Quantitative trait loci mapping for biomass yield traits in a Lolium inbred line derived F2 population

Lolium perenne L. (perennial ryegrass) is the principle forage grass species in temperate agriculture. Improving biomass yield still remains one of the most important aims of current forage breeding programmes. A quantitative trait locus (QTL) study investigating biomass yield traits in perennial ryegrass was carried out in greenhouse and field environments. The study is based on an F₂ population consisting of 360 individuals derived from two inbred grandparents where the F₁ has a large biomass yield phenotype. For both experimental environments co-localized QTL for biomass yield traits including fresh and dry weight and dry matter were identified on linkage groups 2, 3 and 7. A major QTL for fresh and dry weight was identified on LG 3 which explained around 30% of the phenotypic variance in the field experiment. The findings of this study are discussed with regard for their potential in research and breeding.     

南极半岛海洋气候区的土壤Ⅴ.气候变化响应

气候变化导致南极海洋气候区冰川消退、多年积雪融化,为新的土壤形成与分布提供了潜在的母质基础与发展空间;地表和土壤内部水分活动在时间和空间上的加强促进了以自由水为基础的土壤过程和冰缘地貌过程;由气候变化引发的低等植物生境、群落结构变化、初级生产力与生物量的提高、海洋脊椎动物迁徙和栖息地的变迁,影响了本区土壤有机质积累过程以及土壤有机质结构与性状。已有的证据表明,气候变化正对南极海洋气候区土壤发生、发育及演变产生重要影响。     

GONG Observations of Solar Surface Flows

Doppler velocity observations obtained by the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) instruments directly measure the nearly steady flows in the solar photosphere. The sun's differential rotation is accurately determined from single observations. The rotation profile with respect to latitude agrees well with previous measures, but it also shows a slight north-south asymmetry. Rotation profiles averaged over 27-day rotations of the sun reveal the torsional oscillation signal-weak, jetlike features, with amplitudes of 5 meters per second, that are associated with the sunspot latitude activity belts. A meridional circulation with a poleward flow of about 20 meters per second is also evident. Several characteristics of the surface flows suggest the presence of large convection cells.     

Extending Finlay–Wilkinson regression with environmental covariates

Finlay–Wilkinson regression is a popular method for analysing genotype–environment interaction in series of plant breeding and variety trials. It involves a regression on the environmental mean, indexing the productivity of an environment, which is driven by a wide array of environmental factors. Increasingly, it is becoming feasible to characterize environments explicitly using observable environmental covariates. Hence, there is mounting interest to replace the environmental index with an explicit regression on such observable environmental covariates. This paper reviews the development of such methods. The focus is on parsimonious models that allow replacing the environmental index by regression on synthetic environmental covariates formed as linear combinations of a larger number of observable environmental covariates. Two new methods are proposed for obtaining such synthetic covariates, which may be integrated into genotype-specific regression models, that is, criss-cross regression and a factor-analytic approach. The main advantage of such explicit modelling is that predictions can be made also for new environments where trials have not been conducted. A published dataset is employed to illustrate the proposed methods.