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Author McKersie, B.
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 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 (down) CropM Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4568
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Author Meyer, P.
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 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 (down) CropM Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4569
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Author Kunert, K.J.; van Wyk, S.G.; Cullis, C.A.; Vorster, B.J.; Foyer, C.H.
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 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 (down) CropM Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4564
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Author Heinemann, A.B.; Barrios-Perez, C.; Ramirez-Villegas, J.; Arango-Londoño, D.; Bonilla-Findji, O.; Medeiros, J.C.; Jarvis, A.
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 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 (down) CropM Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4560
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Author Coucheney, E.; Buis, S.; Launay, M.; Constantin, J.; Mary, B.; García de Cortázar-Atauri, I.; Ripoche, D.; Beaudoin, N.; Ruget, F.; &rianarisoa, K.S.; Le Bas, C.; Justes, E.; Léonard, J.
Title Accuracy, robustness and behavior of the STICS soil–crop model for plant, water and nitrogen outputs: Evaluation over a wide range of agro-environmental conditions in France Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication Environmental Modelling & Software Abbreviated Journal Env. Model. Softw.
Volume 64 Issue Pages 177-190
Keywords soil-crop model; stics; model performances; plant biomass; soil nitrogen; soil water; remote-sensing data; goodness-of-fit; hydrological model; simulation-models; solar-radiation; regional-scale; climate-change; generic model; data set; validation
Abstract Soil-crop models are increasingly used as predictive tools to assess yield and environmental impacts of agriculture in a growing diversity of contexts. They are however seldom evaluated at a given time over a wide domain of use. We tested here the performances of the STICS model (v8.2.2) with its standard set of parameters over a dataset covering 15 crops and a wide range of agropedoclimatic conditions in France. Model results showed a good overall accuracy, with little bias. Relative RMSE was larger for soil nitrate (49%) than for plant biomass (35%) and nitrogen (33%) and smallest for soil water (10%). Trends induced by contrasted environmental conditions and management practices were well reproduced. Finally, limited dependency of model errors on crops or environments indicated a satisfactory robustness. Such performances make STICS a valuable tool for studying the effects of changes in agro-ecosystems over the domain explored. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1364-8152 ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) CropM Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4554
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