Mapping QTLs for Yield Stability in Durum Wheat Grown under Different Water Regimes

Among the most important Mediterranean annual crops, durum wheat is widely grown in drought-prone areas. Therefore, improving water-use efficiency （WUE） of durum wheat represents a major breeding goal. IDu-WUE （Improving Durum wheat for Water Use Efficiency and yield stability through physiological and molecular approaches） is a collaborative project among public and private research centres in Italy, Spain and WANA （West Asia and North Africa） countries （Morocco, Tunisia, Syria and Lebanon） funded by the European Union aimed at investigating the genetic variation for WUE and yield stability in durum wheat grown in Mediterranean droughtprone areas. During the first year of the project, a number of morpho-physiological traits （e.g. early vigour, flowering time, leaf rolling, number of fertile tillers, etc.）, WUE, WUE-related traits （e.g. carbon isotope discrimination, canopy temperature, chlorophyll fluorescence, etc.）, yield and its components have been investigated in a RIL population （249 lines） and a collection of ca. 190 durum wheat accessions characterized by a high level of linkage disequilibrium （Maccaferri et al., 2005）,     

A Simple and Reliable Assay for Detecting Specific Nucleotide Sequences in Plants Using Optical Thin-film Biosensor Chips

Here we report the adaptation and optimization of an efficient, accurate and inexpensive assay that employs custom-designed silicon-based optical thin-film biosensor chips to detect unique transgenes in genetically modified （GM） crops and SN-P markers in model plant genomes. Briefly, aldehyde-attached sequence-specific singlestranded oligonucleotide probes are arrayed and covalently attached to a hydrazine-derivatized biosensor chip surface. Unique DNA sequences （or genes） are detected by hybridizing biotinylated PCR amplicons of the DNA sequences to probes on the chip surface. In the SN-P assay, target sequences （PCR amplicons） are hybridized in the presence of a mixture of biotinylated detector probes and a thermostable DNA ligase. Only perfect matches between the probe and target sequences, but not those with even a single nucleotide mismatch, can be covalently fixed on the chip surface. In both cases, the presence of specific target sequences is siL, nified by a color change on the chip surface （gold to blue/purple） after brief incubation with an anti-biotin IgG horseradish peroxidase （HRP） to generate a precipitable product from an HRP substrate.     

Microsatellite Marker Based Assessment of Genetic Diversity among Cultivars, Landraces and Wild Relatives in Rice

India being the primary center of origin for rice had a very large treasure of local land races, most of which are out of cultivation today. The exact genetic potential and their differences from commercial varieties and the magnitude of heterogeneity still present in them are not well catalogued. Hence the need to characterize the available land races has become imminent in the modem day concept of crop improvement （Rezai and Frey, 1990）. The present study addresses the utility of SSR markers in divulging the genetic relationships at molecular level among the major component factions office gennplasm viz., local cultivars, land races and wild species collected from a wide range of agro-geographical regions of Indian subcontinent.     

In Vitro Anticancer and Cancer-Preventive Activity of New Triterpene Glycosides from the Far Eastern Starfish Solaster pacificus

Sea stars or starfish (class Asteroidea) and holothurians or sea cucumbers (class Holothuroidea), belonging to the phylum Echinodermata (echinoderms), are characterized by different sets of glycosidic metabolites: the steroid type in starfish and the triterpene type in holothurians. However, herein we report the isolation of eight new triterpene glycosides, pacificusosides D–K (1–3, 5–9) along with the known cucumarioside D (4), from the alcoholic extract of the Far Eastern starfish Solaster pacificus. The isolated new compounds are closely related to the metabolites of sea cucumbers, and their structures of 1–3 and 5–9 were determined by extensive NMR and ESIMS techniques. Compounds 2, 5, and 8 have a new type of tetrasaccharide chain with a terminal non-methylated monosaccharide unit. Compounds 3, 6, and 9 contain another new type of tetrasaccharide chain, having 6-O-SO₃-Glc as one of the sugar units. The cytotoxic activity of 1–9 against non-cancerous mouse epidermal cells JB6 Cl41 and human melanoma cell lines SK-MEL-2, SK-MEL-28, and RPMI-7951 was determined by MTS assay. Compounds 1, 3, 4, 6, and 9 showed potent cytotoxicity against these cell lines, but the cancer selectivity (SI > 9) was observed only against the SK-MEL-2 cell line. Compounds 1, 3, 4, 6, and 9 at the non-toxic concentration of 0.1 μM significantly inhibited neoplastic cell transformation of JB6 Cl41 cells induced by chemical carcinogens (EGF, TPA) or ionizing radiation (X-rays and UVB). Moreover, compounds 1 and 4 at the non-toxic concentration of 0.1 µM possessed the highest inhibiting activity on colony formation among the investigated compounds and decreased the colonies number of SK-MEL-2 cells by 64% and 70%, respectively. Thus, triterpene glycosides 1 and 4 can be considered as prospective cancer-preventive and anticancer-compound leaders.     

动物软组织修复资源-沙棘

伤口愈合是一种复杂的现象,是机体控制的系统对细胞进行精微同步调节的结果.然而,一系列可变因素通过多种方法来影响此过程.通常来说,机体内的各种维生素,矿物质,脂肪酸,氨基酸和其他营养物质对该过程起着直接或间接的重要影响.不仅如此,各种疾病与无数的外界因素也以不可预料的形式影响着该过程.因此,任何治疗方法都是努力控制上述因素以使机体处于最佳恢复状态.因此,当这种天然愈合过程被打断,机体的伤口就会转变为慢性,或者出现溃疡.     

Differential and successive effects of residue quality and soil mineral N on water-stable aggregation during crop residue decomposition

Residue quality has been shown to influence soil water-stable aggregation (WSA) during crop residue decomposition, but there is still little information about its interactive effect with soil mineral N availability. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of soil mineral N on WSA during the decomposition of two high-C/N crop residues (wheat straw with C/N = 125.6 and miscanthus straw with C/N = 311.3). The two crop residues were combined with three mineral N addition rates (0, 60, and 120 mg N kg⁻¹ dry soil). Respiration, soil mineral N content, and WSA (expressed as mean-weight diameter, MWD) were measured on several dates during a 56-d incubation. The effect of decomposing crop residues on WSA followed two phases. (i) Between 0 and 7 d, the increase in WSA was related to intrinsic residue quality with higher decomposability of the wheat straw resulting in higher WSA. (ii) Thereafter, and until the end of the experiment, mineral N addition rates had a predominant but negative influence on WSA. In this second phase, the average MWD of residue-treated soils was 0.92, 0.55, and 0.44 mm for the 0, 60 and 120 mg N kg⁻¹ dry soil addition rates, respectively. Mineral N addition which did result in higher crop residue decomposition did not lead to higher WSA. WSA during crop residue decomposition is therefore not simply positively related to the induced microbial activity, and changes in microbial community composition with differential effects on WSA must be involved. The impact of high-C/N crop residues inputs on WSA, initially assumed to be low, could actually be strong and long-lasting in situations with low soil mineral N content.     

Integrated evaluation of different electromagnetic impacts on biological properties of soils in southern Russia

An integral estimation of the effect of γ radiation at doses of 1, 5, 10, and 20 kGy, microwave radiation of 800 W, and an alternating magnetic field of industrial frequency (50 Hz) on biological properties of soils in southern Russia was performed on the basis of the integral index of the biological soil status (IIBSS). By the degree of resistance to an alternating magnetic field estimated from the IIBSS value, the soils of southern Russia formed the following series: brown forest soil > chernozem ≥ soddy-calcareous soil ≥ gray sandy soil. By the resistance to microwave radiation estimated from the IIBSS value, the soils formed the following series: gray sandy soil > chernozem > chestnut soil ≥ brown forest soil.     

The future of tropical species in secondary forests: A quantitative review

Deforestation and degradation of tropical old-growth forests has the potential to cause catastrophic species extinctions. In this review, we assess whether regenerating secondary forests (SF) can support species typically found in old-growth forest (OG) and so prevent extinctions. We review 65 studies that compare faunal diversity in SF and corresponding OG, and compare the similarity of species composition both within and between these two forest types using the Sorensen, Morisita-Horn and Sorensen-Chao indices. Comparisons between traditional similarity indices and Sorensen-Chao, which minimizes sampling biases, indicated that limited sampling effort consistently reduced apparent similarity between SF and OG and that similarity between SF and OG is actually higher than previously appreciated. Similarity, which ranges from 0 to 1, varied from 0.49 to 0.92 between replicate OG sites and was correlated with similarity between SF and OG. This correlation might be an artefact of variation among studies in sampling effort, especially for vertebrates where small samples reduce apparent similarity across all comparisons, as well as a real effect of variation among studies in landscape heterogeneity and the presence of species with patchy distributions. Therefore, similarity between SF and OG cannot be interpreted without an understanding of background variation in OG. Similarity between different SF sites provided no evidence that disturbance specialists dominate SF. Similarity to OG increased rapidly with SF age; when SF was contiguous with OG; when SF was growing in small clearings; and after low intensity land uses including clearing only, shifting agriculture and tree plantations. This describes the most frequently observed tropical SF; isolated from roads and on hilly terrain unsuitable for mechanized agriculture. Thus, our analyses indicate that tropical SF can play an important role in biodiversity conservation particularly when OG forests are nearby. An important caveat remains, however. Abundance, geographic range and levels of habitat specialization are often related. Widespread, abundant, habitat generalists might dominate similarity analyses even when relatively rare OG specialists are present. Additional species-level analyses of habitat specialization will be needed before the conservation value of tropical SF is fully understood.     

Effects of soil‐surface microbial community phenotype upon physical and hydrological properties of an arable soil: a microcosm study

The nature of the first few millimetres of the soil surface strongly affects water infiltration rates, generation of run‐off, soil detachment and sediment transport. We hypothesized that the phenotypic community structure of the soil‐surface microbiota affects the physical and hydrological properties of an arable soil. A range of contrasting microbial community phenotypes were established in microcosms by manipulating the wavelength of light reaching the soil surface, with the microcosms being incubated in the field for approximately 6 months. Phenotypes were characterized by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA), ergosterol and chlorophyll analysis. The microcosms were then subjected to simulated rainfall at an intensity of 60 mm hour⁻¹ for 20 minutes at a slope gradient of 9°. Water infiltration rates, run‐off generation, soil loss (including a particle‐size analysis of the sediment) and soil‐surface shear strength were quantified. Distinct microbial phenotypes developed on the soil surfaces with UV‐A and restricted‐UV treatments when compared with subsurface layers. There was significantly greater fungal biomass in the no‐light treatment when compared with all other treatments, with approximately 4.5 times more ergosterol being extracted from the subsurface layer of the no‐light treatment when compared with other treatments. The no‐light treatment produced the greatest amount of run‐off, which was approximately 15% greater than the restricted photosynthetically‐active radiation (PAR) treatment. Significant differences between treatments were also found in shear strengths, with increasing strength being correlated with increasing ergosterol concentration. Water infiltration, erosion and the sediment concentrations in run‐off were not significantly different between treatments. This work demonstrates that the quality of light reaching the soil surface affects the microbial phenotype, in turn producing functional consequences with regard to the physical and hydrological properties of arable soil surfaces.