Changes in phenolic metabolites of Scots-pine phloem induced by Ophiostoma brunneo-ciliatum,a bark-beetle-associated fungus

Changes in soluble phenol contents of Scots-pine (Pinus sylvestris) phloem were studied after inoculation with Ophiostoma brunneo-ciliatum, a fungus associated with Ips sexdentatus. They were compared to the length of the fungus-induced reaction zone of the phloem, taken as an estimation for the trees' response efficiency against aggression. Five clones consisting of 14 trees were studied, and eight soluble phenolic metabolites were analysed in detail in reaction zones and in unwounded phloem sampled 3 weeks after inoculation. The stilbenes pinosylvin and pinosylvin monomethylether, and the flavonoid pinocembrin, were detected in reaction zones only. Concentrations of two p-coumaric-acid esters and an acetophenone glycoside decreased after inoculation. Variations of the flavonoids taxifolin and 3' taxifolin glucoside were inconsistent. One tree had longer reaction zones and a phenolic content different from the others. In unwounded phloem, concentrations of some phenolic compounds and in particular the ratio between the two p-coumaric-acid esters could be markers for trees' response efficiency. In the reaction zone, markers could be the ratios between concentrations of certain preformed compounds and concentrations of newly synthesized pinosylvin and pinocembrin.     

Reliability of field,greenhouse and cut‐shoot screening procedures for evaluating susceptibility of Scots pine to Melampsora pinitorqua

The reliability of field, greenhouse and cut‐shoot screening procedures for the assessment of the susceptibility of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) genotypes to Melampsora pinitorqua, the causal agent of twisting rust, was evaluated. Fourteen genotypes evaluated on half‐sib progenies after natural infection of 2‐year‐old plants showed comparable rank for rust susceptibility with those evaluated after controlled inoculation of 1‐year‐old seedlings in a greenhouse. The dynamic of pycnia production was assessed at 2‐day intervals in cut‐shoot assays under controlled conditions, giving reliable rankings of Scots pine genotypes between years and being significantly correlated with rust susceptibility assessed after natural infection of 2‐year‐old progenies. These results underlined the importance of some critical factors such as inoculum load and host phenology in the reliability of susceptibility evaluations assessed under different experimental conditions. Artificial inoculation of 1‐year‐old seedlings in greenhouse experiments could provide a useful early test for the management of Scots pine breeding programmes and study of inheritance of twisting rust susceptibility. However, in specific investigations the cut‐shoot assay would constitute a reliable laboratory test for studying host–pathogen interactions and the variability in pathogenicity of Melampsora pinitorqua populations.     

Coastal and interior Douglas-fir provenances differ in growth performance and response to drought episodes at adult age

Context

Since the 2003 drought and heat wave, Douglas-fir dieback has been reported in France in trees older than 30 years. Consequently, it is questioned whether selected Douglas-fir provenances are suited to the frequent and severe drought events which are forecast due to climate change.

Aims

Our objective was to contribute to the screening of variability in productivity and growth response to soil-water deficit of mature trees from provenances not currently used for plantation in France.

Methods

We sampled 22 provenances, including coastal and interior Douglas-fir, covering a wide part of its natural distribution, from Oregon to California for coastal provenances and from British Columbia to New Mexico for interior provenances. These provenances were planted at the mid 1970s in two provenance trials located in the south-west area of France. Variability of productivity, of wood density, and of radial growth in response to drought episodes among provenances was quantified and related to soil-water deficit computed by daily water balance calculations.

Results

Whatever the provenance, annual radial growth is highly dependent on local soil-water deficit (Felines R ² = 0.57, Le Treps R² = 0.49). Radial growth and wood properties exhibit large differences between provenances at 30 years old. Variability between provenances for all wood characteristics studied is mainly structured geographically. Coastal provenances perform best for productivity at 30 years old (619 cm²?±?59), and exhibit a small growth reduction in 2004, the second successive year of drought (?10.7 %?±?3.8). Surprisingly, the southern interior provenances from the driest environments in the natural range show a large growth reduction in 2004 (?30.5 %?±?5.2).

Conclusions

The provenances tested exhibited significant differences in growth performance and growth reduction induced by the soil-water deficit. The approach coupling retrospective analysis of radial growth on mature trees and water balance modelling is relevant for evaluating provenance adaptation to more frequent or severe drought episodes.     

Hemagglutinating activity associated with bovine herpesvirus type 1

Using C57BL/HPB mouse erythrocytes, hemagglutination has been observed with the Los Angeles and Colorado-1 strains of bovine herpesvirus type 1 and with 12 other Canadian field isolates as well. The specificity of the hemagglutination observed with the viral strains has been confirmed by a hemagglutination-inhibition assay.     

Temperature signals contribute to the timing of photoperiodic growth cessation and bud set in poplar

Bud set, the cornerstone delimiting the seasonal growth period in trees, is the dynamic net result of the often photoperiod-controlled growth cessation and the subsequent bud formation. Here, we show that in hybrid poplar, the critical day length for growth cessation and the duration of bud formation each vary with local climatic conditions in identical genotypes. The detailed dissection of bud set suggests temperature as one additional environmental factor that modifies the sensitivity to day-length signals at growth cessation and influences the duration of bud formation in poplar. The ability of perennial plants to integrate additional environmental signals with photoperiod signaling may add to short-term acclimatization to the predicted longer growing seasons in future climates.     

Energetics of load carrying in Nepalese porters

Nepalese porters routinely carry head-supported loads equal to 100 to 200% of their body weight (Mb) for many days up and down steep mountain footpaths at high altitudes. Previous studies have shown that African women carry head-supported loads of up to 60% of their Mb far more economically than army recruits carrying equivalent loads in backpacks. Here we show that Nepalese porters carry heavier loads even more economically than African women. Female Nepalese porters, for example, carry on average loads that are 10% of their Mb heavier than the maximum loads carried by the African women, yet do so at a 25% smaller metabolic cost.     

Exploration of plant genomes in the FLAGdb++ environment

Background

Efficient high throughput screening systems of useful mutants are prerequisite for study of plant functional genomics and lots of application fields. Advance in such screening tools, thanks to the development of analytic instruments. Direct analysis in real-time (DART)-mass spectrometry (MS) by ionization of complex materials at atmospheric pressure is a rapid, simple, high-resolution analytical technique. Here we describe a rapid, simple method for the genetic discrimination of intact Arabidopsis thaliana mutant seeds using metabolic profiling by DART-MS.

Results

To determine whether this DART-MS combined by multivariate analysis can perform genetic discrimination based on global metabolic profiling, intact Arabidopsis thaliana mutant seeds were subjected to DART-MS without any sample preparation. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) of DART-MS spectral data from intact seeds classified 14 different lines of seeds into two distinct groups: Columbia (Col-0) and Landsberg erecta (Ler) ecotype backgrounds. A hierarchical dendrogram based on partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) subdivided the Col-0 ecotype into two groups: mutant lines harboring defects in the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway and mutants without these defects. These results indicated that metabolic profiling with DART-MS could discriminate intact Arabidopsis seeds at least ecotype level and metabolic pathway level within same ecotype.

Conclusion

The described DART-MS combined by multivariate analysis allows for rapid screening and metabolic characterization of lots of Arabidopsis mutant seeds without complex metabolic preparation steps. Moreover, potential novel metabolic markers can be detected and used to clarify the genetic relationship between Arabidopsis cultivars. Furthermore this technique can be applied to predict the novel gene function of metabolic mutants regardless of morphological phenotypes.     

Modelling the interactions between phenology and insecticide resistance genes in the codling moth Cydia pomonella

In the codling moth Cydia pomonella (L), insecticide resistance genes have been associated with pleiotropic effects affecting phenology. In this paper, we investigated whether an increase in the frequency of insecticide resistance in field populations of C pomonella was likely to entail significant divergences in the temporal occurrence of both susceptible and insecticide-resistant individuals. For this purpose, we built a phenological model that provided suitable predictions of the distinct and diverging seasonal evolutions of populations of a susceptible and two insecticide-resistant (at two and three loci) homozygous genotypes of C pomonella. Model simulations for each genotype were further compared with pheromone trap catches recorded in a field insecticide-treated population over an 8-year period (from 1992 to 2000), which reflected the progressive annual increase in the frequency of resistance in southeastern France. We found a significant delay in field adult emergence relative to those predicted by the homozygous susceptible model, and the magnitude of such a delay was positively correlated with increasing frequencies of insecticide resistance in the sampled field population of C pomonella. Adult emergence predicted in the theoretical population that was homozygous for resistance at two loci converged with those recorded in the field during the investigated 8-year period. This suggested that the pleiotropic effects of resistance were likely to result in a significant phenological segregation of insecticide-resistant alleles in the field. The results of this study emphasized the potential for pest populations exposed to chemical selection to evolve qualitatively with respect to phenology. This may raise critical questions regarding the use of phenological modelling as a forecasting tool for appropriate resistance management strategies that would take into account the diverging seasonal evolutions of both insecticide resistance and susceptibility.