Towards developing resistance to chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing using multiplexed gRNAs

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Mastreviruses are an emerging group of viruses transmitted by leafhoppers and infect both monocot and dicot plants. Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus...     

Wheat Seed Presoaking for Improved Germination

Seed presoaking improves wheat germination under marginal moisture conditions. The duration of seed presoaking was studied at The University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, using 10 wheat varieties. Seed presoaking beyond 12 h does not improve germination further, and beyond 21 h, germination rate is drastically reduced.     

Biological control of the tick fowl Argas persicargas persicus by the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae

The pathogenicity of the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae against the tick fowl Argas persicargas persicus was studied. Bioassays revealed significant differences between the two fungi and the A. persicargas persicus stages exposed. The first nymphal instar was more highly susceptible to both fungi than the second nymphal instar. The unfed female of A. persicargas persicus was significantly less susceptible to both fungi than the engorged female. Application of M. anisopliae to sackcloth naturally infested with the tick fowl A. persicargas persicus induced mortality which reached 100?% three weeks after treatment under field conditions. The present study suggests that entomopathogenic fungi have good potential for tick fowl, A. persicargas persicus, control.     

Changes in fruit sugar concentrations in response to assimilate supply,metabolism and dilution: a modeling approach applied to peach fruit (Prunus persica)

The influence of assimilate supply, metabolism and dilution on sugar concentrations in the mesocarp of peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) fruit during the main stage of fruit enlargement was analyzed with the SUGAR model of Génard and Souty (1996). The model predicts the partitioning of carbon into sucrose, sorbitol, glucose and fructose in the mesocarp of peach fruit. Based on measured data and the model, we determined values for the relative rates of sugar transformation. These rates were constant, varied with time or varied with relative fruit growth rate, depending on the type of sugar. Equations were derived to describe these rates and incorporated into the SUGAR model. The model simulated the effects of changing assimilate supply and fruit volume on sugar concentrations. The set of equations for the SUGAR model was rewritten to include the three components influencing sugar concentrations: assimilate supply, metabolism and dilution. The sugar types differed in sensitivity to these components. Sucrose was highly sensitive to changes in assimilate supply and to the dilution effect; it was not subject to intense metabolic transformation. Sorbitol was the most important carbohydrate in fruit metabolism, which explains why the sorbitol concentration was always low despite the strong positive effect of assimilate supply. The reducing sugars constituted a transitory storage pool and their concentrations were closely related to metabolism.     

Effects of timing of nitrogen fertilization on shoot development in peach (Prunus persica) trees

Shoot development was studied for two consecutive years in peach trees fertilized with N either in the previous fall or in the middle of the growing season. During the first year, two additional treatments were studied: no N supply and nitrate supplied in the irrigation water throughout the growing season. The number of shoots that developed depended on nitrogen availability in the period following bud break. During shoot development, leaf emergence occurred in one, two, or three stages, which ended at about 500 to 600 degree days, 1,000 to 1,200 degree days, and 1,500 to 2,000 degree days after bloom, respectively. The proportion of shoots exhibiting a second or third developmental stage depended on nitrogen availability at the beginning of that stage. Increasing nitrogen availability during a developmental stage prolonged the stage and increased the number of leaves produced.     

Phenotypic variations of wheat cultivars from the North China Plain in response to cadmium stress and associated single nucleotide polymorphisms identified by a genome-wide association study

Understanding the genetic mechanisms for cadmium (Cd) uptake and translocation in common wheat (Triticum aestivum) is of significance in food Cd contamination control. In this study, a diverse panel of 132 wheat cultivars was collected from the North China Plain. The cultivars were evaluated in terms of their phenotypic variations in response to Cd stress and subjected to a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the phenotypic variations at the seedling stage. Significant phenotypic variations with high heritability were observed among the wheat cultivars exposed to 40 μmol L^-1 Cd for the studied traits, including root length (RL), shoot length (SL), root and shoot dry biomasses (RDW and SDW, respectively), root and shoot Cd concentrations (RCD and SCD, respectively), and Cd translocation factor (TF). Mean RCD, SCD, and TF ranged from 1.0 to 33.8, 0.125 to 2.022, and 0.009 to 0.321 mg g^-1, respectively. Cluster analysis showed that wheat cultivars with higher RL, SL, RDW, and SDW under Cd stress were able to accumulate more Cd in root, leading to a lower Cd TF. Mixed linear model-based association analysis detected 17 novel significant marker-trait associations (MTAs), four of which were significant at a genome-wide scale. Most of the significant MTAs controlled Cd TF and explained 17.17%-26.47% of the phenotypic variations. Some of the SNP loci were physically close to a reported Cd-related quantitative trait locus or gene on wheat chromosomes. Results of this study provided a list of wheat cultivars with the potential of low Cd accumulation and enriched our knowledge on the genetic basis of Cd uptake and translocation in wheat. Pyramiding breeding of superior alleles detected in this study may additionally reduce Cd accumulation of improved wheat cultivars with excellent agronomic traits.     

Bound water characteristics and microstructure evolution during uniaxial compression of mucky silty clay

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Compression studies can provide insights into evaluating the engineering potential and environmental impact of clay. The objective of this study was to...     

Apolipoprotein B-48 is the product of a messenger RNA with an organ-specific in-frame stop codon

The primary structure of human apolipoprotein (apo) B-48 has been deduced and shown by a combination of DNA excess hybridization, sequencing of tryptic peptides, cloned complementary DNAs, and intestinal messenger RNAs (mRNAs) to be the product of an intestinal mRNA with an in-frame UAA stop codon resulting from a C to U change in the codon CAA encoding Gln2153 in apoB-100 mRNA. The carboxyl-terminal Ile2152 of apoB-48 purified from chylous ascites fluid has apparently been cleaved from the initial translation product, leaving Met2151 as the new carboxyl-terminus. These data indicate that approximately 85% of the intestinal mRNAs terminate within approximately 0.1 to 1.0 kilobase downstream from the stop codon. The other approximately 15% have lengths similar to hepatic apoB-100 mRNA even though they have the same in-frame stop codon. The organ-specific introduction of a stop codon to a mRNA appears unprecedented and might have implications for cryptic polyadenylation signal recognition and RNA processing.