Developing a Method to Simulate and Evaluate Effects of Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change on Wheat Crop Production: A Challenging Multi-Criteria Analysis

Adaptation of cropping management strategies is necessary to ensure the sustainability of our agriculture, which is facing threats arising from climate change. A methodology is proposed to find out and compare the most promising adaptation strategies in this context considering both biotic and abiotic stresses. A set of pre-selected strategies were evaluated based on economic, plant health and environmental criteria. A dedicated workflow combining the STICS crop model, epidemiological models and multi-criteria analysis was designed, implemented and tested for a wheat production situation. Flexible by design, this methodology can consider different criteria weights to be used as an exchange support with stakeholders.

Phytophthora spp.: Economic Plant Threats in Egypt

The potato crop is exposed to infection with many fungal diseases including late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans. The control of late blight disease requires an integrated management approach represented in cultivation control, plant resistance, and fungicide control. The citrus plants are infected by Phytophthora nicotianae that is causing root rot disease in Egypt. Three species of Phytophthora responsible for infection of citrus plants; P. nicotianae, P. citrophthora, and P. palmivora. Other pathogens associate P. nicotianae and form complexes or coinfection that release different diseases for citrus plants such as gummosis, Phytophthora–Diaprepes complex (PDC), and Huanglongbing syndrome (HLBS).

Genome-wide analysis of the lignin toolbox for morus and the roles of lignin related genes in response to zinc stress

Mulberry (Morus, Moraceae) is an important economic plant with nutritional, medicinal, and ecological values. Lignin in mulberry can affect the quality of forage and the saccharification efficiency of mulberry twigs. The availability of the Morus notabilis genome makes it possible to perform a systematic analysis of the genes encoding the 11 protein families specific to the lignin branch of the phenylpropanoid pathway, providing the core genes for the lignin toolbox in mulberry. We performed genome-wide screening, which was combined with de novo transcriptome data for Morus notabilis and Morus alba variety Fengchi, to identify putative members of the lignin gene families followed by phylogenetic and expression profile analyses. We focused on bona fide clade genes and their response to zinc stress were further distinguished based on expression profiles using RNA-seq and RT-qPCR. We finally identified 31 bona fide genes in Morus notabilis and 25 bona fide genes in Fengchi. The putative function of these bona fide genes was proposed, and a lignin toolbox that comprised 19 genes in mulberry was provided, which will be convenient for researchers to explore and modify the monolignol biosynthesis pathway in mulberry. We also observed changes in the expression of some of these lignin biosynthetic genes in response to stress caused by excess zinc in Fengchi and proposed that the enhanced lignin biosynthesis in lignified organs and inhibition of lignin biosynthesis in leaf is an important response to zinc stress in mulberry.

HbLFG1, a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) lifeguard protein, can facilitate powdery mildew infection by regulating plant immunity

Powdery mildew causes substantial losses in crop and economic plant yields worldwide. Although powdery mildew infection of rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis), caused by the biotrophic fungus Erysiphe quercicola, severely threatens natural rubber production, little is known regarding the mechanism by which E. quercicola adapts to H. brasiliensis to invade the host plant. In barley and Arabidopsis thaliana, lifeguard (LFG) proteins, which have topological similarity to BAX INHIBITOR-1, are involved in host plant susceptibility to powdery mildew infection. In this study, we characterized an H. brasiliensis LFG protein, HbLFG1, with a focus on its function in regulating defence against powdery mildew. HbLFG1 gene expression was found to be upregulated during E. quercicola infection. HbLFG1 showed conserved functions in cell death inhibition and membrane localization. Expression of HbLFG1 in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and A. thaliana Col-0 was demonstrated to significantly suppress callose deposition induced by conserved pathogen-associated molecular patterns chitin and flg22. Furthermore, we found that overexpression of HbLFG1 in H. brasiliensis mesophyll protoplasts significantly suppressed the chitin-induced burst of reactive oxygen species. Although A. thaliana Col-0 and E. quercicola displayed an incompatible interaction, Col-0 transformants overexpressing HbLFG1 were shown to be susceptible to E. quercicola. Collectively, the findings of this study provide evidence that HbLFG1 acts as a negative regulator of plant immunity that facilitates E. quercicola infection in H. brasiliensis.

Enzyme activity and phytoremediation using Plantago major to protect tomato plants from the contamination of cypermethrin pesticide

Phytoremediation is an environmentally friendly therapy to minimize soil pollution. Cypermethrin (CYP) is one of the most frequently used pyrethroid insecticides against a variety of pests. We aimed at evaluating the potential of using economic plant like tomato as a control alone and together with Plantago major (PM) for the uptake CYP residue from contaminated soil. Also, investigating the antioxidant enzymes such as (SOD, POD and CAT) in roots of PM and tomato. For the first time, we documented the role of PM as a phytoremediator to protect tomato plants from the contamination of CYP pesticide. In a pot experiment, we have cultivated PM and tomato in a soil polluted with CYP (10 µg g− 1). Data showed that PM and tomato accumulated a significant amounts of CYP in their tissues. However, PM is better than tomato in uptake CYP from soil. The longest half-life value (t1/2) of CYP was in PM + tomato together treatment (12.7 days), and the shortest was in the soil with tomato alone (6.81 days). Moreover, the activity of SOD, POD and CAT in treated tomato and PM roots significantly (p > 0.05) exceeded control plants after 8 days from exposure. In this study, a good strategy was recommended to uptake CYP residue from soil by PM and protect tomato plants from CYP residue and also safe the human and non-target organisms.

High-Quality Genome Resource of the Pathogen of Diaporthe (Phomopsis) phragmitis Causing Kiwifruit Soft Rot

Diaporthe spp. are critical plant pathogens that cause wood cankers, wilt, dieback, and fruit rot in a wide variety of economic plant hosts and are regarded as one of the most acute threats faced by kiwifruit industry worldwide. Diaporthe phragmitis strain NJD1 is a highly pathogenic isolate of soft rot of kiwifruit. Here, we present a high-quality genome-wide sequence of D. phragmitis NJD1 that was assembled into 28 contigs containing a total size of 58.33 Mb and N50 length of 3.55 Mb. These results lay a solid foundation for understanding host–pathogen interaction and improving disease management strategies.

First Report of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Causing Anthracnose on Canna edulis Ker in China

Canna edulis Ker has been an important economic plant in southern China. The tuberous stems are the most valued plant part and in the past were routinely used as animal feeds. In June 2019, leaf spot disease were detected on C. edulis plants in Chengmai, Hainan Province. Symptoms of the disease were characterized by oval-shaped, initially pale to yellow lesions that become necrotic (brown) with yellow borders, As the lesions expanded, the disease could encompass the entire leaves. which were seen as concentric rings typical of anthracnose disease (FigS1-A). A survey of C. edulis plants revealed that the disease caused serious damage during the summer in Hainan Province, with 50 to 60% incidence in plants. To isolate the pathogen, ten pieces of diseased leaf samples were plated and seven pieces yielded fungal colonies after 5 to 6 days of incubation at 25 °C. The Colonies were single-spored to obtain pure cultures. Pure cultures on potato dextrose agar (PDA) appear white to gray, with white margins and aerial hyphae, and the reverse of the colonies was gray to brown (FigS1-B). Conidia were single-celled, hyaline, cylindrical to slightly curved with a rounded apex and truncated base that measured 13.3 to 18.1(length) × 3.7 to 5.5 (width) μm (n=50) (FigS1-C). The morphological characteristics and measurements of this fungal pathogen matched the previous descriptions of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Prihastuti et al. 2012). Isolate JO-3 was identicated by molecular analysis, sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), actin (ACT) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) regions were obtained. These loci were amplified from isolates using the primer pairs ITS1/ITS4 (Mills et al. 1992), ACT-512F/ ACT-783R (Weir et al. 2012) and GDF/GDR (Templeton et al. 1992) respectively. A BLAST search of GenBank showed that the ITS (MN913584), ACT(MN919196) and GAPDH (MN919195) sequences of the isolate were 99% , 100% and 100% homologous with C. gloeosporioides (GenBank accession nos. MH930419, JX009931 and KX885158). Maximum likelihood trees based on concatenated sequences of the three genes were constructed using MEGA7.0. The results showed the strains isolated from C. edulis were closely related to C. gloeosporioides, as supported by high bootstrap values (FigS1-D). Pathogenicity test was performed with isolate JO-3 by depositing 10-µl droplets of a suspension (1 × 106 conidia/ml) on the surfaces of five artificially wounded leaves (a small hole made with a pushpin) of ten healthy 1-year-old C. edulis plants. An equal number of control leaves were inoculated with sterile water to serve as a negative control. The test was conducted three times. Plants were kept at 25°C with 80% humidity and observed for symptom every day. One weeks after inoculation, all the inoculated plants showed symptoms of yellow sunken spots similar to those observed in the field. No symptoms were observed on the controls. The fungus re-isolated from the infected tissues showed the same cultural and morphological characteristics of the strain inoculated, fulfilling Koch’s postulates. C. gloeosporioides was previously reported as the causal agent of anthracnose on Hymenocallis littoralis (Zhao et al. 2019), Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench (Shi et al. 2019) and Sorbaria sorbifolia (Li et al. 2019) in China. To our knowledge, this is the first report of anthracnose on C. edulis caused by C. gloeosporioides in China. This disease can seriously affect the yield and quality of C. edulis in China. Given its wide host range, C. gloeosporioides has great potential to become an economically important plant pathogen. The project was partially funded by Hainan Provincial Research Institute of technology development projects (Collection, Evaluation and Domestication Cultivation of Wild Vegetable Germplasm Resources in Hainan), Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory for Vegetables and Biology，Hainan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Melon and Vegetable Breeding, Major scientific and technological projects in Hainan Province(ZDKJ2017001)，Key R & D projects in Hainan Province (ZDYF2019066), The third Survey and Collection of Crop Germplasm Resources in China. References: Mills, P. R., et al. 1992. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 98:137-144 Weir, B. S., et al. 2012. Stud. Mycol. 73:115. Templeton, M.D. et al. 1992. Gene. 122:225. Prihastuti, H., et al. 2009. Fungal Divers. 39:89 C. D. Zhao, et al. 2019. Plant Dis.103:3286 Y. X. Shi, et al. 2019. Plant Dis.103:303 X. Y. Li, et al. 2019. Plant Dis.103:242

BIOMEDICINES-CINA AGAINST COVID-19: CONTROLLED PLANT DISEASES ENRICHED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMUNICATION GREEN ECONOMY

The economic-plant-mulberry is infected by different pathogens causing diseases and significantly reduces silk production. Though pesticides are the most effective means of control, but they are expensive and not environment friendly. On the other hand, the ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus, forming epidemic, affecting human civilizations, because recently, no appropriate antiviral drugs for effective treatments or vaccines against COVID-19. To meet the challenge, it is reported that the therapeutic value of traditional-, complementary- and alternative-biomedicines-Artemisia nilagirica, has been used for centuries, to overcome various medical disorders. So, to concur with the situation, it will require new and more efficient solutions, technologies, and products. Present pretreatment with ultra-high-diluted biomedicines-Cina, prepared from the flowering meristems of Artemisia nilagirica (Clarke) pamp, mixed with water at an extremely low dose, were applied by foliar spray once daily for 15 days @ 10 ml/plant, against naturally occurring, root-knot-, leaf spot-, powdery mildew-, mosaic- and tukra- mulberry diseases, in field trials and silkworms rearing. Pretreatment-investigations have revealed that ultra-high-diluted-Cina, highly effective in ameliorating different mulberry-diseases by inducing their natural defense-response against pathogens-infection and leaving no residual-toxicity in the leaves to affect the growth of silkworms also. It can be concluded that the ultra-high-diluted, eco-friendly easily-available, easily applicable-Cina, at an extremely low dose, not only used as a potential-biomedical-drug against various plant-diseases, by inducing natural-defense- response, but also, it may be effective against COVID-19 for vaccinations and clinical trials by boosting the natural immune system for the improvement of Science and Technology communication cost-effectiveness green-economy and biodiversity conservations as well as bio-applications issues. And the future clinical-scientists develop all aspects of clinical-case-reports by publishing in the appropriate medical research archives, with the sincere hope that this crisis will soon be over and the whole world, may fight against the COVID-19 war, retaining normal forms of human civilizations globally.

Initial Plant Vigor and Short Rotation Coppices Improve Vegetable Production in Vitex doniana Sweet (Lamiaceae)

Vitex doniana is a major but threatened economic plant collected as a leafy vegetable and fruit in West Africa. How the species withstands coppicing as an agricultural management practice was investigated in this research. Three seedling vigor classes (10–25 mm, 25–30 mm, 30–40 mm) and two coppicing heights (20 and 40 cm) were compared to controls in eight replicates using a randomized complete block design. Mixed effect models were used to compare the effects of treatments on sprouting intensity, sprout growth, and biomass yield in the short (12 months) and medium term (three and five years). Results indicated that V. doniana is a fast-growing species, with heights between 2.72–7.73 m and diameter at breast height between 4.46–14.64 cm in five years. Vigorous (basal diameter > 30 mm) and shorter coppices (20 cm high) produced a higher number of sprouts. Although biomass yield was relatively higher on high coppices, the difference was not statistically significant. While a more severe harvesting regime was detrimental to plant growth, V. doniana can be managed to produce both vegetables and fuel wood in the medium term. These findings are significant for further improvement of the species, for food security, and climate resilience.