Starch-Based Super Water Absorbent: A Promising and Sustainable Way to Increase Survival Rate of Trees Planted in Arid Areas.

This research aimed to scale up the production of starch-based super water absorbent (SWA) and to validate the practical benefits of SWA for agricultural applications. SWA was successfully prepared in an up-scaling production by radiation-induced graft polymerization of acrylic acid onto cassava starch. Chemical characterization by FTIR and thermal characterization by TGA showed results that differentiated starting materials from the prepared SWA, thus confirming effective preparation of starch-based SWA via radiation-induced graft polymerization. SEM results visibly revealed a highly porous morphology of the synthesized SWA, substantiating its high swelling ability. Results from the field tests, performed for two seasons, revealed that the prepared SWA was able to increase the survival rate of young rubber trees planted in arid area by up to 40%, while simultaneously enhancing the growth characteristics of the young rubber trees.

Construction of a high-density integrated genetic linkage map of rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS).

Construction of linkage maps is crucial for genetic studies and marker-assisted breeding programs. Recent advances in next generation sequencing technologies allow for the generation of high-density linkage maps, especially in non-model species lacking extensive genomic resources. Here, we constructed a high-density integrated genetic linkage map of rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), the sole commercial producer of high-quality natural rubber. We applied a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technique to simultaneously discover and genotype single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in two rubber tree populations. A total of 21,353 single nucleotide substitutions were identified, 55% of which represented transition events. GBS-based genetic maps of populations P and C comprised 1704 and 1719 markers and encompassed 2041 cM and 1874 cM, respectively. The average marker densities of these two maps were one SNP in 1.23-1.25 cM. A total of 1114 shared SNP markers were used to merge the two component maps. An integrated linkage map consisted of 2321 markers and spanned the cumulative length of 2052 cM. The composite map showed a substantial improvement in marker density, with one SNP marker in every 0.89 cM. To our knowledge, this is the most saturated genetic map in rubber tree to date. This integrated map allowed us to anchor 28,965 contigs, covering 135 Mb or 12% of the published rubber tree genome. We demonstrated that GBS is a robust and cost-effective approach for generating a common set of genome-wide SNP data suitable for constructing integrated linkage maps from multiple populations in a highly heterozygous agricultural species.

The leaf, inner bark and latex cyanide potential of Hevea brasiliensis: evidence for involvement of cyanogenic glucosides in rubber yield.

The latex of Hevea brasiliensis, expelled upon bark tapping, is the cytoplasm of anastomosed latex cells in the inner bark of the rubber tree. Latex regeneration between two tappings is one of the major limiting factors of rubber yield. Hevea species contain high amounts of cyanogenic glucosides from which cyanide is released when the plant is damaged providing an efficient defense mechanism against herbivores. In H. brasiliensis, the cyanogenic glucosides mainly consist of the monoglucoside linamarin (synthesized in the leaves), and its diglucoside transport-form, linustatin. Variations in leaf cyanide potential (CNp) were studied using various parameters. Results showed that the younger the leaf, the higher the CNp. Leaf CNp greatly decreased when leaves were directly exposed to sunlight. These results allowed us to determine the best leaf sampling conditions for the comparison of leaf CNp. Under these conditions, leaf CNp was found to vary from less than 25 mM to more than 60 mM. The rubber clones containing the highest leaf CNp were those with the highest yield potential. In mature virgin trees, the CNp of the trunk inner bark was shown to be proportional to leaf CNp and to decrease on tapping. However, the latex itself exhibited very low (if any) CNp, while harboring all the enzymes (beta-D-diglucosidase, linamarase and beta-cyanoalanine synthase) necessary to metabolize cyanogenic glucosides to generate non-cyanogenic compounds, such as asparagine. This suggests that in the rubber tree bark, cyanogenic glucosides may be a source of buffering nitrogen and glucose, thereby contributing to latex regeneration/production.

Characterization of polypeptides accumulated in the latex cytosol of rubber trees affected by the tapping panel dryness syndrome.

The tapping panel dryness (TPD) syndrome of rubber is characterized by the reduction or ultimately total cessation of latex flow upon tapping, due to physiological disorders in the bark tissue. The protein pattern in the cytoplasm from healthy and TPD tree latex cells was compared by electrophoresis. Two polypeptides (P15 and P22) of 15 and 22 kDa, respectively, were found to accumulate in the cytosol of the TPD-affected trees, whereas a 29 kDa polypeptide (P29) appeared de novo. P15 and P22 were identified as REF (Hev b1) and SRPP (Hev b3), respectively, two proteins proposed to be involved in rubber biosynthesis. P29 appeared to be a new member of the patatin-like protein family. Specific molecular probes were designed for a detailed characterization of REF and SRPP gene expression and RFLP mapping. This allowed the demonstration that REF and SRPP display very similar expression profiles. They are highly over-expressed by the tapping-induced metabolic activation, although not by wounding per se, or ethylene or ABA. In addition to this similarity in gene expression, they were found to share one common locus in the genome. No significant difference in REF and SRPP gene expression was observed between healthy and TPD trees, indicating that their TPD-related accumulation in the cytosol was not transcriptionally regulated. Western blot analysis demonstrated that osmotic lysis of the sedimentable organelles (lutoids) in vitro caused the release of REF and SRPP from the rubber particle membrane into the cytosol. A mechanism of cellular delocalization as a consequence of the lutoids instability is proposed to explain REF and SRPP accumulation in the cytosol of TPD trees.