in urban landscape. We sampled the vegetation at 71 study sites located along the edges of two railway lines. We hypothesised that if railways favour functional connectivity, then spatially connected communities should be more similar than disconnected communities. Therefore, we compared floristic dissimilarities between site pairs that were either connected or separated by a railway spatial break (overpass or station). As a further approach, we supposed that functional connectivity may attenuate the effect of urbanisation filters on plant communities. Thus we examined whether and how edges’ plant communities were influenced by urbanisation and compared our results to the patterns described in the literature. Functional connectivity was mainly maintained at railway stations, contrary to overpasses, which seemed to interrupt dispersal, demonstrating that railway edges provide connectivity for some but not all functional groups: this was only true for moderately mobile species. Surprisingly, railway edges did not seem to play an additional connective function for invasive species, the presence of which being strongly related to the urbanisation intensity and not influenced by spatial breaks along railways. Our study thus highlights the potential function of railway edges as corridors for common grassland plants. Landscape managers should include railways in green networks to improve connectivity in urban landscapes.