Search results for "Legume"
showing 10 items of 122 documents
Characterization of the Copper Transporters from Lotus spp. and Their Involvement under Flooding Conditions
2019
Forage legumes are an important livestock nutritional resource, which includes essential metals, such as copper. Particularly, the high prevalence of hypocuprosis causes important economic losses to Argentinian cattle agrosystems. Copper deficiency in cattle is partially due to its low content in forage produced by natural grassland, and is exacerbated by flooding conditions. Previous results indicated that incorporation of Lotus spp. into natural grassland increases forage nutritional quality, including higher copper levels. However, the biological processes and molecular mechanisms involved in copper uptake by Lotus spp. remain poorly understood. Here, we identify four genes that encode p…
Genetic determinants of seed protein plasticity in response to the environment in Medicago truncatula
2021
As the frequency of extreme environmental events is expected to increase with climate change, identifying candidate genes for stabilizing the protein composition of legume seeds or optimizing this in a given environment is increasingly important. To elucidate the genetic determinants of seed protein plasticity, major seed proteins from 200 ecotypes of Medicago truncatula grown in four contrasting environments were quantified after one-dimensional electrophoresis. The plasticity index of these proteins was recorded for each genotype as the slope of Finlay and Wilkinson's regression and then used for genome-wide association studies (GWASs), enabling the identification of candidate genes for d…
Nitric oxide: a multitask player in plant–microorganism symbioses
2016
Symbiosis is a close and often long-term interaction between two different biological organisms, i.e. plants or fungi and microorganisms. Two main types of plant–microorganism interactions, mutualistic and cooperative, have been categorized. Mutualistic interactions, including nitrogen-fixing and mycorrhizal symbioses, refer to mostly obligate relationships between a host plant and a symbiont microorganism. Cooperative interactions correspond to less obligate and specific relationships. They involve microorganisms, referred to as plant growth-promoting rhizobia (PGPR), able to colonize root surface or inner tissues. Lichens are symbiotic associations of host fungi and photosynthetic partner…
Ammonium acts systemically while nitrate exerts an additional local effect on Medicago truncatula nodules
2020
National audience; Symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) has a high energetic cost for legume plants; legumes thus reduce SNF when soil N is available. The present study aimed to increase our understanding regarding the impacts of the two principal forms of available N in soils (ammonium and nitrate) on SNF. We continuously measured the SNF of Medicago truncatula under controlled conditions. This permitted nodule sampling for comparative transcriptome profiling at points connected to the nodules' reaction following ammonium or nitrate applications. The N component of both ions systemically induced a rhythmic pattern of SNF, while the activity in control plants remained constant. This rhythmic a…
Impact of Bacterial Siderophores on Iron Status and Ionome in Pea
2020
National audience; Including more grain legumes in cropping systems is important for the development of agroecological practices and the diversification of protein sources for human and animal consumption. Grain legume yield and quality is impacted by abiotic stresses resulting from fluctuating availabilities in essential nutrients such as iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC). Promoting plant iron nutrition could mitigate IDC that currently impedes legume cultivation in calcareous soils, and increase the iron content of legume seeds and its bioavailability. There is growing evidence that plant microbiota contribute to plant iron nutrition and might account for variations in the sensitivity of pe…
Net ammonification as influenced by plant diversity in experimental grasslands
2012
Abstract Previous plant diversity experiments have mainly reported positive correlations between diversity and N mineralization. We tested whether this relationship can be explained by plant diversity-induced changes i) in the quantity or quality of organic matter or ii) in microclimatic conditions of central European grassland mixtures. We measured ex-situ net ammonification in a laboratory incubation of aboveground plant material and soil sampled in differently diverse plant mixtures. Secondly, in-situ net ammonification was assessed in a field incubation with mineralization cores containing standardized material in four treatments: soil only (control), and soil mixed with field-fresh pla…
Agro-ecological benefits of faba bean for rainfed Mediterranean cropping systems
2017
This paper reviews the main results from a set of experiments carried out in a semiarid Mediterranean environment during the past 25 years on faba bean (<em>Vicia faba</em> L.), a crop traditionally grown in southern Italy and Sicily under rainfed conditions. These experiments focused on the residual effects of faba bean on subsequent crop(s) and assessment of the nitrogen (N) balance during the crop cycle, paying attention to both the environmental release of N (losses via volatilisation and denitrification) and estimates of N2 fixation as influenced by tillage system, intercropping, and presence/absence of mycorrhizal inoculum. Faba bean relied on N2 fixation more than other g…
The critical period of weed control in faba bean and chickpea in Mediterranean areas
2013
Weeds are often the major biological constraint to growing legume crops successfully, and an understanding of the critical period of weed control (CPWC) is important for developing environmentally sustainable weed management practices to prevent unacceptable yield loss. Therefore, we carried out two field experiments to identify the CPWC for two grain legume crops traditionally grown in Mediterranean areas: chickpea and faba bean. The experiments were conducted at two sites both located in the Sicilian inland (Italy). In chickpea, when weeds were left to compete with the crop for the whole cycle, the grain yield reduction was on average about 85% of the weed-free yield, whereas in faba bean…
Impacts of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on nutrient uptake, N2 fixation, N transfer, and growth in a wheat/faba bean intercropping system
2019
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can play a key role in natural and agricultural ecosystems affecting plant nutrition, soil biological activity and modifying the availability of nutrients by plants. This research aimed at expanding the knowledge of the role played by AMF in the uptake of macro- and micronutrients and N transfer (using a 15 N stem-labelling method) in a faba bean/wheat intercropping system. It also investigates the role of AMF in biological N fixation (using the natural isotopic abundance method) in faba bean grown in pure stand and in mixture. Finally, it examines the role of AMF in driving competition and facilitation between faba bean and wheat. Durum wheat and faba bea…
Mediterranean forage legumes grown alone or in mixture with annual ryegrass: biomass production, N2 fixation, and indices of intercrop efficiency
2016
Aims: To evaluate the productivity and N2 fixation of a range of Mediterranean forage legume species as well as their ability to be grown in mixture with a forage grass, and to verify whether N transfer occurs from the legume to the non-legume component of the mixtures and, if so, to what extent this process is affected by legume species. Methods: Seven legume species (Hedysarum coronarium L., Medicago scutellata L., Trifolium resupinatum L., Trifolium squarrosum L., Trigonella foenum-graecum L., Vicia sativa L., Vicia villosa Roth) were grown alone or in mixture with annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.). Biomass and N yields and biological N2 fixation (15N dilution technique) were measu…