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Plant functional traits are increasingly recognised as being impacted by soil abiotic and biotic factors. Yet, the question to what extent the coupling between community-level above- and below-ground traits is affected by soil conditions remains open. In a field experiment in dune grassland, we quantified the responses of both community-level leaf and root traits to changes in soil abiotic and biotic conditions using soil inoculation by living and sterile soil inocula originated from different dune ecosystems. Altered soil conditions resulted in a strong decoupling in responses of community-level leaf and root traits. Changes in soil abiotic conditions imposed by soil inoculation were more important in determining the decoupling of the leaf vs root relationships than additions of soil biota. Altered soil abiotic factors influenced both leaf and root traits at the community level and caused the entire community-level trait spectrum to shift, while experimental additions of living soil inocula only significantly influenced root traits towards longer and thinner roots. Synthesis. Our results bring direct evidence that, at a plant community level, the dynamics of plant above-ground traits are not informative of below-ground traits. Particularly, below-ground abiotic processes are a major driver of commonly observed trait spectra. We suggest that future study is required to test the general pattern of leaf and root correlations across different ecosystems under field conditions. China Scholarship Council, Grant/Award Number: 201804910632; Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Grant/Award Number: 016.161.318 and 865.14.006 We are grateful to Dunea Duin & Water company for the help with establishment of the experiment. Funding was provided by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific research (NWO; VIDI grant no. 016.161.318 issued to Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia; VICI grant 865.14.006 issued to T. Martijn Bezemer) and the China Scholarship Council (grant no. 201804910632) issued to Chenguang Gao.

14 Páginas.-- 7 Figuras, Societal Impact Statement Escobedia grandiflora is a medicinal hemiparasite that occurs naturally in non-forested communities in Central and South America. Parasitic plants accumulate high levels of a water-soluble orange pigment in roots that was once among the most important food dyes in the Andean region. We conclusively address the chemical identification of this pigment and provide molecular and cellular insights on its biosynthesis and possible function. Summary The herbaceous hemiparasite Escobedia grandiflora (Orobanchaceae) is used in traditional medicine in the Andean region. Escobedia roots accumulate high levels of an orange pigment with a significant relevance as a cooking dye that exhibits antioxidant and cardioprotective properties. Here, we aimed to confirm the chemical identity of the pigment and investigate its biosynthesis and function in Escobedia roots. We combined metabolic and cytological analyses with de novo transcriptome assembly, gene expression studies, and phylogenetic analyses. The pigment was conclusively shown to be azafrin, an apocarotenoid likely derived from the cleavage of β-carotene. RNA-seq supported by multispecies comparative transcriptome analysis and qRT-PCR allowed to propose candidate genes for the production of azafrin in Escobedia roots. We also showed that azafrin is delivered to the root apoplast and that it accumulates in the area where the Escobedia haustorium contacts the host's root. Our data suggest that azafrin production might rely on a carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase (CCD) different from CCD7 and that this apocarotenoid might function in the parasitism process. Together, our work represents an unprecedented step forward in our understanding of the Escobedia parasitization system., Spanish MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Grant Numbers: PCI2021-121941, PGC2018-099449-A-I00, PID2020-115810GB-I00, RYC-2017-23645, UToPIQ-PCI2021-121941 National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Brazil. Grant Number: 303902/2017-5 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Grant Number: 202040E299 Generalitat Valenciana. Grant Numbers: AGROALNEXT/2022/067, PROMETEU/2021/056

The morphological plasticity of plant roots is a key factor in their ability to tolerate a wide range of edaphic stresses. There are many unanswered questions relating to nanotechnology and its potential uses for sustainable agriculture. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of salinity-induced morphogenic responses and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on root characteristics, growth, MDA content, antioxidant enzymatic activity, and root ion accumulation in rice (Oryza sativa L.). The experiment was conducted in a hydroponic culture containing 50 mg/L of ZnO-NPs and different concentrations (60, 80, and 100 mM) of NaCl for 14 days. The results indicated a decrease in rice root growth due to exposure to salinity (length, fresh, and root dry weight). The results showed that salinity caused a reduction in rice root growth (length, fresh, and root dry weight). Higher root sodium (Na+) accumulation, MDA content, and potassium level decreased with increasing salinity. Root length, root fresh weight, root dry weight, root K+ content, and root antioxidant enzymatic activity were all enhanced by applying 50 mg/L ZnO-NPs often in salinity. SEM analysis revealed that ZnO-NPs treatments significantly improved root morphology. There was a notable decrease in root Na+ content as a result, which improved the K+/Na+ ratio in the rice’s root system. These findings suggest that O. sativa, when treated with ZnO-NPs, can thrive under salt-stress conditions, opening up the possibility of cultivating the plant in extreme climates.

Issues surrounding soil fertility are fundamental to the productivity and sustainability of diverse agricultural production systems around the world. In developed economies, intensive fertilization is a chief economic, energetic, and environmental cost to crop production, depleting finite resources and causing massive pollution through leaching and runoff. In developing economies where access to, and utilization of soil amendments are rare, degraded soils with low nutrient availability are a primary constraint to yields. The most common challenges surrounding soil fertility in most production systems primarily involve nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn). A chief component of a robust and pragmatic solution to these soil fertility issues lies in the development of more nutrient-efficient crops. In pursuit of this objective, root phenotypes that improve the efficiency of soil exploration and acquisition of resources offer exceptional opportunities as breeding targets. Natural variation for root phenotypes can have significant effects on soil resource extraction by modifying the placement of roots in soil domains where limiting resources are most available, improving the metabolic efficiency of soil exploration, as well as altering the radial and axial transport of resources. In this chapter, we review root anatomical and architectural phenes that have demonstrated benefit for enhancing acquisition of the most commonly limiting nutrients, and advocate for the consideration of root phenotypes in breeding programs focused on developing crops with greater nutrient efficiency.

論文 Articles

Potato is an industrial plant that is produced and consumed globally due to its cheapness, high yield in the unit area, high nutritional values. It is used in many different fields. It has been stated that wild species with various characteristics can be used in studies to increase productivity because they have greater rate of genetic variation than their domesticated relatives. One of the wild species of potato found in nature is S. commersonii Dunal. It is more resistant to many stresses than cultivated potato S. tuberosum L. Also, its tuber has better quality due to the fact that it contains a higher proportion of dry matter. With the aim of determining the effects of miRNAs in tuber production and root characteristics relation we aimed to detect miRNAs in two transcriptome libraries of S. commersonii. In this study miRNAs were evaluated for the first time in the wild potato transcriptome data using in silico analysis. A number of miRNAs were identified, and their potential roles in tuber were discussed.

The article studies onyms with the root крас- (красн-), based on the Lexical Indexes of Ukrainian Historical Dictionaries stored in the Ukrainian Language Department of the I. Krypiakevych Institute of Ukrainian Studies of the NAS of Ukraine, and in published lexicons such as "Dictionary of Old Ukrainian Language of the ХІV–ХV Centuries" (Kyiv, 1977–1978), "Historical Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language" edited by Ye. Tymchenko (Kharkiv, Kyiv, 1930, Vol. 1), and "Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language of ХVІ – the First Half of ХVІІ Century" (Lviv, 1994–2017, Iss. 1–17). In the first place, such onomastic classes have been analyzed: anthroponyms, toponyms, in particular, oikonyms, microtoponyms, hydronyms, and microhydronyms, which are commonly found in business documents all over Ukraine and beyond (Greece, Romania). A rich anthroponymic vocabulary is stated in the Lviv Stauropegion Brotherhood's documents. Much attention is given to the structure and word formation of these names. As been noted, in historical sources of the investigated period, single-component anthroponyms prevail, while toponymic names are mostly two-component. Complex formations are observed in such onomastic classes as anthroponyms and oikonyms, in which the first component is an attribute with the root крас- (красн-), and the second is an appellativus. One of the productive constructions of the toponymic system of the time is the "adjective + noun" model, which demonstrates one of the ways of Ukrainian onyms emergence. Moreover, a rich palette is revealed by microtoponymic names (names of fields, woods, groves, meadows, tracts, mountains, lands, etc.), in which the motivating features are the "color of the landscape" and "beauty" – "the quality of something beautiful". Additionally, the article at most illustrates the usage of the investigated names in written sources of ХІV-ХVІІІ centuries. Eventually, the study pays attention to the functioning of names with the root крас- (красн-) nowadays. As investigated, such names show traditionality and originality in developing Ukrainian onomastic heritage., У статті розглянуто оніми з коренем крас- (красн-) на матеріалі Лексичних картотек українських історичних словників, які зберігаються у відділі української мови Інституту українознавства ім. І.Крип’якевича НАН України, та опублікованих лексиконів: "Словника староукраїнської мови ХІV–ХVст." (Київ, 1977–1978), "Історичного словника українського язика" за ред. Є. К.Тимченка (Харків, Київ, 1930, Т. 1), "Словника української мови ХVІ – першої половини ХVІІст." (Львів, 1994-2017, Вип. 1–17). Проаналізовано такі ономастичні класи: антропоніми, топоніми зокрема, ойконіми, мікротопоніми, гідроніми, мікрогідроніми, які найчастіше засвідчено в ділових пам’ятках з різної території України та поза її межами (Греція, Румунія). Багату антропонімну лексику зафіксовано в документах Львівського ставропігійського братства. Основну увагу звернено на структуру та словотворчу будову цих назв. Відзначено, що в історичних джерелах досліджуваного часу переважають одночленні антропоніми, натомість топонімійні назви здебільшого – двочленні. Складні утворення фіксуємо в таких ономастичних класах: антропонімах, ойконімах, у яких першим компонентом виступає атрибутив із коренем крас-(красн-), а другим – апелятив. Однією з продуктивних конструкцій тогочасної топонімійної системи є модель "прикметник+іменник", яка демонструє один із шляхів виникнення українських онімів. Багату палітру виявляють мікротопонімійні найменування (назви полів, лісів, гаїв, лук, урочищ, гір, угідь тощо), мотиваційними ознаками яких є ʻколір ландшафтуʼ та ʻкрасаʼ – "властивість чогось гарного". У статті максимально проілюстровано вживання досліджуваних найменувань у писемних джерелах ХІV–ХVІІІст. Приділено також увагу функціонуванню найменувань із коренем крас- (красн-) на сучасному етапі. Виявлено, що такі назви демонструють традиційність і самобутність у розвитку ономастичної спадщини.

The raising of container seedlings with light substrates has become an important method of seedling raising, without delaying the seedling period. In order to reduce reliance on non-renewable peat and to promote the reuse of organic waste, this study compared the growth of sour jujube seedlings in different substrate formulations (i.e., different proportions of vermicompost instead of peat), using a semi-subterranean placement of root control bags, and explored the application of vermicompost in the raising of sour jujube seedlings. The results showed that there were significant differences in the growth and the physiological and photosynthetic characteristics of sour jujube seedlings treated with different substrates, among which substrates A2 (peat: vermicompost: vermiculite: garden soil = 0.5:0.5:1:1) and A3 (peat: vermiculite: garden soil = 1:2:1) were suitable for sour jujube seedling raising. The seedling height, the seedling ground diameter, the number of secondary branches, the length of the longest secondary branch, the total fresh weight, the aboveground fresh weight, the total root length, the root projection area, and the root surface area were all significantly greater than those of jujube seedlings grown on other substrates. Especially in A3, vermicompost can replace peat as the nursery substrate for sour jujube seedlings, removing dependence on non-renewable peat resources, reducing costs, and providing more prospects for application. The suitable substrate conditions for sour jujube seedlings were as follows: soil porosity 44.0–54.0%, electric conductivity (EC) value 0.2 mS/cm, organic matter 40.39~54.05 g·kg−1, total nitrogen and total phosphorus of 1.67~1.91 g·kg−1 and 0.95~1.20 g·kg−1, respectively, alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen 139.75~154.69 mg·kg−1, and available phosphorus 137~224 mg·kg−1.

Seleniferous red soils cover a large area in the southern part of China. These agricultural soils are enriched in selenium (Se), heavy metals, and rare earth elements and have been cultivated for more than 1000 years for rice production without any consideration of the effects of selenium, heavy metals, and rare earth element bioaccumulation in the food plants produced. To address this knowledge gap, this study focuses on the investigation of Se, heavy metals, and rare earth elements within soils and plants in the region. The rice (Oryza spp.) plants studied were grown in the Gutian (GT), Gechuan (GC), and Pengkou (PK) villages in Lianchen (LC) County, Fujian Province. The surface soils and harvested rice tissues were collected to determine the Se, Cd, Zn, Pb, La, Ce, and Nd concentrations in the soils and plant tissues. Different rice cultivars possessed various potentials for elemental accumulation. Generally, rice plant tissues accumulated certain amounts of these elements; however, the elemental concentrations found in rice grain were within the acceptable ranges stipulated by the National Security Standard of Food. The Hongbaoshi (HBS) Indica red rice produced in the PK village accumulated more selenium, heavy metals, and rare earth elements than those in the plant tissues of the Xinyinzhan (XYZ) and Wushansimiao (WSSM) rice cultivars because HBS had more root hairs and finer root distribution. Thus, in the interest of food safety, increased attention needs to be given to the careful selection of the optimum crop species planted in these types of seleniferous red soils.

Podrijetlo i odnosi među vrstama proučavaju se stoljećima. Kako je vrijeme prolazilo, pojavile su se mnoge nove tehnologije koje su povukle nova područja studija. Jedno od tih područja je bioinformatika, disciplina koja se bavi prikupljanjem i analizom bioloških podataka. Potpodručje bioinformatike koje se naziva filogenija usredotočuje se na odnose među organizmima. Koristi različite metode za izračunavanje razlika u genetskom materijalu vrsta, a zatim ih vizualizira u obliku filogenetskih stabala. U ovom radu implementirala sam dvije metode koje koriste udaljenosti sekvenci aminokiselina različitih podtipova HIV virusa za konstruiranje filogenetskog stabla: UPGMA i Metodu povezivanja susjeda. Udaljenost dviju sekvenci izračunata je primjenom Jukes-Cantorovog korekcijskog modela na broj vidljivih razlika. Stabla se vizualiziraju jednostavnom manipulacijom i ispisom znakova koji predstavljaju čvorove i grane. Na kraju uspoređujem svoju vizualizaciju s onom iz Biopython modula. The origin and relations between species have been studied for centuries. With the passage of time, many new technologies have emerged dragging along new fields of studies. One of those fields is bioinformatics, a discipline concerned with collecting and analyzing biological data. A subfield of bioinformatics called phylogeny focuses on relations between organisms. It uses different methods for calculating differences in the genetic material of species and then visualizes them in the form of phylogenetic trees. In this paper I have implemented two methods that use the distances of amino acid sequences of different HIV virus subtypes to construct a phylogenetic tree: UPGMA and Neighbor-Joining method. The distance of two sequences is calculated by applying Jukes-Cantor's correction model to the number of visible differences. Trees are visualized by simple manipulation and printing of characters that represent nodes and branches. In the end I compare my visualization to that of Biopython module.

CRISPR/Cas9 (hereafter Cas9)-mediated gene knockout is one of the most important tools for studying gene function. However, many genes in plants play distinct roles in different cell types. Engineering the currently used Cas9 system to achieve cell-type-specific knockout of functional genes is useful for addressing the cell-specific functions of genes. Here we employed the cell-specific promoters of the WUSCHEL RELATED HOMEOBOX 5 (WOX5), CYCLIND6;1 (CYCD6;1), and ENDODERMIS7 (EN7) genes to drive the Cas9 element, allowing tissue-specific targeting of the genes of interest. We designed the reporters to verify the tissue-specific gene knockout in vivo. Our observation of the developmental phenotypes provides strong evidence for the involvement of SCARECROW (SCR) and GIBBERELLIC ACID INSENSITIVE (GAI) in the development of quiescent center (QC) and endodermal cells. This system overcomes the limitations of traditional plant mutagenesis techniques, which often result in embryonic lethality or pleiotropic phenotypes. By allowing cell-type-specific manipulation, this system has great potential to help us better understand the spatiotemporal functions of genes during plant development.

Crop varieties differ in their ability to interact with Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR), but the genetic basis for these differences is unknown. This issue was addressed with the PGPR Azospirillum baldaniorum Sp245, using 187 wheat accessions. We screened the accessions based on the seedling colonization by the PGPR and the expression of the phenylpyruvate decarboxylase gene ppdC (for synthesis of the auxin indole-3-acetic acid), using gusA fusions. Then, the effects of the PGPR on the selected accessions stimulating Sp245 (or not) were compared in soil under stress. Finally, a genome-wide association approach was implemented to identify the quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with PGPR interaction. Overall, the ancient genotypes were more effective than the modern genotypes for Azospirillum root colonization and ppdC expression. In non-sterile soil, A. baldaniorum Sp245 improved wheat performance for three of the four PGPR-stimulating genotypes and none of the four non-PGPR-stimulating genotypes. The genome-wide association did not identify any region for root colonization but revealed 22 regions spread on 11 wheat chromosomes for ppdC expression and/or ppdC induction rate. This is the first QTL study focusing on molecular interaction with PGPR bacteria. The molecular markers identified provide the possibility to improve the capacity of modern wheat genotypes to interact with Sp245, as well as, potentially, other Azospirillum strains.

s of the World Soybean Research Conference 11 (WSRC 11), 18-23 June 2023, Vienna, Austria. Published by: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.

Cannabis sativa L. is typically propagated through micropropagation or vegetative cuttings, but the use of root-inducing hormones, such as indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), is not allowed for growing medicinal cannabis in Denmark. This study examined alternative rooting treatments, including Rhizobium rhizogenes inoculation, water-only as well as IBA treatments, in eight cannabis cultivars. PCR on root tissue suggested that 19% of R. rhizogenes-inoculated cuttings were transformed. These were derived from “Herijuana”, “Wild Thailand”, “Motherlode Kush”, and “Bruce Banner”, indicating a variation in cultivar susceptibility toward R. rhizogenes. A 100% rooting success was achieved regardless of cultivar and treatment, suggesting that alternative rooting agents are not required for efficient vegetative propagation. However, rooted cuttings differed in shoot morphology with improved shoot growth in cuttings treated with R. rhizogenes (195 ± 7 mm) or water (185 ± 7 mm) while inhibited shoot growth under IBA treatment (123 ± 6 mm). This could have advantageous economic implications should cuttings not treated with hormone reach maturity faster than those exposed to the hormone, thereby contributing to completing a full growing cycle more effectively. IBA exposure increased root length, root dry weight, and root/shoot dry weight ratio compared to cuttings treated with R. rhizogenes or water but simultaneously inhibited shoot growth compared to these.

Roots are highly plastic organs enabling plants to adapt to a changing below-ground environment. In addition to abiotic factors like nutrients or mechanical resistance, plant roots also respond to temperature variation. Below the heat stress threshold, Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings react to elevated temperature by promoting primary root growth, possibly to reach deeper soil regions with potentially better water saturation. While above-ground thermomorphogenesis is enabled by thermo-sensitive cell elongation, it was unknown how temperature modulates root growth. We here show that roots are able to sense and respond to elevated temperature independently of shoot-derived signals. This response is mediated by a yet unknown root thermosensor that employs auxin as a messenger to relay temperature signals to the cell cycle. Growth promotion is achieved primarily by increasing cell division rates in the root apical meristem, depending on de novo local auxin biosynthesis and temperature-sensitive organization of the polar auxin transport system. Hence, the primary cellular target of elevated ambient temperature differs fundamentally between root and shoot tissues, while the messenger auxin remains the same., The EMBO Journal, 42 (11), ISSN:0261-4189, ISSN:1460-2075

Inappropriate spatial distribution of canopy and roots limits further improvements to the grain yield of maize with increased planting density. We explored an integrated management practice called strip deep rotary with staggered planting (SRS) which includes comprehensive technology for both canopy layers and topsoil. Here, field experiments were conducted under two maize cropping systems (spring maize and summer maize) to evaluate the effect of SRS on the spatial distribution of the canopy and roots for maize under high planting density (90,000 plants ha−1) and to determine the physiological factors involved in yield formation. Compared with conventional management practices (no-tillage with single planting, NTS), SRS decreased the LAI of the middle to top layers while improving the light distribution of the middle and lower layers by 72.99% and 84.78%, respectively. Meanwhile, SRS increased the root dry weight density and root sap bleeding by 51.26% and 21.77%, respectively, due to the reduction in soil bulk density by an average of 5.08% in the 0–40 cm soil layer. SRS improved the SPAD in the ear and lower leaves and maximized the LAD, which was conducive to dry matter accumulation (DMA), increasing it by 14.02–24.16% compared to that of NTS. As a result, SRS increased maize grain yield by 6.71–25.44%. These results suggest that strip deep rotary combined with staggered planting noticeably optimized the distribution of light in the canopy and reduced the soil bulk density to promote root vitality and growth, to maintain canopy longevity, and to promote the accumulation of dry matter, which eventually increased the grain yield of the maize under high planting density conditions. Therefore, SRS can be considered a better choice for the sustainable high yield of maize under high-density planting conditions in the NCP and similar areas throughout the world.

[EN] CERN (Centre Europeen pour la Recherce Nucleaire) is the largest research centre for high energy physics (HEP). It ofers unique computational challenges as a result of the large amount of data generated by the large hadron collider. CERN has developed and supports a software called ROOT, which is the de facto standard for HEP data analysis. This framework ofers a high-level and easy-to-use interface called RDataFrame, which allows managing and processing large data sets. In recent years, its functionality has been extended to take advantage of distributed computing capabilities. Thanks to its declarative programming model, the user-facing API can be decoupled from the actual execution backend. This decoupling allows physical analysis to scale automatically to thousands of computational cores over various types of distributed resources. In fact, the distributed RDataFrame module already supports the use of established general industry engines such as Apache Spark or Dask. Notwithstanding the foregoing, these current solutions will not be sufcient to meet future requirements in terms of the amount of data that the new projected accelerators will generate. It is of interest, for this reason, to investigate a diferent approach, the one ofered by serverless computing. Based on a frst prototype using AWS Lambda, this work presents the creation of a new backend for RDataFrame distributed over the OSCAR tool, an open source framework that supports serverless computing. The implementation introduces new ways, relative to the AWS Lambdabased prototype, to synchronize the work of functions., Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work was supported by the research projects PID2020-113656RB-C22 (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033). Also, Grant PID2020-113126RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and Project PDC2021-120844-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR all support the research on the OSCAR software tool.

Background The prevalence of obesity is increasing in the world, and the Type II diabetes associated with obesity led researchers to seek alternative methods to treat these two chronic diseases. In the case of obesity and diabetes, changes occur in the levels of inflammatory mediators. A study was conducted to investigate the molecular mechanism of the Rheum ribes L. plant regarding obesity and inflammation. Methods and Results Differentiated 3T3-L1 mouse cell lines were used as an experimental model. A dose–response relationship was established to determine at what dose and time of treatment the R. ribes L. plant extract would act effectively. To assess expression on the transcriptional level, q-PCR analyses were performed. The primers to evaluate the expression levels of genes such as Dgat1, Lpl, Fasn, ColV, Il-6, and Mcp1, which are known to be associated with obesity and insulin resistance, inflammation, and cell skeletal restructuring was designed using NCBI sequences. 18S was chosen as the housekeeping gene for normalization. Conclusion It was found that applying 50 µg/mL and 100 µg/mL of R. ribes root extract to 3T3-L1 adipocyte cells for 24 and 48 h resulted in anti- obesity and anti-inflammatory effects on the genes examined at the transcriptional level. It is an effective study to understand the molecular mechanisms by which R. ribes, which is known to have anti-diabetic, anti-obesity and anti- inflammatory activities, and to establish a link between these activities.

High voltage electrical discharge (HVED) is an eco-friendly low-cost method based on the creation of plasma-activated water (PAW) through the release of electrical discharge in water which results in the formation of reactive particles. Recent studies have reported that such novel plasma technologies promote germination and growth but their hormonal and metabolic background is still not known. In the present work, the HVED-induced hormonal and metabolic changes were studied during the germination of wheat seedlings. Hormonal changes including abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellic acids (GAs), indol acetic acid (IAA) and jasmonic acid (JA) and the polyphenol responses were detected in the early (2nd day) and late (5th day) germination phases of wheat as well as their redistribution in shoot and root. HVED treatment significantly stimulated germination and growth both in the shoot and root. The root early response to HVED involved the upregulation of ABA and increased phaseic and ferulic acid content, while the active form of gibberellic acid (GA1) was downregulated. In the later phase (5th day of germination), HVED had a stimulatory effect on the production of benzoic and salicylic acid. The shoot showed a different response: HVED induced the synthesis of JA_Le_Ile, an active form of JA, and provoked the biosynthesis of cinnamic, p-coumaric and caffeic acid in both phases of germination. Surprisingly, in 2-day-old shoots, HVED decreased the GA20 levels, being intermediate in the synthesis of bioactive gibberellins. These HVED-provoked metabolic changes indicated a stress-related response that could contribute to germination in wheat.

Premise Evolutionary studies require solid phylogenetic frameworks, but increased volumes of phylogenomic data have revealed incongruent topologies among gene trees in many organisms both between and within genomes. Some of these incongruences indicate polytomies that may remain impossible to resolve. Here we investigate the degree of gene-tree discordance in Solanum, one of the largest flowering plant genera that includes the cultivated potato, tomato, and eggplant, as well as 24 minor crop plants. Methods A densely sampled species-level phylogeny of Solanum is built using unpublished and publicly available Sanger sequences comprising 60% of all accepted species (742 spp.) and nine regions (ITS, waxy, and seven plastid markers). The robustness of this topology is tested by examining a full plastome dataset with 140 species and a nuclear target-capture dataset with 39 species of Solanum (Angiosperms353 probe set). Results While the taxonomic framework of Solanum remained stable, gene tree conflicts and discordance between phylogenetic trees generated from the target-capture and plastome datasets were observed. The latter correspond to regions with short internodal branches, and network analysis and polytomy tests suggest the backbone is composed of three polytomies found at different evolutionary depths. The strongest area of discordance, near the crown node of Solanum, could potentially represent a hard polytomy. Conclusions We argue that incomplete lineage sorting due to rapid diversification is the most likely cause for these polytomies, and that embracing the uncertainty that underlies them is crucial to understand the evolution of large and rapidly radiating lineages.

Cây Bạc hà (Mentha arvensis L.) được xem là nguồn dược liệu quý, tiềm năng nhằm phát triển các sản phẩm chăm sóc, bảo vệ sức khỏe. Nhu cầu về cây giống có chất lượng cao ngày càng gia tăng. Để giảm chi phí, vi sinh vật có khả năng kích thích sinh trưởng thực vật có thể được sử dụng trong nhân giống như một giải pháp bền vững. Vì vậy, trong nghiên cứu này, dịch lọc vi khuẩn Bacilllus amyloliquefaciens EK2 với nồng độ IAA 1 – 5 mg/l đã được sử dụng để kích thích sự sinh trưởng của cây Bạc hà trong điều kiện in vitro. Kết quả cho thấy rằng dịch lọc vi khuẩn B. amyloliquefaciens EK2 có ảnh hưởng tích cực lên sự sinh trưởng của đốt thân cây Bạc hà in vitro. Môi trường MS½ có bổ sung dịch lọc vi khuẩn B. amyloliquefaciens EK2 với nồng độ IAA 2 mg/l phù hợp cho sự sinh trưởng với tỷ lệ bật chồi và tạo rễ 100%, số chồi phát sinh đạt 7,87 chồi/cụm, chiều cao chồi 9,43 cm, 24,87 rễ/chồi, chiều dài rễ 2,54 cm, trọng lượng tươi 665,47 mg/chồi, trọng lượng khô 50,17 mg/chồi, chlorophyll a+b 0,75 mg/g và tỷ lệ chlorophyll a/b là 1,45 sau 4 tuần nuôi cấy. Ngoài vườn ươm, cây tăng trưởng tốt, tạo rễ mới, lóng kéo dài, cây phân nhánh khi xử lý 10 ml huyền phù B. amyloliquefaciens EK2 với mật độ 108 CFU/ml. Sau 16 tuần, chiều cao cây đạt 55,58 cm, đường kính thân 4,85 mm, diện tích lá 15,27 cm2, 30,63 cành cấp I, trọng lượng thân tươi 58,96 g, trọng lượng thân khô 5,50 g, số rễ chính 8,40 rễ, chiều dài rễ 57,57 cm, trọng lượng rễ tươi 73,23 g, trọng lượng rễ khô 7,01 g, chlorophyll a+b 1,17 mg/g và tỷ lệ chlorophyll a/b là 1,34., {"references":["Mai Hải Châu, Nguyễn Thị Mai, Tường Thị Thu Hằng (2017). Ảnh hưởng của nhiệt độ và thời gian thu hoạch đến sinh trưởng và năng suất tinh dầu bạc hà (Mentha piperita L.). Tạp chí Khoa học và công nghệ lâm nghiệp số 6 – 2017","Nguyễn Anh Dũng, Nguyễn Văn Bốn, Trần Trung Dũng, Nguyễn Văn Nam, Nguyễn Đình Sỹ, Võ Thị Phương Khanh, Trần Thị Phương Hạnh, Trần Minh Định, Trịnh Thị Huyền Trang, Trương Hồng Hà, Trần Thị Huế, Nguyễn Thị Huyền, Mai Quốc Quân, Ngô Văn Anh (2020). Nghiên cứu ứng dụng các giải pháp Công nghệ Sinh học tổng hợp để phát triển hồ tiêu bền vững ở Tây Nguyên. Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục việt Nam","Đỗ Tất Lợi (2004). Những cây thuốc và vị thuốc Việt Nam. Nhà xuất bản Y học","Trần Thị Phương Hạnh, Trịnh Thị Huyền Trang (2014). Nghiên cứu vi nhân giống quang tự dưỡng cây bạc hà (Mentha arvensis L.). Tạp chí Trường ĐH Tây Nguyên, số 12, ISSN 1859-4611, 31-38","Ahmad M., Ahmad I., Hilger T.H., Nadeem S.M., Akhtar M.F., Jamil M., Hussain A., Zahir Z.A. (2018). Preliminary study on phosphate solubilizing Bacillus subtilis strain Q3 and Paenibacillus sp. strain Q6 for improving cotton growth under alkaline conditions. Peer J 6:e5122, doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5122)","Akinrinlola R. J., Yuen G. Y., Drijber R. A., and Adesemoye A. O. (2018). Evaluation of Bacillus Strains for Plant Growth Promotion and Predictability of Efficacy by In Vitro Physiological Traits. International Journal of Microbiology, Volume 2018, Article ID 5686874, doi.org/10.1155/2018/5686874","Galeotti N., Mannelli L. D. C., Mazzanti G., Bartolini A., and Ghelardini C. (2002). Menthol: a natural analgesic compound. Neuroscience Letters, vol. 322, pp. 145-148","Gomes H. T., Bartos P.M.C., Martins A. E., Oliveira S. O. D., Scherwinski-Pereira J. E. (2015). Assessment of mint (Mentha spp.) species for large-scale production of plantlets by micropropagation. Maringá, v. 37, n. 4, p. 405-410","Jeyakumar J. J., Kamaraj M., Srinivasan S., Thiruvengadam M (2014). In vitro propagation of Mentha arvensis L. and the studies of their antibacterial activities. Journal of Antimicrobials. Photon 129 (2014) 333-337","Liang C., Wu R., Han Y., Wan T., Cai Y. (2019). Optimizing Suitable Antibiotics for Bacterium Control in Micropropagation of Cherry Rootstock Using a Modified Leaf Disk Diffusion Method and E Test. Plants (Basel),16;8(3):66,doi: 10.3390/plants8030066. PMID: 30884789; PMCID: PMC6473490","Lyczko J., Piotrowski K., Kolasa K., Galek R., Szumny1 A. (2020). Mentha piperita L. Micropropagation and the Potential Influence of Plant Growth Regulators on Volatile Organic Compound Composition. Molecules, 25(11): 2652","Prakash J., & Arora N. K. (2019). Phosphate-solubilizing Bacillus sp. enhances growth, phosphorus uptake and oil yield of Mentha arvensis L. 3 Biotech, 9(4), doi: 10.1007/s13205-019-1660-5","Grunennvaldt R., Degenhardt-Goldbach J., Tomas J.D.C., Tomasi C., (2018). Bacillus megaterium: an endophytic bacteria from callus of Ilex paraguariensis with growth promotion activities. Biotecnología Vegetal, Vol. 18, No. 1: 3 - 13, enero - marzo, 2018Instituto de Biotecnología de las Plantas. UCLV. MES.eISSN 2074-8647, RNPS: 2154","Raja H. D., Arockiasamy D.I. (2008). In vitro Propagation of Mentha viridis L. from Nodal and Shoot tip Explants. Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 18(1): 1-6, doi.org/10.3329/ptcb.v18i1.3243","Santoro M. V., Cappellari L. R., Giordano W., Banchio E. (2015). Plant growth-promoting effects of native Pseudomonas strains on Mentha piperita (peppermint): an in vitro study. Plant Biology, Plant Biol (Stuttg); 17(6):1218-1226, doi: 10.1111/plb.12351. Epub 2015 Jun 22","Santoro, M. V., Zygadlo, J., Giordano W., & Banchio E. (2011). Volatile organic compounds from rhizobacteria increase biosynthesis of essential oils and growth parameters in peppermint (Mentha piperita). Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 49(10), 1177-1182","Soumare A., Diédhiou A.G., Arora N. K., Al-Ani L. K. T., Ngom M., Fall S., Hafidi M., Ouhdouch Y, Kouisni L., Sy M. O. (2021). Potential Role and Utilization of Plant Growth Promoting Microbes in Plant Tissue Culture. REVIEW article Front. Microbiol., Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants, doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.649878","Suman S. (2017). Plant tissue culture: a promising tool of quality material production with special reference to micropropagation of banana. Biochem. Cell. Arch, 17, 1–26","Verma M., Mishra J., and Arora N. K. (2019). Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria: diversity and applications in Environmental biotechnology: For sustainable future. eds. R. C. Sobti, N. K. Arora, and R. Kothari, New Delhi: Springer, 129–173"]}

Polygonatum odoratum (Mill.) Druce is an essential Chinese herb, but continuous cropping (CC) often results in a serious root rot disease, reducing the yield and quality. Phenolic acids, released through plant root exudation, are typical autotoxic substances that easily cause root rot in CC. To better understand the phenolic acid biosynthesis of P. odoratum roots in response to CC, this study performed a combined microRNA (miRNA)-seq and RNA-seq analysis. The phenolic acid contents of the first cropping (FC) soil and CC soil were determined by HPLC analysis. The results showed that CC soils contained significantly higher levels of p-coumaric acid, phenylacetate, and caffeic acid than FC soil, except for cinnamic acid and sinapic acid. Transcriptome identification and miRNA sequencing revealed 15,788 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 142 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) in roots from FC and CC plants. Among them, 28 DEGs and eight DEMs were involved in phenolic acid biosynthesis. Meanwhile, comparative transcriptome and microRNA-seq analysis demonstrated that eight miRNAs corresponding to five target DEGs related to phenolic acid synthesis were screened. Among them, ath-miR172a, ath-miR172c, novel_130, sbi-miR172f, and tcc-miR172d contributed to phenylalanine synthesis. Osa-miR528-5p and mtr-miR2673a were key miRNAs that regulate syringyl lignin biosynthesis. Nta-miR156f was closely related to the shikimate pathway. These results indicated that the key DEGs and DEMs involved in phenolic acid anabolism might play vital roles in phenolic acid secretion from roots of P. odoratum under the CC system. As a result of the study, we may have a better understanding of phenolic acid biosynthesis during CC of roots of P. odoratum.

The exploration of the functional traits of Zanthoxylum planispinum ‘dintanensis’ and Zanthoxylum amatum ‘novemfolius’ at the seedling stage may provide a scientific basis for the zoning of germplasm resources and the introduction of plant varieties. The seedlings of the above mentioned two species with an age of about 8 months were selected as the study material, and the structure, nutrients, and physiological traits of leaves and roots were determined, respectively, to reveal their survival strategies. The results demonstrated the following four key elements. (1) The leaf thickness, specific leaf area, and leaf δ15N value of Z. planispinum ‘dintanensis’ were significantly higher than those of Z. amatum ‘novemfolius’ (p < 0.05). However, the root diameter and Ca content showed the opposite results, and the other traits were not significantly different. (2) Leaf functional traits except Ca, as well as specific root length, and root P, Ca, and physiological traits had strong dominant effects on the functional trait system. (3) Among the main functional traits, leaf K and root P preferred environmental selection, leaf C, N, and P favored stable inheritance, and specific leaf area, leaf δ15N, and root Ca were affected by varieties. (4) There were significant synergies (promotion) and trade-offs (inhibition) between the functional traits, and the leaves and the root system were closely correlated. It is speculated that Z. planispinum ‘dintanensis’ may have a stronger defense system. Its leaves are mainly related to growth and defense functions, and its roots are mainly related to the regulation of functions.

[EN] The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has generated a vast amount of information from physics events, reaching peaks of TB of data per day which are then sent to large storage facilities. Traditionally, data processing workflows in the High Energy Physics (HEP) field have leveraged grid computing resources. In this context, users have been responsible for manually parallelising the analysis, sending tasks to computing nodes and aggregating the partial results. Analysis environments in this field have had a common building block in the ROOT software framework. This is the de facto standard tool for storing, processing and visualising HEP data. ROOT offers a modern analysis tool called RDataFrame, which can parallelise computations from a single machine to a distributed cluster while hiding most of the scheduling and result aggregation complexity from users. This is currently done by leveraging Apache Spark as the distributed execution engine, but other alternatives are being explored by HEP research groups. Notably, Dask has rapidly gained popularity thanks to its ability to interface with batch queuing systems, widespread in HEP grid computing facilities. Furthermore, future upgrades of the LHC are expected to bring a dramatic increase in data volumes. This paper presents a novel implementation of the Dask backend for the distributed RDataFrame tool in order to address the aforementioned future trends. The scalability of the tool with both the new backend and the already available Spark backend is demonstrated for the first time on more than two thousand cores, testing a real HEP analysis., Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work benefited from the support of grant PID2020-113656RBC22 funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Spain) MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.

Root growth and development is an important indicator of root-zone hypoxia tolerance in rice. Melatonin has been suggested to function as a crucial regulator in modulating root growth and improving plant abiotic stress resistance. To explore the role and potential mechanism of melatonin in regulating the root growth under root-zone hypoxia stress, rice seedlings were treated with hypoxia (oxygen level at 0.9–2.1 mg·L−1), combined with or without a 20 μmol·L−1 melatonin pretreatment under a hydroponic condition. The results showed that the exogenous application of melatonin significantly alleviated the inhibition of the rice root growth that was induced by the hypoxia stress. The morphological–phenotypic analyses showed that after the melatonin pretreatment, the primary root length, lateral root length, and lateral root density increased by 11.6%, 8.2%, and 36.8%, respectively, under hypoxia stress. The physiological–biochemical analyses showed that the exogenous melatonin significantly increased the root activity and O2 influx in the root meristem zone under hypoxia stress to 1.5 times that observed in the hypoxia stress group. The melatonin pretreatment significantly improved the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and decreased the accumulation of superoxide anions (O2•−) in the seedling roots, whereas it increased the content of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) under hypoxia stress. The exogenous melatonin pretreatment significantly increased the content of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) by 51.5% in the rice roots compared to the plants without melatonin pretreatment under hypoxia stress. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses revealed that the melatonin pretreatment induced the expression of OsPIN1a~1d, OsPIN8, OsPIN9, OsAUX1, OsARF19, and OsGH3-2 in the rice seedling roots under aerated conditions, whereas it only obviously upregulated the expression of OsPIN1b, OsPIN2, and OsGH3-2 under hypoxia stress. These results indicate that melatonin positively regulates root growth and development under hypoxia stress, through improving the antioxidant system and directly or indirectly activating the auxin signaling pathway. This study demonstrates the important role of melatonin to modulate root growth under hypoxia stress, providing a new strategy for improving hypoxia tolerance.

Water lilies (Nymphaea L.) are ancient angiosperms that can be cultivated in both fresh and brackish water. Water lily plants have adapted morphologically and physiologically to the aqueous environment. Nonetheless, little is known about the regulatory mechanisms that enable water lily to acclimate to saline conditions, restricting its production and distribution. To illustrate the role of roots in water lily salinity tolerance, we investigated the adaptive regulation of the water lily root system under high salinity. Aspects of its root architecture, including root length, surface area, volume, and tip number, were significantly reduced by salt stress. Transcriptome sequencing showed that 120 genes were upregulated and 1214 genes were downregulated under salt stress. The differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in oxidoreductase activity, structural molecule activity, and transmembrane transporter activity. Most ion transporter genes were downregulated, suggesting that water lily may partially close ion channels and/or transporters to avoid excessive ion accumulation or ion imbalance under long-term salt stress. Genes related to NO3− transport were both up- and downregulated, whereas genes related to ammonium transport were uniformly downregulated, suggesting that transcriptional changes may play a role in balancing nitrogen metabolism under long-term saline conditions. The roots showed relatively high concentrations of Na+ and had the ability to hyper-accumulate Na+ under salt stress. These findings provide insight into the regulatory mechanisms that enable water lily roots to tolerate salinity and lay a foundation for the breeding of salt-tolerant cultivars.

Orthodontic miniscrews (OM) are widely used in modern orthodontic clinical practice to improve skeletal anchorage and have a high safety profile. A complication at the time of OM insertion is tooth root perforation or periodontal ligament trauma. Rarely, OM injury can cause permanent damage, such as ankylosis, osteosclerosis, and loss of tooth vitality. The aim of this work was to analyze potential risks and dental complications associated with the use of OMs. A search of the PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Scopus databases was conducted without a time limit using the keywords “orthodontic mini-screw” and “dental damage”, resulting in 99 studies. After screening and eligibility, including articles obtained through a citation search, 13 articles were selected. Four studies revealed accidental injuries caused by OM. Most of the damage was localized at the root level and resolved spontaneously with restorative cement formation after prompt removal of the OM, while the pain disappeared. In some cases, irreversible nerve damage, extensive lesions to the dentin–pulp complex, and refractory periapical periodontitis occurred, requiring endodontic and/or surgical treatment. The choice of insertion site was the most important element to be evaluated during the application of OMs.

Mitochondria are responsible for energy generation, as well as key metabolic and signaling pathways, and thus affect the entire developmental process of plants as well as their responses to stress. In metazoans, mitochondrial transcription termination factors (mTERFs) are known to regulate mitochondrial transcription. mTERFs have also been discovered in plants, but only a few of these proteins have been explored for their biological functions. Here, we report a role in root growth for mitochondria-associated protein AhmTERF1 in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.). Overexpressing AhmTERF1 significantly stimulated the growth of peanut hairy roots and transgenic Arabidopsis. Surprisingly, AhmTERF1 is predominantly expressed in the root meristem where it increases mitochondrial abundance. AhmTERF1 binding to mtDNA was enriched in the RRN18 and RRN26 regions, suggesting it is related to the accumulation of mitochondrial ribosomes. Peanut is one of the main oil crops and the important source of edible oil and AhmTERF1 likely affects agronomic traits related to root growth in different peanut cultivars. We propose that peanut AhmTERF1 is an important protein for root growth due to its role in regulating mitochondrial abundance.

We conducted a genome-wide transcriptomic analysis of three drought tolerant and sensitive genotypes of common bean to examine their transcriptional responses to terminal drought stress. We then conducted pairwise comparisons between the root and leaf transcriptomes from the resulting tissue based on combined transcriptomic data from the tolerant and sensitive genotypes. Our transcriptomic data revealed that 491 (6.4%) DEGs (differentially expressed genes) were upregulated in tolerant genotypes, whereas they were downregulated in sensitive genotypes; likewise, 396 (5.1%) DEGs upregulated in sensitive genotypes were downregulated in tolerant genotypes. Several transcription factors, heat shock proteins, and chaperones were identified in the study. Several DEGs in drought DB (data Base) overlapped between genotypes. The GO (gene ontology) terms for biological processes showed upregulation of DEGs in tolerant genotypes for sulfate and drug transmembrane transport when compared to sensitive genotypes. A GO term for cellular components enriched with upregulated DEGs for the apoplast in tolerant genotypes. These results substantiated the temporal pattern of root growth (elongation and initiation of root growth), and ABA-mediated drought response in tolerant genotypes. KEGG (kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes) analysis revealed an upregulation of MAPK (mitogen activated protein kinase) signaling pathways and plant hormone signaling pathways in tolerant genotypes. As a result of this study, it will be possible to uncover the molecular mechanisms of drought tolerance in response to terminal drought stress in the field. Further, genome-wide transcriptomic analysis of both tolerant and sensitive genotypes will assist us in identifying potential genes that may contribute to improving drought tolerance in the common bean.

trans-Cinnamic acid is a phenolic compound widely studied in plant metabolism due to its importance in regulating different plant processes. Previous studies on maize plants showed that this compound could affect plant growth and causes metabolic changes in the leaves when applied. However, its effects on root metabolism are not well known. This study analyses the short-term effect of trans-cinnamic acid on the morphology of vascular bundle elements and metabolism in maize roots. At short times (between 6 and 12 h), there is a reduction in the content of many amino acids which may be associated with the altered nitrogen uptake observed in earlier work. In addition, the compound caused an alteration of the vascular bundles at 48 h and seemed to have changed the metabolism in roots to favor lignin and galactose synthesis. The results obtained complement those previously carried out on maize plants, demonstrating that in the short term trans-cinnamic acid can trigger stress-coping processes in the treated plants.

Root anatomical phenotypes present a promising yet underexploited avenue to deliver major improvements in yield and climate resilience of crops by improving water and nutrient uptake. For instance, the formation of root cortical aerenchyma (RCA) significantly increases soil exploration and resource capture by reducing the metabolic costs of root tissue. A key bottleneck in studying such phenotypes has been the lack of robust high-throughput anatomical phenotyping platforms. We exploited a phenotyping approach based on laser ablation tomography, termed Anatomics , to quantify variation in RCA formation of 436 diverse maize lines in the field. Results revealed a significant and heritable variation for RCA formation. Genome-wide association studies identified a single-nucleotide polymorphism mapping to a root cortex-expressed gene-encoding transcription factor bHLH121. Functional studies identified that the bHLH121 Mu transposon mutant line and CRISPR/Cas9 loss-of-function mutant line showed reduced RCA formation, whereas an overexpression line exhibited significantly greater RCA formation when compared to the wild-type line. Characterization of these lines under suboptimal water and nitrogen availability in multiple soil environments revealed that bHLH121 is required for RCA formation developmentally as well as under studied abiotic stress. Overall functional validation of the bHLH121 gene’s importance in RCA formation provides a functional marker to select varieties with improved soil exploration and thus yield under suboptimal conditions.

I detta kandidatarbete genomförs en rigorös analys av tidigare experiment och behandlar effekterna av laserpulser på droppformeringen vid UPTS (Uppsala Pellet Test Station). Analysen består av att undersöka olika data som registrerats av både LineScan- och CCD-kameror och identifiera korrelationer mellan olika parametrar, samt utforska hur de påverkar droppformeringen och droppkvalitén. De varierande parametrarna var höjden på både STR-lasern och CCD-kameran, fördröjningen mellan laserpulserna och vibrationerna hos munstycket, pulslängden och intensiteten hos lasern. De identifierade korrelationerna var mellan olika pulslängder och viktade x-positionen, x-bredden, tidslinjerna mellan pelleterna och pelletstrålens 2D-profil. Dessutom hittades en korrelation mellan fördröjningen och den viktade x-positionen för pelleterna. För de andra parametrarna var det svårt att bekräfta korrelationer på grund av det stokastiska beteendet hos pelleterna.

The constituents of the hydroethanolic extract ofAzadiractaindicaroot were investigated using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOOF-MSE). Acute toxicity was evaluated in an experimental animal model. We investigated the antibacterial activities ofA. indicaroots againstSalmonella typhimuriumandStaphylococcus aureusand the antifungal activities against strains ofTrichophyton rubrum, Candida albicansandCandida tropicalis. We identified nine secondary metabolites in the hydroethanolic extract by UPLC-QTOOF-MSE. The extract was highly effective in inhibiting the growth of T. rubrum strains, so it can be effective in combating the dermatophyte tested,but it had no inhibition potential on any bacterial strains orCandidaspecies evaluated. It was possible to infer that the extract had no acute toxicity in relation to the animal model Danio rerio. Therefore, since neem has a high bioactive potential and adapts well to the climate of semiarid regions, growing this species could become a source of income for farmers by its use to produce naturals fungicide and drug, as alternatives to conventional products, which can cause microbiological resistance and/or are toxic to the environment, besides being expensive. RESUMO: Os constituintes do extrato hidroetanólico da raiz deA. indicaforam investigados por cromatografia líquida de ultra-alta performance acoplada à espectrometria de massas do tipo quadrupolo-tempo de voo (UPLC-QTOOF-MSE). A toxicidade aguda foi avaliada em modelo animal. Investigamos as atividades antibacterianas contra Salmonella typhimuriumeStaphylococcus aureuse as atividades antifúngicas contra cepas deTrichophyton rubrum, Candida albicanseCandida tropicalis. Identificamos nove metabólitos secundários no extrato etanólico por UPLC-QTOOF-MSE. O extrato foi altamente eficaz na inibição do crescimento de cepas de T. rubrum, podendo ser eficaz no combate ao dermatofito avaliado, mas não apresentou potencial de inibição em nenhuma cepa bacteriana ou espécies deCandidaavaliadas. Também foi possível inferir que o extrato não apresentou toxicidade aguda em relação ao modelo animalDanio rerio. Portanto, como o Neem tem alto potencial bioativo e se adapta bem ao clima das regiões semiáridas, o cultivo dessa espécie pode se tornar uma fonte de renda para os agricultores a partir da utilização da planta para produção de fungicida e/ou fármaco naturais como alternativa aos produtos convencionais, que podem causar resistência microbiológica e/ou são tóxicas ao meio ambiente, além de serem caros.

Cannabis sativa L. is typically propagated through micropropagation or vegetative cuttings, but the use of root-inducing hormones, such as indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), is not allowed for growing medicinal cannabis in Denmark. This study examined alternative rooting treatments, including Rhizobium rhizogenes inoculation, water-only as well as IBA treatments, in eight cannabis cultivars. PCR on root tissue suggested that 19% of R. rhizogenes-inoculated cuttings were transformed. These were derived from “Herijuana”, “Wild Thailand”, “Motherlode Kush”, and “Bruce Banner”, indicating a variation in cultivar susceptibility toward R. rhizogenes. A 100% rooting success was achieved regardless of cultivar and treatment, suggesting that alternative rooting agents are not required for efficient vegetative propagation. However, rooted cuttings differed in shoot morphology with improved shoot growth in cuttings treated with R. rhizogenes (195 ± 7 mm) or water (185 ± 7 mm) while inhibited shoot growth under IBA treatment (123 ± 6 mm). This could have advantageous economic implications should cuttings not treated with hormone reach maturity faster than those exposed to the hormone, thereby contributing to completing a full growing cycle more effectively. IBA exposure increased root length, root dry weight, and root/shoot dry weight ratio compared to cuttings treated with R. rhizogenes or water but simultaneously inhibited shoot growth compared to these.

The aim of this project was to develop an updated event selection procedure and toevaluate the performance of the procedure for the p̅p->Λ̄Λ reaction using the latestversion of the experiment software, PandaRoot, which is an offline software created forthe needs of the Panda experiment. The written algorithm was checked by comparingthe reconstructed kinematic quantities of the final and composited particles with thekinematic quantities of true particles, and by comparing our results with the resultsobtained using the previous version of PandaRoot. As a result, we got that the recon-structed particles are in very good agreement with true particles, and with the resultfrom the previous version of PandaRoot.

Receptors that distinguish the multitude of microbes surrounding plants in the environment enable dynamic responses to the biotic and abiotic conditions encountered. In this study, we identify and characterise a glycan receptor kinase, EPR3a, closely related to the exopolysaccharide receptor EPR3. Epr3a is up-regulated in roots colonised by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and is able to bind glucans with a branching pattern characteristic of surface-exposed fungal glucans. Expression studies with cellular resolution show localised activation of the Epr3a promoter in cortical root cells containing arbuscules. Fungal infection and intracellular arbuscule formation are reduced in epr3a mutants. In vitro, the EPR3a ectodomain binds cell wall glucans in affinity gel electrophoresis assays. In microscale thermophoresis (MST) assays, rhizobial exopolysaccharide binding is detected with affinities comparable to those observed for EPR3, and both EPR3a and EPR3 bind a well-defined β-1,3/β-1,6 decasaccharide derived from exopolysaccharides of endophytic and pathogenic fungi. Both EPR3a and EPR3 function in the intracellular accommodation of microbes. However, contrasting expression patterns and divergent ligand affinities result in distinct functions in AM colonisation and rhizobial infection in Lotus japonicus. The presence of Epr3a and Epr3 genes in both eudicot and monocot plant genomes suggest a conserved function of these receptor kinases in glycan perception.

The longevity and high activity of the cork cambium (or phellogen) from Quercus suber L. (cork oak) are the cornerstones for the sustainable exploitation of a unique raw material. Cork oak is a symbolic model to study cork development and cell wall suberization, yet most genetic and molecular studies on these topics have targeted other model plants. In this study, we explored the potential of taproots as a model system to study phellem development and suberization in cork oak, thereby avoiding the time constraints imposed when studying whole plants. In roots, suberin deposition is found in mature endodermis cells during primary development and in phellem cells during secondary development. By investigating the spatiotemporal characteristics of both endodermis and phellem suberization in young seedling taproots, we demonstrated that secondary growth and phellogen activity are initiated very early in cork oak taproots (approx. 8 days after sowing). We further compared the transcriptomic profile of root segments undergoing primary (PD) and secondary development (SD) and identified multiple candidate genes with predicted roles in cell wall modifications, mainly lignification and suberization, in addition to several regulatory genes, particularly transcription factor- and hormone-related genes. Our results indicate that the molecular regulation of suberization and secondary development in cork oak roots is relatively conserved with other species. The provided morphological characterization creates new opportunities to allow a faster assessment of phellogen activity (as compared with studies using stem tissues) and to tackle fundamental questions regarding its regulation.

Invasive species can shift the composition of key soil microbial groups, thus creating novel soil microbial communities. To better understand the biological drivers of invasion, we studied plant-microbial interactions in species of the Brachypodium distachyon complex, a model system for functional genomic studies of temperate grasses and bioenergy crops. While Brachypodium hybridum invasion in California is in an incipient stage, threatening natural and agricultural systems, its diploid progenitor species B. distachyon is not invasive in California. We investigated the root, soil, and rhizosphere bacterial composition of Brachypodium hybridum in both its native and invaded range, and of B. distachyon in the native range. We used high-throughput, amplicon sequencing to evaluate if the bacteria associated with these plants differ, and whether biotic controls may be driving B. hybridum invasion. Bacterial community composition of B. hybridum differed based on provenance (native or invaded range) for root, rhizosphere, and bulk soils, as did the abundance of dominant bacterial taxa. Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria and Bacillus spp. (species) were significantly more abundant in B. hybridum roots from the invaded range, whereas Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Erwinia and Pseudomonas were more abundant in the native range roots. Brachypodium hybridum forms novel biotic interactions with a diverse suite of rhizosphere microbes from the invaded range, which may not exert a similar influence within its native range, ostensibly contributing to B. hybridum’s invasiveness. These associated plant microbiomes could inform future management approaches for B. hybridum in its invaded range and could be key to understanding, predicting, and preventing future plant invasions., Funding was provided from USDA NIFA in Seed Grant CA-R-PPA-5101-CG and Hatch Grant CA-R-PPA-5093-H to EA, and Spanish Ministry of Science Grants CGL2016-79790-P and PID2019-108195GB-I00 and Spanish Aragon Government and European Social Found Bioflora A01-20R Grant to PC.

Seeds of five Bulgarian cotton varieties, stored for one and two years, were subjected to five pre-sowing electromagnetic treatments with different intensity and duration of exposure. It was found that the selected values of controllable factors had stimulating effect on the total length and total mass of sprout and root. The total length of sprout and root increased by 7.5-16.4% (p

In this study, the change in the content of the macro and micro elements in the growing wild grazing plant of Calligonum comosum was tracked at the Research and Training Station of King Faisal University in Al-Hassa Governorate, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mineral elements were estimated in aerial parts (plant as a whole, leaves and stem) from January-April 2020. The results showed that the concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the plant as a whole plant > leaves > roots, while the concentrations of calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc and copper elements in the leaves was higher than other parts whereas the concentrations of these elements of whole plant were higher than the concentrations in roots. The results showed that the plant contents of nitrogen, potassium and zinc were the highest in March, while the concentrations of phosphorus, calcium, iron and copper were in February. The concentrations of magnesium, manganese and copper was the highest in January and April respectively. The values ​​of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc and copper ranged from 11.1 to 18.4 g kg−1, 4.17–2.33 g kg−1, 13.73–18.97 g kg−1, 24.50–28.90 g kg−1, 10.40–12.30 gkg−1, 1500–1677 mg kg−1, 45.45–49.29 mg kg−1, 70.70–177.23 mg kg−1, 16.78–73.46 mg kg−1, respectively. Furthermore, the results exhibited that the lowest values of the elements appeared in the plant roots in April. As well as, the distribution of the elements followed the normal life curve from January to April. Besides that, the evaluated elements satisfy the needs of the grazing animals' life in which this type of plant grows.

The Northeast Plain is the largest maize production area in China, and drip irrigation has recently been proposed to cope with the effects of frequent droughts and to improve water use efficiency (WUE). In order to develop an efficient and environmentally friendly irrigation system, drip irrigation experiments were conducted in 2016–2018 incorporating different soil water conservation measures as follows: (1) drip irrigation under plastic film mulch (PI), (2) drip irrigation under biodegradable film mulch (BI), (3) drip irrigation incorporating straw returning (SI), and (4) drip irrigation with the tape buried at a shallow soil depth (OI); with furrow irrigation (FI) used as the control. The results showed that PI and BI gave the highest maize yield, as well as the highest WUE and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) because of the higher root length density (RLD) and better heat conditions during the vegetative stage. But compared with BI, PI consumed more soil water in the 20–60 and 60–100 cm soil layers, and accelerated the progress of root and leaf senescence due to a larger root system in the top 0–20 cm soil layer and a higher soil temperature during the reproductive stage. SI was effective in improving soil water and nitrate contents, and promoted RLD in deeper soil layers, thereby maintaining higher physiological activity during the reproductive stage. FI resulted in higher nitrate levels in the deep 60–100 cm soil layer, which increased the risk of nitrogen losses by leaching compared with the drip irrigation treatments. RLD in the 0–20 cm soil layer was highly positively correlated with yield, WUE and NUE (P

There is no report on the effect of the length of Jizhen 2 interstock on the growth and fruit quality of Tianhong 2 apple trees, which are usually grown in Baoding, Hebei Province, China. We surveyed the tree size, branch types, fruit set, fruit quality and root parameters of 3–5-year-old ‘Tianhong 2/Jizhen 2/Malus × robusta Rehder’ apple trees, to study the effects of dwarfing interstock length on the growth of the tree’s aboveground parts and roots, as well as fruit yield and quality. The tree height and the stem girths of the interstock and scion decreased as interstock length increased, and the dwarfing degree of the apple trees gradually increased. Trees with an interstock length of 30 cm had the fewest long branches, the most short branches, and the greatest proportion of short branches. An interstock length of 30 cm provided the highest fruit-set rate, the highest yield per tree and per unit cross-sectional area, the highest single fruit weight, the highest soluble: acid ratio, the highest color brightness (L*), and better red skin coloration (higher a*) of the fruit skin. The root length density, root surface area density, and root volume density exhibited two growth peaks in a year, during the slow growth period when spring and autumn shoots are stopped. Root length density, root surface area density, and root volume density decreased with interstock length. Root death peaked during the growth peak period of the autumn shoots, and root length density of dead roots and root turnover frequencyincreased with the interstock length. A 30 cm length was the most suitable for the Tianhong 2 apple trees when the Jizhen 2 was used as the interstock.

In this paper, we consider a natural generalization of the concept of order of an element in a group: an element $g \in G$ is said to have order $k$ in a subgroup $H$ of $G$ (\resp \wrt a coset $Hu$) if $k$ is the first strictly positive integer such that $g^k \in H$ (\resp $g^k \in Hu$). We study this notion and its algorithmic properties in the realm of free groups and some related families. Both positive and negative (algorithmic) results emerge in this setting. On the positive side, among other results, we prove that the order of elements, the set of orders (called spectrum), and the set of preorders (\ie the set of elements of a given order) \wrt finitely generated subgroups are always computable in free and free times free-abelian groups. On the negative side, we provide examples of groups and subgroups having essentially any subset of natural numbers as relative spectrum; in particular, non-recursive and even non-recursively enumerable sets of natural numbers. Also, we take advantage of Mikhailova's construction to see that the spectrum membership problem is unsolvable for direct products of nonabelian free groups., Comment: 44 pages, 6 figures

Soil salinity negatively affects the growth, development and yield of plants. Acidification of the cytosol in cells of glycophytes was reported under salinity, while various types of plant cells can have a specific reaction under the same conditions. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing the pH sensor Pt-GFP in the cytosol were used in this work for determination of morphometric changes and cytosolic pH changes in the superficial cells of Arabidopsis roots under chronic salinity in vitro. We did not find changes in the length of the root cap cells, while there was a decrease in the length of the differentiation zone under 50, 75 mM NaCl and the size of the epidermal cells of the differentiation zone under 75 mM NaCl. The most significant changes of cytosolic pH to chronic salinity was noted in columella (decrease by 1 pH unit at 75 mM NaCl) and epidermal cells of the differentiation zone (decrease by 0.6 and 0.4 pH units at 50 and 75 mM NaCl, respectively). In developed lateral root cap cells, acidification of cytosol by 0.4 units occurred only under 75 mM NaCl in the medium. In poorly differentiated lateral cells of the root cap, there were no changes in pH under chronic salinity.

Transitioning toward minimum or no tillage is challenging for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), due to the possible yield penalties during the initial years of a transition. Understanding the early impacts of such transitions is crucial in a cash crop such as cotton, on which farmers rely for their income, and is necessary to inform agroecological strategies to cope with both these challenges. This study explores the combined impact of minimum or no tillage and fertilizer regimes on agronomic parameters of cotton–cereal rotations, as practiced by smallholder farmers in Benin. A multilocation experiment was set up in three different agroclimatic zones, namely, Savalou (7°55′41″, 1°58′32″), Okpara (2°48′15″, 7°72′07″), and Soaodou (10°28′33″, 1°98′33″). In each area, the experiment was laid out as a split-plot design with four replications (main plot = soil preparation; subplot = fertilizers regimes). The treatments consisted of three different forms of soil preparation, namely, tillage, strip tillage, and no tillage or direct seeding, and four fertilization regimes, namely, basal mineral fertilizers (BMF, 200 kg ha1 of N14P18K18S6B1 + 50 kg ha1 of urea), BMF + A (200 kg ha1 of calcium phosphate amendment, 22P2O5-43CaO−4S), BMF + C (400 kg ha1 of compost), and BMF + A + C. At all sites, direct seeding led to lower below-ground biomass growth and seed cotton yields compared with conventional tillage in an early transition to conservation agriculture starting from degraded soils (2% to 25%). Weak rooting under direct seeding resulted in lower cotton yields compared with that under tillage (−12%) and strip tillage (−15%). At 45 and 90 days after emergence, cotton plants were shorter under direct seeding compared with tillage (−9% and −13%, respectively) and strip tillage (−23% and −6%, respectively). Fertilizer regimes affected seed cotton yields differently across sites and treatments, with marginal responses within soil preparation methods, but they contributed to increase yield differences between conventional and no tillage. Considering the need for sustainable practices, in the context of degraded soils and poor productivity, such limited yield penalties under CA appear to be a reasonable trade-off in the first year of a transition. Alternatively, the results from the first year of this experiment, which is meant to continue for another 5 years, suggest that strip tillage could be a sensible way to initialize a transition, without initial yield penalties, toward more sustainable soil management.

Transitioning toward minimum or no tillage is challenging for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), due to the possible yield penalties during the initial years of a transition. Understanding the early impacts of such transitions is crucial in a cash crop such as cotton, on which farmers rely for their income, and is necessary to inform agroecological strategies to cope with both these challenges. This study explores the combined impact of minimum or no tillage and fertilizer regimes on agronomic parameters of cotton–cereal rotations, as practiced by smallholder farmers in Benin. A multilocation experiment was set up in three different agroclimatic zones, namely, Savalou (7°55′41″, 1°58′32″), Okpara (2°48′15″, 7°72′07″), and Soaodou (10°28′33″, 1°98′33″). In each area, the experiment was laid out as a split-plot design with four replications (main plot = soil preparation; subplot = fertilizers regimes). The treatments consisted of three different forms of soil preparation, namely, tillage, strip tillage, and no tillage or direct seeding, and four fertilization regimes, namely, basal mineral fertilizers (BMF, 200 kg ha1 of N14P18K18S6B1 + 50 kg ha1 of urea), BMF + A (200 kg ha1 of calcium phosphate amendment, 22P2O5-43CaO−4S), BMF + C (400 kg ha1 of compost), and BMF + A + C. At all sites, direct seeding led to lower below-ground biomass growth and seed cotton yields compared with conventional tillage in an early transition to conservation agriculture starting from degraded soils (2% to 25%). Weak rooting under direct seeding resulted in lower cotton yields compared with that under tillage (−12%) and strip tillage (−15%). At 45 and 90 days after emergence, cotton plants were shorter under direct seeding compared with tillage (−9% and −13%, respectively) and strip tillage (−23% and −6%, respectively). Fertilizer regimes affected seed cotton yields differently across sites and treatments, with marginal responses within soil preparation methods, but they contributed to increase yield differences between conventional and no tillage. Considering the need for sustainable practices, in the context of degraded soils and poor productivity, such limited yield penalties under CA appear to be a reasonable trade-off in the first year of a transition. Alternatively, the results from the first year of this experiment, which is meant to continue for another 5 years, suggest that strip tillage could be a sensible way to initialize a transition, without initial yield penalties, toward more sustainable soil management.

Transitioning toward minimum or no tillage is challenging for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), due to the possible yield penalties during the initial years of a transition. Understanding the early impacts of such transitions is crucial in a cash crop such as cotton, on which farmers rely for their income, and is necessary to inform agroecological strategies to cope with both these challenges. This study explores the combined impact of minimum or no tillage and fertilizer regimes on agronomic parameters of cotton–cereal rotations, as practiced by smallholder farmers in Benin. A multilocation experiment was set up in three different agroclimatic zones, namely, Savalou (7°55′41″, 1°58′32″), Okpara (2°48′15″, 7°72′07″), and Soaodou (10°28′33″, 1°98′33″). In each area, the experiment was laid out as a split-plot design with four replications (main plot = soil preparation; subplot = fertilizers regimes). The treatments consisted of three different forms of soil preparation, namely, tillage, strip tillage, and no tillage or direct seeding, and four fertilization regimes, namely, basal mineral fertilizers (BMF, 200 kg ha1 of N14P18K18S6B1 + 50 kg ha1 of urea), BMF + A (200 kg ha1 of calcium phosphate amendment, 22P2O5-43CaO−4S), BMF + C (400 kg ha1 of compost), and BMF + A + C. At all sites, direct seeding led to lower below-ground biomass growth and seed cotton yields compared with conventional tillage in an early transition to conservation agriculture starting from degraded soils (2% to 25%). Weak rooting under direct seeding resulted in lower cotton yields compared with that under tillage (−12%) and strip tillage (−15%). At 45 and 90 days after emergence, cotton plants were shorter under direct seeding compared with tillage (−9% and −13%, respectively) and strip tillage (−23% and −6%, respectively). Fertilizer regimes affected seed cotton yields differently across sites and treatments, with marginal responses within soil preparation methods, but they contributed to increase yield differences between conventional and no tillage. Considering the need for sustainable practices, in the context of degraded soils and poor productivity, such limited yield penalties under CA appear to be a reasonable trade-off in the first year of a transition. Alternatively, the results from the first year of this experiment, which is meant to continue for another 5 years, suggest that strip tillage could be a sensible way to initialize a transition, without initial yield penalties, toward more sustainable soil management.

Mechanical impedance constrains root growth in most soils. Crop cultivation changed the impedance characteristics of native soils, through topsoil erosion, loss of organic matter, disruption of soil structure, and loss of biopores. Increasing adoption of Conservation Agriculture in high-input agroecosystems is returning cultivated soils to the soil impedance characteristics of native soils, but in the low-input agroecosystems characteristic of developing nations, ongoing soil degradation is generating more challenging environments for root growth. We propose that root phenotypes have evolved to adapt to the altered impedance characteristics of cultivated soil during crop domestication. The diverging trajectories of soils under Conservation Agriculture and low-input agroecosystems has implications for strategies to develop crops to meet global needs under climate change. We present several root ideotypes as breeding targets under the impedance regimes of both high-input and low-input agroecosystems, as well as a set of root phenotypes that should be useful in both scenarios. We argue that a 'whole plant in whole soil' perspective will be useful in guiding the development of future crops for future soils. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Soybean roots are colonized and nodulated by multiple strains of compatible nitrogen-fixing rhizobia primarily belonging to the Genus Bradyrhizobium. Motility towards the root and attachment to root hairs are key determinants of competitive colonization and subsequent nodulation. Bacterial surface properties and motility are known to vary with chemical composition of the culture medium, and root adhesion and nodulation occur in a soil environment rather than laboratory medium. We asked whether the nodulation-promoting factors motility, surface hydrophobicity and surface adhesion of Bradyrhizobium are affected by growth in a soil nutrient environment. B. diazoefficiens USDA 110, 126, 3384, and B. elkanii USDA 26 were grown in mineral salt medium with peptone, yeast extract and arabinose (PSY), and in a soil extracted soluble organic matter (SESOM) medium. Surface hydrophobicity was determined by partitioning into hydrocarbon, motility by transition through soft agar, and surface-exposed saccharides by lectin profiling, followed by biofilm formation and soybean root adhesion capacity of populations. SESOM-grown populations were generally less motile and more hydrophobic. They bound fewer lectins than PSY-grown populations, indicating a simpler surface saccharide profile. SESOM populations of USDA 110 did not form detectable biofilm, but showed increased binding to soy roots. Our results indicate that growth in a soil environment impacts surface properties, motility, and subsequent soy root adhesion propensity. Hence, evaluation of Bradyrhizobium for nodulation efficiency should be performed using soil from the specific field where the soybeans are to be planted, rather than laboratory culture media.

In this study, 3″ × 3″ NaI(Tl) detector, which is widely used in gamma spectroscopy, was modeled with FLUKA code, and calculations required to determine the detector's energy resolution were reported. Photon beams with isotropic distribution with 59, 81, 302, 356, 511, 662, 835, 1173, 1275, and 1332 keV energy were used as radiation sources. The photon pulse height distribution of the NaI(Tl) without influence of its energy resolution obtained with FLUKA code has been converted into a real NaI(Tl) response function, using the necessary conversion process. The photon pulse height distribution simulated in the conversion process was analyzed using the ROOT data analysis framework. The statistical errors of the simulated data were found in the range of 0.2–1.1%. When the results, obtained with FLUKA and ROOT, are compared with the literature data, it is seen that the results are in good agreement with them. Thus, the applicability of this procedure has been demonstrated for the other energy values mentioned.