Oryza glaberrima has mostly been used as a source to improve stress resistance of Oryza sativa. Improvement of this species could be an approach to use its adaptability to local environments in Africa such as multiple resistance to several indigenous constraints. The yield of O. glaberrima was inferior to that of O. sativa under favorable growth conditions but not under unfavorable conditions. Moreover, spikelet number before grain shattering was no less in O. glaberrima than in O. sativa at any fertilizer input levels, suggesting that the yield potential of O. glaberrima is as high as that of O. sativa. Inferior yield of O. glaberrima reported in favorable environments could result from grain shattering enhanced by such growth environments where higher incidence of lodging, which is another undesirable character of O. glaberrima, can occur. Regarding characteristics associated to yield generation, O. glaberrima seemed to possess: higher dry matter production and greater leaf area than O. sativa at least until heading; a lower photosynthetic rate per leaf area but a higher rate against the same leaf nitrogen content in a low content range; higher responsiveness of dry matter, leaf area and leaf photosynthesis to increases in nitrogen inputs; lower water-use efficiency on dry matter accumulation and gas exchange bases; faster progress of leaf senescence during maturity; and faster completion of grain filling during maturity than O. sativa.

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Morphological adaptation of roots is critical for plants to survive under waterlogging. In this study, we evaluated the capacity of wheat to form aerenchyma in seminal roots in combination with the growth angle of the roots. We used five Japanese cultivars from the waterlogging-prone Kanto-Kyushu region in Japan, and a non-Japanese cultivar, Bobwhite for comparison. Seedlings in pot culture were waterlogged at a 3-cm depth for 7 days. The first adverse effect of waterlogging on plant growth was a significant reduction of root dry mass. The reduction rate varied with the cultivar, and it was 19.2% in cv. Shiroganekomugi and 40.0% in cv. Norin 61. Root aerenchyma was initially observed on the 2nd day of waterlogging and developed until the 7th day, in all 6 cultivars. Quantitative analysis of the aerenchyma development revealed no significant difference in radial distribution among the cultivars, whereas a slight difference was found in the axial distribution. As a consequence, the heavier root weight of Shiroganekomugi was not related to either the radial or axial developing capacity of aerenchyma but might be due to the effect of its shallow root angle in the soil. These results suggest that the capacity to form aerenchyma in the seminal root is not sufficient for expression of waterlogging tolerance in the Japanese wheat cultivars.

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The activation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), which catalyses CO₂ fixation in photosynthesis, requires the assistance of the regulatory protein Rubisco activase. Rubisco activase promotes carbamylation of Rubisco by releasing inhibitory sugar phosphates bound to the catalytic site of Rubisco in the light. To clarify the effects of Rubisco activase contents on the photosynthesis of rice, we investigated the steady-state photosynthesis and light-induction of photosynthesis in transgenic rice plants, in which leaf Rubisco activase levels were reduced. The reduction in Rubisco activase did not affect steady-state photosynthesis under high light intensity until the Rubisco activase was about 15% of that in control plants. However, light-induction of photosynthesis, namely, increase in photosynthetic rate following a transition from a low to high light intensity, was considerably low in transgenic rice plants with 20−25% Rubisco activase, which was sufficient to support the steady-state photosynthesis. In addition, the Rubisco activase content was highly correlated with the initial rate of Rubisco activation after the increase in light intensity. These results suggest that Rubisco activase in rice leaves largely limits the light-induction of photosynthesis, but not steady-state photosynthesis.

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Excess ferrous iron in lowland soil is known to inhibit the growth of rice. A quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis for susceptibility to ferrous iron was performed using chromosomal segments substitution lines (CSSLs). Kasalath, an indica rice cultivar, is known to be susceptible to ferrous iron and accumulate excess iron in shoots. The shoot iron concentration was examined in 39 CSSLs carrying Kasalath chromosomal segments in a background of Koshihikari, a japonica cultivar. Kasalath grown in a hydroponic culture solution containing excess ferrous iron, had a higher shoot iron concentration than Koshihikari. Of the CSSLs, SL208, which carries the Kasalath chromosomal segment on chromosome 3, had a significantly higher shoot iron concentration than Koshihikari, and none of the CSSLs had a shoot iron concentration significantly lower than Koshihikari. This finding suggests that the putative QTL affecting the shoot iron concentration is between the markers R663 and S1571 on chromosome 3.

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Understanding the contribution of genotype, environment and genotype-by-environment interaction to wheat grain quality facilitates the selection for quality in breeding programs. Stability of grain quality characteristics is an important requirement in the baking industry. We assessed 24 winter wheat genotypes with different grain hardness in multienvironment trials at four locations and two levels of fertilization in each location. Grain samples were analyzed for hardness, protein and starch content, and wet gluten content, Zeleny sedimentation value, alveograph parameter (W) and hectoliter weight. All parameters were evaluated on whole grains using the near infrared transmittance technique. Differences between hard and soft genotypes appeared to be significant, apart from grain hardness, for protein content, Zeleny test and alveograph parameter. Genotype was found to have a major influence only on grain hardness; for protein content, wet gluten and Zeleny sedimentation value environment prevailed the influence of genotype, and for starch content, alveograph W parameter and hectoliter weight both sources of variation had similar importance. Genotype-by-environment interaction was of smaller size relative to genotype and environment in terms of all the studied quality parameters. Stable genotypes predominate the breeding lines studied. Response of unstable genotypes to environmental conditions was nonlinear in most cases.

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Argentina is a major sunflower producer in the world, with crop acreage of 2−2.7 million ha in the last four years. Sunflower crop yield is often influenced by sanitary constraints, mainly fungal pathogens. Helianthus petiolaris is a wild species native to North America established in central Argentina displays a high tolerance to a number of fungal diseases and insects. Controlled crosses of this species with sunflower demonstrated that H. petiolaris constitutes a valuable genetic variability source for sunflower breeding to improve tolerance to rust (Puccinia helianthi), white rust (Albugo tragopogonis), verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae), powdery mildew (Erisiphe sp.) and the sunflower moth (Rachiplusia nu). This places H. petiolaris in an outstanding position as a genetic resource since different important traits could be transferred to the crop through interspecific hybridization.

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The yielding performance of the first high-yielding rice variety for Hokkaido, Kita-aoba, after application of various amounts of nitrogen (9.0 to 23.7 g m^-2 in 2008 and 10.5 to 16.5 g m^-2 in 2010) and under various planting densities (13.2 to 33.2 hills m^-2 in 2008 and 17.5 to 36.8 hills m^-2 in 2010) was examined in comparison with that of the common variety, Kirara397. Kita-aoba had higher grain yield than Kirara397 owing to its large sink capacity through larger sink capacity per unit biomass at heading. Kita-aoba had a high yield potential (the maximum grain yield of 1081 g m^-2), and achieved a high grain yield even in Hokkaido where the rice-growing season is short. Kita-aoba had a large sink size, but, judging from the relationship between sink capacity and percentage of sink filled, further increase of sink size might not result in increase of grain yield. Kita-aoba showed a great increase in shoot dry matter from heading to maturity, but it was not enough to fill its large sink.

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Wheat in the Mediterranean zone often encounters high temperatures during the terminal growth stage. This study investigated whether assimilate supply by source-function plays a dominant role in determining grain production in spring wheat exposed to high terminal-temperatures in the Mediterranean zone of south-east Turkey. The spring wheat cultivar Adana99 was grown under irrigated conditions sowing according to the current schedule (CS plants) and late-sowing (LS plants) for two years. Grain yield of CS plants, which were subjected to relatively lower temperatures during the terminal growth stage, was higher than that of LS plants, which were subjected to relatively higher temperatures. A high temperature in the post-anthesis period accelerated leaf senescence and reduced radiation-use efficiency. Halving the plant density at anthesis, which increases assimilate supply to grains, significantly increased the grain dry weight (GDW) and whole plant dry weight (WPDW) in the post-anthesis period. Grain filling percentage (F%, observed/final GDW) in thinned plants, which was regarded as potential F%, showed a single logistic equation based on cumulative temperature after anthesis, regardless of post-anthesis temperatures. In the LS plants, the daily increase in WPDM (ΔWPDW) decreased, but the peak of an increase rate of potential GDW estimated from F% was shifted to earlier-filling stage, resulting in reduced GDW at harvest. The final GDW in both years closely correlated with the estimated ΔWPDW in the grain-filling period. These results suggest that source-function for assimilate supply in the post-anthesis period is one of the important yield-determining processes in spring wheat subjected to high temperatures.

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A comparative study was conducted to evaluate the effect of location on the chemical composition and quality of monovarietal virgin olive oils obtained from the Chétoui cultivar in relation to the fruit ripening stages. Three sites representative of two Tunisian olive growing regions were examined, Selten (region I (RI): original site of plantation of Chétoui variety in the north of the country), Ousletia and Jelma (region II (RII): in the central part of the country away from the original plantation site). In this study, Chétoui olive cultivar was found to have different responses to environmental conditions. Chétoui olive oils showed lower values in phenol and o-diphenol contents and were less stable to oxidation (weaker oxidative stability and antioxidant activity levels) when the olive trees were cultivated away from the original plantation site. These Chétoui olive oils are also characterized by decreased oil content and higher values of quality parameters such as free acidity, peroxide value and UV absorbance due probably to the drought during the flowering and olive ripening periods. Furthermore, many analytical parameters, i.e., chlorophyll pigments, carotenoids, oleic acid contents, total phenol and o-diphenol amounts, oxidative stability, antioxidative capacity and quality parameters showed nearly the same changes during fruit ripening but in different degrees depending on the site of the plantation.

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Waterlogging is a major predicted agricultural problem for crop production in some areas under current climate change, but no studies are available on the interactive effects of waterlogging and elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration ([CO₂]). We hypothesized that elevated [CO₂] could alleviate the damage caused by waterlogging, and tested the hypothesis using vegetative growth of soybean (Glycine max) in 10 experiments (different sowing time and different soil type) conducted at Morioka and Tsukuba for three years. The 2-week-old plants grown under elevated and ambient [CO₂] were exposed to waterlogging for 2 weeks. Total dry weight at the end of the treatment was higher under elevated [CO₂] than under ambient [CO₂], and it was significantly reduced by waterlogging under both levels of [CO₂], without significant [CO₂]×waterlogging interactions, at both locations. The negative effects of the waterlogging were greater in root dry weight than in top dry weight, and the root exudation per unit root dry weight was also reduced by waterlogging, without a [CO₂]×waterlogging interaction. Therefore, the hypothesis of a [CO₂]×waterlogging interaction can be rejected, and provide an important basis for predicting future damage caused by waterlogging under elevated [CO₂] conditions.

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The “aerobic rice” system is the cultivation of high yielding rice cultivars under non-flooded conditions in non-puddled (aerobic) soil with supplemental irrigation. The major constraint in wide adoption of aerobic rice technology is soil sickness caused by continuous monocropping due to still unknown factors. The possible role of flooding and nitrogen application in alleviating the soil sickness caused by continuous monocropping of aerobic rice was examined by pot experiments. Plants were grown aerobically or anaerobically on the soil collected from a field grown with aerobic rice for 12 consecutive seasons. The results showed that flooding alleviated soil sickness, but not as much as soil oven-heating treatment (120ºC for 12 hr). Application of ammonium sulfate improved plant growth up to the level of oven-heating treatment, while ammonium sulfate application and flooding exceeded the soil oven-heating treatment significantly. The synergy of flooding with ammonium sulfate application was greater than that with urea. These results suggest that soil sickness caused by continuous aerobic monocropping can be alleviated by flooding and ammonium sulfate application.

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