The invasive longhorn beetle Xylotrechus chinensis, pest of mulberries, in Europe: Study on its local spread and efficacy of abamectin control.

The invasive wasp-mimicking Tiger Longicorn Beetle, Xylotrechus chinensis, a potentially lethal pest of mulberry trees (Moraceae: Morus sp.), was first reported in Europe in 2018, although its colonization and establishment were estimated to have occurred during the year 2012 or earlier. In Catalonia the infestation spread from four towns and 44.1 km2 in 2018 to 12 towns and 378.1 km2 in 2020; in the studied town of Barberà del Vallès, infested trees rose from 16.21% in February 2016 to 59.29% in December 2018. Human safety in public parks and avenues is a concern, as beetle infestation increases the risk of falling branches. The main objective of this study was to evaluate how the infestation progresses over time, with and without abamectin treatment, and provide insights into female egg-laying preferences. Such knowledge helps contribute to management efforts to reduce expansion of the range of beetle infestation. Our statistical analysis shows that females prefer laying eggs on larger trees, on the highest part of trunks and on the crown base (this being more preferred than the trunk), and they do so on warmer, SW orientations rather than those facing N, NW and E. Emergence holes and gallery slits predict the spreading of infestations to new trees. An abamectin treatment (trunk injection) carried out at the end of April significantly reduced the number of new infestation. However, for maximum insecticide efficiency, the best time for treating with abamectin would be from mid-July to mid-August, when newly hatched larvae begin feeding on the phloem.

Relationships of growth, stable carbon isotope composition and anatomical properties of leaf and xylem in seven mulberry cultivars: a hint towards drought tolerance.

The fast growth of mulberry depends on high water consumption, but considerable variations in drought tolerance exist across different cultivars. Physiological and anatomical mechanisms are important to plant survival under drought. However, few research efforts have been made to reveal the relationships of these two aspects in relation to drought tolerance. In this study, growth rates, leaf functional physiology and anatomical characteristics of leaf and xylem of 1-year-old saplings of seven mulberry cultivars at a common garden were compared. Their relationships were also explored. Growth, leaf physiology and anatomy were significantly different among the tested cultivars. Foliar stable carbon isotope composition (δ13 C) was negatively correlated with growth rates, and closely related to several leaf and xylem anatomical traits. Particularly, leaf thickness, predicted hydraulic conductivity and vessel element length jointly contributed 77% of the variability in δ13 C. Cultivar Wupu had small stomata, intermediate leaf thickness, the smallest hydraulically weighted vessel diameter and highest vessel number, and higher δ13 C; Yunguo1 had high abaxial stomatal density, low specific leaf area, moderate hydraulic conductivity and δ13 C; these are beneficial features to reduce leaf water loss and drought-induced xylem embolism in arid areas. Cultivar Liaolu11 had contrasting physiological and anatomical traits compared with the previous two cultivars, suggesting that it might be sensitive to drought. Our findings indicate that growth and δ13 C are closely associated with both leaf and xylem anatomical characteristics in mulberry, which provides fundamental information to assist evaluation of drought tolerance in mulberry cultivars and in other woody trees.

A Systematic Review of the Medicinal Potential of Mulberry in Treating Diabetes Mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a serious metabolic disorder which has reached epidemic proportions all over the world. Despite tremendous developments in medicinal chemistry, traditional medicine is still commonly used for the prevention and treatment of DM. Traditional herbal medicines have played a major role in the management of DM in Asian countries. In particular, mulberry has commonly been utilized in China for the treatment of DM for thousands of years. In the last decade, numerous preclinical findings have suggested that mulberry is a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of DM, and the polyhydroxylated alkaloids, flavonoids and polysaccharides from mulberry may be the potential active components. The present review systematically summarizes the chemical composition of mulberry and the pharmacological effects of different medicinal parts on DM; these effects include influences on glucose absorption, insulin (INS) production/secretion, anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation processes. After summarizing our research findings, we will discuss the challenges and opportunities and explore the direction of future research and the potential for developing mulberry into pharmaceuticals for the widespread treatment of DM.

Morphological diversity of Morus spp. (Mulberry accessions) grown in Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan / La diversidad morfológica de Morus spp. (accesiones de mora) cultivados en Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu y Cachemira, Pakistán

Genetic diversity of thirty mulberry accessions was determined by using the eleven different phenotypic characters. The study was conducted in field areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The main objective of this study was to find out the diversity in morphological characters of Mulberry accessions found in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan. The results showed that there is a significant difference in quantitative parameters among the thirty accessions (p≤0.001). The cluster analysis showed that the data is divided into two main groups at near 80 dissimilarity level. This study suggests that the Morus germplasm is quite diverse.

Se determinó la diversidad genética de treinta accesiones de mora utilizando once caracteres fenotípicos diferentes. El estudio se realizó en áreas de campo de Azad Jammu y Cachemira. El objetivo principal de este estudio fue conocer la diversidad en los caracteres morfológicos de lss accesiones de mora encontrados en Azad Jammu, Cachemira y Pakistán. Los resultados mostraron que hay una diferencia significativa en los parámetros cuantitativos entre las treinta accesiones de mora (p≤0.001). El análisis de conglomerados mostró que los datos se dividen en dos grupos principales a un nivel de disimilitud cercano a 80. Este estudio sugiere que el germoplasma de Morus es muy diverso.

A common developmental program can produce diverse leaf shapes.

Eudicot leaves have astoundingly diverse shapes. The central problem addressed in this paper is the developmental origin of this diversity. To investigate this problem, we propose a computational model of leaf development that generalizes the largely conserved molecular program for the reference plants Arabidopsis thaliana, Cardamine hirsuta and Solanum lycopersicum. The model characterizes leaf development as a product of three interwoven processes: the patterning of serrations, lobes and/or leaflets on the leaf margin; the patterning of the vascular system; and the growth of the leaf blade spanning the main veins. The veins play a significant morphogenetic role as a local determinant of growth directions. We show that small variations of this model can produce diverse leaf shapes, from simple to lobed to compound. It is thus plausible that diverse shapes of eudicot leaves result from small variations of a common developmental program.

Life span and structure of ephemeral root modules of different functional groups from a desert system.

The terminal branch orders of plant root systems have been proposed as short-lived 'ephemeral' modules specialized for resource absorption. The occurrence of ephemeral root modules has so far only been reported for a temperate tree species and it is unclear if the concept also applies to other woody (shrub, tree) and herb species. Fine roots of 12 perennial dicotyledonous herb, shrub and tree species were monitored for two growing seasons using a branch-order classification, sequential sampling and rhizotrons in the Taklamakan desert. Two root modules existed in all three plant functional groups. Among the first five branch orders, the first two (perennial herbs, shrubs) or three (trees) root orders were ephemeral and had a primary anatomical structure, high nitrogen (N) concentrations, high respiration rates and very short life spans of 1-4 months, whereas the last two branch orders in all functional groups were perennial, with thicker diameters, no or collapsed cortex, distinct secondary growth, low N concentrations, low respiration rates, but much longer life spans. Ephemeral, short-lived root modules and long-lived, persistent root modules seem to be a general feature across many plant functional groups and could represent a basic root system design.

Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analyses of Autotetraploid and Diploid Mulberry (Morus alba L.).

Autopolyploid plants and their organs are often larger than their diploid counterparts, which makes them attractive to plant breeders. Mulberry (Morus alba L.) is an important commercial woody plant in many tropical and subtropical areas. In this study, we obtained a series of autotetraploid mulberry plants resulting from a colchicine treatment. To evaluate the effects of genome duplications in mulberry, we compared the phenotypes and transcriptomes of autotetraploid and diploid mulberry trees. In the autotetraploids, the height, breast-height diameter, leaf size, and fruit size were larger than those of diploids. Transcriptome data revealed that of 21,229 expressed genes only 609 (2.87%) were differentially expressed between diploids and autotetraploids. Among them, 30 genes were associated with the biosynthesis and signal transduction of plant hormones, including cytokinin, gibberellins, ethylene, and auxin. In addition, 41 differentially expressed genes were involved in photosynthesis. These results enhance our understanding of the variations that occur in mulberry autotetraploids and will benefit future breeding work.

Metabolomic analysis reveals the potential metabolites and pathogenesis involved in mulberry yellow dwarf disease.

To analyse the molecular mechanisms of phytoplasma pathogenicity, the comprehensive metabolomic changes of mulberry leaf and phloem sap in response to phytoplasma infection were examined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The metabolic profiles obtained revealed that the metabolite compositions of leaf and phloem sap were different, and phytoplasma infection has a greater impact on the metabolome of phloem sap than of leaf. Phytoplasma infection brought about the content changes in various metabolites, such as carbohydrates, amino acids, organic acids, etc. Meanwhile, the results of biochemical analysis showed that the degradation of starch was repressed, and the starch content was increased in the infected leaves. In addition, we found that phytoplasma infection changed the levels of abscisic acid and cytokinin and break phytohormone balance. Interestingly, our data showed that the contents of H2O2 and superoxide were increased in the infected leaves, but not in the phloem saps. Based on the results, the expression levels of the genes involved in the metabolism of some changed metabolites were examined, and the potential molecular mechanisms of these changes were discussed. It can be concluded that both the leaf and phloem saps have a complicated metabolic response to phytoplasma infection, but their response mechanisms were different.

Changes in leaf organisation, photosynthetic performance and wood formation during ex vitro acclimatisation of black mulberry (Morus nigra L.).

Changes in anatomical organisation of the leaf, photosynthetic performance and wood formation were examined to evaluate the temporal and spatial patterns of acclimatisation of micropropagated slow-growing black mulberry (Morus nigra L.) plantlets to the ex vitro environment. Leaf structure differentiation, the rates of net photosynthesis (P(n)), transpiration (E) and stomatal conductance (g(s)), and secondary xylem growth were determined in the course of a 56-day acclimatisation. Differentiation of palisade parenchyma was observed 7 days after transfer. At this stage, the rates of P(n), E and g(s) reached maximum values, after which the rates of all three gas exchange parameters gradually decreased. The highest proportion of woody area occupied by vessels was also observed 7 days after transfer. An important feature of developing woody tissue is the difference in patterns of vessel distribution from the characteristic differentiation patterns of earlywood and latewood vessels in mature wood of ring-porous trees. Vessels with lumen areas over 3000 microm(2) were only differentiated in acclimatised plantlets, whereas vessels in stems sampled on days 0 and 7 had very small lumen areas of up to 560 microm(2). Full acclimatisation, observed 56 days after transfer to the ex vitro environment, was associated with the rapid growth of new in vivo formed leaves, very low rates of E and g(s), and much increased secondary xylem tissue within the stem area.

Genetic diversity and interrelationship among mulberry genotypes.

Fourteen morphometric traits were used to examine the genetic divergence of 25 mulberry (Morus spp.) genotypes from varied agroclimatic conditions of India. Wide variation was observed for all the traits. The genotypes irrespective of their place of collection were grouped into 10 different clusters. Seven accessions, that is, Baragura-2, Gorabandha-2, Kalimpong, Herbertpur, Kollegal, Resham majri-7, and UP-14 each a cluster of unique entries will be of useful for genetic resources. Nevertheless, the correlation and path analysis suggest the direct selection of lamina length, fresh leaf weight, leaf area, and single leaf weight will be rewarding for mulberry leaf yield improvement.

Antioxidant responses to enhanced generation of superoxide anion radical and hydrogen peroxide in the copper-stressed mulberry plants.

The aim of the study was to implicate the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and altered cellular redox environment with the effects of Cu-deficiency or Cu-excess in mulberry (Morus alba L.) cv. Kanva 2 plants. A study of antioxidative responses, indicators of oxidative damage and cellular redox environment in Cu-deficient or Cu-excess mulberry plants was undertaken. While the young leaves of plants supplied with nil Cu showed chlorosis and necrotic scorching of laminae, the older and middle leaves of plants supplied with nil or 0.1 microM Cu showed purplish-brown pigmented interveinal areas that later turned necrotic along the apices and margins of leaves. The Cu-excess plants showed accelerated senescence of the older leaves. The Cu-deficient plants showed accumulation of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion radical. The accumulation of hydrogen peroxide was strikingly intense in the middle portion of trichomes on Cu-deficient leaves. Though the concentration of total ascorbate increased with the increasing supply of Cu, the ratio of the redox couple (DHA/ascorbic acid) increased in Cu-deficient or Cu-excess plants. The activities of superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1), catalase (EC 1.11.1.6), peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7), ascorbate peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.11) and glutathione reductase (EC 1.6.4.2) increased in both Cu-deficient and Cu-excess plants. The results suggest that deficiency of Cu aggravates oxidative stress through enhanced generation of ROS and disturbed redox couple. Excess of Cu damaged roots, accelerated the rate of senescence in the older leaves, induced antioxidant responses and disturbed the cellular redox environment in the young leaves of mulberry plants.

Asymmetrical introgression between two Morus species (M. alba, M. rubra) that differ in abundance.

Asymmetrical introgression is an expected genetic consequence of hybridization when parental taxa differ in abundance; however, evidence for such effects in small populations is scarce. To test this prediction, we estimated the magnitude and direction of hybridization between red mulberry (Morus rubra L.), an endangered species in Canada, and the introduced and more abundant white mulberry (Morus alba L.) using nuclear (randomly amplified polymorphic DNA) and cytoplasmic (chloroplast DNA sequence) markers. Parentage of 184 trees (n = 42 using cpDNA) from four sympatric populations was estimated using a hybrid index and related to six morphological characters and population frequencies of the parental classes. Overall, the frequency of nuclear hybrids was 53.7% (n = 99) and ranged from 43% to 67% among populations. The parental and hybrid taxa differed with respect to all of the morphological traits. Sixty-seven percent of all hybrids contained more nuclear markers from M. alba than M. rubra (hybrid index x = 0.46); among populations, the degree of M. alba bias was correlated with the frequency of M. alba. In addition, the majority of hybrids (68%) contained the chloroplast genome of white mulberry. These results suggest that introgression is bidirectional but asymmetrical and is related, in part, to the relative frequency of parental taxa.

Genetic analysis of Indian mulberry varieties through molecular markers.

India is one of the countries where sericulture is being practiced traditionally. Due to the higher economic return and the greater employment potential, attempts are being made to increase the productivity by developing high yielding mulberry varieties. At the present, Mysore local, Bomaypiasbari, Kanva-2, Bilidevalaya, Kajli, S1, BC(2)59, C776, RFS-175, S-36 and Victory-1 are being cultivated extensively in different parts of India for rearing the silkworm Bombyx mori L. Using 17 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and 11 inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers the genetic relationships among these varieties were analyzed. The RAPD and ISSR primers revealed more than 75% polymorphism among the varieties. The genetic similarity estimated from RAPD markers varied from 0.645, between Kajli and Victory-1 to 0.887, between Kanva-2 and Bilidevalaya. Similarly, the genetic similarity estimated from the ISSR markers ranged from 0.600, between Kajli and Victory-1, to 0.873 between Kanva-2 and BC(2)59. The dendrogram constructed from these markers grouped the varieties into three major groups comprising the low yielding, medium yielding and high yielding. The low genetic similarity between the group of varieties originating from the eastern regions with that of the southern region encourages formation of extensive breeding programs between these groups as to transfer the high yield potential of the southern varieties to the low yielding but highly adaptive eastern varieties.

[Research on microstructure of caulis herb].

OBJECTIVE: To provide reference for the microscopic identification of caulis herb. METHOD: Systematic arrangement and comparative studies were carried out on the microstructure of medicinal herb of different groups and shapes. RESULT: The rule and characteristics of the microstructure of caulis herb were discussed, and the sorting search list of the microstructure of common caulis herb was established. CONCLUSION: The microstructure characteristics of caulis herb, as the reference of the microscopic identification, are of research value.

[Studies on the microstructure of cortex herbs].

OBJECTIVE: Provide a basis for the micro-identification of cortex herbs. METHOD: The microstructure characteristics of different types and positions of cortex herbs have been compared, studied, systematized and arranged. RESULT: The characteristic and the rule of the common micro-identification of cortex herbs inquiring table have been compiled. CONCLUSION: The microstructure characteristics of cortex herbs as an important basis for the micro-identification of cortex herbs study value.

[Microscopic identification on the Folium Mori and the leaves of its allied species from Shandong].

The Folium Mori and the leaves of its allied species Morus australis Poir., M. mongolica Schneid. from Shandong were identified. The result shows that they are identified easily and accurately according to epidermis, trichomes and blade.