Isozyme polymorphism in Festuca rubraL.

Summary Six Festuca rubra populations from Europe and Scandinavia were studied for variation at three isozyme loci; phosphoglucoisomerase (PGI-2), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT-3) and superoxide dismutase (SOD-1). Seven alleles were found at the Pgi-2 locus, four at the Got-3 locus and five at the Sod-1 locus. Most plants were heterozygous and up to five alleles were found in the same plant at the Pgi-2 locus. Each population could be distinguished by the presence or absence of certain alleles or by differences in the frequencies of the alleles present. Values for the Shannon diversity index were calculated which showed that there was considerable heterogeneity both within and between loci. In general, 53% of this diversity could be attributed to within population variation.     

Transfer of the recessive crossability allele kr1 from Chinese Spring into the winter wheat variety Martonvásári 9

Summary The recessive of crossability allele kr1 was transferred from the spring wheat variety Chinese Spring (CS) into the winter wheat variety Martonvásári 9 (Mv9) by backcrossing the Mv9 × CS hybrids with Mv9. The Mv9 variety possesses dominant Kr1 alleles and is heterogeneous at the kr2 locus, so that some individual plants carry recessive kr2 alleles. The selection of plants possessing the recessive kr alleles from the (Mv9 × CS)Mv9 BC₁ generation was carried out according to the seed set achieved when pollinated with rye (Secale cereale L. cv. Mercator). The partial dominance of the Kr alleles made it possible to differentiate between plants heterozygous at the Kr1 locus and Kr1Kr1 homozygous dominant plants. Two selfed consecutive progenies were tested by pollination with rye to select the homozygous recessive kr1kr1kr2kr2 plants and to check the result of the selection after each backcross.As a result of three backcrosses with Mv9 and two selfings after each backcross the selected progenies had 61.6% seed set with rye tested on sixty individual plants. These data confirm that after the third backcross the selected Mv9 kr1 line carries necessive crossability alleles Kr1 and Kr2, but the genotype is 93.75% Mv9.     

Genetical control of alkaloids in Lupinus albus

Summary The pattern and concentration of component alkaloids in wildtype and mutant genotypes homozygous for the alleles pauper, exiguus and nutricius in L. albus have been determined. Alkaloid production in geno-types homozygous for identical and complementary alleles have been determined. The study has revealed at least two alleles possessing different effectiveness in reducing alkaloid levels at the pauper locus, and the frequency distribution of alkaloid concentration in F₂ indicates dominance of the high-alkaloid allele is incomplete. Seven alkaloids were identified in the wild-type genotype, of which four were found in all homozygous mutant genotypes in approximately similar proportions. The mutations identified by means of the Dragendorff reaction appear to affect a common substrate without affecting the amount of the different component alkaloids that are produced.     

A study of dominance at the locus controlling cyanoglucoside production in Trifolium repens L.

Summary The Ac allele for cyanoglucoside production in white clover has been shown to be incompletely dominant and a dosage effect is indicated at this locus. The recessive allele, ac, when homozygous gives rise to absence of cyanoglucosides in the leaf tissue, whereas in heterozygous plants it has been shown to reduce the level of cyanoglucoside, to a level less than half the value found in Ac Ac plants.     

Anther culture in connection with induced mutations for rice improvement

Doubled haploids have long been recognized as a valuable tool in plant breeding since it not only offers the quickest method of advancing heterozygous breeding lines to homozygosity, but also increases the selection efficiency over conventional procedures due to better discrimination between genotypes within any one generation. Ten cultivars of japonica rice and nine cultivars of indica rice were evaluated for androgenic response. Various doses (10–50 Gy) of gamma rays were applied to investigate the effect of radiation on callus formation, green plant regeneration and the frequency of selected doubled haploid mutants. Similarly, the effects of colchicine concentration (10–200 mg/l) on callus induction, regeneration and fertility of green plants were observed. It was demonstrated that the dose of 20 Gy gamma rays and 30 mg/l concentration of colchicine have significant stimulation effect on regeneration of green plants from rice anther culture. The high frequency of observed doubled haploid mutants indicates that anther culture applied in connection with gamma rays is an effective way to improve rice cultivars. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

基于大豆胞囊线虫抗病候选基因rhg1的InDe1标记发掘与鉴定

大豆胞囊线虫病是严重危害大豆生产的重要病害之一,根据抗病候选基因发掘标记可以为分子标记辅助选择抗病材料提供标记资源。本研究通过对大豆胞囊线虫抗病候选基因rhg1的序列比对分析,发现4个插入/删除位点,针对其中3个多碱基插入/缺失位点开发了InDel标记。应用开发的3个InDel标记对33份栽培大豆进行基因型鉴定,共检测到等位变异11个,平均每个位点3.67个。其中rhg1-I1位点有等位变异5个,rhg1-I2位点有等位变异2个;rhg1-I4位点有等位变异4个。各等位变异发生频率范围为0.8%~77.3%。InDel标记与大豆胞囊线虫抗性间的关联分析表明,rhg1-I4为抗性相关标记,对抗病资源的检出效率为88.2%,对感病资源的检出效率为100%。该标记的288 bp等位变异和294 bp等位变异为抗病相关等位变异,269 bp等位变异和272 bp等位变异为感病相关等位变异。此标记与常用于标记辅助选择的Satt309配合鉴定可以提高SCN抗病资源的检测效率。     

Localization of QTL for basal root thickness in <Emphasis Type="Italic">japonica</Emphasis> rice and effect of marker-assisted selection for a major QTL

Root traits are key components of plant adaptation to drought environment. By using a 120 recombined inbred lines (RILs) rice population derived from a cross between IRAT109, a japonica upland rice cultivar and Yuefu, a japonica lowland rice cultivar, a complete genetic linkage map with 201 molecular markers covering 1,833.8 cM was constructed and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with basal root thickness (BRT) were identified. A major QTL, conferring thicker BRT, located on chromosome 4, designated brt4, explained phenotypic variance of 20.6%, was selected as target QTL to study the effects of marker-assisted selection (MAS) using two early segregating populations derived from crosses between IRAT109 and two lowland rice cultivars. The results showed that the flanking markers of brt4 were genetically stable in populations with different genetic backgrounds. In the two populations under upland conditions, the difference between the means of BRT of plants carrying positive and negative favorable alleles at brt4 flanking markers loci was significant. Phenotypic effects of BRT QTL brt4 were 5.05–8.16%. When selected plants for two generations were planted at Beijing and Hainan locations under upland conditions, MAS effects for BRT QTL brt4 were 4.56–18.56% and 15.46–26.52% respectively. The means of BRT for the homozygous plants were greater than that of heterozygous plants. This major QTL might be useful for rice drought tolerance breeding. L. Liu and P. Mu are contributed equally to this work.     

Relationship between tolerance and resistance to pepper mottle virus in a cross between Capsicum annuum L. × Capsicum chinense Jacq.

Summary Progenies of a cross between pepper cultivar Delray Bell (Capsicum annuum L.) tolerant to pepper mottle virus (PeMoV) and P.I. 159236 (Capsicum chinense Jacq.), resistant to PeMoV were evaluated in greenhouse experiments. The F₁ generation was susceptible to PeMoV, whereas the backeross generations to both parents and the F₂ segregated in a ratio of 1:1. This indicates that PeMoV resistance is controlled at the same locus in both parents or at two closely linked loci. Each parent is homozygous for one locus and the homozygous condition of either allele results in failure to support virus; in heterozygous condition as observed in the F₁ generation, the effect of a single allele is insufficient even when one allele of each type is present, resulting in systemic infection.The abstract of this paper was presented at the IVth Eucarpia Capsicum meetings held in October at Wageningen, Netherlands.Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations Journal Series Paper No. 3175.     

Allelic relationships at the pvr1 locus in Capsicum annuum

Diseases caused by members of the Potyviridae family currently threaten pepper crops (Capsicum annuum L.) worldwide. A series of monogenic recessive resistance genes that control potyvirus resistance at the pvr1 locus in Capsicum species are widely known and used in pepper breeding programs, each allele with a differential resistance spectrum affecting a distinct range of viral strains across three viruses, Tobacco etch virus (TEV), Pepper mottle virus and Potato virus Y. In this study, we systematically analyzed the resistant spectra, and the level of the resistance each allele confers using a set of pepper genotypes homozygous or heterozygous for the following alleles; Pvr1 ⁺, pvr1, pvr1 ¹ and pvr1 ². The resistance alleles at the pvr1 locus show recessive inheritance when combined with a susceptible allele in F1 progenies. However, our results show that resistance in this system is, in fact, not always fully recessive and establish a hierarchy of allelic interactions We identified the resistance phenotype in F₁ progenies generated by combining a complete resistant allele with an incomplete resistance allele against TEV strains implying that the resistance alleles at the pvr1 shows dominant inheritance when combined with an incomplete resistance allele. Resistance alleles against TEV-HAT, pvr1 and pvr1 ², show dominance inheritance when each is combined with pvr1 ¹. The resistance allele, pvr1, shows dominance inheritance when combined with pvr1 ² against TEV-N. These results clarify the allelic relationship between resistance alleles at the pvr1 locus displaying different resistance spectra, and will assist breeders to select the preferred combinations of the resistance alleles to obtain durable resistance against multiple potyviral strains.     

Alleles at a quantitative trait locus for stem solidness in wheat affect temporal patterns of pith expression and level of resistance to the wheat stem sawfly

The stem solidness trait in wheat has been the most effective mechanism for management of the wheat stem sawfly (WSS) for six decades. However, recent results have shown that in certain genotypes, the degree of stem solidness is not a useful indicator of WSS resistance. A morphological characterization of solidness expression indicated that in the genotype ‘Conan’, very solid pith undergoes rapid retraction during stem maturation, resulting in significantly less solidness at maturity. In other solid‐stemmed genotypes, including the standard WSS‐resistant cultivar ‘Choteau’, dense pith in the stem remains nearly unchanged throughout plant development. In cage trials, ‘Conan’ plants were less preferred for oviposition by the WSS when paired with ‘Choteau’ plants. Field bioassays using near‐isogenic lines differing for alleles at Qss.msub‐3BL showed that the Conan allele provides higher levels of early stem solidness and rapid pith retraction during stem maturation. These results suggest that the traditional approach for increasing WSS resistance by selecting for increasing stem solidness needs to be modified to consider temporal variations in pith expression associated with alleles at Qss.msub‐3BL.     

The genetic relations between length of time to germination and seed dormancy in lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum)

Summary The inheritance of speed of germination and its genetic relations with seed dormancy was investigated in lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum). The study was based on data from parental, F1, BC1F1 and F2 generations of a cross between a normally germinating genotype (P1) and a chill-requiring genotype (P2). The mean post-chilling germination speed of P2 was considerably lower than that of P1. Germination speed was found to be under nuclear embryonic control. Analysis of generation means for prechilled seeds revealed an additive gene action with complete dominance of the alleles conferring higher germination speed, since the means of the F1 and the BC1 (P1) were indentical to that of P1. Such dominance was not found for unchilled seeds, in which the mean germination speed of the F1 and the BC1 (P1) was lower than that of P1. It was hypothesized that slow germination speed was induced by pleiotropic effects of seed dormancy alleles. Seed prechilling seemed to eliminate these effects in progeny heterozygous for dormancy alleles, but not in progeny homozygous for dormancy alleles.Contribution from the Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, No 1292-E, 1993 series.     

Identification of QTLs for phosphorus utilization efficiency in maize (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Zea mays</Emphasis> L.) across P levels

It is necessary to develop maize plants that are productive when grown in phosphorus (P) deficient soils because of the high cost of P supplementation in soils. The shoot phosphorus utilization efficiency, the whole phosphorus utilization efficiency of plant and root/shoot ratio as well as the quantitative trait loci associated with these traits were determined for a F_2:3 population derived from the cross of two contrasting maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes, 082 and Ye107. A total of 241 F_2:3 families were evaluated in replicated trials under deficient and normal phosphorus conditions in 2007 at Southwest University. The genetic map constructed by 275 SSR and 146 AFLP markers spanned 1,681.3 cM in length with an average interval of 3.84 cM between adjacent markers. Phosphorus was determined in harvested plants separated into two portions, roots and shoots with leaves. The sum of the two portions was used as an expression for P in the whole plant. By using composite interval mapping, a total of 5–8 distinct QTLs were identified under deficient and normal phosphorus, respectively. SPUE and WPUE under deficient phosphorus were controlled by one QTL, which was in the interval bnlg1518-bnlg1526 (bins 10.04) on chromosome 10. The loci of QTLs were same for SPUE, WPUE and RSR under normal phosphorus, which were in the interval bnlg1518–bnlg1526 (bins 10.04) and P2M8/a-bnlg1839 (bins10.07) on chromosome 10. Unlike regions conferring phosphorus utilization efficiency and root shoot ratio under normal phosphorus, the region under deficient phosphorus showed that genes controlling phosphorus utilization efficiency or root shoot ratio might be different. These results may be useful to breeding programs in marker assisted selections to identify phosphorus tolerant genotypes. Junyi Chen and Li Xu contributed equally to this work.     

Maternal induced haploids in rye (Secale cereale L.)

Summary An inbred line of rye named P8 was found to possess haploid plants in their diploid stock. Phenomenon of spontaneous haploidy was examined in this line. Fifty families derived from this inbred line were screened to determine their ploidy level by mitotic chromosome count taking root tips. Seven families were found to contain haploid plants. Among these seven families, plants from two families which were diploid were crossed reciprocally with the standard out breeding cultivar Conrah. As all of the tested plants of P8 were found aa allele for 6-Phosphogluconic dehydrogenase (6-PGD) isozyme, therefore, only those Conrah plants which have bb alleles for the same isozyme were used in crossing programme.F1 seedlings were screened with the same isozyme marker and out of 1741 F1 seedlings tested, 51 were found to be non-hybrid phenotype for 6-PGD enzyme. Among these, only five plants were found haploid and the rest were diploid. Haploid plants were obtained only from those crosses where P8 was female which indicates that haploids in this line was maternally induced.     

Bilateral polyploidization inDactylis glomerata L. subsp.lusitanica: occurrence,morphological and genetic characteristics of first polyploids

Summary InDactylis glomerata L. subsp.lusitanica, triploid and tetraploid plants were obtained by bilateral sexual polyploidization in crosses between diploid parents known to produce 2n gametes. The polyploid and diploid progeny were compared for allozyme diversity (allele number and heterozygosity), phenological (pollen fertility, inflorescence emergence date), cellular (stomatic cell size) and morphological characters (vegetative biomass, seed weight, total seed number per plant, panicle number and seed number per panicle length) in four contrasting growing conditions. Stomatal cell size and the total number of alleles were significantly lower in diploids than in polyploids which sometimes recovered more than two distinct alleles at a locus via 2n gametes possessing heterozygous loci. Pollen fertility was similar in diploids and tetraploids, but significantly lower in the triploids. Seed weight was significantly higher in polyploids, although the average number of seeds per panicle length and the total number of seeds was higher in the diploid sibs. No phenological differences occurred among ploidy levels whereas such differences were observed inDactylis in all the natural areas of sympatry between diploids and their related polyploids. Our results provide evidence for an instantaneous effect of polyploidization on certain traits and suggest that natural selection would act subsequently on several other traits to allow the establishment of new polyploids.     

Sources of resistance to tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in cultivated and wild species of Capsicum

Summary The high molecular weight (HMW) subunits of glutenin extracted from flour of 36 Yogoslav wheat cultivars were separated by SDS-PAGE to identify their alleles, and the frequency of each allele was calculated. Eleven alleles from the three Glu-loci were recognized, three at the Glu-A1 locus, six at the Glu-B1 locus and two at the Glu-D1 locus. The most frequent allele was a (55.5%) from Glu-D1, which controls synthesis of subunits 2+12. The Glu-1 quality score varied from 4 (KG-III/27, KG-75, Morava and KG-101/7) to 10 (Lepenica). The mean Glu-1 quality score of cultivars and lines from Kragujevac was 6.8, for cultivars from Zagreb 7.2, and for cultivars from Novi Sad was 7.9. Most of the genotypes with a quality score of 8 or above, had high sedimentation values (Zeleny test). There were no significant differences in allelic composition at the Glu-1 loci among wheat genotypes from Kragujevac, Novi Sad and Zagreb.     

Mutagenic induction of double-podding trait in different genotypes of chickpea and their characterization by STMS marker

A gene that confers double-podding in chickpea is considered to be important for breeding higher yielding cultivars. Double-podded mutants were produced from five desi- and four kabuli-type chickpea genotypes through induced mutations and stabilty was checked up to M₁₃ generation. Desi-type produced higher number of mutants as compared with kabuli-type. The inheritance studies in induced mutants of six genotypes showed that the double-podded trait was governed by single recessive gene. Different genotypes and their double-podded mutants were also characterized through sequence-tagged microsatellite site marker, TA-80. Allelic variations were found in single-podded genotypes and eight different alleles were identified, while for double-poddedness no allelic variants were found in all the analysed mutants. Addition of bases in the double-podded mutants showed that there might be involvement of transposable elements in the production of double-podded mutants through mutagens.     

水稻温敏叶绿素突变体叶片蛋白的双向电泳分析

采用经改进的蛋白质双向电泳技术,分析了水稻温敏叶绿素突变体武金4B和1103S"斑马叶”性状表达过程中叶片蛋白质的变化.结果表明:在该性状表达期,叶片蛋白质含量下降,特别是RubisCO大、小亚基含量明显减少;在叶片的失绿部分蛋白P1(MW56kD,pI6.7)发生特异缺失;在叶片的绿色部分该蛋白明显表达.复绿后,P1蛋白正常表达.在对照及     

Association of isozyme genotypes with agronomic and seed composition traits in soybean

Summary Two crosses between Glycine max (L.) Merr. and G. soja Sieb. & Zucc. parents were used to study the association between isozyme marker loci and agronomic and seed composition traits in soybean. The parents possessed different alleles at six isozyme loci for Cross 1 (A80-244036 × PI 326581) and at eight isozyme loci for Cross 2 (A81-157007 × PI 342618A). A total of 480 BC₂F_4:6 lines from the two crosses was evaluated for 13 traits in two environments. Lines were grouped in locus classes from 0 to 5 according to the number of loci homozygous for the G. soja alleles that they possessed. Within each locus class, each isozyme genotype was represented by five random lines.Selection for G. max alleles at the isozyme loci was not effective in recovering the recurrent parent phenotype in either cross. In cross 1, however, BC₂F₄-derived lines in the 0- or 1- locus class more closely resembled the G. max parent than lines in the 4- or 5- locus classes for most of the agronomic and seed composition traits evaluated. Significant associations were found between particular isozyme genotypes and every trait analyzed. The estimated effect of genes linked to the Pgm1 locus was a delay in maturity of 6.0±3.4 days. In cross 1, the Idh2 locus was associated with a significant effect on linolenic acid content. The percentage of variation accounted for by the models of estimation varied according to the heritability of the trait. The R² was high (up to 78%) for maturity, lodging, and vining, and low (up to 21%) for seed yield. Most of the variation was associated with the BC₂F₁ family from which the lines were derived. There was little evidence that digenic epistasis was an important source of variation.Journal Paper No. J-13505 of the Iowa Agric. Home Econ. Exp. Stn., Ames, IA, Project 2475.     

Resistance gene deployment strategies in cereal hybrids using marker-assisted selection: Gene pyramiding, three-way hybrids, and synthetic parent populations

Marker-assisted selection (MAS) for resistance genes (R-genes), identified using molecular markers and quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis, is now possible in many crops. MAS can be used to pyramid several R-genes into a single host genotype. However, this may not provide durable genetic resistance because the pathogen is exposed to a full homozygous pyramid during hybrid seed production and to a full heterozygous pyramid in the resultant hybrid. Alternative gene deployment strategies that generate genetic variability were analysed, for hybrid cereal cultivars of pearl millet, maize, sorghum and rice, using maintainer lines (B-lines) with two smaller complementary pyramids. An F₁ seed parent, produced on two such B-lines, can be used to produce a three-way hybrid. All target loci are heterozygous for resistance alleles in the F₁ seed parent, and the pathogen is exposed in the hybrid to a host population that is heterogeneous and heterozygous for alleles at the resistance loci targeted by MAS. Alternatively, single-cross hybrids can be made on seed parents that are maintained by two B-lines that differ for the complementary resistance gene pyramids. In a cross-pollinated crop, the B-lines are allowed to intermate to produce a synthetic B-line. In an inbreeding crop, the B-lines are equivalent to a two-component multiline variety. In inbreeding crops, because there is no intermating between the B-line components, the resultant synthetic seed parents have a higher frequency of genotypes with resistance alleles (R-alleles) at several resistance loci. However, in both cross-pollinated and inbreeding crops the genotypic structure in the hybrids is almost the same. All alternatives to a single-cross hybrid having a full pyramid produce hybrid cultivars having lower frequencies of resistance alleles. The frequency of genotypes having R-alleles at several loci increases greatly in both seed parent and hybrid when the overall frequency of R-alleles in the maintainer lines increases. This is simply done by adding a maintainer line that has a full pyramid or by the component lines having overlapping pyramids. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Genetic characterization of spontaneous diploid androgenetic wheat and triticale plants

The homozygosity of spontaneous hexaploid plants derived from anther culture was evaluated in wheat and triticale by means of 18 and 22 microsatellite markers, respectively. Most of the spontaneous hexaploid plants were homozygous for all the loci tested and had chromosomes recombining for parental alleles. Only 12% of the spontaneous hexaploid wheat plants, 11% of the artificially doubled wheat plants and 4.4% of the spontaneous hexaploid triticale plants were heterozygous at one to three of the loci studied. This showed that spontaneous hexaploid plants mostly came from normal haploid cells, obtained after meiosis, that underwent spontaneous chromosome doubling. However, first or second division restitution, producing unreduced gametes, cannot be completely excluded to explain the origin of the spontaneous hexaploid plants. Cytomixis, involving only one chromosome, or development of aneuploid trisomic gametes, followed by chromosome doubling for the spontaneous hexaploid plants, or transposition events could also explain some of the results obtained.