Plant-soil feedbacks of forest understorey plants transplanted in nonlocal soils along a latitudinal gradient.

Climate change is driving movements of many plants beyond, as well as within, their current distributional ranges. Even migrant plants moving within their current range may experience different plant-soil feedbacks (PSF) because of divergent nonlocal biotic soil conditions. Yet, our understanding to what extent soil biotic conditions can affect the performance of within-range migrant plants is still very limited. We assessed the emergence and growth of migrant forest herbs (Milium effusum and Stachys sylvatica) using soils and seeds collected along a 1,700 km latitudinal gradient across Europe. Soil biota were manipulated through four soil treatments, i.e. unsterilized control soil (PSFUS ), sterilized soil (PSFS ), sterilized soil inoculated with unsterilized home soil (PSFS+HI ) and sterilized soil inoculated with unsterilized foreign soil (PSFS+FI , expected to occur when both plants and soil biota track climate change). Compared to PSFS , PSFUS had negative effects on the growth but not emergence of both species, while PSFS+FI only affected S. sylvatica across all seed provenances. When considering seed origin, seedling emergence and growth responses to nonlocal soils depended on soil biotic conditions. Specifically, the home-away distance effect on seedling emergence differed between the four treatments, and significant responses to chemistry either disappeared (M. effusum) or changed (S. sylvatica) from PSFUS to PSFS . Soil biota emerge as an important driver of the estimated plant migration success. Our results of the effects of soil microorganisms on plant establishment provide relevant information for predictions of the distribution and dynamics of plant species in a changing climate.

Chemical constituents of the essential oils of different stages of the growth of Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl. from Iran.

The essential oil of the aerial parts of different stages of growth as pre-flowering, flowering and post flowering of Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl (Lamiaceae) were isolated by hydro distillation. The chemical composition of volatile oil was analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. The main components were found to be: alpha-pinene) 27.25, 25.66, 8.52%), myrcene (17.33, 9.33, 23.85%), beta-phellandrene (21.96, 37.49, 12.58%), beta-caryophylene (14.3, 8.38, 16.86%).

[Variation and morphogenetic characteristics of different Stachys species during microclonal propagation]. / Osovennosti morfogeneza i poiavlenie variatsii pri mikroklonal'nom razmnozhenii raznykh vidov stakhisa.

Morphogeneses of Stachys different species introduced in culturing in vitro have been compared. The frequency of altered forms have been demonstrated to be related to the plant genotype. All regenerants of S. sieboldii, which reproduces in vivo only vegetatively, are phenotypically normal, irrespective of the concentrations of plant growth regulators at which they have been obtained. Only changes in isozyme patterns have been observed in the regenerants grown in media containing at least 10 mg/l benzyl aminopurine (BAP); most of these changes are the absence of a particular component of the pattern. The cross-pollinating species Stachys ocymastrum, which typically reproduces by seeds, has yielded morphologically altered forms even in phytohormone-free media; its isozyme patterns often contained a new component. Analysis of the isoperoxidase patterns of regenerants of both Stachys species obtained with the use of high phytohormone concentrations has demonstrated qualitative and quantitative changes suggesting the appearance of somaclonal variants even in the course of plant regeneration directly from nodal segments, bypassing callus formation. Changes have also been found in Stachys plants regenerating from the callus tissue.