Geographical cline of DNA variation within the F intersterility group of Heterobasidion annosum in Italy

Eighty-six Heterobasidion annosum isolates, mainly belonging to the F intersterility group and obtained from 32 different geographical localities in Italy, were subjected to genetic analysis by the Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. The similarity between F and S groups was higher than that between F and P. In UPGMA Cluster Analysis, the F isolates originating from the same locality usually grouped in the same cluster. The isolates also showed a tendency to group at the level of larger geographical areas. Within the F group, isolates from the south of the Italian peninsula showed the highest genetic variation and northern isolates from the Alpine regions showed the lowest. This indicates a gradual cline along the peninsula. The genetic variability in the Italian F group is discussed in relation to the past and present distribution of the host species in Italy and Europe.     

甜菜SSR反应体系优化及重要农艺性状分子标记

[目的]为选育优质甜菜新品种,利用SSR法筛选与高糖、高产、耐盐相关的分子标注.[方法]研究对甜菜SSR-PCR反应体系进行优化,并利用SSR分子标记方法和分离群体分组分析法(Bulked SegregateAnalysis,BSA)对具有高糖/低糖、低产/高产、耐盐/不耐盐三种重要农艺性状的甜菜亲本和F2代植株进行分析.[结果]研究建立了适宜甜菜的SSR-PCR反应体系为:20μL反应体系中含l×Buffer、2.0 mmol/LMg2+、1.5 uTaq DNA聚合酶、0.20 mmol/L dNTP、1.5 μmol/L引物、60 ng DNA模板.依据优化体系,对不同农艺性状的甜菜亲本与F2代进行SSR-PCR扩增分析,高糖性状获得了200和100 bp两条与高糖性状连锁的标记,250和230 bp两条与高产性状连锁的标记,550、250和100 bp三条与耐盐性状紧密连锁的分子标记.[结论]研究获得的7条特异条带是与甜菜重要农艺性状连锁的分子标记,将为甜菜的育种工作提供重要的理论基础.     

绵羊LDHβ基因的生物信息学分析及其在不同剩余采食量绵羊肝脏和肌肉组织中的表达

【目的】为鉴定绵羊乳酸脱氢酶β(lactate dehydrogenase B,LDHβ)基因的分子特征,研究其在不同剩余采食量绵羊肝脏和肌肉组织中的表达差异.【方法】测定了137只‘湖羊’公羔的剩余采食量(residual feed intake,RFI),按RFI进行排序,分别筛选出RFI最高(high-residual feed intake,H-RFI)和RFI最低(low-residual feed intake,L-RFI)的羊各15只,屠宰后,采集肝脏和肌肉组织,利用Q-PCR技术检测绵羊LDHβ基因分别在H-RFI和L-RFI羊肝脏和肌肉中表达量,并利用生物信息学软件构建了该基因的系统进化树和预测其结构与功能.【结果】绵羊LDHβ基因开放阅读框(open reading frame,ORF)为1 005bp,编码334个氨基酸,其蛋白质分子质量为36 479.43U,理论等电点为6.40.绵羊LDHβ基因与山羊的亲缘关系较近,其次为牛,序列同源性高.功能结构域预测结果显示,该基因编码产物在内质网中参与辅酶因子生物合成的可能性最高.Q-PCR结果显示,绵羊LDHβ-mRNA基因在L-RFI羊肝脏和肌肉中表达量均显著低于H-RFI羊(P0.01).【结论】绵羊LDHβ基因作为能量代谢的关键酶参与绵羊饲料效率的调控.     

Effects of dietary particulate limestone, vitamin K3 and fluoride and photostimulation on skeletal morphology and osteoporosis in laying hens

1. Female chicks of a White Leghorn strain were fed three different diets from one day old: control, additional vitamin K3 (10 mg/kg), and a diet containing a combination of additional vitamin K3, sodium fluoride (10 mg/kg) and limestone in particulate rather than powdered form. At 16 weeks photoperiod was increased for half the birds from 8:16 L:D to 16:8 L:D immediately or by one hour per week to the same ultimate photoperiod for the other half. 2. Age at first egg was lower by 4.0 d for birds on the fast lighting regime but there were no overall effects of lighting on bone quality at either 25 or 70 weeks. 3. Additional vitamin K3 resulted in higher proximal tarsometatarsus cancellous bone volumes at 15 weeks and throughout the laying period compared with controls. Plasma osteocalcin concentrations were unaffected by vitamin K3 supplementation during growth. 4. The combination diet resulted in beneficial responses of 12 to 20% in most bone characteristics in hens at 70 weeks. The magnitude of these effects was similar to a previous study involving a particulate calcium source alone (Fleming et al., Poultry Science, 39: 434-440, 1998b). We conclude that the beneficial effects of the combined treatment over the lifetime of the hens were attributable mainly to the presence in the diet of a calcium source in particulate form.     

Differences in metabolic parameters and gene expression related to osteochondrosis/osteoarthrosis in pigs fed 25-hydroxyvitamin D3

Osteochondrosis/osteoarthrosis (OC/OA) are common terms for various joint pathologies that occur in pigs. Pathologies that may contribute to these disorders have been described, but the primary cause(s) remain unknown. We hypothesised that as OC has some similarities to dyschondroplasia, which involves a failure of growth plate chondrocytes to fully differentiate and hypertrophy, treatment with 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-D) might reduce the incidence and/or severity of lesions in pigs, as it does in chickens with dyschondroplasia. Control pigs were fed a commercial diet ad libitum. In the treated group this diet was supplemented with 25-D at 0.1 mg/kg. Ten pigs from each of the control and treated groups were sampled at 7, 12, 16 and 21 weeks. Treatment with 25-D had no effect on the incidence or severity of OC/OA lesions. Cartilage dry weight, total collagen content and proteoglycan content, and plasma levels oftotal calcium, inorganic phosphorous, vitamin C, insuline-like growth factor-I, parathyroid hormone and tumour necrosis factor alpha were unaffected by treatment. In addition, none of these parameters were correlated with the incidence or severity of OC/OA lesions. The mRNA expression levels of 21 out of 23 genes assayed by RT-PCR were unaltered in articular cartilage from OA lesion samples as compared to normal articular cartilage. However, collagen type II was reduced and collagen type X increased in OA lesion and near lesion samples. These results suggest that OA in pigs may share some features of osteoarthritis in other mammalian species.