Postharvest water relations in cut rose cultivars with contrasting sensitivity to high relative air humidity during growth

A constant high relative air humidity (RH) during cultivation can strongly reduce the vase life in some cut rose cultivars. We studied three contrasting cultivars in their tolerance to high RH in order to analyse in detail the water relations during postharvest and better understand this genotypic variation. Plants were grown at moderate (60%) and high (95%) RH, and cut flowers were placed in water immediately after cutting. Flowers of cv. Pink Prophyta grown at high RH did not open throughout vase life, while flower opening of cvs. Frisco and Dream was not affected by preharvest RH. Cultivation at high RH resulted in about 80% shorter vase life in Pink Prophyta, whereas in Dream and Frisco the negative effect was considerably smaller (15 and 9% shorter vase life, respectively). The shorter vase life and reduced flower opening of cut roses grown at high RH was due to a higher rate of transpiration both in the light and dark periods. It was found that the leaves of Pink Prophyta grown at high RH could partly close their stomata upon lowering of the water potential or when flower stalks were fed with abscisic acid, but stomata remained far more open than in leaves grown at moderate RH. The RH during cultivation did not affect stem hydraulic conductivity and its recovery after air emboli induction. Preventing vascular occlusion largely alleviated the high-cultivation-RH effect on vase life and flower opening, showing that the effect of high-cultivation-RH becomes only important if water uptake is limited.     

Genetic analysis and genotype × environment (G × E) for grey leaf spot disease resistance in elite African maize (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Zea mays</Emphasis> L.) germplasm

Maize grey leaf spot (GLS) disease remains an important foliar disease in sub-Saharan Africa accounting for more than 25% yield losses in maize. Information on inheritance of GLS resistance of germplasm adapted to African environments is required in new sources being identified. Therefore, hybrids generated from a 10 × 10 half-diallel mating of tropical advanced maize inbred lines were evaluated in six environments to determine combining ability, genotype × environment interaction (G × E) and the impact of GLS disease on grain yield. General combining ability effects were highly significant and accounted for 72 and 68% of the variation for GLS resistance and grain yield, respectively. Significant specific combining ability effects associated with reduced disease levels were observed in some hybrids when one parent was resistant, and these may be exploited in developing single cross maize hybrids. Regression analysis showed a 260–320 kg ha^?1 decrease in maize grain yield per each increase in GLS disease severity score, and significant associations (r = ?0.31 to ?0.60) were observed between grain yield and GLS severity scores. This showed the potential of GLS disease to reduce yield in susceptible varieties grown under favourable disease conditions, without control measures. Genotype and genotype × environment biplots and correlation analysis indicated that the significant G × E observed was not due to changes in hybrid ranking, implying absence of a significant crossover interaction. Therefore, predominance of additive gene effects imply that breeding progress for GLS disease resistance would be made through selection and this could be achieved at a few hot-spot sites, such as Baynesfield and Cedara locations in South Africa, and still deploy the resistant germplasm to other environments in which they are adapted.     

Two-mode clustering of genotype by trait and genotype by environment data

In this paper, we demonstrate the use of two-mode clustering for genotype by trait and genotype by environment data. In contrast to two separate (one mode) clusterings on genotypes or traits/environments, two-mode clustering simultaneously produces homogeneous groups of genotypes and traits/environments. For two-mode clustering, we first scan all two-mode cluster solutions with all possible numbers of clusters using k-means. After deciding on the final numbers of clusters, we continue with a two-mode clustering algorithm based on a genetic algorithm. This ensures optimal solutions even for large data sets. We discuss the application of two-mode clustering to multiple trait data stemming from genomic research on tomatoes as well as an application to multi-environment data on barley.     

Highly conserved protective epitopes on influenza B viruses

Identification of broadly neutralizing antibodies against influenza A viruses has raised hopes for the development of monoclonal antibody-based immunotherapy and "universal" vaccines for influenza. However, a substantial part of the annual flu burden is caused by two cocirculating, antigenically distinct lineages of influenza B viruses. Here, we report human monoclonal antibodies, CR8033, CR8071, and CR9114, that protect mice against lethal challenge from both lineages. Antibodies CR8033 and CR8071 recognize distinct conserved epitopes in the head region of the influenza B hemagglutinin (HA), whereas CR9114 binds a conserved epitope in the HA stem and protects against lethal challenge with influenza A and B viruses. These antibodies may inform on development of monoclonal antibody-based treatments and a universal flu vaccine for all influenza A and B viruses.     

Diversity in starch, protein and mineral composition of sorghum landrace accessions from Ethiopia

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an important food crop in arid and semi-arid tropics where it is grown mainly due to its drought tolerance. In Ethiopia, sorghum is grown in different agro-ecological zones primarily for food. Landraces are widely cultivated in the region due to their adaptation to the growing conditions and other characteristics such as food quality, quantity, and quality of by-products. The objective of this research was to determine the genetic variation in protein, mineral composition, total starch and its components in sorghum landraces collected from the western regions of Ethiopia. Sorghum whole grains were analyzed for crude protein, total starch and its components, and mineral profile (calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, zinc, and sodium). The analysis of variance showed significant differences among the sorghum landraces in nutritional composition. There was highly significant correlation between phosphorus and magnesium, and between zinc and phosphorus and protein which indicated that some interaction existed in absorption and translocation between minerals and protein content. The genetic variation found among the sorghum landrace accessions in chemical composition can be exploited in the breeding program.