High Plant Research Articles

EFFECTS OF PLANT DENSITY ON MICRONUTRIENT UPTAKE IN SUNFLOWER (Helianthus annuus L.) VARIETIES

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of plant population per unit area on micro nutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, B) uptake of some sunflower genotypes. Three sunflower varieties (Sanay MR, Oliva CL and LG5543 CL) were used as genetic material and three different plant populations: 40800, 57100 and 95200 plants/ha (sowing spacing; 0.35 x 0.70, 0.25 x 0.70 and 0.15 x 0.70 m, respectively). According to the results, the micronutrient concentrations as well as the seed and oil yields and partly also oil content increased significantly as the plant population increased. For all analysed micronutrients, the highest concentration has been obtained with 95200 plant ha-1. Micronutrient elements as well as seed and oil yields differed according to plant density and cultivars. Among the varieties, LG 5543 CL more effected by plant population had the highest micronutrient concentration, seed yield and oil yield. As a result, a high plant population (95,200 plant ha) with the highest micronutrient content and also the highest seed and oil yield could be recommended for Mediterranean environments with a semi-humid climate. However, optimum plant density was found differently according to varieties and years.

Soil respiration response to reductions in maize plant density and increased row spacing (Southeast pampas, Argentina)

Previous studies have recognized the influence of crop cover and agricultural management on variables (soil temperature, soil moisture, and root biomass) that influence soil respiration. However, despite the influence of plant density and row spacing on these variables in the maize crop (Zea mays L.), their impact on soil respiration has received little attention. Thus, the aims of this study were (i) to investigate whether reducing plant density and row spacing influences soil respiration, and (ii) to identify the controlling variables (soil temperature and soil moisture) underlying this response. We conducted field experiments in Balcarce, Argentina, over two seasons. Treatments included (i) maize crops at high plant density (≈8 plants m−2) and narrow rows (0.52 cm, HDN), and (ii) maize crops at low plant density (≈6.5 plants m−2) and wide row spacing (0.70 cm; LDW). Leaf area index (LAI), soil CO2 fluxes, soil superficial temperature, and moisture (characterized by the water-filled pore space, WFPS) were assessed throughout the growing season. Grain yield and cumulative soil CO2 emissions were determined at the final harvest. Major findings relevant to understanding the influence of reducing plant density and wider row spacing on instant CO2 fluxes include: (i) LAI reductions were related to higher superficial soil moisture, which was consistent at LAI ≥ 3; suggesting higher decreases in water uptake than increases in soil evaporation, and in turn (ii) increments in soil moisture were associated with higher CO2 fluxes. While lower plant density and wider row spacing had notable short-term effects on WFPS and soil respiration fluxes, they did not significantly affect cumulative soil respiration throughout the growing season. However, the combination of this practice with low-yield potential genotypes that exhibit low stability to changes in resource availability can increase CO2 emissions per unit of grain yield. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the impacts of management practices on soil respiration and, consequently, on carbon cycling within agricultural ecosystems.

Effect of plant communities on bacterial and fungal communities in a Central European grassland

BackgroundGrasslands provide fundamental ecosystem services that are supported by their plant diversity. However, the importance of plant taxonomic diversity for the diversity of other taxa in grasslands remains poorly understood. Here, we studied the associations between plant communities, soil chemistry and soil microbiome in a wooded meadow of Čertoryje (White Carpathians, Czech Republic), a European hotspot of plant species diversity.ResultsHigh plant diversity was associated with treeless grassland areas with high primary productivity and high contents of soil nitrogen and organic carbon. In contrast, low plant diversity occurred in grasslands near solitary trees and forest edges. Fungal communities differed between low-diversity and high-diversity grasslands more strongly than bacterial communities, while the difference in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) depended on their location in soil versus plant roots. Compared to grasslands with low plant diversity, high-diversity plant communities had a higher diversity of fungi including soil AMF, a different fungal and soil AMF community composition and higher bacterial and soil AMF biomass. Root AMF composition differed only slightly between grasslands with low and high plant diversity. Trees dominated the belowground plant community in low-diversity grasslands, which influenced microbial diversity and composition.ConclusionsThe determinants of microbiome abundance and composition in grasslands are complex. Soil chemistry mainly influenced bacterial communities, while plant community type mainly affected fungal (including AMF) communities. Further studies on the functional roles of microbial communities are needed to understand plant-soil-microbe interactions and their involvement in grassland ecosystem services.

The Low Congruence between Plant and Animal Diversity in Field Ridges of Intensively Managed Paddy Landscapes, China.

Field ridges are commonly viewed as the stable semi-natural habitats for maintaining plant diversity in the agricultural landscape. The high plant diversity could further support higher animal diversity. But following the adoption of well-facilitated farmland construction measures in China, many field ridges have been disproportionately neglected or destroyed. Empirical studies delineating the relationships between plant and animal diversity in these field ridges in the paddy landscape remain scant, especially in China, which has the most rice production. A two-year field ridge evaluation was conducted in the Chengdu Plain area, covering 30 paddy landscapes. This investigation scrutinizes the shape attributes of field ridges, their plant diversity, and the associated animal α-diversity and community compositions, including spiders, carabids, birds, frogs, and rice planthoppers. In the results of Pearson's correlation analysis, a significant inconsistent correlation was observed between plant diversity and animal diversity. The analysis of community structure heterogeneity also revealed no correspondence for species composition between plant and animal communities (i.e., spiders, carabids, and birds), while the non-metric multidimensional scale analysis indicated a substantial difference in the species composition of spiders or plants even within the same field ridge between 2020 and 2021. We argue that the implementation of intensive management practices in paddy landscapes, such as machine ploughing and harvesting and herbicide spraying with drones, leads to a scarcity of stable animal and plant communities in field ridges. Therefore, besides retaining these field ridges in paddy landscapes, maintaining the long-term stable ridges by refraining from herbicide spraying or artificial weeding, as well as avoiding winter wheat cultivating in field ridges, will contribute to protecting biodiversity of field ridges as semi-natural habitats.

Effects of Red and Blue Light on the Growth, Photosynthesis, and Subsequent Growth under Fluctuating Light of Cucumber Seedlings.

The effects of red and blue light on growth and steady-state photosynthesis have been widely studied, but there are few studies focusing on dynamic photosynthesis and the effects of LED pre-treatment on cucumber seedlings' growth, so in this study, cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Jinyou 365) was chosen as the test material. White light (W), monochromatic red light (R), monochromatic blue light (B), and mixed red and blue lights with different red-to-blue ratios (9:1, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7, and 1:9) were set to explore the effects of red and blue light on cucumber seedlings' growth, steady-state photosynthesis, dynamic photosynthesis, and subsequent growth under fluctuating light. The results showed that compared with R and B, mixed red and blue light was more suitable for cucumber seedlings' growth, and the increased blue light ratios would decrease the biomass of cucumber seedlings under mixed red and blue light; cucumber seedlings under 90% red and 10% blue mixed light (9R1B) grew better than other treatments. For steady-state photosynthesis, blue light decreased the actual net photosynthetic rate but increased the maximum photosynthetic capacity by promoting stomatal development and opening; 9R1B exhibited higher actual net photosynthetic rate, but the maximum photosynthetic capacity was low. For dynamic photosynthesis, the induction rate of photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance were also accelerated by blue light. For subsequent growth under fluctuating light, higher maximum photosynthetic capacity and photoinduction rate could not promote the growth of cucumber seedlings under subsequent fluctuating light, while seedlings pre-treated with 9R1B and B grew better under subsequent fluctuating light due to the high plant height and leaf area. Overall, cucumber seedlings treated with 9R1B exhibited the highest biomass and it grew better under subsequent fluctuating light due to the higher actual net photosynthetic rate, plant height, and leaf area.

Conservation of paramo birds in Ecuador in the face of climate change: on the need for a detailed classification of high-altitude habitats

When we think of "the paramo" most of us would think of waves of grass moving in the wind. However, our concept of paramo is limited by the lack of prehistoric data on what this ecosystem would have been like in the absence of human activity. Throughout the Holocene, humans have been part of the Andean landscape, shaping it through fire and by hunting important herbivores, such as deer and cottontails. Pollen records are scant due to glaciers having scraped high Andean lakes and peatlands off the landscape. What we find today at high altitudes is not "one paramo" but "several types of paramo" that are likely the result of various intensities of human activity. The different vegetation forms we see today are habitats for various birds within the ecosystem. The classification of vegetation for the Ecuadorian Andes by Sierra 1 recognizes several high Andean plant assemblages, yet these do not accurately describe the diversity of plant communities vis-à-vis avian habitats.

Conservation of paramo birds in Ecuador in the face of climate change: on the need for a detailed classification of high-altitude habitats

When we think of "the paramo," most of us think of waves of grass moving in the wind. However, our concept of paramo is limited by the lack of prehistoric data on what this ecosystem would have been like without human activity. Throughout the Holocene, humans have been part of the Andean landscape, shaping it through fire and by hunting important herbivores, such as deer and cottontails. Pollen records are scant due to glaciers having scraped high Andean lakes and peatlands off the landscape. What we find today at high altitudes is not "one paramo" but "several types of paramo" that are likely the result of various intensities of human activity. The different vegetation forms we see today are habitats for various birds within the ecosystem. The classification of vegetation for the Ecuadorian Andes by Sierra 1 recognizes several high Andean plant assemblages, yet these do not accurately describe the diversity of plant communities vis-à-vis avian habitats. For instance, the Antisana paramo is composed of a mixture of plant formations not recognized in previous classifications 2 that birds depend on for at least one life stage.

Reducing fertilization with high planting density increases maize yield stability and nitrogen use efficiency in semi-arid areas

High-density planting is a vital cultivation measure to improve crop yield. In the semi-arid region, insufficient precipitation and high variability are the primary factors that restrict agricultural development. Matching planting density and fertilizer application with precipitation is a promising technical strategy to ensure yield stability and enhance nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE). To achieve this objective, we conducted a continuous field experiment in the Loess Plateau region of Northwest China between 2015 and 2020. Under conventional (CF) and reduced fertilization (RF, 20 % CF) conditions, we investigated the response characteristics of dry matter accumulation, yield, yield components, NUE, N surplus, and net income of maize as the density increased from 5.25 (D1) to 6.75 (D2), 8.25 (D3), and 9.75 (D4) × 104 plants ha−1. The results indicated that reduced fertilizer application led to a decrease in grain yield by 6.2–8.7 %, whereas increasing the density by at least 1.50 × 104 plants ha−1 (D2) could compensate for the yield reduction caused by reduced fertilization (N 55 + P2O5 27 kg ha−1) in normal and wet years. The compensatory effect initially increased and then decreased as the density increased, with the highest yield observed at planting density D3. By increasing the rapid growth rate of maize (6.3–17.1 %) and extending the rapid growth duration (0.9–2.5 days) through high planting density, reduced fertilization combined with high-density planting (RF·D3) significantly increased the cumulative yield, yield stability, net income, and NUE was by 9.4 %, 18.9 %, 10.6 %, and 37.0 %, respectively, over six years, compared with CF·D1 treatment. Additionally, the N surplus was reduced by 44.6 %. In conclusion, using reduced fertilization with high planting density measures can achieve yield stability and sustainable maize production in semi-arid areas.

Poor transferability of richness models: Predicting plot-scale plant diversity in the Waterberg, South Africa

Modelling measures of biodiversity for understudied taxa or regions is one method to address taxonomic and geographic biases in biodiversity data. However, modelling biodiversity metrics, such as species richness, to unsampled areas is only useful if predictions are reliable. As a result, testing the transferability of richness models is necessary for assessing the potential for models to predict to unsampled areas. Here we test the transferability of plant richness models between two reserves to examine if the richness-environment relationship from one reserve can accurately estimate richness patterns in the other reserve, using the vascular plant species richness of the Waterberg region (savanna biome; northern South Africa) as a model system. Six richness response variables (total species, grass species, herb species, woody species, genus, and family richness) and a set of 16 predictor variables were analysed with three modelling approaches and two statistical techniques to build: (1) models comprising all available predictor variables, (2) models using a subset of predictor variables chosen based on model performance, and (3) models using a subset of predictor variables that reduce the difference in the environmental conditions between the two reserves. The models’ performance in the training area varied considerably, but soil variables were consistently the most important predictors of plant richness. However, the transferability of all the models was consistently poor across all modelling approaches and both techniques, possibly reflecting the degree to which each reserve contains novel environments absent from the other reserve (despite being separated by only c. 60 km and sharing vegetation types). Due to the poor performance of these richness models, they are currently not useful for predicting richness to other areas in the vicinity of the reserves or in the broader region. However, in areas, like the Waterberg region, that have high plant diversity and are poorly sampled, there may be value in continued development of richness models to address biodiversity gaps, thereby providing better data to inform conservation decisions.

Community connectivity and local heterogeneity explain animal species co-occurrences within pond communities.

Metacommunity processes have the potential to determine most features of the community structure. However, species diversity has been the dominant focus of studies. Nestedness, modularity and checkerboard distribution of species occurrences are main components of biodiversity organisation. Within communities, these patterns emerge from the interaction between functional diversity, spatial heterogeneity and resource availability. Additionally, the connectivity determines the pool of species for community assembly and, eventually, the pattern of species co-occurrence within communities. Despite the recognised theoretical expectations, the change in occurrence patterns within communities along ecological gradients has seldom been considered. Here, we analyse the spatial occurrence of animal species along sampling units within 18 temporary ponds and its relationship with pond environments and geographic isolation. Isolated ponds presented a nested organisation of species with low spatial segregation-modularity and checkerboard-and the opposite was found for communities with high connectivity. A pattern putatively explained by high functional diversity in ponds with large connectivity and heterogeneity, which determines that species composition tracks changes in microhabitats. On the contrary, nestedness is promoted in dispersal-limited communities with low functional diversity, where microhabitat filters mainly affect richness without spatial replacement between functional groups. Vegetation biomass promotes nestedness, probably due to the observed increase in spatial variance in biomass with the mean biomass. Similarly, the richness of vegetation reduced the spatial segregation of animals within communities. This result may be due to the high plant diversity of the pond that is observed similarly along all sampling units, which promotes the spatial co-occurrence of species at this scale. In the study system, the spatial arrangement of species within communities is related to local drivers as heterogeneity and metacommunity processes by means of dispersal between communities. Patterns of species co-occurrence are interrelated with community biodiversity and species interactions, and consequently with most functional and structural properties of communities. These results indicate that understanding the interplay between metacommunity processes and co-occurrence patterns is probably more important than previously thought to understand biodiversity assembly and functioning.

Geochemistry of oils and condensates from the lower Eagle Ford formation, south Texas. Part 6: Carbon isotopes

Compound specific carbon isotope analyses were performed on a well-characterized suite of unconventional oils and condensates produced from the lower Eagle Ford Formation. Thermal maturity is the major influence on the δ13C values of C3–C19 hydrocarbons. From ∼0.8 to ∼1.1 %Ro, the main stage of oil generation, the δ13C values of most measured hydrocarbons remain relatively constant: n-alkanes are ∼ −30 ‰: light aromatic hydrocarbons, cycloalkanes and isoprenoids are ∼ −29 to −28 ‰. Only the C4 to C10 methylalkanes exhibit high variance with carbon number with δ13C values ranging from ∼ −32 to −28 ‰, respectively. Hydrocarbons from samples ∼1.1 to 1.3 %Ro, the late oil generation stage, are 13C-enriched by ∼1–∼2 ‰. This is the range typically assigned to the influence of thermal maturity on oil from many conventional petroleum systems. The onset of significant oil cracking occurs at ∼1.3 %Ro and all measured hydrocarbons systematically become progressively 13C-enriched although the degree varies by compound class and carbon number. The δ13C values of individual hydrocarbons shift by as much as ∼ +9 ‰ for propane and butane to only ∼ +3 ‰ for methylcyclopentane from <1.1 to 1.7 %Ro. The 13C-enrichments observed in the Eagle Ford oils/condensates with increasing maturity are attributed to the kinetic isotope effect (KIE), whereby 12C–12C bonds cleave faster than 12C–13C bonds. No evidence for isotopic equilibrium was found. The consistency of the sums of the weighted δ13C values for C4–C7n-alkane/methylalkane isomers provides support for Mango's (2000a) theory that these hydrocarbons are generated from precursors with a common chemical structure that pass through a similar transition state.Source facies exert only a minor influence on the carbon isotopic composition of Eagle Ford oils/condensates. Small variances in the 13C values of C6+n-alkanes, cyclohexane and methylcyclohexane are consistent with oils produced east of the San Marco Arch being generated from shales with a higher influx of terrestrial high plant matter compared to the shales west of the Arch. Phase fractionation was shown to have a measurable impact on the δ13C values of the most volatile hydrocarbons in evaporated samples and on the least volatile hydrocarbon that underwent phase separation in the subsurface during production.

The barrier risk to the ecological connectivity of plant diversity in karst landscapes in Guizhou Province, China

Ecological connectivity in landscapes is crucial for plant diversity conservation. The barrier risk to ecological connectivity represents the risk to ecological connectivity loss or weakening, resulting from the barrier to biological information exchange among habitats. Therefore, clarifying the barrier risk to the ecological connectivity of plant diversity in space can reveal the spatial impacts of reduced ecological connectivity on plant diversity. This study analyzed effects of karst peak, river network, arable land, and impervious surface on plant diversity in karst natural, countryside, urban, and island landscapes in Guizhou Province with fragile environment. Then, we calculated the barrier distance of ecological connectivity to reveal the barrier risk to the ecological connectivity of plant diversity in space. The results showed that karst peak was the source of high plant diversity, and plant diversity could diffuse about 400 m around karst peaks. River network and arable land enhanced the connectivity among karst peaks to maintain plant diversity, and the effect on enhancing the connectivity was about 300 m and 450 m, respectively, while the weakening effect of impervious surface on connectivity was about 350 m. Based on the distance for plant diversity diffusing around karst peaks, the barrier distance of ecological connectivity was determined by the combination type of river network, arable land and impervious surface in landscapes. From low to high, the barrier risk to the ecological connectivity of plant diversity was about 1,110 m in the combination of river network and arable land, about 790 m in the combination of river network, arable land and impervious surface, about 520 min the combination of arable land and impervious surface, about 400 m in the combination of river network and impervious surface. Our findings clarify the barrier risk to the ecological connectivity of plant diversity in space, and provide a scientific basis for plant diversity conservation from the perspective of ecological connectivity.

Fast grassland recovery from viable propagules after reintroducing traditional mowing management on a steep slope

Semi-natural grasslands on steep slopes often show high plant species diversity. These grasslands were traditionally maintained through mowing and/or grazing. The traditional management practices help to maintain species diversity, whereas land abandonment reduces diversity by increasing competition from dominant species and reducing seedling recruitment. The reintroduction of management can reverse species diversity declines, but suitable grassland restoration programs are scarce in Japan. To study the effect of short-term abandonment on seedling ecology, we monitored the vegetation of a Susogari grassland that had been abandoned for 3 years; the grassland occupies a steep slope (ca. 50°) on a hillside above paddy fields, and was traditionally mown. We monitored the vegetation before abandonment, in the 3rd year of abandonment, and in the 1st and 2nd years after restoration of mowing management. Emergence and survival of seedlings was monitored for 18 months after reintroduction of management. We monitored 1,183 seedlings of grassland species and non-target annuals in ten 1-m2 plots. After mowing was reintroduced, most grassland species reappeared or increased in the first and second years. Few seedlings of perennial plants and no seedlings of annuals flowered. An exotic species, Solidago altissima, had a lower survival rate (10%) than grassland species (&gt;30%), and all but two grassland species survived over the 18-month period. Although vegetation composition was not fully recovered, our findings suggest that a steep slope acts as a strong filter that inhibits the establishment of non-target species while enhancing persistence of target grassland species.

Commodity risk assessment of Sorbus aucuparia plants from the UK.

The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as 'high risk plants, plant products and other objects'. Taking into account the available scientific information, including the technical information provided by the applicant country, this Scientific Opinion covers the plant health risks posed by the following commodities: Sorbus aucuparia bare-root plants and rooted plants in pots up to 7 years old and specimen trees in pots up to 15 years old imported into the EU from the UK. A list of pests potentially associated with the commodities was compiled. The relevance of any pest was assessed based on evidence following defined criteria. Three EU quarantine pests (Entoleuca mammata and Phytophthora ramorum (non-EU isolates), Erwinia amylovora), were selected for further evaluation. For two of the selected pests (E. mammata and P. ramorum), the risk mitigation measures implemented in the UK and specified in the technical dossier were evaluated taking into account the possible limiting factors. For these pests, an expert judgement is given on the likelihood of pest freedom taking into consideration the risk mitigation measures acting on the pest, including uncertainties associated with the assessment. The degree of pest freedom varies between the pests evaluated, with P. ramorum being the pest most frequently expected on the imported S. aucuparia plants. The Expert Knowledge Elicitation indicated, with 95% certainty, that between 9812 and 10,000 bare-root S. aucuparia plants per 10,000 will be free from P. ramorum.

Zinc-exchanged montmorillonite clay: A promising slow-release nanofertilizer for rice (Oryza sativa L.)

This study is to examine zinc exchanged montmorillonite (Zn-MMT) as a potential slow release nanofertilizer for rice crop. The effective intercalation of zinc within the montmorillonite inter layers was firmly established via analytical techniques including Zeta potential, FE-SEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The efficacy of Zn-MMT was examined by evaluating its ability to facilitate controlled zinc release, as confirmed through an incubation study. Subsequently, the kinetics of zinc release was analyzed by different mathematical models such as Zero-order kinetics, First-order kinetics, the Higuchi model, and the Korsmeyer-Peppas model. From the pot culture study spanning 90 days the results indicated that Zn-MMT had significantly high plant height, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Dry Matter Production (DMP), number of tillers per hill, panicles length, increased grain and straw yield, in comparison with conventional zinc sulphate (ZnSO4). Total phenol, total protein and total chlorophyll content were significantly at higher levels with Zn-MMT treated rice crops as compared to conventional fertilizers and control. A similar trend was seen with phytochemicals such as Indole Acetic Acid (IAA), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and Carbonic Anhydrase (CA). Notably, rice grains harvested from Zn-MMTtreated crops exhibited significantly higher zinc content than those using other treatments. This Zn-MMT can be confirmed as a better alternative to conventional zinc sulphate fertilizers owing to its slow-release of nutrient into the soil and thus increased zinc use efficiency.

Foredune initiation and early development through biophysical interactions

Coastal dunes result from complex interactions between sand transport, topography and vegetation. However, uncertainty still persists due to limited quantitative analyses, integrating plant distribution and morphologic changes. This study aims to assess the initiation and maintenance of feedback processes by analysing the early development stages of incipient foredunes, combining data on the evolution of the plant cover and communities and dune morphology. Over three years, the monitoring of a newly formed dune (1 ha plot) reveals the progressive plant colonisation and the episodic accumulation of sand around vegetated areas controlled by sediment availability. Distinct colonisation rates were observed, influenced by inherited marine conditions, namely topography and presence of beach wrack. Berm-ridges provided elevations above the critical threshold for plant colonisation and surface roughness, aiding sediment accumulation. Beach wrack above this threshold led to rapid expansion and higher plant concentration. In the initial stages, vegetation cover significantly influenced sediment accumulation patterns, with higher accumulation around areas with high plant cover and low slopes or around areas with sparse vegetation but milder slopes. As the dune system matured and complexity grew, the link between vegetation cover and accumulation became nonlinear. Mid to low coverages (5–30 %) retained most of the observed accumulation, especially when coupled with steep slopes, resulting from positive feedbacks between vegetation, topography and sand transport. As foredune developed, vegetation cover and diversity increased while inherited morphologies grew vertically, explaining the emergence of dune ridge morphological types. Flat surfaces lacking wrack materials experienced a three-year delay in colonisation and sand accumulation, leading to the formation of terrace-type incipient foredunes. These observations underline feedback processes during the early stages of dune formation, with physical feedbacks primarily driving initiation and biophysical feedbacks prevailing in subsequent colonisation stages.

Multiomics and biotechnologies for understanding and influencing cadmium accumulation and stress response in plants.

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most toxic heavy metals faced by plants and, additionally, via the food chain, threatens human health. It is principally dispersed through agro-ecosystems via anthropogenic activities and geogenic sources. Given its high mobility and persistence, Cd, although not required, can be readily assimilated by plants thereby posing a threat to plant growth and productivity as well as animal and human health. Thus, breeding crop plants in which the edible parts contain low to zero Cd as safe food stuffs and harvesting shoots of high Cd-containing plants as a route for decontaminating soils are vital strategies to cope with this problem. Recently, multiomics approaches have been employed to considerably enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying (i) Cd toxicity, (ii) Cd accumulation, (iii) Cd detoxification and (iv) Cd acquisition tolerance in plants. This information can be deployed in the development of the biotechnological tools for developing plants with modulated Cd tolerance and detoxification to safeguard cellular and genetic integrity as well as to minimize food chain contamination. The aim of this review is to provide a current update about the mechanisms involved in Cd uptake by plants and the recent developments in the area of multiomics approach in terms of Cd stress responses, as well as in the development of Cd tolerant and low Cd accumulating crops.

Effect of Herbal Kunapajala and Different Organic Manures on Plant Growth, Quality and Yield of Withania Somnifera L. Dunal

Effect of Herbal Kunapajala and Different Organic Manures on Plant Growth, Quality and Yield of Withania Somnifera L. Dunal

Characterization And Genetic Relationship of Several Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Genotypes from Various Regions

The research aims to obtain information about the morphological characters and genetic relationships of several tomato genotypes from various regions. The study was conducted from May to October 2023 at the Experimental Garden and Plant Breeding Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Riau. The research used a randomized block design (RBD) consisting of eight genotypes and four repeats, and 32 experimental units were obtained. The observations were made to observe some qualitative characters. Qualitative data were analyzed using principal component analysis and cluster analysis to see genetic relationships. The results showed that the Magelang genotype (T27) had a high average plant fruit weight of 619.74 g, the Pane tongah (T24) had an average thick fruit flesh of 6.05 mm, the Silimakuta (T22) had an average large fruit size of 63.28 g. In contrast, the Purba (T25) had an average number of large planting fruits of 15.41 pieces. Grouping eight tomato genotypes based on clustering of MC1 and MC2 and cutting the dendrogram at a 90% similarity rate resulted in six groups. Group One consists of three genotypes, specifically Silimakuta (T22), Alahan Panjang (T26), and Magelang (T27). Group Two has Raya (T23), Group Three has Purba (T25), Group Four has Pane tongah (T24), group five has Servo F1 and group six has Ratna. The closest kinship based on the smallest euclidiean distance value is the Silimakuta (T22) and Alahan panjang (T26), with a value of 19.44. The genotypes with the farthest similarity are Raya (T23) and Purba (T25) because they have a 46.24 genetic distance

Coordinated control for the auricle asymmetric development by ZmIDD14 and ZmIDD15 fine-tune the high-density planting adaption in maize.

Multiple distinct specialized regions shape the architecture of maize leaves. Among them, the fringe-like and wedge-shaped auricles alter the angle between the leaf and stalk, which is a key trait in crop plant architecture. As planting density increased, a small leaf angle (LA) was typically selected to promote crop light capture efficiency and yield. In the present study, we characterized two paralogous INDETERMINATE DOMAIN (IDD) genes, ZmIDD14 and ZmIDD15, which contain the Cys2-His2 zinc finger domain and function redundantly to regulate auricle development and LA in maize. Loss-of-function mutants showed decreased LA by reducing adaxial sclerenchyma thickness and increasing the colourless cell layers. In addition, the idd14;idd15 double mutant exhibited asymmetrically smaller auricles, which might cause by a failed maintenance of symmetric expression of the key auricle size controlling gene, LIGULELESS(LG1). The transcripts of ZmIDD14 and ZmIDD15 enriched in the ligular region, where LG1 was highly expressed, and both proteins physically interacted with ZmILI1 to promote LG1 transcription. Notably, the idd14;idd15 enhanced the grain yield of hybrids under high planting densities by shaping the plant architecture with a smaller LA. These findings demonstrate the functions of ZmIDD14 and ZmIDD15 in controlling the abaxial/adaxial development of sclerenchyma in the midrib and polar development along the medial-lateral axes of auricles and provide an available tool for high-density and high-yield breeding in maize.