Hasil untuk "Plant ecology"

Yejin Kang, Hyobin Lee, Deog-Kee Park et al.

Abstract Aphids (family Aphididae) are among the most species-rich groups of Sternorrhyncha in the order Hemiptera, and have a complex life cycle that can include several different phenotypes that are perfectly adapted to specific ecological niches. However, because aphids have a small body size, indistinct appearance, and cryptic adult behavior, their species level identification is often difficult and may be time-consuming. To overcome these limitations, DNA barcoding has been employed as an effective tool for species identification. In this study, we conducted a DNA barcoding test based on 566 specimens of Korean Aphididae, representing 125 morphospecies. Based on intraspecific genetic divergence, a threshold of 2% was estimated to efficiently differentiate the morphospecies. Only 87 morphospecies (69.6%) identified across four species delimitation methods (namely, automatic barcode gap discovery, assemble species by automatic partitioning, Poisson-tree-processes or PTP, and Bayesian implementation of the PTP) were consistent with the morphological identifications of the species. This indicates the presence of many cases of cryptic diversity among the other morphospecies, except the abovementioned 87 species. Careful morphological examination of morphospecies exceeding 2.0% intraspecific variability revealed cryptic diversity in three species (Eriosoma yangi, Tuberculatus kuricola, and Greenidea kuwanai). Two morphospecies, Sitobion avenae and Aphis craccivora, also exhibited high intraspecific divergence and comprised a single molecular operational taxonomic unit. Overall, our findings indicate that DNA barcoding can be a powerful tool for identifying species belonging to the family Aphididae, while also revealing cases of cryptic diversity.

Chensi Tan, Xia Qin, Qian Xiao et al.

Polygonatum hunanense H.H. Liu & B.Z. Wang (syn. P. kingianum var. grandifolium), is a perennial Liliaceae species with ethnopharmaceutical and nutraceutical value. It exhibits traditional medicinal properties such as qi-tonifying, yin-nourishing, kidney-benefiting, and antioxidant activities. P. hunanense maintains evergreen foliage year-round and shows significantly higher biomass accumulation than congener taxa. These traits are linked to phytohormone regulation, as indicated by previous studies. The absence of validated reference genes in P. hunanense has hindered molecular-level investigations in this species to date. In this study, 11 candidate reference genes (GAPDH, H2A, EF-1α, ACT, TUA, UBC, RPL, PP2A, 18S, TUB, and UBQ) were identified from the P. hunanense transcriptome dataset. Expression profiles of these genes were analyzed by qRT-PCR across three experimental conditions: different tissues, hormone treatments, and abiotic stresses. Gene expression stability was analyzed using GeNorm, NormFinder, Delta Cᴛ, BestKeeper, and RefFinder software. The stability of candidate reference genes was validated through expression analysis of target genes (KO, KAM, GA13-ox, GA44-dio, ALDH7A1, IPM) involved in phytohormone metabolic pathways. Overall, the stability of the 11 candidate reference genes varied among different P. hunanense samples. EF-1α, 18S and ACT were identified as the most stable in tissue samples. EF-1α, H2A and PP2A showed the highest stability under hormone treatments, and 18S, UBC, and EF-1α exhibited consistent stability in abiotic stresses. This study establishes EF-1α as the optimal pan-experimental reference gene for qRT-PCR normalization in P. hunanense, demonstrating consistent expression stability across diverse tissues, hormone treatments, and abiotic stresses, thereby providing a significant reference for future gene expression studies.

Konstantinos Bertsouklis, Eireni Dima, Konstantina-Stamatina Arfani et al.

Employing rare or threatened species in ornamental horticulture offers a dual benefit by promoting climate adaptation and enhancing species conservation. <i>Kosteletzkya pentacarpos</i>, an endangered halophytic species, holds potential for introduction into the nursery industry, but efficient propagation methods are lacking. The present study investigated the in vitro propagation of the species using nodal explants excised from aseptic seedlings. A two-stage in vitro culture system was tested with thidiazuron (TDZ) promoting shoot initiation at low concentrations, while higher levels induced callus formation. Transferring micro-shoots to hormone free-, Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) promoted the highest shoot multiplication and elongation. The effect of sodium chloride (NaCl) on in vitro culture was also assessed, with MS media containing up to 5.0 g L⁻¹ NaCl supporting successful culture establishment. Spontaneous rooting was observed during various stages of the culture process. Micro-shoots were rooted at 100.0% on half strength MS medium with or without indole-3-butyric acid, and all plantlets were successfully acclimatized in a peat–perlite substrate (1/1, <i>v</i>/<i>v</i>). Thus, the present protocol provides an efficient system for the large-scale propagation of <i>K. pentacarpos</i> serving as a valuable tool for its conservation and the potential use in the nursery industry.

Ameni Abdi, Emna Gatri, Pasquale Filannino et al.

In the original publication [...]

Quan Pan, Marijn Bauters, Marc Peaucelle et al.

Abstract Trait-based analyses have shown great potential to advance our understanding of terrestrial ecosystem processes and functions. However, challenges remain in adequately synthesising a multidimensional and covarying trait space. Reducing the number of studied traits while identifying the most informative ones is increasingly recognized as a priority in functional ecology. Here, we develop a trait reduction procedure based on network analysis of a global dataset comprising 27 traits in three steps. We first construct all possible reduced networks and identify optimal reduced networks that capture the structure of the full 27-trait network. Then we apply the constraints on trait consistency to identified optimal reduced networks and establish consistent network series across ecoregions. We find the best performing networks that capture the three main dimensions of the full network (hydrological safety, leaf economic strategy, and plant reproduction and competition) and the global variance of network metrics. Finally, we find a parsimonious representation of trait covariation strategies is achieved by a 10-trait network which preserves 60% of all the original information while costing only 20.1% of the full suite of traits. Our results show the network reduction approach can improve our understanding on the main plant strategies and facilitate the future trait-based research.

افشین مرادی, بهناز یوسف شاهی, داریوش رمضان et al.

سابقه و هدف: گیاه آویشن باغی (Thymus vulgaris L.) متعلق به تیره‌ی نعناع (Lamiaceae) است. آویشن باغی به‌ دلیل‌ داشتن‌ مقدار زیادی‌ مواد مؤثره، ‌در صنایع آرایشی‌ و بهداشتی، درمانی و‌ پزشکی به‌ عنوان یک‌ گیاه با ارزش، مهم و کاربردی محسوب می‌شود. هدف از انجام این مطالعه بهبود پرآوری شاخه، تولید گیاهچه‌های با کیفیت و کاهش اثرات تنش‌های درون شیشه‌ای مانند رطوبت بالا، افزایش غلظت اتیلن در خرد-اقلیم درون شیشه و آسیب مکانیکی به بافت ریزنمونه بود. همچنین مطالعات محدودی در ارتباط با تکثیر درون شیشه‌ای این گیاه انجام شده است.مواد و روش‌ها: به‌ منظور بررسی اثرات تهویه، سیلیس و غلظت ساکارز بر رشد و نمو درون شیشه‌ای آویشن باغی (T. vulgaris) پژوهشی تحت آزمایش فاکتوریل بر پایه طرح کاملاً تصادفی که فاکتور اول شامل تهویه در دو سطح مختلف (دارای تهویه (برای اجرای تیمار تهویه از فیلترهای سرسرنگی 4/0 میکرون استفاده شد که در درب ظروف کاشت نصب گردید) و عدم تهویه) فاکتور دوم شامل سیلیس با چهار سطح (صفر، 5/1، 3 و 6 میلی‌گرم در لیتر) فاکتور سوم شامل ساکارز با سه سطح (5/7، 15 و 30 گرم در لیتر) و شاهد (عدم تهویه) بود. محیط کشت مورد استفاده محیط کشت موراشیگ و اسکوک بود که با 1 میلی گرم در لیتر کینتین، 3/0 میلی‌گرم در لیتر جیبرلیک اسید و 8 گرم در لیتر آگار تکمیل شده بود. pH محیط کشت قبل از اتوکلاو روی 8/5 تنظیم شد. ریزنمونه‌های مورد استفاده تک گره‌های ساقه بودند که از یک توده پر رشد تهیه شد. صفاتی شامل: تعداد شاخه، طول شاخه، طول میانگره، تعداد برگ، وزن‌تر شاخه، وزن خشک شاخه، درصد باززایی شاخه، درصد آلودگی ریزنمونه، تعداد ریشه، طول ریشه، وزن‌تر ریشه، وزن خشک‌ریشه، درصد باززایی ریشه، پرولین، فعالیت آنتی‌اکسیدانی، رنگیزه‌های گیاهی (کلروفیل، کاروتنوئید، آنتوسیانین، فلاونوئید) و درصد زنده‌مانی گیاهچه‌ها اندازه‌گیری و مورد ارزیابی قرار گرفت. یافته‌ها: نتایج اثرات تهویه، سیلیس و غلظت‌های مختلف ساکارز بر صفات مورد ارزیابی نشان داد که در اثرات ساده صفات وزن تر ریشه، درصد آلودگی ریزنمونه و درصد زنده‌مانی گیاهچه‌ها در تیمار ساکارز و صفت فعالیت آنتی اکسیدانی در تیمار تهویه و در اثرات دوگانه صفات تعداد ریشه، درصد باززایی ریشه، وزن تر ریشه، طول شاخه، تعداد روزنه، فلاونوئید و کلروفیل b و در اثرات سه گانه صفات وزن خشک ریشه، پرولین و کلروفیل a در سطح احتمال 5 درصد معنی دار شد. نتایج‌ تجزیه‌ واریانس‌ داده‌ها نشان داد که‌ تیمار تهویه، سیلیس و غلظت ساکارز در سطح‌ احتمال (٠5/٠(p≤ در اثرات ساده معنی‌داری نداشت، ولی اثرات دوگانه و سه‌گانه این فاکتورها بر نیتروژن اثر معنی‌داری داشت (تیمار 5/7 گرم در لیتر ساکارز و دارای تهویه باعث‌ افزایش درصد نیتروژن به ‌عدد 23/1 شد). نتیجه‌گیری: پژوهش‌ حاضر نشان داد که‌‌ اثرات تهویه، سیلیس و غلظت ساکارز بر ویژگـی‌هـای‌ مورفولـوژیکی‌، فیزیولوژیکی و بیوشیمیایی‌ گیاه آویشن‌ باغی‌ متفاوت است‌. تیمار 15 گرم در لیتر ساکارز و 5/1 میلی‌گرم سیلیس به همراه عدم تهویه باعث افزایش‌ پارامترهای‌ رشدی‌ گیاه آویشن‌ باغی‌ وطول شاخه گردید.‌ با توجه‌ به‌ نتایج‌ به‌دست‌آمده می‌توان کاربرد سیلیس را نسبت‌ به‌ تهویه مقرون به‌صرفه‌ دانست‌ و آن را به‌صورت ترکیبی به محلول کشت‌ جهت‌ افزایش‌ عملکرد و رشد گیاه آویشن‌ پیشنهاد کرد.

Christine Njiru, Wenxin Xue, Sander De Rouck et al.

Abstract Background Generalist herbivores such as the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae thrive on a wide variety of plants and can rapidly adapt to novel hosts. What traits enable polyphagous herbivores to cope with the diversity of secondary metabolites in their variable plant diet is unclear. Genome sequencing of T. urticae revealed the presence of 17 genes that code for secreted proteins with strong homology to “intradiol ring cleavage dioxygenases (DOGs)” from bacteria and fungi, and phylogenetic analyses show that they have been acquired by horizontal gene transfer from fungi. In bacteria and fungi, DOGs have been well characterized and cleave aromatic rings in catecholic compounds between adjacent hydroxyl groups. Such compounds are found in high amounts in solanaceous plants like tomato, where they protect against herbivory. To better understand the role of this gene family in spider mites, we used a multi-disciplinary approach to functionally characterize the various T. urticae DOG genes. Results We confirmed that DOG genes were present in the T. urticae genome and performed a phylogenetic reconstruction using transcriptomic and genomic data to advance our understanding of the evolutionary history of spider mite DOG genes. We found that DOG expression differed between mites from different plant hosts and was induced in response to jasmonic acid defense signaling. In consonance with a presumed role in detoxification, expression was localized in the mite’s gut region. Silencing selected DOGs expression by dsRNA injection reduced the mites’ survival rate on tomato, further supporting a role in mitigating the plant defense response. Recombinant purified DOGs displayed a broad substrate promiscuity, cleaving a surprisingly wide array of aromatic plant metabolites, greatly exceeding the metabolic capacity of previously characterized microbial DOGs. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the laterally acquired spider mite DOGs function as detoxification enzymes in the gut, disarming plant metabolites before they reach toxic levels. We provide experimental evidence to support the hypothesis that this proliferated gene family in T. urticae is causally linked to its ability to feed on an extremely wide range of host plants.

Xiu Jia, Francisco Dini-Andreote, Joana Falcão Salles

Abstract Most ecological communities harbor many rare species (i.e., the rare biosphere), however, relatively little is known about how distinct ecological processes structure their existence. Here, we used spatiotemporal data on soil bacterial communities along a natural ecosystem gradient to model the relative influences of assembly processes structuring the rare and common biospheres. We found a greater influence of homogeneous selection (i.e., imposed by spatiotemporally constant variables) mediating the assembly of the rare biosphere, whereas the common biosphere was mostly governed by variable selection (i.e., imposed by spatial and/or temporal fluctuating variables). By partitioning the different types of rarity, we found homogeneous selection to explain the prevalence of permanently rare taxa, thus suggesting their persistence at low abundances to be restrained by physiological traits. Conversely, the dynamics of conditionally rare taxa were mostly structured by variable selection, which aligns with the ability of these taxa to switch between rarity and commonness as responses to environmental spatiotemporal variations. Taken together, our study contributes to the establishment of a link between conceptual and empirical developments in the ecology of the soil microbial rare biosphere. Besides, this study provides a framework to better understand, model, and predict the existence and dynamics of microbial rare biospheres across divergent systems and scales.

Julia Moll, Björn Hoppe

Archaea have been reported from deadwood of a few different tree species in temperate and boreal forest ecosystems in the past. However, while one of their functions is well linked to methane production any additional contribution to wood decomposition is not understood and underexplored which may be also attributed to lacking investigations on their diversity in this substrate. With this current work, we aim at encouraging further investigations by providing aid in primer choice for DNA metabarcoding using Illumina amplicon sequencing. We tested 16S primer pairs on genomic DNA extracted from woody tissue of four temperate deciduous tree species. Three primer pairs were specific to archaea and one prokaryotic primer pair theoretically amplifies both, bacterial and archaeal DNA. Methanobacteriales and Methanomassiliicoccales have been consistently identified as dominant orders across all datasets but significant variability in ASV richness was observed using different primer combinations. Nitrososphaerales have only been identified when using archaea-specific primer sets. In addition, the most commonly applied primer combination targeting prokaryotes in general yielded the lowest relative proportion of archaeal sequences per sample, which underlines the fact, that using target specific primers unraveled a yet unknown diversity of archaea in deadwood. Hence, archaea seem to be an important group of the deadwood-inhabiting community and further research is needed to explore their role during the decomposition process.

عاطفه رضایی, احسان بیژن زاده, علی بهپوری et al.

چکیدهسابقه و هدف: گندم مهمترین گیاه زراعی روی زمین است که از زمان اهلی شدن تاکنون همواره از اهمیت خاصی برخوردار بوده و بیشترین سطح زیر کشت را در بین محصولات زراعی به خود اختصاص داده است. در میان عوامل کاهش‌ دهنده تولید گندم کشور، علف‌های‌هرز از اهمیت خاصی برخوردار بوده است و بر اساس مطالعات انجام شده میانگین خسارت علف‌های‌هرز مزارع گندم کشور 23درصد‌ می‌باشد. این تحقیق به منظور بررسی اثر مهار علف‌های‌هرز بر انتقال مجدد مواد پرورده، عملکرد و اجزای عملکرد در کشت مخلوط ارقام گندم و مقایسه آن با تک‌کشتی انجام شد.مواد و روش‌ها: به منظور بررسی مهار علف‌های‌هرز بر انتقال مجدد مواد پرورده، عملکرد و اجزای عملکرد در کشت مخلوط ارقام گندم، آزمایشی به صورت بلوک‌های کامل تصادفی با سه تکرار در سال زراعی 98-1397 در مزرعه تحقیقاتی دانشکده کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی داراب، دانشگاه شیراز اجرا شد. تیمارهای آزمایش شامل مهار علف‌های‌هرز در شش سطح در مراحل پنجه‌زنی، ساقه‌رفتن، غلاف‌رفتن، ظهور‌ سنبله، شاهد بدون علف‌هرز و دارای علف‌هرز بود که در تمام مراحل، مهار علف‌های‌هرز به صورت دستی انجام ‌شد و تیمارهای سیستم کشت شامل تک‌کشتی سیروان، تک‌کشتی ستاره و مخلوط سیروان و ستاره به صورت ردیفی به نسبت یک به یک بودند. نتایج و بحث: اثرات اصلی مهار علف‌های‌هرز و سیستم کشت بر انتقال مجدد مواد پرورده، درصد مشارکت مواد پرورده، زیست توده علف-های‌هرز، ارتفاع گیاه، وزن هزاردانه، تعداد سنبله در متر مربع و عملکرد دانه معنی‌دار بود. هم‌چنین مقدار انتقال مجدد مواد پرورده، کارآیی انتقال مجدد مواد پرورده و مشارکت مواد پرورده در اثر ساده مهار علف‌های‌هرز در مرحله پنجه‌زنی به ترتیب، 7/37، 2/57 و 8/5 درصد افزایش نسبت به شاهد بدون علف‌هرز داشت که این صفات در کشت مخلوط به ترتیب 7/29، 6/6 و 2/18 درصد نسبت به تک‌کشتی سیروان افزایش داشته است. زیست توده علف‌های‌هرز در کشت مخلوط نسبت به تک‌کشتی ستاره و سیروان به‌ترتیب 6/29 و 25/21 درصد کاهش داشت. هم‌چنین بیشترین عملکرد دانه در کشت مخلوط حاصل شد که نسبت به تک‌کشتی ستاره و سیراوان به‌ترتیب 8/22 و 2/11درصد افزایش داشت.مهار علف‌های‌هرز در مرحله پنجه‌زنی باعث کاهش 9/11 درصدی عملکرد دانه شد که کمترین کاهش عملکرد گندم مربوط به تیمار مهار علف‌های‌هرز در مرحله پنجه‌زنی نسبت به سایر تیمارهای مهار علف‌هرز بود و به همین دلیل نیز می‌تواند بهترین زمان برای مهار علف-های‌هرز در نظر گرفته شود.نتیجه‌گیری: نتایج نشان داد که کشت مخلوط ارقام گندم می‌تواند در مهار و رقابت با علف‌های‌هرز موفق تراز تک‌کشتی عمل کند به نحوی که زیست‌توده علف‌های‌هرز در کشت مخلوط کاهش بیشتری را نشان داده و این می‌تواند بدلیل سایه‌اندازی بیشتر روی علف‌های‌هرز در کشت مخلوط باشد. نتایج انتقال مجدد مواد پرورده نشان داد که رقم پاکوتاه ستاره از سیستم انتقال مواد پرورده کارآمدتری در مقابله با علف-های‌هرز برخوردار بود و رقم پابلندی مثل سیروان با مهار بهتر علف‌های‌هرز، برای پر نمودن دانه‌های خود کمتر به ذخایر ساقه نیاز داشت. هم‌چنین بیشترین عملکرد دانه در کشت مخلوط نسبت به تک‌کشتی ارقام حاصل شد و کشت مخلوط می‌تواند به عنوان یک راهکار مناسب جهت استفاده بهینه از عوامل محیطی برای ایجاد پایداری در تولید باشد.

Xu Qiao, Xu Qiao, Tao Sun et al.

Intercropping achieved through agroforestry is increasingly being recognized as a sustainable form of land use. In agroforestry, the roots of trees and crops are intermingled, and their interactions and the production of exudates alter the soil environment and soil microbial community. Although tree–crop interactions vary depending on the stand age of the trees, how stand age affects beneficial microorganisms, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and whether changes in soil microorganisms feed back on crop growth in agroforestry systems are unknown. We therefore conducted a long-term field study to compare changes in the soil microbial and AMF communities in a jujube/wheat agroforestry system containing trees of different stand ages: 3-year-old jujube, 8-year-old jujube, and 13-year-old jujube. Our results showed that by changing soil moisture and available phosphorus content, the stand age of the trees had a significant effect on the soil microbial and AMF communities. Soil moisture altered the composition of soil bacteria, in particular the proportions of Gram-positive and Gram-negative species, and available phosphorus had significant effects on the AMF community. A network analysis showed that older stands of trees reduced both AMF diversity and network complexity. An ordinary least squares regression analysis indicated that AMF diversity, network complexity, and stability contributed to wheat yield. Finally, structural equation modeling showed that changes in edaphic factors induced by tree age brought about significant variation in the soil microbial and AMF communities, in turn, affecting crop growth. Our study highlights the crucial roles of soil microorganisms, in particular AMF, in supporting plant growth in agroforestry systems as well as the need to consider stand age in the establishment of these systems.

Ke‐yi Tang, Fei Xie, Hong‐yi Liu et al.

Abstract Diet analysis of potential small mammals pest species is important for understanding feeding ecology and evaluating their impact on crops and stored foods. Chinese mole shrew (Anourosorex squamipes), distributed in Southwest China, has previously been reported as a farmland pest. Effective population management of this species requires a better understanding of its diet, which can be difficult to determine with high taxonomic resolution using conventional microhistological methods. In this study, we used two DNA metabarcoding assays to identify 38 animal species and 65 plant genera from shrew stomach contents, which suggest that A. squamipes is an omnivorous generalist. Earthworms are the most prevalent (>90%) and abundant (>80%) food items in the diverse diet of A. squamipes. Species of the Fabaceae (frequency of occurrence [FO]: 88%; such as peanuts) and Poaceae (FO: 71%; such as rice) families were the most common plant foods identified in the diet of A. squamipes. Additionally, we found a seasonal decrease in the diversity and abundance of invertebrate foods from spring and summer to winter. Chinese mole shrew has a diverse and flexible diet throughout the year to adapt to seasonal variations in food availability, contributing to its survival even when food resources are limited. This study provides a higher resolution identification of the diet of A. squamipes than has been previously described and is valuable for understanding shrew feeding ecology as well as evaluating possible species impacts on crops.

Eman Abou El-Ghait, H.M.M. Abd Al Dayem, Y. Mohamed et al.

This study was carried out at a private farm in AL-Radisiya city, Markaz Edfu, Aswan Governorate, Egypt on the banks of Nile River and Experimental Laboratory of Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, EL-Qaloubia Governorate, Egypt during the two successive seasons of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 on chia (Salvia hispanica L.) plant. A study was initiated through various biostimulant and chemical fertilizer aiming to evaluate effectiveness of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) or seaweed extract and/or humic acid as well as chemical fertilizer (N.P and K) and the combination of them on vegetative growth, seed yield, chemical constituent's, fixed oil productivity and fixed oil composition of chia (Salvia hispanica L.) plant. Plants sprayed by biostimulants gave the significantly highest mean values for all of studied characteristics mentioned above, particularly T6: the combined of mycorrhiza, humic acid, seaweed and recommended dose of NPK followed by T5: recommended dose of NPK (350:200:100 kg/feddan) in the first and second seasons. Meanwhile, T4: seaweed (1 ml/l) ranked the third values in parameters mentioned before in this concern. Whereas, the richest fixed oil percentage was scored by T6, followed descendingly by T5 in the 1st and 2nd seasons. Chromatography analysis of chia fixed oil revealed the identification of four components. i.e. palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid. The main component was α-linolenic acid (43.34 to 53.28%). It can be concluded that T6 was the best for improving growth, seed yield, fixed oil productivity, chemical constituents and fixed oil components of Salvia hispanica L. plant.

William M. Hammond, Marie E. B. Stone, Paul A. Stone

Abstract Anthropogenic climate change is altering every ecosystem on Earth. Understanding these changes requires quality baseline measurements of ecosystem states. While satellite imagery provides a coarse baseline for regional‐scale changes in vegetation, landscape‐scale observations are lacking. Ground‐based repeat photographic points (RPP) can provide this finer baseline. As precise visual records of ecosystems at a particular time, RPP provide rich data for diverse uses. Current methodology for establishing RPP, developed in the era of film cameras, requires placement of permanent markers in a landscape to provide accurate repeats over time. Another form of RPP involves relocating sites of historic photographs, to assess change between historic and present‐day photographs. Through a three‐year field survey, we synthesized these techniques to modernize repeat photography for the 21st century ecologist. We established 100 RPP in the Peloncillo Mountains of New Mexico, recapturing 86 RPP in the three years (2015–2017) of the study. During our study, a large (>16,000 ha) complex of wildfires burned more than half of the RPP sites we established in the prior month, providing a unique opportunity to assess method accuracy after dramatic landscape disturbance by comparing burned, unburned, pre‐, and post‐fire RPP image recapture precision. Our method produced 92% mean similarity for 86 RPP between original and repeated photographs, with no difference between burned and unburned sites. Interval between photographs did not cause a decline in similarity. Our updated methods can be practically applied to nearly all terrestrial study systems. Landscape changes driven by human (e.g., effects of anthropogenic climate change, land use) and natural activities (e.g., wildfires, phenology, and hydrologic events) are especially well suited to our updated methods. Modern smartphones include the technology necessary (e.g., camera, GPS, and compass) to employ our method and provide a means for low‐cost deployment of the technique in diverse landscapes. We encourage broad adoption of this technique to establish baseline RPP of ecosystems across the globe, and the formation of a centralized database for repeat photography.

Wenjin Zhang, Zhicai Xie, Xiaojia Zhang et al.

Drought has is becoming increasingly serious abiotic stress that influences plant growth. Endophytes are non-pathogenic plant-associated bacteria that can play an important role in conferring plant resistance to drought stress. In this study, drought stress resulted in the evident breakdown of the chloroplast membrane system in leaf cells, whereas Bacillus pumilus inoculation improved the integrity of chloroplast and mitochondria cell structure. Thus chlorophyll content, photosynthetic parameters and water use efficiency increased. The inoculation of endophytes alleviated the inhibitory effect of drought stress on Glycyrrhiza uralensis growth. We concluded that B. pumilus inoculation enhanced the growth and drought tolerance of G. uralensis through the protection of chloroplast submicroscopic structure, and thus increased chlorophyll content, efficient photosynthetic rate, and improved water state.

P. Kumar, R. Sharma, V. Jaiswal et al.

Podophyllum hexandrum Royle is an important medicinal herb of North-Western Himalayas, and podophyllotoxin, being its major metabolite, has been used extensively in the preparation of several anticancer drugs. Podophyllotoxin accumulates in rhizomes; however, no information exists on the role of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters vis-à-vis podophyllotoxin content. The present study reports identification, validation, and expression analysis of ABC transporter genes from P. hexandrum. Total 252 ABC transporter genes were identified as unigenes out of which 22 were further validated using real time qPCR in different tissues of varying podophyllotoxin content. Differential expression analysis and Pearson's correlation coefficient revealed two candidate genes PhABC6 and PhABCIII having a positive correlation with the podophyllotoxin content. PhABCIV showed the highest expression in rhizomes (20.53-folds compared to shoots) suggesting its possible role in transport and accumulation of podophyllotoxin.

Kiessoun Konaté, Kassi Yomalan, Oksana Sytar et al.

Objective: To evaluate anti-diarrhoeal and antimicrobial activities of the bioactive fraction of Trichilia emetica in order to provide a scientific basis for the management of gastroenteritis in Burkina Faso. Methods: To do this, polyphenols content of extract and fractions were investigated. Folin-Ciocalteu, AlCl3 methods and tannic acid respectively were used for polyphenols content. The in vivo antidiarrhoeal activity was done using Swiss albino mice of both sexes. In vitro antimicrobial activity (disc-diffusion assay, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum microbicidal concentration or minimal bactericidal concentration) was assessed using seven bacteria strains (Gram-negative and Gram-positive). Results: About our study, it was found that ethyl acetate fraction effective attenuation factior (EAF) elicits the higher total phenolics and total flavonoids contents compared to the extracts of leaves of Trichilia emetica. EAF of Trichilia emetica Vahl., has positive effects in a dose dependent manner against diarrhoea induced by castor oil in experimental mice. The bioactive fraction also showed good antimicrobial activity against all tested Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria strains. It was shown that experimental bacteria strains were more sensitive to the EAF effect compared to the ciprofloxacin. Conclusions: The obtained results allow justifying the traditional uses of Trichilia emetica and possess good antidiarrhoeal and antimicrobial activities of EAF from Trichilia emetica. Results of the present study have clearly supported the utilization of Trichilia emetica in Burkina Faso traditional medicine.

Zs. Békefi

Cherry incompatibility has widely been studied from the beginning of the twentieth century. As a consequence of the valuable results cherry has become a model for incompatibility research of other plant species. This study provides a detailed information about incompatibility of sweet and sour cherry based on several Hungarian and international literature sources from the last 100 years. The study gave details about the traditional and molecular base of incompatibility of sweet and sour cherry.

Gudryan J. Barônio, Artur A. Maciel, Arthur C. Oliveira et al.

Resumo A consolidação em uma área do conhecimento acontece principalmente quando as informações acerca de um determinado fato ou fenômeno são sistematizadas na forma de uma teoria explicativa, capaz de gerar novas hipóteses testáveis. Na biologia da polinização, o teste de diversas hipóteses ecológicas permitiu ampliar o entendimento sobre os processos que originam, mantêm, alteram ou ainda excluem as interações entre plantas e visitantes florais, gerando os padrões observados na natureza. Visando sintetizar esse panorama teórico e oferecer condições para que novas questões relacionadas ao funcionamento de interações de polinização sejam geradas, compilamos aqui um conjunto de 25 hipóteses, ideias e teorias ecológicas que fornecem aporte conceitual para a área. Essas ideias estão relacionadas a aspectos reprodutivos, morfológicos, cognitivos, macroecológicos e de coexistência, de acordo com a especialização das interações entre as plantas e seus polinizadores. Ao apresentarmos essas ideias principais, esperamos promover a utilização de uma abordagem teórico-conceitual explícita no planejamento e desenvolvimento de estudos em biologia da polinização. Concluímos com a expectativa de que essa contribuição direcione os estudos em biologia da polinização no Brasil e contribua para o avanço e internacionalização das pesquisas desenvolvidas no país.