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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.

2000

Abstract

A developmental and structural characterization of polyphenolic parenchyma cells (PP cells) in Norway spruce bark was undertaken as part of our studies on their role in defense against bark beetles and pathogenic fungi.PP cells form multiple circumferential layers of cells within the secondary phloem. A layer of PP cells begins differentiation at the start of each growth season, delineating an-nual growth increments in the secondary phloem. The PP cells grow in size over a number of years, and remain viable even in the oldest phloem layers of trees 100 years old.While most spruce clones examined had PP cell layers that are one cell thick, in one clone the PP cell layer is 2 cells thick with additional PP cells scattered throughout the intervening blocks of sieve cells. The additional cells develop from undifferentiated axial parenchyma cells during the first 5-8 years after formation of the PP cell layer.Division of PP cells in phloem layers older than 8 years give rise to additional PP cells. This accommodates the expansion of the stem circumference while maintaining the intactness of this defense barrier.The importance of phenolic accumulation is also indicated by examination of early stem development. PP cells are produced during the earliest stages of interfascicular cambium formation, and well organized layers are produced by the second year of growth. PP cells in all layers of 25 year old tree bark contained starch, lipids and polyphenolics, which changed in amount or character in a seasonal pattern.Plasmodesmata are abundant between adjacent PP cells and PP cells and ray parenchyma, where they are probably critical to nutrient and defense signal transport in the radial and axial directions. The formation of a new PP cell layer each season, the maintenance of the cells for many years, the early organization of this layer in the primary stem, and the dynamic physiological activity even older cells exhibit, supports

Abstract

Filling wood cell cavities or modifying walls with polymer improves mechanical properties and reduces influences of moisture and biodeterioration agents. Properties of untreated wood and wood polymer composites are presented in the paper.

Abstract

Plants are sessile and have to adjust to the prevailing environmental conditions of their surroundings. This has led to a development of a great plasticity in gene regulation, morphogenesis, and metabolism. Adaptation and defence strategies involve the activation of genes encoding proteins important in the acclimation or defence towards the different stressors.Some of the molecular responses to biotic and abiotic stress factors such as pathogenic fungi or drought are specific, but it has also been shown that similar genes are acitvated by several stressors.At the Norwegian Forest Research Institute we are currently developing a diagnostic tool using the induction pattern of several selected genes from Norway spruce to use as a fingerprint for different types of biotic and abiotic stress. The ultimate goal of this project is to be able to identify unique mRNA expression patterns specific for different stressors such as heat, cold, drought, pathogens etc.In order to study the induction pattern expressed under biotic and abiotic stress, Norway spruce seedlings grown on glass beads in a phytotron we have treated with drought, a root pathogenic fungi (Rhizoctonia sp.), and a combination of drought and the root fungal pathogen.Physiological measurements of height, weight, ion leakage, gas exchange, and chlorophyll fluorescence are taken troughout the experiment. In addition, we have used light and electron microscopy, and immunolocalization to study structural cell and tissue changes. The results so far show great variance in the expression patterns between treatments and over time.