Relevance of Osmotic and Frost Protecting Compounds for the Winter Hardiness of Autumn Sown Sugar Beet

The cultivation of autumn sown sugar beet (winter beet) is supposed to result in a marked yield increase compared with spring sown sugar beet. Although the importance of the growth stage reached before winter for the survival of autumn sown sugar beet has already been shown, it is not clear to which extent osmotic and potentially frost protecting compounds may contribute to winter hardiness. The study thus aimed to analyse the acclimatization process of sugar beet to low temperatures and to identify compounds which are important for survival of frost. Field trials with autumn sown sugar beet were conducted at eleven environments in Germany from 2009/10 to 2012/13, which were accompanied by greenhouse experiments with controlled temperature regimes. In the field trials, the survival rates after winter varied from 0 % to 99 %, but only in four environments differences between the five genotypes occurred. During acclimatization, betaine, glutamine, proline and raffinose were markedly accumulated and osmolality was enhanced. In particular betaine, amino acids and osmolality showed a positive correlation to the survival rate and were thus identified as potentially frost protecting substances for sugar beet. In contrast, raffinose and proline seem to act rather as stress indicators as they were negatively related to survival. Possible frost protecting substances were identified which can be used in breeding to improve the winter hardiness of sugar beet.     

Assessing the effectiveness of manure export plus intensive silage cropping for lowering the Olsen‐P status of P‐enriched grassland

A substantial proportion of farmed grassland soils in Northern Ireland (NI) are overly enriched with P and pose a risk to water quality. To address this problem, manure could be exported rather than recycled to P‐enriched land and the latter intensively cropped with grass silage to deplete soil P. To assess the efficacy of such a strategy, a P‐ and K‐enriched grassland site was intensively cropped over a 6‐yr period with fertilizer N alone supplied to support silage growth. By year 6, soil P had declined from index 5 to index 3, and it was estimated that two more years of this management may bring it into the target index 2 range. Soil K, however, declined rapidly from index 4 to index 1 in just 4 yr, with the result that grass production became limited by K deficiency. It was concluded that nonrecycling of manure to P‐enriched grassland under silage management is probably the most effective strategy for lowering soil P status, but care must be taken to prevent K deficiency occurring.     

Summer drought decreases Leymus chinensis productivity through constraining the bud,tiller and shoot production

Extreme drought events can directly decrease productivity in perennial grasslands. However, for rhizomatous perennial grasses it remains unknown how drought events influence the belowground bud bank which determines future productivity. Ninety‐day‐long drought events imposed on Leymus chinensis, a rhizomatous perennial grass, caused a 41% decrease in the aboveground biomass and a 28% decrease in belowground biomass. Aboveground biomass decreased due to decrease in both the parent and the daughter shoot biomass. The decreases in daughter shoot biomass were due to reductions in both the shoot number and each individual shoot weight. Most importantly, drought decreased the bud bank density by 56%. In addition, drought induced a bud allocation change that decreased by 41% the proportion of buds that developed into shoots and a 41% increase in the buds that developed into rhizomes. Above results were supported by our field experiment with watering treatments. Thus, a 90‐day‐long summer drought event decreases not only current productivity but also future productivity, because the drought reduces the absolute bud number. However, plasticity in plant development does partly compensate for this reduction in bud number by increasing bud development into rhizomes, which increases the relative allocation of buds into future shoots, at the cost of a decrease in current shoots.     

亮斑扁角水虻形态观察及诱产卵菌的筛选

【目的】 研究引进亮斑扁角水虻在室内饲喂条件下的生活史、成虫种群雌雄比例变化规律,对其卵表及幼虫肠道中诱成虫产卵菌进行筛选和鉴定,为亮斑扁角水虻在本地区的规模养殖和综合利用提供理论依据。【方法】 引进亮斑扁角水虻,在室内光照条件下饲喂4代,用直接观察法记录亮斑扁角水虻在不同饲喂条件下的生活史和生活习性,显微拍照记录水虻各龄期的形态特征;用稀释涂布平板及平板划线的方法,对亮斑扁角水虻卵携带菌及其幼虫肠道菌进行分离纯化,筛选可诱导产卵的菌株,并鉴定。【结果】 与内地相比,亮斑扁角水虻在新疆饲养周期稍有延长,但其发育完好,能够在本地区进行世代饲养;观察并记录了其卵、幼虫、蛹、成虫及其其生殖器形态;筛选到对亮斑扁角水虻雌性成虫有诱导产卵效果的两株菌e1、Y3,其发酵液处理组平均产卵量分别为对照组的6.26和7.40倍,两株菌皆为革兰氏阳性菌,16S RNA测序初步鉴定e1为暹罗芽孢秆菌,Y3为节杆菌属,且Y3为1种潜在的新菌。【结论】 引进亮斑扁角水虻在新疆能够周年循环养殖,具有规模生产及综合开发利用潜力。     

Productive and biochemical responses of durum wheat to UV filtration

A UV exclusion experiment was conducted on durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf. var. Claudio) grown in pots. Plants were grown under three different radiative treatments in greenhouses covered with plastic filters: Teflon, transparent to the entire region of natural UV‐visible sunlight (TEF); polyester, transparent above 312 nm (MYL, excluding UVB) and Lee, transparent above 400 nm (LEE, excluding both UVA and UVB). Analyses have been carried out to determine the concentration of photosynthetic pigments in leaves, UV‐absorbing compounds, nitrogen and carbon in leaves, culms and spikes and proteins and gluten in grains. In particular, plants grown under UV exclusion showed a reduction in protein and dry gluten content (consequently without variation in the ratio dry gluten/protein), but at the same time, a significant increase of gluten index, which is a parameter to define the quality of gluten, was observed. The results highlighted the influence played by UV radiation on some biochemical parameters, mainly UV‐absorbing compounds, leaf nitrogen and grain protein characteristics of durum wheat cultivated under Mediterranean conditions. In particular, natural level of UV in the Mediterranean improves the characteristics of durum wheat flour important for pasta production (high dry gluten level), while the UV exclusion could improve characteristics of flour important for bread production (high gluten index).     

规模化蛋鸡场病原菌溯源与生物安全防控研究

细菌病严重威胁蛋鸡健康,以抗生素为主导的细菌病传统防控方式会导致病原菌耐药性严重、鸡蛋药物残留,影响蛋品安全。要保证蛋鸡产蛋期不用抗菌药物而又能生产出"无菌、无抗"的鸡蛋,是国内外技术难题。本团队以规模化蛋鸡场全封闭鸡舍为研究对象,基于PFGE、MLST、全基因组测序等技术,探明了蛋鸡病原菌的种类及基因组特征;对病原菌的耐药性研究表明,蛋鸡病原菌多重耐药严重,依靠药物防控的方式亟待转变;对规模化蛋鸡场细菌溯源研究结果表明,鸡舍生物媒介(鼠、苍蝇等)和非生物媒介(空气、饮水、饲料、鸡粪等)是蛋鸡病原菌的重要传染来源和传播途径;对规模化蛋鸡场生物安全量化评价结果表明,外部和内部生物安全权重高达92.2%。根据溯源和生物安全权重分析结果,提出了在规模化全封闭蛋鸡舍将蛋鸡细菌病从药物防控转变为生物安全防控的新策略;创新了规模化蛋鸡场细菌病防控的系统技术,实现蛋鸡规模养殖整个产蛋期不用抗生素,为生产"无菌、无抗"安全鸡蛋提供技术支撑。     

Does sand content in spawning substrate result in early larval emergence? Evidence from a lithophilic cyprinid fish

The spawning success of lithophilic salmonids is strongly influenced by the fine sediment content (“fines”) of spawning substrates, yet knowledge on the impacts of fines on the spawning of non‐salmonid lithophiles remains limited, despite their ecological and socio‐economic importance in European rivers. Consequently, the aim here was to use an ex‐situ experiment to investigate the impact of sand content on egg survival and timing of larval emergence of the surface‐spawning cyprinid European barbel Barbus barbus. Thirty incubator boxes within a recirculating system were filled with one of five experimental sediment mixtures (0%–40% sand by mass) that each contained 300 fertilised eggs at a depth of 50 mm. Emerged, free‐swimming larvae were captured and counted daily to assess grain‐size effects on larval survival and emergence. Specifically, total proportion of emerged larvae, cumulative daily proportion of emerged larvae and time required to reach 50% emergence were measured during the study. Whilst the proportion of sand in the sediments did not have a significant impact on egg‐to‐emergence survival (mean survival per treatment 75%–79%), it significantly affected the timing of larval emergence to the water column; early emergence was detected in treatments with elevated sand content (on average, 50% emergence after 12–13 days versus 19 days in the control). Similar to findings from salmonid studies, these results suggest high sand content in spawning gravels can influence timing of larval emergence and potentially cyprinid lithophilic fish survival.     

EM菌在水产养殖中的应用概述

为了能改善水质、渔业增殖和修复生态环境,EM菌的应用得到了广泛的关注,成为近几年研究的热点。鉴于此,本研究系统梳理了EM菌的定义及来源,综述了国内外近几十年EM菌在水产养殖中的作用效果及其作用机理,阐述了影响EM菌作用效果的因素等;发现EM菌在调控微生物生态结构、降低水环境中有害物质、提高免疫、增重增产等方面有着显著的效果,但EM菌技术的基础理论研究还比较薄弱,且生产技术及应用过程等还存在着不足。因此今后应提高生产技术,建立和提高筛选系统,并开发EM菌在水产养殖研究和应用的新领域,为水产养殖创造更大的经济价值,并为可持续养殖提供可能。     

Impact of High Night‐Time and High Daytime Temperature Stress on Winter Wheat

High temperature is a major environmental factor that limits wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) productivity. Climate models predict greater increases in night‐time temperature than in daytime temperature. The objective of this research was to compare the effects of high daytime and high night‐time temperatures during anthesis on physiological (chlorophyll fluorescence, chlorophyll concentration, leaf level photosynthesis, and membrane damage), biochemical (reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentration and antioxidant capacity in leaves), growth and yield traits of wheat genotypes. Winter wheat genotypes (Ventnor and Karl 92) were grown at optimum temperatures (25/15 °C, maximum/minimum) until the onset of anthesis. Thereafter, plants were exposed to high night‐time (HN, 25/24 °C), high daytime (HD, 35/15 °C), high daytime and night‐time (HDN, 35/24 °C) or optimum temperatures for 7 days. Compared with optimum temperature, HN, HD and HDN increased ROS concentration and membrane damage and decreased antioxidant capacity, photochemical efficiency, leaf level photosynthesis, seed set, grain number and grain yield per spike. Impact of HN and HD was similar on all traits. Greater impact on seed set, grain number and grain yield per spike was observed at HDN compared with HN and HD. These results suggest that HN and HD during anthesis cause damage of a similar magnitude to winter wheat.     

Cross‐linked polyacrylates in post‐mining substrates: persistence and effects on plant growth

Application of hydrophilic polymers composed of cross‐linked polyacrylate can improve soil water‐holding capacity and accelerate the restoration of post‐mining substrates. In this work, we studied the persistence of a polyacrylate polymer incorporated into a soil and its impact on plant nutrients at a reclamation site of former lignite mining in Lusatia (Germany). In contrast to autumn application, the incorporation of the polymer enhanced the sequestration of plant‐derived carbon in the soil, which was reflected by a significant increase in the concentration of a lignin marker. Attenuated total reflexion–Fourier transform infrared spectra (ATR‐FTIR) and total elemental contents in the applied polymer suggested an intensive cation exchange between the polymer framework and the soil‐forming substrate. In addition, there was an enrichment of carbonaceous material, which seems to reduce the swelling and thus the water‐holding capacity of the cross‐linked polyacrylate. Conversely, this process protected the polymer structure from rapid decomposition.