Proceedings of the Third International American Moroccan Agricultural Sciences Conference - AMAS Conference III, December 13-16, 2016, Ouarzazate, Morocco
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Atlas Journal of Biology 2017, pp. 313–354 doi: 10.5147/ajb.2017.0148 Proceedings of the Third International American Moroccan Agricultural Sciences Conference - AMAS Conference III, December 13-16, 2016, Ouarzazate, Morocco My Abdelmajid Kassem1*, Alan Walters2, Karen Midden2, and Khalid Meksem2 1 Plant Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology Lab, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC 28301, USA; 2 Dept. of Plant, Soil, and Agricultural Systems, Southern Illinois University, Car- bondale, IL 62901-4415, USA Received: December 16, 2016 / Accepted: February 1, 2017 Abstract ORAL PRESENTATIONS ABSTRACTS The International American Moroccan Agricultural Sciences WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY Conference (AMAS Conference; www.amas-conference.org) is an international conference organized by the High Council DECEMBER 14 & 15, 2016 of Moroccan American Scholars and Academics (HC-MASA; www.hc-masa.org) in collaboration with various universities I. SESSION I. DATE PALM I: ECOSYSTEM’S PRESENT and research institutes in Morocco. The first edition (AMAS AND FUTURE, MAJOR DISEASES, AND PRODUC- Conference I) was organized on March 18-19, 2013 in Ra- TION SYSTEMS bat, Morocco; AMAS Conference II was organized on October 18-20, 2014 in Marrakech, Morocco; and AMAS III was or- Co-Chair: Mohamed Baaziz, Professor, Cadi Ayyad University, ganized on December 13-16, 2016 in Ouarzazate, Morocco. Marrakech, Morocco The current proceedings summarizes abstracts from 62 oral Co-Chair: Ikram Blilou, Professor, Wageningen University & Re- presentations and 100 posters that were presented during search, The Netherlands AMAS Conference III. 1. Date Palm Adaptative Strategies to Desert Conditions Keywords: AMAS Conference, HC-MASA, Agricultural Sciences. Alejandro Aragón Raygoza, Juan Caballero, Xiao, Ting Ting, Yanming Deng, Ramona Marasco, Daniele Daffonchio and Ikram Blilou*. Abstract Date palm cultivars are among the few plants adapted arid __________________________________________________ * Corresponding author: [email protected] Atlas Journal of Biology - ISSN 2158-9151. Published By Atlas Publishing, LP (www.atlas-publishing.org) Atlas Journal of - ISSN 2158-9151. Published By Atlas Publishing, Biology This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecom- mons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the origi- 313 nal work is properly cited. conditions, however, the molecular mechanisms conferring date architecture is strongly linked to the central signaling pathway palm tolerance remain largely unknown. As the root system is an of growth regulator auxin. Our data suggest that beneficial important agronomic trait, having the proper root system archi- root-associated bacteria can increase date palm tolerance to tecture in a given environment is critical to allow plants to survive stresses by directly reprogramming the root growth develop- periods of water and nutrient deficit, and compete effectively mental program through the activation of the auxin signaling for resources. Here we provide a detailed analysis of date palm pathways. We believe that the beneficial effect - observed in root system architecture from embryogenesis to seedling state. both in model and crops plants - will be valuable for improv- We show that the described gene networks regulating stem cells ing agriculture production under the continuous changing global in the model plants Arabidopsis and rice are also present in environmental conditions. date palm; we have mapped their expression domains at the cellular resolution and we are currently studying their function 3. Optimizing Growth and Tolerance of Date Palm (Phoenix in the model plant Arabidopsis. Using RNAseq technologies, we dactylifera L.) to Drought and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Albedi- identified date palm genes differentially expressed in roots nis by Application of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and shoots. We also show that date palm uses several adaptive strategies to survive desert conditions, ranging from its mode of Abdelilah Meddich1*, Toshiaki Mitsui2, and Marouane Baslam2 germination to traits acquired by different cultivars and to the microbial community colonizing the date palm rhizosphere. 1 Département de Biologie, Laboratoire Biotechnologie et Physiologie Végétale, Faculté des Sciences Semlalia, Univer- 2. Date Palm Root Microbiome: the Ecological Services In- sité Cadi Ayyad Marrakech Maroc. 2 Department of Applied volved in Plant Growth, Survival and Tolerance to Abiotic Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University, Stresses Niigata 950-2181, Japan. *Presenting and corresponding au- thor: [email protected]. †Corresponding author: mbaslam@ Ramona Marasco1*, Maria Mosquiera1, Ikram Blilou2, and Dan- gs.niigata-u.ac.jp. iele Daffonchio1 Abstract 1 BESE, Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is an important agricultural (KAUST), Saudi Arabia; 2 Wageningen University, The Nether- and commercial crop in the North of Africa and Middle Eastern lands countries of Asia. Date palm trees could be used for generations to come due to its remarkable nutritional, health and economic Abstract value in addition to its esthetic and environmental benefits. Every part of the date palm is useful and the importance of the date Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is an iconic crop plant of in human nutrition comes from the acceptable taste and its rich desert environments capable to keep ecological dominance un- composition of carbohydrates, salts and minerals. During the last der arid conditions and high temperature, but yet very limited decade, date palm plantations were subjected to degradation knowledge is available on its root microbiome and its contribu- due to an extensive exploitation and to drastic environmental tion to the water and nutritional acquisition by the plant. Under conditions. Furthermore, fusarium wilts (`Bayoud´) are economi- the ongoing climate change, the microbial communities associ- cally important soil-borne diseases that result in significant crop ated with the root system is increasingly recognized as an es- losses and damage to natural ecosystems. Plant-microbe inter- sential resource for development of a sustainable and environ- actions can be either beneficial or detrimental and a fast and mental friendly modern agriculture. Recent studies demonstrated accurate assessment of the surrounding organisms is essential for that the beneficial-microbiome - naturally associated to all the the plant’s survival. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are a plants - accomplishes essential functions and ecological services major component of soil biofertility and its use can improve crop complementary to the adaptation features encoded by the host resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Our results revealed plant, but the undergoing mechanisms remain yet elusive. Our that mycorrhizal infection rates were higher and slightly affect- purpose is to reveal the dynamics and functions of endophytic ed by water stress. The inoculation by the Consortium Aoufous, bacteria associated with the date palm root system in relation G. monosporus or Glomus clarum increased biomass production to promoting root growth and conferring abiotic stress tolerance. of date palm instead of the attacks by the fungal pathogen To unravel the mechanisms used by endophytic bacteria, we took F. oxysporum, whatever the water regime. AMF allowed leaf advantage of the model system Arabidospis thaliana. We found water parameters to be maintained in F. oxysporum-inoculated that the selected endophytic strains dramatically influence the plants or not under water-limiting conditions. The mortality rate root architecture, by increasing the number of lateral roots and among the date palm trees infected by F. oxysporum was lower by promoting root hair length allowing a larger surface area in mycorrhizal plants than nonmycorrhizal plants. Results showed for resource acquisition. As result, the effects of bacteria on the that AMF decrease the deleterious effect of F. oxysporum on root system conferred an ‘adaptive advantage’ to the plants date palm, nevertheless the bioprotection effect against the exposed to salt stresses. Using a series of reporter and mutants plant pathogen was dependant on the type of AMF species. lines of A. thaliana, we show that the observed effect in root It therefore seems that the indigenous AM fungal community Atlas Journal of Biology - ISSN 2158-9151. Published By Atlas Publishing, LP (www.atlas-publishing.org) Atlas Journal of - ISSN 2158-9151. Published By Atlas Publishing, Biology LP (www.atlas-publishing.org) Atlas Journal of - ISSN 2158-9151. Published By Atlas Publishing, Biology 314 “Aoufous” take advantage to improve crop resistance to those Morocco ; 2 International Center for Agricultural Research in the harsh biotic and abiotic conditions. Keywords: Oasis ecosystem, Dry Areas (ICARDA), Rabat, Morocco; 3 Division scientifique drought, Fusarium oxysporum fsp. albedinis, mycorrhizal symbio- INRA, Rabat, Morocco. *Presenting author: bouharroud@yahoo. ses, date palm, tolerance, bioprotector agents. fr. II. SESSION II. ABIOTIC STRESS AND WATER MAN- Abstract AGEMENT In Morocco, the prickly pear cactus Opuntiae ficus-indica grows Co-Chair: Alan Walters, Southern Illinois University, USA in arid and semi-arid areas where