Identification of a diverse mini‐core panel of Indian rice germplasm based on genotyping using microsatellite markers

Identification of a small core germplasm set representing the available genetic diversity is essential for its proper evaluation and subsequent utilization in rice improvement programmes. For constituting a small diverse mini‐core panel of Indian rice germplasm, a representative set of 6912 accessions drawn based on their geographic origin from the whole rice germplasm collection available in the National Gene Bank was genotyped using 36 microsatellite markers. Automated fragment analysis of amplicons yielded a total of 435 alleles, with an average 12.4 and range of 3–29 alleles per locus. Polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.08 (RGNMS190) to 0.86 (RM552) with an average of 0.528. Based on genotyping data, a mini‐core consisting of 98 genotypes was identified. Ninety‐four per cent of the alleles present in the core set were present in the mini‐core. The identified small but diverse panel will be useful for further intensive trait‐specific evaluation and utilization in allele mining.     

Communicative Action to Level the Playing Field in Forest Plantations in Indonesia

The government of Indonesia allocated state land to private companies to establish forest plantations. However, ownership of this land was contested by some Sumatran communities. The plantation company, endorsed by the government, quickly developed a partnership to resolve the conflict, but this was unclear and inequitable. Action research was carried out to facilitate communication among stakeholders. This communicative action changed some perceptions and shared values began to emerge. A forum was established, which contributed to equitability producing a better partnership. This research is a model for empowering local communities in climate change, bioenergy, and food security negotiations.     

Effects of lactulose supplementation on the growth of bifidobacteria and biotransformation of isoflavone glycosides to isoflavone aglycones in soymilk

Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis bb12 and B. longum 20099 were used to hydrolyze isoflavone glycosides (IG) to biologically active forms, which are isoflavone aglycones (IA), in soymilk (SM) prepared from soy protein isolate (SPI) and SM supplemented with 0.5% (w/v) of lactulose (SML). Supplementation of lactulose significantly ( p < 0.05) enhanced the viable counts of B. animalis subsp. lactis bb12 and B. longum 20099 up to 2.34 and 2.15 log CFU/mL, respectively. Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis bb12 and B. longum 20099 utilized 3.32 and 3.75 mg/mL of lactulose at 24 h of incubation, respectively. Supplementation of lactulose also appeared to be a key factor in decreasing the pH of SML. The biotransformation of IG to IA was enhanced significantly by 6.8-17.1% and 12.8-13.5% in SML by B. animalis subsp. lactis bb12 and B. longum 20099, respectively. However, the presence of lactulose in SML showed the stimulating effect on B. longum 20099 only after 12 h of incubation. Isoflavone aglycones ranged from 69.5 to 77.1% of total isoflavone compounds in SML after incubation.     

马来西亚未尽利用热带水果概况

未尽利用热带水果,即在当地消费和医用的非贸易热带水果,未普及化,生长于野外,季节性强,但富含多酚类化合物、类胡萝卜素、花青素、脂肪酸、矿物质和氨基酸,因而具有一定的开发潜力。在马来西亚,热带水果丰富多样,主要有普通水果、观赏水果、特有水果、野生水果和高地水果,但大部分水果都未能充分利用,其中,典型的有罗望子、巴杖果、砂拉越芒果、钮扣山竹、榴莲、莲雾、挂尼芒果、野红毛丹和蛇皮果。这些水果可以分为3个类型：具有贸易开发潜力的主要包括无花果（Ficus sp.）、罗望子（Garcinia atroviridis）、尖必达（Artocarpus integer）、鲜花木果（Lepisan-thes alata）、野榴莲（Durio sp.）、橄榄木（Spondias cytherea）、菠萝蜜（Artocarpus heterophullus）、槟榔（Areca catechu）、野红毛丹（Nephelium ramboutan-ake）、蛇皮果（Salacca zalacca）和面包果（Artocarpus altilis）;具有适于当地人们利用潜力的水果种类包括木胡瓜（Averrhoe bilimbi）、榔拜果（Baccaurea motteyana）、单贝果Baccaurea macrocarpa）、喃喃果属（Cynometra cauliflora）、西柚（Dialum indum）、黄肉榴莲（Durio kutejensis）、野生山竹（Garcinia hombroiniana）、野檬果（Garcinia parvifolia）、巴杖果（Mangifera feotida）、醋栗（Phyllanthus emblica）、蒲桃（Syzygium jambos）;不具有经济利用开发潜力的水果种类包括哥露比（Salacca conferta）、青枣（Zizyphus mauritiana）、木奶果属（Baccaurea polyneura）、野檬果（Garcinia parvifolia）、番龙眼（Pometia sp.）、赤才果（Leppisanthes rubiginosa）、波漆果（Bouea microphylla）、蛋黄果（Pouteria campechiana）和仙都果（Sandoricum koetjape）。目前,有关未尽利用水果研究仍处于初期阶段,有必要使这些水果更为普及并得到有效利用,因此,政府和私人组织须采取一些措施以促进这些水果的消费。今后需对这些水果的营养成分、抗氧化作用以及疗效进行深入研究。     

Forest fragmentation and regrowth in an institutional mosaic of community, government and private ownership in Nepal

This study analyzes forest change in an area of Nepal that signifies a delicate balance between sustaining the needs and livelihood of a sizable human population dependent on forest products, and an effort to protect important wildlife and other natural resources. The study area, a portion of the Chitwan valley district of Nepal, represents what may be becoming a common institutional mosaic in many countries of the world who have a population reliant on forest products for their livelihood: (1) a national park; (2) a designated park buffer involving participatory forest management programs; (3) scattered patches of designated community forest; and (4) large areas of adjacent landscape made up of mostly private landholdings under agricultural practices. Utilizing Landsat images from 1989 and 2000, we analyze land cover change in each of these management zones using landscape ecology metrics and quantifying proportional distributions of land cover categories. Our results show significant differences in terms of land cover dynamics and landscape spatial pattern between these land ownership classes. These findings indicate that community-based institutions (participatory management programs in the park buffer and the designated community forests) are capable of halting or even reversing trends in deforestation and forest fragmentation.     

Genetic mapping and QTL analysis for sugar yield-related traits in sugarcane

Genetic improvement of sugar content in sugarcane would benefit from the availability of sufficient DNA markers and a genetic map. Genetic linkage maps were constructed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for seedling brix (SB), brix (B), sucrose percent in juice (SUC), stalk number (SN), stalk length (SL), stalk diameter (SD), internodes (INT), number of green leaves (NGL), at three crop cycles across seven environments in a segregating population with 207 individuals derived from a bi-parental cross of sugarcane elite cultivars. Linkage analysis led to the construction of eight linkage groups (LGs) for Co86011 and sixteen LGs for CoH70. The combined length of the two linkage maps was 2606.77 cM distributed over 24 LGs. 31 QTLs were identified: 2 for SB, 7 for B, 6 for SUC, 4 for SN, 1 for SL, 3 for SD, 6 for INT and 2 for NGL at LOD scores ranging from 2.69 to 4.75. 7 QTLs (22 %) had stable effect across crop year and locations. Markers from parents were found to be associated with both positive and negative effect on all of the traits analyzed. The most important QTLs intervals identified in this study using single-dose marker, were qB2, qSUC2, qINT2 and qB2, qSUC2, qSL2, qINT2 located between SSR markers UGSM31₅₄₈ and UGSM31₆₄₉. These QTLs could be put into use in marker assisted breeding.