肉牛遗传育种与繁殖技术发展趋势

肉牛业是畜牧业的重要组成部分,而良种产业化是肉牛产业发展的关键。20世纪人工授精、胚胎移植、发情控制等繁育技术的出现及常规育种技术的应用,使肉牛遗传改良取得了巨大进展,但越来越不能满足现代肉牛业发展的需求。进入21世纪,随着现代生物技术的迅速发展,肉牛育种已从传统表型和表型值育种朝着分子水平方向发展;以配子与胚胎工程、基因工程为主体的高新繁育技术将逐渐成为肉牛繁育的主要手段;体外胚胎生产、胚胎移植商业化应用将会进一步提高,实现产业化;动物克隆、转基因动物生产经不断发展与完善,将成为肉牛育种方面最具潜力的方法。论文就肉牛育种与繁育技术的发展趋势作一简要论述,旨在为肉牛生产提供理论依据与参考。     

Influence of ante‐ and peri‐mortem factors on biochemical and physical characteristics of turkey breast muscle

Summary

The course of post‐mortem breakdown of glycogen and ATP in turkey pectoralis major muscle was markedly influenced by several ante‐ and peri‐mortem variables. Application of a proper stunning procedure was highly effective in preventing peri‐ and post‐mortem muscle stress reactions.

The physiological level of glycogen and ATP was not significantly affected by road transportation covering 260 km. Birds which rested for 24 hrs following transportation had lower glycogen and ATP levels at the moment of slaughter than non‐rested birds.

According to the changes in the rate and extent of post‐mortem biochemical reactions, several meat characteristics such as water‐holding capacity, colour, and tenderness were significantly changed.

Furthermore, the results also indicate that turkey breast muscle is susceptible to a PSE‐like condition as described in pork.     

5%桉油精可溶液剂防治杨小舟蛾幼虫效果的研究

进行了不同浓度5%桉油精可溶液剂对杨小舟蛾防治效果的田间试验,以及2000倍的烟碱·苦参碱进行田间对比试验,结果表明:5%桉油精可溶液剂1500倍对杨小舟蛾防治效果较好,喷药后5d防效为100%。试验结果为今后5%桉油精可溶液剂防治杨小舟蛾的合理农药配比浓度提供科学依据。     

Breeding Oilseed Crops for Improved Oil Quality

Abstract

Vegetable oils are one of the most valuable commodities in world trade. They are subject to specific quality requirements, both for food and non-food uses, there being a continuous demand for new oil types. Thus, plant breeders have made great efforts over the past four decades to develop those quality features demanded by the industry, mainly related to the fatty acid composition of the seed oil. Initially, breeders had to focus on the natural variation occurring within each oilseed crop and closely related species. From the 1970s onwards, the induction of mutations by treatment of seeds with mutagenizing agents was revealed as an effective system for modifying the fatty acid profile. In fact, mutagenesis has proved to be one of the most successful approaches for creating novel oil types. Nowadays, breeding for improved seed oil quality is in a transitional stage, both from a conceptual and a methodological point of view. First, the concept of oil quality is changing. It is not only defined by its fatty acid composition but also by other parameters, the most important being the triacylglycerol profile and the tocopherol content and composition. Second, molecular techniques for gene identification and manipulation are opening up new possibilities, much more powerful and less random than the traditional ones, for the modification of quality traits. In this review, we aim to offer an overview of seed oil quality as well as its genetic improvement by traditional and biotechnological means.     

Molecular Approaches to Improve Salt Resistance in Crops: Facts and Perspectives

SUMMARY

Because of the expansion of agriculture into marginal environments, enhancement of crop resistance to soil salinity is becoming a frequent objective for breeders. The tools offered by molecular biology to transfer a single or a few genes provide a major hope to reduce the negative impact of broad gene transfer that takes place in wide-cross hybridizations. Due to the presence of osmotic and toxic components in the growth response of plants to salt stress, any attempt to improve plant performance in saline environments should ensure the maintenance of an adequate flux of water into plant tissues, and also avoid the build up of ions into the cell compartments where they can exert toxic effects. Besides, reduction of injury effects due to salinity on plant tissues is a highly desirable objective. Transgenic plants overexpressing ion transporters able to exclude Na⁺ into vacuoles, the enzymes required for the biosynthesis of several osmocompatible, organic solutes, or the enzymes participating in detoxification pathways, have been obtained. Some of these transgenic plants display an enhanced growth relative to their wild type parents in saline environments, although the way in which this resistance is achieved remains essentially unknown. A fourth and promising way to engineer salt resistance in plants is the attempt to manipulate gene regulatory pathways. The extent to which these experiences, mainly with model plants, could be extrapolated to crop plants growing in the field is discussed. It is proposed that a combination of different molecular approaches could be helpful to achieve enhanced salt resistance in crop plants.     

Application of Molecular Markers in Breeding for Nitrogen Use Efficiency

Summary

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is defined as dry matter yield produced per unit of N supplied and available in the soil. NUE is approximately 33% for cereal production worldwide. Increased cereal NUE must accompany increased yield needed to feed the growing world population. Consequently, continued efforts are needed to include plant selection under low N input which is not often considered a priority by plant breeders. Molecular markers have accelerated plant breeding in a number of areas including biotic (disease and insect) resistance and abiotic (drought, low nitrogen fertilization and frost) tolerance. Marker-based technology has already provided scientists with a powerful approach for identifying and mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) and would lead to the development of a better understanding of genetic phenomena. Two main NUE studies have been discussed. The first study identified QTL for NUE in maize involved the grain yield and secondary morphological traits of interest, such as plant height, ear leaf area, ears per plant and kernels per ear. This was compared with second study of QTL for yield and its components with genes encoding cytolistic gult-amine synthestase and leaf N0₃ ^- content. These secondary traits were correlated with yield and demonstrated segregation with high heritability under low nitrogen conditions. Marker assisted selection (MAS) should be able to offer significant advantages in cases where phenotypic screening is particularly expensive or difficult, including breeding projects involving multiple genes, recessive genes, late expression of the trait of interest, seasonal considerations, or geographical considerations. In addition to reducing costs of conventional breeding, MAS also has the potential to generate time savings. Possibly, the greatest contribution of QTL mapping to plant breeding will be the basic understanding of the genetic architecture of quantitative traits, thereby relating specific genetic loci with the biological mechanisms associated with desirable phenotypes.     

Scientific Breakthroughs and Plant Breeding

SUMMARY

This article highlights the historical developments in genetics since the rediscovery of Mendelian laws of heredity, decade-by-decade, that have contributed to increases in food production. Two phases of plant breeding-evolutionary and evaluation-are briefly discussed. Scientific breakthroughs will continue to advance plant breeding in the coming decades. Genes identified through functional genomics should be useful in crop improvement. Plant breeding has a bright future. More plant breeders need to be equipped with the knowledge and training to utilize new advances in molecular biology.     

Observations on calf scours in New Zealand

Extract

Scouring syndromes constitute a major disease group in dairy calves in New Zealand.     

米丘林学说对现代资源生物育种的指导价值

在广泛文献检索的基础上,对米丘林学说与摩尔根学说的主要内容、两种学说在中国的传播过程、争论焦点、争论过程、争论内容及教训、米丘林学说的成就、摩尔根遗传学对现代遗传学和育种科学的贡献与风险以及米丘林学说的现代价值等进行了概述,重点概述了它在生物育种方面的应用,以此说明米丘林学说的重要性,为进一步推广应用米丘林学说指导生物育种提供了理论支持。     

农业航天诱变育种的应用及研究进展

利用宇宙空间的一系列特性使种子发生变异,从中筛选出有利变异进行常规培养,从而获得具有高产、抗病等性状的新品种.从形态学鉴定、生理生化分析、营养成分分析、细胞学观察、分子标记分析航天育种的特点和优势.航天育种开辟了培育特异种质资源和新品种的途径,为粮食作物育种提供了新的种质资源,因而不仅具有一定的理论意义,而且具有十分重要的实践价值.加强航天诱变机理的研究,探索航空诱变因子及其分子生物学与生物化学的反应机理,探讨独立与复合因子的突变规律,加快农业航天诱变育种的飞速发展.