Farm‐scale dispersal of Bactericera cockerelli in potato crops measured using Bt mark‐capture techniques

Natural populations of Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc) (Hemiptera: Triozidae), also known as tomato/potato psyllid, were marked in potato [Solanum tuberosum L. (Solanaceae)] crops using Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) to investigate the impact of dispersal on crop infestation and management of potential insecticide resistance in New Zealand. The technique was adapted from previous studies that used conventional spray applications of Bt to mark Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), and identified marked individuals with selective microbiological assays and identification of characteristic crystal inclusions. Initially, marking rates of B. cockerelli were improved by using ultra‐low volume applications of undiluted Bt, but this result was not consistent. Several other pests and natural enemies were also marked. In mark‐capture studies, marked B. cockerelli were captured over 3 days on yellow sticky traps in small trap plots of potatoes at 60, 120, 180, 250, and 350 m from the sprayed crop. Bactericera cockerelli flight activity occurred throughout daylight hours with evidence of bimodal diurnal peaks. Significantly greater numbers of B. cockerelli were captured in downwind traps. The combined dispersal curve derived from two mark‐capture experiments estimated a mean dispersal distance for B. cockerelli of 100 m in 3 days and indicated that 10% of the population dispersed further than ca. 250 m. Over the period of a growing season, this level of dispersal suggests that B. cockerelli can disperse throughout a vegetable‐growing region, with implications for crop infestation and management of potential insecticide resistance.     

甜瓜抗蔓枯病基因Gsb-3的ISSR分子标记

以甜瓜抗病资源PI511890和感病自交系‘白皮脆’及其F1、BC1P1、BC1P2、F2群体为材料,苗期接种蔓枯病菌(Did ymella bryoniae)进行遗传分析.结果表明:(1)对甜瓜苗期蔓枯病菌接种鉴定结果显示,抗源PI511890的抗病基因Gsb-3由显性单基因控制.(2)利用集团分离分析及ISSR分析技术,引物ISSR-100扩增出的多态性条带与Gsb-3表现连锁关系,该多态性片段大小为900 bp.(3)统计ISSR-100在182个F2单株上的多态性,并用JoinMap 4.0软件分析结果显示,ISSR-100与Gsb-3遗传连锁距离为8.3 cM,定名为ISSR-100900.研究认为,ISSR100900可作为甜瓜抗蔓枯病分子育种的备选分子标记.     

Increased Activity of Liver Xanthine Oxidase in Rats from Increasing Dietary Calcium

A new binary vector, pZT4B, containing the UDP-N-acetylglucosamine: dolichol phosphate N-acetylglucosamine-1-P transferase (GPT) gene as a selection marker, was constructed. The green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene was inserted into pZT4B, and the resulting plasmid was used in the transformation of Arabidopsis. All of six independent transformants obtained after selection with 0.3 mg/l tunicamycin contained the transgene and showed GFP fluorescence.     

Recent Advances in Structural Research on Ether Lipids from Archaea Including Comparative and Physiological Aspects

A great number of novel and unique chemical structures of archaeal polar lipids have been reported. Since 1993, when those lipids were reviewed in several review articles, a variety of core lipids and lipids with unique polar groups have been reported successively. We summarize new lipid structures from archaea elucidated after 1993. In addition to lipids from intact archaeal cells, more diverse structures of archaea-related lipids found in environmental samples are also reviewed. These lipids are assumed to be lipids from unidentified or ancient archaea or related organisms. In the second part of this paper, taxonomic and ecological aspects are discussed. Another aspect of archaeal lipid study has to do with its physiological significance, particularly the phase behavior and permeability of archaeal lipid membranes in relation to the thermophily of many archaea. In the last part of this review we discuss this problem.     

遗传标记和免疫学方法在实验动物质量控制中的应用

生命科学发展迅速,实验动物级别逐渐提高,在保证生物制品实验结果可靠性前提下,完善动物由低级别向高级别过渡显得十分必要,最终目的达到实验动物标准化和动物实验规范化。对实验动物质量控制中的遗传标记和免疫学方法进行了综述。     

Evaluating the influence of selection markers on obtaining selected pools and stable cell lines in human cells

Selection markers are common genetic elements used in recombinant cell line development. While several selection systems exist for use in mammalian cell lines, no previous study has comprehensively evaluated their performance in the isolation of recombinant populations and cell lines. Here we examine four antibiotics, hygromycin B, neomycin, puromycin, and Zeocin™, and their corresponding selector genes, using a green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter in two model cell lines, HT1080 and HEK293. We identify Zeocin™ as the best selection agent for cell line development in human cells. In comparison to the other selection systems, Zeocin™ is able to identify populations with higher fluorescence levels, which in turn leads to the isolation of better clonal populations and less false positives. Furthermore, Zeocin™-resistant populations exhibit better transgene stability in the absence of selection pressure compared to other selection agents. All isolated Zeocin™-resistant clones, regardless of cell type, exhibited GFP expression. By comparison, only 79% of hygromycin B-resistant, 47% of neomycin-resistant, and 14% of puromycin-resistant clones expressed GFP. Based on these results, we rank Zeocin™ > hygromycin B ∼ puromycin > neomycin for cell line development in human cells. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that selection marker choice does indeed impact cell line development.     

Partial genotyping at polymorphic markers can improve heritability estimates in sibling groups

Accurate estimates of heritability () are necessary to assess adaptive responses of populations and evolution of fitness‐related traits in changing environments. For plants, estimates generally rely on maternal progeny designs, assuming that offspring are either half‐sibs or unrelated. However, plant mating systems often depart from half‐sib assumptions, this can bias estimates. Here, we investigate how to accurately estimate in nonmodel species through the analysis of sibling designs with a moderate genotyping effort. We performed simulations to investigate how microsatellite marker information available for only a subset of offspring can improve estimates based on maternal progeny designs in the presence of nonrandom mating, inbreeding in the parental population or maternal effects. We compared the basic family method, considering or not adjustments based on average relatedness coefficients, and methods based on the animal model. The animal model was used with average relatedness information, or with hybrid relatedness information: associating one‐generation pedigree and family assumptions, or associating one‐generation pedigree and average relatedness coefficients. Our results highlighted that methods using marker‐based relatedness coefficients performed as well as pedigree‐based methods in the presence of nonrandom mating (i.e. unequal male reproductive contributions, selfing), offering promising prospects to investigate in situ heritabilities in natural populations. In the presence of maternal effects, only the use of pairwise relatednesses through pedigree information improved the accuracy of estimates. In that case, the amount of father‐related offspring in the sibling design is the most critical. Overall, we showed that the method using both one‐generation pedigree and average relatedness coefficients was the most robust to various ecological scenarios.     

北京市华北落叶松优树群体遗传多样性分析

利用SSR分子标记对北京市华北落叶松人工林5个群体的220棵优树进行遗传多样性和群体结构分析。20对SSR引物共检测到81个等位基因,每个位点等位基因数2~8个不等,平均4.05个。群体观测和期望杂合度平均值分别为0.429和0.440,Shannon信息指数和多态性信息含量分别为0.756和0.380。5个群体中,百花山和云蒙山遗传多样性水平最高,雾灵山遗传多样性水平最低。AMOVA分析结果显示,2.65%的遗传变异来自于群体间,剩余97.35%的遗传变异来自于群体内。遗传分化系数仅为0.023,表明北京市华北落叶松优树群体遗传分化程度很低。基于Nei's遗传距离可以将5个群体划分为3个类群,四海镇和雾灵山归为第Ⅰ类,松山归为第Ⅱ类,百花山和云蒙山归为第Ⅲ类。STRUCTURE群体结构分析结果与上述聚类分析结果大体一致。以上研究为华北落叶松人工林遗传多样性评价和优良种质资源收集、保护和利用提供理论依据。     

High‐throughput sequencing and graph‐based cluster analysis facilitate microsatellite development from a highly complex genome

Despite recent advances in high‐throughput sequencing, difficulties are often encountered when developing microsatellites for species with large and complex genomes. This probably reflects the close association in many species of microsatellites with cryptic repetitive elements. We therefore developed a novel approach for isolating polymorphic microsatellites from the club‐legged grasshopper (Gomphocerus sibiricus), an emerging quantitative genetic and behavioral model system. Whole genome shotgun Illumina MiSeq sequencing was used to generate over three million 300 bp paired‐end reads, of which 67.75% were grouped into 40,548 clusters within RepeatExplorer. Annotations of the top 468 clusters, which represent 60.5% of the reads, revealed homology to satellite DNA and a variety of transposable elements. Evaluating 96 primer pairs in eight wild‐caught individuals, we found that primers mined from singleton reads were six times more likely to amplify a single polymorphic microsatellite locus than primers mined from clusters. Our study provides experimental evidence in support of the notion that microsatellites associated with repetitive elements are less likely to successfully amplify. It also reveals how advances in high‐throughput sequencing and graph‐based repetitive DNA analysis can be leveraged to isolate polymorphic microsatellites from complex genomes.