Genetic basis of the Melanotic Prat phenotype

1. The genetics of plumage colour of a melanotic columbian‐restricted male called ‘Melanotic Prat’ is described. It was found among the F₂ progeny of crosses between the Castellana and Prat breeds, and is very similar to the ‘quail’ phenotype.

2. Results of crosses involving this male indicate that its plumage colour pattern is the result of the Ml/Ml genotype adding black pigment to the Columbian plumage pattern produced by the e ^Wh and Co genes.

3. The melanotic gene (Ml) is recessive in the presence of the colum‐bian‐restricted genotype. It has no effect on the chick down colour although it could be a modifier to produce greyish or black back colourations when Co is present in the genotype.

4. It is suggested that the quail plumage colour is due to the same melanotic factor interacting with the primary pattern of a Columbian‐restricted genotype.     

Leaf and litter nitrogen and phosphorus in three forests with low P supply

We compared the N and P contents of the main labile components of nutrient cycles in three different forest ecosystems [a tropical evergreen forest (TEF); a tropical dry forest (TDF); and a Mediterranean temperate forest (MTF)] with low P supply. A mass-balance approach was used to estimate mean residence times for organic matter, N and P in the forest floor, and to examine the flexibility of N and P intra-system cycling in the three forest ecosystems. For this purpose, we combined published values of N and P in foliage, litterfall, forest floor litter and mineral soils in these three forest ecosystems. The results of our analysis were consistent with the widely held belief that the N content of leaves (both green and senescent) and litter increases with increasing temperatures. In contrast, the data did not support the hypothesis that leaf P content decreases with increasing temperatures and precipitation: leaf and litterfall P contents were higher in both tropical forests than they were in the temperate forest. The TEF had the highest P content of the three forests studied. The mass-balance analysis indicated that although P mineralization in the TDF can run ahead of litter decomposition stoichiometry when P is in short supply, flexibility is much reduced or absent in the TEF and the MTF. Our analysis provides additional evidence of the importance of climatic factors in forest ecosystem processes and highlights the role of flexibility in ecosystem nutrient cycling, especially for P in ecosystems with a limited P supply.     

Testing Aleppo pine seed sources response to climate change by using trial sites reflecting future conditions

Large-scale biogeographical shifts in forest tree distributions are predicted in response to the altered precipitation and temperature regimes associated with climate change. Adaptive forest management to climate change experienced in either stable or rapidly changing environments must consider this fact when carrying out reforestation programs or specifically assisted population migration for conservation purposes. The aim of this study was to compare field performance of eleven seed sources of Aleppo pine outplanted in core and marginal habitats and to assess their phenotypic plasticity for further screening under specific conditions in particular reforestation areas. We hypothesize that current marginal habitat due to low temperature is shifting toward conditions found on the core habitat and that current core habitat will shift toward warmer and drier marginal habitat. Our study reproduced real conditions of reforestation in potential future climatic conditions. Results suggest that it is difficult to predict Aleppo pine provenances’ performance in different natural sites from their performance at a single location, even though ‘Levante interior’ and ‘La Mancha’ seed sources showed the best overall response among sites. On a site basis, provenances were matched in groups according to their survival and growth responses. Seedlings grown from local seed sources or seed orchards performed better on the core habitat. However, as conditions shifted to marginal habitats, seedlings from climatically similar regions performed better than local sources at least in the short term; our findings suggest that new plantations in areas already affected by global change could be better adapted if they use alternative seed sources.     

水稻丝氨酸蛋白酶S8基因家族的分布及分析

水稻丝氨酸蛋白酶S8基因家族在水稻的生长发育过程中起着重要的调控作用。本研究利用公共数据库资源,分析水稻中丝氨酸蛋白酶S8基因家族,在水稻12条染色体上找到46个该类基因。通过其结构分析发现,每个基因的内含子数目从0到10各不相同,但氨基酸序列是非常保守的,都有催化活性位点和底物结合位点。系统进化树分析显示,这46个基因分为3个亚家族,S8-1亚家族最大。该家族基因的进化主要是通过基因重复复制的方式进行,其表达模式发生了变化,并且多个基因在穗部具有表达。     

Quercetin induces structural chromosomal aberrations and uncommon rearrangements in bovine cells transformed by the E7 protein of bovine papillomavirus type 4

Bovine papillomavirus type 4 (BPV‐4) and bracken fern are cofactors in the carcinogenesis of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract of cattle. An experimental in vitro model system has been developed to analyse the co‐operation between the viral transforming protein E7, the cellular ras oncogene and quercetin, one of the mutagens of bracken fern, during neoplastic progression of primary bovine cells. We now report cytogenetic studies of these cells at different stages of malignant transformation: parental primary non‐transformed PalF cells; E7R cells transformed by BPV‐4 E7 and activated ras but not tumorigenic, and tumorigenic E7Q cells derived from E7R cells after treatment with quercetin. All cell lines presented increased numbers of aneuploid cells. The rate of structural chromosomal aberrations observed was increased in transformed cells. In addition, E7Q cells showed chromosomes with peculiar rearrangements, which resulted in metacentric and submetacentric marker chromosomes, with an increase in the mean chromosome arm number. These markers were the products of possible centric fusions. These aberrations and rearrangements were distributed throughout the karyotype, no specific chromosome was involved and the heterochromatic centromeric regions appeared to be preserved.     

Benefits of inoculation of the common bean (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phaseolus vulgaris</Emphasis>) crop with efficient and competitive<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Rhizobium tropici</Emphasis> strains

Cropping in low fertility soils, especially those poor in N, contributes greatly to the low common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) yield, and therefore the benefits of biological nitrogen fixation must be intensively explored to increase yields at a low cost. Six field experiments were performed in oxisols of Paraná State, southern Brazil, with a high population of indigenous common bean rhizobia, estimated at a minimum of 10³ cells g^–1 soil. Despite the high population, inoculation allowed an increase in rhizobial population and in nodule occupancy, and further increases were obtained with reinoculation in the following seasons. Thus, considering the treatments inoculated with the most effective strains (H 12, H 20, PRF 81 and CIAT 899), nodule occupancy increased from an average of 28% in the first experiment to 56% after four inoculation procedures. The establishment of the selected strains increased nodulation, N₂ fixation rates (evaluated by total N and N-ureide) and on average for the six experiments the strains H 12 and H 20 showed increases of 437 and 465 kg ha^–1, respectively,in relation to the indigenous rhizobial population. A synergistic effect between low levels of N fertilizer and inoculation with superior strains was also observed, resulting in yield increases in two other experiments. The soil rhizobial population decreased 1 year after the last cropping, but remained high in the plots that had been inoculated. DGGE analysis of soil extracts showed that the massive inoculation apparently did not affect the composition of the bacterial community.     

Selection response in Tribolium to an index modified by introducing between-family or within-family or both restrictions in two steps

A fundamental strategy in selection programs is to combine maximum rate of response and minimum rate of inbreeding, these goals being in conflict with each other. Maximum selection response can be achieved at a cost of erosion in the effective number of breeding animals (a measure of the inbreeding level); reciprocally, the maximum effective number under selection can be preserved with a low response. The simultaneous consideration of both factors makes it difficult to decide on the use of individual (more effective in conserving effective number) or combined selection (maximizes response but yields low effective size). Q uinton et al. (1992) showed that comparing selection methods at the same level of inbreeding, rather than at the same selection intensity, changes the perspectives of current selection theory. If low to moderate inbreeding levels are considered, then phenotypic selection can yield higher response than selection on more accurate methods. Different methods have been proposed for maximizing selection response at the same level of inbreeding, i.e. to restrict the number of close relatives selected (N icholas and S mith 1983), to use false high heritability estimates in the genetic evaluation (G rundy and H ill 1993), to use assortative (S mith and H ammond 1986) or compensatory (G rundy et al. 1994) matings, to adjust estimated breeding values for the relationship with the already selected ones (G oddard and S mith 1990), to avoid matings of related individuals (T oro and P erez -E nciso 1990), or to use factorial rather than hierarchical matings (W oolliams 1989; L eitch et al. 1994). Q uinton and S mith (1995) compared the merits of these methods using stochastic simulation; they concluded that none of the methods was best over all conditions, and that the use of false high heritabilities, or adjusted estimated breeding values with the relationships, does not seem to be recommended; besides, mating together those individuals with the lowest relationship has little effect on the accumulated inbreeding. W ray and G oddard (1994), and B risbane and G ibson (1995) indicated that if G_n is the genetic mean after n generations of selection and F_n is the mean inbreeding coefficient, a reasonable selection objective is G_n ? DF_n, where D is the value of a unit of inbreeding relative to a unit of genetic gain. M euwissen (1997) showed that these methods do not guarantee maximum genetic gains at some level of inbreeding and presented a rule for maximizing the genetic response with a predefined rate of inbreeding. His algorithm can be used to put a constraint on the variance of the selection response by replacing the additive relationship matrix by the prediction error variance (W oolliams and M euwissen 1993). W ei (1995a) developed a restricted phenotypic selection by considering limits on the number of individuals that will be selected from a family or on the family number selected. This less sophisticated method balances response and inbreeding. A restriction on the family number may lead to an increased response (but a decreased effective size), whereas restricting the proportion of selected individuals from a family is an efficient way to control the inbreeding (decreased response). W ei (1995b) generalized the method by introducing both restrictions. In this study, rates of response were compared under between-family, within-family, or both restrictions for a two-trait selection index in a short-term experiment with Tribolium.     

Orbitofrontal dysfunction in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and their unaffected relatives

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by repetitive thoughts and behaviors associated with underlying dysregulation of frontostriatal circuitry. Central to neurobiological models of OCD is the orbitofrontal cortex, a neural region that facilitates behavioral flexibility after negative feedback (reversal learning). We identified abnormally reduced activation of several cortical regions, including the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, during reversal learning in OCD patients and their clinically unaffected close relatives, supporting the existence of an underlying previously undiscovered endophenotype for this disorder.