Lettuce is one of the most consumed leafy greens. Depending on the variety, it is ready for harvesting 40–80 days after sowing, and therefore several growth cycles can be concluded within a growing ...season. Due to its high market standards, lettuce may require intensive management. This study implemented a critical period of weed interference (CPWI) trial to understand at which moment of the cropping cycle weeds can be tolerated without impacting crop yield to decrease the time needed for weeding and assess the potential support weeds can give to biological pest control in lettuce. Treatments represented two gradients of weed intensity: (1) increasingly weed-free, and (2) increasingly weedy. Dose–response curves were produced to find the CPWI based on lettuce relative yield. RLQ analysis was used to explore the relationships between weeding regime and weed functional traits for biological pest control. Yield was above the 5% acceptable yield loss threshold in all plots kept weed-free for 20 days or more, indicating a necessary weed-free period of 20 days from transplanting. However, the support of beneficial insects was not guaranteed at the end of the necessary weed-free period. We suggest that it is possible to limit intense weed management to the beginning of the growing season, reducing the cost of plastic mulches and increasing on-farm biodiversity, but field margins could be better suited to deliver conservation biological control in short-term crops where this service is of primary interest.
Agricultural land is the main contributor to nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of groundwater sources. Adopting agroecological management practices can support the transition towards sustainable ...farming systems. We investigated if reduced weeding could support nutrient retention in a nutrient demanding vegetable crop (Brassica oleracea, var. capitata), without causing unacceptable yield losses. We conducted a three-year study (2019–2021) with two cropping seasons (autumn and spring) using 1 m3 above-ground lysimeters, each containing four cabbage plants. Different vegetation covers, each with four replicates, were considered: 1) crop only 2) weeds only 3) crop + weeds from crop transplanting 4) crop + weeds after 20 days from crop transplanting 5) bare soil with fertilizer 6) bare soil without fertilizer. Each system received the recommended dose of mineral fertilizer for cabbage (130 kg ha−1 N, 80 kg ha−1 P, 150 kg ha−1 K), except for two bare soil lysimeters which were not fertilized. Water samples were taken throughout the growing season, in particular after each fertilization event, and analysed for nitrate (NO3-N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) concentrations. Cabbage yield in both weedy treatments was significantly lower compared to the weed-free plots only in spring 2020 and fall 2021. Weed cover contributed to explain NO3-N and K leaching, while P leaching was affected by crop cover. The results suggest that it is possible to reduce weed management intensity in cabbage while also obtaining some benefits concerning nutrient losses.
•In 80% of the trials, increased weed cover reduced nitrate and potassium leaching.•The critical weed-free period was effective in three out of five cropping seasons.•Reduced weeding decreased nutrient loss in horticultural systems without causing severe crop losses.
Sustainable intensification is considered an efficient alternative to conventional agriculture to feed a growing population while maintaining and benefitting the environment. Intercropping is one of ...the most studied practices to obtain production gains and other ecosystem services. Most intercrops involve legumes and cereals, but other species combinations should be explored to further increase the diversity of intercropping systems. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.; Polygonaceae) is an emerging minor crop which is gaining attention in alternative intercropping systems. This review provides a comprehensive view of the state of the art on the role of buckwheat as a companion crop in arable cropping systems. Despite buckwheat being well-known for its weed-suppressive ability, intercropping using buckwheat for weed control has received little attention. Few crops have so far been considered in relation to the introduction of buckwheat in annual cropping systems. This review uncovers a largely untapped research field involving buckwheat. The research perspectives are multiple as buckwheat consumption is increasing and its attractive flower resources and rapid growth offer the provision of several agro-ecosystem services that directly and indirectly benefit crop yield stability.
Thyroid hormones regulate a wide range of cellular responses, via non-genomic and genomic actions, depending on cell-specific thyroid hormone transporters, co-repressors, or co-activators. Skeletal ...muscle has been identified as a direct target of thyroid hormone T3, where it regulates stem cell proliferation and differentiation, as well as myofiber metabolism. However, the effects of T3 in muscle-wasting conditions have not been yet addressed. Being T3 primarily responsible for the regulation of metabolism, we challenged mice with fasting and found that T3 counteracted starvation-induced muscle atrophy. Interestingly, T3 did not prevent the activation of the main catabolic pathways, i.e., the ubiquitin-proteasome or the autophagy-lysosomal systems, nor did it stimulate de novo muscle synthesis in starved muscles. Transcriptome analyses revealed that T3 mainly affected the metabolic processes in starved muscle. Further analyses of myofiber metabolism revealed that T3 prevented the starvation-mediated metabolic shift, thus preserving skeletal muscle mass. Our study elucidated new T3 functions in regulating skeletal muscle homeostasis and metabolism in pathological conditions, opening to new potential therapeutic approaches for the treatment of skeletal muscle atrophy.
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