The project led by Olivier Keech from UPSC will develop sustainable methods to produce shrimp and fish in circular aquaculture systems. Photo: Sergio Zimmermann
The Swedish Agricultural Agency has granted SEK 10 million for a project on sustainable food production, led by Olivier Keech, group leader at UPSC and Associate Professor at Umeå University. The project aims to establish and optimize sustainable production of shrimp and fish in a circular aquaculture system.
“In the project we use bio-RAS, a technology where the water contains particles which are then filtered by a mixture of microorganisms such as bacteria, microalgae and zooplankton. These convert leftover nutrients into natural feed for the fish and shrimp. In addition, it acts as a probiotic for the animals. Overall, it creates a much more sustainable loop,” says Olivier Keech.
The project is interdisciplinary and involves researchers from Umeå University, the Swedish University of Agriculture in Ultuna (SLU) as well as the newly started company Cresponix AB and Brazilian partners. Together, they will apply cutting-edge research to develop and optimize the use of bio-RAS. The technology, originally developed by professor Anders Kiessling (SLU) and Sergio Zimmerman (Zimmermann Aqua Solutions) is a tropical alternative to cold water recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) that allows for the recapture of organic resources.
The team will create an innovative, sustainable production of feed, as well as evaluate various aspects of shrimp physiology with professor Johan Dicksved and associate professor Kartik Baruah at SLU Ultuna. Furthermore, in collaboration with professor Stefan Bertilsson SLU Ultuna, a metagenomic analysis will also be carried out to assess how the microorganisms in the shrimp's gastrointestinal system develop depending on different compositions of feed and water.
Another part of the project is to develop a mathematical model that can help control and optimize energy conversion, nutrient storage, biomass production and economic viability for the pilot plant the researchers will establish.
“This is a key component for the expansion of such facilities and municipalities, industries and future investors need to know the efficiency and return on investment of such a food production platform,” explains Olivier Keech.
For this, Olivier Keech can also count on his colleagues at Umeå University, Professor Sebastian Diehl, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, and Associate Professor Jonas Westin, Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics.
The project is part of a larger project that Anders Kiessling, professor at SLU Ultuna, and Olivier Keech initiated several years ago. In a joint venture with both academics and companies, they are establishing a pilot platform for research and development at Östersjöfabriken in Västervik.
The aim is to develop a completely circular food production system that includes both fish, shrimp, vegetables, fruit, insects, mushrooms. Such platforms should ideally be placed strategically downstream of industries, such as server halls and metallurgical companies, which emit large amounts of low-grade heat, i.e. 30-60 degrees Celsius.
“Low-grade heat has no real value in itself and is currently simply cooled down to a certain threshold and released as warm air or lukewarm water into the environment. Instead, channeling the heat into greenhouses and fixing the remaining energy into biomass is a much better way to reduce the environmental impact of human activities,” says Olivier Keech.
The idea of the research is to contribute to food security and reduce dependency on imported food. Today, close to 70 percent of the fresh produce consumed in Sweden is imported.
“By producing more "tropical" products locally, you logically lower the carbon dioxide emissions related to imports from distant countries,” says Olivier Keech.
For more information, please contact:
Olivier Keech, associate professor, Department of Physiological Botany, Umeå University Phone: +46 90 786 53 88
Email:
Anders Kiessling, professor, Swedish University of Agriculture, Ultuna
Email:
Text: Anna-Lena Lindskog, Umeå University
Thale cress in the snow. DNA previously thought to be “junk” has now been shown to help plants to cope better with cold stress (photo: Vaughan Hurry).
A vast amount of DNA contains no genetic information and was long thought to be junk. Recent research has shown that much of this “junk” DNA is in fact activated but it was not known why. Researchers from Umeå Plant Science Centre have now shown that this activation of “junk”-DNA plays a key role in promoting plant survival during stress.
The study from Peter Kindgren’s research group from Umeå Plant Science Centre and SLU was published recently in the journal The Plant Cell.
Our genetic code is stored in the DNA. When a gene is activated, the double-stranded DNA helix is unwound to make the two individual strands and the gene that is located on one of the two strands accessible. The gene, which contains the building description for a protein, is then rewritten into RNA, which is used as a template to synthesise the protein.
In humans, only one or two percent of the DNA contains genes and thus information for proteins. The rest was believed to be junk. However, new sequencing techniques have revealed that a lot of this “junk”-DNA is activated and rewritten into RNA-templates, even though it is not used for protein synthesis.
Is there a common mechanism behind the activation of so much "junk"-DNA?
“We want to understand why so much of this “junk”-DNA is activated. This is a big question among scientists. It does not only occur in plants but also in other organisms and it is quite an investment”, explains Peter Kindgren, group leader at UPSC and researcher at SLU. “We think that there must be a common reason for this activation.”
Peter Kindgren and his research team focussed on “junk”-DNA that is located on the opposite DNA strand facing a gene. Such DNA segments are called “antisense” and are complementary to the opposite “sense” DNA segment (the gene), similarly like the two different strands of a zipper. The researchers have shown earlier that this type of antisense “junk”-DNA is often activated and rewritten to RNA in the model plant thale cress, but so far only a few examples have been further characterised in plants.
By looking through the known examples, Peter Kindgren and his group tried to identify a general function of this antisense DNA activation. They hypothesised that it might play a role in the regulation of the gene on the opposite sense DNA strand. The challenge was to devise a way to test this hypothesis. They wanted to inhibit the activation of the antisense DNA without affecting the activity of the gene on the opposite DNA strand.
Great potential to make plants grow better in more stressful environments
“We used the gene scissor CRISPR-Cas9 to manipulate the region of the antisense strand where the rewriting of the DNA into RNA is initiated. Like this, the gene on the sense DNA strand could be rewritten normally into RNA and the corresponding protein could be synthesised, but less RNA was produced from the antisense strand,” says Shiv Meena, first author of the article. He was working as postdoc in Peter Kindgren’s group but has recently started to set up his independent research group in India at the National Institute of Plant Genome Research in New Delhi.
The researchers concentrated on genes that are switched on in thale cress during cold and that help the plant to adapt. When the activity of these genes was switched off, the plants were less tolerant to cold. The researchers observed a similar response in the plants that produced less antisense RNA. They concluded that the activation of the antisense DNA increases the gene activity on the opposite sense DNA strand and think that this might be a common mechanism in plants, especially important under stress.
“We are just beginning to understand why so much of this antisense “junk”-DNA is activated in plants, but we see great potential to use this knowledge to make plants grow better in more stressful environments,” says Peter Kindgren. “This story has been brewing in the lab since my postdoc. It is amazing that we finally were able to publish it. None of the people involved are actually working in my lab anymore. One moved to India, one to France, one to Spain, one to the US, and one to Uppsala. But we pulled it off!”
The article
Shiv Kumar Meena, Marti Quevedo, Sarah Muniz Nardeli, Clément Verez, Susheel Sagar Bhat, Vasiliki Zacharaki, Peter Kindgren. Antisense transcription from stress-responsive transcription factors fine-tunes the cold response in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, 2024; koae160, https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koae160
For questions, please contact:
Peter Kindgren
Umeå Plant Science Centre
Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Email:
Phone: 0046 738400272
https://www.upsc.se/peter_kindgren
PhD student Johan Sjölander discovered that modifying the internal clock in hybrid aspen can increase growth (photo: Anne Honsel).
The internal clock coordinates the plant growth and adaptation to daily and seasonal changes. It is among others acting via plant hormones. These small molecules are present in low concentrations in plants and control plant growth. Johan Sjölander focussed his PhD studies on the connection between the clock and plant hormones, particularly gibberellin. He discovered that modifying clock components altered the levels of this plant hormone and increased growth in hybrid aspen.
Environmental conditions during day and night, as well across different seasons, vary significantly. Without light, photosynthesis is impossible, and extreme temperatures such as those in winter can harm plants. The plant’s internal clock helps coordinate growth and adaptation to these recurring changes. It is regulated by a complex molecular network and interacts with many other developmental and growth processes like those ones controlled by plant hormones.
“Plant hormones play important roles in regulating almost every aspect of plant development”, says Johan Sjölander, PhD student in Maria E. Eriksson’s group at Umeå Plant Science Centre and Umeå University. “The clock acts as a master regulator, ensuring optimal timing and hormone balance throughout the day and seasons, which ultimately increases the fitness and adaptation of the plant.”
To investigate how the internal clock interacts with plant hormones, Johan Sjölander and his colleagues created hybrid aspen with reduced activity in one clock component. When measuring plant hormone levels, they observed that the levels of the plant hormone gibberellin were altered, along with increased growth. While gibberellin is known to stimulate cell elongation and promote plant height, seeing this effect when perturbing the internal clock was unusual.
“Generally, these kinds of alterations of the internal clock led to trees that are out-of-sync with their environment, which ultimately hamper their ability to grow”, explains Johan Sjölander. “Our research indicates that targeting specific clock components can have the opposite effect. This illustrates how complex the relationship between the internal clock and plant hormones such as gibberellin is.”
Johan Sjölander’s supervisor Maria E. Eriksson previously demonstrated that trees producing more gibberellins struggled to adjust their growth to seasonal changes. The trees did not stop to grow when the days became short. Johan Sjölander and colleagues now used an adjusted strategy. He created hybrid aspen in which the increase of gibberellins was controlled by the internal clock. These trees grew better, produced more biomass and did not lose their ability to stop growth under short days.
“These findings imply that the internal clock is a promising target for enhancing tree productivity without sacrificing seasonal adaptability”, says Johan Sjölander. “When starting my PhD, one of the selling points for me was that my findings might help improve efficiency and sustainability in agriculture and forestry. There is of course still a lot to do but it is rewarding to see the potential of this research for improving future breeding strategies.”
About the public defence:
Johan Sjölander, Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University, defended his PhD thesis on Friday, 14th of June 2024. Faculty opponent was Anthony Hall, Head of Plant Genomics, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK. The thesis was supervised by Maria E. Eriksson.
Title of the thesis: Timing is everything: Exploring the role of the circadian clock in plant growth and adaptation
Link to Johan Sjölander’s PhD thesis
For more information, please contact:
Johan Sjölander
Umeå Plant Science Centre
Department of Plant Physiology
Umeå University
Email:
Stylistic image of how an electron beam from the cryo-microscope hits frozen PSII particles, whereby a reflection is formed that enables the reconstruction of how the atoms are situated (image: Wolfgang Schröder).
By generating extremely high-resolution images in a cryo-electron microscope, at a level never achieved before for comparable complexes, researchers at Umeå University have revealed the positions of hydrogen atoms and water molecules in photosynthesis. This breakthrough provides a new avenue towards uncovering how water is split – a process crucial for life on Earth as well as for scaling up renewable energy systems.
In photosynthesis, a protein complex called Photosystem II uses the energy of sunlight to oxidize water into molecular oxygen, releasing electrons and protons necessary for converting carbon dioxide into organic compounds in plants. This process is vital for the gas conversion reactions that shape our biosphere and atmosphere: the evolution of oxygen and the reduction of carbon dioxide.
By utilizing a cryo-electron microscope, researchers have generated a 1.7 Å resolution three-dimensional structural map of Photosystem II from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus vestitus. The study is published in the scientific journal Science.
“This resolution is a new record for a membrane protein complex, regardless of method or species. At this resolution a large fraction of the hydrogen atoms of the protein can be detected. This is the first time this has been achieved for such a huge protein complex”, says Wolfgang Schröder, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Plant Physiology at Umeå University which is part of Umeå Plant Science Centre.
The high-resolution structure also allowed the identification of water molecules that were missed in previous structures. The knowledge of both hydrogen and water positions are required for understanding how water enters the catalytic site through extended channels and how protons are guided out.
“These processes are crucial for efficient water oxidation with cheap and abundant metals that presently cannot be mimicked adequately in artificial systems”, says Wolfgang Schröder.
Splitting water with cheap metals instead of rare and expensive ones found in present day electrolysers will allow more readily to scale up water electrolysis as a means of producing hydrogen (H2), a much discussed future energy carrier and base chemical for many processes in industry, including CO2-free ammonia production.
Splitting water to make hydrogen is a promising area of research into sustainable fuels. Currently, the most efficient catalysts require rare and expensive metals. This research into the structure of Photosystem II, shows how cheap and abundant metals can be used to efficiently split water, which may provide new insights into energy production in the future.
About the study
Rana Hussein, André Graça, Jack Forsman, A Orkun Aydin, Michael Hall, Julia Gaetcke, Petko Chernev, Petra Wendler, Holger Dobbek, Johannes Messinger, Athina Zouni, Wolfgang Schröder, Cryo-electron microscopy reveals hydrogen positions and water networks in photosystem II, Science, 2024, DOI: 10.1126/science.adn6541
Read the article in Science: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn6541
Link to the Swedish press release from Umeå University
For more information, please contact:
André Graça, Doctoral student, Department of Chemistry, Umeå University
Email:
Phone: +46 72 205 68 16
Wolfgang Schröder, professor emeritus, Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University
Email:
Phone: +46 70 589 97 29
Johannes Messinger, professor, Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University
Email:
Phone: +46 70 167 984 32
Text: Anna-Lena Lindskog, Umeå University
PhD student Félix Barbut has studied the function and development of secondary cell walls (photo: Christine Pottier).
Secondary cell walls provide the plant with stability and protection against damage and pathogens. PhD student Félix Barbut from Ewa Mellerowicz’s group at UPSC and SLU has been studying the role of xylan, a long-chain carbohydrate, that is part of the secondary cell wall. He not only identified new molecular players involved in maintaining the integrity of the cell wall, but also interesting target points for bioengineering. Read more about Félix Barbut’s research in this interview with him.
You studied secondary cell walls in Arabidopsis and aspen. What motivated you to choose this PhD project in Ewa Mellerowicz’s research group?
Félix Barbut: I was particularly drawn to pursue my PhD at UPSC due to my profound interest in the complexities of plant science and my specific fascination with how trees adapt to their environment. Reading the PhD proposal, I immediately recognized how well it aligned with my prior research on hormonal interplay, abiotic stress, and the regulation of reactive oxygen species. Moreover, I was thrilled by the broad approach of the project and its ambitious goals.
What is the role of secondary cell walls and why is it important to better understand their structure and function?
Félix Barbut: Secondary cell walls are crucial structures in various aspects of plant development, particularly in trees. They help plants resist numerous challenges such as pathogen attack or strong winds and enable trees to live for thousands of years and grow up to one hundred meters tall. Understanding the structure and dynamics of secondary cell walls could help us develop more resilient crops to withstand climate change and promote more sustainable agricultural practices. Additionally, wood, which is composed of secondary cell walls, is a major sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Biofuels derived from wood could serve as an alternative to fossil fuels, potentially achieving net-zero carbon emissions.
What do you consider as the major outcome of your thesis?
Félix Barbut: In my thesis, we identified several molecular players potentially involved in maintaining the integrity of secondary cell walls, a system that allows plants to sense external stresses and adjust wood development accordingly. We also created hybrid aspen trees and Arabidopsis plants that are more drought-resistant and easier to convert to biofuel. However, these plants exhibited slower growth, indicating a need to further optimize secondary cell wall integrity for creating more promising crops and trees. Additionally, we discovered that lipids, fatty compounds that are for example part of cell membranes, may play a more significant role in wood than previously understood.
Did your results match your expectations or working hypotheses?
Félix Barbut: Given the exploratory nature of our research, we did not set much specific expectations for the outcomes. However, we observed many consistent responses to drought and cell wall defects in herbaceous plants and perennial trees. Notably, unexpected findings - such as the presence of lipids in the wood and the drought resistance of cell wall-impaired lines - have paved the way for further research on the secondary cell wall integrity maintenance.
Did you had to overcome any challenges during your PhD?
Félix Barbut: Yes, I faced several challenges during my PhD. First, I had to adapt to a new country, which was a significant transition. Additionally, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the middle of my studies presented considerable difficulties. Overall, the PhD journey is filled with ups and downs, and I am grateful for the resilience I developed during these tough times, from which I learned a great deal.
What are you planning to do now? Do you like to continue in Academia?
Félix Barbut: I am committed to pursuing a career in academia and hope to secure a permanent position in the future. Currently, I have one more paper to publish at UPSC. After that, I plan to seek a position abroad, which I believe will give me more chances of building a successful career.
About the public defence:
Félix Barbut, Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, has defended his PhD thesis on Friday, 14th of June 2024. Faculty opponent was Professor Thorsten Hamann, Professor at the Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway. The thesis was supervised by Ewa Mellerowicz.
Title of the thesis: Unraveling the Role of Xylan in the Integrity of Secondary Cell Walls: Insights from Arabidopsis and Aspen
Link to Félix Barbut’s PhD thesis
Link to a news about one of Félix Barbut's research projects: Aspen trees exposed to repetitive flexing grew faster
For more information, please contact:
Félix Barbut
Umeå Plant Science Centre
Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Email:
Petra Marhava is awarded the SPPS Early Career Prize (photo: Andreas Palmén)
The Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society (SPPS) awards Petra Marhava with the SPPS Early Career Prize. The prize recognises her progress and contributions to plant biology over the past few years and will be awarded to her at the SPPS2024 Conference in Copenhagen in August this year.
Petra Marhava started to establish her research group at UPSC in 2022 when she became Assistant Professor at SLU. Her research focuses on plant acclimation to temperature stress. Right at the beginning, she secured starting grants from the Swedish and the European Research Councils. With the Early Career Prize, SPPS acknowledges Petra Marhava’s achievements over the past years and aims to further support her career.
The motivation for the prize highlights Petra Marhava’s “excellent track record with publications in top tier journals such as Nature and Cell” and that she “has been able to quickly secure funding from important sources”. This is reflected in the size of Petra Marhava’s research group, which currently comprises four postdoctoral researchers and one PhD student, as well as project students.
The SPPS Early Career Prize is awarded every second year to an early career plant scientist based in a Nordic country if nominations of sufficient quality are received. It is a monetary award and will be officially presented to Petra Marhava during the SPPS2024 Conference in Copenhagen in August this year where she will also present her research. This is the fourth time that the SPPS Early Career Prize has been awarded to a UPSC researcher.
More information about the SPPS Early Career Prize and other prizes awarded by SPPS
For more information, please contact:
Petra Marhava
Umeå Plant Science Centre
Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Email:
Twitter: @MarhavaPetra
https://www.upsc.se/petra_marhava
Rishikesh Bhalearo has been appointed as a Wallenberg Scholar (photo: Andreas Palmén)
The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation has announced the list of senior researchers that have been granted funding from the Wallenberg Scholars programme. From UPSC, Rishikesh Bhalerao has been appointed as a Wallenberg scholar. He will receive a five-year research grant to study how trees precisely time their bud break in the spring.
The Wallenberg Scholar programme is an initiative of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation that provides long-term funding to established researchers performing outstanding research. The scholars are selected after rigorous international peer review. Rishikesh Bhalerao, who is professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, will use the funding to study how temperature is regulating bud break in aspen trees.
“I am delighted to receive this honour,” says Rishikesh Bhalerao. “This generous funding will provide me with the opportunity to take cutting edge approaches to address research questions that are typically not feasible with other short term research funding.”
Rishikesh Bhalerao and his group at UPSC are studying how trees know when it is the right time for trees to restart their growth by initiating bud break in the spring. Timing of bud break is a critical decision for perennials such as long-lived trees. If bud break occurs too early, the buds are exposed to damage by snap spring frost whereas late bud break curtails the growing season and forest productivity.
“Trees time their bud break in spring by responding to temperature signals. My group has identified several genes in aspen trees that are involved in bud break regulation, but most of our experiments were done in the greenhouse where the temperature is kept constant,” explains Rishikesh Bhalerao. “However, in nature, the temperature is not constant but fluctuates widely and we would like to understand how trees robustly control bud break by processing this noisy environmental information, that is not known despite being studied extensively for a long time.”
“In contrast with animals, plants lack a central organiser like brain and a nervous system to process noisy environmental information and yet plants display a remarkable ability to make robust decisions that are crucial to their survival,” says Rishikesh Bhalerao.
As a Wallenberg scholar, Rishikesh Bhalerao is planning to combine multidisciplinary approaches like mathematical modelling, cell biology and genomics to uncover the mechanistic basis of this robust decision making in plants using temperature control of bud break as an experimental model.
With the changing climate the risk for spring frost damage to buds has increased. Therefore, a more comprehensive knowledge about how trees regulate their bud break can help to find solutions to deal with these changes to secure tree survival and productivity in future. Rishikesh Bhalerao is convinced that his research in addition to revealing fundamental knowledge about the regulation of bud break will also be highly relevant to forestry.
Link to the press release from Wallenberg
Link to the press release from SLU (in Swedish only)
For questions, please contact:
Rishikesh Bhalerao
Umeå Plant Science Centre
Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Email:
https://www.upsc.se/rishikesh_bhalerao
Stefan Jansson is receiving the SPPS Prize (photo: Fredrik Larsson)
Last week, the Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society (SPPS) announced that Stefan Jansson will receive the SPPS Prize. He is awarded for his outstanding contributions to plant biology research, to the development of the research community especially in the Nordic countries and his efforts in public outreach. The prize will be officially handed over to Stefan Jansson at the SPPS 2024 conference in Copenhagen in August this year.
It is now more than twenty years ago that Stefan Jansson became Professor in Plant Cell and Molecular Biology at Umeå University and more than thirty years ago that he defended his PhD thesis at the same university. During this time, he together with his group at Umeå Plant Science Centre has investigated how plants capture sunlight and how trees sense autumn and survive winter. They have made several ground-breaking discoveries and published many high impact research articles which is one point highlighted in the motivation for the SPPS Prize.
The motivation emphasises also Stefan Jansson’s engagement in public outreach which was rewarded already earlier with several prizes. Several years ago, he decided to set aside one day per week for outreach activities and he has used this time to explain plant science to various audiences. He has been especially active in the debate about genetically modified organisms and plant genome editing, was present in different media formats and has written many debate articles.
Stefan Jansson has been several years head of the department for the UPSC department that belongs to Umeå University but has also taken over several commissions of trust. He has been for example president for The Federation of European Societies of Plant Biology and for SPPS and “has sparked the society to become a more active and engaged community” according to the motivation from SPPS. Stefan Jansson is also elected fellow of three Royal Swedish Academies and contributes in this role to promote science and associated activities for the benefit of society.
“It is indeed an honour to become one in the line of recipients of this prize,” says Stefan Jansson who is after Karin Ljung in 2019 and Gunnar Öquist in 2015 the third research from UPSC receiving the SPPS Prize.
More information about the SPPS Prize and other prizes awarded by SPPS
PhD student Bodil Häggström has studied the effect of different regeneration practices on the survival of forest tree seedlings (photo: Anne Honsel).
The choice of the planting position can determine if a tree seedling survives or not. Bodil Häggström always cared about the fate of seedlings which motivated her to investigate in her PhD the effect of different regeneration practices on the survival rate of tree seedlings. Her results reveal that there is no one-size-fits-all solution but recommends diversifying planting recommendations, especially when considering increasing drought periods in spring. Read more in this interview with her.
You worked on boreal forest regeneration in a variable climate. What motivated you to choose this PhD project in Annika Nordin’s research group at UPSC and SLU?
Bodil Häggström: Boreal forest regeneration was my first “summer job”. I was planting spruce and pine seedlings when I was a teenager. This was a common summer job when growing up in the Northern inland of Sweden. Later on, I also worked as a “planting-boss”, looking that the planters were planting the trees correctly. I always cared greatly to see that seedlings were planted in the right way, both when I was a kid and later. It is the same when I am gardening, I do not like when any sort of seedling is wasted. I guess it is in my nature to “save plants” and that was what caught my attention when I saw this PhD project.
Which factors are limiting forest regeneration, especially in boreal forests?
Bodil Häggström: All factors that make growth slower are limiting such as the short growing season, cold soil temperatures and competition from mature trees and ground vegetation for nutrients like nitrogen, water and light. Seedling growth can also be affected by allelochemicals produced for example by bilberries and lingonberries which represent the most common ground vegetation in Swedish forests. Those compounds can affect both seed germination and root growth. Initial slow growth makes seedlings vulnerable for a longer time. Then, there are of course also pests and insects like the pine weevil that can affect seedling growth and forest regeneration. In the North, this was previously not such a big problem as further south, but with the changing climate the pine weevil and other insects and pests might spread more also here. Browsing by different herbivores also pose a hinder for optimal growth.
What do you consider as the major outcome of your thesis?
Bodil Häggström: In my studies, I have evaluated the effect of planting position, environmental conditions, seedling size, arginine-phosphate addition and competition with mature trees on seedling survival and growth. My major outcome is that there is no one universal regeneration practice that works well everywhere because all sites comprise a unique combination of abiotic and biotic factors that affect the outcome of any practice. For example, the benefit of higher nutrient availability and temperature in a capped mound is counteracted in dry conditions. If a seedling does not get enough water, it cannot utilize the other resources either.
Did your results match your expectations or working hypotheses?
Bodil Häggström: Yes and no, since the results varied quite a lot. We expected higher growth on positions in capped mounds, but this was only on some sites the case. The addition of arginine phosphate as a slow-release organic nitrogen fertilizer enhanced survival and growth on some sites. On other sites, the effect of the local conditions, species and seedling size appeared stronger than or interfered with the effect of fertilization.
What kind of challenges did you had to overcome during your PhD?
Bodil Häggström: The most challenging part for me was the long-term commitment - to focus on one topic over a longer period than I have ever done before. I am that type of person that in general focus on different things in shorter periods, finding a lot of things interesting. During my PhD, I was finding lots of interesting side tracks, and it has been tough to stay focus on what I was supposed to do. Then, there was of course the covid-19 pandemic. I enjoyed a lot the networking part with my colleagues and in the frame of the industrial graduate school that I was part of, but all this came to a halt during the pandemic which made my PhD time less enjoyable than it could have been. Now, after the pandemic, it is much better, and I am intrigued again to continue doing research.
Can you give some practical tips to forest managers based on your results?
Bodil Häggström: Yes, in the light of increasing drought periods in springtime when many seedlings are planted, it would be good to diverge also in Northern Sweden from the general recommendation of planting in the capped mound in dry conditions. Instead, it would be better to try to assess the local conditions before deciding planting position. In drought prone areas for example, planting in the mineral soil beside capped mounds is more favourable while on more moist ground in which there is a risk of waterlogging or frost heaving, planting in capped mounds is better.
Diversifying the planting recommendations could be an easy way to increase survival rates. This is of course a challenge because there is also a need to keep the planting instructions simple, but I think it might be worth it. Hundreds of millions of seedlings are planted every year and only saving one percent would mean saving millions of seedlings. For example, 400 million seedlings - mainly pine and spruce - were delivered in 2020. Increasing survival with one percent would save four million seedlings which is a lot when considering the efforts and costs that are invested to grow a seedling.
Was it beneficial for you to be part of the industrial research school?
Bodil Häggström: Yes, it was highly beneficial! I got contacts in the industry that I otherwise might not have had now, especially with my supervisors from my host company Sveaskog and from Skogforsk. Throughout the years, I was continuously in contact with them, and I now also started the industrial part of my PhD at Sveaskog and will see different parts of the company which is a great opportunity. I wanted to gain as much knowledge as possible before doing my internship. That is why I chose to do it during the last year of my PhD, and I hope that I can now apply my gained knowledge by working on different projects within the company.
Then, in the beginning of my PhD education, I could join a study visit to Australia and New Zealand that was arranged by the industrial research school. That was an amazing journey! We got to visit both forest industry companies and research facilities like Scion in New Zealand. It was great to get early on this perspective and see how forests are managed in other parts of the world which is very different in Australia and New Zealand than in Sweden.
What are you planning to do now?
Bodil Häggström: As mentioned before, I am currently working as trainee at Sveaskog doing my industrial part until November this year. After that I do not know yet, but I could imagine continuing to work at the bridge between academia and industry. I think there are in general more bridges between science and the practice needed but I will see where I end up. Many doors are still open.
Illustration of pine seedlings in planting positions resulting from mechanical soil preparation, from left to right: mineral soil, capped mound, and non-prepared soil (illustration made by Bodil Häggström).About the public defence:
Bodil Häggström, Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, defends her PhD thesis on Thursday, 14th of March 2024. Faculty opponent is Professor Douglass Jacobs, Fred M. van Eck Professor of Forest Biology, Department of Forest and Natural Resources, Purdue University, USA. The thesis was supervised by Annika Nordin from SLU together with Gisela Björse from Sveaskog and Jonas Öhlund from Skogforsk as deputy supervisors.
Title of the thesis: Improving boreal forest regeneration in a variable climate
Link to Bodil Häggström’s PhD thesis
For more information, please contact:
Bodil Häggström
Umeå Plant Science Centre
Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Email:
https://www.slu.se/en/ew-cv/bodil-haggstrom/
Participants and teachers of the Wood Biology and Biotechnology course at Umeå Plant Science Centre (photo: Anna Shevtsova)
Wood and wooden material are accompanying us every day and the demand for wood-based products is increasing. How is this material formed and which factors determine its final features? A group of twenty international students was recently delving into these topics when they joined the NOVA course on Wood Biology and Biotechnology that was organised by SLU at UPSC. On both students and teachers, the course left an overall positive and impactful impression.
Ewa Mellerowicz, expert in wood biosynthesis and biotechnology, organised the course which was aimed at PhD students and researchers after their PhD who were interested in learning more about the field. It was an intensive week filled with lectures, seminars, practical trainings and social activities. The participants who came from all over Europe were amazed by the course content reaching from cellular processes, training in wood anatomy and bioinformatics to discussions on computer-based simulations of biomolecules and industrial application possibilities.
“Our objective was to cover a broad spectrum of topics that are fundamental for understanding wood formation and function and connect this knowledge with current developments in the field as well as future prospects,” says Ewa Mellerowicz, professor at SLU and group leader at UPSC. “I was lucky that so many of my colleagues volunteered to share their specific knowledge in this course and the engagement of the students was really great!”
The course participants were not only asked to listen to the lectures and participate in the practical trainings. They were also expected to read selected literature about the field before the course, present their own research project on a poster, take an active part in discussions and join social activities like for example a dinner after the poster presentation.
“Despite three years of experience in wood chemistry, this course has provided me with a clearer understanding of many aspects,” expressed PhD student Mateo Bello Villarino the course's significance in enhancing his understanding of wood chemistry and its potential impact on his future projects. He is in the final year of his PhD studies at Umeå University.
George Woodward, PhD student at the University of Helsinki, adds: “Inside my own PhD studies, I wouldn’t have received this level of intimate training in wood anatomy. This guidance was invaluable to my own research and interest. Understanding the industrial relevance of wood biology was truly insightful like for example the world of nanocellulose and its applications which was presented by Linn Berglund from Luleå University.”
It is not clear yet when the next Wood Biology and Biotechnology course will be organised but the overall positive feedback from the students highlights its importance for young researchers in the field.
“I hope we can arrange such a course again as it fills a knowledge gap that is currently not covered by any book,” says Hannele Tuominen, one of the teachers of the course. "It was a very intense but great week thanks to the excellent organisation of the course. To teach and discuss with such high motivated students is really fun.”
Text: Pratibha Kumari, Anne Honsel