Molecular tagging of Asiatic soybean rust resistance in exotic genotype EC 241780 reveals complementation of two genes

Asian soybean rust (ASR) caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi severely reduces seed yield in soybean. Molecular tagging of ASR resistance can help in the process of resistance breeding. In this study, an F₂ population of cross (susceptible cultivar ‘NRC 7’ × resistant exotic genotype EC 241780) was used for bulked segregant analysis (BSA) with 25 SSR (simple sequence repeat) primers linked with six Rpp genes. Among them, five polymorphic SSR markers, viz., Sct 187, SSR 1859, Satt 191 (Rpp1b like loci) and Satt 215, Sat_361 (Rpp2 loci) distinguished the ASR resistant and susceptible bulks and individuals. In combined marker analysis, the markers Satt 191 (Rpp1b like loci) and Satt 215 (Rpp2 loci) were linked with ASR severity score and were also confirmed in individual 110 F₂ segregants. Hence, these markers could be utilized in the marker assisted rust resistance breeding of Rpp1b like and Rpp2 genes. In silico candidate gene analysis for hypersensitive response revealed that Satt 191 linked region was rich in genes encoding apoptotic ATPase having leucine‐rich repeat (LRR) domain.     

Use of crop models to understand genotype by environment interactions for drought in real-world and simulated plant breeding trials

Crop simulation models of plant processes capture the biological interactions between the sensing of signals at an organ level (e.g. drought affecting roots), the response of the plant at a biochemical level (e.g. change in development rate) and the result at the organ (or crop) level (e.g. reduced growth). In dissecting the complex control of phenotypes like yield, simulation models have several roles. Models have been used to generate an index of the climatic environment (e.g. of drought stress) for breeding programme trials. In wheat and sorghum grown in northern Australia, this has shown that mid-season drought generates large genotype by environment interaction. By defining gene action to calculate the value of input trait parameters to crop models, simulated multi-environment trials estimate the yield of ‘synthetic’ sorghum cultivars grown in historical or artificial climates with current or potential management regimes. In this way, the biological interactions among traits constrain the crop yields to only those that are biologically possible in the given set of environments. This allows the construction of datasets that are more ‘realistic’ representations of gene by trait by environment interaction than is possible using only the statistical attributes (e.g. means, variances and correlations) of real-world trait datasets. This approach has an additional advantage in that ‘biological and experimental noise’ can be manipulated separately. These ‘testbeds’ for statistical techniques can be extended to the interpretation of a crossing and selection programme where the processes of chromosomal recombination are simulated using a quantitative genetics model and applied to the trait parameters. Statisticians are challenged to develop improved methods for the resulting simulated phenotype datasets, with the objective of revealing the (known) underlying genetic and environment structure that was input to the simulations. These improved methods can then be applied to existing plant breeding programmes.     

A correlation network approach to metabolic data analysis for tomato fruits

Network analysis of correlations between abundances of metabolites across tomato genotypes can help in unraveling the biological basis of organoleptic variation in tomato. We illustrate how to construct and interpret simple correlations networks using metabolic data collected on a diverse set of tomato genotypes. Various types of correlations are calculated and displayed in the form of networks. Interpretations on the basis of network analyses are compared to interpretations following principal components analysis.     

Genetic analysis of a novel dominant rice dwarf mutant 986083D

This study was to determine the agronomic and genetic characteristics of a novel rice dominant dwarf mutant 986083D (japonica) and its potential in breeding. 986083D derived from the anther culture of an autotetraploid indica/japonica hybrid and its progeny segregated into normal and dwarf plants. Homozygous and heterozygous 986083D plants looked similar phenotypically, showing shortened stature, erect leaves, more tillers and poor fertility. The segregation ratio of dwarf to normal plants fit the expected 3:1 by χ²-test in 77 out of 88 tested lines. Crosses between homozygous 986083D and eight other rice varieties had uniform semi-dwarf F₁ plants. The F₁ plants from crosses between heterozygous 986083D and five other varieties had normal and semi-dwarf plants close to the expected ratio of 1:1. The reduction of plant height in F₁ plants ranged from 40.0 to 53.5% in a subtropical environment and from 37.5 to 48.2% in a temperate environment. 986083D showed moderate sensitivity to exogenously applied GA₃ in terms of elongation of shoots and induction of α-amylase activity in the endosperm. Linkage analysis showed that the dominant dwarf gene (designated as Dx) in 986083D was not allelic to D53. Dx was roughly mapped to the short arm of chromosome 8. All results showed that 986083D was a novel mutant controlled by single dominant gene, providing a valuable material in rice breeding. Ruizhen Qin, Yang Qiu contributed equally to this work.     

中间锦鸡儿fad72基因克隆与序列分析

油酸去饱和酶FAD2（fatty acid desaturase 2）在油酸中引第二个双键生成亚油酸,是负责植物体内产生多不饱和脂肪酸的第一步关键酶。本研究采用RT—PCR和RACE（rapid amplification of cDNA ends）技术,以中间锦鸡儿未成熟种子为材料,克隆了三个fad2基因（分别命名为fad2-2A,fad2-1A和foa2-1B）。将这三个基因与汪阳东从中间锦鸡儿枝叶中克隆的fad2—2B（CaFAD2基因,GenBank登录号AY957394）一起进行了序列比对和分析。序列同源性比较结果表明,fad2—1A与fad2—1B同源性很高,fad2—1A编码的前283个氨基酸与fad2-1B的同源性高达98．9％,fad2—2B与faa2—1A的氨基酸序列同源性最低,只有64．7％。这四个基因的成功克隆,为进一步研究基因分工、调控方式打下了基础,为实现对锦鸡儿属植物脂肪酸成分直接、精确调控提供了保证,也是从一个物种中克隆四个fad2基因的第一次报道。     

3种测度结合的分组主成分法在番茄果实商品性综合评价上的应用

试验以三种测度结合的分组主成分法对7个番茄品系的果实商品性状进行了综合评价分析,构建了综合评价函数。结果表明：应用因子分析法提取了2个公共因子,累计方差贡献率达86．59％,变量划分为两组。营养品质和耐贮品质变量为一组,外观品质变量为一组,分别对两个组的变量进行主成分分析。变量的权系数偏重于营养品质和耐贮品质,为0．66,外观品质为0．34,合乎评价的要求,将7个品系的商品性分为四个层次,第一层次是YH02—6,第二层次是YH02—9,第三层次是YH02—7、YH02-1和YH02—11。第四层次YH02—5和YH02—8。此方法把因子分析法和主成分法结合起来,易于变量的分组和降维,考虑了变量测度的转换,使综合评价变量易于正向化,对番茄果实商品性的综合评价有较好的适用性。     

9种嗜热菌处理猪粪堆肥对一串红生长的影响

研究了不同的外源菌剂处理过的猪粪堆肥对植物生长的影响,首先从北京周边地区的养殖场猪粪、垃圾场中筛选出了9株高效降解有机物的嗜热菌,将其扩大培养,分别接种到猪粪中,堆肥发酵。经发酵完全后。作基肥对一串红进行种植试验,观察其对一串红生长的影响。从株高、叶量、冠幅、根长、叶绿素含量等方面进行了观测,通过主成分分析方法,计算出了一串红生长的形态和生理两个主要指标,继而通过此指标来检测了这9种猪粪堆肥对一串红生长的影响。结果表明：接种外源菌种处理的猪粪堆肥对在形态方面对一串红生长有较好的影响。其中GX-3菌种在堆肥过程中有利于腐殖酸的形成,从而促进了一串红的形态生长。     

桃叶蓼白粉菌的显微观察及进化关系分析

研究旨在通过对桃叶蓼白粉病的显微观察和进化关系的分析来鉴定该病原菌的种类和寄主范围,为桃叶蓼白粉病的防治提供合理依据。以桃叶蓼上发生的白粉病菌为试材,采用显微观察法对桃叶蓼上的白粉菌分生孢子、子囊、子囊孢子等进行形态观察和描述;使用试剂盒法提取桃叶蓼白粉菌DNA并进行ITS扩增。经过显微观察发现,桃叶蓼白粉菌分生孢子呈柱形;子囊果呈暗褐色,多数聚生或者近聚生,多呈扁球形;子囊多数呈各种不规则卵形,其中多含2~4个椭圆形子囊孢子,结合与其他白粉菌进行碱基序列比对和亲缘关系分析,确定该菌种与GenBank中的Polygonum aviculare（登录号为LC328322.1）、Polygonum erectum（登录号为KX826856.1）之间的亲缘关系最为接近,碱基序列相似度值达到99%,初步判定桃叶蓼白粉病病原菌与这两种菌种为同种同属。     

维生素A对肠道屏障及其相关疾病的影响——以肠道感染性疾病和孤独谱系障碍为例

维生素A是人体不可或缺,且最易缺少的脂溶性化合物。介绍了维生素A的生理功能及维生素A缺乏症,综述了维生素A对肠道屏障、肠道感染性疾病和孤独谱系障碍儿童的影响,以期为研究维生素A参与机体相关疾病的功能提供新思路。     

35份人工合成六倍体小麦的综合评价

为有效利用人工合成六倍体小麦种质资源,拓宽现有种质基础,从国际玉米小麦改良中心引进35份人工合成六倍体小麦,对其株高、穗下节长、穗下茎长、穗长、旗叶面积、分蘖数、穗粒数、生物量、收获系数、产量和千粒重11个主要农艺性状和产量性状,以及籽粒水分含量、蛋白含量、面筋含量、淀粉含量、纤维素含量、硬度、SDS沉降值和Zeleny沉降值8个品质指标进行综合评价。结果表明,这批材料的农艺和产量性状变异系数为7.46%~32.29%,平均为15.36%;多样性指数（H′）为1.85~2.04,平均为1.98。品质性状的变异系数为2.80%~17.55%,平均为10.19%;多样性指数的变化范围为1.87~2.04,平均为1.96。主成分分析表明,前5个主成分构成的信息量为总信息量的82.84%。聚类后方差分析可将材料分为4个类群,类群Ⅲ的产量等相关性状较高,类群Ⅳ的蛋白质含量、纤维含量、面筋含量、硬度和SDS沉降值最高。这批材料的农艺性状、产量和品质性状变异程度大,遗传类型丰富,可作为种质资源加以利用。