Role of Organic Matter and Carbonates in Soil Aggregation Estimated Using Laser Diffractometry

>Aggregation in many soils in semi-arid land is affected by their high carbonate contents.The presence of lithogenic and/or primary carbonates can also inffuence the role of soil organic matter(SOM) in aggregation.The role of carbonates and SOM in aggregation was evaluated by comparing the grain-size distribution in two carbonate-rich soils(15% and 30% carbonates) under conventional tillage after different disaggregating treatments.We also compared the effect of no-tillage and conventional tillage on the role of these two aggregating agents in the soil with 30% of carbonates.Soil samples were treated as four different ways:shaking with water(control),adding hydrochloric acid(HCl) to remove carbonates,adding hydrogen peroxide(H2O2) to remove organic matter,and consecutive removal of carbonates and organic matter(HCl + H2O2),and then analyzed by laser diffraction grain-sizing.The results showed that different contributions of carbonates and SOM to aggregate formation and stability depended not only on their natural proportion,but also on the soil type,as expressed by the major role of carbonates in aggregation in the 15% carbonate-rich soil,with a greater SOC-to-SIC(soil organic C to soil inorganic C) ratio than the 30% carbonate-rich soil.The increased organic matter stocks under no-tillage could moderate the role of carbonates in aggregation in a given soil,which meant that no-tillage could affect the organic and the inorganic C cycles in the soil.In conclusion,the relative role of carbonates and SOM in aggregation could alter the aggregates hierarchy in carbonate-rich soils.

Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis of Salt Adaptation in Roots of Contrasting Medicago truncatula Genotypes

Evolutionary diversity can be driven by the interaction of plants with different environments. Molecular bases involved in ecological adaptations to abiotic constraints can be explored using genomic tools. Legumes are major crops worldwide and soil salinity is a main stress affecting yield in these plants. We analyzed in the Medicago truncatula legume the root transcriptome of two genotypes having contrasting responses to salt stress： TN1.11, sampled in a salty Tunisian soil, and the reference Jemalong A17 genotype. TN1.11 plants show increased root growth under salt stress as well as a differential accumulation of sodium ions when compared to A17. Transcriptomic analysis revealed specific gene clusters preferentially regulated by salt in root apices of TN1.11, notably those related to the auxin pathway and to changes in histone variant isoforms. Many genes encoding transcription factors （TFs） were also differentially regulated between the two genotypes in response to salt. Among those selected for functional studies, overexpression in roots of the A17 ge- notype of the bHLH-type TF most differentially regulated between genotypes improved significantly root growth under salt stress. Despite the global complexity of the differential transcriptional responses, we propose that an increase in this bHLH TF expression may be linked to the adaptation of M. truncatula to saline soil environments.