Differential effects of AM fungal isolates on Medicago truncatula growth and metal uptake in a multimetallic (Cd, Zn, Pb) contaminated agricultural soil

Toxic metal accumulation in soils of agricultural interest is a serious problem needing more attention, and investigations on soil–plant metal transfer must be pursued to better understand the processes involved in metal uptake. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are known to influence metal transfer in plants by increasing plant biomass and reducing metal toxicity to plants even if diverging results were reported. The effects of five AM fungi isolated from metal contaminated or non-contaminated soils on metal (Cd, Zn) uptake by plant and transfer to leachates was assessed with Medicago truncatula grown in a multimetallic contaminated agricultural soil. Fungi isolated from metal-contaminated soils were more effective to reduce shoot Cd concentration. Metal uptake capacity differed between AM fungi and depended on the origin of the isolate. Not only fungal tolerance and ability to reduce metal concentrations in plant but also interactions with rhizobacteria affected heavy metal transfer and plant growth. Indeed, thanks to association with nodulating rhizobacteria, one Glomus intraradices inoculum increased particularly plant biomass which allowed exporting twofold more Cd and Zn in shoots as compared to non-mycorrhizal treatment. Cd concentrations in leachates were variable among fungal treatments, but can be significantly influenced by AM inoculation. The differential strategies of AM fungal colonisation in metal stress conditions are also discussed.     

Patterns of divergence of a large family of nodule cysteine‐rich peptides in accessions of Medicago truncatula

The nodule cysteine‐rich (NCR) groups of defensin‐like (DEFL) genes are one of the largest gene families expressed in the nodules of some legume plants. They have only been observed in the inverted repeat loss clade (IRLC) of legumes, which includes the model legume Medicago truncatula. NCRs are reported to play an important role in plant–microbe interactions. To understand their diversity we analyzed their expression and sequence polymorphisms among four accessions of M. truncatula. A significant expression and nucleotide variation was observed among the genes. We then used 26 accessions to estimate the selection pressures shaping evolution among the accessions by calculating the nucleotide diversity at non‐synonymous and synonymous sites in the coding region. The mature peptides of the orthologous NCRs had signatures of both purifying and diversifying selection pressures, unlike the seed DEFLs, which predominantly exhibited purifying selection. The expression, sequence variation and apparent diversifying selection in NCRs within the Medicago species indicates rapid and recent evolution, and suggests that this family of genes is actively evolving to adapt to different environments and is acquiring new functions.     

4个花苜蓿居群叶片解剖结构特征及其可塑性对不同水分处理的响应

对经过3种水分处理的4个花苜蓿居群（内蒙古科右中旗、克什克腾旗、陕西南泥湾和甘肃兴隆山）叶片解剖结构特征及它们的可塑性进行了研究。结果表明：除上下表皮细胞厚度外,土壤水分处理对花苜蓿的叶片解剖结构有着显著影响。随着水分减少,大部分花苜蓿居群栅栏组织厚度增加,海绵组织厚度相应减小,叶片厚度增大,叶片组织结构紧密度增加,疏松度减少,叶脉突起度增加。10个解剖指标中,栅栏组织海绵组织厚度比的可塑性指数最大,上表皮细胞厚度次之,叶片厚度最小。4个花苜蓿居群可塑性指数平均值大小排序为：科右中旗〉克什克腾旗〉南泥湾〉兴隆山。综合方差分析和Ducan多重比较,可推测：花苜蓿的抗旱性与其分布的地域有关,分布于典型草原地带的科右中旗和克什克腾旗2个居群的花苜蓿的叶片结构可塑性要较分布于森林草原地带的南泥湾居群和兴隆山居群大。。上述结果有助于了解花苜蓿的生态适应特点,同时也为筛选适应北方干旱、半干旱地区的优良豆科牧草资源提供依据。     

花苜蓿小尺度空间遗传结构研究

以花苜蓿（Medicago ruthenica Trautv.）为材料,在内蒙古克什克腾旗建立两个25 m×50 m的样方（山谷YF1和山坡YF2）,采集该范围内的所有个体,利用8对SSR分子标记对其遗传变异特性进行分析。结果显示,克什克腾旗花苜蓿居群遗传多样性较高。两个居群个体的空间自相关分析结果表明,9 m内的个体间为非随机邻近交配,且在同距离范围内,山谷居群的个体间遗传相似性更低,推测此区域可能是历史和地理因素塑造了花苜蓿丰富的遗传多样性,两个小尺度空间格局的个体间基因流模式主要受地形影响。