The use of urban organic wastes in the control of erosion in a semiarid Mediterranean soil

Abstract. A two year field experiment was carried out in a semiarid Mediterranean area in order to evaluate, the effect on soil erosion of adding different urban organic wastes: a stabilized municipal waste (compost), an unstabilized municipal waste, and an aerobic sewage sludge. All the treatments significantly reduced soil erosion, compared to the control soil. The soil amended with compost was the most effective treatment, reducing soil loss by 94% and runoff by 54%.     

Effect of Low Night Temperatures on Photosynthetic Activity of the Maize Seedlings (Zea mays L.)

Night chilling (5 °C) subsequently lowered photosynthetic intensity in the leaves of maize seedlings at 20 °C through an increase in leaf diffusive resistance brought on by lower tissue water content in morning hours. A more significant increase in leaf diffusion resistance was observed when soil temperature was lowered than in the case of lower air temperature.
The unfavorable effect of soil and air cooling temperature on photosynthesis was limited by air saturated with water vapour. However, as a result of lowering the night temperature from 5 °C to 1 °C, the efficiency of the protective influence of higher atmospheric humidity was decreased. This demonstrates that the participation of factors unrelated to plant water status in inhibiting photosynthesis increases with lower night temperatures.
An additional reason for inhibited photosynthesis following cool nights was a decrease in chlorophyll accumulation, below 50 μg per 1 cm² of leaf area.     

Studies on mutlispecific resistance of gastrointestinal nematodes to benzimidazoles on dairy-goat farms

Multispecific resistance to benzimidazoles was studied in three selected farms. These farms had bred dairy goats for more than 15 years. The helminths were introduced with the goats at the establishment of the farms which afterwards remained isolated. Nematode resistance could then be related to their own management practices. Faecal egg count tests and egg hatch assays were performed to assess intensity of resistance. The generic (infective larvae in faecal cultures) and specific richness (adult worms) were assessed. The resistant species were Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Teladorsagia circumcincta, Haemonchus contortus and Oesophagostomum venulosum. Faecal egg count reduction tests and egg-hatch assays did not match exactly. Faecal larval counts after treatments gave a distorted picture of multispecific resistance: Haemonchus and Oesophagostomum were very largely over represented. The number of species found in the three farms was relatively low compared with other reports in goat farms of the area. This reduction of diversity might also be due in part to characteristics of breeding management and history (use of permanent pasture and introduction of goats at the establishment of farm).     

An evaluation of the pesera soil erosion model and its application to a case study in Zakynthos, Greece

Abstract. The Pan‐European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment (pesera ) model was evaluated using existing soil erosion data collected under various types of climate, vegetation, landscape and soil conditions. The data used represent a variety of typical Mediterranean land uses such as winter wheat, vines, olives and bare, stony land prevailing in hilly areas. Using this data, the model was calibrated for sediment transport by overland flow and results compared to measured soil erosion values from runoff plots and a watershed on a monthly basis. The performance of the model was assessed statistically, showing that it can be satisfactorily used for predicting soil erosion rates under the conditions included in the study. The overall model estimate including all the available experimental data was 0.69 t ha^?1 yr^?1 with a maximum error of 1.49 t ha^?1 yr^?1. After validation, the model was applied to a small watershed (60 ha) of great ecological importance for the sea turtle Caretta caretta. For this purpose, soil and vegetation maps were compiled from all the necessary data for applying the model. The model was run for three years using daily data from an existing nearby meteorological station. The predicted and measured soil erosion rates for a 7‐month period were 0.31 t and 0.18 t, respectively. Application of the model to each mapping unit showed the over‐riding importance of land use for sediment generation under the given climatic conditions. Bare land, occupying 5.5% of the watershed area, generated up to 69% of the total sediments estimated for the watershed. It is concluded that the pesera model can be used as a regional diagnostic tool under a range of soil, topographic and climatic conditions for identifying the best land use type and vegetation cover to protect hilly areas from soil erosion. The calculated overall root mean square error for the model is 0.06 t ha^?1 yr^?1, compared to a soil erosion rate of 0.04 t ha^?1 yr^?1, which can be tolerated for protecting the area for the sea turtle.     

Re-defining tillage erosion: quantifying intensity–direction relationships for complex terrain

Abstract. Current tillage erosion models account for the influence of tillage direction in the magnitude of the soil (tillage) transport coefficient. It is argued here that this is counter-intuitive and causes significant problems in modelling tillage erosion in areas of complex terrain. This article examines whether a re-modelling of tillage erosion is possible that separates tillage direction (an interaction with the landform) from the soil transport coefficient (a measure of tillage intensity representing the combination of implement erosivity and soil erodibility). Experimental data for mouldboard ploughing upslope, downslope and cross-slope at Coombe Barton Farm, Devon are examined. Integration of data for all directions into a single relationship, which relates translocation in the direction of tillage to slope in the direction of tillage and translocation perpendicular to tillage to slope perpendicular to tillage, is not possible using previously published methods of analysis. However, when total translocation distance is regressed against the tangent of the slope at 45° to the tillage direction (bisecting the tillage direction and the direction of overturning) it is found that a single relationship can be used to describe tillage in all three directions. Therefore, this relationship is used to determine a single value of the soil transport coefficient ( k _fTa) for constant soil and implement conditions but different tillage directions. This redefinition of tillage is important both for true estimation of tillage erosion severity, the adirectional coefficient being 40% larger than the directional coefficient, and for modelling of tillage erosion in complex terrain. These improvements are vital when tillage erosion simulation is used to direct soil conservation strategies.     

A molecular marker linked to the Prv1 gene that confers resistance to Papaya ringspot virus-type W in melon

Papaya ringspot virus‐type W (PRSV‐W) is the most prevalent and important viral pathogen of cucurbits in Brazil. It can be effectively controlled by the incorporation of genetic resistance into susceptible melon cultivars. The present study identified amplified fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) markers linked to the PRSV‐W resistance Prv¹ allele. The susceptible yellow‐fleshed melon‐breeding line AF426^prv1 and its nearly isogenic‐resistant line AF426^Prv1, which carries the Prv¹ allele resident in the Indian cantaloupe U.S. Plant Introduction (PI) 180280, were screened for AFLP marker polymorphisms. Of 30 251 AFLP loci, only three were polymorphic between the nearly isogenic lines. Segregation analyses for these three polymorphic markers and the Prv¹ allele using a BC₁ population of 197 plants indicated close linkage (0.5% recombination frequency) between marker EK190 (HindIII‐CGA and MseI‐GTG; 190 bp) and Prv¹. Thus, EK190 might be a useful marker in breeding programmes aiming to develop melon cultivars resistant to PRSV‐W. The other two markers are closely linked to each other, but distantly linked to Prv¹.     

Identification of resistance gene analogue markers closely linked to wheat powdery mildew resistance gene Pm31

Specific oligonucleotide primers, designed for the sequences of known plant disease resistance genes, were used to amplify resistance gene analogues (RGAs) from wheat genomic DNA. This method was applied in a bulked segregant analysis to screen for the RGA markers linked to the powdery mildew resistance gene Pm31, introgressed into common wheat from wild emmer. Two RGA markers (RGA200 and RGA390) were found to be closely linked to Pm31 and completely co‐segregating with the marker allele of Xpsp3029 linked to Pm31, with a genetic distance of 0.6 cM. These two RGA markers were then integrated into the formerly established microsatellite map of Pm31 region. The result showed the effectiveness of the RGA approach for developing molecular markers linked to disease resistance genes and demonstrated the efficiency of denaturing polyacrylamide‐gel electrophoresis for detecting polymerase chain reaction polymorphism.     

Influence of race and post infection temperature on two components of partial resistance to wheat leaf rust in seedlings of wheat

Summary Components of partial resistance, infection frequency and latency period, were determined in 71 winter and spring wheat genotypes in the seedling stage, after infection with three races of leaf rust (Felix 3B, Clement B and Betuwe 85C) at three different day/night temperature regimes (24/18°C, 18/12°C and 12/6°C). The genotypes were split into two groups and two separate experiments were carried out. Five genotypes, SVP 84039, Akabozu, Banco, BH 1146 and Orso, conferred a low infection frequency and a long latency period and Westphal 12A a long latency period, indicating a relatively high level of partial resistance. The correlation coefficient between infection frequency and latency period was low. Race-specificity was not found. There was a significant temperature effect on the latency period. In the second experiment the temperature x genotype interaction was significant. Temperature-response functions of transformed data demonstrated that the latency periods of four relatively resistant genotypes, Westphal 12A, Banco, BH 1146 and Orso and of Sarno and Mirela were most sensitive to temperature. The range between the genotypes with the longest and the shortest latency period was highest at 12°C. Therefore, low temperature regimes are preferred to distinguish differences in level of partial resistance.     

Genetical relationships between reactions to bacterial leaf spot,yellow mosaic and Cercospora leaf spot diseases in mungbean (Vigna radiata)

Summary Studies on the inheritance pattern of bacterial leaf spot (BLS), yellow mosaic (YM) and Cercospora leaf spot (CLS) reactions in crosses of BLS and YM resistant/tolerant but CLS susceptible × CLS resistant but BLS and YM susceptible parents indicated that resistances to BLS and CLS were governed by single dominant genes, whereas YM tolerance was a monogenic recessive character. The studies also indicated that these three genes were inherited independently. The simple inheritance pattern and independent assortment of the genes governing resistance/tolerance to these diseases suggest that the usual breeding methods will be adequate to develop multi-disease resistant mungbean cultivars.Paper XII in the series Studies on resistance in crops to bacterial diseases in India.