Genetic relationships between attributes in sugarcane clones closely related to Saccharum spontaneum

Summary Saccharum spontaneum is being used in sugarcane breeding programs in attempt to improve characteristics such as ratooning ability and stress tolerance. A population of F₁ (Saccharum officinarum or commercial variety x S. spontaneum) and F₁ x F₁ sugarcane clones was evaluated for sugar yield and a range of yield components in a plant and two ratoon crops. The aim was to determine genetic correlations between attributes in clones with a large component of S. spontaneum, that could be used to help derive appropriate selection indices in such populations.There were close associations between the same attributes measured in different crop-years and the associations between different attributes were generally similar across crop-years. Stalk number and fibre content were positively correlated, as were stalk weight and CCS. The latter two attributes (which are low in S. spontaneum but high in S. officinarum) were negatively correlated with the former two (high in S. spontaneum, low in S. officinarum). Sugar yield was more closely associated with stalk weight and CCS than with stalk number but became more closely associated with stalk number with successive ratoon crops.CCS was positively correlated (r_g=0.55) with cane yield in the plant crop but showed a small negative correlation with cane yield (r_g=–0.20) in the second ratoon crop. CCS (measured in any crop) also had a negative correlation with cane yield in the ratoon crops expressed as a percentage of plant cane yield. This suggests that CCS is negatively correlated with levels of traits contributing to ratooning ability. Intensive selection among such populations for CCS without consideration of ratooning performance may reduce the frequency of favourable specific ratooning characteristics.Abbreviations CCS commercial cane sugar     

利用AFLP进行“甘蔗属复合体”系统演化和亲缘关系研究

采用AFLP分子标记技术，对“甘蔗属复合体”中4个属16个种的69份来自中国和澳大利亚的甘蔗种质资源材料进行系统演化和亲缘关系分析。2对AFLP引物共检测到173个标记，其中172个为多态标记，多态率达99.4%；通过计算Jaccard相似性系数，用UPGMA和PCA法构建了分子系统树和效应图。结果表明：(1)属间亲缘关系中，甘蔗属与芒属较     

Crossability relationships of andean potato varieties of three ploidy levels

Summary The formation of triploids in 4x×2x crosses was studied in primitive potato varieties from the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. Triploid frequencies were as high as 80–100% in some crosses, although the actual number of seeds was low. The triploid block varied according to the tetraploid parent, and was never entirely absent. The likelihood of triploid formation was studied in 4x×2x crosses where pollen from both tetraploids and diploids of known genotype was used. Even though the diploids were chosen for their non-production of 2n gametes, as detected in pollen grain size, 66% of the hybrids were tetraploid. The amount and probability of gene-flow between the tetraploid and diploid gene-pools, either directly through 2n gametes or through triploid bridges was examined. Most of the 20 cultivars of S. x chaucha produced seed in crosses with tetraploids and diploids, although the fertility of the latter crosses was four times higher. The female fertility of some of the triploids thus allows them to exchange genes with the tetraploids and diploids, although gene-flow occurs more rapidly through direct transfer from diploids to tetraploids via 2n gametes.     

The nature of Solanum × chaucha Juz. et Buk., a triploid cultivated potato of the South American Andes

Summary The variation in Solanum × chaucha Juz. et Buk. (2n=3x=36) was studied using 114 accessions from the Potato Collection maintained by the International Potato Center. These accession represented less than 5% of the collection originally screened for ploidy. Twenty morphological characters of the tubers, inflorescences and leaves were scored. The accessions were grouped into 20 morphotypes on the basis of the tuber characters. Two-qualitative characters, red-anther tip and sky-blue flowers were diagnostic of 4 morphotypes, but the variation of the quantitative characters overlapped among morphotypes, and were of limited value. Electrophoretic separation of tuber proteins in 7.5% polyacrylamide gels generally confirmed the morphotype groupings. It is concluded that each of the morphotypes represents a single genotype, and these are named according to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. The variation within S. × chaucha apparently has been restricted by its hybrid origin.     

The Importance of the Bolivian Wild Potato Species in Breeding for Globodera pallida Resistance

Screening for resistance to the potato cyst nematode, Globodera pallida, in potatoes from. Bolivia, was carried out in 1983 and 1984, using a mixture of four nematode populations representing pathotypes Pa₁, Pa₂ and Pa₃ From the 66 accessions of 17 species and subspecies evaluated, highly resistant genotypes were identified in 21 accessions from seven species. All had Pf/Pi values of 2 or less, whereas the susceptible control, Solanum tuberosum cv. ‘Disiree’ had Pf/Pi values of more than 2G in both tests. Two diploid wild species, S. brevicaule and S. leptophyes, showed the best resistant. The geographical distributional of resistant populations and the evolution of resistance in wild potato populations are discussed.     

Pyruvate dehydrogenase activity is important for colonization of seeds and roots by Enterobacter cloacae

Enterobacter cloacae is a plant-beneficial bacterium that shows promise for suppression of damping-off of cucumber and other crops caused by Pythium ultimum. We have been using a mutational approach to determine the E. cloacae genes important in bacterial-plant and bacterial-pathogen interactions in the spermosphere and rhizosphere. E. cloacae M43 is a transposon mutant of E. cloacae 501R3 that was significantly impaired in colonization of seeds and roots of diverse crop plants. Strain M43 did not increase in population on cucumber, sunflower, and wheat seeds and was significantly reduced in growth on pea seeds relative to strain 501R3. Populations of M43 were also dramatically lower than those of strain 501R3 in cucumber, pea, sunflower, and wheat rhizosphere in 42 d experiments. Molecular characterization of M43 demonstrated that there was a single transposon insertion in the genome of this strain and that this insertion was in a region of the E. cloacae genome with a high degree of DNA sequence identity with aceF. aceF encodes the dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC). Cell lysates from strain 501R3 grown on minimal medium plus 50 mM glycerol and 2 mM acetate contained 0.011±0.0036 U pyruvate dehydrogenase activity while cell lysates from M43 grown under identical conditions contained no detectable pyruvate dehydrogenase activity. Additionally, the nutritional use profile of M43 under aerobic and anaerobic conditions was as expected for an ace mutant. Experiments reported here strongly suggest a role for aceF and the PDHC in colonization of seeds and roots of diverse crop plants by E. cloacae.     

Nitrate leaching following autumn and winter application of animal manures to grassland

Abstract. Under a UK Government consultation procedure announced in 2001, it was proposed that measures agreed within already designated Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ 's) would be extended to include a considerably increased area of England, Wales and Scotland. Since existing NVZ 's in the UK have included relatively little grassland, it is important to examine how nitrate losses from grassland areas, especially from animal manures, one of the major potential sources of nitrate loss, can be minimized. Experiments were carried out on freely draining grassland soils at four sites (Devon, Hampshire, Shropshire and N Yorkshire) representative of a wide range of climatic and farming conditions across lowland England, over a four year period, 1990/91 to 1993/94. Slurry was applied to experimental plots over a range of times (including June and then monthly, from September to January) at a target rate of 200 kg N ha^–1. Nitrogen leaching over the four years ranged from 0 to >50% of applied slurry N, with the largest losses occurring following applications in the September to November period. The use of a nitrification inhibitor with slurry applied in November failed to provide consistent reduction in nitrate leaching.
A strategy to reduce the risk of N leaching from manures applied to freely draining grassland soils must take account of the characteristics of the manure, in particular its N content, the application rate and the amount of excess rainfall following application. The experimental results suggest that slurry applications to freely draining grassland, in September, October and November should generally be avoided, the rationale for this being dependent on the amount of excess rainfall subsequent to application. Farmyard manure represents a lower risk and does not justify the restrictions on application timing that appear to be necessary with slurry.     

Antibiotic Resistance in two Water Reclamation Systems for Space Applications

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the antibiotic resistance in two water reclamation systems developed from space missions. The first system is a small-scale water reclamation system operated at Johnson Space Center designed to reclaim wastewater during long-term space missions. The second system was a scaled-down version of the Johnson Space Center system operated at Texas Tech University. Antibiotic resistance patterns to 10 antibiotics were investigated before and after controlled doses of amoxicillin were added to the water reclamation systems. The results of this study indicate that bacteria in all systems were resistant to many antibiotics including beta-lactam antibiotics and a beta-lactam, beta-lactamase inhibitor combination, amoxicillin with clavulanic acid.