Modeling emergence of sterile oat (Avena sterilis ssp. ludoviciana) under semiarid conditions

Winter wild oat [Avena sterilisssp. ludoviciana (Durieu) Gillet & Magne; referred to as A. sterilis here] is one of the major weed species of the Avena genus, given its high competitive ability to infest cereal crops worldwide, with special concern in Spain. A nine-location field experiment was established across Spain where a total of 400 A. sterilis seeds per location were sowed in four replicates in autumn 2016 to monitor the emergence during two growing seasons in dryland conditions. The data were used to test the prediction ability of previously published thermal (TT) and hydrothermal time (HTT) models and to develop new models, if required. Overall, the average percentage of emergence was 30% during the first season and 21% during the second season. In both seasons, the main emergence flush occurred between November and February. According to the phenological stage, A. sterilis achieved the tillering earlier in southern sites, between November 25 and the end of December, compared with northern sites, where this stage was reached at the end of January. The newly developed model described the emergence with precision, using three cardinal temperatures to estimate the TT. The three car dinal points were established at −1.0, 5.8, and 18.0 C for base (Tb), optimum (To), and ceiling temperature (Tc), while the base water potential (Ψb) was established at −0.2 MPa for the HTT estimation. This study contributes to improving prediction of the emergence of A. sterilis and provides knowledge for decision support systems (DSS) for the control of this weed.We would like to thank first the funding institutions, Cátedra Adama and the Spanish Weed Science Society (SEMh), with special mention of Cátedra Adama, which financed the article publishing charges. Also, JT acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grant Ramon y Cajal RYC2018-023866-I). We also want to thank the students and the technicians that have helped with the fieldwork for this experiment in different sites, without whose help data col lection would have been more difficult. No conflicts of interest have been declared

Modeling the emergence of North African Knapweed (Centaurea diluta), an increasingly troublesome weed in Spain

North African knapweed (Centaurea diluta Aiton) is an annual weed that is widespread in southern Spain and is of increasing concern in dryland cropping systems. Despite its expanding range in Spain, there is limited information on the emergence timing and pattern of this species, which is critical for developing more timely and effective management strategies. Therefore, there is a need to develop simple and reliable models to predict the timing and emergence of this annual weed under dryland conditions. A multi-location field experiment was established across Spain in 2016-2017 to assess the emergence of C. diluta. At each of 11 locations, seeds were sown in the fall, and emergence was recorded. Overall emergence averaged 39% in the first year across all sites and 11% in the second year. In both years, the main emergence flush occurred at beginning of the growing season. The three-parameter Weibull function best described seedling emergence of C. diluta. Emergence models were developed based on thermal time (TT) and hydrothermal time (HTT) and showed high predictability, as evidenced by root mean square error prediction (RMSEP) values of 10.8 and 10.7, respectively. The three cardinal points were established for TT and HHT at 0.5 ºC, 10 ºC and 35 ºC for base, optimal and ceiling temperature, while base water potential was estimated at -0.5MPa.We would like to thank Cátedra Adama and the Spanish Weed Science Society (SEMh) for providing financial support for this project. We are grateful to the many students and technicians who assisted with field work at the different experimental locations. We would like to thank the Spanish Goverment for partial funding, through project AVA 2019.020 "Advances in Technological Research in Winter Cereals: Genetic Improvement and Sustainable Management" financed with FEDER funds (80%). Also, Joel Torra acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grant Ramon y Cajal RYC2018-023866-I)

Antioxidant effects of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in rats with advanced liver cirrhosis

BACKGROUND: The exogenous administration of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) induces hepatoprotective and antifibrogenic actions in experimental liver cirrhosis. To better understand the possible pathways behind the beneficial effect of IGF-I, the aim of this work was to investigate severe parameters involved in oxidative damage in hepatic tissue from cirrhotic animals treated with IGF-I (2 μg. 100 g(-1). day(-1)). Iron and copper play an important role in oxidative mechanisms, producing the deleterious hydroxyl radical (*OH) that peroxides lipid membranes and damages DNA. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) and nitric oxide (NO) are known sources of free radicals and induce reduction of ferritin-Fe(3+ )into free Fe(2+), contributing to oxidative damage. METHODS: Liver cirrhosis was induced by CCl(4 )inhalation in Wistar male rats for 30 weeks. Healthy controls were studied in parallel (n = 10). Fe and Cu were assessed by atomic absoption spectrometry and iron content was also evaluated by Perls' staining. MPO was measured by ELISA and transferrin and ferritin by immunoturbidimetry. iNOS expression was studied by immuno-histochemistry. RESULTS: Liver cirrhosis was histologically proven and ascites was observed in all cirrhotic rats. Compared to controls untreated cirrhotic rats showed increased hepatic levels of iron, ferritin, transferrin (p < 0.01), copper, MPO and iNOS expression (p < 0.01). However, IGF-treatment induced a significant reduction of all these parameters (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: the hepatoprotective and antifibrogenic effects of IGF-I in cirrhosis are associated with a diminution of the hepatic contents of several factors all of them involved in oxidative damage

Glyphosate as a Tool for the Incorporation of New Herbicide Options in Integrated Weed Management in Maize: A Weed Dynamics Evaluation

A farm-scale investigation was conducted to evaluate the potential impact of integrating glyphosate into different weed management programs when cultivating herbicide-tolerant maize in central Spain from 2012 to 2014. The weed management programs were (1) a conventional weed management with pre- and post-emergent herbicide applications, (2) a weed management program in which the number and total amount of conventional herbicides applied were reduced, and (3) three weed management programs that comprised either two post-emergent applications of the herbicide glyphosate, or only one glyphosate application combined with pre- and/or post-emergent herbicides. Weed density throughout each cropping season was greater in those weed management programs that did not include a pre-emergence application of herbicides than those that did. Moreover, none of the weed management programs affected the richness and species diversity of the weeds or reduced yields. Although the impact of the different programs was similar in terms of weed species diversity, the composition of the weed community differed and this effect must be considered when providing agroecosystem services. Our results indicate that glyphosate-tolerant maize provides an additional tool that allows integrated weed control of the weed populations without reducing yields

Pollen-Mediated Movement of Herbicide Resistance Genes in Lolium rigidum.

The transfer of herbicide resistance genes by pollen is a major concern in cross-pollinated species such as annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum). A two-year study was conducted in the greenhouse, under favorable conditions for pollination, to generate information on potential maximum cross-pollination. This maximum cross-pollination rate was 56.1%. A three-year field trial was also conducted to study the cross-pollination rates in terms of distance and orientation to an herbicide-resistant pollen source. Under field conditions, cross-pollination rates varied from 5.5% to 11.6% in plants adjacent to the pollen source and decreased with increasing distances (1.5 to 8.9% at 15 m distance and up to 4.1% at 25 m in the downwind direction). Environmental conditions influenced the cross-pollination both under greenhouse and field conditions. Data were fit to an exponential decay model to predict gene flow at increasing distances. This model predicted an average gene flow of 7.1% when the pollen donor and recipient plants were at 0 m distance from each other. Pollen-mediated gene flow declined by 50% at 16.7 m from the pollen source, yet under downwind conditions gene flow of 5.2% was predicted at 25 m, the farthest distance studied. Knowledge of cross-pollination rates will be useful for assessing the spread of herbicide resistance genes in L. rigidum and in developing appropriate strategies for its mitigation

Natural hybridization between wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and its wild relatives Aegilops geniculata Roth and Aegilops triuncialis L

8 Pág.Cultivated bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) spontaneously hybridizes with wild/weedy related Aegilops populations, but little is known about the actual rates at which this hybridization occurs under field conditions. It is very important to provide reliable empirical data on this phenomenon in order to assess the potential crop-wild introgression, especially in the context of conducting risk assessments for the commercialization of genetically modified (GM) wheat, as gene flow from wheat to Aegilops species could transfer into the wild species genes coding for traits such as resistance to herbicides, insects, diseases or environmental stresses.This work was supported by the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT) from Spain under the project AGL2004-07101-C02-01/AGRPeer reviewe

Hybridization, fertility and herbicide resistance of hybrids between wheat and Aegilops biuncialis

Genetically modified crops are now grown worldwide and their area of cultivation is increasing yearly. Although transgenic crops offer benefits, several risks have been identified associated with their cultivation. One such risk is their potential for hybridization with wild species, and weed-related species, and the possible escape and subsequent introgression of the transgenes into these species. Transgenic wheat varieties are being successfully developed and field-tested, primarily on herbicide-tolerant wheat. If genetically modified herbicide-tolerant wheat is commercialized in the near future this may result in the escape of the inserted gene from the crop and its incorporation into closely related wild species. This fact could give a competitive advantage to the recipients. For risk assessment purposes it is necessary to determine the frequency of crop-wild transgene flow and the fertility of hybrids. Most wheat-wild hybridization studies have been conducted with the purpose of breeding with wheat acting as the female parent in crosses, but very limited information is available focused on hybrid production with wheat as the male parent. Here, we studied (1) the potential hybridization between wheat and the wild related Aegilops biuncialis, and (2) the fertility of the hybrids. Hybridization was quantified in crossing experiments over 5 years in a greenhouse using three wheat cultivars as pollen donors and emasculated plants of one A. biuncialis population as pollen recipients. Hybridization was estimated as the ratio of number of seeds set to the number of flowers pollinated in percentage terms. Our results show that hybrids between wheat and A. biuncialis are formed easily, with hybridization rates ranging from 8.5 to 75%. The fertility of the hybrids, measured as the number of seeds per spikelet (%), was also evaluated by self-pollination and by backcrossing. Most of the hybrids were self-sterile but 11 F$_{2}$ seeds were obtained from 191 A. biuncialis-wheat hybrids. However, backcrossing seeds were found in all BC$_{1}$ combinations at average rates of 3.7% (0–19.6%) for greenhouse experiments, and 4.6% (0–28.9%) for field experiments. In subsequent generations, although few plants were available, BC$_{1}$F$_{1}$ exhibited a certain degree of fertility, up to 3.57% with the cultivar Chinese Spring. F$_{1}$ and BC$_{1}$ were also checked for resistance to the herbicide difenzoquat that was present in the parental wheat, while A. biuncialis was susceptible. Difenzoquat resistance was maintained in the F$_{1}$ hybrids and also in the derived BC$_{1}$ plants. This information on hybridization and fertility of the first A. biuncialis-wheat hybrid generations could be an initial step to assess the relative advantage of hybridization in the adaptive ability of A. biuncialis and hybrid derivatives and the impact thereof on the environment and agricultural system. This needs to be studied in depth when wheat and A. biuncialis share habitat

Pollen-mediated movement of herbicide resistance genes in Lolium rigidum

The transfer of herbicide resistance genes by pollen is a major concern in cross-pollinated species such as annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum). A two-year study was conducted in the greenhouse, under favorable conditions for pollination, to generate information on potential maximum cross-pollination. This maximum cross-pollination rate was 56.1%. A three-year field trial was also conducted to study the cross-pollination rates in terms of distance and orientation to an herbicide-resistant pollen source. Under field conditions, cross-pollination rates varied from 5.5%to 11.6%in plants adjacent to the pollen source and decreased with increasing distances (1.5 to 8.9%at 15 m distance and up to 4.1%at 25 m in the downwind direction). Environmental conditions influenced the cross-pollination both under greenhouse and field conditions. Data were fit to an exponential decay model to predict gene flow at increasing distances. This model predicted an average gene flow of 7.1%when the pollen donor and recipient plants were at 0 m distance from each other. Pollen-mediated gene flow declined by 50%at 16.7 m from the pollen source, yet under downwind conditions gene flow of 5.2%was predicted at 25 m, the farthest distance studied. Knowledge of crosspollination rates will be useful for assessing the spread of herbicide resistance genes in L. rigidum and in developing appropriate strategies for its mitigation. © 2016 Loureiro et al. This is an open ccess article distributed under the terms of the reative Commons Attribution License, which permits nrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited