Differential Responses to Pea Bacterial Blight in Stems, Leaves and Pods Under Glasshouse and Field Conditions

Resistance to pea bacterial blight (Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi) in different plant parts was assessed in 19 Pisum sativum cultivars and landraces, carrying race-specific resistance genes (R-genes) and two Pisum abyssinicum accessions carrying race-nonspecific resistance. Stems, leaves and pods were inoculated with seven races of P. s. pv. pisi under glasshouse conditions. For both race-specific and nonspecific resistance, a resistant response in the stem was not always associated with resistance in leaf and pod. Race-specific genes conferred stem resistance consistently, however, there was variability in the responses of leaves and pods which depended on the matching R-gene and A-gene (avirulence gene in the pathogen) combination. R2 generally conferred resistance in all plant parts. R3 or R4 singly did not confer complete resistance in leaf and pod, however, R3 in combination with R2 or R4 enhanced leaf and pod resistance. Race-nonspecific resistance conferred stem resistance to all races, leaf and pod resistance to races 2, 5 and 7 and variable reactions in leaves and pods to races 1, 3, 4 and 6.Disease expression was also studied in the field under autumn/winter conditions. P. sativum cultivar, Kelvedon Wonder (with no R genes), and two P. abyssinicum accessions, were inoculated with the most frequent races in Europe under field conditions (2, 4 and 6). Kelvedon Wonder was very susceptible to all three races, whereas P. abyssinicum was much less affected. The combination of disease resistance with frost tolerance in P. abyssinicum enabled plants to survive through the winter. A breeding strategy combining race-nonspecific resistance derived from P. abyssinicum with race-specific R-genes should provide durable resistance under severe disease pressure.     

Variability in the composition of lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) meals influences their digestible nutrient and energy value when fed to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Over a series of seven separate experiments 76 different lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) meals were assessed for their digestible dry matter, protein, amino acid and energy characteristics when fed to rainbow trout. Two reference diets (a common basal diet and a reference lupin meal) were also included in each experiment. Minimal variance in the digestibility parameters of both reference diets was observed among the experiments ensuring that there was a high degree of robustness in the across-experiment evaluations. Using simple and multiple-regression techniques, principal diet and ingredient composition factors affecting diet and ingredient digestibilities and ingredient digestible values were explored within the dataset. Using simple linear regression, it was shown that nitrogen digestibility of the lupin meals was negatively influenced by ingredient lignin content, but positively affected ingredient protein (N × 6.25) content. The energy digestibility of the lupin meals was positively affected by a range of compositional features including protein, sum of amino acids and negatively affected by carbohydrate content. The digestible nutrient and energy content of the meals reflected the combined effects of both ingredient digestibilities and ingredient composition. The digestible nitrogen content of the lupin meals was positively affected by protein (N × 6.25), sum of amino acids and energy content, but was negatively affected by lignin and carbohydrate content. The digestible sum of amino acids was also positively affected by protein, sum of amino acids, but only negatively affected by carbohydrate content, not lignin content. The digestible energy content of the lupin meals was also positively affected by protein, sum of amino acids and their own energy density, but only negatively affected by carbohydrate content. Multiple linear regression modelling supported that together ingredient protein and lignin content were the strongest predictors of digestible protein value, explaining close to 60% of the variability in this parameter. Discrete reassessment of these relationships using non-linear analysis methods provided a stronger interpretation of the ingredient composition effects. In recognition of this, a functional model including terms for ingredient protein and lignin content on the digestible protein value was defined. This study demonstrates that within one raw material type that not only does significant variability in the digestible value of the raw materials exist, but that it is possible to identify compositional features of that raw material that are intrinsically influencing their own digestible value.     

Relationship between morphological variation and geographical origin or selection history in Lupinus pilosus

Patterns of morphological diversity were examined in Lupinus pilosus in relation to geographical origins or selection history of accessions. There was significant variation among accessions for most architectural and reproductive characters in a field experiment in Perth, Western Australia. Late flowering was associated with resetted early growth, profuse branching and collection in higher rainfall sites. High yield and profuse podding on the main stem was associated with large pods and leaves, many seeds per pod, greater height to the first main-stem pod, and collection in higher altitude sites. Ten groups of accessions, identified by hierarchical cluster analysis, accounted for 79% of genotype and 69% of genotype x character sums of squares. One group, possibly taxonomically distinct from the others, consisted exclusively of wild types from northern Israel with poor pod set and low seed yield, poor nodulation, pale foliage, and small leaves. Wild types from Turkey and Crete had rosetted early growth and were late flowering, and the Turkish group had extremely rapid mid-season growth. Ornamental types from Europe or Australia with pink, purple or white flowers clustered together in an early flowering group with vigorous early growth. A smooth-seeded type of L. pilosus was discovered in a group of short, late flowering and rough-seeded types from Syria.     

Development of a sequence-specific PCR marker linked to the Ku gene which removes the vernalization requirement in narrow-leafed lupin

Wild types of Lupinus angustifolius require vernalization to promote flowering. Modern domesticated cultivars carry the early-flowering gene Ku which removes this requirement. A microsatellite-anchored fragment length polymorphism marker was identified as co-segregating with the Ku gene in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a domesticated × wild-type cross. DNA sequencing showed that the marker contained a 7 bp insertion/deletion polymorphism, as well as a single nucleotide polymorphism. A pair of sequence-specific primers was designed and successfully converted the size polymorphism into a simple polymerase chain reaction based co-dominant marker. This marker is closely linked to the Ku gene, as it co-segregates with the Ku phenotyping in a population consisting of 106 RILs.     

3H]adenosine triphosphate: release during stimulation of enteric nerves

The isolated taenia coli of the guinea pig takes up tritiated adenosine, adenosine monophosphate, adenosine diphosphate, and adenosine triphosphate, in preference to tritiated inosine and adenine. After uptake, [(3)H]adenosine is converted and retained primarily as [(3)H]adenosine triphosphate. Tritium is released from taenia coli treated with [(3)H]adenosine upon activation of the nonadrenergic inhibitory nerves. These results are consistent with the previous evidence that adenosine triphosphate may be the transmitter from the nerves.     

Target-set and response-set interaction: implications for models of human information processing

In binary character-classification tasks, reaction time generally has been reported to increase substantially with the number of target elements. However, when the targets formed a familiar set and subjects were not required to make explicit "no" responses, reaction time did not increase significantly as the target set increased in size from one to three.