Association of chickpea with soil fungi: a comparison of cultivars

Certain crop plants are susceptible to pathogens or unable to develop efficient microbial symbioses. These crops adversely impact soil biological quality with consequences on plant health and productivity of cropping systems. Chickpea is a rotational pulse crop with two types: kabuli and desi, and several cultivars. Cultivation of chickpea has inconsistent effects on soil microbial communities and subsequent wheat crops. I conducted field studies and used high throughput molecular analyses to explore the variations among chickpeas to identify cultivars developing fungal communities that are conducive to plant health and productivity. I also carried out greenhouse studies and used biochemical analyses to investigate the response of chickpea cultivars to arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and non-AM fungal endophytes and identify the influence of root and root metabolites on the endophytic and pathogenic fungi. Cultivars and types of chickpeas and environmental conditions promoted different fungal communities in the root endosphere. Funneliformis and Claroideoglomus were the dominant AM fungal genera and Fusarium and Alternaria were the dominant non-AM fungal genera in the roots of chickpea. The roots of cultivars CDC Corrine, CDC Cory and CDC Anna hosted the most diverse fungal communities in contrast to CDC Alma and CDC Xena roots which hosted the least diverse communities. Plant response to AM and non-AM fungal endophytes varied with genotype and type of chickpea. The root symbiosis effectively promoted plant growth in CDC Cory, CDC Anna and CDC Frontier and stimulated nitrogen fixation in CDC Corrine. Cultivars of chickpea responded differently to dual inoculation of the AM and non-AM fungal endophytes. Co-inoculation with AM and non-AM fungal endophytes had additive effects on CDC Corrine, CDC Anna and CDC Cory but non-AM fungal endophytes reduced the positive effect of AM fungi in Amit and CDC Vanguard. Desi chickpea appeared to form more efficient symbioses with soil fungal resources than kabuli chickpea. Protein(s) up-regulated in the mycorrhizal roots of the desi chickpea CDC Anna suppressed the growth of the fungal endophytes Trichoderma harzianum and Geomyces vinaceus and of the pathogens Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia sp. The formation of AM symbiosis decreased the production of root bioactive metabolites soluble in 25% methanol. Some of the root metabolites stimulated the growth of Trichoderma harzianum and Geomyces vinaceus, and a few inhibited Rhizoctonia sp. and Fusarium oxysporum. A few metabolites with contrasting effects on the different fungal species were detected. The non-protein phytochemicals had selective effects on the endophytes and pathogens whereas the antifungal proteins of mycorrhizal roots were non-selective. Overall the study reveals a "genotype effect" of chickpea on the soil microbiota suggesting the possibility to improve the performance of this crop through the selection of genotypes improving the communities of root associated fungi, by associating and responding to beneficial fungi and repressing the pathogens

Relationship between empowerment with dimensions of quality of life and some related factors in patients with type 2 diabetes in the Shahroud city, 2013

زمینه و هدف: تغییر رویکرد سنتی به توانمندسازی در آموزش و مراقبت بیماران دیابتی می تواند با ایجاد بستر مناسب، زمینه ساز بهبود خود مراقبتی و وضعیت سلامتی در بیماران دیابتی باشد. مطالعه حاضر با هدف تعیین ارتباط توانمندی با ابعاد کیفیت زندگی و برخی عوامل مرتبط با آن در بیماران مبتلا به دیابت نوع 2 انجام شد. روش بررسی: این مطالعه توصیفی تحلیلی در سال 1392 بر روی 156 بیمار مبتلا به دیابت نوع 2 در شهرستان شاهرود انجام شد. با استفاده از فرم اطلاعات دموگرافیک، پرسشنامه سنجش توانمندی (DES-28) و پرسشنامه کیفیت زندگی مختص بیماران دیابتی، ارتباط بین توانمندی بیمارن با ابعاد کیفیت زندگی و برخی عوامل مرتبط با آن ارزیابی و سنجیده شد. یافته ها: میانگین نمره توانمندی بیماران 84/16 ±56/82 بود. بین توانمندی بیماران با تمام ابعاد کیفیت زندگی آن ها همبستگی مثبت و معنی‌داری وجود داشت (05/

The effects of dark septate endophytic fungi on chickpea drought tolerance

Non-Peer ReviewedDark septate endophytic (DSE) fungi represent a diverse group of root-colonizing fungal species that are common in environments with strong abiotic stress, such as semiarid prairie regions where their abundance in roots can exceed mycorrhizal fungi. Some DSE fungal species have the ability to benefit host plant growth under water stress conditions. Here we tested the effects of 49 DSE species on chickpea biomass growing under water limiting condition. Three DSE fungal species including Hypocrea lixii, Geomyces vinaceus and Mortierella alpina significantly increased the biomass of chickpea. However the majority of the DSE species did not significantly affect plant biomass and some species decreased that

Association of chickpea root with soil fungi: a comparison of cultivars

Non-Peer ReviewedField crops influence soil microbiota, impacting the health status and productivity of cropping systems. We conducted a two year field experiment using thirteen genotypes of chickpea and applied deep amplicon pyrosequencing to verify whether plant genetics control the fungal community of the root endosphere. We obtained 63796 sequences of ITS1F/ITS2 and 52129 of 18S rDNA gene clustered into 127 non-mycorrhizal and 89 mycorrhizal operational taxonomic units (OTUs), respectively. Plant genotype and year (soil and weather) had significant effects on the fungal community of chickpea root endosphere. The desi genotypes had higher levels of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal fungal richness and diversity than kabuli genotypes. This study reveals a "genotype effect" of chickpea on the soil microbiota and indicates the possibility to improve the performance of this crop through the selection of genotypes with improved root fungal communities

Pulse-wheat rotations influence the potential of nitrous oxide (N2O) production in the Canadian prairie

Non-Peer Reviewe

Effect of cropping sequences on soil biological activity in semiarid region of western Canada

Non-Peer ReviewedSoil productivity and environmental sustainability hinge on the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. Soil dehydrogenases (DHs) are one of the major classes of intracellular oxidoreductase enzymes involved in energy metabolism of living cells. The soil DHs activity is used as an indicator of overall soil microbial activity. This study employed the soil DHs assay to examine the effect of different cropping sequences including wheat, mustard and pulse crops in 4-year rotation on the soil biological activity. The DHs assay used in this study was originally developed by Le Casida et al. (1964). In this method, triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) is used as an indicator dye that helps to observe electron transport system activity. The DHs involved in electron transport system reduce the colourless soluble TTC (substrate) and convert it into an insoluble red colour product, known as triphenylformazan (TPF). TPF can be quantified by spectrophotometry at the visible wavelength of 485 nm. Higher the intensity of the red colour in the soil extract solution, higher is the concentration of TPF and hence the higher DHs activity. In this study, the results of DHs assay of the final year (2014) of different 4-year crop rotations are presented. The study clearly showed that frequent inclusion of pulse crops especially chickpea in the cropping systems is conducive to the soil biological activity

Dynamics of root-associated fungal community of canola genotypes in Saskatchewan soils

Non-Peer Reviewe