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.
2006
Authors
Gilbert Kamgan Nkuekam Jolanda Roux Halvor Solheim Michael J. WingfieldAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Jolanda Roux Halvor Solheim Gilbert Kamgan Nkuekam Michael J. WingfieldAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Magnus Karlsson Ari M. Hietala Harald Kvaalen Halvor Solheim Åke Olson Jan Stenlid Carl Gunnar FossdalAbstract
Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) has a natural distribution in the northern parts of Europe and Asia and is economically the most important tree species grown in the Nordic countries. A common threat to Norway spruce is the basidiomyceteous fungus Heterobasidion parviporum Niemelä and Korhonen. H. parviporum mainly attacks Norway spruce, although Siberian fir (Abies sibirica Ledeb.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) occasionally get infected. One obstacle to studying host/pathogen interaction in conifers has been the limited availability of mature clones for controlled inoculations, as genetic variation within the host material and the lack of replicates complicate interpretation of the results. Somatic embryogenesis, rooted cuttings, and tissue cultures may provide solutions for this problem. Tissue cultures from mature Norway spruce trees have been proposed as a possible model system for assessing resistance toward fungal pathogens. Recent data on chitinase isoform activity in the Norway spruce/H. parviporum pathosystem are encouraging; clonal variation was observed in the isoforms affected by inoculation, and the isoforms showing increased band intensity following bark inoculation by H. parviporum were also induced in the inoculated tissue cultures of the corresponding clones. To investigate the biological relevance of tissue cultures in host-pathogen interaction studies, transcript levels of selected host and pathogen genes in tissue cultures of Norway spruce were compared to those in bark of 33-year-old ramets of the same clones upon challenge by the pathogenic fungus H. parviporum. Similar transcript profiles of the pathogen and host genes were observed in both tissues, this supporting the use of tissue cultures as experimental material for the pathosystem. Higher transcript levels of the host genes phenylalanine ammonia lyase, peroxidase, and glutathione-S-transferase were observed in the more resistant clone #589 than in the less resistant clone #409 during the early stages of colonization. The most striking difference between the spruce clones was related to gene transcript levels of a class IV chitinase, which showed a continuous increase in clone #409 over the experimental period, with a possible association of this gene product to programmed cell death. Several of the fungal genes assayed were differentially expressed during colonization, including putative glutathione-S-transferases, laccase, cellulase, cytochrome P450 and superoxide dismutase genes. The transcriptional responses suggest an important role for the antioxidant systems of both organisms.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
In this study, forest treated with different strengths of selective cutting (2570 % of volume removed) was remeasured after twelve years in 2005. At each of the sixteen 0.2 ha plots, including four repeats of each treatment, all trees larger than dbh 2.5 cm were calipered. We investigated growth, changes in stand structure, tree age, tree damage and crown condition.The diameter distribution displayed a reverse J-curve at all plots both before and after the cuttings. Twelve years later the curve is only slightly changed. Increment cores from 300 trees were taken to analyse annual growth reactions in different diameter classes. Most trees reacted with increased growth from the second or third year after the cutting.This improved growth accelerated the following six or seven years with 20-80% increase. Both small and large trees reacted, including severely suppressed trees. The initial crown volume and crown vitality after cutting is essential for the increased growth since several years are necessary to build up a larger and better crown. The relationship between increased growth and reduced volume per hectare indicates less competition between trees regarding nutrients and light after the cutting.
Abstract
Results from a literature review on pinewood ecology, silviculture, genetics, aspects of history and forest resources of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in western Norway are presented. The pinewoods cover 40 per cent of the forested land, 0.31 million ha. During the last 75 years, the area has increased by 17 per cent and the growing stock has risen from 10 to 34 million m3. The impact of man in previous times was very marked, and has had a significant influence on the present forest conditions. The pronounced climatic gradients mixed with the topographic variation - from the coastal plains via the fjord systems to the high mountains - is reflected in rather steep gradients in the pine forest vegetation. Various floristic elements can be distinguished, from oceanic via the suboceanic in the outer islands to the thermophytic, boreonemoral and boreal elements in the inner fjord districts and valleys. The introduction of spruce (Picea spp.) plantations on 10-15 per cent of former native pine forests has not negatively affected the bird fauna at the landscape scale. Although not particular species rich, the pine forests harbour species usually not found in other forest types. So far, most work in the field of silviculture and forest ecology in the pinewoods of West Norway has been in the form of case studies. Implications of the results for forestry in the region are briefly discussed.
Abstract
We describe the cloning and characterization of a single copy gene from Trichoderma atroviride P1 encoding a novel 30 kDa chitinase, Ech30. Ech30 is a family 18 chitinase showing low sequence similarity to other Trichoderma chitinases. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR studies revealed that expression of the ech30 gene was induced by the presence of Botrytis cinerea in plate confrontation assays, but hardly by chitin in liquid cultures. Studies of Ech30 purified from an Escherichia coli strain overexpressing the ech30 gene devoid of the leader sequence and a predicted intron, showed that the gene encodes an active chitinase, which, as expected for family 18 chitinases, is inhibited by allosamidin.
2005
Abstract
In spring 2002, extensive damages were recorded in southeast Norway on nursery-grown Norway spruce seedlings that had either wintered in nursery cold storage or had been planted out in autumn 2001. The damages were characterised by leader shoot dieback and necroses on the upper or lower part of the 2001-year-shoot. Gremmeniella abietina and Phomopsis sp. were frequently isolated from the diseased seedlings. RAMS (random amplified microsatellites) profiling indicated that the G.abietina strains associated with diseased nursery seedlings belonged to LTT (large-tree type) ecotype, and inoculation tests confirmed their pathogenicity on Norway spruce. Based on sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of ribosomal DNA, the Phomopsis strains associated with diseased seedlings do not represent any characterized Phomopsis species associated with conifers. Phomopsis sp. was not pathogenic in inoculation tests, this implying it may be a secondary colonizer. ITS-based real-time PCR assays were developed in order to detect and quantify Gremmeniella and Phomopsis in the nursery stock. We describe here the Gremmeniella - associated shoot dieback symptoms on Norway spruce seedlings and conclude that the unusual disease outburst was related to the Gremmeniella epidemic caused by the LTT type on large pines in 2001.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered