Promotive effect of abscisic acid in flowering ofChenopodium rubrum as the result of decreasing apical dominance

Abscisic acid (ABA) was applied in a concentration of 1. 10^?3 M and 1. 10^?4 M to the quantitative SD plantChenopodium rubrum under various light regimes. ABA did not influence flowering in plants under continuous illumination, enhanced flowering in plants subjected to long days and inhibited it in plants induced by short days. It was concluded that ABA can not substitute for inductive treatment but its action may be additive to initial stages of reproductive morphogenesis (enhanced growth rate and branching of the apical meristem) as evoked by long days.     

Rhizobacteria associated with Miscanthus x giganteus improve metal accumulation and plant growth in the flotation tailings

Plant and Soil - Flotation tailings represent an extremely unfriendly substrate for plant colonization due to toxic metal concentrations and marked macronutrient deficiencies. The perennial grass...     

Transferability and characterization of microsatellite markers from Byrsonima cydoniifolia A. Juss. (MALPIGHIACEAE) in seven related taxa from Cerrado biome reveal genetic relationships

Byrsonima Rich. is one of the largest genera of the Malpighiaceae family with 97 species occurrence in Brazil and multiple potentialities, including pharmaceutical and food industries. In this study, 17 microsatellite markers characterized in Byrsonima cydoniifolia were tested for seven related taxa, all species are native to Brazil and four are endemic. Genomic DNA was extracted from leaves tissues and 17 microsatellite markers were used to cross-amplification of microsatellite regions. Polymorphism and genetic diversity were evaluated for B. intermedia, B. verbascifolia, B. laxiflora, B. subterranea, B. umbellata, B. linearifolia. from 16 individuals and for B. viminifolia from 14 individuals. Transferred microsatellite markers panels ranged from 11 (64.8%) in B. viminifolia to 6 (35.2%) in B. umbellata. The total number of alleles per locus ranged from 5 (B. linearifolia) to 8 (B. subterranea) alleles. B. umbellata showed lower values of observed and expected heterozygosity (H_O?=?0.312; H_E?=?0.436) and B. subterranea presented the highest values (H_O?=?0.687; H_E?=?0.778). A greater number of microsatellite markers should be developed for B. umbellata. The microsatellite marker panels transferred to the species B. intermedia, B. verbascifolia, B. laxiflora, B. subterranea, B. viminifolia and B. linearifolia are very informative, with a high combined probability of exclusion of paternity (Q?≥?0.976) and the low combined probability of identity (I?≤?9.91?×?10^–6), potentially suitable for future genetic-population studies, supporting strategies for maintaining the genetic diversity and for exploration of Byrsonima species as genetic resources.

     

Biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: different non-crop habitats increase diversity of ground-dwelling beetles (Coleoptera) but support different communities

Agricultural intensification poses a major threat to the conservation of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Since non-crop habitats are regarded as important refuges for farmland biodiversity, various greening measures have been proposed to halt biodiversity loss. However, the effectiveness of these measures for biodiversity conservation is still under debate. Therefore, we here compared ground-dwelling beetle (Coleoptera) assemblages of different non-crop habitats (field margins, set-aside fields sown with wildflowers, and permanent grassland fallows) and wheat fields within an intensively used agricultural landscape in western Germany. Taxonomic diversity of Carabidae, Staphylinidae and other coleopteran families and their conservation value were higher in all non-crop habitats than on wheat fields. Surprisingly, though, different types of non-crop habitats did not differ in species richness or the number of threatened species. Thus, field margins and sown wildflower fields were as effective in promoting beetle diversity as grassland fallows. However, different non-crop habitats supported different species assemblages, and several species, in particular especially large ones, were restricted to grassland fallows. These results suggest that different greening measures are effective in promoting the biodiversity of beetles, and that permanent grassland fallows are essential for nature conservation. The fact that habitat types harbored different assemblages stresses the need to combine a variety of greening measures to yield the highest benefit for biodiversity.