Nickel (Ni) is an essential micronutrient required for plants’ metabolism due to its role as a structural component of urease and hydrogenase, which in turn perform nitrogen (N) metabolism in many legume species. Seed treatment with cobalt, molybdenum and Bradyrhizobium strains has been widely practiced to improve crops. Additionally, seed treatment together with Ni fertilization of soybean mig...

Aims Both human and non-human determinants have shaped Mediterranean forest structure over the last few millennia. The effects of recent human activities on forest composition, however, remain poorly understood. We quantified changes in forest composition during the past century in the mixed forests of Quercus suber (cork oak) and Q. canariensis (Algerian oak), and explored the effects of fores...

Thirty species of parasites were recovered from seven adult male Malayan red jungle fowls Gallus gallus spadiceus from Ulu Langat, Selangor, Malaysia. Fifteen species of the parasites are newly recorded for this host; they are Pseudolynchia canariensis, Eimeria sp., Trichomonas gallinarum, Ascaridia galli, Capillaria annulata, Capillaria contorta, Cardiofilaria nilesi, Dispharynx spiralis, Gong...

Avena fatua and Phalaris minor are narrow-leaved weeds that pose problems for many crops. In order to study the effects of sodium chloride (NaCl) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) on germination and initial seedling growth of Avena fatua and Phalaris minor, an experiment was conducted based on a completely randomized design with 4 replications under laboratory conditions during 2011-2012. Eight lev...

A study was designed to provide information about the best plantation techniques for Pinus canariensis in the southern part of Tenerife, at the old pine forest location (precipitation <250mm and 12oC mean annual temperature). Two study sites were selected (Fasnia and Arico); in each site two plots of 5 ha were established. In total, 4 plots were located and in each plot, 32 subplots of 16 x 16 ...

The effect of extreme temperature on the quantum yield of fluorescence and membrane leakage of Pinus canariensis growing in 5 stands at different altitudes and orientation in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) was determined. Needles were collected from the field and transferred to the laboratory where they were kept in a closed chamber with water-saturated air overnight. Then they were exposed f...

Chloroplast microsatellites are becoming increasingly popular markers for population genetic studies in plants, but there has been little focus on their potential for demographic inference. In this work the utility of chloroplast microsatellites for the study of population expansions was explored. First, we investigated the power of mismatch distribution analysis and the F(S) test with coalesce...

Genotyping by sequencing allows for large-scale genetic analyses in plant species with no reference genome, but sets the challenge of sound inference in presence of uncertain genotypes. We report an imputation-based genome-wide association study (GWAS) in reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L., Phalaris caesia Nees), a cool-season grass species with potential as a biofuel crop. Our study inv...