Transpiration Sensitivity to Evaporative Demand Across 120 Years of Breeding of Australian Wheat Cultivars

Historically, wheat yields in drought‐prone Australian environments have been consistently increasing for over a century. There is currently an agreement that approximately half of that increase is attributable to breeding programmes, but their physiological basis remains poorly documented. In this investigation, we hypothesized that limited whole‐plant transpiration rate (TR) under high atmospheric vapour pressure deficit (VPD) could result in advantageous water conservation and crop yield increase under south Australian conditions. Therefore, TR response to VPD was measured in the 0.9–3.2 kPa range for a group of 23 wheat cultivars that were released from 1890 to 2008. Consistent with a water‐conservation hypothesis, all genotypes displayed a VPD break point (BP) in TR with increasing VPD such that TR was limited at VPD above a BP of about 2 kPa. The BP and slope of TR with increasing VPD above the break point were correlated with the year of release, although the changes were in different directions. Such changes in these transpiration parameters were independent of plant leaf area and only marginally correlated with Zadok's stages. These results indicated that selection over 120 years by breeders for yield increase unconsciously resulted in genotype selection for the expression of the limited‐TR trait.     

Characterization of multistrata silvopastoral systems on seasonally dry pastures in the Caribbean Region of Colombia

Latin American pastures usually include trees that may be important in sustaining productivity and conserving resources and biodiversity. A participatory survey of trees in seasonally dry pastures of 54 farms in the Caribbean region of Colombia, followed by cluster and correlation analyses, revealed a multistrata configuration. Trees of large stature (e.g., Tabebuia rosea, Albizia caribaea and Sterculia apelata) provided shade and produced timber. The most important fodder trees were those of medium stature (Albizia saman, Guazuma ulmifolia, and Cassia grandis) that produced fruits or pods, while other species were managed as shrubs producing green leaf fodder (e.g., Crescentia cujete and Gliricidia sepium, which was also ubiquitous as living fence posts). Trees were present on between 26 and 69% of the pastures on each farm, at densities varying from less than 3 to more than 50 trees ha⁻¹. There were more trees in drier areas, of lower fertility, with extensive grazing, where milk as well as meat was produced. Most farmers planted timber trees, encouraged regeneration of fodder trees, and knew about fodder species preferences of cattle and the effects of trees on pasture and animal productivity. Their knowledge of tree phenology was less certain and varied even amongst farmers in similar locations. There is scope to develop silvopastoral systems with woody species familiar to farmers, but it is critical to determine how important different vegetation strata are for sustainability of cattle production. An experiment has been established to achieve this, with treatments based on an analysis of how trees are presently used on farms in the region. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Identification of QTLs associated with limited leaf hydraulic conductance in soybean

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) genotype PI 416937 has been identified as expressing a ‘slow-wilting’ phenotype in the field and this has been traced to a low hydraulic conductance in its leaves. The transpiration rate of de-rooted shoots of this genotype has been found to be insensitive to the aquaporin inhibitor silver nitrate compared to elite cultivars which are silver nitrate sensitive. These results indicated that PI 416937 might have a unique aquaporin population. The objective of this study was to determine if QTLs could be identified that are associated with the lack of sensitivity in PI 416937 to silver. To identify the genomic locations and genetic bases of this trait, a recombinant inbred line population was derived from a mating between PI 416937 and the cultivar ‘Benning’. The RILs were all phenotyped for their response to the silver inhibitor and the results were subjected to a QTL analysis. Four QTL were identified as putatively associated with the silver response (qSV). These QTL explained from 17.7 to 24.7% of the phenotypic variation with qSV_Gm12 explaining the greatest amount of phenotypic variation. The qSV_Gm03 and qSV_Gm10 QTL inherited their positive alleles from PI 416937, while qSV_Gm05 and qSV_Gm12 inherited their favorable alleles from Benning. Co-localized silver nitrate response QTL with other morpho–physiological traits could help to explain soybean plant’s ability to tolerate water-deficit stress.     

成熟期短时渍水胁迫对烤烟碳氮代谢关键酶及主要碳、氮化合物含量的影响

以烤烟云烟97为材料,采用田间试验研究了成熟期短时渍水处理对烤烟碳氮代谢关键酶活性及主要碳、氮化合物含量的影响。结果表明,在烤烟成熟期渍水处理3 d,中部叶片硝酸还原酶活性低于对照,降幅为20.39%;转化酶和淀粉酶活性高于对照,增幅分别为33.14%,56.70%;烟叶淀粉、总氮和烟碱含量有降低趋势,分别下降了2.9,0.74,0.77个百分点,而总糖和还原糖含量有增加趋势,分别上升了1.33,0.46个百分点。说明渍水胁迫使叶片生理代谢紊乱,氮代谢减弱,碳水化合物积累减少。研究结果有助于从生理生化角度揭示成熟期渍水胁迫对烤烟生长和品质形成影响的机制。     

Prior determination of baseline minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane does not influence the effect of ketamine on MAC in rabbits

The objective of this study was to compare the effect on the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane when ketamine was administered either after or without prior determination of the baseline MAC of isoflurane in rabbits. Using a prospective randomized crossover study, 8 adult, female New Zealand rabbits were allocated to 2 treatment groups. Anesthesia was induced and maintained with isoflurane. Group 1 (same-day determination) had the MAC-sparing effect of ketamine [1 mg/kg bodyweight (BW) bolus followed by a constant rate infusion (CRI) of 40 μg/kg BW per min, given by intravenous (IV)], which was determined after the baseline MAC of isoflurane was determined beforehand. A third MAC determination was started 30 min after stopping the CRI. Group 2 (separate-day determination) had the MAC-sparing effect of ketamine determined without previous determination of the baseline MAC of isoflurane. A second MAC determination was started 30 min after stopping the CRI. In group 1, the MAC of isoflurane (2.15 ± 0.09%) was significantly decreased by ketamine (1.63 ± 0.07%). After stopping the CRI, the MAC was significantly less (2.04 ± 0.11%) than the baseline MAC of isoflurane and significantly greater than the MAC during the CRI. In group 2, ketamine decreased isoflurane MAC (1.53 ± 0.22%) and the MAC increased significantly (1.94 ± 0.25%) after stopping the CRI. Minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) values did not differ significantly between the groups either during ketamine administration or after stopping ketamine. Under the study conditions, prior determination of the baseline isoflurane MAC did not alter the effect of ketamine on MAC. Both methods of determining MAC seemed to be valid for research purposes.     

Reproductive Performance of Rabbit Does Artificially Inseminated via Intravaginal Administration of [des-Gly 10, d-Ala6]-LHRH Ethylamide as Ovulation Inductor

This study was aimed to evaluate the reproductive performance of rabbit does artificially inseminated (AI) with a GnRH analogue [des‐Gly10, d ‐Ala6]‐LHRH. ethylamide to induce ovulation by intravaginal administration, delivered in the seminal dose. In a preliminary experiment, 39 does were divided into three groups (n = 13) that, at the time of AI, received the following ovulation induction treatments: (i) control group: 20 μg of gonadorelin administered intramuscularly; (ii) 25 μg of the GnRH analogue added to the seminal dose; (iii) 30 μg of the GnRH analogue added to the seminal dose. Fertility did not differ between the three groups (control: 80.6%, group 2: 82.8%, group 3: 73.3%). In a second experiment, a large‐scale field trial was conducted to test the use of 25 μg of the GnRH analogue [des‐Gly10, d ‐Ala6]‐LHRH ethylamide delivered in the seminal dose (n = 270) against 20 μg of gonadorelin administered intramuscularly. Fertility was higher (p < 0.05) when ovulation was induced by intravaginal administration of the GnRH agonist (91.1% vs 85.6%). Prolificacy or mortality at birth was never affected by the ovulation induction treatments. In a third experiment, two groups of does [control group (n = 39): ovulation was induced using 20 μg of gonadorelin administered intramuscularly; treatment group (n = 40): ovulation was induced using 25 μg of [(des‐Gly10, d ‐Ala6)‐LHRH ethylamide added to the seminal dose] were inseminated at 42‐day intervals for five successive AI cycles, to test the response to the GnRH agonist after repeated intravaginal administration to the same animals. Fertility and prolificacy were not influenced by the ovulation induction treatment neither there was an interaction between treatment and parity. The last experiment was aimed to determine whether it could be possible to add the GnRH agonist to the semen in the AI Center, just after semen collection and dilution, or it would have to be added in the farm, immediately before AI. Kindling rates did not significantly differ when ovulation was induced by intramuscular injection of gonadorelin (84.5%) or when the GnRH agonist was added to the seminal dose just at the moment (93.8 %) or 24 h before AI (90.4 %), but it was significantly lower when the hormone was added to the semen 32 h before AI (76.3 %). Prolificacy, however, was not influenced by the ovulation induction treatment.