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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.

2011

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Abstract

Background Parthenocarpy is a desirable trait in Capsicum annuum production because it improves fruit quality and results in a more regular fruit set. Previously, we identified several C. annuum genotypes that already show a certain level of parthenocarpy, and the seedless fruits obtained from these genotypes often contain carpel-like structures. In the Arabidopsis bel1 mutant ovule integuments are transformed into carpels, and we therefore carefully studied ovule development in C. annuum and correlated aberrant ovule development and carpelloid transformation with parthenocarpic fruit set. Results We identified several additional C. annuum genotypes with a certain level of parthenocarpy, and confirmed a positive correlation between parthenocarpic potential and the development of carpelloid structures. Investigations into the source of these carpel-like structures showed that while the majority of the ovules in C. annuum gynoecia are unitegmic and anatropous, several abnormal ovules were observed, abundant at the top and base of the placenta, with altered integument growth. Abnormal ovule primordia arose from the placenta and most likely transformed into carpelloid structures in analogy to the Arabidopsis bel1 mutant. When pollination was present fruit weight was positively correlated with seed number, but in the absence of seeds, fruit weight proportionally increased with the carpelloid mass and number. Capsicum genotypes with high parthenocarpic potential always showed stronger carpelloid development. The parthenocarpic potential appeared to be controlled by a single recessive gene, but no variation in coding sequence was observed in a candidate gene CaARF8. Conclusions Our results suggest that in the absence of fertilization most C. annuum genotypes, have parthenocarpic potential and carpelloid growth, which can substitute developing seeds in promoting fruit development.

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Abstract

Globally, soil organic matter (SOM) contains more than three times as much carbon as either the atmosphere or terrestrial vegetation. Yet it remains largely unknown why some SOM persists for millennia whereas other SOM decomposes readily—and this limits our ability to predict how soils will respond to climate change. Recent analytical and experimental advances have demonstrated that molecular structure alone does not control SOM stability: in fact, environmental and biological controls predominate. Here we propose ways to include this understanding in a new generation of experiments and soil carbon models, thereby improving predictions of the SOM response to global warming.

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Abstract

Population cycles of the winter moth (Operophtera brumata) in sub-arctic coastal birch forests show high spatiotemporal variation in amplitude. Peak larval densities range from levels causing little foliage damage to outbreaks causing spatially extensive defoliation. Moreover, outbreaks typically occur at or near the altitudinal treeline. It has been hypothesized that spatiotemporal variation in O. brumata cycle amplitude results from climate-induced variation in the degree of phenological matching between trophic levels, possibly between moth larvae and parasitoids. The likelihood of mismatching phenologies between larvae and parasitoids is expected to depend on how specialized parasitoids are, both as individual species and as a guild, to attacking specific larval developmental stages (i.e. instars). To investigate the larval instar-specificity of parasitoids, we studied the timing of parasitoid attacks relative to larval phenology. We employed an observational study design, with sequential sampling over the larval period, along an altitudinal gradient harbouring a pronounced treeline outbreak of O. brumata. Within the larval parasitoid guild, containing seven species groups, the timing of attack by different groups followed a successional sequence throughout the moth’s larval period and each group attacked 1–2 instars. Such phenological diversity within parasitoid guilds may lower the likelihood of climate-induced trophic mismatches between victim populations and many/all of their enemies. Parasitism rates declined with increasing altitude for most parasitoid groups and for the parasitoid guild as a whole. However, the observed spatiotemporal parasitism patterns provided no clear evidence for or against altitudinal mismatch between larval and parasitoid phenology.