CHANGES IN GROWTH AND GENE EXPRESSION INDUCED BY SULFUR DEFICIENCY IN GARLIC

ABSTRACT

Sulfur deficiency in garlic Allium sativum L. caused a reduction in growth together with chlorosis and necrosis of leaves. Large differences in shoot sulfur and sulphate concentrations between deficient and high sulfur treatments were only observed after 54 days growth. Using the mRNA differential display technique, a novel cDNA was isolated from shoots grown in sulfur depleted nutrient solution for 24 days. This novel cDNA was constitutively expressed in the shoots during further growth in sulfur depleted solution, but it was undetectable following 30 days recovery with sulfur supplementation. The cDNA sequence demonstrated a high degree of identity with a coat protein gene of a garlic latent carlavirus. The results suggest a possible relationship between low plant sulfur status and the induction of a latent carlavirus in garlic.     

Soil CO2 emission in sugarcane management systems

Sugarcane management systems affect soil attributes such as the carbon cycle. This fact has stimulated the sugar and alcohol industry to refine the sugarcane production systems by replacing the pre-harvest burning (PB) and manual harvest with mechanized harvesting followed by residue deposition. The aim of this study was to evaluate different management systems with respect to C cycling carbon dioxide and soil parameters (chemical, physical and biological) which were determined over the season. Three sugarcane cultivation systems were evaluated at the following periods: (a) PB, (b) 5-year green harvest and (c) 10-year green harvest. The results indicated that CO₂ emission was 36% greater in the 10-year sugarcane green harvest system than in the PB system. The bulk density and macroporosity were the factors that were most affected by the different sugarcane management systems and that significantly influenced soil CO₂ emissions. The principal component analysis showed that soil CO₂ emission was 18% influenced by base saturation (V%) and 14% by pH, especially in the PB area. Additionally, 19% was affected by carbon and macroporosity in the 5- and 10-year green harvest areas, respectively. From our results, it can be concluded that the most CO₂ emissions are in the areas of sugarcane green, this is due to the higher carbon concentration when compared with the area of burning sugarcane. The parameters that most influenced the CO₂ emissions were bulk density, porosity, macroporosity, pH and V%.     

控释肥残膜对小麦各生育期土壤微生物和酶活性的影响

为了探明控释肥树脂残膜对土壤环境可能造成的影响,采用小麦池栽试验研究了控释肥树脂残膜对土壤有关微生物数量和酶活性的影响。结果表明,控释肥树脂残膜使土壤细菌和放线菌数量分别相对增加了19.01%～62.87%和17.03%～132.39%,土壤脲酶、转化酶、中性磷酸酶活性分别提高了17.39%～85.71%、31.77%～158.40%、35.14%～189.47%,但对过氧化氢酶活性无明显影响。施肥处理（施肥不施残膜和施肥施残膜处理）显著增加了土壤转化酶和中性磷酸酶活性;但对土壤细菌和放线菌数量、过氧化氢酶和脲酶活性没有显著影响。控释肥树脂残膜施用量在90～360g/m2 范围内,对土壤细菌和放线菌数量以及有关土壤酶活性没有产生不良影响。     

低温高湿变温解冻提高羊肉的品质

为了研究低温高湿变温解冻对羊肉品质的影响,该文研究了低温高湿变温解冻工艺(试验组,解冻温度为2℃→6℃→2℃,相对湿度RH>90%)和空气自然解冻工艺(对照组,控温4℃)对羊肉解冻过程中品质变化的影响。分析试验组与对照组羊肉在解冻过程中的色泽、蒸煮损失、解冻汁液流失、汁液蛋白含量、肌肉蛋白表面疏水性以及质构特性等的变化,应用扫描电镜(scanning electron micrograph,SEM)研究不同解冻工艺对肌肉微观结构的影响,结合SDS-PAGE电泳分析不同解冻工艺对肌原纤维蛋白组分变化影响及蛋白的交联、降解效应。结果表明:试验组与对照组相比,羊肉解冻后蒸煮损失率、解冻汁液流失率、汁液中蛋白含量及肌肉蛋白表面疏水性分别降低了3.59%,4.0%,8.98%,97.44(P<0.05),肉色更新鲜,硬度及咀嚼性也高于对照组;SDS-PAGE及SEM观察研究结果表明,不同的解冻方法都会导致解冻过程中肌肉蛋白的交联与降解,但试验组解冻羊肉与对照组相比,肌肉的微观结构遭破坏程度较轻,肌纤维束较对照组完整。与生产中常规使用的空气自然解冻相比,低温高湿变温解冻法能显著降低羊肉解冻过程中的品质劣变,提高解冻羊肉的品质。     

K和P对巴基斯坦西北地区向日葵籽粒质量及经济盈利的交互效应

A field experiment was conducted using a split plot randomized complete block design with three replications to study the effects of potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) application on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) growth at the New Developmental Research Farm of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University in Peshawar,Pakistan.Six levels of K (0,25,50,75,100 and 125 kg K ha-1) were main plots while four levels of P (0,45,90 and 135 kg P ha-1) were subplots.Increase in both K and P levels enhanced grain oil concentration of sunflower.Increase in P level increased grain protein concentration,while increase in K level decreased grain protein concentration.Both oil and protein yields increased significantly with increase in K and P levels.The increase in oil and protein yields of sunflower was mainly attributed to the improvement in yield components (grains per head,grain weight and head size) and the significant increase in grain yield.The highest net returns of 297 and 368 US$ ha-1 based on grain and oil yields,respectively,were obtained from a combination of 100 kg K ha-1 + 45 kg P ha-1.     

Abiotic conditions and plant cover differentially affect microbial biomass and community composition on dune gradients

Dune systems are characterized by strong gradients of physical stress, with blowing sand and salt spray decreasing with distance from the ocean, and soil nutrients increasing. In this study we ask how soil microbial community composition and biomass change along transects away from the ocean, and whether these changes are regulated by abiotic stress or by resource availability. We collected bulk soil from under three plant species representative of the dune front, back, and flat: Ammophila breviligulata, Rosa rugosa, and Myrica pensylvanica. The biomass and composition of microbial communities were examined using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis under patches of dominant vegetation, and in paired bare plots. We found that microbial biomass was strongly correlated with soil C, and thus the presence of vegetation. Community composition, on the other hand, varied with abiotic stresses, especially soil salinity. These variables in turn depended on distance from the shore, and were ameliorated in some cases by vegetation. These findings demonstrate that biomass and community composition are influenced by different environmental variables. Thus, relationships between biomass and composition are unlikely to be readily predicted on the basis of a single resource.     

Effect of long-term application of fertilizers on soil quality and rice yield in a salt-affected coastal region of India

The studied soils were collected from a 24-year long-term fertilizer experiment with rice (Oryza sativa L.) grown on tropical Typic Endoaquepts during monsoon season only. The organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) status of the soils improved with the N₁₀₀P₂₂K₄₂ treatment than the initial values at the start of the experiment. The available P status of the soils depleted in the N₁₀₀P₁₁K₂₂ and N₀P₀K₀ treatments than the initial value. Soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and basal soil respiration (BSR), activities of urease, acid and alkaline phosphatases as well as fluorescein diacetate hydrolyzing activity (FDHA) were the highest in the N₁₀₀P₂₂K₄₂ treatment. The highest percentage of MBC in OC in the N₁₀₀P₂₂K₄₂ treatment revealed the accumulation of organic matter with an overall improvement in nutrient status of soil, since MBC is a labile pool of plant nutrients. Long-term application of fertilizers (N₁₀₀P₂₂K₄₂) had no deleterious effect on microbial and biochemical soil quality parameters. Rice grain yields were inconsistent with N₁₀₀P₀K₀ and N₀P₀K₀ while that of N₁₀₀P₂₂K₄₂, N₁₀₀P₁₁K₂₂ and N₁₀₀P₂₂K₀ increased gradually during the course of the experiment for each block period of six years. The grain yield of rice showed high significant correlation with the microbial and biochemical soil parameters.     

蚯蚓与黑麦草相互作用对土壤中荧蒽去除的影响

Earthworms can promote the bioremediation of contaminated soils through enhancing plant growth and microorganism development. The individual and combined effects of earthworms and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) on the removal of fluoranthene from a sandy-loam alluvial soil were investigated in a 70-d microcosm experiment. The experiment was set up in a complete factorial design with treatments in four replicates: without earthworms or ryegrass (control, CK), with earthworms only (E), with ryegrass only (P), and with both earthworms and ryegrass (EP). The residual fluoranthene, microbial biomass C, and polyphenol oxidase activity in the soil changed significantly (P<0.01) with time. In general, the residual concentration of fluoranthene in the soil decreased sharply from 71.8-88.7 to 31.7-37.4 mg kg 1 in 14 d, and then decreased gradually to 19.7-30.5 mg kg 1 on the 70th d. The fluoranthene concentration left in the soil was the least with both earthworms and ryegrass, compared to the other treatments at the end of the experiment. Half-life times of fluoranthene in the E, P, and EP treatments were 17.8%-36.3% smaller than that of CK. More fluoranthene was absorbed by earthworms than ryegrass. However, the total amounts of fluoranthene accumulated in both the ryegrass and earthworms were small, only accounting for 0.01%-1.20% of the lost fluoranthene. Therefore, we assumed that microbial degradation would play a dominant functional role in fluoranthene removal from soil. We found that earthworms significantly increased microbial biomass C and polyphenol oxidase activity (P<0.01) in the presence of ryegrass at the end of the experiment. Furthermore, microbial biomass C and polyphenol oxidase activity were significantly (P<0.05) and negatively related to the residual fluoranthene concentration. This implied that earthworms might promote the removal of fluoranthene from soil via stimulating microbial biomass C and polyphenol oxidase activity.     

Stability of allophane,allophanic clay,and allophane-halloysite floc in aqueous solutions of an anionic exocellular heteropolysaccharide (Gum Xanthan) from Xanthomonas campestris

Stability of allophane with positive and/or negative charges in the presence of gum xanthan (GX) was mainly investigated at three pH levels. At pH 4.5, allophane showed polymeric iocculation (PFL) at low GX concentrations, and polymeric stabilization (PST) at medium GX concentrations. Flocculated allophane (i.e.p.) at pH 6.5 showed polymeric weak-stabilization (PWST) at extremely low GX concentrations, besides PFL and PST described above. At pH 8.5, allophane did not exhibit any change in stability with GX addition. The PFL and PWST can be regarded as charge neutralization between allophane and GX. Allophanic clay with i.e.p. at pH 10 exhibited both PFL and PST but no PWST, even at pH 8.5. The PWST can be explained by the disintegration of the floc when interparticle attraction was weakened by the adsorption of GX. The lower PWST and PST of allophane-halloysite mutual floc strongly suggested the presence of a more stable arrangement among these dissimilar particles. Stability of crystalline clays was also studied for comparison. The above behavior was analyzed on the basis of (i) the suspended microaggregate of allophane, and (ii) the double-stranded wormlike structure of GX, which was taken in this study as a model substance of anionic microbial polysaccharide.     

Limited but specific variations of seed storage proteins in Japanese common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

The electrophoretic banding patterns ofgliadin in common wheat lines derived fromJapan were determined byacid-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. For the 107 wheat lines used in our study,27 different patterns were identified, 13corresponding to the -gliadin, 8 tothe , -gliadin and 6 to the-gliadin. The gliadin patterns ofJapanese wheat cultivars and landracesgreatly differed from the patterns of wheatlines from other countries, and thevariation seen in wheat lines from Japanwas limited to 46 patterns. Sevencollection or breeding areas in Japanshowed different frequencies in theirgliadin patterns. Combining the gliadinpatterns with high molecular weightglutenin subunit compositions, 67combinations were observed. One gliadinpattern consisting of -gliadinpattern F, , -gliadinpattern H and -gliadin pattern Dwas frequently found in many Japanese wheatlines, though the other patterns werelimited to only one or two wheat lines.