Analysis of the transcriptome of the needles and bark of Pinus radiata induced by bark stripping and methyl jasmonate

Background Plants are attacked by diverse insect and mammalian herbivores and respond with different physical and chemical defences. Transcriptional changes underlie these phenotypic changes. Simulated herbivory has been used to study the transcriptional and other early regulation events of these plant responses. In this study, constitutive and induced transcriptional responses to artificial bark stripping are compared in the needles and the bark of Pinus radiata to the responses from application of the plant stressor, methyl jasmonate. The time progression of the responses was assessed over a 4-week period. Results Of the 6312 unique transcripts studied, 86.6% were differentially expressed between the needles and the bark prior to treatment. The most abundant constitutive transcripts were related to defence and photosynthesis and their expression did not differ between the needles and the bark. While no differential expression of transcripts were detected in the needles following bark stripping, in the bark this treatment caused an up-regulation and down-regulation of genes associated with primary and secondary metabolism. Methyl jasmonate treatment caused differential expression of transcripts in both the bark and the needles, with individual genes related to primary metabolism more responsive than those associated with secondary metabolism. The up-regulation of genes related to sugar break-down and the repression of genes related with photosynthesis, following both treatments was consistent with the strong down-regulation of sugars that has been observed in the same population. Relative to the control, the treatments caused a differential expression of genes involved in signalling, photosynthesis, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism as well as defence and water stress. However, non-overlapping transcripts were detected between the needles and the bark, between treatments and at different times of assessment. Methyl jasmonate induced more transcriptional responses in the bark than bark stripping, although the peak of expression following both treatments was detected 7 days post treatment application. The effects of bark stripping were localised, and no systemic changes were detected in the needles. Conclusion There are constitutive and induced differences in the needle and bark transcriptome of Pinus radiata. Some expression responses to bark stripping may differ from other biotic and abiotic stresses, which contributes to the understanding of plant molecular responses to diverse stresses. Whether the gene expression changes are heritable and how they differ between resistant and susceptible families identified in earlier studies needs further investigation.

Prediction of survival of Pinus radiata seedlings subjected to physical-water restriction extreme using learning neural networks

Drought is one of the main environmental factors that limit plant growth. For this reason, it is necessary to apply nursery cultural practices to produce quality seedlings for successful reforestation in drought- prone sites. In this study, the extreme learning machines and multilayer are applied to predict survival in 5-month-old Pinus radiataseedlings belonging to 98 families of a genetic improvement program and subjected to a period of water restriction in the nursery. After applying the water restriction, survival was registered in each seedling as a categorical variable (1 = alive seedling, 0 = dead seedling). Additionally, the following morphological attributes of each seedling were also measured: total height, root collar diameter, slenderness index, dry weight of needles, stems and roots, total dry weight, and the root to shoot ratio. The extreme learning machines predicted with a better rate the survival of the “alive” class compared to the “dead” class. On the other hand, the multilayer-extreme learning machines improved the precision of survival concerning the class of “dead” seedlings. According to the results of the model, an overall precision of 74% was obtained. This may be due to the great genetic variability presented by each of the Pinus radiatafamily used in the database. However, this technique allowed predicting the survival of a group of seedlings grown in the nursery, which can be a tool to support the selection process of high quality planting stock.

UAV-Based LiDAR Scanning for Individual Tree Detection and Height Measurement in Young Forest Permanent Trials

The installation of research or permanent plots is a very common task in growth and forest yield research. At young ages, tree height is the most commonly measured variable, so the location of individuals is necessary when repeated measures are taken and if spatial analysis is required. Identifying the coordinates of individual trees and re-measuring the height of all trees is difficult and particularly costly (in time and money). The data used comes from three Pinus pinaster Ait. and three Pinus radiata D. Don plantations of 0.8 ha, with an age ranging between 2 and 5 years and mean heights between 1 and 5 m. Five individual tree detection (ITD) methods are evaluated, based on the Canopy Height Model (CHM), where the height of each tree is identified, and its crown is segmented. Three CHM resolutions are used for each method. All algorithms used for individual tree detection (ITD) tend to underestimate the number of trees. The best results are obtained with the R package, ForestTools and rLiDAR. The best CHM resolution for identifying trees was always 10 cm. We did not detect any differences in the relative error (RE) between Pinus pinaster and Pinus radiata. We found a pattern in the ITD depending on the height of the trees to be detected: the accuracy is lower when detecting trees less than 1 m high than when detecting larger trees (RE close to 12% versus 1% for taller trees). Regarding the estimation of tree height, we can conclude that the use of the CHM to estimate height tends to underestimate its value, while the use of the point cloud presents practically unbiased results. The stakeout of forestry research plots and the re-measurement of individual tree heights is an operation that can be performed by UAV-based LiDAR scanning sensors. The individual geolocation of each tree and the measurement of heights versus pole and/or hypsometer measurement is highly accurate and cost-effective, especially when tree height reaches 1–1.5 m.

CALIDAD MORFOLÓGICA Y BIOLÓGICA DE Pinus radiata D. Don, MICORRIZADO CON Scleroderma verrucosum (Vaill) Pers. Y Rhizopogon luteolus Fr. & Nordh. EN CONDICIONES DE VIVERO

Se evaluó el efecto de Scleroderma verrucosum (Vaill) Pers y Rhizopogon luteolus Fr. & Nordh. sobre la calidad morfológica y biológica de plantas de Pinus radiata D. Don en vivero en Vilcashuamán, Ayacucho, Perú. Tratamientos: (1) Micorrización con Scleroderma verrucosum, (2) Micorrización con Rhizopogon luteolus, (3) Mezcla de ambos hongos y (4) Control, en un diseño completamente al azar con 10 repeticiones por tratamiento. Los hongos provinieron de bosques de Pinus radiata y Eucalyptus globulus de la localidad. La inoculación se realizó en el repique a los 30 días de siembra y la evaluación a los 7.5 meses después del repique. Los pinos micorrizados superaron con diferencias significativas al control en todas las variables. En el diámetro del cuello y materia seca de la parte aérea de los inoculados no presentaron diferencias significativas; sin embargo, en altura, materia seca de la raíz y materia seca total destacó el tratamiento Mezcla. En la calidad biológica se observó mayor número de micorrizas en los inoculados, con diferencias significativas frente al control sin micorrizar. Se evidenció mayor porcentaje de micorrizas monopodiales (91%) en relación a los dicotómicos (8.5%) y coraloides (0.6%). Se determinaron relaciones positivas significativas entre las variables morfológicas, pero éstas sobre P. radiata presentaron asociaciones no significativas con el número de micorrizas. El uso individual y en mezcla de hongos ectomicorrízicos silvestres incrementó la calidad morfológica y biológica de P. radiata, por ello se recomienda la aplicación de estos hongos para la producción de plántulas en viveros de Vilcashuamán y otras zonas altoandinas.

Influencia de diferentes medios de cultivo y niveles de pH en el crecimiento in vitro de 6 cepas del género Suillus

Se analizó el comportamiento in vitro de 6 cepas de las especies Suillus luteus, S, granulatus y S. bellinii, asociados a plantaciones de Pinus radiata. Se evaluó las variables crecimiento radial (CR), velocidad media de crecimiento(VMC) y biomasa (B) creciendo en los medios PDA (Papa Dextrosa Agar), MNM (Medio Melin-Norkrans) y BAF (Biotina Aneurina ácido Fólico) y en 5 niveles de pH (4,8, 5,3; 5,8; 6,3; y 6,8). A nivel de cepas se analizó las interacciones presentes entre los factores medio de cultivo y pH. Se observó comportamientos variables de cada cepa para las variables CR y VMC frente a los factores evaluados. Para la variable B, se observan promedios significativos para los medios de cultivo PDA y/o BAF, dependiendo de la cepa estudiada, con valores significativos de pH que variaron para cada cepa. Comparaciones entre valores del CR y de B, muestran alta correlación entre ellos para cepas de S. granulatus, baja para cepas de S. luteus y mediana a nula para cepas de S. bellinii.

Importancia del sector forestal en la contabilidad de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) del país.

El sector forestal a través del bosque nativo, las plantaciones y los productos de madera recolectada juega un rol muy importante en el país, contribuye a la mitigación del cambio climático y es el principal sumidero de carbono. En el año 2018, contribuyó al balance de gases de efecto invernadero disminuyendo en 57% las emisiones del país, con una absorción neta de -68.878,3 kt CO2 eq. Desde 1990 hasta 2018 el sector ha aumentado las absorciones de carbono, en directa relación con el aumento de la superficie de bosques (forestación) y la incorporación de bosque nativo bajo manejo. En el caso del bosque nativo, se observa que la mayor contribución proviene de los bosques de renovales y de las áreas de conservación, mientras que en las plantaciones, la especie Pinus radiata es la que domina con una mayor absorción dada la mayor superficie respecto a otras especies exóticas. Las emisiones de GEI se relacionan directamente con el aumento de las cosechas de trozas y el consumo de leña, mientras que los incendios juegan un rol fundamental en el incremento de emisiones en años puntuales y se observa un aumento de la frecuencia de estos en los últimos años. El sector forestal tiene un potencial para aumentar su capacidad de sumidero de carbono, sin embargo, es necesario considerar todas las variables que afectan las absorciones y las emisiones que afectan al sector.

Metabolite profiling reveals complex relationship between developing xylem metabolism and intra-ring checking in Pinus radiata

Globally, there has been an increasing amount of wood harvested from younger, fast-growing trees derived from plantation forests. As a consequence, producers and industrial consumers of wood products are becoming increasingly concerned with not only growth rates, but specific wood attributes that affect processing efficiencies and final product quality. Intra-ring checking is a problem that down-grades an unacceptably high proportion of radiata pine clearwood. Methods of identifying trees prone to this undesirable behaviour have been relatively destructive and time consuming, and from a breeding perspective, to date, there is no reliable method of predicting which selected progeny will later show a propensity to check. Using 120, 7-year-old Pinus radiata clones sampled from a common site, displaying difference in the propensity to form intra-ring checks, a GC/MS-based global metabolic profiling technique was employed to demonstrate that metabolomics can be used to accurately identify the checking phenotype. Metabolic profiling coupled with statistical tests was then used to develop models with greater than 90% efficiency to predict the intra-ring checking phenotype. Moreover, an inspection of unique metabolites contributing to the models indicated that coniferin, which is often found as a storage compound in rays, is a strong indicator of intra-ring checking, and indeed those genotypes that displayed the propensity to check inherently had a greater number of ray cells per unit area.

The structural reuse of Pinus Radiata in New Zealand

<p>Masses of used Copper chromium arsenic (CCA) treated timber is deposited into landfill from light timber framed building deconstruction every year. This research explores the structural integrity of CCA treated timber and the feasibility of its re-use within the construction industry. To answer this question an appropriate methodology has been designed to achieve quality results. The first part of the methodology was to identify the profit margin for pinus radiata through communicating with individuals in the current market. This market all works around the concept that to reuse there needs to be a significant buying community as it needs to generate MONEY. Through doing this it was identified that only a few companies in New Zealand reuse CCA treated timber and the ways of which it is re-used varies greatly between companies. Some firms pull the nails out due to health and safety reasons, while others leave them in due to the overall cost of the sale. This gives a good understanding on what everyone is doing across the country and allows for the sale market to be set at $2.00 a meter, which if done correctly comes in at around $0.16 a meter of profit. The next part of the methodology required a physical assessment of material itself in order to establish its structural integrity and identify other potential barriers to its reuse. This section covered all other possibilities to pinus radiata focusing on the different timber which have the same properties, and focus on separate treatments which will also conduct the same issues as CCA. This all found that there is much research to consider, which placed New Zealand in an area of profit, as any of these documents could be the focus point and all could eventually relieve CCA from the industry. Existing research identifies how the use of CCA treated timber can be prevented, but does not consider the diversion of existing treated timber being deposited into landfill. The lack of research into the re-use of CCA treated timber is the main barrier found in this thesis. This required the series of events which occur between building deconstruction and deposition into landfill to be clearly defined, before they could be changed. The changes to how CCA treated timber is processed after deconstruction has the potential to divert the material from landfill for re-use. The primary addition to this process was an assessment of the strength which it holds. To accomplish this a three point bending test was carried out on each member, finding the alternate strength and the modulus of elasticity (MOE). These two figures could then be directly compared to NZS 3603:1993 timber structural standards allowing their long term history of testing to be the comparative point (New Zealand Government, 1993). With the two figures it was found that all of this material strength was 91% above the minimum strength grading of SG6, and 55% above the next area of SG8, which is the most commonly used framing timber. Although through doing this there was hope for the material to present themselves with a way of finding the general strength with minimal tools, this is not present in the research. The most important finding of this research is that CCA treated timber is strong enough to be placed straight back into the construction industry and re-used for light timber frame construction. Future research is needed into the additional education required of builders in order for them to confidently re-use the timber in construction.</p>

The structural reuse of Pinus Radiata in New Zealand

<p>Masses of used Copper chromium arsenic (CCA) treated timber is deposited into landfill from light timber framed building deconstruction every year. This research explores the structural integrity of CCA treated timber and the feasibility of its re-use within the construction industry. To answer this question an appropriate methodology has been designed to achieve quality results. The first part of the methodology was to identify the profit margin for pinus radiata through communicating with individuals in the current market. This market all works around the concept that to reuse there needs to be a significant buying community as it needs to generate MONEY. Through doing this it was identified that only a few companies in New Zealand reuse CCA treated timber and the ways of which it is re-used varies greatly between companies. Some firms pull the nails out due to health and safety reasons, while others leave them in due to the overall cost of the sale. This gives a good understanding on what everyone is doing across the country and allows for the sale market to be set at $2.00 a meter, which if done correctly comes in at around $0.16 a meter of profit. The next part of the methodology required a physical assessment of material itself in order to establish its structural integrity and identify other potential barriers to its reuse. This section covered all other possibilities to pinus radiata focusing on the different timber which have the same properties, and focus on separate treatments which will also conduct the same issues as CCA. This all found that there is much research to consider, which placed New Zealand in an area of profit, as any of these documents could be the focus point and all could eventually relieve CCA from the industry. Existing research identifies how the use of CCA treated timber can be prevented, but does not consider the diversion of existing treated timber being deposited into landfill. The lack of research into the re-use of CCA treated timber is the main barrier found in this thesis. This required the series of events which occur between building deconstruction and deposition into landfill to be clearly defined, before they could be changed. The changes to how CCA treated timber is processed after deconstruction has the potential to divert the material from landfill for re-use. The primary addition to this process was an assessment of the strength which it holds. To accomplish this a three point bending test was carried out on each member, finding the alternate strength and the modulus of elasticity (MOE). These two figures could then be directly compared to NZS 3603:1993 timber structural standards allowing their long term history of testing to be the comparative point (New Zealand Government, 1993). With the two figures it was found that all of this material strength was 91% above the minimum strength grading of SG6, and 55% above the next area of SG8, which is the most commonly used framing timber. Although through doing this there was hope for the material to present themselves with a way of finding the general strength with minimal tools, this is not present in the research. The most important finding of this research is that CCA treated timber is strong enough to be placed straight back into the construction industry and re-used for light timber frame construction. Future research is needed into the additional education required of builders in order for them to confidently re-use the timber in construction.</p>