ARI REVIEW FOR 2016-2017

Diversity of symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria and mycorrhiza in different species The symbiosis of cultivated plants with functional soil microbial guilds is extremely important for agroecosystems productivity especially in low input agricultural systems. In this study we started the description of the abundance and the diversity of symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria and mycorrhiza in different underutilised cereals, maize, chickpeas and faba beans. The study is funded by European Union in the context of the Horizon2020 project with acronym“DIVERSIFOOD” (2015-2019). ( M. Omirou, D. Fasoula, I.M. Ioannides ) Bradyrhizobium inoculation alters indigenous AMF community assemblages and interacts positively with AMF inoculum to improve cowpea performance Legumes are a major component in sustainable agricultural systems since they can fix atmospheric nitrogen and form effective associations with both nitrogen fixing bacteria (NFB) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). However, the impact of NFB inoculation on the indigenous AMF community structure in legumes has been overlooked. In the current study, we investigated the influence of a Bradhyrhizobium isolate together with a commercial mycorrhizal inoculum on the performance of cowpea, along with its endophytic mycorrhizal community structure. A three-way factorial randomised design was established in sterilised and non-sterilised soils, including control plants (without inoculation), inoculated plants with a Bradyrhizobium (NFB) strain, a commercial mycorrhizal inoculum (AMF) and their combination (AMF+/NFB + ). All inoculation treatments under sterile and non-sterile soil conditions resulted in a significant increase in the shoot biomass, which was positively correlated with AMF colonisation, and the number of nodules found in cowpea roots. Mycorrhizal colonisation and nodule formation in control plants grown in non-sterilised soils, suggested an active and functional local mycorrhizal and rhizobial community in the soil, which was further supported by the molecular fingerprints. Growth of control plants in sterile soil resulted in lower shoot biomass that was in line with the absence of the respective microbial assemblages. Interestingly, the local AMF community pattern of cowpea roots was drastically altered after the NFB application. Molecular fingerprinting, through cloning of PCR amplified sequences of 18sRNA revealed that cowpea plants were colonised by Rhizophagus, Funneliformis, Claroideoglomus and Paraglomus related species. The results support the notion that the introduced Bradyrhizobium strain interacted drastically with the indigenous AMF community, leading to a more diverse colonisation pattern of cowpea roots. These findings enhance our understanding of how these microorganisms interact to affect plant performance and increase agricultural sustainability. ( M. Omirou, D. Fasoula, I.M. Ioannides ) FUNCTIONAL FOODS AND FOOD SAFETY Impact of drought stress on Eruca sativa Mills secondary metabolites Rocket salad ( Eruca sativa Mills) is one of the major leafy vegetables produced worldwide and has been characterised as a rich source of chemoprotective glucosinolates (GSL). A pot experiment was conducted applying drought stress for 11 days while plants normally irrigated served as control. Drought stress had a detrimental effect on E. sativa performance. Photosynthetic machinery was significantly suppressed while total N and P content in rocket leaves were reduced. Glucosinolate content and their corresponding biosynthetic genes were evaluated ( M. Omirou, D. Fasoula, I.M. Ioannides, A. Christou ) Chemical composition and microbial guilds of traditional products from grape juice: Sutzioukkos, kiofteri and palouzes Traditional products obtained from grape juice such as sutzioukkos, kiofteri and palouzes constitute an economically important sector of Cyprus rural areas. The aim of this study was to identify the chemical composition of these products and evaluate their microbial community structure. Our hypothesis was that the 74 Agrobiotechnology