Root capacitance measurements allow non-intrusive in-situ monitoring of the seasonal dynamics and drought response of root activity in two grassland species

Plant and Soil - Soil respiration (Rs) is a major pathway for carbon release to the atmosphere. We explored variability in dryland Rs response to rainfall pulses at multiple levels of spatial...     

The arbuscular mycorrhizal status of poplar clones selected for phytoremediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals

The aim of this work was to study the colonization of indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) species in fine-roots of poplar clones. Roots of 7 poplar clones were sampled from a 1-year-old trial established at an industrial site strongly polluted with heavy metals at Balatonfuzfo, Hungary. The poplar clones have shown variable degrees of colonization by AMF, suggesting differential host susceptibility or mycorrhizal dependency. After outplanting the percentage of poplar survival was strongly correlated with the frequency of AMF infection. Two clones that survived at the lowest ratio after outplanting had not been colonized by AMF in contrast to those which survived to a much higher extent.     

AFLP analysis and improved phytoextraction capacity of transgenic gshI-poplar clones (Populus x canescens L.) for copper in vitro

Clone stability and in vitro phytoextraction capacity of vegetative clones of P. x canescens (2n = 4x = 38) including two transgenic clones (ggs11 and lgl6) were studied as in vitro leaf disc cultures. Presence of the gshI-transgene in the transformed clones was detected in PCR reactions using gshI-specific primers. Clone stability was determined by fAFLP (fluorescent amplified DNA fragment length polymorphism) analysis. In total, 682 AFLP fragments were identified generated by twelve selective primer pairs after EcoRI-MseI digestion. Four fragments generated by EcoAGT-MseCCC were different (99.4% genetic similarity) which proves an unexpectedly low bud mutation frequency in P. x canescens. For the study of phytoextraction capacity leaf discs (8 mm) were exposed to a concentration series of ZnSO4 (10(-1) to 10(-5) M) incubated for 21 days on aseptic tissue culture media WPM containing 1 microM Cu. Zn2+ caused phytotoxicity only at high concentrations (10(-1) to 10(-2) M). The transgenic poplar cyt-ECS (ggs11) clone, as stimulated by the presence of Zn, showed elevated heavy metal (Cu) uptake as compared to the non-transformed clone. These results suggest that gshI-transgenic poplars may be suitable for phytoremediation of soils contaminated with zinc and copper.