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.
2021
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Radoslaw Gurdak Katarzyna Dabrowska-Zielinska Zbigniew Bochenek Marcin Kluczek Piotr Golinski Tomas Persson Corine Davids Michal Wyczalek-JagielloAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Martin Hvarregaard Thorsøe Anna Jacobs Chiara Piccini Dario Fornara Eloïse Mason Frédéric Vanwindekens Frederik Bøe Grzegorz Siebielec Julia Fohrafellner Julia Miloczki Katharina Meurer Martina Kasper Lilian O'Sullivan Michal Sviček Maria Gonçalves Miro Jacob Nádia Castanheira Nils Borchard Olivier Heller Peter Laszlo Raimonds Kasparinskis Sara Mavsar Sevinc Madenoglu Vit Penizek Wieke Vervuurt Žydrė KadžiulienėAbstract
Deliverable 2.7. This report provides a synthesis of stakeholders’ perceptions of knowledge on and use of knowledge on sustainable soil management, as well as the knowledge needs. The report is based on interviews with 791 stakeholders in 23 European countries completed in the summer of 2020 in the context of the EJP SOIL project. The analysis highlights a number of shortcomings in the current use and coordination of knowledge on sustainable soil management. For instance, insufficient communication and coordination between policymakers, researchers and farmers is reported. Most national reports stress that, currently, the promotion of knowledge on sustainable soil management towards stakeholders is ineffective. Challenges, for instance, arise because the theoretical knowledge produced at universities is considered irrelevant or inaccessible to farmers who have a practical approach to soil management. It is also reported that there is too little continuity in soil research due to project dependence, which is a challenge because soil research requires long-term investigations. Furthermore, current research insufficiently supports integrated decision-making of practitioners and policymakers, where different challenges and trade-offs continuously must be balanced. In some countries, this is partly due to insufficient funding for dissemination activities, whereas in other countries funding is not utilized correctly. Additionally, reports broadly agree that there is too little continuity in research due to project dependence, which is challenging because soil research requires long-term investigations. In relation to specific areas, knowledge gaps regarding the loss of soil organic matter, carbon sequestration and exploring the effects of climate change, mitigation and preventive measures. were identified. A range of other areas also appear as highly important in certain regions − for instance, ensuring an optimal soil structure, enhancing soil biodiversity, water storage capacity, soil nutrient retention and use efficiency. To overcome these challenges, stakeholders stress that it is important to improve the coordination between policy, research, industry, advisory services and farmers because knowledge about field activities and sustainable soil management is fragmented and poorly coordinated. Thus, stakeholders stress that it is important to strengthen intermediaries, such as the advisory service and farmers’ associations, as they are important knowledge brokers, both in terms of improving knowledge availability and to provide feedback on knowledge gaps to research institutions. Additionally, the need for strengthening networks and peer-to-peer communication is emphasized because these are useful platforms for knowledge exchange. Furthermore, it is important to provide incentives for farmers and improve the visibility of soil challenges for stakeholders, for instance using decision support tools to highlight the benefit of adopting sustainable soil management.
Authors
Linards Klavins Inessa Maaga Maris Bertins Anne Linn Hykkerud Katja Karppinen Česlovas Bobinas Heikki M. Salo Nga Nguyen Henriikka Salminen Karina Stankevica Maris KlavinsAbstract
Vaccinium genus berries—wild bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) and cultivated highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.)—are consumed worldwide, and their consumption has a trend of stable increase. Thus, considering their wide use in ethnomedicine, for juice and jam production, as functional food, as well as their use in preparations of extracts which have application potential in pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, studies regarding the composition of these berries are of special importance. The aim of this study is to characterise the elemental and isotopic composition, as well as variation in element concentration in bilberries gathered from different sites in Northern Europe and in commercially available blueberry samples from across the World. Furthermore, our aim was to develop tools for authenticity and quality control of these berries. The elemental composition of berries was analysed using inductively coupled plasma with optical emission detection (ICP-OED), while isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) was used for the determination of isotope ratio values. The results demonstrated detectable differences between macro- and microelement values in bilberries. IRMS analysis of blueberries revealed significant differences in isotope ratios based on the place of origin, indicating the possibility to use this analytical method for authenticity testing. In none of the samples, pollution was detected, even though there were indications of different growth conditions and geochemical differences affecting bilberry composition.
Authors
Stefano Zanotto Anna Palmé Áslaug Helgadóttir Kristin Daugstad Mika Isolahti Linda Öhlund Petter Marum Maria Ahlin Moen Merja Veteläinen Odd Arne Rognli Åshild ErgonAbstract
Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) is the most important forage legume in the Nordic region, but its utilization is limited by poor persistency. The improvement of cultivated red clover can potentially take advantage of the numerous wild populations and landraces conserved in gene banks; however, there is often limited information available on the phenotypic and genetic characteristics of this material. We characterized 48 populations conserved at NordGen for a number of traits and compared them to commercial cultivars. The material was evaluated in field trials at four locations over two years and in an experiment under controlled conditions. Considerable variation was identified, with stem length, growth type and flowering date having the highest broad sense heritabilities. Traits related to plant size were strongly associated with late flowering and upright growth and differed between landraces/cultivars on the one hand and wild populations on the other. There was a large genotype by environment interaction on winter survival, which only partially correlated with freezing tolerance under controlled conditions. A majority of gene bank accessions exceeded the commercial cultivars in winter survival and freezing tolerance and can therefore be a genetic resource for future improvement of these traits. The phenotypic variation among accessions was associated with two main axes of climatic variation at the collection site. Petiole length of young plants under controlled conditions as well as plant size in the field increased with increasing summer temperature and decreasing summer precipitation, while number of leaves and an apparent vernalization requirement, recorded under controlled conditions, increased with decreasing annual and winter temperature. We discuss the implications these results have for collection, conservation and utilization of red clover genetic resources in the Nordic region.
Authors
Ulrika Carlson-Nilsson Karolina Aloisi Ingunn M. Vågen Ari Rajala Jørgen A.B. Mølmann Søren K. Rasmussen Mari Niemi Ewelina Wojciechowska Pertti Pärssinen Gert Poulsen Matti W LeinoAbstract
In the Arctic part of the Nordic region, cultivated crops need to specifically adapt to adverse and extreme climate conditions, such as low temperatures, long days, and a short growing season. Under the projected climate change scenarios, higher temperatures and an earlier spring thaw will gradually allow the cultivation of plants that could not be previously cultivated there. For millennia, Pea (Pisum sativum L.) has been a major cultivated protein plant in Nordic countries but is currently limited to the southern parts of the region. However, response and adaptation to the Arctic day length/light spectrum and temperatures are essential for the productivity of the pea germplasm and need to be better understood. This study investigated these factors and identified suitable pea genetic resources for future cultivation and breeding in the Arctic region. Fifty gene bank accessions of peas with a Nordic landrace or cultivar origin were evaluated in 2-year field trials at four Nordic locations in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway (55° to 69° N). The contrasting environmental conditions of the trial sites revealed differences in expression of phenological, morphological, crop productivity, and quality traits in the accessions. The data showed that light conditions related to a very long photoperiod partly compensated for the lack of accumulated temperature in the far north. A critical factor for cultivation in the Arctic is the use of cultivars with rapid flowering and maturation times combined with early sowing. At the most extreme site (69°N), no accession reached full maturation. Nonetheless several accessions, predominantly landraces of a northern origin, reached a green harvest state. All the cultivars reached full maturation at the sub-Arctic latitude in northern Sweden (63°N) when plants were established early in the season. Seed yield correlated positively with seed number and aboveground biomass, but negatively with flowering time. A high yield potential and protein concentration of dry seed were found in many garden types of pea, confirming their breeding potential for yield. Overall, the results indicated that pea genetic resources are available for breeding or immediate cultivation, thus aiding in the northward expansion of pea cultivation. Predicted climate changes would support this expansion.
Authors
Bikal Ghimire Marcia Saraiva Christian B. Andersen Anupam Gogoi Mona Saleh Nicola Zic Pieter van West May Bente BrurbergAbstract
Oomycetes are spore-forming eukaryotic microbes responsible for infections in animal and plant species worldwide, posing a threat to natural ecosystems, biodiversity and food security. Genomics and transcriptomics approaches, together with host interaction studies, give promising results towards better understanding of the infection mechanisms in oomycetes and their general biology. Significant development and progress in oomycetes genomic studies have been achieved over the past decades but further understanding of molecular processes, gene regulations and infection mechanisms are still needed. The use of molecular tools such as CRISPR/Cas and RNAi helped elucidate some of the molecular processes involved in host invasion and infection both in plant and animal pathogenic oomycetes. These methods provide an opportunity for accurate and detailed functional analysis involving various fields of studies such as genomics, epigenomics, proteomics, and interactomics. Functional gene characterisation is essential for filling the knowledge gaps in dynamic biological processes. However, every method has both advantages and limitations that should be considered before choosing the best method for investigating a particular research question. Here we review transformation systems, gene silencing and gene editing techniques in oomycetes, how they function, in which species and what are their main advantages and disadvantages.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
J. Julio Camarero Antonio Gazol Gabriel Sangüesa-Barreda Marta Vergarechea Raquel Alfaro-Sánchez Nicolas Cattaneo Sergio M. Vicente-SerranoAbstract
Background Equatorward, rear-edge tree populations are natural monitors to estimate species vulnerability to climate change. According to biogeographical theory, exposition to drought events increases with increasing aridity towards the equator and the growth of southern tree populations will be more vulnerable to drought than in central populations. However, the ecological and biogeographical margins can mismatch due to the impact of ecological factors (topography, soils) or tree-species acclimation that can blur large-scale geographical imprints in trees responses to drought making northern populations more drought limited. Methods We tested these ideas in six tree species, three angiosperms (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus robur, Quercus petraea) and three gymnosperms (Abies alba, Pinus sylvestris and Pinus uncinata) by comparing rear-edge tree populations subjected to different degrees of aridity. We used dendrochronology to compare the radial-growth patterns of these species in northern, intermediate, and southern tree populations at the continental rear edge. Results and conclusions We found marked variations in growth variability between species with coherent patterns of stronger drought signals in the tree-ring series of the southern populations of F. sylvatica, P. sylvestris, and A. alba. This was also observed in species from cool-wet sites (P. uncinata and Q. robur), despite their limited responsiveness to drought. However, in the case of Q. petraea the intermediate population showed the strongest relationship to drought. For drought-sensitive species as F. sylvatica and P. sylvestris, southern populations presented more variable growth which was enhanced by cool-wet conditions from late spring to summer. We found a trend of enhanced vulnerability to drought in these two species. The response of tree growth to drought has a marked biogeographical component characterized by increased drought sensitivity in southern populations even within the species distribution rear edge. Nevertheless, the relationship between tree growth and drought varied between species suggesting that biogeographical and ecological limits do not always overlap as in the case of Q. petraea. In widespread species showing enhanced vulnerability to drought, as F. sylvatica and P. sylvestris, increased vulnerability to climate warming in their rear edges is forecasted. Therefore, we encourage the monitoring and conservation of such marginal tree populations.