Estimating crop parameters using Sentinel-1 and 2 datasets and geospatial field data.

Crop monitoring is essential for ensuring food security in a global context of population growth and climate change. Satellite images are commonly used to estimate crop parameters over large areas, and the freely available Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Sentinel-1 (S-1) and optical Sentinel-2 (S-2) images are relevant for that purpose combining high temporal resolution and high spatial resolution. For this data article, field surveys were conducted from January to July 2017 in France to sample wheat and rapeseed crop parameters during the entire crops cycle.

Response of bacterial communities to Pb smelter pollution in contrasting soils.

Anthropogenic inputs of trace elements (TE) into soils constitute a major public and environmental health problem. Bioavailability of TE is strongly related to the soil physicochemical parameters and thus to the ecosystem type. In order to test whether soil parameters influence the response of the bacterial community to TE pollution, we collected soil samples across contrasting ecosystems (hardwood, coniferous and hydromorphic soils), which have been contaminated in TE and especially lead (Pb) over several decades due to nearby industrial smelting activities.

Does nitrogen fertilization history affects short-term microbial responses and chemical properties of soils submitted to different glyphosate concentrations?

The use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer and glyphosate-based herbicides is increasing worldwide, with agriculture holding the largest market share. The agronomic and socioeconomic utilities of glyphosate are well established; however, our knowledge of the potential effects of glyphosate applied in the presence or absence of long-term N fertilization on microbial functional activities and the availability of soil nutrients remains limited. Using an ex situ approach with soils that did (N+) or did not (N0) receive synthetic N fertilization for 6 years, we assessed the impact of different rates (no glyphosate, CK; field rate, FR; 100 × field rate, 100FR) of glyphosate application on biological and chemical parameters.

Conversion to No-Till Improves Maize Nitrogen Use Efficiency in a Continuous Cover Cropping System.

A two-year experiment was conducted in the field to measure the combined impact of tilling and N fertilization on various agronomic traits related to nitrogen (N) use efficiency and to grain yield in maize cultivated in the presence of a cover crop. Four years after conversion to no-till, a significant increase in N use efficiency N harvest index, N remobilization and N remobilization efficiency was observed both under no and high N fertilization conditions. Moreover, we observed that grain yield and grain N content were higher under no-till conditions only when N fertilizers were applied.

Activity of a flax pectin methylesterase promoter in transgenic tobacco pollen.

The regulatory region of the flax Lupme3 gene, which codes for a pectin methylesterase, contains two sequences (PB box) that are putative cis-active sequence elements thought to regulate transcription in pollen. The Lupme3 promoter was fused to the beta-glucuronidase (gus) reporter gene. The chimeric gene fusion was introduced into tobacco via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

Overexpression of a heterologous sam gene encoding S-adenosylmethionine synthetase in flax (Linum usitatissimum) cells: Consequences on methylation of lignin precursors and pectins.

The Arabidopsis thaliana sam1 gene encoding S-adenosylmethionine synthetase (EC 2.5.1.