Construction of cDNA Library from Populus euphratica

1 Introduction Populus euphratica is a salt tolerant tree species, which is mainly distributed in the desert regions in northwest China (Wei 1993). Moreover, it is the only large tree species, which can survive and develop into forest in these arid and saline-alkali areas. P. euphratica forest plays a very important role in restraining the expansion of desert, maintaining ecological environment in west China, protecting the biological diversity and raising the local people抯 living standard…     

Ultrastructural and Extracellular Protein Changes in Cell Suspension Cultures of Populus euphratica Associated with Low Temperature-induced Cold Acclimation

Populus euphratica Olive is the only tree species that can grow in the saline land and also survive cold winters in northwest China, and it plays a very important role in stabilizing the vulnerable ecosystem there. A cell suspension culture was initiated from callus derived from plantlets of Populus euphratica. Cold acclimation was induced (LT50 of-17.5 ℃) in cell suspension at 4-5 ℃ in the dark for 30 days and the freezing tolerance increased from LT50 of-12.5 ℃ in nonacclimated cells to LT50 of-17.5 ℃ in cold-acclimated cells. Microvacuolation, cytoplasmic augmentation and accumulation of starch granules were observed in cells that were cold-acclimated by exposure to low temperatures. Several qualitative and quantitative changes in proteins were noted during cold acclimation. Antibodies to carrot extracellular (apoplastic) 36 kD antifreeze protein did not cross react on immunoelectroblots with extracellular proteins in cell suspension culture medium of Populus euphratica, indicating no common epitopes in the carrot 36 kD antifreeze protein and P euphratica extracellular proteins. The relationship of these changes to cold acclimation in Populus euphratica cell cultures was discussed.     

Yield, maturation, and forage quality of alfalfa in a black walnut alley-cropping practice

There is interest in producing alfalfa as an alley crop because alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is the most profitable hay crop in the USA. Field experiments were conducted near Stockton, MO in 2003 and 2004. Treatments consisted of alfalfa grown in open plots and in plots that were alley cropped between 20-year-old black walnut trees (Juglans nigra L.) planted in rows 24.4- and 12.2-m apart. Alfalfa was sampled for three harvest cycles each year. In the alley-cropping plots, samples were taken beneath the canopy (2.5 m from the tree row) and in the center of the alleys. Data were taken on dry-matter yield, maturity, and forage quality. At all harvest dates over both years, yields from beneath the canopy of both alleys and the narrow alley centers were less than yields from the wide alley centers and open plots. Yield from the wide alley centers was similar to that in open plots in every harvest but the final harvest of 2004. Transects across the plots indicated that yields increased linearly from the tree row to the center of both alleys. Alfalfa tended to mature faster in the open and wide alley centers compared to beneath the canopy of both alleys and the narrow alley centers. Forage quality differences were inconsistent across treatments. Alfalfa yield was significantly reduced and maturity was delayed by the narrow 12.2 m tree spacing, but yield was not reduced in the centers of the wider 24.4 m alleyways.     

色木槭和拧筋槭种子脱水耐性分析——基于含水量、发芽率和ABA含量变化的结果

通过采集不同发育阶段种子并对其进行自然干燥处理,以含水量、发芽率和ABA含量变化为指标,研究了色木槭和拧筋槭种子在自然发育和干燥过程中的脱水耐性变化.结果表明,色木槭和拧筋槭种子虽经历了成熟脱水,但种子仍不耐脱水;其发芽率和活力指数随发育进程而逐渐增加,但随自然脱水进程而逐渐降低;色木槭和拧筋槭种子最大脱水耐性分别出现在花后100 d和120 d;在整个发育过程中,两树种种子的ABA(脱落酸)含量均较低;拧筋槭种子中ABA含量在脱水过程中呈下降趋势,而色木槭种子中ABA含量在脱水过程中虽有升高但变化不显著.推测ABA含量低可能为色木槭和拧筋槭种子不耐脱水的主要原因之一.     

高温胁迫下14个银杏品种的耐热性

以我国银杏主产区14个银杏栽培品种为材料,利用生理生化测定及SPSS统计分析对其耐热性进行研究。结果表明:持续7d45℃的高温胁迫能够有效区分不同银杏品种耐热性;生理生化测定结果的系统聚类与主成分分析能够对不同银杏栽培品种的耐热性进行有效评价。苏农佛手、郯城300和新村16号为热敏感型,耐热型较差,洞庭皇1号、郯城马铃2号和大龙眼为耐热型,耐热性较强。银杏栽培品种耐热性与核形的相关性不大。     

Incorporating forage grasses in riparian buffers for bioremediation of atrazine, isoxaflutole and nitrate in Missouri

Multi-species tree-shrub-grass riparian buffer systems have been recognized as one of the most cost-effective bioremediation approaches to alleviate nonpoint source agricultural pollution in heavily fertilized systems. However, highly concentrated herbicides in surface and subsurface water and shade cast by trees along the stream bank usually compromise the effectiveness of these systems. Greenhouse trials and field lysimeter studies were conducted to evaluate the tolerance of orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), timothy (Phleum pratense), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) ground covers to atrazine and Balance™ (isoxaflutole) plus their capacity to sequester and degrade these herbicides and their metabolites. Their ability to remove soil nitrate was also quantified. Concentrations of atrazine, Balance™ and their metabolites in the leachate, soil and plant samples were determined by solid phase extraction followed by high performance liquid or gas chromatographic analyses. Distribution of the herbicides and metabolites in the system was calculated using a mass balance approach. Herbicide bioremediation capacity of each lysimeter treatment was determined by the ratio of metabolites to parent herbicide plus metabolites. Bioremediation of nitrate was quantified by comparing nitrate reduction rates in grass treatments to the bare ground control. Based on this herbicide tolerance, bioremediation data and shade tolerance determined in a previous study, it was established that switch grass, tall fescue and smooth bromegrass are good candidates for incorporation into tree-shrub-grass riparian buffer systems designed for the bioremediation of atrazine, Balance™ and nitrate.     

平欧杂交榛抗抽条能力及抽条临界含水量研究

以平欧杂交榛的18个优良品种(系)为试材,研究各品种(系)在北京地区的抗抽条能力以及抽条与枝条含水量的关系。对田间自然鉴定法所得结果进行聚类分析,将18个品种(系)分为4类:抗抽条能力最强的一类为84-254、B-3、B-21、83-33、84-72和81-9;抗抽条能力较强的一类为84-48、81-23、85-127、84-237和84-1;抗抽条能力较弱的一类为82-11、84-545和84-226;抗抽条能力最弱的为84-572、84-402、84-69和84-349。室内模拟枝条失水程度与萌芽率关系的试验表明:不同品种(系)的抽条临界含水量不同,但多数品种(系)抽条的临界含水量在35%~30%间。田间材料的调查测定表明:北京地区平欧杂交榛枝条的失水集中在2月上旬到下旬,枝条含水量在2月下旬降到最低。试验结果表明:抽条与枝条含水量紧密相关,但抗抽条能力的强弱不完全取决于临界含水量的高低。     

富贵草耐阴性的研究

为了探讨富贵草的耐阴性，用黑色遮阴网设置了４种光强（全日照，２４．５％、７．５％和２．５％），对其在不同阴蔽条件下的叶生长性状、叶解剖结构、叶绿素含量、光合性能、高生长和生物量指标进行了研究。结果表明，富贵草不适于在全光照下生长，而适于在光强为全日照２４．５％的条件下生活；弱光（７．５％）下也能较正常生长，但生物量比最适光强（２４．５％）降低４８．０３％，极弱光下虽能维持生活，但生物量只及最适光强的３４．０３％。所以，富贵草适于在２５％～８％的光强下种植。     

Conversion of native forest to exotic Pinus radiata plantation: Response of understorey plant composition using a plant functional trait approach

This study aimed to determine the response of native plant species to changed growing conditions, especially increased shade, following establishment of exotic Pinus radiata plantation on cleared native eucalypt forest. In the Northern Hemisphere, species tolerant to shading are typically herbaceous perennials, with large seeds, no obvious mechanism of seed dispersal, and spread by clonal means. We investigated whether life form, mode of seed dispersal, leaf area, specific leaf area (SLA), nutrient uptake strategy, seed mass, fire response, plant height, and clonal spread differed between understorey species of pine plantation and native forest. Further, we asked whether plant functional traits that confer tolerance to stress through shading differ from those in other floras. The study was conducted on the Delatite Peninsula in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. Vegetation of adjacent native forest and pine plantation were surveyed using eight 7 m × 7 m plots per site, randomly located within five paired sites. Differences in plant traits between land-use types were tested by Non-metric Multi-dimensional Scaling (NMDS), analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) and paired t-tests. Cluster analysis of the nine plant traits was used to define emergent groups, with differences between land-use types examined by ANOSIM and indicator species analysis. There was a significant change in the composition of understorey vegetation following conversion to pine plantation that included a decline in the richness of native species. NMDS of plant attributes showed a clear separation of native forest from pine plantation with land use strongly correlated in ordination space (r² = 0.611). Cluster analysis produced seven emergent groups of plant functional traits for 78 identified plant species. Phanerophytes split into two groups (myrmecochorous trees and shrubs; myrmecochorous shrubs), perennial herbs into four groups (upright herbs, myrmecochorous herbs, barochorous herbs, flat rosette herbs) with one group representing therophytes and anemochorous perennials. Perennial herbs with intermediate SLA and clonal spread were tolerant of the shaded conditions in pine plantation while the two groups of phanerophytes and the myrmecochorous herbs were largely excluded. Shared traits of excluded emergent groups included those that provided an over-riding adaptation to mineral nutrient stress, including myrmecochory, low SLA, ectomycorrhizal and ericoid mycorrhizal associations and N₂-fixation. These plant traits could not provide tolerance to stress through shading, which is better explained by the open canopied nature of the native forest.     

Evaluation of Dutch elm disease susceptibility and pathogenicity of Ophiostoma ulmi using micropropagated elm shoots

Elm (Ulmus sp.) shoots from in vitro micropropagated plants were tested with Ophiostoma ulmi culture filtrates, at different dilutions to determine the susceptibility of different host clones to Dutch elm disease (DED). ‘Commelin’, a susceptible Dutch hybrid, showed a high wilting index but that of American elm was higher. Although U. pumila × japonica (Sapporo gold 2) was the most tolerant to spore inoculation, its wilting index was as high as that of ‘Commelin’. The absorption capacity and wilting index of the elm shoots showed consistent correlation to isolate effectiveness (as determined by inoculation experiments), to production of toxin (cerato-ulmin) and to filtrate dilution. This method could be used to assess the effectiveness of the different O. ulmi isolates and for the detection of elm genotypes that are highly susceptible to Dutch elm disease.