Interactive Effects of Salinity and Biological Nitrogen Fixation on Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Growth

The effect of salinity on the nodulation, N-fixation and plant growth of selected chickpea- Rhizobium symbionts was studied- Eighteen chickpea rhizobial strains were evaluated for their growth in a broth culture at salinity levels of 0 to 20 dS m⁻¹ of NaCl + Na₂SO₄. Variability in response was high. Salinity generally reduced the lag phase and/or slowed the log phase of multiplication of Rhizobium. Nine chickpea genotypes were also evaluated for salt tolerance during germination and early seedling growth in Petri dishes at five salinity levels (0–32 dS m⁻¹). Chickpea genotypes ILC-205 and ILC-1919 were the most salt-tolerant genotypes. The selected rhizobial strains and chickpea cultivars were combined in a pot experiment aimed at investigating the interactive effect of salinity (3, 6 and 9 dS m⁻¹) and N source (symbiosis vs. inorganic N) on plant growth. Symbiotic plants were more sensitive to salinity than plants fed mineral N. Significant reductions in nodule dry weight (59.8 %) and N fixation (63.5 %) were evident even at the lowest salinity level of 3 dS m-¹. Although nodules were observed in inoculated plants grown at 6 dS m-¹, N-fixation was completely inhibited. The findings indicate that symbiosis is more salt-sensitive than both Rhizobium and the host plant, probably due to a breakdown in one of the processes involved in symbiotic-N fixation. Improvement of salinity tolerance in field grown chickpea may be achieved by application of sufficient amounts of mineral nitrogen.     

大花金挖耳药学研究概况

在广泛文献检索基础上,对大花金挖耳的种属、历史、应用情况、成分、药理和临床应用等进行综述,为其进一步开发和利用提供资料。     

Wheat Seed Presoaking for Improved Germination

Seed presoaking improves wheat germination under marginal moisture conditions. The duration of seed presoaking was studied at The University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, using 10 wheat varieties. Seed presoaking beyond 12 h does not improve germination further, and beyond 21 h, germination rate is drastically reduced.     

中国蚕豆种质资源ISSR标记遗传多样性分析

利用ISSR标记对中国18个省(区)的527份春播区和秋播区蚕豆资源的遗传多样性与亲缘关系进行分析。结果表明,11个ISSR引物共扩增出278条清晰的条带,其中多态性条带268条(占96%)。不同地理来源蚕豆资源群间的基因多样性指数在0.1267~0.2509之间,平均为0.1716;Shannon指数范围为0.1932~0.3767,平均为0.2608。两指数均以内蒙古资源群最高,云南和甘肃资源群次之,江西资源群体最低。非加权配对算术平均法(UPGMA)的聚类分析和二维主成分分析(PCA)结果表明,中国春播区和秋播区蚕豆资源明显不同,浙江和四川的资源形成独立的组群,明显不同于其他省份,其遗传背景独特,有待进一步研究。中国蚕豆种质资源遗传多样性差异和遗传关系与其生长习性、生态分布及地理来源密切相关。     

Identification of qRL7, a major quantitative trait locus associated with rice root length in hydroponic conditions

Root system development is an important target for improving yield in rice. Active roots that can take up nutrients more efficiently are essential for improving grain yield. In this study, we performed quantitative trait locus (QTL) analyses using 215 recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between Xieqingzao B (XB), a maintainer line with short roots and R9308, a restorer line with long roots. Only a QTLs associated with root length were mapped on chromosomes 7. The QTL, named qRL7, was located between markers RM3859 and RM214 on chromosome 7 and explained 18.14–18.36% of the total phenotypic variance evaluated across two years. Fine mapping of qRL7 using eight BC₃F₃ recombinant lines mapped the QTL to between markers InDel11 and InDel17, which delimit a 657.35 kb interval in the reference cultivar Nipponbare. To determine the genotype classes for the target QTL in these BC₃F₃ recombinants, the root lengths of their BC₃F₄ progeny were investigated, and the result showed that qRL7 plays a crucial role in root length. The results of this study will increase our understanding of the genetic factors controlling root architecture, which will help rice breeders to breed varieties with deep, strong and vigorous root systems.     

施氮水平对两个冬小麦品种面粉色泽及面条品质的影响

在大田条件下,研究了不同施氮水平对豫麦49-198和兰考矮早八面粉色泽及面条品质的影响。结果表明,两品种面粉及面糊的色泽等级值(CGV)、红色度(a*)和黄色度(b*)随施氮量的增加而增大,亮度(L*)随施氮量的增加而下降。随着放置时间的延长,面片的CGV、a*、b*升高,而L*值下降。质构仪分析表明,随着施氮量的增加,两品种面条的硬度、黏合性、咀嚼性呈上升趋势,以360 kg hm^-2处理的值最高,并且和其他处理之间的差异达显著水平。     

萝卜肉质根膨大过程中库活性的变化

以根冠比不同的3个萝卜品种为材料,研究了萝卜肉质根的生长动态和肉质根膨大过程中源-库活性的变化.结果表明:播种后14～21 d肉质根开始膨大,并在播种28d后进入快速膨大期;叶片的快速生长期先于肉质根.3个品种其根冠比(鲜质量)存在非常明显的差异.其中‘短叶13'在播种后35 d,其根冠比即达到1以上;至播种后56 d其根冠比高达4.7,而‘叶用萝卜'根冠比始终小于1.源活性在播种后14～21 d达到最大,之后逐渐下降,但‘叶用萝卜'源活性在播种后21～28 d仍维持较高的水平;库活性在播种后28 d(‘短叶13'和‘叶用萝卜')或35 d(‘白玉春')内持续快速提高,之后则呈下降趋势.在整个生长过程中,‘短叶13'的源活性始终低于其它两个品种,而其库活性和地下部干重并不低于其它2个品种.     

Irrigation Water Management for Efficient Water Use in Mulched Onion

Caused by the necessarily imperfect seed placement accuracy of sowing machines and, additionally, caused by many other biotic and abiotic factors, the resulting plant stands exhibit nonregular spatial distributions of its plants. Based on several simplifying assumptions, a stochastic approach is developed which allows an estimation of the effects of nonregular spatial patterns on yield per area. In this approach, two random variables are attached to each plant: single plant yield E and individual space A . The latter is estimated by the area of Thiessen polygons. Yield per area, calculated by the expectation of the ratio E/A , can be approximately expressed dependent on the means ( Ē and Ā ) and coefficients of variation ( v _E and v _A ) of E and A and their correlation ( r _EA ). In relation to the commonly used estimate Ē/Ā for yield per area, one obtains yield decreases if v _A / v _E  <  r _EA . This inequality, however, will be usually valid in the field of applications. The theoretical approaches and results were applied to three experimental data sets for drilled seeds of winter oilseed rape ( Brassica napus L.) (plant density: 60 plants m⁻², row distance: 10 cm). These data sets are characterized by different accuracies of longitudinal distributions within rows (58 %, 101 %, 150 %): yield depression increases with an increasing variability of plant distances within rows.     

Role of Testa, Cotyledons and Embryonic Axis in Seed Dormancy of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Experiments were carried out during winter–summer (January–June) season to understand the role of seed testa, cotyledons and embryonic axis in imparting dormancy of some groundnut cultivars belonging to different habit groups. Crop was harvested at four maturity stages; 90, 100, 110 and 121 days after emergence (DAE). After drying the pods in shade for 2 days, the germination of seeds with (GST) and without (GSW) testa in rolled germination towels and seeds, and embryonic axes (GEM) in culture media from individual plants of a cultivar was studied. Seed testa played an important role in imparting dormancy followed by the cotyledons, and embryonic axis. However, the nature of dormancy of embryonic axis appeared to be different from that of the testa and cotyledons. Results suggested that the dormancy in groundnut is regulated mainly by testa (a maternal tissue) in the Spanish type, but by cotyledons, and embryonic axis (both zygotic tissue) as well as testa in Virginia types. Thus the genetic control of seed dormancy in groundnut appears to be quantitative in nature.     

Experimental Results on the Effects of Nonregular Spatial Patterns of Plants on Yield per Area

Based on several simplifying assumptions, a stochastic approach was developed which allows an estimation of the effects of nonregular spatial patterns of the distribution of individual plants on yield per area (F). In this approach, two random variables were attached to each plant: single plant yield (E) and individual space per plant (A). The latter was estimated by the area of Thiessen polygons. Yield per area was calculated theoretically by the expectation of the ratio E / A. Appropriate approximations of this expectation depend on the means (ē and ā), coefficients of variation (vE and vA) of E and A and their correlation (rEA). Yield per area can be decomposed into two additive terms: the first term gives the commonly used estimate ē/ā— or h(ā)/ā if a functional relationship between E and A is assumed: E = h(A). In this study, the two relationships E = k1 + k2 · ln A and E = A/(k3 + k4A) were used (with appropriately chosen constants k1, k2, k3, and k4). The second term in the decomposition of F can be interpreted as the effect of variable individual plant spaces on yield per area. In this paper, all theoretical concepts and results were applied to 17 experimental data sets of three cultivars of winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Single plant yields (E) and individual plant areas (A) were positively correlated with correlation coefficients from 0.64 up to 0.91. The ranges for both coefficients of variation were similar: 0.27 ≤ vE ≤ 0.65 and 0.28 ≤ vA ≤ 0.59. One obtains no significant differences in the goodness-of-fit for both tested relationships between E and A although the logarithmic relationship seems to be slightly superior. For only three data sets one obtains negative values for the percentage of the second term in the decomposition of F. This indicates an overestimation of yield per area by the commonly used estimates h(ā)/ā and ē/ā, respectively. These overestimations, however, are less than 5 %. In all other cases with positive values for the second term the yield per area is underestimated by the common estimates. For almost all data sets, however, the percentages of F which are explained by the common estimates are much larger than 90 %.