Estimation of genetic parameters and environmental factors on early growth traits for Lori breed sheep using single trait animal model

The effects of different environmental factors and estimation of genetic parameters on early growth traits for Lori breed sheep including birth weight, weaning weight and body weight at 6 months of age using 19960 records from 35 herds of Lorestan Jahad Agriculture Organization were studied in the cities of Aleshtar, Khorramabad and Poldokhtar from 1995 to 2003. The effect of herd, sex of lambs, dam age and birth year on all traits and birth type had significant effect only on weaning weight. Different single trait animal models estimated the components of direct additive genetic variance, maternal genetic variance and maternal permanent environment variance through restricted maximum likelihood using environmental factors as a fixe effect and different random effects. The results showed that direct additive genetic effect had additionally significant effect on all traits moreover maternal additive genetic and maternal permanent environment effects. Results also revealed that the maternal permanent environment variance for all traits is higher than maternal genetic variance. Also the direct heritability for all traits was higher than maternal heritability. Estimation of the direct heritability from the birth to 6 months of age showed a reducing trend that could arise from high dependence of birth and weaning weight on maternal environment conditions as compared with the age conditions afterward. The genetic assessment of growth traits in Lori breed sheep without inclusion of maternal effect in animal model causes decreased selection accuracy and incorrect genetic assessment of the lambs.     

Prediction breeding value and genetic parameter in Iranian Holstein bulls for milk production traits

Data set included records of 43303 cows for first lactation. Records were collected from 2000 to 2006 in Animal Breeding Center of Iran Studied traits were yield of milk, fat, protein and percentage of fat and protein. Total number of animal was 197561 individual in pedigree. Genetic and phenotypic parameters were estimated with REML method under single trait Animal Model. Breeding values were predicted with BLUP procedure. The model for the analyses included the factors herd-year-season as fixed factor (1694 levels), animal as random effect and age at calving as co variable with minimum and maximum of 23 and 36 month. Respectively the estimated heritabilities were 0.35 (+/-0.02), 0.33 (+/-0.02), 0.31 (+/-0.017), 0.28 (+/-0.02), 0.27 (+/-0.016) for milk, fat, protein yield, percent of fat and protein. Mean of breeding values of sires were 180.2 (+/-28.2), 3.7 (+/-1.26), 2.3 (+/-1.06), -0.036 (+/-0.014) and -0.028 (+/-0.009) for milk, fat, protein yield, percent of fat and protein, respectively.     

Estimation of genetic parameters for characters related to potato propagation by true seed (TPS) in an andigena population

Genetic variances were estimated for a population ofSolarium tuberosum L. subsp.andigena, selected for adaptation to north temperate climatic conditions. Estimates for 15 traits, including some unique to true seed (TPS) propagation, were obtained from trials conducted under short day conditions in Peru. Only non-additive variance was found for yield, but heritability estimates were relatively high for tuber number and tuber size. The results indicated that yield could be increased through selection utilizing additive variance for the component traits, especially tuber size. Estimates of genetic variability for tuber uniformity were low. TPS yield was positively correlated with most other traits except tuber number.     

花生主要经济性状遗传特点分析

用16个F4:5家系的384个株系和8个亲本、1个对照种为材料，研究了花生亲本5个产量性状和2个品质性状的遗传特点，讨论了在花生杂交组合选配上的应用。（1）亲本性状值与其一般配合力表现正相关。在产量性状的基因效应中，加性效应占优势，在品质性状上则是加性效应和非加性效应均很重要。（2）相对遗传力的变异较为复杂，既因亲本而异、又因性状而异，在单株饱果数、籽仁产量、出仁率、脂肪含量上小值亲本对大值亲本占优势，在百仁重、蛋白质含量上大值亲本占优势。（3）在组合选配时，应选用重要性状都好的品种作亲本、且双亲性状值差异不宜太大，即用“优×优”组合模式，以确保杂种后代中分离出较多期望型个体。     

Genetic diversity of accessions of Iranian Aloe vera based on horticultural traits and RAPD markers

In this study, genetic diversity of 10 accessions of Aloe vera, collected from different parts of Iran, were evaluated using horticultural and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) data. Statistical analysis showed significant differences for all horticultural characteristics among the accessions, suggesting that selection for relevant characteristics could be possible. The analysis of molecular diversity was used the RAPD technique, with 10 random primers of 10-mer oligonucleotides. Out of the 10 primers, five were polymorphic, producing 269 DNA bands, 189 of which were polymorphic among accessions. A dendrogram was prepared on the basis of a similarity matrix using the Unweighted Pair Group Method Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) algorithm, separating the 10 accessions into two groups. Results show that both environmental and genetic factors are effective in observing variations. Our results also indicate that the RAPD approach, along with horticultural analysis, seemed to be best-suited for assessing with high accuracy the genetic relationships among distinct A. vera accessions.     

Repeated solarization and long-term effects on soil microbiological parameters and agronomic traits

Innovative methods less invasive for man and environment are needed to solve the problem of weeds, pests and diseases in cropping systems. Soil solarization is one practice that involves passively heating soil covered by a thin clear plastic film for several weeks during the periods of high solar radiation before the crop is planted. Soil solarization treatments were repeated to verify their long-term effectiveness on soil microbial biomass and its respiration activities, in addition to yield response and root-knot nematodes control in tomato and melon crops following soil heating. Experiments in greenhouse were carried out in Southern Italy (40°24′ N, 16°28′ E) during the summer of 1998, 1999 and 2000 on soil infested by the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica. Crop yields and fruit quality of all vegetable crops were positively affected by repeating solarization for two and three years, compared to an untreated soil and soil treated once in 1998. Solarization was effective in controlling root-knot nematode damage, but solarization affected the soil biota populations and their activities as a consequence of repeated treatments.     

Quality traits in winter wheat: Comparison of stability parameters and correlations between traits regarding their stability

Fluctuations of environmental conditions increase variability in both grain yield and quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In order to evaluate stability, different stability parameters of the static or the dynamic concept can be applied, which could be negatively correlated. While correlation analysis of the mean performance between traits is common, correlations between stability estimates for quality traits have not been investigated, to the best of the authors’ knowledge. Therefore, indirect, rheological and baking traits, and grain yield from two datasets were analysed, and the mean performance, each three stability parameters of the two different concepts (static and dynamic) were calculated over all environments within each dataset.Results showed that stability parameters of the same concept were significantly positively correlated for almost all traits. Between the stability concepts, there was only one significant negative correlation, indicating that no trade-off between the two stability concepts exists. A trade-off between stability and mean performance occurred only for five traits, suggesting only a weak trade-off between stability and mean performance, allowing the development of cultivars that are of both stable and of high quality. Clusters of traits that showed similar stability could be identified but were not consistent across stability parameters and datasets.     

巢式杂交群体的花生荚果性状遗传模型分析

采用主基因+多基因遗传模型,对巢式群体的5个组合的F2家系的荚果性状进行了遗传模式解析,以期了解巢式杂交群体的荚果性状遗传变异特点.结果表明,巢式杂交群体具有丰富的荚果性状的变异类型,荚果长、宽和百果重在5个组合中的最小值至最大值变异幅度分别为(14.30～22.09)mm～(38.36～45.12)mm、(7.06～...     

甘蓝型油菜DH群体抗倒伏相关性状遗传分析

为明确油菜抗倒伏性的遗传规律,本文利用抗倒伏性差异显著的2个甘蓝型油菜品系配制杂交组合,构建含280个株系的DH群体,采用作物茎秆强度抗倒测量仪等考种工具对该群体进行连续两年的抗倒伏性鉴定,并利用植物数量性状的主基因 + 多基因混合遗传模型及偏度和峰度分析对抗倒伏性进行遗传分析。结果表明,茎秆抗折力和茎秆抗折强度都受到0对主基因 + 9对微效多基因控制,茎秆抗折力和单株生物量的基因间无互作,茎秆抗折强度的基因间有互补作用,茎秆抗折力和茎秆抗折强度两年的平均遗传率在50%左右,而茎秆直径两年的平均遗传率为69.338 %,单株生物量两年的遗传率分别为52.198%和69.284%,遗传率都较低,性状受环境影响都较大,因此对于茎秆抗折力、茎秆抗折强度、茎秆直径和单株生物量,在育种选择的早期阶段都不宜太严格。同时茎秆抗折强度相比茎秆抗折力更能说明作物的抗倒伏能力,因而在抗倒伏选择育种时应更加关注。     

Effects of genetic improvements on grain yield and agronomic traits of winter wheat in the Yangtze River Basin of China

Wheat is an important food crop worldwide. Genetic improvements have contributed much to wheat production since the 1960s. Verifying the evolution of agronomic traits and the physiological basis of grain yield will facilitate breeders and agronomists in developing new wheat cultivars, with the aim of stable and high yields. Thirty-five wheat cultivars, bred or widely planted in the Yangtze River Basin from 1950 to 2005, were grown in field experiments under three N rates (0, 112.5, and 225 kg N ha⁻¹) from 2006 to 2009 in Nanjing, China. Wheat grain yield, kernels per spike, 1000-kernel weight (TKW), and harvest index (HI) increased linearly with cultivar development from the 1950s to the 2000s, whereas spikes per unit land decreased significantly with cultivar development during the same period, and stabilized with further genetic improvements in cultivars. Grain yield, kernels per spike, and TKW differed with N rate and with cultivar. Grain yield, spikes per unit land, and kernels per spike increased significantly with increasing N fertilizer, but TKW and HI decreased. Cultivar height decreased with cultivar development from the 1950s to the 1980s, and remained relatively stable in subsequent cultivars. The proportion of the length of the top internode to total plant height increased with cultivar development from the 1950s to the 1980s and thereafter fell, while the length of the basal internode (BI) maintained a shortening trend. Leaf area per culm, leaf area index (LAI), net photosynthetic rate (Pn), and photosynthetic activity duration (PAD) of the flag leaf increased with cultivar development. Leaf area, LAI, and Pn increased significantly with increasing N fertilizer, while PAD did not. Single spike yield increased linearly with genetic development in cultivars, and these increases mainly resulted from increasing kernel number and weight, which were closely related to source size and cultivar. Grain yield was positively correlated to leaf area, LAI, Pn_Max, PAD, and single spike yield; single spike yield was positively correlated to leaf area, LAI, Pn_Max, and PAD, suggesting that grain yield improvements were mainly associated with improvements in the source (leaf area, LAI, Pn, PAD, etc.) and sink (single spike yield). Sink-source ratios increased with genetic development of cultivars, suggesting that productivity per leaf improved and that sink-source relationships have reached close to optimum in the Yangtze River Basin. Furthermore, breeding for high yield should be related to improvement in kernels per spike and TKW per unit land and increased sink-source ratios with a feasible LAI, and N fertilizer management should be considered during breeding for higher yields.     

Estimation of population density of stored grain pests via bioacoustic detection

The potential of bioacoustics in estimating the population density of insect pests inside the stored grain mass was evaluated in the laboratory. We used a piezoelectric sensor and a portable acoustic emission amplifier connected to a computer for recording acoustic emissions of insects. The software analyses the vibration recordings of the piezoelectric sensor, performs signal parameterization and eventually classification of the infestation severity inside the grain mass in four classes, namely: Class A (densities ≤1 adult/kgr), Class B (densities 1–2 adults/kgr), Class C (densities 2–10 adults/kgr) and Class D (densities >10 adults/kgr). Adults of the most important beetle pests of stored cereals and pulses, in various population densities (1, 2, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 & 500 beetle adults/kgr grain) were used during the present study. The linear model was very effective in describing the relationship between population density and number of sounds. Multiple classifiers were used to evaluate the accuracy of bioacoustics on predicting the pest density given per minute counts of vibration pulses. Based on our results, our system's performance was very satisfactory in most cases (∼68%) given that probabilities for successful prediction typically exceeding 70%. Our study suggests that automatic monitoring of infestations in bulk grain is feasible in small containers. This kind of service can assist with reliable decision making if it can be transferred to larger storage establishments (e.g. silos). Our results are discussed on the basis of enhancing the use of acoustic sensors as a decision support system in stored product IPM.     

An assessment of the relative importance of specific traits for the genetic improvement of nutritive value in dairy pasture

There have been few successful programmes to select forage plants with improved nutritive value for dairy cattle, despite the implications of improved forage quality for dairy production. Part of this lack of progress has been attributed to differences in opinion on the relative importance of improving individual traits relating to nutritive value. This paper reports the use of the Delphi survey technique to obtain an estimate of the priority for improvement of individual nutritive value traits among a large group of respondents. The Delphi technique has been used previously to rank nutritive value traits in forages for liveweight gain and wool production (Wheeler and Corbett, 1989, Grass and Forage Science , 44 , 77–83). Increasing dry-matter digestibility (DMD) was ranked as the most important goal for grasses; increased non-structural carbohydrate (WSC) and improved rate of digestion were ranked second and third in importance. The absence of anti-quality factors, and an 'optimal ratio' of rumen degradable protein to undegradable protein (RDP/UDP) were ranked most highly for legumes, with increased DMD and WSC following closely behind. Increased magnesium and increased lipid content were ranked lowest for both grasses and legumes. Similar rankings were achieved when mean rankings from Australian and New Zealand scientists were compared with those from US and European scientists. Rankings were also similar when results from nutrition scientists were compared with those from plant breeders/agronomists.     

大豆高密度遗传图谱的构建及产量相关性状QTL定位

大豆是重要的粮油作物,而我国大豆主要依靠进口,提高大豆产量对保障国家粮油安全意义重大。为定位大豆产量相关性状,本研究以产量差异显著的东农42和东农50作为杂交亲本,构建了包含168个家系的重组自交系（recombination inbred lines,RILs）群体,对其进行全基因组重测序,构建高密度遗传图谱,并利用R/qtl软件的复合区间作图法（composite interval mapping,CIM）结合两年六点的大豆产量相关性状表型数据,进行QTL定位。结果表明：利用测序获得的660 316个SNP标记构建了一张分布在20个连锁群的包含6227个bin标记的大豆高密度遗传图谱,总图距和平均图距分别为2739.15 cM,0.44 cM。在12个染色体上定位到22个大豆产量相关性状QTL,四粒荚数、单株荚数、单株粒重和百粒重性状定位到的QTL分别为5、4、5和8个。在3号和19号染色体上各有一段基因组区域在两年间重复定位,涉及6个主效QTL,分别为qNFSP-19-1(22.976%）、qNFSP-19-2(11.977%）、qNFSP-19-3(17.203%）、qHSW-...     

Estimation of genetic variance components and heritability for tuber dormancy in diploid potatoes

Genetic variance components for tuber dormancy in an interpopulation hybrid betweenSolanum tuberosum (Group Phureja) and (Group Stenotomum) were estimated using a N.C. Design II mating plan. The genetic variance estimate was high and was composed entirely of additive variance. The estimate of narrow sense heritability was. 73. The results indicated that significant progress can be made in shifting the mean length of tuber dormancy by simple mass selection techniques.     

The role of Ile3434Thr XRCC7 gene polymorphism in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer risk in an Iranian population

Background

The aim of this study was to understand any association between differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) and Ile3434Thr XRCC7 gene polymorphism (GenBank accession number: rs7830743). DTC is the most prevalent thyroid neoplasm, which includes papillary and follicular cell carcinoma. XRCC7 gene encodes a protein that functions in non-homologous end joining DNA repair pathway. Non-synonymous polymorphisms in this gene may alter DNA repair capacity of the cell and change the risk of developing cancers.

Methods

DTC patients (n = 173) and cancer free individuals (n = 204) were enrolled in a case-control study. The Ile3434Thr polymorphic alleles were discriminated by using amplification refractory mutation system-PCR method. The frequencies of this single nucleotide polymorphism in case and control groups were compared. Also, risk ratio for developing DTC in dichotomized genotypes was estimated by multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Results

Dichotomized genotypes into those with and without the 3434Thr allele showed that this allele was associated with DTC (OR [odd ratio]: 1.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.29-2.79, P<0.001). Also, TC genotype was significantly associated with increased risk of DTC (OR: 2.42, 95% CI = 1.55-3.81, P = 0.0001) in individuals carrying this genotype.

Conclusion

Allele 3434Thr in XRCC7 gene might be associated with differentiated thyroid cancer risk. Further studies with larger samples are needed to verify these initial findings. Key Words: DNA repair enzymes, Thyroid neoplasms, Genetic polymorphism     

甘蓝型油菜杂种优势及产量性状的遗传改良

对不同来源的3个甘蓝型油菜自交不亲和系与22个父本品种的遗传距离及它们以NCII法配制的66个杂交组合的产量、物候期性状进行了分析.结果表明,尽管3个自交不亲和系与父本品种间的遗传差异较小,但它们与国外品种间的杂种F1产量性状平均优势均较强.杂种生育期及初花至成熟期日数均介于双亲之间,但前者偏向晚熟亲本,而后者却偏向早熟亲本.与其它产量构成因子相比,一次分枝及其角果数不仅对单株产量贡献率最大,且对单株产量杂种优势贡献率亦最高.在油菜产量性状的遗传改良中,特别是在杂种优势利用中,首选目标性状应为一次分枝及其角果数.在保证一次分枝及其角果数前提下,提高角粒数、千粒重亦是一条有效途径.     

Analysis on genetic contribution of agronomic traits to total sugar in flue-cured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

To uncover the genetic contributions of agronomic traits to content of total sugar (TS) and find indicator traits for indirect selection on TS in the flue-cured tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum L.), multivariable conditional analysis was conducted based on a genetic model containing additive–dominance and their interactions with environments. Fourteen cultivars (or breeding lines) and derived 41 F₁ crosses were grown at four locations in Yunnan province, China. Significant phenotypic contribution to TS was detected for six agronomic traits, plant height (PH), girth of stem (GS), internode length (INL), number of leaves (NL), length of middle leaves (LML) and width of middle leaves (WML). There was large contribution of additive effects due to each of the five agronomic traits (PH, GS, INL, LML and WML). The contribution ratio of dominance effect was high due to PH. By serving as high contributor of additive effects to TS and having high ratios of additive variance to phenotypic variance, INL and PH could be used as indicative agronomic traits for selecting breeding lines with suitable TS. Among the six agronomic traits, PH had the highest contribution to dominance effects of TS for most F₁ crosses, and could be used for selecting the crosses with suitable TS.     

Impacts of feral horses on a desert environment

Background  

Free-ranging horses (Equus caballus) in North America are considered to be feral animals since they are descendents of non-native domestic horses introduced to the continent. We conducted a study in a southern California desert to understand how feral horse movements and horse feces impacted this arid ecosystem. We evaluated five parameters susceptible to horse trampling: soil strength, vegetation cover, percent of nonnative vegetation, plant species diversity, and macroinvertebrate abundance. We also tested whether or not plant cover and species diversity were affected by the presence of horse feces.