Evidence for genetic distinction among sympatric ecotypes of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in south‐western Alaskan lakes

Resource polymorphism may play an important role in the process of speciation. The Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) exhibits great phenotypic and genetic diversity across its range, making it an ideal species for studies of resource polymorphism and divergence. Here, we investigated genetic variation at 11 microsatellite loci among 287 Arctic char from five isolated yet proximate postglacial lakes in south‐western Alaska that were previously examined for resource polymorphism. Significant differences in pairwise F_ST were detected among all lakes (range from 0.05 to 0.28, all P < 0.02). In one lake (Lower Tazimina Lake), we found evidence for two genetic groups of char and for significant differences in the distribution of microsatellite variability among at least two of the three previously described body size morphotypes (‘large’‐, ‘medium’‐, and ‘small’‐bodied char; maximum F_ST = 0.09; differences in admixture proportions). We also found a significant association between genetic admixture proportions and gill raker counts among body size morphs (r = ?0.73, P < 0.001). Our data represent the first record of genetically distinct sympatric morphs of Arctic char in Alaska and provide further evidence that differences in morphology associated with feeding (gill rakers) and growth trajectories reflect niche diversification and promote genetic divergence in Holarctic populations of Arctic char.     

玉米茎秆抗倒伏遗传的研究进展

茎秆倒伏严重影响玉米产量、品质和机械化收获,是当前玉米生产和育种亟待解决的主要问题之一。加强对玉米茎秆抗倒伏性的研究,对提高品种抗倒伏能力具有重要意义。本文综述了玉米茎秆倒伏的主要影响因素及其遗传特征。茎秆倒伏与茎秆自身的强度密切相关。茎秆强度越高,抗倒伏性越强。茎秆强度受茎秆所处的发育阶段、茎秆内部结构和外部形态,及其细胞壁成分等影响。处于分生组织的茎秆细胞分裂旺盛,较易折断,而进入生殖生长后,茎秆表皮、厚壁组织增厚,维管束发育成熟,对茎秆的支撑作用增强。茎秆细胞壁的主要成分——纤维素、半纤维素、木质素、可溶性糖、无机物等均可提升茎秆强度。目前,研究者借助高通量表型平台,利用玉米连锁群体和自交系群体,采用各种定位方法,鉴定到一系列影响茎秆形态、强度、细胞壁成分的相关QTL和候选基因。研究表明,基于单倍型的QTL定位方法比基于单个SNP的定位效果好。一致性QTL分析将不同遗传群体的研究整合到一起,能够提高QTL结果的通用性。茎秆强度的遗传基础复杂,受微效多基因控制,位点间具有加性效应。茎秆成分QTL中的候选基因涉及细胞壁代谢、转录因子、蛋白激酶等。MAIZEWALL是玉米细胞壁相关基因的重要数据库。目前该数据库包含1 156个玉米细胞壁生物学相关的候选基因,为该领域的深入研究提供强大的资源。已鉴定到一系列影响玉米茎秆细胞壁成分、茎秆形态和强度的基因,其功能涉及纤维素合成路径,如纤维素合成酶类、Cobra类、糖基转移酶和核糖转运蛋白类;苯丙烷路径基因,如控制bm1—bm5的相关基因;植物激素类,如赤霉素、生长素、油菜素甾醇相关基因;转录因子如NAC、MYB;miRNA（ZmmiR528）以及F-box基因（stiff1）等。今后应积极探索不同发育时期玉米茎秆倒伏的力学机制;广泛发展自然群体或育种群体进行遗传分析;采取多种定位策略,提高抗倒伏相关基因鉴定的功效;针对优良等位基因,开发各类分子标记,加强抗倒伏分子标记辅助选择。本文将为玉米茎秆抗倒伏遗传机制解析及抗倒伏玉米品种的分子育种提供参考。     

棉花单核苷酸多态性标记研究进展

单核苷酸多态性标记已在农作物研究中得到广泛应用并取得重大进展。为了便利棉花SNP(Single nucleotide polymorphism)标记的研究和应用,介绍了利用基因芯片、简化基因组测序、重测序等在棉花中开发SNP标记的方法 ,综述了SNP标记在棉花遗传图谱构建、数量位点的定位和分子标记辅助育种、基因组测序以及系统进化等研究中的应用。并对异源四倍体棉花中SNP标记开发时,同源序列位点和部分同源序列位点上的SNP标记辨别问题进行了系统探讨,对其快捷的开发、检测方式和在数量基因定位中的应用前景进行了展望。     

生物技术在农业领域的应用

生物技术包括基因工程、细胞工程、酶工程等,在农业领域有着广阔发展前景.生物技术可保障粮食安全,促进农村农业经济的发展,提高农业产出效益,同时能为医药工业及其它产业提到原料.农业生物技术是新兴的现代技术,还不能在传统农业中大规模推广应用.     

Current status and trends of wheat genetic transformation studies in China

More than 20 years have passed since the first report on successful genetic transformation of wheat. With the establishment and improvement of transformation platform, great progresses have been made on wheat genetic transformation both on its fundamental and applied studies in China, especially driven by the National Major Project for Transgenic Organism Breeding, China, initiated in 2008. In this review, wheat genetic transformation platform improvement and transgenic research progresses including new techniques applied and functional studies of wheat quality, yield and stress tolerant related genes and biosafety assessment are summarized. The existing problems and the trends in wheat transformation with traditional methods combined with genomic studies and genome editing technology are also discussed.     

An investigation of links between metabolic rate and feed efficiency in European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax

Feed efficiency (FE) is the amount of body weight gain for a given feed intake. Improving FE through selective breeding is key for sustainable finfish aquaculture but its evaluation at individual level is technically challenging. We therefore investigated whether individual routine metabolic rate (RMR) was a predictor of individual FE in the European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax, a major species in European mariculture. The European sea bass has three genetically distinct populations across its geographical range, namely Atlantic (AT), West Mediterranean (WM), and East Mediterranean (EM). We compared FE and RMR of fish from these three populations at 18 or 24 °C. We held 200 fish (62 AT, 66 WM, and 72 EM) in individual aquaria and fed them from ad libitum down to fasting. FI was assessed for an ad libitum feeding rate and for a fixed restricted ration (1% of metabolic body weight·day⁻¹, with metabolic body weight = body weight^0.8). After being refed 12 wk in a common tank, individual RMR was measured over 36 h by intermittent flow respirometry. There was a significant effect of temperature whereby fish at 18 °C had greater mean FE (P < 0.05) and lower RMR (P < 0.001). There was also a significant effect of population, where AT fish had lower FE (P < 0.05) and greater RMR (P < 0.001) than WM and EM, at both temperatures. Despite these differences in temperature and population means, individual FE and RMR were not significantly correlated (P > 0.05). Therefore, although the results provide evidence of an association between metabolic rate and FE, RMR was not a predictor of individual FE, for reasons that require further investigation.     

河北省中国荷斯坦牛产奶和体型性状遗传参数分析

旨在探究河北省中国荷斯坦牛产奶和体型性状的遗传参数,为育种提供参考。本研究收集了2012-2018年河北省133个牛场8 891头中国荷斯坦母牛第一胎次的3个产奶性状记录（产奶量、乳脂率和乳蛋白率）和26个体型性状记录,利用DMU软件,以场年季、产犊月龄、鉴定年季和鉴定员效应为固定效应,以个体的加性遗传效应为随机效应,采用AIREML结合EM算法并配合动物模型对产奶性状、体型性状进行了遗传参数估计。结果表明,产奶性状的遗传力估计值范围为0.15（产奶量）~0.32（乳脂率）,体型性状遗传力估计值范围为0.01（体型总分）~0.28（后乳房附着宽度）。产奶性状与体型性状间的遗传相关估计值范围分别是-0.43（产奶量与骨质地）~0.31（产奶量与尻部）、-0.59（乳脂率与尻部）~0.20（乳脂率与前乳头位置）以及-0.34（乳蛋白率与前乳头长度）~0.23（乳蛋白率与后乳头位置）。大部分体型性状与产奶量之间为遗传正相关,而与乳脂率和乳蛋白率为遗传负相关。加强对产奶性状及体型性状中的中高遗传力性状的选择,尤其对后乳房性状以及体型总分的选择,有利于奶牛生产性能的提高。     

长白和大白猪主要生长性状的遗传参数估计

旨在分析母猪的出生年份、出生季节、初生重、开测日龄等固定效应对长白、大白猪主要生长性状的影响,并对目标生长性状进行遗传参数估计（遗传力、遗传方差、表型相关和遗传相关）,为猪的遗传改良提供基本依据。本试验利用GLM模型分析试验猪群（398头长白猪和1 176头大白猪）的固定效应对猪生长性状的影响,并采用多性状动物模型对目标性状进行遗传参数估计。目标生长性状包括达100 kg体重日龄（age to 100 kg,AGE）、达100 kg背膘厚（backfat to 100 kg,BF）、100 kg平均日增重（average daily gain to 100 kg,ADG）。研究表明,在大白和长白猪中,猪的出生年、出生季、初生重以及开测日龄对生长性状均具有极显著的影响（P<0.001）;长白猪的AGE、ADG和BF的遗传力分别为0.321、0.327和0.324,大白猪对应性状的遗传力分别为0.454、0.469和0.408;长白猪的ADG和AGE之间的遗传相关、表型相关分别为-0.990、-0.995,大白猪的ADG和AGE之间的遗传相关、表型相关分别为-0.993、-0.998,均呈现较强的负相关。长白、大白猪的生长性状（AGE、ADG、BF）均属于中等遗传力性状,其出生年份、出生季节、初生重和开测日龄对猪的生长性状影响较大。在遗传参数估计分析时,提高样本数量并提升表型数据质量,可以增加遗传参数估计的可靠性。本研究中的生长性状遗传参数估计结果较为可靠,可为后续的遗传改良提供参考。     

基因2型猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒的遗传变异与演化

作为一种RNA病毒,猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒(PRRSV)极易变异,具有快速演化且易与其他毒株发生重组的特性,不同PRRSV毒株又存在着明显的致病性表型差异,异源毒株间交叉保护较差,这也是迄今为止PRRSV未得到有效控制的最主要的原因之一,PRRSV给全球养猪业带来了不可估量的经济损失。自上世纪80年代发现以来,基因2型PRRSV不断变异与演化,根据ORF5基因遗传进化分析,其被划分为9个谱系,我国主要以谱系1,3,5,8为主。本文从自然流行毒株、疫苗演化毒株、重组毒株3个方面对基因2型PRRSV的遗传变异与演化进行了综述,以期为PRRSV分子流行病学的研究及其免疫防控提供参考依据。     

The value of incorporating carcass trait phenotypes in terminal sire selection indexes to improve carcass weight and quality of heavy lambs

Genetic selection for carcass traits is paramount to maximize the profitability and long‐term sustainability of any meat‐producing livestock species. The main objectives of this research were to evaluate the efficiency of indicator traits for the genetic improvement of lamb carcass traits and to determine the value of including carcass traits into terminal sire selection indexes for the Canadian sheep industry. The carcass traits included hot carcass weight (HCW), fat depth at the GR site (FATGR) and average carcass conformation score (AVGCONF), and were measured on heavy lambs (slaughter age less than 365 days and HCW greater than 16.3 kg) in commercial abattoirs. Growth traits were found to be moderately efficient indicator traits for the genetic improvement of HCW but selection on ultrasound traits was necessary to substantially improve the carcass quality traits (FATGR and AVGCONF). Economic selection indexes were designed by adding various combinations of carcass traits into the Canadian Sheep Genetic Evaluation System terminal indexes. Records measured on individuals and progeny were assumed to be the sources of information for live animal and carcass traits, respectively. The changes in index accuracy, efficiency and expected correlated response were used to assess the value of their inclusion. HCW was found to have a large economic value, and its inclusion into terminal selection indexes was expected to substantially increase their accuracy (0.08–0.12 points) and efficiency (20%–30%). However, further including FATGR (measured 110 mm from the carcass midline over the 12th rib) and AVGCONF had little impact on the accuracy (≤0.03) and efficiency (1%–7%) of the proposed indexes. Thus, the inclusion of carcass traits into the existing terminal selection indexes could be beneficial for the genetic improvement of HCW, but further research is needed to determine optimal methods of increasing carcass fatness and muscularity.