Development of colchicine‐induced tetraploid St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) lines

St. Augustinegrass is well suited for lawns and commercial landscapes. While many genotypes are cross‐fertile, all cultivars are propagated vegetatively in sod production. To ensure varietal purity, development of sterile triploid hybrids by crossing tetraploid and diploid genotypes has been successfully used in other warm‐season turfgrasses. Applying this model in St. Augustinegrass would be beneficial to sod producers and turf managers who require purity for certification and uniformity for performance, respectively. This study was conducted to develop colchicine‐induced tetraploid lines of St. Augustinegrass. Seeds of cultivar ‘Raleigh’ were treated with four colchicine concentrations at four exposure times. A non‐treated control was included among the treatments. Seedlings that germinated were screened for genome size changes using flow cytometry. Line DSA 13005 and two progeny lines derived through selfing, DSA 16001 and DSA 16016, were corroborated as tetraploids (2n = 4x = 36) through chromosome counts. These lines will be used in future breeding efforts to attempt development of sterile triploid cultivars of St. Augustinegrass.     

五大连池火山山杨叶功能性状的变异特征

  目的  探讨五大连池火山山杨叶功能性状特征，揭示植物对火山生境的适应，以及对不同坡向的生存策略，为特殊生境和微地形生境下植物的适应机制提供参考依据。  方法  以5座火山共有植物山杨为对象，测定叶面积（LS）、叶厚度（LT）、比叶面积（SLA）、叶干物质量（LDMC）、叶碳含量（LCC）、叶氮含量（LNC）、叶磷含量（LPC）和叶氮磷比（LNP）等8种功能性状在坡向间、火山间的变化规律和变异特征，分析叶功能性状间相互关系和主成分。  结果  （1）除LCC外，其他7种功能性状在南北坡向间均具有显著差异，LT、LDMC、LNC、LNP表现为南坡大于北坡，而LS、LCC、LPC表现为南坡小于北坡。（2）山杨SLA、LCC、LPC在新、老期火山间差异显著，但在老期火山间差异不显著。（3）火山南坡、北坡山杨LT与LDMC呈显著负相关，南、北坡向及火山间山杨LNP与LNC均呈极显著正相关、与LPC呈极显著的负相关关系。（4）火山环境中山杨LNP、LPC、LNC和LS在叶功能性状分化中起到主要贡献作用。  结论  五大连池火山山杨叶功能性状的变异与火山喷发的特殊性有关，山杨通过调节自身功能性状形成不同的生存策略来适应南、北坡向和不同火山环境，在生长过程中更容易受到氮元素缺乏的限制。火山森林生态系统是一个特殊环境，研究火山植被演替和植物功能性状等问题需要结合火山喷发的特殊情况深入讨论。      

花生栽野种间杂交异源多倍化早期世代基因表达变化分析

为了进一步认识花生种间杂交异源多倍体进化过程中的基因表达变化规律,采用cDNA-HFO-TAG技术,研究花生种间杂交组合(四倍体栽培种‘仲恺花4号’×二倍体野生种Arachis. diogio)杂种F_1和早期多倍体世代S0~S3的基因表达变化情况。14条HFO-TAG引物共扩增出121条cDNA片段,其中差异片段84个,主要包括三种类型:亲本转录物完全沉默(3个),双亲转录物在后代部分材料中沉默(59个)和新转录物激活(22个),上述变化在F1代即开始发生。筛选其中大小为500~2 000 bp的35个TDFs进行克隆测序,有27个和NCBI数据库中已录入的基因具有较高的相似性,包括抗逆相关基因(10条)、未知功能蛋白基因(8条)、能量与代谢相关基因(7条)和转录因子相关的基因(2条)。这些研究结果进一步表明在花生种间杂交异源多倍化早期发生着快速、剧烈的基因表达变化,从中获得的差异基因片段,有助于了解花生属种间杂交异源多倍化早期分子机制变化,这对有效利用野生花生种质优异基因具有重要意义。cDNA-HFO-TAG技术简单、有效且实用,完全适用于花生属基因表达变化研究,可以作为花生属及其它物种基因表达变化分析技术的有效补充。     

Proteomic profiles during adventitious rooting of Eucalyptus species relevant to the cellulose industry

New Forests - Adventitious rooting (AR) is an obligatory step for vegetative propagation of commercial woody species. Paper industries have interest in Eucalyptus globulus Labill and its hybrids...     

Revisiting rice breeding methods – evaluating the use of rapid generation advance (RGA) for routine rice breeding

Rice production needs to increase in the future in order to meet increasing demands. The development of new improved and higher yielding varieties more quickly will be needed to meet this demand. However, most rice breeding programmes in the world have not changed in several decades. In this article, we revisit the evidence in favour of using rapid generation advance (RGA) as a routine breeding method. We describe preliminary activities at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to re-establish RGA on a large scale as the main breeding method for irrigated rice breeding. We also describe experiences from the early adoption at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. Evaluation of RGA breeding lines at IRRI for yield, flowering time and plant height indicated transgressive segregation for all traits. Some RGA lines were also higher yielding than the check varieties. The cost advantages of using RGA compared to the pedigree method were also empirically determined by performing an economic analysis. This indicated that RGA is several times more cost effective and advantages will be realized after 1 year even if facilities need to be built. Based on our experience, and previous independent research empirically testing the RGA method in rice, we recommend that this method should be implemented for routine rice breeding in order to improve breeding efficiency.     

Embodied Resources in Fish and Shrimp Feeds

Global averages were obtained for amounts of energy, land, water, wildfish, nitrogen, and phosphorus embodied in aquaculture feed ingredients. These data allowed amounts of these embodied resources to be calculated for typical feed formulations for channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus; hybrid catfish, I. punctatus♀ × I. furcatus♂; Vietnamese catfish, Pangasius spp.; Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar; rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss; tilapia, Oreochromis spp.; whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei; and black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon. Embodied resource use per m.t. of feed varied among species: energy, 4.90–12.48 GJ/m.t.; land, 0.082–0.312 ha/m.t.; water, 502–1227 m³/m.t.; wildfish, 0–2880 kg/m.t.; nitrogen, 3.08–8.63 kg/m.t.; phosphorus, 1.16–5.62 kg/m.t. These calculations did not account for variations in site‐specific factors related to embodied resources and feed composition and use. But they suggest that reducing feed conversion ratio (FCR) by 0.1 unit for the seven species (species groups) could potentially reduce feed use by around 1.1 million tonne (Mt) while conserving 9.8 million GJ of energy, 270,000 ha of agricultural land, 1.4 billion m³ of freshwater, and 1.24 Mt of wildfish. Reduction of the FCR is a powerful means of lessening farm‐level production costs and negative impacts of feed production and use.     

优质国审棉品种——ZHM19

概述了ZHM19的选育过程、特征特性、产量、纤维品质和抗病性等特点及主要栽培技术措施。     

棉花叶枝数与种植密度对单株结铃数的影响

为了探明棉花叶枝数和密度对单株结铃的影响规律，试验设置5种留叶枝方式：不留叶枝（CK）、留1叶枝、留2叶枝、留3叶枝、留全部叶枝；5个种植密度（万株·hm^－2）：2.25，3.00，3.75，4.50，5.25。研究结果表明：在同一密度条件下，随叶枝的增多，单株铃数增加；留1叶枝单株铃数较对照增加10%左右，留2、3叶枝单株铃数较对照增加15%左右，保留全部叶枝较对照增加25%左右。在同一叶枝处理下，随密度的增加，单株铃数减少；密度每增加7500株·hm^－2，5种留叶枝方式的单株结铃分别减少2.60个、3.04个、3.06个、3.44个和3.71个。总铃数随叶枝和密度的增加而增加，当总成铃为88.24万个·hm^－2时产量最高。     

Effects of Feeding Frequency on Apparent Energy and Nutrient Digestibility/Availability of Channel Catfish,Ictalurus punctatus,Reared at Optimal and Suboptimal Temperatures

This study examined the effects of feeding frequency (daily versus every other day [EOD]) on nutrient digestibility/availability of channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, reared at optimal (30 C) and suboptimal (24 C) temperatures. A 28% protein practical diet was used as the test diet, and chromic oxide was used at 0.75% of the diet as a maker. Twenty channel catfish of a mean weight of 141 g/fish were stocked into 12 flow‐through aquaria (110 L). Fish were fed daily or EOD to apparent satiation for 7 d before fecal samples were collected by the dissection method. Fish fed EOD to apparent satiation consumed more diet on days fed than those fed daily, and fish reared at 30 C consumed more diet than those reared at 24 C. Neither feeding frequency nor water temperature significantly affected apparent digestibility coefficients for energy and protein and apparent availability coefficients for total amino acids. Results show no advantage by feeding EOD over feeding daily on nutrient digestibility and diet utilization efficiency.