Drought-Adaptation Potential in Fagus sylvatica: Linking Moisture Availability with Genetic Diversity and Dendrochronology

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Microevolution is essential for species persistence especially under anticipated climate change scenarios. Species distribution projection models suggested that the dominant tree species of lowland forests in Switzerland, European beech (<em>Fagus sylvatica</em> L.), might disappear from most areas due to expected longer dry periods. However, if genotypes at the moisture boundary of the species climatic envelope are adapted to lower moisture availability, they can serve as seed source for the continuation of beech forests under changing climates.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3><p>With an AFLP genome scan approach, we studied neutral and potentially adaptive genetic variation in <em>Fagus sylvatica</em> in three regions containing a dry and a mesic site each (<em>n</em>_ind. = 241, <em>n</em>_markers = 517). We linked this dataset with dendrochronological growth measures and local moisture availabilities based on precipitation and soil characteristics. Genetic diversity decreased slightly at dry sites. Overall genetic differentiation was low (<em>F</em>_st = 0.028) and Bayesian cluster analysis grouped all populations together suggesting high (historical) gene flow. The Bayesian outlier analyses indicated 13 markers with three markers differing between all dry and mesic sites and the others between the contrasting sites within individual regions. A total of 41 markers, including seven outlier loci, changed their frequency with local moisture availability. Tree height and median basal growth increments were reduced at dry sites, but marker presence/absence was not related to dendrochronological characteristics.</p> <h3>Conclusion and Their Significance</h3><p>The outlier alleles and the makers with changing frequencies in relation to moisture availability indicate microevolutionary processes occurring within short geographic distances. The general genetic similarity among sites suggests that ‘preadaptive’ genes can easily spread across the landscape. Yet, due to the long live span of trees, fostering saplings originating from dry sites and grown within mesic sites might increase resistance of beech forests during the anticipated longer dry periods.</p> </div

NH4+-stimulated and -inhibited components of K+ transport in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The disruption of K+ transport and accumulation is symptomatic of NH4+ toxicity in plants. In this study, the influence of K+ supply (0.02–40 mM) and nitrogen source (10 mM NH4+ or NO3–) on root plasma membrane K+ fluxes and cytosolic K+ pools, plant growth, and whole-plant K+ distribution in the NH4+-tolerant plant species rice (Oryza sativa L.) was examined. Using the radiotracer 42K+, tissue mineral analysis, and growth data, it is shown that rice is affected by NH4+ toxicity under high-affinity K+ transport conditions. Substantial recovery of growth was seen as [K+]ext was increased from 0.02 mM to 0.1 mM, and, at 1.5 mM, growth was superior on NH4+. Growth recovery at these concentrations was accompanied by greater influx of K+ into root cells, translocation of K+ to the shoot, and tissue K+. Elevating the K+ supply also resulted in a significant reduction of NH4+ influx, as measured by 13N radiotracing. In the low-affinity K+ transport range, NH4+ stimulated K+ influx relative to NO3– controls. It is concluded that rice, despite its well-known tolerance to NH4+, nevertheless displays considerable growth suppression and disruption of K+ homeostasis under this N regime at low [K+]ext, but displays efficient recovery from NH4+ inhibition, and indeed a stimulation of K+ acquisition, when [K+]ext is increased in the presence of NH4+

Rapid Detection of Infestation of Apple Fruits by the Peach Fruit Moth, Carposina sasakii Matsumura, Larvae Using a 0.2-T Dedicated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Apparatus

Infestation of harvested apple fruits by the peach fruit moth (Carposina sasakii Matsumura) was studied using a dedicated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus equipped with a 0.2-T permanent magnet. Infested holes on the three-dimensional (3-D) images tracked ecological movements of peach fruit moth larvae within the food fruits, and thus in their natural habitat. Sensitive short solenoid coil and surface coil detectors were devised to shorten measurement times. The short solenoid coil detected infestation holes at a rate of 6.4 s per image by the single-slice 2-D measurement. The multi-slice 2-D measurement provided six slice images of a fruit within 2 min taken by the two detectors. These results indicate that the 0.2-T MRI apparatus allows one to distinguish sound fruits from infested ones, and also as a means for plant protection and the preservation of natural ecological systems in foreign trade

The Contribution of Occult Precipitation to Nutrient Deposition on the West Coast of South Africa

The Strandveld mediterranean-ecosystem of the west coast of South Africa supports floristically diverse vegetation growing on mostly nutrient-poor aeolian sands and extending from the Atlantic Ocean tens of kilometers inland. The cold Benguela current upwelling interacts with warm onshore southerly winds in summer causing coastal fogs in this region. We hypothesized that fog and other forms of occult precipitation contribute moisture and nutrients to the vegetation. We measured occult precipitation over one year along a transect running inland in the direction of the prevailing wind and compared the nutrient concentrations with those in rainwater. Occult deposition rates of P, N, K, Mg, Ca, Na, Al and Fe all decreased with distance from the ocean. Furthermore, ratios of cations to Na were similar to those of seawater, suggesting a marine origin for these. In contrast, N and P ratios in occult precipitation were higher than in seawater. We speculate that this is due to marine foam contributing to occult precipitation. Nutrient loss in leaf litter from dominant shrub species was measured to indicate nutrient demand. We estimated that occult precipitation could meet the demand of the dominant shrubby species for annual N, P, K and Ca. Of these species, those with small leaves intercepted more moisture and nutrients than those with larger leaves and could take up foliar deposits of glycine, NO3-, NH4 + and Li (as tracer for K) through leaf surfaces. We conclude that occult deposition together with rainfall deposition are potentially important nutrient and moisture sources for the Strandveld vegetation that contribute to this vegetation being floristically distinct from neighbouring nutrient-poor Fynbos vegetation

MRI of intact plants

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-destructive and non-invasive technique that can be used to acquire two- or even three-dimensional images of intact plants. The information within the images can be manipulated and used to study the dynamics of plant water relations and water transport in the stem, e.g., as a function of environmental (stress) conditions. Non-spatially resolved portable NMR is becoming available to study leaf water content and distribution of water in different (sub-cellular) compartments. These parameters directly relate to stomatal water conductance, CO2 uptake, and photosynthesis. MRI applied on plants is not a straight forward extension of the methods discussed for (bio)medical MRI. This educational review explains the basic physical principles of plant MRI, with a focus on the spatial resolution, factors that determine the spatial resolution, and its unique information for applications in plant water relations that directly relate to plant photosynthetic activity

Variability in the carbon isotopic composition of foliage carbon pools (soluble carbohydrates, waxes) and respiration fluxes in southeastern U.S. pine forests

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 117 (2012): G02009, doi:10.1029/2011JG001867.We measured the δ13C of assimilated carbon (foliage organic matter (δCOM), soluble carbohydrates (δCSC), and waxes (δCW)) and respiratory carbon (foliage (δCFR), soil (δCSR) and ecosystem 13CO2 (δCER)) for two years at adjacent ecosystems in the southeastern U.S.: a regenerated 32 m tall mature Pinus palustris forest, and a mid-rotation 13 m tall Pinus elliottii stand. Carbon pools and foliage respiration in P. palustris were isotopically enriched by 2‰ relative to P. elliottii. Despite this enrichment, mean δCER values of the two sites were nearly identical. No temporal trends were apparent in δCSC, δCFR, δCSR and δCER. In contrast, δCOM and δCW at both sites declined by approximately 2‰ over the study. This appears to reflect the adjustment in the δ13C of carbon storage reserves used for biosynthesis as the trees recovered from a severe drought prior to our study. Unexpectedly, the rate of δ13C decrease in the secondary C32–36 n-alkanoic acid wax molecular cluster was twice that observed for δCOM and the predominant C22–26 compound cluster, and provides new evidence for parallel but separate wax chain elongation systems utilizing different carbon precursor pools in these species. δCFR and δCER were consistently enriched relative to assimilated carbon but, in contrast to previous studies, showed limited variations in response to changes in vapor pressure deficit (D). This limited variability in respiratory fluxes and δCSC may be due to the shallow water table as well as the deep taproots of pines, which limit fluctuations in photosynthetic discrimination arising from changes in D.This work was supported by a NSF grants DEB-0343604, DEB-0344562 and DEB-0552202, and DOE grant DE-FC02-06ER64156/06-SC-NICCR-1063.2012-10-1