Meteoroloģisko faktoru un stādmateriāla ietekme uz papeļu augšanu = Effect of meteorological factors and planting material on poplar growth

Forestry is challenged by the global demand for sustainable renewable resources. Fast-growing tree species are highly productive and pose the potential to increase roundwood and energy wood production. In Northern Europe, poplars (Populus spp.) and their hybrids are among the most productive tree species. The productivity of poplar plantations is mainly determined by selected clones. Northern European countries lack wide and systematic poplar breeding programs, therefore mainly uses clones that are imported from other European regions. Clones that are transferred northward from their parental species origin should be suitable to an altered length of the vegetation period and low temperatures during the winter season. Clonal testing before recommendation for their commercial use is topical also in Latvia. The thesis aims to characterize the growth of the poplar clones in Latvia and the factors affecting it. This thesis summarizes six thematically linked scientific publications, and their results indicate the significant effect of climatic factors on poplar growth. The radial growth of Populus clones is negatively affected by drought-related stress during the growing season and increased temperature range during the dormancy. Height growth is determined by clone and length of the cuttings, and faster-growing clones are more robust to the negative effect of meteorological factors during the growing season. The faster-growing clones are more likely to have damaged leading shoots by early autumn frost. Trees that have withered aboveground shoots by autumn frost are sprouting during the next growing season, but the regrowth is delayed. Winter frost damage is more likely for weakly growing clones. Overall, fast-growing clones with sufficient autumn and winter frost resistance and survival could be selected.

Effects of Biofilm Burkholderia Pyrrocinia JK-SH007 On The Colonization And Growth Promotion of Poplar

Burkholderia pyrrocinia JK-SH007 is a high-potential biological control strain. We changed the composition of medium during the fermentation of JK-SH007 cells and induced these cells to form a biofilm. In this experiment, we deeply studied the biofilm physical and chemical properties. The new fermentation process improves the colonization ability of JK-SH007 and promotes poplar growth. In addition, the biofilm bacterial concentration reached 1010 CFU/mL, the cell dry weight increased over that of a control by 3-10-fold, there was increased environmental stress resistance and IAA secretion, and progeny cells retained resistance to adverse environments. The new biofilm cells were applied to poplar. The JK-SH007 colonization ability was improved in the biofilm, and some bacteria existed as biofilms (cell clusters) in poplar, which would promote forming a dominant niche. Biofilm JK-SH007 has an increased affinity for poplar during colonization and promotes poplar growth under hydroponic conditions, proving the reliability of the new morphology for treating poplar ulcer disease. This work further provides a theoretical basis for commercially producing JK-SH007.

PagERF16 of Populus Promotes Lateral Root Proliferation and Sensitizes to Salt Stress

The aggravation of soil salinization limits the growth and development of plants. The AP2/ERF transcription factors (TFs) have been identified and play essential roles in plant development and stress response processes. In this study, the function of PagERF16 was detected using the overexpressing (OX) and RNAi transgenic poplar 84K hybrids. Plant growth, stomatal conductance, antioxidant enzymes activity, and PagERF16 co-expressed TFs were analyzed using morphological, physiological, and molecular methods. OX showed a more robust lateral root system with a bigger diameter and volume compared to the wild-type plants (WT). Physiological parameters indicated the bigger stomatal aperture and lower stomatal density of OX along with the lower Catalase (CAT) activity and higher malondialdehyde (MDA) content contributed to the salt sensitivity. The plant height and rooting rate of OX and RNAi were significantly worse compared to WT. Other than that, the morphology and physiology of RNAi plants were similar to WTs, suggesting that the function of PagERF16 may be redundant with other TFs. Our results indicate that when PagERF16 expression is either too high or too low, poplar growth and rooting is negatively affected. In addition, a downstream target TF, NAC45, involved in Auxin biosynthesis, was identified and PagERF16 could directly bind to its promoter to negatively regulate its expression. These results shed new light on the function of ERF TFs in plant root growth and salt stress tolerance.

EARLY BUD-BREAK 1 and EARLY BUD-BREAK 3 control resumption of poplar growth after winter dormancy

Bud-break is an economically and environmentally important process in trees and shrubs from boreal and temperate latitudes, but its molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we show that two previously reported transcription factors, EARLY BUD BREAK 1 (EBB1) and SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE-Like (SVL) directly interact to control bud-break. EBB1 is a positive regulator of bud-break, whereas SVL is a negative regulator of bud-break. EBB1 directly and negatively regulates SVL expression. We further report the identification and characterization of the EBB3 gene. EBB3 is a temperature-responsive, epigenetically-regulated, positive regulator of bud-break that provides a direct link to activation of the cell cycle during bud-break. EBB3 is an AP2/ERF transcription factor that positively and directly regulates CYCLIND3.1 gene. Our results reveal the architecture of a putative regulatory module that links temperature-mediated control of bud-break with activation of cell cycle.

The PMT-driven p-coumaroylation of poplar lignins impacts lignin structure and improves wood saccharification

ABSTRACTTransgenic poplars (Populus tremula x Populus alba, clone INRA 717-1B4) were produced by introducing the Brachypodium distachyon Bradi2g36910 (BdPMT1) gene driven by the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) Cinnamate 4-Hydroxylase (AtC4H) promoter in the wild-type (WT) line and in a line overexpressing the Arabidopsis Ferulate 5-Hydroxylase (AtF5H). BdPMT1 encodes a transferase which catalyzes the acylation of monolignols by p-coumaric acid (CA). Several BdPMT1- OE/WT and BdPMT1-OE/AtF5H-OE transgenic lines were grown in the greenhouse and BdPMT1 expression in xylem was confirmed by RT-PCR. The analysis of the cell walls (CW) of poplar stems and of corresponding purified dioxan lignins (DL) revealed that the BdPMT1-OE lignins were as p-coumaroylated as the lignins of C3 grass straws. For some transformants, CA levels even reached about 11 mg/g CW and 66 mg/g DL, which by far exceeds those of Brachypodium or wheat samples. This unprecedentedly high p-coumaroylation of poplar lignins affected neither the poplar growth, nor the stem lignin content. By contrast, the transgenic lignins were structurally modified, with an increase of terminal units with free phenolic groups. Relative to controls, this increase argues for a reduced polymerization degree of BdPMT1-OE lignins and makes them more soluble in cold NaOH solution. The p-coumaroylation of poplar samples, up to the levels of C3 grasses, improved the saccharification yield of alkali-pretreated poplar CW. These results establish that the genetically-driven p-coumaroylation of lignins is a promising strategy to make wood lignins more susceptible to the alkaline treatments that can be used during the industrial processing of lignocellulosics.One-sentence summaryThe expression of a grass p-coumaroyl-CoA:monolignol transferase induces a high p-coumaroylation of poplar lignins and a better saccharification of alkali-pretreated poplar wood without growth penalty

Exogenous GABA promotes adaptation and growth by altering the carbon and nitrogen metabolic flux in poplar seedlings under low nitrogen conditions

Nitrogen (N) deficiency adversely affects tree growth. Additionally, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is closely associated with growth and stress responses because of its effects on carbon (C) and N metabolism. However, little is known about its roles related to plant adaptations to N-deficient conditions. In this study, we analyzed the effects of GABA (0, 2 and 10 mM) applications on the growth traits and physiological responses of poplar (Populus alba × P. glandulosa ‘84K’) seedlings under high N (HN) and low N (LN) conditions. We found that the added GABA interacted with N to affect more than half of the studied parameters, with greater effects in LN plants than in HN plants. Under LN conditions, the GABA application tended to increase poplar growth, accompanied by increased xylem fiber cell length and xylem width. In stems, exogenous GABA increased the abundance of non-structural carbohydrates (starch and sugars) and tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates (succinate, malate and citrate), but had the opposite effect on the structural C contents (hemicellulose and lignin). Meanwhile, exogenous GABA increased the total soluble protein contents in leaves and stems, accompanied by significant increases in nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase and glutamine synthetase activities in leaves, but significant decreases in those (except for the increased glutamate synthetase activity) in stems. A multiple factorial analysis indicated that the nitrate assimilation pathway substantially influences poplar survival and growth in the presence of GABA under LN conditions. Interestingly, GABA applications also considerably attenuated the LN-induced increase in the activities of leaf antioxidant enzymes, including peroxidase and catalase, implying that GABA may regulate the relative allocation of C and N for growth activities by decreasing the energy cost associated with stress defense. Our results suggest that GABA enhances poplar growth and adaptation by regulating the C and N metabolic flux under N-deficient conditions.

Metabolome adjustments in ectomycorrhizal Populus × canescens associated with strong promotion of plant growth by Paxillus involutus despite a very low root colonization rate

It is believed that resource exchange, which is responsible for intensified growth of ectomycorrhizal plants, occurs in the fungus–plant interface. However, increasing evidence indicates that such intensified plant growth, especially root growth promotion, may be independent of root colonization. Nevertheless, the molecular adjustments in low-colonized plants remain poorly understood. Here, we analysed the metabolome of Populus × canescens microcuttings characterized by significantly increased growth triggered by inoculation with Paxillus involutus, which successfully colonized only 2.1 ± 0.3% of root tips. High-throughput metabolomic analyses of leaves, stems and roots of Populus × canescens microcuttings supplemented with leaf proteome data were performed to determine ectomycorrhiza-triggered changes in N-, P- and C-compounds. The molecular adjustments were relatively low in low-colonized (M) plants. Nevertheless, the levels of foliar phenolic compounds were significantly increased in M plants. Increases of total soluble carbohydrates, starch as well as P concentrations were also observed in M leaves along with the increased abundance of the majority of glycerophosphocholines detected in M roots. However, compared with the leaves of the non-inoculated controls, M leaves presented lower concentrations of both N and most photosynthesis-related proteins and all individual mono- and disaccharides. In M stems, only a few compounds with different abundances were detected, including a decrease in carbohydrates, which was also detected in M roots. Thus, these results suggest that the growth improvement of low-colonized poplar trees is independent of an increased photosynthesis rate, massively increased resource (C:N) exchange and delivery of most nutrients to leaves. The mechanism responsible for poplar growth promotion remains unknown but may be related to increased P uptake, subtle leaf pigment changes, the abundance of certain photosynthetic proteins, slight increases in stem and root amino acid levels and the increase in flavonoids (increasing the antioxidant capacity in poplar), all of which improve the fitness of low-colonized poplars.

Sustainability of Impacts of Poplar Growth on Soil Organic Matter in Eutric Cambisols

Short rotation coppices (SRC) with poplar on arable soils constitute no-till management in combination with a changed litter quality compared to annual crops. Both tillage and litter quality impact soil organic matter (SOM) composition, but little is known on the sustainability of this impact at the molecular level. We compared the microbial colonization and SOM quantity and quality of a young (4 years), old (17 years) and a former SRC with hybrid poplar (Populus maximoviczii × Populus nigra cv. Max) to adjacent arable sites with annual crops or grass. Total fungal and arbsucular mycorrhizal fungal phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) markers were increased under no-till treatments with permanent crops (SRC and grass) compared to tilled cereals. Enrichments in fungal biomass coincided with C accumulation close to the soil surface (0–5 cm) but was abolished under former SRC after return to annual tillage. This management change altered the spatial distribution but not the accumulation of SOM within the topsoil (0–30 cm). However, lasting qualitative changes in SOM with increased proportions of lignin, lipids and sterols were found under current and former SRC. Increased colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi was correlated with increased invertase activity (R = 0.64; p < 0.05), carbohydrate consumption and a corresponding accumulation of lignins and lipids in the SOM. This link indicates a regulatory impact of mycorrhizal fungi on soil C dynamics by changing the quality of SOM. Increased stability of SOM to microbial degradation by higher portions of lipids and sterols in the SOM were assumed to be a sustainable effect of poplar growth at Eutric Cambisols.