Relating tradable credits for biodiversity to sustainability criteria in a dynamic landscape

Tradable biodiversity credit systems provide flexible means to resolve conflicts between development and conservation land-use options for habitats occupied by threatened or endangered species. We describe an approach to incorporate the influence of habitat fragmentation into the conservation value of tradable credits. Habitat fragmentation decreases gene flow, increases rates of genetic drift and inbreeding, and increases probabilities of patch extinction. Importantly, tradable credit systems will change the level of fragmentation over time for small and/or declining populations. We apply landscape equivalency analysis (LEA), a generalizable, landscape-scale accounting system that assigns conservation value to habitat patches based on patch contributions to abundance and genetic variance at landscape scales. By evaluating habitat trades using two models that vary the relationship between dispersal behaviors and landscape patterns, we show that LEA provides a novel method for limiting access to habitat at the landscape-scale, recognizing that the appropriate amount of migration needed to supplement patch recruitment and to offset drift and inbreeding will vary as landscape pattern changes over time. We also found that decisions based on probabilities of persistence alone would ignore changes in migration, genetic drift, and patch extinction that result from habitat trades. The general principle of LEA is that habitat patches traded should make at least equivalent contributions to rates of recruitment and migration estimated at a landscape scale. Traditional approaches for assessing the “take” and “jeopardy” standards under the Endangered Species Act based on changes in abundance and probability of persistence may be inadequate to prevent trades that increase fragmentation.     

玉米茎腐病研究进展

系统综述了玉米茎腐病的发病症状、分级标准、致病菌、致病机理、抗性遗传规律、抗性基因定位和抗病机理的研究进展,并提出了抵御玉米茎腐病的综合防治措施。     

Dystocia in beef heifers: A review of genetic and nutritional influences

Breeding beef heifers for the first time at 15 months of age has potential to increase the efficiency of the beef breeding-cow herd. An increased incidence of dystocia in heifers calving at 2 years of age, compared to mature cows, is a major reason many farmers in New Zealand have not adopted the practice. The predominant type of dystocia affecting 2-year-old heifers is feto-maternal disproportion, a condition in which the fetus is too large relative to the size of the heifer's pelvis. Reducing birthweight of the calf is a means of reducing the incidence of dystocia. Birthweight and length of gestation are determined by genotype of the calf, maternal genetic effects and environmental effects.

Bulls with low estimated breeding values for birthweight have been selected for mating heifers; however, the positive genetic correlation between birthweight and mature weight meant that the progeny of these bulls tended to be lighter at finishing, making them less desirable in the beef industry. The genotype of the dam also plays a role in determining the risk of dystocia; the maternal ability of the dam to nurture the fetus influences birth- weight, and the dam's genetic potential for growth influences the size of her pelvic area. Heavy heifers tend to produce high- birthweight calves, counteracting the reduction in the incidence of dystocia resulting from the larger pelvis in larger heifers.

Manipulating feeding level during pregnancy offers an alternative method for manipulating the birthweight of calves. Little is known about the effects of nutrition in early gestation on placental development or birthweight of calves. No differences in the birthweight of calves have been observed in response to variation in feeding in mid-pregnancy, and variable responses in birthweight and the incidence of dystocia to feeding in the third trimester of pregnancy have been reported. Differences in birthweight have not always resulted in differences in the incidence of dystocia, primarily due to differences in liveweight of the heifer also induced by feeding regimens. Variability in the incidence of dystocia in response to feeding level in the third trimester of pregnancy makes it difficult to make recommendations for the feeding of heifers at this stage of gestation. More research is needed into the effects of nutrition in early gestation on fetal and placental development in cattle.     

瓜类蔬菜白粉病及其抗性分子遗传的研究进展

瓜类蔬菜是蔬菜产业重要的种类之一,但其产量和品质严重受到白粉病的影响。解决白粉病危害瓜类蔬菜生产最为有效的途径是选育和推广抗病品种,而对瓜类蔬菜白粉病菌及其抗性分子遗传机理的了解和运用是加快抗病品种选育的前提和基础。文章综述了瓜类蔬菜白粉病病原菌种类和分布、抗性遗传和抗性基因、抗性分子标记技术的开发和应用,针对存在的问题提出进一步研究的方向,以期为瓜类蔬菜抗白粉病育种提供参考和借鉴。     

Census and effective population sizes of white‐spotted charr (Salvelinus leucomaenis) in a fragmented landscape

Several habitat models have been proposed to predict population size for stream fishes and to guide habitat assessment and monitoring techniques. However, most models do not incorporate the potential advantage of molecular genetic markers. We conducted a field survey and microsatellite DNA analyses to quantify the relationships among genetic diversity, census/effective population size and habitat variables in fragmented populations of white‐spotted charr (Salvelinus leucomaenis). The census population size significantly increased with the stream length, the number of pools and a pool‐riffle sequence index, a proxy for channel‐unit habitat type complexity within reaches. Population density was correlated with the pool‐riffle sequence index only. Genetic diversity and effective population size were not correlated with the habitat variables or census population size. There was a lack of isolation‐by‐distance population structure in the studied populations. Our results suggest that stream length and the number of pools within reaches associated with habitat complexity are the habitat variables that explain the majority of variation in population size of white‐spotted charr. Our findings provide further evidence that census population size per se is a poor indicator of the inclusive genetic diversity within populations in a fragmented landscape.     

黔花4号小麦及其衍生品系抗白粉病性的遗传特性

黔花４号小麦对白粉菌４１１菌株的抗性遗传研究表明，以感病品种１４２６为杂交亲本时，其抗白粉性受１对显性基因控制，而以感亲绵阳１５号或友谊麦杂交时，其抗性表现则受２对显笥基因控制。在黔花４号×１４２６的高代衍生品系中，ＣＨ２４８和ＣＨ２６４品系为１对显性基因控制抗性，而ＣＨ３３和ＣＨ２７０则为２对基因控制。本文还讨论了不同遗传背景下和同一组合不同品系间所携基因不同的可能原因。     

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.     

不同层次的专科生学习《遗传学》的元认知意识研究

借助调查问卷,调查了不同层次的专科生在学习《遗传学》课程的元认知意识,揭示了两组学习者在主体知识、任务知识、策略知识、体验及控制能力等方面的差异,并提出培养其元认知能力的途径,以期为《遗传学》教学提供有益的指导。     

Control of rabies: epidemiology of rabies in Asia and development of new-generation vaccines for rabies

Rabies is an enzootic viral disease widespread throughout the world. Although it is a vaccine-preventable disease, the annual number of human deaths caused by rabies is estimated to be 32,000 in Asia. Phylogenetic analysis based on sequence data of the partial N gene of rabies viruses in Asia has shown that the viruses are divided into five genogroups, distributed in Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, Malay, and Arctic regions. The genetic relationships among these rabies viruses agree basically with the results of previous studies. Meanwhile, new types of vaccines are being developed by applying gene manipulation techniques to rabies virus in order to overcome the disadvantages of current vaccines. This article reviews the molecular epidemiology of rabies in Asia and progress made in the development of new-generation rabies vaccines with the goal of elimination or control of rabies in Asia.