Resistance to plant viruses: Obtaining genes by non-conventional approaches

Summary Plant viruses cause considerable losses to crops and none of the three current approaches to disease control are likely to give the long-term answer. The new concept of non-conventional protection, in which the expression of a viral or virus-related sequence in the plant genome interferes with the virus infection cycle, holds considerable promise for designing new resistance or protection genes. A series of targets in the viral genome is identified and a range of mechanisms for attacking those targets is discussed. There are several current systems which have been proved to give protection, at least to a certain extent, and many systems which are being researched upon for the future. Some of these are described to give a picture of the current situation and of the thinking for the future. The problems of field deployment of the transgenic plants are discussed, especially those associated with the risk to the environment. Various questions which molecular biologists and plant breeders will have to consider include what are desirable characters to have in protection genes and how these new genes should be deployed.     

Pharmacological and therapeutic targets for Δ9 tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol

Summary Cannabis is the unique source of a set of at least 66 compounds known collectively as cannabinoids. Of these, most is known about the pharmacology of ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (⁹-THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, and about cannabidiol (CBD), which lacks psychoactivity. Accordingly, this paper focuses on the pharmacological and therapeutic targets of these two cannabinoids. Many of the effects of ⁹-THC are mediated by cannabinoid receptors of which at least two types, CB₁ and CB₂, are present in mammalian tissues. Endogenous agonists for cannabinoid receptors have also been discovered. CB₁ receptors are present at the terminals of central and peripheral neurones, where they modulate transmitter release. They also exist in some non-neuronal cells. CB₂ receptors are expressed mainly by immune cells, one of their roles being to alter cytokine release. ⁹-THC also appears to have non-CB₁, non-CB₂ pharmacological targets. It is already licensed for clinical use in the U.S.A. as an anti-emetic and appetite stimulant and both ⁹-THC and ⁹-THC-rich cannabis extracts show therapeutic potential as neuroprotective and anticancer agents and for the management of glaucoma, pain and various kinds of motor dysfunction associated, for example, with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury. CBD has much less affinity for CB₁ and CB₂ receptors than ⁹-THC and its pharmacological actions have been less well characterized. Potential clinical applications of CBD and CBD-rich cannabis extracts include the production of anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects, the management of epilepsy, anxiety disorders, glaucoma and nausea, and the modulation of some effects of ⁹-THC.     

Effects of high- vs. low-yield environments on selection for increased biomass yield in switchgrass

No information is available on the effects of different biomass yield environments on selection efficiency in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) breeding improvement. This study was conducted to assess the effects of high- and low-biomass yield environments (HYE and LYE, respectively) on recurrent selection for general combining ability (RSGCA) in a lowland population of switchgrass (NL-94). The top 14 of 65 NL-94 C₀ parent plants were selected based on biomass yield of half-sib (HS) progeny tested for one post-establishment year under HYE and LYE conditions. Nine of the 14 C₀ parent plants were the same based on HS performance under HYE and LYE. Selected plants were intercrossed to produce NL-94 HYE and NL-94 LYE C₁ populations. One hundred and twenty-five HS C₁ progeny families (60 NL-94 HYE and 65 NL-94 LYE) were evaluated for biomass yield for 3 years (2002–2004) under HYE and LYE conditions. The HYE produced about 2.5 times higher biomass yields than the LYE in both C₀ and C₁ HS progeny tests. Estimated additive genetic variance and predicted gains from selection (ΔG) were high in the C₁ populations indicating that RSGCA should achieve higher biomass yields. Mean biomass yields of C₁ HS families originating from the LYE protocol were significantly higher than those of families originating from the HYE protocol in both HYE and LYE performance tests, suggesting greater selection response under LYE in the C₀ population. The estimates of narrow-sense heritability ( ) and ΔG from the C₁ populations indicate that positive response to selection for biomass yield is possible in subsequent cycles of selection under either HYE or LYE, with a possible small advantage for HYE.     

A male-fertile Lycopersicon esculentum × Solanum lycopersicoides hybrid enables direct backcrossing to tomato at the diploid level

Solanum lycopersicoides Dun. is a wild nightshade native to Chile and Peru that possesses many traits of potential interest to tomato breeders, including environmental stress tolerance, resistances to disease and insect pests, and certain fruit quality characteristics. Sexual and somatic hybrids with the cultivated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) are readily obtained, yet have a strong tendency towards male-sterility combined with unilateral incompatibility, barriers that have deterred breeding efforts in the past. We report herein the synthesis of a partially male-fertile F₁ hybrid by sexual crosses between tomato and a recently collected population of S. lycopersicoides. Over 280 BC₁ plants were obtained by directed backcrossing to tomato at the diploid level, of which 58 were sufficiently fertile to permit selfing or additional backcrosses. The transmission of S. lycopersicoides genetic markers into a uniform L. esculentum background was confirmed with 24 isozyme or morphological loci on 11 of the 12 alien chromosomes. Potentially useful tolerance to gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) was demonstrated by inoculation of stem cuttings with mycelial plugs: at 6 days post-inoculation, the intergeneric hybrid showed little evidence of disease progression and the length of stem lesions averaged only one third that of susceptible controls. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Basics of effective erosion control in German agriculture

Present research in Germany on water, wind, and tillage erosion is examined. Existing soil‐protection strategies, laws, and guidelines are outlined. These are the result of extensive scientific investigations and the adoption of existing international knowledge. The most common methodologies currently used in Germany are reviewed. They allow an estimation of the water‐ and wind‐erosion risks as well as methods for their reduction. The results enable an aim‐orientated, site‐specific, risk‐adequate approach to implementing control measures in an easily understood framework. The most important remaining research problems are explained.     

A correlation study of vehicle-generated air pollutants

The concentrations of Pb, CO, CH₄ and total hydrocarbons have been measured at a roadside site and at the exit of a multistorey car park. Average concentrations over short periods (10 to 25 min) have been calculated for each pollutant and possible correlations between these average levels of the different pollutants investigated. Significant correlations were found at only one site and the conclusion was drawn that it is only under exceptional conditions that correlations in levels exist over these extremely short averaging periods.     

The effect on model identifiability of allowing different relocation rates for live and dead animals in the combined analysis of telemetry and recapture data

Models are described for the joint analysis of live-trapping and radio telemetry data from a study on black bears (Ursus americanus) in which all animals received ear tags and a subset also received radio tags. Concerns about bias in survival estimates led to investigation of identifiability and estimator precision for a series of models that allowed differenttelemetry relocation rates for living and dead animals, in addition to emigration and seasonal variation in survival. Identifiability was determined by showing that the expected information matrix was nonsingular. Models with fidelity constant across time, and with the same degree of time specificity for survival rates and relocation rates for dead animals, were determined to be nonidentifiable. More general models, with a greater degree of time specificity for survival rates, were near-singular, and estimators under these near-singular models had poor precision. Analysis of data from the study on black bears illustrated that estimates of survival have poor precision when relocation rates are estimated separately for live and dead animals. It is recommended that the effort expended to relocate both living and dead animals be consistently high in each telemetry survey, so that relocation rates will be high and constant across time and mortality status.