A forage grass and small grain legume plant collecting expedition in South East Poland, 1990

Summary The Plant Genetic Resources Unit (PGRU) of the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Welsh Plant Breeding Station (IGER, WPBS), UK, and the Plant Genetic Resources Section of the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (PBAI), Poland, carried out a joint collecting expedition in Poland between 25 August and 7 September 1990. The expedition was unique in that it was the first time that vegetative sampling had been applied to the perennial forage grass and legume populations of south east Poland. The expedition focused on seminatural vegetation in agriculturally managed situations and detailed collection site data on management systems was obtained from landowners.Samples were collected from 62 sites. Vegetative collections of Lolium spp. (37 populations) and Trifolium spp. (56 populations), and seed collections of Festuca spp. (32 populations) were made by the IGER team (Table 2). The PBAI team made 59 separate seed collections, mainly of Leguminosae.The expedition covered four geographical subregions of south east Poland. (See Fig. 1). These were the Nizina Mazowiecka south of Warszawa, the Wyzyna Malopolska with the town of Kielce at its centre and the Beskidy Zachodnie and Beskidy Wschodnie regions of the Carpathian mountains.A diverse range of habitats was sampled covering a broad range of altitude agricultural management systems and ecological conditions. Polish agriculture is faced with the problems of a rapid orientation to a market economy and it is likely that the diverse range of habitats encoutered will be reduced as agricultural practices change. This will lead to genetic erosion of the unique forage grass and legume populations to be found in Poland.Abbreviations ECP/GR European Co-operative Programme on Crop Genetic Resources - IGER Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research - PBAI Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute - PGRU Plant Genetic Resources Unit - WPBS Welsh Plant Breeding Station     

Molecular Characterization of the USDA White Clover (Trifolium repens L.) Core Collection by RAPD Markers

White clover is one of the most important forage legume species worldwide, playing an important role in Southern Brazil temperate cultivated pastures. This work was aimed to characterize the genetic variability of the USDA white clover core collection formed by 78 accessions representing 50 countries, together with two very well known cultivars (Huia and Ladino Regal), using RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) markers to produce genetic fingerprints. There were used DNA bulks formed by the extraction and mixture of 20 random individuals from each accession. Twenty four primers were used, which revealed from 3 to 29 bands, forming a total of 371 polymorphic bans and only one monomorphic, ranging from 50 to 3098 bp. The results showed a genetic similarity among the accessions, ranging from 0.18 to 0.58 (Jaccard’s index), with an average of 0.24, allowing the identification of each individual accession using just three primers. The results also showed a large genetic variability within the white clover core collection, probably due to its reproduction mode and ploidy level, which could be used in plant breeding program.     

Use of poultry manure and plant cultivation for the reclamation of burnt soils

Annual (Pisum sativum L. and Vicia sativa L.) and perennial (Trifolium repens L. and Lotus corniculatus L.) leguminous species were grown in pots containing samples from the ash layers of two Cambisols under Pinus sylvestris L., which has been affected by high-intensity wildfires 3 and 15 days before the sampling. The gramineous Lolium perenne L. was cultivated as a second plant after Trifolium and Lotus harvesting. Three treatments were compared: soils without fertilization and soils fertilized with two doses of poultry manure (1 and 2 g total N kg^-1 dry soil). The aim of the work was to study the capacity of the ash layer to sustain vegetation and the influence of plants and organic manure on the recovery of vegetation cover, ash layer fixation and soil structure formation to avoid erosion. The ash samples were able to sustain vegetation without fertilization. The organic manure increased the yields of all the plants tested, the lower dose being the optimal for the first crop whereas the higher dose was beneficial for the second crop. The annual legumes grew very quickly. The mixture of Trifolium and Lotus seemed very suitable for reclamation of soil degraded by wildfires because Trifolium produced more phytomass than Lotus in the first growing stages whereas the development of Lotus was higher in the later growing stages. Ash layer conditions did not inhibit nodulation, which was, however, stimulated by the organic manure, particularly in the case of Lotus. Lolium after perennial legumes was the best plant combination because it produced the highest phytomass, particularly root phytomass, and thus improved vegetation cover and ash layer fixation. All the plants tested improved the formation of soil aggregates, particularly the combination of perennial legumes and Lolium. However, wet aggregate stability was higher when plants were grown on soils fertilized with poultry manure than when plants were cropped on unmanured soils, which points to the favourable influence of the organic manure on soil aggregation.     

梅花根际土壤栽培三叶草的丛枝菌根侵染研究

从北京、武汉、南京、重庆、昆明五个梅园和野梅主要分布区的云南嵩明、四川木里、贵州茂兰自然保护区,以及北京林业大学的梅圃中分别于春、夏、秋、冬四季,采集梅花根际土壤300份。以梅花根际土壤和蛭石体积为1∶1混合作为栽培基质,种植三叶草,培养4个月后,应用染色镜检法测定丛枝菌根真菌(AMF)侵染三叶草根系的状况。结果表明:所有梅花根际土壤栽培三叶草都有丛枝菌根侵染;野生梅花根际土壤栽培三叶草的丛枝菌根侵染率高于人工梅园;四季的梅花根际土壤栽培三叶草丛枝菌根侵染在季节间无明显差异。     

豫北地区白三叶草坪昆虫群落调查及分析

通过对河南省豫北地区白三叶草坪昆虫群落的调查与普查,摸清了其常见的昆虫种类:12个目,37个科,80个种;计有害虫50种,害虫天敌22种,活动性强的昆虫2种及腐食性昆虫1种。同时,根据害虫的发生数量和对草坪的危害程度,从群落的角度确定了白三叶草坪上害虫的优势种,并分析了这些优势种产生的原因和动态,为白三叶草坪在群落水平上进行综合治理提供了重要的依据。     

雷得昆红三叶在云南的引种研究

介绍了雷得昆红三叶在云南省的引种筛选情况.雷得昆红三叶从1983年开始即在云南省推广种植.该品种适应范围广泛,在云南省寒温带至中亚热带均可种植,我国秦岭以南的绝大多数地区可以推广应用.用作放牧人工草地年干物质产量一般为2～5t/hm2;高水肥条件下,刈割利用时年干物质产量可达15-20t/hm2.     

Improved growth and Cu tolerance of Cu excess-stressed white clover after inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Glomus intraradices, on growth and copper (Cu) tolerance of white clover (Trifolium repens) were investigated in soils with different Cu amounts. The AM inoculation increased plant biomass and the total or bound Cu concentrations in shoots and roots but decreased the total Cu in soils and the exchangeable Cu in shoots, roots and soils at all Cu levels. Mycorrhizal plants had higher levels of root phosphorus and shoot zinc (Zn) at lower Cu levels and more nitrogen and Zn in roots and potassium, calcium and magnesium in shoots and roots at all Cu addition levels. Additionally, AM inoculation enhanced urease, acid phosphatase and catalase activities in rhizosphere soils and mycorrhizal roots showed higher levels of peroxidase, catalase, proline and soluble sugar at all Cu addition levels. These results indicate that mycorrhizal white clover is potentially suitable for Cu phytoremediation based on greenhouse studies.     

Effect of selection under cultivation on morphological traits and yield of Ladino white clover landraces

One reason for the relatively low genetic advance realized in forage legumes may be the possible selection, under the severe intraspecific competition occurring naturally during cultivation, of a few high-yielding genotypes that would be of similar value in a broadly-based landrace or old cultivar and a narrowly-based, modern variety. The effect of selection under cultivation was assessed in two Ladino white clover farm landraces. Genotypes collected from each farm after a three-year crop cycle (survivor populations), or obtained from the seed used to establish each meadow (original populations), were multiplied clonally and evaluated in isolation and monoculture conditions for one year. The occurrence of directional selection was observed only in the landrace featured by greater intra-population variation in favour of genotypes with longer petioles (+11%), larger leaf size (+13%), less stolons (–14%) and lower production of heads (–16%). Selection for the first two traits would imply an increase of competitive ability, whilst that for the fourth trait appeared mainly as a correlated response. The trade-off between leaf gigantism and head production could act as a buffering mechanism against rapid change in genotype frequencies following random mating. A slight trend towards directional selection for higher yield (+6%) in the same landrace was not statistically significant. No disruptive or stabilizing selection was observed for any trait in either landrace.     

Use of nutrient: phosphorus ratios to evaluate the effects of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza on nutrient uptake in unsterilized soils

Summary Red clover was grown in soil previously treated with P at various rates, and growth, nutrient uptake, nutrient uptake in relation to phosphorus values, and levels of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) infection were determined. The soil was a silty clay loam and Glomus lacteum was the only fungus colonizing the plant roots. An examination of the effects of various rates of P application and of VAM colonization on nutrient (P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, and Zn) uptake showed that the Mg : P ratio significantly increased and the Mn : P ratio significantly decreased with increasing VAM infection. It is concluded that in the Trifolium pratense-Glomus lacteum symbiosis, mycorrhizae improve Mg uptake and depress Mn uptake.     

Phosphatase activity in the rhizosphere and its relation to the depletion of soil organic phosphorus

Summary The distribution of phosphatase activity and of phosphate fractions of the soil in the proximity of roots was studied in order to evaluate the significance of phosphatases in P nutrition of various plants (Brassica oleracea, Allium cepa, Triticum aestivum, Trifolium alexandrinum). A considerable increase in both acid and alkaline phosphatase activity in all the four soil-root interfaces was observed. Maximum distances from the root surface at which activity increases were observed ranged from 2.0 mm to 3.1 mm for acid phosphatase and from 1.2 mm to 1.6 mm for alkaline phosphatase. The increase in phosphatase activity depended upon plant age, plant species and soil type. A significant correlation was noticed between the depletion of organic P and phosphatase activity in the rhizosphere soil of wheat (r = 0.99^**) and clover (r = 0.97^**). The maximum organic P depletion was 65% in clover and 86% in wheat, which was observed within a distance from the root of 0.8 mm in clover and 1.5 mm in wheat. Both the phosphatases in combination appear to be responsible for the depletion of organic P.