Explore the vast range of titles available.

Angelica sinensis is a medicinal plant widely used to treat multiple diseases in Asia and Europe, which contains numerous active components with therapeutic value. The interaction between root and rhizosphere microorganisms is crucial for the growth and quality formation of medicinal plants. But the micro-plant-metabolite regulation patterns for A. sinensis remain largely undetermined. Here, we collected roots and rhizosphere soils from  A. sinensis  in seedling stage (M) and picking stage (G), respectively cultivated for one year and two years, generated metabolite for roots, microbiota data for rhizospheres, and conducted a comprehensive analysis. Changes in metabolic and microbial communities of  A.sinensis  over growth were distinct. The composition of rhizosphere microbes in G was dominated by proteobacteria, which had a strong correlation with the synthesis of organic acids, while in M was dominated by Actinobacteria, which had a strong correlation with the synthesis of phthalide and other organoheterocyclic compounds, flavonoids, amines, and fatty acid. Additionally, co-occurrence network analysis identified that  Arthrobacter  was found to be strongly correlated with the accumulation of senkyunolide A and n-butylidenephthalide.  JGI 0001001.H03  was found to be strongly correlated with the accumulation of chlorogenic acid. Based on rhizosphere microorganisms, this study investigated the correlation between root metabolism and rhizosphere microbiota of A. sinensis at different growth stages in traditional geoherb region, which could provide references for exploring the quality formation mechanism of A. sinensis in the future.

Supplementary lighting is frequently applied in the winter season for crop production in greenhouses. The effect of supplementary lighting on plant growth depends on the balance between assimilate production in source leaves and the overall capacity of the plants to use assimilates. This study aims at quantifying the source-sink balance and carbohydrate content of three tomato cultivars differing in fruit size, and to investigate to what extent the source/sink ratio correlates with the potential fruit size. Cultivars Komeet (large size), Capricia (medium size), and Sunstream (small size, cherry tomato) were grown from 16 August to 21 November, at similar crop management as in commercial practice. Supplementary lighting (High Pressure Sodium lamps, photosynthetic active radiation at 1 m below lamps was 162 μmol photons m(-2) s(-1); maximum 10 h per day depending on solar irradiance level) was applied from 19 September onward. Source strength was estimated from total plant growth rate using periodic destructive plant harvests in combination with the crop growth model TOMSIM. Sink strength was estimated from potential fruit growth rate which was determined from non-destructively measuring the fruit growth rate at non-limiting assimilate supply, growing only one fruit on each truss. Carbohydrate content in leaves and stems were periodically determined. During the early growth stage, 'Komeet' and 'Capricia' showed sink limitation and 'Sunstream' was close to sink limitation. During this stage reproductive organs had hardly formed or were still small and natural irradiance was high (early September) compared to winter months. Subsequently, during the fully fruiting stage all three cultivars were strongly source-limited as indicated by the low source/sink ratio (average source/sink ratio from 50 days after planting onward was 0.17, 0.22, and 0.33 for 'Komeet,' 'Capricia,' and 'Sunstream,' respectively). This was further confirmed by the fact that pruning half of the fruits hardly influenced net leaf photosynthesis rates. Carbohydrate content in leaves and stems increased linearly with the source/sink ratio. We conclude that during the early growth stage under high irradiance, tomato plants are sink-limited and that the level of sink limitation differs between cultivars but it is not correlated with their potential fruit size. During the fully fruiting stage tomato plants are source-limited and the extent of source limitation of a cultivar is positively correlated with its potential fruit size.

The defense mechanisms of plants evolve as they develop. Previous research has identified chemical defenses against Western flower thrips (WFT) in Gladiolus (Gladiolus hybridus L.). Consequently, our study aimed to explore the consistency of these defense variations against WFT across the various developmental stages of Gladiolus grown under different conditions. Thrips bioassays were conducted on whole plants at three developmental stages, using the Charming Beauty and Robinetta varieties as examples of susceptible and resistant varieties, respectively. Metabolomic profiles of the leaves, buds and flowers before thrips infestation were analyzed. The thrips damage in Charming Beauty was more than 500-fold higher than the damage in Robinetta at all plant development stages. Relative concentrations of triterpenoid saponins and amino acids that were associated with resistance were higher in Robinetta at all plant stages. In Charming Beauty, the leaves exhibited greater damage compared to buds and flowers. The relative concentrations of alanine, valine and threonine were higher in buds and flowers than in leaves. The Metabolomic profiles of the leaves did not change significantly during plant development. In addition, we cultivated plants under different environmental conditions, ensuring consistency in the performance of the two varieties across different growing conditions. In conclusion, the chemical thrips resistance markers, based on the analysis of vegetative plants grown in climate rooms, were consistent over the plant’s lifetime and for plants grown under field conditions.

Diagnostic of the nutritional status in fruit trees can be estimated using different models. However, these models usually do not fully match the character of the perennial crops and their accuracy needs to be improved. This study aimed at deepening the understanding of the aspects controlling mineral content of macro- and micronutrients and fruit quality of the apple trees with respect to the crop load and vegetative shoot growth. The focus was given on description of the nutrient content variability in time and space, its relation to important physiological events, and conditions altering their gradient in leaf and fruit. The evaluation was carried out with six years old ’Golden Delicious’ apple trees on M9, planted in an experimental orchard. Flowering rate, total yield, shoot growth intensity, mean fruit weight and quality along with mineral content of leaves, and fruit in different development stages were analysed according to intensity of natural or regulated flowering and fruit set, respectively. We found that aside of macroelements, iron, and manganese depended on the crop load. For nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content, their gradient increased up to 10–25% within the sufficiency range as the trees tried to maintain certain level of these nutrients in leaves and fruit simultaneously during deficit. In contrary, the higher content of Mg, Fe, and Mn related to the avoidance of deficit through up to 20–30% higher uptake in trees with higher crop load. Phosphorus, potassium, and calcium content in short fruiting shoots was more stage dependent, showing relation with the timing of cessation of particular meristematic growth activity. If no intense deficit occurred, the trees kept unrestricted initial investment of nutrients in the fruit during cell division stage whatever the crop load was. Their content at the later development stages appeared to be more dependent upon the consumption by particular sink. These findings allowed to improve the interpretation of the fruit trees nutrition status due to adaptation of the reference nutrient content in low cropping trees by a reduction of 5–10% N and P, 10–15% Ca, as well as by an increase of 15–20% K content in leaves at the stage with fruit size of 20 mm, and without change in P content at the stage of about 70% of final fruit size.

The full understanding of variation and temporal changes in carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes in cropland may contribute to a reduction in CO2 emissions from agriculture. The aim of this study was to determine the CO2 exchange intensity in the three most popular crops in Poland. The CO2 fluxes in summer maize, winter oilseed rape and winter wheat fields were measured using the eddy covariance system. The seasonal dynamics of CO2 fluxes for all studied crops varied from each other due to individual dynamics in atmospheric CO2 assimilation of each species through the growing season. The weighted average values of CO2 fluxes calculated for the entire vegetation period were −22.22 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1, −14.27 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 and −11.95 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 for maize, oilseed rape and wheat, respectively. All the studied agro-ecosystems were carbon sinks during the growing season. The highest negative values of CO2 fluxes (−36.31 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 and −33.56 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1) were observed in the maize field due to the high production of biomass. However, the maize field was also the most significant carbon source due to slow growth of plants at the beginning of the growing season, and due to leaving the field fallow after harvest until the next sowing. In these two periods, the CO2 fluxes ranged from 0.59 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 to 3.72 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1. CO2 exchange over wheat and oilseed rape fields was less intense, but more even throughout the growing season. In the wheat field, the CO2 fluxes ranged from −1.70 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 to −23.49 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 and in the oilseed rape field they ranged from −1.40 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 to −22.08 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1. In addition, the catch crop in the oilseed rape field contributed to the intensive absorption of CO2 after harvesting the main crop.

The aim of this study focused on the construction of the absorption and extraction curves under an aeroponic system for D. grandiflorum cv. Atlantis White, and therefore, propose the periods of maximum and minimum nutrient accumulation from aboveground, root and total biomass. Vegetative cycle of the plant, measured from the day after transplantation (dat) to aeroponic system, and the first day of court lasted 49 days. Evaluations were carried out each week on plants, in absolute competition. For the average aboveground biomass, three replicates were recorded. To obtain total root biomass only one sample, was measured. Therefore, total biomass in average, had achieved 130.9313 g.plant-1, where 72.26% (94.163 g) corresponded to the aboveground biomass and 27.74% (36.3183 g) to root biomass. From nutrient contents reported in tissue analysis and biomass, nutrients absorbed-extracted were calculated. Overall, two plant stages development in nutrient absorption were observed as follows: the first, at day 21 dat; and second, from day 22 to day 49 dat. In this study, the reported elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S), its accumulation during the first stage did not exceeded 29%, except for S, which reached 30.19%. Consequently, the mostly close to 70% nutrients were absorbed in the second stage of development, which coincided with the plant reproductive stage.

This study aimed to investigate the diurnal variation of methane (CH4) emission in a flooded-irrigated rice field at different stages of the plant development under tropical climate in three growing seasons, in order to determine the most appropriate time for gas sampling in the Brazilian Southeast region. It aimed also to verify correlations between CH4 flux and air, water and soil temperatures, and solar radiation. The CH4 emissions were measured every 3-hour interval on specific days in different development stages of the flooded rice in the Experiment Station of the Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA), Pólo Regional Vale do Paraíba, at Pindamonhangaba, State of São Paulo (22°55’ S, 45°30’ W), Brazil. Different CH4 emission rates were observed among the plant growth stages and also among the growing seasons. The CH4 emission showed high correlation with the soil temperature at 2cm depth. At this depth, the CH4 emission activation energy in response to soil temperature was higher in the stage R2. Emission peaks were observed at afternoon, while lower fluxes were recorded at the early morning. The most appropriate local time for gas sampling was estimated at 12:11:15a.m.±01:14:16 and 09:05:49p.m.±01:29:04. RESUMO: Este estudo teve como objetivo investigar a variação diurna de emissões de metano (CH4) em uma lavoura de arroz irrigado por inundação em diferentes estágios de desenvolvimento de plantas de arroz irrigado, sob clima tropical, em três estações de crescimento, para determinar o período de tempo mais apropriado à amostragem de gás na região Sudeste do Brasil. O trabalho objetivou também verificar correlações entre o fluxo de CH4 e as temperaturas do ar, da água e do solo e a radiação solar. As emissões diurnas de CH4 foram medidas a cada intervalo de três (3) horas em dias específicos em diferentes estágios de desenvolvimento da planta de arroz inundado na Estação Experimental da Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA), Pólo Regional Vale do Paraíba, em Pindamonhangaba, Estado de São Paulo (22°55’ S, 45°30’ W), Brasil. Diferentes taxas de emissão foram observadas entre os estágios de desenvolvimento da planta avaliados e também entre as estações de cultivo. A emissão de CH4 mostrou alta correlação com a temperatura do solo a 2cm de profundidade. Nesta profundidade, a energia de ativação da emissão de CH4 em resposta à temperatura do solo foi maior no estágio R2. Os picos de emissão foram observados no período da tarde, enquanto que menores fluxos foram registrados no início da manhã. O horário mais apropriado para amostragem de gás foi estimado em 12:11:15a.m.±01:14:16 and 09:05:49p.m.±01:29:04.

With global warming, the problem of soil water deficit is growing in Central Europe, including Poland, and the use of catch crops is recommended to mitigate climate changes. This study aimed to determine the influence of water deficit on phosphorus (P) content and accumulation in the above-ground biomass of spring barley and Italian rye-grass growing separately and in the mixture, and on the inter-species interactions between these crops. The study was based on a pot experiment established in accordance with the additive design. The experimental factors were as follows: A. water supply of the plants: an optimal dose and a dose reduced by 50% in relation to the optimal dose, and B. the sowing type: barley sown as a single species, rye-grass sown as a single species, and barley with rye-grass catch crop. Based on the P accumulation in plant biomass, the relative yield of barley and rye-grass, the total relative yield, and the competitive equilibrium index were determined. Water deficit had no effect on the P content in the plants, but it reduced the P accumulation in barley stems, leaves and spikes, as well as in rye-grass stems and leaves, from the emergence to the end of plants’ growing period, both when the plants were sown as a single species and as a mixture. Barley was a stronger competitor than rye-grass. Inter-species competition occurred at the stem elongation and heading of barley. The intensification of inter-species competition for P under water deficit conditions should be taken into account when recommending the undersowing of barley with rye-grass for sustainable agriculture.

Alhagi pseudalhagi, which grows in the arid zone of the Atyrau region, and an assessment of the current state of its raw material reserves were studied. Botanical characteristics, ontogenetic spectra, morphological indicators, productivity, areas of thickets, and reserves of raw materials of above-ground organs were assessed. The structural parameters of these populations in the Zhangyr and Coneu Rivers valleys, in the vicinity of Imankara Mountain, and on the Taisoigan sands were studied. It was established that the species composition of the populations includes 63 species from 54 genera and 30 families. The most common species include 49 species, which, according to their occurrence in populations of A. pseudalhagi, are distributed in the following classes: 17 species—class II (0–20%); 7 species—class III (41–60%); and 2 species—classes IV (61–80%) and V (81–100%). The maximum similarity in species composition was noted between populations in the Zhangyr and Coneu Rivers valleys. The highest morphometric indicators were observed among the population of the Coneu river valley, and the lowest are located on the Taisoigan sands. Analysis of the age spectra made it possible to determine that the populations in the Zhangyr and Coneu River valleys are characterized as young and those in the area of Imankara Mountain and on the Taisoigan sands as stable and middle-aged.

The article provides an analysis of the cenopopulation and tissues element composition of the medicinal caper plant Capparis spinosa L. distributed on Calcisols formed on eroded alluvial-proluvial gravel textured rocks in the south of the Fergana Valley (Uzbekistan, Central Asia). The predominance of immature plants in the cenopopulation was detected in the Arsif hills massive, and quantitative indicators of micronutrients in the vegetative and generative organs of C. spinosa L. were determined. The study of biomorphological characteristics of the plant during the growing season (April-October) was carried out in the identified 10 observational experimental field populations. The cenopopulation dynamics and plant development patterns of Capparis spinosa L. were characterized for environmental conditions of south Uzbekistan for the first time. Soil, plant element analysis was performed by neutron-activation method. In this case, the samples were irradiated in a nuclear reactor with a neutron flux of 5 × 1013 neutrons/cm2 s, and their quantities were determined in accordance with the half-life of chemical elements. It has also been compared with research materials conducted by world scientists on the importance and pharmacological properties of botanicals in medicine and the food industry, as well as their botanical characteristics. The plant can serve to conserve soil resources, as it prevents water and wind erosion of dense clay soils in the dry subtropical climate of Central Fergana and could be considered an effective agent of destroyed soils remediation. The development of this plant will contribute to the diversification of agriculture in Uzbekistan (Central Asia) and the development of the food industry and pharmacology.