Showing papers by "Sharon A. Robinson published in 2013"

Genome of the long-living sacred lotus ( Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.)

Abstract: Background: Sacred lotus is a basal eudicot with agricultural, medicinal, cultural and religious importance. It was domesticated in Asia about 7,000 years ago, and cultivated for its rhizomes and seeds as a food crop. It is particularly noted for its 1,300-year seed longevity and exceptional water repellency, known as the lotus effect. The latter property is due to the nanoscopic closely packed protuberances of its self-cleaning leaf surface, which have been adapted for the manufacture of a self-cleaning industrial paint, Lotusan. Results: The genome of the China Antique variety of the sacred lotus was sequenced with Illumina and 454 technologies, at respective depths of 101× and 5.2×. The final assembly has a contig N50 of 38.8 kbp and a scaffold N50 of 3.4 Mbp, and covers 86.5% of the estimated 929 Mbp total genome size. The genome notably lacks the paleo-triplication observed in other eudicots, but reveals a lineage-specific duplication. The genome has evidence of slow evolution, with a 30% slower nucleotide mutation rate than observed in grape. Comparisons of the available sequenced genomes suggest a minimum gene set for vascular plants of 4,223 genes. Strikingly, the sacred lotus has 16 COG2132 multi-copper oxidase family proteins with root-specific expression; these are involved in root meristem phosphate starvation, reflecting adaptation to limited nutrient availability in an aquatic environment. Conclusions: The slow nucleotide substitution rate makes the sacred lotus a better resource than the current standard, grape, for reconstructing the pan-eudicot genome, and should therefore accelerate comparative analysis between eudicots and monocots.

Integrating Transient Heterogeneity of Non-Photochemical Quenching in Shade-Grown Heterobaric Leaves of Avocado (Persea americana L.): Responses to CO2 Concentration, Stomatal Occlusion, Dehydration and Relative Humidity

Abstract: Abbreviations: CFI, Chl fluorescence imaging; [Ca], ambient CO2 concentration; [Ci], intercellular CO2 concentration; [CO2], CO2 concentration; DESV, de-epoxidation status of the violaxanthin cycle; pH, putative transthylakoid pH gradient in chloroplasts; ETR, photosynthetic electron transfer rate; LED, light-emitting diode; Lx, lutein epoxide; NPQ, nonphotochemical quenching of Chl fluorescence; NPQpH, NPQ in the absence of de-epoxidation of xanthophyll pigments; NPQAZ, NPQ after de-epoxidation of violaxanthin; PAM, pulse amplitude-modulated; PFD, photon flux density; RH, relative humidity.

Monitoring of Antarctic moss ecosystems using a high spatial resolution imaging spectroscopy

Abstract: of presetation at EGU General Assembly 2013, held 7-12 April, 2013 in Vienna, Austria Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details Malenovky, Z, Lucieer, A, Robinson, S, Harwin, S, Turner, D & Veness, T (2013) Monitoring of Antarctic moss ecosystems using a high spatial resolution imaging spectroscopy EGU General Assembly 2013 (pp 1-1) United States: ADS Service Authors Zbynek Malenovky, Arko Lucieer, Sharon A Robinson, Steve Harwin, Darren Turner, and Tony Veness This conference paper is available at Research Online: http://rouoweduau/smhpapers/2530 Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol 15, EGU2013-7360, 2013 EGU General Assembly 2013 © Author(s) 2013 CC Attribution 30 License Monitoring of Antarctic moss ecosystems using a high spatial resolution imaging spectroscopy Zbynek Malenovsky (1), Arko Lucieer (1), Sharon Robinson (2), Stephen Harwin (1), Darren Turner (1), and Tony Veness (1) (1) School of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia (zbynekmalenovsky@gmailcom), (2) Institute for Conservation Biology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia (sharonr@uoweduau) The most abundant photosynthetically active plants growing along the rocky Antarctic shore are mosses of three species: Schistidium antarctici, Ceratodon purpureus, and Bryum pseudotriquetrum Even though mosses are well adapted to the extreme climate conditions, their existence in Antarctica depends strongly on availability of liquid water from snowmelt during the short summer season Recent changes in temperature, wind speed and stratospheric ozone are stimulating faster evaporation, which in turn influences moss growing rate, health state and abundance This makes them an ideal bio-indicator of the Antarctic climate change Very short growing season, lasting only about three months, requires a time efficient, easily deployable and spatially resolved method for monitoring the Antarctic moss beds Ground and/or low-altitude airborne imaging spectroscopy (called also hyperspectral remote sensing) offers a fast and spatially explicit approach to investigate an actual spatial extent and physiological state of moss turfs A dataset of ground-based spectral images was acquired with a mini-Hyperspec imaging spectrometer (Headwall Inc, the USA) during the Antarctic summer 2012 in the surroundings of the Australian Antarctic station Casey (Windmill Islands) The collection of high spatial resolution spectral images, with pixels about 2 cm in size containing from 162 up to 324 narrow spectral bands of wavelengths between 399 and 998 nm, was accompanied with point moss reflectance measurements recorded with the ASD HandHeld-2 spectroradiometer (Analytical Spectral Devices Inc, the USA) The first spectral analysis indicates significant differences in red-edge and near-infrared reflectance of differently watered moss patches Contrary to high plants, where the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) represents an estimate of green biomass, NDVI of mosses indicates mainly the actual water content Similarly to high plants, reflectance of visible wavelengths is controlled by the composition and content of various foliar pigments (chlorophylls, xanthophylls, etc) Additionally, the high spectral resolution reflectance together with the narrow bandwidth allows retrieving the steady state chlorophyll fluorescence, which indicates the actual moss photosynthetic activity A first airborne imaging spectroscopy acquisition with the mini-Hyperspec sensor on-board a low-flying remote-controlled multi-rotor helicopter (known as micro Unmanned Aerial Systems – UAS) will be performed during the summer 2013 The aim of the UAS observations is to generate high spatial resolution maps of actual physiological state of several moss beds located within the Australian Antarctic Territory The regular airborne monitoring is expected to reveal spatio-temporal changes in the Antarctic moss ecosystems, indicating the impact of the global climate change in Antarctica