Genotypic Variation for Tolerance to Transient Drought During the Reproductive Phase of Brassica rapa

Brassica rapa L. is a genetically diverse parent species of the allotetraploid species, oilseed rape (B. napus) and a potential source of drought tolerance for B. napus. We examined the effect of a 13‐day drought stress period during the early reproductive phase, relative to a well‐watered (WW) control, on subsequent growth and development in nine accessions of B. rapa and one accession of Brassica juncea selected for their wide morphological and genetic diversity. We measured leaf water potential, stomatal conductance, water use, and leaf and bud temperatures during the stress period and aboveground dry weight of total biomass at maturity. Dry weight of seeds and reproductive tissue were not useful measures of drought tolerance due to self‐incompatibility in B. rapa. The relative total biomass (used as the measure of drought tolerance in this study) of the 10 accessions exposed to drought stress ranged from 47 % to 117 % of the WW treatment and was negatively correlated with leaf‐to‐air and bud‐to‐air temperature difference when averaged across the 13‐day stress period. Two wild‐type (B. rapa ssp. sylvestris) accessions had higher relative total and non‐reproductive biomass at maturity and cooler leaves and buds than other types. We conclude that considerable genotypic variation for drought tolerance exists in B. rapa and cooler leaves and buds during a transient drought stress in the early reproductive phase may be a useful screening tool for drought tolerance.     

Redox halopriming: A Promising Strategy for Inducing Salt Tolerance in Bread Wheat

New strategies to enhance growth and productivity of food crops in saline soils represent important research priorities. This study has investigated the role of certain priming techniques to induce salt tolerance of bread wheat. Wheat grains were soaked in 0.2 mm sodium nitroprusside as nitric oxide donor (redox priming), diluted sea water (halopriming) and the combination of both (redox halopriming). Grains were also soaked in distilled water (hydropriming); in addition, untreated grains were taken as control. Our results indicated that priming treatments significantly improved all growth traits and increased leaf pigments concentration as compared to the control. Priming treatments markedly enhanced membrane stability index, proline, total soluble sugars and K⁺ concentration with simultaneous decrease in the concentration of Na⁺ and malondialdehyde (MDA). Furthermore, yield and yield‐related traits such as plant height, spike length, total number of tillers, 1000‐grain weight, straw and grain yield considerably affected by priming treatments. Moreover, the grain yield of both genotypes was positively affected by redox halopriming treatment. However, the extent of enhancement was more prominent in Gemmiza‐9 (salt sensitive) than that in Sakha‐93 (salt‐tolerant). Overall, this study clearly indicated that redox halopriming treatment is a promising and handy technique to induce salinity tolerance of wheat genotypes.     

瓠瓜新品种浙蒲8号的选育

浙蒲8号是以自交系G7-4-3-1-2-1为母本、自交系J63-1-6-3-2-1为父本配制而成的耐热瓠瓜一代杂种。植株生长势较强,早中熟,以侧蔓结瓜为主,坐瓜性较好。商品瓜中棒形,上下粗细较均匀,平均瓜长约30cm,横径约5cm,瓜皮绿色,具光泽,单瓜质量0.4~0.5kg。耐高温性较强,高温期商品瓜率较对照杭州长瓜高6个百分点;品质佳,游离氨基酸总量1304.193μg·g-1,其中谷氨酸含量85.663μg·g-1;田间对枯萎病和白粉病的抗性强于对照杭州长瓜。适宜作露地栽培和夏秋季设施避雨栽培,夏秋季栽培每667m2产量2600kg以上。     

How do timing,duration, and intensity of drought stress affect the agronomic performance of winter rye?

Winter rye (Secale cereale L.) will be especially affected by drought induced yield losses in Central and Eastern Europe in the future because it is predominantly cultivated on low-fertile soils with a poor water-holding capacity. In order to examine the performance of winter rye under different drought conditions, field experiments were carried out during the years 2011, 2012, and 2013 near Braunschweig, Germany. Two sets of genotypes were tested under severe, mild, pre-anthesis, and post-anthesis drought stress in rain-out shelters as well as under rainfed and well-watered conditions. The grain, straw, and total above ground biomass yields, harvest index, grain yield components, leaf area index (LAI), and phenological characteristics were examined, as well as phenotypic correlations between grain yield and further characteristics. Drought induced grain yield reduction ranged from 14 to 57%, while straw yield and harvest index were lesser affected by drought than the grain yield. Under drought conditions, fully ripe was reached up to twelve days earlier than under non water-limited conditions. Pre-anthesis drought mainly reduced spikes m⁻² and kernels spike⁻¹ while drought during grain filling reduced the 1000-kernel weight (TKW) only. The grain yield was positively associated with straw yield, spikes m⁻², and kernels spike⁻¹ under water limited conditions while the TWK was only positively associated with grain yield under drought during grain filling. Consequently, high pre-anthesis biomass as well as high numbers of spikes m⁻² and kernels spike⁻¹ are especially important for obtaining high grain yields under water-limited conditions. Focusing on these traits is, therefore, recommendable for developing drought tolerant rye genotypes.     

Drought Tolerance and Water Use of Cereal Crops: A Focus on Sorghum as a Food Security Crop in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) faces twin challenges of water stress and food insecurity – challenges that are already pressing and are projected to grow. Sub‐Saharan Africa comprises 43 % arid and semi‐arid area, which is projected to increase due to climate change. Small‐scale, rainfed agriculture is the main livelihood source in arid and semi‐arid areas of SSA. Because rainfed agriculture constitutes more than 95 % of agricultural land use, water scarcity is a major limitation to production. Crop production, specifically staple cereal crop production, will have to adapt to water scarcity and improved water productivity (output per water input) to meet food requirements. We propose inclusion and promotion of drought‐tolerant cereal crops in arid and semi‐arid agro‐ecological zones of SSA where water scarcity is a major limitation to cereal production. Sorghum uniquely fits production in such regions, due to high and stable water‐use efficiency, drought and heat tolerance, high germplasm variability, comparative nutritional value and existing food value chain in SSA. However, sorghum is socio‐economically and geographically underutilized in parts of SSA. Sorghum inclusion and/or promotion in arid and semi‐arid areas of SSA, especially among subsistence farmers, will improve water productivity and food security.     

Azospirillum brasilense mitigates water stress imposed by a vascular disease by increasing xylem vessel area and stem hydraulic conductivity in tomato

Water stress, with its negative consequences on plant growth and survival, can be mitigated by Azospirillum brasilense inoculation. In tomato, A. brasilense delays wilting caused by a vascular pathogen, Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis, by yet unknown mechanisms. We studied morphological, anatomical and physiological changes induced by A. brasilense in tomato that relate to water stress tolerance, which could explain the deferral in symptom expression. For this purpose, tomato seeds were treated or not with A. brasilense BNM65, and 5 weeks later plants were challenged with C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis or mock inoculated with water. There was a large growth promotion associated to Azospirillum: treated plants had higher total biomass and leaf area. In relation to water stress tolerance, Azospirillum treated plants had larger xylem vessel area, higher stem specific hydraulic conductivity, thicker stems, and lower shoot/root dry matter and specific leaf area. These changes were opposite to those induced by C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis. We conclude that A. brasilense favoured a better adjustment of plant-water relations by several mechanisms, and thus, transitorily alleviated symptoms expression of a vascular disease.     

Acquired Thermo‐Tolerance and Trans‐Generational Heat Stress Response at Flowering in Rice

In rice, pre‐exposure to sublethal treatment followed by harsh lethal treatment is known to improve tolerance of different abiotic stresses at the vegetative stage within and across generations. Our major aim was to test the phenomenon of thermo‐tolerance at flowering across (trans)‐generations and within generation using rice cultivars contrasting for heat stress tolerance at flowering. To test trans‐generational response, plants were exposed to higher temperature at flowering stage and seeds obtained from previous generations were exposed to heat stress during flowering, which recorded significantly lower fertility when exposed to the same degree of stress in their subsequent generations. A pre‐acclimation to moderately high acclimating temperatures imposed over three different durations during the vegetative and initial reproductive stage showed positive response in the tolerant N22, particularly under severe heat stress (40 °C). This finding indicates the possibility of acquiring ameliorative thermo‐tolerant mechanisms at anthesis, restricted to tolerant genetic backgrounds to combat subsequent harsh conditions within the same generation. However, trans‐generational memory was ineffective in mitigating spikelet sterility losses in both tolerant and susceptible backgrounds. Rice is extremely sensitive to heat stress during flowering; hence, similar exercise across other crops of interest needs to be carried out before generalizing conclusions.     

云南芥菜型油菜资源品质及苗期耐旱性评价

为研究芥菜型油菜的耐旱性，对150份云南芥菜型油菜地方品种的品质及苗期不同干旱程度下植株地上 及地下部进行研究。结果表明，参试芥菜型油菜耐旱性总体表现较好，品质变异丰富，其中油酸、芥酸变异系数大 于1，依据品质性状参试品种大致聚为三类；中度及重度干旱均能显著影响油菜地上部及根系的生长，其中对根系 影响更大；各品质性状与耐旱性相关分析表明，中度干旱条件下，耐旱性与含油量及芥酸、花生烯酸2种极长链脂肪 酸呈显著正相关，与5种长链脂肪酸硬脂酸、棕榈酸、油酸、亚油酸、亚麻酸为显著负相关，而重度干旱条件下均不相 关，同一品种在不同程度干旱下其耐旱性有差别；含油量与极长链脂肪酸呈显著正相关，与长链脂肪酸及蛋白含量 呈显著负相关，极长链脂肪酸与长链脂肪酸间呈极显著负相关。共筛出8个综合耐旱性强的材料。     

How does water and salt stress affect the germination and initial growth of Brazilian soya bean cultivars?

The effects of water and salt stress on rate of germination and seedling growth were investigated under laboratory conditions in 46 soya bean genotypes from Central-West region of Brazil to verify how these stresses may limit crop establishment during the initial growth stage and also to identify the most tolerant genotypes to drought and salinity. Mild water and salt stresses were imposed by seed exposure to –0.20 MPa iso-osmotic solutions with polyethylene glycol—PEG 6000 (119.57 g/L) or NaCl (2.357 g/L) for 12 days at 25°C. The germination percentage, seedling length and seedling dry matter were measured, and then, salt or drought tolerance indexes were calculated. The “NS 5909 RG,” “NS 7000 IPRO,” “NS 7338IPRO,” “FPS Solimões RR,” “NS 5151 IPRO,” “SYN 13610 IPRO,” “LG 60177 IPRO,” “NS 6909 IPRO” and “BMX Desafio RR” were identified as the most drought-tolerant genotypes, whereas under salinity conditions, the genotypes “5D 615 RR,” “BMX Desafio RR,” “5D 6215 IPRO” and “BMX Ponta IPRO” were identified as tolerant. The “BMX Desafio RR” is the genotype most adapted to both stress conditions and, therefore, should be used under conditions of water shortage and excess salt in the soil at sowing time.