Inheritance and relationships of important agronomic traits in almond

The inheritance of 16 important agronomic traits and its relationship were studied for four years in a population of 167 almond [P. dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb] seedlings obtained from a cross between the French selection ‘R1000’ (‘Tardy Nonpareil’ × ‘Tuono’) and the Spanish cultivar ‘Desmayo Largueta’. For some traits (blooming and leafing date) descendants segregated between the value of both progenitors, meanwhile for others the mean of the offspring was lower (bloom density, productivity and ripening date) or higher (in-shell/kernel ratio and double kernels). As expected, kernel bitterness and self-incompatibility behaved as monogenic traits. Some important correlations between traits were detected. The implications of the transmission and the correlation of these traits in the breeding programmes are discussed.     

Chromosomal regions associated with green plant regeneration in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) anther culture

Genetic capacity for green plant regeneration in anther culture were mapped in a population comprising 50 doubled haploid lines from a cross between two wheat varieties ‘Ciano’ and ‘Walter’ with widely different capacity for green plant regeneration. Bulked segregant analysis with AFLP markers and composite interval mapping detected four QTLs for green plant percentage on chromosomes 2AL (QGpp.kvl-2A), 2BL (QGpp.kvl-2B.1 and QGpp.kvl-2B.2) and 5BL (QGpp.kvl-5B).The three QTLs detected on chromosome 2AL and 2BL all derived their alleles favouring green plant formation from the responsive parent ‘Ciano’.The remaining QTL on chromosome 5BL had the allele favouring green plants from the low responding parent ‘Walter’. In a multiple regression analysis the four QTLs could explain a total of 80% of the genotypic variation for green plant percentage. None of the chromosomal regions with QTLs for green plant percentage showed significant influence on either embryo formation or regeneration frequencies from the anther culture. The three major QTLs located on group two chromosomes were fixed in a second DH population derived from two parents ‘Ciano’ and ‘Benoist’,both with high capacity to produce green plants. A QTL explaining31.5% of the genetic variation for green plant formation were detected on chromosome 5BL in this cross as well. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Morphological and RAPD analysis of poplar trees of anther culture origin

Our objectives were to improve the rate of haploid plant regeneration through increasing the rate of callus initiation on the anthers and sustaining shoot regeneration frequency, and to analyze the field population of anther culture origin by morphological and molecular methods. Regarding the callus initiation, the most responsive clones were ‘N-90’(59%) in P. nigra and ‘D-29’ (75%) in P. deltoides. The rate of shoot regeneration and number of shoots/calli ranged from 4%–79% and 1–9, respectively. From the 208 rooted plants 8 haploid, 179 diploid, 4 tetraploid and 17 aneuploid plants were found. In the field population, the haploid plants could be easily identified by their retarded development and morphological characteristics (size and shape of the leaves, strong branching, etc). Several diploid plants showed depressed developmental and morphological traits similar to the haploid ones. Three traits (growth rate, leaf blade length and shape of leaf base) of the 6 different morphological characteristics measured were in correlation with the ploidy level within the poplar field population. Six primers of the 48 primers tested were able to detect polymorphism among the field plants. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Genetic variance components and genetic effects among eleven diverse upland cotton lines and their F2 hybrids

Selecting high yielding upland cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. lines with improved fiber quality is a primary breeding goal. A diverse set of ten cultivars and one breeding line were crossed in a half diallel. Parents and F₂ hybrids were grown in three environments at Mississippi State, MS. Ten agronomic and fiber traits were analyzed by a mixed linear model approach based on the additive-dominance genetic model. Variance component, genetic effects and genetic correlations were calculated. ‘Acala Ultima’ was a desirable general combiner for fiber length, uniformity, strength, micronaire, lint percentage, and boll weight. ‘FiberMax 966’ was a desirable general combiner for fiber length, uniformity, strength, and all agronomic traits. ‘Tamcot Pyramid’ and M240 were poor general combiners for both fiber and agronomic traits. ‘Coker 315’ was a good general combiner for fiber length, uniformity, micronaire, boll weight, boll number, and yield. Heterozygous dominance effects were associated with several crosses, which suggest their use as hybrids.     

Inheritance and Correlation of Self-Compatibility and other Yield Components in the Apricot Hybrid F1 Populations

Summary To provide genetic basis for apricot (Prunus armeniaca Lam.) breeding, inheritance and correlation of yield components including self-compatibility, self-pollinated fruiting rate, fertile flower rate, average fruit weight and fruit number per plant were studied with 5-year-old seedlings of apricot F1 hybrids from ‘Katy’ × (‘Xinshiji’, ‘Katy’ × (‘Hongfeng’ and ‘Katy’ × (‘Taianshuixing’, respectively. Using the criteria that cultivars with self-pollinated fruiting rate ≥6% were self-compatible(SC), we found that the ratios of self-compatible (SC) to self-incompatible (SI) individuals were 27:25, 9:12 and 15:19 in the above three families, respectively, and conformed to the ratio of 1:1 segregation by χ² test, indicating that the S-locus of ‘Katy’ was heterozygous and self-compatibility was dominant to self-incompatibility. Twenty-seven seedlings from the F1 population of ‘Katy’ × ‘Xinshiji’ were chosen for S-allele-specific PCR. As a result, four S-genotypes with the ratio of 10:6:4:7 were obtained, which was linear to the 1:1:1:1 ratio by χ² test. Great differences in self-compatibility degree were observed among seedlings even with the same S-genotype. In the F1 populations, a very extensive segregation in self-pollinated fruiting rate, fertile flower rate and average fruit weight was observed, and average values of these traits were lower than that of mid-parent. Therefore, these traits were confirmed to be quantitative. However, significant differences were found in broad heritability (H _b ²) of following three characters: the H _b ² of self-pollinated fruiting rate (87.1% – 91.4%) was the greatest, with the variation mainly resulted from inheritance; fertile flower rate (36.8% – 49.1%) was the least and its variation was mainly caused by environmental factors. In addition, self-pollinated fruiting rate and fertile flower rate had very significantly positive correlations with single plant yield, so both may play important roles in the determination of single plant yield. In contrast, correlation between yield and average fruit weight was not significant.     

Pear mutagenesis: In vitro treatment with gamma-rays and field selection for productivity and fruit traits

In vitro shoots of six pear (Pyrus communis L.) cultivars, ‘Conference’, ‘Doyennéd'Hiver’, ‘Passe Crassane’, ‘Bartlett’, ‘AbbéFetel’ and ‘Butirra Precoce Morettini’ were irradiated with gamma rays (3.5 Gy). After three subcultures, microcuttings from the irradiated shoots and from additional non-irradiated microcuttings were rooted to establish plants for survey orchards. All trees were individually observed for variation in fruit traits and for productivity. Trees were selected for improved characters related to production such as early bearing and consistent productivity. Variations observed in fruit appearance concerned degree of russeting, fruit shape and size. The frequencies of the observed variations in fruit traits depended on the cultivar, ranging from 0.81% in ‘Doyennéd'Hiver’ to 3.64% in ‘Passe Crassane’. Of the 97 variants selected, only two showed chimeral behavior. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Performance of various grapefruit (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Citrus paradisi</Emphasis> Macf.) and pummelo (<Emphasis Type="Italic">C. maxima</Emphasis> Merr.) cultivars under the dry tropic conditions of Mexico

Grapefruit growers in the tropics require information about existing and new citrus cultivars with high productivity potential. The objective of this study was to determine the growth, yield, and fruit quality performance of seven pigmented and four white grapefruit cultivars under the dry tropic conditions of Colima, Mexico. The trees were budded on sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.) rootstock and planted at a distance of 8 × 4 m. ‘Oroblanco’ and ‘Marsh Gardner’ white-fleshed grapefruit cultivars and ‘Chandler’, a pink-fleshed pummelo, were the largest trees with the greatest height (5.0–5.6 m), canopy diameter (6.2–6.3 m), trunk diameter (21.9–23.3 cm), and canopy volume (109–123 m³). Lower height (4.3–4.8 m) and canopy volume (73–96 m³), but with similar canopy diameter to the previously mentioned cultivars, were recorded for the remaining pigmented cultivars. ‘Chandler’ pummelo and four pigmented grapefruit cultivars (‘Shambar’, ‘Río Red’, ‘Ray Ruby’, and ‘Redblush #3’) had yearly productions of 34.8, 34.9, 34.1, 32.7, and 30.6 ton ha⁻¹, respectively. The most productive white grapefruit cultivar was ‘Marsh Gardner’ (30.5 ton ha⁻¹). Grapefruit cultivars having the largest fruit size showed a higher inverse relationship between fruit weight and yield than those with small fruit. Most genotypes had higher values of fruit weight, juice content, and maturity index than those required by the local market. The most promising grapefruit cultivars based on their acceptable growth, yield superior to 30 ton ha⁻¹, and acceptable fruit color were ‘Río Red’, ‘Shambar’, ‘Ray Ruby’, and ‘Redblush #3’.     

Little heterosis for yield and yield components in hybrids of six cucumber inbreds

Heterosis and inbreeding depression for fruit yield has been reported for pickling cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). However, cucumber inbreds often perform as well as hybrids, and there is little inbreeding depression. The objectives of this study were to reexamine the amount of heterosis and inbreeding depression for fruit yield and yield components in pickling cucumber, and to determine the relationship between yield components and yield for heterosis. Two pickling cucumber inbreds (M 12, M 20) and inbreds from four open-pollinated monoecious cultivars (‘Addis’, ‘Clinton’, ‘Wisconsin SMR 18’, ‘Tiny Dill’) were hybridized to form four F₁ hybrids (‘Addis’ × M 20, ‘Addis’ × ‘Wis. SMR 18’, ‘Clinton’ × M 12, M 20 × ‘Tiny Dill’). F₁ hybrids were then self-pollinated or backcrossed to generate F₂, BC_1A, and BC_1B progeny. Thirty plants of each generation within each hybrid family were grown in plots 3.1 m long with four replications in each of two seasons. Data were collected from once-over harvest for vegetative, reproductive, yield, and fruit quality traits. Heterosis and inbreeding depression for fruit yield and yield components were not observed in three of the hybrids. Only ‘Addis’ × ‘Wis. SMR 18’ exhibited high-parent heterosis and inbreeding depression for total, marketable, and early fruit weight. For ‘Addis’ × ‘Wis. SMR 18’, heterosis for fruit yield was associated with a decreased correlation between percentage of fruit set and fruit weight, an increased negative correlation between percentage of fruit set and both the number of branches per plant and the percentage of pistillate nodes, and an increased negative correlation between the number of nodes per branch and total fruit weight. Inbreeding depression was associated with a weakening of the strong negative correlations between percentage of fruit set and the number of branches per plant, and between the number of nodes per branch and total fruit weight. Those correlations were associated with high-parent heterosis and inbreeding depression only for one cross, and do not necessarily apply to future crosses in which heterosis may be observed for yield. We did not observe the heterosis or inbreeding depression for yield in cucumber in most of the crosses as was reported by Ghaderi & Lower (1979a; 1979c). This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effect of alien 5R(5A) chromosome substitution on ear-emergence time and winter hardiness in wheat-rye substitution lines

Ear emergence time and response to vernalization were investigated in 12 alien substitution lines in which a pair of chromosomes 5A of recipient spring wheat cultivars was replaced by a pair of chromosomes 5R of Siberian spring rye ‘Onokhoiskaya’. The recipients were 12 spring cultivars of common wheat, each carrying different Vrn genes. Spring rye ‘Onokhoiskaya’ had the Sp1 (now called Vrn-R1) gene for spring growth habit located on chromosome 5R, but its expression was weaker. The Vrn-R1 gene had no effect on growth habit, ear emergence time and response to vernalization in wheat-rye substitution lines. Ears emerged significantly later in the 5R(5A) alien substitution lines than in the recipient wheat cultivars with the Vrn-A1/Vrn-B1/vrn-D1 or Vrn-A1/vrn-B1/Vrn-D1 genotypes. No difference in ear emergence time was found between most of the 5R(5A) alien substitution lines and the cultivars carrying the recessive vrn-A1 gene. The presence of the Vrn2a and Vrn2b alleles at the Vrn2 (now called Vrn-B1) locus located on wheat chromosome 5B was confirmed.The replacement of chromosome 5A by chromosome 5R in wheat cultivars ‘Rang’ and ‘Mironovskaya Krupnozernaya’, which carries the single dominant gene Vrn-A1, converted them to winter growth habit. In field studies near Novosibirsk the winter hardiness of 5R(5A) wheat–rye substitution lines of ‘Rang’ and ‘Mironovskaya Krupnozernaya’ was increased by 20–47% and 27–34%, respectively, over the recurrent parents.     

Heritability estimates of spot blotch resistance and its association with other traits in spring wheat crosses

Summary Spot blotch caused by Cochliobolus sativusis considered a major disease problem of wheat(Triticum aestivumL.) in the warm areas of South Asia. This study estimated heritability (h ²) of resistance to spot blotch and its correlation with days to heading DH) and maturity (DM), one-hundred-kernel weight (HKW), and plant height (PHT) in 14 crosses involving four resistant (‘Attila’, ‘Chirya 7’, ‘G 162’, and ‘SW89.5422’) and two susceptible (‘Sonalika’ and ‘HD2329’) wheat genotypes. Data were recorded on F₅and F₆lines in fields under natural epidemics of spot blotch in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Heritability was estimated for area under disease progress curve (AUDPC), AUDPC/day, and the highest disease score (HDS) using offspring-parent regression (h _op ²) and realized heritability (h ² _R) procedures. Heritability estimates were low to high in terms of AUDPC (0.21 < h _op ²< 0.64; 0.32 < h _R ²< 0.70), AUDPC/day (0.40 < h _op ²< 0.96; 0.42 < h _R ²< 0.99), and HDS (0.29 < h _op ²< 0.92; 0.32 < h _R ²< 0.95). The h ²estimates for AUDPC/day were higher than for AUDPC and HDS. Estimates of h _R ²were by and large higher than h _op ²in the same cross. A weak negative or nonsignificant correlation of spot blotch score with HKW, DH, DM, and PHT indicated that independent selection for resistance and these agronomic traits is possible.     

Development of Novel Brassica napus lines with canola quality and higher levels of oleic and linoleic acids derived from intergeneric hybrids between B. napus and Orychophragmus violaceus

Parents and their F₁ and F₂ progenies were evaluated for density of type IV glandular trichomes and resistance to Tetranychus urticae Koch during three stages of the plant growth. Results indicated significant differences between density of type IV glandular trichomes on F₁ and F₂ populations at different sampling times. As age of plant increased, density of type IV glandular trichomes and resistance to two-spotted spider mite increased. Density of type IV glandular trichomes on F₂ individuals showed a broad range of variability (0–42 trichomes/mm²). The estimated heritability was very high (>85%) for damage score and density of type IV glandular trichomes at different sampling times. Acylsugars content in Lycopersicon pennellii ‘‘LA2963’’ was more than two-folds high than those found in L. esculentum ‘‘Nandi’’, F₁ and F₂ populations, indicating that recessive gene(s) are responsible for the high acylsugar contents in L. pennellii ‘‘LA2963’’.     

Microsatellite mapping of complementary genes for purple grain colour in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) L.

Complementary genes for purple grain colour Pp1, Pp2, Pp3 (now designated Pp1, Pp3b, Pp3a, respectively) were mapped using crosses between purple-grained hexaploid wheats ‘Purple Feed’ – Pp1Pp1/Pp2Pp2 (Pp1Pp1/Pp3bPp3b), ‘Purple’ – Pp1Pp1/Pp3Pp3 (Pp1Pp1/Pp3aPp3a) with non-purple-grained cultivars ‘Novosibirskaya 67’ (‘N67’) and ‘Saratovskaya 29’ (‘S29’). The genes Pp2 (Pp3b) and Pp3 (Pp3a) were inherited as monofactorial dominant when purple-grained wheats were crossed to ‘N67’. Both were mapped in the centromeric region of the chromosome 2A. Therefore, they were suggested being different alleles at the same locus and designated Pp3a and Pp3b. In the crosses between purple-grained wheats and ‘S29’ a segregation ratio of 9 (purple) to 7 (non purple) was obtained suggesting a complementary interaction of two dominant genes, Pp1 and Pp3. To map Pp1 as a single gene, the influence of the other Pp gene was taken into consideration by determining the Pp3 genotype of the F₂ plants. The gene was mapped on chromosome 7BL, about 24 cM distal to the centromere. The Pp1gene was shown to be non allelic to the Rc-1 (red coleoptile) and Pc (purple culm) genes, contrary to what was previously suggested. The colouration caused by the Pp genes has no effect on pre-harvest sprouting.     

Characterization of segregation distortion on chromosome 3 induced in wide hybridization between indica and japonica type rice varieties

We previously surveyed chromosomal regions showing segregation distortion of RFLP markers in the F₂ population from the cross between a japonica type variety ‘Nipponbare’ and an indica type variety ‘Milyang23’, and showed that the most skewed segregation appeared on the short arm of chromosome 3. By comparison with the marker loci where distortion factors were previously identified, this region was assumed to be a gametophytic selection-2 (ga2) gene region. To evaluate this region, two near isogenic lines (NILs) were developed. One NIL had the ‘Nipponbare’ segment of this region on the genetic background of ‘Milyang23’ (NIL9-23), and the other NIL had the ‘Milyang23’ segment on the genetic background of ‘Nipponbare’ (NIL33-18). NIL9-23 and ‘Milyang23’, NIL33-18 and ‘Nipponbare’, and ‘Nipponbare’ and ‘Milyang23’ were respectively crossed to produce F₁ and F₂ populations. The F₁ plants of NIL9-23 × ‘Milyang23’ and NIL33-18 × ‘Nipponbare’ showed high seed fertility and the same pollen fertility as their parental cultivars, indicating that ga2 does not reduce seed and pollen fertility. Segregation ratio of a molecular marker on the ga2 region in the three F₂ populations was investigated to clarify whether segregation distortion occurred on the different genetic backgrounds. Segregation distortion of the ga2 region appeared in the both F₂ populations from the NIL9-23 and ‘Milyang23’ cross (background was ‘Milyang23’ homozygote) and the ‘Nipponbare’ and ‘Milyang23’ cross (background was heterozygote), but did notin the F₂ population from the NIL33-18 and ‘Nipponbare’ cross (background was ‘Nipponbare’ homozygote). This result indicates that ga2 interacts with a ‘Milyang23’ allele(s) on the different chromosomal region(s) to cause skewed segregation of the ga2 region. In addition, segregation ratio was the same between the F₂ populations from NIL9-23 × ‘Milyang23’ and ‘Nipponbare’ × ‘Milyang23’ crosses, suggesting that the both genotypes, ‘Milyang23’ homozygote and heterozygote, of gene(s) located on the different chromosomal region(s) have the same effect on the segregation distortion. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Male fertility and occurrence of 2n gametes in East African Highland bananas (Musa spp.)

The quantity and quality of pollen produced by a genotype are important attributes to be considered in the selection of male parents for breeding. The objective of this research was to determine the quantity and quality of pollen in 13 selected East African Highland bananas (EAHB) in relation to six diploids commonly used as male parents. Pollen quantity was scored on a scale of 0–6 while the variation of pollen stainability along the rachis was determined using acetocarmine glycerol jelly. Actual male fertility was determined by using pollen from the EAHB varieties on M. acuminata spp. burmannicoides, ‘Calcutta 4’, as the female. The diameter of 200 viable pollen grains was measured under a microscope with the aid of a graduated eyepiece. Significant differences were obtained for mean pollen stainability and pollen diameter. The pollen stainability for diploids was higher than that for the EAHB. Node numbers contributed significantly to variation of pollen stainability in EAHB (P ≤ 0.01) and ‘Pisang lilin’ (P ≤ 0.001). ‘Pisang lilin’ and the EAHB varieties had about 100 nodes as opposed to about 200 in other diploids. The EAHB varieties produced less pollen than most of the diploids. The actual male fertility of EAHB varieties was low (1 seed/bunch), compared to that of ‘Calcutta 4’ (223.3 seeds/bunch) and ‘Pisang lilin’ (13.7 seeds/bunch). Although the production of 2n pollen in EAHB varieties was low (0–7%), the potential exists for using them in new breeding approaches.     

Sequence of the S 9-RNase cDNA and PCR-RFLP system for discriminating S 1- to S 9-allele in Japanese pear

A new S ₉-allele was discovered in 6 Japanese pear cultivars, ‘Shinkou’, ‘Shinsei’, ‘Niitaka’, ‘Amanogawa’, ‘Nangetsu’ and ‘Nansui’. cDNA encoding S ₉-RNase, a stylar product of S ₉-allele, was cloned from pistils of ‘Shinkou’ and ‘Shinsei’ by 3' and 5' RACE. The S ₉-RNase gene had an open reading frame of 684 nucleotides encoding 228 amino acid residues. S ₉-RNase had a hypervariable (HV) region different from S ₁- to S ₈-RNase and shared higher similarity (95.2%) with apple S ₃-RNase than with 8 Japanese pear S-RNases (from 61.0% to 70.7%). Genomic PCR with primers ‘FTQQYQ’ and ‘anti-(I/T) IWPNV’ provided S ₁- to S ₉-amplicon (product), but could not discriminate the S ₂ from the S ₉ of ca. 1.3 kb. The S ₂ and S ₉ were distinguished by digestion with AflII and BstBI, respectively. The digestion with nine S-allele-specific restriction endonucleases, SfcI, AflII, PpuMI, NdeI,AlwNI, HincII, AccII, NruI and BstBI, distinguished S ₁ to S ₉, establishing that this PCR-RFLP system is useful for S-genotype assignments in Japanese pear harboring S ₁- to S ₉-allele. ‘Shinkou’, ‘Shinsei’, ‘Nangetsu’ and ‘Nansui’ assigned as S ₄ S ₉ were determined to be cross incompatible. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Yield and disease resistance of plantain (Musa spp., AAB group) somaclones in Nigeria

This study examined the potential of somaclonal variation for the improvement of plantain. Approximately 500 somaclones each of ‘Agbagba’ (False Horn plantain) and ‘Bise Egome’ (French plantain) were field evaluated for their agronomic performance and response to the black Sigatoka disease. The micropropagated populations were independently generated from a number of suckers from each accession. Significant differences between micropropagated accessions and crop cycles were observed. Differences between plants derived from suckers of the same accession were also expressed, indicating the chimerical nature of variation in the traits studied. None of the plants of the micropropagated populations from ‘Bise Egome’ exhibited significantly better disease tolerance and agronomic performance than the source accession. However,one somaclonal variant of ‘Agbagba’ (‘AO 2B2-2’) expressed lower susceptibility to the black Sigatoka disease. Compared to ‘Agbagba’, ‘AO 2B2-2’ had a higher bunch weight, more fruits per bunch with higher average weight, greater average length, and greater average girth. These data clearly show that, in contrast to previous reports, it is possible to recover superior somaclonal mutants in Musa. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Evaluation of leaf rust resistance genes Lr1 , Lr9 , Lr24 , Lr47 and their introgression into common wheat cultivars by marker-assisted selection

Epidemiological field controls in different Italian locations and seedling evaluations of the ‘Thatcher’ near-isogenic lines (NILs) carrying the leaf rust resistance genes Lr1, Lr9, Lr24 and Lr47 were conducted during 5 years of testing. These genes confirmed their effectiveness in both field and greenhouse conditions. Moreover a backcross program was carried out by using as recurrent parents the susceptible high-quality common wheat cvs ‘Bolero’, ‘Colfiorito’, ‘Serio’ and ‘Spada’ and the ‘Thatcher’ NILs carrying the above mentioned genes as donor parents. The progenies of different cross combinations were selected by both resistance tests and marker assisted selection using molecular markers (STS, SCAR, CAPS) closely linked to Lr genes: a complete cosegregation was observed between the resistance genes used and the corresponding molecular markers.     

Employment of flanking codominant STS markers to estimate allelic substitution effects of a nematode resistance locus in carrot

In carrot, two codominant sequence-tagged site (STS) markers, flanking in tight linkage the Meloidogyne javanica resistance (Mj-1) locus, were employed to investigate the association between expression of resistance and locus dosage. Phenotypic expression of homozygous resistant (R); heterozygous; and homozygous susceptible (S) individuals in an F₂ population of 396 F₂ plants from ‘Brasília-1252’ (R) × ‘B6274’ (S) was estimated for three resistance criteria: total egg production per plant (TEP), egg production per gram of fibrous root (EPG) and root gall index (RGI). The homozygous resistant class had average values of 403.9 for TEP; 147.5 for EPG and 0.8 for RGI. The heterozygous class had 1,673; 477.3; and 0.16 whereas the homozygous susceptible class had 68,604; 11,877; and 2.54, respectively. The dominance ratio (d/a) indicated that genomic region(s) derived from the resistant parent encompass genetic factor(s) with almost complete dominance for RGI (d/a = 0.93–0.94) and incomplete dominance for transformed (TEP)^0.25 and (EPG)^0.25 (d/a = 0.63–0.65). Broad sense heritabilities were high varying from 72.9% for (EPG)^0.25 to 86.0% for RGI. Narrow sense heritability values ranged from 55.9% for RGI to 64.3%for (TEP)^0.25. Highly significant orthogonal contrasts were observed between homozygous resistant vs. heterozygous for (TEP)^0.25 and (EPG)^0.25. Marker-assisted selection could greatly facilitate the incorporation of the Mj-1 allele in both male-fertile and male-sterile counterpart lines in order to obtain F₁ hybrids with the most effective levels of resistance. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

RAPD markers linked to microspore embryogenic ability in Brassica crops

In order to identify the markers linked to microspore embryogenic ability in Brassica crops, RAPD segregation analyses were performed in a microspore-derived (MD) population and a F₂ population derived from F₁between ‘Ho Mei’ (high responsive parent in microspore embryogenesis) and ‘269’ (low responsive parent) in Chinese cabbage, and between ‘Lisandra’ (high responsive parent) and ‘Kamikita’ (low responsive parent) in oil seed rape. After 230 and 143 primers were screened, a total of 148 and 52markers were detected to be polymorphic between the parents in Chinese cabbage and oilseed rape, respectively. Twenty-seven percent of the markers in the MD population showed a significant segregation distortion in both crops. Of the markers showing segregation distortion in the MD population, 71–75% of the markers followed the expected Mendelian segregation ratio in the F₂ population. When the relationships between such distorted markers and microspore embryogenesis of the F₂ population were examined, 7 and 3 markers were identified to be associated with embryogenic ability in Chinese cabbage and oilseed rape, respectively. These markers showed additive effects on embryo yields, and the plants having more alleles of the high responsive parent produced higher embryo yields. These markers maybe useful in marker-assisted selection for improving microspore responsiveness straits in Brassica crops. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Variation in virulence and resistance in the bean-bean rust pathosystem in Ecuador

Twenty two Uromyces appendiculatus isolates were tested on 20 differential and 25 Ecuadorian Phaseolus vulgaris cultivars in the seedling stage. Based on the infection types 20 races could be discerned. The Ecuadorian cultivars differed greatly in their reaction to the isolates, from resistant to only one isolate (`Red Small Garden') to resistant to all isolates (’G2333‘). The isolates showed a wide range of virulence to the Ecuadorian cultivars, from virulent to only two cultivars (isolate 13) to virulent to 21 cultivars (isolates 5 and 23). Seven cultivars with a basically susceptible infection type appeared to differ greatly in quantitative resistance when tested in three consecutive crop cycles. The disease severities in percentage leaf area affected averaged over the three cycles ranged between 83.9% for ‘Red Small Garden’ and 13.1% for ‘INIAP-414’. Race-specific resistance does not seem an advisable breeding strategy, but the quantitative resistance offers a good alternative.