Genetic Engineering Approaches to Pig Production*

Modern biotechnology promises a number of new applications in animal breeding and production. Although conventional pig breeding has achieved a high level of efficiency and productivity numerous problems have been encountered with animal health and the loss of meat quality. Selection based on phenotypic performance data of individual animals does not take into account the importance of specific genes and their relevance within a complex regulatory system. In most cases it is therefore difficult to trace back the genetic origins of clinically important disorders. The application of genetic engineering techniques in pig production will facilitate diagnosis, improvement of productivity, and animal health by allowing direct genetic manipulation. Attention must be focussed on the physical and genetic analysis of the procine genome. The isolation and characterisation of genes, DNA-markers, polymorphic DNA-fragments, and their chromosomal assignment will be important prerequisites and tools for the elucidation of genetic disorders. Especially the detection of heterozygous carriers of recessive disorders and their elimination from the breeding stock will increase selection accuracy and decrease the generation intervals. But also the rapid and simple detection of infectious diseases, which is sometimes difficult if not impossible at present, will improve animal health and welfare. Although the production of transgenic animals either by DNA-microinjection into zygotes or the use of embryonal stem cells manipulated in vitro is less straightforward than DNA-based diagnosis it will play an important role in the direct manipulation of the porcine genome and genes. Breeding programmes including the use of transgenic livestock have already been developed. There is no doubt that genetic engineering has reached a degree of practical feasibility, allowing it to play an important role in pig breeding in particular and animal production in general.     

The association of genes for purple coleoptile with chromosomes of the wheat variety Mironovskaya 808

Summary The association of genes for purple pigment in the coleoptile with the chromosomes of the winter wheat variety Mironovskaya 808 was investigated using monosomic F₂ analysis. The segregation ratio for F₂ hybrids of Chinese Spring monosomics x Mironovskya 808 seems to indicate that the purple colour of the coleoptile is determined by two dominant genes, Rc₃ and Rc₄, which are located on the chromosomes 7D and 6B respectively, and which reinforce each other. Apart from these two genes, suppressors found on the chromosomes 2A, 2B, 2D, 4B and 6A also play a role in the intensity of the purple colour.With the aid of a Chinese Spring telocentric chromosome marker it was observed that the Rc₃ gene is located on the chromosome arm 7DS, at a distance of 16±4.23 crossover units from the centromere.     

Multi-source land cover classification for forest fire management based on imaging spectrometry and LiDAR data

Forest fire management practices are highly dependent on the proper monitoring of the spatial distribution of the natural and man-made fuel complexes at landscape level. Spatial patterns of fuel types as well as the three-dimensional structure and state of the vegetation are essential for the assessment and prediction of forest fire risk and fire behaviour. A combination of the two remote sensing systems, imaging spectrometry and light detection and ranging (LiDAR), is well suited to map fuel types and properties, especially within the complex wildland–urban interface. LiDAR observations sample the spatial information dimension providing explicit geometric information about the structure of the Earth's surface and super-imposed objects. Imaging spectrometry on the other hand samples the spectral dimension, which is sensitive for discrimination of surface types. As a non-parametric classifier support vector machines (SVM) are particularly well adapted to classify data of high dimensionality and from multiple sources as proposed in this work. The presented approach achieves an improved land cover mapping adapted to forest fire management needs. The map is based on a single SVM classifier combining the spectral and spatial information dimensions provided by imaging spectrometry and LiDAR.     

Effects of polyline simplification of dynamic GPS data under forest canopy on area and perimeter estimations

The objectives of this study were to determine Global Positioning System (GPS) positional errors while moving under the forest canopy and to clarify the effects of polyline simplification on area and perimeter estimations. We used the Pathfinder Pro XR and GPSMAP 76S, which are categorized as “high-end mapping” and “general navigation” GPS receivers, respectively. The field tests were conducted in both natural and plantation forests. The results showed that the Pathfinder Pro XR, which has better multipath rejection technology, worked well, especially in the plantation forest under unfavorable conditions of higher stand density. We used analysis of variance to clarify the effects of the receiver type, positioning mode, stand type, and polyline simplification method on area and perimeter estimations. The receiver type and positioning mode were found to be significant factors that affected area estimation. The Pathfinder Pro XR estimated the area more accurately than the GPSMAP 76S, and differential GPS estimated the area more accurately than autonomous GPS. With respect to the perimeter, the receiver type, positioning mode, and polyline simplification method were found to be significant factors. The results showed that perimeter estimation was improved by using the velocity filter, and further improved by using the velocity filter and Douglas-Peucker algorithm, especially when the Pathfinder Pro XR was used. The GPSMAP 76S estimated the perimeter accurately without any filtering because its default speed filter worked well, even though the GPSMAP 76S is a general navigation GPS receiver.     

Estimating harvest costs and projecting quantities of logging residues for small-scale forestry in Nasushiobara,Tochigi Prefecture,Japan

We used GIS on a regional scale to estimate and compare supply potentials and costs of small-scale logging systems, a mini-forwarder and a 4-ton truck operated by private logging contractors, and manual logging and a light truck operated by individual forest own- ers, with the mechanized operational system of the Forest Owners＇ Asso- ciation. Total potential yields of timber and logging residues were esti- mated as 418,895 m3 and 254,962 m3, respectively. The economic bal- ances were estimated and available amounts were projected as supply potentials from profitable sub-compartments. As a result, available amounts of timber and logging residues were estimated at 375,466 m3 （89.9%） and 203,850 m3 （80.0%）, respectively. Because their transport expenses were lower than for other systems the most profitable sub-compartments were operated by private logging contractors who sold logging residues at a plant. The profitable sub-compartments operated by individual forest owners were few because the extracting distances were usually greater than 20 m. Raising logging residue prices from 3,000 yen·m-3 to 4,080 yen·m-3 or 6,800 yen·m-3, and establishing forest roads, which reduced some extracting distances to less than 20 m, increased the number and area of profitable sub＊compartments, and increased available amounts of logging residues.