CSIRO PUBLISHING | Crop and Pasture Science

CP21612Long-term rundown of plant-available potassium in Western Australia requires a re-evaluation of potassium management for grain production: a review

Qifu Ma

, Richard Bell

, Craig Scanlan and Andreas Neuhaus

pp. 981-996

Potassium deficiency is increasingly common throughout the agricultural zones of Western Australia, due to continuous removal of potassium in grain and hay, with little fertiliser input. It has become a limiting factor for crop yields. We review the long-term rundown of plant-available potassium across the region, and address soil and crop factors and farming practices that may affect soil availability and potassium use efficiency in dryland agriculture. Future research is also discussed.

CP21612 Abstract | CP21612 Full Text | CP21612PDF (3.9 MB) Open Access Article

CP21766Genome-wide mining of B-type cytokinin response regulators in wheat reveals the involvement of TaRR5.1-6A in drought and salt tolerance

Yifeng Hu

, Hongmei Cui, Pengliang Xia, Gensen Liu, Xingyang Wu, Yiting Li, Yan Yang, Fansong Zeng, Yan Li and Dongfang Ma

pp. 997-1010

Cytokinin response regulators are important components of the two component signal systems that are involved in the regulation of plant growth and development, and in the response to abiotic stresses. The results of qRT-PCR showed that Triticum aestivum response regulators (TaRRs) were significantly up-regulated under polyethylene glycol treatments. Under sodium chloride stress, TaRRs were up-regulated to varying degrees, These results provide new ideas for further exploring the role of B-type TaRR genes in plant response to drought stress and salt stress.

CP21769Identification of important genes involved in priming induced drought tolerance in barley through transcriptomic data mining

Zahra Zinati

and Sima Sazegari

pp. 1011-1025

Recognising the high importance of the priming process in improving stress tolerance, this study focused on the effect of the seed priming process in barley at a molecular level. We obtained interesting results about seed priming related genes. This study provides useful results to be applied by scientists in barley environmental stresses tolerance manipulation programmes.

CP21610Transcriptome analysis of maize pollen grains under drought stress during flowering

Yinping Zhang, Soualiou Soualihou, Juan Li, Yonghan Xu, Ray J. Rose, Yong-Ling Ruan, Jincai Li and Youhong Song

pp. 1026-1041

Drought stress reduces the quantity and quality of pollen grains, resulting in significant loss of kernel setting and thus final yield. This study identified a suite of genes in maize controlling drought stress for development of pollen grains and pollen tubes. Our findings improve the understanding of gene networks in regulating reproductive drought tolerance in maize.

CP21673Chickpea and lentil show little genetic variation in emergence ability and rate from deep sowing, but small-sized seed produces less vigorous seedlings

Sarah M. Rich

, Jens Berger, Roger Lawes

and Andrew Fletcher

pp. 1042-1055

Chickpea and lentil crops can successfully emerge from extremely deep sowing; however, the impact of variety or seed size is unknown. We found little genetic variation for emergence ability and rate of deep-sown seeds. Pre-emergent shoot elongation is prioritised, such that seedlings from very small seeds have reduced shoot diameter and root vigour at emergence. In the field, 200 mm sowing depth caused minor reductions in emergence in lentil, but biomass and yield were not effected in either crop.

CP21673 Abstract | CP21673 Full Text | CP21673PDF (2.2 MB) | CP21673Supplementary Material (2.6 MB) Open Access Article

CP21723The reaction rate and residual value in southern New South Wales of 12 commercial liming materials from around Australia

M. K. Conyers

, B. J. Scott, M. G. Whitten and G. J. Poile

pp. 1056-1069

Soil acidity can only be corrected by the application of liming materials and the selection from amongst available products needs to be based on the likely cost effectiveness of the product at increasing soil pH. We compared 12 commercially available products and found that their chemical purity and fineness were the major determinants of effectiveness in both the short and longer term (to 7 years). This provides growers and advisers with clear guidelines for the assessment of alternative liming materials.

CP21311High-throughput single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping reveals population structure and genetic diversity of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) populations

Zeynab Shahabzadeh, Reza Darvishzadeh, Reza Mohammadi

, Morad Jafari and Hadi Alipour

pp. 1070-1084

Single nucleotide polymorphisms were used to identify genetic diversity and differentiation of forage, turf and hybrid genotypes of tall fescue. The results will support breeders to select genetically distant parents for crossing in breeding programs, expand the genetic variation of breeding accessions and utilise the studied tall fescue resources more effectively, as well as in further association mapping studies.

CP21736Seed functional traits in cultivars of tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus) are affected by the non-toxic fungal endophyte AR584

Mailen A. Riveira Rubin

, Andrea C. Ueno

, Diego Batlla, Leopoldo J. Iannone, María A. Martínez-Ghersa and Pedro E. Gundel

pp. 1085-1096

Symbiotic microorganisms are used in plant breeding to improve pasture productivity, but further information is needed about their host-dependent effects. Here, we studied how a non-toxic fungal endophyte strain interacts with commercial tall fescue cultivars in affecting seed behavior. Endophyte effects on seed viability and germination depend strongly on the cultivar and therefore, highlight the importance of the cultivar-by-endophyte interaction when choosing the best symbiont for given environmental conditions.