Quantifying growth and development of bulb turnips

Bulb brassicas are used as supplementary feed in intensive pastures systems. However, there is a lack of quantitative data to define their growth and development. This has limited the creation and use of prediction models and decision support systems. Thus a field experiment measured growth and development of 'Barkant' and 'Green Globe' turnips sown on five dates from November 2008 to March 2009. In a second field experiment 'Green Globe' turnips were sown on four dates from December 2009 to March 2010, under two ground cover treatments that changed mean soil temperature by ~2°C. Bulb initiation was defined botanically as when the hypocotyl was 10mm thick, at 360°Cd (±13.0) for 'Barkant' and 420°Cd (±13.7) (T b =3.6°C) for 'Green Globe'. However, the bulb participation in dry matter production occurs after an 18mm hypocotyl thickness, which occurred at ~500°Cd for both turnip cultivars. A single base parameter of 0.995 described the exponential decline of the leaf:bulb ratio. Relationships also described how leaf production and total leaf area expansion changed up until bulb initiation. Radiation use efficiency (RUE) ranged from 1.13 to 1.33g DM/MJ total. A constant rate of total leaf area expansion (0.015m 2 /m 2 /°Cd) was obtained up to LAI c for 'Green Globe' turnips. A third pot experiment confirmed the thermal time requirement to bulb initiation based on direct assessment of the hypocotyl thickening of 'Barkant' and 'Green Globe' turnips. Temperature was shown as the main driver of bulb development and growth. The relationships provided could be used to improve the performance of prediction models

A comparison of cardinal temperatures estimated by linear and nonlinear models for germination and bulb growth of forage brassicas

Forage brassicas are widely used as a supplementary feed in temperate pasture systems but there is a lack of quantitative data about their growth and development. Furthermore, numerous models are available to estimate cardinal temperatures but there is uncertainty about whether linear or nonlinear models should be used. Initially a germination experiment was used to describe the rate response of nine forage brassicas to temperature. Three models were compared to estimate cardinal temperatures and the two best models were used for thermal time (Tt) accumulation for three groups of forage brassicas. Cardinal temperatures, defined as the base (Tb), optimum (Topt) and maximum (Tm), differed among groups of species for the bilinear and Lactin models but were similar within a group of species for these models. In most cases, cardinal temperatures estimated by the bilinear and Lactin models for the B. rapa group ranged from 3 to 4 °C for Tb, 31 °C for Topt and 41 to 48 °C for Tm. For the B. napus and B. napus biennis groups these temperatures ranged from 0 to 3 °C for Tb, 29 to 33 °C for Topt and 38 °C for Tm. The B. oleracea group had temperatures from 0 to 1 °C for Tb, 25 to 27 °C for Topt and 35 °C for Tm. A second data set based on hypocotyl thickening was used to estimate the base temperature (Tb) for bulb growth of turnips and swedes. Both models estimated an average Tb of 4.2 °C for bulb turnips and an average of 3.7 °C for swedes. The Lactin model was considered the most adequate model to describe temperature responses where as, in some cases, the bilinear model had to be modified to account for changes in the rate of development. More importantly, an appropriate range of test temperatures was crucial for the estimation of reliable cardinal temperatures, independent of the model used

APSIM-Tropical Pasture: A model for simulating perennial tropical grass growth and its parameterisation for palisade grass (Brachiaria brizantha)

Tropical grasses are used as forage, to produce energy from biomass, for land restoration and carbon sequestration, among other applications. Many modelling approaches have been employed to simulate tropical grasses growth, but these have several limitations that must be solved by adapting them or creating new models. This study aimed to develop a tropical pasture model in the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) modelling framework, and to parameterise it to simulate Brachiaria brizantha ‘BRS Piatã’ growth, under grazing and cut-and-carry management. For this, three field experiments were conducted in the South-east of Brazil where pasture growth was measured in a cut-and-carry system, with irrigated and rainfed treatments, and in a rainfed grazing system. Model evaluation was performed through precision and accuracy indices and simulation errors. Under cut-and-carry management, forage productivity was estimated with R2 values from 0.89 to 0.94, Willmott agreement indices between 0.97 and 0.98, and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency values of 0.88 to up to 0.92. This demonstrates the capacity of the APSIM-Tropical Pasture model to simulate tropical pastures. Simulation of phenology, early growth after sowing, partitioning and senescence during flowering, and reallocation and retranslocation of plant dry matter and nitrogen were important aspects for this capacity. Then, APSIM-Tropical Pasture can be used to simulate tropical pastures, but several requirements for further improvements have been identified, such as to improve the simulations of flowering for palisade grass, N effects on pasture yield, reallocation and retranslocation processes. Under grazing management, forage productivity was estimated with R2 = 0.80, Willmott agreement index of 0.91, and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency value of 0.62. Despite these reasonable results, simulations presented problems, since does not take into account the effect of grazing animals on pastures. This indicates that, in its current form, APSIM-Tropical Pasture is not able to simulate pastures under grazing effectively. However, this simulation of grazed system was important to identify main modelling constraints and direct future research to improve knowledge of processes and interactions needed for pasture model development

CHARGE-like presentation, craniosynostosis and mild Mowat-Wilson Syndrome diagnosed by recognition of the distinctive facial gestalt in a cohort of 28 new cases

Mowat-Wilson syndrome (MWS) is characterized by moderate to severe intellectual disability and distinctive facial features in association with variable structural congenital anomalies/clinical features including congenital heart disease, Hirschsprung disease, hypospadias, agenesis of the corpus callosum, short stature, epilepsy, and microcephaly. Less common clinical features include ocular anomalies, craniosynostosis, mild intellectual disability, and choanal atresia. These cases may be more difficult to diagnose. In this report, we add 28 MWS patients with molecular confirmation of ZEB2 mutation, including seven with an uncommon presenting feature. Among the "unusual" patients, two patients had clinical features of charge syndrome including choanal atresia, coloboma, cardiac defects, genitourinary anomaly (1/2), and severe intellectual disability; two patients had craniosynostosis; and three patients had mild intellectual disability. Sixteen patients have previously-unreported mutations in ZEB2. Genotype-phenotype correlations were suggested in those with mild intellectual disability (two had a novel missense mutation in ZEB2, one with novel splice site mutation). This report increases the number of reported patients with MWS with unusual features, and is the first report of MWS in children previously thought to have CHARGE syndrome. These patients highlight the importance of facial gestalt in the accurate identification of MWS when less common features are present