Evaluation of the water fern Azolla microphylla for mosquito population management in the rice-land agro-ecosystem of south India

The floating water fern Azolla microphylla Kaulfess was evaluated as a biocontrol agent against mosquitoes breeding in rice fields in Tamil Nadu, South India. Anopheles subpictus Grassi, Culex pseudovishnui Colless and Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles were the predominant species of mosquitoes, with peak densities of late instar larvae and pupae occurring during the second week after transplantation of rice seedlings of short-term (c. 80 days from transplantation to harvest) or medium-term (c. 95 days) varieties. Immature mosquito populations were reduced by mats of Azolla microphylla covering more than 80% of the water surface. However, since 80% coverage by Azolla was achieved only 13-14 days after rice transplantation, its usefulness for mosquito control was limited. Azolla may have a greater potential in an integrated control programme, or in areas where long-term varieties of rice are predominantly grown.     

Quantifying the three main components of salinity tolerance in cereals

Salinity stress is a major factor inhibiting cereal yield throughout the world. Tolerance to salinity stress can be considered to contain three main components: Na⁺ exclusion, tolerance to Na⁺ in the tissues and osmotic tolerance. To date, most experimental work on salinity tolerance in cereals has focused on Na⁺ exclusion due in part to its ease of measurement. It has become apparent, however, that Na⁺ exclusion is not the sole mechanism for salinity tolerance in cereals, and research needs to expand to study osmotic tolerance and tissue tolerance. Here, we develop assays for high throughput quantification of Na⁺ exclusion, Na⁺ tissue tolerance and osmotic tolerance in 12 Triticum monococcum accessions, mainly using commercially available image capture and analysis equipment. We show that different lines use different combinations of the three tolerance mechanisms to increase their total salinity tolerance, with a positive correlation observed between a plant's total salinity tolerance and the sum of its proficiency in Na⁺ exclusion, osmotic tolerance and tissue tolerance. The assays developed in this study can be easily adapted for other cereals and used in high throughput, forward genetic experiments to elucidate the molecular basis of these components of salinity tolerance.