The use of leaf mulch as a soil cover is effective in improving yield and soil fertility. The field experiment was conducted during 2010 and 2011 to study the effect of plant spacing (30 cm × 30 cm and 45 cm × 30 cm) and four mulches {pine needles (Pinus roxburghii), poplar leaf (Populus deltoides), silver oak (Grevillea robusta) tree leaf mulch and unmulched control} on growth, yield, qual...

Background The cultivation of poplars (Populus spp.) is favored for forestry and reclamation purposes all over the northern hemisphere where they represent a commercially important resource. Poplars may become a component of programs to optimize carbon sequestration however; poplars are generally regarded as drought sensitive. The patterns of episodic drought over the last decade suggest that t...

Populus species are currently being domesticated through intensive time- and resource-dependent programs for utilization in phytoremediation, wood and paper products, and conversion to biofuels. Poplar leaf rust disease can greatly reduce wood volume. Genetic resistance is effective in reducing economic losses but major resistance loci have been race-specific and can be readily defeated by the ...

Trees in the genus Populus (poplar) contain phenolic secondary metabolites including the proanthocyanidins (PAs), which help to adapt these widespread trees to diverse environments. The transcriptional activation of PA biosynthesis in response to herbivory and ultraviolet light stress has been documented in poplar leaves, and a regulator of this process, the R2R3-MYB transcription factor MYB134...

In temperate agricultural watersheds, the rehabilitation of tree vegetation in degraded riparian zones can provide many ecosystem services. This study evaluated ecosystem service provision potential following the conversion of non-managed herbaceous buffers to hybrid poplar (Populus spp.) buffers in three watersheds (555–771 km2) of southern Québec (Canada), with contrasting agricultural land u...

Wild and cultivated plants represent very different habitats for pathogens, especially when cultivated plants bear qualitative resistance genes. Here, we investigated to what extent the population genetic structure of a plant pathogenic fungus collected on its wild host can be impacted by the deployment of resistant cultivars. We studied one of the main poplar diseases, poplar rust, caused by t...

Family 1 glycosyltransferases catalyse the glycosylation of small molecules and play an important role in maintaining cell homeostasis and regulating plant growth and development. In this study, a putative glycosyltransferase gene of family 1, PtGT1, was cloned from poplar (Populus tomentosa Carr.). Sequence analysis showed that this gene encodes a protein of 481 amino acid residues with a cons...

Survival and productivity of perennial plants in temperate zones are dependent on robust responses to prolonged and seasonal cycles of unfavorable conditions. Here we report whole-genome microarray, expression, physiological, and transgenic evidence in hybrid poplar (Populus tremula × Populus alba) showing that gibberellin (GA) catabolism and repressive signaling mediates shoot growth inhibitio...

Plants have developed biochemical responses to adapt to biotic stress. To characterize the resistance mechanisms in poplar tree against Apripona germari, comprehensive metabolomic changes of poplar bark and xylem in response to A. germari infection were examined by gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF/MS). It was found that, four days after feeding (stage I), A. germari i...

Poplars (Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh) accumulate a 32-kD bark storage protein (BSP) in phloem parenchyma and xylem ray cells during autumn and winter. Accumulation of poplar BSP is associated with short-day (SD) photoperiods. Poplar BSP shares sequence similarity with the product of the wound-inducible poplar gene win4. The influence of nitrogen availability and photoperiod on the levels ...