Influence of Meloidogyne incognita on the Content of Amino Acids and Nicotine in Tobacco Grown Under Gnotobiotic Conditions

Seedlings of Meloidogyne incognita-resistant (N.C. 95) and -susceptible (McNair 30) tobacco cultivars were grown aseptically for 55 days inside isolator chambers in autoclaved soil infested with 0 or 3,000 axenized eggs of M. im ognita per 500 cc of soil. Healthy and infected plants were compared. Dry root weights of infected plants of resistant and susceptible cultivars were 16% and 84%, respectively, less than the controls. Sixteen amino acids, including those precursors for nicotine, and nicotine, increased significantly in infected roots of both cultivars. Increases in amino acids in infected roots ranged from 28% for valine to 103% for tyrosine in the resistant N.C. 95, and from 30% for leucine to 148% for tyrosine in lhe susceptible McNair 30. Nicotine content (dry weight basis) increased 42% and 62% in infected roots of resistant and susceptible cultivars, respectively. Nematode infection increased nicotine by 112% in leaves of N.C. 95, and decreased it by 56% in leaves of McNair 30. Root damage by M. incognita probably decreased nicotine movement into leaves of McNair 30. In N.C. 95, nicotine movement into leaves apparently was not adversel b affected due to lack of significant root damage.     

Interaction of Four Soybean Cultivars with Subsoiling and a Nematicide

Yields of four soybean, Glycine max, cultivars were increased with subsoiling under the row and application of the nematicide, DBCP i 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane) in Tiflon sandy loam heavily infested with the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita. These cultivars represent four maturity groups: very early (V), "Essex'', early (VI), "Davis'': medium (VII), ''Ransom''; and late (VIII), '' Hutton ''. The average increase for the four cullivars was about the same for subsoiling or DBCP. When the treatmcnts were used together, the increase was greater than when either was used alone, but the effects were not additive. Increased yields were obtained with subsoiling and DBCP for the most nematode resistant cultivar, Hutton, as well as for the most susccptiblc, Davis. Subsoiling reduced root-knot galling in nonfumigated plots but did not affect it in fumigated plots. On 12 September, M. incognita larvae were most numerous at the 0- to 20 cm depth, intermediate at 20 to 33 cm depth and least numerous at 33 to 46 cm depth, Subsoiling did not affect larval populations at the three levels.     

Relationships Between Tolerance and Resistance to Meloidogyne incognita in Cotton

The southern root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, is the most damaging pathogen of cotton in the United States, and both resistance and tolerance to M. incognita could be valuable management approaches. Our objectives were to evaluate advanced cotton breeding lines for resistance and tolerance to M. incognita and to determine if a relationship between resistance and tolerance exists. Reproduction of M. incognita was evaluated on 17 breeding lines, a susceptible control (Delta and Pine Land DP5415), and a resistant control (M-120) in two greenhouse trials with six replications in a randomized complete block design. Two-week-old seedlings were inoculated with 8,000 M. incognita eggs and assessed for egg production 8 weeks later. Reproduction on the resistant control was only 10% of that on the susceptible control. Eight breeding lines supported 45% to 57% less (P <= 0.05) nematode reproduction than the susceptible control, and none of them were as resistant as M-120. Yield was determined in 2001 and 2002 in fumigated (1,3-dichloropropene at 56 liters/ha) and nonfumigated plots in a strip-plot design with three replications in a field naturally infested with M. incognita. Yield suppression caused by nematode infection differed among genotypes (P ≤ 0.05 for genotype × fumigation interaction). Six genotypes in 2001 and nine in 2002 were tolerant to M. incognita based on no difference in yield between the fumigated and nonfumigated plots (P ≥ 0.10). However, only three genotypes had no significant yield suppression in both years, of which two also were resistant to M. incognita. Regression analysis indicated that yield suppression decreased linearly as nematode resistance increased.     

Suppression of Embryogenesis and Hatching in Meloidogyne javanica by Thermal Stress

Embryogenes is and hatching of eggs of Meloidogyne javanica were suppressed by brief heat treatment (46 C for 10 min). The period of suppression or arrested development differs according to the stage of development of the nematode when heat treatment is applied. The effect on hatching is much more pronounced than on embryogenesis.     

干旱对不同花椒种植模式下土壤微生物和线虫群落的影响

随着全球气候变暖, 我国岷江上游干旱区面积呈现增加的趋势。花椒(Zanthoxylum bungeanum)是岷江上游重要的经济树种之一, 对当地经济和社会发展起着重要作用, 提高花椒生态系统应对干旱干扰已成为迫切的问题。本研究设置了花椒单作、花椒-苜蓿(Medicago sativa)间作和花椒-大豆(Glycine max)间作3种种植模式, 在2015年8月对每种种植模式模拟干旱30 d, 每种种植模式包括干旱和对照处理, 在模拟干旱结束后、恢复15 d、30 d和45 d后分别采集土壤样品, 分析土壤化学性质、土壤微生物和线虫群落, 以探究花椒林下豆科植物能否缓和干旱的遗留效应对土壤化学性质和土壤生物的影响。重复测量方差分析表明: 在花椒单作模式下, 干旱恢复45 d后土壤硝态氮含量显著高于对照, 微生物量和真菌/细菌比与对照无显著差异, 线虫密度与对照无显著差异, 但线虫功能团没有恢复到对照水平; 在花椒-苜蓿间作模式下, 干旱恢复45 d后土壤含水量、铵态氮、硝态氮、溶解性有机碳、溶解性有机氮、微生物量、真菌/细菌比、线虫密度和线虫功能团组成与对照无显著差异, 但植食性线虫属Boleodorus相对多度显著高于对照; 在花椒-大豆间作模式下, 干旱恢复45 d后土壤含水量、铵态氮、硝态氮、溶解性有机碳、溶解性有机氮、微生物量和真菌/细菌比与对照无显著差异, 但线虫密度和功能团组成与对照有显著差异。在3种花椒种植模式中, 花椒-苜蓿间作模式下干旱的遗留效应对土壤养分和生物的影响最小。因此, 在干旱背景下, 花椒林下间作豆科植物可以加快土壤养分、土壤微生物和线虫群落的恢复, 进而有利于目标作物生长。     

Antibody Staining in C. Elegans Using "Freeze-Cracking"

To stain C. elegans with antibodies, the relatively impermeable cuticle must be bypassed by chemical or mechanical methods. "Freeze-cracking" is one method used to physically pull the cuticle from nematodes by compressing nematodes between two adherent slides, freezing them, and pulling the slides apart. Freeze-cracking provides a simple and rapid way to gain access to the tissues without chemical treatment and can be used with a variety of fixatives. However, it leads to the loss of many of the specimens and the required compression mechanically distorts the sample. Practice is required to maximize recovery of samples with good morphology. Freeze-cracking can be optimized for specific fixation conditions, recovery of samples, or low non-specific staining, but not for all parameters at once. For antibodies that require very hard fixation conditions and tolerate the chemical treatments needed to chemically permeabilize the cuticle, treatment of intact nematodes in solution may be preferred. If the antibody requires a lighter fix or if the optimum fixation conditions are unknown, freeze-cracking provides a very useful way to rapidly assay the antibody and can yield specific subcellular and cellular localization information for the antigen of interest.     

The novel GrCEP12 peptide from the plant-parasitic nematode Globodera rostochiensis suppresses flg22-mediated PTI

The potato cyst nematode Globodera rostochiensis is a biotrophic pathogen that secretes effector proteins into host root cells to promote successful plant parasitism. In addition to the role in generating within root tissue the feeding cells essential for nematode development,¹ nematode secreted effectors are becoming recognized as suppressors of plant immunity.^2-4 Recently we reported that the effector ubiquitin carboxyl extension protein (GrUBCEP12) from G. rostochiensis is processed into free ubiquitin and a 12-amino acid GrCEP12 peptide in planta. Transgenic potato lines overexpressing the derived GrCEP12 peptide showed increased susceptibility to G. rostochiensis and to an unrelated bacterial pathogen Streptomyces scabies, suggesting that GrCEP12 has a role in suppressing host basal defense or possibly pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-triggered immunity (PTI) during the parasitic interaction.³ To determine if GrCEP12 functions as a PTI suppressor we evaluated whether GrCEP12 suppresses flg22-induced PTI responses in Nicotiana benthamiana. Interestingly, we found that transient expression of GrCEP12 in N. benthamiana leaves suppressed reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the induction of two PTI marker genes triggered by the bacterial PAMP flg22, providing direct evidence that GrCEP12 indeed has an activity in PTI suppression.