Pigeonpea improvement: An amalgam of breeding and genomic research

In the past five decades, constant research has been directed towards yield improvement in pigeonpea resulting in the deployment of several commercially acceptable cultivars in India. Though, the genesis of hybrid technology, the biggest breakthrough, enigma of stagnant productivity still remains unsolved. To sort this productivity disparity, genomic research along with conventional breeding was successfully initiated at ICRISAT. It endowed ample genomic resource providing insight in the pigeonpea genome combating production constraints in a precise and speedy manner. The availability of the draft genome sequence with a large‐scale marker resource, oriented the research towards trait mapping for flowering time, determinacy, fertility restoration, yield attributing traits and photo‐insensitivity. Defined core and mini‐core collection, still eased the pigeonpea breeding being accessible for existing genetic diversity and developing stress resistance. Modern genomic tools like next‐generation sequencing, genome‐wide selection helping in the appraisal of selection efficiency is leading towards next‐generation breeding, an awaited milestone in pigeonpea genetic enhancement. This paper emphasizes the ongoing genetic improvement in pigeonpea with an amalgam of conventional breeding as well as genomic research.     

The role of land tenure in conservation of tree and shrub species diversity in miombo woodlands of southern Malawi

Biodiversity is declining throughout southern African miombo woodlands due to poor land use practices that are detrimental to soil, vegetation and habitat. We aimed at examining tree and shrub species diversity and distribution in Uapaca kirkiana-dominated woodlands under three land tenure types; forest reserves, customary and leasehold land. The study was conducted at different forest sites within similar agroecological zone in southern Malawi. Study sites were located at a range of altitudes between 900 and 1,200 m a.s.l. Three circular plots each with 32.60 m radius were established at each study site to sample tree and shrub species composition, structure and distribution under three land tenure types. We found that forest reserves had higher species diversity with an average of 16 tree families, 27 genera and 34 species as compared to only 10 tree families, 6 genera and 6 species on customary forest lands. Comparisons of diameter at breast height size class distributions showed that customary land had significantly low numbers of small (5.0–10.0 cm) and very large (≥30 cm) diameter classes suggesting lower levels of regeneration and high rate of anthropogenic activities. The high species diversity and richness in forest reserves and leasehold land indicate high potential for protected lands to restore tree species diversity. It is concluded that levels of human activities as influenced by land tenure type reduce tree species diversity, composition and distribution at the different sites, and this confirms the hypothesis that open access lands are not compatible with conservation of tree and shrub species diversity because of high anthropogenic activities.     

Consequences of proposed changes to clean water act thermal discharge requirements

This paper summarizes three studies that examined the economic and environmental impact on the power industry of: a) limiting thermal mixing zones to 1,000 feet (～305 m), and b) eliminating the Clean Water Act (CWA) §316(a) variance. Both of these proposed changes were included in S. 1081, a 1991 Senate bill to reauthorize the CWA. The bill would not have provided for grandfathering plants already using the variance or mixing zones larger than 305 m. Each of the two changes to the existing thermal discharge requirements were independently evaluated. Power companies were asked what they would do if these two changes were imposed. Most plants affected by the proposed changes would retrofit cooling towers and some would retrofit diffusers. Assuming that all affected plants would proportionally follow the same options as the surveyed plants, the estimated capital cost of retrofitting cooling towers or diffusers at all affected plants ranges from $21.4 to 24.4 billion. Both cooling towers and diffusers exert a 1%–5.8 % energy penalty on a plant's output. Consequently, the power companies must generate additional power if they install those technologies. The estimated cost of the additional power ranges from $10 to 18.4 billion over 20 years. Generation of the extra power would emit over 7.3 billion kg per year of additional carbon dioxide. Operation of the new cooling towers would cause more than 94.5 m³ per second of additional evaporation. Neither the restricted mixing zone size nor the elimination of the §316(a) variance was adopted into law. More recent proposed changes to the Clean Water Act have not included either of these provisions, but in the future, other Congresses might attempt to reintroduce these types of changes.     

Hepatic myelolipoma incarcerated in a peritoneopericardial diaphragmatic hernia in a cat

Hepatic myelolipoma incarcerated in a peritoneopericardial diaphragmatic hernia was diagnosed in an 11-year-old, desexed female Persian cat. The cat was initially referred for investigation of tachypnoea and dyspnoea. Peritoneopericardial diaphragmatic hernia is a common incidental finding in cats and is usually asymptomatic. Myelolipoma is an extremely rare benign tumour, composed of extramedullary haematopoietic cells and adipose tissue. Myelolipomas are hypothesised to result from metaplastic alteration, rather than a neoplastic process, although this theory cannot be substantiated. The present case is only the fourth report of such an unusual occurrence in cats and displays significant differences to previous reports. Hepatic entrapment and burgeoning of the mass within the pericardial sac resulted in cardiac tamponade and overt signs of right-sided cardiac failure. Surgical intervention was successful and despite concerns regarding the cat's clinical presentation and the gross appearance of the lesion(s), a good long-term outcome is anticipated.     

Scaling data on inter-nation action

We conclude (i) that the marker-card method is as reliable a measure as the ordinary Q-sort method; (ii) that Q and the marker-card score are measuring very nearly the same thing-in this case, presumably conflict; and (iii) that the use of marker cards permits comparison of judgments about a given quantity in the context of different situations and may even permit comparison of results obtained by different research teams if the different teams use the same marker decks. A fundamental issue involved in scoring the entries on the cards in this study by either Q-sort or marker cards is the "judgability" of the items as indicators of conflict. We noted above that items with the highest variances in scoring, from judge to judge, were concentrated at the low-conflict end of the scale. A possible explanation is that judges are able to make finer distinctions concerning an attribute when it is present than when it is absent. Differences in scoring could also arise from a lack of unidimensionality in the attribute being scaled. If juidges find that conflict has several distinct aspects, the task of placing items in a single order becomes more difficult. Difficulties in making judgments also arose from the fact that the actions were being judged out of context, or in contexts that varied from judge to judge, since no standard context was supplied. But these difficulties lie outside our problem, which was to find an alternative to Q-sorting which would permit intersituational comparisons. Our sLIccess in finding an alternative is apparent in our results, but problems of judgability remain with both techniques. Beyond providing a standard for intersitLiational comparisons, the markercard technique has other advantages. It is possible that the use of marker decks will be of help in training judges to score such a variable as conflict. In our study it permitted identification of a judge inadequately trained to do so. Possibly the marker cards will be useful in assigning scale values to hatches of data too small for Q-sort, or even to individual items. It further appears that the marker cards should be useful in discriminating among highconflict items which heretofore would all have tended to appear in the top Q-sort category. The marker-card technique has given us a reliable alternative to Q-sort for scaling conflict. The method should be capable of extension to dimensions other than conflict.     

Analysis of world strains of Anaplasma marginale using major surface protein 1a repeat sequences

Anaplasma marginale is a tick-borne pathogen of cattle that causes the disease bovine anaplasmosis worldwide. Major surface proteins (MSPs) are involved in host-pathogen and tick-pathogen interactions and have been used as markers for the genetic characterization of A. marginale strains and phylogenetic studies. MSP1a is involved in the adhesion and transmission of A. marginale by ticks and varies among geographic strains in the number and sequence of amino-terminal tandem repeats. The aim of this study was to characterize the genetic diversity of A. marginale strains collected from countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, inclusive of all continents. In this study, we characterized 131 strains of A. marginale using 79 MSP1a repeat sequences. These results corroborated the genetic heterogeneity of A. marginale strains in endemic regions worldwide. The phylogenetic analyses of MSP1a repeat sequences did not result in clusters according to the geographic origin of A. marginale strains but provided phylogeographic information. Seventy-eight percent of the MSP1a repeat sequences were present in strains from a single geographic region. Strong (> or =80%) support was found for clusters containing sequences from Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Argentinean and South American strains. The phylogenetic analyses of MSP1a repeat sequences suggested tick-pathogen co-evolution and provided evidence of multiple introductions of A. marginale strains from various geographic locations worldwide. These results contribute to the understanding of the genetic diversity and evolution of A. marginale and tick-pathogen interactions.     

Induction of estrus in greyhound bitches with prolonged idiopathic anestrus or with suppression of estrus after testosterone administration

Twelve anestrous adult Greyhound bitches were used to study a regimen for induction of estrus. Once daily, 7 bitches were given diethylstilbestrol (DES; 5 mg, PO) until sanguineous vaginal discharge and vulvar edema were observed (designated as day 1 of proestrus) and for 2 days thereafter. If no response was elicited after 7 days, a doubled DES dose was given for up to an additional 7 days. Luteinizing hormone (5 mg, IM) was given on day 5 of proestrus, and follicle-stimulating hormone (10 mg, IM) was given on days 9 and 11 of proestrus. Bitches were bred once on day 13. Five bitches were used as a control group; they were given candy tablets for 7 days (first day on tablets, treatment day 1) and 0.9% NaCl (1.0 ml, IM) on treatment days 12, 16, and 18. The 7 bitches treated with DES had a mean proestrus period of 7.7 days and a mean estrus period of 5.7 days up to the day of mating. After mating, they had a mean gestation interval of 64 days and delivered a mean of 4 pups/litter. In 5 bitches, initial treatment with 5 mg of DES/day induced proestrus within 7 days; however, in 2 bitches, additional treatment with 10 mg of DES/day was needed for 5 and 6 days, respectively. Serum estradiol-17 beta and progesterone concentrations remained at base line during the period of DES treatment. Concentrations of both hormones increased after injection with luteinizing hormone and remained high for the next 4 days.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)