Effects of gibberellic acid on tiller-bulb number and growth performance of Lilium davidii var. unicolor

Lilium davidii var.unicolor(Lanzhou lily)is an important economic crop in the northwest cold and arid regions of China.Effective regulation of tiller-bulb development and plant growth is the key to improving yield and quality of the lily.This study attempted to evaluate the effect of gibberellic acid(GA3)on tiller-bulb development and plant growth of Lanzhou lily by applying GA3 at various concentrations(0 mg/L,10 mg/L,30 mg/L,60 mg/L,and 100 mg/L)before planting and in the seedling period.Results showed that the 60-mg/L GA3 application had an inhibiting effect on tiller-bulb formation and increased the ratios of single and double bulbs but decreased the ratios of bulbs with three or more tiller bulbs,as com pared to the control(CK)and other GA3 treatments.The difference in flower number did not reach significant levels among the treatments.The tillering-related endogenous hormones IAA(indole-3-acetic acid)and Z(zeatin)content de creased,while IAA/Z increased with the 60-mg/L GA3 treatment during tiller initiation.And also,the shoot-bulb number and total daughter-bulb number decreased significantly with the 60-mg/L GA3 treatment.Furthermore,the 10-mg/L GA3 application promoted growth of Lanzhou lily significantly and resulted in an increase in plant height;bulb diameter;bulb circumference;and biomass of shoots,bulbs,fibrous roots,and the whole plant.Therefore,GA3 application is promising as a new regulation method for inhibiting tiller-bulb development and promoting bulb growth in Lanzhou lily production.

Adaptive evolution of rbcL in Reaumuria soon garica(Tamaricaceae)

In the field of phylogenetic analyses, the rbcL gene encoded large subunit Ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase （Rubisco, EC4.1.1.39）, which plays a crucial role in the process of photosynthesis for most terrestrial plants, has been considered to be conserved; however, recent controversy regarding rbcL conservation has appeared since it was proposed to be under natural selection within all principal lineages of land plants. In this study, by examining the variation of DNA and protein sequences among 17 species in the family Tamaricaceae, three nonsynonymous mutations were identified to be under positive selection. The favored sites were located in the alph-helix domains of Rubisco, with decreased hydrophobicity and increased entropy, which could facilitate C〇 2 penetration into the active site of Rubisco. We also found that the expression level of rbcL in different genotypes of Reaumuria soongarica shifted in response to various stresses such as drought, temperature, salt, and light. This study not only sheds light on the functional/structural features of Rubisco in the evolution scenarios from 〇 3-like into C4 in Tamaricaceae but also provides useful information on directing genetic performance to enhance photosynthesis efficiency of desert plants for sustaining fragile desert ecosystems; fur-thermore, it promotes the ability to cope with desert aridification and global warming.