Levels of genetic diversity at different stages of the domestication cycle of interior spruce in British Columbia

Concerns over the reductionist nature of the domestication of forest-tree species focus on the possibility of potential genetic erosion during this process. To address these concerns, genetic diversity assessments in a breeding zone the Province of British Columbia “interior” spruce (Picea glauca×engelmanni) program was conducted using allozyme markers. Genetic-variation comparisons were made between natural and production (seed orchard) populations as well as seed and seedling crops produced from the same breeding zone’s seed orchard. The natural population sample consisted of a total of 360 trees representing three stands within each of three watersheds present in the Shuswap-Adams low-elevation zone of interior British Columbia. Small amounts of genetic differentiation were observed among the nine natural populations (4%) and this was attributable to extensive gene flow Consequently, the sum of these nine populations was considered as a baseline for the genetic variation present in the breeding zone. The comparisons between the seed orchard and the breeding zone produced a similar percentage of polymorphic loci while the expected hetrozygosity (0.207 vs 0.210) and the average number of alleles per locus (2.7 vs 2.4) were slightly lower in the seed orchard. A total of seven natural populations’ rare alleles were not present in the orchard population, while one allele was unique to the orchard. The %P increased to 70.6% in the seedlot, but dropped to the natural populations level (64.7%) in the plantation. The observed increase in %P was a result of pollen contamination in the orchard. It is suspected that the reduction in the plantation was caused by an unintentional selection in the nursery. Simulated roguing in the orchard did not drastically reduce even if up to 50% of the orchard’s clones were rogued. However, roguing was associated with a reduction in the average number of alleles per locus (i.e., sampling effect). Received: 2 January 1996 / Accepted: 24 May 1996     

The nature of inbreeding in a seed orchard of Douglas fir as shown by an efficient multilocus model

Summary The amounts of self-fertilization versus consanguineous matings (as measured by effective selfing) was estimated in a seed orchard of Douglas-fir, using progeny array data at six allozyme loci. The orchard is family structured, consisting several grafts (clones) and/or open-pollinated (o-p) progeny from each of several plus-trees. Population-wide selfing rates were found to be 7% for the o-p trees and 2% for the cloned trees. Estimates of mating system parameters for individual trees showed this difference for average outcrossing rate t (1) still largely remained when outcrossingpollen gene frequency p was not allowed to vary among trees and (2) disappeared when p was allowed to vary among trees. Under this joint t and p estimation, o-p trees showed both significant variation of t (based upon a one-way ANOVA grouped by common plus-tree) and significant regressions of p on ovule genotype (indicative of consanguineous matings); cloned trees showed neither. This higher rate of consanguineous mating for o-p trees might be explained by the larger and more variable size of o-p families in the orchard. Estimates of outcrossing rate t and outcrossingpollen gene frequency p were based upon a multilocus model which makes full use of the information in the data. The increased information it gives over observed outcross models is equivalent to adding 30–50% more loci, and it gives enough degrees of freedom to jointly estimate t and p for individual trees (individual progeny arrays) under certain conditions. In addition, inclusion of megagametophyte data nearly doubles the information about the mating system of individual trees.     

Variation in the mating system of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis): evidence for partial assortative mating

Five allozyme polymorphisms were used to analyze the mating system in a Sitka spruce seed orchard in Saanichton, British Columbia. Allelic frequencies differed between the pollen and maternal pools at three of the five loci, with alleles rare in the maternal pool being even rarer in the effective pollen pool. Minor differences in pollen allelic frequencies were observed in the upper vs. lower crown. The multilocus outcrossing rate of the upper crown (t_m = 0.909) exceeded that of the lower crown (t_m = 0.764). Single-locus estimates of the outcrossing rate were significantly heterogeneous, with the lowest estimate of outcrossing, t = 0.773, observed for PGM-2 locus. Analyses of the mating system for the three maternal PGM-2 genotypes revealed heterogeneous pollen allelic frequencies and heterogeneous outcrossing rates, possibly due to assortative mating at this locus.     

Genetic diversity in a seed production population vs. natural populations of Sitka Spruce

Isozyme analysis was applied to estimate the level of variation and the genetic structure of a seed-production population (i.e., seed orchard) and 10 range-wide natural populations of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.). Gene diversity and heterozygosity estimates were comparatively high in both the seed orchard and the natural populations studied. The seed orchard population showed a significantly higher number of alleles per locus and percentage of polymorphic loci. Though not significant, mean heterozygosity of the seed orchard was higher than that observed for all natural populations. Genetic distance analysis indicated that the seed-orchard population was genetically similar to three natural populations from which the parent trees were selected. Parent trees sampling breadth has been identified as the major cause for the observed increased level. The impact of recurrent selection and seed orchard biology and management on maintaining the genetic diversity is discussed.     

Genomic insights into selection for heterozygous alleles and woody traits in Populus tomentosa

Heterozygous alleles are widespread in outcrossing and clonally propagated woody plants. The variation in heterozygosity that underlies population adaptive evolution and phenotypic variation, however, remains largely unknown. Here, we describe a de novo chromosome-level genome assembly of Populus tomentosa, an economic and ecologically important native tree in northern China. By resequencing 302 natural accessions, we determined that the South subpopulation (Pop_S) encompasses the ancestral strains of P. tomentosa, while the Northwest subpopulation (Pop_NW) and Northeast subpopulation (Pop_NE) experienced different selection pressures during population evolution, resulting in significant population differentiation and a decrease in the extent of heterozygosity. Analysis of heterozygous selective sweep regions (HSSR) suggested that selection for lower heterozygosity contributed to the local adaptation of P. tomentosa by dwindling gene expression and genetic load in the Pop_NW and Pop_NE subpopulations. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) revealed that 88 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 63 genes are associated with nine wood composition traits. Among them, the selection for the homozygous AA allele in PtoARF8 is associated with reductions in cellulose and hemicellulose contents by attenuating PtoARF8 expression, and the increase in lignin content is attributable to the selection for decreases in exon heterozygosity in PtoLOX3 during adaptive evolution of natural populations. This study provides novel insights into allelic variations in heterozygosity associated with adaptive evolution of P. tomentosa in response to the local environment and identifies a series of key genes for wood component traits, thereby facilitating genomic-based breeding of important traits in perennial woody plants.     

粤港两地田间发现夜蛾黑卵蜂与螟黄赤眼蜂寄生草地贪夜蛾

草地贪夜蛾是新入侵我国的重大危险性害虫,了解野外条件下天敌的发生情况对于挖掘和利用本地天敌资源开展生物防治有重要意义。2019年4月至7月,定期在广州及香港地区的玉米田中开展草地贪夜蛾发生情况调查时,发现野外两种卵寄生蜂寄生草地贪夜蛾。通过分子生物学方法鉴定为夜蛾黑卵蜂和螟黄赤眼蜂,并分别建立实验种群,为人工扩繁及田间应用打下基础,为利用本地天敌开展草地贪夜蛾生物防治提供重要参考。     

特定人群超重及肥胖与相关疾病患病分析

目的：分析特定人群超重患病率,以及超重与高血压、糖尿病、血脂异常、脂肪肝等相关疾病的关系,为及早预防慢性非传染性疾病奠定基础。方法：对平房地区采取长效避孕措施的603名户籍农村已婚育龄妇女进行健康体检,按体重指数（BMI）分为正常组、超重组和肥胖组,比较各组间高血压、高血糖、高血脂、脂肪肝等相关疾病检出率的差异。结果：特定人群超重发病率及超重相关疾病检出率的差异均具有统计学意义（P〈0．01）。结论：平房地区特定人群超重及肥胖发病率未明显高于国内平均水平及全市水平。但超重及肥胖与高血压、糖尿病、血脂异常、脂肪肝等疾病存在较大相关关系,为了进一步降低心脑血管高危因素和死亡率。需采取早期、有效的措施控制超重和肥胖倾向。     

Unravelling mitochondrial retrograde regulation in the abiotic stress induction of rice ALTERNATIVE OXIDASE 1 genes

Mitochondrial retrograde regulation (MRR) is the transduction of mitochondrial signals to mediate nuclear gene expression. It is not clear whether MRR is a common regulation mechanism in plant abiotic stress response. In this study, we analysed the early abiotic stress response of the rice OsAOX1 genes, and the induction of OsAOX1a and OsAOX1b (OsAOX1a/b) was selected as a working model for the stress‐induced MRR studies. We found that the induction mediated by the superoxide ion (O_2·^‐)‐generating chemical methyl viologen was stronger than that of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The addition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers demonstrated that the stress induction was reduced by eliminating O_2·^‐. Furthermore, the stress induction did not rely on chloroplast‐ or cytosol‐derived O_2·^‐. Next, we generated transgenic plants overexpressing the superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene at different subcellular locations. The results suggest that only the mitochondrial SOD, OsMSD, attenuated the stress induction of OsAOX1a/b specifically. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that abiotic stress initiates the MRR on OsAOX1a/b and that mitochondrial O_2·^– is involved in the process.     

新生儿肺炎的临床表现及x线特征的探讨

目的：探讨新生儿肺炎（neonatal pneumonia,NP）的临床表现及x线特征,以提高对NP的临床认识。方法：选择2011年6月至2012年10月在我院确诊为NP的新生儿73例,均经x线检查,回顾性分析患儿的临床资料,总结并分析患儿的临床表现及x线特征。结果：NP患儿的临床症状主要表现为呼吸急促、发绀、咳嗽、吐沫、呛奶和三凹征,部分患儿体温正常;NP的x线影像表现具有多样性,以不同程度的支气管肺炎多见,主要表现为肺纹理增多增密,局部肺野透光度降低或透光度增强。结论：NP患儿的临床症状以呼吸急促、发绀、咳嗽、吐沫、呛奶和三凹征为主,x线检查可为NP的早期诊断提供重要的临床信息,临床医师应根据NP患儿的x线影像的多样性,密切结合患儿的临床症状,做出综合分析。     

异丙酚和氯胺酮对大鼠离体缺血再灌注损伤心肌脂质过氧化的影响

目的：比较异丙酚和氯胺酮对大鼠离体缺血再灌注损伤心肌脂质过氧化的影响。方法：成年Wistar大鼠18只,雌雄不拘。体重240-300g,随机分为3组（T1=6）：心肌缺血再灌注损伤组（I／R组）,异丙酚组（P组）,氯胺酮组（K组）。采用Langendorff灌装置建立离体心脏缺血再灌注模型,将心脏连接至Langendorff逆灌装置,3组均以K-H液平衡灌注10min后,再分别以K．H液、含30μmol/L。异丙酚的K-H液、含10μmol-L-1氯胺酮的K-H液灌注10min,然后全心停灌25min,再分别以停灌前相同的灌注液恢复灌注30min。留取冠脉流出液测定总LDH活性;灌注末取左室心肌组织置于2．5％的戊二醛固定,观察心肌的超微结构;心尖部心肌组织留待检测8-异前列腺素和SOD活性。结果：与I／R组比较,P组8-异前列腺素含量降低,SOD活性升高,LDH活性降低（P〈0．05）;K组8-异前列腺素含量,SOD及LDH活性均无统计学意义（P〉0．05）;与P组比较,K组8-异前列腺素含量升高,SOD及LDH活性降低（P〈0．05）;P组心肌超微结构损伤较m组和K组也明显改善。结论：异丙酚可显著减轻心肌缺血再灌注损伤大鼠的脂质过氧化和心肌缺血再灌注损伤,而氯胺酮没有抗心肌缺血再灌注损伤心肌脂质过氧化的作用。