Plant-environment interactions (Hoboken, N.J.)最新文献

Monotropastrum humile (D.Don) H.Hara (Ericaceae), a mycoheterotrophic plant, retains scale leaves of a certain size despite their lack of photosynthetic function. This study aimed to clarify the morphological basis for the persistence of these scale leaves by examining their relationship with floral organs through morphological and anatomical analyses. For the morphometric analysis, measurements were taken at seven locations. For the anatomical analysis, epidermal cells were photographed and analyzed in abaxial and adaxial views. The sizes of scale leaves and floral characters showed allometric growth. M. humile is pollinated by long-tongued bumblebees; it must maintain flower size for effective pollination. Therefore, its scale leaves cannot become allometrically smaller, and it is necessary to invest a large amount of resources into scale leaves. Our studies show that M. humile must constrainedly maintain scale leaves to form flowers, even if leaves lose the function of photosynthesis.

The suppression of isoprene emissions by high CO₂ levels can be mitigated by increasing temperature; however, little is known about why and to what extent species differ in their temperature-dependent release from high CO₂ inhibition. We studied leaf photosynthetic characteristics and isoprene emissions over a 25°C-40°C temperature range at CO₂ concentrations of 150, 400, and 1000 μmol mol^-1 in two species with contrasting heat resistance. In the temperate species Populus tremula, rising temperatures above 30°C shifted electron flow from photosynthesis to isoprene synthesis, reducing CO₂ inhibition due to enhanced isoprene synthase activity and decreased sensitivity of the DMADP pool. Conversely, the tropical species Inga edulis showed greater heat tolerance in its photosynthetic apparatus, maintaining electron flow for CO₂ fixation, and exhibited a consistent CO₂ suppression of isoprene emissions throughout the experiment. These findings indicate that species differences in relative sensitivity of light and dark reactions of photosynthesis play crucial roles in modulating isoprene emissions under combined high CO₂ and temperature conditions.

Understanding the growth, development, and production patterns of perennial crops is crucial for optimizing agricultural practices and enhancing crop productivity. Growth models are valuable tools in this regard, offering insights into how crops respond to different experimental treatments. This study evaluates the suitability of repeated Gompertz growth curves for assessing the impact of compost amendment on the yield of cut roses over an 18-month period. Yield data was collected from an experiment testing the effects of four different compost treatments on cut roses, with daily records of the number of stems harvested per replicate plot. Comparison of Generalized Additive Mixed Models with repeated Gompertz growth curves showed that the Gompertz model effectively captured yield dynamics in individual flushes with minimal compromise in model accuracy. As the crop matured, asymptote parameter estimates increased, while growth rate parameter estimates decreased, reflecting a stabilization of growth patterns. Compost amendment significantly enhanced early-stage yield, with treatments receiving full fertigation consistently outperforming the control during the first year. As the crop matured, differences in yields among treatments diminished, indicating that the benefits of compost amendment are most pronounced during the initial growth phase within the 18-month timeframe. The substantial increase in yield after compost amendment highlights its potential for sustainable management practices, guiding the sector in optimizing compost usage to enhance yield while supporting environmental sustainability. To understand the dynamic effects of different management practices (in this case different compost treatments) on rose yield across flowering flushes, the repeated growth curve provides an adequate framework.

Alpine environments are among the most vulnerable ecosystems to climate change, with glacier retreat rapidly altering plant communities, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions. However, the socio-economic consequences of these biodiversity changes remain largely unexplored. Understanding Nature's Contributions to People (NCP) provides a valuable framework for assessing biodiversity's role in human well-being. While NCP has typically been studied at the landscape level, we focus on species-specific contributions of plants to highlight the importance of glacial biodiversity for people. Our novel concept of Plants' Contributions to People (PCP) provides insights into the ecological, social, and economic significance of plant biodiversity and offers a practical approach for guiding conservation efforts and policy decisions. We surveyed 99 plant species in four glacier environments in the Italian Alps; one glacier (Trobio) underwent a complete extinction in 2023 while another glacier (Amola) has a widespread surface debris cover and is proximate to extinction. We then grouped plant species into early, intermediate, and late depending on their successional stages, and then linked plants to 13 different PCP based on extensive literature research. By comparing present and projected future scenarios, we assessed the absolute and relative changes in PCP under glacier extinction. Our results show that changes in PCP are primarily driven by declining plant species richness. Most affected PCP are associated with air quality, soil health, and nutrient regulation, which decrease by sevenfold on average across plant species. Whereas natural hazards regulation showed no significant variation, association with pest and disease increases especially for late species. While future plant communities may provide PCP that are qualitatively similar to present-day communities, the volume of species-specific contributions would decrease due to biodiversity loss associated with glacier extinction. Our results provide the first evidence of PCP shift toward erosion following a decrease in plant species richness. This case study demonstrates that PCP is a valuable tool for assessing the ecological and socio-economic consequences of biodiversity change, helping raise awareness of the biodiversity crisis and inform conservation actions aimed at sustaining ecosystem functions in a rapidly changing world.

During the course of evolution, higher plants have developed efficient strategies to cope with herbivory from arthropods. Upon perception of herbivore-derived cues, the jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway is activated and triggers the expression of defense genes. The first land plants that arose ca. 500 Mya were bryophytes, including liverworts, and fossil records indicate that they were also exposed to herbivore pressure. Interestingly, recent studies showed that the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha contains a functional JA pathway that protects against insect feeding. However, since the appearance of insects is estimated to have occurred several million years after that of bryophytes, we hypothesized that this pathway could have been used to fend off contemporaneous gastropod feeders. Here, we challenged M. polymorpha with the land snail Helix aspersa and found that neonates grew significantly bigger on Mpcoi1, a mutant in the JA pathway, than on wild-type plants. This finding demonstrates that JA-dependent defenses in a liverwort are effective against gastropod herbivory and suggests that this feeding group constitutes an additional selection pressure that may have arisen early during land plant evolution.

Sesame, a key oilseed crop, thrives in arid environments and offers high-quality oils. Sudan, a major producer and center of sesame genetic diversity, remains underutilized in breeding efforts. This study analyzed 87 Sudanese sesame accessions, revealing significant variations in oil content, fatty acid composition, and seed coat color. The findings highlight the potential of Sudanese germplasm for improving oil quality and broadening trait diversity in breeding programs. Oil content ranged from 32.8% to 50.2%, with oleic acid (41.3%-47.6%) and linoleic acid (35.0%-41.4%) as the predominant fatty acids, consistent with other regions. Some samples showed exceptionally high oleic acid levels. Seed coat color varied significantly, particularly in lightness (L*), but it showed no correlation with oil content or fatty acid composition. Its potential link to bioactive compounds warrants further study. Principal coordinates analysis showed no link between oil levels, fatty acid profiles, and the original collection sites. The findings highlight the breeding potential of Sudanese sesame germplasm, particularly for developing varieties with high unsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic acid, and diverse seed coat colors. Further studies across environments and genetic investigations are needed to ensure trait stability and optimize their use.

Vicia altissima Desf. (Fabaceae) belongs to subgenus Vicilla, section Pedunculatae. It is a perennial herb that grows in wet ravines with dense vegetation in western Mediterranean countries. The only population that exists in Spain is under critical threat of extinction. Although lectins are abundant in the seeds from several Vicias belonging to subgenus Vicilla, the presence of lectins in section Pedunculatae has not been investigated. Purification of lectins from V. altissima seeds was carried out by albumin extraction according to solubility in water and gel filtration chromatography using a Superose 12 column. SDS-PAGE and native PAGE analyses revealed single bands at 38 and 87 kDa, respectively, indicating that this protein is a homodimer. The lectin exhibited a high affinity for mannose and glucose and inhibited the proliferation of THP-1 cells. Seed lectins from Vicia species belonging to sect. Cracca in subg. Vicilla are, in general, more sensitive to inhibition by N-acetylgalactosamine than to inhibition by glucose or mannose. On the contrary, the seed lectin from V. altissima, belonging to sect. Pedunculatae, has a higher affinity for mannose and glucose than for N-acetylgalactosamine. Our results show the presence of a lectin with antiproliferative activity in the seeds from V. altissima, indicating that this lectin has potential health-promoting and diagnostic applications. These potential applications could have a positive effect on the preservation of this wild legume, which is represented in Spain by only one endangered population.

High-altitude wetlands of the Andes (HAWA) are unique ecosystems influenced by substrate conditions and reliant on consistent water supply from precipitation, runoff, groundwater, and glacial melting. Considering the diverse ecosystem services provided by HAWAs and the increasing threat these ecosystems face from natural and anthropogenic factors, such as drought, land-use change, and climate change, it is crucial to conduct a comprehensive assessment of their vulnerability. In this study, we characterized the functional trait spectrum of dominant plant species within the Salar de Pedernales, Quebrada Leoncito (Leoncito) and Río Negro HAWAs and explored the relationships between these traits and key environmental variables. Our results revealed significant variation in plant species based on traits such as leaf dry matter content (LDMC), specific leaf area (SLA), relative water content (%RWC), and leaf thickness. Species were primarily differentiated by LDMC and SLA. Plants from Salar de Pedernales had higher δ13C values, indicating higher water-use efficiency (WUE) compared to those in tributaries like Leoncito and Río Negro. A positive correlation between stomatal conductance and CO₂ assimilation was found, with the Salar de Pedernales plants showing high WUE despite these plants exhibiting similar photosynthetic rates. Foliar nitrogen percentage and δ¹⁵N values indicated nitrogen availability could be influenced by microbial activity and salinity levels. Higher salinity in the Salar de Pedernales may inhibit microbial activity, resulting in higher δ¹⁵N values. At the community level, decreased SLA correlated with higher δ¹³C values, suggesting less carbon discrimination and higher WUE in the Salar de Pedernales plants. While HAWA plant species have adapted to their environment, their limited dehydration tolerance makes them vulnerable to future hydrological changes. Understanding these responses forms a basis to develop effective conservation and management strategies for HAWAs.

This preliminary study aimed to investigate the mitigation effect of silicon (Si) on field dodder-induced stress in sugar beet. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design with three factors, including parasitic infection (non-parasitized and dodder-parasitized sugar beet), Si source (5 mM Si in the form of Na₂SiO₃ or K₂SiO₃), and Si application method (control, seed pretreatment, irrigation, and foliar spraying). Without Si, field dodder caused a 44.9% reduction in shoot biomass and a 57.5% reduction in root biomass. Although pretreating seeds with Si solutions accelerated emergence, it did not significantly influence any other traits measured in the sugar beet. Sugar beets that received Si through irrigation exhibited better protection against field dodder than those that were sprayed; furthermore, K₂SiO₃ proved to be more effective than Na₂SiO₃. Irrigating or spraying sugar beet with K₂SiO₃ reduced field dodder biomass by 60%-65%, while the reduction ranged from 20% to 35% with Na₂SiO₃. The highest lignin content was observed by watering and spraying dodder-parasitized sugar beet with K₂SiO₃, resulting in a 4.2-fold increase through watering and a 3.8-fold increase through spraying. Field dodder infection led to increased activity of enzymes involved in scavenging reactive oxygen species, including catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and lipoxygenase in sugar beet. The application of Si further increased the activities of superoxide dismutase and lipoxygenase. This preliminary study suggests that irrigating with K₂SiO₃ can help reduce damage caused by field dodder in sugar beet. However, additional research is necessary to evaluate the crop's response at the field level.

The use of high plant density tolerant maize hybrids was one of the most successful interventions that boosted maize yield in the developed world. However, very little research has been conducted in the improvement of maize for high plant density tolerance in West and Central Africa (WCA). This study aimed to identify high plant density-tolerant maize hybrids adapted to multiple environments. Forty-eight maize hybrids were evaluated under three plant densities (low = 53,333, medium = 66,666, and high = 88, 888 plants ha^-1). The experiment was conducted in four different environments in Ghana using 8 × 6 alpha lattice design with split plot arrangement. Plant density was the main plot and hybrids arranged in incomplete blocks within each plant density. The results revealed that the relative grain yield performance of the genotypes was dependent on plant density. Optimum plant density for the hybrids varied with growing environments. The highest grain yield of 9.5, 9.2, and 8.6 t ha^-1 were obtained from the high plant density in Legon (minor season), Fumesua, and Legon (off-season), respectively, and it was 26.7%, 22.7%, and 30% increase in comparison to the respective yield under the low density. F₁ hybrids M131 × CML16, CML16 × TZEI1, CML16 × 87,036, TZEI387 × CML16, and ENT11 × 87,036 are good candidates for high-density planting in high-yielding environments. Grain yield performance of the maize hybrids was highest under high plant density for most of the growing environments. Thus, implementing high-density planting for maize hybrids could be one of the options for increasing maize yield in West and Central Africa.