A Potential Screening System for Identifying Sorghum Ecotypes with Increased Lysine in the Seeds

Classical “high-lysine” sorghum lines are characterized by smaller seeds than average, due to a decrease in prolamin synthesis and a subsequent decrease in yield. To exploit the natural variation in lysine content and to identify ecotypes with a seed lysine content higher than average, characterized by plump seeds, a method was developed based on root-growth inhibition of seeds growing on a medium containing aminoethylcysteine (AEC), a lysine analogue. By using a collection of sorghum mutants and ecotypes a correlation coefficient of 0.926 between root length and lysine content was established. This method, which uses the root length of plants growing on aec to indicate which lines have a potential elevated lysine content, can be applied for the screening of sorghum germplasm. Since this is a non-destructive method it can also be used at the individual seed level, for example for screening progenies of regenerated plants from in vitro culture to exploit the somaclonal variation.     

Re-defining tillage erosion: quantifying intensity–direction relationships for complex terrain

Abstract. Current tillage erosion models account for the influence of tillage direction in the magnitude of the soil (tillage) transport coefficient. It is argued here that this is counter-intuitive and causes significant problems in modelling tillage erosion in areas of complex terrain. This article examines whether a re-modelling of tillage erosion is possible that separates tillage direction (an interaction with the landform) from the soil transport coefficient (a measure of tillage intensity representing the combination of implement erosivity and soil erodibility). Experimental data for mouldboard ploughing upslope, downslope and cross-slope at Coombe Barton Farm, Devon are examined. Integration of data for all directions into a single relationship, which relates translocation in the direction of tillage to slope in the direction of tillage and translocation perpendicular to tillage to slope perpendicular to tillage, is not possible using previously published methods of analysis. However, when total translocation distance is regressed against the tangent of the slope at 45° to the tillage direction (bisecting the tillage direction and the direction of overturning) it is found that a single relationship can be used to describe tillage in all three directions. Therefore, this relationship is used to determine a single value of the soil transport coefficient ( k _fTa) for constant soil and implement conditions but different tillage directions. This redefinition of tillage is important both for true estimation of tillage erosion severity, the adirectional coefficient being 40% larger than the directional coefficient, and for modelling of tillage erosion in complex terrain. These improvements are vital when tillage erosion simulation is used to direct soil conservation strategies.     

Pathogenicity and Virulence of the Two Dutch VCGs of Verticillium dahliae to Woody Ornamentals

Two experiments were performed in two consecutive years to test whether isolates of different vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) differ in their ability to cause disease in woody ornamentals, to study the host specificity of the isolates and to get an insight into disease development in woody hosts. A range of woody ornamental plant species, including Acer campestre, Acer platanoides, Acer pseudoplatanus, Catalpa bignonioides, Cotinus coggygria, Robinia pseudoacacia, Rosa canina, Syringa vulgaris and Tilia cordata, were root-dip inoculated with six isolates of Verticillium dahliae, belonging to the two VCGs that occur in the Netherlands (VCG NL-1 and VCG NL-2). Isolates belonging to each VCG caused severe symptoms of verticillium wilt in most plant species tested. Disease progress differed between plant species, but was generally the same for the two VCGs. No overall differences in virulence were observed between the two VCGs for external wilt symptoms, number of dead plants, or shoot length. No significant VCG × plant species interactions were present for these characteristics. However, isolates of VCG NL-1 caused more vascular discolouration than did isolates of VCG NL-2. Isolates within VCGs often differed considerably in their virulence to certain hosts, as shown by highly significant isolate × plant species interactions. Isolates were more virulent on their original host. These findings imply that VCG identification does not contribute to disease prediction for a range of woody hosts.     

Spatial dependence and the relationship of soil organic carbon and soil moisture in the Luquillo Experimental Forest,Puerto Rico

We used geo-spatial statistical techniques to examine the spatial variation and relationship of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil moisture (SM) in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF), Puerto Rico, in order to test the hypothesis that mountainous terrain introduces spatial autocorrelation and crosscorrelation in ecosystem and soil properties. Soil samples (n = 100) were collected from the LEF in the summer of 1998 and analyzed for SOC, SM, and bulk density (BD). A global positioning system was used to georeference the location of each sampling site. At each site, elevation, slope and aspect were recorded. We calculated the isotropic and anisotropic semivariograms of soil and topographic properties, as well as the cross-variograms between SOC and SM, and between SOC and elevation. Then we used four models (random, linear, spherical and wave/hole) to test the semi-variances of SOC, SM, BD, elevation, slope and aspect for spatial dependence. Our results indicate that all the studied properties except slope angle exhibit spatial dependence within the scale of sampling (200 – 1000 m sampling interval). The spatially structured variance (the variance due to the location of sampling sites) accounted for a large proportion of the sample variance for elevation (99%), BD (90%), SOC (68%), aspect (56%) and SM (44%). The ranges of spatial dependence (the distances within which parameters are spatially dependent) for aspect, SOC, elevation, SM, and BD were 9810 m, 3070 m, 1120 m, 930 m and 430 m, respectively. Cross correlograms indicate that SOC varies closely with elevation and SM depending on the distances between samples. The correlation can shift from positive to negative as the separation distance increases. Larger ranges of spatial dependence of SOC, aspect and elevation indicate that the distribution of SOC in the LEF is determined by a combination of biotic (e.g., litterfall) and abiotic factors (e.g., microclimate and topographic features) related to elevation and aspect. This demonstrates the importance of both elevation and topographic gradients in controlling climate, vegetation distribution and soil properties as well as the associated biogeochemical processes in the LEF.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

沈阳市土壤重金属的空间变异规律分析

运用地统计学采样和分析方法,研究了沈阳市土壤重金属污染的空间变异特征及其规律。结果表明,土壤4种重金属平均值含量最大的为铅,最小的为铬,变异系数大小顺序为铜〉锌〉铅〉铬。经理论模型的最优拟合,发现锌、铜的最佳拟合,模型为指数模型,铅的最佳拟合模型为球状模型,铬的最佳拟合模型为线形模型。4种重金属中锌、铜的空间相关性较强,其空间变异主要是由结构性因素引起的;铅的空间相关性适中,其空间变异是由结构性因素和随机性因素共同作用的;铬的空间结构性最弱,其变异主要是由随机性因素引起的。     

近35年红壤稻区土壤肥力时空演变特征——以进贤县为例

【目的】明确红壤稻区典型县域农业生产中土壤养分的变化特征以及当前土壤肥力水平,为红壤稻田土壤培肥改良提供依据。【方法】通过数据收集和野外采样分析得到江西省进贤县1982年、2008年和2017年3个时期稻田耕层土壤属性的数据,统一选取土壤pH、有机质、碱解氮、有效磷和速效钾作为土壤综合肥力评价指标,首先对3个时期各项肥力指标进行常规统计和差异性分析,采用主成分分析找出不同时期肥力差异的关键因子并确定权重,通过隶属度函数得到各项肥力指标的隶属度值,将各项肥力指标的权重和隶属度值加乘得到土壤综合肥力指数,最后结合土壤各项肥力指标和综合肥力指数的GIS空间分布图探究该区域稻田土壤肥力时空演变特征。【结果】1982—2017年进贤县稻田土壤有机质、碱解氮、有效磷和速效钾均呈不同程度的上升趋势,土壤pH呈下降趋势。1982、2008和2017年3个时期进贤县土壤pH的平均值分别为5.9、5.1、4.8,年均下降0.03个单位;35年来土壤pH整体由西部向东南和西北下降速率逐渐减低,2017年99%的稻田土壤处于酸性水平(4.5—5.5)。35年间稻田土壤有机质含量的平均值由28.1 g·kg     

黑龙江松嫩平原土壤有效态中微量元素的空间分布特征

运用地统计学结合GIS技术研究了黑龙江松嫩平原农业区土壤中微量元素的空间分布特征,通过对数转化、域法处理和Box-Cox转化3种数据处理方法对土壤有效钙、有效镁、有效硼、有效铜和有效锌进行了正态分布性检验。结果表明,有效钙原始数据很好的服从正态分布,Box-Cox转化成功地使有效镁、有效硼、有效铜、有效锌含量数据更好的服从正态分布。应用地统计学分析方法进行了半方差函数的计算和最适合模型的拟合,得出各元素最好的理论模型,并绘制了各养分元素的空间分布图。半方差分析的结果显示,各元素具有中等空间相关性,并对造成现有空间分布特征的原因进行了分析。     

土壤空间变异研究现状及展望

阐述了应用地统计学方法，定量研究土壤空间变异的基本理论和基本方法以及国内外土壤空间变异的研究现状，探讨了该领域研究中存在的问题，展望了土壤空间变异研究前景。     

A Severe Hellenic CMV Tomato Isolate: Symptom Variability in Tobacco, Characterization and Discrimination of Variants

A severe strain of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) originating from an infected tomato plant (Gastouni-Olympia, Greece) was isolated in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi nc), after three serial local lesion passages in Chenopodium quinoa and designated CMV-G. CMV-G induces yellow mosaic (YM) symptoms in tobacco. When CMV-G was passed mechanically through C. quinoa, phenotypic variants inducing YM or green mild mosaic (MM) in tobacco were isolated. Aphid transmission, from different hosts, appears to be an effective approach for separating MM variants of CMV-G from YM variants. In particular, aphid transmission from zucchini proved to be very efficient in selecting for MM variants. In contrast, aphids transmitted only YM variants from tomato plants. Molecular characterization of CMV-G and its progeny resulted in their classification in the CMV subgroup IB, free of satellite RNA, being the first discovery of the subgroup IB in Greece. In the Solanaceae family (tobacco, tomato, pepper) YM variants induced more severe symptoms than the MM variants. YM and MM phenotype was stable in tobacco for all seven passages tried using the obtained YM and MM variants. Cross-protection experiments showed that an isolated MM variant was able to protect tobacco plants against a challenge infection by a YM variant.     

Variability in seedling emergence for European and North American populations of Abutilon theophrasti

Abutilon theophrasti is a weed that is spreading worldwide and that has had to adapt to different combinations of environmental conditions. Wide interpopulation variability has been reported regarding dormancy and germination. This variability, controlled by the interaction of genetic diversity and maternal effect, could hinder the adoption of Integrated Weed Management (IWM) tools. A collaborative project was conducted to compare emergence dynamics of 12 European and North American populations under diverse environmental conditions. The main aim was to assess interpopulation variability and explain this according to environmental conditions in the seed collection sites. Seeds were sown at six experimental sites, and seedling emergence was monitored. The AlertInf model was tested to evaluate its ability to predict emergence dynamics of the different populations. A wide interpopulation variability was observed for emergence percentage and dynamics with consistent trends across sites and related to different seed dormancy levels. Populations from Catalonia, Iowa and Minnesota reached higher emergence percentage with earlier and concentrated emergence flushes probably due to low dormancy level, while populations from Croatia, Serbia and Hungary, given their low average emergence percentage, presented high dormancy levels. Good predictive accuracy of AlertInf model was obtained at the different sites, confirming the possibility of adopting it across a wide range of environmental conditions. Achieving a better knowledge of interpopulation variability can allow specific control strategies to be designed, facilitating the replacement of solely herbicide‐based management with true IWM.