Abstract
Priming commercial growing media and soils with dilute sugar solutions was investigated as a means of stimulating beneficial microflora to improve transplant productivity. Muskmelon ( Cucumis melo ) seedlings were grown in soilless growing medium primed with equal volumes of 50 m m sucrose or trehalose. After priming, the time when 50% of plants showed wilting symptoms was delayed 45 hours and the mean time that seedling xylem tension reached –1.0 MPa was delayed 70 hours compared with watered controls. Sucrose or trehalose priming improved water retention in the presence and absence of plants grown in sphagnum-based medium after an incubation period of ≈24 h, but no improvement occurred when autoclaved medium or acid-washed sand were primed. Light micrographs of primed medium revealed positive staining of opaque material between organic-matter particles with alcian blue, a polysaccharide-specific stain. Sixteen bacterial colonies were cultured in liquid medium from leachate of positive-stained, primed, growing-medium samples and identified via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Identified colonies were Curtobacterium pussillum , Paenibacillus lautus , Brevundimonas , and 13 Bacillus spp., including well-characterized biofilm producers. Increased soil-moisture retention was the result of a complex, glucose-based, hydrophilic, polysaccharide polymer of bacterial origin that was produced in liquid culture from extracts of primed medium.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Priming delayed wilting of muskmelon seedlings by 45 hours.
- Taxon
- Muskmelon
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Cucumis meloe0 - Treatment
- 50 m m sucrose or trehalosee0
- Outcome
- 50% of plants showed wilting symptomse1
- Direction
- delayede1
- Value
- 45 hourse1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“Muskmelon ( Cucumis melo ) seedlings were grown in soilless growing medium primed with equal volumes of 50 m m sucrose or trehalose.”
e1“the time when 50% of plants showed wilting symptoms was delayed 45 hours”
Claim · model-written summary
Priming delayed the seedling xylem tension threshold by 70 hours versus watered controls.
- Taxon
- MuskmelonCucumis meloe0
- Treatment
- 50 m m sucrose or trehalosee0
- Outcome
- seedling xylem tension reached –1.0 MPae1
- Direction
- delayede1
- Value
- 70 hourse1
- Comparator
- watered controlse1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Muskmelon ( Cucumis melo ) seedlings were grown in soilless growing medium primed with equal volumes of 50 m m sucrose or trehalose.”
e1“the mean time that seedling xylem tension reached –1.0 MPa was delayed 70 hours compared with watered controls”
Claim · model-written summary
Priming improved medium water retention with and without plants.
- Taxon
- MuskmelonCucumis meloe0
- Treatment
- Sucrose or trehalose priminge1
- Outcome
- water retentione1
- Direction
- improvede1
- Qualifier
- after an incubation period of ≈24 he1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Muskmelon ( Cucumis melo ) seedlings”
e1“Sucrose or trehalose priming improved water retention in the presence and absence of plants grown in sphagnum-based medium after an incubation period of ≈24 h”
Claim · model-written summary
Priming did not improve retention in autoclaved medium or acid-washed sand.
- Taxon
- MuskmelonCucumis meloe0
- Treatment
- autoclaved medium or acid-washed sand were primede1
- Outcome
- improvemente1
- Direction
- no improvemente1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Muskmelon ( Cucumis melo ) seedlings”
e1“no improvement occurred when autoclaved medium or acid-washed sand were primed”
Claim · model-written summary
Primed medium showed polysaccharide staining between organic particles.
- Taxon
- MuskmelonCucumis meloe0
- Outcome
- positive staining of opaque material between organic-matter particlese1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Muskmelon ( Cucumis melo ) seedlings”
e1“Light micrographs of primed medium revealed positive staining of opaque material between organic-matter particles with alcian blue”
Claim · model-written summary
Primed medium yielded sixteen identified bacterial colonies including biofilm producers.
- Taxon
- MuskmelonCucumis meloe0
- Outcome
- bacterial coloniese1
- Value
- Sixteene1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Muskmelon ( Cucumis melo ) seedlings”
e1“Sixteen bacterial colonies were cultured in liquid medium from leachate of positive-stained, primed, growing-medium samples and identified via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Identified colonies were Curtobacterium pussillum , Paenibacillus lautus , Brevundimonas , and 13 Bacillus spp., including well-characterized biofilm producers.”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors attributed higher medium moisture retention to bacterial polysaccharide.
- Taxon
- MuskmelonCucumis meloe0
- Compound
- glucose-based, hydrophilic, polysaccharide polymere1
- Outcome
- Increased soil-moisture retentione1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Muskmelon ( Cucumis melo ) seedlings”
e1“Increased soil-moisture retention was the result of a complex, glucose-based, hydrophilic, polysaccharide polymer of bacterial origin”
The same questions in other papers
sucrose · physiology: water · Cucumis melo (muskmelon)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
seed treatment · physiology: water · Cucumis melo (muskmelon)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.