Phosphorus fertiliser is associated with reduced grass grub (Costelytra giveni) fitness in Epichloë endophyte-infected meadow fescue and perennial ryegrass.

Background: Fertiliser applications are well-established tools in pasture-based agricultural landscapes. This study focuses on the impact of phosphorus (P) fertiliser on grass grub (Costelytra giveni), a major pasture pest. This research investigates the interplay between P, plant growth, and grass grub fitness in Epichloë endophyte-infected perennial ryegrass (Epichloë sp.

Responses to water stress extremes in diverse red clover germplasm accessions.

Red clover ( L.), a key perennial pastoral species used globally, can strengthen pastural mixes to withstand increasingly disruptive weather patterns from climate change. Breeding selections can be refined for this purpose by obtaining an in-depth understanding of key functional traits.

Quantitative genetic analysis reveals potential to breed for improved white clover growth in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

White clover () is integral to mixed pastures in New Zealand and temperate agriculture globally. It provides quality feed and a sustainable source of plant-available nitrogen (N) N-fixation through symbiosis with soil-dwelling bacteria. Improvement of N-fixation in white clover is a route to enhancing sustainability of temperate pasture production.

Prospects for Improvement Through Germplasm Characterisation and Pre-breeding in New Zealand and Beyond.

is the most used pastoral legume genus in temperate grassland systems, and a common feature in meadows and open space areas in cities and parks. Breeding of spp. for pastoral production has been going on for over a century.

Delivery of multiple ecosystem services in pasture by shelter created from the hybrid sterile bioenergy grass Miscanthus x giganteus.

The benefits of shelter in increasing crop yields and accelerating ripening has been well researched in fruit, arable and horticultural crops. Its benefits to pasture, despite its importance for livestock production, is less well researched. In this work, Miscanthus shelterbelts were established on an intensively irrigated dairy farm.

Exotic plant species are locally adapted but not to high ultraviolet-B radiation: a reciprocal multispecies experiment.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation intensities differ among global regions, with significantly higher levels in the southern hemisphere. UV-B may act as an environmental filter during plant invasions, which might particularly apply to plant species from Europe introduced to New Zealand. Just like for any other abiotic or biotic filter, successful invaders can cope with novel environmental conditions via plastic responses and/or through rapid adaptation by natural selection in the exotic range.

Intraspecific differences in long-term drought tolerance in perennial ryegrass.

Lolium perenne L. (perennial ryegrass) is the most important pasture grass species in temperate regions of the world. However, its growth is restricted in summer dry environments.

Knock-down of transcript abundance of a family of Kunitz proteinase inhibitor genes in white clover (Trifolium repens) reveals a redundancy and diversity of gene function.

The transcriptional regulation of four phylogenetically distinct members of a family of Kunitz proteinase inhibitor (KPI) genes isolated from white clover (Trifolium repens; designated Tr-KPI1, Tr-KPI2, Tr-KPI4 and Tr-KPI5) has been investigated to determine their wider functional role. The four genes displayed differential transcription during seed germination, and in different tissues of the mature plant, and transcription was also ontogenetically regulated. Heterologous over-expression of Tr-KPI1, Tr-KPI2, Tr-KPI4 and Tr-KPI5 in Nicotiana tabacum retarded larval growth of the herbivore Spodoptera litura, and an increase in the transcription of the pathogenesis-related genes PR1 and PR4 was observed in the Tr-KPI1 and Tr-KPI4 over-expressing lines.

Multivariate associations of flavonoid and biomass accumulation in white clover (Trifolium repens) under drought.

White clover (Trifolium repens L.) is an important pasture legume in temperate regions, but growth is often strongly reduced under summer drought. Cloned individuals from a full-sib progeny of a pair cross between two phenotypically distinct white clover populations were exposed to water deficit in pots under outdoor conditions for 9 weeks, while control pots were maintained at field capacity.

Tradeoff between biomass and flavonoid accumulation in white clover reflects contrasting plant strategies.

An outdoor study was conducted to examine relationships between plant productivity and stress-protective phenolic plant metabolites. Twenty-two populations of the pasture legume white clover were grown for 4½ months during spring and summer in Palmerston North, New Zealand. The major phenolic compounds identified and quantified by HPLC analysis were glycosides of the flavonoids quercetin and kaempferol.