Effect of source germplasm and season on the in vivo haploid induction rate in tropical maize

For in vivo production of doubled haploid (DH) lines in maize, the rate of haploid induction is of crucial importance. Maternal haploid induction depends primarily on the inducer used as a pollinator. However, the source germplasm used as a maternal parent and the environmental conditions for induction may also influence haploid induction and these aspects have not been examined in tropical maize so far. The objectives of our study were to (i) monitor the variation for haploid induction rate (HIR) among diverse source germplasm in tropical maize, (ii) determine the relative importance of general (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining abilities for HIR, and (iii) investigate the influence of summer and winter seasons and genotype × season interactions on this trait. Ten inbreds were mated in a half diallel design. The resulting 45 F₁ single crosses were pollinated with the haploid inducer hybrid RWS × UH400 during the summer 2008 and winter 2009 seasons in a lowland tropical environment in Mexico. HIR of the single crosses averaged over seasons ranged from 2.90 to 9.66% with an overall mean of 6.74%. Mean HIR was significantly (P < 0.01) higher during the winter (7.37%) than summer season (6.11%). Significant (P < 0.01) variation was observed due to GCA effects of parental inbreds of single crosses but not for SCA, GCA × season and SCA × season interactions. Our study underpins that a higher HIR in tropical maize can be obtained by selecting appropriate source germplasm and undertaking pollination under favorable environmental conditions.     

Global human capital: integrating education and population

Almost universally, women with higher levels of education have fewer children. Better education is associated with lower mortality, better health, and different migration patterns. Hence, the global population outlook depends greatly on further progress in education, particularly of young women. By 2050, the highest and lowest education scenarios--assuming identical education-specific fertility rates--result in world population sizes of 8.9 and 10.0 billion, respectively. Better education also matters for human development, including health, economic growth, and democracy. Existing methods of multi-state demography can quantitatively integrate education into standard demographic analysis, thus adding the "quality" dimension.     

Parallel patterns of evolution in the genomes and transcriptomes of humans and chimpanzees

The determination of the chimpanzee genome sequence provides a means to study both structural and functional aspects of the evolution of the human genome. Here we compare humans and chimpanzees with respect to differences in expression levels and protein-coding sequences for genes active in brain, heart, liver, kidney, and testis. We find that the patterns of differences in gene expression and gene sequences are markedly similar. In particular, there is a gradation of selective constraints among the tissues so that the brain shows the least differences between the species whereas liver shows the most. Furthermore, expression levels as well as amino acid sequences of genes active in more tissues have diverged less between the species than have genes active in fewer tissues. In general, these patterns are consistent with a model of neutral evolution with negative selection. However, for X-chromosomal genes expressed in testis, patterns suggestive of positive selection on sequence changes as well as expression changes are seen. Furthermore, although genes expressed in the brain have changed less than have genes expressed in other tissues, in agreement with previous work we find that genes active in brain have accumulated more changes on the human than on the chimpanzee lineage.     

Inferential structure determination

Macromolecular structures calculated from nuclear magnetic resonance data are not fully determined by experimental data but depend on subjective choices in data treatment and parameter settings. This makes it difficult to objectively judge the precision of the structures. We used Bayesian inference to derive a probability distribution that represents the unknown structure and its precision. This probability distribution also determines additional unknowns, such as theory parameters, that previously had to be chosen empirically. We implemented this approach by using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques. Our method provides an objective figure of merit and improves structural quality.     

Thymine dimerization in DNA is an ultrafast photoreaction

Femtosecond time-resolved infrared spectroscopy was used to study the formation of cyclobutane dimers in the all-thymine oligodeoxynucleotide (dT)18 by ultraviolet light at 272 nanometers. The appearance of marker bands in the time-resolved spectra indicates that the dimers are fully formed approximately 1 picosecond after ultraviolet excitation. The ultrafast appearance of this mutagenic photolesion points to an excited-state reaction that is approximately barrierless for bases that are properly oriented at the instant of light absorption. The low quantum yield of this photoreaction is proposed to result from infrequent conformational states in the unexcited polymer, revealing a strong link between conformation before light absorption and photodamage.     

A physical map of the 1-gigabase bread wheat chromosome 3B

As the staple food for 35% of the world's population, wheat is one of the most important crop species. To date, sequence-based tools to accelerate wheat improvement are lacking. As part of the international effort to sequence the 17-billion-base-pair hexaploid bread wheat genome (2n = 6x = 42 chromosomes), we constructed a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-based integrated physical map of the largest chromosome, 3B, that alone is 995 megabases. A chromosome-specific BAC library was used to assemble 82% of the chromosome into 1036 contigs that were anchored with 1443 molecular markers, providing a major resource for genetic and genomic studies. This physical map establishes a template for the remaining wheat chromosomes and demonstrates the feasibility of constructing physical maps in large, complex, polyploid genomes with a chromosome-based approach.     

Glutamatergic and dopaminergic neurons mediate anxiogenic and anxiolytic effects of CRHR1

The corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 (CRHR1) critically controls behavioral adaptation to stress and is causally linked to emotional disorders. Using neurochemical and genetic tools, we determined that CRHR1 is expressed in forebrain glutamatergic and γ-aminobutyric acid-containing (GABAergic) neurons as well as in midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Via specific CRHR1 deletions in glutamatergic, GABAergic, dopaminergic, and serotonergic cells, we found that the lack of CRHR1 in forebrain glutamatergic circuits reduces anxiety and impairs neurotransmission in the amygdala and hippocampus. Selective deletion of CRHR1 in midbrain dopaminergic neurons increases anxiety-like behavior and reduces dopamine release in the prefrontal cortex. These results define a bidirectional model for the role of CRHR1 in anxiety and suggest that an imbalance between CRHR1-controlled anxiogenic glutamatergic and anxiolytic dopaminergic systems might lead to emotional disorders.