Background Thidiazuron(TDZ)is a widely used chemical defoliant in commercial cotton production and is often combined with the herbicide Diuron to form the commercial defoliant mixture known as TDZ·Diuron(T·D...Background Thidiazuron(TDZ)is a widely used chemical defoliant in commercial cotton production and is often combined with the herbicide Diuron to form the commercial defoliant mixture known as TDZ·Diuron(T·D,540 g·L^(-1)suspension).However,due to increasing concerns about the environmental and biological risks posed by Diuron,there is an urgent need to develop safer and more effective alternatives.Jasmonic acid(JA)and its derivatives are key phytohormones in organ senescence and abscission.Results Greenhouse experiments at the seedling stage revealed that Me-JA(0.8 mmol·L^(-1))alone did not induce defoliation.However,its co-application with TDZ(0.45 mmol·L^(-1))at concentrations of 0.6,0.8,and 1.0 mmol·L^(-1)significantly enhanced defoliation efficacy.The most effective combination—TDZ with 0.8 mmol·L^(-1)Me-JA—achieved a 100%defoliation rate at 5 days after treatment(DAT),23.7 percentage points higher than TDZ alone,and comparable to the commercial TDZ·Diuron formulation with equivalent TDZ content.Field trials conducted in Beijing(Shangzhuang),Hebei(Hejian),and Xinjiang(Shihezi)confirmed that the combination of 0.6 mmol·L^(-1)Me-JA with 1.70 mmol·L^(-1)TDZ provided optimal defoliation performance.At 21 DAT,the defoliation rate increased by 13.5–16.3 percentage points compared with TDZ alone.Furthermore,boll opening rates improved by 5.7–12.7 percentage points relative to TDZ-only treatments.Phytohormonal analyses from the Shangzhuang site showed that the combined treatment significantly altered hormone levels in both leaves and petioles.Compared with TDZ alone,the mixture reduced concentrations of auxin(IAA),cytokinins(Z+ZR,iP+iPA,DHZ+DHZR),and gibberellic acid(GA3),while increasing levels of JA,abscisic acid(ABA),and brassinosteroids(BR).These hormonal shifts may underlie the enhanced defoliation observed with the combined treatment.Importantly,the TDZ-Me-JA combination did not adversely affect cotton yield,yield components,or fiber quality.Conclusion The combination of Me-JA and TDZ has a good defoliation effect without affecting crop yield or fiber quality.And it provides a promising foundation for the development of novel,environmentally friendly cotton defoliants.展开更多
Leaves are important‘source’organs that synthesize organic matter,providing carbon sources for plant growth.Here,we used Populus talassica×Populus euphratica,the dominant species in ecological and timber forest...Leaves are important‘source’organs that synthesize organic matter,providing carbon sources for plant growth.Here,we used Populus talassica×Populus euphratica,the dominant species in ecological and timber forests,to simulate carbon limitation through artificial 25%,50%,and 75%defoliation treatments and explore the effects on root,stem,and leaf morphology,biomass accumulation,and carbon allocation strategies.At the 60th d after treat-ment,under 25%defoliation treatment,the plant height,specific leaf weight,root surface area and volume,and concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates in stem and root were significantly increased by 9.13%,20.00%,16.60%,31.95%,5.12%,and 9.34%,respectively,relative to the control.There was no significant change in the growth indicators under 50%defoliation treatment,but the concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates in the leaf and stem significantly decreased,showing mostly a negative correlation between them.The opposite was observed in the root.Under 75%defoliation treatment,the plant height,ground diameter,leaf number,single leaf area,root,stem,and total biomass were significantly reduced by 14.15%,10.24%,14.86%,11.31%,11.56%,21.87%,and 16.82%,respectively,relative to the control.The concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates in various organs were significantly reduced,particularly in the consumption of the starch concentrations in the stem and root.These results indicated that carbon allocation strategies can be adjusted to increase the con-centration of non-structural carbohydrates in root and meet plant growth needs under 25%and 50%defoliation.However,75%defoliation significantly limited the distribution of non-structural carbohydrates to roots and stems,reduced carbon storage,and thus inhibited plant growth.Defoliation-induced carbon limitation altered the carbon allocation pattern of P.talassica×P.euphratica,and the relationship between carbon reserves in roots and tree growth recovery after defoliation was greater.This study provides a theoretical basis for the comprehen-sive management of P.talassica×P.euphratica plantations,as well as a reference for the study of plantation car-bon allocation strategies in the desert and semi-desert regions of Xinjiang under carbon-limitation conditions.展开更多
[ Objective ] The research aimed to discuss the occurrence regularity of apple early defoliation disease and control effects of fungicides in west Sichuan plateau. [ Method ] Apple early defoliation disease in west Si...[ Objective ] The research aimed to discuss the occurrence regularity of apple early defoliation disease and control effects of fungicides in west Sichuan plateau. [ Method ] Apple early defoliation disease in west Sichuan plateau was systematically investigated during 2009 and 2011, and the control effects of different fungicides during different spraying periods were studied. [ Result] The species of pathogen mainly was Marssonina ma/i （ P. Henn）, accounting for 32.5%, Phyl-losticta Pirina Sa accounted for 29.9%, and Alternaria mali Roberts accounted for 25.7%. The field fluctuation regularity was as follows ： the disease generally be- gan in the mid-May and ended in early and middle October with only one damage peak during the whole year, the fluctuation had positive correlation with rainfall （ R2 =0.891 8 ＊ ＊ ）. Control test showed that 40% flusilazole had the best control effect （86.5%）, which was best to apply after anthesis. [ Conclusion ] The paper provided theoretical basis for the effective control against apple early defoliation disease.展开更多
[Objective] It aimed to find an optimum condition for compensatory growth of peony.[Method] The different defoliation intensies and frequencies of penoy were implemented to observe accumulated aboveground biomass, reg...[Objective] It aimed to find an optimum condition for compensatory growth of peony.[Method] The different defoliation intensies and frequencies of penoy were implemented to observe accumulated aboveground biomass, regenerated bud number,stem-leaf ratio and the chlorophyll concentration change in residual leaves.[Result] When the defoliation frequency was conducted every 20 d once and defoliaton intensity was from 40%-60%,the accumulated biomass was biggest, when the defoliation frequency was conducted every 10 d once and defoliation intensity was from 60%-80% the regenerated bud number was maximum.The stem-leaf ratio of mild and moderate defoliation intensities(20%-60%) was significantly lower than that of control group.When the defoliation frequency was conducted every 20 d once and defoliation intensity was from 40%-60%,the chlorophyll concentration in residual leaves was obviously higher than that of control group.[Conclusion] The proper defoliation intensity(60%) and lower defoliation frequency(defoliation was conducted every 20 d once) were most favorable to the growth and regenerated of peony which was the compensatory growth.展开更多
The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of different machine-harvested cotton-planting patterns on defoliation,yield,and fiber quality in cotton and to provide support for improving the quality of machine-h...The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of different machine-harvested cotton-planting patterns on defoliation,yield,and fiber quality in cotton and to provide support for improving the quality of machine-harvested cotton.In the 2015 and 2016 growing seasons,the Xinluzao 45(XLZ45)and Xinluzao 62(XLZ62)cultivars,which are primarily cultivated in northern Xinjiang,were used as study materials.Conventional wide-narrow row(WNR),wide and ultra-narrow row(UNR),wide-row spacing with high density(HWR),and wide-row spacing with low density(LWR)planting patterns were used to assess the effects of planting patterns on defoliation,yield,and fiber quality.Compared with WNR,the seed cotton yields were significantly decreased by 2.06–5.48%for UNR and by 2.50–6.99%for LWR,respectively.The main cause of reduced yield was a reduction in bolls per unit area.The variation in HWR yield was–1.07–1.07%with reduced bolls per unit area and increased boll weight,thus demonstrating stable production.In terms of fiber quality indicators,the planting patterns only showed significant effects on the micronaire value,with wide-row spacing patterns showing an increase in the micronaire values.The defoliation and boll-opening results showed that the number of leaves and dried leaves in HWR was the lowest among the four planting patterns.Prior to the application of defoliating agent and before machine-harvesting,the numbers of leaves per individual plant in HWR were decreased by 14.45 and 25.00%on average,respectively,compared with WNR,while the number of leaves per unit area was decreased by 27.44 and 36.21%on average,respectively.The rates of boll-opening and defoliation in HWR were the highest.Specifically,the boll-opening rate before defoliation and machine-harvesting in HWR was 44.54 and 5.94%higher on average than in WNR,while the defoliation rate prior to machine-harvesting was 3.45%higher on average than in WNR.The numbers of ineffective defoliated leaves and leaf trash in HWR were the lowest,decreased by 33.40 and 32.43%,respectively,compared with WNR.In conclusion,the HWR planting pattern is associated with a high and stable yield,does not affect fiber quality,promotes early maturation,and can effectively decrease the amount of leaf trash in machine-picked seed cotton,and thus its use is able to improve the quality of machine-harvested cotton.展开更多
Larch caterpillars are widely distributed in the Great Xing’an boreal forests;however,the relationship between caterpillar defoliation dynamics and climatic factors is poorly understood.The aims of this study are to ...Larch caterpillars are widely distributed in the Great Xing’an boreal forests;however,the relationship between caterpillar defoliation dynamics and climatic factors is poorly understood.The aims of this study are to investigate the primary weather conditions that might influence forest defoliation and to identify the most important life stage of the larch caterpillar at which forest defoliation might be mitigated by incorporating more inhibitory influences from climatic factors.The life cycle of the larch caterpillar was partitioned into four stages and multiple linear regression and mixed effect models were combined with a relative weight analysis approach to evaluate the importance and influence of meteorological variables on defoliation dynamics.The results show that warmer temperatures in growing seasons and overwintering periods can increase the defoliation area,while rainy and humid growing seasons decrease the defoliation area.Total precipitation during the early instar larval period had the greatest power to explain the variance in defoliation dynamics and had a very strong inhibitory effect,followed by the accumulative temperatures of the late instar larval period which had a positive impact,and precipitation during the middle instar larval period which had a negative impact.Weather conditions during the early instar larval period had the greatest influence on the area defoliated and accounted for 40%of the explained variance.This study demonstrates that climatic warming and drying will increase the risk of larch caterpillar outbreaks in the Great Xing’an Mountains.展开更多
Remote sensing(RS) technologies provide robust techniques for quantifying net primary productivity(NPP) which is a key component of ecosystem production management. Applying RS, the confounding effects of carbon consu...Remote sensing(RS) technologies provide robust techniques for quantifying net primary productivity(NPP) which is a key component of ecosystem production management. Applying RS, the confounding effects of carbon consumed by livestock grazing were neglected by previous studies, which created uncertainties and underestimation of NPP for the grazed lands. The grasslands in Xinjiang were selected as a case study to improve the RS based NPP estimation. A defoliation formulation model(DFM) based on RS is developed to evaluate the extent of underestimated NPP between 1982 and 2011. The estimates were then used to examine the spatiotemporal patterns of the calculated NPP. Results show that average annual underestimated NPP was 55.74 gC·m^(-2)yr^(-1) over the time period understudied, accounting for 29.06% of the total NPP for the Xinjiang grasslands. The spatial distribution of underestimated NPP is related to both grazing intensity and time. Data for the Xinjiang grasslands show that the average annual NPP was 179.41 gC·m^(-2)yr^(-1), the annual NPP with an increasing trend was observed at a rate of 1.04 gC·m^(-2)yr^(-1) between 1982 and 2011. The spatial distribution of NPP reveals distinct variations from high to low encompassing the geolocations of the Tianshan Mountains, northern and southern Xinjiang Province and corresponding with mid-mountain meadow, typical grassland, desert grassland, alpine meadow, and saline meadow grassland types. This study contributes to improving RS-based NPP estimations for grazed land and provides a more accurate data to support the scientific management of fragile grassland ecosystems in Xinjiang.展开更多
The leaf phenology of trees has received particular attention for its crucial role in the global water and carbon balances,ecosystem,and species distribution.However,current studies on leaf phenology have mainly focus...The leaf phenology of trees has received particular attention for its crucial role in the global water and carbon balances,ecosystem,and species distribution.However,current studies on leaf phenology have mainly focused on temperate trees,while few studies including tropical trees.Little attention has been paid to globally extensive industrial plantations.Rubber plantations are important to both the local and global economies.In this study,we investigated the legacy effects of defoliation phenology on the following year’s leaf flushing,leaf disease,and also latex yield of rubber trees,an economically important tree to local people and the world.Results show that extended duration of defoliation increased the subsequent duration of refoliation and rates of infection by powdery mildew disease,but led to reduced latex yield in March.This legacy effect of rubber defoliation may relate to the carbohydrate reserved in the trees.A longer duration of defoliation would consume more reserved carbohydrates,reducing available reserves for disease defense and latex production.Extended duration of defoliation period was associated with either a lower temperature before the cessation of latex tapping in October-November and/or a higher temperature after the cessation of latex tapping in December-January.Leaf falling signals the end of photosynthetic activities in deciduous trees.Thus,the leaf falling phenology will impact ecological processes involving rubber trees.Our findings indicated that the inclusion of defoliation periods in future rubber trees’ research,will be crucial to furthering our understanding of leaf flushing,powdery mildew disease,and latex yield.展开更多
Early defoliation,which usually occurs during summer in pear trees,is gradually becoming a major problem that poses a serious threat to the pear industry in southern China.However,there is no system for evaluating the...Early defoliation,which usually occurs during summer in pear trees,is gradually becoming a major problem that poses a serious threat to the pear industry in southern China.However,there is no system for evaluating the responses of different cultivars to early defoliation,and our knowledge of the potential molecular regulation of the genes underlying this phenomenon is still limited.In this study,we conducted field investigations of 155 pear accessions to assess their resistance or susceptibility to early defoliation.A total of 126 accessions were found to be susceptible to early defoliation,and only 29 accessions were resistant.Among them,19 resistant accessions belong to the sand pear species(Pyrus pyrifolia).To identify the resistance genes related to early defoliation,the healthy and diseased samples of two sand pear accessions,namely,the resistant early defoliation accession‘Whasan’and the susceptible early defoliation accession‘Cuiguan’,were used to perform RNA sequencing.Compared with‘Cuiguan’,a total of 444 genes were uniquely differentially expressed in‘Whasan’.Combined with GO and KEGG enrichment analyses,we found that early defoliation was closely related to the stress response.Furthermore,a weighted gene co-expression network analysis revealed a high correlation of WRKY and ethylene responsive factor(ERF)transcription factors with early defoliation resistance.This study provides useful resistant germplasm resources and new insights into potentially essential genes that respond to early defoliation in pears,which may facilitate a better understanding of the resistance mechanism and molecular breeding of resistant pear cultivars.展开更多
Picea mongolica W. D. Xu. is an endemic species in China. The spruce forest is only found in semi-arid habitat in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Based on the simulative defoliation experiment, it was prove...Picea mongolica W. D. Xu. is an endemic species in China. The spruce forest is only found in semi-arid habitat in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Based on the simulative defoliation experiment, it was proved that Picea mongolica seedlings had the compensatory and overcompensatory effects under the certain defoliation rate. The results of variance analysis on growth indexes showed that in PM Ⅰ(natural regeneration seedlings under Picea mongolica forest), the differences of H 1(height in June 23) and H 2(height in September 3) were extremely significant, and the difference of D(diameter at the breast height) were not significant. In PM Ⅱ(artificial regeneration seedlings under Betula platyphylla Suk. forest), the difference of H 1 was significant, the difference of H 2 was not significant, and the difference of D was extremely significant. The regression equations were established and the compensatory and overcompensatory points were obtained. In PM Ⅰ, the compensatory points of H 1, H 2, and D were 0.7628, 0.7436, 0.5725, and the overcompensatory points were 0.6056, 0.5802 and 0.2909 respectively. In PM Ⅱ, the compensatory points of H 1, H 2, and D are 0.5012, 0.3421, 0.2488, and the overcompensatory points are 0.4137, 0.2633 and 0.0747 respectively. These results suggested that the induction of compensatory growth mechanisms in spruce seedlings required a threshold level of defoliation, and the insects in Picea mongolica forest could be controlled in a certain degree.展开更多
The flue-cured tobacco G80 is not only one of the characteristic varieties in Changsha, but also indispensable raw materials for the series of Baisha ciga- rette. Defoliation during the late stage of growth seriously ...The flue-cured tobacco G80 is not only one of the characteristic varieties in Changsha, but also indispensable raw materials for the series of Baisha ciga- rette. Defoliation during the late stage of growth seriously reduces the yield and quality of tobacco, and limits the popularization and application of G80. In this pa- per, in order to investigate the reasons for the defoliation of G80, the transverse section structure, cellulose content and differential proteins of leaf major veins were analyzed. The results revealed that the autolysis and collapse of parenchyma cells is the main cause of defoliation, and fimgal infection is a factor inducing the au- tolysis of parenchyma cells. Application of bud suppression agent is one of the main ways to prevent fungal infection. The low cellulose content, low synthetic ability of xylan and pectin, the low removal ability of abnormal protein and low immune responsiveness are the inner reason for defoliation of flue-cured tobacco G80.展开更多
The reduction of foliar area can cause yield reduction in common bean crops. The objective of this work was to verify which is the effect of different defoliation levels realized in several development stages of commo...The reduction of foliar area can cause yield reduction in common bean crops. The objective of this work was to verify which is the effect of different defoliation levels realized in several development stages of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Goytacazes) over yield, weight of 100 seeds and number of pods per plant. The experimental design was randomized blocks, in a split-plot arrangement with five replications. The plot corresponded to the five defoliation epochs (first trifoliate leaf, flowering, pods formation, pods filling, and dry pods). In each plot, the split plot was represented by the four defoliation levels (0%, 33%, 67% and 100%). It was observed a decrease of yield for all levels defoliation considering all development stages, except for dried pods. The highest decrease was detected for flowering and pods formation. Through the regression analysis got a greater reduction in yield with 100% defoliation made at 42 days after emergence. The evaluation parameter that showed better relation with yield was a number of pods per plant.展开更多
Late leaf spot caused by Cercosporidium personatum is one of the most widespread groundnut leaf diseases. Along with early leaf spot and rust, it is one of the main fungal diseases hampering groundnut production world...Late leaf spot caused by Cercosporidium personatum is one of the most widespread groundnut leaf diseases. Along with early leaf spot and rust, it is one of the main fungal diseases hampering groundnut production worldwide. Late leaf spot accounts for significant yield losses throughout the world where groundnuts are grown. This reduction in yield caused by the disease could result in yield losses of between 50% and 70%. In Burkina Faso, the disease is present throughout the country, with incidence varying according to region and season. Could the variability in the incidence of the disease be linked to the nature of the isolates or to the conditions from each agro-ecological zone? In this study, the aim was to assess the capacity of three isolates from three agroclimatic zones of the country to defoliate and reduce groundnut yield. To this end, three isolates of Cercosporidium personatum (Berk. Et M.A Curt.) were collected in these zones and evaluated on three contrasting groundnut varieties. A split-splot design was used for the experiment. Isolates were prepared from samples collected in farmers’ fields. After incubation in the laboratory, leaf spots showing good sporulation were scraped off with a scalpel after immersing the leaves in distilled water. Inoculations were carried out under controlled environment. After inoculation with the isolate, the percentage of defoliation and the reduction in yield of these varieties were then evaluated. Inoculation was carried out from the 30th day after sowing with Cercosporidium personatum spore suspensions at 10<sup>5</sup> spores/ml. The study showed that the percentage of defoliation (P = 0.0001) and the reduction in yield (P = 0.0001) were significant. The study revealed that, whatever the variety, isolate I3TF from the Upper Basins region in the South Sudanese zone caused the greatest defoliation and the greatest reduction in yield. The variety TS32-1, regardless of the isolate used for the treatment, recorded the best yield. The variety PC79-79, regardless of the isolate used for the treatment, recorded the lowest percentage of defoliation. The highest defoliation recorded under the effect of the isolates was of the order of 72.20%;the highest yield reduction was of the order of 87.20% compared with the water control.展开更多
Chemical defoliation stands as the ultimate tool in enabling the mechanical harvest of cotton, offering economic and environmental advantages. However, the underlying molecular mechanism that triggers leaf abscission ...Chemical defoliation stands as the ultimate tool in enabling the mechanical harvest of cotton, offering economic and environmental advantages. However, the underlying molecular mechanism that triggers leaf abscission through defoliant remains unsolved. In this study, we meticulously constructed a transcriptomic atlas through single-nucleus mRNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) of the abscission zone (AZ) from cotton petiole. We identified two newly-formed cell types, abscission cells and protection layer cells in cotton petiole AZ after defoliant treatment. GhRLF1 (RAPID LEAF FALLING 1), as one of the members of the cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKX) gene family, was further characterized as a key marker gene unique to the abscission cells following defoliant treatment. Overexpression of GhRLF1 resulted in reduced cytokinin accumulation and accelerated leaf abscission. Conversely, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated loss of GhRLF1 function appeared to delay this process. Its interacting regulators, GhWRKY70, acting as “Pioneer” activator, and GhMYB108, acting as “Successor” activator, orchestrate a sequential modulation of GhWRKY70/GhMYB108–GhRLF1–CTK (cytokinin) within the AZ to regulate cotton leaf abscission. GhRLF1 not only regulates leaf abscission but also reduces cotton yield. Consequently, transgenic lines that exhibit rapid leaf falling and require less defoliant but show unaffected cotton yield were developed for mechanical harvesting. This was achieved using a defoliant-induced petiole-specific promoter, proPER21, to drive GhRLF1 (proPER21::RLF1). This pioneering biotechnology offers a new strategy for the chemical defoliation of machine-harvested cotton, ensuring stable production and reducing leaf debris in harvested cotton, thereby enhancing environmental sustainability.展开更多
As an essential component of the architecture of a plant,leaves are crucial to sustaining decision-making in cultivars and effectively support agricultural processes.When the leaf area is constantly monitored,a plant...As an essential component of the architecture of a plant,leaves are crucial to sustaining decision-making in cultivars and effectively support agricultural processes.When the leaf area is constantly monitored,a plant’s health and productive capacity can be assessed to foment proactive and reactive strategies.Because of that,one of the most critical tasks in agricultural processes is estimating foliar damage.In this sense,we present an automatic method to estimate leaf stress caused by insect herbivory,including damage in border regions.As a novelty,we present a method with well-defined processing steps suitable for numerical analysis and visual inspection of defoliation severity.We describe the proposed method and evaluate its performance concerning 12 different plant species.Experimental results show high assertiveness in estimating leaf area loss with a concordance correlation coefficient of 0.98 for grape,soybean,potato,and strawberry leaves.A classic pattern recognition approach,named template matching,is at the core of the method whose performance is compared to cutting-edge techniques.Results demonstrated that the method achieves foliar damage quantification with precision comparable to deep learning models.The code prepared by the authors is publicly available.展开更多
Cotton defoliation and post-harvest destruction are important cultural practices for cotton production.Cotton root rot is a serious and destructive disease that affects cotton yield and lint quality.This paper present...Cotton defoliation and post-harvest destruction are important cultural practices for cotton production.Cotton root rot is a serious and destructive disease that affects cotton yield and lint quality.This paper presents an overview and summary of the methodologies and results on the use of remote sensing technology for evaluating cotton defoliation and regrowth control methods and for assessing cotton root rot infection based on published studies.Ground reflectance spectra and airborne multispectral and hyperspectral imagery were used in these studies.Ground reflectance spectra effectively separated different levels of defoliation and airborne multispectral imagery permitted both visual and quantitative differentiations among defoliation treatments.Both ground reflectance and airborne imagery were able to differentiate cotton regrowth among different herbicide treatments for cotton stalk destruction.Airborne multispectral and hyperspectral imagery accurately identified root rot-infected areas within cotton fields.Results from these studies indicate that remote sensing can be a useful tool for evaluating the effectiveness of cotton defoliation and regrowth control strategies and for detecting and mapping root rot damage in cotton fields.Compared with traditional visual observations and ground measurements,remote sensing techniques have the potential for effective and accurate assessments of various cotton production operations and pest conditions.展开更多
Aims Nutrient resorption is a key plant nutrient conservation strategy,and its response to environmental and management changes is linked to nutrient cycling and production of ecosystems.Defoliation is a major pathway...Aims Nutrient resorption is a key plant nutrient conservation strategy,and its response to environmental and management changes is linked to nutrient cycling and production of ecosystems.Defoliation is a major pathway of mowing affecting plant nutrient resorption and production in grasslands,while the effect of defoliation timing has not been unexplored.The aim of this study was to examine the effect of defoliation timing on plant nutrient resorption and production in a steppe ecosystem.Methods We conducted a field experiment in a semi-arid steppe of Inner Mongolia including four treatments:early defoliation,peak defoliation,late defoliation and non-defoliation.We measured plant nitrogen(N)and phosphorus(P)resorption at species and community levels,and quantified plant N and P fluxes in resorption,litter return and hay output.Plant production in the mowing system was assessed by hay production and quality.Important Findings Peak and late defoliation,but not early defoliation,reduced plant community N and P resorption proficiency;and late defoliation reduced N resorption efficiency but not P resorption efficiency.Peak and late defoliation,but not early defoliation,reduced plant nutrient resorption flux and litter nutrient return flux.Defoliation timing did not alter root nutrient accumulation as nutrient uptake from soil likely compensated the deficit of nutrient resorption.Peak defoliation had the highest hay production and quality,while early defoliation had the lowest.Our results provide new insights into the nutrient cycling in mowing grassland,and imply that the mowing timing can be used as a tool to mediate the balanee between conservation and production of steppes,and the early mowing before plant peak biomass period is recommended for conservation of the steppes while keeping sustainable pastoral production.展开更多
Machine picking in cotton is an emerging practice in India,to solve the problems of labour shortages and production costs increasing.Cotton production has been declining in recent years;however,the high density planti...Machine picking in cotton is an emerging practice in India,to solve the problems of labour shortages and production costs increasing.Cotton production has been declining in recent years;however,the high density planting system(HDPS)offers a viable method to enhance productivity by increasing plant populations per unit area,optimizing resource utilization,and facilitating machine picking.Cotton is an indeterminate plant that produce excessive vegeta-tive growth in favorable soil fertility and moisture conditions,which posing challenges for efficient machine picking.To address this issue,the application of plant growth retardants(PGRs)is essential for controlling canopy architecture.PGRs reduce internode elongation,promote regulated branching,and increase plant compactness,making cotton plants better suited for machine picking.PGRs application also optimizes photosynthates distribution between veg-etative and reproductive growth,resulting in higher yields and improved fibre quality.The integration of HDPS and PGRs applications results in an optimal plant architecture for improving machine picking efficiency.However,the success of this integration is determined by some factors,including cotton variety,environmental conditions,and geographical variations.These approaches not only address yield stagnation and labour shortages but also help to establish more effective and sustainable cotton farming practices,resulting in higher cotton productivity.展开更多
Background:The incorporation of legumes,specifically alfalfa(Medicago sativa L.),into bermudagrass(Cynodon spp.)-based pasture systems in the southeastern United States has increased in recent years as an alternative ...Background:The incorporation of legumes,specifically alfalfa(Medicago sativa L.),into bermudagrass(Cynodon spp.)-based pasture systems in the southeastern United States has increased in recent years as an alternative to synthetic nitrogen(N)fertilization.Methods:A small plot evaluation was conducted in Shorter,Alabama,and Tifton,Georgia,USA,to evaluate the impact of harvest height(HH)and harvest frequency(HF)on agronomic characteristics of alfalfa+bermudagrass mixtures in southeastern United States.Results:Results from both locations revealed that the longer the HF and the shorter the HH,the greater the alfalfa retention was in the stand(p<0.01).HH did not impact any of the reported nutritive value parameters,while longer HF resulted in lower total digestible nutrients,lower crude protein,higher acid detergent fiber,and lower 48 h in vitro dry matter digestibility(p<0.01).Both HH and HF impacted forage accumulation at both locations(p<0.01).HH resulted in different trends at each location,while longer frequencies generally increased forage accumulation.Conclusions:This research confirmed recent findings from comparable evaluations in the southeastern United States,in that increasing HH and decreasing HF improved alfalfa retention while having a negligible effect on nutritive value or forage accumulation.展开更多
Background:Plants compete aboveground for light and belowground for patchily distributed nutrients.Defoliation causes an immediate loss of leaf area and photosynthetic capacity,leading to reduced root growth,with hypo...Background:Plants compete aboveground for light and belowground for patchily distributed nutrients.Defoliation causes an immediate loss of leaf area and photosynthetic capacity,leading to reduced root growth,with hypothesised implications for nutrient uptake and nitrogen use efficiency.Methods:In Experiment 1,we grew single plants in split root boxes with N supplied equally or unequally,with half the plants subject to repeated defoliation to quantify the impact of each treatment.In Experiment 2,we grew pairs of Poa annua plants in three‐chamber split root boxes,with N supplied either to the outer chambers(no competition)or to a shared centre chamber(competition),to quantify the influence of defoliation on root competition.Results:In Experiment 1,defoliation caused a significant decrease in root mass but did not affect root distribution between chambers,while differential N supply led to an 11%increase in shoot mass.In Experiment 2,strong root competition was seen in undefoliated plants under competitive conditions.Where one plant was defoliated,the other exhibited increased shoot mass and N content in competitive,but not noncompetitive conditions.Conclusions:Our data suggest that plant belowground competitive success following defoliation may be strongly influenced by the spatial distribution of soil resources.展开更多
基金funded by the China Agriculture Research System(CARS–15–16)。
文摘Background Thidiazuron(TDZ)is a widely used chemical defoliant in commercial cotton production and is often combined with the herbicide Diuron to form the commercial defoliant mixture known as TDZ·Diuron(T·D,540 g·L^(-1)suspension).However,due to increasing concerns about the environmental and biological risks posed by Diuron,there is an urgent need to develop safer and more effective alternatives.Jasmonic acid(JA)and its derivatives are key phytohormones in organ senescence and abscission.Results Greenhouse experiments at the seedling stage revealed that Me-JA(0.8 mmol·L^(-1))alone did not induce defoliation.However,its co-application with TDZ(0.45 mmol·L^(-1))at concentrations of 0.6,0.8,and 1.0 mmol·L^(-1)significantly enhanced defoliation efficacy.The most effective combination—TDZ with 0.8 mmol·L^(-1)Me-JA—achieved a 100%defoliation rate at 5 days after treatment(DAT),23.7 percentage points higher than TDZ alone,and comparable to the commercial TDZ·Diuron formulation with equivalent TDZ content.Field trials conducted in Beijing(Shangzhuang),Hebei(Hejian),and Xinjiang(Shihezi)confirmed that the combination of 0.6 mmol·L^(-1)Me-JA with 1.70 mmol·L^(-1)TDZ provided optimal defoliation performance.At 21 DAT,the defoliation rate increased by 13.5–16.3 percentage points compared with TDZ alone.Furthermore,boll opening rates improved by 5.7–12.7 percentage points relative to TDZ-only treatments.Phytohormonal analyses from the Shangzhuang site showed that the combined treatment significantly altered hormone levels in both leaves and petioles.Compared with TDZ alone,the mixture reduced concentrations of auxin(IAA),cytokinins(Z+ZR,iP+iPA,DHZ+DHZR),and gibberellic acid(GA3),while increasing levels of JA,abscisic acid(ABA),and brassinosteroids(BR).These hormonal shifts may underlie the enhanced defoliation observed with the combined treatment.Importantly,the TDZ-Me-JA combination did not adversely affect cotton yield,yield components,or fiber quality.Conclusion The combination of Me-JA and TDZ has a good defoliation effect without affecting crop yield or fiber quality.And it provides a promising foundation for the development of novel,environmentally friendly cotton defoliants.
基金funded by the Talents ans its Youth Project of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps(38000020924,380000358).
文摘Leaves are important‘source’organs that synthesize organic matter,providing carbon sources for plant growth.Here,we used Populus talassica×Populus euphratica,the dominant species in ecological and timber forests,to simulate carbon limitation through artificial 25%,50%,and 75%defoliation treatments and explore the effects on root,stem,and leaf morphology,biomass accumulation,and carbon allocation strategies.At the 60th d after treat-ment,under 25%defoliation treatment,the plant height,specific leaf weight,root surface area and volume,and concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates in stem and root were significantly increased by 9.13%,20.00%,16.60%,31.95%,5.12%,and 9.34%,respectively,relative to the control.There was no significant change in the growth indicators under 50%defoliation treatment,but the concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates in the leaf and stem significantly decreased,showing mostly a negative correlation between them.The opposite was observed in the root.Under 75%defoliation treatment,the plant height,ground diameter,leaf number,single leaf area,root,stem,and total biomass were significantly reduced by 14.15%,10.24%,14.86%,11.31%,11.56%,21.87%,and 16.82%,respectively,relative to the control.The concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates in various organs were significantly reduced,particularly in the consumption of the starch concentrations in the stem and root.These results indicated that carbon allocation strategies can be adjusted to increase the con-centration of non-structural carbohydrates in root and meet plant growth needs under 25%and 50%defoliation.However,75%defoliation significantly limited the distribution of non-structural carbohydrates to roots and stems,reduced carbon storage,and thus inhibited plant growth.Defoliation-induced carbon limitation altered the carbon allocation pattern of P.talassica×P.euphratica,and the relationship between carbon reserves in roots and tree growth recovery after defoliation was greater.This study provides a theoretical basis for the comprehen-sive management of P.talassica×P.euphratica plantations,as well as a reference for the study of plantation car-bon allocation strategies in the desert and semi-desert regions of Xinjiang under carbon-limitation conditions.
基金Supported by Comprehensive Test Station in West Sichuan Plateau for National Apple's Industrial Technology System ( CARS-28)~~
文摘[ Objective ] The research aimed to discuss the occurrence regularity of apple early defoliation disease and control effects of fungicides in west Sichuan plateau. [ Method ] Apple early defoliation disease in west Sichuan plateau was systematically investigated during 2009 and 2011, and the control effects of different fungicides during different spraying periods were studied. [ Result] The species of pathogen mainly was Marssonina ma/i （ P. Henn）, accounting for 32.5%, Phyl-losticta Pirina Sa accounted for 29.9%, and Alternaria mali Roberts accounted for 25.7%. The field fluctuation regularity was as follows ： the disease generally be- gan in the mid-May and ended in early and middle October with only one damage peak during the whole year, the fluctuation had positive correlation with rainfall （ R2 =0.891 8 ＊ ＊ ）. Control test showed that 40% flusilazole had the best control effect （86.5%）, which was best to apply after anthesis. [ Conclusion ] The paper provided theoretical basis for the effective control against apple early defoliation disease.
文摘[Objective] It aimed to find an optimum condition for compensatory growth of peony.[Method] The different defoliation intensies and frequencies of penoy were implemented to observe accumulated aboveground biomass, regenerated bud number,stem-leaf ratio and the chlorophyll concentration change in residual leaves.[Result] When the defoliation frequency was conducted every 20 d once and defoliaton intensity was from 40%-60%,the accumulated biomass was biggest, when the defoliation frequency was conducted every 10 d once and defoliation intensity was from 60%-80% the regenerated bud number was maximum.The stem-leaf ratio of mild and moderate defoliation intensities(20%-60%) was significantly lower than that of control group.When the defoliation frequency was conducted every 20 d once and defoliation intensity was from 40%-60%,the chlorophyll concentration in residual leaves was obviously higher than that of control group.[Conclusion] The proper defoliation intensity(60%) and lower defoliation frequency(defoliation was conducted every 20 d once) were most favorable to the growth and regenerated of peony which was the compensatory growth.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31560342)the Major Science and Technology Projects of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps,China(2016AA001-2)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2017YFD0201900)
文摘The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of different machine-harvested cotton-planting patterns on defoliation,yield,and fiber quality in cotton and to provide support for improving the quality of machine-harvested cotton.In the 2015 and 2016 growing seasons,the Xinluzao 45(XLZ45)and Xinluzao 62(XLZ62)cultivars,which are primarily cultivated in northern Xinjiang,were used as study materials.Conventional wide-narrow row(WNR),wide and ultra-narrow row(UNR),wide-row spacing with high density(HWR),and wide-row spacing with low density(LWR)planting patterns were used to assess the effects of planting patterns on defoliation,yield,and fiber quality.Compared with WNR,the seed cotton yields were significantly decreased by 2.06–5.48%for UNR and by 2.50–6.99%for LWR,respectively.The main cause of reduced yield was a reduction in bolls per unit area.The variation in HWR yield was–1.07–1.07%with reduced bolls per unit area and increased boll weight,thus demonstrating stable production.In terms of fiber quality indicators,the planting patterns only showed significant effects on the micronaire value,with wide-row spacing patterns showing an increase in the micronaire values.The defoliation and boll-opening results showed that the number of leaves and dried leaves in HWR was the lowest among the four planting patterns.Prior to the application of defoliating agent and before machine-harvesting,the numbers of leaves per individual plant in HWR were decreased by 14.45 and 25.00%on average,respectively,compared with WNR,while the number of leaves per unit area was decreased by 27.44 and 36.21%on average,respectively.The rates of boll-opening and defoliation in HWR were the highest.Specifically,the boll-opening rate before defoliation and machine-harvesting in HWR was 44.54 and 5.94%higher on average than in WNR,while the defoliation rate prior to machine-harvesting was 3.45%higher on average than in WNR.The numbers of ineffective defoliated leaves and leaf trash in HWR were the lowest,decreased by 33.40 and 32.43%,respectively,compared with WNR.In conclusion,the HWR planting pattern is associated with a high and stable yield,does not affect fiber quality,promotes early maturation,and can effectively decrease the amount of leaf trash in machine-picked seed cotton,and thus its use is able to improve the quality of machine-harvested cotton.
基金The work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(2017YFA0604403).
文摘Larch caterpillars are widely distributed in the Great Xing’an boreal forests;however,the relationship between caterpillar defoliation dynamics and climatic factors is poorly understood.The aims of this study are to investigate the primary weather conditions that might influence forest defoliation and to identify the most important life stage of the larch caterpillar at which forest defoliation might be mitigated by incorporating more inhibitory influences from climatic factors.The life cycle of the larch caterpillar was partitioned into four stages and multiple linear regression and mixed effect models were combined with a relative weight analysis approach to evaluate the importance and influence of meteorological variables on defoliation dynamics.The results show that warmer temperatures in growing seasons and overwintering periods can increase the defoliation area,while rainy and humid growing seasons decrease the defoliation area.Total precipitation during the early instar larval period had the greatest power to explain the variance in defoliation dynamics and had a very strong inhibitory effect,followed by the accumulative temperatures of the late instar larval period which had a positive impact,and precipitation during the middle instar larval period which had a negative impact.Weather conditions during the early instar larval period had the greatest influence on the area defoliated and accounted for 40%of the explained variance.This study demonstrates that climatic warming and drying will increase the risk of larch caterpillar outbreaks in the Great Xing’an Mountains.
基金supported by the international Partnership Program of the Chinese Academy of Science(Grant No.131965KYSB20160004)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.U1803243)+1 种基金the Network Plan of the Science and Technology Service,Chinese Academy of Sciences(STS Plan)Qinghai innovation platform construction project(2017-ZJ-Y20)
文摘Remote sensing(RS) technologies provide robust techniques for quantifying net primary productivity(NPP) which is a key component of ecosystem production management. Applying RS, the confounding effects of carbon consumed by livestock grazing were neglected by previous studies, which created uncertainties and underestimation of NPP for the grazed lands. The grasslands in Xinjiang were selected as a case study to improve the RS based NPP estimation. A defoliation formulation model(DFM) based on RS is developed to evaluate the extent of underestimated NPP between 1982 and 2011. The estimates were then used to examine the spatiotemporal patterns of the calculated NPP. Results show that average annual underestimated NPP was 55.74 gC·m^(-2)yr^(-1) over the time period understudied, accounting for 29.06% of the total NPP for the Xinjiang grasslands. The spatial distribution of underestimated NPP is related to both grazing intensity and time. Data for the Xinjiang grasslands show that the average annual NPP was 179.41 gC·m^(-2)yr^(-1), the annual NPP with an increasing trend was observed at a rate of 1.04 gC·m^(-2)yr^(-1) between 1982 and 2011. The spatial distribution of NPP reveals distinct variations from high to low encompassing the geolocations of the Tianshan Mountains, northern and southern Xinjiang Province and corresponding with mid-mountain meadow, typical grassland, desert grassland, alpine meadow, and saline meadow grassland types. This study contributes to improving RS-based NPP estimations for grazed land and provides a more accurate data to support the scientific management of fragile grassland ecosystems in Xinjiang.
基金financially supported by the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences,the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No.QYZDY-SSW-SMC014)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.32171576)。
文摘The leaf phenology of trees has received particular attention for its crucial role in the global water and carbon balances,ecosystem,and species distribution.However,current studies on leaf phenology have mainly focused on temperate trees,while few studies including tropical trees.Little attention has been paid to globally extensive industrial plantations.Rubber plantations are important to both the local and global economies.In this study,we investigated the legacy effects of defoliation phenology on the following year’s leaf flushing,leaf disease,and also latex yield of rubber trees,an economically important tree to local people and the world.Results show that extended duration of defoliation increased the subsequent duration of refoliation and rates of infection by powdery mildew disease,but led to reduced latex yield in March.This legacy effect of rubber defoliation may relate to the carbohydrate reserved in the trees.A longer duration of defoliation would consume more reserved carbohydrates,reducing available reserves for disease defense and latex production.Extended duration of defoliation period was associated with either a lower temperature before the cessation of latex tapping in October-November and/or a higher temperature after the cessation of latex tapping in December-January.Leaf falling signals the end of photosynthetic activities in deciduous trees.Thus,the leaf falling phenology will impact ecological processes involving rubber trees.Our findings indicated that the inclusion of defoliation periods in future rubber trees’ research,will be crucial to furthering our understanding of leaf flushing,powdery mildew disease,and latex yield.
基金supported by the earmarked fund for Jiangsu Agricultural Industry Technology System,China(JATS[2021]453)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2021YFD1200200)the earmarked fund for China Agriculture Research System(CARS-28).
文摘Early defoliation,which usually occurs during summer in pear trees,is gradually becoming a major problem that poses a serious threat to the pear industry in southern China.However,there is no system for evaluating the responses of different cultivars to early defoliation,and our knowledge of the potential molecular regulation of the genes underlying this phenomenon is still limited.In this study,we conducted field investigations of 155 pear accessions to assess their resistance or susceptibility to early defoliation.A total of 126 accessions were found to be susceptible to early defoliation,and only 29 accessions were resistant.Among them,19 resistant accessions belong to the sand pear species(Pyrus pyrifolia).To identify the resistance genes related to early defoliation,the healthy and diseased samples of two sand pear accessions,namely,the resistant early defoliation accession‘Whasan’and the susceptible early defoliation accession‘Cuiguan’,were used to perform RNA sequencing.Compared with‘Cuiguan’,a total of 444 genes were uniquely differentially expressed in‘Whasan’.Combined with GO and KEGG enrichment analyses,we found that early defoliation was closely related to the stress response.Furthermore,a weighted gene co-expression network analysis revealed a high correlation of WRKY and ethylene responsive factor(ERF)transcription factors with early defoliation resistance.This study provides useful resistant germplasm resources and new insights into potentially essential genes that respond to early defoliation in pears,which may facilitate a better understanding of the resistance mechanism and molecular breeding of resistant pear cultivars.
文摘Picea mongolica W. D. Xu. is an endemic species in China. The spruce forest is only found in semi-arid habitat in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Based on the simulative defoliation experiment, it was proved that Picea mongolica seedlings had the compensatory and overcompensatory effects under the certain defoliation rate. The results of variance analysis on growth indexes showed that in PM Ⅰ(natural regeneration seedlings under Picea mongolica forest), the differences of H 1(height in June 23) and H 2(height in September 3) were extremely significant, and the difference of D(diameter at the breast height) were not significant. In PM Ⅱ(artificial regeneration seedlings under Betula platyphylla Suk. forest), the difference of H 1 was significant, the difference of H 2 was not significant, and the difference of D was extremely significant. The regression equations were established and the compensatory and overcompensatory points were obtained. In PM Ⅰ, the compensatory points of H 1, H 2, and D were 0.7628, 0.7436, 0.5725, and the overcompensatory points were 0.6056, 0.5802 and 0.2909 respectively. In PM Ⅱ, the compensatory points of H 1, H 2, and D are 0.5012, 0.3421, 0.2488, and the overcompensatory points are 0.4137, 0.2633 and 0.0747 respectively. These results suggested that the induction of compensatory growth mechanisms in spruce seedlings required a threshold level of defoliation, and the insects in Picea mongolica forest could be controlled in a certain degree.
基金Supported by the Science and Technology Project of Changsha Municipal Tobacco Company in Hunan Province(CYKJ2015-01)
文摘The flue-cured tobacco G80 is not only one of the characteristic varieties in Changsha, but also indispensable raw materials for the series of Baisha ciga- rette. Defoliation during the late stage of growth seriously reduces the yield and quality of tobacco, and limits the popularization and application of G80. In this pa- per, in order to investigate the reasons for the defoliation of G80, the transverse section structure, cellulose content and differential proteins of leaf major veins were analyzed. The results revealed that the autolysis and collapse of parenchyma cells is the main cause of defoliation, and fimgal infection is a factor inducing the au- tolysis of parenchyma cells. Application of bud suppression agent is one of the main ways to prevent fungal infection. The low cellulose content, low synthetic ability of xylan and pectin, the low removal ability of abnormal protein and low immune responsiveness are the inner reason for defoliation of flue-cured tobacco G80.
文摘The reduction of foliar area can cause yield reduction in common bean crops. The objective of this work was to verify which is the effect of different defoliation levels realized in several development stages of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Goytacazes) over yield, weight of 100 seeds and number of pods per plant. The experimental design was randomized blocks, in a split-plot arrangement with five replications. The plot corresponded to the five defoliation epochs (first trifoliate leaf, flowering, pods formation, pods filling, and dry pods). In each plot, the split plot was represented by the four defoliation levels (0%, 33%, 67% and 100%). It was observed a decrease of yield for all levels defoliation considering all development stages, except for dried pods. The highest decrease was detected for flowering and pods formation. Through the regression analysis got a greater reduction in yield with 100% defoliation made at 42 days after emergence. The evaluation parameter that showed better relation with yield was a number of pods per plant.
文摘Late leaf spot caused by Cercosporidium personatum is one of the most widespread groundnut leaf diseases. Along with early leaf spot and rust, it is one of the main fungal diseases hampering groundnut production worldwide. Late leaf spot accounts for significant yield losses throughout the world where groundnuts are grown. This reduction in yield caused by the disease could result in yield losses of between 50% and 70%. In Burkina Faso, the disease is present throughout the country, with incidence varying according to region and season. Could the variability in the incidence of the disease be linked to the nature of the isolates or to the conditions from each agro-ecological zone? In this study, the aim was to assess the capacity of three isolates from three agroclimatic zones of the country to defoliate and reduce groundnut yield. To this end, three isolates of Cercosporidium personatum (Berk. Et M.A Curt.) were collected in these zones and evaluated on three contrasting groundnut varieties. A split-splot design was used for the experiment. Isolates were prepared from samples collected in farmers’ fields. After incubation in the laboratory, leaf spots showing good sporulation were scraped off with a scalpel after immersing the leaves in distilled water. Inoculations were carried out under controlled environment. After inoculation with the isolate, the percentage of defoliation and the reduction in yield of these varieties were then evaluated. Inoculation was carried out from the 30th day after sowing with Cercosporidium personatum spore suspensions at 10<sup>5</sup> spores/ml. The study showed that the percentage of defoliation (P = 0.0001) and the reduction in yield (P = 0.0001) were significant. The study revealed that, whatever the variety, isolate I3TF from the Upper Basins region in the South Sudanese zone caused the greatest defoliation and the greatest reduction in yield. The variety TS32-1, regardless of the isolate used for the treatment, recorded the best yield. The variety PC79-79, regardless of the isolate used for the treatment, recorded the lowest percentage of defoliation. The highest defoliation recorded under the effect of the isolates was of the order of 72.20%;the highest yield reduction was of the order of 87.20% compared with the water control.
基金supported by funding from the National Key Project of Research and the Development Plan of China(2021YFF1000103)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32171942)The development fund for Xinjiang talents XL,and the Agricultural GG Project of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps(NYHXGG,2023AA102).
文摘Chemical defoliation stands as the ultimate tool in enabling the mechanical harvest of cotton, offering economic and environmental advantages. However, the underlying molecular mechanism that triggers leaf abscission through defoliant remains unsolved. In this study, we meticulously constructed a transcriptomic atlas through single-nucleus mRNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) of the abscission zone (AZ) from cotton petiole. We identified two newly-formed cell types, abscission cells and protection layer cells in cotton petiole AZ after defoliant treatment. GhRLF1 (RAPID LEAF FALLING 1), as one of the members of the cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKX) gene family, was further characterized as a key marker gene unique to the abscission cells following defoliant treatment. Overexpression of GhRLF1 resulted in reduced cytokinin accumulation and accelerated leaf abscission. Conversely, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated loss of GhRLF1 function appeared to delay this process. Its interacting regulators, GhWRKY70, acting as “Pioneer” activator, and GhMYB108, acting as “Successor” activator, orchestrate a sequential modulation of GhWRKY70/GhMYB108–GhRLF1–CTK (cytokinin) within the AZ to regulate cotton leaf abscission. GhRLF1 not only regulates leaf abscission but also reduces cotton yield. Consequently, transgenic lines that exhibit rapid leaf falling and require less defoliant but show unaffected cotton yield were developed for mechanical harvesting. This was achieved using a defoliant-induced petiole-specific promoter, proPER21, to drive GhRLF1 (proPER21::RLF1). This pioneering biotechnology offers a new strategy for the chemical defoliation of machine-harvested cotton, ensuring stable production and reducing leaf debris in harvested cotton, thereby enhancing environmental sustainability.
基金the Universidade Federal de Goiás(Brazil),Instituto Federal Goiano(Brazil),and CAPES(Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior–Brazil)[66666622+CAPES Finance Code#001]for partially supporting this research work.
文摘As an essential component of the architecture of a plant,leaves are crucial to sustaining decision-making in cultivars and effectively support agricultural processes.When the leaf area is constantly monitored,a plant’s health and productive capacity can be assessed to foment proactive and reactive strategies.Because of that,one of the most critical tasks in agricultural processes is estimating foliar damage.In this sense,we present an automatic method to estimate leaf stress caused by insect herbivory,including damage in border regions.As a novelty,we present a method with well-defined processing steps suitable for numerical analysis and visual inspection of defoliation severity.We describe the proposed method and evaluate its performance concerning 12 different plant species.Experimental results show high assertiveness in estimating leaf area loss with a concordance correlation coefficient of 0.98 for grape,soybean,potato,and strawberry leaves.A classic pattern recognition approach,named template matching,is at the core of the method whose performance is compared to cutting-edge techniques.Results demonstrated that the method achieves foliar damage quantification with precision comparable to deep learning models.The code prepared by the authors is publicly available.
文摘Cotton defoliation and post-harvest destruction are important cultural practices for cotton production.Cotton root rot is a serious and destructive disease that affects cotton yield and lint quality.This paper presents an overview and summary of the methodologies and results on the use of remote sensing technology for evaluating cotton defoliation and regrowth control methods and for assessing cotton root rot infection based on published studies.Ground reflectance spectra and airborne multispectral and hyperspectral imagery were used in these studies.Ground reflectance spectra effectively separated different levels of defoliation and airborne multispectral imagery permitted both visual and quantitative differentiations among defoliation treatments.Both ground reflectance and airborne imagery were able to differentiate cotton regrowth among different herbicide treatments for cotton stalk destruction.Airborne multispectral and hyperspectral imagery accurately identified root rot-infected areas within cotton fields.Results from these studies indicate that remote sensing can be a useful tool for evaluating the effectiveness of cotton defoliation and regrowth control strategies and for detecting and mapping root rot damage in cotton fields.Compared with traditional visual observations and ground measurements,remote sensing techniques have the potential for effective and accurate assessments of various cotton production operations and pest conditions.
基金supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China(2015BAC02B04,2016YFC0500508)the Departmeni of Science and Technology of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China(201503001,2019ZD007)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32071564).
文摘Aims Nutrient resorption is a key plant nutrient conservation strategy,and its response to environmental and management changes is linked to nutrient cycling and production of ecosystems.Defoliation is a major pathway of mowing affecting plant nutrient resorption and production in grasslands,while the effect of defoliation timing has not been unexplored.The aim of this study was to examine the effect of defoliation timing on plant nutrient resorption and production in a steppe ecosystem.Methods We conducted a field experiment in a semi-arid steppe of Inner Mongolia including four treatments:early defoliation,peak defoliation,late defoliation and non-defoliation.We measured plant nitrogen(N)and phosphorus(P)resorption at species and community levels,and quantified plant N and P fluxes in resorption,litter return and hay output.Plant production in the mowing system was assessed by hay production and quality.Important Findings Peak and late defoliation,but not early defoliation,reduced plant community N and P resorption proficiency;and late defoliation reduced N resorption efficiency but not P resorption efficiency.Peak and late defoliation,but not early defoliation,reduced plant nutrient resorption flux and litter nutrient return flux.Defoliation timing did not alter root nutrient accumulation as nutrient uptake from soil likely compensated the deficit of nutrient resorption.Peak defoliation had the highest hay production and quality,while early defoliation had the lowest.Our results provide new insights into the nutrient cycling in mowing grassland,and imply that the mowing timing can be used as a tool to mediate the balanee between conservation and production of steppes,and the early mowing before plant peak biomass period is recommended for conservation of the steppes while keeping sustainable pastoral production.
文摘Machine picking in cotton is an emerging practice in India,to solve the problems of labour shortages and production costs increasing.Cotton production has been declining in recent years;however,the high density planting system(HDPS)offers a viable method to enhance productivity by increasing plant populations per unit area,optimizing resource utilization,and facilitating machine picking.Cotton is an indeterminate plant that produce excessive vegeta-tive growth in favorable soil fertility and moisture conditions,which posing challenges for efficient machine picking.To address this issue,the application of plant growth retardants(PGRs)is essential for controlling canopy architecture.PGRs reduce internode elongation,promote regulated branching,and increase plant compactness,making cotton plants better suited for machine picking.PGRs application also optimizes photosynthates distribution between veg-etative and reproductive growth,resulting in higher yields and improved fibre quality.The integration of HDPS and PGRs applications results in an optimal plant architecture for improving machine picking efficiency.However,the success of this integration is determined by some factors,including cotton variety,environmental conditions,and geographical variations.These approaches not only address yield stagnation and labour shortages but also help to establish more effective and sustainable cotton farming practices,resulting in higher cotton productivity.
基金National Institute of Food and Agriculture,Grant/Award Number:2017-70005-27089。
文摘Background:The incorporation of legumes,specifically alfalfa(Medicago sativa L.),into bermudagrass(Cynodon spp.)-based pasture systems in the southeastern United States has increased in recent years as an alternative to synthetic nitrogen(N)fertilization.Methods:A small plot evaluation was conducted in Shorter,Alabama,and Tifton,Georgia,USA,to evaluate the impact of harvest height(HH)and harvest frequency(HF)on agronomic characteristics of alfalfa+bermudagrass mixtures in southeastern United States.Results:Results from both locations revealed that the longer the HF and the shorter the HH,the greater the alfalfa retention was in the stand(p<0.01).HH did not impact any of the reported nutritive value parameters,while longer HF resulted in lower total digestible nutrients,lower crude protein,higher acid detergent fiber,and lower 48 h in vitro dry matter digestibility(p<0.01).Both HH and HF impacted forage accumulation at both locations(p<0.01).HH resulted in different trends at each location,while longer frequencies generally increased forage accumulation.Conclusions:This research confirmed recent findings from comparable evaluations in the southeastern United States,in that increasing HH and decreasing HF improved alfalfa retention while having a negligible effect on nutritive value or forage accumulation.
文摘Background:Plants compete aboveground for light and belowground for patchily distributed nutrients.Defoliation causes an immediate loss of leaf area and photosynthetic capacity,leading to reduced root growth,with hypothesised implications for nutrient uptake and nitrogen use efficiency.Methods:In Experiment 1,we grew single plants in split root boxes with N supplied equally or unequally,with half the plants subject to repeated defoliation to quantify the impact of each treatment.In Experiment 2,we grew pairs of Poa annua plants in three‐chamber split root boxes,with N supplied either to the outer chambers(no competition)or to a shared centre chamber(competition),to quantify the influence of defoliation on root competition.Results:In Experiment 1,defoliation caused a significant decrease in root mass but did not affect root distribution between chambers,while differential N supply led to an 11%increase in shoot mass.In Experiment 2,strong root competition was seen in undefoliated plants under competitive conditions.Where one plant was defoliated,the other exhibited increased shoot mass and N content in competitive,but not noncompetitive conditions.Conclusions:Our data suggest that plant belowground competitive success following defoliation may be strongly influenced by the spatial distribution of soil resources.
