A Model for the Development of the Rhizobial and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbioses in Legumes and Its Use to Understand the Roles of Ethylene in the Establishment of these two Symbioses

We propose a model depicting the development of nodulation and arbuscular mycorrhizae. Both processes are dissected into many steps, using Pisum sativum L. nodulation mutants as a guideline. For nodulation, we distinguish two main developmental programs, one epidermal and one cortical. Whereas Nod factors alone affect the cortical program, bacteria are required to trigger the epidermal events. We propose that the two programs of the rhizobial symbiosis evolved separately and that, over time, they came to function together. The distinction between these two programs does not exist for arbuscular mycorrhizae development despite events occurring in both root tissues. Mutations that affect both symbioses are restricted to the epidermal program. We propose here sites of action and potential roles for ethylene during the formation of the two symbioses with a specific hypothesis for nodule organogenesis. Assuming the epidermis does not make ethylene, the microsymbionts probably first encounter a regulatory level of ethylene at the epidermis–outermost cortical cell layer interface. Depending on the hormone concentrations there, infection will either progress or be blocked. In the former case, ethylene affects the cortex cytoskeleton, allowing reorganization that facilitates infection; in the latter case, ethylene acts on several enzymes that interfere with infection thread growth, causing it to abort. Throughout this review, the difficulty of generalizing the roles of ethylene is emphasized and numerous examples are given to demonstrate the diversity that exists in plants

Cytokines and T-cell homeostasis.

Homeostasis of T cells can be defined as the ability of the immune system to maintain normal T-cell counts and to restore T-cell numbers following T-cell depletion or expansion. These processes are governed by extrinsic signals, most notably cytokines. Two members of the common gamma chain family of cytokines, interleukin (IL)-7 and IL-15, are central to homeostatic proliferation and survival of mature CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. Recent evidence suggests that other cytokines, including IL-2, IL-10, IL-12, interferons and TGF-beta, as well as the transcription factors T-bet and eomesodermin all play important but different roles at distinct stages of T-cell homeostasis

Measuring medium-term sheet erosion in gullies from trees: A case study using dendrogeomorphological analysis of exposed pine roots in central Iberia

The assessment of gully erosion poses a great challenge because of the complexity and connectivity of the geomorphic processes involved. This study focuses on the quantification of sheet erosion rates in a set of slope gullies located on the northern piedmont of the Guadarrama Mountains (Spanish Central System). In order to delineate accurately the gully areas in which sheet erosion was predominant, the Hydrologic/Erosion Response Unit (HRU/ERU) approach was used and a dendrogeomorphological analysis of exposed tree roots was carried out to quantify sheet erosion rates in one selected HRU/ERU. Identification of the first year of exposure by erosion from anatomical criteria was therefore critical. The 29 samples taken were prepared for anatomical analysis and cross-dated. Anatomical analysis of the samples showed a reduction in the lumen area of earlywood tracheids following root exposure and also, in most cases, a slight increase in growth rings. Moreover, at the end of the ring, latewood tissue and visible annual borders were very clearly defined by several rows of thick-walled tracheids. A non-parametric test was used on the findings derived from this qualitative analysis to objectify determination of the first year of exposure. Estimates of sheet erosion were obtained by dividing the height of eroded soil by the number of years that each root was exposed. The mean value of soil erosion for the entire study site was then determined from statistical inference. Using this procedure, a range of sheet erosion rates between 6.2 and 8.8 mm y−1 (125.2 and 177.8 t ha−1 year−1) was obtained for the dominant HRU/ERU of these gullies in central Iberia. These estimates of eroded soil thickness were adjusted based on the recent finding that root anatomical changes occur prior to their exposure by erosion

EFEITO DE ÉPOCAS DE DEFICIÊNCIA HÍDRICA NA EFICIÊNCIA DO USO DO NITROGÊNIO DA CULTURA DO FEIJÃO cv. IMBABELLO

Visando identificar estádios da cultura de feijão que apresentam a menor sensibilidade ao estresse de água no solo, nos quais a irrigação pode ser omitida sem um significativo decréscimo na eficiência de uso de nitrogênio e na produtividade final, foi realizado experimento em um solo franco arenoso (Typic Haplustoll) na Estação Experimental da Universidade Central do Equador, "La Tola", em Tumbaco-Pichincha, Equador, entre julho e novembro de 1994. Os tratamentos consistiram da combinação de sete regimes de irrigação, incluindo irrigação ótima durante todo o ciclo, irrigação deficiente durante todo o ciclo, irrigação tradicional da região, deficiência hídrica no período vegetativo, na floração e formação de vagens, no enchimento de vagens e na maturidade; e de dois níveis de adubação nitrogenada (20 kg N/ha e 80 kg N/ha). Os quatorze tratamentos resultantes foram arranjados e analisados num esquema de parcelas sub-divididas com quatro repetições. O tamanho da parcela experimental foi de 33,6 m2 (8 linhas de 7 metros de comprimento, distantes entre si 0,6 m) com uma população de 120.000 plantas/ha. O nitrogênio fixado do ar pelo feijoeiro foi calculado pelo método de diluição isotópica do 15N, no tratamento com adubação de 20 kg N/ha. A solução marcada foi de sulfato de amônio, com abundância de 5% de átomos de 15N. Como planta-controle, foi utilizado o trigo, semeado no sulco central. Da análise dos resultados obtidos, concluiu-se que: A deficiência de água no solo, durante a fase vegetativa, não afetou a eficiência de uso de nitrogênio, a fixação biológica do nitrogênio, nem a produção de sementes, permitindo uma economia de água de 30%. A deficiência de água durante a floração e enchimento de vagens, afetou drasticamente a fixação biológica do nitrogênio, que comparativamente ao controle, foi reduzida 2,2 vezes.<br>To identify specific growth stages of the common bean crop at which the plant is less sensitive to water stress, in which irrigation could be omitted without significant decrease in biological nitrogen fixation and final yield, a field experiment was conducted at "La Tola" University Experiment Station, Tumbaco, Pichincha, Ecuador, on a sandy loam soil (Typic Haplustoll). The treatments consisted of the combinations of seven irrigation regimes, including normal watering, full stress, traditional practice, single stress at vegetation, at flowering, at yield formation and at ripening, and two levels of applied N (20 and 80 kg/ha). These fourteen treatment combinations were arranged and analysed in a split-plot design with four replications. The plot size was 33.6 m2 (8 rows, 7 m long) with a population of 120,000 plants/ha. Irrigation treatments were started after uniform germination and crop establishment. Soil moisture was monitored with neutron probe down to the 0.50 m depth, 24 hours before and after each irrigation. Nitrogen Fixation was calculated using the 15N methodology for the 20 kg N/ha treatment. Yield data show that treatments which had irrigation deficit had lower yield than those with supplementary irrigation. Nitrogen fertilization significantly increased the number of pods and grain yield. Biological Nitrogen Fixation was significantly affected by water stress at the flowering and yield formation stages