UPTAKE OF RADIOISOTOPES BY VEGETATION GROWING ON URANIUM TAILINGS

1977 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. MOFFETT ◽  
M. TELLIER
Keyword(s):  
Plant Tissue ◽  
Phalaris Arundinacea ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Festuca Rubra ◽  
Reed Canary Grass ◽  
Red Fescue ◽  
Canary Grass ◽  
Lead 210 ◽  
Uranium Tailings ◽  
Field Plots

An investigation was carried out on the uptake of several long-lived radioisotopes by grasses growing on uranium tailings. Field plots of creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra L.), reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), redtop (Agrostis alba L.) and climax timothy (Phleum pratensis L.) which have been growing for 4 yr were sampled in this study. The tailings and the plant tissue were analyzed for uranium, thorium, radium-226, lead-210 and polonium-210. Sedimentation within the tailings area gave two zones: one of sands and one of slimes. The slimes contained significantly more radium-226, lead-210 and polonium-210 than the sands. There was no difference in uptake behavior by grasses growing in the sands and those growing in the slimes. Creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) showed an anomalous uptake of lead-210, but other than this, all four grass species showed similar uptake behavior. Only uranium and radium-226 were significantly higher in the grasses from the tailings than the control.

scholarly journals Transcriptome characterization and differentially expressed genes under flooding and drought stress in the biomass grasses Phalaris arundinacea and Dactylis glomerata

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 717-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Klaas ◽  
Niina Haiminen ◽  
Jim Grant ◽  
Paul Cormican ◽  
John Finnan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Drought Stress ◽  
Differential Gene Expression ◽  
Dactylis Glomerata ◽  
Phalaris Arundinacea ◽  
Differentially Expressed ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Reed Canary Grass ◽  
Canary Grass ◽  
Differential Gene

Abstract Background and Aims Perennial grasses are a global resource as forage, and for alternative uses in bioenergy and as raw materials for the processing industry. Marginal lands can be valuable for perennial biomass grass production, if perennial biomass grasses can cope with adverse abiotic environmental stresses such as drought and waterlogging. Methods In this study, two perennial grass species, reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) and cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata) were subjected to drought and waterlogging stress to study their responses for insights to improving environmental stress tolerance. Physiological responses were recorded, reference transcriptomes established and differential gene expression investigated between control and stress conditions. We applied a robust non-parametric method, RoDEO, based on rank ordering of transcripts to investigate differential gene expression. Furthermore, we extended and validated vRoDEO for comparing samples with varying sequencing depths. Key Results This allowed us to identify expressed genes under drought and waterlogging whilst using only a limited number of RNA sequencing experiments. Validating the methodology, several differentially expressed candidate genes involved in the stage 3 step-wise scheme in detoxification and degradation of xenobiotics were recovered, while several novel stress-related genes classified as of unknown function were discovered. Conclusions Reed canary grass is a species coping particularly well with flooding conditions, but this study adds novel information on how its transcriptome reacts under drought stress. We built extensive transcriptomes for the two investigated C3 species cocksfoot and reed canary grass under both extremes of water stress to provide a clear comparison amongst the two species to broaden our horizon for comparative studies, but further confirmation of the data would be ideal to obtain a more detailed picture.

Genetic composition and morphological variation among populations of the invasive grass, Phalaris arundinacea

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (7) ◽  
pp. 779-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy LS Gifford ◽  
Jean-Baptiste Ferdy ◽  
Jane Molofsky
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variance ◽  
Phalaris Arundinacea ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Reed Canary Grass ◽  
Genetic Composition ◽  
Invasive Grass ◽  
Forage Crop ◽  
Canary Grass ◽  
Genetic Bottlenecks

Species that become invasive after being introduced into a new range often experience genetic bottlenecks and strong selection to adapt to their new environment. We looked for evidence of such processes in unmanaged populations of invasive reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.). This grass species is planted as a forage crop in North America but has also invaded wetland areas. We compared isozyme variation in pasture and wetland populations of this species. We did not find any indication of a genetic bottleneck: wetland populations comprised as much diversity as pasture populations and both had as much diversity as the two cultivated varieties of reed canary grass that we sampled. We also cultivated plants from wetland and pasture populations and estimated genetic variance for several morphological traits. We did not find any significant differentiation to suggest differential selection between populations from the two habitats. In fact, we found the highest amount of genetic diversity, both isozymic and quantitative, within populations. We also found strong evidence that reed canary grass reproduces primarily clonally. The implications of these observations in terms of the origin of invasive populations of reed canary grass are discussed.Key words: invasive species, Phalaris arundinacea, reed canary grass.

scholarly journals The Epichloë festucae Antifungal Protein Efe-AfpA Is Also a Possible Effector Protein Required for the Interaction of the Fungus with its Host Grass Festuca rubra subsp. rubra

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Ruying Wang ◽  
Simin Luo ◽  
Bruce B. Clarke ◽  
Faith C. Belanger
Keyword(s):  
Disease Resistance ◽  
Insect Resistance ◽  
Effector Proteins ◽  
Antifungal Protein ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Effector Protein ◽  
Festuca Rubra ◽  
Symbiotic Interaction ◽  
Red Fescue ◽  
Epichloë Festucae

Strong creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra subsp. rubra) is a commercially important low-maintenance turfgrass and is often naturally infected with the fungal endophyte Epichloë festucae. Epichloë spp. are endophytes of several cool-season grass species, often conferring insect resistance to the grass hosts due to the production of toxic alkaloids. In addition to insect resistance, a unique feature of the strong creeping red fescue/E. festucae symbiosis is the endophyte-mediated disease resistance to the fungal pathogen Clarireedia jacksonii, the causal agent of dollar spot disease. Such disease resistance is not a general feature of other grass/ Epichloë interactions. E. festucae isolates infecting red fescue have an antifungal protein gene Efe-afpA, whereas most other Epichloë spp. do not have a similar gene. The uniqueness of this gene suggests it may, therefore, be a component of the unique disease resistance seen in endophyte-infected red fescue. Here, we report the generation of CRISPR-Cas9 Efe-afpA gene knockouts with the goal of determining if absence of the protein in endophyte-infected Festuca rubra leads to disease susceptibility. However, it was not possible to infect plants with the knockout isolates, although infection was possible with the wild type E. festucae and with complemented isolates. This raises the interesting possibility that, in addition to having antifungal activity, the protein is required for the symbiotic interaction. The antifungal protein is a small secreted protein with high expression in planta relative to its expression in culture, all characteristics consistent with effector proteins. If Efe-AfpA is an effector protein it must be specific to certain interactions, since most Epichloë spp. do not have such a gene in their genomes.

PERFORMANCE OF FOUR IRRIGATED PASTURE MIXTURES UNDER GRAZING BY SHEEP

1961 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Wilson ◽  
R. D. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Tall Fescue ◽  
Festuca Arundinacea ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Reed Canary Grass ◽  
Red Fescue ◽  
Canary Grass ◽  
Medicago Sativa L ◽  
Trifolium Repens L ◽  
Dactylis Glomerata L ◽  
Moderate Yield

Four herbage mixtures with two levels of fertilizer application were compared for 6 consecutive years under grazing by sheep. The most satisfactory mixture with respect to yield, persistence, and stability was one of orchardgrass, Dactylis glomerata L., smooth bromegrass, Bromus inermis Leys., creeping red fescue, Festuca rubra L., and ladino clover, Trifolium repens L. The same mixture of grasses without clover was lower yielding even with annual applications of 78 pounds of nitrogen and 48 pounds of P2O5 per acre. A mixture of orchardgrass, tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea Schreb., reed canary grass, Phalaris arundinacea L., and alfalfa, Medicago sativa L. yielded well, and combated weed encroachment but the alfalfa did not persist beyond the third year. Tall fescue was very aggressive in this mixture. A mixture of orchardgrass and ladino clover yielded well for a few years but became badly infested with weeds as the orchardgrass was reduced through winter killing. Moderate yield increases were obtained from phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizer applications on all mixtures.

Breeding bird territory placement in riparian wet meadows in relation to invasive reed canary grass, Phalaris arundinacea

Wetlands ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 644-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen M. Kirsch ◽  
Brian R. Gray ◽  
Timothy J. Fox ◽  
Wayne E. Thogmartin
Keyword(s):  
Phalaris Arundinacea ◽  
Reed Canary Grass ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Wet Meadows ◽  
Canary Grass

IDENTIFICATION OF LOW ALKALOID GENOTYPES OF REED CANARY GRASS

1976 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 837-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. E. COULMAN ◽  
D. L. WOODS ◽  
K. W. CLARK
Keyword(s):  
Gene Pool ◽  
Phalaris Arundinacea ◽  
Broad Sense ◽  
Broad Sense Heritability ◽  
Reed Canary Grass ◽  
Improved Method ◽  
Canary Grass ◽  
Highly Correlated

Fifty-two strains of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) were screened for the presence of tryptamines and carbolines and for concentrations of gramine. Most strains contained genotypes free of tryptamines and carbolines and showed wide interplant variation in gramine levels. Gramine data between years were highly correlated, indicating high broad sense heritability. It was concluded that there exists a diverse gene pool from which to select tryptamine–carboline-free, low-gramine strains of reed canary grass. An improved method for the determination of gramine concentration is described.

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