Characterization of Dickeya and Pectobacterium strains obtained from diseased potato plants in different climatic conditions of Norway and Poland

Abstract Background Drought is a major consequence of global heating that has negative impacts on agriculture. Potato is a drought-sensitive crop; tuber growth and dry matter content may both be impacted. Moreover, water deficit can induce physiological disorders such as glassy tubers and internal rust spots. The response of potato plants to drought is complex and can be affected by cultivar type, climatic and soil conditions, and the point at which water stress occurs during growth. The characterization of adaptive responses in plants presents a major phenotyping challenge. There is therefore a demand for the development of non-invasive analytical techniques to improve phenotyping. Results This project aimed to take advantage of innovative approaches in MRI, phenotyping and molecular biology to evaluate the effects of water stress on potato plants during growth. Plants were cultivated in pots under different water conditions. A control group of plants were cultivated under optimal water uptake conditions. Other groups were cultivated under mild and severe water deficiency conditions (40 and 20% of field capacity, respectively) applied at different tuber growth phases (initiation, filling). Water stress was evaluated by monitoring soil water potential. Two fully-equipped imaging cabinets were set up to characterize plant morphology using high definition color cameras (top and side views) and to measure plant stress using RGB cameras. The response of potato plants to water stress depended on the intensity and duration of the stress. Three-dimensional morphological images of the underground organs of potato plants in pots were recorded using a 1.5 T MRI scanner. A significant difference in growth kinetics was observed at the early growth stages between the control and stressed plants. Quantitative PCR analysis was carried out at molecular level on the expression patterns of selected drought-responsive genes. Variations in stress levels were seen to modulate ABA and drought-responsive ABA-dependent and ABA-independent genes. Conclusions This methodology, when applied to the phenotyping of potato under water deficit conditions, provides a quantitative analysis of leaves and tubers properties at microstructural and molecular levels. The approaches thus developed could therefore be effective in the multi-scale characterization of plant response to water stress, from organ development to gene expression.

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PREPARATION, CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOCHAR FOR A SUSTAINABLE SOIL HEALTH

International Journal on Environmental Sciences ◽

10.53390/ijes.v12i1.6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Rekha A. ◽

Vidhya A.

Keyword(s):

Soil Health ◽

Physicochemical Characteristic ◽

High Water ◽

Exchange Capacity ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Water Retention Capacity ◽

Retention Capacity ◽

Bet Analysis ◽

Thermochemical Processes

Recent research suggests that biochar is a promising approach to minimize soil contamination caused by heavy metals and organic pollutants. It is also involved in the amendment of soil by altering the nutrients, pH and other factors. Through intensive literature review, this paper was aimed to better understand the selection of feedstock processes, preparation, and characterization of biochar. Wide variety of feedstock used for the biochar production based on the cost effectiveness, ease availability and they are ecofriendly to the environment. Among the thermochemical processes, pyrolysis is the promising techniques followed for the production of BC. The stabilization efficacy was mainly determined by cation exchange capacity, pH, and ash content of the biochar. The physicochemical characteristic of the biochar is analyzed using various methods such as SEM, FTIR, TGA and BET analysis. The surface area plays a major role in the metal sorption. The quality characteristics of biochar as a soil amendment varied greatly with the feedstock materials and the pyrolysis conditions. Biochar plays a great role in increasing the pH which helps the acidic soil region and its high-water retention capacity enhance the moisture level in the soil which enhances the microbial communities and its activity. Biochar becomes stabilized in the soil by interacting with soil particles. The inherent characteristics of the biochar as dictated by feedstock and pyrolysis conditions, interact with climatic conditions such as precipitation and temperature to influence how long biochar carbon remains stored in the soil. Due to its carbon sequestration in the soil, it helps in increasing the fertility of the soil and also enhances the crop yield.

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Tree Change in Nemoral Spruce Forests of the Central Forest Reserve

Povolzhskiy Journal of Ecology ◽

10.35885/1684-7318-2020-4-459-476 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 459-476

Author(s):

M. Yu. Pukinskaya

Keyword(s):

Deciduous Forest ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Spruce Forest ◽

Forest Reserve ◽

Spruce Forests ◽

The Past ◽

Broad Leaved Forest ◽

The Russian Federation ◽

Leaved Forest

The paper discusses changes in forest-forming species in the nemoral spruce forests of the Central Forest Reserve (Tver Region, the Russian Federation). A comparison is made of the characterization of vegetation in the reserve spruce forests, carried out during the first survey of the reserve by Ya. Ya. Alekseev in 1931 (Alekseev, 1935) with the descriptions of vegetation made by the author from 2011 to 2019. It is shown that the coverage of nemoral herbs in the spruce forests of the reserve has increased over the past 90 years. In addition, three types of broadleaf trees (Tilia cordata Mill., Acer platanoides L. and Ulmus scabra Mill.) have greatly increased their abundance in the stand, most notably the linden. In recent decades, the decay of nemoral spruce forests has been taking place in the Central Forest Reserve. The birch-aspenspruce stand is not replenished with spruce renewal but is replaced by linden-maple forests. The vitality of spruce undergrowth is deteriorating. After the decay of a spruce forest, a change of the tree dominants occurs on 74% of the trial plots and the stand continues with a spruce forest on 26%. The largest part of the reserve's nemoral spruce forests arose after major disturbances 100–150 years ago (on the site of burned-out areas, hurricane windblows and cuttings). Old nemoral spruce forests were formed during the period when severe frosts prevented linden and maple from entering the stand. Currently, the coincidence of climate warming with the aging of the spruce stand and the removal of anthropogenic influence contributed to the release of maple and linden from the undergrowth into the stand and change to a spruce-deciduous forest. Under the prevailing climatic conditions, a return to the spruce forest is possible in the event of a burning out or when the climate becomes cold. The nemoral spruce forest is an ecotone type and, depending on conditions, becomes a spruce or broad-leaved forest.

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Detection and genome characterization of Potato virus Y isolates infecting potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in La Union (Antioquia, Colombia)

Agronomía Colombiana ◽

10.15446/agron.colomb.v34n3.59014 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 317-328 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Pablo Gutiérrez S. ◽

Mauricio Marín M. ◽

Daniel Muñoz E.

Keyword(s):

Solanum Tuberosum ◽

Potato Virus ◽

Potato Virus Y ◽

Seed Tuber ◽

Rt Pcr ◽

Potato Plants ◽

Nextgeneration Sequencing ◽

Prevalent Strain ◽

Detailed Molecular Analysis

Potato virus Y (PVY) is one of the most severe viruses affecting the production of potato (Solanum tuberosum) in the world. This study presents a detailed molecular analysis using nextgeneration sequencing (NGS), IC-RT-qPCR and RT-PCR on the PVY isolates infecting seed-tubers and foliage of potato plants cv. Diacol-Capiro in La Union (Antioquia, Colombia). Analysis of incidence by IC-RT-qPCR in 15 random leaf samples of three cultivation plots and fifteen sprouting tuber eye-buds reveal infection levels between 13.4 and 80%; a higher incidence of 86.7% was observed in seed-tuber samples with threshold cycle (Ct) values as low as 24.3. Genome assembly from a bulk of foliage samples resulted in a consensus PVY genome (PVY_LaUnionF) of 9,702 nt and 399 polymorphic sites within the polyprotein ORF; while the assembled genome from sprouts of tubers has 9,704 nt (PVY_LaUnionT) and contained only six polymorphic nucleotide sites. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that the PVY isolates from leaf samples are in the recombinant PVYNTN group (sequence identity >99%); while those from tuber sprouts are in the PVYN/NTN group with identities above 95%. Sanger sequencing of viral capsid suggests the presence of a third variant related to PVYO, a prevalent strain reported in potato fields worldwide.

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Biocontrol of the Potato Blackleg and Soft Rot Diseases Caused by Dickeya dianthicola

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.02525-15 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 82 (1) ◽

pp. 268-278 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Yannick Raoul des Essarts ◽

Jérémy Cigna ◽

Angélique Quêtu-Laurent ◽

Aline Caron ◽

Euphrasie Munier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soft Rot ◽

Potato Production ◽

Biocontrol Agents ◽

Bacterial Isolates ◽

Potato Blackleg ◽

Content Type ◽

Potato Plants ◽

Potential Strategy

ABSTRACTDevelopment of protection tools targetingDickeyaspecies is an important issue in the potato production. Here, we present the identification and the characterization of novel biocontrol agents. Successive screenings of 10,000 bacterial isolates led us to retain 58 strains that exhibited growth inhibition properties against severalDickeyasp. and/orPectobacteriumsp. pathogens. Most of them belonged to thePseudomonasandBacillusgenera.In vitroassays revealed a fitness decrease of the testedDickeyasp. andPectobacteriumsp. pathogens in the presence of the biocontrol agents. In addition, four independent greenhouse assays performed to evaluate the biocontrol bacteria effect on potato plants artificially contaminated withDickeya dianthicolarevealed that a mix of three biocontrol agents, namely,Pseudomonas putidaPA14H7 andPseudomonas fluorescensPA3G8 and PA4C2, repeatedly decreased the severity of blackleg symptoms as well as the transmission ofD. dianthicolato the tuber progeny. This work highlights the use of a combination of biocontrol strains as a potential strategy to limit the soft rot and blackleg diseases caused byD. dianthicolaon potato plants and tubers.

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Uncovering Olive Biodiversity through Analysis of Floral and Fruiting Biology and Assessment of Genetic Diversity of 120 Italian Cultivars with Minor or Marginal Diffusion

Biology ◽

10.3390/biology8030062 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 62 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lombardo ◽

Fila ◽

Lombardo ◽

Epifani ◽

III ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Genetic Variability ◽

Fruit Set ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Considerable Variability ◽

Almost All ◽

First Time ◽

Homogeneous Data ◽

Modest Effect

The primary impetus behind this research was to provide a boost to the characterization of the Italian olive biodiversity by acquiring reliable and homogeneous data over the course of an eight-year trial on the floral and fruiting biology of 120 molecularly analyzed cultivars, most of which have either low or very low diffusion. The obtained data highlighted a considerable variability to almost all of the analyzed parameters, which given the uniformity of environment and crop management was indicative of a large genetic variability in the accessions under observation, as confirmed through the molecular analysis. Several cases of synonymy were reported for the first time, even among plants cultivated in different regions, whilst all of the varieties examined, with only one exception, showed very low percentages of self-fruit-set, indicating a need for the employment of suitable pollinator plants. Eventually, a fitted model allowed us to evaluate the clear effects of the thermal values on blossoming, particularly in the months of March and April, whereas the climatic conditions during the flowering time had only a modest effect on its duration.

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Genetic Diversity and Aggressiveness of Ralstonia solanacearum Strains Causing Bacterial Wilt of Potato in Uruguay

Plant Disease ◽

10.1094/pdis-09-10-0626 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 95 (10) ◽

pp. 1292-1301 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

M. I. Siri ◽

A. Sanabria ◽

M. J. Pianzzola

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Bacterial Wilt ◽

Ralstonia Solanacearum ◽

Potato Tubers ◽

Bacterial Strains ◽

Potato Plants ◽

Polymerase Chain ◽

First Time ◽

Different Levels

Bacterial wilt, caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, is a major disease affecting potato (Solanum tuberosum) production worldwide. Although local reports suggest that the disease is widespread in Uruguay, characterization of prevalent R. solanacearum strains in that country has not been done. In all, 28 strains of R. solanacearum isolated from major potato-growing areas in Uruguay were evaluated, including 26 strains isolated from potato tubers and 2 from soil samples. All strains belonged to phylotype IIB, sequevar 1 (race 3, biovar 2). Genetic diversity of strains was assessed by repetitive-sequence polymerase chain reaction, which showed that the Uruguayan strains constituted a homogeneous group. In contrast, inoculation of the strains on tomato and potato plants showed, for the first time, different levels of aggressiveness among R. solanacearum strains belonging to phylotype IIB, sequevar 1. Aggressiveness assays were also performed on accessions of S. commersonii, a wild species native to Uruguay that is a source of resistance for potato breeding. No significant interactions were found between bacterial strains and potato and S. commersonii genotypes, and differences in aggressiveness among R. solanacearum strains were consistent with previously identified groups based on tomato and potato inoculations. Moreover, variation in responses to R. solanacearum was observed among the S. commersonii accessions tested.

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