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Recent work has shown that certain plants can identify their kin in competitive settings through root recognition, and react by decreasing root growth when competing with relatives. Although this may be a necessary step in kin selection, no clear associated improvement in individual or group fitness has been reported to qualify as such. We designed an experiment to address whether genetic relatedness between neighbouring plants affects individual or group fitness in artificial populations. Seeds of Lupinus angustifolius were sown in groups of siblings, groups of different genotypes from the same population and groups of genotypes from different populations. Both plants surrounded by siblings and by genotypes from the same population had lower individual fitness and produced fewer flowers and less vegetative biomass as a group. We conclude that genetic relatedness entails decreased individual and group fitness in L. angustifolius. This, together with earlier work, precludes the generalization that kin recognition may act as a widespread, major microevolutionary mechanism in plants.

Chaff lining and chaff tramlining are harvest weed seed control (HWSC) systems that involve the concentration of chaff material containing weed seed into narrow (20 to 30 cm) rows between or on the harvester wheel tracks during harvest. These lines of chaff are left intact in the fields through subsequent cropping seasons in the assumption that the chaff environment is unfavorable for weed seed survival. The chaff row environment effect on weed seed survival was examined in field studies, and chaff response studies determined the influence of increasing amounts of chaff on weed seedling emergence. The objectives of these studies were to determine the influences of (1) chaff lines on the summer–autumn seed survival of selected weed species and (2) chaff type and amount on rigid ryegrass seedling emergence. There was frequently no difference (P > 0.05) in seed survival of four weed species (rigid ryegrass, wild oat, annual sowthistle, and turnip weed) when seeds were placed beneath or beside chaff lines. In one instance, wild oat seed survival was increased (P < 0.05) when seed were placed beneath compared to beside a chaff line. The pot studies determined that increasing amounts of chaff consistently resulted in decreasing numbers of rigid ryegrass seedlings emerging through chaff material. The suppression of emergence broadly followed a linear relationship in which there was approximately a 2.0% reduction in emergence with every 1,000 kg ha–1 increase in chaff material. This relationship was consistent across wheat, barley, canola, and lupin chaff types, indicating that the physical presence of the chaff was more important than chaff type. These studies suggested that chaff lines may not affect the survival over summer–autumn of the contained weed seeds but that the subsequent emergence of weed seedlings will be restricted by high amounts of chaff (>40,000 kg ha–1). Nomenclature: Annual sowthistle; Sonchus oleraceus L.; rigid ryegrass; Lolium rigidum Gaud.; turnip weed; Rapistrum rugosum (L.) All.; wild oat Avena fatua L.; barley; Hordeum vulgare L.; canola; Brassica napus L.; lupin; Lupinus angustifolius L.; wheat; Triticum aestivum L.

Background and aims The benefits of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) for blue lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.) are well known. However, it is unclear how multiple microorganisms, other than plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, affect this legume's BNF and growth. Therefore, we evaluated the impact of mycorrhizal fungi and a yeast on growth and nutrition of nodulated blue lupin. Methods We isolated Cryptococcus laurentii from the rhizosphere of blue lupin. Nodulated L. angustifolius seedlings, treated with either C. laurentii (CL) or mycorrhizal fungi (MF) or with both symbionts (CLMF), were cultivated in sterile silica sand in a glasshouse for one month. The treatments' effects were investigated by analyzing the plants' biomass parameters, symbiotic colonization and mineral nutrition. Results The MF treatment had no effect on the plants, while growth, BNF efficiency and the nutrition of CL treated plants were improved. CLMF treated plants demonstrated increased growth and nodule relative growth rate, while utilizing nitrogen resources efficiently for growth. Conclusions Growth and nutritional physiology of L. angustifolius were affected via different mechanisms. Improved growth of CL treated plants was underpinned by increased BNF efficiency; while greater nodulation and efficient growth on nitrogen resources supported the increased biomass of CLMF treated plants.

Alkaloids represent the main antinutritional factor in lupins. The total content and qualitative composition of four major alkaloids in L. angustifolius L. were analyzed. The material included 329 accessions from the Polish collection divided into three classes of origin: wild lines, cultivars, and other man-made accessions. A very broad differentiation was found in terms of total alkaloid content—from 0.0005 to 2.8752 % of seed dry weight. In most cases, cultivars were characterized by a sharply decreased content of alkaloids, even below 0.01 % of seed dry weight. The average proportions of individual alkaloids were also very differentiated: lupanine—0.98 to 73.0 % of total alkaloid content (mean 46.4 %), 13-hydroxylupanine—15.6–71.1 % (mean 35.6 %), angustifoline—0–49.8 % (mean 15.5 %) and isolupanine—0–34.0 % (mean 2.5 %). The above mean values are probably typical for this species. In some accessions, lupanine and 13-hydroxylupanine accounted for 90–100 % of all major alkaloids. The average content of isolupanie (2.5 % of all alkaloids) allows it to be consider a major alkaloid of L. angustifolius , but quite frequently a ratio below 1 % or even its absence was stated. The three classes of origin were divided into three significantly different groups based on total alkaloid content as well as individual alkaloid content. Among wild lines, high alkaloid accessions were most numerous, but among cultivars it was low alkaloid accessions. The last class also contained numerous accessions with the lowest content of individual alkaloids. The influence of the content of individual alkaloids on total alkaloid content was also investigated in the wild lines and cultivars.

For pulse legume research to fully capitalise on developments in plant molecular genetics, a high throughput genetic transformation methodology is required. In Western Australia the dominant grain legume is Lupinus angustifolius L. (narrow leafed lupin; NLL). Standard transformation methodology utilising Agrobacterium tumefaciens on wounded NLL seedling shoot apices, in combination with two different herbicide selections (phosphinothricin and glyphosate) is time consuming, inefficient, and produces chimeric shoots that often fail to yield transgenic progeny. Investigation of hygromycin as an alternative selection in combination with expression of green fluorescent protein indicated that transformation of NLL apical cells was not the rate limiting step to achieve transgenic shoot materials. In this research it was identified that despite ready transformation, apical cells were not competent to regenerate. However a deep and broad wounding procedure to expose underlying axillary shoot and vascular cells to Agrobacterium, in combination with delayed selection proved successful, increasing initial explants transformation efficiency up to 75 % and generating axillary shoots with significant transgenic content. Based on knowledge gained from studies of plant chimeras, further subculture of these initial axillary shoots will result in development of low chimeric transgenic materials with heritable content. Furthermore, the method was also tested successfully on other Lupinus species, faba bea and field pea. These results demonstrate that development of a high yielding transformation methodology for pulse legume crops is achievable.

Kernel fibre from narrow-leafed lupin ( Lupinus angustifolius L.), exhibiting multiple health benefits as a food ingredient, suffers from undesirable formation of off-odours during storage at 20 °C. To study the impact of lipoxygenase (LOX), involved in quality changes during processing and storage in many legumes, an aliquot of the raw material was hydrothermally treated in order to inactivate LOX. By means of aroma extract dilution analyses, 25 odorants were detected to be impact compounds in both fibre preparations. Seven of them being associated with lipid oxidation were quantified during storage for one year using stable isotope dilution assay. The concentration of most odorants increased significantly ( p  ≤ 0.05) during storage, and their formation was even promoted by the previous heating step. The quantitative aroma analyses were supported by sensory analyses. Principal component analysis of the odour profile revealed clear differences in overall perception between untreated and heat-treated samples. As shown by sensory evaluation, there is a relationship between ageing and the formation of deleterious odour attributes such as fatty or rancid appearance. Most likely, non-enzymatic oxidation plays a predominant role in the evolution of lipid oxidation, implying that previous heat treatment as recommended for soybeans needs to be reconsidered for lupins.

Breeding of narrow-leafed lupins (Lupinus angustifolius L.) with a low alkaloid content, so called sweet lupins, increased the use for food and feed. Coincidentally, the reduced alkaloid content increased the susceptibility for aphid infestation. Hence, breeding of resistant cultivars is needed to prevent yield losses and reduce the application of insecticides. As a prerequisite for this, the evaluation of a diverse collection of narrow-leafed lupin genotypes is needed. Therefore, the multiplication of different aphid species, i.e., Macrosiphum albifrons, Aphis fabae, Aphis craccivora, Acyrthosiphon pisum, and Myzus persicae (all Hemiptera: Aphididae) was investigated on 46 narrow-leafed lupin genotypes under controlled conditions. Furthermore, the alkaloid composition and total content of these genotypes was analyzed, in order to get information on their influence on the susceptibility to different aphid species. Results indicated that the multiplication of the well-adapted lupin aphid (M. albifrons) is not affected by the alkaloid content. In contrast, A. fabae, A. pisum, M. persicae, and A. craccivora showed a negative correlation between aphid multiplication and alkaloid content (r = −0.493 to −0.350). However, several genotypes with a low total alkaloid content, e.g., Kalya, Bora, and Borlu, were detected on which no or only a very limited aphid multiplication was observed, indicating that not only the total content, but also the alkaloid composition is influencing aphid development. By multiple linear regression analysis, it turned out that especially 13-hydroxylupanine and 13-tigloyloxylupanine are involved in the reduced aphid multiplication rate. Respective genotypes may be the starting point for diminishing aphid susceptibility in sweet lupins.

The benefits of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) for blue lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.) are well known. However, it is unclear how multiple microorganisms, other than plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, affect this legume's BNF and growth. Therefore, we evaluated the impact of mycorrhizal fungi and a yeast on growth and nutrition of nodulated blue lupin. We isolated Cryptococcus laurentii from the rhizosphere of blue lupin. Nodulated L. angustifolius seedlings, treated with either C. laurentii (CL) or mycorrhizal fungi (MF) or with both symbionts (CLMF), were cultivated in sterile silica sand in a glasshouse for one month. The treatments' effects were investigated by analyzing the plants' biomass parameters, symbiotic colonization and mineral nutrition. The MF treatment had no effect on the plants, while growth, BNF efficiency and the nutrition of CL treated plants were improved. CLMF treated plants demonstrated increased growth and nodule relative growth rate, while utilizing nitrogen resources efficiently for growth. Growth and nutritional physiology of L. angustifolius were affected via different mechanisms. Improved growth of CL treated plants was underpinned by increased BNF efficiency; while greater nodulation and efficient growth on nitrogen resources supported the increased biomass of CLMF treated plants.

The popularity of adding pulse flours to baked goods is growing rapidly due to their recognised health benefits. In this study, increasing amounts (3, 7, 10, and 15%) of white lupin flour (Lupinus albus L.) and of protein concentrate from narrow-leaved lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.) were used as replacements for durum wheat semolina to prepare bread, and their effects on the physicochemical properties of the flour blends, as well as the technological and sensory qualities of bread, were evaluated. The addition of protein concentrate from narrow-leaved lupin and white lupin flour increased the water binding capacity and the leavening rate compared to pure semolina. A farinograph test indicated that the dough development time had a slight but significant tendency to increase with the addition of lupin flour and protein concentrate of narrow-leaved lupin, while had a negative effect on the stability of dough. The alveograph strength decreased (225, 108, and 76 × 10−4 J for dough made with semolina, 15% of protein concentrate from narrow-leaved lupin, and 15% of white lupin flour, respectively), whereas there was an upward trend in the P/L ratio. Compared to re-milled semolina, the samples with lupin flour and protein concentrate from narrow-leaved lupin had low amylase activity, with falling number values ranging from 439 s to 566 s. The addition of the two different lupin flours lowered the specific volumes of the breads (2.85, 2.39, and 1.93 cm3/g for bread made from semolina, from 15% of protein concentrate from narrow-leaved lupin, and from 15% of white lupin flour, respectively) and increased their hardness values (up to 21.34 N in the bread with 15% of protein concentrate from narrow-leaved lupin). The porosity of the loaves was diminished with the addition of the two lupin flours (range of 5–8). The sensory analysis showed that the addition of white lupin flour or protein concentrate from narrow-leaved lupin did not impart any unpleasant flavours or odours to the bread. To conclude, the use of lupin in breadmaking requires adjustments to strengthen the gluten network but does not require a deflavouring process.

Measures of phosphorus (P) in roots recovered from soil underestimate total P accumulation below-ground by crop species since they do not account for P in unrecovered (e.g., fine) root materials. super(33)P-labelling of plant root systems may allow more accurate estimation of below-ground P input by plants. Using a stem wick-feeding technique super(33)P-labelled phosphoric acid was fed in situ to canola (Brassica napus) and lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) grown in sand or loam soils in sealed pots. Recovery of super(33)P was 93 % in the plant-soil system and 7 % was sorbed to the wick. Significantly more super(33)P was allocated below-ground than to shoots for both species with 59-90 % of super(33)P measured in recovered roots plus bulk and rhizosphere soil. super(33)P in recovered roots was higher in canola than lupin regardless of soil type. The proportion of super(33)P detected in soil was greater for lupin than canola grown in sand and loam (37 and 73 % lupin, 20 and 23 % canola, respectively). Estimated total below-ground P accumulation by both species was at least twice that of recovered root P and was a greater proportion of total plant P for lupin than canola. Labelling roots using super(33)P via stem feeding can empower quantitative estimates of total below-ground plant P and root dry matter accumulation which can improve our understanding of P distribution in soil-plant systems.