ALBERT

Notes: Abstract The ability of plant types to release mineral K from little weathered gneiss for a mixture of particle size fractions of less than 10 mm, as well as for two separated size fractions (2 mm〈D〈5 mm, and 1 mm 〈D〈2 mm) were compared in pot experiments with maize (Zea mays L. cv. ND60), pak-choi (Brassica campestrisL. ssp.chinensis (L.) Mokina. var. cammunis Tsen et Lee, cv. Wuyueman) and two alfalfa cultivars (Medicago sativa L. cv. Asta and Haifei). Release of mineral K was significantly stimulated by maize, pak-choi and ryegrass, implying a direct mobilization of mineral K by plant roots. The net release of mineral K was greatly influenced by plant species. Among these, the more profound release of mineral K was observed with maize and ryegrass. Besides, the mobilization of mineral K was negatively correlated with the particle size of gneiss. The difference in net release of K from gneiss between two size fractions decreased in the order: maize 〉 ryegrass 〉 pak-choi.

Notes: Abstract The decomposition rates of different plant parts of maize (Zea mays L.; Gramineae), soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.; Leguminosae] and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.; Compositae) were studied in soils with different physicochemical characteristics, and their contribution to nutrient availability was assessed. Litter decomposition rates were affected by plant species, plant part, and soil characteristics. In site A (SiCL soil), loss of litter mass was highest in soybean followed by sunflower and maize. In site B (Loam soil), loss of litter mass for soybean and sunflower was almost the same, while for maize it was lower. Nutrient release was high when their soil concentration was initially low. The higher the initial concentration of a nutrient in a plant part the greater its release rate. Nutrients, especially N, released from maize litter mass will be available to successive crops for a longer period than for soybean and sunflower, and are unaffected by soil texture. Nutrients are easily removed from sunflower and soybeans and are more likely to be lost through leaching than nutrients from maize.

Notes: Abstract AFLP® markers generated by CNG methylation sensitive (PstI/MseI) and CNG methylation insensitive (EcoRI/MseI) enzyme combinations and AFLP markers collected from hypomethylated (PstI/MseI) and hypermethylated (m PstI/MseI) regions were compared for their polymorphism information content, sampling variance and patterns of genetic diversity in a representative sample of 33 inbred lines of maize (Zea mays L.). We demonstrate that the mean polymorphism information content generated by sets of PstI/MseI and m PstI/MseI markers (0.38) is significantly higher than by sets ofEcoRI/MseI markers (0.33). Also the sampling variance highlighted the distinctive nature of the (m) PstI/MseI markers: to achieve a mean standard deviation of 5% in the estimation of genetic distance among the 33 inbreds, the PstI/MseI and m PstI/MseI marker sets (135 and 129 markers, respectively) are clearly smaller than the EcoRI/MseI marker set (173 markers). A further minimizing of the sampling variance of AFLP data in the estimation of genetic similarities was obtained by reducing marker information redundancy by selecting markers evenly distributed over each chromosome: a set of only 106 AFLP markers, sampled conditionally on their genetic map position, was required for a mean standard deviation of 5% in the estimation of genetic distance among the 33 inbreds.

Notes: Abstract To identify genes of the necrotrophic pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea that are expressed during infection of tomato leaves, a differential screening of a genomic library with radioactively labelled cDNA was performed. This resulted in the identification of a B. cinerea gene, denominated Bcubi4, which encodes a precursor protein consisting of four identical head-to-tail repeats of a 76 aa ubiquitin unit. Subsequently a gene denominated Bcubi1CEP79, encoding a single ubiquitin unit joined to a Carboxyl Extension Protein of 79 amino acids, was isolated. The expression of the two ubiquitin genes was studied during pathogenesis of B. cinerea on tomato. Bcubi1CEP79, but not Bcubi4, mRNA was transiently induced at 16 h after inoculation. The increased expression of the Bcubi1CEP79 gene at this stage of pathogenesis might be required for enhanced ribosomal biogenesis.

Notes: Abstract Nine accessions of three cucurbit species, ten of eight legume species, three of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and 34 of 14 Solanaceae species were inoculated with a Dutch isolate of the tomato powdery mildew fungus (Oidium lycopersici) to determine its host range. Macroscopically, no fungal growth was visible on sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum), lettuce, petunia (Petunia spp.) and most legume species (Lupinus albus, L. luteus, L. mutabilis, Phaseolus vulgaris, Vicia faba, Vigna radiata, V. unguiculata). Trace infection was occasionally observed on melon (Cucumis melo), cucumber (Cucumis sativus), courgette (Cucurbita pepo), pea (Pisum sativum) and Solanum dulcamara. Eggplant (Solanum melongena), the cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) and three wild potato species (Solanum albicans, S. acaule and S. mochiquense) were more heavily infected in comparison with melon, cucumber, courgette, pea and S. dulcamara, but the fungus could not be maintained on these hosts. All seven tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) accessions were as susceptible to O. lycopersici as tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv Moneymaker), suggesting that tobacco is an alternative host. This host range of the tomato powdery mildew differs from that reported in some other countries, which also varied among each other, suggesting that the causal agent of tomato powdery mildew in the Netherlands differ from that in those countries. Histological observations on 36 accessions showed that the defense to O. lycopersici was associated with a posthaustorial hypersensitive response.

Notes: Abstract Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV), a new whitefly-transmitted and phloem-limited Crinivirus infecting tomatoes in Europe, is reported for the first time in Portugal. Tomato plants with symptoms of interveinal chlorosis, collected during autumn 1998 and summer and autumn 1999 in Algarve, southern Portugal, were positive in RT-PCR assays using ToCV-specific primers. The amplified 439 bp fragment was sequenced and showed 99% homology with the ToCV sequence in the GenBank database. A digoxigenin–DNA probe was produced and tested in dot-blot with total RNAs extracted from tomato samples. Both the RT-PCR and dot-blot hybridisation procedures enabled rapid and reliable detection of ToCV from field samples.

Notes: Abstract Biomass accumulation by crops depends both on light interception by leaves and on the efficiency with which the intercepted light is used to produce dry matter. Our aim was to identify which of these processes were affected for maize (Zea Mays L., cv Volga) field crops grown under phosphorus (P) deficiency, and assess their relative importance. In this paper, the effects of P deficiency on leaf appearance, leaf elongation rate, final individual leaf area and leaf senescence were studied. The experimental work was carried out in 1995–1977 on a long-term P fertilisation trial located on a sandy soil in the south-west of France. Three P fertilisation regimes have been applied since 1972: no-P (P0 treatment) and different rates of P fertiliser (P1.5:1.5 times the grain P export and P3:3 times the grain P export). These fertilisation regimes have led to contrasted levels of soil P supply, with the P0 treatment being limiting for growth. Very few differences were observed about leaf growth between the P1.5 and P3 treatments. Conversely, the leaf area index (LAI) was significantly reduced in the P0 treatment, especially during the first phases of the crop cycle (up to −60% between the 7- and 14-visible leaves). This effect gradually decreased over time. The lower LAI in P0 treatment was due to two main processes affecting the leaf growth. The final number of leaves per plant and leaf senescence were only slightly modified by P deficiency. Conversely, leaf appearance was delayed during the period between leaf 4 and leaf 9. The value of the phyllochron increased from 47 °C days in the P1.5 treatment to 65 °C days in the P0 treatment. Leaf elongation rates during the quasi-linear phase of leaf expansion were significantly reduced for lower leaves of P0 plants. The final size of leaves L2–L12 was reduced. On the opposite, leaf elongation duration was not greatly affected by P treatments. Before the emergence of leaf 9, the reduction of individual leaf size was the main factor responsible for the reduced LAI in the P0 treatment. After this stage, the delayed leaf appearance accounted for a great part of the reduced LAI in the P0 treatment.

Notes: Abstract Neotyphodium coenophialum (Morgan-Jones and Gams) Glenn, Bacon and Hanlin, a fungal endophyte found primarily in shoots of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Shreb.), can modify rhizosphere activity in response to phosphorus (P) deficiency. In a controlled environment experiment, two cloned tall fescue genotypes (DN2 and DN4) free (E-) and infected (E+) with their naturally occurring endophyte strains were grown in nutrient solutions at low P (3.1 ppm) or high P (31 ppm) concentrations for 21 d. Endophyte infection increased root dry matter (DM) of DN4 by 21% but did not affect root DM of DN2. Under P deficiency, shoot and total DM were not affected by endophyte but relative growth rate was greater in E+ than E- plants. In high P nutrient solution, E+ plants produced 13% less (DN2) or 29% more (DN4) shoot DM than E- plants. Endophyte affected mineral concentrations in roots more than in shoots. Regardless of P concentration in nutrient solution, E+ DN2 accumulated more P, Ca, Zn and Cu but less K in roots than E- plants. When grown in high P nutrient solution, concentrations of Fe and B in roots of E+ DN2 plants were reduced compared with those of E- plants. Concentrations of P, Ca and Cu in roots of DN4 were less, but K was greater in E+ than E- plants. In shoots, E+ DN2 had greater concentrations of Fe and Cu than E- DN2, regardless of P concentration in nutrient solution. Genotype DN4 responded to endophyte infection by reducing B concentration in shoots. Nutrient uptake rates were affected by endophyte infection in plants grown in low P nutrient solution. A greater uptake rate of most nutrients and their transport to shoots was observed in DN2, but responses of DN4 were not consistent. Results suggest that endophyte may elicit different modes of tall fescue adaptation to P deficiency.

Notes: Abstract Complementarity in the distribution of tree and crop root systems is important to minimise competition for resources whilst maximising resource use in agroforestry systems. A field study was conducted on a kaolinitic Oxisol in the sub-humid highlands of western Kenya to compare the distribution and dynamics of root length and biomass of a 3-year-old Grevillea robusta A. Cunn. ex R. Br. (grevillea) tree row and a 3-year-old Senna spectabilis DC. (senna) hedgerow grown with Zea mays L. (maize). Tree roots were sampled to a 300 cm depth and 525 cm distance from the tree rows, both before and after maize cropping. Maize roots were sampled at two distances from the tree rows (75–150 cm and 450–525 cm) to a maximum depth of 180 cm, at three developmental stages. The mean root length density (Lrv) of the trees in the upper 15 cm was 0.55 cm cm−3 for grevillea and 1.44 cm cm−3 for senna, at the start of the cropping season. The Lrv of senna decreased at every depth during the cropping season, whereas the Lrv of grevillea only decreased in the crop rooting zone. The fine root length of the trees decreased by about 35% for grevillea and 65% for senna, because of maize competition, manual weeding, seasonal senescence or pruning regime (senna). At anthesis, the Lrv of maize in the upper 15 cm was between 0.8 and 1.5 cm cm−3. Maize root length decreased with greater proximity to the tree rows, potentially reducing its ability to compete for soil resources. However, the specific root length (m g−1) of maize was about twice that of the trees, so may have had a competitive uptake advantage even when tree root length was greater. Differences in maize fine root length and biomass suggest that competition for soil resources and hence fine root length may have been more important for maize grown with senna than grevillea.

Notes: Abstract Marker-assisted selection (MAS) for resistance genes (R-genes), identified using molecular markers and quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis, is now possible in many crops. MAS can be used to pyramid several R-genes into a single host genotype. However, this may not provide durable genetic resistance because the pathogen is exposed to a full homozygous pyramid during hybrid seed production and to a full heterozygous pyramid in the resultant hybrid. Alternative gene deployment strategies that generate genetic variability were analysed, for hybrid cereal cultivars of pearl millet, maize, sorghum and rice, using maintainer lines (B-lines) with two smaller complementary pyramids. An F1 seed parent, produced on two such B-lines, can be used to produce a three-way hybrid. All target loci are heterozygous for resistance alleles in the F1 seed parent, and the pathogen is exposed in the hybrid to a host population that is heterogeneous and heterozygous for alleles at the resistance loci targeted by MAS. Alternatively, single-cross hybrids can be made on seed parents that are maintained by two B-lines that differ for the complementary resistance gene pyramids. In a cross-pollinated crop, the B-lines are allowed to intermate to produce a synthetic B-line. In an inbreeding crop, the B-lines are equivalent to a two-component multiline variety. In inbreeding crops, because there is no intermating between the B-line components, the resultant synthetic seed parents have a higher frequency of genotypes with resistance alleles (R-alleles) at several resistance loci. However, in both cross-pollinated and inbreeding crops the genotypic structure in the hybrids is almost the same. All alternatives to a single-cross hybrid having a full pyramid produce hybrid cultivars having lower frequencies of resistance alleles. The frequency of genotypes having R-alleles at several loci increases greatly in both seed parent and hybrid when the overall frequency of R-alleles in the maintainer lines increases. This is simply done by adding a maintainer line that has a full pyramid or by the component lines having overlapping pyramids.

Notes: Abstract The most commonly observed change in soil following slash-and-burn clearing of tropical forest is a short-term increase in nutrient availability. Studies of shifting cultivation commonly cite the incorporation of nutrient-rich ash from consumed aboveground biomass into soil as the reason for this change. The effects of soil heating on nutrient availability have been examined only rarely in field studies of slash-and-burn, and soil heating as a mechanism of nutrient release is most often assumed to be of minor importance in the field. Few budgets for above and belowground nutrient flux have been developed in the tropics, and a survey of results from field and laboratory studies indicates that soils are sufficiently heated during most slash-and-burn events, particularly in dry and monsoonal climates, to cause significant, even substantial release of nutrients from non-plant-available into plant-available forms in soil. Conversely, large aboveground losses of nutrients during and after burning often result in low quantities of nutrients that are released to soil. Assessing the biophysical sustainability of an agricultural practice requires detailed information about nutrient flux and loss incurred during management. To this end, current conceptual models of shifting cultivation should be revised to more accurately describe these fluxes and losses.

Notes: Abstract We have observed that low soil phosphorus availability alters the gravitropic response of basal roots in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), resulting in a shallower root system. In this study we use a geometric model to test the hypotheses that a shallower root system is a positive adaptive response to low soil P availability by (1) concentrating root foraging in surface soil horizons, which generally have the highest P availability, and (2) reducing spatial competition for P among roots of the same plant. The growth of nine root systems contrasting in gravitropic response over 320 h was simulated in SimRoot, a dynamic three-dimensional geometric model of root growth and architecture. Phosphorus acquisition and inter-root competition were estimated with Depzone, a program that dynamically models nutrient diffusion to roots. Shallower root systems had greater P acquisition per unit carbon cost than deeper root systems, especially in older root systems. This was due to greater inter-root competition in deeper root systems, as measured by the volume of overlapping P depletion zones. Inter-root competition for P was a significant fraction of total soil P depletion, and increased with increasing values of the P diffusion coefficient (De), with root age, and with increasing root gravitropism. In heterogenous soil having greater P availability in surface horizons, shallower root systems had greater P acquisition than deeper root systems, because of less inter-root competition as well as increased root foraging in the topsoil. Root P acquisition predicted by SimRoot was validated against values for bean P uptake in the field, with an r 2 between observed and predicted values of 0.75. Our results support the hypothesis that altered gravitropic sensitivity in P-stressed roots, resulting in a shallower root system, is a positive adaptive response to low P availability by reducing inter-root competition within the same plant and by concentrating root activity in soil domains with the greatest P availability.

Notes: Abstract The role of ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi in increasing apatite dissolution was tested in a pot system with Pinus sylvestris (L.) seedlings growing in a sand/peat mixture. Non-mycorrhizal seedlings and seedlings inoculated with one of three different isolates of EM fungi were grown for 210 days in pots divided into a root-containing and a root-free compartment. The EM mycelium was allowed to colonise the root-free compartment, to which apatite had been added as a P source in half of the pots. All mineral nutrients except P were supplied in the form of a balanced nutrient solution. Seedlings grown with apatite as their P source grew significantly better and had higher P concentrations (1.1–1.5 mg/g) compared with seedlings growing without any P source (0.6–1.0 mg/g), indicating that they were able to use apatite-P. A weathering budget based on P uptake indicated that 6.7–18.9 mg apatite was weathered per pot which corresponds to 0.3–0.9% of the added apatite. A similar budget based on Sr uptake indicated that the apatite weathering rate was lower (0.13-0.3%). One Suillus variegatus isolate and an unidentified fungus had a significant positive influence on the dissolution of apatite, while another S. variegatus isolate had colonised roots poorly and did not influence weathering significantly. Oxalic acid was detected in root-free soil and was especially abundant in compartments colonised by S. variegatus. The concentration of oxalic acid was correlated to the concentration of phosphate in the soil solution of root-free soil, indicating that oxalic acid influences apatite dissolution.

Notes: Abstract We studied variation in forest floor thickness in four plantations of red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) which were similar in age, soil type and associated vegetation. The plantations were located (west to east) in the Clear Creek, Moshannon, Sproul and Tiadaghton State Forests of Pennsylvania, USA. A gradient in forest floor thickness exists across these plantations; the forest floor is thickest in the west and it becomes progressively thinner toward the east. Decomposition of imported litter increased from west to east, suggesting that the variation in forest floor thickness is related to variation in the rate of decomposition. Decomposition rates were related to saprotroph abundance. Variation in forest floor N and phenolic concentrations, in overall mycorrhiza density and in the relative proportions of three common mycorrhiza morphotypes could not explain the variation in decomposition rate. The P concentrations and pH of the forest floor were significantly lower at Clear Creek and Moshannon, where decomposition rates were lowest, compared to Sproul and Tiadaghton, where decomposition rates were most rapid. This suggests that P concentration and pH may have exerted some control on decomposition.

Notes: Abstract The effect of rooting media Cu concentration (0.05–20 mg Cu L-1) on amino acid concentrations and copper speciation in the xylem sap of chicory and tomato plants was measured using 6 week old plants grown in a nutrient film technique system (NFT). Irrespective of the Cu concentration in the nutrient solutions, more than 99.68% and 99.74% of total Cu in tomato and chicory xylem sap was in a bound form. When exposed to high Cu concentrations in the rooting media, amino acid concentrations in the sap increased. Relative to other amino acids, the concentrations of glutamine (Gln), histidine (His), asparagine (Asn), valine (Val), nicotianamine (NA) and proline (Pro) in tomato xylem saps, and His, γ-aminobutyric acid (Gaba), glutamic acid (Glu), leucine (Leu), NA and phenylalanine (Phe) in chicory xylem saps showed the greatest increases. The data indicate that induced synthesis of some free amino acids as a specific and proportional response to Cu treatment. For a single complexation amino acid, the solution Cu2+concentration vs pH titration curve for NA at 0.06–0.07 mM was most similar, closely followed by His at 0.5–0.6 mM, to the solution Cu2+concentration behaviour in both tomato and chicory xylem sap. It is concluded that increased Cu concentrations in the rooting media induced selective synthesis of certain amino acid which include NA, His, Asn and Gln which have high stability constants with Cu. NA and His have the highest binding constants for Cu and the concentrations of NA and His in chicory and tomato xylem saps can account for all the bound Cu carried in the sap.

Notes: Abstract Biomass accumulation by crops depends on both light interception by leaves and on the efficiency with which the intercepted light is used to produce dry matter. Our aim was to identify which of these processes were affected for maize (Zea mays L., cv Volga) field crops grown under phosphorus (P) deficiency. In the preceding paper (Plénet et al., 2000), it was shown that P deficiency severely reduced leaf growth. In this paper, the effect of P deficiency on the radiation-use efficiency (RUE) was investigated. The experimental work was carried out in 1995, 1996 and 1997 on a long-term P fertilisation trial located on a sandy soil in the south-west of France. Three P fertilisation regimes have been applied since 1972: no- P (P0 treatment) and different rates of P fertiliser (P1.5: 1.5 times the grain P export and P3: 3 times the grain P export). These fertilisation regimes have led to contrasted levels of soil P supply. Only slight differences were observed between the P1.5 and P3 treatment for above-ground biomass accumulation and grain yield. Conversely the grain yield was significantly reduced in P0 (−11%). Above-ground biomass production was severely reduced, with the maximum difference between treatment (−60% in P0) occurring between 400 and 600 °C days after sowing. The lower biomass production in P0 was accounted for by the reduced amount of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) absorbed by the canopy, which was itself the consequence of the reduced leaf area index (see Plénet et al., 2000). The calculated RUE were found to depend on the plant stage, especially during the pre-flowering period, and on the average air temperature. No effect of P deficiency was observed on the calculated RUE, even during the period when above-ground biomass accumulation was the most severely reduced. These results obtained in field crop conditions strengthen the idea that P deficiency affects plant growth, especially leaf growth, earlier and to a greater extent than photosynthesis per unit leaf area.

Notes: Abstract We tested the hypothesis that there is a causal connection between autumn colour, nutrient concentration and decomposibility of fresh leaf litter. Samples from patches of different autumn colours within the leaves of the deciduous tree sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) were sealed into litter bags and incubated for one winter in an outdoor leaf mould bed. Green leaf patches were decomposed faster than yellow or brown patches and this corresponded with the higher N and P concentrations in the former. Black patches, indicating colonisation by the tar spot fungus Rhytisma acerinum, were particularly high in P, but were decomposed very slowly, owing probably to resource immobilisation by the fungus. The results supported the hypothesis and were consistent with a previous study reporting an interspecific link between autumn coloration and decomposition rate. Autumn leaf colour of deciduous woody plants may serve as a useful predictor of litter decomposibility in ecosystem or biome scale studies where extensive direct measurements of litter chemistry and decomposition are not feasible.

Notes: Abstract Phosphatase activity of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi has attracted attention in three fairly distinct domains: intracellular enzymes with defined metabolic functions that have been studied in intraradical hyphae, histochemical staining of alkaline phosphatase as an indicator of fungal activity measured both intra- and extraradically, and extracellular activity related to mineralization of organic P (Po) compounds that may enhance mycorrhizal utilization of an important nutrient pool in soil. This review focuses on the latter subjects with emphasis on extraradical mycelium (ERM), while it draws on selected data from the vast material available concerning phosphatases of other organisms. We conclude that histochemical staining of alkaline phosphatase is a sensitive and suitable method for monitoring the effect of adverse conditions encountered by ERM both as a symbiotically functional entity in soil, and in vitro without modifying interference of soil or other solid substrates. Furthermore, the quantitative importance of extracellular enzymes for P nutrition of AM plants is estimated to be insignificant. This is concluded from the low quantitative contribution extracellular hyphae of AM fungi give to the total phosphatase activity in soil, and from estimations of which processes that may be rate limiting in organic P mineralization. Maximum values for the former is in the order of a few percent. As for the latter, solubilization of Po seems to be far more important than Po hydrolysis for utilization of Po by AM fungi and plants, as both endogenous soil phosphatase activity and phosphatases of other soil organisms are ubiquitous and abundant. Our discussion of mycorrhizal phosphatases supports the view that extracellular phosphatases of roots and micro-organisms are to a large extent released incidentally into soil, and that the source has limited benefit from its activity.

Notes: Abstract Efficacy of Pseudomonas aeruginosa alone or in combination with Paecilomyces lilacinus was evaluated in the control of root-knot nematode and root-infecting fungi under laboratory and field conditions. Ethyl acetate extract (1 mg/ml) of P. lilacinus and P. aeruginosa,respectively, caused 100 and 64% mortality of Meloidogyne javanica larvae after 24 h. Ethyl acetate fractions of biocontrol agents were more effective than hexane extracts in the suppression of M. javanica larvae, indicating that active nematicidal compounds are intermediary in polarity. In field experiments, biocontrol fungus and bacterium significantly suppressed soilborne root-infecting fungi including Macrophomina phaseolina, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Rhizoctonia solani and Meloidogyne javanica, the root-knot nematode. P. lilacinus parasitized eggs and female of M. javanica and this parasitism was not significantly influenced in the presence of P. aeruginosa. P. aeruginosa was reisolated from the inner root tissues of tomato, whereas P. lilacinusdid not colonize tomato roots.

Notes: Abstract The experiments were conducted on two tomato cultivars: Garbo and Robin. Mineral starvation due to plant growth in 20-fold diluted nutrient solution (DNS) combined with chilling reduced the rate of photosynthesis (P N) and stomatal conductance (g) to a greater extent than in plants grown in full nutrient solution (FNS). In phosphate-starved tomato plants the P N rate and stomatal conductance decreased more after chilling than in plants grown on FNS. In low-P plants even 2 days after chilling the recovery of CO2 assimilation rate and stomatal conductance was low. A resupply of phosphorus to low-P plants (low P + P) did not improve the rate of photosynthesis in non-chilled plants (NCh) but prevented PN inhibition in chilled (Ch) plants. The greatest effect of P resupply was expressed as a better recovery of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, especially in non-chilled low P + P plants. The F v/F m (ratio of variable to maximal chlorophyll fluorescence) decreased more during P starvation than as an effect of chilling. Supplying phosphorus to low-P plants caused the slight increase in the F v/F mratio. In conclusion, after a short-term chilling in darkness a much more drastic inhibition of photosynthesis was observed in nutrient-starved or P-insufficient tomato plants than in plants from FNS. This inhibition was caused by the decrease in both photochemical efficiency of photosystems and the reduction of stomatal conductance. The presented results support the hypothesis that tomato plants with limited supply of mineral nutrients or phosphorus are more susceptible to chilling.

Notes: Abstract Accessions of Lycopersicon peruvianum complex and their F1progenies were screened for genotype specific resistance to Mi-1-avirulent M. incognita and M. javanica biotypes at25 °C and at 32 °C (a temperature at which Mi-1resistance is not expressed), and to Mi-1-virulent M.incognita at 25 °C. All entries of the L. peruvianumChotano-humifusum race accessions LA2157 and LA2334 were resistantto Mi-1-avirulent biotype at 25 °C and at 32 °C,indicating that the accessions are homozygous for the heat-stableresistance. The L. peruvianum Maranon race accessions LA1626,LA1708, LA2172, LA2185, LA2326 and LA2328 segregated for heat-stableresistance to Mi-1-avirulent biotype. The F1 progeny tested ofLA392 × LA2157, LA2334 × LA2157, LA2328 × LA2326,LA2328 × LA2185, LA1708 × LA2328 andLA1626 × LA2172 were resistant to Mi-1-avirulent biotype at32 °C. There were differences in the segregating accessions andF1 hybrids for expression of heat-unstable and heat-stable resistanceto Mi-1-avirulent Meloidogyne spp. The L. peruvianumLA392 and LA2163 and L. chilense LA1968, LA1972, LA2404, LA2405,LA2406, LA2748, LA2930, and the L. peruvianum × L.chilense hybrids were homozygous susceptible with all entries testedsusceptible at 32 °C. Cuttings of these L. peruvianumaccessions and their F1 progenies were susceptible to Mi-1-virulent M. incognita biotype at 25 °C.

Notes: Abstract Formal plant breeders could contribute much to collaboration with farmers for improving crop varieties for local use. To do so outside researchers must have some understanding of local selection practices and their impact on crop populations in terms of the genetic theory underlying plant breeding. In this research we integrated methods from social and biological sciences to better understand selection and its consequences from farmers' perspectives but based on the concepts used by plant breeders. Among the households we worked with, farmers' selection practices were not always effective yet they understood the reasons for this and had no expectations for response to selection in some traits given the methods available to them. Farmers' statements, practices and genetic perceptions regarding selection and the genetic response of their maize populations to their selection indicate selection objectives different than may be typically assumed, suggesting a role for plant breeder collaboration with farmers.

Notes: Abstract The inhibitory effect of light on the growth of plantscorrelates with a decrease of free IAA content in their tissues andmight be mediated through changes of IAA metabolism. In different partsof Zea mays L. seedlings (roots, mesocotyls and coleoptiles)that respond to light with a different growth rate, the effect of lighton the formation of IAA metabolites was examined in feeding experimentswith 14C-IAA. In all tissues, IAA was taken up andmetabolised mainly into six compounds, four of them were tentativelyidentified as IAA-1-O-glucose (IAGlc), IAA-myo-inositol, indoleacetamide and IAA-aspartate (IAAsp). IAA was metabolised most slowly inthe roots. In coleoptiles and mesocotyls, IAGlc was the most abundantmetabolite, except for mesocotyls in the light. In roots, a relativelylarge amount of IAA was also metabolised into IAAsp. Light stimulatedthe rate of IAA metabolism in all tissues, but its effect on theconversion of IAA was exceptionally high in mesocotyls. In mesocotyltissue the conversion into IAAsp was greatly stimulated by light.Conversely, the content of IAGlc in mesocotyls was decreased by light.Since light inhibited mesocotyl growth significantly and specifically,it is possible that the high capacity of mesocotyls to synthesise IAAspin the light may have caused a depletion of free IAA, which then led toan inhibition of growth. In mesocotyls from the light-grown plants IAAconjugated into IAGlc was probably used for IAAspbiosynthesis.

Notes: Abstract Carbon 14-labelled indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) was fed to segments of shoots of Zea mays seedlings grown in light or dark to find the effect of light on IAA metabolism. The seedling parts coleoptile, with enclosed leaf, and mesocotyl were also used to examine differences in IAA metabolism between tissue types. The rate of metabolite formation as a function of time ranging from 1 to 12 hours was determined. Light did not significantly influence the amount of IAA taken up, but significantly increased its rate of metabolism and greatly increased the content of amide conjugates formed. There were also differences in metabolism depending on tissue type. In all tissues, IAA was metabolized mainly into six compounds. Four were tentatively identified as IAA-glucose (IAGlc), IAA-myo-inositol} (IAInos), indole acetamide (IAAm) and IAA-aspartic acid (IAAsp). 1-O-IAA-D-glucose (1-O-IAGlc) was the first conjugate formed and, except for mesocotyls in the light, it was the most abundant conjugate in maize tissue. In mesocotyl tissue the conversion of IAA into IAAsp was greatly stimulated by light, and the biosynthesis of IAAsp exceeded that of IAGlc. Since light strongly inhibited the growth of the mesocotyl, it is possible that the stimulation of IAAsp synthesis by light causes depletion of free IAA with resultant inhibition of mesocotyl growth.

Notes: Abstract Unlike the situation for arable soils, virtually nothing is known about the spatial dependencies of soil properties in cool temperate grassland or about what the optimal sampling strategies ought to be for mapping soil nutrient distributions in such situations. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial variability in ‘plant-available’ (soil) phosphorus and potassium in a grass silage field in Northern Ireland and devise ‘optimal’ sampling strategies for mapping their distributions. Soil samples were collected from the field at 25 m intervals in a regular rectangular grid to provide a database of soil properties. Different data combinations were subsequently abstracted from this database for comparison purposes, and ordinary kriging used to produce interpolated soil maps. Soil potassium displayed greater spatial variability than soil phosphorus. In keeping with this observation, the results of three separate statistical procedures demonstrated that the optimal sample size for estimating the ‘true’ population means was about twice as large for soil potassium as for soil phosphorus. Optimal sampling strategies, however, related not just to sample size but to sample combination and field shape as well.

Notes: Abstract In the sandy regions of the Netherlands water quality is threatened by high losses of nutrients from intensive dairy farms. About 67% (32 kg ha-1yr-1) of farm inputs of P in purchased feeds and fertilisers do not leave in milk or cattle. The Dutch government defined decreasing maximum permitted nutrient surplusses for the period 1998–2008, at 9 kg ha-1yr-1 for P. Farmers suppose that reducing the surplusses will be costly, because it limits application of slurry, which then has to be either exported or additional land has to be purchased. Moreover, farmers are worried about the impact on soil fertility and crop growth. To explore the possibilities of reducing surplusses by improved management, farming systems research is carried out at prototype farm ‘De Marke’. Results indicate that average intensive dairy farms can reduce P surplus sufficiently, without the need to buy land or to export slurry. Key factors are reductions in purchased feeds (by reduced needs per kg milk as a result of a higher milk yield per cow, less young stock and judicious feeding) and fertilisers (by improved management of ‘home-made’ manure and an increased maize area). Initially, P fertility status of the fields of ‘De Marke’ decreased, but stabilised in the seventh year at a level not restrictive to crop production.

Notes: Abstract Tithonia diversifolia, a shrub in the family Asteraceae, is widely distributed along farm boundaries in the humid and subhumid tropics of Africa. Green biomass of tithonia has been recognized as an effective source of nutrients for lowland rice (Oryza sativa) in Asia and more recently for maize (Zea mays) and vegetables in eastern and southern Africa. This paper reviews the potential of tithonia green biomass for soil fertility improvement based on recent research in western Kenya. Green leaf biomass of tithonia is high in nutrients, averaging about 3.5% N, 0.37% P and 4.1% K on a dry matter basis. Boundary hedges of sole tithonia can produce about 1 kg biomass (tender stems + leaves) m−1 yr−1 on a dry weight basis. Tithonia biomass decomposes rapidly after application to soil, and incorporated biomass can be an effective source of N, P and K for crops. In some cases, maize yields were even higher with incorporation of tithonia biomass than with commercial mineral fertilizer at equivalent rates of N, P and K. In addition to providing nutrients, tithonia incorporated at 5 t dry matter ha−1 can reduce P sorption and increase soil microbial biomass. Because of high labor requirements for cutting and carrying the biomass to fields, the use of tithonia biomass as a nutrient source is more profitable with high-value crops such as vegetables than with relatively low-valued maize. The transfer of tithonia biomass to fields constitutes the redistribution of nutrients within the landscape rather than a net input of nutrients. External inputs of nutrients would eventually be required to sustain production of tithonia when biomass is continually cut and transferred to agricultural land.

Notes: Abstract One-year-old interior spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss × Picea engelmannii Parry) spring-stock and summer-stock were grown under two phosphorus (P) fertility regimes, with (+P) or without (−P), followed by a simulated winter, and a second growing period under an adequate fertility regime in a controlled environment room. The two stock-types differed in their response to low P availability. For spring-stock, morphological development, phosphorus-use efficiency (PUE) and P specific absorption rate (SAR) were similar between −P and +P seedlings. For summer-stock, −P seedlings compared to +P seedlings had lower (p ≤ 0.05) morphological development, but greater PUE and SAR. For both stock-types, P content increased in +P seedlings, remained low in −P seedlings, and P concentration decreased in nursery-needles (i.e., formed in the nursery) of −P seedlings. The difference in stock-type response to low phosphorus availability (−P) was attributed to internal supply of P and it's retranslocation. Assimilation (A) of CO2 in nursery-needles was similar between −P and +P seedlings for both stock-types. For spring-stock, +P seedlings had greater A in new-needles (i.e., needles formed during the trial) than −P seedlings. It was recommended that the spring-stock be selected over summer-stock for sites low in P availability.

Notes: Abstract We have previously found an accession of Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium (Jusl.) Mill. (`TO-937') that appeared to resist attack by the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch). L. pimpinellifolium is a very close relative of the cultivated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and thereby a potential source of desirable traits that could be introgressed to the crop species. The objective of this study was to investigate the genetics of the resistance present in `TO-937'. Resistance to infestation by the spider mite was quantified in 24-plant plots of L. pimpinellifolium accessions `TO-937' and `PE-10', L. pennellii accession `PE-45', L. esculentum cultivars `Moneymaker', `Roma' and `Kalohi' (reported to be partially resistant: Stoner & Stringfellow, 1967), and the interspecific F1 cross, L. esculentum `Moneymaker' × L. pimpinellifolium `TO-937'. Only `TO-937', the F1, and`PE-45' were found to be resistant. Resistance of `TO-937' was complete when evaluated in two small greenhouses completely planted with `TO-937' so as to simulate the genotypic homogeneity usual in commercial crops. Generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1P1, and BC1P2) of a P1 (susceptible) × P2 (resistant) cross (`Moneymaker' × `TO-937') were studied for resistance in a single-plant per plot design. Resistance of `TO-937' was inherited with complete dominance and appeared to be controlled by either two or four genes according to whether segregation in the F2 or the BC1P1, respectively, were considered. However, calculation of the number of genes involved in the resistance was complicated by negative interplot interference due to the high frequency of resistant genotypes within most of the generations.

Notes: Abstract The uptake and distribution of copper was examined in chicory (Cichorium intybus L. cv. Grasslands Puna) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentumMill. cv. Rondy) plants grown in a Nutrient Film Technique System (NFT) with addition of 0.05, 5, 10 and 20 mg Cu L-1. Biomass production of shoots and roots of both chicory and tomato was strongly depressed by Cu concentrations higher than 5 mg Cu L-1 in the rooting media. Although Cu concentrations in both shoots and roots of both species increased with increasing Cu concentrations in the rooting media, the increase in roots was very much greater than that in shoots, in which the range of concentrations was small. A large proportion of total Cu uptake was retained by roots except when plants were grown in solution Cu concentrations of 0.05 mg Cu L-1. Copper retention by roots limited Cu translocation to xylem and shoots. Copper adsorption by the root appears to buffer against increases of Cu in the rooting media. A cupric-sensitive electrode used in conjunction with total Cu analysis by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (GFAAS) indicated that more than 99.6% of total Cu in xylem sap was in a complexed form. Large differences between measured and predicted Cu accumulation by shoots of tomato (0.134–0.243 mg Cu plant-1, 0.660–4.274 mg Cu plant-1, respectively) and chicory (0.095–0.203 mg Cu plant-1, 0.626–1.620 mg Cu plant-1, respectively) suggest that some xylem transported Cu is recirculated to roots via the phloem.

Notes: Abstract Phosphorus deficiency is a major yield limiting constraint in wheat cultivation on acid soils. The plant factors that influence P uptake efficiency (PUPE) are mainly associated with root characteristics. This study was conducted to analyze the genotypic differences and relationships between PUPE, root length density (RLD), colonization by vesicular arbuscular and arbuscular mycorrhizal (V)AM fungi and root excretion of phosphatases in a P-deficient Andisol in the Central Mexican Highlands. Forty-two semidwarf spring-bread-wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) genotypes from CIMMYT were grown without (−P) and with P fertilization (+P), and subsequently in subsets of 30 and 22 genotypes in replicated field trials over 2 and 3 years, respectively. Acid phosphatase activity at the root surface (APASE) was analyzed in accompanying greenhouse experiments in nutrient solution. In this environment, PUPE contributed more than P utilization efficiency, in one experiment almost completely, to the variation of grain yield among genotypes. Late-flowering genotypes were higher yielding, because the postanthesis period of wheat was extended due to the cold weather at the end of the crop cycles, and postanthesis P uptake accounted for 40–45% of total P uptake. PUPE was positively correlated with the numbers of days to anthesis (at −P r=0.57 and at +P r=0.73). The RLD in the upper soil layer (0–20 cm) of the wheat germplasm tested ranged from 0.5 to 2.4 cm cm-3 at –P and 0.7 to 7.7 at +P. RLD was the most important root trait for improved P absorption, and it was positively genetically correlated with PUPE (at –P r=0.42 and at +P r=0.63) and the number of spikes m-2 (at –P r=0.58 and at +P r=0.36). RLD in the upper soil layer was more important with P fertilizer application. Without P fertilization, root proliferation in the deeper soil profile secured access to residual, native P in the deeper soil layer. (V)AM-colonisation and APASE were to a lesser degree correlated with PUPE. Among genoptypes, the level of (V)AM-colonisation ranged from 14 to 32% of the RLD in the upper soil layer, and APASE from 0.5 to 1.1 nmol s-1 plant-1 10-2.

Notes: Abstract Both rhizobox and field experiments were conducted to investigate nutritional interactions between peanut and maize in intercropping systems for Fe acquistion. Field observations indicated that Fe deficiency chlorosis symptoms in peanut grown in monoculture were more severe and widespread compared to those of peanuts intercropped with maize. This indicated a marked improvement in the iron nutrition of peanut intercropped with maize in the field and was further studied. In experiments with rhizoboxes, roots of maize and peanut were either allowed to interact with each other or prevented from making contact by inserting a solid plate between the root systems of the two species. A field experiment for four cropping treatments were examined: peanut grown separately in monoculture, normal peanut/maize intercropping, peanut/maize intercropping with solid plates between the root systems of the two crop species and peanut/maize intercropping with 30 μm nylon nets between the root systems. The results show that the chlorophyll and HCl-extractable Fe concentrations in young leaves of peanut in the intercropping system with unrestricted interactions of the roots of both plant species were much higher than those of peanut in monoculture. In the nylon mesh treatment, the beneficial effects of the maize extended to row 3. The improvement of Fe nutrition in the intercropping system got reduced but not diminished completely in the treatment with nylon net. It is suggested that the improvement in the Fe nutrition of peanut intercropped with maize was mainly caused by rhizosphere interactions between peanut and maize.

Notes: Abstract We have determined the temporal changes in the concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and P and N components in soil solution following application of synthetic sheep urine (500 kg N ha-1) to a brown forest soil in boxes sown with Agrostis capillaris. Three contrasting defoliation treatments (no cutting, single cut before urine application and regular cutting twice per week) plus a fallow soil were studied. The synthetic urine contained 15N labelled urea and was P-free. Intact soil cores were taken after 2, 7, 14, 21 and 56 d and centrifuged to obtain soil solution. The urea in the synthetic urine was rapidly hydrolysed in the soil, increasing soil solution pH, DOC and total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) concentrations. For the regularly defoliated sward, DOC and P reached maximum concentrations (4000 mg DOC L-1 and 59 mg TDP L-1) on day 7. From their peak values, pH and DOC and P concentrations generally decreased with time and at day 56 were near those of the control. Concentrations of NH4 + and NO3 - in the no-urine treatments fluctuated and the greatest treatment differences were between the fallow soil and the soil sown with grass. Adding synthetic urine increased NH4 + concentrations during the first week, but NO3 - concentrations decreased. This was consistent with the 15N labelling of the NO3 - pool which required 3 weeks to reach that of 15NH4 +. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) reached a maximum value at day 7 with a concentration of 409 mg N L-1. The DON in soil solution contained no detectable amounts of 15N label indicating that it was derived from sources in the soil. Differences in soil solution composition related to the effect of the other cutting treatments and the fallow treatment were small compared to the effect of synthetic urine addition.

Notes: Abstract A field experiment with millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.), sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) and groundnut (Arachnis hypogeae L.) was conducted on severely P-deficient acid sandy soils of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to measure changes in pH and nutrient availability as affected by distance from the root surface and by mineral fertiliser application. Treatments included three rates of phosphorus (P) and four levels of nitrogen (N) application. Bulk, rhizosphere and rhizoplane soils were sampled at 35, 45 and 75 DAS in 1997 and at 55 and 65 DAS in 1998. Regardless of the cropping system and level of mineral fertiliser applied, soil pH consistently increased between 0.7 and two units from the bulk soil to the rhizoplane of millet. Similar pH gradients were observed in cowpea, but pH changes were much smaller in sorghum with a difference of only 0.3 units. Shifts in pH led to large increases in nutrient availability close to the roots. Compared with the bulk soil, available P in the rhizoplane was between 190 and 270% higher for P-Bray and between 360 and 600% higher for P-water. Exchangeable calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) levels were also higher in the millet rhizoplane than in the bulk soil, whereas exchangeable aluminium (Al) levels decreased with increasing pH close to the root surface. The results suggest an important role of root-induced pH increases for crops to cope with acidity-induced nutrient deficiency and Al stress of soils in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of West Africa.

Notes: Abstract  Soil P availability and efficiency of applied P may be improved through an understanding of soil P dynamics in relation to management practices in a cropping system. Our objectives in this study were to evaluate changes in plant-available (Olsen) P and in different inorganic P (Pi) and organic P (P0) fractions in soil as related to repeated additions of manure and fertilizer P under a soybean-wheat rotation. A field experiment on a Typic Haplustert was conducted from 1992 to 1995 wherein the annual treatments included four rates of fertilizer P (0, 11, 22 and 44 kg ha–1 applied to both soybean and wheat) in the absence and presence of 16 t ha–1 of manure (applied to soybean only). With regular application of fertilizer P to each crop the level of Olsen P increased significantly and linearly through the years in both manured and unmanured plots. The mean P balance required to raise Olsen P by 1 mg kg–1 was 17.9 kg ha–1 of fertilizer P in unmanured plots and 5.6 kg ha–1 of manure plus fertilizer P in manured plots. The relative sizes of labile [NaHCO3-extractable Pi (NaHCO3-Pi) and NaHCO3-extractable P0 (NaHCO3-P0)], moderately labile [NaOH-extractable Pi (NaOH-Pi) and NaOH-extractable P0 (NaOH-P0)] and stable [HCl-extractable P (HCl-P) and H2SO4/H2O2-extractable P (resisual-P)] P pools were in a 1 : 2.9 : 7.6 ratio. Application of fertilizer P and manure significantly increased NaHCO3-Pi and -P0 and NaOH-Pi, and -P0 fractions and also total P. However, HCl-P and residual-P were not affected. The changes in NaHCO3-Pi, NaOH-Pi and NaOH-P0 fractions were significantly correlated with the apparent P balance and were thought to represent biologically dynamic soil P and act as major sources and sinks of plant-available P.

Notes: Abstract Phosphorus lost in runoff from agricultural land leads to the enrichment of surface waters and contributes to algal blooms. Fertilisers are one source of this P. To compare the water available P of different fertiliser formulations in the laboratory it is necessary to control environmental conditions, temperature, relative humidity and soil water content, prior to simulating rainfall. Two chambers were designed in which relative humidity and soil water content were controlled using salt solutions. An initial design comprising a sealed chamber with three layers of soil samples over a salt bath was found to be inferior to a single layer design. The changes in water content of soil samples were used to test the single layer chamber in a constant temperature environment (15 °C) using a saturated KCl solution (90% relative humidity). Based on the final soil water content of the samples, the spatial variation within the chamber was within tolerable limits. The single layer chamber was used for a simulation experiment comparing the water available P of two commercial fertilisers. Using a saturated resorcinol solution (95% relative humidity) soil samples were equilibrated at 15 °C for 21 days, fertiliser added, and the water available P measured up to 600 h after fertiliser application. The results indicate that the amount of water available P was related to the fertiliser compound and exponentially related to the time since fertiliser application. It was concluded that the single layer chamber is suitable for controlling relative humidity and soil water content in trials such as these where the water available P of fertilisers are being compared.

Notes: Abstract Inputs of phosphorus (P) above requirements for production on dairy farms lead to surplus P with increased risk of P transfer in land run-off to surface waters causing eutrophication. The impact of reducing surplus P inputs in purchased feeds and fertilizers on milk and forage production was investigated in a comparison of three dairy farm systems on chalkland soils in southern England over a 3-year period. In accordance with current commercial practice, no attempt was made to regulate P inputs in system 1, which accumulated an average annual surplus of 23 kg P ha-1. Progressive reductions in purchased feed and/or fertilizer inputs into systems 2 and 3 decreased surplus P to 17 and 3 kg ha-1, respectively, without apparently limiting either milk or herbage dry matter production. The estimated reduction in faecal P output from system 3 cows fed a low P diet compared to system 1 cows fed a high P diet was 26%. Milk P concentrations significantly (P 〈0.001) increased in systems 2 and 3 which included maize in the diet. Output of P in milk and meat products, as a proportion of the total dietary P inputs, increased from 28% in system 1 to 36% in system 3. Surplus P was greatest in continuous maize fields receiving both dairy manure and starter P fertilizer. Withholding P fertilizer in system 3 did not reduce P offtake in cut herbage on soils of moderate P fertility. Total annual losses of P in storm run-off and leaching were no greater than annual inputs of P from the atmosphere (0.5 kg ha-1). The results indicate there is scope to reduce surplus P on commercial dairy farms without sacrificing production targets at least in the short term. Purchased feeds are the largest of the P inputs on intensive dairy farms, yet these are rarely quantified on commercial holdings.

Notes: Abstract Fifteen field trials were conducted to evaluate soil mineral N measurement as a means for quantifying the total N supply to forage maize and so to form the basis for fertilizer recommendations on a crop-specific basis. In every trial, 4 rates of cattle manure N (nominally 0, 80, 160, 240 kg N per ha) and 4 rates of ammonium nitrate (0, 50, 100, 150 kg N per ha) were factorially combined. Soil mineral N measurements were made before manure application, at the time of maize drilling, 7-10 weeks after drilling and after harvest. Measurements on control treatments which received no manure or ammonium nitrate showed extensive net mineralisation of soil N (mean 140 kg N per ha) in the 7-10 weeks after drilling followed by a decrease due to crop uptake, and probably net immobilisation, of approximately the same amount by harvest. This net mineralisation was probably the reason why only one trial showed a significant dry-matter yield response to ammonium nitrate. Results indicated that , to be useful for N recommendations, soil mineral N measurements should be taken 7-10 weeks after drilling. Only if the amount of mineral N at this time is less than expected crop N offtake should fertilizer N be applied. A mean of around 64% of the N applied in ammonium nitrate could be accounted for in soil mineral N after harvest of the maize, although this was reduced to 24% in the single trial where a dry-matter response to ammonium nitrate was recorded.

Notes: Abstract To determine P loadings, added through poultry litter, sufficient to cause downward movement of P from the cultivated layer of a sandy soil, six rates of poultry litter were applied annually for four years to a site in central England. (total loading 0 – 1119 kg P ha-1). A single extra plot also received an extra 1000 kg ha-1 as triple superphosphate (TSP; total loading 2119 kg P ha-1) and three other treatments received 200 – 800 kg ha-1 P as TSP only. Annual soil sampling in 30-cm increments to 1.5-m depth provided information on P build-up in the topsoil and P movement to depth. There were strong linear trends between P balance (P applied – P removed in crops) and total P, Olsen bicarbonate extractable P and water-soluble P in the topsoil. Phosphorus from TSP and poultry litter fell on the same regression lines, suggesting that both would be equally effective as fertilizer sources. We calculated that 100 kg ha-1 surplus total P would increase the Olsen extractable P content by c. 6 mg kg-1 and the water-soluble P by c. 5 mg kg-1. Thus, relatively large amounts of P would need to be applied to raise soil P status. We found some evidence of P movement into the soil layers immediately below cultivation depth. However, neither soil sampling nor soil solution extracted through Teflon water samplers showed evidence of movement into the deep subsoil (1 m) despite large P loadings.

Notes: Abstract Bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flugge) pasture fertilization recommendations have traditionally been based upon clipping studies. Inclusion of P from manure, not originally considered when P recommendations were developed for pastures, may minimize the need for P fertilization without reducing bahiagrass production or P uptake. The objective of this research was to determine if manure contributes greatly to the P crop nutrient requirement. A 2-year field study utilized a factorial arrangement of 0 and 6.9 Mg air-dried manure ha-1 with 0, 17, 34, 51, and 68 kg inorganic P ha-1 from triple superphosphate to evaluate bahiagrass yield, root distribution, and P uptake response on a Myakka fine sand (sandy, siliceous, hyperthermic Aeric Alaquod). Because air-dried manure was used in the field study, a greenhouse study was employed to confirm that there were no differences in bahiagrass yield or P uptake from either air-dried or fresh cattle (Bos spp.) manure sources. There were no manure or manure by P interaction effects on yield or P uptake of bahiagrass indicating that manure source did not effect grass production in the greenhouse. In the field study, bahiagrass roots were distributed into the Bh horizon, and the Bh horizon had at least four times more Mehlich-1 extractable P than that of the Ap horizon. This horizon was most likely acting as a main source for P-uptake by the grass. This observation was further confirmed by no yield response to levels of inorganic P application in 1989. A linear-response-and-plateau (R2=0.196) relationship with a critical point of 15.4 kg P ha-1 was found in 1990. Bahiagrass yield and P uptake were not dependent on P fertilization, either from manure or inorganic P, due to the availability of P from the Bh horizon.

Notes: Abstract Integrated soil management with leguminous cover crops was studied at two sites in the northern Guinea savanna zone of northern Nigeria, Kaduna (190 day growing season) and Bauchi (150 days). One-year planted fallows of mucuna, lablab, and crotalaria were compared with natural grass fallow and cowpea controls. All treatments were followed by a maize test crop in the second year with 0, 30, or 60 kg N ha−1 as urea. Above ground legume residues were not incorporated into the soil and most residues were burned early in the dry season at the Kaduna site. Legume rotation increased soil total N, maize growth in greenhouse pots, and dry matter and N accumulation of maize. Response of maize grain yield to 30 kg N ha−1 as urea was highly significant at both sites and much greater than the response to legume rotation. The mean N fertilizer replacement value from legume rotation was 14 kg N ha−1 at Kaduna and 6 kg N ha−1 at Bauchi. W ith no N applied to the maize test crop, maize grain yield following legume fallow was 365 kg ha−1 higher than natural fallow at Bauchi and 235 kg ha−1 higher at Kaduna. The benefit of specific legume fallows to subsequent maize was mostly related to above ground N of the previous legume at Bauchi, where residues were protected from fire and grazing. At Kaduna, where fallow vegetation was burned, maize yield was related to estimated below ground N. The results show that legume rotation alone results in small maize yield increases in the dry savanna zone.

Notes: Abstract For the production of broad commercial resistance to cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) infection, tomato plants were transformed with a combination of two coat protein (CP) genes, representing both subgroups of CMV. The CP genes were cloned from the CMV-D strain and Italian CMV isolates (CMV-22 of subgroup I and CMV-PG of subgroup II) which have been shown to produce severe disease symptoms. Four plant transformation vectors were constructed: pMON18774 and pMON18775 (CMV-D CP), pMON18831 (CMV-PG CP) and pMON18833 (CMV-22 CP and CMV-PG CP). Transformed R0 plants were produced and lines were selected based on the combination of three traits: CMV CP expression at the R0 stage, resistance to CMV (subgroup I and/or II) infection in growth chamber tests in R1 expressing plants, and single transgene copy, based on R1 segregation. The results indicate that all four vector constructs generated plants with extremely high resistant to CMV infection. The single and double gene vector construct produced plants with broad resistance against strains of CMV from both subgroups I and II at high frequency. The engineered resistance is of practical value and will be applied for major Italian tomato varieties.

Notes: Abstract Since the summer of 1993, transgenic tomato plants expressing the coat protein (CP) genes of cucumber mosaic cucumovirus have been tested under field conditions to assess the level of resistance and agronomic performance. Trials were performed in different areas in Italy and the target virus in the majority of tests was spread naturally by the indigenous aphid populations. Twenty-three homozygous lines of variety UC82B, transformed to contain four different CP genes of CMV, were evaluated. The lines were preselected for CP expression, single gene copy, and virus resistance in growth chamber experiments. In general, CMV resistance was confirmed under field conditions though resistance in the field was less effective than what was observed in growth chamber experiments. The resistance observed in multi-year and multi-location experiments is of commercial value for several of the most resistant lines. Engineered resistance upon transfer to Italian varieties by breeding or direct transformation will be used in tomato production in Italy or elsewhere.

Notes: Abstract Potato-cyst nematodes (Globodera pallida) cause severe yield losses in potato. Plants infected with potato-cyst nematodes generally have reduced concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the foliage. This study investigated whether reduced growth of nematode-infected potato is caused by nutrient limitation. Experiments in the field and in containers showed that phosphorus concentration correlated best with total crop biomass at early stages of growth. The role of phosphorus in nematode damage was further investigated in the field and in the Wageningen Rhizolab. The experimental field was infested with potato-cyst nematodes and two levels of nematode density were established by fumigation with a nematicide. Prior applications of calcium carbonate resulted in pHKCl levels of 4.8 and 6.1. Two levels of phosphorus fertiliser were applied: either 0 or 225 kg P ha−1. In the Wageningen Rhizolab, soil of both pH levels from the field was used after treatment with 1 MRad gamma irradiation to kill the nematodes. Subsequently, half of the soil was inoculated with cysts to give a nematode density of 30 viable juveniles per gram of soil. In the field, nine weeks after planting, the total crop biomass ranged from 107 g m−2 for the treatment with nematodes at pHKCl 6.1 without phosphorus fertiliser to 289 g m−2 for the fumigated treatment at pHKCl 4.8 with phosphorus fertiliser. The differences in total biomass for the various treatments were explained by differences in foliar phosphorus concentration. Nematodes induced or aggravated P deficiency and reduced total biomass. This was not the only damage mechanism as at high, non-limiting levels of foliar phosphorus concentration, nematodes still reduced total biomass. In the Wageningen Rhizolab, directly after planting, the number of roots visible against minirhizotrons was reduced by nematodes. However, the increase of root number in the nematode treatment continued longer than in the control, until root number was higher than that of the control. The compensary root growth of the nematode treatment was restricted to the top 30 cm and nematodes reduced rooting depth. High soil pH reduced growth, mainly by reducing the availability of phosphate. Both nematodes and high soil pH reduced nutrient uptake per unit root length. Our results lead us to suggest an interaction between nematodes and soil pH, with nematode damage being higher at pHKCl 6.1 than at pHKCl 4.8.

Notes: Abstract Inheritance of resistance to Stenocarpella macrospora (Earle) Sutton (syn. Diplodia macrospora Earle) ear rot of maize was studied among selected maize populations in the mid-altitude (1280 m) agro-ecological zone of Nigeria. Diallel analysis among the populations showed significant values for general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects at 5% and 1% levels respectively. Variance components of GCA and SCA on Stenocarpella ear rot were 0.019 and 0.627 respectively, indicating that non-additive genes play major roles in the inheritance of Stenocarpella ear rot resistance. The GCA and SCA effects were relatively dependent on the materials involved in the evaluations. Generation mean analysis was used on five selected parent inbreds (2 resistance and 3 susceptible crossed to give P1, P2, F1, BC1, BC2 and F2 generations). Estimates of the six parameters on ear rot indicate that dominance gene effects made the major contribution to variation in ear rot of maize in the crosses studied. The magnitude and significance of the estimates for digenic effects in the crosses suggest that epistatic gene effects are present and important in the basic mechanism of Stenocarpella ear rot inheritance in the populations studied. Additive effects have only minor importance in the total variation.

Notes: Abstract The distribution of nitrogen dissimilative abilities among 618 isolates of fluorescent pseudomonads was studied. These strains were isolated from two uncultivated soils (C and D; collected at Châteaurenard and Dijon, France, respectively) and from rhizosphere, rhizoplane and root tissue of two plant species (flax and tomato) cultivated on these two soils. According to their ability to dissimilate nitrogen, the isolates have been distributed into three metabolic types: non-dissimilators, NO2 - accumulators and denitrifiers. While the three metabolic types were recovered in all the compartments of soil D experiments, only two (non-dissimilators and denitrifiers) were recovered in all the compartments of soil C experiments. Even under the contrasting conditions of the two soil types, both plants were able to select the nitrate dissimilating community among the total community of fluorescent Pseudomonas, but the mode of this selection seems to be dependent on both plant and soil type. The soil type appears to be unable to significantly modulate the strong selective effect of tomato. Indeed, similar dissimilator to non-dissimilator ratios were found in the root tissue of this plant species cultivated in both soils. In contrast, the different dissimilator to non-dissimilator ratios observed in flax roots between soils C and D suggest that the selective effect of flax was modulated by the soil type. Taxonomic identifications showed that the 618 isolates were distributed among three species (P. chlororaphis, P. fluorescens, P. putida) plus an intermediate type between P. fluorescens and P. putida. However, no clear relationship between the distribution of the metabolic types (functional diversity) and the distribution of bacterial species has been found.

Notes: Abstract Phosphorus (P) deficiency limits the yield of wheat, particularly by reducing the number of ears per unit of area because of a poor tiller emergence. The objectives of this work were to (i) determine whether tiller emergence under low phosphorus availability is a function of the availability of assimilates for growth or a direct result of low P availability, (ii) attempt to establish a quantitative relation between an index of the availability of P in the plant and the effects of P deficiency on tiller emergence, and (iii) to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in tiller emergence in field-grown wheat. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L., cv. INTA Oasis), was grown in the field under drip irrigation on a typic Argiudol, low in P (5.5 μg P g-1 soil Bray & Kurtz I) in Balcarce, Argentina. Treatments consisted of the combination of three levels of P fertilization 0, 60 and 200 kg P2O5 ha-1, and two levels of assimilate availability, a control (non-shaded) and 65% of reduction in incident irradiance from seedling emergence until the end of tillering (shaded). Phosphorus treatments significantly modified the pattern of growth and development of the plants. Shading reduced the growth and concentration of water-soluble carbohydrates in leaves and stems. Leaf photosynthetic rate at saturating irradiance was reduced by P deficiency, but was not affected by shading. At shoot P concentrations less than 4.2 g P kg-1 the heterogeneity in the plant population increased with respect to the number of plants bearing a certain tiller. At a shoot P concentration of 1.7 g P kg-1 tillering ceased completely. Phosphorus deficiency directly altered the normal pattern of tiller emergence by slowing the emergence of leaves on the main stem (i.e. increasing the phyllochron), and by reducing the maximum rate of tiller emergence for each tiller.

Notes: Abstract This study was conducted to compare the effects on the growth of Eucalyptus regnans seedlings of unheated soil and soil heated to different extents (as indicated by soil colour–bright red or black) in burnt logging coupes, and to separate the effects of heating of the soil on direct nutrient availability and on morphotypes and effectiveness of ectomycorrhizae. Burnt soils were collected from three logging coupes burnt 2, 14 and 25 months previously and unbumt soil from adjacent regrowth forests. Compared to unburnt soil, the early seedling growth was stimulated in black burnt soil from all coupes (burnt 2, 14 and 25 months previously). Seedling growth was generally poor in red burnt soil, especially in soil collected 2 months after burning. However, the concentration of extractable P was extremely high in red burnt soil, especially in soil collected 2 months after burning. In black burnt soil, extractable P was increased in soil 2 months after burning, but not in the soils collected 14 or 25 months after burning. However, both total P content and concentration in seedlings were increased in all collections of black burnt soil. Frequency of ectomycorrhizae was high in seedlings grown in all black burnt soils, but the mycorrhizal mantles were poorly developed in seedlings in black burnt soil collected 2 months after burning. Seedlings were also ectomycorrhizal in red burnt soil, except in soil collected 2 months after burning. Fine root inocula from seedlings grown in black burnt soils collected 14 and 25 months after burning significantly stimulated both seedling growth and P uptake compared with the uninoculated control, whereas the fine root inocula from the seedlings grown in all the other soils did not. These results suggest that, in black burnt soil, both direct nutritional changes and changes in the ectomycorrhizae may contribute to seedling growth promotion after regeneration burns. The generally poor seedling growth in red burnt soils is likely to have been due to N deficiency as the seedlings in these soils were yellow-green and the tissue concentrations of N were significantly lower than in other treatments.

Notes: Abstract This study was designed to investigate the strength of attachment of plant seedling roots to the soil in which they were grown. The study also assessed the effects of differing soil textures and differing soil matric potentials upon the strength of the root:soil attachment. A device for growing roots upon a soil surface was designed, and was used to produce roots which were attached to the soil. In order to quantify root:soil adhesion, roots of maize seedlings, grown on the soil surface, were subsequently peeled off using a universal test machine, in conjunction with simultaneous time-lapse video observation. To clarify the partitioning of energy in the root:soil peeling test, separate mechanical tests on roots, and on two adherent remoulded topsoil balls were also carried out. The seedling root was characterised by a low bending stiffness. The energy stored in bending was negligible, compared to the root:soil adhesion energy. The mechanical properties of two adherent remoulded topsoil balls were a decrease of the soil:soil adhesion energy as the soil:soil plastic energy increased. These two parameters were therefore interdependent. Using a video-camera system, it was possible to separate the different processes occurring during the root:soil peeling test, in particular, the seed:soil adhesion and the root:soil soil adhesion. An interpretation of the complex and variable force:displacement curves was thus possible, enabling calculation of the root:soil interfacial rupture energy. At a given suction (10 kPa), the results of the peeling test showed a clear soil texture effect on the value of the root:soil interfacial rupture energy. In contrast, for the same silty topsoil, the effect of the soil water suction on the value of the interfacial rupture energy was very moderate. The root:soil interfacial rupture energy was controlled mainly by a product of microscopic soil specific surface area and the macroscopic contact surface area between the root and the soil. Biological and physical interactions contributing to root:soil adhesion such as root:soil interlocking mechanics were also analysed and discussed.

Notes: Abstract Individual trees are known to influence soil chemical properties, creating spatial patterns that vary with distance from the stem. The influence of trees on soil chemical properties is commonly viewed as the agronomic basis for low-input agroforestry and shifting cultivation practices, and as an important source of spatial heterogeneity in forest soils. Few studies, however, have examined the persistence of the effects of trees on soil after the pathways responsible for the effects are removed. Here, we present evidence from a Mexican dry forest indicating that stem-related patterns of soil nutrients do persist following slash-and-burn removal of trees and two years of cropping. Pre-disturbance concentrations of resin extractable phosphorus (P), bicarbonate extractable P, NaOH extractable P, total P, total nitrogen (N) and carbon (C), KCl extractable nitrate (NO3 -), and net N mineralization and nitrification rates were higher in stem than dripline soils under two canopy dominant species of large-stemmed trees with contrasting morphologies and phenologies (Caesalpinia eriostachys Benth. and Forchhammeria pallida Liebm.). These stem effects persisted through slash burning and a first growing season for labile inorganic and organic P, NaOH inorganic P, and plant-available P, and through a second growing season for labile organic P, NaOH organic P, and plant-available P. While stem effects for extractable NO3 -, net nitrification rates, total N and C disappeared after felling and slash burning, these stem effects returned after the first growing season. These results support the view that tree-influenced patterns of soil nutrients do persist after tree death, and that trees contribute to the long-term spatial heterogeneity of forest soils.

Notes: Abstract Estimating in situ N and P status of the soil microbiota is complicated because microbiological features reflect potentials rather than field conditions. Complementary microbiological assays were, therefore, combined to evaluate the N and P requirement of the microbiota in seven agricultural, grassland and forest topsoils of the Bornhöved Lake district as follows: (i) the sensitivity of the substrate-induced respiration (SIR) to supplemental addition of N and P was monitored during microbial growth and (ii) soil protease and phosphatase activities were analysed and related to soil mass and microbial biomass content. Nitrogen addition increased the maximal SIR rate in all except one soil indicating that the growth of organisms is restricted by this element when easily degradable C source is present. Supplemental N (and in some cases also P) retarded the respiratory response within the first 24 h which suggests microbial sensitivity and/or greater anabolic efficiency. With additional N the maximal SIR rate was most strongly enhanced in topsoils of the beech forest and the dystric alder forest. Thus, the microbial growth in these soils that were below litter horizons seems to be mostly restricted by N. Supplemental P positively affected respiratory response of soils under monoculture, wet grassland and dystric alder forest. In the dystric alder forest soil, high rates of alkaline and unbuffered phosphatase activity were observed when activity was related to either soil mass or microbial biomass content. The data of proteolytic and phospholytic enzymes are discussed with reference to nutrient deficiency and microbial strategy for N and P adsorption.

Notes: Abstract In calcareous soils the dynamics of phosphorus is controlled by calcite and iron oxides such as goethite which strongly retain P and consequently maintain low P concentrations in soil solution. Plants can drastically change chemical conditions in the rhizosphere, in particular by releasing H+ or OH− or by excreting organic anions. By modifying the dissolution/precipitation and desorption/adsorption equilibria, roots can influence the mobility of soil P. The aim of this work was to test whether H+ or OH− release can induce the mobilization of P in the rhizosphere of maize and rape supplied with NO3-N or NH4-N and grown on synthetic phosphated calcite or goethite as sole source of P. With P-calcite, the mobilization of P was generally related to the acidification of the rhizosphere. With P-goethite, rhizosphere acidification induced some increase of DTPA-extractable Fe and hence dissolution of goethite. Rhizosphere P was concomitantly depleted but the mechanisms involved are less clear. The difference in behavior of the two species is discussed.

Notes: Abstract The uptake of phosphorus (P) by roots results in a depletion of phosphate ions (PO4) in the rhizosphere. The corresponding decrease in PO4 concentration in the soil solution (CP) gives rise to a replenishment of P from the solid phase which is time- and CP-dependent. This PO4 exchange which reflects the buffer power of the soil for PO4 also varies with the composition and the physico-chemical conditions of the soil. As root activity can modify these physico-chemical conditions in the rhizosphere, the question arises whether these modifications affect the ability of PO4 bound to the soil solid phase to exchange with PO4 in soil solution. The aim of the present work was to measure and compare the parameters which describe the amount of PO4 bound to soil solid phase that is capable to replenish solution P for both rhizosphere and bulk soils. The soil sample was a P-enriched, calcareous topsoil collected from a long-term fertiliser trial. Rhizosphere soil samples were obtained by growing dense mats of roots at the surface of 3 mm thick soil layer for one week. Three plant species were compared: oilseed rape (Brassica napus L., cv Goeland) pea (Pisum sativum L., cv. Solara) and maize ( Zea mays L., cv. Volga). The time- and CP-dependence of the PO4 exchange from soil to solution were described using an isotopic dilution method. The measured CP values were 0.165 mg P L−1 for bulk soil and 0.111, 0.101 and 0.081 mg P L−1 for rhizosphere soils of maize, pea and rape, respectively. The kinetics of the PO4 exchange between liquid and solid phases of soil were significantly different between rhizosphere and bulk soils. However, when changes in CP were accounted for, the parameters describing the PO4 exchange with time and CP between soil solution and soil solid phase were found to be very close for bulk and rhizosphere soils. For this calcareous and P-enriched soil, plant species differed in their ability to deplete PO4 in solution. The resulting changes in the ability of the soil solid phase to replenish solution PO4 were almost fully explained by the depletion of soil solution P.

Notes: Abstract Many soils of southern Africa are severely N deficient, but inorganic fertilizers are unaffordable for most subsistence farmers. Rotations and intercrops of legumes with crops may alleviate N deficiency through biological N2 fixation and redistribution of subsoil N to the surface. We monitored soil inorganic N dynamics for two seasons in a gliricidia [Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp.] – maize (Zea mays L.) intercrop in the unimodal rainfall area of southern Malawi. One maize crop per year was grown with or without interplanted gliricidia, in factorial combination with three rates of N (0, 24 or 48 kg N ha-1). Application of gliricidia prunings increased (p 〈 0.001) topsoil (0 to 20 cm) inorganic N at the end of the dry season and during the early rains. Differences between plus and minus gliricidia treatments were less when total inorganic N to 1-m depth was summed. A greater proportion of the total inorganic N to 1-m depth occurred in the topsoil (0 to 20 cm) when gliricidia was present, suggesting that redistribution of subsoil N to the surface accounted for part of the N increase by gliricidia. Gliricidia lowered (p 〈 0.05) subsoil water content during drier periods. Gliricidia plots accumulated more (p 〈 0.01) ammonium-N during the dry season. Nitrate-N remained constant during the dry season but rose rapidly in gliricidia plots after the onset of rains. A 2-factor model including preseason inorganic N and anaerobic N mineralization potential accounted for 84% of the variability in maize yields for the two seasons' data combined. The combination of preseason inorganic N and potential N mineralization appears to provide a good estimate of N supply to maize in systems receiving both organic and inorganic sources of N.

Notes: Abstract The genetic basis of salt tolerance was examined in selected salt tolerant and sensitive material from a sample of accessions previously assessed for variability in salinity tolerance. The North Carolina Model 2 Design and analysis was followed, tolerance being assessed in 10-day-old seedlings grown in salinized solution culture at control (0 mM), 60 mM and 80 mM NaCl concentrations). Salinity tolerance was shown to be under the control of genes with additive and non-additive effects, with broad and narrow sense heritability estimates being approximately 0.7 and 0.4 over all treatments.

Notes: Abstract Many genes are induced by periods of water deficit, and a subset of these are dependent on elevated ABA content for expression. A number of drought-induced genes are not induced in leaves of the ABA-deficient mutant flacca from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) but are induced in detached, wilted wild-type leaves and ABA-treated leaves of both genotypes. The nucleotide sequence of the cDNA and corresponding genomic DNA fragment of one of these genes, his1-s (formerly called le20), encodes an amino acid sequence that is rich in Lys, Ala, and Ser. The predicted protein contains the tripartite structure of H1 histone and is similar to other H1 histones, especially in the globular domain. Since, his1-s is more closely related to a stress-induced gene from Lycopersicon pennellii than to another H1 histone in the tomato genome it is considered a stress-induced variant of H1 histone. his1-s mRNA accumulated in vegetative plants in response to other abiotic stress treatments, including application of polyethylene glycol, and salt. The mRNA preferentially accumulated in leaves as compared to roots. his1-s mRNA accumulation was controlled during development; the level was higher in developing seeds of mature green fruit than in detached wilted leaves. H1 histones have been implicated in the general repression of gene expression and in the regulation of specific genes. The rapid accumulation of his1-s mRNA during stress may indicate that this unique, stress-induced H1 histone is involved in controlling gene expression during plant stress.

Notes: Abstract Field trials were conducted on two soil types for seven years (1988–1994) to investigate grain yield response of maize to crop residue application as influenced by varying rates of applied and residual N and P fertilizers. Yearly application of N and P fertilizers at both one-half and full recommended rates resulted in grain yield increases of more than 500 and 1100 kg ha-1, respectively over application of only crop residue. Moreover, grain yield responses due to residual N and P fertilizers applied only during the first year were found to be comparable to the yearly applications of these fertilizers. Rainfall and soil type have exerted considerable influences on the grain yield response obtained in this study. Grain yield exhibited a corresponding decrease with decreasing rainfall. Grain yield increases on Typic Pellustert were relatively higher than on Typic Ustorthent.

Notes: Abstract In situ use of ground water by plants is one optionbeing considered to reduce discharge of subsurfacedrainage water from irrigated agriculture. Laboratory, lysimeter, and field studies havedemonstrated that crops can use significant quantitiesof water from shallow ground water. However, moststudies lack the data needed to include the crop wateruse into an integrated irrigation and drainage watermanagement system. This paper describes previousstudies which demonstrated the potential use of groundwater to support plant growth and the associatedlimitations. Included are results from three fieldstudies which demonstrated some of the managementtechniques needed to develop an integrated system. The field studies demonstrated that approximately 40to 45% of the water requirement for cotton can bederived from shallow saline ground water. Thatregulation of the outflow will result in increasinguse. Implementation of integrated management ofirrigation and subsurface drainage systems is a viableand sustainable alternative in the management ofsubsurface drainage water from arid and semi-aridareas only if soil salinity can be managed and if thesystem is profitable.

Notes: Abstract Nutrient and hydrologic cycles in harvested native forests in southern Australia are largely balanced. For example, we have little or no evidence of any decline in nutrient capital or availability in harvested forests. Short-term and small-scale reductions in evapotranspiration due to loss of leaf area after harvesting are adequately balanced at the landscape scale by large areas of regenerating or older-age forest. In contrast, agricultural systems on similar soils are a) dependent on large inputs of fertilisers to maintain growth and b) frequently subject to increasing salinity and waterlogging or other forms of degradation. The large-scale replacement of long-lived communities of perennial and often deep- rooting native species with annual crops or other communities of shallow-rooting species might be better managed within the framework of knowledge developed from studies of native plant communities. However, application of such a mimic concept to systems of low natural productivity is limited when agricultural systems require continued high productivity. Nonetheless, the mimic concept may help in developing sustainable management of agriculture on marginal lands, and contribute to the nutritional resilience of agroecosystems. Relevant characteristics for mimic agroecosystems in south western Australia include: high species diversity, diversity of rooting attributes, utilisation of different forms of nutrients (especially of N and P) in space and time, and the promotion of practices which increase soil organic matter content.

Notes: Abstract In many parts of Central America long fallow periods are no longer feasible due to increasing land pressures. Farmers in northern Honduras have developed and diffused from farmer-to-farmer a maize cropping system using velvetbean (Mucuna spp.) as a short-term fallow. High total annual rainfall in a bimodal distribution is favorable to the system because it allows the completion of two rainfed cropping cycles annually. The first season is dedicated to the production of the mucuna crop and the second season is dedicated to maize. Soil pH and exchangeable Ca were not reduced during a 15-year period of continuous mucuna use. Soil organic matter, infiltration, and porosity increased with continuous mucuna use. Maize yields in fields with continuous rotation of mucuna were on average double those obtained without mucuna. The mucuna system was more profitable than the existing alternative bush-fallow system due to higher returns to land and labor resulting from higher yields, lower weeding and land preparation costs, and reduced risk of drought stress. The relative profitability of the mucuna system was also enhanced by seasonally high maize prices during the second season when maize is harvested in the mucuna system. Relatively easy access to land through inexpensive land ownership and land rental markets has made it possible for even small-scale farmers to dedicate land to the mucuna system. Land-use intensity is increasing in the region, however, as land is converted to pastures for cattle production. The opportunity costs of keeping land in the mucuna system, while also accessing land for first-season maize and other crops, are also increasing. These experiences remind us that a viable livelihood is the primary factor in farmers' decision making about adoption particular components of farming systems.

Notes: Abstract Phenanthrene mineralization rates were found to vary widely among four soils; differences in soil nutrient levels was one hypothesis to explain this variation. To test this hypothesis, phenanthrene mineralization rates were measured in these soils with, and without, added nitrogen and phosphorus. Mineralization rates either remained unchanged or were depressed by the addition of nitrogen and phosphorus. Phenanthrene degradation rates remained unchanged in the soil which had the highest indigenous levels of nitrogen and phosphorus and which showed the largest increase in phosphorus levels after nutrients were added. The soils in which degradation rates were depressed had lower initial phosphorus concentrations and showed much smaller or no measurable increase in phosphorus levels after nutrients were added to the soils. To understand the response of phenanthrene degradation rates to added nitrogen and phosphorus, it may be necessary to consider the bioavailability of added nutrients and nutrient induced changes in microbial metabolism and ecology.

Notes: Abstract Data and findings concerning the development of an effective male sterility system (as already applied in the practice of producing tomato hybrid seed) through the use of the positional sterility (ps 2) gene are reported. Undesirable selfing and the necessity of emasculation are discussed as the two main disadvantages that limit the use of ps 2-sterile seed parents in tomato hybrid seed production. The following specific characteristics in the performance of ps 2-lines were evaluated: 1) the percentage of selfing in the ps 2-lines varies within and between the years of growing, being forever lowest during the period of hybrid seed production; 2) the percentage of selfed seeds when using a ps 2-line as seed parent in producing hybrid seed is significantly lower than the percentage of selfing, observed on this same line; 3) the ps 2-gene expressivity varies depending on the genotype. This enables the breeding of ps 2-lines exhibiting very low percentage of selfing; 4) stamen emasculation at anthesis (as applied in ps 2-lines) is significantly easier and more rapid than emasculation in floral buds. The easy maintenance of the sterile lines – by artificial selfing it is possible to produce 100% ps 2 progeny – and the high yield of hybrid seed obtained are discussed as important advantages in using this type of sterility in tomato hybrid seed production.

Notes: Abstract This paper deals with a new analytical approach for studying metal speciation in the xylem, as applied to the nuclear waste metal technetium (99Tc) in tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill, cv. Tiny Tim). Special attention was paid to sampling protocols and sample handling so that metal oxidation/reduction processes during analytical procedures did not influence the results. Marker Tc-ligand complexes were synthesized in vitro (Tc-cysteine, Tc-histidine, Tc-citrate, and Tc-nicotianamine) and sampling was performed under both argon and atmospheric conditions. Analyses were carried out using paper chromatography, gel electrophoresis (PAGE), and reversed phase ion-pair chromatography (RP-IPC). The results show Tc to be present predominantly in the TcO4 − form in the xylem, indicating transport similarities with molybdenum and chromium. Probably, the approach used is also valuable in other metal-speciation studies in the xylem.

Notes: Abstract Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of various organic acids (carboxylic and amino acids) on the uptake and translocation of root-absorbed trivalent chromium by tomato ( Lycopersicum esculentum) plants grown in sand and soil culture. Statistically significant increases in chromium accumulation from Cr(III) treated plants in the presence of increasing concentrations of organic acid suggest the existence of Cr(III) — organic acid interactions in the soil-plant system. However, the amino acids have been less effective in the mobilization of chromium compared to carboxylic acids. The results are discussed on the basis of the potential of organic acids to form complexes with Cr(III).

Notes: Abstract Wheat seedlings infected with a pure inoculum of the root-rotting fungus Rhizoctonia solani were grown in pots designed to fit in pressure chambers, to allow the effects of the Rhizoctonia infection on leaf growth to be studied while maintaining the leaves at elevated water status. Wheat was grown to the third leaf stage in soil inoculated with three different levels of Rhizoctonia, and the pots were then pressurised for seven days to maintain the leaf xylem at the point of bleeding (ie. the leaves were at full turgor). The reduction in leaf expansion caused by Rhizoctonia was not overcome by pressurisation, indicating that a reduced supply of water to the leaves was not responsible for reduced leaf growth. The addition of phosphorus to pots marginally deficient in P did not increase the leaf growth of Rhizoctonia-infected plants, despite increased P uptake to the leaves. These results indicate that a reduced supply of water to the leaves and a supply of phosphorus that was bordering on deficient was not the cause of the growth reduction in seedlings with Rhizoctonia infection. The nature of this reduced growth remains uncertain but may involve growth regulators produced by the fungus, or by the plant as a result of the infection process. The mechanism of these growth reductions is of interest as it may provide a key to the development of plant resistance mechanisms.

Notes: Abstract In context of preparing the Fourth National Policy Document on Water Management in the Netherlands effects of different scenarios of fertilizer management on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) leaching from rural areas into Dutch surface waters were analyzed. The manuscript offers insight into the model instrument that is used to simulate the different scenarios. Main parts of the modelinstrument are: a procedure to schematize the Netherlands in horizontal areal units, field scale mechanistic models for water and nutrient behaviour in the soil and an empirical model for fertilizer additions.

Notes: Abstract A suggested increase in the growth of macrophytic algae within the Ythan estuary (N.E. Scotland) over recent years has been linked to the increased amounts of nitrogen in the form of NO3–N entering the estuary from the river. The increased NO3 concentration in the river has been associated with recent changes in farming practices in this predominantly agricultural catchment. Terrestrially derived phosphorus is also considered to contribute increasingly to eutrophication of fresh waters. Historical agricultural census data together with appropriate surveys of fertilizer practice were used to calculate the total quantities of fertilizer and manure derived N and P applied annually over the wholeYthan catchment during the period 1960 – 1990. While the total agricultural land area has remained similar, significant changes in cropping practice have occurred. In particular, a greater proportion of land is given to autumn sown crops while the area of grassland has declined. These changes in farming practice are associated with differences in both the total amounts and timing of fertilizer applied. The use of inorganic N in the catchment has trebled since 1960 and is currently approximately 6400 tonnes (104 kg N/ha). The use of P has decreased by more than a quarter to 1274 tonnes (21 kg P/ha) over a similar time period. There has been no obvious change in total quantity of N and P derived from animal manures, estimated to be 44 and 11 kg per ha, respectively, when averaged over the area of agricultural land. Cattle and sheep numbers have remained relatively constant and together account for approximately 80% of the manure N and 70% of the manure P produced annually. However, poultry have declined by 70% since 1960 while pig numbers have increased six-fold. The average annual application rate of manure derived N over the whole catchment (44 kg/ha) is considerably below that proposed at the farm scale in the EC Nitrate Directive (210–170 kg/ha). However, on a local scale difficulties may arise for large manure producing concerns such as dairy or pig units.

Notes: Abstract Napier grass strips are gaining some acceptance in Southeast Asia as a vegetative means of soil erosion control, due to the relative ease of establishment and management. In addition, the napier grass strips aid productivity of agroforestry systems by providing mulch or by being fed to livestock. In this paper, a bioeconomic comparison of different ways of utilising the napier grass cuttings is undertaken. The three uses examined for the cuttings were: as mulch in the alley areas, sold as fodder, and fed to animals with manure applied back to the system. The analysis linked the soils-oriented SCUAF model with economic and animal component models. SCUAF was parameterized using field data based on farmer interviews and field visits. Farmer interviews and field visits were conducted at Claveria, Misamis Oriental to gather additional data regarding costs and returns associated with animal production, and also to obtain the farm gate price of napier. Predicted biophysical results produced by the SCUAF model showed that application of napier grass cuttings, back into the system, directly as mulch or indirectly as animal manure resulted in higher maize and napier yields, lower soil erosion rates, and less of a reduction in soil mineral nitrogen and soil labile carbon levels. The comparison was made with the case where napier was sold off-farm as fodder. Cost-benefit analysis showed that higher economic returns were gained when napier grass cuttings were fed to animals, rather than applied directly as mulch. This economic benefit was attributed to the draught and transport services rendered by the animal and to a change in the value of the animals. This analysis highlights the value of utilizing animals within a napier grass strip system for control of erosion.

Notes: Abstract Grey leaf spot of maize, (Zea maydis L.) (Cercospora zeae-maydis) Tehon and Daniels, is one of the most destructive leaf diseases of maize. The distribution and severity of grey leaf spot has increased over the past 10 to 15 years. The United States and South Africa are main areas where research on the disease has been concentrated. The research results have provided valuable and significant insight into pathogen epidemiology and allowed an integrated management system to be developed. However, management options are a result of the agricultural system under which maize is produced. The pathogen survives only on maize, so crop rotation and stubble management are major factors in disease management, but resistant hybrids offer the best option for economic control. Many other factors, such as soil fertility, plant density, irrigation and chemical control, can significantly influence a grey leaf spot epidemic, although a single management practice will not control the pathogen effectively.

Notes: Abstract DNA of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), a geminivirus transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, was amplified from squashes of infected tomato plants and of viruliferous vectors using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Samples of infected tissues as small as 1 mm2 were squashed onto a nylon membrane. A 1 × 2 mm strip containing the squash was introduced into a 25 µl PCR reaction mix. The reaction products were subjected to gel electrophoresis, blotted and hybridized with a radiolabeled virus-specific DNA probe. TYLCV DNA was amplified from squashes of leaves, roots, and stem of infected tomato and from individual viruliferous whiteflies. The same squash could be used several times to amplify different virus DNA fragments with various sets of primers. Thus plant and insect squashes can be used as templates for the amplification of geminiviral DNA with no need to prepare tissue extracts or purify nucleic acids. The squash-PCR procedure was applied to study whitefly transmission of TYLCV. Tomato plants were inoculated by placing a single viruliferous insect in the center of a young leaflet. In some plants TYLCV DNA was detected at the site of inoculation as early as 5 min after the beginning of the access feeding and in all plants after 30 min. The squash-PCR procedure also was applied to the study of TYLCV acquisition by the insect vector. TYLCV DNA was detected in the head of whiteflies as early as 5 min after the beginning of the access feeding on infected tomato plants. Viral DNA was detected in the thorax after 10 min and in the abdomen after 25 min.

Notes: Abstract Fluorescent pseudomonads producing the antimicrobial compound 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (Phl) are being studied extensively for use as biocontrol agents of soil-borne fungal diseases. Some of them can produce pyoluteorin (Plt) in addition to Phl, whereas others synthesise only Phl. Here, a collection of seven Phl+ Plt- pseudomonads, seven Phl+ Plt+ pseudomonads and seven Phl- biocontrol pseudomonads were compared for protection of plant roots against fungal pathogens. The seven Phl+ Plt+ pseudomonads were identical by restriction analysis of amplified spacer ribosomal DNA (spacer ARDRA), whereas the Phl+ Plt- pseudomonads and especially the Phl- biocontrol pseudomonads were quite diverse by spacer ARDRA. Collectively, the Phl+ Plt- pseudomonads proved superior to the Phl+ Plt+ pseudomonads and the Phl- biocontrol pseudomonads for protection of tomato against Fusarium crown and root rot (in rockwool microcosms) or cucumber against Pythium damping-off (in non-sterile soil microcosms). There was no correlation between protection in vivo and inhibition of the corresponding fungal pathogen on plates. However, there was a significant correlation between the amount of Phl produced on plates and protection of tomato against Fusarium crown and root rot, but not with protection of cucumber against Pythium damping-off. Interestingly, the minority of strains unable to produce HCN, an extracellular protease, or both, were among those unable to protect plants in both pathosystems. A seedling assay was developed to compare pseudomonads for suppression of Fusarium crown and root rot in vitro, and a significant correlation was found between disease severity in vitro and in vivo. Overall, results suggest that promising biocontrol pseudomonads may be identified based on the ability to produce Phl and/or specific ARDRA-based fingerprints.

Notes: Abstract Setosphaeria turcica is the causal agent of northern corn leaf blight, a foliar maize disease of worldwide economic importance. In Europe, its severity increases. To investigate the pathogen's population-genetic structure in central Europe, a total of 80 isolates was sampled in Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, and Hungary and investigated with 52 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. The mating type of the isolates was determined in testcrosses. Among the 73 isolates from maize there were 26 different RAPD haplotypes. All isolates with identical haplotype are considered clonemates. The haplotype shared by most members was represented by 22 isolates from Germany, Switzerland, and France, indicating high fitness and substantial migration. Only a single clone had members in both southeastern Austria and southwestern Switzerland, suggesting that the Alps constitute a major barrier for this pathogen. Several haplotypes differed by only one or two RAPD bands from the predominant haplotype and may have arisen by mutation. Few other clonal lineages were detected. The evolution of some haplotypes could not be explained by mutation alone. Sexual recombination may rarely occur. In population samples from Germany, Switzerland, and France, mating type MAT2 was predominating, while most isolates from Austria and Hungary had MAT1. Seven isolates from Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), an alternative host of S. turcica, were clonemates and very different in RAPD haplotypes from all isolates collected from maize.

Notes: Abstract Soil solarization is a non-chemical disinfestation technique that frequently promotes plant growth in the absence of known major pathogens, a phenomenon termed increased growth response (IGR). The effect of solarization on plant nutrients and their role in the IGR was studied with tomato plants grown in solarized or non-solarized (control) sandy soil, under controlled conditions. Solarization considerably increased the soil concentrations of water extractable N, K, Ca, Mg and Na at most sites, whereas Cl and DTPA extractable Mn, Zn, Fe and Cu were decreased by the treatment. Plant growth and specific leaf area were enhanced in solarized as well as in N-supplemented control soil. In tomato plants grown in solarized soil, concentrations of most nutrients in the xylem sap, including N, were increased compared to the control, whereas Cl and SO4 levels decreased. The most significant increase in leaf nutrient concentration caused by soil solarization was recorded for N. Furthermore, leaf N concentration was highly and positively correlated with shoot growth. The concentration of Cu increased in leaves from the solarization vs. the control treatment, whereas that of SO4 and Cl decreased, the latter presumably below the critical toxicity level. The correlation between shoot growth and leaf concentration was positive for Cu and inverse for Cl and SO4. In conclusion, we found that soil solarization significantly affects nutrient composition in tomato plants, and provided strong evidence that N, and eventually also Cl, play a major role in IGR.

Notes: Abstract We selected three crop production practices; crop rotation, tillage and phosphorus fertilization, all known to affect arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) development, to study early AM intraradical colonization in maize. Half of the plots were planted during the first year with either a host (maize, Zea mays L.) or a non-host (canola, Brassica napus L.) crop, and all of them with maize for the second year. Tillage and P fertilization treatments were applied to the plots in the second year. Mycorrhiza development in maize was measured in pot culture bioassays conducted before planting and after harvest of the previous and the subsequent crops, and in the field during the second crop season. Previous cropping of a soil with canola (Brassica napus L.), a non-host plant species, delayed mycorrhiza development of maize in a bioassay conducted with that soil in comparison with a previous cropping cycle with maize (Zea mays L.) or with the original plant species in the field site, bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leys.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). The delay in mycorrhiza development after cropping with canola was also observed in samples taken from the field and in a bioassay, both conducted at the beginning of the subsequent cropping cycle. Tillage had, on average, little effect on intraradical colonization either in the field or in the bioassays. Phosphorus fertilization also had little effect on mycorrhiza development in the field. Crop rotation with a non-host had the strongest effect on intraradical mycorrhiza development of the three practices studied.

Notes: Abstract A knowledge of plant interactions above and below ground with respect to water is essential to understand the performance of intercrop systems. In this study, a physically based framework is proposed to analyse the competition for soil water in the case of intercropped plants. A radiative transfer model, associated with a transpiration-partitioning model based on a modified form of the Penman-Monteith equation, was used to estimate the evaporative demand of maize (Zea mays L.) and sorghum ( Sorghum vulgare R.) intercrops. In order to model soil–root water transport, the root water potential of each species was calculated so as to minimise the difference between the evaporative demand and the amount of water taken up by each species. A characterisation of the micrometeorological conditions (net radiation, photosynthetically active radiation, air temperature and humidity, rain), plant water relations (leaf area index, leaf water potential, stomatal conductance, sap flow measurements), as well as the two-component root systems and water balance (soil–root impacts, soil evaporation) was carried out during a 7-day experiment with densities of about 4.2 plant m-2 for both maize and sorghum. Comparison of the measured and calculated transpiration values shows that the slopes of the measured versus predicted regression lines for hourly transpiration were 0.823 and 0.778 for maize and sorghum, respectively. Overall trends in the variation of volumetric water content profiles are also reasonably well described. This model could be useful for analysing competition where several root systems are present under various environmental conditions.

Notes: Abstract Endophyte-infected (E+) tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) plants grown in phosphorus (P) deficient soils accumulate more P in roots and shoots than noninfected isolines. In a growth chamber experiment, four tall fescue genotypes DN2, DN4, DN7, and DN11, infected with their naturally occurring strains of Neotyphodium coenophialum (Morgan-Jones & Gams) Glenn, Bacon & Hanlin, and their noninfected isolines (E-), were cultivated in nutrient solution at two P levels: 31 ppm (P+) and 0 ppm (P-) for 4 wk. The Fe3+ reducing activity of extracellular reductants and intact root tissues, and total phenolic concentration in roots and shoots were measured. Endophyte infection significantly increased Fe3+ reducing activity rate of extracellular reductants (9.6 × 10-3 μmol Fe3+ h-1 g-1 root FW) when compared to E- plants (3.9 × 10-3) and Fe3+ reduction rate of intact root tissues (6.16 and 4.48 μmol Fe3+ h-1 g-1 root FW, respectively for E+ and E- plants). In response to P deficiency, Fe3+ reduction rate of intact root tissues increased in E+ plants by 375% when compared to E- plants, whereas no significant differences were observed when P was provided. Total phenolic concentration was 20% greater in shoots of E+ plants than in E- plants. In response to P deficiency, total phenolic concentration significantly increased in roots of E+ plants by 7%, and decreased in roots of E- plants by 10%. The most active Fe3+ reducing zones were located along branching of secondary and tertiary roots. The Fe3+ reducing activity on the root surface and total phenolic concentration in roots and shoots increased dramatically in response to endophyte infection, especially under P limiting conditions.

Notes: Abstract Rice seedlings transplanted into sodic soil are exposed to an excess of potentially toxic ions as well as nutritional imbalance, both of which adversely affect their growth and yield. The present study was aimed to investigate the beneficial effects of fertilization with phosphorus and potassium on the plants at varying sodicity levels and also the response of genotypes with known variability in their tolerance to sodicity. In pot-house experiments during two seasons, the alleviating effects of P and K fertilization on three rice genotypes were examined at four sodicity levels. Seedlings of CSR13 and Jaya (both moderately tolerant to sodicity), died by 25–35 days after transplanting in sodic soils of pH 9.7–9.9 where Olsen's P was 12.5 and 14.8 kg/ha, respectively. However, there was no problem of survival or growth in these soils when Olsen's P was 17.6 and 20.8 kg/ha. Depletion in P from 12.0 kg to 10 kg resulted in some mortality of the seedlings even at pH 9.1. Sodicity tolerant genotype CSR10, did show some survival and growth even at pH 9.9 with Olsen's P at 14.8 kg/ha (without P fertilization) which suggests that differences in tolerance to sodicity which exist at genotypic level are not masked by low P. None of the three genotypes showed any survival problem at pH 8.0 and 8.1 with Olsen's P at 8.5 and 8.7 kg/ha, respectively. Seedlings in P fertilized sodic soils not only produced significantly more new roots but also higher root biomass than those in unfertilized sodic soils and these roots seem to have some control on Na uptake as reflected by low Na concentration in the shoots. Thus, P fertilization not only improved P and K status of plants but also reduced the concentration of potentially toxic Na ions in shoots, resulting in better survival, growth and yield. Although fertilization with K alone did improve shoot K content, it had no significant effect on reducing Na. So the mortality of the seedlings or grain yield in K fertilized sodic soils was as good as in control and this could be explained on the basis of lack of any significant difference in Na concentrations in shoots between these two treatments.

Notes: Abstract Many studies carried out during these last few years have focused on the factors influencing plant diversity in species-rich grasslands. This is due to the fact that these ecosystems, among the most diversified in temperate climates, are extremely threatened; in some areas, they have almost disappeared. The re-establishment of these habitats implies to know the living conditions of the associations to be recreated. Very often, the typical species of these communities have become so rarefied that the seed bank or the seed rain are not sufficient to recreate the plant community. Most of the time, to achieve the restoration of these communities, they have to be totally recreated by sowing. For the restoration or the maintenance of the community, the soil chemical characteristics have also to be appropriate or if not modified. This research tends to establish a relation between some soil chemical factors and the plant diversity of a great number of stations. This research has illuminated the relationship between soil extractable phosphorus and potassium and plant diversity. Over 5 mg of phosphorus per 100 g of dry soil (acetate + EDTA extraction), no station containing more than 20 species per 100 m2 has been found. The highest number of species is found below the optimum content of the soil for plant nutrition (5–8 mg P/100 g). Concerning the potassium, the highest number of species is found at 20 mg/100, a value corresponcing to an optimum content of the soil for plant nutrition. High potassium contents, in opposition to phosphorus contents, are thus compatible with high values of diversity. Other factors (i.e. pH, organic matter, total nitrogen and calcium) do not show so clearly a relation with plant diversity. Excess of N–NO3 is known for its negative effect on the diversity of plant communities. In these environments, apart from the atmospheric deposits which can be important in some areas, N–NO3 is derived mainly from the symbiotic fixation of atmospheric nitrogen by legumes as well as from the mineralization of the organic matter of the soil. It is possible that, when in small quantities, the available soil phosphorus could be a limiting factor of the N–NO3 supply by these two sources. In this hypothesis, nitrogen would remain the main element limitating plant diversity but its availability would be controlled by phosphorus.

Notes: Abstract The estimation of soil water reserves is essential for irrigation management. The usual way of calculating these reserves, held between the soil moisture content at field capacity and the classical limit of −1.5 MPa considered as the lower limit of available water, over the rooting depth of the crop, does not correspond with the real behaviour of crops as regards their ability to extract soil water and should be only considered as the apparent available water (AAW). Measurements of moisture profiles made using a neutron probe soil moisture meter from 1970 until 1991 on unirrigated crops at the INRA Agronomy Station at Toulouse-Auzeville, France, on a deep silty clay soil with a high water holding capacity have enabled us to define the water extraction capacities of maize ( Zea mays L.), sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), soya bean (Glycine max L. Merr.), and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The results show, not only that all the crops can extract soil water from beyond −1.5 MPa in the surface layers to varying degrees and depths, depending on the crop, but also that deeper down, AAW is not fully used, as the moisture profile gradually returns to field capacity. Of the five crops studied, maize extracts the most water from the top 0.5 m, removing 150% of AAW. This amount falls rapidly lower down, reaching nil at 1.6 m. Conversely sunflower extracts less near the surface, but uses all AAW up to 1.2 m, and still extracts 85% of AAW at 1.6 m. Sorghum is somewhat comparable to sunflower, but with a lower use over the entire profile. Soya bean exhibits strong extraction to 1.0 m, and then much less at depth. As to wheat, its extraction capability is quite high near the surface, and then falls steadily with depth where it is still 30% of AAW at 1.6 m. Soil moisture measurements realised on a bare soil during several successive years were used to fix the maximum soil evaporation and to suggest the contribution of crops in soil water depletion from uppermost layers. The water extraction capacities have been modelled and introduced into the model EPICphase, a modified version of the model EPIC, adapted for irrigation management. Four parameters have been introduced to simulate: (1) the rooting pattern of the crop (parameter α), (2) the degree of involvement of deep layers (parameter p), (3) the fraction of AAW beyond which crop transpiration is affected (parameter t) and (4) the intensity of extraction beyond the limit of −1.5 MPa as a function of soil depth (parameter d). Calibrated on the basis of the driest year since 1970 for each crop, the model was then validated under unirrigated conditions, and then tested on irrigated maize plots. Under unirrigated conditions, the simulations correctly reproduced the water extraction by the five crops, both in an extremely dry year and in a wet year. The observed differences between simulations and observations were found mostly at about 0.1 m depth, and were due to lack of precision of moisture measurements with the neutron probe. From 0.2 to 0.6 m the simulations have a tendency to overestimate the extraction. These differences are explained by water fluxes which are especially high in these layers because of the processes of evaporation from the soil and plant transpiration, which are difficult to simulate with precision. Below 0.6 m, a more stable zone where water movements are of minor importance, the simulations are very precise. For irrigated maize, the results show a very good fit between simulation and measurement, indicating that these water extraction capacity figures could be used for irrigation management provided that the rules for exploitation of the water reserves are well established.

Notes: Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different mesh sizes on the recovery of root length and biomass and to determine whether the degree of recovery was influenced by plant species and sample location. Sieves of 2.0, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 mm (4.0, 1.0, 0.25 and 0.06 mm2) mesh sizes were used to recover and measure the root length and biomass of Zea mays L. (maize) at 0–15 cm and 30–45 cm depths and of Grevillea robusta A. Cunn. ex R. Br. (grevillea) at the same depths 1.0 m and 4.5 m from a line of grevillea trees. At 0–15 cm, the coarser sieves (sum collected with 2.0 and 1.0 mm sieves) recovered approximately 80% of the total root biomass measured, but only 60% of the root length. The proportion of total maize root length and biomass recovered by the coarser sieves decreased with soil depth. The proportion of total grevillea root length recovered by the coarser sieves was similar at the two soil depths, but increased slightly with distance from the tree line. The ≥ 0.5 mm sieves recovered between 93 and 96% of grevillea and maize root biomass and between 73 and 98% of their root length, depending on the sample location. Roots passing through the 0.5 mm sieve, but recovered by the 0.25 mm sieve were about 20% of total maize root length and grevillea root length at 1.0 m from the tree line but 〈 5% of the total grevillea root length at 4.5 m from the tree. Roots passing through the 0.5 mm sieve but recovered by the 0.25 mm sieve contributed only slightly to root biomass. Although the ≥ 0.5 mm sieves provided adequate measurements of root biomass, the ≥ 0.25 mm sieves were required for accurate measurement of fine root length. There was no universal correction for root length and biomass underestimation when large sieve sizes were used because the proportions of length and biomass recovered depended on the plant species and on soil depth and distance from the plant.

Notes: Abstract Denitrification and total N losses were quantified from an irrigated field cropped to maize and wheat, each receiving urea at 100 kg N ha-1. During the maize growing season (60 days), the denitrification loss measured directly by acetylene inhibition-soil cover method amounted 2.72 kg N ha-1 whereas total N loss measured by 15N balance was 39 kg ha-1. Most (87%) of the denitrification loss under maize occurred during the first two irrigation cycles. During the wheat growing season (150 days), the denitrification loss directly measured by acetylene inhibition-soil cover and acetylene inhibition-soil core methods was 1.14 and 3.39 kg N ha-1, respectively in contrast to 33 kg N ha-1 loss measured by 15N balance. Most (70-88%) of the denitrification loss under wheat occurred during the first three irrigation cycles. Soil moisture and NO 3 - -N were the major factors limiting denitrification under both crops. Higher N losses measured by 15N balance than C2H2 inhibition method were perhaps due to underestimation of denitrification by C2H2 inhibition method and losses other than denitrification, most probably NH3 volatilization.

Notes: Abstract With the aim of examining crossability of durum wheat with maize, two sets of durum wheat genotypes and a set of D-genome chromosome substitution lines of the durum wheat variety ‘Langdon’ were crossed with maize, and followed by 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) treatment in detached-tiller culture. In crosses of 25 durum wheat genotypes (breeding lines) with maize, percent frequencies of embryo formation increased from 1.4% to 2.8% by adding silver nitrate to the detached-tiller culture solution. In crosses of 32 durum wheat genotypes (advanced lines and varieties) with maize using the silver nitrate addition, frequencies of embryo formation ranged from 0.0% to 15.8%; seven genotypes showing more than 6.0% embryo formation frequency were related in their pedigrees. In crosses of a set of chromosome substitution lines with maize, higher frequencies of embryo formation were obtained in substitution lines with chromosomes 1D, 3D, 4D and 7D. These results suggest that 1) adding silver nitrate to the 2,4-D treatment increases overall frequency of embryo formation but is not effective enough to induce the development of seeds and embryos from all durum wheat genotypes, and 2) some D-genome chromosomes substituted in a durum wheat genetic background may enhance crossability with maize in combination with homoeologous chromosomes of durum wheat.

Notes: Abstract We characterize the growth form of the two types of commercial tomato cultivars. In both types of tomato the branching is sympodial. The difference between cultivars of the indeterminate and the determined type is given by variations in the intensity in which the spatial and temporal pattern of the sympodial growth is expressed. Variations that manifests itself in the relative rate of development of each sympodial unit and in the amount of sympodial shoots that are produced during the plant's lifetime. The inflorescences of tomato plants grown in greenhouse are studied. The main inflorescences variations that have been observed are: the appearance of either dichasial inflorescences or pleiochasial inflorescences; the bracts development at the level of either the branches of the inflorescence or individual flowers; and the proliferation of the apex of the inflorescence.

Notes: Abstract Over application of poultry litter may cause pollution of surface and ground water. Spatial variability in soil characteristics makes predictions difficult. Composting poultry litter could reduce the risk of pollution by creating more stable organic components. Three rates of poultry litter and compost (10 Mg ha-1 litter, 20 Mg ha-1 litter and 10 Mg ha-1 litter combined with 50 Mg ha-1 compost) to three watersheds under pasture. The watersheds were monitored for surface and subsurface flow. Nitrate-N concentrations in subsurface flow did not exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standard of 10 mg L-1. Soluble phosphorus concentrations in runoff were high, reaching a maximum of 8.5 mg L-1 under the compost treatment. These concentrations are generally lower than reported on smaller scale studies, which shows the need of studies at the correct scale.

Notes: Abstract Three levels of N (40,80,120 kg N ha-1) and P (0,17.5,35 kg P ha-1), and 2 levels of K (0,33 kg K ha-1) were tested for 19 years in rice and wheat crops of a rice-wheat cropping system in a fixed layout of 3×2×2 factorial partially confounded design along with one control and 3 replications. From this trial, data of 7 treatments, i.e. 0-0-0, 40-35-33, 80-35-33, 120-35-33, 120-0-0, 120-35-0 and 120-0-33 kg ha-1 N-P-K respectively were compared for yield trends, changes in response functions, soil organic -C and available N,P,K status. Soil organic - C decreased in unfertilized plots by 62% (over initial value of 0.45%) but increased by 44, 40 and 36% in plots receiving 120-35-33, 120-35-0 and 80-35-33 kg ha-1 N-P-K respectively. Available N was also greatest in these same three treatments. Available soil P increased by about 5 fold in 15 years in treatments supplied with fertilizer P, but no significant change was detected in treatments without P addition. Yields of rice and wheat exhibited linear declining trend in all treatments. The highest rate of decline (89 kg ha-1 year-1 in rice and 175 kg ha-1 year-1 in wheat), however, was found when 120 kg ha-1 N was applied alone. The least rate of decline of 20 kg ha-1 year-1 in rice and 58 kg ha-1 year-1 in wheat was observed when 40-35-33 kg ha-1 N-P-K respectively was applied to both the crops. At currently recommended levels of NPK (120-35-33 kg ha-1), the rate of decline in yields was 25 kg ha-1 year-1 for rice and 62 kg ha-1 year-1 for wheat. Possible causes of these yield declines are discussed.

Notes: Abstract The effect of the vesicular arbuscularmycorrhizal fungus (VAMF) Glomus mosseae ongrowth, yield and nutrients' uptake of the durum wheatvariety ‘Sifnos’ was investigated in ten differentsoils. Inoculation had a positive effect on tillering,improved plant growth up to 11.6 times and increasedgrain yield up to 5.4 times as compared tonon-inoculated plants. The thousand kernels weight wasimproved by up to 60%. The analysis of shoot tissue ofthe mycorrhizal plants showed that P concentration wasincreased up to 4 fold, while the K, Ca and Mg uptakewas similar for both mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizalplants. The concentrations of the trace elements Mn,Zn, Fe and Cu were lower in the mycorrhizal plantscompared to that of non-inoculated ones. The P and Mgconcentration of the grains produced by the inoculatedplants was increased while the Ca concentration wasdecreased. The concentration of the heavy metals waseither decreased ( Mn, Fe, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb) or remainedunchanged (Zn, Cu). The colonization in the roots ranged from 23 to 78%.

Notes: Abstract Soil fumigation, commonly used in vegetable production, may alter the rate of nitrification, affecting availability of N for crop use. The objective of this research was to examine effects of soil fumigation and N fertilizer source on tomato growth and soil NO3–N and NH4–N in field production. Experiments 1 and 2 included application of methyl bromide at 420 kg ha-1 to a Norfolk sandy loam (fine loamy siliceous thermic Typic Kandiudult) in combination with preplant applications of calcium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, and ammonium sulfate at 144 kg N ha-1. An additional fumigant, metam-sodium, was included in the second experiment at 703 L ha-1 (268 kg sodium methyldithiocarbamate ha-1). Experiment 3 included methyl bromide and metam-sodium, with ammonium sulfate as the sole source of N applied at 144 kg N ha-1. In the first two studies, fumigants had little or no effect on soil NH4–N or NO3–N concentration. Tomato plants were larger and fruit yield was greater in fumigated plots, but there were few growth or yield responses to N source. In the third experiment, fumigants increased concentration of soil NO3–N and NH4–N at 16 days after fumigation (DAF), however, there was no effect on nitrification owing to fumigants. It appears that N source selection to overcome inhibition of nitrification is not necessary in plant production systems that involve fumigation

Notes: Abstract Considerable resources have been expended promoting hedgerow intercropping with shrub legumes to farmers in the Philippine uplands. Despite the resources committed to research and extension, persistent adoption by farmers has been limited to low cost versions of the technology including natural vegetation and grass strips. In this paper, cost-benefit analysis is used to compare the economic returns from traditional open-field maize farming with returns from intercropping maize between leguminous shrub hedgerows, natural vegetation strips and grass strips. An erosion/productivity model, Soil Changes Under Agroforestry, was used to predict the effect of erosion on maize yields. Key informant surveys with experienced maize farmers were used to derive production budgets for the alternative farming methods. The economic incentives revealed by the cost-benefit analysis help to explain the adoption of maize farming methods in the Philippine uplands. Open-field farming without hedgerows has been by far the most popular method of maize production, often with two or more fields cropped in rotation. There is little persistent adoption of hedgerow intercropping with shrub legumes because sustained maize yields are not realised rapidly enough to compensate farmers for establishment and maintenance costs. Natural vegetation and grass strips are more attractive to farmers because of lower establishment costs, and provide intermediate steps to adoption. Rural finance, commodity pricing and agrarian reform policies influence the incentives for maize farmers in the Philippine uplands to adopt and maintain hedgerow intercropping.

Notes: Abstract Data from a Brazilian Inga/maize/bean alleycrop experiment are used to illustrate patterns of variation between and within crop rows and their possible effects in the determination of a sampling strategy. Three methods for the determination of sample sizes in agroforestry experiments are compared: the combined plant technique, the formula of Snedecor and Cochran and variance component estimation. Results show that variability in the edge rows was generally greater than variability in the inner rows and suggest three sampling strata – one for each of the two edge rows and the third for the inner rows. For all three sampling methods a sample size greater than ten plants per stratum per block gave little extra precision. Increasing the number of blocks improves precision and may permit a smaller sample size per row to achieve the same precision. The comparison of different methods of sample size determination shows that variance component estimation is the most flexible and efficient approach.

Notes: Abstract Nutrient efficiency in wheat is very complex. It includes two major types: nutrient acquisition efficiency and nutrient use efficiency. Various studies on wild, landraces, old, intermediate and new genotypes of cereals showed that the new varieties produced higher grain yields than the old varieties, and were also more efficient at using nutrients. Several spring wheat cultivars, representing almost all cultivars of spring wheat, released from the Federal Office for Cultivar Registration, Germany and published in the 'Descriptive List of Cultivars', were used to investigate the interactive effects between genotypes and the use efficiencies of the three macro nutrients N, P and K by the grain and straw. The results obtained in this study indicate that nutrient use efficiency of the single nutrients varies widely within recent cultivars. Some cultivars were identified as being multiple-nutrient use efficient. These are considered low-input cultivars. It appears that a special breeding programme of crop cultivars for low nutrient and stress conditions could be successful. Improved cultivar response to nutrients will help to reduce inputs and hence protect the environment.

Notes: Abstract To improve the efficiency of introgressing genes from Lycopersicon hirsutum (H) into L. esculentum (E), environmental and genetic variation for the number of progeny per fruit from E × H crosses was quantified. Over three dates in a year, 36 H accessions were crossed to seven E accessions in a greenhouse. The proportion of total variation for the number of E × H progeny per fruit due to environment (dates, location, and error), H accession, E accession, interactions between E and H, and interactions between accessions and environments was 0.42, 0.26, 0.12, 0.11, and 0.09, respectively. Sampling greater numbers of fruit on a single date improved the efficiency of recovering progeny more than increased sampling over time. The specific combination of E and H parents can profoundly affect the number of E × H progeny recovered and therefore the efficiency of gene introgression. Accessions of H from the southern edge of the species' natural geographic range generally yielded few to zero progeny per fruit in crosses with E. In contrast to the southern H accessions, most northern accessions produced greater than 40 E × H progeny per fruit. Most genes within H should be readily accessible for tomato breeding but genes that are found only in southern H accessions may be challenging to introgress.

Notes: Abstract The wild tomato accession Lycopersicon hirsutum f. glabratum ‘PI 134417’ is a promising source of resistance to arthropods in tomato. It is self compatible and intercrosses easily with the cultivated species Lycopersicon esculentum. It is resistant to several arthropods, including spider mites, and these resistances have been related to the presence of high contents of 2-tridecanone (2-TD) and other methyl ketones in the leaves. The objective of this study was to evaluate the contribution of 2-TD concentration in the leaflets of Lycopersicon for resistance to the spider mites Tetranychus urticae (Koch, 1836) and T. ludeni Zacher, 1913. Plants of two segregating generations (F2) were evaluated through the thumbtack bioassay (Weston & Snyder, 1990) in two different assays. Both experiments included as checks L. esculentum ‘TSWV-547’ (mite susceptible), L. hirsutum f. glabratum ‘PI 134417’ (resistant) and the interspecific hybrid F1 (TSWV-547 × PI 134417). In the first experiment, 10 genotypes selected from F2 (TSWV-547 × PI 134417), with contrasting 2-TD concentrations in the leaflets, were tested for resistance to T. urticae. In a second experiment, seven genotypes of the F2 (TSWV-547 × BPX-318p1#230), also with contrasting 2-TD concentrations, were used to evaluate the resistance to T. ludeni. BPX-318p1#230 is a single plant selected from the segregating population F2 (TSWV-547 × PI 134417) for its high 2-TD content. In both experiments, high negative correlations (r = − 0.88; − 0.91 and − 0.93 in the first experiment, and r = − 0.78, − 0.99 and − 0.96 in the second experiment) were found between the 2-TD content and average distance travelled by the spider mites after 60, 90 and 120 minutes, respectively. The level of resistance (repellency) to spider mites T. urticae and T. ludeni in the genus Lycopersicon appears to be mediated by the 2-TD levels present in the tomato leaflets. The similar results of both experiments showed that selection for high 2-TD content in leaflets can lead to genetic improvement in the direction of increased levels of spider mite resistance in tomato.

Notes: Abstract In two simultaneous experiments we examined the effects of phosphorus (P) supply on leaf area development in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in sand with nutrient solutions. In Experiment 1 we studied leaf emergence, leaf elongation, tiller emergence, shoot growth, and P uptake under four levels of P supply (mM) 0.025 (P1), 0.05 (P2), 0.1 (P3), and 0.5 (P4), and. In Experiment 2 there were two levels of P supply, P1 and P4, and we examined the effects of P on leaf primordia differentiation and leaf emergence. The phyllochron was calculated as the inverse of the rate of leaf emergence calculated from the regression of number of leaf tips (PHY-Ltip), Haun index (PHY-Haun), and as the cumulated thermal time between the emergence of two consecutive leaves (PHYtt). The plastochron was calculated from the inverse of the rate of leaf primordia initiation in the apex. P deficiency delayed the emergence of leaves on the main stem and on the tiller 1. Phosphorus deficiency increased the time from emergence to double ridge and anthesis. The final number of leaves was not affected by P. The effects of P on the value of the phyllochron were attributed to both a reduced rate of leaf primordia initiation, and to a reduced leaf elongation rate. P deficiency delayed or even suppressed the emergence of certain tillers. In this work a phosphorus deficiency that reduced shoot growth by 25% at 44 days after emergence significantly modified the structure of the plants by increasing the value of the phyllochron and delaying tillering. These results suggest that any attempt to simulate leaf area development and growth of wheat plants for P-limited conditions should include the effects of the deficiency on leaf emergence.

Notes: Abstract Reductions in leaf area and plant growth as a consequence of phosphorus (P) limitations have been attributed both to direct effects of P shortage on leaf expansion rate and to a reduced production of assimilates required for growth. Canopy assimilation and leaf area expansion are closely interrelated processes. In this work we used experimental and simulation techniques to identify and study their importance in determining leaf area on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) growing under P-deficient conditions. Experiment 1 was done outdoors, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Experiment 2 in a glasshouse in Wageningen, The Netherlands. In both experiments we studied the effects of soil P addition on leaf appearance, leaf expansion, dry matter accumulation, and leaf photosynthesis of non-water stressed plants grown in pots containing a P-deficient soil. Before sowing the equivalent amounts of 0–600 kg of super phosphate ha-1 were added to the pots. Phosphorus deficiency delayed leaf appearance increasing the value of the phyllochron (PHY) up to 76%, the rate of leaf area expansion during the quasi-linear phase of leaf expansion (LER) was reduced by up to 74%, with respect to high P plants. Phosphorus deficiency reduced by up to 50% the rate of light saturated photosynthesis per unit of leaf area (AMAX) in recently expanded leaves, while at low levels of leaf insertion in the canopy, AMAX was reduced by up to 85%, when compared to that in high P plants. Phosphorus deficiency also reduced the duration of the quasi-linear phase of leaf expansion by up to eight days. The values of LER were related (r = 0.56, P 〈 0.05) to the mean concentration of P in all the leaves (Leaves P%) and not to the concentration of P in the individual leaf where LER was determined (r = 0.22, P 〈 0.4) suggesting that under P deficiency individual leaf expansion was not likely to be regulated by the total P concentration at leaf level. The values of AMAX of individual leaves were related (r = 0.79, P 〈 0.01) to the concentration of total P in the corresponding leaf (Leaf P%). LER showed a hyperbolic relationship with Leaves P% (R2 = 0.94, P 〈 0.01, n = 13) that saturate at 0.14%. AMAX showed a hyperbolic relationship with Leaf P% (R2 = 0.73, P 〈 0.01, n = 53) that saturated with values of Leaf P% higher than 0.22. A morphogenetic model of leaf area development and growth was developed to quantify the effect of assimilate supply at canopy level on total leaf area expansion, and to study the effects of model parameters on the growth of sunflower plants under P-deficient conditions. With this model we identified the existence of direct effects of P deficiency on individual leaf area expansion. However, we calculated that under mild P stress conditions up to 83% of the reduction in the observed leaf area was explained by the particular effects of P% on the rate of leaf appearance, on the duration of the linear period of leaf expansion, and on the value of AMAX. We also calculated that the effects of P deficiency on the value of AMAX alone, explained up to 41% of the observed reductions in total leaf area between the highest and the intermediate P level in Experiment 2. Possible mechanisms of action of the direct effects of P on individual leaf expansion are discussed in this paper.

Notes: Abstract Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) plants infected by the fungal endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum (Morgan-Jones & Gams) (Glenn et al., 1996) often perform better than noninfected plants, especially in marginal resource environments. There is a lack of information about endophyte related effects on the rhizosphere of grasses. In a greenhouse experiment, four endophyte-infected (E+) tall fescue clones (DN2, DN4, DN7, DN11) and their endophyte-free (E−) forms were grown in limed (pH 6.3) Porter soil (low fertility, acidic, high aluminum and low phosphorus content, coarse-loamy mixed mesic Umbric Dystrochrept) at three soil P levels (17, 50, and 96 mg P kg-1 soil) for five months. Excluding the genotype effect, endophyte infection significantly increased cumulative herbage DM yield by 8% at 17 mg P kg-1 soil but reduced cumulative herbage DM yield by 12% at 96 mg P kg-1 soil. With increased P availability in the soil, shoot and root DM, and root/shoot ratio in E+ plants were significantly less when compared to E− plants. Endophyte infection increased specific root length at 17 and 50 mg P kg-1soil. At soil P level of 17 mg P kg-1soil, E+ plants had significantly higher P concentrations both in roots and shoots. Similar relationships were found for Mg and Ca. E+ plants had significantly higher Zn, Fe, and Al concentration in roots, and lower Mn and Al concentration in shoots when compared to E− plants. Ergot alkaloid concentration and content in shoot of E+ plants increased with increasing P availability in the soil from 17 to 50 mg P kg-1 but declined again at 96 mg P kg-1 soil. Ergot alkaloid accumulation in roots increased linearly with P availability in the soil. Results suggest that endophyte infection affects uptake of phosphorus and other mineral nutrients and may benefit tall fescue grown on P-deficient soils. Phosphorus seems also to be involved in ergot alkaloid accumulation in endophyte-infected tall fescue.

Notes: Abstract The study area, within the Simlipal National Park, India, provides a rare variety of soil sampling sites. These include virgin forests in the proximity of several cultivated areas (where no chemical fertilizers or any modern technology has been used and where periods of cultivation vary from 5 to a little over 100 yr); samples from evergreen forests, deciduous forests and natural grasslands could also be obtained. The availability of numerous such samples made it possible to use statistical methods to evaluate the changes. This study showed that deforestation and cultivation result in statistically significant (P0.05) reduction in organic C, total N and C:N ratios but no significant changes in total and available P levels; C:P and N:P ratios are also reduced. Loss of organic C and N occurs rapidly in the first 15 yr of cultivation and reaches quasi-steady state values around 1–2% organic C and 0.1–0.2% total N; extent of reduction is not related to initial levels. Significant reduction in C:N, C:P ratios following cultivation suggest that mineralisation losses of C are higher than loss of N whereas loss of P is lowest. Lack of significant correlation between organic C and P levels in all types of soils, suggests that the bulk of the P is in the inorganic form. Highest levels of organic C and N were observed in evergreen forests followed by deciduous forests, grasslands and cultivated areas in that order; total and available P levels, however, showed no significant differences. Evergreen vegetative cover appears to provide the ideal environment for organic matter accumulation.

Notes: Abstract In eastern Canada, the use of fertilizer N has been identified as the most energy-consuming component of maize (Zea mays L.) grain production. As the economic and environmental costs of excessive N fertilization rise, there is an increased emphasis on selection of hybrids with greater N use efficiency (NUE; defined as the ratio of the amount of 15N recovered in grain or stover dry matter to the amount of fertilizer 15N applied to the soil in this study). Using an 15N-labelling approach, a field study was conducted on a tile-drained Brandon loam soil (Typic Endoaquoll) on the Central Experimental Farm at Ottawa, Canada (45°22′ N, 75°43′ W) in 1993 and 1994. Fertilizer N uptake and partitioning within the plant in relation to dry matter changes were monitored during development of a current stay-green maize hybrid and an older early-senescing hybrid grown with three fertilizer N levels (0, 100, 200 kg N ha-1). Dry matter, N concentration and15 N atom% enrichment of plant components were determined at five growth stages. The current stay-green hybrid, ‘Pioneer 3902’ had greater NUE than the old early-senescing hybrid, ‘Pride 5’, which was associated with 24% more dry matter production and 20% more N uptake during grain fill for Pioneer 3902. There was no indication of greater allocation of N to the grain in Pioneer 3902. Our data suggest that prolonged maintenance of green leaf area for photosynthate production during grain fill and the ability to take up available soil N later in grain filling are characteristics of maize hybrids with greater NUE.

Notes: Abstract Cultivation of forest and grassland soils induces heavy changes in soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics. To better predict the effect of cultivation, there is a need to describe which organic pools are affected and to which extent. We used a chronosequence of thick humic forest soils converted to maize cultivation for 40 yr in southwest France. The dynamics of soil carbon was investigated through particle-size fractionation and the use of 13C allowed to distinguish forest-derived organic matter and new crop-derived organic matter. This partitioning of soil carbon by size on one hand and by age on the other provided a precise description of carbon turnover. The level towards which tend the organic pools under cultivation showed that the decay rates of soil carbon were one order of magnitude higher under cultivation than under forest. SOM can thus be considered as deprotected under cultivation. All size fractions appeared to be deprotected to the same extent. A progressive transfer of silt-sized C to clay-sized C was nevertheless suspected and attributed to the decreasing stability of fine silt-sized microaggregates with cultivation. SOM furthermore contained some very stable C present as silt-sized and possibly clay-sized particles. The turnover times of maize-derived organic matter was the same as that observed in similar soils cultivated for centuries. This indicated that the new conditions induced by cultivation were reached in the very first years after forest clearing and that the high initial SOM content and high mineralization rate of initial organic matter did not affect the dynamics of newly incorporated carbon.

Notes: Abstract We conducted a field experiment to test the hypothesis that improved phosphorus nutrition occurs in maize plants with rapid arbuscular (AM) mycorrhizae development at early developmental stages and that this also is reflected in dry matter allocation and final yield. A split-split plot design was used with previous crop (Zea mays L.-maize and Brassica napus L.-canola), tillage practices (no-tillage or conventional tillage) and P fertilization (5 levels) as factors chosen to modify mycorrhizae development at early developmental stages of maize. Previous cropping with canola resulted in decreased shoot-P concentration and shoot growth of maize at early stages. No-tillage resulted in higher shoot-P concentration but lower shoot weight than conventional tillage. Greater shoot-P uptake was related to a rapid intraradical development of mycorrhizae (previous crop of maize) or rapid connection to a mycorrhizal mycelium network (no-tillage treatments). Maize yield and harvest index were lower after cropping with canola. The yield for conventional tillage was higher than that for no-tillage but the harvest index was lower. The hypothesis was supported at early stages of maize growth by the effect of previous crop but not by results of tillage, because an unknown factor reduced growth in the no-tillage system. The hypothesis was supported at maturity by increased biomass allocation to grain relative to total shoot weight in treatments with greater shoot-P concentration at early stages.

Notes: Abstract Historically, destructive root sampling has been labor intensive and requires manual separation of extraneous organic debris recovered along with the hydropneumatic elutriation method of separating plant roots from soils. Quantification of root system demographics by public domain National Institute of Health (NIH-Image) and Root Image Processing Laboratory (RIPL) image processing algorithms has eliminated much of the labor-intensive manual separation. This was accomplished by determining the best length to diameter ratio for each object during image analyses. Objects with a length to diameter ratio less than a given threshold are considered non-root materials and are rejected automatically by computer algorithms. Iterative analyses of length to diameter ratios showed that a 15:1 ratio was best for separating images of maize (Zea mays L.) roots from associated organic debris. Using this threshold ratio for a set of 24 soil cores, a highly significant correlation (r2 = 0.89) was obtained between computer image processed total root length per core and actual root length. A linear relationship (r2 = 0.80) was observed between root lengths determined by NIH-Image analyses and lengths determined independently by the RIPL imaging system, using the same maize root + debris samples. This correlation demonstrates that computer image processing provides opportunities for comparing root length parameters between different laboratories for samples containing debris.