Search for alternative plant raw materials for food industry and environmentally safe animal breeding

The relevance of the search for alternative plant raw materials to enrich the diets of population throughout the world, including in the Russian Federation, is explained by global mass year-round insufficiency of biologically active nutrients in food. This work is aimed at identifying the most promising food plant species from the list, proposed on basis of long-term observations by staff of Tsytsin Main Moscow Botanical Garden of Russian Academy of Sciences (MBG RAS), by bachelors, studying in direction 06.03.01 (Biology) at Moscow State University of Food Production. The research materials (2016-2018) are fruits of hawthorns, rosehips, quince, eleutherococcuses, medlar, mahonia, spindle tree, yews, sumacs, oaks, red-fruited honeysuckles and needles of coniferous plants. Research results indicate the value of studied raw materials as a whole and its advantages in compared species within the genus of plants. Some recommendations for practical usage were made. The following things have been proposed: separation of fruit pulp and seeds before drying of fruits of Crataegus submollis and more preferable C. punctata; wide plantation cultivation of rosehips Rosa amblyotis and R. oxyodon; non-waste separate application of pericarp and seeds of Cydonia oblonga, Mespilus germanica and Mahonia aquifolium; medicinal use of fruits of Eleutherococcus sessiliflorus , and more preferable E. senticosus ; further study of cones of Taxus baccata and T. media; as a spice there is usage of fruits of Rhus typhina ; obtaining unique oils from fruit pulp of Lonicera glehnii, L . ferdinandii, L. maackii and arils of Euonymus europaeus; usage of acorns of Quercus robur, Q. rubra and needles of Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris in feed production. Thus, possibilities of intensifying plant resource usage in the food industry and agriculture were discovered, primarily due to fruits of native introduced species. It is necessary to continue search and further study of the most promising species - sources of alternative plant raw materials.

Trait-based responses to cessation of nutrient enrichment in a tundra plant community

Plant communities worldwide show varied responses to nutrient enrichment—including shifts in species identity, decreased diversity, and changes in functional trait composition—but the factors determining community recovery after the cessation of nutrient addition remain uncertain. We manipulated nutrient levels in a tundra community for 6 years of nutrient addition followed by 8 years of recovery. We examined how community recovery was mediated by traits related to plant resource-use strategy and plant ability to modify their environment. Overall, we observed persistent effects of fertilization on plant communities. We found that plants with fast-growing traits, including higher specific leaf area, taller stature and lower foliar C:N, were more likely to show a persistent increase in fertilized plots than control plots, maintaining significantly higher cover in fertilized plots 8 years after cessation of fertilization. Additionally, although graminoids responded most strongly to the initial fertilization treatment, forb species were more vulnerable to fertilization effects in the long-term, showing persistent decline and no recovery in 8 years. Finally, these persistent fertilization effects were accompanied by modified environmental conditions, including persistent increases in litter depth and soil phosphorous and lower soil C:N. Our results demonstrate the potential for lasting effects of nutrient enrichment in nutrient-limited systems and identify species traits related to rapid growth and nutrient-use efficiency as the main predictors of the persistence of nutrient enrichment effects. These findings highlight the usefulness of trait-based approach for understanding the persistent feedbacks of nutrient enrichment, plant dynamics, and niche construction via litter and nutrient build-up.

Dynamic Changes in Plant Resource Use Efficiencies and Their Primary Influence Mechanisms in a Typical Desert Shrub Community

Understanding plant resource use efficiencies (RUEs) and their tradeoffs in a desert shrub community, particularly as it concerns the usage of water, light, and nitrogen, remains an ecological imperative. Plant RUEs have been widely used as indicators to understand plant acclimation processes to unfavorable environmental conditions. This study aimed to examine seasonal dynamics in RUEs in two widely distributed plant species in a typical desert shrub community (i.e., Artemisia ordosica and Leymus secalinus) based on in-situ measurements of leaf photosynthesis, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf nitrogen concentration (i.e., Nmass + Narea), and several site-related abiotic factors. Both species exhibited significant seasonal variation in RUEs, with a coefficient of variation (CV) > 30% and seasonal divergence among the various RUEs. Seasonal divergence was largely controlled by variation in stomatal conductance (Gs), which was in turn influenced by variation in soil water content (SWC) and water vapor pressure deficit (VPD). RUEs between species converged, being positively correlated, yielding: (i) r2 = 0.40 and p < 0.01 for WUE; (ii) r2 = 0.18 and p < 0.01 for LUE；and (iii) r2 = 0.25 and p < 0.01 for NUE. RUEs for A. ordosica were mostly larger than those for L. secalinus, but less reactive to drought. This suggests A. ordosica was more conservative in its usage of available resources and was, therefore, better able to adapt to arid conditions. Resource use strategies between species differed in response to drought. Desert shrubs are projected to eventually replace grasses, as drought severity and duration increase with sustained regional climate change.

Large herbivore impact on plant biomass along multiple resource gradients in the Serengeti

Herbivores form an important link in the transfer of energy within a food web and are strongly influenced by bottom-up trophic cascades. Current hypotheses suggest that herbivore consumption and impact on plants should scale positively with plant resource availability. However, depending on the effect of resources on plant quantity and quality, herbivore impact may vary with different types of resources. We test four alternative hypotheses for the relationship between plant biomass, herbivore impact on plant biomass, and plant resource gradients, each based on how resources might affect plant abundance and quality to herbivores. We measured plant biomass for four non-consecutive years in a long-term grazing exclosure experiment in the Serengeti National Park that includes seven sites that vary substantially in rainfall and soil and plant nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Our data supported the hypothesis that herbivore impact is controlled by plant quality, in this case driven by plant P, as herbivore effects on biomass decreased with higher rainfall but increased with greater plant P, but not N content. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental study to indicate that wild mammalian herbivory is associated with P availability rather than N. Our results suggest that P, in addition to water and N, may play a more important role in driving trophic interactions in terrestrial systems than previously realized.

Ancient Starch Remains Reveal the Vegetal Diet of the Neolithic Late Dawenkou Culture in Jiangsu, East China

The Liangwangcheng site, located in Pizhou County, Xuzhou City, northern Jiangsu Province, is one of the most important Neolithic Dawenkou Culture archeological sites in the Haidai area of China’s eastern seaboard. In recent years, archaeobotanical studies in the Haidai area, mainly focusing on Shandong Province, have yielded fruitful results, while relatively few such studies have been undertaken in northern Jiangsu Province. Here, we report the results of dental residue analysis conducted on 31 individual human skulls unearthed from the Late Dawenkou Culture Liangwangcheng site. The starch granules extracted from these residue samples indicate that foxtail and broomcorn millet, rice, roots and tubers, and legumes comprised the vegetal diet of Liangwangcheng’s occupants. Evidence suggests that mixed rice–millet agriculture played a definite role, with the coexistence of gathering as an economic element. According to archaeobotanical evidence from surrounding cotemporaneous sites, the Late Neolithic human groups that lived in the lower Huang-Huai River drainage shared similar subsistence patterns. Our results provide new evidence for a more comprehensive understanding of plant resource utilization and agricultural development in northern Jiangsu during the Dawenkou period.

Phosphoproteomics of Cold Stress-Responsive Mechanisms in Rhododendron Chrysanthum

As an alpine plant，Rhododendron chrysanthum (R. chrysanthum) has evolved cold resistance mechanisms and become a valuable plant resource with the responsive mechanism of cold stress. In my study, we adopt the phosphoproteomic and proteomic analysis combining with physiological measurement to illustrate the responsive mechanism of R. chrysanthum seedling under cold (4℃) stress. After chilling for 12 h, 350 significantly changed proteins and 274 significantly changed phosphoproteins were detected. Clusters of Orthologous Groups（COG）analysis showed that significantly changed proteins and phosphoproteins were mainly involved in signal transduction and energy production and conversion under cold stress. The results indicated photosynthesis was inhibited under cold stress, but cold induced calcium-mediated signaling, reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis and other transcription regulation factors could protect plants from the destruction caused by cold stress. These results provide a detailed insight into the cold stress response and defense mechanisms of R. chrysanthum leaves at the phosphoproteome level.

Wood Utilization During the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age in the Turpan Basin of Xinjiang, China, With Special Emphasis on Betula (Betulaceae)

As a very important plant resource, wood played varied and important roles in the lives of ancient people. In the present study, wood was discovered in the Yanghai cemetery of the Turpan Basin, which belonged to the Subeixi culture (~1300BC–200AD). By using traditional classification techniques of wood anatomy, four taxa of wood, viz. Populus sp., Salix sp., Picea sp., as well as Betula sp., were identified. Woods of Populus, Salix, and Picea were mainly used for tomb construction, with Poplus sp. also used for tub and plate-making. Furthermore, the wood of Betula sp. was selected for dipper-making. Previous studies have shown that the ancient Yanghai people once led an agro-pastoral lifestyle, engaging in both agricultural activities in the local oasis and animal husbandry practices in the Tianshan Mountains. As trees adapted to the cold, wood of Picea sp. and Betula sp. could have been cut in the Tianshan Mountains during transhumance. Conversely, wood of Populus sp. and Salix sp. could have been cut either locally in the oasis of the Turpan Basin or in the river valleys of the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains far from Yanghai settlements.

Phosphoproteomics of Cold Stress-Responsive Mechanisms in Rhododendron Chrysanthum

Background: As an alpine plants，Rhododendron chrysanthum (R. chrysanthum) has evolved cold resistance mechanisms and become a valuable plant resource with the responsive mechanism of cold stress. Results: In my study, we adopt the phosphoproteomic and proteomic analysis combining with physiological measurement to illustrate the responsive mechanism of R. chrysanthum seedling under cold (4℃) stress. After chilling for 12 h, 350 significantly changed proteins and 274 significantly changed phosphoproteins were detected. COG analysis showed that significantly changed proteins and phosphoproteins were mainly involved in signal transduction and energy production and conversion under cold stress. The results indicated photosynthesis was inhibited under cold stress, but cold induced calcium-mediated signaling, reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis and other transcription regulation factors could protect plants from destruction caused by cold stress. Conclusions: These data constitute a cold stress-responsive metabolic atlas in R. chrysanthum, which will springboard further investigations into the complex molecular mechanisms of plant cold adaptation.

Distinct effects of host and neighbour tree identity on arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal fungi along a tree diversity gradient

Plant diversity and plant-related ecosystem functions have been in focus in biodiversity-ecosystem functioning studies. However, in this context, biotic interactions with mycorrhizal fungi have been understudied although they are crucial for plant-resource acquisition. We investigated the effects of tree species richness, tree mycorrhizal type on arbuscular (AMF) and ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) communities. We aimed to understand how dissimilarities in taxa composition and beta-diversity are related to target trees and neighbours of the same/different mycorrhizal type. We sampled a tree experiment with saplings (~7 years old), where tree species richness (monocultures, 2-species, and 4-species mixtures) and mycorrhizal type were manipulated. AMF and EMF richness significantly increased with increasing tree species richness. AMF richness of mixture plots resembled that of the sum of the respective monocultures, whereas EMF richness of mixture plots was lower compared to the sum of the respective monocultures. Specialisation scores revealed significantly more specialised AMF than EMF suggesting that, in contrast to previous studies, AMF were more specialised, whereas EMF were not. We further found that AMF communities were little driven by the surrounding trees, whereas EMF communities were. Our study revealed the drivers of mycorrhizal fungal communities and further highlights the distinct strategies of AMF and EMF.

Development, Identification, and Application of a Germplasm Specific SCAR Marker for Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo

The stems of Dendrobium officinale have been used as a rare and valuable Chinese tonic medicine, known as “Tiepi Fengdou”, since the Qing dynasty. Because of the increased market demand and continued exploitation of this plant, the reserves of wild D. officinale resources have been depleted, and D. officinale products on the market are being increasingly adulterated. Such changes have strongly affected the sustainable utilization of this valuable medicinal plant resource and the development of related industries. In this study, a species-specific DNA marker was developed for the rapid and accurate authentication of D. officinale. In total, 36 start codon-targeted (SCoT) polymorphism primers were screened in 36 definite Dendrobium species, and a distinct species-specific DNA amplicon (SCoT13-215) for D. officinale was obtained. After the sequence was cloned and sequenced, a sequence-characterized amplified region marker was developed (named SHF/SHR) and validated through PCR amplification of all 38 Dendrobium samples. The marker’s specificity for D. officinale was confirmed through the consistent amplification of a clear 197-bp band. This SCAR marker can be used to rapidly, effectively, and reliably identify D. officinale among various Dendrobium species and may play an important role in ensuring the quality of medicinal preparations and protecting the germplasm of this important medicinal species.