Genetic Analysis of Egyptian Date (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phoenix dactylifera</Emphasis> L.) Accessions Using AFLP Markers

Forty-seven samples of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) collected from eight locations in Egypt were studied using four sets of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers with near infrared fluorescence labeled primers. These samples belonged to 21 named accessions and 9 of unknown pedigrees. A total of 350 bands were scored and 233 (66.6%) were polymorphic. Twenty-seven Egyptian accessions and ‘Medjool’and ‘Deglet Noor’accessions from California could beclassified into the major cluster. This major cluster may represent a major group of date palm germplasm in North Africa. There were four other clusters, each containing one or two accessions. The variety ‘Halawy’and one accession of unknown provenance were most likely from hybridization between two clusters. Six groups of accessions of which had the same names, revealed similar but not identical AFLP profiles suggesting these accessions might derive from seedlings rather thanthrough clonal offshoot propagation.     

两种施肥环境下冬小麦京411及其衍生系产量和生理性状的遗传分析

明确高产广适性与肥料高效利用相关性状的遗传特性对培育优良新品种具有重要意义。本研究以京411及其衍生后代共15个品种(系)为材料,在4个正常施肥和1个常年不施肥环境下研究品种(系)的产量构成因素和生理性状,结合90K SNP芯片,解析骨干亲本携带的产量和生理性状等位基因信息,探讨优异基因对高产品种的贡献。结果表明,正常施肥环境下,京411衍生后代的产量和收获指数均随世代增加呈逐渐上升趋势,其中收获指数增加较为显著(P0.05)。冠层温度对籽粒产量有重要贡献(P0.05),而叶面积指数和光合速率对收获指数有显著贡献(P0.05)。两种施肥条件下中麦175具有较高且稳定的产量和生物学产量,主要与其较高的肥料吸收效率有关。控制产量和生理性状的遗传区段主要分布在A和B基因组上,2B、3A和5A染色体分别携带控制穗粒数、叶面积指数和光合速率的位点。京411携带31个对产量和生理性状为正向效应的等位基因,衍生品种CA0958和中麦175携带的正向效应区段最多,分别占正向效应位点总数的53.85%和51.35%。中麦175的高产潜力和广适应性可能与其携带较多有利等位基因有关。     

Agronomical,quality, and molecular characterization of twenty Italian emmer wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum dicoccon</Emphasis>) accessions

Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccon Schrank, 2n = 4x = 28) consists in a hulled wheat; its cultivation has been drastically reduced during the last century as a consequence of its low yield. Recently, its agronomic and nutritive values, as well as the increase of popularity of organic agriculture, have led to a renewed interest making its cultivation economically viable in the marginal lands with an increase of the cultivated areas. In Italy, it mainly survives in few marginal lands of central and southern Italy, where local varieties, adapted to the natural environment from where they originate, are used; moreover, some selected lines have also been developed. In the present work, agro-morphological and qualitative traits, together with molecular analyses of 20 emmer accessions consisting of Italian landraces, breeding lines, and cultivars, were performed. The field experiments were conducted for two consecutive years (2001/2002–2002/2003) in two locations: Viterbo in central Italy, and Foggia in south Italy. The analyzed emmer wheat accessions showed a good amount of genetic variability for both evaluated agro-morphological and molecular traits. This study illustrates an increase in earliness, GY, TW, TKW, and YI going from landraces, breeding lines to cultivars, while the variability does not change proportionally.     

大白菜InDels标记开发及其在剩余杂合体鉴定中的应用

大白菜(Brassica rapa ssp.pekinensis)参考基因组序列的公布及测序成本的降低为大规模开发插入/缺失(Insertion/Deletion,InDel)标记提供了可能.本研究以性状差异明显的大白菜自交系He102与06-247为亲本,开展了全基因组重测序、标记开发和验证工作.二者测序深度分别为10×和8×,经筛选共获得330 218个InDels差异位点,出现频率为1.2个/kb,其中有11 238个差异位点位于编码区,包括5 184个差异基因,每个基因平均包含2.2个差异位点.分别以He102与06-247测序数据中筛选出的多态性InDels位点为参照,从10条染色体上随机选择933个位点进行了PCR扩增及电泳检测验证.结果表明,测序深度对假阳性率有直接影响,以测序较深的材料中筛选到的差异位点为参照,其验证结果的假阳性率亦较高,反之则较低.本研究中以He102与06-247为参照选择InDels位点验证的平均假阳性率分别是51.9％和22.5％.从933个位点中共筛选出593个在亲本之间实际表现为多态性的位点,这些差异位点中有375个位于编码区,是潜在的功能性标记.利用上述差异位点,检测了He102与06-247衍生的F7代重组自交系群体,明确了F7代各株系在593个位点的纯/杂合状态,为利用剩余杂合株系精细解析和精准定位大白菜耐抽薹、抗病毒、抗干烧心等重要农艺性状奠定了基础.     

The fat that matters: Soil food web analysis using fatty acids and their carbon stable isotope signature

Chemical taxonomy based upon the composition of lipids is widely applied to investigate microbial communities and fatty acids have recently been employed to connect soil microbial and faunal food webs as well as to elucidate functional groups at higher trophic levels. The additional use of compound-specific isotopic analysis of ¹³C/¹²C ratios in fatty acids allows assessing specific trophic links and belowground carbon fluxes. In this review systematic patterns and processes underlying variations in the composition of fatty acids and their ¹³C/¹²C ratio are described. The emphasis is on biomarker fatty acids, their incorporation and modification, effects of pool size, and analytical methods. Further development of the application of fatty acid profiling to soil ecology should include both advances in experimental research and growth of theory. Accordingly, areas in which future experimentation can lead to progress in soil food web analysis are identified. Overall, combining fatty acid biomarker and their isotopic ratios will allow detailed insight into belowground trophic interactions.     

Pattern of genetic diversity of cultivated and non-cultivated mashua, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tropaeolum tuberosum</Emphasis>, in the Cusco region of Perú

This paper analyzes the genetic diversity of mashua cultivars grown in six communities in the Cusco region of Perú, of non-cultivated forms collected in the same region, and a sample of cultivars from the germplasm collection at the International Potato Center (CIP). From the DNA fingerprinting generated by SRAP markers, it is clear that mashua is a genetically variable crop with a range of similarity ranging from 65 to 99%. The widest range of variation was found for the most isolated community, Sayllafaya. Another important finding was that most of the non-cultivated accessions are likely feral races resulting from escape to cultivation rather than wild relatives. In general the range of variation of the cultivars from the communities and their feral relatives are not represented in the cultivars sampled of the collection maintained at the International Potato Center, Perú.     

Hedysarum phylogeny mediated by RFLP analysis of nuclear ribosomal DNA – RFLP and Hedysarum phylogeny

The RFLP technique has been employed to investigate phylogenetic relationships between species of the Hedysarum genus. Homologous DNA probes were used to generate patterns from a set of the Mediterranean group. The degree of band sharing was used to estimate genetic distances between species and to draw phylogenetic trees. These are in good agreement with phylogeny based on morphological and isozyme markers, but contain novel insights. The results are discussed in the context of current work in molecular biosystematics in Hedysarum complex. Attempts made in this approach to access the extent of variability at the DNA level occurring with the domestication process have been investigated. With the availability of the tested probes, it has been assumed that the genetic structure is not affected by the domestication process.     

Carbon fluxes in soil food webs of increasing complexity revealed by C labelling and C natural abundance

Soil food webs are mainly based on three primary carbon (C) sources: root exudates, litter, and recalcitrant soil organic matter (SOM). These C sources vary in their availability and accessibility to soil organisms, which could lead to different pathways in soil food webs. The presence of three C isotopes (¹²C, ¹³C and ¹⁴C) offers an unique opportunity to investigate all three C sources simultaneously. In a microcosm experiment we studied the effect of food web complexity on the utilization of the three carbon sources. We choose an incomplete three factorial design with (i) living plants, (ii) litter and (iii) food web complexity. The most complex food web consisted of autochthonous microorganisms, nematodes, collembola, predatory mites, endogeic and anecic earthworms. We traced C from all three sources in soil, in CO₂ efflux and in individual organism groups by using maize grown on soil developed under C₃ vegetation and application of ¹⁴C labelled ryegrass shoots as a litter layer. The presence of living plants had a much greater effect on C pathways than food web complexity. Litter decomposition, measured as ¹⁴CO₂ efflux, was decreased in the presence of living plants from 71% to 33%. However, living plants increased the incorporation of litter C into microbial biomass and arrested carbon in the litter layer and in the upper soil layer. The only significant effect of food web complexity was on the litter C distribution in the soil layers. In treatments with fungivorous microarthropods (Collembola) the incorporation of litter carbon into mineral soil was reduced. Root exudates as C source were passed through rhizosphere microorganisms to the predator level (at least to the third trophic level). We conclude that living plants strongly affected C flows, directly by being a source of additional C, and indirectly by modifying the existing C flows within the food web including CO₂ efflux from the soil and litter decomposition.     

Cross‐linked polyacrylates in post‐mining substrates: persistence and effects on plant growth

Application of hydrophilic polymers composed of cross‐linked polyacrylate can improve soil water‐holding capacity and accelerate the restoration of post‐mining substrates. In this work, we studied the persistence of a polyacrylate polymer incorporated into a soil and its impact on plant nutrients at a reclamation site of former lignite mining in Lusatia (Germany). In contrast to autumn application, the incorporation of the polymer enhanced the sequestration of plant‐derived carbon in the soil, which was reflected by a significant increase in the concentration of a lignin marker. Attenuated total reflexion–Fourier transform infrared spectra (ATR‐FTIR) and total elemental contents in the applied polymer suggested an intensive cation exchange between the polymer framework and the soil‐forming substrate. In addition, there was an enrichment of carbonaceous material, which seems to reduce the swelling and thus the water‐holding capacity of the cross‐linked polyacrylate. Conversely, this process protected the polymer structure from rapid decomposition.     

Cultivar identification and genetic map of mango (Mangifera indica)

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) information was used for identification of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cultivars, for studying the genetic relationship among 16 mango cultivars and seven mango rootstocks and for the construction of a genetic linkage map. Six AFLP primer combinations produced 204 clear bands and on the average 34 bands for each combination. The average Band-Sharing between cultivars and rootstocks was 83% and 80%, respectively. The average Band-Sharing for mango is 81%. The probability of obtaining a similar pattern for two different mango cultivars and rootstocks is 6 × 10⁻³and 2 × 10⁻³, respectively. A preliminary genetic linkage map of the mango genome was constructed, based on the progeny of a cross between ‘Keitt’ and ‘Tommy-Atkins’. This linkage map consists of 13 linkage groups and covers 161.5 cm defined by 34 AFLP markers. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.