Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2018
Abstract
Yunnan pine is the most important tree species in SW China in both economical and ecological terms, but it is often killed by pine shoot beetles (Tomicus spp.). Tomicus beetles are secondary pests in temperate regions and the aggressiveness of the beetles in SW China is considered to be due to the warm subtropical climates as well as the beetles’ virulent fungal associates. Here, we assessed the virulence of three blue-stain fungi (Leptographium wushanense, L. sinense and Ophiostoma canum) associated with pine shoot beetles to Yunnan pine (Pinus yunnanensis) in SW China. Following fungal inoculation, we measured necrotic lesion lengths, antioxidant enzyme activities and monoterpene concentrations in the stem phloem of Yunnan pine. Leptographium wushanense induced twice as long lesions as L. sinense and O. canum, and all three fungi induced significantly longer lesions than sterile agar control inoculations. The activity of three tested antioxidant enzymes (peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, and superoxide dismutase) increased after both fungal inoculation and control inoculation. However, L. wushanense and L. sinense generally caused a greater increase in enzyme activities than O. canum and the control treatment. Fungal inoculation induced stronger increases in six major monoterpenes than the control treatment, but the difference was significant only for some fungus-monoterpene combinations. Overall, our results show that L. wushanense and L. sinense elicit stronger defense responses and thus are more virulent to Yunnan pine than O. canum. The two Leptographium species may thus contribute to the aggressiveness of their beetle vectors and could damage Yunnan pine across SW China if they spread from the restricted geographical area they have been found in so far.
Authors
Paal KrokeneAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Håvard Steinshamn Karl-Christian Mahnert Inga Marie Aasen Berit Marie Blomstrand Sokratis Ptochos Spiridoula Athanasiadou Ian Woolsey Heidi L Enemark Kristin SørheimAbstract
No abstract has been registered
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Håvard SteinshamnAbstract
No abstract has been registered
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Line JohansenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
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Line JohansenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Yupeng Zhang Guangxun Fan Tuomas Toivainen Igor A. Yakovlev Timo Hytönen Paal Krokene Paul Eivind Grini Carl Gunnar FossdalAbstract
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges for the biosphere. As sessile organisms, plants must adapt quickly to keep pace with the rapidly changing climatic conditions. Epigenetic memory is one mechanism which would provide sufficient plasticity under rapid climate change and enable long-lived organisms to survive long enough to adapt by classical genetic selection. In Norway spruce, the timing of bud burst and bud set are regulated by an epigenetic memory established by the temperature sum endured during embryogenesis. The resulting epitypes display a life-long shift in seasonal timing of the bud phenology, a trait previously presumed to be under strict classical selection and highly heritable. However, Norway spruce is a difficult plant to study because it has a very long generation time and an extensive genome size. We therefore seek to find a suitable perennial model plant to study the phenomenon of epigenetic climatic memory. Woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) may be an ideal model to research the role of epigenetic memory on plant phenology. Fragaria vesca is a perennial plant with a small well-characterized genome, a short sexual reproduction cycle and can also propagate asexually trough clonal daughter plants formed by stolons. We will explore whether the temperature sum experienced during sexual and asexual reproduction impact on the phenology of Fragaria vesca and use this as a model to decipher the molecular mechanism underlying epigenetic memory in plants.
Authors
Abdelhameed ElameenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Norway is strongly committed to the Paris Climate Agreement with an ambitious goal of 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emission by 2030. The land sector, including agriculture and forestry, must critically contribute to this national target. Beyond emission reduction, the land sector has the unique capacity to actively removing CO2 from the atmosphere through biological carbon storage in biomass and in soils. Soils are the largest reservoir of terrestrial carbon, and relatively small changes in soil carbon content can have an amplified mitigation effect on the Earth’s climate. Therefore, improved management of soils for carbon storage is receiving a lot of attention, for example through international political initiatives such as the “4-permill” initiative. However, in Norway, many mitigation measures targeting soil carbon might negatively impact food production and economic activity. For example, soil carbon storage can be increased by shifting from cereal crop production to grasslands, but Norway already has abundant grassland and a comparatively small area dedicated to cereals. Another such issue is cultivation on drained peatland, where food is produced at the expense of large losses of soil carbon as CO2 to the atmosphere. Therefore, there is a need to look for win-win solutions for soil carbon storage, which benefit both food production and climate mitigation. Large-scale conversion of agricultural and forest waste biomass to biochar is such an option, and is considered the activity with the largest potential for soil carbon sequestration in Norway. Biochar has been demonstrated to have a mean residence time exceeding 100 years in Norwegian field conditions (Rasse et al, 2017), and no negative effects on plant and soils has been observed. However, despite the convincing benefits of biochar as a climate mitigation solution, it has not yet advanced much beyond the research stage, notably because its effect on yield are too modest. Here, we will first present the comparative advantage of biochar technology as compared to traditional agronomy methods for large-scale C storage in Norwegian agricultural soils. We will further discuss the need for developing innovations in pyrolysis and nutrient-rich waste recycling leading to biochar-fertilizer products as win-win solution for carbon storage and food production.