Wild Miscanthus Germplasm in a Drought-Affected Area: Physiology and Agronomy Appraisals

Predictions of future climate scenarios indicate that yields from perennial biomass crops (PBCs) growing in the Mediterranean region are likely to decline due to prolonged drought. Among PBCs, Miscanthus grasses with C4 photosynthesis combine high yield potentials and water use efficiencies. However, the standard commercial clone M. x giganteus (Mxg), with minimal stomatal regulation, is too sensitive to drought for reliable yields in the Mediterranean regions. This paper screened a diverse panel of thirteen Miscanthus genotypes (M. sinensis, M. floridulus, M. sacchariflorus and Mxg) to identify which types could maximize yield under summer drought conditions typical in the South Mediterranean climate. In the second growing season, significant differences were observed for plant height (from 63 to 185 cm), stem number (from 12 to 208 stems plant−1), biomass yield (from 0.17 to 6.4 kg DM plant−1) and whole crop water use efficiency (from 0.11 to 7.0 g L−1). Temporal variation in net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and instantaneous water use efficiency identified different strategies adopted by genotypes, and that genotypes selected from M. floridulus and M. sinensis were better adapted to rainfed conditions and could produce six times more biomass than the Mxg. These accessions are being used as parents in experimental breeding aimed at producing future seed-based drought resilient hybrids.

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Agronomic Biofortification of Cayenne Pepper Cultivars with Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria and Chili Residue in a Chinese Solar Greenhouse

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9112398 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 2398

Author(s):

Ibraheem Olamide Olasupo ◽

Qiuju Liang ◽

Chunyi Zhang ◽

Md Shariful Islam ◽

Yansu Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens ◽

Net Photosynthesis ◽

Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria ◽

Plant Growth Promoting ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Growth Promoting ◽

Agronomic Biofortification

Agronomic biofortification of horticultural crops using plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) under crop residue incorporation systems remains largely underexploited. Bacillus subtilis (B1), Bacillus laterosporus (B2), or Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (B3) was inoculated on soil containing chili residue, while chili residue without PGPR (NP) served as the control. Two hybrid long cayenne peppers, succeeding a leaf mustard crop were used in the intensive cultivation study. Net photosynthesis, leaf stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, photosynthetic water use efficiency, shoot and root biomass, and fruit yield were evaluated. Derivatives of folate, minerals, and nitrate contents in the pepper fruits were also assessed. B1 elicited higher net photosynthesis and photosynthetic water use efficiency, while B2 and B3 had higher transpiration rates than B1 and NP. B1 and B3 resulted in 27–36% increase in pepper fruit yield compared to other treatments, whereas B3 produced 24–27.5% and 21.9–27.2% higher 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and total folate contents, respectively, compared to B1 and NP. However, chili residue without PGPR inoculation improved fruit calcium, magnesium, and potassium contents than the inoculated treatments. ‘Xin Xian La 8 F1’ cultivar had higher yield and plant biomass, fruit potassium, total soluble solids, and total folate contents compared to ‘La Gao F1.’ Agronomic biofortification through the synergy of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and chili residue produced better yield and folate contents with a trade-off in the mineral contents of the greenhouse-grown long cayenne pepper.

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Review: Response of water use efficiency to summer drought in boreal Scots pine forests in Finland

10.5194/bg-2016-198-rc4 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Anonymous

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Scots Pine ◽

Pine Forests ◽

Summer Drought ◽

Scots Pine Forests ◽

Use Efficiency

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Trichoderma Enhances Net Photosynthesis, Water Use Efficiency, and Growth of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under Salt Stress

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms8101565 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (10) ◽

pp. 1565 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Abraham Mulu Oljira ◽

Tabassum Hussain ◽

Tatoba R. Waghmode ◽

Huicheng Zhao ◽

Hongyong Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Salt Stress ◽

Salt Tolerance ◽

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Net Photosynthesis ◽

Photosynthetic Parameters ◽

Wheat Cultivars ◽

Salt Tolerant ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Trichoderma Isolates

Soil salinity is one of the most important abiotic stresses limiting plant growth and productivity. The breeding of salt-tolerant wheat cultivars has substantially relieved the adverse effects of salt stress. Complementing these cultivars with growth-promoting microbes has the potential to stimulate and further enhance their salt tolerance. In this study, two fungal isolates, Th4 and Th6, and one bacterial isolate, C7, were isolated. The phylogenetic analyses suggested that these isolates were closely related to Trichoderma yunnanense, Trichoderma afroharzianum, and Bacillus licheniformis, respectively. These isolates produced indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) under salt stress (200 mM). The abilities of these isolates to enhance salt tolerance were investigated by seed coatings on salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant wheat cultivars. Salt stress (S), cultivar (C), and microbial treatment (M) significantly affected water use efficiency. The interaction effect of M x S significantly correlated with all photosynthetic parameters investigated. Treatments with Trichoderma isolates enhanced net photosynthesis, water use efficiency and biomass production. Principal component analysis revealed that the influences of microbial isolates on the photosynthetic parameters of the different wheat cultivars differed substantially. This study illustrated that Trichoderma isolates enhance the growth of wheat under salt stress and demonstrated the potential of using these isolates as plant biostimulants.

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Overexpression of an aquaporin gene PvPIP2;9 improved biomass yield, protein content, drought tolerance and water use efficiency in switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.)

GCB Bioenergy ◽

10.1111/gcbb.12751 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 979-991

Author(s):

Jing Zhang ◽

Wuwu Wen ◽

Hui Li ◽

Qiyu Lu ◽

Bin Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drought Tolerance ◽

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Protein Content ◽

Water Use ◽

Panicum Virgatum ◽

Biomass Yield ◽

Panicum Virgatum L ◽

Aquaporin Gene ◽

Use Efficiency

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Optimizing water use efficiency and economic return of super high yield spring maize under drip irrigation and plastic mulching in arid areas of China

Field Crops Research ◽

10.1016/j.fcr.2017.05.026 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 211 ◽

pp. 137-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Guoqiang Zhang ◽

Chaowei Liu ◽

Chunhua Xiao ◽

Ruizhi Xie ◽

Bo Ming ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Drip Irrigation ◽

High Yield ◽

Arid Areas ◽

Economic Return ◽

Spring Maize ◽

Plastic Mulching ◽

Use Efficiency

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Generating Plants with Improved Water Use Efficiency

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy8090194 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (9) ◽

pp. 194 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Sonja Blankenagel ◽

Zhenyu Yang ◽

Viktoriya Avramova ◽

Chris-Carolin Schön ◽

Erwin Grill

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Measurement Techniques ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

High Yield ◽

Co2 Uptake ◽

Crop Varieties ◽

Leaf Level ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Plant Level

To improve sustainability of agriculture, high yielding crop varieties with improved water use efficiency (WUE) are needed. Despite the feasibility of assessing WUE using different measurement techniques, breeding for WUE and high yield is a major challenge. Factors influencing the trait under field conditions are complex, including different scenarios of water availability. Plants with C3 photosynthesis are able to moderately increase WUE by restricting transpiration, resulting in higher intrinsic WUE (iWUE) at the leaf level. However, reduced CO2 uptake negatively influences photosynthesis and possibly growth and yield as well. The negative correlation of growth and WUE could be partly disconnected in model plant species with implications for crops. In this paper, we discuss recent insights obtained for Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) and the potential to translate the findings to C3 and C4 crops. Our data on Zea mays (L.) lines subjected to progressive drought show that there is potential for improvements in WUE of the maize line B73 at the whole plant level (WUEplant). However, changes in iWUE of B73 and Arabidopsis reduced the assimilation rate relatively more in maize. The trade-off observed in the C4 crop possibly limits the effectiveness of approaches aimed at improving iWUE but not necessarily efforts to improve WUEplant.

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Management of Plant Physiology with Beneficial Bacteria to Improve Leaf Bioactive Profiles and Plant Adaptation under Saline Stress in Olea europea L.

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods9010057 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 57 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Estrella Galicia-Campos ◽

Beatriz Ramos-Solano ◽

Mª. Belén Montero-Palmero ◽

F. Javier Gutierrez-Mañero ◽

Ana García-Villaraco

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Photosynthetic Pigments ◽

Soluble Sugars ◽

Net Photosynthesis ◽

Saline Stress ◽

Plant Fitness ◽

Ros Scavenging ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Pruning Residues

Global climate change has increased warming with a concomitant decrease in water availability and increased soil salinity, factors that compromise agronomic production. On the other hand, new agronomic developments using irrigation systems demand increasing amounts of water to achieve an increase in yields. Therefore, new challenges appear to improve plant fitness and yield, while limiting water supply for specific crops, particularly, olive trees. Plants have developed several innate mechanisms to overcome water shortage and the use of beneficial microorganisms to ameliorate symptoms appears as a challenging alternative. Our aim is to improve plant fitness with beneficial bacterial strains capable of triggering plant metabolism that targets several mechanisms simultaneously. Our secondary aim is to improve the content of molecules with bioactive effects to valorize pruning residues. To analyze bacterial effects on olive plantlets that are grown in saline soil, photosynthesis, photosynthetic pigments, osmolytes (proline and soluble sugars), and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging enzymes (superoxide dismutase-SOD and ascorbate peroxidase-APX) and molecules (phenols, flavonols, and oleuropein) were determined. We found photosynthetic pigments, antioxidant molecules, net photosynthesis, and water use efficiency to be the most affected parameters. Most strains decreased pigments and increased osmolytes and phenols, and only one strain increased the antihypertensive molecule oleuropein. All strains increased net photosynthesis, but only three increased water use efficiency. In conclusion, among the ten strains, three improved water use efficiency and one increased values of pruning residues.

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