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The accumulation of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC), which is a precursor for ethylene production, in plant roots exposed to salinity stress can be detrimental to plant growth. The objectives of this study were to determine whether inoculating roots with bacteria containing deaminase enzymes that break down ACC (ACC-deaminase) could improve plant tolerance to salinity in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and to examine growth and physiological factors, as well as nutrition status of plants affected by the ACC-deaminase bacteria inoculation under salinity stress. Plants of perennial ryegrass (cv. Pangea) were inoculated with either Burkholderia phytofirmans PsJN or Burkholderia gladioli RU1 and irrigated with either fresh water (control) or a 250 mm NaCl solution to induce salinity stress. The bacterium-inoculated plants had less ACC content in shoots and roots under both nonstressed and salinity conditions. Salinity stress inhibited root and shoot growth, but the bacterium-inoculated plants exhibited higher visual turf quality (TQ), tiller number, root biomass, shoot biomass, leaf water content, and photochemical efficiency, as well as lower cellular electrolyte leakage (EL) under salinity stress. Plants inoculated with bacteria had lower sodium content and higher potassium to sodium ratios in shoots under salinity stress. Shoot and root nitrogen content and shoot potassium content increased, whereas shoot and root calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminum content all decreased due to bacterial inoculation under salinity treatment. ACC-deaminase bacteria inoculation of roots was effective in improving salinity tolerance of perennial ryegrass and could be incorporated into turfgrass maintenance programs in salt-affected soils.
Tall fescue is an important cool-season grass widely used for forage and turf, and its genotypic variation for morphological traits has not been well documented. One hundred and fifteen tall fescue accessions, including 25 commercial cultivars, were divided into five groups based on their origination. The morphological traits, including plant height, spike length, pulvinus distance, spikelet count, branch count per spike, spike count per plant, and spike weight in different accessions were determined under field conditions in 2013 and 2014. There was significant genotypic variation in morphological traits among the 115 tall fescue accessions. Wild accessions exhibited a greater variation in the morphological traits than commercial cultivars. Close correlations were found among plant height, spike length, pulvinus distance, and spikelet count. The results of this suggest plant height, spike length, pulvinus distance, and spikelet count could be used as key morphological traits for evaluating all fescue germplasm effectively.
Drought has become an important factor limiting crop yields in China. As an important greenhouse horticultural crop in China, the research of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Jinpeng No.10) is of great theoretical and practical significance. In the study, four different relative soil moisture contents (74% to 80%, 55% to 61%, 47% to 52%, and 25% to 30%) were used to induce drought stress. We investigated changes in photosynthetic gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, and other related physiological parameters in response to different relative soil moisture contents. Drought inhibited the photosynthesis of tomato significantly, as shown by a clear decline in the net photosynthetic rate. Our results indicated stomatal limitation and nonstomatal limitation were responsible for the photosynthesis reduction.
Bletilla is an Orchidaceae genus with high medical value, including detumescence, antibacterial, and hemostasis. In this study, detailed estimates of ploidy level, karyotype, and genome size were first obtained, and a comprehensive cytological analysis was carried out to better understand the evolution of the genus. The karyotypes of Bletilla were mainly composed of metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes with lengths ranging from 1.25 to 4.93 μm. There was moderate cytological variation in Bletilla (chromosome number 2n = 32 to 76). Diploid with 2n = 34 and 2n = 36 was detected in Bletilla ochracea and Bletilla formosana, respectively, whereas diploid (2n = 32) was dominant in Bletilla striata, dysploidy (2n = 34, 2n = 36) and polyploid (2n = 48, 51, 64, 76) variations were also observed. Three species had a relatively symmetric karyotype, and which of B. ochracea was more asymmetry. The genome size (1C-values) varied from 2.94 pg (B. striata) to 3.33 pg (B. ochracea), of which B. ochracea was significantly larger than the others (P < 0.05). A positive correlation (P < 0.01) between 1Cx vs. haploid chromosome length (HCL) and asymmetry coefficient of karyotypes (AsK%) was observed.
The application of diffuse light can potentially improve the homogeneity of light distribution and other microclimatic factors such as temperature inside greenhouses. In this study, diffuse light plastic films with different degrees of light diffuseness (20% and 29%) were used as the south roof cover of Chinese solar greenhouses to investigate the spatial distribution of microclimatic factors and their impacts on the growth and yield of tomato. The horizontal and vertical photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) distributions, air temperature distribution, and leaf temperature distribution inside the canopy, tomato leaf net photosynthesis (Pn), and fruit production during the growth period were determined. The results showed that diffuse light plastic film continuously improved the light distribution in the vertical and horizontal spaces of the crop canopy in terms of light interception and uniformity. A more diffuse light fraction also decreased the air and leaf temperatures of the middle canopy and upper canopy during the summer, thereby promoting the photosynthesis of the tomato plants. Pn of the middle and lower canopies with higher haze film were significantly greater than those with lower haze film (19.0% and 27.2%, respectively). The yields of higher stem density and lower stem density planted tomatoes in the 29% haze compartment were increased by 5.5% and 12.9% compared with 20% in the haze group, respectively. Diffuse light plastic films can improve the homogeneity of the canopy light distribution and increase crop production in Chinese solar greenhouses.
The objective of the study was to determine whether the expression of a cytokinin (CK) biosynthesis gene encoding adenine isopentenyl transferase (ipt) would delay or suppress leaf senescence induced by nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) deficiency in a C3 grass species, creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera). The ipt gene was ligated to a senescence-associated promoter, SAG12, and was transferred into creeping bentgrass using an agrobacterium (Agrobacterium tumefaciens)-mediated transformation technique. Plants from an SAG12-ipt transgenic line (S41) and a null transformant (NT) control line were grown in nutrient solutions with all essential elements or without N (−N) or P (−P) for 21 days. Significant declines in leaf photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) and chlorophyll content of mature leaves were detected in NT and SAG12-ipt plants exposed to N or P deficiency. Compared to the NT control line, SAG12-ipt plants had higher levels of Fv/Fm, chlorophyll, and CK contents in leaves, and these differences between the NT control and SAG12-ipt line became more pronounced with treatment duration. The ipt expression was detected in the −P-treated and the −N-treated plants after 21 days, although the level of expression decreased under N or P deficiency. Under −P treatment, root acid phosphatase activity was greater in SAG12-ipt line than in the NT control line. No significant differences in nitrate reductase activity were detected in leaves or roots between the SAG12-ipt and the NT control lines. Our results demonstrated that SAG12-ipt expression suppressed leaf senescence induced by N or P deficiency in a perennial grass species. The suppressing effects on leaf senescence under P deficiency may be related to CK regulation of more efficient use of P in roots of the SAG12-ipt plants.
Chrysanthemums have beautiful flowers with high ornamental value and rich genetic diversity. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to detect the relationships among 12 wild accessions and 62 groundcover chrysanthemum cultivars. Nineteen EcoRI/MseI primer combinations revealed 452 informative polymorphic bands with a mean of 23.8 bands and 71.5% polymorphic rate per primer pair. Jaccard’s coefficient of similarity varied from 0.64 to 0.89, indicating much genetic variation in chrysanthemums. The 74 accessions were classified into two major groups by unweighted pair group method with the arithmetic averages (UPGMA). The dendrogram showed that AFLP variability was closely correlated with both geographic distribution and traditional classification of the wild accessions. Among all accessions, genetic relationship was the most relevant factor in AFLP-marker clustering, whereas petal type was also informative. AFLP technology could be very efficient for discriminating species of chrysanthemum and its related genera and reconstruct their genetic relatedness.
Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) is a typical and widely used warm-season turfgrass. Low temperature is one of the key environmental stress limiting its utility. However, little information is available about the differences of cold response between bermudagrass genotypes. Here, we analyzed antioxidant defense system and fatty acid composition in cold-resistant genotype WBD128 and cold-sensitive genotype WBDg17 exposed to chilling stress. Low temperature (4 °C) significantly decreased the relative water content, whereas increased the H2O2 and O2 − contents, more profoundly for WBDg17. Under chilling condition, WBD128 had higher anti O2 − activity than WBDg17. Besides, the contents of total glutathione, reduced glutathione (GSH) and its oxidized form (GSSG) were markedly increased by low temperature in both genotypes, whereas WBD128 had significantly higher values of GSH, total glutathione, and GSH/GSSG ratio than WBDg17. Moreover, chilling stress increased saturated fatty acids (SFAs) percentage (palmitic acid and stearic acid) in WBDg17. After chilling treatment, the proportion of linoleic acid decreased in both genotypes, particularly in WBDg17. As for unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), the percentage of linolenic acid was increased in WBD128. In addition, chilling treatment decreased the values of double bond index (DBI), UFA/SFA ratio as well as degree of unsaturation in WBDg17. Finally, chilling stress altered the expression patterns of the genes, which encode one kind of late embryogenesis abundant proteins (LEA), superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD) C-repeat-binding factor/DRE-binding factor (CBF1), and peroxidase (POD-2). Collectively, our results revealed that natural variation of chilling tolerance in bermudagrass genotypes may be largely associated with the alterations of antioxidant defense system and fatty acid composition.
Kaolin particle film (KPF) is an aqueous formulation of chemically inert mineral particles that can be sprayed on the surface of crops to form a protective film, resulting in increased fruit yield and quality. In this work, the effects of kaolin-based, foliar reflectant particle film on grape composition and volatile compounds in ‘Meili’ (Vitis vinifera L.) grapes were investigated under different growth stages over two growing seasons. The 100-berry weight and titratable acid content were decreased, and the sugar and soluble solid contents were increased in grapes of plants treated with kaolin over 2 years. Compared with grapes from plants not sprayed with kaolin, the levels of total phenol, flavonoid, flavanol, tannin, and anthocyanins of grapes from plants treated with kaolin for 2 years were mostly increased. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis also revealed an increased content of monomeric anthocyanin and changed anthocyanin composition. However, there was little effect on the volatile compounds in the grapes. These results demonstrate that KPF can facilitate the accumulation of sugar and phenolics, thereby improving grape quality even in a humid climate.
Starch accumulation is important during com development. ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) is the rate-limiting enzyme in starch synthesis. AGPL is the large subunit of AGPase. Here, we isolated and characterized the large subunit of AGPase gene GhAGPL1 in gladiolus (Gladiolus hybridus). GhAGPL1 was highly expressed in sink organs (cormels and corms). The expression of GhAGPL1 was induced by glucose, sucrose, and mannitol, and it was repressed by abscisic acid (ABA). Overexpression of GhAGPL1 in the arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) apl1 mutant resulted in complementation of AGPase activity and thus starch synthesis. Silencing GhAGPL1 in gladiolus decreased the transcript level of GhAGPL1 and GhSus, and resulted in the reduction of AGPase activity and starch content in gladiolus corm and cormel. Meanwhile, sucrose content was higher in GhAGPL1-silenced corm. Surprisingly, silencing GhAGPL1 in gladiolus produced smaller corms and fewer number of cormels. Overall, GhAGPL1 contributed to the quality and quantity of gladiolus corms and cormels.