Red clover root-associated microbiota is shaped by geographic location and choice of farming system

Aims: This study evaluated the red clover (Trifolium pratense) root-associated microbiota to clarify the presence of pathogenic and beneficial microorganisms in 89 Swedish field sites.Methods and results: 16S rRNA and ITS amplicon sequencing analysis were performed on DNA extracted from the red clover root samples collected to determine the composition of the prokaryotic and eukaryotic root-associated microbe communities. Alpha and beta diversities were calculated and relative abundance of various microbial taxa and their co-occurrence were analyzed. Rhizobium was the most prevalent bacterial genus, followed by Sphingomonas, Mucilaginibacter, Flavobacterium, and the unclassified Chloroflexi group KD4-96. The Leptodontidium, Cladosporium, Clonostachys, and Tetracladium fungal genera known for endophytic, saprotrophic, and mycoparasitic lifestyles were also frequently observed in all samples. Sixty-two potential pathogenic fungi were identified with a bias toward grass pathogens and a higher abundance in samples from conventional farms.Conclusions: We showed that the microbial community was mainly shaped by geographic location and management procedures. Co-occurrence networks revealed that the Rhizobiumleguminosarum bv. trifolii was negatively associated with all fungal pathogenic taxa recognized in this study

”Med utbildning kan man bli det man vill” : En studie om ensamkommande flickors möte med det svenska utbildningssystemet och arbetsmarknaden

I denna studie vill vi undersöka ensamkommande flickors erfarenheter av studie- och yrkesvägledning samt hur de resonerar kring framtiden, där vi vill fokusera på deras upplevda möjligheter och framtidsdrömmar. Till vår hjälp med detta har vi våra tre frågeställningar; Hur beskriver de ensamkommande flickorna sina erfarenheter av vägledning?, Hur ser de ensamkommande flickornas framtidsdrömmar ut, och har de förändrats sedan de kom till Sverige?, samt Hur ser de ensamkommande flickorna på sina möjligheter till arbete? Vi valde att göra en kvalitativ studie där vi genomför intervjuer med fem ensamkommande flickor. Våra intervjuer har därefter analyserats utifrån Bourdieus begrepp fält, kapital och habitus samt Hodkinson och Sparkes begrepp handlingshorisont. Resultatet visar på att de ensamkommande flickorna framhåller vikten av utbildning i syfte att nå framtida yrkesdrömmar samtidigt som deras upplevda möjligheter att få ett arbete skiljer sig. Några har kvar samma yrkesdröm som i hemlandet medan några av flickornas yrkesdrömmar förändrats, av olika anledningar. Skolans studie- och yrkesvägledning uppges vara betydelsefull för eleverna, där lärarnas vägledande insatser särskilt framhålls.

A comparison of field assessment methods for lucerne inoculation experiments

Effective and practical measurement methods for assessing field inoculation experiments are needed to identify inoculants that could improve lucerne establishment. In this study, assessment potential of different existing measurement methods (plant height, Dualex 4 Scientific leaf-clip meter, GreenSeeker handheld crop sensor, drone-acquired orthomosaic calculation, yield, nutrient analysis and nodule assessment) were compared across 12 inoculation treatments applied to lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) at 3 sites. F-values were used to compare the potential of different methods to separate inoculation treatments. The handheld GreenSeeker measuring normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) showed the greatest potential for separating inoculation treatments in fields where lucerne had not previously been cultivated, followed by visible atmospherically resistant index (VARI) and green-red vegetation index (GRVI) from drone-acquired orthomosaics. These methods are non-destructive, low cost, require low labour input, fast, and do not require sample preparation, and thus are efficient measurement methods for disaggregating treatments in field inoculation experiments

Trait characterization of genetic resources reveals useful variation for the improvement of cultivated Nordic red clover

Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) is the most important forage legume in the Nordic region, but its utilization is limited by poor persistency. The improvement of cultivated red clover can potentially take advantage of the numerous wild populations and landraces conserved in gene banks; however, there is often limited information available on the phenotypic and genetic characteristics of this material. We characterized 48 populations conserved at NordGen for a number of traits and compared them to commercial cultivars. The material was evaluated in field trials at four locations over two years and in an experiment under controlled conditions. Considerable variation was identified, with stem length, growth type and flowering date having the highest broad sense heritabilities. Traits related to plant size were strongly associated with late flowering and upright growth and differed between landraces/cultivars on the one hand and wild populations on the other. There was a large genotype by environment interaction on winter survival, which only partially correlated with freezing tolerance under controlled conditions. A majority of gene bank accessions exceeded the commercial cultivars in winter survival and freezing tolerance and can therefore be a genetic resource for future improvement of these traits. The phenotypic variation among accessions was associated with two main axes of climatic variation at the collection site. Petiole length of young plants under controlled conditions as well as plant size in the field increased with increasing summer temperature and decreasing summer precipitation, while number of leaves and an apparent vernalization requirement, recorded under controlled conditions, increased with decreasing annual and winter temperature. We discuss the implications these results have for collection, conservation and utilization of red clover genetic resources in the Nordic region.publishedVersio

Genomic selection in red clover (Trifolium pratense): A research project funded by SLU Grogrund – Center for Breeding Food Crops

No abstract available

Climatic adaptation of species and varieties of grass and clover in the West Nordic countries and Sweden

Rit LbhÍ nr. 50Eight experiments with monoculture of 24 varieties of grass and clover species and one mixture of two grass species and two clover species were established in the Faroe Islands (Kollafjørður), Greenland (Upernaviarsuk and Qassiarsuk), Iceland (Korpa and Möðruvellir), Norway (Fureneset and Holt) and Sweden (Lännäs). The main goal of this project was to evaluate important forage species and varieties, in terms of yield, persistence and adaptation to variable climate in the West Nordic countries. Timothy had on average the highest cover after three years in the experiments (63%) together with Knut, a smooth meadow grass variety (67%). Perennial ryegrass had the lowest cover after three years, or 28%. Meadow fescue had a similar cover as timothy in Iceland and Sweden and cocksfoot a similar cover as timothy in Iceland, Sweden and Fureneset. On average cocksfoot (Laban) and timothy varieties related to Grindstad gave the highest yield, 8.85 and 8.71 t/ha, respectively. These species were followed by tall fescue (Swaj), festulolium, perennial ryegrass, northerly timothy varieties and meadow fescue, yielding 8.51, 8.47, 8.23, 8.18 and 7.98 t/ha, respectively. Smooth meadow grass and common bent grass had lower yields, 7.52 and 7.30 t/ha, respectively. The results from these experiments show that we have a wide range of species and varieties usable in the West Nordic areas. We can meet an increase in temperature to a certain level by moving the more southern species and varieties farther north but this can be limited because of factors such as day length requirements or tolerance to diseases. Our most winter hardy varieties are still important to maintain. If the climate changes in the opposite direction these winter hardy varieties could be valuable for other areas as well.Nordic Atlantic Cooperatio

Trait characterization of genetic resources reveals useful variation for the improvement of cultivated Nordic red clover

Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) is the most important forage legume in the Nordic region, but its utilization is limited by poor persistency. The improvement of cultivated red clover can potentially take advantage of the numerous wild populations and landraces conserved in gene banks; however, there is often limited information available on the phenotypic and genetic characteristics of this material. We characterized 48 populations conserved at NordGen for a number of traits and compared them to commercial cultivars. The material was evaluated in field trials at four locations over two years and in an experiment under controlled conditions. Considerable variation was identified, with stem length, growth type and flowering date having the highest broad sense heritabilities. Traits related to plant size were strongly associated with late flowering and upright growth and differed between landraces/cultivars on the one hand and wild populations on the other. There was a large genotype by environment interaction on winter survival, which only partially correlated with freezing tolerance under controlled conditions. A majority of gene bank accessions exceeded the commercial cultivars in winter survival and freezing tolerance and can therefore be a genetic resource for future improvement of these traits. The phenotypic variation among accessions was associated with two main axes of climatic variation at the collection site. Petiole length of young plants under controlled conditions as well as plant size in the field increased with increasing summer temperature and decreasing summer precipitation, while number of leaves and an apparent vernalization requirement, recorded under controlled conditions, increased with decreasing annual and winter temperature. We discuss the implications these results have for collection, conservation and utilization of red clover genetic resources in the Nordic region