Browsing by study line "Kasvintuotantotieteet"

During the last 50 years, agriculture in Finland has become more intensive, open semi-natural farmland habitats have disappeared and the number of animals and plants has been declining. Nectar plants are beneficial resources in agroecosystems. They support crop pollinators, and natural enemies of pests and other species dependent on nectar. Nectar plants can also be indicators of biodiversity. Nectar source plants in field margins provide nectar (and pollen) over the growing season. Various plants benefit from different margins, and their frequency and distribution can be connected with the landscape structure and latitude. This study examined the distribution of nectar plants in field margins of farmland in Southern Finland and determined what plant species provide nectar and at what time of the season. The objectives of the research were to describe the species composition of nectar plant communities in Southern Finland, and hence the biodiversity of plants, and to study the distribution of nectar source plants in the most common margin types. The data were obtained from the Luonto-Mytvas Project research programme “Significance of the Finnish agri-environment support scheme for biodiversity and landscape (Nature MYTVAS)” in 2000-2006. In order to find out what plants have good nectar (pollen) availability literature sources and bee calendars were used. The results shows that the majority of 50 most frequent plants species included in the analysis have value as nectar and pollen sources available for pollinators. There were four different functional groups (f) of plants in the research, depending on their nectar availabilities. The frequent plants in the field margins are available as nectar/pollen sources to pollinators, from April until September-October. There are only few species dependent on margin type in their occurrence. Frequencies of most of the species from all the four groups varied, however, between field-to-field and field-to-road margins.

Nutrients get deposited in lake sediment from agricultural areas and other anthropogenic activities resulting in internal P loading and eutrophication. On the other hand, the situation with P rock (non renewable resource) used for production of mineral fertilizer is alarming that result in the depletion of P rock and increase P fertilizers price. The issue can be minimized by sediment removal and recycling nutrients from sediment for crop production. The existing results on sediment P availability for crops showed contradictory results and suggested that sediment P bioavailability for the crop is influenced by sediment iron to phosphorus mass ratio. However, comprehensive studies confirming their relationship are currently lacking. Hence, the study aims to determine the potential of sediment as fertilizers for crop (ryegrass) from several eutrophic lakes (in Finland and Estonia). The aim is to identify the effect of different lake sediments on ryegrass aboveground biomass and nutrient uptake. The study was conducted on greenhouse for around 6 months. Randomised complete block design was used for the experiment. The experimental treatments include sand with six different lake sediments: Peipsi, Lämmijärv, Kutajärvi, Kymijärvi, Matjärvi and Enonselkä basin of Vesijärvi, mineral fertilizer (positive) and without P fertilizer (negative) control. The biomass (yield) and nutrient uptake by the plants were measured and then analyzed for nutrient content. Significant effect of lake sediment was observed on ryegrass yield and P uptake. The significantly higher yield was observed for Lake Peipsi sediment treatment than in both controls. The ryegrass dry matter yield was greater in sediment treatments than negative control. Also, ryegrass yield was found to be greater in some sediment treatments than positive control. The concentration of nutrients (sulphur, calcium, magnesium, and potassium) was sufficient in ryegrass plant in all lake sediment treatments. The P uptake from Enonselkä sediment treatment was the highest whereas from Kutajärvi sediment treatment was the lowest. The P uptake was the highest (16.3 kg ha-1) in Enonselkä sediment treatment with the lowest Fe:P ratio of 12. Moreover, the result suggests that Fe:P mass ratio is one of the factors/sediment properties that determine P availability to the crops. However, other sediment properties may also affect P availability in the plants as organic P fraction was also used as an additional P source in some cases. The sediment increased C content and organic matter content compared to controls which improved ryegrass growth in sediment treatments. The increase in nutrient uptake and biomass in lake sediment treatments showed that lake sediment can be potential alternatives for fertilizers in nutrient deficient soil.

It is important to study the factors which inhibit the cultivation of major crops which serve as a source of food and feed, with various other medicinal values as well. One of these factors is soil degradation and infertility which could be due to high amounts of toxic elements or unfavourable pH conditions. Faba bean is one such crop and is widely affected by the acidity and aluminium toxicity in soil. In this study, an effort has been made to observe the varying tolerance of faba bean accessions and understand the underlying mechanisms used by them under stress conditions. The accessions selected were Aurora, Babylon and Kassa. Each accession was subjected to three treatments and were grown in pH 7 (control), pH 4.5 (acid treatment) and pH 4.5 + Al3+ (aluminium treatment). The pH of peat for acidic treatment was reduced to 4.5 using Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and for aluminium treatment, Aluminium sulphate (Al2(SO4)3) was added in addition to the acid. At 16 Day after Sowing (DAS) and 30 DAS the physiological data was collected which comprised of chlorophyll concentration (SPAD value), stomatal conductance, leaf temperature and photosynthesis rate. At 35 DAS, the experiment terminated and the shoot data (fresh and dry weights of leaves and stem; and leaf area) of each plant was recorded. Then the root data (tap root length, quality and quantity of nodules and photographs of roots) was taken for each plant. ICP samples for peat, shoot and shoot were also analysed. The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance using R version 4.0.3. (means separated by 5% significance level). From the plant data, Aurora was found to be tolerant. Kassa was sensitive (especially the roots) and Babylon was sensitive to both acid and aluminium treatments. The ICP results provided the reason for this tolerance pattern and a higher concentration of elements needed for plant growth such as P and S were found to be higher in aluminium and acid treatments.

Late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary, is considered the most devastating disease in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production worldwide. Control methods involve mostly the use of fungicides, which are costly and are under political pressure for reduction in Europe. Potatoes from the major potato cultivar in Sweden, King Edward, previously stacked with three resistance (R) genes (RB, Rpi-blb2 and Rpi-vnt1.1) were tested in a local Swedish field, with spontaneous P. infestans infection over three seasons to evaluate the effectiveness and stability of the resistance on leaves. In addition, testing of resistance was done in both in leaves and tubers. Field results demonstrated that the 3R stacked into the cultivar King Edward, showed practically full resistance to infections of P. infestans, with no difference to fungicide use. Moreover, the resistance was effective in both leaves and tubers. The results reveal the 3R potatoes offer a functional field resistance, that could, alone, reduce the total use of fungicides in agriculture by several percent in Sweden, in an event of modifications in the EU legislation.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is an annual herbaceous cool-season food legume widely cultivated worldwide, especially for its high seed protein content. However, its major limitation in being used as food and feed, is the presence of antinutritional factors in its seeds, especially vicine and convicine (VC), two related compounds, which may be harmful to livestock and G6PD-deficient humans. To remove VC, the most sustainable method is breeding for low-VC faba bean cultivars. To improve the efficiency and speed of breeding programs, breeders use marker-assisted selection (MAS). The identification of genes responsible for VC content allows the development of reliable DNA markers and a better understanding of the molecular basis of this trait. The major-effect QTL controlling VC content named “VC1”, was identified in faba bean chromosome 1, and a few minor-effect QTLs were detected in previous studies. Hence, a total of 165 RILs from the cross Mélodie/2 (low-VC) x ILB 938/2 (high-VC) were genotyped and evaluated for VC content. Composite interval mapping was run on R/qtl software with accurate phenotypic data associated with a high-density SNP-based genetic map. Results revealed two minor-effect QTLs in addition to VC1. One was on chromosome 4 and had about 15% effect on convicine content. The other was on chromosome 5 and had 15% effect on vicine and total VC content. This research also reports candidate genes for the newly detected minor-effect QTLs through comparative genomics with the Medicago truncatula genome. Hypotheses were proposed on the role of these candidate genes on the VC biosynthetic pathway or transportation into the embryo beans for further testing.

Fusarium proliferatum has recently become a major threat to onion, which is an important food crop for food security and has a significant role in the agricultural sector. This fungus is found causing rots and producing mycotoxin fumonisin that, if ingested, can cause carcinogenic effects in humans and fatal diseases in animals. F. proliferatum has been identified as a pathogen causing rots and wilts in many plants in several countries, and recently some isolates of this pathogen were also found in Finland causing basal rot in onion. Though F. proliferatum has wide adaptability and pathogenicity, there are research gaps on this newly emerging pathogen, which is mostly limited to some specific hosts such as maize. There is a lack of knowledge of its infection mechanisms and mycotoxin production dynamics in onion. This experimental work was conducted at the University of Helsinki, Finland, to study the nature of pathogenicity and toxin gene expression of F. proliferatum in laboratory conditions as a function of time. Spore suspensions of three isolates of F. proliferatum, Fpr047, Fpr049, and Fpr919, were prepared and used as inoculums that were injected into healthy organically grown onions, which were then stored in dark for five weeks. Control bulbs were inoculated with sterile water. Pathogen virulence, based on symptom development, and fungal colonization in the onion tissues were determined at five different time points and the toxin gene expression was determined at three time points. Colonization levels were determined by real-time PCR using primers binding to the intergenic spacer (IGS) region of F. proliferatum. A part of the IGS region of the three isolates was sequenced to study the diversity between the isolates. All the tested isolates were found to be virulent, and they colonized the onions after one week from inoculation. However, the isolate Fpr919 appeared different from the other two in terms of symptom severity. It was more aggressive than the other two, causing disease symptoms earlier and causing more severe rot symptoms in the infected bulbs. It also had nucleotide sequence variations in the IGS region in comparison with the other two isolates, suggesting genetic diversity. No significant differences were observed between the isolates in the fungal colonization levels. Expression of FUM1 gene and a putative virulence gene SIX2-1 was detected by RT-RT-PCR in most of the infected tissue samples. The results obtained signify that F. proliferatum is a pathogen with the potential of producing fumonisin toxin in onion, suggesting the need for further molecular study on this fungus to control the disease and prevent mycotoxin contamination in plant products.

Strawberry breeding in Finland began 60 years ago and has largely relied on traditional breeding methods. The geography of Finland, as well as local consumer preferences for darker-coloured strawberries, have been the main focus of selection in all implemented Finnish breeding programs. With several successful and popular cultivars have been released, the current focus is on increasing yield and disease resistance while maintaining the excellent fruit quality of breeders' selections. A panel of 175 garden strawberry accessions was created and trialled at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) as part of a Nordic-Baltic pre-breeding collaboration between the institute and the Norwegian breeding company Graminor AS. A medium-density, genome-wide scan for 50K SNPs has been performed on each individual of the panel. This panel represents the genetic diversity present and typical for cultivated strawberry in the Nordic-Baltic region, and it is expected to provide Nordic breeders with markers tailored to their plant material diversity, supporting their future selection decisions and accelerating their breeding cycles. In this study, symptom severities of two strawberry leaf diseases (leaf spot caused by Mycosphaerella fragariae and leaf scorch caused by Diplocarpon earlianum) and seven fruit quality traits (berry weight, skin colour, flesh colour, evenness of flesh colour, basket appearance, predominant berry shape and tip type) were scored in the panel. GAPIT and statgenGWAS statistical packages in R were used to run five different GWAS models: Significant SNP-trait associations were found using single-locus (GLM and MLM) and multi-locus (FarmCPU and BLINK) association mapping analyses. The study had shed a light on the importance of considering several statistical models and parameters for a maximum benefit of association mapping studies. Among significant SNP-trait associations for fruit weight, fruit skin colour and fruit flesh colour, four were partially characterized by inspecting their allelic effects. On chromosome Fvb6-1, appearance of consensus, significant signals from the flesh colour trait of secondary-position berries is discussed. Nine significant SNP-marker associations were detected for berry weight.

Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) is an important cereal disease worldwide and has become an essential breeding target in wheat. FHB generates considerable losses in terms of grain yield and quality of the seeds in cereal crops. The mycotoxins produced by some Fusarium species, such as deoxynivalenol (DON), directly impact the farmers. In fact, DON accumulation results in unmarketable harvest due to the associated health hazards (vomiting, diarrhea, fever etc). Facing DON risks, the European Commission had to establish a maximum concentration of the mycotoxin in unprocessed cereals. Avoidance mechanisms of the plants against disease infections were identified in diverse studies and are known as the passive resistance. These mechanisms related to phenotypic traits such as variations in plant height (PH), heading date (HD) or the presence of awns could possibly reduce the FHB infection of the wheat. On another hand, the active resistance is determined by genetic factors so called quantitative trait loci (QTL). QTL identification via population mapping was established to be a useful tool to find loci regions associated with FHB resistance. Therefore, in this study we aimed to find phenotypic and genotypic correlations with Fusarium Head Blight resistance among 108 winter bread wheat genotypes. By estimating the heritability of the agronomic traits, we wanted to determine if it would be efficient to breed for those traits. Furthermore, we had the objective to detect FHB resistance QTL from our winter bread wheat genotypes and finally, to observe the overlapping QTL’s regions between FHB resistance and the QTL of the HD or of the PH. It was found that the HD had strong negative phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of correlation with FHB severity and DON concentration. The HD had also an important heritability and direct effect on FHB severity. By performing a GWAS analysis, QTL associated to FHB resistance were found on the chromosomes 1B, 2B, 3A, 3B, 5A, 5B, 5D, 6A, 6B ,7B among the studied genotypes. Overlapping QTL were observed between FHB resistance and HD on the chromosomes 1B, 2B, 3B, 5A, 5B, 6B but also between FHB resistance and PH on the chromosomes 2B, 3A, 3B, 5A, 6A. In conclusion, the HD was considered as an escape mechanism against FHB. It seems to be feasible to select chromosomes fragments with favorable QTL for FHB genetic resistance. Those traits could be involved in marker assisted or genomic selection programmes after the approval of the observed QTL detected to develop FHB resistant cultivars.

Jääsalaattia (Lactuca sativa var. crispa L.) tuotetaan ympärivuotisesti kasvihuoneessa ja se on kuluttajien keskuudessa suosittu lehtivihannes. Jääsalaatti kerää monien muiden lehtivihannesten tapaan nitraattia ja sen nitraattipitoisuudet voivat nousta melko suuriksikin. Jääsalaatin nitraattipitoisuuteen vaikuttavat useat eri tekijät, kuten laji, lajike, lannoitustaso ja valon intensiteetti. Tehokkailla nitraattipitoisuuden hallintakeinoilla voidaan parantaa tuottajan mahdollisuuksia vaikuttaa sadon laatuun. Valtaosa ravinnon mukana saatavasta nitraatista on peräisin lehtivihanneksista. Euroopan unioni on asettanut katteen alla kasvatetun salaatin nitraattipitoisuudelle talvi- ja kesäkauden raja-arvot. Nitraatti on ihmisen terveydelle haitallinen yhdiste, sillä osa siitä muuttuu elimistössä nitriitiksi, mikä kasvattaa etenkin pienten lasten methemoglobinemian riskiä. Glysiinibetaiini on osmolyytti ja solun metabolian kanssa yhteensopiva yhdiste. Monet viljelykasvit syntetisoivat glysiinibetaiinia vasteena abioottisille stresseille ja se parantaa kasvien stressinkestävyyttä myös eksogeenisesti annettuna. Glysiinibetaiinia saadaan ravinnon mukana esimerkiksi viljatuotteissa ja se on ihmisille turvallinen yhdiste, jota voidaan käyttää myös ravintolisänä. Glysiinibetaiinia eristetään muun muassa sokerijuurikkaan melassista ja sitä voidaan käyttää orgaanisena lannoitteena tai kasvunedistäjänä kasvintuotannossa. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää glysiinibetaiinin käyttömahdollisuuksia jääsalaatin tuotannon edistäjänä. Kasvihuonekokeessa seitsemän vuorokautta kestänyt glysiinibetaiinikäsittely aloitettiin jääsalaattien ollessa 29 vuorokauden ikäisiä. Glysiinibetaiinikäsittelyjen pitoisuudet olivat 0, 1, 7,5 ja 15 mM. Jääsalaatin nitraattipitoisuus, glysiinibetaiinipitoisuus sekä tuore- ja kuivamassa määritettiin 24, 29, 36, 41 ja 49 vuorokauden ikäisistä kasveista. Tutkimus toteutettiin kiertovesiviljelyjärjestelmässä ja glysiinibetaiinikäsittely annettiin ravinneliuoksessa. Jääsalaatit ottivat eksogeenisesti annettua glysiinibetaiinia. Glysiinibetaiinikäsittely pienensi jääsalaatin nitraattipitoisuutta seitsemän vuorokauden käsittelyn jälkeen merkitsevästi kontrolliin verrattuna ja alenema oli suoraan verrannollinen käsittelyn pitoisuuteen. Lisäksi glysiinibetaiinikäsittely pienensi jääsalaatin tuorepainoa ja suurensi kuiva-ainepitoisuutta. Määrityksissä myös jääsalaatin glysiinibetaiinipitoisuuden havaittiin olevan suoraan verrannollinen käsittelyn pitoisuuteen.

Nykypäivänä maatalous on suurissa määrin niin Suomessa kuin globaalistikin riippuvainen teollisista typpilannoitteista, ja ne ovat olleet oleellinen osa maatalouden tuottavuuden kasvua. Niiden tuotantoprosessissa tarvitaan kuitenkin fossiilisia energianlähteitä ja mineraalilannoitteiden käytön yleistymisen myötä viljely on yksipuolistunut. Palkokasvien, kuten härkäpavun lisäämisellä viljelykiertoihin on mahdollista korvata teollisia typpilannoitteita biologisella typensidonnalla. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää härkäpavun esikasvivaikutusta kauran kuiva-aine- ja typpisadon muodostukseen. Tavoitteena oli myös tutkia typpilannoituksen vaikutusta kuiva-aine- ja typpisatoon sekä kauran biomassan ja typenoton kehitystä ajan suhteen, nettomineralisaatiota ja kumulatiivisia N2O-N-emissioita. Aineisto saatiin Leg4Life-hankkeen peltokokeen erilaisia viljelykasvijärjestyksiä edustavista koejäsenistä, joissa kasvoi kauraa kasvukaudella 2021. Kaurasta oli neljä koejäsentä, joilla oli eri esikasvit ja typpilannoitustasot: 1) lannoittamaton kaura, jonka esikasvina oli härkäpapu-rapsi-seos, jolla oli aluskasvina raiheinä 2) lannoitettu kaura (90 kg (N)/ha-1) jonka esikasvina oli härkäpapu-rapsi-seos, jolla oli aluskasvina raiheinä 3) lannoitettu kaura (90 kg (N)/ha-1) jonka esikasvina oli härkäpapu, jolla aluskasvina oli raiheinä, 4) monokulttuurina viljelty lannoitettu kaura (90 kg (N)/ha-1). Kasvustosta kerättiin biomassanäytteitä koko kasvukauden ajan ja sadonkorjuun yhteydessä kerättiin jyväsatonäytteet. Koeruuduista otettiin pintamaanäytteitä NH4+- ja NO3- -pitoisuuksien laskemiseksi ja N2O-emissioita mitattiin pimeäkammiomenetelmällä kahden viikon välein. Kaikkien kaurakoejäsenten kuiva-aine- ja typpisadot olivat samaa suuruusluokkaa, eikä käsittelyiden väliltä löytynyt tilastollisesti merkitseviä eroja. Ennakko-odotusten vastaisesti ei havaittu, että kauralla, jonka esikasvina oli härkäpapu tai härkäpapu-rapsi-seos olisi merkittävästi suuremmat kuiva-aine- ja typpisadot verrattuna monokulttuurikauraan. Toisaalta kuiva-aine- ja typpisadot eivät olleet myöskään pienemmät verrattuna monokulttuurina viljeltyyn kauraan, mikä vastasi toista ennakko-odotusta. Myöskään typpilannoitetuilla koejäsenillä satojen ei havaittu olevan merkittävästi suurempia kuin ei-typpilannoitetun kaurakoejäsenen. Tulosten mukaan koeruuduissa, joissa oli härkäpapu esikasvina, kasvukauden alussa pintamaan NH4+- ja NO3- -pitoisuudet olivat suuremmat kuin monokulttuurikaurassa, mutta kasvukauden sääolosuhteiden vuoksi typpeä todennäköisesti poistui pintamaasta denitrifikaation tai huuhtoutumisen muodossa. Esikasvi- ja typpilannoituskäsittelyiden laskennalliset vaikutukset vaihtelivat. Korsien kuiva-ainesadon osalta ainoastaan härkäpavun satoa lisäävä vaikutus oli trendinomaisesti tilastollisesti merkitsevä. Typpisadon osalta härkäpavun positiivinen vaikutus oli trendinomaisesti tilastollisesti merkitsevä ja härkäpapu-rapsi-seoksen positiivinen vaikutus tilastollisesti merkitsevä. Vaikka tässä tutkimuksessa ei havaittu tilastollisesti merkitseviä eroja eri koejäsenten kuiva-aine- ja typpisatojen välillä, ei myöskään ilmennyt, että härkäpapu esikasvina aiheuttaisi merkittäviä negatiivisia vaikutuksia sitä seuraavan kauran kuiva-aine- ja typpisatoon verrattuna monokulttuurikauraan, vaan sadot olivat samaa suuruusluokkaa. Kasvukausi 2021 oli sääolosuhteiltaan poikkeuksellinen vähäisen sadannan ja korkean keskilämpötilan suhteen, ja sen aiheuttamat sadonalenemat tässä tutkimuksessa voivat olla ennuste Suomen viljelyolosuhteiden tulevaisuudesta. Lisätutkimuksia aihepiiristä erityisesti Pohjoismaiden viljelyolosuhteissa tarvitaan.