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Editorial: Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: The Bridge Between Plants, Soils, and Humans
Full text linkEditorial on the Research Topic: Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: The Bridge Between Plants, Soils, and Human
Euphorbia ×lomi produced considerable amount of flower racemes after exposure to Mediterranean winter temperatures
No full textPoysean (Euphorbia ×lomi Rauh, a spurge natural hybrid of E. milii Des Moulins × E. lophogona Lamarck) is widely grown in south-eastern Asian countries, where winter minimum temperatures are above 20°C. Poysean was recently proposed for indoor uses in Mediterranean countries thanks to its great size inflorescences and long-lasting flowering. In addition, this spurge has a very high ability to withstand long water shortage, high summer temperature and can be easily propagated by cutting. However, little is known about its ability to withstand the minimum winter temperatures of the Mediterranean areas. An outdoor experiment was performed to evaluate poysean tolerance to the winter temperatures of the thermo-Mediterranean climate and its potential use as ornamental crop for outdoor stands and window box. Two genotypes of E. ×lomi ('Nguen Muang', NM; and 'Soi Budsarin', SB) were grown at 2 or 3 plants pot-1 in window boxes during 26 months. Number of flower racemes (cyathia) and leaves plant-1, plant height, and pot ornamental value were measured monthly. No differences were observed in scores from the panel members. On average, NM showed 36% lower number of flower racemes, but 30% higher panel score than SB. During winter, NM showed a higher number of flower racemes plant-1 than SB. Few effects of plant density on flower racemes and panel test score were found and these were mostly in magnitude. The present data suggest that Euphorbia ×lomi is still able to survive and produce flower racemes during winter in the thermo Mediterranean climate and it is suitable as an ornamental plant for open-air stands and window box and likely for xeriscaping and green roofs
Modelling of soil organic carbon in the Mediterranean area: A systematic map
No full textA general feature of soil health is the sustainment of soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration and its stock. Digital soil mapping (DSM) development allowed for the implementation of soil properties mapping at various spatial and time scales. However, many of these studies were made in temperate or cold environments from central and northern Europe or United States or in stably arid ecosystems of Australia. Geographical information on the SOC are often fragmented, and this does not allow for a comparison on SOC regional variability in contrasting areas. Here a systematic research of peer-reviewed papers in the Web of science (WoS) and Scopus databases was carried out to highlight knowledge gaps in SOC studies in the Mediterranean area. The systematic searches identified 500 articles in WoS and 750 in Scopus, but only few of them were eligible as ad hoc studies. Regarding WoS, after screening, 150 studies were further analysed for inclusion in the map and only 128 included in the final map (1995-2018). From Scopus, only 104 studies were included in the map (1995-2017). Of all the countries around the Mediterranean Basin, report studies on SOC are available for 15 countries, only. Data gaps identified included the absence of long-term monitoring networks in the south of Europe, a scarcity of information from countries on the eastern coast of the Adriatic and Mediterranean sea and almost lack of detailed information on SOC models and maps from north Africa. Model exportation built in neighbourhood countries (e.g. from Sicily, Italy, to northern Tunisia, or Andalusia, Spain, to northern Morocco) are strongly needed
Gemmorhizogenesis in poysean (Euphorbia × lomi Rauh): The production of 'likely-asexuate' vivipary offsprings
No full textPoysean (Euphorbia × lomi Rauh) is a natural hybrid of E. milii Des Moulins × E. lophogona Lamarck. This hybrid has a high tolerance to drought and high temperature and the ability to withstand long periods in the complete absence of water. In its native environment, Madagascar, it colonizes wide arid areas and this occurs both due to its stress tolerance and its ability to produce 'likely-asexuate' vivipary offsprings (aboveground LAVOs) from the aerial parts. These propagules show completely differentiated aboveground organs and root primordial or sometimes radicles when still standing on their mother plant. However, no information is available about the ability of this hybrid to produce such offsprings. In the present work, we studied the production of aboveground LAVOs of a cultivar of E. × lomi, namely the Thailand's cultivar 'Porn ying yai', in a 2-years pot experiment with 2 contrasting growing media (coconut fibre/perlite, CCP, or peat/perlite, PTP) under greenhouse conditions. In total, 24 mother plants per year per substrate were grown, propagules were counted, and length and weight measured and divided per class of quality, corresponding to a length class (1st class below 5.0 cm, 2nd class between 5.1 and 10.0 cm, and 3rd class above 10.1 cm). Thus, propagules were planted to check for their vitality. Plants grown in PTP yielded 2.3-fold more propagules than CCP. However, such difference solely occurred for 1st class propagules, whereas no differences were found for 2nd and 3rd class propagules between growth substrates. Since the pots were widely fertirrigated, and thus not limited by water or nutrient availability, this suggests that the chemical or other traits of the growing media mostly modulate the conditions for the above-ground LAVOs induction rather than their growth. Since this plant has low maintenance needs and can withstand water lack and high temperature, these results have implication in urban environments, where colonization of green areas could occur after planting without anthropic intervention
L. (Cistaceae) micropropagation
No full textCistus crispus (Cistaceae) is a species adapted to arid and semi-arid conditions, and it has ornamental and medicinal uses. In Italy, native populations of C. crispus are threatened by the collection due to the low number of individuals in the populations, anthropogenic pressure, and the changing environmental condition that enhance other more aggressive and hybridisable Cistus species. Here, we set up the variables for its micropropagation protocols to achieve a high number of plants per unit time. Various steps of the micropropagation protocol were modulated, including various sodium hypochlorite concentrations (CHCs) and time of sterilisation. The efficiency of the protocol maximised at 25 min sterilisation with 2.5% CHC and decreasing explant vitality at increasing time and CHC. Both shoot proliferation and root emissions were maximised at 1.78 μM N-6-benzyladenine (BA) in the growing medium, with up to 5.4 explants per cycle, with 5.8 roots per explant, and 84 healthy explants. Kinetin stimulated further the axillary root proliferation more than dimethylallylamino purine or BA. Lastly, the application of indole acetic acid increased root emissions during the acclimation stage more than the application of indole butyric acid, and this occurred irrespective of their concentrations, up to 2.0 μg · g−1. These results can foster the use of C. crispus as an ornamental species, for xeriscaping or for the extraction of its secondary compounds, which have various industrial uses. These results can also have an indirect implication for the conservation of the species by reducing the collection for ornamental purposes from its natural population
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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