Inference of domestication history and differentiation between early‐ and late‐flowering varieties in pearl millet

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is a staple crop in Sahelian Africa. Farmers usually grow varieties with different cycle lengths and complementary functions in Sahelian agrosystems. Both the level of genetic differentiation of these varieties and the domestication history of pearl millet have been poorly studied. We investigated the neutral genetic diversity and population genetic structure of early‐ and late‐flowering domesticated and wild pearl millet populations using 18 microsatellite loci and 8 nucleotide sequences. Strikingly, early‐ and late‐flowering domesticated varieties were not differentiated over their whole distribution area, despite a clear difference in their isolation‐by‐distance pattern. Conversely, our data brought evidence for two well‐differentiated genetic pools in wild pearl millet, allowing us to test scenarios with different numbers and origins of domestication using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC). The ABC analysis showed the likely existence of asymmetric migration between wild and domesticated populations. The model choice procedure indicated that a single domestication from the eastern wild populations was the more likely scenario to explain the polymorphism patterns observed in cultivated pearl millet.     

Ni胁迫对不同基因型谷子幼苗生长及氮素代谢的影响

采用盆栽土培法,研究了不同浓度Ni2+(0、25、50、100、150、200 mg/kg)对4种基因型谷子(13-36、B-7、晋谷51号、晋谷52号)幼苗生长,Ni2+富集与转运能力,叶片中硝态氮、氨态氮、可溶性蛋白质、脯氨酸含量及氮代谢相关酶硝酸还原酶(NR)、谷氨酰胺合成酶(GS)、谷氨酸合酶(GOGAT)、谷氨酸脱氢酶(GDH)活性的影响。结果表明:Ni2+胁迫下,4种基因型谷子幼苗的根长、苗长、生物量随Ni2+浓度增加逐渐降低,体内Ni2+含量逐渐增加,与对照组差异显著(P0.05)。在所试浓度范围内,4种基因型谷子幼苗叶片中的硝态氮含量、NR、GS、GOGAT活性表现为低浓度(25—50mg/kg)增高和高浓度(50—200 mg/kg)降低,而GDH活性在Ni2+浓度为100mg/kg以上时下降,氨态氮含量在50—150 mg/kg处理组中为对照的1.14—3.02倍。不同浓度Ni2+处理后,4种基因型谷子幼苗叶片中的脯氨酸含量均有不同程度的提高,而可溶性蛋白质含量呈明显下降趋势。实验结果证明,Ni2+胁迫抑制了谷子幼苗对硝态氮的吸收,降低了叶片中NR、GS、GOGAT活性,影响了氨的同化作用,使谷子幼苗的氮素代谢发生紊乱,不同基因型谷子对Ni2+胁迫的毒性效应存在差异。4种基因型谷子对Ni2+的耐性顺序为13-36B-7晋谷51晋谷52。     

谷子光敏色素基因光周期、非生物胁迫响应特性及关键自然变异位点鉴定北大核心CSCD

比较分析光敏色素基因家族成员对光周期、非生物胁迫响应模式并鉴定其有利自然变异类型,为全面了解光敏色素基因家族在光周期调控谷子生长发育及应对非生物胁迫中的作用机制、开展关键性状的分子辅助选择奠定基础。文中利用RT-PCR技术从超晚熟谷子农家种‘毛粟’中克隆了3个光敏色素基因SiPHYA、SiPHYB和SiPHYC;在进行生物信息学分析后,利用荧光定量PCR技术研究了3个基因的光周期调控模式及对聚乙二醇(polyethylene glycol,PEG)模拟干旱、自然干旱、脱落酸(abscisic acid,ABA)、高温、Na Cl五种非生物胁迫的响应特性;最后检测这3个基因在160份谷子材料的突变位点,通过单倍型分析确定基因的功能效应。结果表明,获得了基因SiPHYA、SiPHYB和SiPHYC包含完整编码区的c DNA序列,长度分别为3 981、3 953、3 764 bp,其中基因SiPHYB和SiPHYC具有较近的进化关系。基因SiPHYA、SiPHYB和SiPHYC均受光周期调控,但光周期对SiPHYB、SiPHYC昼夜表达模式的影响要强于SiPHYA;短日照条件临近抽穗SiPHYA、SiPHYB表达水平显著低于长日照,暗示其在谷子长日照抑制抽穗中发挥作用。SiPHYB和SiPHYC共同响应PEG模拟干旱、自然干旱、ABA、高温4种胁迫;SiPHYA和SiPHYB以不同方式响应盐胁迫,SiPHYC没有参与谷子盐胁迫响应过程。基于160份谷子材料重测序数据发现基因SiPHYB高度保守,基因SiPHYA含有两个错义突变:单核苷酸多态性(single nucleotide polymorphism,SNP) 7 034 522;,SNP7 036 657;,导致延迟抽穗、增加株高。基因SiPHYC含有一个错义突变(SNP5 414 823;),导致短日照缩短抽穗期,长日照延长抽穗期,对株高、穗长的增加作用不受光温环境影响。光周期对基因SiPHYA、SiPHYB和SiPHYC具有不同的调控作用,除了盐胁迫,SiPHYB和SiPHYC共同响应多种非生物胁迫,相比参考基因型,SiPHYA、SiPHYC突变延迟抽穗、增加株高和穗长。     

水稻遗存在陕西华县东阳遗址的发现与探讨

稻作的起源与传播一直是学术界关注的热点,然而水稻何时传入黄河中游并扩散至关中地区,则是需要进一步探讨的问题。华县东阳遗址是关中地区仰韶早中期的过渡性遗存(ca. 5900-5600 cal. BP)。本文借助植硅体分析,并结合炭化植物遗存,探讨了东阳遗址水稻的栽培和利用情况,并尝试分析水稻在关中地区出现的动因及传播过程。研究显示,东阳先民在以种植粟黍为主的同时,已经开始少量的栽培水稻,稻粟兼作的种植模式在此时出现。本研究发现的东阳遗址水稻遗存是目前关中地区最早的水稻遗存,指示了水稻至少在距今5800年时传入关中地区。仰韶晚期至龙山早期关中稻作获得较大发展,至龙山晚期则鲜少发现。该研究刷新了中国北方半干旱-半湿润区最早的水稻遗存记录,为进一步了解稻作起源与传播提供了基础数据。     

Beyond the cross and the crescent: plural identities and the Copts in contemporary Egypt

This paper examines the slow but steady transformation in how Coptic identity has been articulated and expressed since the mid-1990s. In the past, Copts were careful not to challenge a particular narrative of national unity, which formally included Copts in the Egyptian nation (‘religion is for God, and the nation is for all’), but which in practice imposed a kind of public invisibility on them. Today, a growing number of activists are seeking a public identity for Copts, a form of the ‘politics of recognition’ and the ‘right to difference’. This is a controversial approach within the Coptic community, as well as between the Copts and the Muslim majority and the Egyptian state, and to some extent has required new vehicles for Coptic self-organization and expression, outside the older ‘neo-millet’ institutions that had governed Coptic life for decades.     

Risk of Soil Recontamination Due to Using Eleusine coracana and Panicum maximum Straw After Phytoremediation of Picloram

This study aimed to evaluate the herbicidal activity of picloram on the biomass of the remediation plants Eleusine coracana and Panicum maximum after cultivation in a soil contaminated with this herbicide. These species were grown in three soils, differentiated based on texture (clayish, middle, and sandy, with 460, 250, and 40 g kg^–1 of the clay, respectively), previously contaminated with picloram (0, 80, and 160 g ha^–1). After 90 days, the plants were harvested and an extract was produced by maceration of leaves and stems of these plants. It was applied to pots containing washed sand, comprising a bioassay in a growth chamber using soybean as a bioindicator for picloram. Soil and plant samples were analyzed by HPLC. The results showed the presence of picloram or metabolites with herbicidal activity in the shoots of E. coracana and P. maximum at phytotoxic levels with regard to soybean plants, indicating that they work only as phytoextractors and that the presence of straw on the soil surface can promote recontamination within the area. It is not recommended to cultivate species susceptible to picloram in areas where it was reported remediation by E. indica and P. maximum and still present residues of these species.     

谷子抗倒伏性和株高、穗部性状的相关性研究

倒伏是限制作物产量提高的重要因素,而株高、穗长、穗粗、穗粒重等性状与产量密切相关,因此弄清抗倒伏性与这些性状的关系,对开展抗倒伏高产育种具有重要意义。本研究系统调查了41份谷子材料倒伏指数、株高、穗长、穗粗、穗码数、码粒数、穗粒重7个性状,结果表明：所有调查的7个性状指标在41份谷子材料中存在显著差异,除穗粗变异幅度较小,其余6个性状指标均存在丰富的遗传变异。相关性分析表明谷子基部第一、第二、第三节倒伏指数均与株高呈一定负相关,但未达到显著水平,与穗长、穗码数、码粒数、穗粒重均呈一定正相关,但只有第二节倒伏指数与穗长间的相关达到了显著水平（P<0.05）。倒伏指数与穗粗的相关性较复杂,第一、第三节倒伏指数与穗粗呈负相关,而第二节倒伏指数与穗粗呈正相关,但都未达到显著水平。株高与穗长、穗粗、穗码数、穗粒重4个产量关键性状间呈显著（P<0.05）或极显著（P<0.01）正相关;穗长、穗粗、穗码数、码粒数、穗粒重5个性状间呈极显著正相关（P<0.01）。研究结果认为在80 cm范围内,增加株高不会减弱谷子的抗倒伏性,谷子倒第二节抗倒伏性对整株植株抗倒伏性起到关键作用,应在抗倒伏高产育种中加以重视。     

温室条件下增强UV-B辐射对小麦、谷子大小等级性和异速生长的影响

通过温室盆栽试验,研究了小麦与谷子种群在增强UV—B辐射条件下个体大小等级性与异速生长的变化模式。结果如下：①UV—B辐射处理组与对照组相比株高和生物量极显著下降（P〈0．01）,并且其株高和生物量的频率分布均向左偏移。②增强的UV—B辐射使小麦、谷子株高和各部位生物量的Gini系数极显著增大（P〈0．001）。③在增强UV-B辐射下,小麦和谷子株高．生物量之间仍表现为“简单异速生长关系”（P〈0．05）,但株高一生物量之间这种关系发生较大的偏离。结果表明增强UV—B辐射对不同大小的植物个体影响是不均匀的。     

The occurrence and identification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Setaria italica</Emphasis> (L.) P. Beauv. (foxtail millet) grains from the Chengtoushan site (ca. 5800 cal B.P.) in central China,with reference to the domestication centre in Asia

Archaeobotanical remains of Setaria grains and chaff were found at the Chengtoushan site in south-central China (ca. 5800 cal b.p.). Grain shape was determined, using length to breadth ratios, and morphological variation in the upper lemma of modern domesticated and wild Setaria species were examined using scanning electron microscopy as a basis for identifying archaeobotanical remains. Grains of S. viridis, S. yunnanensis, and S.×pycnocoma are slender, whereas S. italica, S. italica var. germinica, S. lutescenes, S. faberi, S. glauca, S. pallidefusca and S. intermedia are round in shape. The papillae distributed on the upper lemma of S. italica are small (8–15 μm) with a non-ridged base, while other Setaria species have large papillae (15–20 μm) with a widely ridged base. The remains of the Setaria from the Neolithic layers at Chengtoushan included S. italica, based on these identification characters. These new finds of foxtail millet are the earliest discoveries from the Yangtze River basin of southern China and are also the earliest evidence for co-cultivation of foxtail millet with rice. The implications of these findings for understanding foxtail millet domestication centres are discussed.