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Author McKersie, B. doi  openurl
  Title Planning for food security in a changing climate Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication Journal of Experimental Botany Abbreviated Journal J. Experim. Bot.  
  Volume 66 Issue 12 Pages 3435-3450  
  Keywords Adaptation, Physiological; *Climate Change; Crops, Agricultural/growth & development; Droughts; *Food Supply; Zea mays/physiology; Climate change; DroughtGard; cropping systems; drought tolerance; genetic engineering; maize; marker-assisted selection; plant breeding  
  Abstract The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other international agencies have concluded that global crop production is at risk due to climate change, population growth, and changing food preferences. Society expects that the agricultural sciences will innovate solutions to these problems and provide food security for the foreseeable future. My thesis is that an integrated research plan merging agronomic and genetic approaches has the greatest probability of success. I present a template for a research plan based on the lessons we have learned from the Green Revolution and from the development of genetically engineered crops that may guide us to meet this expectation. The plan starts with a vision of how the crop management system could change, and I give a few examples of innovations that are very much in their infancy but have significant potential. The opportunities need to be conceptualized on a regional basis for each crop to provide a target for change. The plan gives an overview of how the tools of plant biotechnology can be used to create the genetic diversity needed to implement the envisioned changes in the crop management system, using the development of drought tolerance in maize (Zea mays L.) as an example that has led recently to the commercial release of new hybrids in the USA. The plan requires an interdisciplinary approach that integrates and coordinates research on plant biotechnology, genetics, physiology, breeding, agronomy, and cropping systems to be successful.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0022-0957 1460-2431 ISBN Medium Review  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes CropM Approved no  
  Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4568  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Meyer, P. doi  openurl
  Title Epigenetic variation and environmental change Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication Journal of Experimental Botany Abbreviated Journal J. Experim. Bot.  
  Volume 66 Issue 12 Pages 3541-3548  
  Keywords DNA Methylation/genetics; DNA Transposable Elements/genetics; *Environment; *Epigenesis, Genetic; Plants/genetics; Stress, Physiological/genetics; Adaptation; DNA methylation; epigenetics; stress response  
  Abstract Environmental conditions can change the activity of plant genes via epigenetic effects that alter the competence of genetic information to be expressed. This may provide a powerful strategy for plants to adapt to environmental change. However, as epigenetic changes do not modify DNA sequences and are therefore reversible, only those epi-mutations that are transmitted through the germline can be expected to contribute to a long-term adaptive response. The major challenge for the investigation of epigenetic adaptation theories is therefore to identify genomic loci that undergo epigenetic changes in response to environmental conditions, which alter their expression in a heritable way and which improve the plant’s ability to adapt to the inducing conditions. This review focuses on the role of DNA methylation as a prominent epigenetic mark that controls chromatin conformation, and on its potential in mediating expression changes in response to environmental signals.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1460-2431 (Electronic) 0022-0957 (Linking) ISBN Medium Review  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes CropM Approved no  
  Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4569  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Minet, J.; Laloy, E.; Tychon, B.; François, L. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Bayesian inversions of a dynamic vegetation model at four European grassland sites Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication Biogeosciences Abbreviated Journal Biogeosciences  
  Volume 12 Issue 9 Pages 2809-2829  
  Keywords eddy-covariance data; terrestrial ecosystem model; bioclimatic affinity; groups; monte-carlo-simulation; dry-matter content; leaf-area; climate-change; stomatal conductance; parameter-estimation; plant  
  Abstract Eddy covariance data from four European grassland sites are used to probabilistically invert the CARAIB (CARbon Assimilation In the Biosphere) dynamic vegetation model (DVM) with 10 unknown parameters, using the DREAM((ZS)) (DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis) Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampler. We focus on comparing model inversions, considering both homoscedastic and heteroscedastic eddy covariance residual errors, with variances either fixed a priori or jointly inferred together with the model parameters. Agreements between measured and simulated data during calibration are comparable with previous studies, with root mean square errors (RMSEs) of simulated daily gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (RECO) and evapotranspiration (ET) ranging from 1.73 to 2.19, 1.04 to 1.56 g C m(-2) day(-1) and 0.50 to 1.28 mm day(-1), respectively. For the calibration period, using a homoscedastic eddy covariance residual error model resulted in a better agreement between measured and modelled data than using a heteroscedastic residual error model. However, a model validation experiment showed that CARAIB models calibrated considering heteroscedastic residual errors perform better. Posterior parameter distributions derived from using a heteroscedastic model of the residuals thus appear to be more robust. This is the case even though the classical linear heteroscedastic error model assumed herein did not fully remove heteroscedasticity of the GPP residuals. Despite the fact that the calibrated model is generally capable of fitting the data within measurement errors, systematic bias in the model simulations are observed. These are likely due to model inadequacies such as shortcomings in the photosynthesis modelling. Besides the residual error treatment, differences between model parameter posterior distributions among the four grassland sites are also investigated. It is shown that the marginal distributions of the specific leaf area and characteristic mortality time parameters can be explained by site-specific ecophysiological characteristics.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1726-4189 ISBN Medium Article  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes CropM LiveM, ft_macsur Approved no  
  Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4571  
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Author Kunert, K.J.; van Wyk, S.G.; Cullis, C.A.; Vorster, B.J.; Foyer, C.H. doi  openurl
  Title Potential use of phytocystatins in crop improvement, with a particular focus on legumes Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication Journal of Experimental Botany Abbreviated Journal J. Experim. Bot.  
  Volume 66 Issue 12 Pages 3559-3570  
  Keywords Crops, Agricultural/*growth & development/metabolism; Cystatins/*metabolism; Cysteine Proteases/metabolism; Fabaceae/*growth & development/metabolism; Plant Proteins/*metabolism; Plant Root Nodulation; Stress, Physiological; Chilling; cystatin; drought; protein degradation; senescence; soybean; stress tolerance  
  Abstract Phytocystatins are a well-characterized class of naturally occurring protease inhibitors that function by preventing the catalysis of papain-like cysteine proteases. The action of cystatins in biotic stress resistance has been studied intensively, but relatively little is known about their functions in plant growth and defence responses to abiotic stresses, such as drought. Extreme weather events, such as drought and flooding, will have negative impacts on the yields of crop plants, particularly grain legumes. The concepts that changes in cellular protein content and composition are required for acclimation to different abiotic stresses, and that these adjustments are achieved through regulation of proteolysis, are widely accepted. However, the nature and regulation of the protein turnover machinery that underpins essential stress-induced cellular restructuring remain poorly characterized. Cysteine proteases are intrinsic to the genetic programmes that underpin plant development and senescence, but their functions in stress-induced senescence are not well defined. Transgenic plants including soybean that have been engineered to constitutively express phytocystatins show enhanced tolerance to a range of different abiotic stresses including drought, suggesting that manipulation of cysteine protease activities by altered phytocystatin expression in crop plants might be used to improve resilience and quality in the face of climate change.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0022-0957 1460-2431 ISBN Medium Review  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes CropM Approved no  
  Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4564  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Heinemann, A.B.; Barrios-Perez, C.; Ramirez-Villegas, J.; Arango-Londoño, D.; Bonilla-Findji, O.; Medeiros, J.C.; Jarvis, A. doi  openurl
  Title Variation and impact of drought-stress patterns across upland rice target population of environments in Brazil Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication Journal of Experimental Botany Abbreviated Journal J. Experim. Bot.  
  Volume 66 Issue 12 Pages 3625-3638  
  Keywords Brazil; Climate; Computer Simulation; Crops, Agricultural/physiology; *Droughts; *Environment; Geography; Oryza/*physiology; Plant Transpiration; *Stress, Physiological; Water; Breeding; Oryza sativa; environment classification; modelling; water deficit.  
  Abstract The upland rice (UR) cropped area in Brazil has decreased in the last decade. Importantly, a portion of this decrease can be attributed to the current UR breeding programme strategy, according to which direct grain yield selection is targeted primarily to the most favourable areas. New strategies for more-efficient crop breeding under non-optimal conditions are needed for Brazil’s UR regions. Such strategies should include a classification of spatio-temporal yield variations in environmental groups, as well as a determination of prevalent drought types and their characteristics (duration, intensity, phenological timing, and physiological effects) within those environmental groups. This study used a process-based crop model to support the Brazilian UR breeding programme in their efforts to adopt a new strategy that accounts for the varying range of environments where UR is currently cultivated. Crop simulations based on a commonly grown cultivar (BRS Primavera) and statistical analyses of simulated yield suggested that the target population of environments can be divided into three groups of environments: a highly favorable environment (HFE, 19% of area), a favorable environment (FE, 44%), and least favourable environment (LFE, 37%). Stress-free conditions dominated the HFE group (69% likelihood) and reproductive stress dominated the LFE group (68% likelihood), whereas reproductive and terminal drought stress were found to be almost equally likely to occur in the FE group. For the best and worst environments, we propose specific adaptation focused on the representative stress, while for the FE, wide adaptation to drought is suggested. ‘Weighted selection’ is also a possible strategy for the FE and LFE environment groups.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0022-0957 1460-2431 ISBN Medium Article  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes CropM Approved no  
  Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4560  
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