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.
2016
Abstract
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Authors
Pia Heltoft ThomsenAbstract
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Authors
Pia Heltoft Thomsen Jennie L. Brierley Alison K. Lees Louise Sullivan James Lynott Arne HermansenAbstract
A glasshouse experiment was carried out with the aim of quantifying the relative contribution of seed- and soil-borne inoculum of three Fusarium spp. (F. coeruleum, F. sambucinum and F. avenaceum) in causing dry rot in two potato cultivars, Asterix and Saturna. Different concentrations of inoculum; control (water only), low (102 conidia ml−1) and high (105 conidia ml−1) were used to inoculate seed and infest soil and disease severity on progeny tubers was subsequently assessed following an 8-week post-harvest storage period. Overall, F. sambucinum caused significantly (P < 0.05) larger rots than F. avenaceum, with the severity of rots caused by F. coeruleum being intermediate, and disease severity was greater in cv. Asterix than cv. Saturna (P < 0.01). None of the seed inoculation treatments resulted in dry rot development on progeny tubers. In contrast, soil infested with Fusarium species resulted in significantly more severe tuber rots on progeny tubers compared with controls (P < 0.01). Soil infested with F. sambucinum (low and high levels) resulted in significantly more severe rots than control treatments (P < 0.001), whilst only high levels of F. avenaceum soil inoculum increased the severity of tuber rots compared with control treatments (P < 0.05). Increased disease severity observed as a result of the addition of inoculum of F. coeruleum to soil was not significant.
Abstract
Black currant is a woody plant in which growth and development are intimately controlled by, and synchronised with seasonal changes in photoperiod and temperature. Concern over the potential impact of global warming on plant phenology and yield, led us to initiate relations. An experimental system with single-stemmed potted plants was developed which allowed a research program to address both qualitative and quantitative assessment of climatic responses. Growth cessation and flowering were both induced by short days, with critical photoperiods of approximately 17 and 16 h, respectively, for most cultivars. Both processes were advanced and promoted by increasing autumn temperature with an optimum in the 18-21°C region. An exception was cultivars of high-boreal origin, which had an early growth cessation at low temperature. Unexpectedly, however, not all plants flowered after exposure to 10 h photoperiod, and the number of flowers decreased as the photoperiod was reduced from the near-critical length of 15 h. This was due to premature dormancy induced by an abrupt change to photoperiods well below the critical level. Field experiments revealed that cultivars of varying geographic origin, exhibited a typical latitudinal cline in their photoperiodically controlled timing of growth and flowering responses. Breaking of bud dormancy and promotion of flower bud development required chilling at -5°C for 14 weeks or more for optimal responses. However, while chilling at -10°C for 8 weeks resulted in dormancy release, continued chilling to 16 weeks inhibited bud break completely. We therefore propose that excessive chilling induces secondary bud dormancy in black currant. The observed high chilling requirements of black currants concur with the reported vulnerability of this crop to declining winter chill in the wake of the ongoing global warming. Furthermore, such conditions also induce a particularly deep bud dormancy state that further increases the chilling need.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
In order to investigate the relationship between environmental conditions and vegetative growth and reproductive development in the strawberry, freshly rooted runner plants of the cultivar ‘Sonata’ were grown in a phytotron at temperatures of 12, 18 and 24 °C and photoperiods of 10 h short day (SD) and 20 h long day (LD) for 31 d and harvested at 10 d intervals. Plant dry weight and leaf area increases were exponential versus time, giving a linear regression with the natural log (ln). This rendered the relative growth rate (RGR) constant over time at each environmental condition. Over the entire 31 d growth period, the RGR increased linearly with increasing temperature across the range of temperatures with a further 10–13% enhancement by LD. A maximum RGR value of 0.077 g/g/d was determined in LD at 24 °C. Increases in the RGR was driven by a combined increase in net assimilation rate (NAR) and leaf area ratio (LAR) and was associated with an increased allocation of dry matter production into leaves and less into crowns and roots. Because of this, the shoot/root ratio increased consistently with increasing temperature and photoperiod, which was also associated with a significant increase in the tissue C/N concentration ratio. Low temperature promoted starch accumulation markedly in all parts of the plants, with a further enhancement by LD conditions, while the concentrations of soluble sugars were less affected by the climatic environment. Forcing of plants exposed to the various growth conditions for 31 d showed that all plants at 12 and 18 °C and 80% of those at 24 °C had initiated flowers in SD, whereas none had initiated flowers in LD regardless of temperature conditions. All these results demonstrate an opposite environmental relationship between vegetative growth and reproductive development in the strawberry.
Abstract
As part of an overall assessment of the commercial suitability of strawberry cultivars for the Nordic environment, we studied 13 diverse cultivars in an experimental field in South East Norway. Early-maturing cultivars were characterized by early initiation of floral primordia and early flowering and fruit maturation. High temperatures in July and early August delayed floral initiation in the early cultivars, resulting in more synchronous initiation of early and late cultivars. The recent Norwegian cultivar ‘Nobel’, which has an everbearing parent, differed from the other cultivars by early initiation also at elevated summer temperature. Inadequate yield and berry size were identified as important causes for outdating of older cultivars, such as ‘Senga Sengana’ and ‘Glima’. Overall, the high-yielding and large-fruited ‘Sonata’ was judged as the best fresh consumption cultivar in Norway, and market trends indicate that it will continue to expand its market share at the expense of ‘Korona’, mainly because of inadequate fruit firmness and shelf life of the latter. Adequate yields and berry quality justify the use of the late maturing ‘Florence’ for prolongation of the fresh market season. The results are discussed together with practical experiences and market preferences in an attempt to provide overall cultivar recommendations for Norway.
Authors
Elli Aurora Koskela Anita Sønsteby Henryk Flachowsky Ola M. Heide Magda-Viola Hanke Paula Elomaa Timo HytönenAbstract
The effects of daylength and temperature on flowering of the cultivated octoploid strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) have been studied extensively at the physiological level, but information on the molecular pathways controlling flowering in the species is scarce. The flowering pathway has been studied at the molecular level in the diploid short-day woodland strawberry (F. vesca L.), in which the FLOWERING LOCUS T1 (FvFT1)–SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS1 (FvSOC1)–TERMINAL FLOWER1 (FvTFL1) pathway is essential for the correct timing of flowering. In this work, we show by transgenic approach that the silencing of the floral repressor FaTFL1 in the octoploid short-day cultivar ‘Elsanta’ is sufficient to induce perpetual flowering under long days without direct changes in vegetative reproduction. We also demonstrate that although the genes FaFT1 and FaSOC1 show similar expression patterns in different cultivars, the regulation of FaTFL1 varies widely from cultivar to cultivar and is correlated with floral induction, indicating that the transcription of FaTFL1 occurs at least partially independently of the FaFT1–FaSOC1 module. Our results indicate that changing the expression patterns of FaTFL1 through biotechnological or conventional breeding approaches could result in strawberries with specific flowering and runnering characteristics including new types of everbearing cultivars.
Authors
Bénédicte Wenden José Antonio Campoy Julien Lecourt Gregorio López Ortega Michael Blanke Sanja Radičević Elisabeth Schüller Andreas Spornberger Danilo Christen Hugo Magein Daniela Giovannini Carlos Campillo Svetoslav Malchev José Miguel Peris Mekjell Meland Rolf Stehr Gerard Charlot José Quero-GarcíaAbstract
Professional and scientific networks built around the production of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) led to the collection of phenology data for a wide range of cultivars grown in experimental sites characterized by highly contrasted climatic conditions. We present a dataset of flowering and maturity dates, recorded each year for one tree when available, or the average of several trees for each cultivar, over a period of 37 years (1978–2015). Such a dataset is extremely valuable for characterizing the phenological response to climate change, and the plasticity of the different cultivars’ behaviour under different environmental conditions. In addition, this dataset will support the development of predictive models for sweet cherry phenology exploitable at the continental scale, and will help anticipate breeding strategies in order to maintain and improve sweet cherry production in Europe.
Abstract
The European plum cultivar 'Opal', widely grown in Scandinavia, frequently initiates too many flowers and set too many fruits. If excess fruitlets remain on the trees until harvest, the crop consists of small, unmarketable fruits of low fruit quality and return bloom will be reduced. The current study investigated effects of different crop loads established at blossom and fruitlet stages on yield, fruit quality and return bloom. For two seasons starting in 2008 on mature 'Opal'/'St. Julien A' trees, two crop loads 50 and 25% flowers reduced were established at full bloom and at 10-12 mm fruitlet size and compared with an un-thinned control treatment. Treatments were applied on single whole trees in a randomized complete block design with six replications. Spindle trees spaced at 3.0×5.0 m were selected for uniformity in growth habit, flowering intensity and trunk cross sectional area. Final fruit set varied from 63% on the control trees to 18% when thinned at bloom. Yield was negatively correlated with the fruit set response. Thinning at the fruitlet stage resulted in smaller fruits at the same crop level compared to flower thinning. Fruit quality parameters characterized by bright yellow skin background colour, red surface colour and the concentrations of soluble solids increased significantly as the crop load was reduced. Other fruit quality parameters like percentage acidity were not significantly different and did not show a clear response to the thinning. Return bloom was promoted most when trees were thinned at bloom the year before.