Host plant selection by migrant Rhopalosiphum padi in autumn and the occurrence of an intermediate morph

Alate female Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) were trapped alive in suction traps in autumn, 1986–1988. Alate exules and gynoparae were identified by the morph of their offspring. Gynoparae largely replaced alate exules in September indicating that most of the population were holocyclic even in southern England where the primary host, Prunus padus L., is scarce. However, a few alate exules occurred throughout the autumn indicating that a proportion of the population is anholocyclic. A morph intermediate between alate exules and gynoparae occurred at low frequency throughout the autumn. Alate exules and gynoparae preferred barley and P. padus, respectively, on which to settle and larviposit; gynoparae were less selective than exules possibly due to an incomplete physiological switch from a preference for Gramineae to P. padus on which the sexual cycle is completed. Intermediate individuals preferred to settle on P. padus, but their virginoparous and oviparous nymphs were produced on barley and P. padus respectively. Intermediate morphs maintained under continuous short day conditions (L12 : D12) produced mainly apterous virginoparae with males occurring at the end of their reproductive live; intermediates occurred occasionally amongst the apterae. It is proposed that intermediates are a programmed component of the morph structure and have the potential to contribute to both the holocyclic and anholocyclic portions of the population.

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Résumé Des femelles de R. padi L. ont été capturées vivantes dans des pièges a succion en 1986–88. Les ailés exules et les gynopares ont été identifiés par le morphe de leurs descendants. Les gynopares ont remplacé généralement les ailés exules en septembre, ce qui montre que la majorité de la population est holocyclique même dans le sud de l'Angleterre où l'hôte primaire, Prunus padus L., est rare. Cependant, quelques ailés exules se maintiennent pendant l'automne montrant qu'une partie de la population est anholocyclique. Au cours de l'automne, on observe un morphe intermédiaire entre les ailés exules et les gynopares. Les exules ailés et les gynopares préfèrent respectivement l'orge et P. padus, sur lesquels ils s'installent et produisent des larves; les gynopares étaient moins sélectifs que les exules, peut-être par suite d'une rupture physiologique incomplète de leur préférence pour l'orge sur laquelle ils se développent rendant moins impérative leur attraction par P. padus sur lequel leur cycle sexuel est complet. Les individus intermédiaires préfèrent s'établir sur P. padus, mais leur larves virginipares et ovipares sont produites respectivement sur oreg et sur P. padus. Les morphes intermédiaires maintenus en jours courts (L12/N12) ont donné surtout des virginipares aptères les mâles apparaissant à la fin de leur vie; des intermédiaires sont apparus occasionnellement parmi les aptères. Les intermédiaires seraient une composante programmée de la structure polymorphe et contribueraient à la fois à l'apparition des fractions holocyclique et anholocyclique de la population.

     

Conifer seedling recruitment across a gradient from forest to alpine tundra: effects of species,provenance, and site

Background: Seedling germination and survival is a critical control on forest ecosystem boundaries, such as at the alpine–treeline ecotone. In addition, while it is known that species respond individualistically to the same suite of environmental drivers, the potential additional effect of local adaptation on seedling success has not been evaluated.

Aims: To determine whether local adaptation may influence the position and movement of forest ecosystem boundaries, we quantified conifer seedling recruitment in common gardens across a subalpine forest to alpine tundra gradient at Niwot Ridge, Colorado, USA.

Methods: We studied Pinus flexilis and Picea engelmannii grown from seed collected locally at High (3400 m a.s.l.) and Low (3060 m a.s.l.) elevations. We monitored emergence and survival of seeds sown directly into plots and survival of seedlings germinated indoors and transplanted after snowmelt.

Results: Emergence and survival through the first growing season was greater for P. flexilis than P. engelmannii and for Low compared with High provenances. Yet survival through the second growing season was similar for both species and provenances. Seedling emergence and survival tended to be greatest in the subalpine forest and lowest in the alpine tundra. Survival was greater for transplants than for field-germinated seedlings.

Conclusions: These results suggest that survival through the first few weeks is critical to the establishment of natural germinants. In addition, even small distances between seed sources can have a significant effect on early demographic performance – a factor that has rarely been considered in previous studies of tree recruitment and species range shifts.     

Phylogeny of the New World diploid cottons (Gossypium L., Malvaceae) based on sequences of three low-copy nuclear genes

American diploid cottons (Gossypium L., subgenus Houzingenia Fryxell) form a monophyletic group of 13 species distributed mainly in western Mexico, extending into Arizona, Baja California, and with one disjunct species each in the Galapagos Islands and Peru. Prior phylogenetic analyses based on an alcohol dehydrogenase gene (AdhA) and nuclear ribosomal DNA indicated the need for additional data from other molecular markers to resolve phylogenetic relationships within this subgenus. Toward this end, we sequenced three nuclear genes, the anonymous locus A1341, an alcohol dehydrogenase gene (AdhC), and a cellulose synthase gene (CesA1b). Independent and combined analyses resolved clades that are congruent with current taxonomy and previous phylogenies. Our analyses diagnose at least two long distance dispersal events from the Mexican mainland to Baja California, following a rapid radiation of the primary lineages early in the diversification of the subgenus. Molecular data support the proposed recognition of a new species closely related to Gossypium laxum that was recently collected in Mexico.     

The Arabidopsis calmodulin‐like protein,CML39, functions during early seedling establishment

During Ca²⁺ signal transduction, Ca²⁺‐binding proteins known as Ca²⁺ sensors function to decode stimulus‐specific Ca²⁺ signals into downstream responses. Plants possess extended families of unique Ca²⁺ sensors termed calmodulin‐like proteins (CMLs) whose cellular roles are not well understood. CML39 encodes a predicted Ca²⁺ sensor whose expression is strongly increased in response to diverse external stimuli. In the present study, we explored the biochemical properties of recombinant CML39, and used a reverse genetics approach to investigate its physiological role. Our data indicate that Ca²⁺ binding by CML39 induces a conformational change in the protein that results in an increase in exposed‐surface hydrophobicity, a property that is consistent with its predicted function as a Ca²⁺ sensor. Loss‐of‐function cml39 mutants resemble wild‐type plants under normal growth conditions but exhibit persistent arrest at the seedling stage if grown in the absence of sucrose or other metabolizable carbon sources. Under short‐day conditions, cml39 mutants display increased sucrose‐induced hypocotyl elongation. When grown in the dark, cml39 mutants show impaired hypocotyl elongation in the absence of sucrose. Promoter–reporter data indicate that CML39 expression is prominent in the apical hook in dark‐grown seedlings. Collectively, our data suggest that CML39 functions in Arabidopsis as a Ca²⁺ sensor that plays an important role in the transduction of light signals that promote seedling establishment.     

Induced resistance against spider mites in cotton: Field verification

Cotton plants that had been damaged by spider mites (Tetranychus spp.) or by mechanical abrasion at the cotyledon stage were less likely to develop infestations of spider mites compared to controls early in the season. These are the first field results to demonstrate that induced resistance can reduce pest populations in an agricultural system. Differences in mite populations early in the season caused by induced resistance did not translate into differences in plant growth or cotton yield at harvest.

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Vérification au champ de la résistance du coton induite par les acariens

Résumé Les plants de coton qui ont été endommagées, au stade cotylédons, par des acariens ou par une abrasion mécanique, ont moins de chance que les témoins, de présenter ultérieurement des dégats dus aux acariens. C'est la première fois que des résultats montrent qu'une résistance induite peut réduire les populations dans un agrosystème. Les différences ultérieures dans les populations d'acariens, ne transparaissent pas au niveau de la croissance du coton ou de la production au moment de la récolte.

     

In vitro propagation ofCereus peruvianus mill. (cactaceae)

Summary Cereus peruvianus seedlings were used as a source of stem explants to determine the effective conditions for inducing and maintaining callus tissues in a state of rapid growth, as well as to obtain plants regenerated from callus cultures. Factorial combinations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and kinetin in MS medium were tested, and we concluded that the 18.1µM 2,4-D and 18.6 or 27.9µM kinetin combinations were suitable for callus induction. The cactus shoots were produced from the friable callus; root elongation occurred within 2 wk in medium without 2,4-D and with 18.6µM kinetin. This method can be used to rapidly produce manyC. peruvianus plants.     

The response of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) seedlings to spring root temperatures: The relative roles of the plant and the Rhizobium bacteria

Three experiments are reported which examine the relative roles of host and Rhizobium genotypes as factors limiting clover (Trifolium repens L.) growth at low soil temperatures.In the first experiment un-nodulated clover and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) were grown with non-limiting nitrate at root temperatures of 8, 10 and 12°C. The ryegrass had substantially better relative growth rates (RGR) than the clover with the biggest difference occurring at 8°C. Alterations in growth rate with temperature were more marked in clover than in ryegrass but the latter still produced several times more dry matter than clover at each temperature.In the subsequent experiments clover nodulated with different strains of rhizobia was grown with and without non-limiting additions of nitrate at root temperatures of 9, 12 and 15°C. Plants receiving nitrate generally produced more dry matter than those dependent upon Rhizobium for nitrogen but differences in yield between these treatments did not alter with temperature. This suggests that limitations imposed by nitrogen fixation are similar at both high and low temperatures. Indeed, there was some evidence that nitrogen limitations were rather more pronounced at the highest temperature. The first experiment clearly demonstrated that the clover genotype makes particularly poor use of nitrate at low root temperatures when compared to its common companion perennial ryegrass.It can be concluded that improvements in spring growth of clover will rest largely with alterations to the plant genotype and its ability to use combined nitrogen for growth at lower temperatures rather than with changes in rhizobia or any symbiotic characters.