Regulation of lysine metabolism and endosperm protein synthesis by the opaque-5 and opaque-7 maize mutations

Two high lysine maize endosperm mutations, opaque-5 (o5) and opaque-7 (o7), were biochemically characterized for endosperm protein synthesis and lysine metabolism in immature seeds. Albumins, globulins, and glutelins, which have a high content of lysine, were shown to be increased in the mutants, whereas zeins, which contain trace concentrations of lysine, were reduced in relation to the wild-type lines B77xB79+ and B37+. These alterations in the storage protein fraction distribution possibly explain the increased concentration of lysine in the two mutants. Using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of proteins of mature grains, variable amounts of zein polypeptides were detected and considerable differences were noted between the four lines studied. The analysis of the enzymes involved in lysine metabolism indicated that both mutants have reduced lysine catabolism when compared to their respective wild types, thus allowing more lysine to be available for storage protein synthesis.     

A global stochastic index for water quality: The case of the river Turia in Spain

Which are applicable in all Member States. Those directives specify a set of physical and chemical characteristics, which depend on the use the water is intended for, the parameters to be regularly controlled in a network of sampling points, and the limiting values of those parameters for each quality level. Hence, an administrative quality classification for each sampling point is obtained. This article proposes a stochastic quality index that takes into account the uncertainty surrounding the quality classification still remaining after the data have been observed. This stochastic index is built with the probability classification vector of each parameter. In order to obtain those vectors, a mixed-lognormal model is introduced and its statistical analysis developed. The methodology proposed here is then applied to the data observed in the La Presa station, one of the sampling points of the Spanish surface water quality network. Located on the river Turia, near the city of Valencia, its aim is to control the quality of water intended for the abstraction of drinking water. Its stochastic quality classification is obtained and compared with the legally applicable administrative one.     

Technological classification of basque cider apple cultivars according to their polyphenolic profiles by pattern recognition analysis

The polyphenolic compositions of 31 Basque cider apple cultivars were determined in pulp, peel, and juice by high-performance liquid chromatography--diode array detection analysis of crude extracts and after thiolysis. Data sets, consisting of individual polyphenol concentrations, total procyanidin content, and the average degree of polymerization of procyanidins, were evaluated by multivariate chemometric techniques, to develop decision rules for classifying apple cultivars technologically into bitter and nonbitter categories. A preliminary study of the data structure was performed by cluster analysis and principal component analysis in each apple material. Bitter apple varieties presented higher contents of flavan-3-ols and/or dihydrochalcones than nonbitter cultivars. Different classification systems for the two categories on the basis of the chemical data were obtained applying several supervised pattern recognition procedures, such as linear discriminant analysis, K-nearest neighbors, soft independent modeling of class analogy, partial least-squares, and multilayer feed forward artificial neural networks. Excellent performance in terms of recognition and prediction abilities for both categories (100% of hits) was achieved in every case (pulp, peel, or juice). Polyphenolic profiles of apple pulp, peel, or juice provide enough information to develop classification criteria for establishing the technological group of apple cultivars (bitter or nonbitter).     

Lessons from a failed translocation program with a seabird species: Determinants of success and conservation value

Conservation diagnosis of ex situ techniques (e.g. releasing chicks by hacking) cannot be evaluated without quantitative assessment of the fate of individuals, mainly their survival and recruitment. Here we use a long-term monitoring at a large spatial scale of a hacking programme (i.e. chick translocations) for Audouin’s gulls in an uninhabited site so as to establish a new breeding patch and reinforce the metapopulation. The success of the programme relied on the assumption that birds tend to recruit to the site where they fledge (i.e. they were philopatric). Multi-state capture-recapture models applied to a large dataset (more than 43,500 resights at 30 colonies during 1999–2010) were used to evaluate the survival of released chicks and the probability of being philopatric. Adult survival was high, but juvenile survival was lower than that of wild gulls, suggesting that there was a cost associated with hacking only during their first year of life. As expected, most released birds returned to the hacking site, but very few (including immigrants from abroad) attempted to breed here. Dispersal was inversely correlated with distance from the hacking site and positively associated with the population size of the patch (i.e. conspecific attraction). Even though most hacking procedures met the ecological conditions to succeed, results clearly showed that the program failed to establish a new breeding site. The ability of prospecting and the attraction made by conspecifics at established sites may be a constraint for the success of hacking programs, particularly for social and nomadic species.     

Fast determination of Sudan dyes in chilli tomato sauces using partial filling micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A new method based on partial filling micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) for the quantitative determination of Sudan dyes (I, II, III, and IV) in chilli sauces is presented. The separation is achieved filling 25% of the capillary with a MEKC buffer composed of 40 mM NH(4)HCO(3), 25 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate, and 32.5% (v/v) acetonitrile (ACN). The rest of the capillary is filled using a capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) buffer composed of 40 mM NH(4)HCO(3) and 32.5% (v/v) ACN. Under optimized conditions, the azo dyes are baseline separated in less than 8 min with limits of detection ranging from 0.57 to 0.71 μg mL(-1) (S/N > 3). Using an internal standard, the repeatability of the quantitative determination is improved almost four times. The applicability of the method for rapid screening and determination of Sudan dyes is corroborated by analyzing spiked chilli sauce samples with recoveries from 85 to 99%. The reported conditions are demonstrated to be compatible with mass spectrometry detection.     

Chromosomal location of genes for resistance to powdery mildew in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Agropyron cristatum</Emphasis> and mapping of conserved orthologous set molecular markers

Agropyron cristatum exhibits resistance to Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici. Disomic and ditelosomic chromosome addition lines of A. cristatum in ‘Chinese Spring’ wheat were utilized to determine which A. cristatum chromosomes carry resistance gene(s). Resistance is conferred by gene(s) on chromosome arms 2PL and 6PL. The availability of molecular markers capable of detecting these chromosome arms in a wheat background would be very useful for marker-assisted introgression of 2PL and 6PL chromatin into common wheat. With this aim, 170 wheat conserved orthologous set (COS) markers (92 and 78 from wheat homoeologous groups 2 and 6 respectively) were assessed for their utility in A. cristatum. A total of 116 (68.2%) COS markers successfully amplified product in A. cristatum and 46 (40.0%) of these markers were polymorphic between A. cristatum and common wheat. From marker loci mapping on wheat homoeologous group 2 chromosomes, 23 markers (34.9%) were polymorphic between A. cristatum and common wheat and from them 13 markers were assigned to chromosome arm 2PL and six markers were mapped to chromosome 4P of A. cristatum showing that this chromosome is related to wheat homoeologous group 2. From marker loci mapping on wheat homoeologous group 6 chromosomes, 23 (46.0%) markers were polymorphic between A. cristatum and common wheat and from them 17 markers were located on chromosome 6P, six of them were mapped to chromosome arm 6PS and five to chromosome arm 6PL, respectively. The specific COS markers allocated on the long arms of chromosomes 2P and 6P may have a role in marker-assisted screening in wheat breeding for powdery mildew disease resistance.     

Genetics of Wild and Managed Populations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leucaena esculenta</Emphasis> Subsp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">esculenta</Emphasis> (Fabaceae; Mimosoideae) in La Montaña of Guerrero,Mexico

Genetic consequences of silvicultural management of Leucaena esculenta subsp. esculenta were analyzed from eight allozyme loci in half-sib families of one wild and one managed in situ (selectively cleared) population from La Montaña de Guerrero region, Central Mexico. A reference sample (including wild, feral and cultivated individual plants) from the states of Morelos, Puebla and Guerrero, Mexico was also analyzed. Genetic variation, population structure and mating system were analyzed. All loci showed high variation (75–87.5% polymorphic loci at 95% level; 2.4–2.8 mean number of alleles per locus). All progenies showed heterozygous deficiency, but both wild and managed parental inbreeding coefficients were negative, suggesting heterosis. Progenies of managed populations differed from those of the wild and reference samples (Nei’s unbiased identities 0.874–0.934). Biparental inbreeding is suggested by Wright’s-statistics ( f = 0.313), and by outcrossing rate estimates: t_m = 0.644 (SE 0.094), and 0.645 (SE 0.193); t_s = 0.576 (SE 0.189), and 0.523 (SE 0.182), for managed and wild samples respectively. Population differentiation is significant (Θ = 0.210). The species is self-incompatible and deviations from the mixed mating model were found. Indirect estimates of products of effective population size (N_e) by the proportion of migrants (N_m) were moderate, as were the N _evalues. Variation due to ecotypic differentiation (related to altitude), prolonged artificial selection, and introduction from other areas is supported. A model of domestication of seed-propagated trees is suggested, based on extensive and in situ selection of locally adapted populations, and their diffusion to other areas.     

Do granular substrates enhance microbiota availability and growth in cultured Rana catesbeiana tadpoles?

A comparison was made of growth performance in bullfrog Rana catesbeiana tadpoles and biogenic capacity in culture tanks with gravel, sand and hard bottoms. Stage 25 (Gosner) tadpoles from a single cohort were stocked in 1‐m² fibreglass tanks at 50 m^?2. Two treatments and a control were employed, with three replicates each: T₁=tadpoles reared in tanks with 0.02 m deep layer of sterilized silica gravel (2360 μm particle size); T₂=tadpoles reared in tanks with 0.02 m deep layer of sterilized beach sand (250 μm particle size); and C=a control treatment with tadpoles reared in tanks with no soft substrate (conventional method). Tadpoles were fed on a 40% protein, powdered specific bullfrog feed at 13% body weight day^?1. Results for survival, timing to metamorphosis, specific growth rate and weight gain exhibited no statistical differences between treatments (P>0.05). However, tadpoles in T₁ had an apparent overall better performance based on numerical indicators. Biotic colonization was also statistically similar (P>0.05) between treatments, showing an overall poor biogenic capacity for the tested substrates. Only three taxa, at low abundances, were recorded for phytoplankton and phytobenthos: cyanophiceae, chlorophyceae, and bacillariophyceae. Zooplankton was represented by two microinvertebrate groups, rotifera and protozoa. The statistical similarities between treatments may reflect that bullfrog tadpoles do not exploit naturally occurring aquatic biota when sufficient suspended artificial feed particles are present.     

Iron absorption,localization, and biomineralization of Cynodon dactylon,a perennial grass from the Río Tinto basin (SW Iberian Peninsula)

Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. is a perennial rhizomatous grass (Poaceae), grown for cattle nutrition on the riverbanks of Río Tinto (Southwest Iberian Peninsula, Spain), a highly acidic area with high concentrations of iron (Fe) and other metals. This study focuses on the absorption, distribution, and accumulation of Fe in the root, rhizome, and leaves of C. dactylon under controlled conditions. Plants collected from Río Tinto were grown in a Hoagland solution containing 500 mg kg^–1 of ferrous Fe. Samples were collected up to 2 months after exposure and analyzed for total Fe concentration using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) and for Fe distribution and bioformations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with an energy‐dispersive x‐ray analyzer (EDX). The results show high concentrations of Fe in all plant organs, with fast Fe translocation from roots to leaves. Iron bioformations composed mainly of Fe, S, and K were detected in all plant organs and were especially apparent in roots and leaves. These results differ from those reported for another species of Poaceae, Imperata cylindrica, which grows under the same environmental conditions, suggesting the existence of different resistance strategies between species of the same family.