Milling energy requirement of the aneuploid stocks of common wheat,including alien addition lines

Summary Aneuploid stocks, which included Triticum aestivum/alien, disomic, chromosome addition lines, wheat/alien, ditelosomic, chromosome addition lines, and the available aneuploids of Chinese Spring wheat, were used to locate genes that influence milling energy requirement (ME). Genes that affected ME were found on all seven homoeologous chromosome groups. The addition of complete wheat chromosomes 1B, 1D, 2A, 2D, 5B, 6B, 7B and 7D increased ME. Positive effects were also found in specific chromosome arms: 1BS, 2DS, 5AS, 5BS and 6BL. Wheat chromosome 3B conditioned low ME and the gene(s) responsible was located on the short arm. Other negative effects were attributed to wheat chromosome arms 4BL, 4DL, 5DS and 6DS. Alien chromosome additions that conferred high ME included 2H, 5H, 6H and 7H of barley, Hordeum vulgare and 2R, 2R, 4R, 4RL, 6R, 6RL and 7RL of rye, Secale cereale. Those that conferred a low ME included 1H ^ch of H. chilense, and 6u and 7u of Aegilops umbellulata, 5R and 5RS of S. cereale and 5R ^m and 5R ^mS of S. montanum. Although the control of ME is polygenic, there is a major effect of genes located on the short arms of homoeologous group 5 chromosomes.     

Diversity,metabolic types and δ13C carbon isotope ratios in the grass flora of Namibia in relation to growth form,precipitation and habitat conditions

The grass flora of Namibia (374 species in 110 genera) shows surprisingly little variation in ¹³C values along a rainfall gradient (50–600 mm) and in different habitat conditions. However, there are significant differences in the ¹³C values between the metabolic types of the C4 photosynthetic pathway. NADP-ME-type C4 species exhibit the highest ¹³C values (–11.7 ) and occur mainly in regions with high rainfall. NAD-ME-type C4 species have significantly lower ¹³C values (–13.4 ) and dominate in the most arid part of the precipitation regime. PCK-type C4 species play an intermediate role (–12.5 ) and reach a maximum abundance in areas of intermediate precipitation. This pattern is also evident in genera containing species of different metabolic types. Within the same genus NAD species reach more negative ¹³C values than PCK species and ¹³C values decreased with rainfall. Also in Aristida, with NADP-ME-type photosynthesis, ¹³C values decreased from –11 in the inland region (600 mm precipitation) to –15 near the coast (150 mm precipitation), which is a change in discrimination which is otherwise associated by a change in metabolism. The exceptional C3 species Eragrostis walteri and Panicum heterostachyum are coastal species experiencing 50 mm precipitation only. Many of the rare species and monotypic genera grow in moist habitats rather than in the desert, and they are not different in their carbon isotope ratios from the more common flora. The role of species diversity with respect to habitat occupation and carbon metabolism is discussed.     

Construction and characterization of recA mutant strains of Corynebacterium glutamicum and Brevibacterium lactofermentum

An internal fragment of the Corynebacterium glutamicum recA gene was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using degenerate primers corresponding to two short sequences that are well conserved homology with RecA sequences from other bacteria including the invariant and functionally conserved amino acids Leu-126, Asp-144, Gly-157, Arg-169 and Asn-193. Highest identity (91%) was shared with the gram-positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis RecA sequence. The amplified fragment was cloned into a conditional suicide vector, pBGS8, and used to generate recA deficient strains of C. glutamicum and Brevibacterium lactofermentum by insertional inactivation. These strains exhibited classical RecA phenotypes including reduced recombinational activity and increased sensitivity to DNA-damaging agents such as UV irradiation, mitomycin C and methyl-methanesulphonate.     

Linkage disequilibrium between the FES, D15S127, and BLM loci in Ashkenazi Jews with Bloom syndrome.

Bloom syndrome (BS) is more common in the Ashkenazi Jewish than in any other population. Approximately 1 in 110 Ashkenazi Jews carries blm, the BS mutation. The locus mutated in BS, BLM, maps to chromosome subband 15q26.1, tightly linked to the proto-oncogene FES. We have investigated the basis for the increased frequency of blm in the Ashkenazim by genotyping polymorphic microsatellite loci tightly linked to BLM in affected and unaffected individuals from Ashkenazi Jewish and non-Ashkenazi populations. A striking association of the C3 allele at FES with blm (delta = .422; p = 5.52 x 10(-7)) and of the 145-bp and 147-bp alleles at D15S127 with blm (delta = .392 and delta = .483, respectively; p = 2.8 x 10(-5) and p = 5.4 x 10(-7), respectively) was detected in Ashkenazi Jews with BS. This linkage disequilibrium constitutes strong support for a founder-effect hypothesis: the chromosome in the hypothetical founder who carried blm also carried the C3 allele at FES and either the 145-bp or the 147-bp allele at D15S127.     

Diel variability in catch rate of juvenile flatfish on two small nursery grounds (Port Erin Bay, Isle of Man and Porto Pirn Bay, Faial, Azores)

Variation in beach seine catches was examined in two juvenile flatfish populations (Port Erin, Isle of Man and Porto Pirn, Azores) to determine the importance of diel cycles while controlling for tidal rhythmicity. At Port Erin sampling was undertaken at each low water on consecutive days over a 2-week period in May/June and September 1991. There was no periodicity in the catches of plaice ( Pleuronectes platessa ) in May/June, but in September catches were higher at night. Other flatfish species ( Limanda limanda, Pleuronectes flesus, Scophthalmus maximus and S. rhombus ) sampled at Port Erin were nocturnal. At Porto Pirn, Azores, fish were sampled over 24 h each month from July 1989 to June 1990 and at each low water over a 2-week period in July 1991. The only flatfish species present was Bothuspodas , which had a diurnal pattern in catches over a 1-year period. Sampling at low water in July gave high catches at both midnight and midday.     

Field evaluation of a model of photothermal flowering responses in a world lentil collection

A model to predict flowering time in diverse lentil genotypes grown under widely different photothermal conditions was developed in controlled environments. The present study evaluated that model with a world germ plasm collection of 369 accessions using two field environments in Syria and two in Pakistan. Photoperiod alone accounted for 69% of the variance in 1/f, the reciprocal of time (d) from sowing to flower. In contrast, temperature alone did not account for a significant proportion of variation in flowering time due to the exposure of plants to supra-optimal temperatures in the late-sown Syrian trial. With the model mean pre-flowering values of photoperiod and temperature combined additively to account for 90.3% of the variance of 1/f over accessions. The correlation of field-derived estimates of temperature sensitivity of accessions to glass-house-derived estimates was significant at P = 0.05, but the equivalent correlation for estimates of photoperiodic sensitivity was higher at P < 0.01. Flowering in the field was better measured as time from sowing to 50% plants in flower rather than time to first bloom or its node number. Dissemination of the lentil crop following domestication in West Asia to the lower latitudes such as Ethiopia and India has depended on selection for intrinsic earliness and reduced sensitivity to photoperiod. Movement from West Asia to the higher latitudes accompanied by spring sowing has resulted in a modest reduction in photoperiod sensitivity and an increase in temperature sensitivity.     

Urea production and accumulation in the green toad, Bufo viridis

The toad, Bufo viridis , can live for several months without access to free water, absorbing soil-bound water down a water-potential gradient created, mainly, by accumulating urea in its body fluids. We investigated if the retention of urine was sufficient to account for the rate of accumulation or if an increased rate of urea production was needed in order to do so. The basal rate of urea production in unfed animals in the absence of osmotic stress was estimated by two methods; first, analysis of the bathing medium and, secondly, collection and analysis of urine at two-hourly intervals. This was then repeated with animals fed a weight-maintaining diet. Generally similar results were obtained by either method in both fed and unfed animals, although higher urea production rates were found in the former. Although it had been planned to apply the short interval method to toads with free access to water, the control condition for toads transferred to soil, it proved to be impracticable. Some animals did not bathe for almost a day, during which time minute quantities of urine were obtained. Larger volumes were only produced during or after bathing. Consequently, animals which were partially immersed in water were substituted as controls. Total urea content was determined in these and in toads after a week on soil. The calculated increase was compared to that which could be expected from urine retention. It was found that urea accumulated at more than twice the predicted rate. When rates of accumulation were calculated over longer periods, urine retention alone was sufficient to account for them within three weeks on soil, the usual period required for acclimation. We concluded that B. viridis increased its rate of urea production only for a short period, until a favourable water potential gradient was achieved.     

Presence of chromosomal mosaicism in abnormal preimplantation embryos detected by fluorescence in situ hybridisation

The extent of chromosomal mosaicism in human preimplantation embryos was examined using an improved procedure for the preparation and spreading of interphase nuclei for use in fluorescence in situ hybridisation, allowing the analysis of every nucleus within an embryo. One cell showed no hybridisation signals in only three of the 38 embryos that were included in this study, i.e. the hybridisation efficiency per successfully spread nucleus was 99% (197/200). Double-target in situ hybridisation analyses with X- and Y-chromosome-specific probes was performed to analyse nine embryos resulting from normal fertilisation, 22 polypronucleate embryos and seven cleavage-stage embryos where no (apronucleate) or only one pronucleus (monopronucleate) was observed. We also analysed autosomes 1 and 7 by double-target in situ hybridisation in the nuclei of two apronucleate, one monopronucleate and four polypronucleate embryos. All nine embryos that resulted from normal fertilisation were uniformly XY or XX. None of the apronucleate or monopronucleate embryos was haploid: three were diploid, one was triploid and three were mosaic. Fertilisation was detected by the presence of a Y-specific signal in four of these embryos. Of the polypronucleate embryos, two were diploid, two were triploid and 18 were mosaic for the sex chromosomes and/or autosomes 1 and 7. These results demonstrate that fertilisation sometimes occurs in monopronucleate embryos and that chromosomal mosaicism can be detected with high efficiency in apronucleate, monopronucleate and polypronucleate human embryos using fluorescence in situ hybridisation.     

The spatial variability of soil resources following long-term disturbance

The spatial distributions of selected soil properties in two adjacent sites in southwest Michigan were examined to evaluate the potential effects of chronic disturbance on resource heterogeneity. One site was a cultivated field that had been cleared, plowed, and cropped annually for decades prior to sampling while the other, uncultivated field was cleared of original forest in 1960 after which it was mown annually but never plowed or cropped. We took replicate samples from a 330-point unaligned grid across the sites for soil pH, gravimetric moisture, inorganic phosphorus, total carbon, and net nitrification and nitrogen mineralization potentials. Soils in the cultivated site contained less than half as much carbon as in the uncultivated site, but had higher levels of inorganic phosphorus and moisture, and higher soil pH. Potential net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates did not differ between sites. Geostatistical analysis showed that almost all properties examined were strongly autocorelated within each site; structural variance as a proportion of sample variance ranged from 30–95% for all properties, and for any given property differed little between sites. The distance over which this dependence was expressed, however, was for all properties but pH substantially less in the uncultivated site (7–26 m) as compared to the tilled site (48–108m), especially for total C and net nitrification and N mineralization. These results suggest that the spatial pattern and scale of soil variability can differ markedly among edaphically identical sites and that these differences can be related to disturbance history.     

Synthetic human beta-globin 5'HS2 constructs function as locus control regions only in multicopy transgene concatamers.

Transgenes linked to the beta-globin locus control region (LCR) are transcribed in a copy-dependent manner that is independent of the integration site. It has previously been shown that the LCR 5'HS2 region does not require its NF-E2 dimer binding site for LCR activity. In this paper we analyse synthetic 5'HS2 core constructs containing point mutations in the other factor binding sites 3' of the NF-E2 dimer site. The results show that 5'HS2 core is a partially active LCR that functions in a concatamer of at least two copies but not when present as a single copy in transgenic mice and that no single binding site within 5'HS2 is required for position-independent expression. In addition, the H-BP factor is identical to upstream stimulatory factor (USF) and full enhancement levels by 5'HS2 core in MEL cells require a combination of all the factor binding sites. We suggest that 5'HS2 cores in a concatamer interact with each other to establish an area of open chromatin and that this process may be the basis of LCR function.