Stages Of Vegetative Development Research Articles

The effects of biofertilizers on physiological traits and biomass accumulation of red beans (Phaseolus vulgaris cv.Goli) under water stress

This field experiment was executed as the split plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications in 2014. In a red bean irrigated farm, halt irrigation was implemented in main plots and the treatments included the control (full irrigation) and halt irrigation at vegetation, flowering, and pod development stages. In subplots utilization of biofertilizers were applied at four cases of control, phosphorus solubilizing bacteria, potassium solubilizing bacteria, and combined application of these bacteria in soil. Results showed that halt irrigation and biofertilizers had significant interaction on red bean biomass. Normally, to achieve the highest biomass full irrigation and application of phosphorus and potassium solubilizing bacteria (8023 and 7978 kg ha-1) are suggested. But the use of biofertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers led to more water efficiency under low water condition. Finally, our results showed that maximum biomass in red bean (about 7985 kg. ha-1) was recorded in ecological nutrition management under limited water resources. In other words, halt irrigation at flowering stage was compensated by Bio-P and Bio-K fertilizer application as a logical method to mitigate and moderate biomass losses about 37%.

Arabidopsis thaliana ambient temperature responsive lncRNAs

BackgroundLong non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as new class of regulatory molecules in animals where they regulate gene expression at transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. Recent studies also identified lncRNAs in plant genomes, revealing a new level of transcriptional complexity in plants. Thousands of lncRNAs have been predicted in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome, but only a few have been studied in depth.ResultsHere we report the identification of Arabidopsis lncRNAs that are expressed during the vegetative stage of development in either the shoot apical meristem or in leaves. We found that hundreds of lncRNAs are expressed in these tissues, of which 50 show differential expression upon an increase in ambient temperature. One of these lncRNAs, FLINC, is down-regulated at higher ambient temperature and affects ambient temperature-mediated flowering in Arabidopsis.ConclusionA number of ambient temperature responsive lncRNAs were identified with potential roles in the regulation of temperature-dependent developmental changes, such as the transition from the vegetative to the reproductive (flowering) phase. The challenge for the future is to characterize the biological function and molecular mode of action of the large number of ambient temperature-regulated lncRNAs that have been identified in this study.

Effects of substrate hydroponic systems and different N and K ratios on yield and quality of tomato fruit

ABSTRACTThe present study was carried out to determine the influence of wick and drip substrate hydroponic systems and different ratios of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) in the nutrient solution on fruit yield and quality (titratable acidity, total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, total soluble sugars, firmness, lycopene, carotenoids) in tomato. Summer and winter tomato crop was raised under two substrate hydroponic systems. Four nutrient solutions (N:K ratios in four combinations) were tested in both the growing seasons at vegetative and reproductive stages of plant development. Among the different nutrient solutions, the solution containing N and K in the ratio of 1.4:3 at vegetative and 1.7:3.5 at reproductive stage increased the total fruit yield and quality of tomato irrespective of hydroponic system or season. Among the hydroponic systems, wick system produced higher fruit yield and better quality in terms of firmness, ascorbic acid, and total soluble sugars in winter crop.

English

One of the main factors affecting soybean development is water deficiency, especially when it occurs during the flowering and pods filling stages. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the soybean development under soil water deficit in different phenological phases, under soil and climatic conditions of Bom Jesus, Piaui State, Brazil. The test was conducted at São Luiz Farm, located 3 km from Bom Jesus  to  PI, during the period from August to December, 2014. The test was conducted with a drip irrigation system using drip tape with 0.3 m between emitters and nominal flow of 1.6 L h to 1. The water deficit was applied in the vegetative development stages (treatment I), flowering and grains filling (treatment II) and grain maturation (treatment III), compared to the control treatment (full irrigation throughout the cycle). Plant height, number of green leaves, leaf area index and plant dry matter were evaluated. The water deficit in the flowering and pod filling stages inhibited the BRS Sambaíba RR cultivar growth, contributing to a reduction of up to 33.2, 34.7, 41.3 and 13.7% of plant height, number of leaves, leaf area index and total dry mass, respectively compared to the control. Key words: Glycine max, water balance, water availability.

Метод вирощування апоміктичного насіння селекційно-цінних генотипів огірка посівного (Cucumis Sativus L.)

Метод вирощування апоміктичного насіння селекційно-цінних генотипів огірка посівного (Cucumis Sativus L.)

Bacterial Community of the Rice Floodwater Using Cultivation-Independent Approaches.

In agricultural systems, interactions between plants and microorganisms are important to maintaining production and profitability. In this study, bacterial communities in floodwaters of rice fields were monitored during the vegetative and reproductive stages of rice plant development using 16S amplicon sequencing. The study was conducted in the south of Brazil, during the crop years 2011/12 and 2012/13. Comparative analyses showed strong differences between the communities of floodwaters associated with the two developmental stages. During the vegetative stage, 1551 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were detected, while less than half that number (603) were identified in the reproductive stage. The higher bacterial richness observed in floodwater collected during the vegetative stage may have been favored by the higher concentration of nutrients, such as potassium, due to rhizodeposition and fertilizer application. Eighteen bacterial phyla were identified in both samples. Both communities were dominated by Gammaproteobacteria. In the vegetative stage, Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria were more abundant and, in contrast, Bacilli and Clostridia were the more dominant classes in the reproductive stage. The major bacterial taxa identified have been previously identified as important colonizers of rice fields. The richness and composition of bacterial communities over cultivation time may contribute to the sustainability of the crop.

Calibration and Validation of CSM‐CROPGRO‐Cotton Model Using Lysimeter Data in the Texas High Plains

AbstractTexas High Plains (THP), one of the most important food and fiber producing regions in the Ogallala Aquifer Region, currently faces rapid decline of groundwater levels. Predicted climate extremes and high temporal variability in growing season precipitation may require growers to pump more groundwater from the Ogallala Aquifer to meet higher crop water demand. The Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) Cropping System Model (CSM) is a widely used crop simulation tool for evaluating impacts of different water and crop management practices, including irrigation on crop yield and water use efficiency. In this study, CROPGRO‐Cotton module of the DSSAT was calibrated and validated using 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2010 irrigated lysimeter field data managed by the USDA‐ARS (United States Department of Agriculture ‐ Agricultural Research Service) Conservation and Production Research Laboratory at Bushland, TX. The lysimeter field consisted of four equal plots designated as NE, SE, NW, and SW. Crop growth characteristics including leaf area index (LAI), above ground biomass (AGB), evapotranspiration (ET), soil moisture, and lint yield of 2000‐NE, 2000‐SE, and 2001‐NE, were used for calibration and 2002‐NE, 2010‐NE, and 2010‐SE were used for validation. The calibrated and validated model was used to simulate the long term (1924–2012) crop yield and seasonal crop ET. During the calibration process, some of the cultivar and ecotype parameters that influence LAI, AGB, and lint yield were adjusted for better statistical results. Measured and simulated LAI, AGB, ET, soil moisture, and lint yield showed good agreement during calibration and validation as indicated by performance statistics such as r2 from 0.70 to 0.82, and percent error (PE) = −0.85 to 17.3% for LAI; r2 = 0.89 to 0.95, and PE = −7.36 to −13.66% for AGB; and r2= 0.90 to 0.94, and PE = 3.20 to 3.44% for ET during calibration and validation, respectively. The model underestimated ET during peak vegetative growth and development stage except in some circumstances. The calibrated and validated model was able to simulate lint yield and seasonal ET during a long term (1924–2012) historic period for Bushland, TX, under irrigated conditions. The calibrated model could be used to schedule ET based irrigation management practices in the THP and to estimate future ET for other modeling experiments.

The ‘terril’ effect: Coal mine spoil tips select for collembolan functional traits in post-mining landscapes of northern France

We sampled collembolan communities in 11 coal mine spoil tips (locally called ‘terrils’) from the North of France, and their surroundings, in various stages of vegetation development (bare soil, herb, shrub and tree vegetation). We wondered whether species, functional trait (Community Weighted Mean trait or CWM) composition and trait diversity (Rao’s quadratic entropy) responded to the particular environment of coal mine spoil tips (here called ‘terril’ effect) and to successional effects and which of these three sets was the best indicator of soil and vegetation effects, taking into account that spoil tips were spatially distant and idiosyncratic (e.g. varying in height, area, past history and surrounding environment). We showed that species, but not traits, were strongly influenced by site effects, while traits were influenced by both ‘terril’ and successional effects to a significant extent, making traits more robust than species when trying to discern patterns of community response to soil and vegetation changes. Functional diversity did not show any significant multi-trait response to either ‘terril’ or successional effects, but several functional traits showed an increase in diversity with succession. The overall response of trait diversity was intermediate between species and trait responses. The ‘terril’ effect was mainly mediated by a coarser soil texture (51% coarse sand compared to 14% in the surrounding environment) which, combined with harsher microclimate conditions, stems in a better representation of functional traits linked to subterranean life, such as shorter body length and increased representation of parthenogenesis. Successional effects (in particular the increase in diversity shown by several functional traits varying with vertical distribution) were mediated by the increasing development of organic horizons but other factors like microclimate were seemingly involved, too. More generally this study showed that shift to subterranean life was an adapted response of collembolan communities to harshness of the environment and that vertically stratified ecosystems allow a more complete expression of their functional diversity.

Genome-wide analysis and expression profiles of NTMC2 family genes in Oryza sativa

N-terminal-TM-C2 domain proteins (NTMC2), which share domain architecture and sequence similarity to synaptotagmins (Syts) in mammals and FAM62 (extended Syts) in metazoans, form a small gene family in plants. Previous studies showed that the Arabidopsis thaliana NTMC2 type 1.1 protein (NTMC2T1.1, named AtSyt1) possesses calcium- and membrane-binding activities that allow it to function in a plasma membrane repair pathway induced by stress. However, we lack understanding of the diverse biological roles of plant NTMC2 family genes. In this study, a total of 13 OsNTMC2 genes was identified through a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of the rice (Oryza sativa L.) genome and classified into six OsNTMC2 groups (OsNTMC2T1 to OsNTMC2T6) based on phylogeny and motif constitution. OsNTMC2T1 to OsNTMC2T3 have two calcium-binding domains (C2A and C2B), but OsNTMC2T4 to OsNTMC2T6 have single C2 domain. The expression profiles of OsNTMC2 genes were analysed at different stages of vegetative and reproductive development. This analysis revealed that at least one OsNTMC2 gene was abundantly expressed at each stage of development. These results should facilitate research on this gene family and provide new insights elucidating their functions in higher plants.

Reference transcriptome assembly and annotation for perennial ryegrass.

RNA-Seq methodology has been used to generate a comprehensive transcriptome sequence resource for perennial ryegrass, an important temperate pasture grass species. A total of 931 547 255 reads were obtained from libraries corresponding to 19 distinct tissue samples, including both vegetative and reproductive stages of development. Assembly of data generated a final filtered reference set of 48 713 contigs and scaffolds. The transcriptome resource will support whole genome sequence assembly, comparative genomics, implementation of genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) methods based on transcript sampling, and identification of candidate genes for multiple biological functions.

Propelled abrasive grit applications for weed management in transitional corn grain production

AbstractWeed control is challenging to farmers who are transitioning from production systems that use synthetic herbicides to organic systems. A 2-year field study examined air-propelled corncob grit abrasion for in-row weed control efficacy and effect on corn yield. Grit was applied based on corn vegetative developmental stages with one (V1, V3 or V5), two (V1 + V3, V1 + V5, or V3 + V5), or three (V1 + V3 + V5) applications. Flame-weeding or cultivation was used after the V5 application for between-row weed control. Grit applications decreased in-row weed densities by about 60% (α = 0.05) and biomass up to 95% (α = 0.001). Between-row treatments provided similar control, and reduced weed biomass by 55% in 2013 (α = 0.01) and 86% (α = 0.001) in 2014. In-row grit treatments increased corn yield up to 44%, and yield was more influenced by in-row weeds than between row weeds. These results indicate that abrasive corncob grit for in-row weed control, supplemented with cultivation or flaming, can reduce weed biomass substantially and help maintain corn yield. However, timing and frequency of grit application need further refinement based on weed growth as influenced by climate, as treatments at similar corn growth stages did not consistently provide adequate weed control between years.

Morphological modifications in soybean in response to soil water management

Water shortage is the most limiting abiotic stress for agricultural crops, and the mechanisms through which plants perceive water restriction are highly complex and must be better understood. In order to shed light on the effect of hydric stress over the anatomical characteristics of soybean, this paper aimed to examine the morphological alterations in two soybean cultivars: MG/BR 46 Conquista (non-transgenic) and BRS Valiosa RR (transgenic), via the response to different soil water managements, in two vegetative development stages. The plants were subjected to five soil water hydric management conditions (Ψs): −0.03; −0.05; −0.07; −0.5; −1.5 MPa, in vegetative development stages V2 and V4. Evaluations were carried out involving stomatal conductance, leaf area, leaf anatomy measures (width of palisade and spongy parenchyma, length of central vein, adaxial and abaxial width of central vein, length of vascular bundle, width of vascular bundle), and stem diameter. A higher tolerance was observed in BRS Valiosa RR to moderate hydric deficit conditions when they occurred in soybean stage V2. The BRS Valiosa RR cultivar presents a better morphologically and anatomically adaptive response to moderate hydric restrictions of up to (−0.07 MPa) when they occur in the first weeks of plant development.

Succession of plant communities within Podorozhnenskyi sulfur career

The main stages of primary vegetation development within Podorozhne quarry: syngenesis stage and endoekohenez stage are allocated and their characteristics and predicted possible further development is given. The basic laws of vegetation formation within. The main stages of primary vegetation development within Podorozhne quarry: syngenesis stage and endoekohenez stage are allocated and their characteristics and predicted possible further development is given. The basic laws of vegetation formation within

Characterization of the coherent scattering induced by ridging patterns in agriculture by the use of polarimetric SAR imagery

ABSTRACTThis article investigates the scattering characteristics of ridging patterns in agriculture by the use of C-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) images. The polarimetric signatures of periodic potato fields and row wheat in different directions are highlighted using a set of polarimetric parameters. Enhanced coherent scattering is observed when the alignment direction of the ridging patterns is perpendicular to the radar’s line of sight (LOS). The dominant backscattering mechanism of the ridging patterns is deduced by evaluating different polarimetric parameters. The increased copolarized backscattering coefficients and copolarized correlation coefficient, and the reduced entropy and polarimetric alpha angle, indicate a strong contribution of odd scattering to ridging patterns aligned perpendicular to the LOS. We also compare the dominant contributions to the backscattering of ridging patterns in different phenological stages. Although the canopy changes of potato and wheat with time are significant, the underlying periodic surface changes the dominant scattering mechanism of potato fields over all the phenological stages, and the wheat aligned parallel with the flight direction of radar still has relatively high coherent scattering in the different vegetation development stages. The variability analyses undertake in this study allow a more detailed documentation of the physical scattering process of the ridging patterns in agriculture, and will improve the applicability of synthetic aperture radar images in agriculture.

Alpine wetland ecosystem carbon sink and its controls at the Qinghai Lake

Wetland ecosystems play an important role in regulating the Earth’s climate. This paper presents the results of a study on the alpine wetland ecosystem CO2 fluxes at the Qinghai Lake at different vegetative development stages and CO2 controlling factors measured by eddy covariance system. The results showed that the alpine wetland ecosystem at the Qinghai Lake area was a carbon sink on the whole year basis. The average net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) amount was −904.42 g CO2/m2; the average amount of the ecosystem reparation (Re) was 1450 g CO2/m2; the average gross primary productivity (GPP) was 2354.42 g CO2/m2 from July 2011 to June 2013 year. The NEE, Re and GPP amounts were the maximum during the growing stage of the whole year. There were significant negative linear correlations between monthly NEE amount and monthly average total solar radiation (SR) (R 2 = 0.27, p < 0.05), incident photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) (R 2 = 0.28, p < 0.05), ambient vapor pressure deficit (VPD) (R 2 = 0.38, p < 0.01), monthly total precipitation (P) (R 2 = 0.65, p < 0.0001), monthly mean leaf area index (LAI) (R 2 = 0.85, p < 0.0001) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) (R 2 = 0.84, p < 0.0001). Extreme significant polynomial nonlinear negative correlations were found between NEE amounts and monthly average air temperature (T a ) (R 2 = 0.84, p < 0.0001), soil temperature at 0–5 cm depth (T s ) (R 2 = 0.90, p < 0.0001) and air relative humidity (RH) (R 2 = 0.76, p < 0.0001). The monthly Re amount of alpine wetland ecosystem at the Qinghai Lake at different stages showed significant nonlinear positive correlations with all the identified affecting factors except for monthly mean EVI, which showed a linear relationship (R 2 = 0.72, p < 0.0001). The monthly GPP amount at different vegetative development stages showed a significant exponential correlation with monthly average T a (R 2 = 0.92, p < 0.0001), a power function with VPD (R 2 = 0.24, p < 0.05), quadratic polynomial ones with monthly average T s (R 2 = 0.93, p < 0.0001), RH (R 2 = 0.74, p < 0.0001) and monthly P (R 2 = 0.55, p < 0.05). Extremely significant linear correlations of the monthly GPP amount at different developing stages with monthly average LAI (R 2 = 0.85, p < 0.0001) and EVI (R 2 = 0.92, p < 0.0001) were also found.

Transcript Profiling Reveals the Presence of Abiotic Stress and Developmental Stage Specific Ascorbate Oxidase Genes in Plants.

Abiotic stress and climate change is the major concern for plant growth and crop yield. Abiotic stresses lead to enhanced accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) consequently resulting in cellular damage and major losses in crop yield. One of the major scavengers of ROS is ascorbate (AA) which acts as first line of defense against external oxidants. An enzyme named ascorbate oxidase (AAO) is known to oxidize AA and deleteriously affect the plant system in response to stress. Genome-wide analysis of AAO gene family has led to the identification of five, three, seven, four, and six AAO genes in Oryza sativa, Arabidopsis, Glycine max, Zea mays, and Sorghum bicolor genomes, respectively. Expression profiling of these genes was carried out in response to various abiotic stresses and during various stages of vegetative and reproductive development using publicly available microarray database. Expression analysis in Oryza sativa revealed tissue specific expression of AAO genes wherein few members were exclusively expressed in either root or shoot. These genes were found to be regulated by both developmental cues as well as diverse stress conditions. The qRT-PCR analysis in response to salinity and drought stress in rice shoots revealed OsAAO2 to be the most stress responsive gene. On the other hand, OsAAO3 and OsAAO4 genes showed enhanced expression in roots under salinity/drought stresses. This study provides lead about important stress responsive AAO genes in various crop plants, which could be used to engineer climate resilient crop plants.

Phytochemical profiling of underexploited Fabaceae species: Insights on the ontogenic and phylogenetic effects over isoflavone levels

There is an increasing trend towards finding alternative sources of valued phytochemicals due to their diverse potentialities in food industry and pharmaceutical applications. Phenolic compounds, in particular, have been the focus of several profiling reports, but isoflavones characterization has been studied in fewer cases and in a very limited group of plant species. Despite their acknowledged bioactivity, there's actually a strict number of plants validated for their isoflavones contents. In a previous report, we have identified nine Leguminosae species (from genera Biserrula, Lotus, Ornithopus and Scorpiurus) as potential alternative sources of these phenolic compounds. However, the isoflavone profiles are highly modulated by the ontogenic stage. Therefore, the present study was conducted in the same Leguminosae species, but harvested at three sequential vegetative development stages: vegetative elongation, late bud and late flowering, with the main purpose of assessing the evolution of isoflavones content throughout the plant development. In general, the plant species from Biserrula and Lotus genera showed the highest potential as new natural sources of isoflavones, especially owing their high levels of biochanin A. Independently of the plant species, it was possible to identify the phenologic stages where each of the quantified isoflavones is maximized. These findings are useful to predict isoflavone yields according to harvesting time, validating the potential use of the studied plants in innovative food formulations.

Development of screening method for drought tolerance in cotton genotypes based on ABA, chlorophyll stability index and drought tolerant index

Drought stress adversely affects the growth, development and ultimately yield of cotton. The growth and productivity of cotton plants depend largely on their vulnerability to environmental stress. Water stress is commonly attributed to situations where the water loss exceeds sufficient absorption intensity causing a decrease in plant water content, turgor reduction and, consequenctly, a decrease in cellular expansion and alterations of various essential physiological and biochemical processes that can affect growth or productivity. The experiment was conducted by adopting Factorial Randomized Block Design with three replications. The treatments comprised of water stress imposed at vegetative, squaring and boll development stages of crop growth.Withholding water at any growth stage significantly increased the leaf ABA content. Among the different treatments, stress at squaring had a major impact over the ABA quantity enhancement. Chlorophyll stability index is a measure of integrity of membrane or heat stability of the pigments under stress conditions. The genotype KC 2 X MCU 13 showed tolerance to water stress as it accumulated relatively higher ABA.

Radiocarbon Variation in Charcoal/Wood and Soil Fractions from a Loessic Setting in Central Alaska

AbstractThe Healy’s Lucky Strike site in central Alaska has an exceptional Holocene loess-paleosol sequence that has afforded us the ability to look at variation in14C dating of soil organic matter (SOM) fractions in a high-latitude loess setting. Our work has focused on comparing the radiocarbon ages of charcoal and wood to base-soluble humic acids (HA) and base-insoluble soil residue (SR) fractions from bulk soil samples. Charcoal/wood ages were younger than HA ages reflecting the later stages of vegetation development at the surface of the soils prior to being covered by loess accumulation; the HA ages generally reflect the overall timing of soil formation and mean residence time of SOM. Soil residue ages are older than charcoal/wood and HA ages. SOM ages at this location become increasingly older than charcoal/wood ages with depth, reaching 750 to 8070 yr in difference and associated with weakly developed soils at the lowest depths. We suggest the drastic SOM age differences at this site result from the differential incorporation of small particles of coal throughout the sedimentary matrices introduced older contaminants to SR fractions.

The Metabolic Signature of Biomass Formation in Barley.

The network analysis of genome-wide transcriptome responses, metabolic signatures and enzymes' relationship to biomass formation has been studied in a diverse panel of 12 barley accessions during vegetative and reproductive stages. The primary metabolites and enzymes involved in central metabolism that determine the accumulation of shoot biomass at the vegetative stage of barley development are primarily being linked to sucrose accumulation and sucrose synthase activity. Interestingly, the metabolic and enzyme links which are strongly associated with biomass accumulation during reproductive stages are related to starch accumulation and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates citrate, malate, trans-aconitate and isocitrate. Additional significant associations were also found for UDP glucose, ATP and the amino acids isoleucine, valine, glutamate and histidine during the reproductive stage. A network analysis resulted in a combined identification of metabolite and enzyme signatures indicative for grain weight accumulation that was correlated with the activity of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), a rate-limiting enzyme involved in starch biosynthesis, and with that of alanine amino transferase involved in the synthesis of storage proteins. We propose that the mechanism related to vegetative and reproductive biomass formation vs. seed biomass formation is being linked to distinct fluxes regulating sucrose, starch, sugars and amino acids as central resources. These distinct biomarkers can be used to engineer biomass production and grain weight in barley.