Locating QTLs controlling several adult root traits in an elite Chinese hybrid rice

This study aimed to elucidate the genetics of the adult root system in elite Chinese hybrid rice. Several adult root traits in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of Xieyou 9308 and two backcross F₁ (BCF₁) populations derived from the RILs were phenotyped under hydroponic culture at heading stage for quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and other statistical analysis. There a total of eight QTLs detected for the root traits. Among of them, a pleiotropic QTL was repeatedly flanked by RM180 and RM5436 on the short arm of chromosome 7 for multiple traits across RILs and its BCF₁ populations, accounting for 6.88% to 25.26% of the phenotypic variances. Only additive/dominant QTLs were detected for the root traits. These results can serve as a foundation for facilitating future cloning and molecular breeding.     

Morphometric and molecular variation in concert: taxonomy and genetics of the reticulate Pyrenean and Iberian alpine spiny fescues (Festuca eskia complex,Poaceae)

The Iberian mountain spiny fescues are a reticulate group of five diploid grass taxa consisting of three parental species and two putative hybrids: F. × souliei (F. eskia × F. quadriflora) and F. × picoeuropeana (F. eskia × F. gautieri). Phenotypic and molecular studies were conducted with the aim of determining the taxonomic boundaries and genetic relationships of the five taxa and disentangling the origins of the two hybrids. Statistical analyses of 31 selected phenotypic traits were conducted on individuals from 159 populations and on nine type specimens. Molecular analyses of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were performed on 29 populations. The phenotypic analyses detected significant differences between the five taxa and demonstrated the overall intermediacy of the F. × picoeuropeana and F. × souliei between their respective parents. The RAPD analysis corroborated the genetic differentiation of F. eskia, F. gautieri and F. quadriflora and the intermediate nature of the two hybrids; however, they also detected genetic variation within F. × picoeuropeana. These results suggest distinct origins for F. × picoeuropeana in the Cantabrian and Pyrenean mountains, with the sporadic Pyrenean populations having potentially resulted from recent hybridizations and the stabilized Cantabrian ones from older events followed by potential displacements of the parents. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 173 , 676–706.     

Genetic structure of Barbus spp. populations in the Marches Region of central Italy and its relevance to conservation actions

A genetic survey of Barbus spp. populations in the Marches Region (Adriatic River basins), central Italy, was carried out using mitochondrial and nuclear markers (partial D‐loop, cyt b sequences and microsatellite loci) in order to ascertain their systematic position and to address their genetic structure which is key to conservation action planning. Analyses were conducted on sequences obtained from 91 individuals collected from eight sampling sites in five different rivers, from two specimens provided by the Ichthyological Centre of Rome and mitochondrial sequences of Barbus spp. retrieved from GenBank. Presumptive classification based on external morphological characters was not confirmed by genetic analysis, by means of which all specimens collected in the Marches Region were ascribed to Barbus plebejus. Genetic diversity values (h and π) of sampling groups were all different from 0 except the one sample collected from the upper reaches of the River Tenna, above a hydroelectric dam. Population connectivity and colonization patterns of the studied area were inferred from an analysis of molecular variance distribution and evolutionary relationships among haplotypes. The results point to different levels of isolation among sampling groups due to ecological and anthropogenic factors and the effect of an artificial barrier on genetic variability and conservation status of the population. Finally, this study confirms the uncertainty associated with systematic classification of Barbus spp. based on morphological characters due to the phenotypic plasticity of the species.     

Current methods for molecular typing of Campylobacter species

Campylobacter remains one of the most common bacterial causes of gastroenteritis worldwide. Tracking sources of this organism is challenging due to the large numbers of human cases, and the prevalence of this organism throughout the environment due to growth in a wide range of animal species. Many molecular subtyping methods have been developed to characterize Campylobacter species, but only a few are commonly used in molecular epidemiology studies. This review examines the applicability of these methods, as well as the role that emerging whole genome sequencing technologies will play in tracking sources of Campylobacter spp. infection.     

Genetic Mapping and Genomic Selection Using Recombination Breakpoint Data

The correct models for quantitative trait locus mapping are the ones that simultaneously include all significant genetic effects. Such models are difficult to handle for high marker density. Improving statistical methods for high-dimensional data appears to have reached a plateau. Alternative approaches must be explored to break the bottleneck of genomic data analysis. The fact that all markers are located in a few chromosomes of the genome leads to linkage disequilibrium among markers. This suggests that dimension reduction can also be achieved through data manipulation. High-density markers are used to infer recombination breakpoints, which then facilitate construction of bins. The bins are treated as new synthetic markers. The number of bins is always a manageable number, on the order of a few thousand. Using the bin data of a recombinant inbred line population of rice, we demonstrated genetic mapping, using all bins in a simultaneous manner. To facilitate genomic selection, we developed a method to create user-defined (artificial) bins, in which breakpoints are allowed within bins. Using eight traits of rice, we showed that artificial bin data analysis often improves the predictability compared with natural bin data analysis. Of the eight traits, three showed high predictability, two had intermediate predictability, and two had low predictability. A binary trait with a known gene had predictability near perfect. Genetic mapping using bin data points to a new direction of genomic data analysis.     

QTL‐seq: rapid mapping of quantitative trait loci in rice by whole genome resequencing of DNA from two bulked populations

The majority of agronomically important crop traits are quantitative, meaning that they are controlled by multiple genes each with a small effect (quantitative trait loci, QTLs). Mapping and isolation of QTLs is important for efficient crop breeding by marker‐assisted selection (MAS) and for a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the traits. However, since it requires the development and selection of DNA markers for linkage analysis, QTL analysis has been time‐consuming and labor‐intensive. Here we report the rapid identification of plant QTLs by whole‐genome resequencing of DNAs from two populations each composed of 20–50 individuals showing extreme opposite trait values for a given phenotype in a segregating progeny. We propose to name this approach QTL‐seq as applied to plant species. We applied QTL‐seq to rice recombinant inbred lines and F₂ populations and successfully identified QTLs for important agronomic traits, such as partial resistance to the fungal rice blast disease and seedling vigor. Simulation study showed that QTL‐seq is able to detect QTLs over wide ranges of experimental variables, and the method can be generally applied in population genomics studies to rapidly identify genomic regions that underwent artificial or natural selective sweeps.     

Molecular signatures of lineage‐specific adaptive evolution in a unique sea basin: the example of an anadromous goby Leucopsarion petersii

Climate changes on various time scales often shape genetic novelty and adaptive variation in many biotas. We explored molecular signatures of directional selection in populations of the ice goby Leucopsarion petersii inhabiting a unique sea basin, the Sea of Japan, where a wide variety of environments existed in the Pleistocene in relation to shifts in sea level by repeated glaciations. This species consisted of two historically allopatric lineages, the Japan Sea (JS) and Pacific Ocean (PO) lineages, and these have lived under contrasting marine environments that are expected to have imposed different selection regimes caused by past climatic and current oceanographic factors. We applied a limited genome‐scan approach using seven candidate genes for phenotypic differences between two lineages in combination with 100 anonymous microsatellite loci. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) gene, which is an important regulator of food intake and potent orexigenic agent, and three anonymous microsatellites were identified as robust outliers, that is, candidate loci potentially under directional selection, by multiple divergence‐ and diversity‐based outlier tests in comparisons focused on multiple populations of the JS vs. PO lineages. For these outlier loci, populations of the JS lineage had putative signals of selective sweeps. Additionally, real‐time quantitative PCR analysis using fish reared in a common environment showed a higher expression level for NPY gene in the JS lineage. Thus, this study succeeded in identifying candidate genomic regions under selection across populations of the JS lineage and provided evidence for lineage‐specific adaptive evolution in this unique sea basin.     

Signatures of diversifying selection at EST‐SSR loci and association with climate in natural Eucalyptus populations

Understanding the environmental parameters that drive adaptation among populations is important in predicting how species may respond to global climatic changes and how gene pools might be managed to conserve adaptive genetic diversity. Here, we used Bayesian F_ST outlier tests and allele–climate association analyses to reveal two Eucalyptus EST‐SSR loci as strong candidates for diversifying selection in natural populations of a southwestern Australian forest tree, Eucalyptus gomphocephala (Myrtaceae). The Eucalyptus homolog of a CONSTANS‐like gene was an F_ST outlier, and allelic variation showed significant latitudinal clinal associations with annual and winter solar radiation, potential evaporation, summer precipitation and aridity. A second F_ST outlier locus, homologous to quinone oxidoreductase, was significantly associated with measures of temperature range, high summer temperature and summer solar radiation, with important implications for predicting the effect of temperature on natural populations in the context of climate change. We complemented these data with investigations into neutral population genetic structure and diversity throughout the species range. This study provides an investigation into selection signatures at gene‐homologous EST‐SSRs in natural Eucalyptus populations, and contributes to our understanding of the relationship between climate and adaptive genetic variation, informing the conservation of both putatively neutral and adaptive components of genetic diversity.     

Establishment of a New Cross of the Rice Blast Fungus Derived from Japanese Differential Strain Ina168 and Hermaphroditic Rice Pathogen Guy11

Mating experiments between Magnaporthe grisea Japanese rice pathogens and Guy11, a hermaphroditic fertile rice pathogen, were done aimed at identification of avirulence genes. A cross named cross 2107 with thirty-six random progenies was obtained. Segregation analyses of genetic markers found that the cross was less suitable for genetic analysis. Backcrosses with cross 2107 progenies and Guy11 were done and another cross named cross 5307 with sixty-five progenies was obtained. A locus controlling kasugamycin resistance named Ksg1R was identified and used for a model case of genetic mapping. Bulked segregant analysis was done to find adjacent RAPD markers for mapping of the gene. Three adjacent markers to Ksg1R were obtained and a genetic map around the Ksg1R was made, but these markers were not located on a single chromosome. These results suggest that genetic analysis to identify a gene locus is available in cross 5307. Infection assay of parental strains of cross 5307 to Japanese differential rice cultivars suggested the possibility of genetic analysis of cultivar specificity toward four rice cultivars: Aichiasahi, Kusabue, Tsuyuake, and K59.