scholarly journals Chitosan Oligosaccharide Addition to Buddhist Pine (Podocarpus macrophyllus (Thunb) Sweet) under Drought: Reponses in Ecophysiology and δ13C Abundance

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 526
Author(s):  
Chunxia He ◽  
Yan Zhao ◽  
Jinsong Zhang ◽  
Jun Gao

Climate warming induces the necessity to increase the drought resistance of shade-obligate juvenile trees in sub-tropical forests. Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) is a biopolymer derived from the marine resource that has attracted accumulative attention to induce and promote a plant’s resistance to abiotic stress. Buddhist pine (Podocarpus mascrophyllus (Thunb)Sweet) seedlings were cultured as the model material whose natural distribution in sub-tropical areas of China has suffered severe summer drought events in the last 113 years. A split-block design was conducted with a simulated drought event (drought vs. irrigated control), the COS addition, and two samplings at the ends of drought and re-watered treatments. The COS addition increased the resistance to drought by inducing a starch allocation towards roots where δ13C abundance and antioxidant enzyme activities were upregulated. The COS addition can promote biomass allocation to roots and increase the number of new roots. The COS addition to drought-treated Buddhist pine seedlings resulted in robust diameter growth. Therefore, COS is an available polymer to promote the resistance of Buddhist pine to drought. More work is suggested to clarify the dose of COS addition that can induce a prominent response of biomass accumulation and carbohydrate metabolism.

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M. Antonelli ◽  
Matthew G. Coghill ◽  
Wendy C. Gardner ◽  
Lauchlan H. Fraser

AbstractPhytostabilization is the use of plants and soil amendments to physically stabilize and remediate contaminated mine wastes and to control wind and water erosion in semiarid environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate two native bunchgrass species’ (Pseudoroegneria spicata and Festuca campestris) biomass accumulation and metals uptake response to locally available soil amendments (compost, wood ash and wood chips) to determine their suitability for phytostabilization at an alkaline copper mine tailings site in British Columbia, Canada. In the greenhouse, bunchgrasses important as forage for livestock and wildlife were grown in tailings with various ash–compost–wood chip combinations and evaluated using a randomized complete block design with 13 treatments and 10 replicates. Plants were harvested after 90 d, and tissues were analyzed for root and shoot biomass. Tissue samples (n = 3) from three treatment subsets (ash, compost, blend) were selected for elemental analysis. Biomass increased with increasing compost applications, and the response was greatest for P. spicata. Shoot molybdenum exceeded the maximum tolerable level for cattle and was significantly higher when grasses were grown on the ash treatment (183–202 mg kg−1) compared to the others (19.7–58.3 mg kg−1). Translocation and root bioconcentration factors were highest on the ash treatment (2.53–12.5 and 1.75–7.96, respectively) compared to the other treatments (0.41–3.43 and 1.47–4.79, respectively) and indicate that both species are ‘accumulators.’ The findings suggest that these bunchgrasses were not ideal candidates for phytostabilization due to high shoot tissue molybdenum accumulation, but provide important considerations for mine restoration in semiarid grassland systems.


Moringa is a typical representative of multi-purpose tropical tree crop due to the high nutritional value, it is an important source for food to many communities and provides raw materials for animal feed industries. This study investigates the influence of plant densities (15 x 15 cm, 15 x 20 cm, 20 x 20 cm, and 20 x 30 cm) and four (4) harvesting intervals (HI) of 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks was laid out using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) replicated three times. Data on silvicultural practices were collected and six (6) plants were randomly selected for harvest from each plot which were subsequently separated into leaves, stems and twigs. Fresh and air-dried weights were recorded for analysis. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used for data analysis Duncan’s Multiple Range Test was used to separate the means. Results of the present study show non-significant effects of plant density (p>0.05) between treatments. However, greater number of branches, leaves, height and biomass accumulation was recorded at 8 weeks harvesting interval. A significant interaction effects were recorded between spacing and HI.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Ángel Torres Vázquez ◽  
Amar Halifa Marín ◽  
Juan Pedro Montávez ◽  
Marco Turco

<p>The increase in societal exposure and vulnerability to drought, call to move from post-crisis to pre-impact drought risk management. Accurate and timely information of evolving drought conditions is crucial to take early actions to avoid devastating long-term impacts. A previous study indicated that a statistical empirical method, the ensemble streamflow prediction system (ESP; an ensemble based on reordering historical data), represents a computationally fast alternative to dynamical prediction applications for drought prediction (Turco et al. 2017). Extending this work, here we present an assessment of the ability of the ESP method in predicting the drought of 2017 in Spain considering also the uncertainties coming from the observations. For this, four different datasets are used: that cover a period of 36 years (1981-2017) and with a spatial resolution of 0.25 x 0.25º based on observations of interpolated stations (E-OBS, AEMET), on reanalysis data (ERA5), and on combining stations and satellite data (CHIRPS). Meteorological droughts are defined using the Standardized Precipitation Index aggregated over the months April–September. All the datasets show a similar spatial pattern, with most of the domain suffering extreme drought conditions. In addition, the ESP system achieves reasonable skill in predicting this drought event 2 months in advance with, again, similar pattern among the different datasets. These results suggest the feasibility of the development of an operational early warning system, also considering that the data of CHIRPS and ERA5 are updated every month, i.e., that are available for near-real time applications.</p><p> </p><p>References</p><p>Turco, M., et al. (2017). Summer drought predictability over Europe: empirical versus dynamical forecasts. Environmental Research Letters, 12(8), 084006.</p><p> </p><p>Acknowledgments</p><p>The authors acknowledge the ACEX project (CGL2017-87921-R) of the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain. AHM thanks his predoctoral contract FPU18/00824 to the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain. M.T. has received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the project PREDFIRE (RTI2018-099711-J-I00).</p>


2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter L. Ballizany ◽  
Rainer W. Hofmann ◽  
M. Z. Zulfiqhar Jahufer ◽  
Brent A. Barrett

White clover (Trifolium repens L.) is an important pasture legume in temperate regions, but growth is often strongly reduced under summer drought. Cloned individuals from a full-sib progeny of a pair cross between two phenotypically distinct white clover populations were exposed to water deficit in pots under outdoor conditions for 9 weeks, while control pots were maintained at field capacity. Water deficit decreased leaf water potential by more than 50% overall, but increased the levels of the flavonol glycosides of quercetin (Q) and the ratio of quercetin and kaempferol glycosides (QKR) by 111% and by 90%, respectively. Water deficit reduced dry matter (DM) by 21%, with the most productive genotypes in the controls showing the greatest proportional reduction. The full-sib progeny displayed a significant increase in the root : shoot ratio by 53% under water deficit. Drought-induced changes in plant morphology were associated with changes in Q, but not kaempferol (K) glycosides. The genotypes with high QKR levels reduced their DM production least under water deficit and increased their Q glycoside levels and QKR most. These data show, at the individual genotype level, that increased Q glycoside accumulation in response to water deficit stress can be positively associated with retaining higher levels of DM production.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 659-669
Author(s):  
SAULO SOARES DA SILVA ◽  
GEOVANI SOARES DE LIMA ◽  
VERA LÚCIA ANTUNES DE LIMA ◽  
LAURIANE ALMEIDA DOS ANJOS SOARES ◽  
HANS RAJ GHEYI ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT This study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the quantum yield, photosynthetic pigments and biomass accumulation of mini watermelon cv. Sugar Baby, under strategies of irrigation with saline water and potassium fertilization. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design, in a 8 × 3 factorial scheme, with three replicates, corresponding to eight strategies of irrigation with saline water applied at different phenological stages of the crop (control - irrigation with low-salinity water throughout the crop cycle, and salt stress in the vegetative, vegetative/flowering, flowering, flowering/fruiting, fruiting, fruiting/ fruit maturation and fruit maturation stage) and three potassium doses (50, 100 and 150% of the recommendation). The dose of 100% corresponded to 150 mg of K2O kg-1 of soil. Two levels of electrical conductivity of water were used: 0.8 and 4.0 dS m-1. Irrigation with water of 4.0 dS m-1 continuously in the vegetative and flowering stages increased the initial fluorescence and decreased the quantum efficiency of photosystem II of mini watermelon fertilized with 100 and 150% of K recommendation. Fertilization with 50% recommendation did not interfere in the fluorescence parameters of the mini watermelon, regardless of the irrigation management strategy. Chlorophyll a synthesis is inhibited by salt stress in the vegetative/flowering, flowering, flowering/fruiting, fruiting/maturation stages, as well as for total chlorophyll, except for the flowering stage. Application of 4.0 dS m-1 water in the flowering, fruiting/maturation and maturation stages promoted greater biomass accumulation in mini watermelon.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ettore D’Andrea ◽  
Andrea Scartazza ◽  
Alberto Battistelli ◽  
Alessio Collalti ◽  
Simona Proietti ◽  
...  

SummaryExtreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity due to global climate change. We hypothesized that these have a strong impact on the stem radial growth and the dynamic of non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs).In order to assess the effects on mature trees of a late frost occurred in spring 2016 and a drought event characterizing the summer 2017, we monitored the phenology, the radial growth and the dynamic of starch and soluble sugars in a Mediterranean beech forest.Growth was much more reduced by spring late frost than by summer drought, while NSCs dynamic was deeply involved in counteracting the negative effects of both events, supporting plant survival and buffering source-sink imbalances under such stressful conditions, resulting in a strong trade-off between growth and NSCs dynamic in trees.Overall, our results highlight the key role of NSCs on trees resilience to extreme weather events, confirming the relevant adaptability to stressful conditions. Such an insight is useful to assess how forests may respond to the potential impacts of climate change on ecosystem processes and to define how future management strategies can help adaptation of beech forests in the Mediterranean area.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Cristovão de Alencar Fernandes ◽  
Laércio da Silva Pereira ◽  
Carlos José Gonçalves de Souza Lima ◽  
Gabriel Barbosa da Silva Júnior ◽  
Theuldes Oldenrique da Silva Santos ◽  
...  

Phytotechnical parameters, yield and fertilizer use efficiency are relevant to the rational management of fertigation, especially in cultivation of high technological level. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the influence and efficiency of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) application on the phytotechnical parameters, yield and nutritional efficiency of yellow melon in a fertigation system. The experiment was conducted in the city of Bom Jesus-PI, Brazil, from January to April 2016, in a strip-block design with four replicates, and the treatments consisted of five N levels (0, 45, 90, 135 and 180 kg ha-1 in the form of urea) and five K levels (0, 60, 120, 180 and 240 kg ha-1 in the form of potassium chloride), applied through fertigation. Collar diameter, main branch length, leaf chlorophyll content, number of leaves, leaf area index, biomass accumulation, fruit yield, and N and K use efficiencies were evaluated. Applications of 180 kg ha-1 of N and 240 kg ha-1 of K, respectively, led to the highest growth of the melon, while maximum production was obtained with the use of 112.50 and 165 kg ha-1 of N and K, respectively. The efficiency of N and K use decreased with increasing levels.


Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tariq Shah ◽  
Sadia Latif ◽  
Hamad Khan ◽  
Fazal Munsif ◽  
Lixiao Nie

Poor seed germination is a crucial yield-limiting factor when winter wheat is sown under low temperature. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of ascorbic acid (AsA) in the extenuation of the harmful effects of low temperature at early and reproductive stages of wheat during 2016–2017 (15 November to 15 December). A two-year experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design with split plot arrangement and with three replicates. Sowing dates (15 November and 15 December) were allotted to the main plot while seed priming (control, hydro-priming, and AsA priming) were allotted to the sub-plot. Results demonstrated that AsA priming significantly boosted different yield characteristics including chlorophyll content, tillers per unit area, number of grains per spike, and 1000-grain weight, contributing higher productivity and biomass during 2016–2017. The results further revealed that AsA could induce the up-regulation of diverse antioxidants (super oxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT)), thus offsetting the adverse effects of sub-supra optimum temperatures of late sowing wheat. It is therefore concluded in this work that AsA priming enhances stand establishment, yield and yield-related traits, antioxidant enzyme activities, and chlorophyll contents when wheat is sown under low temperature.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. XUE-FENG ◽  
L.V. JUN ◽  
M. SHAHID ◽  
S.A. ANJUM ◽  
L. NA-JIA ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT: Abiotic stresses and poor biomass accumulation are chief constraints to accomplish potential yield in Leymus chinensis. An experiment was conducted to improve biomass and correlation of biomass accumulating attributes with photosynthetic pigments, osmotic substances and antioxidants under foliar application of different plant growth substances. The experiment was conducted at inner Mongolia Xilinguole, China, using a Randomized Complete Block Design and 5 replications. The treatments consisted of water (control); BA5 = application of BA (6-benzylaminopurine) at 5 mg L-1; BA25 = application of BA at 25 mg L-1; BA50 = application of BA at 50 mg L-1; BR0.02 = application of BR (brassinosteroid) at 0.02 g L-1; BR0.2 = application of BR at 0.2 mg L 1; BR2 = application of BR at 2 mg L-1; GA10 = application of GA (gibberellic acid) at 10 mg L-1; GA50 = application of GA at 50 mg L-1 and GA100 = application of GA at 100 mg L-1. Application of all plant growth substances significantly improved biomass, osmotic adjustments, photosynthetic pigments and antioxidant activities compared to control. However, the most promising results were found with 0.2 mg L-1 BR. The highest chlorophyll a/b, glutathione and ascorbate peroxidase activities were recorded with 25 mg L-1 BA. Conclusively, 25 mg L-1 BA, 0.2 mg L-1 BR and 10 mg L-1 GA exhibited more promising results than other concentrations for the evaluated attributes.


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