Biology ofTrichogramma ostriniae (Hym.: trichogrammatidae) reared onOstrinia nubilalis (Lep.: pyralidae) and survey for additional hosts

Trichogramma ostriniae has been identified as a candidate for biological control ofOstrinia nubilalis. As little was known about the biology of this parasitoid when reared onO. nubilalis, we undertook experiments to quantify biological parameters important to mass-rearing and ase ofT. ostriniae. When reared continuously onO. nubilalis, femaleT. ostriniae on average lived 2.7 days and produced 24 progeny. Continuous access to honey resulted in a four-fold increase in longevity and fecundity and a significant increase in the percentage of females parasitizing eggs. Rates of fecundity and parasitism decreased with age of female. Likewise, emergence rates and percentage of female progeny decreased with age of parental female.T. ostriniae successfully parasitizedO. nubilalis eggs until the blackhead stage. Most parasitism of eggs and eclosion of adults occurred during the first half of photophase. Eggs of 13 Lepidopterans were parasitized byT. ostriniae. Eggs of the Noctuidae, Pyralidae, and Plutellidae experienced higher levels of parasitism than others tested.T. ostriniae appears to be similar to other species ofTrichogramma in several respects and does not possess any characteristics that limit its potential for mass rearing and use for augmentative biological control ofO. nubilalis.     

Fate of the anterior neural ridge and the morphogenesis of the xenopus forebrain

The fate of the anterior neural ridge was studied by following the relative movements of simultaneous spot applications of DiI and DiO from stage 15 through stage 45. These dye movements were mapped onto the neuroepithelium of the developing brain whose shape was gleaned from whole-mount in situs to neural cell adhesion molecule and dissections of the developing nervous system. The result is a model of the cell movements that drive the morphogenesis of the forebrain. The midanterior ridge moves inside and drops down along the most anterior wall of the neural tube. It then pushes forward a bit, rotates ventrally during forebrain flexing, and gives rise to the chiasmatic ridge and anterior hypothalamus. The midanterior plate drops, forming the floor of the forebrain ventricle, and, keeping its place behind the ridge, it gives rise to the posterior hypothalamus or infundibulum. The midlateral anterior ridge slides into the lateral anterior wall of the neural tube and stretches laterally into the optic stalk and retina, and then rotates into a ventral position. The lateral anterior ridge converges to the most anterior part of the dorsal midline during neural tube closure, then rotates anteriorly, and gives rise to telencephalic structures. Whole-mount bromodeoxyuridine labeling at these stages showed that cell division is widespread and relatively uniform throughout the brain during the late neurula and early tailbud stages, but that during late tailbud stages cell division becomes restricted to specific proliferative zones. We conclude that the early morphogenesis of the brain is carried out largely by choreographed cell movements and that later morphogenesis depends on spatially restricted patterns of cell division. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

植物定植图微机显示与管理系统

介绍了运用软件工程的方法和数据库技术研究开发的南京中山植物园植物定植图微机显示与管理系统。详细介绍了系统的目标,系统的实现,应用软件的研制及应用效果。     

新疆地区小麦白粉病菌寄主范围的研究

用小麦白粉病菌11个生理小种的混合菌种,对新疆地区的小麦近缘植物的7个属22个种的47份材料进行接种,除6份免疫外,其余均接种成功.用其中6个属19个种的29份小麦近缘植物产生的白粉病菌,对小麦回接,参试的29份材料全部回接成功.小麦白粉病菌对小麦近缘植物的寄生像在小麦上一样,有明显的寄生专化性.感病的小麦近缘植物的78.0%对小麦白粉病菌的感病性,随生育期增长而急剧下降.文中并对小麦白粉病中间寄主的作用进行了讨论.     

A genetic linkage map of Picea abies Karst., based on RAPD markers,as a tool in population genetics

Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst.) is a most important species among European forest trees for both economical and ecological reasons. However, this species has suffered from a lack of information on the genetic side due to the scarcity of linkage data. In this study we have used a population of 72 megagametophytes from a single tree in a natural Italian stand to produce a genetic linkage map by means of RAPD markers. Ninety-six random decamers used as primers yielded 185 polymorphic loci showing Mendelian inheritance. Analysis of the segregation by multipoint analysis allowed us to define 17 major linkage groups covering a total distance of 3584 cM, with an average spacing between markers of 22 cM. Possible uses of a genetic linkage map with respect to population ecology and genetics are discussed.     

Mapping of a Magnaporthe grisea locus affecting rice (Oryza sativa) cultivar specificity

Magnaporthe grisea causes rice blast, the most important fungal disease of rice. The segregation of genes controlling virulence of M. grisea on rice was studied to establish the genetic basis of cultivar specificity in this host-parasite interaction. Full-sib progeny and parent isolates Guy11 and 2539 of M. grisea were inoculated onto rice (Oryza sativa) cultivar CO39 and five near-isogenic lines (NILs) of CO39. Each NIL contained a different single gene affecting resistance to specific isolates of M. grisea. No differential interactions between NILs and progeny or parents were observed; parents and progeny pathogenic on CO39 were pathogenic on all five NILs. Segregation ratios of 101 full-sib progeny, 117 progeny from full-sib parents, and 109 backcross progeny, indicated a common single gene affecting pathogenicity on CO39 and the five NILs. A subset of the above 327 isolates (43 fullsib progeny, 37 progeny from full-sib parents, and 32 backcross progeny) were inoculated onto rice cultivar 51583; all were pathogenic, indicating that cultivar specificity to CO39 was segregating in this population of isolates. The locus controlling cultivar specificity, named avrCO39, was mapped to chromosome 1 using a subset of the progeny previously used to construct an RFLP map of M. grisea. The closest reported RFLP markers were 11.8 (estimated 260 kb) and 17.2 cM (estimated 380 kb) away and provide starting points on either side of the locus for a chromosome walk to clone the locus.     

RFLP mapping of partially sequenced leaf cDNA clones in maize

We report here the results of mapping a set of 92 leaf cDNA clones in maize. The ends of each of these cDNA clones have previously been partially sequenced, and the sequence comparison has revealed the putative function for 28 clones. It is expected that the RFLP map developed using these expressed sequence tags will be of great importance for future maize genome analysis, such as for PCR-based gene mapping or gene function identification.Contribution from the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station. Journal Series N. 12,019.     

A family of related sequences associated with (TTTAGGG)n repeats are located in the interstitial regions of wheat chromosomes

A family of related sequences associated with (TTTAGGG) _n repeats has been cloned from the wheat cultivar Chinese Spring. These sequences reveal a high level of polymorphism between wheat varieties when used as restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) probes. Although this family of sequences contains motifs homologous to the repeats in the telomeres of wheat, they are located at interstitial sites on wheat chromosomes.     

Host-associated fitness variation in a seed beetle (Coleoptera: Bruchidae): evidence for local adaptation to a poor quality host

The geographic distributions of many generalist herbivores differ from those of their host plants, such that they experience coarse-grained spatial variation in natural selection on characters influencing adaptation to host plants. Thus, populations differing in host use are expected to differ in their ability to survive and grow on these host plants. We examine host-associated variation in larval performance (survivorship, development time, and adult body weight) and oviposition preference, within and between two populations ofStator limbatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) that differ in the hosts available to them in nature. In one population,Acacia greggii (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae) andCercidium microphyllum (Fabaceae: Caesalpininoideae) are each abundant, while in the second population onlyC. floridum andC. microphyllum are present. In both populations, egg-to-adult survivorship was less than 50% onC. floridum, while survivorship was greater than 90% onA. greggii. Most of the mortality onC. floridum occurred as larvae were burrowing through the seed coat; very low mortality occurred during penetration of the seed coat ofA. greggii. Significant variation was present between populations, and among families (within populations), in survivorship and egg-to-adult development time onC. floridum; beetles restricted toCercidium in nature, without access toC. floridum, survived better and developed faster onC. floridum than beetles that had access toA. greggii. Large host effects on body size were detected for female offspring: females reared onA. greggii were larger than those reared onC. floridum, whereas male offspring wee approximately the same size regardless of rearing host. Trade-offs between performance onC. floridum andC. floridum were not detected in this experiment. Instead, our data indicate that development time and survivorship onC. floridum may be largely independent of development time and survivorship onA. greggii. Patterns of oviposition preference corresponded to the observed patterns of host suitability: in laboratory preference tests, beetles with access toA. greggii in nature tended to prefer this host more than beetles without access to this host in nature.