La quantité et la qualité de la ressource alimentaire varient dans le temps et dans l'espace sous l'influence des conditions environnementales. Il est à présent reconnu qu'une diminution de cette ressource est à l'origine d'un déclin pour bon nombre d'espèces granivores inféodées aux milieux cultivés. Face à cette hétérogénéité, les individus mettent en place différentes stratégies individuelles ou collectives pour garantir leurs besoins énergétiques Dans ce contexte, ce travail s'est attaché à comprendre les stratégies mise en place chez une espèce aviaire caractéristique des agrosystèmes. L'étude expérimentale du compromis alimentation/prédation révèle l'importance de variables environnementales, liées à la ressource, à la taille du groupe ou encore au risque de prédation sur leurs gains énergétiques des individus. Plus étonnamment, nos résultats ont mis en évidence des différences sexuelles dans les stratégies d'acquisitions d'énergie. Les choix effectués par les individus dans la réalisons de ce compromis ont des conséquences sur la sélection de l'habitat. L'étude de la réponse agrégative a ainsi souligné l'impact du type de culture ou de variables paysagères dans l'utilisation de l'habitat. Enfin, une étude sur le sex-ratio en fonction de la latitude en France a pu mettre en évidence une ségrégation spatiale entre les sexes, avec une forte proportion de mâles au nord, et un rééquilibrage vers le sud. Cette ségrégation sexuelle a pu être mise en relation avec des capacités physiologiques différentes (dépenses énergétiques et hypothermie), soulignant une plus forte tolérance des mâles aux faibles températures hivernales rencontrées dans les latitudes plus élevées.

Marker assisted selection in hybrid breeding of oil seed rape

Abstract Peppermint (Mentha x piperita L.) oil is one of the most popular and widely used essential oils, mostly because of its main components menthol and menthone. Peppermint oil is used for flavouring pharmaceuticals and oral preparations. Corn mint is the richest source of natural menthol. Carvone-scented mint plants, such as spearmint (M. spicata), are rich in carvone and are widely used as spices, and they are cultivated in several countries. Studies were made into the yield and essential oil content of several mint species and the original. The general aim of the work was to examine the optimal conditions for cultivating mint in Northern Finland. The specific aims of the study were (first) to investigate the differences in the oil content for several mint species and (secondly) to compare the effect of various factors such as plant spacing (10, 20 and 30 × 50 cm), liming (0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 tons ha-1), propagation methods (micropropagated and conventionally propagated plants) and harvest date (once at the end of August in comparison with first cut at the beginning of August and second cut in mid September) on the cultivation success, quality and quantity of the plants. The constituents of the essential oil were analysed from leaf samples using GC-MS. Among the peppermints of different origins studied, peppermint of USA and Egypt origin ('Black Mitcham') contain the highest menthol and optimum oil yield. Corn mint and Sachalin mints both had high menthol content. Due to several reasons, such as no significant differences between the different densities and oil composition, markedly higher amount of weeds at 30 × 50 cm than at 10 × 50 and 20 × 50 cm spacing and the high seedling costs and the danger of fungi and disease at a 10 × 50 cm spacing, a plant optimum of 20 × 50 cm spacing is recommended for Northern Ostrobothnia. If the pH value is lower than 6, or levels of Mg and Ca are low, liming at a rate of 4–8 t ha-1 for sandy soils in Finland is recommended in order to achieve higher fresh and oil yields. In the first year, there were no differences in the dry leaf yield of micropropagated and conventionally propagated plants, but the menthol content was significantly higher in conventionally than in micropropagated plants. In the second year, only the dry leaf yield of micropropagated plants was higher than that of their conventionally propagated counterparts. Cutting peppermint only once during full bloom (the end of August) gives the maximum oil yield of good quality. In conclusion, it is possible to achieve as high as or even higher oil quality and dry yield in North Ostrobothnia than it is in central Europe or south Asia. However, this requires observing certain cultivation factors such as having the right type of mint, soil pH, planting density, harvesting time and propagation method In addition, mints must be cultivated in the same place for only two and a maximum for three years.

Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L.) is a noxious perennial weed of many fallow and cropland fields all over the world. Present control methods are not satisfactory for field bindweed. Metsulfuron, 2[[[[(4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazine-2-yl) amino] carbonyl] amino] sulfonyl] benzoic acid, is a new herbicide that has been shown to have activity on bindweed especially when tank mixed with other herbicides. This study was conducted to investigate the field performance and some physiological effects of metsulfuron on field bindweed. Neither metsulfuron alone nor metsulfuron combinations gave persistent control of field bindweed. Metsulfuron usually increased the activity of other bindweed herbicides. Herbicide application to field bindweed in the full bloom growth stage did not control the weed as well as the same treatments in the prebloom growth stages and treating regrowth the fall after tilling bindweed in full blossom. Application of metsulfuron at full bloom decreased seed weight, seed size seed viability and seedling vigor of field bindweed but did not alter seed set. Metsulfuron at 23 g/ha and above caused unacceptable injury to barley (Hordeum vulgaris L.) and oats (Avena sativa L.). Higher rates of metsulfuron resulted in greater phytotoxicity. Metsulfuron stopped photosynthesis of field bindweed within two weeks regardless of herbicide dosage used. Field bindweed seedlings were observed growing in the field under light intensities of 28 to 62 μmoles m-2 s-1 which was below the light compensation point obtained for greenhouse grown bindweed plants (about 65 μmoles m-2 s-1). Higher quantities of 14C labelled metsulfuron per mg plant dry weight were recovered in the above treated leaf sections than in any other parts of bindweed plants. Metsulfuron applied as a foliage spray two days prior to administering 14C metsulfuron significantly increased absorption to the radiolabelled herbicide in field bindweed plants.

The environment can exert strong selective pressures on an organism. When selective pressures on traits differ between environments local adaptation may occur. If there is gene flow between the environments, local adaptation may be slowed or prevented. In plants, particularly weedy ephemerals, germination is a life-history trait that can be a strong determinant on fitness. In this dissertation, I explore the germination traits of two weedy Brassicaceae species, Arabidopsis thaliana and Sinapis arvensis, having populations in different habitats to determine whether germination traits within and between populations vary based on environmental conditions and to assess the extent of local adaptation. In Chapter 1, I assessed which genomic regions of A. thaliana were associated with differences in germination traits due to genotype-by-environment interactions. I performed a genome-wide association study using 100 natural accessions of A. thaliana under four light and nutrient combinations. I found 20 single nucleotide polymorphisms significantly associated with different environments, but none associated specifically with genotype-by-environment interactions. In Chapter 2, I assessed germination traits of S. arvensis collected from agricultural and non-agricultural habitats in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. I discovered that the agricultural collection studied exhibited significantly different germination timing and amounts than the non-agricultural collections, which were statistically indistinguishable from each other. I also found evidence of a strong maternal effect on germination traits. In Chapter 3, I tested whether patterns of genetic variation between agricultural and non-agricultural collections of S. arvensis supported local adaptation to the two habitats even in the face of gene flow. While I expected to see some genetic differentiation between habitats, as seen in Chapter 2, no genetic differentiation was detected and markers putatively under selection were not associated with a particular habitat. I discuss why this might have occurred even though I have evidence for genetically-based phenotypic differentiation between agricultural and non-agricultural populations of S. arvensis. / text

This thesis concerns on biology, occurrence and especially, herbicide regulation of Viola arvensis Murray on arable land. On the land of the farm DZV NOVA Bystřice a small-plot experiment focused on monitoring and regulation of Viola arvensis was carried out. This experiment was carried out from September 2012 to January 2014 on three crops (winter wheat, winter barley and winter rape) in three locations. In the theoretical part we describe the biology and occurrence of this frequent weed. The aim of the thesis was to evaluate the abundance of Viola arvensis and other weed species and verify the effect of different herbicides on Viola arvensis and other weeds. The effectiveness of the tested herbicide combinations was statistically significant for Viola arvensis and also for the other weeds (P 0, 05). The exceptions were Veronica persica, Geranium pussilum and Hordeum vulgare, where the effectiveness of these agents was not proved (P > 0, 05). The results summarize the numbers of weed species and effectiveness of applied herbicides. Viola arvensis was the most frequent weed species found on the examined sites. The effectiveness of herbicide agents used against this weed was very high. The highest was by preparations Maraton + Glean 75 WG, Maraton + Logran 20 WG, Cougar Forte + Logran 20 WG a Sumimax + Glean 75 WG (100 %). Lower was by preparations Butisan 400 SC + Command 36 SC (80 %) a Butisan Star + Garland Forte (75 %). In the winter barley and winter wheat, the applied herbicides were 100% effective, only in the winter rape the effectiveness was lower (75 - 80%). I can confirm the initial hypothesis about the effectiveness of the different herbicides on field pansy because their effectiveness differed.

No description available.

<p>In recent decades, the development of strategies to prevent or slow the loss of biodiversity has become an important task for ecologists. In most terrestrial ecosystems wild-bees play a key role as pollinators of herbs, shrubs and trees. The scope of this thesis was to study 1) pollinator effectiveness of specialist bees vs. generalist flower-visitors, 2) critical floral resources for wild-bees, and 3) methods to estimate the size of wild-bee populations. The wild-bee species <i>Andrena hattorfiana </i>and <i>A. marginata </i>were used as model species. These two species are specialized on pollen from the plant family Dipsacaceae.</p><p>The bee <i>A. hattorfiana </i>was found to be a frequent visitor but a poor pollinator of its preferred food-plant <i>Knautia arvensis</i>. The female bees exert such a strong preference for pollen-producing inflorescences that they likely have deleterious effects on the plant, harvesting valuable pollen that could have been transferred to conspecific stigmas by other flower-visitors. To explore the relationship between wild-bees and their food-plants, the concept of pollen budget was developed. We quantified pollen production in the food-plant population and pollen consumption of wild-bee nests. A survey of the visitation by all flower-visitor taxa indicated that the degree of utilization (the fraction of the total pollen amount that is harvested and utilized by <i>A. hattorfiana</i>) varied from 12% to 80% among <i>K. arvensis</i> populations (N=26). The bee <i>Andrena marginata</i> utilized 44% of the pollen production in a population of <i>Succisa pratensis</i>. The pollen budget suggests that with an average flower-visitor diversity and abundance, 330 individuals of the food-plant <i>K. arvensis </i>are required to sustain a population of 20 <i>A. hattorfiana </i>♀ (the approximate median natural population size). Based on a study of <i>A. hattorfiana</i>, considerable simplifications were proposed for the commonly used mark-recapture design for measuring wild-bee population size. For this species, population size estimated based on mark-recapture data was strongly correlated with the number of observations per survey-walk. The results suggest that large-scale surveys of solitary bee species can be simplified by performing survey-walks.</p><p>The pollen budget and the method proposed for estimating the size of bee populations have the potential to become valuable tools for monitoring and management of wild-bee populations.</p>

In recent decades, the development of strategies to prevent or slow the loss of biodiversity has become an important task for ecologists. In most terrestrial ecosystems wild-bees play a key role as pollinators of herbs, shrubs and trees. The scope of this thesis was to study 1) pollinator effectiveness of specialist bees vs. generalist flower-visitors, 2) critical floral resources for wild-bees, and 3) methods to estimate the size of wild-bee populations. The wild-bee species Andrena hattorfiana and A. marginata were used as model species. These two species are specialized on pollen from the plant family Dipsacaceae. The bee A. hattorfiana was found to be a frequent visitor but a poor pollinator of its preferred food-plant Knautia arvensis. The female bees exert such a strong preference for pollen-producing inflorescences that they likely have deleterious effects on the plant, harvesting valuable pollen that could have been transferred to conspecific stigmas by other flower-visitors. To explore the relationship between wild-bees and their food-plants, the concept of pollen budget was developed. We quantified pollen production in the food-plant population and pollen consumption of wild-bee nests. A survey of the visitation by all flower-visitor taxa indicated that the degree of utilization (the fraction of the total pollen amount that is harvested and utilized by A. hattorfiana) varied from 12% to 80% among K. arvensis populations (N=26). The bee Andrena marginata utilized 44% of the pollen production in a population of Succisa pratensis. The pollen budget suggests that with an average flower-visitor diversity and abundance, 330 individuals of the food-plant K. arvensis are required to sustain a population of 20 A. hattorfiana ♀ (the approximate median natural population size). Based on a study of A. hattorfiana, considerable simplifications were proposed for the commonly used mark-recapture design for measuring wild-bee population size. For this species, population size estimated based on mark-recapture data was strongly correlated with the number of observations per survey-walk. The results suggest that large-scale surveys of solitary bee species can be simplified by performing survey-walks. The pollen budget and the method proposed for estimating the size of bee populations have the potential to become valuable tools for monitoring and management of wild-bee populations.

Submitted by Sandra Pereira (srpereira@ufrrj.br) on 2017-03-30T12:28:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2010 - Marco Andre Alves de Souza.pdf: 5657340 bytes, checksum: becf46e090a1ebcc4a731b733c77fb6a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-30T12:28:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2010 - Marco Andre Alves de Souza.pdf: 5657340 bytes, checksum: becf46e090a1ebcc4a731b733c77fb6a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-01-18 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico - CNPq / The cultivation of aromatic specimens for obtaining essential oils have great economic importance, mainly by increasing demand in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry. Brazil is the largest producer of essential oil, however, is what earns less in money value, because, its production is mainly of orange essential oil, with low added value. The essential oil of M. arvensis is rich in menthol (70-80%), a natural products with higher demand in daily life of modern man. Currently, Brazil has become a major importer of menthol which has contributed negatively to the brazilian trade balance. Thus, for the development of this work was chosen to be a specimens of economic interest and social demand, the Mentha arvensis. The purpose of study was to evaluate whether changes in light intensities and different levels of phosphorus promote changes in biomass production and nutrition, with consequences for the biosynthesis of essential oils. We also analyzed the influence of leaf age on the quality of essential oil. To this end, the plant of M. arvensis was grown under the effect of different conditions, which allowed the analysis of the levels of soluble fractions, of photosynthetic pigments, the activities of enzymes related to nitrogen assimilation and the anatomical and histochemical study of trichomes, morphological structure where it is produce the essential oil. The study also included analysis of the expression of genes related to the route of menthol synthesis. The essential oil was obtained by extraction with hydrodestillation in modified Clevenger and the chemical analysis of substances obtained by GC-MS. The Kovats index was used to collaborate in identification of the main substances in essential oil. The results showed that the essential oil quality is determined by physiological conditions and leaf age and that the production is dependent on the synthesis efficiency and density of trichomes on the leaves. In addition, it was found that different concentrations of phosphorus affected some aspects of plant metabolism, which reflected the production of biomass in the soluble fraction, with consequences on production and quality of essential oils. Also showed that variations in light levels affected the expression of six of the eight genes involved in the route of synthesis of menthol, in plants of M. arvensis and that changes in gene expression are probably associated with a transcription factor, which could be acting on the whole pathway. All of this information showed that environmental conditions and / or nutritional affected some aspects of plant metabolism, which reflected the production of biomass, of trichomes and on the expression of genes related to the route of menthol, which reflect on the quality and the production of essential oils / O cultivo de esp?cies arom?ticas para a obten??o de ?leos essenciais tem grande import?ncia econ?mica, principalmente, pela crescente demanda nas ind?strias de alimentos, de cosm?ticos e a farmac?utica. O Brasil ? o maior produtor de ?leo essencial, entretanto, ? o que menos arrecada em valores monet?rios, pois, sua produ??o ? basicamente de ?leo essencial de laranja, com baixo valor agregado. O ?leo essencial de Mentha arvensis L. ? rico em mentol (70-80%), uma dos produtos naturais com maior demanda no dia-a-dia do homem moderno. Atualmente, o Brasil tornou-se um grande importador de mentol o que tem contribu?do negativamente para a balan?a comercial brasileira. Deste modo, para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho escolheu-se a planta M. arvensis. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar se varia??es nas intensidades luminosas e diferentes concentra??es de f?sforo promovem altera??es na produ??o de biomassa e em aspectos nutricionais, com reflexos na bioss?ntese de ?leos essenciais. Tamb?m foi avaliada a influ?ncia da idade da folha sobre a qualidade do ?leo essencial. Com esta finalidade, a planta de M. arvensis foi cultivada sob o efeito de diferentes condi??es, o que permitiu a an?lise dos teores das fra??es sol?veis, dos pigmentos fotossint?ticos, das atividades das enzimas relacionadas com a assimila??o do nitrog?nio e o estudo histoqu?mico e anat?mico dos tricomas secretores, estrutura morfol?gica onde ? produzido o ?leo essencial. Tamb?m foram realizadas analises da express?o dos genes relacionados com a rota de s?ntese do mentol. O ?leo essencial foi obtido por hidrodestila??o em Clevenger modificado e as analises qu?micas das subst?ncias realizadas por CG/EM. A utiliza??o do ?ndice de Kovats auxiliou na identific??o das principais subst?ncias no ?leo essencial. Os resultados permitiram concluir que a qualidade do ?leo essencial ? determinada pelas condi??es fisiol?gicas e a idade das folhas e que a produ??o ? dependente da efici?ncia de s?ntese e a densidade de tricomas secretores nas folhas. Al?m disso, foi constatado que as diferentes concentra??es de f?sforo afetaram alguns aspectos do metabolismo vegetal, os quais refletiram na produ??o de biomassa, nas fra??es sol?veis, com conseq??ncias na produ??o e qualidade dos ?leos essenciais. Tamb?m, mostraram que varia??es nos n?veis de luminosidade afetaram a express?o de seis entre os oito genes envolvidos com a rota de s?ntese do mentol, em plantas de M. arvensis e que as altera??es na express?o dos genes provavelmente est?o associados a um fator de transcri??o, o qual deve estar atuando sobre toda a rota metab?lica