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11 pages, 1364 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Long Should Grasses of South American Campos Grasslands Rest for Stockpiling Forage?

by Marlon Risso Barbosa, Martín Durante, Luciana Marin, Fiorella Cazzuli, Fernando Luiz Ferreira de Quadros, Rob M. Dixon, Franklin Riet Correa and Martin Jaurena

Agronomy 2024, 14(8), 1790; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14081790 - 14 Aug 2024

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Abstract

Stockpiling forage (i.e., deferring grazing) is one way to provide forage for livestock during intervals of low pasture growth, but there are trade-offs as nutrient content declines with increasing forage maturity. Phosphorous (P) concentration, crude protein (CP) content and organic matter digestibility (OMD) were evaluated in two C3 and four C4 grasses native to the South American Campos grasslands. These were: Bromus auleticus (BROAUL) and Nasella neessiana (NASNEE) as C3 grasses and Andropogon lateralis (ANDLAT), Mnesithea selloana (MNESEL), Paspalum dilatatum (PASDIL), and Paspalum notatum (PASNOT) as C4 grasses. The grasses were grown in pots during five stockpiling periods (450, 900, 1350, 1800 and 2250 degree days, approximately 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 days). As the forage deferment increased, the nutritional value decreased more in C4 than in C3 grasses. Short rest periods (approximately 40 days) are recommended for PASDIL and MNESEL, and medium rest periods (approximately 80 days) for ANDLAT and PASNOT. However, the C3 grasses BROAU and NASNEE maintained high P and CP concentrations and may be the most appropriate option for long rest periods (≥100 days). This information is important to manage different Campos grassland communities for the optimal rest period according to the dominant species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing the Yield and Nutritive Value of Forage and Biomass Crops)

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10 pages, 244 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Impact of Ensiling at Different Moisture Contents on Germinability and Viability of Selected Weed Species’ Seeds

by John W. Piltz, Kristy L. Bailes, Suzanne P. Boschma and Leslie A. Weston

Agronomy 2021, 11(8), 1639; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11081639 - 17 Aug 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2578

Abstract

Weeds are an increasingly significant issue inhibiting agricultural production worldwide. Forage conservation could form part of an integrated weed management program if ensiling killed weed seeds. In Experiment 1, seeds of five grass (Hordeum spp., Bromus diandrus, Bromus hordeaceum, Lolium rigidum and Vulpia spp.) and two broad-leaved temperate weed species (Echium spp. and Raphanus raphanistrum), that were either untreated, ensiled in pasture (Trifolium subterranean/Lolium rigidum mixture) forage for a minimum of three months, underwent 48 h in sacco digestion in steers or ensiled prior to digestion were tested for germinability and viability. In Experiment 2, seeds of eight tropical weed species (Cenchrus ciliaris, Rumex spp., Bidens pilosa, Sorghum halepense, Urochloa panicaoides, Paspalum dilatatum, Brachiara eruciformis and Choris truncata) were ensiled in Sorghum bicolor forage. In Experiment 3, L. rigidum and R. raphanistrum seeds were ensiled in either Medicago sativa forage wilted to 336.9, 506.5 or 610.7 g/kg dry matter; or in chaff to which water or water plus acid was added at rates to achieve 350, 450 or 550 g/kg dry matter content with lactic plus acetic acid added in the ratio of 3:2 at 80, 45 or 10 g/kg DM, respectively. In Experiment 4, L. rigidum and R. raphanistrum seeds were ensiled in cotton wool to which water or water plus acid was added at the same rates as in Experiment 3. Germinability of all seeds following ensiling was substantially reduced or nil. The extent of the reduction varied with species and experiment. In sacco digestion reduced germinability in Experiment 1, but to a lesser extent than ensiling; while ensiling plus digestion reduced germination rates to 0%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Weed Management Approaches and Decision Support Systems)

11 pages, 1027 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Can Hydromulch Reduce the Emergence of Perennial Weeds?

by Maria Teresa Mas, Gabriel Pardo, Jorge Pueyo, Antoni M. C. Verdú and Alicia Cirujeda

Agronomy 2021, 11(2), 393; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020393 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3122

Abstract

Herbicide weed control is difficult in the first years of perennial crop establishment or in minor crops, and plastic sheet mulches can leave persistent residues. Liquid spray-on mulch (hydromulch) might be a solution in these cases. To test three hydromulch formulations on perennial weed emergence, greenhouse assays were conducted for two years in two localities to evaluate their rhizome sprouting and shoot emergence. Data, obtained from a completely randomized block design, were analyzed by means of generalized linear mixed models with binomial distribution and logit link function; the effects of hydromulch, species, and their interaction were considered fixed, while the other sources of variation (i.e., locality, year, block and rhizome length) were considered random. All three hydromulches, based on wheat straw, rice husk, and used substrate for mushroom cultivation, were capable of reducing rhizome sprouting of all four species tested when compared to the non-mulched treatment. Many rhizomes sprouted but were trapped under the mulch layer, especially those of Paspalum dilatatum (87%), Cynodon dactylon, and Sorghum halepense (around 50%), while Cyperus rotundus was least affected by the hydromulch treatments (16%). All three blends showed promising results in the reduction of perennial weed emergence, warranting field trials to test combined weed management strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weed Management & Sustainable Agriculture)

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20 pages, 824 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Full Genome Sequence Analysis of Two Isolates Reveals a Novel Xanthomonas Species Close to the Sugarcane Pathogen Xanthomonas albilineans

by Isabelle Pieretti, Stéphane Cociancich, Stéphanie Bolot, Sébastien Carrère, Alexandre Morisset, Philippe Rott and Monique Royer

Genes 2015, 6(3), 714-733; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes6030714 - 23 Jul 2015

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 8113

Abstract

Xanthomonas albilineans is the bacterium responsible for leaf scald, a lethal disease of sugarcane. Within the Xanthomonas genus, X. albilineans exhibits distinctive genomic characteristics including the presence of significant genome erosion, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesis (NRPS) locus involved in albicidin biosynthesis, and a type 3 secretion system (T3SS) of the Salmonella pathogenicity island-1 (SPI-1) family. We sequenced two X. albilineans-like strains isolated from unusual environments, i.e., from dew droplets on sugarcane leaves and from the wild grass Paspalum dilatatum, and compared these genomes sequences with those of two strains of X. albilineans and three of Xanthomonas sacchari. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) and multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA) showed that both X. albilineans-like strains belong to a new species close to X. albilineans that we have named “Xanthomonas pseudalbilineans”. X. albilineans and “X. pseudalbilineans” share many genomic features including (i) the lack of genes encoding a hypersensitive response and pathogenicity type 3 secretion system (Hrp-T3SS), and (ii) genome erosion that probably occurred in a common progenitor of both species. Our comparative analyses also revealed specific genomic features that may help X. albilineans interact with sugarcane, e.g., a PglA endoglucanase, three TonB-dependent transporters and a glycogen metabolism gene cluster. Other specific genomic features found in the “X. pseudalbilineans” genome may contribute to its fitness and specific ecological niche. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Population and Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics)

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