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Morpho-anatomical adaptations to waterlogging by germplasm accessions in a tropical forage grass

ABSTRACT: Brachiaria humidicola, a tropical forage grass, is recognized for its tolerance to temporary waterlogging. Waterlogged soils are characterized by slow movement of gases and oxygen defficiency. B. humidicola accessions showed adaptations common to wetland species, including a ventilation system (aerenchyma) from shoot to root that might facilitate O2 transport and the escape of gases that usually accumulate in roots under waterlogging. Of 12 accessions tested, one accession (CIAT 26570) showed greater aerenchyma formation. Quicker growth under waterlogging of CIAT 26570 might be associated with greater aerenchyma formation. Soil waterlogging reduces gas exchange between the soil and the atmosphere, leading to oxygen deprivation in the rhizosphere. Brachiaria spp. are the most widely sown forage grasses in tropical America. Among commercial Brachiaria grasses, B. humidicola shows superior tolerance to waterlogged soils based on maintenance of growth and reduced leaf chlorophyll loss and senescence. However, little is known about the underlying traits of waterlogging tolerance in B. humidicola or their intraspecific variation. For this purpose, an outdoor study was conducted using 12 germplasm accessions of B. humidicola that were grown in soil cylinders under drained or waterlogged soil conditions for 21 days. Dry mass production and morpho-anatomical responses (aerenchyma in shoots and roots, root diameter, proportional area of stele in roots, number of nodal and lateral roots, and length of the longest root) were determined. All accessions showed shorter roots and reduced root dry mass under waterlogged soil conditions. All accessions showed aerenchyma in shoots and roots under drained conditions but were further increased under waterlogging. All accessions showed a reduction in the proportional area of stele of roots in response to waterlogging. The accession (CIAT 26570) that showed a higher proportion of aerenchyma in shoots and roots and an increased number of nodal roots (with higher diameter and a reduction in the number of lateral roots) showed longer roots, less reduction in root dry mass and increased shoot growth under waterlogged conditions. We conclude that superior growth of one accession (CIAT 26570) under waterlogged soil conditions is probably a result of morpho-anatomical traits acting together to enhance root aeration and shoot ventilation. Further research is needed to test the ability to recover from waterlogging in B. humidicola accessions.

SUBMITTER: Cardoso J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4455694 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Waterlogging is an important abiotic stress constraint that causes significant yield losses in maize grown throughout south and south-east Asia due to erratic rainfall patterns. The most economic option to offset the damage caused by waterlogging is to genetically incorporate tolerance in cultivars that are grown widely in the target agro-ecologies. We assessed the genetic variation in a population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from crossing a waterlogging tolerant line (CAWL-46-3-1) to an elite but sensitive line (CML311-2-1-3) and observed significant range of variation for grain yield (GY) under waterlogging stress along with a number of other secondary traits such as brace roots (BR), chlorophyll content (SPAD), % stem and root lodging (S&RL) among the RILs. Significant positive correlation of GY with BR and SPAD and negative correlation with S&RL indicated the potential use of these secondary traits in selection indices under waterlogged conditions. RILs were genotyped with 331 polymorphic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers using KASP (Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR) Platform. QTL mapping revealed five QTL on chromosomes 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10, which together explained approximately 30% of phenotypic variance for GY based on evaluation of RIL families under waterlogged conditions, with effects ranging from 520 to 640 kg/ha for individual genomic regions. 13 QTL were identified for various secondary traits associated with waterlogging tolerance, each individually explaining from 3 to 14% of phenotypic variance. Of the 22 candidate genes with known functional domains identified within the physical intervals delimited by the flanking markers of the QTL influencing GY and other secondary traits, six have previously been demonstrated to be associated with anaerobic responses in either maize or other model species. A pair of flanking SNP markers has been identified for each of the QTL and high throughput marker assays were developed to facilitate rapid introgression of waterlogging tolerance in tropical maize breeding programs.

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Project description:Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is a winter-spring leafy vegetable, but the high demand for fresh products available year-round requires off-season production. However, the warm climate of the Mediterranean areas can impair the summer production of lettuce, thus requiring the adoption of genotypes tolerant to high irradiance as well as useful agronomic strategies like shading net installations. The aim of our research was to assess the leaf morpho-physiological and anatomical changes, in addition to productive responses, of four lettuce cultivars ('Ballerina', 'Maravilla De Verano Canasta', 'Opalix', and 'Integral') grown under shading and non-shading conditions to unveil the adaptive mechanisms of this crop in response to sub-optimal microclimate (high irradiance and temperature) in a protected environment. Growth and yield parameters, leaf gas exchanges, chlorophyll fluorescence and morpho-anatomical leaf traits (i.e., leaf mass area, stomatal density and epidermal cell density) were determined. Under shading conditions, the fresh yields of the cultivars 'Ballerina', 'Opalix' ('Oak leaf') and 'Integral' ('Romaine') increased by 16.0%, 26.9% and 13.2% respectively, compared to non-shading conditions while both abaxial and adaxial stomatal density decreased. In contrast, 'Canasta' under non-shading conditions increased fresh yield, dry biomass and instantaneous water use efficiency by 9.6%, 18.0% and 15.7%, respectively, while reduced abaxial stomatal density by 30.4%, compared to shading conditions. Regardless of cultivar, the unshaded treatment increased the leaf mass area by 19.5%. Even though high light intensity and high temperature are critical limiting factors for summer lettuce cultivation in a protected environment, 'Canasta' showed the most effective adaptive mechanisms and had the best production performance under sub-optimal microclimatic conditions. However, greenhouse coverage with a white shading net (49% screening) proved to be a suitable agricultural practice that ensured an adequate microclimate for the off-season growth of more sensitive cultivars 'Ballerina', 'Oak leaf' and 'Romaine'.

Project description:BackgroundSugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is one of the most important economic crops because of its high sugar production and biofuel potential. Due to the high polyploid level and complex genome of sugarcane, it has been a huge challenge to investigate genomic sequence variations, which are critical for identifying alleles contributing to important agronomic traits. In order to mine the genetic variations in sugarcane, genotyping by sequencing (GBS), was used to genotype 14 representative Saccharum complex accessions. GBS is a method to generate a large number of markers, enabled by next generation sequencing (NGS) and the genome complexity reduction using restriction enzymes.ResultsTo use GBS for high throughput genotyping highly polyploid sugarcane, the GBS analysis pipelines in 14 Saccharum complex accessions were established by evaluating different alignment methods, sequence variants callers, and sequence depth for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) filtering. By using the established pipeline, a total of 76,251 non-redundant SNPs, 5642 InDels, 6380 presence/absence variants (PAVs), and 826 copy number variations (CNVs) were detected among the 14 accessions. In addition, non-reference based universal network enabled analysis kit and Stacks de novo called 34,353 and 109,043 SNPs, respectively. In the 14 accessions, the percentages of single dose SNPs ranged from 38.3% to 62.3% with an average of 49.6%, much more than the portions of multiple dosage SNPs. Concordantly called SNPs were used to evaluate the phylogenetic relationship among the 14 accessions. The results showed that the divergence time between the Erianthus genus and the Saccharum genus was more than 10 million years ago (MYA). The Saccharum species separated from their common ancestors ranging from 0.19 to 1.65 MYA.ConclusionsThe GBS pipelines including the reference sequences, alignment methods, sequence variant callers, and sequence depth were recommended and discussed for the Saccharum complex and other related species. A large number of sequence variations were discovered in the Saccharum complex, including SNPs, InDels, PAVs, and CNVs. Genome-wide SNPs were further used to illustrate sequence features of polyploid species and demonstrated the divergence of different species in the Saccharum complex. The results of this study showed that GBS was an effective NGS-based method to discover genomic sequence variations in highly polyploid and heterozygous species.

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Morpho-anatomical adaptations to waterlogging by germplasm accessions in a tropical forage grass

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