Rate-specific responses of prokaryotic diversity and structure to nitrogen deposition in the Leymus chinensis steppe

Serious nitrogen (N) deposition in terrestrial ecosystems causes soil acidification and changes the structure and function of the microbial community. However, it is unclear how these changes are dependent on N deposition rates, other factors induced by N (e.g., pH), and their interactions. In this study, we investigated the responses of soil prokaryotic community structure and stability after a 13-year N addition in the semi-arid Leymus chinensis steppe in Inner Mongolia, China. Our results demonstrated that the prokaryotic community structure changed at the low N addition rate of 1.75 g N m⁻² yr⁻¹; however, dramatic changes in microbial abundance, respiratory quotient, and prokaryotic diversity occurred at N addition rates of more than 5.25 g N m⁻² yr⁻¹ when the soil pH dropped below 6.0. The two patterns indicated the difference in driving forces for different microbial properties. The N-driven and pH-driven processes are likely the most important mechanisms determining the responses of bacterial community to N. Some copiotrophic/oligotrophic bacteria, e.g., Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria, changed their relative abundances with the N addition continuously even at a low rate, indicating that they were more sensitive to N directly. Some bacterial groups significantly changed their relative abundance at a high N addition rate when pH dropped below 6.0, e.g., Verrucomicrobia and Armatimonadetes, indicating that they were more sensitive to pH below 6.0. N addition altered the prokaryotic community structure through enrichment of copiotrophic bacteria (species adjustment) at low N addition rates and through enrichment of nitrophilous taxa and significant loss of diversity at high N rates. The results also demonstrated that a high N addition diminished the stability of the prokaryotic community structure and activity through reduction in species diversity and bacterial interaction. Overall, this study supported the hypothesis that the responses of prokaryota to N were dependent on deposition rates, and N-driven and pH-driven processes were the important mechanisms to control the shift of the prokaryotic community.     

热辣2号辣椒纯度鉴定及优良自交系遗传多样性分析

为了提高种子质量和充分利用辣椒种质资源,应用SSR分子标记对热辣2号杂交种纯度进行鉴定并对部分辣椒优良自交系进行遗传多样性分析。以热辣2号母本材料CAYB02和父本材料CAYB01为模板筛选85对辣椒SSR引物,其中12对引物在亲本间能扩增出明显的多态性,多态性比率为14.12%,多态性标记分别位于辣椒1、3、4、6、7、9、11、12号染色体,利用3对位于不同染色体上的SSR标记对热辣2号黄灯笼椒杂交种的纯度进行鉴定,热辣2号种子纯度为98.79%,标记鉴定结果与田间鉴定结果一致。研究结果表明,利用SSR标记鉴定辣椒杂交种纯度是切实可行的。利用12对多态性明显、稳定可靠的SSR引物对部分辣椒自交系进行遗传多样性分析,共扩增出60条条带,多态性位点比率为100%,平均每对引物检测出5个等位基因。30份辣椒自交系间遗传相似系数变幅为0.33~1.00,平均为0.65,表明供试材料间具有丰富的遗传多样性。聚类分析结果表明,在遗传相似系数为0.47时,可以将中国辣椒和一年生辣椒区分开来。在遗传相似系数为0.85时,30份辣椒优良自交系分为11个类群,辣椒种质遗传关系与地理来源和农艺性状具有一定的相关性。     

Divergence of a strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa during an outbreak of ovine mastitis

Bacterial infections causing mastitis in sheep can result in severe economic losses for farmers. A large survey of milk samples from ewes with mastitis in Sardinia, Italy, indicated an increasing prevalence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. It has been shown previously that during chronic, biofilm-associated infections P. aeruginosa populations diversify. We report the phenotypic and genomic characterisation of two clonal P. aeruginosa isolates (PSE305 and PSE306) from a mastitis infection outbreak, representing distinct colony morphology variants. In addition to pigment production, PSE305 and PSE306 differed in phenotypic characteristics including biofilm formation, utilisation of various carbon and nitrogen sources, twitching motility. We found higher levels of expression of genes associated with biofilm formation (pelB) and twitching motility (flgD) in PSE305, compared to the biofilm and twitching-defective PSE306. Comparative genomics analysis revealed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and minor insertion/deletion variations between PSE305 and PSE306, including a SNP mutation in the pilP gene of PSE306. By introducing a wild-type pilP gene we were able to partially complement the defective twitching motility of PSE306. There were also three larger regions of difference between the two genomes, indicating genomic instability. Hence, we have demonstrated that P. aeruginosa population divergence can occur during an outbreak of mastitis, leading to significant variations in phenotype and genotype, and resembling the behaviour of P. aeruginosa during chronic biofilm-associated infections.     

Use of genomic recursions and algorithm for proven and young animals for single‐step genomic BLUP analyses – a simulation study

The purpose of this study was to examine accuracy of genomic selection via single‐step genomic BLUP (ssGBLUP) when the direct inverse of the genomic relationship matrix ( G ) is replaced by an approximation of G ^?1 based on recursions for young genotyped animals conditioned on a subset of proven animals, termed algorithm for proven and young animals (APY). With the efficient implementation, this algorithm has a cubic cost with proven animals and linear with young animals. Ten duplicate data sets mimicking a dairy cattle population were simulated. In a first scenario, genomic information for 20k genotyped bulls, divided in 7k proven and 13k young bulls, was generated for each replicate. In a second scenario, 5k genotyped cows with phenotypes were included in the analysis as young animals. Accuracies (average for the 10 replicates) in regular EBV were 0.72 and 0.34 for proven and young animals, respectively. When genomic information was included, they increased to 0.75 and 0.50. No differences between genomic EBV (GEBV) obtained with the regular G ^?1 and the approximated G ^?1 via the recursive method were observed. In the second scenario, accuracies in GEBV (0.76, 0.51 and 0.59 for proven bulls, young males and young females, respectively) were also higher than those in EBV (0.72, 0.35 and 0.49). Again, no differences between GEBV with regular G ^?1 and with recursions were observed. With the recursive algorithm, the number of iterations to achieve convergence was reduced from 227 to 206 in the first scenario and from 232 to 209 in the second scenario. Cows can be treated as young animals in APY without reducing the accuracy. The proposed algorithm can be implemented to reduce computing costs and to overcome current limitations on the number of genotyped animals in the ssGBLUP method.     

蓝桉、直干桉重要材性性状的遗传参数和预期增益

在种子园育种区4个区组内,从蓝按和直干按中各抽30个家系对它们的纤维长度、木材密度的遗传力、遗传相关和遗传增益作了估算.蓝按纤维长度和木材密度的单株遗传力分别为,0.6745±0.0746和0.3546±0.1010;直干按两性状的遗传力分别为0.3416±0.1011和0.0670±0.0850.两树种的纤维长度与木材密度、树高和胸径的遗传相关系数均为正值,而木材密度与树高和胸径的遗传相关系数都是负数.为这两树种提出了选择的主要性状、选择方法和标准,还为高世代育种应注意的事项作了建议.     

发根农杆菌(Agrobacterium rhizogenes) Ri T-DNA遗传转化丝石竹(Gypsophila paniculata)的研究

近年来,已发展出遗传转化高等植物的一些新技术,其中有些技术如脂质体融合,微注射技术和电击导入都是基于动物细胞培养方面的工作,而另一些技术是来自于植物界独特的天然转化系统,其中包括已知能遗传转化高等植物的农杆菌(Agrobacterium)的二个种,即致瘤农杆菌(A.tumefaciens)和发根农杆菌(A.rhizogenes),这二个种都能够将其致病质粒Ti或Ri所携带的DNA序列(T-DNA)插入到双子叶植物细胞核基因组中。pTi诱发寄主产生根基肿瘤,pRi诱发寄主产生毛状根。二者的差别可能是毛状根可以从毛状根培养物获得具有完整的T-DNA序列的有生育能力的再生植株,而从致病农杆菌(A.tumefaciens)菌株所诱发的肿瘤很难获得再生植株。因此,利用发根农杆菌(A.rhizogenes)pRi作为遗传转化高等植物的基因克隆载体的研究和应用日益受到重视。     

杉木第二代种子园自由授粉子代测定效果分析

对洋口林场杉木第二代种子园自由授粉子代试验林树高、胸径和材积等生长性状研究结果表明 :杉木第二代种子园子代生长在家系间存在着显著差异 ,家系内个体间的遗传分化剧烈。从群体中选出的优良家系及家系内优良的单株造林 ,增产效果显著 ;杉木在树高、胸径和材积等生长性状间有较高的表型和遗传相关性。     

Diversity of the calabash tree (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Crescentia cujete</Emphasis> L.) in Colombia

Germplasm of the calabash tree (Crescentia cujete L.) was collected in five major regions of Colombia, i.e. the Andes, Caribbean, Amazon, Orinoco, and Pacific regions. Collecting this multipurpose tree was guided by the indigenous knowledge of farmers and artisans in each region. Large variation in fruit shapes and sizes was found, of which some forms were typical for certain regions. Overall 56 accessions were collected and roughly classified into 22 types by eight fruit shapes and eight sizes. Molecular markers (Amplified fragment length polymorphisms) were applied to leaf tip tissue originating from vegetatively propagated plants in order to assess the diversity available in the germplasm collected as well as to detect patterns of geographical or morphological similarity. One accession each of C. alata H.B.&K. and C. amazonica Ducke were used as outgroups. Overall, genetic diversity was high (mean Nei and Li’s coefficient of 0.43). No relations could be established between either geographical provenance or fruit morphology and patterns of genetic diversity. Concerning the outgroups, the C. amazonica accession appeared to be a distinct species. The C. alata accession, however, did not seem to be sufficiently distinct from C. cujete to merit species status. The latter material may in fact be a hybrid or serve to challenge the validity of interspecific organization of the genus Crescentia.

马尾松种源对磷肥的遗传反应及根际土壤营养差异

利用5a生马尾松种源与磷肥互作试验林，研究不同种源对磷肥的遗传反应式样以及在低(缺)磷环境下的根际营养差异。结果发现，广东高州和广西岑溪两种源对磷肥的反应显著，属于对磷肥敏感型种源。广东信宜和福建武平两种源对磷肥反应不敏感，属于耐低磷型或对磷肥不敏感型种源，而江西崇义种源显著的磷肥效应仅在造林后头2～3年显示。对于根际土的的化学性质，不同种源虽有较大差异，但根际土的有机质、全氮、水解氮和有效磷含量一般显著高于非根际土。不同种源根际对土壤中的磷都具有活化作用和富集作用，尤其是广东信宜和福建武平两种源对土壤磷的活化和富集作用最为强烈，这可初步解释这两个种源对磷肥不敏感、能适应低(缺)磷胁迫的遗传机制。马尾松不同种源根际土壤并未发生明显的酸化。     

Genetic parameter estimates for growth and form traits in common ash (Fraxinus excelsior, L.) in a breeding seedling orchard at Little Wittenham in England

Data from a trial of 36 families at Little Wittenham, North Oxford was used to assess growth traits and stem form in common ash (Fraxinus excelsior, L.). The trial followed a design described by Barnes (Silv Genet 44(2–3):81–88, 1995) as the Breeding Seedling Orchard (BSO). The objectives of the study were to determine variation in growth and form traits and estimate genetic parameters of families. Assessments conducted at 3–8 years for height, diameter at breast height (dbh), straightness and forking showed significant differences (P < 0.05) among families with Guys (19), Settrington (34), Overbury (23) and Grimthorpe (36) being the best performers while Coleford (3 and 5) Gwynedd (27) and Bacheiddon (32) were the least performers. At the overall level, the additive genetic coefficient of variation (CV_A) ranged between 10.2 and 12.7% for height and 1.5 and 2.1% for dbh. Height had a high genetic correlation (r_g = 0.85) with dbh whilst forking had low correlation (r_g = 0.25) with height. Estimates of heritability decreased with age from  = 0.62 at 3 years to  = 0.30 at 8 years for height while values for dbh decreased from  = 0.48 at 4 years to  = 0.27 at 8 years. Some genetic gains are possible despite the low genetic variation among families; height had the greatest potential of genetic gain (12.5% at 8 years). Results suggest that early selection of superior families of Fraxinus excelsior appears to be feasible and it could be possible to achieve simultaneous improvement in both growth and form.