Studies of Multi-Allelic Polymorphism of Dominant Dwarfing Genes in Wheat

Dwarfing breeding of wheat in the world is confined to the exploitation of recessive dwarfing sources. None of the dominant dwarfing sources discovered in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L. ) has found wide exploitation in wheat breeding due to the extreme dwarfness of their plants (20 -55 cm). We found in our work that some stable mutant lines with their plant height enhanced to different extents could be obtained in large populations derived from the stock seeds of the dominant dwarfing sources Aibian1 carrying Rht10 on 4DS and being 20 - 55 cm tall and Aisu2 carrying Rht3 on 4BS and being 55 cm tall, or from their descendants of induced mutation treatments, or from the segregating descendants of their crosses with mid- or tall-statured genotypes. Subsequently, we studied these mutation-derived lines differing in plant height with near isogenic lines and observed that the character of their enhanced plant height bred true, each carrying a semidominant dwarfing gene for a definite height and that as the plant height of the mutation-derived lines increased, the yield-contributing characters of their near isogenic lines were significantly improved. When test crosses with marker genes and physiological and biochemical genetic marker tests were performed to re-localize the semi-dominant dwarfing genes carried by the mutation-derived lines, it was confirmed that they shared common loci with Rht10 and Rht3 and that they were all mutation-derived multiple alleles. It is thus speculated that dominant dwarfing genes are of "multi-allelic polymorphism". In other words, dominant dwarfing genes, which are ultra-dwarfing, are liable to develop by mutation into a group of multiple alleles with plant height enhanced to different extents and some may have a height close to the ideal plant height for wheat breeding. Therefore, these results offer a fundamentally new approach for the exploitation of dominant dwarfing sources in wheat breeding.     

How to maintain improved cultivars

Improved cultivars loose their identity and healthiness unless maintained properly. Contaminating and degrading forces, such as outcrossing, volunteer plants, mixing, natural selection, mutation and seed-borne diseases, are at the root of this. Maintenance selection can prevent this deterioration. How it is carried out depends on the reproduction system of the crop. Crops are therefore classified into four categories; typical cross-pollinating crops, self-pollinating crops with a substantial amount of outcrossing, typical self-pollinating crops with little outcrossing, and the vegetatively reproduced crops. Generally some of the “breeder seed” is used to plant a small plot with spaced plants. A fair number of healthy plants of the cultivar type is selected and the seed is harvested per plant. The progenies of the selected plants are grown in small plots. Non-uniform or deviating plots and plots with a seed-borne disease are removed. The seed of the progenies that are healthy, uniform and similar (and so of the cultivar type) are harvested per progeny to be tested next season on larger plots. The same selection is applied and only the seed of the progenies that are healthy, uniform and similar are harvested together to produce the “breeder seed”. The details of this maintenance selection vary with the reproduction system, the multiplication rate of the crop and the possibilities available to the breeder. Seven crops, potato, common bean, barley, wheat, faba bean, quinoa and maize are discussed here as they represent the different reproduction systems and multiplication rates, while being important Andean food crops.     

Mutation Techniques for Gene Discovery and Crop Improvement

One of the most important breakthroughs in the history of genetics ）was the discovery that mutations can be artificially induced in organisms （van Harten, 1998）. Artificially induced mutations, by physical and chemical mutagens, have greatly advanced the understanding of genetics of higher organisms. Starting in the late 1960＇s, the International Atomic Energy Agency （IAEA） and the Food and Agriculture Organization （FAO） of the United Nations sponsored extensive research on mutation induction and their application to breeding of food and indnstrial crops that resulted in the introduction of new varieties of rice, wheat, barley, apples, citrus, sugar cane, banana, and others （more than 2 500 officially released new varieties are to be found in the FAO/IAEA Mutant Varieties Database） （hitp：//www-mvd.iaea.org/MVD/default.htm）. However, the usefulness of mutation techniques has been underappreciated in research communities, particularly during the last decade, when more and more researchers and breeders were rushing into molecular marker techniques and transgenic plants. In this paper, after a brief review of the past accomplishments of mutation induction and its application, we discuss the uniqueness of induced mutations in gene discovery and how to integrate induced mutants into functional genomics programs;     

TILLING and Ecotilling the Plant Kingdom

The modem crop scientist has a large amount of available nucleotide sequence information to identify genes of potential agronomic importance. Using reverse genetic approaches, specific genes can be disrupted, and hypotheses regarding gene function directly tested in vivo. Although a number of reverse genetic methods have been introduced, many are limited in application because they are organism-specific, expensive, transgenic, or only transiently disrupt gene function. However, traditional mutagenesis using chemical mutagens has been widely used as a forward genetics strategy to create many new crop plant varieties at relatively low cost. Mutagens such as ethyl methanesulphonate （EMS） cause stable point mutations and thus produce an allelic series of truncation and missense changes that can provide a range of phenotypes （Greene et al., 2003）. TILLING （targeting induced local lesions IN genomes） is a high-throughput reverse genetic strategy that combines traditional mutagenesis and SNP discovery methods （Colbert et al., 2001; McCallum et al., 2000）. To identify mutations, target regions of-l.5 kb are amplified with fluorescently labeled gene specific primers. Heteroduplexes are then formed between wild-type and mutant strands, mismatches are cleaved by incubation with a single-strand specific nuclease,     

离子束诱变技术及其在甜高粱能源开发中的应用

利用离子束诱变技术进行甜高粱品种和酵母菌种的选育,旨在甜高粱燃料乙醇产业化的有效开发。对离子束诱变技术的原理及其在植物、微生物诱变育种方面的应用进展进行了简要概述,并对中科院近代物理研究所在甜高粱燃料乙醇产业化研发中对重离子诱变育种的初步应用进行介绍和展望。     

农用抗生素产生菌No.24菌株诱变选育研究

以No．24菌株为出发菌株，采用紫外线、化学试剂、微波及超声波诱变法对其进行诱变。其中经微波诱变50s后，筛选得到一株高产菌株，命名为Ms-24菌株。在培养基中连续培养10代，其遗传性状非常稳定。Ms-24菌株发酵试验证明，其发酵产量比出发菌株提高23．25％；抗菌活性试验证明，其发酵液的抗菌活性比出发菌株提高了31．75％。     

离子注入对小麦生长发育的效应

本文就离子注入对不同小麦品系出苗、苗期性状及植株生长发育的诱变效应进行了研究。结果表明,离子注入小麦种子后,对三个品系的效应有所不同,其半致死剂量约在60—80次之间。     

氯化汞对草地贪夜蛾sf9细胞及核型多角体病毒的损伤与致突变研究

目的试验以草地贪夜蛾细胞sf9作为受体,检测氯化汞对其生长发育的影响。方法采用台盼兰染料排斥法测定细胞活力,苏木素-伊红染色法检测细胞中的微核,对经氯化汞处理诱变的病毒AcMNPV的DNA进行PCR扩增,产物经测序后进行分子突变分析。结果sf9细胞在4μg·ml-1的氯化汞浓度作用下,其细胞表面变得粗糙,分裂生长减慢,当剂量增大到7μg·ml-1时,便可观察到一些细胞的细胞膜破裂,在9μg·ml-1时,某些细胞的完整性受到破坏。用苏木素-伊红染色法检测细胞中的微核现象时,9μg·ml-1氯化汞处理区的微核率高达6.8%,有些细胞出现三核甚至多核的核裂现象,反映部分细胞的完整性受到一定程度的损伤。AcMNPV病毒经氯化汞短时间处理后接种于sf9细胞,多角体在sf9细胞中的形成数目较对照区少,异常多角体的比例增加,抽提经氯化汞处理的AcMNPV的DNA,采取PCR技术进行扩增反应,对获得的扩增产物进行测序分析,发现DNA序列上的碱基有2处G→C、T→C的转换和碱基缺失的现象。结论一定剂量的氯化汞将会引起草地贪夜蛾sf9细胞及核型多角体病毒的损伤与致突变。     

诱变与组织培养相结合在植物育种中的应用

诱变育种是利用理化因素诱发变异,再通过选择育成新品种的方法,是选育新品种的有效技术。植物组织培养是指对具分生能力的组织进行离体培养,为现代植物育种创造新的变异体,脱毒原种、繁殖体提供了可能和条件。诱变与组织培养相结合可以将二者的优点综合到一起,扬长避短,加速植物育种进程。报道了诱变结合组织培养在国内外植物遗传育种研究中的应用与进展．从抗病虫育种、抗旱育种、抗盐育种、多倍体育种及基因工程等各个方面作了综述。     

纤维素酶高产菌株的诱变选育

[目的]选择有效的方法选育高产纤维素酶菌种。[方法]利用黑曲霉为出发菌株,经过紫外线和亚硝酸复合诱变,选育出酶活力高的突变株进行培养并测定其酶活。[结果]在单因子诱变中,紫外线效果明显优于亚硝酸,致死率70%~80%的诱变剂量比较理想。复合诱变比单因子诱变效果好,产酶能力得到提高,而且菌落生长速度也加快,在多次传代试验中,菌株的性状也比较稳定。出发菌株通过紫外线(15 W,照射距离30 cm左右,照射时间8 min)和亚硝酸(0.1 mol/L的NaNO3处理5 min)的复合诱变,复筛得到纤维素酶高产菌株,纤维素酶活力提高了61.10%,滤纸酶活力提高了64.01%。[结论]通过紫外线和亚硝酸复合诱变能选育出有较高纤维素酶活力的菌株。