重要花卉植物高密度遗传连锁图谱构建研究进展

遗传连锁图谱是以遗传标记间重组频率为基础的染色体或基因组内位点相对位置的线性排列图,高密度遗传图谱构建可实现物理图谱和遗传图谱的整合,对促进基因图位克隆具有重要作用。利用遗传图谱可有效地提高育种效率和改良品种。重要花卉植物高遗传图谱精密度尚无法满足精细定位研究的要求,百合、紫薇、郁金香、向日葵等重要花卉高密度遗传图谱构建研究较少,制约了花卉植物分子育种研究进程。概述了高密度遗传图谱构建流程及作图方法,综述了牡丹、梅花、月季、菊花、兰花、荷花、桂花等重要花卉植物遗传图谱构建研究进展,讨论了重要花卉植物高密度遗传图谱构建存在的主要问题,对今后重要花卉植物遗传图谱构建研究的发展方向及其在育种中的应用前景进行了展望,以期为花卉植物基因定位、辅助基因组组装、比较基因组学、基因克隆、分子标记辅助育种等提供参考。     

植物次生代谢基因工程

植物次生代谢基因工程,是利用基因工程技术对植物次生代谢途径的遗传特性进行改造,进而改变植物次生代谢产物。植物次生代谢基因工程的出现是人类对次生代谢途径的深入了解和分子生物学向纵深发展的结果,同时它又促进了次生代谢分子生物学的发展。调控因子的应用和多基因的协同转化为植物次生代谢基因工程拓宽了思路。从次生代谢图谱、植物基因工程策略和植物转基因方法等方面对植物次生代谢的基因工程研究进展做一简要概述。     

Understanding of genetic information in higher secondary students in northeast India and the implications for genetics education

Since the work of Watson and Crick in the mid-1950s, the science of genetics has become increasingly molecular. The development of recombinant DNA technologies by the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries led to the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). By the end of the twentieth century, reports of animal cloning and recent completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP), as well techniques developed for DNA fingerprinting, gene therapy and others, raised important ethical and social issues about the applications of such technologies. For citizens to understand these issues, appropriate genetics education is needed in schools. A good foundation in genetics also requires knowledge and understanding of topics such as structure and function of cells, cell division, and reproduction. Studies at the international level report poor understanding by students of genetics and genetic technologies, with widespread misconceptions at various levels. Similar studies were nearly absent in India. In this study, I examine Indian higher secondary students' understanding of genetic information related to cells and transmission of genetic information during reproduction. Although preliminary in nature, the results provide cause for concern over the status of genetics education in India. The nature of students' conceptual understandings and possible reasons for the observed lack of understanding are discussed.     

The molecular genetic basis of plant adaptation

How natural selection on adaptive traits is filtered to the genetic level remains largely unknown. Theory and quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping have provided insights into the number and effect of genes underlying adaptations, but these results have been hampered by questions of applicability to real biological systems and poor resolution, respectively. Advances in molecular technologies have expedited the cloning of adaptive genes through both forward and reverse genetic approaches. Forward approaches start with adaptive traits and attempt to characterize their underlying genetic architectures through linkage disequilibrium mapping, QTL mapping, and other methods. Reverse screens search large sequence data sets for genes that possess the signature of selection. Though both approaches have been successful in identifying adaptive genes in plants, very few, if any, of these adaptations' molecular bases have been fully resolved. The continued isolation of plant adaptive genes will lead to a more comprehensive understanding of natural selection's effect on genes and genomes.     

Focusing on individual plants to understand community scale biodiversity effects: the case of root distribution in grasslands

Spatial resource partitioning between species via differences in rooting depth is one of the main explanations for the positive biodiversity–productivity relationship. However, evidence for the importance of this mechanism is limited. This may be due to the community scale at which these interactions are often investigated. Community measures represent net outcomes of species interactions and may obscure the mechanisms underlying belowground interactions. Here, we assess the performance of ~1700 individual plants and their heterospecific neighbours over three growing seasons in experimental grassland plots containing one, four or sixteen different plant species and tested whether their performance in mixtures compared to monocultures was related to their own rooting depth versus the rooting depth of their heterospecific neighbours. Overall, individuals of deep-rooting species performed better in mixtures and this effect significantly increased when surrounded by more shallow-rooting species. This effect was not apparent for the shallow rooting species. Together, including both deep and shallow rooting species increased mixture performance. Our results show that taking the perspective of the individual rather than the community can elucidate the interactions between species that contribute to positive biodiversity effects, emphasizing the need for studies at different scales to disentangle the myriad interactions that take place in diverse communities.     

Physical mapping of the rice genome with BACs

The development of genetics in this century has been catapulted forward by several milestones: rediscovery of Mendel's laws, determination of DNA as the genetic material, discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA and its implications for genetic behavior, and most recently, analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs). Each of these milestones has generated a huge wave of progress in genetics. Consequently, our understanding of organismal genetics now extends from phenotypes to their molecular genetic basis. It is now clear that the next wave of progress in genetics will hinge on genome molecular physical mapping, since a genome physical map will provide an invaluable, readily accessible system for many detailed genetic studies and isolation of many genes of economic or biological importance. Recent development of large-DNA fragment (>100 kb) manipulation and cloning technologies, such as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) and bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) cloning, has provided the powerful tools needed to generate molecular physical maps for higher-organism genomes. This chapter will discuss (1) an ideal physical map of plant genome and its applications in plant genetic and biological studies, (2) reviews on physical mapping of the genomes of Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, and man, (3) large-insert DNA libraries: cosmid, YAC and BAC, and genome physical mapping, (4) physical mapping of the rice genome with BACs, and (5) perspectives on the physical mapping of the rice genome with BACs.     

Plant cell-size control: growing by ploidy?

The size of plant cells is determined by genetic, structural and physical factors as well as by internal and external signals. Our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of these controls is still rudimentary. Recent studies indicate that ploidy level exerts an important control on cell size. By increasing ploidy, endoreduplication may allow cells to reach extraordinary sizes. This process is widespread in plants and may provide a means to manipulate the cell volume.     

植物耐热相关基因研究进展

植物受到高温胁迫时,会激活某些特定基因的表达,从而增强植物的耐热性。近年来,随着生物技术的不断发展,植物耐热相关基因被相继克隆并转化植物体。本文对植物耐热的分子机制、相关基因的克隆、耐热性基因工程研究进展进行了综述,并提出了植物耐热基因工程的研究方向。     

尖孢镰刀菌致病机理和化感作用研究进展

尖孢镰刀菌引起的枯萎病在生产中的防控相当困难。通过总结国内外相关文献,综述近年来有关尖孢镰刀菌致病机理和化感作用的研究进展。尖孢镰刀菌通过分泌毒素和细胞壁降解酶共同致病,谱系特异性区域的存在是其致病性强和宿主范围广的主要原因;在尖孢镰刀菌各专化型中已分离出大量致病相关基因;其他植物和拮抗微生物(木霉菌、丛枝菌根真菌、非致病性尖孢镰刀菌以及植物生长促生菌)可以分泌化感物质,作用于宿主植物和尖孢镰刀菌,直接抑制尖孢镰刀菌的生长或激活宿主植物的防御反应。未来有关尖孢镰刀菌致病机理研究应该在基因组测序基础上构建精细的遗传图谱;对化感作用的研究应当深入探讨分子机理,利用高通量测序等技术在转录组或蛋白组水平上明确宿主植物抗枯萎病相关基因,同时利用分子标记辅助育种来筛选新的抗枯萎病品种。     

植物矮化相关基因研究进展

矮化植株株型紧凑,冠幅小,抗倒伏,且生产管理方便,丰产性能好,矮化育种是植物育种的发展趋势。国内外学者对植物矮化的机理、矮化基因、矮化育种等进行了比较深入的研究。我们对植物矮化的遗传特点、分子标记在矮化基因研究上的应用、矮化基因的定位、矮化基因的分离与克隆、矮化转基因等方面的研究进展进行了概述。     

类胡萝卜素合成的相关基因及其基因工程

类胡萝卜素具有多种生物功能,尤其在保护人类健康方面起着重要的作用,如它们是合成维生素A的前体,能够增强人体免疫力和具有防癌抗癌的功效。人体自身不能合成类胡萝卜素,必须通过外界摄入;但类胡萝卜素在许多植物中含量较低,并且很难用化学方法合成。随着类胡萝卜素生物合成途径的阐明及其相关基因的克隆,运用基因工程手段调控类胡萝卜素的生物合成已成为可能。本文综述了微生物和高等植物类胡萝卜素生物合成途径中相关基因的克隆,以及运用这些基因通过异源微生物生产类胡萝卜素和提高作物类胡萝卜素含量的基因工程研究进展。     

In vitro studies on Eucalyptus globulus rooting ability

Summary Micropropagation has the potential to quickly introduce selected genotypes of adult Eucalyptus globulus clones and it is now widely used in Portugal as a part of genetic improvement programs. Several clones have been established and multiplied in vitro. The different clones have individual requirements for successful rooting. Rejuvenation was achieved at different periods after culture initiation for the different clones. Subculturing preceding rooting in multiplication medium supplemented with riboflavin and cholene chloride allowed the increase of rooting ability for several clones tested. Removal of boron from the rooting medium increased rooting by 10%. Indolebutyric acid (IBA) dipping before transfer to the rooting medium resulted in a rooting percentage of 80–95% for the best clones tested. Acclimatization was performed without difficulties (90–95% success) and the rooted plants were either planted directly or used as mother plants for further cutting production, depending on the needs. The results described in this paper increase the commercial feasibility of the micropropagation system for E. globulus.     

Genetic analysis of two tomato mutants affected in the regulation of iron metabolism

Iron is one of the most important micronutrients for plants. Like other organisms, plants have developed active mechanisms for the acquisition of sufficient iron from the soil. Nevertheless, very little is known about the genetic mechanisms that control the active uptake. In tomato, two spontaneously derived mutants are available, which are defective in key steps that control this process. The recessive mutationchloronerva (chln) affects a gene which controls the synthesis of the non-protein amino acid nicotianamine (NA), a key component in the iron physiology of plants. The root system of the recessive mutantfer is unable to induce any of the characteristic responses to iron deficiency and iron uptake is thus completely blocked. We present a characterization of the double mutant, showing that thefer gene is epistatic over thechln gene and thus very likely to be one of the major genetic elements controlling iron physiology in tomato. In order to gain access to these two genes at the molecular level, both mutants were precisely mapped onto the high density RFLP map of tomato. Thechln gene is located on chromosome 1 and thefer gene is on chromosome 6 of tomato. Using this high-resolution map, a chromosome walk has been started to isolate thefer gene by map-based cloning. The isolation of thefer gene will provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of iron uptake control in plants.     

Molecular and genetic analyses of flower homeotic genes ofArabidopsis

Recent genetic and molecular analyses usingArabidopsis has revealed basic mechanisms of floral pattern formation. Here is outlined a genetic model of flower morphogenesis. This shows that combinations of floral organ identity genes direct the organ type and the place in the flower bud. After molecular cloning of these genes, the hypothesis is supported at the molecular level. Molecular analyses of homologous genes from other plants show the same system of flower morphogenesis is shared widely among distantly related species.