Identification of QTL and Qualitative Trait Loci for Agronomic Traits Using SNP Markers in the Adzuki Bean.

PubMed

Li, Yuan; Yang, Kai; Yang, Wei; Chu, Liwei; Chen, Chunhai; Zhao, Bo; Li, Yisong; Jian, Jianbo; Yin, Zhichao; Wang, Tianqi; Wan, Ping

2017-01-01

The adzuki bean ( Vigna angularis ) is an important grain legume. Fine mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and qualitative trait genes plays an important role in gene cloning, molecular-marker-assisted selection (MAS), and trait improvement. However, the genetic control of agronomic traits in the adzuki bean remains poorly understood. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are invaluable in the construction of high-density genetic maps. We mapped 26 agronomic QTLs and five qualitative trait genes related to pigmentation using 1,571 polymorphic SNP markers from the adzuki bean genome via restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing of 150 members of an F 2 population derived from a cross between cultivated and wild adzuki beans. We mapped 11 QTLs for flowering time and pod maturity on chromosomes 4, 7, and 10. Six 100-seed weight (SD100WT) QTLs were detected. Two major flowering time QTLs were located on chromosome 4, firstly VaFld4.1 (PEVs 71.3%), co-segregating with SNP marker s690-144110, and VaFld4.2 (PEVs 67.6%) at a 0.974 cM genetic distance from the SNP marker s165-116310. Three QTLs for seed number per pod ( Snp3.1, Snp3.2 , and Snp4.1 ) were mapped on chromosomes 3 and 4. One QTL VaSdt4.1 of seed thickness (SDT) and three QTLs for branch number on the main stem were detected on chromosome 4. QTLs for maximum leaf width (LFMW) and stem internode length were mapped to chromosomes 2 and 9, respectively. Trait genes controlling the color of the seed coat, pod, stem and flower were mapped to chromosomes 3 and 1. Three candidate genes, VaAGL, VaPhyE , and VaAP2 , were identified for flowering time and pod maturity. VaAGL encodes an agamous-like MADS-box protein of 379 amino acids. VaPhyE encodes a phytochrome E protein of 1,121 amino acids. Four phytochrome genes ( VaPhyA1, VaPhyA2, VaPhyB , and VaPhyE ) were identified in the adzuki bean genome. We found candidate genes VaAP2/ERF.81 and VaAP2/ERF.82 of SD100WT, VaAP2-s4 of SDT, and VaAP2/ERF.86 of LFMW. A

Combining ability of S3 progenies for key agronomic traits in popcorn: comparison of testers in top-crosses.

PubMed

de Lima, V J; do Amaral Junior, A T; Kamphorst, S H; Pena, G F; Leite, J T; Schmitt, K F M; Vittorazzi, C; de Almeida Filho, J E; Mora, F

2016-12-02

The successful development of hybrid cultivars depends on the reliability of estimated combining ability of the parent lines. The objectives of this study were to assess the combining ability of partially inbred S 3 families of popcorn derived from the open-pollinated variety UENF 14, via top-crosses with four testers, and to compare the testers for their ability to discriminate the S 3 progenies. The experiment was conducted in the 2015/2016 crop season, in an incomplete-block (Lattice) design with three replications. The following agronomic traits were evaluated: average plant height, grain yield (GY), popping expansion (PE), and expanded popcorn volume per hectare. The top-cross hybrid, originating from the BRS-Angela vs S 3 progeny 10 combination, was indicated as promising, showing high values for specific combining ability for GY and PE. For the S 3 progenies that showed high and positive GCA values for GY and PE, the continuity of the breeding program is recommended, with the advance of self-pollination generations. Fasoulas' differentiation index discriminated the BRS-Angela tester as the most suitable for identifying the superior progenies.

Investigation of the Genetic Diversity and Quantitative Trait Loci Accounting for Important Agronomic and Seed Quality Traits in Brassica carinata

PubMed Central

Zhang, Wenshan; Hu, Dandan; Raman, Rosy; Guo, Shaomin; Wei, Zili; Shen, Xueqi; Meng, Jinling; Raman, Harsh; Zou, Jun

2017-01-01

Brassica carinata (BBCC) is an allotetraploid in Brassicas with unique alleles for agronomic traits and has huge potential as source for biodiesel production. To investigate the genome-wide molecular diversity, population structure and linkage disequilibrium (LD) pattern in this species, we genotyped a panel of 81 accessions of B. carinata with genotyping by sequencing approach DArTseq, generating a total of 54,510 polymorphic markers. Two subpopulations were exhibited in the B. carinata accessions. The average distance of LD decay (r2 = 0.1) in B subgenome (0.25 Mb) was shorter than that of C subgenome (0.40 Mb). Genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) identified a total of seven markers significantly associated with five seed quality traits in two experiments. To further identify the quantitative trait loci (QTL) for important agronomic and seed quality traits, we phenotyped a doubled haploid (DH) mapping population derived from the “YW” cross between two parents (Y-BcDH64 and W-BcDH76) representing from the two subpopulations. The YW DH population and its parents were grown in three contrasting environments; spring (Hezheng and Xining, China), semi-winter (Wuhan, China), and spring (Wagga Wagga, Australia) across 5 years for QTL mapping. Genetic bases of phenotypic variation in seed yield and its seven related traits, and six seed quality traits were determined. A total of 282 consensus QTL accounting for these traits were identified including nine major QTL for flowering time, oleic acid, linolenic acid, pod number of main inflorescence, and seed weight. Of these, 109 and 134 QTL were specific to spring and semi-winter environment, respectively, while 39 consensus QTL were identified in both contrasting environments. Two QTL identified for linolenic acid (B3) and erucic acid (C7) were validated in the diverse lines used for GWAS. A total of 25 QTL accounting for flowering time, erucic acid, and oleic acid were aligned to the homologous QTL or candidate gene

Population structure and genetic basis of the agronomic traits of upland cotton in China revealed by a genome-wide association study using high-density SNPs.

PubMed

Huang, Cong; Nie, Xinhui; Shen, Chao; You, Chunyuan; Li, Wu; Zhao, Wenxia; Zhang, Xianlong; Lin, Zhongxu

2017-11-01

Gossypium hirsutum L. represents the largest source of textile fibre, and China is one of the largest cotton-producing and cotton-consuming countries in the world. To investigate the genetic architecture of the agronomic traits of upland cotton in China, a diverse and nationwide population containing 503 G. hirsutum accessions was collected for a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on 16 agronomic traits. The accessions were planted in four places from 2012 to 2013 for phenotyping. The CottonSNP63K array and a published high-density map based on this array were used for genotyping. The 503 G. hirsutum accessions were divided into three subpopulations based on 11 975 quantified polymorphic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). By comparing the genetic structure and phenotypic variation among three genetic subpopulations, seven geographic distributions and four breeding periods, we found that geographic distribution and breeding period were not the determinants of genetic structure. In addition, no obvious phenotypic differentiations were found among the three subpopulations, even though they had different genetic backgrounds. A total of 324 SNPs and 160 candidate quantitative trait loci (QTL) regions were identified as significantly associated with the 16 agronomic traits. A network was established for multieffects in QTLs and interassociations among traits. Thirty-eight associated regions had pleiotropic effects controlling more than one trait. One candidate gene, Gh_D08G2376, was speculated to control the lint percentage (LP). This GWAS is the first report using high-resolution SNPs in upland cotton in China to comprehensively investigate agronomic traits, and it provides a fundamental resource for cotton genetic research and breeding. © 2017 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Agronomic Traits and Molecular Marker Identification of Wheat–Aegilops caudata Addition Lines

PubMed Central

Gong, Wenping; Han, Ran; Li, Haosheng; Song, Jianmin; Yan, Hongfei; Li, Genying; Liu, Aifeng; Cao, Xinyou; Guo, Jun; Zhai, Shengnan; Cheng, Dungong; Zhao, Zhendong; Liu, Cheng; Liu, Jianjun

2017-01-01

Aegilops caudata is an important gene source for wheat breeding. Intensive evaluation of its utilization value is an essential first step prior to its application in breeding. In this research, the agronomical and quality traits of Triticum aestivum-Ae. caudata additions B–G (homoeologous groups not identified) were analyzed and evaluated. Disease resistance tests showed that chromosome D of Ae. caudata might possess leaf rust resistance, and chromosome E might carry stem rust and powdery mildew resistance genes. Investigations into agronomical traits suggested that the introduction of the Ae. caudata chromosome in addition line F could reduce plant height. Grain quality tests showed that the introduction of chromosomes E or F into wheat could increase its protein and wet gluten content. Therefore, wheat-Ae. caudata additions D–F are all potentially useful candidates for chromosome engineering activities to create useful wheat-alien chromosome introgressions. A total of 55 EST-based molecular markers were developed and then used to identify the chromosome homoeologous group of each of the Ae. caudata B–G chromosomes. Marker analysis indicated that the Ae. caudata chromosomes in addition lines B to G were structurally altered, therefore, a large population combined with intensive screening pressure should be taken into consideration when inducing and screening for wheat-Ae. caudata compensating translocations. Marker data also indicated that the Ae. caudata chromosomes in addition lines C–F were 5C, 6C, 7C, and 3C, respectively, while the homoeologous group of chromosomes B and G of Ae. caudata are as yet undetermined and need further research. PMID:29075275

Validation of mega-environment universal and specific QTL associated with seed yield and agronomic traits in soybeans.

PubMed

Palomeque, Laura; Liu, Li-Jun; Li, Wenbin; Hedges, Bradley R; Cober, Elroy R; Smid, Mathew P; Lukens, Lewis; Rajcan, Istvan

2010-03-01

The value of quantitative trait loci (QTL) is dependent on the strength of association with the traits of interest, allelic diversity at the QTL and the effect of the genetic background on the expression of the QTL. A number of recent studies have identified QTL associated with traits of interest that appear to be independent of the environment but dependent on the genetic background in which they are found. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate universal and/or mega-environment-specific seed yield QTL that have been previously reported in an independent recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the cross between an elite Chinese and Canadian parent. The population was evaluated at two field environments in China and in five environments in Canada in 2005 and 2006. Of the seven markers linked to seed yield QTL reported by our group in a previous study, four were polymorphic between the two parents. No association between seed yield and QTL was observed. The result could imply that seed yield QTL were either not stable in this particular genetic background or harboured different alleles than the ones in the original mapping population. QTL(U) Satt162 was associated with several agronomic traits of which lodging was validated. Both the non-adapted and adapted parent contributed favourable alleles to the progeny. Therefore, plant introductions have been validated as a source of favourable alleles that could increase the genetic variability of the soybean germplasm pool and lead to further improvements in seed yield and other agronomic traits.

Correlation, path analysis and heritability estimation for agronomic traits contribute to yield on soybean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sulistyo, A.; Purwantoro; Sari, K. P.

2018-01-01

Selection is a routine activity in plant breeding programs that must be done by plant breeders in obtaining superior plant genotypes. The use of appropriate selection criteria will determine the effectiveness of selection activities. The purpose of this study was to analysis the inheritable agronomic traits that contribute to soybean yield. A total of 91 soybean lines were planted in Muneng Experimental Station, Probolinggo District, East Java Province, Indonesia in 2016. All soybean lines were arranged in randomized complete block design with two replicates. Correlation analysis, path analysis and heritability estimation were performed on days to flowering, days to maturing, plant height, number of branches, number of fertile nodes, number of filled pods, weight of 100 seeds, and yield to determine selection criteria on soybean breeding program. The results showed that the heritability value of almost all agronomic traits observed is high except for the number of fertile nodes with low heritability. The result of correlation analysis shows that days to flowering, plant height and number of fertile nodes have positive correlation with seed yield per plot (0.056, 0.444, and 0.100, respectively). In addition, path analysis showed that plant height and number of fertile nodes have highest positive direct effect on soybean yield. Based on this result, plant height can be selected as one of selection criteria in soybean breeding program to obtain high yielding soybean variety.

Identification of QTLs for 14 Agronomically Important Traits in Setaria italica Based on SNPs Generated from High-Throughput Sequencing

PubMed Central

Zhang, Kai; Fan, Guangyu; Zhang, Xinxin; Zhao, Fang; Wei, Wei; Du, Guohua; Feng, Xiaolei; Wang, Xiaoming; Wang, Feng; Song, Guoliang; Zou, Hongfeng; Zhang, Xiaolei; Li, Shuangdong; Ni, Xuemei; Zhang, Gengyun; Zhao, Zhihai

2017-01-01

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is an important crop possessing C4 photosynthesis capability. The S. italica genome was de novo sequenced in 2012, but the sequence lacked high-density genetic maps with agronomic and yield trait linkages. In the present study, we resequenced a foxtail millet population of 439 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) and developed high-resolution bin map and high-density SNP markers, which could provide an effective approach for gene identification. A total of 59 QTL for 14 agronomic traits in plants grown under long- and short-day photoperiods were identified. The phenotypic variation explained ranged from 4.9 to 43.94%. In addition, we suggested that there may be segregation distortion on chromosome 6 that is significantly distorted toward Zhang gu. The newly identified QTL will provide a platform for sequence-based research on the S. italica genome, and for molecular marker-assisted breeding. PMID:28364039

Correlations and path analysis among agronomic and technological traits of upland cotton.

PubMed

Farias, F J C; Carvalho, L P; Silva Filho, J L; Teodoro, P E

2016-08-12

To date, path analysis has been used with the aim of breeding different cultures. However, for cotton, there have been few studies using this analysis, and all of these have used fiber productivity as the primary dependent variable. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify agronomic and technological properties that can be used as criteria for direct and indirect phenotypes in selecting cotton genotypes with better fibers. We evaluated 16 upland cotton genotypes in eight trials conducted during the harvest 2008/2009 in the State of Mato Grosso, using a randomized block design with four replicates. The evaluated traits were: plant height, average boll weight, percentage of fiber, cotton seed yield, fiber length, uniformity of fiber, short fiber index, fiber strength, elongation, maturity of the fibers, micronaire, reflectance, and the degree of yellowing. Phenotypic correlations between the traits and cotton fiber yield (main dependent variable) were unfolded in direct and indirect effects through path analysis. Fiber strength, uniformity of fiber, and reflectance were found to influence fiber length, and therefore, these traits are recommended for both direct and indirect selection of cotton genotypes.

Identification of QTLs for 14 Agronomically Important Traits in Setaria italica Based on SNPs Generated from High-Throughput Sequencing.

PubMed

Zhang, Kai; Fan, Guangyu; Zhang, Xinxin; Zhao, Fang; Wei, Wei; Du, Guohua; Feng, Xiaolei; Wang, Xiaoming; Wang, Feng; Song, Guoliang; Zou, Hongfeng; Zhang, Xiaolei; Li, Shuangdong; Ni, Xuemei; Zhang, Gengyun; Zhao, Zhihai

2017-05-05

Foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ) is an important crop possessing C4 photosynthesis capability. The S. italica genome was de novo sequenced in 2012, but the sequence lacked high-density genetic maps with agronomic and yield trait linkages. In the present study, we resequenced a foxtail millet population of 439 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) and developed high-resolution bin map and high-density SNP markers, which could provide an effective approach for gene identification. A total of 59 QTL for 14 agronomic traits in plants grown under long- and short-day photoperiods were identified. The phenotypic variation explained ranged from 4.9 to 43.94%. In addition, we suggested that there may be segregation distortion on chromosome 6 that is significantly distorted toward Zhang gu. The newly identified QTL will provide a platform for sequence-based research on the S. italica genome, and for molecular marker-assisted breeding. Copyright © 2017 Zhang et al.

[An ADAA model and its analysis method for agronomic traits based on the double-cross mating design].

PubMed

Xu, Z C; Zhu, J

2000-01-01

According to the double-cross mating design and using principles of Cockerham's general genetic model, a genetic model with additive, dominance and epistatic effects (ADAA model) was proposed for the analysis of agronomic traits. Components of genetic effects were derived for different generations. Monte Carlo simulation was conducted for analyzing the ADAA model and its reduced AD model by using different generations. It was indicated that genetic variance components could be estimated without bias by MINQUE(1) method and genetic effects could be predicted effectively by AUP method; at least three generations (including parent, F1 of single cross and F1 of double-cross) were necessary for analyzing the ADAA model and only two generations (including parent and F1 of double-cross) were enough for the reduced AD model. When epistatic effects were taken into account, a new approach for predicting the heterosis of agronomic traits of double-crosses was given on the basis of unbiased prediction of genotypic merits of parents and their crosses. In addition, genotype x environment interaction effects and interaction heterosis due to G x E interaction were discussed briefly.

A high-density genetic map and QTL analysis of agronomic traits in foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.] using RAD-seq.

PubMed

Wang, Jun; Wang, Zhilan; Du, Xiaofen; Yang, Huiqing; Han, Fang; Han, Yuanhuai; Yuan, Feng; Zhang, Linyi; Peng, Shuzhong; Guo, Erhu

2017-01-01

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), a very important grain crop in China, has become a new model plant for cereal crops and biofuel grasses. Although its reference genome sequence was released recently, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling complex agronomic traits remains limited. The development of massively parallel genotyping methods and next-generation sequencing technologies provides an excellent opportunity for developing single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for linkage map construction and QTL analysis of complex quantitative traits. In this study, a high-throughput and cost-effective RAD-seq approach was employed to generate a high-density genetic map for foxtail millet. A total of 2,668,587 SNP loci were detected according to the reference genome sequence; meanwhile, 9,968 SNP markers were used to genotype 124 F2 progenies derived from the cross between Hongmiaozhangu and Changnong35; a high-density genetic map spanning 1648.8 cM, with an average distance of 0.17 cM between adjacent markers was constructed; 11 major QTLs for eight agronomic traits were identified; five co-dominant DNA markers were developed. These findings will be of value for the identification of candidate genes and marker-assisted selection in foxtail millet.

A high-density genetic map and QTL analysis of agronomic traits in foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.] using RAD-seq

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhilan; Du, Xiaofen; Yang, Huiqing; Han, Fang; Han, Yuanhuai; Yuan, Feng; Zhang, Linyi; Peng, Shuzhong; Guo, Erhu

2017-01-01

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), a very important grain crop in China, has become a new model plant for cereal crops and biofuel grasses. Although its reference genome sequence was released recently, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling complex agronomic traits remains limited. The development of massively parallel genotyping methods and next-generation sequencing technologies provides an excellent opportunity for developing single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for linkage map construction and QTL analysis of complex quantitative traits. In this study, a high-throughput and cost-effective RAD-seq approach was employed to generate a high-density genetic map for foxtail millet. A total of 2,668,587 SNP loci were detected according to the reference genome sequence; meanwhile, 9,968 SNP markers were used to genotype 124 F2 progenies derived from the cross between Hongmiaozhangu and Changnong35; a high-density genetic map spanning 1648.8 cM, with an average distance of 0.17 cM between adjacent markers was constructed; 11 major QTLs for eight agronomic traits were identified; five co-dominant DNA markers were developed. These findings will be of value for the identification of candidate genes and marker-assisted selection in foxtail millet. PMID:28644843

Multivariate diallel analysis allows multiple gains in segregating populations for agronomic traits in Jatropha.

PubMed

Teodoro, P E; Rodrigues, E V; Peixoto, L A; Silva, L A; Laviola, B G; Bhering, L L

2017-03-22

Jatropha is research target worldwide aimed at large-scale oil production for biodiesel and bio-kerosene. Its production potential is among 1200 and 1500 kg/ha of oil after the 4th year. This study aimed to estimate combining ability of Jatropha genotypes by multivariate diallel analysis to select parents and crosses that allow gains in important agronomic traits. We performed crosses in diallel complete genetic design (3 x 3) arranged in blocks with five replications and three plants per plot. The following traits were evaluated: plant height, stem diameter, canopy projection between rows, canopy projection on the line, number of branches, mass of hundred grains, and grain yield. Data were submitted to univariate and multivariate diallel analysis. Genotypes 107 and 190 can be used in crosses for establishing a base population of Jatropha, since it has favorable alleles for increasing the mass of hundred grains and grain yield and reducing the plant height. The cross 190 x 107 is the most promising to perform the selection of superior genotypes for the simultaneous breeding of these traits.

Genome Wide Association Study for Drought, Aflatoxin Resistance, and Important Agronomic Traits of Maize Hybrids in the Sub-Tropics

PubMed Central

Farfan, Ivan D. Barrero; De La Fuente, Gerald N.; Murray, Seth C.; Isakeit, Thomas; Huang, Pei-Cheng; Warburton, Marilyn; Williams, Paul; Windham, Gary L.; Kolomiets, Mike

2015-01-01

The primary maize (Zea mays L.) production areas are in temperate regions throughout the world and this is where most maize breeding is focused. Important but lower yielding maize growing regions such as the sub-tropics experience unique challenges, the greatest of which are drought stress and aflatoxin contamination. Here we used a diversity panel consisting of 346 maize inbred lines originating in temperate, sub-tropical and tropical areas testcrossed to stiff-stalk line Tx714 to investigate these traits. Testcross hybrids were evaluated under irrigated and non-irrigated trials for yield, plant height, ear height, days to anthesis, days to silking and other agronomic traits. Irrigated trials were also inoculated with Aspergillus flavus and evaluated for aflatoxin content. Diverse maize testcrosses out-yielded commercial checks in most trials, which indicated the potential for genetic diversity to improve sub-tropical breeding programs. To identify genomic regions associated with yield, aflatoxin resistance and other important agronomic traits, a genome wide association analysis was performed. Using 60,000 SNPs, this study found 10 quantitative trait variants for grain yield, plant and ear height, and flowering time after stringent multiple test corrections, and after fitting different models. Three of these variants explained 5–10% of the variation in grain yield under both water conditions. Multiple identified SNPs co-localized with previously reported QTL, which narrows the possible location of causal polymorphisms. Novel significant SNPs were also identified. This study demonstrated the potential to use genome wide association studies to identify major variants of quantitative and complex traits such as yield under drought that are still segregating between elite inbred lines. PMID:25714370

Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for water use and crop production traits co-locate with major QTL for tolerance to water deficit in a fine-mapping population of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L. R.Br.).

PubMed

Tharanya, Murugesan; Kholova, Jana; Sivasakthi, Kaliamoorthy; Seghal, Deepmala; Hash, Charles Tom; Raj, Basker; Srivastava, Rakesh Kumar; Baddam, Rekha; Thirunalasundari, Thiyagarajan; Yadav, Rattan; Vadez, Vincent

2018-04-21

Four genetic regions associated with water use traits, measured at different levels of plant organization, and with agronomic traits were identified within a previously reported region for terminal water deficit adaptation on linkage group 2. Close linkages between these traits showed the value of phenotyping both for agronomic and secondary traits to better understand plant productive processes. Water saving traits are critical for water stress adaptation of pearl millet, whereas maximizing water use is key to the absence of stress. This research aimed at demonstrating the close relationship between traits measured at different levels of plant organization, some putatively involved in water stress adaptation, and those responsible for agronomic performance. A fine-mapping population of pearl millet, segregating for a previously identified quantitative trait locus (QTL) for adaptation to terminal drought stress on LG02, was phenotyped for traits at different levels of plant organization in different experimental environments (pot culture, high-throughput phenotyping platform, lysimeters, and field). The linkages among traits across the experimental systems were analysed using principal component analysis and QTL co-localization approach. Four regions within the LG02-QTL were found and revealed substantial co-mapping of water use and agronomic traits. These regions, identified across experimental systems, provided genetic evidence of the tight linkages between traits phenotyped at a lower level of plant organization and agronomic traits assessed in the field, therefore deepening our understanding of complex traits and then benefiting both geneticists and breeders. In short: (1) under no/mild stress conditions, increasing biomass and tiller production increased water use and eventually yield; (2) under severe stress conditions, water savings at vegetative stage, from lower plant vigour and fewer tillers in that population, led to more water available during grain

Interspecific chromosomal effects on agronomic traits in Gossypium hirsutum by AD analysis using intermated G. barbadense chromosome substitution lines.

PubMed

Saha, S; Wu, J; Jenkins, J N; McCarty, J C; Stelly, D M

2013-01-01

The untapped potential of the beneficial alleles from Gossypium barbadense L. has not been well utilized in G. hirsutum L. (often referred to as Upland cotton) breeding programs. This is primarily due to genomic incompatibility and technical challenges associated with conventional methods of interspecific introgression. In this study, we used a hypoaneuploid-based chromosome substitution line as a means for systematically introgressing G. barbadense doubled-haploid line '3-79' germplasm into a common Upland genetic background, inbred 'Texas marker-1' ('TM-1'). We reported on the chromosomal effects, lint percentage, boll weight, seedcotton yield and lint yield in chromosome substitution CS-B (G. barbadense L.) lines. Using an additive-dominance genetic model, we studied the interaction of alleles located on two alien substituted chromosomes versus one alien substituted chromosome using a partial diallel mating design of selected CS-B lines (CS-B05sh, CS-B06, CS-B09, CS-B10, CS-B12, CS-B17 and CS-B18). Among these parents, CS-B09 and CS-B10 were reported for the first time. The donor parent 3-79, had the lowest additive effect for all of the agronomic traits. All of the CS-B lines had significant additive effects with boll weight and lint percentage. CS-B10 had the highest additive effects for lint percentage, and seedcotton and lint yield among all of the lines showing a transgressive genetic mode of inheritance for these traits. CS-B09 had greater additive genetic effects on lint yield, while CS-B06, CS-B10 and CS-B17 had superior additive genetic effects on both lint and seedcotton yield compared to TM-1 parent. The 3-79 line had the highest dominance effects for boll weight (0.513 g) and CS-B10 had the lowest dominance effect for boll weight (-0.702). Some major antagonistic genetic effects for the agronomic traits were present with most of the substituted chromosomes and chromosome arms, a finding suggested their recalcitrance to conventional breeding efforts

Genome-Wide Association Mapping for Yield and Other Agronomic Traits in an Elite Breeding Population of Tropical Rice (Oryza sativa)

PubMed Central

Lalusin, Antonio; Borromeo, Teresita; Gregorio, Glenn; Hernandez, Jose; Virk, Parminder; Collard, Bertrand; McCouch, Susan R.

2015-01-01

Genome-wide association mapping studies (GWAS) are frequently used to detect QTL in diverse collections of crop germplasm, based on historic recombination events and linkage disequilibrium across the genome. Generally, diversity panels genotyped with high density SNP panels are utilized in order to assay a wide range of alleles and haplotypes and to monitor recombination breakpoints across the genome. By contrast, GWAS have not generally been performed in breeding populations. In this study we performed association mapping for 19 agronomic traits including yield and yield components in a breeding population of elite irrigated tropical rice breeding lines so that the results would be more directly applicable to breeding than those from a diversity panel. The population was genotyped with 71,710 SNPs using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), and GWAS performed with the explicit goal of expediting selection in the breeding program. Using this breeding panel we identified 52 QTL for 11 agronomic traits, including large effect QTLs for flowering time and grain length/grain width/grain-length-breadth ratio. We also identified haplotypes that can be used to select plants in our population for short stature (plant height), early flowering time, and high yield, and thus demonstrate the utility of association mapping in breeding populations for informing breeding decisions. We conclude by exploring how the newly identified significant SNPs and insights into the genetic architecture of these quantitative traits can be leveraged to build genomic-assisted selection models. PMID:25785447

SNP Marker Integration and QTL Analysis of 12 Agronomic and Morphological Traits in F8 RILs of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

PubMed Central

Lu, Fu-Hao; Kwon, Soon-Wook; Yoon, Min-Young; Kim, Ki-Taek; Cho, Myeong-Cheoul; Yoon, Moo-Kyung; Park, Yong-Jin

2012-01-01

Red pepper, Capsicum annuum L., has been attracting geneticists’ and breeders’ attention as one of the important agronomic crops. This study was to integrate 41 SNP markers newly developed from comparative transcriptomes into a previous linkage map, and map 12 agronomic and morphological traits into the integrated map. A total of 39 markers found precise position and were assigned to 13 linkage groups (LGs) as well as the unassigned LGe, leading to total 458 molecular markers present in this genetic map. Linkage mapping was supported by the physical mapping to tomato and potato genomes using BLAST retrieving, revealing at least two-thirds of the markers mapped to the corresponding LGs. A sum of 23 quantitative trait loci from 11 traits was detected using the composite interval mapping algorithm. A consistent interval between a035_1 and a170_1 on LG5 was detected as a main-effect locus among the resistance QTLs to Phytophthora capsici at high-, intermediate- and low-level tests, and interactions between the QTLs for high-level resistance test were found. Considering the epistatic effect, those QTLs could explain up to 98.25% of the phenotype variations of resistance. Moreover, 17 QTLs for another eight traits were found to locate on LG3, 4, and 12 mostly with varying phenotypic contribution. Furthermore, the locus for corolla color was mapped to LG10 as a marker. The integrated map and the QTLs identified would be helpful for current genetics research and crop breeding, especially in the Solanaceae family. PMID:22684870

Stability of agronomic and yield related traits of Jatropha curcas accessions raised from cuttings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mat, Nurul Hidayah Che; Yaakob, Zahira; Ratnam, Wickneswari

2016-11-01

Monitoring stability of agronomic and yield related traits is important for prediction of crop yields. This study was a latter study for the evaluation of 295 J. curcas individuals representing 21 accessions from eight countries at Biodiesel Research Station of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Pilah planted in December 2012. In this study, 183 J. curcas individuals were selected randomly from the population and their growth performance evaluated from December 2013 to December 2014. All the individual plants were raised from cuttings. The yield related data were recorded periodically and performance of each accession was analyzed using Statistical Analysis System (SAS) 9.4. Five traits which were number of fruits per plant (NFPP), number of fruits per inflorescence (NFPI), hundred seed weight (g) (HSW), number of seeds per plant (NSPP) and yield per plant (g) (YPP) showed significant differences among the accessions after two years of planting. Maximum values for each trait were 208 cm for plant height (PH), 31 for number of branches per plant (BPP), 115 for number of inflorescence per plant (NIPP), 582 for NFPP, 7 for NFPI, 307 for number of flowers per inflorescence (NFI), 17 for number of female flowers per inflorescence (NFFPI), 91.6 g for HSW, 1647.1 for NSPP and 927.6 g for YPP. Most of the plants which had performed well in the first year were among the best performers in the second year.

Prediction of industrial tomato hybrids from agronomic traits and ISSR molecular markers.

PubMed

Figueiredo, A S T; Resende, J T V; Faria, M V; Da-Silva, P R; Fagundes, B S; Morales, R G F

2016-05-13

Heterosis is a highly relevant phenomenon in plant breeding. This condition is usually established in hybrids derived from crosses of highly divergent parents. The success of a breeder in obtaining heterosis is directly related to the correct identification of genetically contrasting parents. Currently, the diallel cross is the most commonly used methodology to detect contrasting parents; however, it is a time- and cost-consuming procedure. Therefore, new tools capable of performing this task quickly and accurately are required. Thus, the purpose of this study was to estimate the genetic divergence in industrial tomato lines, based on agronomic traits, and to compare with estimates obtained using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular markers. The genetic divergence among 10 industrial tomato lines, based on nine morphological characters and 12 ISSR primers was analyzed. For data analysis, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated between the genetic dissimilarity measures estimated by Mahalanobis distance and Jaccard's coefficient of genetic dissimilarity from the heterosis estimates, combining ability, and means of important traits of industrial tomato. The ISSR markers efficiently detected contrasting parents for hybrid production in tomato. Parent RVTD-08 was indicated as the most divergent, both by molecular and morphological markers, that positively contributed to increased heterosis and by the specific combining ability in the crosses in which it participated. The genetic dissimilarity estimated by ISSR molecular markers aided the identification of the best hybrids of the experiment in terms of total fruit yield, pulp yield, and soluble solids content.

Construction of a genetic linkage map and analysis of quantitative trait loci associated with the agronomically important traits of Pleurotus eryngii.

PubMed

Im, Chak Han; Park, Young-Hoon; Hammel, Kenneth E; Park, Bokyung; Kwon, Soon Wook; Ryu, Hojin; Ryu, Jae-San

2016-07-01

Breeding new strains with improved traits is a long-standing goal of mushroom breeders that can be expedited by marker-assisted selection (MAS). We constructed a genetic linkage map of Pleurotus eryngii based on segregation analysis of markers in postmeiotic monokaryons from KNR2312. In total, 256 loci comprising 226 simple sequence-repeat (SSR) markers, 2 mating-type factors, and 28 insertion/deletion (InDel) markers were mapped. The map consisted of 12 linkage groups (LGs) spanning 1047.8cM, with an average interval length of 4.09cM. Four independent populations (Pd3, Pd8, Pd14, and Pd15) derived from crossing between four monokaryons from KNR2532 as a tester strain and 98 monokaryons from KNR2312 were used to characterize quantitative trait loci (QTL) for nine traits such as yield, quality, cap color, and earliness. Using composite interval mapping (CIM), 71 QTLs explaining between 5.82% and 33.17% of the phenotypic variations were identified. Clusters of more than five QTLs for various traits were identified in three genomic regions, on LGs 1, 7 and 9. Regardless of the population, 6 of the 9 traits studied and 18 of the 71 QTLs found in this study were identified in the largest cluster, LG1, in the range from 65.4 to 110.4cM. The candidate genes for yield encoding transcription factor, signal transduction, mycelial growth and hydrolase are suggested by using manual and computational analysis of genome sequence corresponding to QTL region with the highest likelihood odds (LOD) for yield. The genetic map and the QTLs established in this study will help breeders and geneticists to develop selection markers for agronomically important characteristics of mushrooms and to identify the corresponding genes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genomic selection of agronomic traits in hybrid rice using an NCII population.

PubMed

Xu, Yang; Wang, Xin; Ding, Xiaowen; Zheng, Xingfei; Yang, Zefeng; Xu, Chenwu; Hu, Zhongli

2018-05-10

Hybrid breeding is an effective tool to improve yield in rice, while parental selection remains the key and difficult issue. Genomic selection (GS) provides opportunities to predict the performance of hybrids before phenotypes are measured. However, the application of GS is influenced by several genetic and statistical factors. Here, we used a rice North Carolina II (NC II) population constructed by crossing 115 rice varieties with five male sterile lines as a model to evaluate effects of statistical methods, heritability, marker density and training population size on prediction for hybrid performance. From the comparison of six GS methods, we found that predictabilities for different methods are significantly different, with genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operation (LASSO) being the best, support vector machine (SVM) and partial least square (PLS) being the worst. The marker density has lower influence on predicting rice hybrid performance compared with the size of training population. Additionally, we used the 575 (115 × 5) hybrid rice as a training population to predict eight agronomic traits of all hybrids derived from 120 (115 + 5) rice varieties each mating with 3023 rice accessions from the 3000 rice genomes project (3 K RGP). Of the 362,760 potential hybrids, selection of the top 100 predicted hybrids would lead to 35.5%, 23.25%, 30.21%, 42.87%, 61.80%, 75.83%, 19.24% and 36.12% increase in grain yield per plant, thousand-grain weight, panicle number per plant, plant height, secondary branch number, grain number per panicle, panicle length and primary branch number, respectively. This study evaluated the factors affecting predictabilities for hybrid prediction and demonstrated the implementation of GS to predict hybrid performance of rice. Our results suggest that GS could enable the rapid selection of superior hybrids, thus increasing the efficiency of rice hybrid breeding.

Marker traits association of agronomical traits correlated with stagnant flooding tolerance in rice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitaresmi, T.; Utami, D. W.; Suwarno, W. B.; Ardie, S. W.; Susanto, U.; Aswidinnoor, H.

2017-05-01

In deep-water areas, the water depth increases gradually throughout the year and maintains up to more than 50 cm of deep of water for long period. In these situations, elongation ability is necessary to allow the plants to keep up with rising floodwater. The elongation of internode during submergence is regulated by environmental and hormonal factors. The objective of this study was aimed to identify the SNP markers on 384 SNPs linked with agronomical and morphological traits related to stagnant flooding tolerance. The research were conducted at Indonesian Center for Rice Research and Indonesian Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Research and Development. The phenotypical data was collected from F2 from bi-parental crossing of IR 42 and IRRI 119. IR 42 was sensitive parent, and IRRI 119 was tolerant. DNA extraction for rice was using a modified version of Murray and Thompson method using cetyl tri-methyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB). The genotyping was carried out using 384 SNPs Golden Gate Illumina assay. Association analysis between SNP markers and phenotypical data was performed using General Linear Model in Tassel versus 5.0 software program. Based on GLM analysis, the significant marker for plant height with P value < 0.05 are TBGI275345, TBGI275367, and TBGI424383. The significant marker for number of tiller are TBGI000722, TBGI258600, TBGI270843, TBGI271066, TBGI271076, TBGI272122, TBGI272241, and TBGI327790. Two of them, TBGI424383 and TBGI271066 were expected associated with family of protein kinase which play role in plant stress signalling.

Identification of loci governing eight agronomic traits using a GBS-GWAS approach and validation by QTL mapping in soya bean.

PubMed

Sonah, Humira; O'Donoughue, Louise; Cober, Elroy; Rajcan, Istvan; Belzile, François

2015-02-01

Soya bean is a major source of edible oil and protein for human consumption as well as animal feed. Understanding the genetic basis of different traits in soya bean will provide important insights for improving breeding strategies for this crop. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to accelerate molecular breeding for the improvement of agronomic traits in soya bean. A genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach was used to provide dense genome-wide marker coverage (>47,000 SNPs) for a panel of 304 short-season soya bean lines. A subset of 139 lines, representative of the diversity among these, was characterized phenotypically for eight traits under six environments (3 sites × 2 years). Marker coverage proved sufficient to ensure highly significant associations between the genes known to control simple traits (flower, hilum and pubescence colour) and flanking SNPs. Between one and eight genomic loci associated with more complex traits (maturity, plant height, seed weight, seed oil and protein) were also identified. Importantly, most of these GWAS loci were located within genomic regions identified by previously reported quantitative trait locus (QTL) for these traits. In some cases, the reported QTLs were also successfully validated by additional QTL mapping in a biparental population. This study demonstrates that integrating GBS and GWAS can be used as a powerful complementary approach to classical biparental mapping for dissecting complex traits in soya bean. © 2014 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Marker-assisted backcross approach for important agronomic traits of sorghum

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sequencing technologies are useful for identification of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a cost effective manner. QTL mapping, association mapping and Mutmap approaches provide opportunities for use of such SNPs to associate and identify genes that control important agronomic ...

Genetic Variability, Genotype × Environment Interaction, Correlation, and GGE Biplot Analysis for Grain Iron and Zinc Concentration and Other Agronomic Traits in RIL Population of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)

PubMed Central

Phuke, Rahul M.; Anuradha, Kotla; Radhika, Kommineni; Jabeen, Farzana; Anuradha, Ghanta; Ramesh, Thatikunta; Hariprasanna, K.; Mehtre, Shivaji P.; Deshpande, Santosh P.; Anil, Gaddameedi; Das, Roma R.; Rathore, Abhishek; Hash, Tom; Reddy, Belum V. S.; Kumar, Are Ashok

2017-01-01

The low grain iron and zinc densities are well documented problems in food crops, affecting crop nutritional quality especially in cereals. Sorghum is a major source of energy and micronutrients for majority of population in Africa and central India. Understanding genetic variation, genotype × environment interaction and association between these traits is critical for development of improved cultivars with high iron and zinc. A total of 336 sorghum RILs (Recombinant Inbred Lines) were evaluated for grain iron and zinc concentration along with other agronomic traits for 2 years at three locations. The results showed that large variability exists in RIL population for both micronutrients (Iron = 10.8 to 76.4 mg kg−1 and Zinc = 10.2 to 58.7 mg kg−1, across environments) and agronomic traits. Genotype × environment interaction for both micronutrients (iron and zinc) was highly significant. GGE biplots comparison for grain iron and zinc showed greater variation across environments. The results also showed that G × E was substantial for grain iron and zinc, hence wider testing needed for taking care of G × E interaction to breed micronutrient rich sorghum lines. Iron and zinc concentration showed high significant positive correlation (across environment = 0.79; p < 0.01) indicating possibility of simultaneous effective selection for both the traits. The RIL population showed good variability and high heritabilities (>0.60, in individual environments) for Fe and Zn and other traits studied indicating its suitability to map QTL for iron and zinc. PMID:28529518

Cultivar x binary mixture interaction effect on agronomic traits in orchardgrass

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A study was conducted to evaluate and characterize the agronomic value, including dry matter yield and forage quality of 25 orchardgrass cultivars grown in monoculture and binary mixtures with alfalfa under supplemental irrigation from 2009 to 2012 at a Millville, UT, field site. Orchardgrass monoc...

Genome-Wide Association Studies of 11 Agronomic Traits in Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

PubMed Central

Zhang, Shengkui; Chen, Xin; Lu, Cheng; Ye, Jianqiu; Zou, Meiling; Lu, Kundian; Feng, Subin; Pei, Jinli; Liu, Chen; Zhou, Xincheng; Ma, Ping’an; Li, Zhaogui; Liu, Cuijuan; Liao, Qi; Xia, Zhiqiang; Wang, Wenquan

2018-01-01

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a major tuberous crop produced worldwide. In this study, we sequenced 158 diverse cassava varieties and identified 349,827 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and indels. In each chromosome, the number of SNPs and the physical length of the respective chromosome were in agreement. Population structure analysis indicated that this panel can be divided into three subgroups. Genetic diversity analysis indicated that the average nucleotide diversity of the panel was 1.21 × 10-4 for all sampled landraces. This average nucleotide diversity was 1.97 × 10-4, 1.01 × 10-4, and 1.89 × 10-4 for subgroups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Genome-wide linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis demonstrated that the average LD was about ∼8 kb. We evaluated 158 cassava varieties under 11 different environments. Finally, we identified 36 loci that were related to 11 agronomic traits by genome-wide association analyses. Four loci were associated with two traits, and 62 candidate genes were identified in the peak SNP sites. We found that 40 of these genes showed different expression profiles in different tissues. Of the candidate genes related to storage roots, Manes.13G023300, Manes.16G000800, Manes.02G154700, Manes.02G192500, and Manes.09G099100 had higher expression levels in storage roots than in leaf and stem; on the other hand, of the candidate genes related to leaves, Manes.05G164500, Manes.05G164600, Manes.04G057300, Manes.01G202000, and Manes.03G186500 had higher expression levels in leaves than in storage roots and stem. This study provides basis for research on genetics and the genetic improvement of cassava. PMID:29725343

Genome-Wide Association Studies of 11 Agronomic Traits in Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz).

PubMed

Zhang, Shengkui; Chen, Xin; Lu, Cheng; Ye, Jianqiu; Zou, Meiling; Lu, Kundian; Feng, Subin; Pei, Jinli; Liu, Chen; Zhou, Xincheng; Ma, Ping'an; Li, Zhaogui; Liu, Cuijuan; Liao, Qi; Xia, Zhiqiang; Wang, Wenquan

2018-01-01

Cassava ( Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a major tuberous crop produced worldwide. In this study, we sequenced 158 diverse cassava varieties and identified 349,827 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and indels. In each chromosome, the number of SNPs and the physical length of the respective chromosome were in agreement. Population structure analysis indicated that this panel can be divided into three subgroups. Genetic diversity analysis indicated that the average nucleotide diversity of the panel was 1.21 × 10 -4 for all sampled landraces. This average nucleotide diversity was 1.97 × 10 -4 , 1.01 × 10 -4 , and 1.89 × 10 -4 for subgroups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Genome-wide linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis demonstrated that the average LD was about ∼8 kb. We evaluated 158 cassava varieties under 11 different environments. Finally, we identified 36 loci that were related to 11 agronomic traits by genome-wide association analyses. Four loci were associated with two traits, and 62 candidate genes were identified in the peak SNP sites. We found that 40 of these genes showed different expression profiles in different tissues. Of the candidate genes related to storage roots, Manes.13G023300, Manes.16G000800, Manes.02G154700, Manes.02G192500, and Manes.09G099100 had higher expression levels in storage roots than in leaf and stem; on the other hand, of the candidate genes related to leaves, Manes.05G164500, Manes.05G164600, Manes.04G057300, Manes.01G202000, and Manes.03G186500 had higher expression levels in leaves than in storage roots and stem. This study provides basis for research on genetics and the genetic improvement of cassava.

De novo assembly of soybean wild relatives for pan-genome analysis of diversity and agronomic traits.

PubMed

Li, Ying-hui; Zhou, Guangyu; Ma, Jianxin; Jiang, Wenkai; Jin, Long-guo; Zhang, Zhouhao; Guo, Yong; Zhang, Jinbo; Sui, Yi; Zheng, Liangtao; Zhang, Shan-shan; Zuo, Qiyang; Shi, Xue-hui; Li, Yan-fei; Zhang, Wan-ke; Hu, Yiyao; Kong, Guanyi; Hong, Hui-long; Tan, Bing; Song, Jian; Liu, Zhang-xiong; Wang, Yaoshen; Ruan, Hang; Yeung, Carol K L; Liu, Jian; Wang, Hailong; Zhang, Li-juan; Guan, Rong-xia; Wang, Ke-jing; Li, Wen-bin; Chen, Shou-yi; Chang, Ru-zhen; Jiang, Zhi; Jackson, Scott A; Li, Ruiqiang; Qiu, Li-juan

2014-10-01

Wild relatives of crops are an important source of genetic diversity for agriculture, but their gene repertoire remains largely unexplored. We report the establishment and analysis of a pan-genome of Glycine soja, the wild relative of cultivated soybean Glycine max, by sequencing and de novo assembly of seven phylogenetically and geographically representative accessions. Intergenomic comparisons identified lineage-specific genes and genes with copy number variation or large-effect mutations, some of which show evidence of positive selection and may contribute to variation of agronomic traits such as biotic resistance, seed composition, flowering and maturity time, organ size and final biomass. Approximately 80% of the pan-genome was present in all seven accessions (core), whereas the rest was dispensable and exhibited greater variation than the core genome, perhaps reflecting a role in adaptation to diverse environments. This work will facilitate the harnessing of untapped genetic diversity from wild soybean for enhancement of elite cultivars.

Improvement of non-key traits in radiata pine breeding programme when long-term economic importance is uncertain.

PubMed

Li, Yongjun; Dungey, Heidi; Yanchuk, Alvin; Apiolaza, Luis A

2017-01-01

Diameter at breast height (DBH), wood density (DEN) and predicted modulus of elasticity (PME) are considered as 'key traits' (KT) in the improvement in radiata pine breeding programmes in New Zealand. Any other traits which are also of interest to radiata pine breeders and forest growers are called 'non-key traits' (NKTs). External resin bleeding (ERB), internal checking (IC), number of heartwood rings (NHR) are three such non-key traits which affect wood quality of radiata pine timber. Economic importance of the KTs and NKTs is hard to define in radiata pine breeding programmes due to long rotation period. Desired-gain index (DGIs) and robust selection were proposed to incorporate NKTs into radiata pine breeding programme in order to deal with the uncertainty of economic importance. Four desired-gain indices A-D were proposed in this study. The desired-gain index A (DGI-A) emphasized growth and led to small decrease in ERB and small increase in IC and NHR. The expected genetic gains of all traits in the desired-gain index B (DGI-B) were in the favourable directions (positive genetic gains in the key traits and negative genetic gains in the non-key traits). The desired-gain index C (DGI-C) placed emphasis on wood density, leading to favourable genetic gain in the NKTs but reduced genetic gains for DBH and PME. The desired-gain index D (DGI-D) exerted a bit more emphasis on the non-key traits, leading large favourable reduction in the non-key traits and lower increase in the key traits compared with the other DGIs. When selecting both the key traits and the non-key traits, the average EBVs of six traits were all in the same directions as the expected genetic gains except for DBH in the DGI-D. When the key traits were measured and selected, internal checking always had a negative (favourable) genetic gain but ERB and NHR had unfavourable genetic gain in the most of time. After removing some individuals with high sensitivity to the change of economic weights, robust

Agronomic Weeds.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartwig, Nathan L.

This agriculture extension service publication from Pennsylvania State University examines agronomic weed problems and control. Contents include a listing of the characteristics of weeds, a section on herbicides, and a section on the important weeds of agronomic crops in Pennsylvania. The herbicide section discusses systemic herbicides, contact…

Variation in heading date conceals quantitative trait loci for other traits of importance in breeding selection of rice

PubMed Central

Hori, Kiyosumi; Kataoka, Tomomori; Miura, Kiyoyuki; Yamaguchi, Masayuki; Saka, Norikuni; Nakahara, Takahiro; Sunohara, Yoshihiro; Ebana, Kaworu; Yano, Masahiro

2012-01-01

To identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with the primary target traits for selection in practical rice breeding programs, backcross inbred lines (BILs) derived from crosses between temperate japonica rice cultivars Nipponbare and Koshihikari were evaluated for 50 agronomic traits at six experimental fields located throughout Japan. Thirty-three of the 50 traits were significantly correlated with heading date. Using a linkage map including 647 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), a total of 122 QTLs for 38 traits were mapped on all rice chromosomes except chromosomes 5 and 9. Fifty-eight of the 122 QTLs were detected near the heading date QTLs Hd16 and Hd17 and the remaining 64 QTLs were found in other chromosome regions. QTL analysis of 51 BILs having homozygous for the Koshihikari chromosome segments around Hd16 and Hd17 allowed us to detect 40 QTLs associated with 27 traits; 23 of these QTLs had not been detected in the original analysis. Among the 97 QTLs for the 30 traits measured in multiple environments, the genotype-by-environment interaction was significant for 44 QTLs and not significant for 53 QTLs. These results led us to propose a new selection strategy to improve agronomic performance in temperate japonica rice cultivars. PMID:23226082

A haplotype map of genomic variations and genome-wide association studies of agronomic traits in foxtail millet (Setaria italica).

PubMed

Jia, Guanqing; Huang, Xuehui; Zhi, Hui; Zhao, Yan; Zhao, Qiang; Li, Wenjun; Chai, Yang; Yang, Lifang; Liu, Kunyan; Lu, Hengyun; Zhu, Chuanrang; Lu, Yiqi; Zhou, Congcong; Fan, Danlin; Weng, Qijun; Guo, Yunli; Huang, Tao; Zhang, Lei; Lu, Tingting; Feng, Qi; Hao, Hangfei; Liu, Hongkuan; Lu, Ping; Zhang, Ning; Li, Yuhui; Guo, Erhu; Wang, Shujun; Wang, Suying; Liu, Jinrong; Zhang, Wenfei; Chen, Guoqiu; Zhang, Baojin; Li, Wei; Wang, Yongfang; Li, Haiquan; Zhao, Baohua; Li, Jiayang; Diao, Xianmin; Han, Bin

2013-08-01

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is an important grain crop that is grown in arid regions. Here we sequenced 916 diverse foxtail millet varieties, identified 2.58 million SNPs and used 0.8 million common SNPs to construct a haplotype map of the foxtail millet genome. We classified the foxtail millet varieties into two divergent groups that are strongly correlated with early and late flowering times. We phenotyped the 916 varieties under five different environments and identified 512 loci associated with 47 agronomic traits by genome-wide association studies. We performed a de novo assembly of deeply sequenced genomes of a Setaria viridis accession (the wild progenitor of S. italica) and an S. italica variety and identified complex interspecies and intraspecies variants. We also identified 36 selective sweeps that seem to have occurred during modern breeding. This study provides fundamental resources for genetics research and genetic improvement in foxtail millet.

Genome-wide association mapping of leaf metabolic profiles for dissecting complex traits in maize.

PubMed

Riedelsheimer, Christian; Lisec, Jan; Czedik-Eysenberg, Angelika; Sulpice, Ronan; Flis, Anna; Grieder, Christoph; Altmann, Thomas; Stitt, Mark; Willmitzer, Lothar; Melchinger, Albrecht E

2012-06-05

The diversity of metabolites found in plants is by far greater than in most other organisms. Metabolic profiling techniques, which measure many of these compounds simultaneously, enabled investigating the regulation of metabolic networks and proved to be useful for predicting important agronomic traits. However, little is known about the genetic basis of metabolites in crops such as maize. Here, a set of 289 diverse maize inbred lines was genotyped with 56,110 SNPs and assayed for 118 biochemical compounds in the leaves of young plants, as well as for agronomic traits of mature plants in field trials. Metabolite concentrations had on average a repeatability of 0.73 and showed a correlation pattern that largely reflected their functional grouping. Genome-wide association mapping with correction for population structure and cryptic relatedness identified for 26 distinct metabolites strong associations with SNPs, explaining up to 32.0% of the observed genetic variance. On nine chromosomes, we detected 15 distinct SNP-metabolite associations, each of which explained more then 15% of the genetic variance. For lignin precursors, including p-coumaric acid and caffeic acid, we found strong associations (P values to ) with a region on chromosome 9 harboring cinnamoyl-CoA reductase, a key enzyme in monolignol synthesis and a target for improving the quality of lignocellulosic biomass by genetic engineering approaches. Moreover, lignin precursors correlated significantly with lignin content, plant height, and dry matter yield, suggesting that metabolites represent promising connecting links for narrowing the genotype-phenotype gap of complex agronomic traits.

Use of natural variation to identify loci associated with relevant agronomic phenotypic traits

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Analysis of natural allelic variation is a useful discovery tool to identify novel alleles in genes and pathways that are consistent with agronomic productivity and environmental stability. Switchgrass, a native perennial North American prairie grass and emerging biofuel feedstock species, is divide...

Fine-Tuning Tomato Agronomic Properties by Computational Genome Redesign

PubMed Central

Carrera, Javier; Fernández del Carmen, Asun; Fernández-Muñoz, Rafael; Rambla, Jose Luis; Pons, Clara; Jaramillo, Alfonso; Elena, Santiago F.; Granell, Antonio

2012-01-01

Considering cells as biofactories, we aimed to optimize its internal processes by using the same engineering principles that large industries are implementing nowadays: lean manufacturing. We have applied reverse engineering computational methods to transcriptomic, metabolomic and phenomic data obtained from a collection of tomato recombinant inbreed lines to formulate a kinetic and constraint-based model that efficiently describes the cellular metabolism from expression of a minimal core of genes. Based on predicted metabolic profiles, a close association with agronomic and organoleptic properties of the ripe fruit was revealed with high statistical confidence. Inspired in a synthetic biology approach, the model was used for exploring the landscape of all possible local transcriptional changes with the aim of engineering tomato fruits with fine-tuned biotechnological properties. The method was validated by the ability of the proposed genomes, engineered for modified desired agronomic traits, to recapitulate experimental correlations between associated metabolites. PMID:22685389

Use of modern tomato breeding germplasm for deciphering the genetic control of agronomical traits by Genome Wide Association study.

PubMed

Bauchet, Guillaume; Grenier, Stéphane; Samson, Nicolas; Bonnet, Julien; Grivet, Laurent; Causse, Mathilde

2017-05-01

A panel of 300 tomato accessions including breeding materials was built and characterized with >11,000 SNP. A population structure in six subgroups was identified. Strong heterogeneity in linkage disequilibrium and recombination landscape among groups and chromosomes was shown. GWAS identified several associations for fruit weight, earliness and plant growth. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have become a method of choice in quantitative trait dissection. First limited to highly polymorphic and outcrossing species, it is now applied in horticultural crops, notably in tomato. Until now GWAS in tomato has been performed on panels of heirloom and wild accessions. Using modern breeding materials would be of direct interest for breeding purpose. To implement GWAS on a large panel of 300 tomato accessions including 168 breeding lines, this study assessed the genetic diversity and linkage disequilibrium decay and revealed the population structure and performed GWA experiment. Genetic diversity and population structure analyses were based on molecular markers (>11,000 SNP) covering the whole genome. Six genetic subgroups were revealed and associated to traits of agronomical interest, such as fruit weight and disease resistance. Estimates of linkage disequilibrium highlighted the heterogeneity of its decay among genetic subgroups. Haplotype definition allowed a fine characterization of the groups and their recombination landscape revealing the patterns of admixture along the genome. Selection footprints showed results in congruence with introgressions. Taken together, all these elements refined our knowledge of the genetic material included in this panel and allowed the identification of several associations for fruit weight, plant growth and earliness, deciphering the genetic architecture of these complex traits and identifying several new loci useful for tomato breeding.

Photo-biotechnology as a tool to improve agronomic traits in crops.

PubMed

Gururani, Mayank Anand; Ganesan, Markkandan; Song, Pill-Soon

2015-01-01

Phytochromes are photosensory phosphoproteins with crucial roles in plant developmental responses to light. Functional studies of individual phytochromes have revealed their distinct roles in the plant's life cycle. Given the importance of phytochromes in key plant developmental processes, genetically manipulating phytochrome expression offers a promising approach to crop improvement. Photo-biotechnology refers to the transgenic expression of phytochrome transgenes or variants of such transgenes. Several studies have indicated that crop cultivars can be improved by modulating the expression of phytochrome genes. The improved traits include enhanced yield, improved grass quality, shade-tolerance, and stress resistance. In this review, we discuss the transgenic expression of phytochrome A and its hyperactive mutant (Ser599Ala-PhyA) in selected crops, such as Zoysia japonica (Japanese lawn grass), Agrostis stolonifera (creeping bentgrass), Oryza sativa (rice), Solanum tuberosum (potato), and Ipomea batatas (sweet potato). The transgenic expression of PhyA and its mutant in various plant species imparts biotechnologically useful traits. Here, we highlight recent advances in the field of photo-biotechnology and review the results of studies in which phytochromes or variants of phytochromes were transgenically expressed in various plant species. We conclude that photo-biotechnology offers an excellent platform for developing crops with improved properties. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genetic divergence among corn hybrids and combining ability for agronomic and bromatological traits of silage.

PubMed

Gralak, E; Faria, M V; Figueiredo, A S T; Rizzardi, D A; Neumann, M; Mendes, M C; Scapim, C A; Galbeiro, S

2017-05-25

We assessed the impact of genetic divergence and the ability to combine corn hybrids used for the production of silage on the agronomic and bromatological traits of silage quality. We evaluated 18 corn hybrids used as genitors in a circulant diallel scheme in which each genitor hybrid participated in 9 hybrid combinations, and evaluated 100 treatments [18 genitor hybrids, 81 diallelic hybrids, and a commercial check hybrid (DKB330)] in a triple lattice 10 x 10 experimental design in two environments in Brazil. Genetic variability was adequate among the corn silage hybrids, and we can recommend the use of genitors 2B688 and P30B39 for the formation of a base population for intrapopulational breeding. The P30P34 hybrid is the best for intrapopulational breeding when aiming for silage with high protein content, low fiber content, and higher in vitro digestibility. Interpopulational breeding directed at improving silage digestibility can use a combination of genitors P30P34 and AS1572, but AS1572 and P30K64 are the most recommended. Hybrids 2B688, P30P34, and SG6015 are considered the most genetically distant of the others hybrids, and have desirable combining potential; therefore, they are important genitors for the formation of new segregated populations for improving corn silage.

A carotenogenic mini-pathway introduced into white corn does not affect development or agronomic performance

PubMed Central

Zanga, Daniela; Capell, Teresa; Slafer, Gustavo A.; Christou, Paul; Savin, Roxana

2016-01-01

High-carotenoid corn (Carolight®) has been developed as a vehicle to deliver pro-vitamin A in the diet and thus address vitamin A deficiency in at-risk populations in developing countries. Like any other novel crop, the performance of Carolight® must be tested in different environments to ensure that optimal yields and productivity are maintained, particularly in this case to ensure that the engineered metabolic pathway does not attract a yield penalty. Here we compared the performance of Carolight® with its near isogenic white corn inbred parental line under greenhouse and field conditions, and monitored the stability of the introduced trait. We found that Carolight® was indistinguishable from its near isogenic line in terms of agronomic performance, particularly grain yield and its main components. We also established experimentally that the functionality of the introduced trait was indistinguishable when plants were grown in a controlled environment or in the field. Such thorough characterization under different agronomic conditions is rarely performed even for first-generation traits such as herbicide tolerance and pest resistance, and certainly not for complex second-generation traits such as the metabolic remodeling in the Carolight® variety. Our results therefore indicate that Carolight® can now be incorporated into breeding lines to generate hybrids with locally adapted varieties for further product development and assessment. PMID:27922071

A carotenogenic mini-pathway introduced into white corn does not affect development or agronomic performance.

PubMed

Zanga, Daniela; Capell, Teresa; Slafer, Gustavo A; Christou, Paul; Savin, Roxana

2016-12-06

High-carotenoid corn (Carolight®) has been developed as a vehicle to deliver pro-vitamin A in the diet and thus address vitamin A deficiency in at-risk populations in developing countries. Like any other novel crop, the performance of Carolight® must be tested in different environments to ensure that optimal yields and productivity are maintained, particularly in this case to ensure that the engineered metabolic pathway does not attract a yield penalty. Here we compared the performance of Carolight® with its near isogenic white corn inbred parental line under greenhouse and field conditions, and monitored the stability of the introduced trait. We found that Carolight® was indistinguishable from its near isogenic line in terms of agronomic performance, particularly grain yield and its main components. We also established experimentally that the functionality of the introduced trait was indistinguishable when plants were grown in a controlled environment or in the field. Such thorough characterization under different agronomic conditions is rarely performed even for first-generation traits such as herbicide tolerance and pest resistance, and certainly not for complex second-generation traits such as the metabolic remodeling in the Carolight® variety. Our results therefore indicate that Carolight® can now be incorporated into breeding lines to generate hybrids with locally adapted varieties for further product development and assessment.

Agronomic and chemical evaluation of smooth sumac, Rhus glabra

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Campbell, T.A.

Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) is a potential whole-plant source of polyphenol and oil. In a 2-yr evaluation of progenies from 14 Maryland, 1 northern Virginia, and 2 Georgia populations, highly significant variation (1% level) in vigor, number of plants surviving the seeding year, dry matter yield the seeding year, and number of tillers produced the second year was observed. In 15 entries, highly significant variation (1% level) in polyphenol + oil and in gallotannins was observed. Dry matter yields, extrapolated to Mg ha/sup -1/, ranged from 0.02 to 1.4 (for a single harvest), % polyphenol + oil from 19.4-31.1, andmore » % gallotannins (a class of polyphenols) from 9.8 to 15.7. It is suggested that significantly improved lines could be developed through breeding. Based on estimated ratios of sigma/sup 2//sub Entries//sigma/sup 2//sub Entries/ + sigma/sup 2/, genetic variation for most agronomic traits could be estimated with fair precision whereas variation for chemical traits could be affected substantially by nongenetic factors. Factor analysis indicated plants that would perform reasonably well over a 2-yr period could be selected on the basis of early seeding-year vigor scores. Selection for high amount of polyphenol + oil and gallotannins would have to be done independently of agronomic selection. Cutting frequencies should not exceed 2 x yr/sup -1/ or serious stand loss would occur.« less

Integrated QTL detection for key breeding traits in multiple peach progenies.

PubMed

Hernández Mora, José R; Micheletti, Diego; Bink, Marco; Van de Weg, Eric; Cantín, Celia; Nazzicari, Nelson; Caprera, Andrea; Dettori, Maria Teresa; Micali, Sabrina; Banchi, Elisa; Campoy, José Antonio; Dirlewanger, Elisabeth; Lambert, Patrick; Pascal, Thierry; Troggio, Michela; Bassi, Daniele; Rossini, Laura; Verde, Ignazio; Quilot-Turion, Bénédicte; Laurens, François; Arús, Pere; Aranzana, Maria José

2017-06-06

Peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) is a major temperate fruit crop with an intense breeding activity. Breeding is facilitated by knowledge of the inheritance of the key traits that are often of a quantitative nature. QTLs have traditionally been studied using the phenotype of a single progeny (usually a full-sib progeny) and the correlation with a set of markers covering its genome. This approach has allowed the identification of various genes and QTLs but is limited by the small numbers of individuals used and by the narrow transect of the variability analyzed. In this article we propose the use of a multi-progeny mapping strategy that used pedigree information and Bayesian approaches that supports a more precise and complete survey of the available genetic variability. Seven key agronomic characters (data from 1 to 3 years) were analyzed in 18 progenies from crosses between occidental commercial genotypes and various exotic lines including accessions of other Prunus species. A total of 1467 plants from these progenies were genotyped with a 9 k SNP array. Forty-seven QTLs were identified, 22 coinciding with major genes and QTLs that have been consistently found in the same populations when studied individually and 25 were new. A substantial part of the QTLs observed (47%) would not have been detected in crosses between only commercial materials, showing the high value of exotic lines as a source of novel alleles for the commercial gene pool. Our strategy also provided estimations on the narrow sense heritability of each character, and the estimation of the QTL genotypes of each parent for the different QTLs and their breeding value. The integrated strategy used provides a broader and more accurate picture of the variability available for peach breeding with the identification of many new QTLs, information on the sources of the alleles of interest and the breeding values of the potential donors of such valuable alleles. These results are first-hand information for

Genetic divergence of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) group Carioca using morpho-agronomic traits by multivariate analysis.

PubMed

Gonçalves Ceolin, Ana Cristina; Gonçalves-Vidigal, Maria Celeste; Soares Vidigal Filho, Pedro; Vinícius Kvitschal, Marcus; Gonela, Adriana; Alberto Scapim, Carlos

2007-03-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic divergence among the common bean group Carioca by the Tocher method (based on Mahalanobis distance) and graphic dispersion of canonic variables, aiming to identify populations with wide genetic variability. Eighteen genotypes were evaluated in four seasons using a randomized block design with four replications. The mean weight of 100 seeds, in three experiments, and the mean number of pods per plant, in one experiment, were the most important characteristics for the genetic divergence, representing more than 46% of the total variation in the first canonic variable. The first two canonic variables were sufficient to explain about 88.23% of the total variation observed in the average of the four environments. The results showed that CNFC 8008 and CNFC 8009 genotypes presented the best yield averages in all the experiments. While Pérola, Princesa and CNFC 8005 cultivars were the most dissimilar for morpho-agronomic traits. Therefore, the combinations of PérolaxCNFC 8008, CNFC 8005xCNFC 8009, PérolaxCNFC 8009, PrincesaxCNFC 8008 and PrincesaxCNFC 8009 were indicated for interpopulational breeding.

Stakeholders' Perceptions of Agronomic Iodine Biofortification: A SWOT-AHP Analysis in Northern Uganda.

PubMed

Olum, Solomon; Gellynck, Xavier; Okello, Collins; Webale, Dominic; Odongo, Walter; Ongeng, Duncan; De Steur, Hans

2018-03-24

Agronomic biofortification (i.e., the application of fertilizer to elevate micronutrient concentrations in staple crops) is a recent strategy recommended for controlling Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDDs). However, its success inevitably depends on stakeholders' appreciation and acceptance of it. By taking Northern Uganda as a case, this study aimed to capture and compare the perceptions of seven key stakeholder groups with respect to agronomic iodine biofortification. Therefore, we employed a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis in combination with an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Findings show that stakeholders ( n = 56) are generally positive about agronomic iodine biofortification in Uganda, as its strengths and opportunities outweighed weaknesses and threats. Cultural acceptance and effectiveness are considered the most important strengths while the high IDD prevalence rate and the availability of iodine deficient soils are key opportunities for further developing agronomic iodine biofortification. Environmental concerns about synthetic fertilizers as well as the time needed to supply iodine were considered crucial weaknesses. The limited use of fertilizer in Uganda was the main threat. While this study provides insight into important issues and priorities for iodine biofortification technology in Uganda, including differences in stakeholder views, the application of the SWOT-AHP method will guide future researchers and health planners conducting stakeholder analysis in similar domains.

Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Agronomic Iodine Biofortification: A SWOT-AHP Analysis in Northern Uganda

PubMed Central

Olum, Solomon; Gellynck, Xavier; Okello, Collins; Webale, Dominic; Odongo, Walter; Ongeng, Duncan

2018-01-01

Agronomic biofortification (i.e., the application of fertilizer to elevate micronutrient concentrations in staple crops) is a recent strategy recommended for controlling Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDDs). However, its success inevitably depends on stakeholders’ appreciation and acceptance of it. By taking Northern Uganda as a case, this study aimed to capture and compare the perceptions of seven key stakeholder groups with respect to agronomic iodine biofortification. Therefore, we employed a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis in combination with an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Findings show that stakeholders (n = 56) are generally positive about agronomic iodine biofortification in Uganda, as its strengths and opportunities outweighed weaknesses and threats. Cultural acceptance and effectiveness are considered the most important strengths while the high IDD prevalence rate and the availability of iodine deficient soils are key opportunities for further developing agronomic iodine biofortification. Environmental concerns about synthetic fertilizers as well as the time needed to supply iodine were considered crucial weaknesses. The limited use of fertilizer in Uganda was the main threat. While this study provides insight into important issues and priorities for iodine biofortification technology in Uganda, including differences in stakeholder views, the application of the SWOT-AHP method will guide future researchers and health planners conducting stakeholder analysis in similar domains. PMID:29587370

Key personality traits of sales managers.

PubMed

Lounsbury, John W; Foster, Nancy A; Levy, Jacob J; Gibson, Lucy W

2014-01-01

Sales managers are crucial for producing positive sales outcomes for companies. However, there has been a relative dearth of scholarly investigations into the personal attributes of sales managers. Such information could prove important in the recruitment, selection, training needs identification, career planning, counseling, and development of sales managers. Drawing on Holland's vocational theory, we sought to identify key personality traits that distinguish sales managers from other occupations and are related to their career satisfaction. The main sample was comprised of a total of 978 sales managers employed in a large number of companies across the United States (along with a comparison sample drawn from 79,512 individuals from other professional occupations). Participants completed an online version of Resource Associates' Personal Style Inventory as well a measure of career satisfaction. Our sample of 978 sales managers had higher levels of Assertiveness, Customer Service Orientation, Extraversion, Image Management, Optimism, and Visionary Style; and lower levels of Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Intrinsic Motivation, Openness, and Tough-Mindedness than a sample of 79,512 individuals in a variety of other occupations. Nine of these traits were significantly correlated with sales managers' career satisfaction. Based on the results, a psychological profile of sales managers was presented as were implications for their recruitment, selection, training, development, and mentoring.

QTLs associated with agronomic traits in the Attila × CDC Go spring wheat population evaluated under conventional management

PubMed Central

Zou, Jun; Iqbal, Muhammad; Chen, Hua; Asif, Mohammad; N’Diaye, Amidou; Navabi, Alireza; Perez-Lara, Enid; Pozniak, Curtis; Yang, Rong-Cai; Randhawa, Harpinder; Spaner, Dean

2017-01-01

Recently, we investigated the effect of the wheat 90K single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) array and three gene-specific (Ppd-D1, Vrn-A1 and Rht-B1) markers on quantitative trait loci (QTL) detection in a recombinant inbred lines (RILs) population derived from a cross between two spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars, ‘Attila’ and ‘CDC Go’, and evaluated for eight agronomic traits at three environments under organic management. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the effect of conventional management on QTL detection in the same mapping population using the same set of markers as the organic management and compare the results with organic management. Here, we evaluated 167 RILs for number of tillers (tillering), flowering time, maturity, plant height, test weight (grain volume weight), 1000 kernel weight, grain yield, and grain protein content at seven conventionally managed environments from 2008 to 2014. Using inclusive composite interval mapping (ICIM) on phenotypic data averaged across seven environments and a subset of 1203 informative markers (1200 SNPs and 3 gene specific markers), we identified a total of 14 QTLs associated with flowering time (1), maturity (2), plant height (1), grain yield (1), test weight (2), kernel weight (4), tillering (1) and grain protein content (2). Each QTL individually explained from 6.1 to 18.4% of the phenotypic variance. Overall, the QTLs associated with each trait explained from 9.7 to 35.4% of the phenotypic and from 22.1 to 90.8% of the genetic variance. Three chromosomal regions on chromosomes 2D (61–66 cM), 4B (80–82 cM) and 5A (296–297 cM) harbored clusters of QTLs associated with two to three traits. The coincidental region on chromosome 5A harbored QTL clusters for both flowering and maturity time, and mapped about 2 cM proximal to the Vrn-A1 gene, which was in high linkage disequilibrium (0.70 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.75) with SNP markers that mapped within the QTL confidence interval

Field-Based High-Throughput Plant Phenotyping Reveals the Temporal Patterns of Quantitative Trait Loci Associated with Stress-Responsive Traits in Cotton

PubMed Central

Pauli, Duke; Andrade-Sanchez, Pedro; Carmo-Silva, A. Elizabete; Gazave, Elodie; French, Andrew N.; Heun, John; Hunsaker, Douglas J.; Lipka, Alexander E.; Setter, Tim L.; Strand, Robert J.; Thorp, Kelly R.; Wang, Sam; White, Jeffrey W.; Gore, Michael A.

2016-01-01

The application of high-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) to continuously study plant populations under relevant growing conditions creates the possibility to more efficiently dissect the genetic basis of dynamic adaptive traits. Toward this end, we employed a field-based HTPP system that deployed sets of sensors to simultaneously measure canopy temperature, reflectance, and height on a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) recombinant inbred line mapping population. The evaluation trials were conducted under well-watered and water-limited conditions in a replicated field experiment at a hot, arid location in central Arizona, with trait measurements taken at different times on multiple days across 2010–2012. Canopy temperature, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), height, and leaf area index (LAI) displayed moderate-to-high broad-sense heritabilities, as well as varied interactions among genotypes with water regime and time of day. Distinct temporal patterns of quantitative trait loci (QTL) expression were mostly observed for canopy temperature and NDVI, and varied across plant developmental stages. In addition, the strength of correlation between HTPP canopy traits and agronomic traits, such as lint yield, displayed a time-dependent relationship. We also found that the genomic position of some QTL controlling HTPP canopy traits were shared with those of QTL identified for agronomic and physiological traits. This work demonstrates the novel use of a field-based HTPP system to study the genetic basis of stress-adaptive traits in cotton, and these results have the potential to facilitate the development of stress-resilient cotton cultivars. PMID:26818078

Global value of GM rice: a review of expected agronomic and consumer benefits.

PubMed

Demont, Matty; Stein, Alexander J

2013-06-25

Unlike the other major crops, no genetically modified (GM) varieties of rice have been commercialized at a large scale. Within the next 2-3 years new transgenic rice varieties could be ready for regulatory approval and subsequent commercialization, though. Given the importance of rice as staple crop for many of the world's poorest people, this will have implications for the alleviation of poverty, hunger and malnutrition. Thus, policy-makers need to be aware of the potential benefits of GM rice. We provide an overview of the literature and discuss the evidence on expected agronomic and consumer benefits of genetically engineered rice. We find that while GM rice with improved agronomic traits could deliver benefits similar to already commercialized biotechnology crops, expected benefits of consumer traits could be higher by an order of magnitude. By aggregating the expected annual benefits, we estimate the global value of GM rice to be US$64 billion per year. This is only an indicative value, as more GM varieties will become available in future. Nevertheless, such a figure can help guide policy-makers when deciding on the approval or funding of biotechnology crops and it may also raise awareness among consumers about what is at stake for their societies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ultra-high density intra-specific genetic linkage maps accelerate identification of functionally relevant molecular tags governing important agronomic traits in chickpea

PubMed Central

Kujur, Alice; Upadhyaya, Hari D.; Shree, Tanima; Bajaj, Deepak; Das, Shouvik; Saxena, Maneesha S.; Badoni, Saurabh; Kumar, Vinod; Tripathi, Shailesh; Gowda, C. L. L.; Sharma, Shivali; Singh, Sube; Tyagi, Akhilesh K.; Parida, Swarup K.

2015-01-01

We discovered 26785 and 16573 high-quality SNPs differentiating two parental genotypes of a RIL mapping population using reference desi and kabuli genome-based GBS assay. Of these, 3625 and 2177 SNPs have been integrated into eight desi and kabuli chromosomes, respectively in order to construct ultra-high density (0.20–0.37 cM) intra-specific chickpea genetic linkage maps. One of these constructed high-resolution genetic map has potential to identify 33 major genomic regions harbouring 35 robust QTLs (PVE: 17.9–39.7%) associated with three agronomic traits, which were mapped within <1 cM mean marker intervals on desi chromosomes. The extended LD (linkage disequilibrium) decay (~15 cM) in chromosomes of genetic maps have encouraged us to use a rapid integrated approach (comparative QTL mapping, QTL-region specific haplotype/LD-based trait association analysis, expression profiling and gene haplotype-based association mapping) rather than a traditional QTL map-based cloning method to narrow-down one major seed weight (SW) robust QTL region. It delineated favourable natural allelic variants and superior haplotype-containing one seed-specific candidate embryo defective gene regulating SW in chickpea. The ultra-high-resolution genetic maps, QTLs/genes and alleles/haplotypes-related genomic information generated and integrated strategy for rapid QTL/gene identification developed have potential to expedite genomics-assisted breeding applications in crop plants, including chickpea for their genetic enhancement. PMID:25942004

Molecular mapping of QTLs for plant type and earliness traits in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.).

PubMed

Kumawat, Giriraj; Raje, Ranjeet S; Bhutani, Shefali; Pal, Jitendra K; Mithra, Amitha S V C R; Gaikwad, Kishor; Sharma, Tilak R; Singh, Nagendra K

2012-10-08

Pigeonpea is an important grain legume of the semi-arid tropics and sub-tropical regions where it plays a crucial role in the food and nutritional security of the people. The average productivity of pigeonpea has remained very low and stagnant for over five decades due to lack of genomic information and intensive breeding efforts. Previous SSR-based linkage maps of pigeonpea used inter-specific crosses due to low inter-varietal polymorphism. Here our aim was to construct a high density intra-specific linkage map using genic-SNP markers for mapping of major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for key agronomic traits, including plant height, number of primary and secondary branches, number of pods, days to flowering and days to maturity in pigeonpea. A population of 186 F2:3 lines derived from an intra-specific cross between inbred lines 'Pusa Dwarf' and 'HDM04-1' was used to construct a dense molecular linkage map of 296 genic SNP and SSR markers covering a total adjusted map length of 1520.22 cM for the 11 chromosomes of the pigeonpea genome. This is the first dense intra-specific linkage map of pigeonpea with the highest genome length coverage. Phenotypic data from the F2:3 families were used to identify thirteen QTLs for the six agronomic traits. The proportion of phenotypic variance explained by the individual QTLs ranged from 3.18% to 51.4%. Ten of these QTLs were clustered in just two genomic regions, indicating pleiotropic effects or close genetic linkage. In addition to the main effects, significant epistatic interaction effects were detected between the QTLs for number of pods per plant. A large amount of information on transcript sequences, SSR markers and draft genome sequence is now available for pigeonpea. However, there is need to develop high density linkage maps and identify genes/QTLs for important agronomic traits for practical breeding applications. This is the first report on identification of QTLs for plant type and maturity traits in pigeonpea. The

Molecular mapping of QTLs for plant type and earliness traits in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.)

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Pigeonpea is an important grain legume of the semi-arid tropics and sub-tropical regions where it plays a crucial role in the food and nutritional security of the people. The average productivity of pigeonpea has remained very low and stagnant for over five decades due to lack of genomic information and intensive breeding efforts. Previous SSR-based linkage maps of pigeonpea used inter-specific crosses due to low inter-varietal polymorphism. Here our aim was to construct a high density intra-specific linkage map using genic-SNP markers for mapping of major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for key agronomic traits, including plant height, number of primary and secondary branches, number of pods, days to flowering and days to maturity in pigeonpea. Results A population of 186 F2:3 lines derived from an intra-specific cross between inbred lines ‘Pusa Dwarf’ and ‘HDM04-1’ was used to construct a dense molecular linkage map of 296 genic SNP and SSR markers covering a total adjusted map length of 1520.22 cM for the 11 chromosomes of the pigeonpea genome. This is the first dense intra-specific linkage map of pigeonpea with the highest genome length coverage. Phenotypic data from the F2:3 families were used to identify thirteen QTLs for the six agronomic traits. The proportion of phenotypic variance explained by the individual QTLs ranged from 3.18% to 51.4%. Ten of these QTLs were clustered in just two genomic regions, indicating pleiotropic effects or close genetic linkage. In addition to the main effects, significant epistatic interaction effects were detected between the QTLs for number of pods per plant. Conclusions A large amount of information on transcript sequences, SSR markers and draft genome sequence is now available for pigeonpea. However, there is need to develop high density linkage maps and identify genes/QTLs for important agronomic traits for practical breeding applications. This is the first report on identification of QTLs for plant

Distribution of Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidative Activities of Rice Kernel and Their Relationships with Agronomic Practice

PubMed Central

Kesarwani, Amit; Chiang, Po-Yuan; Chen, Shih-Shiung

2014-01-01

The phenolic and antioxidant activity of ethanolic extract of two Japonica rice cultivars, Taikeng no. 16 (medium and slender grain) and Kaohsiung no. 139 (short and round grain), grown under organic and conventional farming were examined. Analyses shows that Kaohsiung no. 139 contains the highest amount of secondary metabolites and continuous farming can increase its production. Results also suggest that phenolic content under different agronomic practices, has not shown significant differences but organically grown rice has proven to be better in higher accumulation of other secondary metabolites (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), flavonoid content, and ferrous chelating capacity). In nutshell, genetic traits and environment have significant effect on phenolic compounds and the least variation reported under agronomic practices. PMID:25506072

Physiological Traits Associated with Wheat Yield Potential and Performance under Water-Stress in a Mediterranean Environment

PubMed Central

del Pozo, Alejandro; Yáñez, Alejandra; Matus, Iván A.; Tapia, Gerardo; Castillo, Dalma; Sanchez-Jardón, Laura; Araus, José L.

2016-01-01

Different physiological traits have been proposed as key traits associated with yield potential as well as performance under water stress. The aim of this paper is to examine the genotypic variability of leaf chlorophyll, stem water-soluble carbohydrate content and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C), and their relationship with grain yield (GY) and other agronomical traits, under contrasting water conditions in a Mediterranean environment. The study was performed on a large collection of 384 wheat genotypes grown under water stress (WS, rainfed), mild water stress (MWS, deficit irrigation), and full irrigation (FI). The average GY of two growing seasons was 2.4, 4.8, and 8.9 Mg ha−1 under WS, MWS, and FI, respectively. Chlorophyll content at anthesis was positively correlated with GY (except under FI in 2011) and the agronomical components kernels per spike (KS) and thousand kernel weight (TKW). The WSC content at anthesis (WSCCa) was negatively correlated with spikes per square meter (SM2), but positively correlated with KS and TKW under WS and FI conditions. As a consequence, the relationships between WSCCa with GY were low or not significant. Therefore, selecting for high stem WSC would not necessary lead to genotypes of GY potential. The relationship between Δ13C and GY was positive under FI and MWS but negative under severe WS (in 2011), indicating higher water use under yield potential and MWS conditions. PMID:27458470

Physiological Traits Associated with Wheat Yield Potential and Performance under Water-Stress in a Mediterranean Environment.

PubMed

Del Pozo, Alejandro; Yáñez, Alejandra; Matus, Iván A; Tapia, Gerardo; Castillo, Dalma; Sanchez-Jardón, Laura; Araus, José L

2016-01-01

Different physiological traits have been proposed as key traits associated with yield potential as well as performance under water stress. The aim of this paper is to examine the genotypic variability of leaf chlorophyll, stem water-soluble carbohydrate content and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ(13)C), and their relationship with grain yield (GY) and other agronomical traits, under contrasting water conditions in a Mediterranean environment. The study was performed on a large collection of 384 wheat genotypes grown under water stress (WS, rainfed), mild water stress (MWS, deficit irrigation), and full irrigation (FI). The average GY of two growing seasons was 2.4, 4.8, and 8.9 Mg ha(-1) under WS, MWS, and FI, respectively. Chlorophyll content at anthesis was positively correlated with GY (except under FI in 2011) and the agronomical components kernels per spike (KS) and thousand kernel weight (TKW). The WSC content at anthesis (WSCCa) was negatively correlated with spikes per square meter (SM2), but positively correlated with KS and TKW under WS and FI conditions. As a consequence, the relationships between WSCCa with GY were low or not significant. Therefore, selecting for high stem WSC would not necessary lead to genotypes of GY potential. The relationship between Δ(13)C and GY was positive under FI and MWS but negative under severe WS (in 2011), indicating higher water use under yield potential and MWS conditions.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for High-Throughput Phenotyping and Agronomic Research

PubMed Central

Shi, Yeyin; Thomasson, J. Alex; Murray, Seth C.; Pugh, N. Ace; Rooney, William L.; Shafian, Sanaz; Rajan, Nithya; Rouze, Gregory; Morgan, Cristine L. S.; Neely, Haly L.; Rana, Aman; Bagavathiannan, Muthu V.; Henrickson, James; Bowden, Ezekiel; Valasek, John; Olsenholler, Jeff; Bishop, Michael P.; Sheridan, Ryan; Putman, Eric B.; Popescu, Sorin; Burks, Travis; Cope, Dale; Ibrahim, Amir; McCutchen, Billy F.; Baltensperger, David D.; Avant, Robert V.; Vidrine, Misty; Yang, Chenghai

2016-01-01

Advances in automation and data science have led agriculturists to seek real-time, high-quality, high-volume crop data to accelerate crop improvement through breeding and to optimize agronomic practices. Breeders have recently gained massive data-collection capability in genome sequencing of plants. Faster phenotypic trait data collection and analysis relative to genetic data leads to faster and better selections in crop improvement. Furthermore, faster and higher-resolution crop data collection leads to greater capability for scientists and growers to improve precision-agriculture practices on increasingly larger farms; e.g., site-specific application of water and nutrients. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have recently gained traction as agricultural data collection systems. Using UAVs for agricultural remote sensing is an innovative technology that differs from traditional remote sensing in more ways than strictly higher-resolution images; it provides many new and unique possibilities, as well as new and unique challenges. Herein we report on processes and lessons learned from year 1—the summer 2015 and winter 2016 growing seasons–of a large multidisciplinary project evaluating UAV images across a range of breeding and agronomic research trials on a large research farm. Included are team and project planning, UAV and sensor selection and integration, and data collection and analysis workflow. The study involved many crops and both breeding plots and agronomic fields. The project’s goal was to develop methods for UAVs to collect high-quality, high-volume crop data with fast turnaround time to field scientists. The project included five teams: Administration, Flight Operations, Sensors, Data Management, and Field Research. Four case studies involving multiple crops in breeding and agronomic applications add practical descriptive detail. Lessons learned include critical information on sensors, air vehicles, and configuration parameters for both. As the first

Genomewide Association Studies for 50 Agronomic Traits in Peanut Using the ‘Reference Set’ Comprising 300 Genotypes from 48 Countries of the Semi-Arid Tropics of the World

PubMed Central

Pandey, Manish K.; Upadhyaya, Hari D.; Rathore, Abhishek; Vadez, Vincent; Sheshshayee, M. S.; Sriswathi, Manda; Govil, Mansee; Kumar, Ashish; Gowda, M. V. C.; Sharma, Shivali; Hamidou, Falalou; Kumar, V. Anil; Khera, Pawan; Bhat, Ramesh S.; Khan, Aamir W.; Singh, Sube; Li, Hongjie; Monyo, Emmanuel; Nadaf, H. L.; Mukri, Ganapati; Jackson, Scott A.; Guo, Baozhu; Liang, Xuanqiang; Varshney, Rajeev K.

2014-01-01

Peanut is an important and nutritious agricultural commodity and a livelihood of many small-holder farmers in the semi-arid tropics (SAT) of world which are facing serious production threats. Integration of genomics tools with on-going genetic improvement approaches is expected to facilitate accelerated development of improved cultivars. Therefore, high-resolution genotyping and multiple season phenotyping data for 50 important agronomic, disease and quality traits were generated on the ‘reference set’ of peanut. This study reports comprehensive analyses of allelic diversity, population structure, linkage disequilibrium (LD) decay and marker-trait association (MTA) in peanut. Distinctness of all the genotypes can be established by using either an unique allele detected by a single SSR or a combination of unique alleles by two or more than two SSR markers. As expected, DArT features (2.0 alleles/locus, 0.125 PIC) showed lower allele frequency and polymorphic information content (PIC) than SSRs (22.21 alleles /locus, 0.715 PIC). Both marker types clearly differentiated the genotypes of diploids from tetraploids. Multi-allelic SSRs identified three sub-groups (K = 3) while the LD simulation trend line based on squared-allele frequency correlations (r2) predicted LD decay of 15–20 cM in peanut genome. Detailed analysis identified a total of 524 highly significant MTAs (pvalue >2.1×10–6) with wide phenotypic variance (PV) range (5.81–90.09%) for 36 traits. These MTAs after validation may be deployed in improving biotic resistance, oil/ seed/ nutritional quality, drought tolerance related traits, and yield/ yield components. PMID:25140620

Detection of QTL for forage yield, lodging resistance and spring vigor traits in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an internationally significant forage crop. Forage yield, lodging resistance and spring vigor are important agronomic traits conditioned by quantitative genetic and environmental effects. The objective of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) and mo...

Impact of genetically engineered maize on agronomic, environmental and toxicological traits: a meta-analysis of 21 years of field data.

PubMed

Pellegrino, Elisa; Bedini, Stefano; Nuti, Marco; Ercoli, Laura

2018-02-15

Despite the extensive cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) maize and considerable number of scientific reports on its agro-environmental impact, the risks and benefits of GE maize are still being debated and concerns about safety remain. This meta-analysis aimed at increasing knowledge on agronomic, environmental and toxicological traits of GE maize by analyzing the peer-reviewed literature (from 1996 to 2016) on yield, grain quality, non-target organisms (NTOs), target organisms (TOs) and soil biomass decomposition. Results provided strong evidence that GE maize performed better than its near isogenic line: grain yield was 5.6 to 24.5% higher with lower concentrations of mycotoxins (-28.8%), fumonisin (-30.6%) and thricotecens (-36.5%). The NTOs analyzed were not affected by GE maize, except for Braconidae, represented by a parasitoid of European corn borer, the target of Lepidoptera active Bt maize. Biogeochemical cycle parameters such as lignin content in stalks and leaves did not vary, whereas biomass decomposition was higher in GE maize. The results support the cultivation of GE maize, mainly due to enhanced grain quality and reduction of human exposure to mycotoxins. Furthermore, the reduction of the parasitoid of the target and the lack of consistent effects on other NTOs are confirmed.

Integrated translational genomics for analysis of complex traits in sorghum

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

We will report on the integration of sequencing and genotype data from natural variation (by whole genome resequencing [wgs] or genotype by sequencing [gbs]), transcriptome (RNA-seq) and mutant analysis (also by wgs) with the goal of identifying genes controlling important agronomic traits and tran...

Breakthrough in chloroplast genetic engineering of agronomically important crops

PubMed Central

Daniell, Henry; Kumar, Shashi; Dufourmantel, Nathalie

2012-01-01

Chloroplast genetic engineering offers several unique advantages, including high-level transgene expression, multi-gene engineering in a single transformation event and transgene containment by maternal inheritance, as well as a lack of gene silencing, position and pleiotropic effects and undesirable foreign DNA. More than 40 transgenes have been stably integrated and expressed using the tobacco chloroplast genome to confer desired agronomic traits or express high levels of vaccine antigens and biopharmaceuticals. Despite such significant progress, this technology has not been extended to major crops. However, highly efficient soybean, carrot and cotton plastid transformation has recently been accomplished through somatic embryogenesis using species-specific chloroplast vectors. This review focuses on recent exciting developments in this field and offers directions for further research and development. PMID:15866001

Exploitation of data from breeding programs supports rapid implementation of genomic selection for key agronomic traits in perennial ryegrass.

PubMed

Pembleton, Luke W; Inch, Courtney; Baillie, Rebecca C; Drayton, Michelle C; Thakur, Preeti; Ogaji, Yvonne O; Spangenberg, German C; Forster, John W; Daetwyler, Hans D; Cogan, Noel O I

2018-06-02

Exploitation of data from a ryegrass breeding program has enabled rapid development and implementation of genomic selection for sward-based biomass yield with a twofold-to-threefold increase in genetic gain. Genomic selection, which uses genome-wide sequence polymorphism data and quantitative genetics techniques to predict plant performance, has large potential for the improvement in pasture plants. Major factors influencing the accuracy of genomic selection include the size of reference populations, trait heritability values and the genetic diversity of breeding populations. Global diversity of the important forage species perennial ryegrass is high and so would require a large reference population in order to achieve moderate accuracies of genomic selection. However, diversity of germplasm within a breeding program is likely to be lower. In addition, de novo construction and characterisation of reference populations are a logistically complex process. Consequently, historical phenotypic records for seasonal biomass yield and heading date over a 18-year period within a commercial perennial ryegrass breeding program have been accessed, and target populations have been characterised with a high-density transcriptome-based genotyping-by-sequencing assay. Ability to predict observed phenotypic performance in each successive year was assessed by using all synthetic populations from previous years as a reference population. Moderate and high accuracies were achieved for the two traits, respectively, consistent with broad-sense heritability values. The present study represents the first demonstration and validation of genomic selection for seasonal biomass yield within a diverse commercial breeding program across multiple years. These results, supported by previous simulation studies, demonstrate the ability to predict sward-based phenotypic performance early in the process of individual plant selection, so shortening the breeding cycle, increasing the rate of genetic

Diversity among elephant grass genotypes using Bayesian multi-trait model.

PubMed

Rossi, D A; Daher, R F; Barbé, T C; Lima, R S N; Costa, A F; Ribeiro, L P; Teodoro, P E; Bhering, L L

2017-09-27

Elephant grass is a perennial tropical grass with great potential for energy generation from biomass. The objective of this study was to estimate the genetic diversity among elephant grass accessions based on morpho-agronomic and biomass quality traits and to identify promising genotypes for obtaining hybrids with high energetic biomass production capacity. The experiment was installed at experimental area of the State Agricultural College Antônio Sarlo, in Campos dos Goytacazes. Fifty-two elephant grass genotypes were evaluated in a randomized block design with two replicates. Components of variance and the genotypic means were obtained using a Bayesian multi-trait model. We considered 350,000 iterations in the Gibbs sampler algorithm for each parameter adopted, with a warm-up period (burn-in) of 50,000 Iterations. For obtaining an uncorrelated sample, we considered five iterations (thinning) as a spacing between sampled points, which resulted in a final sample size 60,000. Subsequently, the Mahalanobis distance between each pair of genotypes was estimated. Estimates of genotypic variance indicated a favorable condition for gains in all traits. Elephant grass accessions presented greater variability for biomass quality traits, for which three groups were formed, while for the agronomic traits, two groups were formed. Crosses between Mercker Pinda México x Mercker 86-México, Mercker Pinda México x Turrialba, and Mercker 86-México x Taiwan A-25 can be carried out for obtaining elephant grass hybrids for energy purposes.

Molecular and Morpho-Agronomical Characterization of Root Architecture at Seedling and Reproductive Stages for Drought Tolerance in Wheat

PubMed Central

Vinod; Naik, Bhojaraja K.; Chand, Suresh; Deshmukh, Rupesh; Mallick, Niharika; Singh, Sanjay; Singh, Nagendra Kumar; Tomar, S. M. S.

2016-01-01

Water availability is a major limiting factor for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production in rain-fed agricultural systems worldwide. Root architecture is important for water and nutrition acquisition for all crops, including wheat. A set of 158 diverse wheat genotypes of Australian (72) and Indian (86) origin were studied for morpho-agronomical traits in field under irrigated and drought stress conditions during 2010–11 and 2011-12.Out of these 31 Indian wheat genotypes comprising 28 hexaploid (Triticum aestivum L.) and 3 tetraploid (T. durum) were characterized for root traits at reproductive stage in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes. Roots of drought tolerant genotypes grew upto137cm (C306) as compared to sensitive one of 63cm with a mean value of 94.8cm. Root architecture traits of four drought tolerant (C306, HW2004, HD2888 and NI5439) and drought sensitive (HD2877, HD2012, HD2851 and MACS2496) genotypes were also observed at 6 and 9 days old seedling stage. The genotypes did not show any significant variation for root traits except for longer coleoptiles and shoot and higher absorptive surface area in drought tolerant genotypes. The visible evaluation of root images using WinRhizo Tron root scanner of drought tolerant genotype HW2004 indicated compact root system with longer depth while drought sensitive genotype HD2877 exhibited higher horizontal root spread and less depth at reproductive stage. Thirty SSR markers were used to study genetic variation which ranged from 0.12 to 0.77 with an average value of 0.57. The genotypes were categorized into three subgroups as highly tolerant, sensitive, moderately sensitive and tolerant as intermediate group based on UPGMA cluster, STRUCTURE and principal coordinate analyses. The genotypic clustering was positively correlated to grouping based on root and morpho-agronomical traits. The genetic variability identified in current study demonstrated these traits can be used to improve drought tolerance and association

Agronomic performance of new open pollinated experimental lines of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) evaluated under organic farming.

PubMed

Sahamishirazi, Samira; Moehring, Jens; Zikeli, Sabine; Fleck, Michael; Claupein, Wilhelm; Graeff-Hoenninger, Simone

2018-01-01

In order to develop new open pollinating cultivars of broccoli for organic farming, two experiments were conducted during fall 2015 and spring 2016. This study was aimed at comparing the agronomic performance of eleven new open pollinating breeding lines of broccoli to introduce new lines and to test their seasonal suitability for organic farming. Field experiments were carried out at the organic research station Kleinhohenheim of the University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart-Germany). Different agronomic traits total biomass fresh weight, head fresh weight, head diameter, hollow-stem, fresh weight harvest index and marketable yield were assessed together with commercial control cultivars. The data from both experiments were analyzed using a two-stage mixed model approach. In our study, genotype, growing season and their interaction had significant effects on most traits. Plants belonging to the fall growing season had bigger sizes in comparison to spring with significantly (p< 0.0001) higher biomass fresh weight. Some experimental lines had significant lower head fresh weight in spring in comparison to the fall season. The high temperature during the harvest period for the spring season affected the yield negatively through decreasing the firmness of broccoli heads. The low average minimum temperatures during the spring growing season lead to low biomass fresh weight but high fresh weight harvest index. Testing the seasonal suitability of all open pollinating lines showed that the considered fall season was better for broccoli production. However, the change in yield between the fall and the spring growing season was not significant for "Line 701" and "CHE-MIC". Considering the expression of different agronomic traits, "CHE-GRE-G", "Calinaro" and "CAN-SPB" performed the best in the fall growing season, and "CHE-GRE-G", "CHE-GRE-A", "CHE-BAL-A" and "CHE-MIC" and "Line 701" were best in the spring growing season, specifically due to the highest marketable yield and

Agronomic performance of new open pollinated experimental lines of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) evaluated under organic farming

PubMed Central

Moehring, Jens; Zikeli, Sabine; Fleck, Michael; Claupein, Wilhelm; Graeff-Hoenninger, Simone

2018-01-01

In order to develop new open pollinating cultivars of broccoli for organic farming, two experiments were conducted during fall 2015 and spring 2016. This study was aimed at comparing the agronomic performance of eleven new open pollinating breeding lines of broccoli to introduce new lines and to test their seasonal suitability for organic farming. Field experiments were carried out at the organic research station Kleinhohenheim of the University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart-Germany). Different agronomic traits total biomass fresh weight, head fresh weight, head diameter, hollow-stem, fresh weight harvest index and marketable yield were assessed together with commercial control cultivars. The data from both experiments were analyzed using a two-stage mixed model approach. In our study, genotype, growing season and their interaction had significant effects on most traits. Plants belonging to the fall growing season had bigger sizes in comparison to spring with significantly (p< 0.0001) higher biomass fresh weight. Some experimental lines had significant lower head fresh weight in spring in comparison to the fall season. The high temperature during the harvest period for the spring season affected the yield negatively through decreasing the firmness of broccoli heads. The low average minimum temperatures during the spring growing season lead to low biomass fresh weight but high fresh weight harvest index. Testing the seasonal suitability of all open pollinating lines showed that the considered fall season was better for broccoli production. However, the change in yield between the fall and the spring growing season was not significant for “Line 701” and “CHE-MIC”. Considering the expression of different agronomic traits, “CHE-GRE-G”, “Calinaro” and “CAN-SPB” performed the best in the fall growing season, and “CHE-GRE-G”, “CHE-GRE-A”, “CHE-BAL-A” and “CHE-MIC” and “Line 701” were best in the spring growing season, specifically due to

Draft genome sequence of Cicer reticulatum L., the wild progenitor of chickpea provides a resource for agronomic trait improvement.

PubMed

Gupta, Sonal; Nawaz, Kashif; Parween, Sabiha; Roy, Riti; Sahu, Kamlesh; Kumar Pole, Anil; Khandal, Hitaishi; Srivastava, Rishi; Kumar Parida, Swarup; Chattopadhyay, Debasis

2017-02-01

Cicer reticulatum L. is the wild progenitor of the fourth most important legume crop chickpea (C. arietinum L.). We assembled short-read sequences into 416 Mb draft genome of C. reticulatum and anchored 78% (327 Mb) of this assembly to eight linkage groups. Genome annotation predicted 25,680 protein-coding genes covering more than 90% of predicted gene space. The genome assembly shared a substantial synteny and conservation of gene orders with the genome of the model legume Medicago truncatula. Resistance gene homologs of wild and domesticated chickpeas showed high sequence homology and conserved synteny. Comparison of gene sequences and nucleotide diversity using 66 wild and domesticated chickpea accessions suggested that the desi type chickpea was genetically closer to the wild species than the kabuli type. Comparative analyses predicted gene flow between the wild and the cultivated species during domestication. Molecular diversity and population genetic structure determination using 15,096 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms revealed an admixed domestication pattern among cultivated (desi and kabuli) and wild chickpea accessions belonging to three population groups reflecting significant influence of parentage or geographical origin for their cultivar-specific population classification. The assembly and the polymorphic sequence resources presented here would facilitate the study of chickpea domestication and targeted use of wild Cicer germplasms for agronomic trait improvement in chickpea. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Kazusa DNA Research Institute.

Tracing QTLs for Leaf Blast Resistance and Agronomic Performance of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) Genotypes through Association Mapping and in silico Comparative Genomics Analyses.

PubMed

Ramakrishnan, M; Antony Ceasar, S; Duraipandiyan, V; Vinod, K K; Kalpana, Krishnan; Al-Dhabi, N A; Ignacimuthu, S

2016-01-01

Finger millet is one of the small millets with high nutritive value. This crop is vulnerable to blast disease caused by Pyricularia grisea, which occurs annually during rainy and winter seasons. Leaf blast occurs at early crop stage and is highly damaging. Mapping of resistance genes and other quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for agronomic performance can be of great use for improving finger millet genotypes. Evaluation of one hundred and twenty-eight finger millet genotypes in natural field conditions revealed that leaf blast caused severe setback on agronomic performance for susceptible genotypes, most significant traits being plant height and root length. Plant height was reduced under disease severity while root length was increased. Among the genotypes, IE4795 showed superior response in terms of both disease resistance and better agronomic performance. A total of seven unambiguous QTLs were found to be associated with various agronomic traits including leaf blast resistance by association mapping analysis. The markers, UGEP101 and UGEP95, were strongly associated with blast resistance. UGEP98 was associated with tiller number and UGEP9 was associated with root length and seed yield. Cross species validation of markers revealed that 12 candidate genes were associated with 8 QTLs in the genomes of grass species such as rice, foxtail millet, maize, Brachypodium stacei, B. distachyon, Panicum hallii and switchgrass. Several candidate genes were found proximal to orthologous sequences of the identified QTLs such as 1,4-β-glucanase for leaf blast resistance, cytokinin dehydrogenase (CKX) for tiller production, calmodulin (CaM) binding protein for seed yield and pectin methylesterase inhibitor (PMEI) for root growth and development. Most of these QTLs and their putatively associated candidate genes are reported for first time in finger millet. On validation, these novel QTLs may be utilized in future for marker assisted breeding for the development of fungal

Tracing QTLs for Leaf Blast Resistance and Agronomic Performance of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) Genotypes through Association Mapping and in silico Comparative Genomics Analyses

PubMed Central

Ramakrishnan, M.; Antony Ceasar, S.; Duraipandiyan, V.; Vinod, K. K.; Kalpana, Krishnan; Al-Dhabi, N. A.; Ignacimuthu, S.

2016-01-01

Finger millet is one of the small millets with high nutritive value. This crop is vulnerable to blast disease caused by Pyricularia grisea, which occurs annually during rainy and winter seasons. Leaf blast occurs at early crop stage and is highly damaging. Mapping of resistance genes and other quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for agronomic performance can be of great use for improving finger millet genotypes. Evaluation of one hundred and twenty-eight finger millet genotypes in natural field conditions revealed that leaf blast caused severe setback on agronomic performance for susceptible genotypes, most significant traits being plant height and root length. Plant height was reduced under disease severity while root length was increased. Among the genotypes, IE4795 showed superior response in terms of both disease resistance and better agronomic performance. A total of seven unambiguous QTLs were found to be associated with various agronomic traits including leaf blast resistance by association mapping analysis. The markers, UGEP101 and UGEP95, were strongly associated with blast resistance. UGEP98 was associated with tiller number and UGEP9 was associated with root length and seed yield. Cross species validation of markers revealed that 12 candidate genes were associated with 8 QTLs in the genomes of grass species such as rice, foxtail millet, maize, Brachypodium stacei, B. distachyon, Panicum hallii and switchgrass. Several candidate genes were found proximal to orthologous sequences of the identified QTLs such as 1,4-β-glucanase for leaf blast resistance, cytokinin dehydrogenase (CKX) for tiller production, calmodulin (CaM) binding protein for seed yield and pectin methylesterase inhibitor (PMEI) for root growth and development. Most of these QTLs and their putatively associated candidate genes are reported for first time in finger millet. On validation, these novel QTLs may be utilized in future for marker assisted breeding for the development of fungal

Agronomic performance of F1, F2 and F3 hybrids between weedy rice and transgenic glufosinate-resistant rice.

PubMed

Song, Xiaoling; Wang, Zhou; Qiang, Sheng

2011-08-01

Studies of hybrid fitness, of which agronomic performance may be an indicator, can help in evaluating the potential for introgression of a transgene from a transgenic crop to wild relatives. The objective of this study was to assess the agronomic performance of reciprocal hybrids between two transgenic glufosinate-resistant rice lines, Y0003 and 99-t, and two weedy rice accessions, WR1 and WR2, in the greenhouse. F1 hybrids displayed heterosis in height, flag leaf area and number of spikelets per panicle. The agronomic performance of F1 between WR1 and Y0003 was not affected by crossing direction. The tiller and panicle numbers of F1 individuals were higher than their F2 counterparts. However, these traits did not change significantly from the F2 to the F3 generation or in hybrids with weedy rice as maternal or paternal plants. For all hybrids, the in vitro germination rates of fresh pollen were similar and significantly lower than those of their parents, seed sets were similar to or of lower value than those of weedy rice parents and seed shattering characteristics were partially suppressed, but the survival of hybrids over winter in the field was similar to that of weedy rice parents. All F1, F2 and F3 hybrids had similar composite agronomic performance to weedy rice parents. There was no significant decrease in the composite agronomic performance of any of the hybrids compared with weedy rice. This implies that gene flow from transgenic cultivated rice to weedy rice could occur under natural conditions. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Preliminary evidence for associations between molecular markers and quantitative traits in a set of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars and breeding lines.

PubMed

Abdollahi Mandoulakani, Babak; Nasri, Shilan; Dashchi, Sahar; Arzhang, Sorour; Bernousi, Iraj; Abbasi Holasou, Hossein

The identification of polymorphic markers associated with various quantitative traits allows us to test their performance for the exploitation of the extensive quantitative variation maintained in gene banks. In the current study, a set of 97 wheat germplasm accessions including 48 cultivars and 49 breeding lines were evaluated for 18 agronomic traits. The accessions were also genotyped with 23 ISSR, nine IRAP and 20 REMAP markers, generating a total of 658 clear and scorable bands, 86% of which were polymorphic. Both neighbor-joining dendrogram and Bayesian analysis of clustering of individuals revealed that the accessions could be divided into four genetically distinct groups, indicating the presence of a population structure in current wheat germplasm. Associations between molecular markers and 18 agronomic traits were analyzed using the mixed linear model (MLM) approach. A total of 94 loci were found to be significantly associated with agronomic traits (P≤0.01). The highest number of bands significantly associated with the 18 traits varied from 11 for number of spikelets spike -1 (NSS) to two for grain yield in row (GRY). Loci ISSR16-9 and REMAP13-10 were associated with three different traits. The results of the current study provide useful information about the performance of retrotransposon-based and ISSR molecular markers that could be helpful in selecting potentially elite gene bank samples for wheat-breeding programs. Copyright © 2017 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Understanding Arsenic Dynamics in Agronomic Systems to ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This review is on arsenic in agronomic systems, and covers processes that influence the entry of arsenic into the human food supply. The scope is from sources of arsenic (natural and anthropogenic) in soils, biogeochemical and rhizosphere processes that control arsenic speciation and availability, through to mechanisms of uptake by crop plants and potential mitigation strategies. This review makes a case for taking steps to prevent or limit crop uptake of arsenic, wherever possible, and to work toward a long-term solution to the presence of arsenic in agronomic systems. The past two decades have seen important advances in our understanding of how biogeochemical and physiological processes influence human exposure to soil arsenic, and thus must now prompt an informed reconsideration and unification of regulations to protect the quality of agricultural and residential soils. Consumption of staple foods such as rice, beverages such as apple juice, or vegetables grown in historically arsenic-contaminated soils is now recognized as a tangible route of arsenic exposure that, in many cases, is more significant than exposure from drinking water. Understanding the sources of arsenic to crop plants and the factors that influence them is key to reducing exposure now and preventing exposure in future. In addition to the abundant natural sources of arsenic, there are a large number of industrial and agricultural sources of arsenic to the soil; from mining wastes, coal fly

Long-term on-farm participatory maize breeding by stratified mass selection retains molecular diversity while improving agronomic performance.

PubMed

Alves, Mara Lisa; Belo, Maria; Carbas, Bruna; Brites, Cláudia; Paulo, Manuel; Mendes-Moreira, Pedro; Brites, Carla; Bronze, Maria do Rosário; Šatović, Zlatko; Vaz Patto, Maria Carlota

2018-02-01

Modern maize breeding programs gave rise to genetically uniform varieties that can affect maize's capacity to cope with increasing climate unpredictability. Maize populations, genetically more heterogeneous, can evolve and better adapt to a broader range of edaphic-climatic conditions. These populations usually suffer from low yields; it is therefore desirable to improve their agronomic performance while maintaining their valuable diversity levels. With this objective, a long-term participatory breeding/on-farm conservation program was established in Portugal. In this program, maize populations were subject to stratified mass selection. This work aimed to estimate the effect of on-farm stratified mass selection on the agronomic performance, quality, and molecular diversity of two historical maize populations. Multilocation field trials, comparing the initial populations with the derived selection cycles, showed that this selection methodology led to agronomic improvement for one of the populations. The molecular diversity analysis, using microsatellites, revealed that overall genetic diversity in both populations was maintained throughout selection. The comparison of quality parameters between the initial populations and the derived selection cycles was made using kernel from a common-garden experiment. This analysis showed that the majority of the quality traits evaluated progressed erratically over time. In conclusion, this breeding approach, through simple and low-cost methodologies, proved to be an alternative strategy for genetic resources' on-farm conservation.

Effect of agronomical practices on carpology, fruit and oil composition, and oil sensory properties, in olive (Olea europaea L.).

PubMed

Rosati, Adolfo; Cafiero, Caterina; Paoletti, Andrea; Alfei, Barbara; Caporali, Silvia; Casciani, Lorena; Valentini, Massimiliano

2014-09-15

We examined whether some agronomical practices (i.e. organic vs. conventional) affect olive fruit and oil composition, and oil sensory properties. Fruit characteristics (i.e. fresh and dry weight of pulp and pit, oil content on a fresh and dry weight basis) did not differ. Oil chemical traits did not differ except for increased content of polyphenols in the organic treatments, and some changes in the acidic composition. Sensory analysis revealed increased bitterness (both cultivars) and pungency (Frantoio) and decreased sweetness (Frantoio) in the organic treatment. Fruit metabolomic analysis with HRMAS-NMR indicated significant changes in some compounds including glycocholate, fatty acids, NADPH, NADP+, some amino acids, thymidine, trigonelline, nicotinic acid, 5,6-dihydrouracil, hesanal, cis-olefin, β-D-glucose, propanal and some unassigned species. The results suggest that agronomical practices may have effects on fruit composition that may be difficult to detect unless a broad-spectrum analysis is used. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Landscape of genomic diversity and trait discovery in soybean.

PubMed

Valliyodan, Babu; Dan Qiu; Patil, Gunvant; Zeng, Peng; Huang, Jiaying; Dai, Lu; Chen, Chengxuan; Li, Yanjun; Joshi, Trupti; Song, Li; Vuong, Tri D; Musket, Theresa A; Xu, Dong; Shannon, J Grover; Shifeng, Cheng; Liu, Xin; Nguyen, Henry T

2016-03-31

Cultivated soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is a primary source of vegetable oil and protein. We report a landscape analysis of genome-wide genetic variation and an association study of major domestication and agronomic traits in soybean. A total of 106 soybean genomes representing wild, landraces, and elite lines were re-sequenced at an average of 17x depth with a 97.5% coverage. Over 10 million high-quality SNPs were discovered, and 35.34% of these have not been previously reported. Additionally, 159 putative domestication sweeps were identified, which includes 54.34 Mbp (4.9%) and 4,414 genes; 146 regions were involved in artificial selection during domestication. A genome-wide association study of major traits including oil and protein content, salinity, and domestication traits resulted in the discovery of novel alleles. Genomic information from this study provides a valuable resource for understanding soybean genome structure and evolution, and can also facilitate trait dissection leading to sequencing-based molecular breeding.

Landscape of genomic diversity and trait discovery in soybean

PubMed Central

Valliyodan, Babu; Dan Qiu; Patil, Gunvant; Zeng, Peng; Huang, Jiaying; Dai, Lu; Chen, Chengxuan; Li, Yanjun; Joshi, Trupti; Song, Li; Vuong, Tri D.; Musket, Theresa A.; Xu, Dong; Shannon, J. Grover; Shifeng, Cheng; Liu, Xin; Nguyen, Henry T.

2016-01-01

Cultivated soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is a primary source of vegetable oil and protein. We report a landscape analysis of genome-wide genetic variation and an association study of major domestication and agronomic traits in soybean. A total of 106 soybean genomes representing wild, landraces, and elite lines were re-sequenced at an average of 17x depth with a 97.5% coverage. Over 10 million high-quality SNPs were discovered, and 35.34% of these have not been previously reported. Additionally, 159 putative domestication sweeps were identified, which includes 54.34 Mbp (4.9%) and 4,414 genes; 146 regions were involved in artificial selection during domestication. A genome-wide association study of major traits including oil and protein content, salinity, and domestication traits resulted in the discovery of novel alleles. Genomic information from this study provides a valuable resource for understanding soybean genome structure and evolution, and can also facilitate trait dissection leading to sequencing-based molecular breeding. PMID:27029319

Genetic Variability of 27 Traits in a Core Collection of Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.)

PubMed Central

You, Frank M.; Jia, Gaofeng; Xiao, Jin; Duguid, Scott D.; Rashid, Khalid Y.; Booker, Helen M.; Cloutier, Sylvie

2017-01-01

Assessment of genetic variability of plant core germplasm is needed for efficient germplasm utilization in breeding improvement. A total of 391 accessions of a flax core collection, which preserves the variation present in the world collection of 3,378 accessions maintained by Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC) and represents a broad range of geographical origins, different improvement statuses and two morphotypes, was evaluated in field trials in up to 8 year-location environments for 10 agronomic, eight seed quality, six fiber and three disease resistance traits. The large phenotypic variation in this subset was explained by morphotypes (22%), geographical origins (11%), and other variance components (67%). Both divergence and similarity between two basic morphotypes, namely oil or linseed and fiber types, were observed, whereby linseed accessions had greater thousand seed weight, seeds m−2, oil content, branching capability and resistance to powdery mildew while fiber accessions had greater straw weight, plant height, protein content and resistance to pasmo and fusarium wilt diseases, but they had similar performance in many traits and some of them shared common characteristics of fiber and linseed types. Weak geographical patterns within either fiber or linseed accessions were confirmed, but specific trait performance was identified in East Asia for fiber type, and South Asia and North America for linseed type. Relatively high broad-sense heritability was obtained for seed quality traits, followed by agronomic traits and resistance to powdery mildew and fusarium wilt. Diverse phenotypic and genetic variability in the flax core collection constitutes a useful resource for breeding. PMID:28993783

Genetic Variability of 27 Traits in a Core Collection of Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

PubMed

You, Frank M; Jia, Gaofeng; Xiao, Jin; Duguid, Scott D; Rashid, Khalid Y; Booker, Helen M; Cloutier, Sylvie

2017-01-01

Assessment of genetic variability of plant core germplasm is needed for efficient germplasm utilization in breeding improvement. A total of 391 accessions of a flax core collection, which preserves the variation present in the world collection of 3,378 accessions maintained by Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC) and represents a broad range of geographical origins, different improvement statuses and two morphotypes, was evaluated in field trials in up to 8 year-location environments for 10 agronomic, eight seed quality, six fiber and three disease resistance traits. The large phenotypic variation in this subset was explained by morphotypes (22%), geographical origins (11%), and other variance components (67%). Both divergence and similarity between two basic morphotypes, namely oil or linseed and fiber types, were observed, whereby linseed accessions had greater thousand seed weight, seeds m -2 , oil content, branching capability and resistance to powdery mildew while fiber accessions had greater straw weight, plant height, protein content and resistance to pasmo and fusarium wilt diseases, but they had similar performance in many traits and some of them shared common characteristics of fiber and linseed types. Weak geographical patterns within either fiber or linseed accessions were confirmed, but specific trait performance was identified in East Asia for fiber type, and South Asia and North America for linseed type. Relatively high broad-sense heritability was obtained for seed quality traits, followed by agronomic traits and resistance to powdery mildew and fusarium wilt. Diverse phenotypic and genetic variability in the flax core collection constitutes a useful resource for breeding.

Cassava traits and end-user preference: Relating traits to consumer liking, sensory perception, and genetics.

PubMed

Bechoff, Aurélie; Tomlins, Keith; Fliedel, Geneviève; Becerra Lopez-Lavalle, Luis Augusto; Westby, Andrew; Hershey, Clair; Dufour, Dominique

2018-03-04

Breeding efforts have focused on improving agronomic traits of the cassava plant however little research has been done to enhance the crop palatability. This review investigates the links between cassava traits and end-user preference in relation with sensory characteristics. The main trait is starch and its composition related to the textural properties of the food. Pectin degradation during cooking resulted in increased mealiness. Nutritional components such as carotenoids made the cassava yellow but also altered sweetness and softness; however, yellow cassava was more appreciated by consumers than traditional (white) varieties. Components formed during processing such as organic acids gave fermented cassava products an acidic taste that was appreciated but the fermented smell was not always liked. Anti-nutritional compounds such as cyanogenic glucosides were mostly related to bitter taste. Post-harvest Physiological Deterioration (PPD) affected the overall sensory characteristics and acceptability. Genes responsible for some of these traits were also investigated. Diversity in cassava food products can provide a challenge to identifying acceptance criteria. Socio-economic factors such as gender may also be critical. This review leads to questions in relation to the adaptation of cassava breeding to meet consumer needs and preference in order to maximize income, health and food security.

Know your community - Biochar: agronomic and environmental uses community

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The “Biochar: Agronomic and Environmental Uses” Community was formed in November 2010 (https://www.agronomy.org/membership/communities/biochar-agronomic-and-environmental-uses). The community’s initial function has been providing a forum at the tri-society’s national meetings to fill the need for a ...

Do key dimensions of seed and seedling functional trait variation capture variation in recruitment probability?

PubMed

Larson, Julie E; Sheley, Roger L; Hardegree, Stuart P; Doescher, Paul S; James, Jeremy J

2016-05-01

Seedling recruitment is a critical driver of population dynamics and community assembly, yet we know little about functional traits that define different recruitment strategies. For the first time, we examined whether trait relatedness across germination and seedling stages allows the identification of general recruitment strategies which share core functional attributes and also correspond to recruitment outcomes in applied settings. We measured six seed and eight seedling traits (lab- and field-collected, respectively) for 47 varieties of dryland grasses and used principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis to identify major dimensions of trait variation and to isolate trait-based recruitment groups, respectively. PCA highlighted some links between seed and seedling traits, suggesting that relative growth rate and root elongation rate are simultaneously but independently associated with seed mass and initial root mass (first axis), and with leaf dry matter content, specific leaf area, coleoptile tissue density and germination rate (second axis). Third and fourth axes captured separate tradeoffs between hydrothermal time and base water potential for germination, and between specific root length and root mass ratio, respectively. Cluster analysis separated six recruitment types along dimensions of germination and growth rates, but classifications did not correspond to patterns of germination, emergence or recruitment in the field under either of two watering treatments. Thus, while we have begun to identify major threads of functional variation across seed and seedling stages, our understanding of how this variation influences demographic processes-particularly germination and emergence-remains a key gap in functional ecology.

Spectral-agronomic relationships of corn, soybean and wheat canopies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauer, M. E. (Principal Investigator); Daughtry, C. S. T.; Vanderbilt, V. C.

1981-01-01

During the past six years several thousand reflectance spectra of corn, soybean, and wheat canopies were acquired and analyzed. The relationships of biophysical variables, including leaf area index, percent soil cover, chlorophyll and water content, to the visible and infrared reflectance of canopies are described. The effects on reflectance of cultural, environmental, and stress factors such as planting data, seeding rate, row spacing, cultivar, soil type and nitrogen fertilization are also examined. The conclusions are that several key agronomic variables including leaf area index, development stage and degree of stress are strongly related to spectral reflectance and that it should be possible to estimate these descriptions of crop condition from satellite acquired multispectral data.

Quantitative trait loci affecting oil content, oil composition, and other agronomically important traits in Oat (Avena sativa L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Groat oil content and composition are important determinants of oat quality. We investigated these traits in a population of 146 recombinant inbred lines from a cross between 'Dal' (high oil) and 'Exeter' (low oil). A linkage map consisting of 475 DArT markers spanning 1271.8 cM across 40 linkage gr...

Genetic diversity, population structure and marker-trait associations for agronomic and grain traits in wild diploid wheat Triticum urartu.

PubMed

Wang, Xin; Luo, Guangbin; Yang, Wenlong; Li, Yiwen; Sun, Jiazhu; Zhan, Kehui; Liu, Dongcheng; Zhang, Aimin

2017-07-01

Wild diploid wheat, Triticum urartu (T. urartu) is the progenitor of bread wheat, and understanding its genetic diversity and genome function will provide considerable reference for dissecting genomic information of common wheat. In this study, we investigated the morphological and genetic diversity and population structure of 238 T. urartu accessions collected from different geographic regions. This collection had 19.37 alleles per SSR locus and its polymorphic information content (PIC) value was 0.76, and the PIC and Nei's gene diversity (GD) of high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) were 0.86 and 0.88, respectively. UPGMA clustering analysis indicated that the 238 T. urartu accessions could be classified into two subpopulations, of which Cluster I contained accessions from Eastern Mediterranean coast and those from Mesopotamia and Transcaucasia belonged to Cluster II. The wide range of genetic diversity along with the manageable number of accessions makes it one of the best collections for mining valuable genes based on marker-trait association. Significant associations were observed between simple sequence repeats (SSR) or HMW-GSs and six morphological traits: heading date (HD), plant height (PH), spike length (SPL), spikelet number per spike (SPLN), tiller angle (TA) and grain length (GL). Our data demonstrated that SSRs and HMW-GSs were useful markers for identification of beneficial genes controlling important traits in T. urartu, and subsequently for their conservation and future utilization, which may be useful for genetic improvement of the cultivated hexaploid wheat.

Comparative Agronomic Performance and Reaction to Fusarium wilt of Lens culinaris × L. orientalis and L. culinaris × L. ervoides derivatives.

PubMed

Singh, Mohar; Rana, Jai C; Singh, Badal; Kumar, Sandeep; Saxena, Deep R; Saxena, Ashok; Rizvi, Aqeel H; Sarker, Ashutosh

2017-01-01

The development of transgressive phenotype in the segregating populations has been speculated to contribute to niche divergence of hybrid lineages, which occurs most frequently at larger genetic distances. Wild Lens species are considered to be more resistant against major biotic and abiotic stresses than that of the cultivated species. In the present study, we assessed the comparative agronomic performance of lentil ( Lens culinaris subsp. culinaris ) inter-sub-specific ( L. culinaris subsp. orientalis ) and interspecific ( L. ervoides ) derivatives, also discussed its probable basis of occurrence. The F 3 , F 4 , and F 5 inter sub-specific and interspecific populations of ILL8006 × ILWL62 and ILL10829 × ILWL30, respectively revealed a substantial range of variation for majority of agro-morphological traits as reflected by the range, mean and coefficient of variation. A high level of fruitful heterosis was also observed in F 3 and F 4 progeny for important traits of interest. Phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher in magnitude than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) in all generations for several quantitative characters. The results showed high heritability estimates for majority of traits in conjunction with low to high genetic advance in F 3 and F 4 generations. Further, F 5 progeny of ILL10829 × ILWL30, manifested resistant disease reaction for fifteen recombinant inbred lines (RILs) against ( Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis ( Vasd. Srin .) Gord.). The multilocation agronomic evaluation of both crosses showed better results for earliness, desirable seed yield and Fusarium wilt resistance under two agro-ecological regions of north-western India. These better performing recombinants of ILL8006 × ILWL62 and ILL10829 × ILWL30 can be advanced for further genetic improvement and developing high yielding disease resistant cultivars of lentil.

Comparative Agronomic Performance and Reaction to Fusarium wilt of Lens culinaris × L. orientalis and L. culinaris × L. ervoides derivatives

PubMed Central

Singh, Mohar; Rana, Jai C.; Singh, Badal; Kumar, Sandeep; Saxena, Deep R.; Saxena, Ashok; Rizvi, Aqeel H.; Sarker, Ashutosh

2017-01-01

The development of transgressive phenotype in the segregating populations has been speculated to contribute to niche divergence of hybrid lineages, which occurs most frequently at larger genetic distances. Wild Lens species are considered to be more resistant against major biotic and abiotic stresses than that of the cultivated species. In the present study, we assessed the comparative agronomic performance of lentil (Lens culinaris subsp. culinaris) inter-sub-specific (L. culinaris subsp. orientalis) and interspecific (L. ervoides) derivatives, also discussed its probable basis of occurrence. The F3, F4, and F5 inter sub-specific and interspecific populations of ILL8006 × ILWL62 and ILL10829 × ILWL30, respectively revealed a substantial range of variation for majority of agro-morphological traits as reflected by the range, mean and coefficient of variation. A high level of fruitful heterosis was also observed in F3 and F4 progeny for important traits of interest. Phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher in magnitude than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) in all generations for several quantitative characters. The results showed high heritability estimates for majority of traits in conjunction with low to high genetic advance in F3 and F4 generations. Further, F5 progeny of ILL10829 × ILWL30, manifested resistant disease reaction for fifteen recombinant inbred lines (RILs) against (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis (Vasd. Srin.) Gord.). The multilocation agronomic evaluation of both crosses showed better results for earliness, desirable seed yield and Fusarium wilt resistance under two agro-ecological regions of north-western India. These better performing recombinants of ILL8006 × ILWL62 and ILL10829 × ILWL30 can be advanced for further genetic improvement and developing high yielding disease resistant cultivars of lentil. PMID:28751897

Systems Biology for Smart Crops and Agricultural Innovation: Filling the Gaps between Genotype and Phenotype for Complex Traits Linked with Robust Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability

PubMed Central

Pathak, Rajesh Kumar; Gupta, Sanjay Mohan; Gaur, Vikram Singh; Pandey, Dinesh

2015-01-01

Abstract In recent years, rapid developments in several omics platforms and next generation sequencing technology have generated a huge amount of biological data about plants. Systems biology aims to develop and use well-organized and efficient algorithms, data structure, visualization, and communication tools for the integration of these biological data with the goal of computational modeling and simulation. It studies crop plant systems by systematically perturbing them, checking the gene, protein, and informational pathway responses; integrating these data; and finally, formulating mathematical models that describe the structure of system and its response to individual perturbations. Consequently, systems biology approaches, such as integrative and predictive ones, hold immense potential in understanding of molecular mechanism of agriculturally important complex traits linked to agricultural productivity. This has led to identification of some key genes and proteins involved in networks of pathways involved in input use efficiency, biotic and abiotic stress resistance, photosynthesis efficiency, root, stem and leaf architecture, and nutrient mobilization. The developments in the above fields have made it possible to design smart crops with superior agronomic traits through genetic manipulation of key candidate genes. PMID:26484978

Global analysis of plasticity in turgor loss point, a key drought tolerance trait.

PubMed

Bartlett, Megan K; Zhang, Ya; Kreidler, Nissa; Sun, Shanwen; Ardy, Rico; Cao, Kunfang; Sack, Lawren

2014-12-01

Many species face increasing drought under climate change. Plasticity has been predicted to strongly influence species' drought responses, but broad patterns in plasticity have not been examined for key drought tolerance traits, including turgor loss or 'wilting' point (πtlp ). As soil dries, plants shift πtlp by accumulating solutes (i.e. 'osmotic adjustment'). We conducted the first global analysis of plasticity in Δπtlp and related traits for 283 wild and crop species in ecosystems worldwide. Δπtlp was widely prevalent but moderate (-0.44 MPa), accounting for 16% of post-drought πtlp. Thus, pre-drought πtlp was a considerably stronger predictor of post-drought πtlp across species of wild plants. For cultivars of certain crops Δπtlp accounted for major differences in post-drought πtlp. Climate was correlated with pre- and post-drought πtlp, but not Δπtlp. Thus, despite the wide prevalence of plasticity, πtlp measured in one season can reliably characterise most species' constitutive drought tolerances and distributions relative to water supply. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Validation of yield component traits identified by GWA mapping in a rice tropical japonica x tropical japonica RIL mapping population

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Rice Diversity Panel 1 (RDP1) was developed for genome-wide association (GWA) mapping to explore the five diverse rice (Oryza sativa) subpopulations (indica, aus, aromatic, temperate japonica and tropical japonica). RDP1 was evaluated for over 30 agronomic and morphological traits, most of whic...

The Application of Soil-Agroclimatic Index for Assessing the Agronomic Potential of Arable Lands in the Forest-Steppe Zone of Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulgakov, D. S.; Rukhovich, D. I.; Shishkonakova, E. A.; Vil'chevskaya, E. V.

2018-04-01

An assessment of the agronomic potential of arable lands in the forest-steppe zone of Russia (by the example of separate soil-agronomic districts) on the basis of the soil-agroclimatic index developed under the supervision of I.I. Karmanov is considered. The agricultural areas (64) separated on the territory of Russia and characterizing soil-agroclimatic conditions for cultivation of major and accompanying crops are differentiated into soil-agronomic districts (SADs) with due account for the administrative division of the country. A large diversity of agroclimatic and agronomical conditions creates the prerequisites for the inclusion of administrative regions into different SADs. The SADs concept implies a detailed analysis of information on the soil properties, geomorphic conditions, and farming conditions. The agronomic potential for major crops in the key SADs in the forest-steppe zone of the East European Plain (Voronezh and Penza oblasts) is high, though it is 25-30% lower than that in the North Caucasus (for winter wheat, sugar beet, sunflower, and spring barley) and in Kaliningrad oblast (for oats). In Western Siberia (Tyumen, Omsk, and Novosibirsk oblasts) and Eastern Siberia (Krasnoyarsk region and Irkutsk oblast), the agronomic potential of spring crops (wheat, barley, and oats) is only utilized by 35-45% in comparison with their European analogues. In the Far East with its monsoon climate and soil conditions (meadow podbels, brown forest soils), the crops characteristic of the European forest-steppe (soybean, rice, sugar beet) and the Trans-Ural forest-steppe (spring wheat) are cultivated. Their biological potential is utilized by only 50-60% in comparison with the European analogues. The materials of this study give us information on the degree of correspondence between the soilagroclimatic potential of the territory and the biological potential of cultivated crops. This is important in the context of improving the natural-agricultural zoning of Russia

Genetic and agronomic assessment of cob traits in corn under low and normal nitrogen management conditions.

PubMed

Jansen, Constantin; Zhang, Yongzhong; Liu, Hongjun; Gonzalez-Portilla, Pedro J; Lauter, Nick; Kumar, Bharath; Trucillo-Silva, Ignacio; Martin, Juan Pablo San; Lee, Michael; Simcox, Kevin; Schussler, Jeff; Dhugga, Kanwarpal; Lübberstedt, Thomas

2015-07-01

Exploring and understanding the genetic basis of cob biomass in relation to grain yield under varying nitrogen management regimes will help breeders to develop dual-purpose maize. With rising energy demands and costs for fossil fuels, alternative energy from renewable sources such as maize cobs will become competitive. Maize cobs have beneficial characteristics for utilization as feedstock including compact tissue, high cellulose content, and low ash and nitrogen content. Nitrogen is quantitatively the most important nutrient for plant growth. However, the influence of nitrogen fertilization on maize cob production is unclear. In this study, quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been analyzed for cob morphological traits such as cob weight, volume, length, diameter and cob tissue density, and grain yield under normal and low nitrogen regimes. 213 doubled-haploid lines of the intermated B73 × Mo17 (IBM) Syn10 population have been resequenced for 8575 bins, based on SNP markers. A total of 138 QTL were found for six traits across six trials using composite interval mapping with ten cofactors and empirical comparison-wise thresholds (P = 0.001). Despite moderate to high repeatabilities across trials, few QTL were consistent across trials and overall levels of explained phenotypic variance were lower than expected some of the cob trait × trial combinations (R (2) = 7.3-43.1 %). Variation for cob traits was less affected by nitrogen conditions than by grain yield. Thus, the economics of cob usage under low nitrogen regimes is promising.

Genotyping by sequencing for SNP-based linkage analysis and identification of QTLs linked to fruit quality traits in Japanese plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Marker-assisted selection (MAS) in stone fruit (Prunus species) breeding is currently difficult to achieve due to the polygenic nature of themost relevant agronomic traits linked to fruit quality. Genotyping by sequencing (GBS), however, provides a large quantity of useful data suitable for finemapp...

Prospects and Potential Uses of Genomic Prediction of Key Performance Traits in Tetraploid Potato.

PubMed

Stich, Benjamin; Van Inghelandt, Delphine

2018-01-01

Genomic prediction is a routine tool in breeding programs of most major animal and plant species. However, its usefulness for potato breeding has not yet been evaluated in detail. The objectives of this study were to (i) examine the prospects of genomic prediction of key performance traits in a diversity panel of tetraploid potato modeling additive, dominance, and epistatic effects, (ii) investigate the effects of size and make up of training set, number of test environments and molecular markers on prediction accuracy, and (iii) assess the effect of including markers from candidate genes on the prediction accuracy. With genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP), BayesA, BayesCπ, and Bayesian LASSO, four different prediction methods were used for genomic prediction of relative area under disease progress curve after a Phytophthora infestans infection, plant maturity, maturity corrected resistance, tuber starch content, tuber starch yield (TSY), and tuber yield (TY) of 184 tetraploid potato clones or subsets thereof genotyped with the SolCAP 8.3k SNP array. The cross-validated prediction accuracies with GBLUP and the three Bayesian approaches for the six evaluated traits ranged from about 0.5 to about 0.8. For traits with a high expected genetic complexity, such as TSY and TY, we observed an 8% higher prediction accuracy using a model with additive and dominance effects compared with a model with additive effects only. Our results suggest that for oligogenic traits in general and when diagnostic markers are available in particular, the use of Bayesian methods for genomic prediction is highly recommended and that the diagnostic markers should be modeled as fixed effects. The evaluation of the relative performance of genomic prediction vs. phenotypic selection indicated that the former is superior, assuming cycle lengths and selection intensities that are possible to realize in commercial potato breeding programs.

Prospects and Potential Uses of Genomic Prediction of Key Performance Traits in Tetraploid Potato

PubMed Central

Stich, Benjamin; Van Inghelandt, Delphine

2018-01-01

Genomic prediction is a routine tool in breeding programs of most major animal and plant species. However, its usefulness for potato breeding has not yet been evaluated in detail. The objectives of this study were to (i) examine the prospects of genomic prediction of key performance traits in a diversity panel of tetraploid potato modeling additive, dominance, and epistatic effects, (ii) investigate the effects of size and make up of training set, number of test environments and molecular markers on prediction accuracy, and (iii) assess the effect of including markers from candidate genes on the prediction accuracy. With genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP), BayesA, BayesCπ, and Bayesian LASSO, four different prediction methods were used for genomic prediction of relative area under disease progress curve after a Phytophthora infestans infection, plant maturity, maturity corrected resistance, tuber starch content, tuber starch yield (TSY), and tuber yield (TY) of 184 tetraploid potato clones or subsets thereof genotyped with the SolCAP 8.3k SNP array. The cross-validated prediction accuracies with GBLUP and the three Bayesian approaches for the six evaluated traits ranged from about 0.5 to about 0.8. For traits with a high expected genetic complexity, such as TSY and TY, we observed an 8% higher prediction accuracy using a model with additive and dominance effects compared with a model with additive effects only. Our results suggest that for oligogenic traits in general and when diagnostic markers are available in particular, the use of Bayesian methods for genomic prediction is highly recommended and that the diagnostic markers should be modeled as fixed effects. The evaluation of the relative performance of genomic prediction vs. phenotypic selection indicated that the former is superior, assuming cycle lengths and selection intensities that are possible to realize in commercial potato breeding programs. PMID:29563919

Identification of molecular markers associated with fruit traits in olive and assessment of olive core collection with AFLP markers and fruit traits.

PubMed

Ipek, M; Seker, M; Ipek, A; Gul, M K

2015-03-31

The purpose of this study was to characterize olive core collection with amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers and fruit traits and to determine AFLP markers significantly associated with these fruit characters in olive. A total of 168 polymorphic AFLP markers generated by five primer combinations and nine fruit traits were used to characterize relationships between 18 olive cultivars. Although all olive cultivars were discriminated from each other by either AFLP markers (<0.75 similarity level) or fruit traits, clustering based on the AFLP markers and fruit traits was not significantly correlated (r = 0.13). Partial clustering of olive cultivars by AFLP markers according to their geographical origin was observed. Associations of AFLP markers with fruits were determined using a multiple-regression analysis with stepwise addition of AFLP markers. Significant associations between eight AFLP markers and fruit traits were identified. While five AFLP markers demonstrated significant negative correlation with fruit and stone weight, width and length and total polyphenols (P < 0.05), three AFLP markers displayed significant positive correlation with α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol (P < 0.01). This is the first report on the association of molecular markers with fruit traits in olive. Molecular markers associated with morphological and agronomic traits could be utilized for the breeding of olive cultivars. However, the association power of these markers needs to be confirmed in larger populations, and highly correlated markers should then be converted to PCR-based DNA markers such as sequence-characterized amplified region markers for better utilization.

Evaluation of virus resistance and agronomic performance of rice cultivar ASD 16 after transfer of transgene against Rice tungro bacilliform virus by backcross breeding.

PubMed

Valarmathi, P; Kumar, G; Robin, S; Manonmani, S; Dasgupta, I; Rabindran, R

2016-08-01

Severe losses of rice yield in south and southeast Asia are caused by Rice tungro disease (RTD) induced by mixed infection of Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) and Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV). In order to develop transgene-based resistance against RTBV, one of its genes, ORF IV, was used to generate transgenic resistance based on RNA-interference in the easily transformed rice variety Pusa Basmati-1, and the transgene was subsequently introgressed to rice variety ASD 16, a variety popular in southern India, using transgene marker-assisted selection. Here, we report the evaluation of BC3F4 and BC3F5 generation rice plants for resistance to RTBV as well as for agronomic traits under glasshouse conditions. The BC3F4 and BC3F5 generation rice plants tested showed variable levels of resistance, which was manifested by an average of twofold amelioration in height reduction, 1.5-fold decrease in the reduction in chlorophyll content, and 100- to 10,000-fold reduction in the titers of RTBV, but no reduction of RTSV titers, in three backcrossed lines when compared with the ASD 16 parent. Agronomic traits of some of the backcrossed lines recorded substantial improvements when compared with the ASD 16 parental line after inoculation by RTBV and RTSV. This work represents an important step in transferring RTD resistance to a susceptible popular rice variety, hence enhancing its yield in areas threatened by the disease.

Mining conifers’ mega-genome using rapid and efficient multiplexed high-throughput genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) SNP discovery platform

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are revolutionizing both medical and biological research through generation of massive SNP data sets for identifying heritable genome variation underlying key traits, from rare human diseases to important agronomic phenotypes in crop species. We evaluate...

A Comprehensive Test of General Strain Theory: Key Strains, Situational- and Trait-Based Negative Emotions, Conditioning Factors, and Delinquency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moon, Byongook; Morash, Merry; McCluskey, Cynthia Perez; Hwang, Hye-Won

2009-01-01

Using longitudinal data on South Korean youth, the authors addressed limitations of previous tests of general strain theory (GST), focusing on the relationships among key strains, situational- and trait-based negative emotions, conditioning factors, and delinquency. Eight types of strain previously shown most likely to result in delinquency,…

Functional Roles of microRNAs in Agronomically Important Plants—Potential as Targets for Crop Improvement and Protection

PubMed Central

Djami-Tchatchou, Arnaud T.; Sanan-Mishra, Neeti; Ntushelo, Khayalethu; Dubery, Ian A.

2017-01-01

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that have recently emerged as important regulators of gene expression, mainly through cleavage and/or translation inhibition of the target mRNAs during or after transcription. miRNAs play important roles by regulating a multitude of biological processes in plants which include maintenance of genome integrity, development, metabolism, and adaptive responses toward environmental stresses. The increasing population of the world and their food demands requires focused efforts for the improvement of crop plants to ensure sustainable food production. Manipulation of mRNA transcript abundance via miRNA control provides a unique strategy for modulating differential plant gene expression and miRNAs are thus emerging as the next generation targets for genetic engineering for improvement of the agronomic properties of crops. However, a deeper understanding of its potential and the mechanisms involved will facilitate the design of suitable strategies to obtain the desirable traits with minimum trade-offs in the modified crops. In this regard, this review highlights the diverse roles of conserved and newly identified miRNAs in various food and industrial crops and recent advances made in the uses of miRNAs to improve plants of agronomically importance so as to significantly enhance crop yields and increase tolerance to various environmental stress agents of biotic—or abiotic origin. PMID:28382044

Agronomic phosphorus imbalances across the world's croplands

PubMed Central

MacDonald, Graham K.; Bennett, Elena M.; Potter, Philip A.; Ramankutty, Navin

2011-01-01

Increased phosphorus (P) fertilizer use and livestock production has fundamentally altered the global P cycle. We calculated spatially explicit P balances for cropland soils at 0.5° resolution based on the principal agronomic P inputs and outputs associated with production of 123 crops globally for the year 2000. Although agronomic inputs of P fertilizer (14.2 Tg of P·y−1) and manure (9.6 Tg of P·y−1) collectively exceeded P removal by harvested crops (12.3 Tg of P·y−1) at the global scale, P deficits covered almost 30% of the global cropland area. There was massive variation in the magnitudes of these P imbalances across most regions, particularly Europe and South America. High P fertilizer application relative to crop P use resulted in a greater proportion of the intense P surpluses (>13 kg of P·ha−1·y−1) globally than manure P application. High P fertilizer application was also typically associated with areas of relatively low P-use efficiency. Although manure was an important driver of P surpluses in some locations with high livestock densities, P deficits were common in areas producing forage crops used as livestock feed. Resolving agronomic P imbalances may be possible with more efficient use of P fertilizers and more effective recycling of manure P. Such reforms are needed to increase global agricultural productivity while maintaining or improving freshwater quality. PMID:21282605

Assessing Wheat Traits by Spectral Reflectance: Do We Really Need to Focus on Predicted Trait-Values or Directly Identify the Elite Genotypes Group?

PubMed Central

Garriga, Miguel; Romero-Bravo, Sebastián; Estrada, Félix; Escobar, Alejandro; Matus, Iván A.; del Pozo, Alejandro; Astudillo, Cesar A.; Lobos, Gustavo A.

2017-01-01

Phenotyping, via remote and proximal sensing techniques, of the agronomic and physiological traits associated with yield potential and drought adaptation could contribute to improvements in breeding programs. In the present study, 384 genotypes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were tested under fully irrigated (FI) and water stress (WS) conditions. The following traits were evaluated and assessed via spectral reflectance: Grain yield (GY), spikes per square meter (SM2), kernels per spike (KPS), thousand-kernel weight (TKW), chlorophyll content (SPAD), stem water soluble carbohydrate concentration and content (WSC and WSCC, respectively), carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C), and leaf area index (LAI). The performances of spectral reflectance indices (SRIs), four regression algorithms (PCR, PLSR, ridge regression RR, and SVR), and three classification methods (PCA-LDA, PLS-DA, and kNN) were evaluated for the prediction of each trait. For the classification approaches, two classes were established for each trait: The lower 80% of the trait variability range (Class 1) and the remaining 20% (Class 2 or elite genotypes). Both the SRIs and regression methods performed better when data from FI and WS were combined. The traits that were best estimated by SRIs and regression methods were GY and Δ13C. For most traits and conditions, the estimations provided by RR and SVR were the same, or better than, those provided by the SRIs. PLS-DA showed the best performance among the categorical methods and, unlike the SRI and regression models, most traits were relatively well-classified within a specific hydric condition (FI or WS), proving that classification approach is an effective tool to be explored in future studies related to genotype selection. PMID:28337210

Assessing Wheat Traits by Spectral Reflectance: Do We Really Need to Focus on Predicted Trait-Values or Directly Identify the Elite Genotypes Group?

PubMed

Garriga, Miguel; Romero-Bravo, Sebastián; Estrada, Félix; Escobar, Alejandro; Matus, Iván A; Del Pozo, Alejandro; Astudillo, Cesar A; Lobos, Gustavo A

2017-01-01

Phenotyping, via remote and proximal sensing techniques, of the agronomic and physiological traits associated with yield potential and drought adaptation could contribute to improvements in breeding programs. In the present study, 384 genotypes of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) were tested under fully irrigated (FI) and water stress (WS) conditions. The following traits were evaluated and assessed via spectral reflectance: Grain yield (GY), spikes per square meter (SM2), kernels per spike (KPS), thousand-kernel weight (TKW), chlorophyll content (SPAD), stem water soluble carbohydrate concentration and content (WSC and WSCC, respectively), carbon isotope discrimination (Δ 13 C), and leaf area index (LAI). The performances of spectral reflectance indices (SRIs), four regression algorithms (PCR, PLSR, ridge regression RR, and SVR), and three classification methods (PCA-LDA, PLS-DA, and k NN) were evaluated for the prediction of each trait. For the classification approaches, two classes were established for each trait: The lower 80% of the trait variability range (Class 1) and the remaining 20% (Class 2 or elite genotypes). Both the SRIs and regression methods performed better when data from FI and WS were combined. The traits that were best estimated by SRIs and regression methods were GY and Δ 13 C. For most traits and conditions, the estimations provided by RR and SVR were the same, or better than, those provided by the SRIs. PLS-DA showed the best performance among the categorical methods and, unlike the SRI and regression models, most traits were relatively well-classified within a specific hydric condition (FI or WS), proving that classification approach is an effective tool to be explored in future studies related to genotype selection.

Multivariate approach in popcorn genotypes using the Ward-MLM strategy: morpho-agronomic analysis and incidence of Fusarium spp.

PubMed

Kurosawa, R N F; do Amaral Junior, A T; Silva, F H L; Dos Santos, A; Vivas, M; Kamphorst, S H; Pena, G F

2017-02-08

The multivariate analyses are useful tools to estimate the genetic variability between accessions. In the breeding programs, the Ward-Modified Location Model (MLM) multivariate method has been a powerful strategy to quantify variability using quantitative and qualitative variables simultaneously. The present study was proposed in view of the dearth of information about popcorn breeding programs under a multivariate approach using the Ward-MLM methodology. The objective of this study was thus to estimate the genetic diversity among 37 genotypes of popcorn aiming to identify divergent groups associated with morpho-agronomic traits and traits related to resistance to Fusarium spp. To this end, 7 qualitative and 17 quantitative variables were analyzed. The experiment was conducted in 2014, at Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, located in Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil. The Ward-MLM strategy allowed the identification of four groups as follows: Group I with 10 genotypes, Group II with 11 genotypes, Group III with 9 genotypes, and Group IV with 7 genotypes. Group IV was distant in relation to the other groups, while groups I, II, and III were near. The crosses between genotypes from the other groups with those of group IV allow an exploitation of heterosis. The Ward-MLM strategy provided an appropriate grouping of genotypes; ear weight, ear diameter, and grain yield were the traits that most contributed to the analysis of genetic diversity.

The agronomic science of spatial and temporal water management:How much, when and where

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The agronomic sciences are those that are applied to soil and water management and crop production, including soil, water and plant sciences and related disciplines. The science of spatial and temporal water management includes many agronomic science factors, including soil physics, biophysics, plan...

Genome-wide identification and characterization of microRNAs differenytially expressed in fibers in a cotton phytochrome A1 RNAi line

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Silencing phytochrome A1 gene (PHYA1) by RNA interference in Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. Coker 312) had generated PHYA1 RNAi lines with simultaneously improved fiber quality (longer, stronger and finer fiber) and other key agronomic traits. Comparative analyses of altered molecular proc...

Draft genome sequence of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) provides a resource for trait improvement.

PubMed

Varshney, Rajeev K; Song, Chi; Saxena, Rachit K; Azam, Sarwar; Yu, Sheng; Sharpe, Andrew G; Cannon, Steven; Baek, Jongmin; Rosen, Benjamin D; Tar'an, Bunyamin; Millan, Teresa; Zhang, Xudong; Ramsay, Larissa D; Iwata, Aiko; Wang, Ying; Nelson, William; Farmer, Andrew D; Gaur, Pooran M; Soderlund, Carol; Penmetsa, R Varma; Xu, Chunyan; Bharti, Arvind K; He, Weiming; Winter, Peter; Zhao, Shancen; Hane, James K; Carrasquilla-Garcia, Noelia; Condie, Janet A; Upadhyaya, Hari D; Luo, Ming-Cheng; Thudi, Mahendar; Gowda, C L L; Singh, Narendra P; Lichtenzveig, Judith; Gali, Krishna K; Rubio, Josefa; Nadarajan, N; Dolezel, Jaroslav; Bansal, Kailash C; Xu, Xun; Edwards, David; Zhang, Gengyun; Kahl, Guenter; Gil, Juan; Singh, Karam B; Datta, Swapan K; Jackson, Scott A; Wang, Jun; Cook, Douglas R

2013-03-01

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is the second most widely grown legume crop after soybean, accounting for a substantial proportion of human dietary nitrogen intake and playing a crucial role in food security in developing countries. We report the ∼738-Mb draft whole genome shotgun sequence of CDC Frontier, a kabuli chickpea variety, which contains an estimated 28,269 genes. Resequencing and analysis of 90 cultivated and wild genotypes from ten countries identifies targets of both breeding-associated genetic sweeps and breeding-associated balancing selection. Candidate genes for disease resistance and agronomic traits are highlighted, including traits that distinguish the two main market classes of cultivated chickpea--desi and kabuli. These data comprise a resource for chickpea improvement through molecular breeding and provide insights into both genome diversity and domestication.

[Correlation analysis of major agronomic characters and the polysaccharide contents in Dendrobium officinale].

PubMed

Zhang, Lei; Zheng, Xi-Long; Qiu, Dao-Shou; Cai, Shi-Ke; Luo, Huan-Ming; Deng, Rui-Yun; Liu, Xiao-Jin

2013-10-01

In order to provide theoretical and technological basis for the germplasm innovation and variety breeding in Dendrobium officinale, a study of the correlation between polysaccharide content and agronomic characters was conducted. Based on the polysaccharide content determination and the agronomic characters investigation of 30 copies (110 individual plants) of Dendrobium officinale germplasm resources, the correlation between polysaccharide content and agronomic characters was analyzed via path and correlation analysis. Correlation analysis results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between average spacing and polysaccharide content, the correlation coefficient was -0.695. And the blade thickness was positively correlated with the polysaccharide content, but the correlation was not significant. The path analysis results showed that the stem length was the maximum influence factor to the polysaccharide, and it was positive effect, the direct path coefficient was 1.568. According to thess results, the polysaccharide content can be easily and intuitively estimated by the agronomic characters investigating data in the germpalsm resources screening and variety breeding. Therefore, it is a visual and practical technology guidance in quality variety breeding of Dendrobium officinale.

Construction of a genetic linkage map and analysis of quantitative trait loci associated with the agronomically important traits of Pleurotus eryngii

Treesearch

Chak Han Im; Young-Hoon Park; Kenneth E. Hammel; Bokyung Park; Soon Wook Kwon; Hojin Ryu; Jae-San Ryu

2016-01-01

Breeding new strains with improved traits is a long-standing goal of mushroom breeders that can be expedited by marker-assisted selection (MAS). We constructed a genetic linkage map of Pleurotus eryngii based on segregation analysis of markers in postmeiotic monokaryons from KNR2312. In total, 256 loci comprising 226 simple sequence-repeat (SSR) markers, 2 mating-type...

Shifts and disruptions in resource-use trait syndromes during the evolution of herbaceous crops.

PubMed

Milla, Rubén; Morente-López, Javier; Alonso-Rodrigo, J Miguel; Martín-Robles, Nieves; Chapin, F Stuart

2014-10-22

Trait-based ecology predicts that evolution in high-resource agricultural environments should select for suites of traits that enable fast resource acquisition and rapid canopy closure. However, crop breeding targets specific agronomic attributes rather than broad trait syndromes. Breeding for specific traits, together with evolution in high-resource environments, might lead to reduced phenotypic integration, according to predictions from the ecological literature. We provide the first comprehensive test of these hypotheses, based on a trait-screening programme of 30 herbaceous crops and their wild progenitors. During crop evolution plants became larger, which enabled them to compete more effectively for light, but they had poorly integrated phenotypes. In a subset of six herbaceous crop species investigated in greater depth, competitiveness for light increased during early plant domestication, whereas diminished phenotypic integration occurred later during crop improvement. Mass-specific leaf and root traits relevant to resource-use strategies (e.g. specific leaf area or tissue density of fine roots) changed during crop evolution, but in diverse and contrasting directions and magnitudes, depending on the crop species. Reductions in phenotypic integration and overinvestment in traits involved in competition for light may affect the chances of upgrading modern herbaceous crops to face current climatic and food security challenges. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Environmental risk assessments for transgenic crops producing output trait enzymes

PubMed Central

Tuttle, Ann; Shore, Scott; Stone, Terry

2009-01-01

The environmental risks from cultivating crops producing output trait enzymes can be rigorously assessed by testing conservative risk hypotheses of no harm to endpoints such as the abundance of wildlife, crop yield and the rate of degradation of crop residues in soil. These hypotheses can be tested with data from many sources, including evaluations of the agronomic performance and nutritional quality of the crop made during product development, and information from the scientific literature on the mode-of-action, taxonomic distribution and environmental fate of the enzyme. Few, if any, specific ecotoxicology or environmental fate studies are needed. The effective use of existing data means that regulatory decision-making, to which an environmental risk assessment provides essential information, is not unnecessarily complicated by evaluation of large amounts of new data that provide negligible improvement in the characterization of risk, and that may delay environmental benefits offered by transgenic crops containing output trait enzymes. PMID:19924556

High-Throughput Phenotyping of Maize Leaf Physiological and Biochemical Traits Using Hyperspectral Reflectance1[OPEN

PubMed Central

Yendrek, Craig R.; Tomaz, Tiago; Montes, Christopher M.; Cao, Youyuan; Morse, Alison M.; Brown, Patrick J.; McIntyre, Lauren M.; Leakey, Andrew D.B.

2017-01-01

High-throughput, noninvasive field phenotyping has revealed genetic variation in crop morphological, developmental, and agronomic traits, but rapid measurements of the underlying physiological and biochemical traits are needed to fully understand genetic variation in plant-environment interactions. This study tested the application of leaf hyperspectral reflectance (λ = 500–2,400 nm) as a high-throughput phenotyping approach for rapid and accurate assessment of leaf photosynthetic and biochemical traits in maize (Zea mays). Leaf traits were measured with standard wet-laboratory and gas-exchange approaches alongside measurements of leaf reflectance. Partial least-squares regression was used to develop a measure of leaf chlorophyll content, nitrogen content, sucrose content, specific leaf area, maximum rate of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylation, [CO2]-saturated rate of photosynthesis, and leaf oxygen radical absorbance capacity from leaf reflectance spectra. Partial least-squares regression models accurately predicted five out of seven traits and were more accurate than previously used simple spectral indices for leaf chlorophyll, nitrogen content, and specific leaf area. Correlations among leaf traits and statistical inferences about differences among genotypes and treatments were similar for measured and modeled data. The hyperspectral reflectance approach to phenotyping was dramatically faster than traditional measurements, enabling over 1,000 rows to be phenotyped during midday hours over just 2 to 4 d, and offers a nondestructive method to accurately assess physiological and biochemical trait responses to environmental stress. PMID:28049858

The 'PUCE CAFE' Project: the First 15K Coffee Microarray, a New Tool for Discovering Candidate Genes correlated to Agronomic and Quality Traits

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Understanding the genetic elements that contribute to key aspects of coffee biology will have an impact on future agronomical improvements for this economically important tree. During the past years, EST collections were generated in Coffee, opening the possibility to create new tools for functional genomics. Results The "PUCE CAFE" Project, organized by the scientific consortium NESTLE/IRD/CIRAD, has developed an oligo-based microarray using 15,721 unigenes derived from published coffee EST sequences mostly obtained from different stages of fruit development and leaves in Coffea Canephora (Robusta). Hybridizations for two independent experiments served to compare global gene expression profiles in three types of tissue matter (mature beans, leaves and flowers) in C. canephora as well as in the leaves of three different coffee species (C. canephora, C. eugenoides and C. arabica). Microarray construction, statistical analyses and validation by Q-PCR analysis are presented in this study. Conclusion We have generated the first 15 K coffee array during this PUCE CAFE project, granted by Génoplante (the French consortium for plant genomics). This new tool will help study functional genomics in a wide range of experiments on various plant tissues, such as analyzing bean maturation or resistance to pathogens or drought. Furthermore, the use of this array has proven to be valid in different coffee species (diploid or tetraploid), drastically enlarging its impact for high-throughput gene expression in the community of coffee research. PMID:21208403

The 'PUCE CAFE' Project: the first 15K coffee microarray, a new tool for discovering candidate genes correlated to agronomic and quality traits.

PubMed

Privat, Isabelle; Bardil, Amélie; Gomez, Aureliano Bombarely; Severac, Dany; Dantec, Christelle; Fuentes, Ivanna; Mueller, Lukas; Joët, Thierry; Pot, David; Foucrier, Séverine; Dussert, Stéphane; Leroy, Thierry; Journot, Laurent; de Kochko, Alexandre; Campa, Claudine; Combes, Marie-Christine; Lashermes, Philippe; Bertrand, Benoit

2011-01-05

Understanding the genetic elements that contribute to key aspects of coffee biology will have an impact on future agronomical improvements for this economically important tree. During the past years, EST collections were generated in Coffee, opening the possibility to create new tools for functional genomics. The "PUCE CAFE" Project, organized by the scientific consortium NESTLE/IRD/CIRAD, has developed an oligo-based microarray using 15,721 unigenes derived from published coffee EST sequences mostly obtained from different stages of fruit development and leaves in Coffea Canephora (Robusta). Hybridizations for two independent experiments served to compare global gene expression profiles in three types of tissue matter (mature beans, leaves and flowers) in C. canephora as well as in the leaves of three different coffee species (C. canephora, C. eugenoides and C. arabica). Microarray construction, statistical analyses and validation by Q-PCR analysis are presented in this study. We have generated the first 15 K coffee array during this PUCE CAFE project, granted by Génoplante (the French consortium for plant genomics). This new tool will help study functional genomics in a wide range of experiments on various plant tissues, such as analyzing bean maturation or resistance to pathogens or drought. Furthermore, the use of this array has proven to be valid in different coffee species (diploid or tetraploid), drastically enlarging its impact for high-throughput gene expression in the community of coffee research.

Integrating Agronomic Principles with Management Experience in Introductory Agronomy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vorst, J. J.

1989-01-01

Explains the use of a cropping systems project to teach agronomic principles and crop management techniques, and to enhance communication skills. Provides a sample progress report instructions sheet which was used for the project. (Author/RT)

Invasive Plants and Enemy Release: Evolution of Trait Means and Trait Correlations in Ulex europaeus

PubMed Central

Hornoy, Benjamin; Tarayre, Michèle; Hervé, Maxime; Gigord, Luc; Atlan, Anne

2011-01-01

Several hypotheses that attempt to explain invasive processes are based on the fact that plants have been introduced without their natural enemies. Among them, the EICA (Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability) hypothesis is the most influential. It states that, due to enemy release, exotic plants evolve a shift in resource allocation from defence to reproduction or growth. In the native range of the invasive species Ulex europaeus, traits involved in reproduction and growth have been shown to be highly variable and genetically correlated. Thus, in order to explore the joint evolution of life history traits and susceptibility to seed predation in this species, we investigated changes in both trait means and trait correlations. To do so, we compared plants from native and invaded regions grown in a common garden. According to the expectations of the EICA hypothesis, we observed an increase in seedling height. However, there was little change in other trait means. By contrast, correlations exhibited a clear pattern: the correlations between life history traits and infestation rate by seed predators were always weaker in the invaded range than in the native range. In U. europaeus, the role of enemy release in shaping life history traits thus appeared to imply trait correlations rather than trait means. In the invaded regions studied, the correlations involving infestation rates and key life history traits such as flowering phenology, growth and pod density were reduced, enabling more independent evolution of these key traits and potentially facilitating local adaptation to a wide range of environments. These results led us to hypothesise that a relaxation of genetic correlations may be implied in the expansion of invasive species. PMID:22022588

Invasive plants and enemy release: evolution of trait means and trait correlations in Ulex europaeus.

PubMed

Hornoy, Benjamin; Tarayre, Michèle; Hervé, Maxime; Gigord, Luc; Atlan, Anne

2011-01-01

Several hypotheses that attempt to explain invasive processes are based on the fact that plants have been introduced without their natural enemies. Among them, the EICA (Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability) hypothesis is the most influential. It states that, due to enemy release, exotic plants evolve a shift in resource allocation from defence to reproduction or growth. In the native range of the invasive species Ulex europaeus, traits involved in reproduction and growth have been shown to be highly variable and genetically correlated. Thus, in order to explore the joint evolution of life history traits and susceptibility to seed predation in this species, we investigated changes in both trait means and trait correlations. To do so, we compared plants from native and invaded regions grown in a common garden. According to the expectations of the EICA hypothesis, we observed an increase in seedling height. However, there was little change in other trait means. By contrast, correlations exhibited a clear pattern: the correlations between life history traits and infestation rate by seed predators were always weaker in the invaded range than in the native range. In U. europaeus, the role of enemy release in shaping life history traits thus appeared to imply trait correlations rather than trait means. In the invaded regions studied, the correlations involving infestation rates and key life history traits such as flowering phenology, growth and pod density were reduced, enabling more independent evolution of these key traits and potentially facilitating local adaptation to a wide range of environments. These results led us to hypothesise that a relaxation of genetic correlations may be implied in the expansion of invasive species.

Polymorphisms in monolignol biosynthetic genes are associated with biomass yield and agronomic traits in European maize (Zea mays L.).

PubMed

Chen, Yongsheng; Zein, Imad; Brenner, Everton Alen; Andersen, Jeppe Reitan; Landbeck, Mathias; Ouzunova, Milena; Lübberstedt, Thomas

2010-01-15

Reduced lignin content leads to higher cell wall digestibility and, therefore, better forage quality and increased conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into ethanol. However, reduced lignin content might lead to weaker stalks, lodging, and reduced biomass yield. Genes encoding enzymes involved in cell wall lignification have been shown to influence both cell wall digestibility and yield traits. In this study, associations between monolignol biosynthetic genes and plant height (PHT), days to silking (DTS), dry matter content (DMC), and dry matter yield (DMY) were identified by using a panel of 39 European elite maize lines. In total, 10 associations were detected between polymorphisms or tight linkage disequilibrium (LD) groups within the COMT, CCoAOMT2, 4CL1, 4CL2, F5H, and PAL genomic fragments, respectively, and the above mentioned traits. The phenotypic variation explained by these polymorphisms or tight LD groups ranged from 6% to 25.8% in our line collection. Only 4CL1 and F5H were found to have polymorphisms associated with both yield and forage quality related characters. However, no pleiotropic polymorphisms affecting both digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (DNDF), and PHT or DMY were discovered, even under less stringent statistical conditions. Due to absence of pleiotropic polymorphisms affecting both forage yield and quality traits, identification of optimal monolignol biosynthetic gene haplotype(s) combining beneficial quantitative trait polymorphism (QTP) alleles for both quality and yield traits appears possible within monolignol biosynthetic genes. This is beneficial to maximize forage and bioethanol yield per unit land area.

Polymorphisms in monolignol biosynthetic genes are associated with biomass yield and agronomic traits in European maize (Zea mays L.)

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Reduced lignin content leads to higher cell wall digestibility and, therefore, better forage quality and increased conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into ethanol. However, reduced lignin content might lead to weaker stalks, lodging, and reduced biomass yield. Genes encoding enzymes involved in cell wall lignification have been shown to influence both cell wall digestibility and yield traits. Results In this study, associations between monolignol biosynthetic genes and plant height (PHT), days to silking (DTS), dry matter content (DMC), and dry matter yield (DMY) were identified by using a panel of 39 European elite maize lines. In total, 10 associations were detected between polymorphisms or tight linkage disequilibrium (LD) groups within the COMT, CCoAOMT2, 4CL1, 4CL2, F5H, and PAL genomic fragments, respectively, and the above mentioned traits. The phenotypic variation explained by these polymorphisms or tight LD groups ranged from 6% to 25.8% in our line collection. Only 4CL1 and F5H were found to have polymorphisms associated with both yield and forage quality related characters. However, no pleiotropic polymorphisms affecting both digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (DNDF), and PHT or DMY were discovered, even under less stringent statistical conditions. Conclusion Due to absence of pleiotropic polymorphisms affecting both forage yield and quality traits, identification of optimal monolignol biosynthetic gene haplotype(s) combining beneficial quantitative trait polymorphism (QTP) alleles for both quality and yield traits appears possible within monolignol biosynthetic genes. This is beneficial to maximize forage and bioethanol yield per unit land area. PMID:20078869

IMPROVING BIOMASS LOGISTICS COST WITHIN AGRONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY CONSTRAINTS AND BIOMASS QUALITY TARGETS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J. Richard Hess; Kevin L. Kenney; Christopher T. Wright

Equipment manufacturers have made rapid improvements in biomass harvesting and handling equipment. These improvements have increased transportation and handling efficiencies due to higher biomass densities and reduced losses. Improvements in grinder efficiencies and capacity have reduced biomass grinding costs. Biomass collection efficiencies (the ratio of biomass collected to the amount available in the field) as high as 75% for crop residues and greater than 90% for perennial energy crops have also been demonstrated. However, as collection rates increase, the fraction of entrained soil in the biomass increases, and high biomass residue removal rates can violate agronomic sustainability limits. Advancements inmore » quantifying multi-factor sustainability limits to increase removal rate as guided by sustainable residue removal plans, and mitigating soil contamination through targeted removal rates based on soil type and residue type/fraction is allowing the use of new high efficiency harvesting equipment and methods. As another consideration, single pass harvesting and other technologies that improve harvesting costs cause biomass storage moisture management challenges, which challenges are further perturbed by annual variability in biomass moisture content. Monitoring, sampling, simulation, and analysis provide basis for moisture, time, and quality relationships in storage, which has allowed the development of moisture tolerant storage systems and best management processes that combine moisture content and time to accommodate baled storage of wet material based upon “shelf-life.” The key to improving biomass supply logistics costs has been developing the associated agronomic sustainability and biomass quality technologies and processes that allow the implementation of equipment engineering solutions.« less

Genome-Assisted Prediction of Quantitative Traits Using the R Package sommer.

PubMed

Covarrubias-Pazaran, Giovanny

2016-01-01

Most traits of agronomic importance are quantitative in nature, and genetic markers have been used for decades to dissect such traits. Recently, genomic selection has earned attention as next generation sequencing technologies became feasible for major and minor crops. Mixed models have become a key tool for fitting genomic selection models, but most current genomic selection software can only include a single variance component other than the error, making hybrid prediction using additive, dominance and epistatic effects unfeasible for species displaying heterotic effects. Moreover, Likelihood-based software for fitting mixed models with multiple random effects that allows the user to specify the variance-covariance structure of random effects has not been fully exploited. A new open-source R package called sommer is presented to facilitate the use of mixed models for genomic selection and hybrid prediction purposes using more than one variance component and allowing specification of covariance structures. The use of sommer for genomic prediction is demonstrated through several examples using maize and wheat genotypic and phenotypic data. At its core, the program contains three algorithms for estimating variance components: Average information (AI), Expectation-Maximization (EM) and Efficient Mixed Model Association (EMMA). Kernels for calculating the additive, dominance and epistatic relationship matrices are included, along with other useful functions for genomic analysis. Results from sommer were comparable to other software, but the analysis was faster than Bayesian counterparts in the magnitude of hours to days. In addition, ability to deal with missing data, combined with greater flexibility and speed than other REML-based software was achieved by putting together some of the most efficient algorithms to fit models in a gentle environment such as R.

Flowering-Related RING Protein 1 (FRRP1) Regulates Flowering Time and Yield Potential by Affecting Histone H2B Monoubiquitination in Rice (Oryza Sativa).

PubMed

Du, Yiwei; He, Wei; Deng, Changwang; Chen, Xi; Gou, Lanming; Zhu, Fugui; Guo, Wei; Zhang, Jianfu; Wang, Tao

2016-01-01

Flowering time is a critical trait for crops cultivated under various temperature/photoperiod conditions around the world. To understand better the flowering time of rice, we used the vector pTCK303 to produce several lines of RNAi knockdown transgenic rice and investigated their flowering times and other agronomic traits. Among them, the heading date of FRRP1-RNAi knockdown transgenic rice was 23-26 days earlier than that of wild-type plants. FRRP1 is a novel rice gene that encodes a C3HC4-type Really Interesting Novel Gene (RING) finger domain protein. In addition to the early flowering time, FRRP1-RNAi knockdown transgenic rice caused changes on an array of agronomic traits, including plant height, panicle length and grain length. We analyzed the expression of some key genes associated with the flowering time and other agronomic traits in the FRRP1-RNAi knockdown lines and compared with that in wild-type lines. The expression of Hd3a increased significantly, which was the key factor in the early flowering time. Further experiments showed that the level of histone H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub1) was noticeably reduced in the FRRP1-RNAi knockdown transgenic rice lines compared with wild-type plants and MBP-FRRP1-F1 was capable of self-ubiquitination. The results indicate that Flowering Related RING Protein 1 (FRRP1) is involved in histone H2B monoubiquitination and suggest that FRRP1 functions as an E3 ligase in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, FRRP1 probably regulates flowering time and yield potential in rice by affecting histone H2B monoubiquitination, which leads to changes in gene expression in multiple processes.

Flowering-Related RING Protein 1 (FRRP1) Regulates Flowering Time and Yield Potential by Affecting Histone H2B Monoubiquitination in Rice (Oryza Sativa)

PubMed Central

Deng, Changwang; Chen, Xi; Gou, Lanming; Zhu, Fugui; Guo, Wei; Zhang, Jianfu; Wang, Tao

2016-01-01

Flowering time is a critical trait for crops cultivated under various temperature/photoperiod conditions around the world. To understand better the flowering time of rice, we used the vector pTCK303 to produce several lines of RNAi knockdown transgenic rice and investigated their flowering times and other agronomic traits. Among them, the heading date of FRRP1-RNAi knockdown transgenic rice was 23–26 days earlier than that of wild-type plants. FRRP1 is a novel rice gene that encodes a C3HC4-type Really Interesting Novel Gene (RING) finger domain protein. In addition to the early flowering time, FRRP1-RNAi knockdown transgenic rice caused changes on an array of agronomic traits, including plant height, panicle length and grain length. We analyzed the expression of some key genes associated with the flowering time and other agronomic traits in the FRRP1-RNAi knockdown lines and compared with that in wild-type lines. The expression of Hd3a increased significantly, which was the key factor in the early flowering time. Further experiments showed that the level of histone H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub1) was noticeably reduced in the FRRP1-RNAi knockdown transgenic rice lines compared with wild-type plants and MBP-FRRP1-F1 was capable of self-ubiquitination. The results indicate that Flowering Related RING Protein 1 (FRRP1) is involved in histone H2B monoubiquitination and suggest that FRRP1 functions as an E3 ligase in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, FRRP1 probably regulates flowering time and yield potential in rice by affecting histone H2B monoubiquitination, which leads to changes in gene expression in multiple processes. PMID:26934377

Trait Variation Along a Forest Successional Gradient in Dry Tropical Forest, Florida Keys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subedi, S.; Ross, M. S.

2016-12-01

In most part of South Florida tropical dry forests, the early colonized trees on disturbed uplands are mostly deciduous species cable of surviving for several years after establishment. However, trees in mature forests are generally characterized by a suite of evergreen species, most of which are completely absent in younger stands even in seedling stage. This complete transition from one functional group to another in the course of stand development suggests a distinct change in the underlying environment during the course of succession. Such change in hammock functional groups as a function of the changing environmental drivers during succession in tropical dry forests is unknown and addressing this question may help to understand which drivers of change act as filters that select for and against particular groups of species and traits. In this study, we evaluate number of important functional traits (specific leaf area, wood density, leaf d13C, leaf N:P ratio, and architectural traits such as height, crown dimensions, diameter at breast height) for woody plant species occurring along a successional gradient across three ecological scales, community, species, and individual. A significant change in the overall trait distribution across the successional gradient is found. Intraspecific trait variation within the community is increased with increase in forest age. Most of these traits have shown correlation with stand age and showed preference to a certain environment. Stand age is the most important variable explaining the distribution of community characteristics. It is found that early successional forest are mostly shaped by environmental driven processes, and as forest get older and structurally more complex, they are increasingly shaped by competitively driven processes leading to limiting similarity. This study has shown that the patterns of trait shift can be predictable and can be used to characterize habitats and stage of forest succession in dry tropical

Projected climate and agronomic implications for corn production in the Northeastern United States.

PubMed

Prasad, Rishi; Gunn, Stephan Kpoti; Rotz, Clarence Alan; Karsten, Heather; Roth, Greg; Buda, Anthony; Stoner, Anne M K

2018-01-01

Corn has been a pillar of American agriculture for decades and continues to receive much attention from the scientific community for its potential to meet the food, feed and fuel needs of a growing human population in a changing climate. By midcentury, global temperature increase is expected to exceed 2°C where local effects on heat, cold and precipitation extremes will vary. The Northeast United States is a major dairy producer, corn consumer, and is cited as the fastest warming region in the contiguous U.S. It is important to understand how key agronomic climate variables affect corn growth and development so that adaptation strategies can be tailored to local climate changes. We analyzed potential local effects of climate change on corn growth and development at three major dairy locations in the Northeast (Syracuse, New York; State College, Pennsylvania and Landisville, Pennsylvania) using downscaled projected climate data (2000-2100) from nine Global Climate Models under two emission pathways (Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5). Our analysis indicates that corn near the end of the 21st century will experience fewer spring and fall freezes, faster rate of growing degree day accumulation with a reduction in time required to reach maturity, greater frequencies of daily high temperature ≥35°C during key growth stages such as silking-anthesis and greater water deficit during reproductive (R1-R6) stages. These agronomic anomalies differ between the three locations, illustrating varying impacts of climate change in the more northern regions vs. the southern regions of the Northeast. Management strategies such as shifting the planting dates based on last spring freeze and irrigation during the greatest water deficit stages (R1-R6) will partially offset the projected increase in heat and drought stress. Future research should focus on understanding the effects of global warming at local levels and determining adaptation strategies that meet

Molecular, Genetic and Agronomic Approaches to Utilizing Pulses as Cover Crops and Green Manure into Cropping Systems

PubMed Central

Tani, Eleni; Abraham, Eleni; Chachalis, Demosthenis; Travlos, Ilias

2017-01-01

Cover crops constitute one of the most promising agronomic practices towards a more sustainable agriculture. Their beneficial effects on main crops, soil and environment are many and various, while risks and disadvantages may also appear. Several legumes show a high potential but further research is required in order to suggest the optimal legume cover crops for each case in terms of their productivity and ability to suppress weeds. The additional cost associated with cover crops should also be addressed and in this context the use of grain legumes such as cowpea, faba bean and pea could be of high interest. Some of the aspects of these grain legumes as far as their use as cover crops, their genetic diversity and their breeding using conventional and molecular approaches are discussed in the present review. The specific species seem to have a high potential for use as cover crops, especially if their noticeable genetic diversity is exploited and their breeding focuses on several desirable traits. PMID:28587254

Do key dimensions of seed and seedling functional trait variation capture variation in recruitment probability?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

1. Plant functional traits provide a mechanistic basis for understanding ecological variation among plant species and the implications of this variation for species distribution, community assembly and restoration. 2. The bulk of our functional trait understanding, however, is centered on traits rel...

Maize YABBY genes drooping leaf1 and drooping leaf2 affect agronomic traits by regulating leaf architecture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Leaf architectural traits, such as length, width and angle, directly influence canopy structure and light penetration, photosynthate production and overall yield. We discovered and characterized a maize (Zea mays) mutant with aberrant leaf architecture we named drooping leaf1 (drl1), as leaf blades ...

Genetic gains from selection for fiber traits in Gossypium hirsutum L.

PubMed

de Faria, G M P; Sanchez, C F B; de Carvalho, L P; da Silva Oliveira, M; Cruz, C D

2016-11-21

Brazil is among the five largest producers of cotton in the world, cultivating the species Gossypium hirsutum L. r. latifolium Hutch. The cultivars should have good fiber quality as well as yield. Genetic improvement of fiber traits requires the study of the genetic structure of the populations under improvement, leading to the identification of promising parent plants. To this end, it is important to acquire some information, such as estimates of genetic variance components and heritability coefficients, which will support the appropriate choice of the breeding strategy to be employed as well as enable the estimation of gains from selection. This study aimed to evaluate some agronomic characteristics, such as fiber quality and yield, estimating genetic parameters for the purpose of predicting earnings. Twelve cultivars of cotton, including four male progenitors (CNPA 01-42, BRS Verde, Glandless, and Okra leaf) and eight female progenitors (Delta opal, CNPA 7H, Aroeira, Antares, Sucupira, Facual, Precoce 3, and CNPA 8H), were used in performing crosses according to design I, proposed by Comstock and Robinson (1948). The experimental design was a randomized block with four replications. We observed genetic variability among all traits as well as higher efficiency of selection for the gains related to traits. Our results showed that the combined selection presented the highest genetic gains for all traits. For fiber length, the female/male selection and the combined selection resulted in the highest genetic gain.

Association analysis of genes involved in maize (Zea mays L.) root development with seedling and agronomic traits under contrasting nitrogen levels.

PubMed

Abdel-Ghani, Adel H; Kumar, Bharath; Pace, Jordon; Jansen, Constantin; Gonzalez-Portilla, Pedro J; Reyes-Matamoros, Jenaro; San Martin, Juan Pablo; Lee, Michael; Lübberstedt, Thomas

2015-05-01

A better understanding of the genetic control of root development might allow one to develop lines with root systems with the potential to adapt to soils with limited nutrient availability. For this purpose, an association study (AS) panel consisting of 74 diverse set of inbred maize lines were screened for seedling root traits and adult plant root traits under two contrasting nitrogen (N) levels (low and high N). Allele re-sequencing of RTCL, RTH3, RUM1, and RUL1 genes related to root development was carried out for AS panel lines. Association analysis was carried out between individual polymorphisms, and both seedling and adult plant traits, while controlling for spurious associations due to population structure and kinship relations. Based on the SNPs identified in RTCL, RTH3, RUM1, and RUL1, lines within the AS panel were grouped into 16, 9, 22, and 7 haplotypes, respectively. Association analysis revealed several polymorphisms within root genes putatively associated with the variability in seedling root and adult plant traits development under contrasting N levels. The highest number of significantly associated SNPs with seedling root traits were found in RTCL (19 SNPs) followed by RUM1 (4 SNPs) and in case of RTH3 and RUL1, two and three SNPs, respectively, were significantly associated with root traits. RTCL and RTH3 were also found to be associated with grain yield. Thus considerable allelic diversity is present within the candidate genes studied and can be utilized to develop functional markers that allow identification of maize lines with improved root architecture and yield under N stress conditions.

Predicting Key Agronomic Soil Properties with UV-Vis Fluorescence Measurements Combined with Vis-NIR-SWIR Reflectance Spectroscopy: A Farm-Scale Study in a Mediterranean Viticultural Agroecosystem.

PubMed

Vaudour, Emmanuelle; Cerovic, Zoran G; Ebengo, Dav M; Latouche, Gwendal

2018-04-10

For adequate crop and soil management, rapid and accurate techniques for monitoring soil properties are particularly important when a farmer starts up his activities and needs a diagnosis of his cultivated fields. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of fluorescence measured directly on 146 whole soil solid samples, for predicting key soil properties at the scale of a 6 ha Mediterranean wine estate with contrasting soils. UV-Vis fluorescence measurements were carried out in conjunction with reflectance measurements in the Vis-NIR-SWIR range. Combining PLSR predictions from Vis-NIR-SWIR reflectance spectra and from a set of fluorescence signals enabled us to improve the power of prediction of a number of key agronomic soil properties including SOC, N tot , CaCO₃, iron, fine particle-sizes (clay, fine silt, fine sand), CEC, pH and exchangeable Ca 2+ with cross-validation RPD ≥ 2 and R² ≥ 0.75, while exchangeable K⁺, Na⁺, Mg 2+ , coarse silt and coarse sand contents were fairly predicted (1.42 ≤ RPD < 2 and 0.54 ≤ R² < 0.75). Predictions of SOC, N tot , CaCO₃, iron contents, and pH were still good (RPD ≥ 1.8, R² ≥ 0.68) when using a single fluorescence signal or index such as SFR_R or FERARI, highlighting the unexpected importance of red excitations and indices derived from plant studies. The predictive ability of single fluorescence indices or original signals was very significant for topsoil: this is very important for a farmer who wishes to update information on soil nutrient for the purpose of fertility diagnosis and particularly nitrogen fertilization. These results open encouraging perspectives for using miniaturized fluorescence devices enabling red excitation coupled with red or far-red fluorescence emissions directly in the field.

Predicting Key Agronomic Soil Properties with UV-Vis Fluorescence Measurements Combined with Vis-NIR-SWIR Reflectance Spectroscopy: A Farm-Scale Study in a Mediterranean Viticultural Agroecosystem

PubMed Central

Vaudour, Emmanuelle; Cerovic, Zoran G.; Ebengo, Dav M.; Latouche, Gwendal

2018-01-01

For adequate crop and soil management, rapid and accurate techniques for monitoring soil properties are particularly important when a farmer starts up his activities and needs a diagnosis of his cultivated fields. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of fluorescence measured directly on 146 whole soil solid samples, for predicting key soil properties at the scale of a 6 ha Mediterranean wine estate with contrasting soils. UV-Vis fluorescence measurements were carried out in conjunction with reflectance measurements in the Vis-NIR-SWIR range. Combining PLSR predictions from Vis-NIR-SWIR reflectance spectra and from a set of fluorescence signals enabled us to improve the power of prediction of a number of key agronomic soil properties including SOC, Ntot, CaCO3, iron, fine particle-sizes (clay, fine silt, fine sand), CEC, pH and exchangeable Ca2+ with cross-validation RPD ≥ 2 and R² ≥ 0.75, while exchangeable K+, Na+, Mg2+, coarse silt and coarse sand contents were fairly predicted (1.42 ≤ RPD < 2 and 0.54 ≤ R² < 0.75). Predictions of SOC, Ntot, CaCO3, iron contents, and pH were still good (RPD ≥ 1.8, R² ≥ 0.68) when using a single fluorescence signal or index such as SFR_R or FERARI, highlighting the unexpected importance of red excitations and indices derived from plant studies. The predictive ability of single fluorescence indices or original signals was very significant for topsoil: this is very important for a farmer who wishes to update information on soil nutrient for the purpose of fertility diagnosis and particularly nitrogen fertilization. These results open encouraging perspectives for using miniaturized fluorescence devices enabling red excitation coupled with red or far-red fluorescence emissions directly in the field. PMID:29642640

A Survey of Fertilizer Dealers: I. Sources of Agronomic Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmitt, M. A.

1988-01-01

Reports on a survey of fertilizer dealers which was conducted to: assess where and from whom local fertilizer dealers obtain agronomic training; evaluate the effectiveness of various dealer training; and determine the needs and objectives of future training programs. (TW)

A Survey of Fertilizer Dealers: II. Sources of Agronomic Information.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmitt, M. A.

1988-01-01

Reports on a survey of fertilizer dealers that was conducted to assess how the dealers were obtaining their agronomic information, aside from formal training sessions, and determine if these sources of information were satisfactory in fulfilling the dealers' needs. (TW)

Biochar: A synthesis of its agronomic impact beyond carbon sequestration

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Biochar has been recently heralded as an amendment to revitalize degraded soils, improve soil carbon sequestration, increase agronomic productivity and enter into future carbon trading markets. However, scientific and economic technicalities may limit the ability of biochar to consistently deliver o...

A cybernetic model of global personality traits.

PubMed

Van Egeren, Lawrence F

2009-05-01

Neurobehavioral studies of human and animal temperament have shed light on how individual personality traits influence human actions. This approach, however, leaves open questions about how the entire system of traits and temperaments function together to exercise control. To address this key issue, I describe a cybernetic model of control and then apply it to the Big Five (B5) personality traits. Employing evidence from descriptive trait terms, temperamental behavioral processes associated with traits, and empirical correlates of traits, I relate distinct cybernetic processes of self-regulation to the B5 traits. The B5 traits broadly parallel basic cybernetic self-regulation processes. For example, the core behavior activation property of the B5 Extraversion trait can be mapped onto the device output function of automated cybernetic control systems. Implications and limitations of interpreting personality traits in self-regulation terms are discussed.

Bio-effectors from waste materials as growth promoters for tomato plants, an agronomic and metabolomic study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abou Chehade, Lara; Chami, Ziad Al; De Pascali, Sandra; Cavoski, Ivana; Fanizzi, Francesco Paolo

2015-04-01

In organic farming, where nutrient management is constrained and sustainability is claimed, bio-effectors pave their way. Considering selected bio-effectors, this study integrates metabolomics to agronomy in depicting induced relevant phenomena. Extracts of three agro-industrial wastes (Lemon processing residues, Fennel processing residues and Brewer's spent grain) are being investigated as sources of bio-effectors for the third trial consequently. Corresponding individual and mixture aqueous extracts are assessed for their synergistic and/or single agronomic and qualitative performances on soil-grown tomato, compared to both a control and humic acid treatments. A metabolomic profiling of tomato fruits via the Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, as holistic indicator of fruit quality and extract-induced responses, complements crop productivity and organoleptic/nutritional qualitative analyses. Results are expected to show mainly an enhancement of the fruit qualitative traits, and to confirm partly the previous results of better crop productivity and metabolism enhancement. Waste-derived bio-effectors could be, accordingly, demonstrated as potential candidates of plant-enhancing substances. Keywords: bio-effectors, organic farming, agro-industrial wastes, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), tomato.

Agronomic performance of five banana cultivars under protected cultivation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Banana has been grown both in open-field and protected cultivation in Turkey. So far protected cultivation is very popular due to the high yield and quality. The objective of the study was to evaluate agronomic performance of five new banana cultivars under plastic greenhouse. ‘MA 13’, ‘Williams’, ‘...

Unmanned aerial vehicles for high-throughput phenotyping and agronomic research

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Advances in automation and data science have led agriculturists to seek real-time, high-quality, high-volume crop data to accelerate crop improvement through breeding and to optimize agronomic practices. Breeders have recently gained massive data-collection capability in genome sequencing of plants....

Modeling of genetic gain for single traits from marker-assisted seedling selection in clonally propagated crops

PubMed Central

Ru, Sushan; Hardner, Craig; Carter, Patrick A; Evans, Kate; Main, Dorrie; Peace, Cameron

2016-01-01

Seedling selection identifies superior seedlings as candidate cultivars based on predicted genetic potential for traits of interest. Traditionally, genetic potential is determined by phenotypic evaluation. With the availability of DNA tests for some agronomically important traits, breeders have the opportunity to include DNA information in their seedling selection operations—known as marker-assisted seedling selection. A major challenge in deploying marker-assisted seedling selection in clonally propagated crops is a lack of knowledge in genetic gain achievable from alternative strategies. Existing models based on additive effects considering seed-propagated crops are not directly relevant for seedling selection of clonally propagated crops, as clonal propagation captures all genetic effects, not just additive. This study modeled genetic gain from traditional and various marker-based seedling selection strategies on a single trait basis through analytical derivation and stochastic simulation, based on a generalized seedling selection scheme of clonally propagated crops. Various trait-test scenarios with a range of broad-sense heritability and proportion of genotypic variance explained by DNA markers were simulated for two populations with different segregation patterns. Both derived and simulated results indicated that marker-based strategies tended to achieve higher genetic gain than phenotypic seedling selection for a trait where the proportion of genotypic variance explained by marker information was greater than the broad-sense heritability. Results from this study provides guidance in optimizing genetic gain from seedling selection for single traits where DNA tests providing marker information are available. PMID:27148453

Assessment of agronomic homogeneity and compatibility of soils in the Vladimir Opolie region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shein, E. V.; Kiryushin, V. I.; Korchagin, A. A.; Mazirov, M. A.; Dembovetskii, A. V.; Il'in, L. I.

2017-10-01

Complexes of gray forest soils of different podzolization degrees with the participation of gray forest podzolized soils with the second humus horizon play a noticeable role in the soil cover patterns of Vladimir Opolie. The agronomic homogeneity and agronomic compatibility of gray forest soils in automorphic positions ("plakor" sites) were assessed on the test field of the Vladimir Agricultural Research Institute. The term "soil homogeneity" implies in our study the closeness of crop yield estimates (scores) for the soil polygons; the term "soil compatibility" implies the possibility to apply the same technologies in the same dates for different soil polygons within a field. To assess the agronomic homogeneity and compatibility of soils, the statistical analysis of the yields of test crop (oats) was performed, and the spatial distribution of the particular parameters of soil hydrothermic regime was studied. The analysis of crop yields showed their high variability: the gray forest soils on microhighs showed the minimal potential fertility, and the maximal fertility was typical of the soils with the second humus horizon in microlows. Soils also differed significantly in their hydrothermic regime, as the gray forest soils with the second humus horizon were heated and cooled slower than the background gray forest soils; their temperature had a stronger lag effect and displayed a narrower amplitude in seasonal fluctuations; and these soils were wetter during the first weeks (40 days) of the growing season. Being colder and wetter, the soils with the second humus horizons reached their physical ripeness later than the gray forest soils. Thus, the soil cover of the test plot in the automorphic position is heterogeneous; from the agronomic standpoint, its components are incompatible.

The impact of the SSIIa null mutations on grain traits and composition in durum wheat.

PubMed

Botticella, Ermelinda; Sestili, Francesco; Ferrazzano, Gianluca; Mantovani, Paola; Cammerata, Alessandro; D'Egidio, Maria Grazia; Lafiandra, Domenico

2016-09-01

Starch represents a major nutrient in the human diet providing essentially a source of energy. More recently the modification of its composition has been associated with new functionalities both at the nutritional and technological level. Targeting the major starch biosynthetic enzymes has been shown to be a valuable strategy to manipulate the amylose-amylopectin ratio in reserve starch. In the present work a breeding strategy aiming to produce a set of SSIIa (starch synthases IIa) null durum wheat is described. We have characterized major traits such as seed weight, total starch, amylose, protein and β-glucan content in a set of mutant families derived from the introgression of the SSIIa null trait into Svevo, an elite Italian durum wheat cultivar. A large degree of variability was detected and used to select wheat lines with either improved quality traits or agronomic performances. Semolina of a set of two SSIIa null lines showed new rheological behavior and an increased content of all major dietary fiber components, namely arabinoxylans, β-glucans and resistant starch. Furthermore the investigation of gene expression highlighted important differences in some genes involved in starch and β-glucans biosynthesis.

Agronomic effects of mutations in two soybean Stearoyl-ACP-Desaturases

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] oil normally contains 2-4% stearic acid. Oil with higher levels of stearic acid is desired for use in the baking industry, for both its chemical properties and human health benefits. Several lines with increased stearic acid have been identified; however, the agronom...

A genome-wide SNP scan accelerates trait-regulatory genomic loci identification in chickpea

PubMed Central

Kujur, Alice; Bajaj, Deepak; Upadhyaya, Hari D.; Das, Shouvik; Ranjan, Rajeev; Shree, Tanima; Saxena, Maneesha S.; Badoni, Saurabh; Kumar, Vinod; Tripathi, Shailesh; Gowda, C.L.L.; Sharma, Shivali; Singh, Sube; Tyagi, Akhilesh K.; Parida, Swarup K.

2015-01-01

We identified 44844 high-quality SNPs by sequencing 92 diverse chickpea accessions belonging to a seed and pod trait-specific association panel using reference genome- and de novo-based GBS (genotyping-by-sequencing) assays. A GWAS (genome-wide association study) in an association panel of 211, including the 92 sequenced accessions, identified 22 major genomic loci showing significant association (explaining 23–47% phenotypic variation) with pod and seed number/plant and 100-seed weight. Eighteen trait-regulatory major genomic loci underlying 13 robust QTLs were validated and mapped on an intra-specific genetic linkage map by QTL mapping. A combinatorial approach of GWAS, QTL mapping and gene haplotype-specific LD mapping and transcript profiling uncovered one superior haplotype and favourable natural allelic variants in the upstream regulatory region of a CesA-type cellulose synthase (Ca_Kabuli_CesA3) gene regulating high pod and seed number/plant (explaining 47% phenotypic variation) in chickpea. The up-regulation of this superior gene haplotype correlated with increased transcript expression of Ca_Kabuli_CesA3 gene in the pollen and pod of high pod/seed number accession, resulting in higher cellulose accumulation for normal pollen and pollen tube growth. A rapid combinatorial genome-wide SNP genotyping-based approach has potential to dissect complex quantitative agronomic traits and delineate trait-regulatory genomic loci (candidate genes) for genetic enhancement in crop plants, including chickpea. PMID:26058368

Identifying plant traits: a key aspect for suitable species selection in ecological restoration of semiarid slopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bochet, Esther; García-Fayos, Patricio

2017-04-01

In the context of ecological restoration, one of the greatest challenges for practitioners and scientists is to select suitable species for revegetation purposes. In semiarid environments where restoration projects often fail, little attention has been paid so far to the contribution of plant traits to species success. The objective of this study was to (1) identify plant traits associated with species success on four roadside situations along an erosion-productivity gradient, and (2) to provide an ecological framework for selecting suitable species on the basis of their morphological and functional traits, applied to semiarid environments. We analyzed the association of 10 different plant traits with species success of 296 species surveyed on the four roadside situations in a semiarid region (Valencia, Spain). Plant traits included general plant traits (longevity, woodiness) and more specific root-, seed- and leaf-related traits (root type, sprouting ability, seed mucilage, seed mass, seed susceptibility to removal, specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content). All of them were selected according to the prevailing limiting ecogeomorphological processes acting along the erosion-productivity gradient. We observed strong shifts along the erosion-productivity gradient in the traits associated to species success. At the harshest end of the gradient, the most intensely eroded and driest one, species success was mainly associated to seed resistance to removal by runoff and to resistance to drought. At the opposite end of the gradient, the most productive one, species success was associated to a competitive-ruderal plant strategy (herbaceous successful species with high specific leaf area and low leaf dry matter content). Our study provides an ecologically-based approach for selecting suitable native species on the basis or their morphological and functional traits and supports a differential trait-based selection of species as regards roadslope type and aspect. In

Advances in cereal genomics and applications in crop breeding.

PubMed

Varshney, Rajeev K; Hoisington, David A; Tyagi, Akhilesh K

2006-11-01

Recent advances in cereal genomics have made it possible to analyse the architecture of cereal genomes and their expressed components, leading to an increase in our knowledge of the genes that are linked to key agronomically important traits. These studies have used molecular genetic mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) of several complex traits that are important in breeding. The identification and molecular cloning of genes underlying QTLs offers the possibility to examine the naturally occurring allelic variation for respective complex traits. Novel alleles, identified by functional genomics or haplotype analysis, can enrich the genetic basis of cultivated crops to improve productivity. Advances made in cereal genomics research in recent years thus offer the opportunities to enhance the prediction of phenotypes from genotypes for cereal breeding.

Ecosystems Biology Approaches To Determine Key Fitness Traits of Soil Microorganisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brodie, E.; Zhalnina, K.; Karaoz, U.; Cho, H.; Nuccio, E. E.; Shi, S.; Lipton, M. S.; Zhou, J.; Pett-Ridge, J.; Northen, T.; Firestone, M.

2014-12-01

The application of theoretical approaches such as trait-based modeling represent powerful tools to explain and perhaps predict complex patterns in microbial distribution and function across environmental gradients in space and time. These models are mostly deterministic and where available are built upon a detailed understanding of microbial physiology and response to environmental factors. However as most soil microorganisms have not been cultivated, for the majority our understanding is limited to insights from environmental 'omic information. Information gleaned from 'omic studies of complex systems should be regarded as providing hypotheses, and these hypotheses should be tested under controlled laboratory conditions if they are to be propagated into deterministic models. In a semi-arid Mediterranean grassland system we are attempting to dissect microbial communities into functional guilds with defined physiological traits and are using a range of 'omics approaches to characterize their metabolic potential and niche preference. Initially, two physiologically relevant time points (peak plant activity and prior to wet-up) were sampled and metagenomes sequenced deeply (600-900 Gbp). Following assembly, differential coverage and nucleotide frequency binning were carried out to yield draft genomes. In addition, using a range of cultivation media we have isolated a broad range of bacteria representing abundant bacterial genotypes and with genome sequences of almost 40 isolates are testing genomic predictions regarding growth rate, temperature and substrate utilization in vitro. This presentation will discuss the opportunities and challenges in parameterizing microbial functional guilds from environmental 'omic information for use in trait-based models.

[Comparative analysis of agronomic and qualitative characters in different lines of Dendrobium denneanum].

PubMed

He, Tao; Deng, Li; Lin, Yuan; Li, Bo; Yang, Xiaofan; Wang, Fang; Chun, Ze

2010-08-01

To provide theoretical basis for breeding good variety of Dendrobium denneanum, agronomic and qualitative characters of 4 different lines and relationships among them were studied. The stem length, stem diameter, leaf length, leaf width, length/ width ratio and leaf area were measured. The single fresh and dry stem was weighed and drying rate was calculated. The contents of polysaccharides and total alkaloids were determined by sulfuric acid-phenol colorimetry and acid-dye colorimetry, respectively. The correlations between characters were analyzed. The results showed that differences in major agronomic characters between four lines were significant. The plant types of dq-1 and dq-2 were higher, dq-3 was medium and dq-4 was lower. The fresh weigh of stem and content of polysaccharides were the highest in dq-2, 7.81 g and 14.33%. While the highest content of total alkaloids and was 0. 486% in dq-3. There were significant correlations between agronomic characters, but these characters had low or non correlations with qualitative characters such as polysaccharides and total alkaloids. It was shown that the content of polysaccharides and total alkaloids were significantly different among 4 lines of D. denneanum, which could be selected for different uses.

Association mapping analysis of fiber yield and quality traits in Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.).

PubMed

Ademe, Mulugeta Seyoum; He, Shoupu; Pan, Zhaoe; Sun, Junling; Wang, Qinglian; Qin, Hongde; Liu, Jinhai; Liu, Hui; Yang, Jun; Xu, Dongyong; Yang, Jinlong; Ma, Zhiying; Zhang, Jinbiao; Li, Zhikun; Cai, Zhongmin; Zhang, Xuelin; Zhang, Xin; Huang, Aifen; Yi, Xianda; Zhou, Guanyin; Li, Lin; Zhu, Haiyong; Pang, Baoyin; Wang, Liru; Jia, Yinhua; Du, Xiongming

2017-12-01

Fiber yield and quality are the most important traits for Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Identifying high yield and good fiber quality genes are the prime concern of researchers in cotton breeding. Association mapping offers an alternative and powerful method for detecting those complex agronomic traits. In this study, 198 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were used to screen markers associated with fiber yield and quality traits with 302 elite Upland cotton accessions that were evaluated in 12 locations representing the Yellow River and Yangtze River cotton growing regions of China. Three subpopulations were found after the estimation of population structure. The pair-wise kinship values varied from 0 to 0.867. Only 1.59% of the total marker locus pairs showed significant linkage disequilibrium (LD, p < 0.001). The genome-wide LD decayed within the genetic distance of ~30 to 32 cM at r 2  = 0.1, and decreased to ~1 to 2 cM at r 2  = 0.2, indicating the potential for association mapping. Analysis based on a mixed linear model detected 57 significant (p < 0.01) marker-trait associations, including seven associations for fiber length, ten for fiber micronaire, nine for fiber strength, eight for fiber elongation, five for fiber uniformity index, five for fiber uniformity ratio, six for boll weight and seven for lint percent, for a total of 35 SSR markers, of which 11 markers were associated with more than one trait. Among marker-trait associations, 24 associations coincided with the previously reported quantitative trait loci (QTLs), the remainder were newly identified QTLs/genes. The QTLs identified in this study will potentially facilitate improvement of fiber yield and quality in the future cotton molecular breeding programs.

Identification of sequence-related amplified polymorphism markers linked to the red leaf trait in ornamental kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala).

PubMed

Wang, Y S; Liu, Z Y; Li, Y F; Zhang, Y; Yang, X F; Feng, H

2013-04-02

Artistic diversiform leaf color is an important agronomic trait that affects the market value of ornamental kale. In the present study, genetic analysis showed that a single-dominant gene, Re (red leaf), determines the red leaf trait in ornamental kale. An F2 population consisting of 500 individuals from the cross of a red leaf double-haploid line 'D05' with a white leaf double-haploid line 'D10' was analyzed for the red leaf trait. By combining bulked segregant analysis and sequence-related amplified polymorphism technology, we identified 3 markers linked to the Re/re locus. A genetic map of the Re locus was constructed using these sequence-related amplified polymorphism markers. Two of the markers, Me8Em4 and Me8Em17, were located on one side of Re/re at distances of 2.2 and 6.4 cM, whereas the other marker, Me9Em11, was located on the other side of Re/re at a distance of 3.7 cM. These markers could be helpful for the subsequent cloning of the red trait gene and marker-assisted selection in ornamental kale breeding programs.

Changes in gene expression between a soybean F1 hybrid and its parents are associated with agronomically valuable traits

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Plant breeding consists of creating phenotypic and genetic diversity by hybridizing diverse parents and selecting progeny which have new combinations of targeted traits. Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] genetic diversity is limited because domesticated soybean has undergone multiple genetic bottlene...

The interplay of trait worry and trait anxiety in determining episodic retrieval: The role of cognitive control.

PubMed

Pajkossy, Péter; Keresztes, Attila; Racsmány, Mihály

2017-11-01

Worrying is a key concept in describing the complex relationship between anxiety and cognitive control. On the one hand, cognitive control processes might underlie the specific tendency to engage in worrying (i.e., trait worry), conceptualized as a future-oriented mental problem-solving activity. On the other hand, the general tendency to experience the signs and symptoms of anxiety (i.e., trait anxiety) is suggested to impair cognitive control because worrisome thoughts interfere with task-relevant processing. Based on these opposing tendencies, we predicted that the effect of the two related constructs, trait anxiety and trait worry, might cancel out one another. In statistics, such instances have been termed suppressor situations. In four experiments, we found evidence for such a suppressor situation: When their shared variance was controlled, trait worry was positively whereas trait anxiety was negatively related to performance in a memory task requiring strategic, effortful retrieval. We also showed that these opposing effects are related to temporal context reinstatement. Our results suggest that trait worry and trait anxiety possess unique sources of variance, which differently relate to performance in memory tasks requiring cognitive control.

Agronomic viability of New Zealand spinach and kale intercropping.

PubMed

Cecílio, Arthur B; Bianco, Matheus S; Tardivo, Caroline F; Pugina, Gabriel C M

2017-01-01

The intercropping is a production system that aims to provide increased yield with less environmental impact, due to greater efficiency in the use of natural resources and inputs involved in the production process. An experiment was carried out to evaluate the agronomic viability of kale and New Zealand spinach intercropping as a function of the spinach transplanting time. (0, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, 84 and 98 days after transplanting of the kale). The total yield (TY) and yield per harvest (YH) of the kale in intercropping did not differ from those obtained in monoculture. The spinach TY was influenced by the transplanting time, the earlier the transplanting, the higher the TY. The spinach YH was not influenced by the transplanting time, but rather by the cultivation system. In intercropping, the spinach YH was 13.5% lower than in monoculture. The intercropping was agronomically feasible, since the land use efficiency index, which was not influenced by the transplanting time, had an average value of 1.71, indicating that the intercropping produced 71% more kale and spinach than the same area in monoculture. Competitiveness coefficient, aggressiveness and yield loss values showed that kale is the dominating species and spinach is the dominated.

Analysis of QTLs for yield-related traits in Yuanjiang common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.).

PubMed

Fu, Qiang; Zhang, Peijiang; Tan, Lubin; Zhu, Zuofeng; Ma, Dan; Fu, Yongcai; Zhan, Xinchun; Cai, Hongwei; Sun, Chuanqing

2010-02-01

Using an accession of common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) collected from Yuanjiang County, Yunnan Province, China, as the donor and an elite cultivar 93-11, widely used in two-line indica hybrid rice production in China, as the recurrent parent, an advanced backcross populations were developed. Through genotyping of 187 SSR markers and investigation of six yield-related traits of two generations (BC(4)F(2) and BC(4)F(4)), a total of 26 QTLs were detected by employing single point analysis and interval mapping in both generations. Of the 26 QTLs, the alleles of 10 (38.5%) QTLs originating from O. rufipogon had shown a beneficial effect for yield-related traits in the 93-11 genetic background. In addition, five QTLs controlling yield and its components were newly identified, indicating that there are potentially novel alleles in Yuanjiang common wild rice. Three regions underling significant QTLs for several yield-related traits were detected on chromosome 1, 7 and 12. The QTL clusters were founded and corresponding agronomic traits of those QTLs showed highly significant correlation, suggesting the pleiotropism or tight linkage. Fine-mapping and cloning of these yield-related QTLs from wild rice would be helpful to elucidating molecular mechanism of rice domestication and rice breeding in the future. Copyright 2010 Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology and the Genetics Society of China. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genome sequence of M6, a diploid inbred clone of the high-glycoalkaloid-producing tuber-bearing potato species Solanum chacoense, reveals residual heterozygosity.

PubMed

Leisner, Courtney P; Hamilton, John P; Crisovan, Emily; Manrique-Carpintero, Norma C; Marand, Alexandre P; Newton, Linsey; Pham, Gina M; Jiang, Jiming; Douches, David S; Jansky, Shelley H; Buell, C Robin

2018-05-01

Cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a highly heterozygous autotetraploid that presents challenges in genome analyses and breeding. Wild potato species serve as a resource for the introgression of important agronomic traits into cultivated potato. One key species is Solanum chacoense and the diploid, inbred clone M6, which is self-compatible and has desirable tuber market quality and disease resistance traits. Sequencing and assembly of the genome of the M6 clone of S. chacoense generated an assembly of 825 767 562 bp in 8260 scaffolds with an N50 scaffold size of 713 602 bp. Pseudomolecule construction anchored 508 Mb of the genome assembly into 12 chromosomes. Genome annotation yielded 49 124 high-confidence gene models representing 37 740 genes. Comparative analyses of the M6 genome with six other Solanaceae species revealed a core set of 158 367 Solanaceae genes and 1897 genes unique to three potato species. Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms across the M6 genome revealed enhanced residual heterozygosity on chromosomes 4, 8 and 9 relative to the other chromosomes. Access to the M6 genome provides a resource for identification of key genes for important agronomic traits and aids in genome-enabled development of inbred diploid potatoes with the potential to accelerate potato breeding. © 2018 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Genetic diversity of bread wheat genotypes in Iran for some nutritional value and baking quality traits.

PubMed

Amiri, Reza; Sasani, Shahryar; Jalali-Honarmand, Saeid; Rasaei, Ali; Seifolahpour, Behnaz; Bahraminejad, Sohbat

2018-02-01

Genetic variation among 78 irrigated bread wheat genotypes was studied for their nutritional value and baking quality traits as well as some agronomic traits. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replicates under normal and terminal drought stress conditions in Kermanshah, Iran during 2012-2013 cropping season. The results of combined ANOVA indicated highly significant genotypic differences for all traits. All studied traits except grain yield, hectoliter weight and grain fiber content were significantly affected by genotype × environment interaction. Drought stress reduced grain yield, thousand kernel weight, gluten index, grain starch content and hectoliter weight and slightly promoted grain protein and fiber contents, falling number, total gluten and ratio of wet gluten to grain protein content. Grain yield by 31.66% and falling number by 9.20% attained the highest decrease and increase due to drought stress. There were negative and significant correlations among grain yield with grain protein and fiber contents under both conditions. Results of cluster analysis showed that newer genotypes had more grain yield and gluten index than older ones, but instead, they had the lower grain protein and fiber contents. It is thought that wheat breeders have bred cultivars with high grain yield, low protein content, and improved bread-making attributes during last seven decades. While older genotypes indicated significantly higher protein contents, and some of them had higher gluten index. We concluded from this study that it is imperative for breeders to pay more attention to improve qualitative traits coordinated to grain yield.

Soil conditions drive changes in a key leaf functional trait through environmental filtering and facilitative interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molina-Venegas, Rafael; Aparicio, Abelardo; Lavergne, Sébastien; Arroyo, Juan

2018-01-01

Non-random patterns in the functional structure of communities are often interpreted as evidence for different forces governing their assemblage. However, community assembly processes may act antagonistically, countering each other's signatures on the functional structure of communities, which may lead to spurious inferences on the underlying mechanisms. To illustrate this issue, we assessed the joint effects of environmental filtering and facilitative interactions on a key leaf functional trait (i.e. specific leaf area, SLA) in Mediterranean dwarf-shrub communities, using a two-scale sampling approach. Specifically, we analyzed differences in community-weighted mean SLA values (CWM-SLA) between communities (community-scale) and between guilds within communities (guild-scale, i.e. individuals sampled in understorey, overstorey and open-ground conditions) across contrasted soil environments and elevational gradients. We found that communities on harsh edaphic conditions (i.e. dolomite habitats) showed significantly lower CWM-SLA values than communities on more fertile habitats. In contrast, elevation was a poor predictor of differences in CWM-SLA between the communities. This suggests that environmental filtering may influence leaf trait variation along soil gradients irrespective of elevation. On the other hand, communities on dolomite habitats showed strong differences in CWM-SLA between understorey (higher CWM-SLA) and either open-ground and overstorey guilds (lower CWM-SLA), whereas communities on more fertile soils showed no differences between the guilds. The strong differences in CWM-SLA between understorey and non-understorey guilds in dolomite communities suggest that facilitative interactions may be particularly at stake under stressful edaphic conditions, thus partially mitigating the effect of environmental filtering (i.e. low SLA values) on communities growing in harsh soils.

Genetic Characterization of Dog Personality Traits.

PubMed

Ilska, Joanna; Haskell, Marie J; Blott, Sarah C; Sánchez-Molano, Enrique; Polgar, Zita; Lofgren, Sarah E; Clements, Dylan N; Wiener, Pamela

2017-06-01

The genetic architecture of behavioral traits in dogs is of great interest to owners, breeders, and professionals involved in animal welfare, as well as to scientists studying the genetics of animal (including human) behavior. The genetic component of dog behavior is supported by between-breed differences and some evidence of within-breed variation. However, it is a challenge to gather sufficiently large datasets to dissect the genetic basis of complex traits such as behavior, which are both time-consuming and logistically difficult to measure, and known to be influenced by nongenetic factors. In this study, we exploited the knowledge that owners have of their dogs to generate a large dataset of personality traits in Labrador Retrievers. While accounting for key environmental factors, we demonstrate that genetic variance can be detected for dog personality traits assessed using questionnaire data. We identified substantial genetic variance for several traits, including fetching tendency and fear of loud noises, while other traits revealed negligibly small heritabilities. Genetic correlations were also estimated between traits; however, due to fairly large SEs, only a handful of trait pairs yielded statistically significant estimates. Genomic analyses indicated that these traits are mainly polygenic, such that individual genomic regions have small effects, and suggested chromosomal associations for six of the traits. The polygenic nature of these traits is consistent with previous behavioral genetics studies in other species, for example in mouse, and confirms that large datasets are required to quantify the genetic variance and to identify the individual genes that influence behavioral traits. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

Consumer trait variation influences tritrophic interactions in salt marsh communities.

PubMed

Hughes, Anne Randall; Hanley, Torrance C; Orozco, Nohelia P; Zerebecki, Robyn A

2015-07-01

The importance of intraspecific variation has emerged as a key question in community ecology, helping to bridge the gap between ecology and evolution. Although much of this work has focused on plant species, recent syntheses have highlighted the prevalence and potential importance of morphological, behavioral, and life history variation within animals for ecological and evolutionary processes. Many small-bodied consumers live on the plant that they consume, often resulting in host plant-associated trait variation within and across consumer species. Given the central position of consumer species within tritrophic food webs, such consumer trait variation may play a particularly important role in mediating trophic dynamics, including trophic cascades. In this study, we used a series of field surveys and laboratory experiments to document intraspecific trait variation in a key consumer species, the marsh periwinkle Littoraria irrorata, based on its host plant species (Spartina alterniflora or Juncus roemerianus) in a mixed species assemblage. We then conducted a 12-week mesocosm experiment to examine the effects of Littoraria trait variation on plant community structure and dynamics in a tritrophic salt marsh food web. Littoraria from different host plant species varied across a suite of morphological and behavioral traits. These consumer trait differences interacted with plant community composition and predator presence to affect overall plant stem height, as well as differentially alter the density and biomass of the two key plant species in this system. Whether due to genetic differences or phenotypic plasticity, trait differences between consumer types had significant ecological consequences for the tritrophic marsh food web over seasonal time scales. By altering the cascading effects of the top predator on plant community structure and dynamics, consumer differences may generate a feedback over longer time scales, which in turn influences the degree of trait

Introgression lines of Triticum aestivum x Aegilops tauschii: Agronomic and nutritional value

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Eighty-five single homozygous substitution lines (SLs) of the Aegilops tauschii D genome in Chinese Spring (CS) hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genetic background were evaluated for agronomic, phenotypic and ionome profiles during three years of field experiments. An augmented design with a r...

Using Next Generation Sequencing for Multiplexed Trait-Linked Markers in Wheat

PubMed Central

Bernardo, Amy; Wang, Shan; St. Amand, Paul; Bai, Guihua

2015-01-01

With the advent of next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have become the major type of marker for genotyping in many crops. However, the availability of SNP markers for important traits of bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) that can be effectively used in marker-assisted selection (MAS) is still limited and SNP assays for MAS are usually uniplex. A shift from uniplex to multiplex assays will allow the simultaneous analysis of multiple markers and increase MAS efficiency. We designed 33 locus-specific markers from SNP or indel-based marker sequences that linked to 20 different quantitative trait loci (QTL) or genes of agronomic importance in wheat and analyzed the amplicon sequences using an Ion Torrent Proton Sequencer and a custom allele detection pipeline to determine the genotypes of 24 selected germplasm accessions. Among the 33 markers, 27 were successfully multiplexed and 23 had 100% SNP call rates. Results from analysis of "kompetitive allele-specific PCR" (KASP) and sequence tagged site (STS) markers developed from the same loci fully verified the genotype calls of 23 markers. The NGS-based multiplexed assay developed in this study is suitable for rapid and high-throughput screening of SNPs and some indel-based markers in wheat. PMID:26625271

Agronomic Challenges and Opportunities for Smallholder Terrace Agriculture in Developing Countries.

PubMed

Chapagain, Tejendra; Raizada, Manish N

2017-01-01

Improving land productivity is essential to meet increasing food and forage demands in hillside and mountain communities. Tens of millions of smallholder terrace farmers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America who earn $1-2 per day do not have access to peer-reviewed knowledge of best agronomic practices, though they have considerable traditional ecological knowledge. Terrace farmers also lack access to affordable farm tools and inputs required to increase crop yields. The objectives of this review are to highlight the agronomic challenges of terrace farming, and offer innovative, low-cost solutions to intensify terrace agriculture while improving local livelihoods. The article focuses on smallholder farmers in developing nations, with particular reference to Nepal. The challenges of terrace agriculture in these regions include lack of quality land area for agriculture, erosion and loss of soil fertility, low yield, poor access to agricultural inputs and services, lack of mechanization, labor shortages, poverty, and illiteracy. Agronomic strategies that could help address these concerns include intensification of terraces using agro-ecological approaches along with introduction of light-weight, low-cost, and purchasable tools and affordable inputs that enhance productivity and reduce female drudgery. To package, deliver, and share these technologies with remote hillside communities, effective scaling up models are required. One opportunity to enable distribution of these products could be to "piggy-back" onto pre-existing snackfood/cigarette/alcohol distribution networks that are prevalent even in the most remote mountainous regions of the world. Such strategies, practices, and tools could be supported by formalized government policies dedicated to the well-being of terrace farmers and ecosystems, to maintain resiliency at a time of alarming climate change. We hope this review will inform governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to draw

Agronomic Challenges and Opportunities for Smallholder Terrace Agriculture in Developing Countries

PubMed Central

Chapagain, Tejendra; Raizada, Manish N.

2017-01-01

Improving land productivity is essential to meet increasing food and forage demands in hillside and mountain communities. Tens of millions of smallholder terrace farmers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America who earn $1–2 per day do not have access to peer-reviewed knowledge of best agronomic practices, though they have considerable traditional ecological knowledge. Terrace farmers also lack access to affordable farm tools and inputs required to increase crop yields. The objectives of this review are to highlight the agronomic challenges of terrace farming, and offer innovative, low-cost solutions to intensify terrace agriculture while improving local livelihoods. The article focuses on smallholder farmers in developing nations, with particular reference to Nepal. The challenges of terrace agriculture in these regions include lack of quality land area for agriculture, erosion and loss of soil fertility, low yield, poor access to agricultural inputs and services, lack of mechanization, labor shortages, poverty, and illiteracy. Agronomic strategies that could help address these concerns include intensification of terraces using agro-ecological approaches along with introduction of light-weight, low-cost, and purchasable tools and affordable inputs that enhance productivity and reduce female drudgery. To package, deliver, and share these technologies with remote hillside communities, effective scaling up models are required. One opportunity to enable distribution of these products could be to “piggy-back” onto pre-existing snackfood/cigarette/alcohol distribution networks that are prevalent even in the most remote mountainous regions of the world. Such strategies, practices, and tools could be supported by formalized government policies dedicated to the well-being of terrace farmers and ecosystems, to maintain resiliency at a time of alarming climate change. We hope this review will inform governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to draw

Brassicaceae Mustards: Traditional and Agronomic Uses in Australia and New Zealand.

PubMed

Rahman, Mahmudur; Khatun, Amina; Liu, Lei; Barkla, Bronwyn J

2018-01-21

Commonly cultivated Brassicaceae mustards, namely garlic mustard ( Alliaria petiolata ), white mustard ( Brassica alba ), Ethiopian mustard ( B. carinata ), Asian mustard ( B. juncea ), oilseed rape ( B. napus ), black mustard ( B. nigra ), rapeseed ( B. rapa ), white ball mustard ( Calepina irregularis ), ball mustard ( Neslia paniculata ), treacle mustard ( Erysimum repandum ), hedge mustard ( Sisymbrium officinale ), Asian hedge mustard ( S. orientale ), smooth mustard ( S. erysimoides ) and canola are the major economically important oilseed crops in many countries. Mustards were naturalized to Australia and New Zealand and Australia is currently the second largest exporter of Brassicaceae oilseeds to meet the global demand for a healthy plant-derived oil, high in polyunsaturated fats. Apart from providing edible oil, various parts of these plants and many of their phytochemicals have been used traditionally for both agronomic as well as medicinal purposes, with evidence of their use by early Australian and New Zealand settlers and also the indigenous population. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge of traditional and agronomic uses of Brassicaceae oilseeds and mustards with a focus on their importance in Australia and New Zealand.

Waterfowl foraging in winter-flooded ricefields: Any agronomic benefits for farmers?

PubMed

Brogi, Anne; Pernollet, Claire A; Gauthier-Clerc, Michel; Guillemain, Matthieu

2015-12-01

Winter-flooding of ricefields provides foraging habitat to waterfowl, which in return may bring agronomic benefits to farmers. Our study experimentally tested the effect of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) on the standing stalks and weed seed bank in the Camargue (France), both of which present major challenges for farmers. Three duck densities were tested: (D1) 5 ducks ha(-1) (historical nocturnal density), (D2) 23 ducks ha(-1) (present nocturnal density), and (D3) 300 ducks ha(-1) (Asian rice-duck farming density). The ducks reduced the stalks significantly: -27 % (D1), -52 % (D2), and -91 % (D3). Conversely, they decreased the number of seeds by only 3 % (D3) and the seed mass by about 21 % (D1 and D3), which was not significant. Besides they had no effect on seed species richness. This study clearly demonstrates that the winter-flooding effect on straw decomposition can be enhanced by waterfowl foraging, hence showing an agronomic benefit from ducks to farmers. However, there was no clear effect in terms of seed bank reduction.

Disentangling plasticity of serotiny, a key adaptive trait in a Mediterranean conifer.

PubMed

Martín-Sanz, Ruth C; Santos-Del-Blanco, Luis; Notivol, Eduardo; Chambel, M Regina; San-Martín, Roberto; Climent, José

2016-09-01

Serotiny, the maintenance of ripe seeds in closed fruits or cones until fire causes dehiscence, is a key adaptive trait of plants in fire-prone ecosystems, but knowledge of phenotypic plasticity for cone retention in woody plants is extremely scarce. On the basis of published literature and our field observations, we hypothesized that increased aridity might decrease the aerial seed bank as a plastic response, not necessarily adaptive. We used a Pinus halepensis common garden replicated in three contrasted sites (mild, cold, and dry) to separate population differentiation from phenotypic plasticity of cone serotiny and canopy cone bank (CCB). Differences in growth among trees of the same provenance allowed us to include size effect as a proxy of ontogenetic age for the same chronological age of the trees. Tree size had a strong negative effect on serotiny, but serotiny degree differed among trial sites even after accounting for size effects. As hypothesized, serotiny was lower at the harsh (dry and cold) sites compared with the mild site. Genetic variation for size-dependent cone serotiny and significant population × site interaction were confirmed, the latter implying different plasticity of serotiny among populations. Population differentiation for CCB showed an ecotypic trend, with positive correlation with temperature oscillation (continentality) and negative correlation with summer rainfall. Growth-limiting environments exacerbated the precocious release of seeds, contrary to the ecotypic trend found for the aerial cone bank, suggesting a counter-gradient plasticity. This plastic response is potentially maladaptive under a scenario of frequent wildfires. © 2016 Botanical Society of America.

Properties of biochar derived from wood and high-nutrient biomasses with the aim of agronomic and environmental benefits.

PubMed

Domingues, Rimena R; Trugilho, Paulo F; Silva, Carlos A; Melo, Isabel Cristina N A de; Melo, Leônidas C A; Magriotis, Zuy M; Sánchez-Monedero, Miguel A

2017-01-01

Biochar production and use are part of the modern agenda to recycle wastes, and to retain nutrients, pollutants, and heavy metals in the soil and to offset some greenhouse gas emissions. Biochars from wood (eucalyptus sawdust, pine bark), sugarcane bagasse, and substances rich in nutrients (coffee husk, chicken manure) produced at 350, 450 and 750°C were characterized to identify agronomic and environmental benefits, which may enhance soil quality. Biochars derived from wood and sugarcane have greater potential for improving C storage in tropical soils due to a higher aromatic character, high C concentration, low H/C ratio, and FTIR spectra features as compared to nutrient-rich biochars. The high ash content associated with alkaline chemical species such as KHCO3 and CaCO3, verified by XRD analysis, made chicken manure and coffee husk biochars potential liming agents for remediating acidic soils. High Ca and K contents in chicken manure and coffee husk biomass can significantly replace conventional sources of K (mostly imported in Brazil) and Ca, suggesting a high agronomic value for these biochars. High-ash biochars, such as chicken manure and coffee husk, produced at low-temperatures (350 and 450°C) exhibited high CEC values, which can be considered as a potential applicable material to increase nutrient retention in soil. Therefore, the agronomic value of the biochars in this study is predominantly regulated by the nutrient richness of the biomass, but an increase in pyrolysis temperature to 750°C can strongly decrease the adsorptive capacities of chicken manure and coffee husk biochars. A diagram of the agronomic potential and environmental benefits is presented, along with some guidelines to relate biochar properties with potential agronomic and environmental uses. Based on biochar properties, research needs are identified and directions for future trials are delineated.

Properties of biochar derived from wood and high-nutrient biomasses with the aim of agronomic and environmental benefits

PubMed Central

Trugilho, Paulo F.; Silva, Carlos A.; de Melo, Isabel Cristina N. A.; Melo, Leônidas C. A.; Magriotis, Zuy M.; Sánchez-Monedero, Miguel A.

2017-01-01

Biochar production and use are part of the modern agenda to recycle wastes, and to retain nutrients, pollutants, and heavy metals in the soil and to offset some greenhouse gas emissions. Biochars from wood (eucalyptus sawdust, pine bark), sugarcane bagasse, and substances rich in nutrients (coffee husk, chicken manure) produced at 350, 450 and 750°C were characterized to identify agronomic and environmental benefits, which may enhance soil quality. Biochars derived from wood and sugarcane have greater potential for improving C storage in tropical soils due to a higher aromatic character, high C concentration, low H/C ratio, and FTIR spectra features as compared to nutrient-rich biochars. The high ash content associated with alkaline chemical species such as KHCO3 and CaCO3, verified by XRD analysis, made chicken manure and coffee husk biochars potential liming agents for remediating acidic soils. High Ca and K contents in chicken manure and coffee husk biomass can significantly replace conventional sources of K (mostly imported in Brazil) and Ca, suggesting a high agronomic value for these biochars. High-ash biochars, such as chicken manure and coffee husk, produced at low-temperatures (350 and 450°C) exhibited high CEC values, which can be considered as a potential applicable material to increase nutrient retention in soil. Therefore, the agronomic value of the biochars in this study is predominantly regulated by the nutrient richness of the biomass, but an increase in pyrolysis temperature to 750°C can strongly decrease the adsorptive capacities of chicken manure and coffee husk biochars. A diagram of the agronomic potential and environmental benefits is presented, along with some guidelines to relate biochar properties with potential agronomic and environmental uses. Based on biochar properties, research needs are identified and directions for future trials are delineated. PMID:28493951

Linkages Among Agronomic, Environmental and Weed Management Characteristics in North American Sweet Corn

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Performance of weed management systems varies greatly across the landscape in both growers’ fields and in experimental trials conducted by agricultural scientists. Using agronomic, environmental, and weed management information from growers’ fields and experimental trials, we identified dominant ch...

Genetic Variation and Association Mapping of Seed-Related Traits in Cultivated Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Using Single-Locus Simple Sequence Repeat Markers.

PubMed

Zhao, Jiaojiao; Huang, Li; Ren, Xiaoping; Pandey, Manish K; Wu, Bei; Chen, Yuning; Zhou, Xiaojing; Chen, Weigang; Xia, Youlin; Li, Zeqing; Luo, Huaiyong; Lei, Yong; Varshney, Rajeev K; Liao, Boshou; Jiang, Huifang

2017-01-01

Cultivated peanut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) is an allotetraploid (AABB, 2 n = 4 x = 40), valued for its edible oil and digestible protein. Seed size and weight are important agronomical traits significantly influence the yield and nutritional composition of peanut. However, the genetic basis of seed-related traits remains ambiguous. Association mapping is a powerful approach for quickly and efficiently exploring the genetic basis of important traits in plants. In this study, a total of 104 peanut accessions were used to identify molecular markers associated with seed-related traits using 554 single-locus simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Most of the accessions had no or weak relationship in the peanut panel. The linkage disequilibrium (LD) decayed with the genetic distance of 1cM at the genome level and the LD of B subgenome decayed faster than that of the A subgenome. Large phenotypic variation was observed for four seed-related traits in the association panel. Using mixed linear model with population structure and kinship, a total of 30 significant SSR markers were detected to be associated with four seed-related traits ( P < 1.81 × 10 -3 ) in different environments, which explained 11.22-32.30% of the phenotypic variation for each trait. The marker AHGA44686 was simultaneously and repeatedly associated with seed length and hundred-seed weight in multiple environments with large phenotypic variance (26.23 ∼ 32.30%). The favorable alleles of associated markers for each seed-related trait and the optimal combination of favorable alleles of associated markers were identified to significantly enhance trait performance, revealing a potential of utilization of these associated markers in peanut breeding program.

Characterization of selenium-enriched wheat by agronomic biofortification.

PubMed

Galinha, Catarina; Sánchez-Martínez, María; Pacheco, Adriano M G; Freitas, Maria do Carmo; Coutinho, José; Maçãs, Benvindo; Almeida, Ana Sofia; Pérez-Corona, María Teresa; Madrid, Yolanda; Wolterbeek, Hubert T

2015-07-01

Agronomic biofortification of staple crops is an effective way to enhance their contents in essential nutrients up the food chain, with a view to correcting for their deficiencies in animal or human status. Selenium (Se) is one such case, for its uneven distribution in the continental crust and, therefore, in agricultural lands easily translates into substantial variation in nutritional intakes. Cereals are far from being the main sources of Se on a content basis, but they are likely the major contributors to intake on a dietary basis. To assess their potential to assimilate and biotransform Se, bread and durum wheat were enriched with Se through foliar and soil addition at an equivalent field rate of 100 g of Se per hectare (ha), using sodium selenate and sodium selenite as Se-supplementation matrices, in actual field conditions throughout. Biotransformation of inorganic Se was evaluated by using HPLC-ICP-MS after enzymatic hydrolysis for Se-species extraction in the resulting mature wheat grains. Selenomethionine and Se(VI) were identified and quantified: the former was the predominant species, representing 70-100 % of the total Se in samples; the maximum amount of inorganic Se was below 5 %. These results were similar for both supplementation methods and for both wheat varieties. Judging from the present results, one can conclude that agronomic biofortification of wheat may improve the nutritional quality of wheat grains with significant amounts of selenomethionine, which is an attractive option for increasing the Se status in human diets through Se-enriched, wheat-based foodstuff.

Agronomic performance of Populus deltoides trees engineered for biofuel production

DOE PAGES

Macaya-Sanz, David; Chen, Jin?Gui; Kalluri, Udaya C.; ...

2017-11-30

Background: One of the major barriers to the development of lignocellulosic feedstocks is the recalcitrance of plant cell walls to deconstruction and saccharification. Recalcitrance can be reduced by targeting genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis, but this can have unintended consequences that compromise the agronomic performance of the trees under field conditions. Here we report the results of a field trial of fourteen distinct transgenic Populus deltoides lines that had previously demonstrated reduced recalcitrance without yield penalties under greenhouse conditions.Results: Survival and productivity of the trial were excellent in the first year, and there was little evidence for reduced performancemore » of the transgenic lines with modified target gene expression. Surprisingly, the most striking phenotypic effects in this trial were for two empty-vector control lines that had modified bud set and bud flush. This is most likely due to somaclonal variation or insertional mutagenesis. Traits related to yield, crown architecture, herbivory, pathogen response, and frost damage showed few significant differences between target gene transgenics and empty vector controls. However, there were a few interesting exceptions. Lines overexpressing the DUF231 gene, a putative O-acetyltransferase, showed early bud flush and marginally increased height growth. Lines overexpressing the DUF266 gene, a putative glycosyltransferase, had significantly decreased stem internode length and slightly higher volume index. Finally, lines overexpressing the PFD2 gene, a putative member of the prefoldin complex, had a slightly reduced volume index.Conclusions: This field trial demonstrates that these cell wall modifications, which decreased cell wall recalcitrance under laboratory conditions, did not seriously compromise first-year performance in the field, despite substantial challenges, including an outbreak of a stem boring insect (Gypsonoma haimbachiana), attack by a leaf rust

Agronomic performance of Populus deltoides trees engineered for biofuel production

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Macaya-Sanz, David; Chen, Jin?Gui; Kalluri, Udaya C.

Background: One of the major barriers to the development of lignocellulosic feedstocks is the recalcitrance of plant cell walls to deconstruction and saccharification. Recalcitrance can be reduced by targeting genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis, but this can have unintended consequences that compromise the agronomic performance of the trees under field conditions. Here we report the results of a field trial of fourteen distinct transgenic Populus deltoides lines that had previously demonstrated reduced recalcitrance without yield penalties under greenhouse conditions.Results: Survival and productivity of the trial were excellent in the first year, and there was little evidence for reduced performancemore » of the transgenic lines with modified target gene expression. Surprisingly, the most striking phenotypic effects in this trial were for two empty-vector control lines that had modified bud set and bud flush. This is most likely due to somaclonal variation or insertional mutagenesis. Traits related to yield, crown architecture, herbivory, pathogen response, and frost damage showed few significant differences between target gene transgenics and empty vector controls. However, there were a few interesting exceptions. Lines overexpressing the DUF231 gene, a putative O-acetyltransferase, showed early bud flush and marginally increased height growth. Lines overexpressing the DUF266 gene, a putative glycosyltransferase, had significantly decreased stem internode length and slightly higher volume index. Finally, lines overexpressing the PFD2 gene, a putative member of the prefoldin complex, had a slightly reduced volume index.Conclusions: This field trial demonstrates that these cell wall modifications, which decreased cell wall recalcitrance under laboratory conditions, did not seriously compromise first-year performance in the field, despite substantial challenges, including an outbreak of a stem boring insect (Gypsonoma haimbachiana), attack by a leaf rust

Identification of heterotic loci associated with yield-related traits in Chinese common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.).

PubMed

Luo, Xiaojin; Wu, Shuang; Tian, Feng; Xin, Xiaoyun; Zha, Xiaojun; Dong, Xianxin; Fu, Yongcai; Wang, Xiangkun; Yang, Jinshui; Sun, Chuanqing

2011-07-01

Many rice breeding programs have currently reached yield plateaus as a result of limited genetic variability in parental strains. Dongxiang common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) is the progenitor of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) and serves as an important gene pool for the genetic improvement of rice cultivars. In this study, heterotic loci (HLs) associated with six yield-related traits were identified in wild and cultivated rice and investigated using a set of 265 introgression lines (ILs) of O. rufipogon Griff. in the background of the Indica high-yielding cultivar Guichao 2 (O. sativa L.). Forty-two HLs were detected by a single point analysis of mid-parent heterosis values from test cross F(1) offspring, and 30 (71.5%) of these HLs showed significantly positive effects, consistent with the superiority shown by the F(1) test cross population in the six yield-related traits under study. Genetic mapping of hsp11, a locus responsible for the number of spikelets per panicle, confirmed the utility of these HLs. The results indicate that favorable HLs capable of improving agronomic traits are available. The identification of HLs between wild rice and cultivated rice could lead to a new strategy for the application of heterosis in rice breeding. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Introgression of physiological traits for a comprehensive improvement of drought adaptation in crop plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sreeman, Sheshshayee M.; Vijayaraghavareddy, Preethi; Sreevathsa, Rohini; Rajendrareddy, Sowmya; Arakesh, Smitharani; Bharti, Pooja; Dharmappa, Prathibha; Soolanayakanahally, Raju

2018-04-01

Burgeoning population growth, industrial demand and the predicted global climate change resulting in erratic monsoon rains are expected to severely limit fresh water availability for agriculture both in irrigated and rainfed ecosystems. In order to remain food and nutrient secure, agriculture research needs to focus on devising strategies to save water in irrigated conditions and to develop superior cultivars with improved water productivity to sustain yield under rainfed conditions. Recent opinions accruing in the scientific literature strongly favour the adoption of a “trait based” approach for increasing water productivity especially the traits associated with maintenance of positive tissue turgor and maintenance of increased carbon assimilation as the most relevant traits to improve crop growth rates under water limiting conditions and to enhance water productivity. The advent of several water saving agronomic practices notwithstanding, a genetic enhancement strategy of introgressing distinct physiological, morphological and cellular mechanisms on to a single elite genetic background is essential for achieving a comprehensive improvement in drought adaptation in crop plants. The significant progress made in genomics, though would provide the necessary impetus, a clear understanding of the “traits” to be introgressed is the most essential need of the hour. Water uptake by a better root architecture, water conservation by preventing unproductive transpiration is crucial for maintaining positive tissue water relations. Improved carbon assimilation associated with carboxylation capacity and mesophyll conductance is equally important in sustaining crop growth rates under water limited conditions. Besides these major traits, we summarized the available information in literature on classifying various drought adaptive traits. We provide evidences that water-use efficiency when introgressed with moderately higher transpiration, would significantly enhance

Next biotech plants: new traits, crops, developers and technologies for addressing global challenges.

PubMed

Ricroch, Agnès E; Hénard-Damave, Marie-Cécile

2016-08-01

Most of the genetically modified (GM) plants currently commercialized encompass a handful of crop species (soybean, corn, cotton and canola) with agronomic characters (traits) directed against some biotic stresses (pest resistance, herbicide tolerance or both) and created by multinational companies. The same crops with agronomic traits already on the market today will continue to be commercialized, but there will be also a wider range of species with combined traits. The timeframe anticipated for market release of the next biotech plants will not only depend on science progress in research and development (R&D) in laboratories and fields, but also primarily on how demanding regulatory requirements are in countries where marketing approvals are pending. Regulatory constraints, including environmental and health impact assessments, have increased significantly in the past decades, delaying approvals and increasing their costs. This has sometimes discouraged public research entities and small and medium size plant breeding companies from using biotechnology and given preference to other technologies, not as stringently regulated. Nevertheless, R&D programs are flourishing in developing countries, boosted by the necessity to meet the global challenges that are food security of a booming world population while mitigating climate change impacts. Biotechnology is an instrument at the service of these imperatives and a wide variety of plants are currently tested for their high yield despite biotic and abiotic stresses. Many plants with higher water or nitrogen use efficiency, tolerant to cold, salinity or water submergence are being developed. Food security is not only a question of quantity but also of quality of agricultural and food products, to be available and accessible for the ones who need it the most. Many biotech plants (especially staple food) are therefore being developed with nutritional traits, such as biofortification in vitamins and metals. The main

Digester effluent’s agronomic and odor emission potential: A swine case study

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This on-farm study looked at the full-scale treatment effects of anaerobic digestion on the composition of manure effluent from an agronomic and air quality perspective. The goal was to improve our understanding of the role that anaerobic digestion may play in managing manure as a fertilizer and in...

Within-species patterns challenge our understanding of the causes and consequences of trait variation with implications for trait-based models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderegg, L. D.; Berner, L. T.; Badgley, G.; Hillerislambers, J.; Law, B. E.

2017-12-01

Functional traits could facilitate ecological prediction by provide scale-free tools for modeling ecosystem function. Yet much of their utility lies in three key assumptions: 1) that global patterns of trait covariation are the result of universal trade-offs independent of taxonomic scale, so empirical trait-trait relationships can be used to constrain vegetation models 2) that traits respond predictably to environmental gradients and can therefore be reliably quantified to parameterize models and 3) that well sampled traits influence productivity. We use an extensive dataset of within-species leaf trait variation in North American conifers combined with global leaf trait datasets to test these assumptions. We examine traits central to the `leaf economics spectrum', and quantify patterns of trait variation at multiple taxonomic scales. We also test whether site environment explains geographic trait variation within conifers, and ask whether foliar traits explain geographic variation in relative growth rates. We find that most leaf traits vary primarily between rather than within species globally, but that a large fraction of within-PFT trait variation is within-species. We also find that some leaf economics spectrum relationships differ in sign within versus between species, particularly the relationship between leaf lifespan and LMA. In conifers, we find weak and inconsistent relationships between site environment and leaf traits, making it difficult capture within-species leaf trait variation for regional model parameterization. Finally, we find limited relationships between tree relative growth rate and any foliar trait other than leaf lifespan, with leaf traits jointly explaining 42% of within-species growth variation but environmental factors explaining 77% of variation. We suggest that additional traits, particularly whole plant allometry/allocation traits may be better than leaf traits for improving vegetation model performance at smaller taxonomic and

A Robotic Platform for Corn Seedling Morphological Traits Characterization

PubMed Central

Lu, Hang; Tang, Lie; Whitham, Steven A.; Mei, Yu

2017-01-01

Crop breeding plays an important role in modern agriculture, improving plant performance, and increasing yield. Identifying the genes that are responsible for beneficial traits greatly facilitates plant breeding efforts for increasing crop production. However, associating genes and their functions with agronomic traits requires researchers to observe, measure, record, and analyze phenotypes of large numbers of plants, a repetitive and error-prone job if performed manually. An automated seedling phenotyping system aimed at replacing manual measurement, reducing sampling time, and increasing the allowable work time is thus highly valuable. Toward this goal, we developed an automated corn seedling phenotyping platform based on a time-of-flight of light (ToF) camera and an industrial robot arm. A ToF camera is mounted on the end effector of the robot arm. The arm positions the ToF camera at different viewpoints for acquiring 3D point cloud data. A camera-to-arm transformation matrix was calculated using a hand-eye calibration procedure and applied to transfer different viewpoints into an arm-based coordinate frame. Point cloud data filters were developed to remove the noise in the background and in the merged seedling point clouds. A 3D-to-2D projection and an x-axis pixel density distribution method were used to segment the stem and leaves. Finally, separated leaves were fitted with 3D curves for morphological traits characterization. This platform was tested on a sample of 60 corn plants at their early growth stages with between two to five leaves. The error ratios of the stem height and leave length measurements are 13.7% and 13.1%, respectively, demonstrating the feasibility of this robotic system for automated corn seedling phenotyping. PMID:28895892

A Robotic Platform for Corn Seedling Morphological Traits Characterization.

PubMed

Lu, Hang; Tang, Lie; Whitham, Steven A; Mei, Yu

2017-09-12

Crop breeding plays an important role in modern agriculture, improving plant performance, and increasing yield. Identifying the genes that are responsible for beneficial traits greatly facilitates plant breeding efforts for increasing crop production. However, associating genes and their functions with agronomic traits requires researchers to observe, measure, record, and analyze phenotypes of large numbers of plants, a repetitive and error-prone job if performed manually. An automated seedling phenotyping system aimed at replacing manual measurement, reducing sampling time, and increasing the allowable work time is thus highly valuable. Toward this goal, we developed an automated corn seedling phenotyping platform based on a time-of-flight of light (ToF) camera and an industrial robot arm. A ToF camera is mounted on the end effector of the robot arm. The arm positions the ToF camera at different viewpoints for acquiring 3D point cloud data. A camera-to-arm transformation matrix was calculated using a hand-eye calibration procedure and applied to transfer different viewpoints into an arm-based coordinate frame. Point cloud data filters were developed to remove the noise in the background and in the merged seedling point clouds. A 3D-to-2D projection and an x -axis pixel density distribution method were used to segment the stem and leaves. Finally, separated leaves were fitted with 3D curves for morphological traits characterization. This platform was tested on a sample of 60 corn plants at their early growth stages with between two to five leaves. The error ratios of the stem height and leave length measurements are 13.7% and 13.1%, respectively, demonstrating the feasibility of this robotic system for automated corn seedling phenotyping.

An agronomic field-scale sensor network for monitoring soil water and temperature variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, D. J.; Gasch, C.; Brooks, E. S.; Huggins, D. R.; Campbell, C. S.; Cobos, D. R.

2014-12-01

Environmental sensor networks have been deployed in a variety of contexts to monitor plant, air, water and soil properties. To date, there have been relatively few such networks deployed to monitor dynamic soil properties in cropped fields. Here we report on experience with a distributed soil sensor network that has been deployed for seven years in a research farm with ongoing agronomic field operations. The Washington State University R. J. Cook Agronomy Farm (CAF), Pullman, WA, USA has recently been designated a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Long-Term Agro-Ecosystem Research (LTAR) site. In 2007, 12 geo-referenced locations at CAF were instrumented, then in 2009 this network was expended to 42 locations distributed across the 37-ha farm. At each of this locations, Decagon 5TE probes (Decagon Devices Inc., Pullman, WA, USA) were installed at five depths (30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 cm), with temperature and volumetric soil moisture content recorded hourly. Initially, data loggers were wirelessly connected to a data station that could be accessed through a cell connection, but due to the logistics of agronomic field operations, we later buried the dataloggers at each site and now periodically download data via local radio transmission. In this presentation, we share our experience with the installation, maintenance, calibration and data processing associated with an agronomic soil monitoring network. We also present highlights of data derived from this network, including seasonal fluctuations of soil temperature and volumetric water content at each depth, and how these measurements are influenced by crop type, soil properties, landscape position, and precipitation events.

Assembly of the draft genome of buckwheat and its applications in identifying agronomically useful genes

PubMed Central

Yasui, Yasuo; Hirakawa, Hideki; Ueno, Mariko; Matsui, Katsuhiro; Katsube-Tanaka, Tomoyuki; Yang, Soo Jung; Aii, Jotaro; Sato, Shingo; Mori, Masashi

2016-01-01

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench; 2n = 2x = 16) is a nutritionally dense annual crop widely grown in temperate zones. To accelerate molecular breeding programmes of this important crop, we generated a draft assembly of the buckwheat genome using short reads obtained by next-generation sequencing (NGS), and constructed the Buckwheat Genome DataBase. After assembling short reads, we determined 387,594 scaffolds as the draft genome sequence (FES_r1.0). The total length of FES_r1.0 was 1,177,687,305 bp, and the N50 of the scaffolds was 25,109 bp. Gene prediction analysis revealed 286,768 coding sequences (CDSs; FES_r1.0_cds) including those related to transposable elements. The total length of FES_r1.0_cds was 212,917,911 bp, and the N50 was 1,101 bp. Of these, the functions of 35,816 CDSs excluding those for transposable elements were annotated by BLAST analysis. To demonstrate the utility of the database, we conducted several test analyses using BLAST and keyword searches. Furthermore, we used the draft genome as a reference sequence for NGS-based markers, and successfully identified novel candidate genes controlling heteromorphic self-incompatibility of buckwheat. The database and draft genome sequence provide a valuable resource that can be used in efforts to develop buckwheat cultivars with superior agronomic traits. PMID:27037832

Agronomic Biofortification of Amaranthus dubius with Macro Nutrients and Vitamin A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mala, R.; Celsia, A. S. Ruby; Mahalakshmi, R.; Rajeswari, S.

2017-08-01

Agronomic biofortification of Amaranthus dubius with carbohydrates, proteins and Vitamin A using Spirulina platensis is reported in the present preliminary study. S. platensis was applied basally to field and its influence on germination, concentration of proteins, carbohydrates, chlorophyll, carotenoids and antioxidant activity of leaves were assessed in CO1 variety of A. dubius. Biofortification of the nutrients were evaluated on 5th and 20th day. Germination was optimum at 0.005 % of S. platensis as a fertilizer and the agronomic fortifying agent. Germination in control was 82 % and 95 % in 0.005 % of S. platensis fortification. The concentration of total chlorophyll in control and biofortified leaf on 20th day were 85.6 mg/g and 325 mg/g of dried leaf. The concentration of proteins was 71.93 mg/g and 450 mg/g on 20th day in control and fortified leaves. S. platensis applied field produced leaves fortified with 1.27 % of vitamin A aldehyde. Antioxidant activity of control leaf was 34.85 % and it was significantly increased in fortified leaves to 87 %. Thus the study confirms the fortification of leaf with proteins, carbohydrates and vitamin A.

Responses of Crop Water Use Efficiency to Climate Change and Agronomic Measures in the Semiarid Area of Northern China

PubMed Central

Zhang, Jingting; Ren, Wei; An, Pingli; Pan, Zhihua; Wang, Liwei; Dong, Zhiqiang; He, Di; Yang, Jia; Pan, Shufen; Tian, Hanqin

2015-01-01

It has long been concerned how crop water use efficiency (WUE) responds to climate change. Most of existing researches have emphasized the impact of single climate factor but have paid less attention to the effect of developed agronomic measures on crop WUE. Based on the long-term field observations/experiments data, we investigated the changing responses of crop WUE to climate variables (temperature and precipitation) and agronomic practices (fertilization and cropping patterns) in the semi-arid area of northern China (SAC) during two periods, 1983–1999 and 2000–2010 (drier and warmer). Our results suggest that crop WUE was an intrinsical system sensitive to climate change and agronomic measures. Crops tend to reach the maximum WUE (WUEmax) in warm-dry environment while reach the stable minimum WUE (WUEmin) in warm-wet environment, with a difference between WUEmax and WUEmin ranging from 29.0%-55.5%. Changes in temperature and precipitation in the past three decades jointly enhanced crop WUE by 8.1%-30.6%. Elevated fertilizer and rotation cropping would increase crop WUE by 5.6–11.0% and 19.5–92.9%, respectively. These results indicate crop has the resilience by adjusting WUE, which is not only able to respond to subsequent periods of favorable water balance but also to tolerate the drought stress, and reasonable agronomic practices could enhance this resilience. However, this capacity would break down under impact of climate changes and unconscionable agronomic practices (e.g. excessive N/P/K fertilizer or traditional continuous cropping). Based on the findings in this study, a conceptual crop WUE model is constructed to indicate the threshold of crop resilience, which could help the farmer develop appropriate strategies in adapting the adverse impacts of climate warming. PMID:26336098

Responses of Crop Water Use Efficiency to Climate Change and Agronomic Measures in the Semiarid Area of Northern China.

PubMed

Zhang, Jingting; Ren, Wei; An, Pingli; Pan, Zhihua; Wang, Liwei; Dong, Zhiqiang; He, Di; Yang, Jia; Pan, Shufen; Tian, Hanqin

2015-01-01

It has long been concerned how crop water use efficiency (WUE) responds to climate change. Most of existing researches have emphasized the impact of single climate factor but have paid less attention to the effect of developed agronomic measures on crop WUE. Based on the long-term field observations/experiments data, we investigated the changing responses of crop WUE to climate variables (temperature and precipitation) and agronomic practices (fertilization and cropping patterns) in the semi-arid area of northern China (SAC) during two periods, 1983-1999 and 2000-2010 (drier and warmer). Our results suggest that crop WUE was an intrinsical system sensitive to climate change and agronomic measures. Crops tend to reach the maximum WUE (WUEmax) in warm-dry environment while reach the stable minimum WUE (WUEmin) in warm-wet environment, with a difference between WUEmax and WUEmin ranging from 29.0%-55.5%. Changes in temperature and precipitation in the past three decades jointly enhanced crop WUE by 8.1%-30.6%. Elevated fertilizer and rotation cropping would increase crop WUE by 5.6-11.0% and 19.5-92.9%, respectively. These results indicate crop has the resilience by adjusting WUE, which is not only able to respond to subsequent periods of favorable water balance but also to tolerate the drought stress, and reasonable agronomic practices could enhance this resilience. However, this capacity would break down under impact of climate changes and unconscionable agronomic practices (e.g. excessive N/P/K fertilizer or traditional continuous cropping). Based on the findings in this study, a conceptual crop WUE model is constructed to indicate the threshold of crop resilience, which could help the farmer develop appropriate strategies in adapting the adverse impacts of climate warming.

Predicting species' range limits from functional traits for the tree flora of North America.

PubMed

Stahl, Ulrike; Reu, Björn; Wirth, Christian

2014-09-23

Using functional traits to explain species' range limits is a promising approach in functional biogeography. It replaces the idiosyncrasy of species-specific climate ranges with a generic trait-based predictive framework. In addition, it has the potential to shed light on specific filter mechanisms creating large-scale vegetation patterns. However, its application to a continental flora, spanning large climate gradients, has been hampered by a lack of trait data. Here, we explore whether five key plant functional traits (seed mass, wood density, specific leaf area (SLA), maximum height, and longevity of a tree)--indicative of life history, mechanical, and physiological adaptations--explain the climate ranges of 250 North American tree species distributed from the boreal to the subtropics. Although the relationship between traits and the median climate across a species range is weak, quantile regressions revealed strong effects on range limits. Wood density and seed mass were strongly related to the lower but not upper temperature range limits of species. Maximum height affects the species range limits in both dry and humid climates, whereas SLA and longevity do not show clear relationships. These results allow the definition and delineation of climatic "no-go areas" for North American tree species based on key traits. As some of these key traits serve as important parameters in recent vegetation models, the implementation of trait-based climatic constraints has the potential to predict both range shifts and ecosystem consequences on a more functional basis. Moreover, for future trait-based vegetation models our results provide a benchmark for model evaluation.

Functional trait values, not trait plasticity, drive the invasiveness of Rosa sp. in response to light availability.

PubMed

Murphy, Jennifer E; Burns, Jean H; Fougère-Danezan, Marie; Drenovsky, Rebecca E

2016-12-01

Functional trait plasticity in resource capture traits has been suggested as an underlying mechanism promoting invasive species establishment and spread. Earlier studies on this mechanism treat invasiveness as a discrete characteristic (i.e., invasive vs. noninvasive) and do not consider the potential impacts of evolutionary history. In the present study, we used a continuous measure of invasiveness and a phylogenetic framework to quantify the relationship between functional trait expression, plasticity, and invasiveness in Rosa. In a manipulative greenhouse experiment, we evaluated how light availability affects functional traits and their plasticity in Rosa sp. and the out-group species, Potentilla recta, which vary in their invasiveness. Across functional traits, we found no significant relationship between plasticity and invasiveness. However, more invasive roses demonstrated an ability to produce a more branched plant architecture, promoting optimal light capture. Invasiveness also was linked with lower photosynthetic and stomatal conductance rates, leading to increased water-use efficiency (WUE) in more invasive roses. Our results suggest that functional trait values, rather than plasticity, promote invasive rose success, counter to earlier predictions about the role of plasticity in invasiveness. Furthermore, our study indicates that invasive roses demonstrate key functional traits, such as increased WUE, to promote their success in the high-light, edge habitats they commonly invade. © 2016 Botanical Society of America.

Juvenile hormone mediates developmental integration between exaggerated traits and supportive traits in the horned flour beetle Gnatocerus cornutus.

PubMed

Okada, Yasukazu; Gotoh, Hiroki; Miura, Toru; Miyatake, Takahisa; Okada, Kensuke

2012-07-01

Sexually selected exaggerated traits are often coupled with modifications in other nontarget traits. In insects with weapons, enlargements of nontarget characters that functionally support the weapon often occur (i.e. supportive traits). The support of sexual traits requires developmental coordination among functionally related multiple traits-an explicit example of morphological integration. The genetic theory predicts that developmental integration among different body modules, for which development is regulated via different sets of genes, is likely to be coordinated by pleiotropic factors. However, the developmental backgrounds of morphological integrations are largely unknown. We tested the hypothesis that the juvenile hormone (JH), as a pleiotropic factor, mediates the integration between exaggerated and supportive traits in an armed beetle Gnatocerus cornutus. During combat, males of this beetle use exaggerated mandibles to lift up their opponents with the supportive traits, that is, the head and prothoracic body parts. Application of methoprene, a JH analog (JHA), during the larval to prepupal period, induced the formation of large mandibles relative to the body sizes in males. Morphometric examination of nontarget traits elucidated an increase in the relative sizes of supportive traits, including the head and prothoracic body parts. In addition, reductions in the hind wing area and elytra length, which correspond to flight and reproductive abilities, were detected. Our findings are consistent with the genetic theory and support the idea that JH is a key pleiotropic factor that coordinates the developmental integration of exaggerated traits and supportive characters, as well as resource allocation trade-offs. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evaluating Callous-Unemotional Traits as a Personality Construct.

PubMed

Frick, Paul J; Ray, James V

2015-12-01

We evaluate the importance of callous-unemotional (CU) traits as a personality construct in isolation from other facets of psychopathy. Specifically, we review research suggesting that these traits are useful for designating a subgroup of youth with serious conduct problems who differ from other antisocial youth on important biological, emotional, cognitive, and social characteristics. In addition, the temperamental features related to CU traits are risk factors for impairments in conscience development in young children. Thus, these traits could advance theoretical models explaining the development of severe antisocial behavior and psychopathy. CU traits also have important clinical utility because they designate a particularly severe and impaired subgroup of antisocial youth, leading to their inclusion in the DSM-5. As a result of this inclusion in diagnostic classification, there has been an increased focus on how to best assess CU traits, and we discuss several key issues in their assessment, highlighting several limitations in existing measures. Finally, the increased use of CU traits, separately from other facets of psychopathy, makes it important to determine how these traits relate to other personality constructs. Thus, we examine how measures of CU traits relate to the broader construct of psychopathy and to other basic personality dimensions. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Distinguishing State Variability From Trait Change in Longitudinal Data: The Role of Measurement (Non)Invariance in Latent State-Trait Analyses

PubMed Central

Geiser, Christian; Keller, Brian T.; Lockhart, Ginger; Eid, Michael; Cole, David A.; Koch, Tobias

2014-01-01

Researchers analyzing longitudinal data often want to find out whether the process they study is characterized by (1) short-term state variability, (2) long-term trait change, or (3) a combination of state variability and trait change. Classical latent state-trait (LST) models are designed to measure reversible state variability around a fixed set-point or trait, whereas latent growth curve (LGC) models focus on long-lasting and often irreversible trait changes. In the present paper, we contrast LST and LGC models from the perspective of measurement invariance (MI) testing. We show that establishing a pure state-variability process requires (a) the inclusion of a mean structure and (b) establishing strong factorial invariance in LST analyses. Analytical derivations and simulations demonstrate that LST models with non-invariant parameters can mask the fact that a trait-change or hybrid process has generated the data. Furthermore, the inappropriate application of LST models to trait change or hybrid data can lead to bias in the estimates of consistency and occasion-specificity, which are typically of key interest in LST analyses. Four tips for the proper application of LST models are provided. PMID:24652650

Wheat multiple synthetic derivatives: a new source for heat stress tolerance adaptive traits

PubMed Central

Elbashir, Awad Ahmed Elawad; Gorafi, Yasir Serag Alnor; Tahir, Izzat Sidahmed Ali; Kim, June-Sik; Tsujimoto, Hisashi

2017-01-01

Heat stress is detrimental to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) productivity. In this study, we aimed to select heat-tolerant plants from a multiple synthetic derivatives (MSD) population and evaluate their agronomic and physiological traits. We selected six tolerant plants from the population with the background of the cultivar ‘Norin 61’ (N61) and established six MNH (MSD population of N61 selected as heat stress-tolerant) lines. We grew these lines with N61 in the field and growth chamber. In the field, we used optimum and late sowings to ensure plant exposure to heat. In the growth chamber, in addition to N61, we used the heat-tolerant cultivars ‘Gelenson’ and ‘Bacanora’. We confirmed that MNH2 and MNH5 lines acquired heat tolerance. These lines had higher photosynthesis and stomata conductance and exhibited no reduction in grain yield and biomass under heat stress compared to N61. We noticed that N61 had relatively good adaptability to heat stress. Our results indicate that the MSD population includes the diversity of Aegilops tauschii and is a promising resource to uncover useful quantitative traits derived from this wild species. Selected lines could be useful for heat stress tolerance breeding. PMID:28744178

Understanding Arsenic Dynamics in Agronomic Systems to Predict and Prevent Uptake by Crop Plants

EPA Science Inventory

This review is on arsenic in agronomic systems, and covers processes that influence the entry of arsenic into the human food supply. The scope is from sources of arsenic (natural and anthropogenic) in soils, biogeochemical and rhizosphere processes that control arsenic speciatio...

A functional trait perspective on plant invasion

PubMed Central

Drenovsky, Rebecca E.; Grewell, Brenda J.; D'Antonio, Carla M.; Funk, Jennifer L.; James, Jeremy J.; Molinari, Nicole; Parker, Ingrid M.; Richards, Christina L.

2012-01-01

Background and Aims Global environmental change will affect non-native plant invasions, with profound potential impacts on native plant populations, communities and ecosystems. In this context, we review plant functional traits, particularly those that drive invader abundance (invasiveness) and impacts, as well as the integration of these traits across multiple ecological scales, and as a basis for restoration and management. Scope We review the concepts and terminology surrounding functional traits and how functional traits influence processes at the individual level. We explore how phenotypic plasticity may lead to rapid evolution of novel traits facilitating invasiveness in changing environments and then ‘scale up’ to evaluate the relative importance of demographic traits and their links to invasion rates. We then suggest a functional trait framework for assessing per capita effects and, ultimately, impacts of invasive plants on plant communities and ecosystems. Lastly, we focus on the role of functional trait-based approaches in invasive species management and restoration in the context of rapid, global environmental change. Conclusions To understand how the abundance and impacts of invasive plants will respond to rapid environmental changes it is essential to link trait-based responses of invaders to changes in community and ecosystem properties. To do so requires a comprehensive effort that considers dynamic environmental controls and a targeted approach to understand key functional traits driving both invader abundance and impacts. If we are to predict future invasions, manage those at hand and use restoration technology to mitigate invasive species impacts, future research must focus on functional traits that promote invasiveness and invader impacts under changing conditions, and integrate major factors driving invasions from individual to ecosystem levels. PMID:22589328

On the relationship between phylogenetic diversity and trait diversity.

PubMed

Tucker, Caroline M; Davies, T Jonathan; Cadotte, Marc W; Pearse, William D

2018-05-21

Niche differences are key to understanding the distribution and structure of biodiversity. To examine niche differences, we must first characterize how species occupy niche space, and two approaches are commonly used in the ecological literature. The first uses species traits to estimate multivariate trait space (so-called functional trait diversity, FD); the second quantifies the amount of time or evolutionary history captured by a group of species (phylogenetic diversity, PD). It is often-but controversially-assumed that these putative measures of niche space are at a minimum correlated and perhaps redundant, since more evolutionary time allows for greater accumulation of trait changes. This theoretical expectation remains surprisingly poorly evaluated, particularly in the context of multivariate measures of trait diversity. We evaluated the relationship between phylogenetic diversity and trait diversity using analytical and simulation-based methods across common models of trait evolution. We show that PD correlates with FD increasingly strongly as more traits are included in the FD measure. Our results indicate that phylogenetic diversity can be a useful surrogate for high-dimensional trait diversity, but we also show that the correlation weakens when the underlying process of trait evolution includes variation in rate and optima. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

Plant functional traits predict green roof ecosystem services.

PubMed

Lundholm, Jeremy; Tran, Stephanie; Gebert, Luke

2015-02-17

Plants make important contributions to the services provided by engineered ecosystems such as green roofs. Ecologists use plant species traits as generic predictors of geographical distribution, interactions with other species, and ecosystem functioning, but this approach has been little used to optimize engineered ecosystems. Four plant species traits (height, individual leaf area, specific leaf area, and leaf dry matter content) were evaluated as predictors of ecosystem properties and services in a modular green roof system planted with 21 species. Six indicators of ecosystem services, incorporating thermal, hydrological, water quality, and carbon sequestration functions, were predicted by the four plant traits directly or indirectly via their effects on aggregate ecosystem properties, including canopy density and albedo. Species average height and specific leaf area were the most useful traits, predicting several services via effects on canopy density or growth rate. This study demonstrates that easily measured plant traits can be used to select species to optimize green roof performance across multiple key services.

Heritability of agronomic traits correlated with reduced stink bug damage in an F2:3 soybean population derived from IAC-100

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In Brazil, some of the most important insect pests causing damage to soybean (Glycine max) are stink bugs. Soybean production would increase if varieties with enhanced resistance were developed. The aim of this work was to examine different traits associated with plant development, and yield-related...

Transgenic plants that exhibit enhanced nitrogen assimilation

DOEpatents

Coruzzi, Gloria M.; Brears, Timothy

2005-03-08

The present invention relates to a method for producing plants with improved agronomic and nutritional traits. Such traits include enhanced nitrogen assimilatory and utilization capacities, faster and more vigorous growth, greater vegetative and reproductive yields, and enriched or altered nitrogen content in vegetative and reproductive parts. More particularly, the invention relates to the engineering of plants modified to have altered expression of key enzymes in the nitrogen assimilation and utilization pathways. In one embodiment of the present invention, the desired altered expression is accomplished by engineering the plant for ectopic overexpression of one of more the native or modified nitrogen assimilatory enzymes. The invention also has a number of other embodiments, all of which are disclosed herein.

Transgenic plants that exhibit enhanced nitrogen assimilation

DOEpatents

Coruzzi, Gloria M.; Brears, Timothy

1999-01-01

The present invention relates to a method for producing plants with improved agronomic and nutritional traits. Such traits include enhanced nitrogen assimilatory and utilization capacities, faster and more vigorous growth, greater vegetative and reproductive yields, and enriched or altered nitrogen content in vegetative and reproductive parts. More particularly, the invention relates to the engineering of plants modified to have altered expression of key enzymes in the nitrogen assimilation and utilization pathways. In one embodiment of the present invention, the desired altered expression is accomplished by engineering the plant for ectopic overexpression of one of more the native or modified nitrogen assimilatory enzymes. The invention also has a number of other embodiments, all of which are disclosed herein.

Transgenic plants that exhibit enhanced nitrogen assimilation

DOEpatents

Coruzzi, Gloria M.; Brears, Timothy

2000-01-01

The present invention relates to a method for producing plants with improved agronomic and nutritional traits. Such traits include enhanced nitrogen assimilatory and utilization capacities, faster and more vigorous growth, greater vegetative and reproductive yields, and enriched or altered nitrogen content in vegetative and reproductive parts. More particularly, the invention relates to the engineering of plants modified to have altered expression of key enzymes in the nitrogen assimilation and utilization pathways. In one embodiment of the present invention, the desired altered expression is accomplished by engineering the plant for ectopic overexpression of one of more the native or modified nitrogen assimilatory enzymes. The invention also has a number of other embodiments, all of which are disclosed herein.

Trait conscientiousness and the personality meta-trait stability are associated with regional white matter microstructure.

PubMed

Lewis, Gary J; Cox, Simon R; Booth, Tom; Muñoz Maniega, Susana; Royle, Natalie A; Valdés Hernández, Maria; Wardlaw, Joanna M; Bastin, Mark E; Deary, Ian J

2016-08-01

Establishing the neural bases of individual differences in personality has been an enduring topic of interest. However, while a growing literature has sought to characterize grey matter correlates of personality traits, little attention to date has been focused on regional white matter correlates of personality, especially for the personality traits agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. To rectify this gap in knowledge we used a large sample (n > 550) of older adults who provided data on both personality (International Personality Item Pool) and white matter tract-specific fractional anisotropy (FA) from diffusion tensor MRI. Results indicated that conscientiousness was associated with greater FA in the left uncinate fasciculus (β = 0.17, P < 0.001). We also examined links between FA and the personality meta-trait 'stability', which is defined as the common variance underlying agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism/emotional stability. We observed an association between left uncinate fasciculus FA and stability (β = 0.27, P < 0.001), which fully accounted for the link between left uncinate fasciculus FA and conscientiousness. In sum, these results provide novel evidence for links between regional white matter microstructure and key traits of human personality, specifically conscientiousness and the meta-trait, stability. Future research is recommended to replicate and address the causal directions of these associations. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press.

Deletion in a quantitative trait gene qPE9-1 associated with panicle erectness improves plant architecture during rice domestication.

PubMed

Zhou, Yong; Zhu, Jinyan; Li, Zhengyi; Yi, Chuandeng; Liu, Jun; Zhang, Honggen; Tang, Shuzhu; Gu, Minghong; Liang, Guohua

2009-09-01

Rice plant architecture is an important agronomic trait and a major determinant in high productivity. Panicle erectness is the preferred plant architecture in japonica rice, but the molecular mechanism underlying domestication of the erect panicle remains elusive. Here we report the map-based cloning of a major quantitative trait locus, qPE9-1, which plays an integral role in regulation of rice plant architecture including panicle erectness. The R6547 qPE9-1 gene encodes a 426-amino-acid protein, homologous to the keratin-associated protein 5-4 family. The gene is composed of three Von Willebrand factor type C domains, one transmembrane domain, and one 4-disulfide-core domain. Phenotypic comparisons of a set of near-isogenic lines and transgenic lines reveal that the functional allele (qPE9-1) results in drooping panicles, and the loss-of-function mutation (qpe9-1) leads to more erect panicles. In addition, the qPE9-1 locus regulates panicle and grain length, grain weight, and consequently grain yield. We propose that the panicle erectness trait resulted from a natural random loss-of-function mutation for the qPE9-1 gene and has subsequently been the target of artificial selection during japonica rice breeding.

Genome-wide association mapping of quantitative traits in a breeding population of sugarcane.

PubMed

Racedo, Josefina; Gutiérrez, Lucía; Perera, María Francisca; Ostengo, Santiago; Pardo, Esteban Mariano; Cuenya, María Inés; Welin, Bjorn; Castagnaro, Atilio Pedro

2016-06-24

Molecular markers associated with relevant agronomic traits could significantly reduce the time and cost involved in developing new sugarcane varieties. Previous sugarcane genome-wide association analyses (GWAS) have found few molecular markers associated with relevant traits at plant-cane stage. The aim of this study was to establish an appropriate GWAS to find molecular markers associated with yield related traits consistent across harvesting seasons in a breeding population. Sugarcane clones were genotyped with DArT (Diversity Array Technology) and TRAP (Target Region Amplified Polymorphism) markers, and evaluated for cane yield (CY) and sugar content (SC) at two locations during three successive crop cycles. GWAS mapping was applied within a novel mixed-model framework accounting for population structure with Principal Component Analysis scores as random component. A total of 43 markers significantly associated with CY in plant-cane, 42 in first ratoon, and 41 in second ratoon were detected. Out of these markers, 20 were associated with CY in 2 years. Additionally, 38 significant associations for SC were detected in plant-cane, 34 in first ratoon, and 47 in second ratoon. For SC, one marker-trait association was found significant for the 3 years of the study, while twelve markers presented association for 2 years. In the multi-QTL model several markers with large allelic substitution effect were found. Sequences of four DArT markers showed high similitude and e-value with coding sequences of Sorghum bicolor, confirming the high gene microlinearity between sorghum and sugarcane. In contrast with other sugarcane GWAS studies reported earlier, the novel methodology to analyze multi-QTLs through successive crop cycles used in the present study allowed us to find several markers associated with relevant traits. Combining existing phenotypic trial data and genotypic DArT and TRAP marker characterizations within a GWAS approach including population structure as

Field performance of transgenic citrus trees: assessment of the long-term expression of uidA and nptII transgenes and its impact on relevant agronomic and phenotypic characteristics.

PubMed

Pons, Elsa; Peris, Josep E; Peña, Leandro

2012-07-15

commonly used in citrus transformation were substantially equivalent to the non-transformed controls with regard to their overall agronomic performance, as based on the use of robust and powerful assessment techniques. Therefore, future studies of the possible pleiotropic effects induced by the integration and expression of transgenes in field-grown GM citrus may focus on the newly inserted trait(s) of biotechnological interest.

Field performance of transgenic citrus trees: Assessment of the long-term expression of uidA and nptII transgenes and its impact on relevant agronomic and phenotypic characteristics

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

selectable marker genes that are most commonly used in citrus transformation were substantially equivalent to the non-transformed controls with regard to their overall agronomic performance, as based on the use of robust and powerful assessment techniques. Therefore, future studies of the possible pleiotropic effects induced by the integration and expression of transgenes in field-grown GM citrus may focus on the newly inserted trait(s) of biotechnological interest. PMID:22794278

A Trait-Based Approach to Advance Coral Reef Science.

PubMed

Madin, Joshua S; Hoogenboom, Mia O; Connolly, Sean R; Darling, Emily S; Falster, Daniel S; Huang, Danwei; Keith, Sally A; Mizerek, Toni; Pandolfi, John M; Putnam, Hollie M; Baird, Andrew H

2016-06-01

Coral reefs are biologically diverse and ecologically complex ecosystems constructed by stony corals. Despite decades of research, basic coral population biology and community ecology questions remain. Quantifying trait variation among species can help resolve these questions, but progress has been hampered by a paucity of trait data for the many, often rare, species and by a reliance on nonquantitative approaches. Therefore, we propose filling data gaps by prioritizing traits that are easy to measure, estimating key traits for species with missing data, and identifying 'supertraits' that capture a large amount of variation for a range of biological and ecological processes. Such an approach can accelerate our understanding of coral ecology and our ability to protect critically threatened global ecosystems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A systems-genetics approach and data mining tool to assist in the discovery of genes underlying complex traits in Oryza sativa.

PubMed

Ficklin, Stephen P; Feltus, Frank Alex

2013-01-01

Many traits of biological and agronomic significance in plants are controlled in a complex manner where multiple genes and environmental signals affect the expression of the phenotype. In Oryza sativa (rice), thousands of quantitative genetic signals have been mapped to the rice genome. In parallel, thousands of gene expression profiles have been generated across many experimental conditions. Through the discovery of networks with real gene co-expression relationships, it is possible to identify co-localized genetic and gene expression signals that implicate complex genotype-phenotype relationships. In this work, we used a knowledge-independent, systems genetics approach, to discover a high-quality set of co-expression networks, termed Gene Interaction Layers (GILs). Twenty-two GILs were constructed from 1,306 Affymetrix microarray rice expression profiles that were pre-clustered to allow for improved capture of gene co-expression relationships. Functional genomic and genetic data, including over 8,000 QTLs and 766 phenotype-tagged SNPs (p-value < = 0.001) from genome-wide association studies, both covering over 230 different rice traits were integrated with the GILs. An online systems genetics data-mining resource, the GeneNet Engine, was constructed to enable dynamic discovery of gene sets (i.e. network modules) that overlap with genetic traits. GeneNet Engine does not provide the exact set of genes underlying a given complex trait, but through the evidence of gene-marker correspondence, co-expression, and functional enrichment, site visitors can identify genes with potential shared causality for a trait which could then be used for experimental validation. A set of 2 million SNPs was incorporated into the database and serve as a potential set of testable biomarkers for genes in modules that overlap with genetic traits. Herein, we describe two modules found using GeneNet Engine, one with significant overlap with the trait amylose content and another with

A Data-driven Approach to Integrate Crop Rotation Agronomic Practices in a Global Gridded Land-use Forcing Dataset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahajpal, R.; Hurtt, G. C.; Chini, L. P.; Frolking, S. E.; Izaurralde, R. C.

2016-12-01

Agro-ecosystems are the dominant land-use type on Earth, covering more than a third of ice-free land surface. Agricultural practices have influenced the Earth's climate system by significantly altering the biogeophysical and biogeochemical properties from hyper-local to global scales. While past work has focused largely on characterizing the effects of net land cover changes, the magnitude and nature of gross transitions and agricultural management practices on climate remains highly uncertain. To address this issue, a new set of global gridded land-use forcing datasets (LUH2) have been developed in a standard format required by climate models for CMIP6. For the first time, this dataset includes information on key agricultural management practices including crop rotations. Crop rotations describe the practice of growing crops on the same land in sequential seasons and are essential to agronomic management as they influence key ecosystem services such as crop yields, water quality, carbon and nutrient cycling, pest and disease control. Here, we present a data-driven approach to infer crop rotations based on crop specific land cover data, derived from moderate resolution satellite imagery and created at an annual time-step for the continental United States. Our approach compresses the more than 100,000 unique crop rotations prevalent in the United States from 2013 - 2015 to about 200 representative crop rotations that account for nearly 80% of the spatio-temporal variability. Further simplification is achieved by mapping individual crops to crop functional types, which identify crops based on their photosynthetic pathways (C3/C4), life strategy (annual/perennial) and whether they are N-fixing or not. The resulting matrix of annual transitions between crop functional types averages 41,000 km2/yr for rotations between C3 and C4 annual crops, and 140,000 km2/yr between C3 N-fixing and C4 annual crops. The crop rotation matrix is combined with information on other land

Assembly of the draft genome of buckwheat and its applications in identifying agronomically useful genes.

PubMed

Yasui, Yasuo; Hirakawa, Hideki; Ueno, Mariko; Matsui, Katsuhiro; Katsube-Tanaka, Tomoyuki; Yang, Soo Jung; Aii, Jotaro; Sato, Shingo; Mori, Masashi

2016-06-01

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench; 2n = 2x = 16) is a nutritionally dense annual crop widely grown in temperate zones. To accelerate molecular breeding programmes of this important crop, we generated a draft assembly of the buckwheat genome using short reads obtained by next-generation sequencing (NGS), and constructed the Buckwheat Genome DataBase. After assembling short reads, we determined 387,594 scaffolds as the draft genome sequence (FES_r1.0). The total length of FES_r1.0 was 1,177,687,305 bp, and the N50 of the scaffolds was 25,109 bp. Gene prediction analysis revealed 286,768 coding sequences (CDSs; FES_r1.0_cds) including those related to transposable elements. The total length of FES_r1.0_cds was 212,917,911 bp, and the N50 was 1,101 bp. Of these, the functions of 35,816 CDSs excluding those for transposable elements were annotated by BLAST analysis. To demonstrate the utility of the database, we conducted several test analyses using BLAST and keyword searches. Furthermore, we used the draft genome as a reference sequence for NGS-based markers, and successfully identified novel candidate genes controlling heteromorphic self-incompatibility of buckwheat. The database and draft genome sequence provide a valuable resource that can be used in efforts to develop buckwheat cultivars with superior agronomic traits. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Kazusa DNA Research Institute.

Trait correlates of distribution trends in the Odonata of Britain and Ireland

PubMed Central

Cham, Steve S.A.; Smallshire, Dave; Isaac, Nick J.B.

2015-01-01

A major challenge in ecology is understanding why certain species persist, while others decline, in response to environmental change. Trait-based comparative analyses are useful in this regard as they can help identify the key drivers of decline, and highlight traits that promote resistance to change. Despite their popularity trait-based comparative analyses tend to focus on explaining variation in range shift and extinction risk, seldom being applied to actual measures of species decline. Furthermore they have tended to be taxonomically restricted to birds, mammals, plants and butterflies. Here we utilise a novel approach to estimate occurrence trends for the Odonata in Britain and Ireland, and examine trait correlates of these trends using a recently available trait dataset. We found the dragonfly fauna in Britain and Ireland has undergone considerable change between 1980 and 2012, with 22 and 53% of species declining and increasing, respectively. Distribution region, habitat specialism and range size were the key traits associated with these trends, where habitat generalists that occupy southern Britain tend to have increased in comparison to the declining narrow-ranged specialist species. In combination with previous evidence, we conclude that the lower trend estimates for the narrow-ranged specialists could be a sign of biotic homogenization with ecological specialists being replaced by warm-adapted generalists. PMID:26618083

Plant traits and trait-based vegetation modeling in the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, C.; Sevanto, S.; Iversen, C. M.; Salmon, V. G.; Rogers, A.; Wullschleger, S.; Wilson, C. J.

2017-12-01

Arctic tundra environments are characterized by extremely cold temperatures, strong winds, short growing season and thin, nutrient-poor soil layer impacted by permafrost. To survive in this environment vascular plants have developed traits that simultaneously promote high productivity under favorable environments, and survival in harsh conditions. To improve representation of Arctic tundra vegetation in Earth System Models we surveyed plant trait data bases for key trait parameters that influence modeled ecosystem carbon balance, and compared the traits within plant families occurring in the boreal, temperate and arctic zones. The parameters include photosynthetic carbon uptake efficiency (Vcmax and Jmax), root:shoot ratio, and root and leaf nitrogen content, and we focused on woody shrubs. Our results suggest that root nitrogen content in non-nitrogen fixing tundra shrubs is lower than in representatives of the same families in the boreal or temperate zone. High tissue nitrogen concentrations have been related to high vulnerability to drought. The low root nitrogen concentrations in tundra shrubs may thus be an indication of acclimation to shallow soils, and frequent freezing that has a similar impact on the plant conductive tissue as drought. With current nitrogen availability, nitrogen limitation reduces the benefits of increased temperatures and longer growing seasons to the tundra ecosystem carbon balance. Thawing of permafrost will increase nitrogen availability, and promote plant growth and carbon uptake, but it could also make the shrubs more vulnerable to freeze-thaw cycles, with the overall result of reduced shrub coverage. The final outcome of warming temperatures and thawing of permafrost on tundra shrubs will thus depend on the relative speed of warming and plant acclimation.

QTL mapping of fruit mineral contents provides new chances for molecular breeding of tomato nutritional traits.

PubMed

Capel, Carmen; Yuste-Lisbona, Fernando J; López-Casado, Gloria; Angosto, Trinidad; Heredia, Antonio; Cuartero, Jesús; Fernández-Muñoz, Rafael; Lozano, Rafael; Capel, Juan

2017-05-01

Agronomical characterization of a RIL population for fruit mineral contents allowed for the identification of QTL controlling these fruit quality traits, flanked by co-dominant markers useful for marker-assisted breeding. Tomato quality is a multi-variant attribute directly depending on fruit chemical composition, which in turn determines the benefits of tomato consumption for human health. Commercially available tomato varieties possess limited variability in fruit quality traits. Wild species, such as Solanum pimpinellifolium, could provide different nutritional advantages and can be used for tomato breeding to improve overall fruit quality. Determining the genetic basis of the inheritance of all the traits that contribute to tomato fruit quality will increase the efficiency of the breeding program necessary to take advantage of the wild species variability. A high-density linkage map has been constructed from a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between tomato Solanum lycopersicum and the wild-relative species S. pimpinellifolium. The RIL population was evaluated for fruit mineral contents during three consecutive growing seasons. The data obtained allowed for the identification of main QTL and novel epistatic interaction among QTL controlling fruit mineral contents on the basis of a multiple-environment analysis. Most of the QTL were flanked by candidate genes providing valuable information for both tomato breeding for new varieties with novel nutritional properties and the starting point to identify the genes underlying these QTL, which will help to reveal the genetic basis of tomato fruit nutritional properties.

Methods for simultaneous control of lignin content and composition, and cellulose content in plants

DOEpatents

Chiang, Vincent Lee C.; Li, Laigeng

2005-02-15

The present invention relates to a method of concurrently introducing multiple genes into plants and trees is provided. The method includes simultaneous transformation of plants with multiple genes from the phenylpropanoid pathways including 4CL, CAld5H, AldOMT, SAD and CAD genes and combinations thereof to produce various lines of transgenic plants displaying altered agronomic traits. The agronomic traits of the plants are regulated by the orientation of the specific genes and the selected gene combinations, which are incorporated into the plant genome.

Trait Variation in Yeast Is Defined by Population History

PubMed Central

Warringer, Jonas; Zörgö, Enikö; Cubillos, Francisco A.; Zia, Amin; Gjuvsland, Arne; Simpson, Jared T.; Forsmark, Annabelle; Durbin, Richard; Omholt, Stig W.; Louis, Edward J.; Liti, Gianni; Moses, Alan; Blomberg, Anders

2011-01-01

A fundamental goal in biology is to achieve a mechanistic understanding of how and to what extent ecological variation imposes selection for distinct traits and favors the fixation of specific genetic variants. Key to such an understanding is the detailed mapping of the natural genomic and phenomic space and a bridging of the gap that separates these worlds. Here we chart a high-resolution map of natural trait variation in one of the most important genetic model organisms, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and its closest wild relatives and trace the genetic basis and timing of major phenotype changing events in its recent history. We show that natural trait variation in S. cerevisiae exceeds that of its relatives, despite limited genetic variation, and follows the population history rather than the source environment. In particular, the West African population is phenotypically unique, with an extreme abundance of low-performance alleles, notably a premature translational termination signal in GAL3 that cause inability to utilize galactose. Our observations suggest that many S. cerevisiae traits may be the consequence of genetic drift rather than selection, in line with the assumption that natural yeast lineages are remnants of recent population bottlenecks. Disconcertingly, the universal type strain S288C was found to be highly atypical, highlighting the danger of extrapolating gene-trait connections obtained in mosaic, lab-domesticated lineages to the species as a whole. Overall, this study represents a step towards an in-depth understanding of the causal relationship between co-variation in ecology, selection pressure, natural traits, molecular mechanism, and alleles in a key model organism. PMID:21698134

Trait variation in yeast is defined by population history.

PubMed

Warringer, Jonas; Zörgö, Enikö; Cubillos, Francisco A; Zia, Amin; Gjuvsland, Arne; Simpson, Jared T; Forsmark, Annabelle; Durbin, Richard; Omholt, Stig W; Louis, Edward J; Liti, Gianni; Moses, Alan; Blomberg, Anders

2011-06-01

A fundamental goal in biology is to achieve a mechanistic understanding of how and to what extent ecological variation imposes selection for distinct traits and favors the fixation of specific genetic variants. Key to such an understanding is the detailed mapping of the natural genomic and phenomic space and a bridging of the gap that separates these worlds. Here we chart a high-resolution map of natural trait variation in one of the most important genetic model organisms, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and its closest wild relatives and trace the genetic basis and timing of major phenotype changing events in its recent history. We show that natural trait variation in S. cerevisiae exceeds that of its relatives, despite limited genetic variation, and follows the population history rather than the source environment. In particular, the West African population is phenotypically unique, with an extreme abundance of low-performance alleles, notably a premature translational termination signal in GAL3 that cause inability to utilize galactose. Our observations suggest that many S. cerevisiae traits may be the consequence of genetic drift rather than selection, in line with the assumption that natural yeast lineages are remnants of recent population bottlenecks. Disconcertingly, the universal type strain S288C was found to be highly atypical, highlighting the danger of extrapolating gene-trait connections obtained in mosaic, lab-domesticated lineages to the species as a whole. Overall, this study represents a step towards an in-depth understanding of the causal relationship between co-variation in ecology, selection pressure, natural traits, molecular mechanism, and alleles in a key model organism.

Male mental health problems, psychopathy, and personality traits: key findings from the first 14 years of the Pittsburgh Youth Study.

PubMed

Loeber, R; Farrington, D P; Stouthamer-Loeber, M; Moffitt, T E; Caspi, A; Lynam, D

2001-12-01

This paper reviews key findings on juvenile mental health problems in boys, psychopathy, and personality traits, obtained in the first 14 years of studies using data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study. This is a study of 3 samples, each of about 500 boys initially randomly drawn from boys in the 1st, 4th, and 7th grades of public schools in Pittsburgh. The boys have been followed regularly, initially each half year, and later at yearly intervals. Currently, the oldest boys are about 25 years old, whereas the youngest boys are about 19. Findings are presented on the prevalence and interrelation of disruptive behaviors, ADHD, and depressed mood. Results concerning risk factors for these outcomes are reviewed. Psychological factors such as psychopathy, impulsivity, and personality are described. The paper closes with findings on service delivery of boys with mental health problems.

Agronomic assessment of pyrolysed food waste digestate for sandy soil management.

PubMed

Opatokun, Suraj Adebayo; Yousef, Lina F; Strezov, Vladimir

2017-02-01

The digestate (DFW) of an industrial food waste treatment plant was pyrolysed for production of biochar for its direct application as bio-fertilizer or soil enhancer. Nutrient dynamics and agronomic viability of the pyrolysed food waste digestate (PyD) produced at different temperatures were evaluated using germination index (GI), water retention/availability and mineral sorption as indicators when applied on arid soil. The pyrolysis was found to enrich P, K and other micronutrients in the biochar at an average enrichment factor of 0.87. All PyD produced at different temperatures indicated significantly low phytotoxicity with GI range of 106-168% and an average water retention capacity of 40.2%. Differential thermogravimetric (DTG) thermographs delineated the stability of the food waste digestate pyrolysed at 500 °C (PyD500) against the degradation of the digestate food waste despite the latter poor nutrient sorption potential. Plant available water in soil is 40% when treated with 100 g of digestate per kg soil, whereas PyD500 treated soil indicated minimal effect on plant available water, even with high application rates. However, the positive effects of PyD on GI and the observed enrichment in plant macro and micronutrients suggest potential agronomic benefits for PyD use, in addition to the benefits from energy production from DFW during the pyrolysis process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Near-infrared spectrometry allows fast and extensive predictions of functional traits from dry leaves and branches.

PubMed

Costa, Flávia R C; Lang, Carla; Almeida, Danilo R A; Castilho, Carolina V; Poorter, Lourens

2018-05-16

The linking of individual functional traits to ecosystem processes is the basis for making generalizations in ecology, but the measurement of individual values is laborious and time consuming, preventing large-scale trait mapping. Also, in hyper-diverse systems, errors occur because identification is difficult, and species level values ignore intra-specific variation. To allow extensive trait mapping at the individual level, we evaluated the potential of Fourrier-Transformed Near Infra-Red Spectrometry (FT-NIR) to adequately describe 14 traits that are key for plant carbon, water, and nutrient balance. FT-NIR absorption spectra (1,000-2,500 nm) were obtained from dry leaves and branches of 1,324 trees of 432 species from a hyper-diverse Amazonian forest. FT-NIR spectra were related to measured traits for the same plants using partial least squares regressions. A further 80 plants were collected from a different site to evaluate model applicability across sites. Relative prediction error (RMSE rel ) was calculated as the percentage of the trait value range represented by the final model RMSE. The key traits used in most functional trait studies; specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, wood density and wood dry matter content can be well predicted by the model (R 2  = 0.69-0.78, RMSE rel  = 9-11%), while leaf density, xylem proportion, bark density and bark dry matter content can be moderately well predicted (R 2  = 0.53-0.61, RMSE rel  = 14-17%). Community-weighted means of all traits were well estimated with NIR, as did the shape of the frequency distribution of the community values for the above key traits. The model developed at the core site provided good estimations of the key traits of a different site. An evaluation of the sampling effort indicated that 400 or less individuals may be sufficient for establishing a good local model. We conclude that FT-NIR is an easy, fast and cheap method for the large-scale estimation of individual plant traits

Statistical analysis of agronomical factors and weather conditions influencing deoxynivalenol levels in oats in Scandinavia.

PubMed

Lindblad, M; Börjesson, T; Hietaniemi, V; Elen, O

2012-01-01

The relationship between weather data and agronomical factors and deoxynivalenol (DON) levels in oats was examined with the aim of developing a predictive model. Data were collected from a total of 674 fields during periods of up to 10 years in Finland, Norway and Sweden, and included DON levels in the harvested oats crop, agronomical factors and weather data. The results show that there was a large regional variation in DON levels, with higher levels in one region in Norway compared with other regions in Norway, Finland and Sweden. In this region the median DON level was 1000 ng g⁻¹ and the regulatory limit for human consumption (1750 ng g⁻¹) was exceeded in 28% of the samples. In other regions the median DON levels ranged from 75 to 270 ng g⁻¹, and DON levels exceeded 1750 ng g⁻¹ in 3-8% of the samples. Including more variables than region in a multiple regression model only increased the adjusted coefficient of determination from 0.17 to 0.24, indicating that very little of the variation in DON levels could be explained by weather data or agronomical factors. Thus, it was not possible to predict DON levels based on the variables included in this study. Further studies are needed to solve this problem. Apparently the infection and/or growth of DON producing Fusarium species are promoted in certain regions. One possibility may be to study the species distribution of fungal communities and their changes during the oats cultivation period in more detail.

Assessment of Potential Sublethal Effects of Various Insecticides on Key Biological Traits of The Tobacco Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci

PubMed Central

He, Yuxian; Zhao, Jianwei; Zheng, Yu; Weng, Qiyong; Biondi, Antonio; Desneux, Nicolas; Wu, Kongming

2013-01-01

The tobacco whitefly Bemisia tabaci is one of the most devastating pests worldwide. Current management of B. tabaci relies upon the frequent applications of insecticides. In addition to direct mortality by typical acute toxicity (lethal effect), insecticides may also impair various key biological traits of the exposed insects through physiological and behavioral sublethal effects. Identifying and characterizing such effects could be crucial for understanding the global effects of insecticides on the pest and therefore for optimizing its management in the crops. We assessed the effects of sublethal and low-lethal concentrations of four widely used insecticides on the fecundity, honeydew excretion and feeding behavior of B. tabaci adults. The probing activity of the whiteflies feeding on treated cotton seedlings was recorded by an Electrical Penetration Graph (EPG). The results showed that imidacloprid and bifenthrin caused a reduction in phloem feeding even at sublethal concentrations. In addition, the honeydew excretions and fecundity levels of adults feeding on leaf discs treated with these concentrations were significantly lower than the untreated ones. While, sublethal concentrations of chlorpyrifos and carbosulfan did not affect feeding behavior, honeydew excretion and fecundity of the whitefly. We demonstrated an antifeedant effect of the imidacloprid and bifenthrin on B. tabaci, whereas behavioral changes in adults feeding on leaves treated with chlorpyrifos and carbosulfan were more likely caused by the direct effects of the insecticides on the insects' nervous system itself. Our results show that aside from the lethal effect, the sublethal concentration of imidacloprid and bifenthrin impairs the phloem feeding, i.e. the most important feeding trait in a plant protection perspective. Indeed, this antifeedant property would give these insecticides potential to control insect pests indirectly. Therefore, the behavioral effects of sublethal concentrations of

Anthropogenic fire drives the evolution of seed traits.

PubMed

Gómez-González, Susana; Torres-Díaz, Cristian; Bustos-Schindler, Carlos; Gianoli, Ernesto

2011-11-15

Fire is a major disturbance affecting ecosystems worldwide. Phylogenetic studies have shown that the evolution of seed persistence (fire resistance) is associated with fire frequency or severity. However, the existence of specific seed traits resulting from natural selection mediated by fire remains a key question in plant evolution. We evaluated the role of fire in the evolution of seed traits from a microevolutionary perspective, using as a study system a native forb from the Chilean matorral, where fire is a novel, anthropogenic disturbance. We show that anthropogenic fires are shaping the evolution of seed traits such as pubescence and shape. Among-population variation in seed pubescence, shape, and pericarp thickness was strongly associated with fire frequency, and within a population, fire selected those plants with more pubescent seeds, thicker pericarps, and less rounded seeds. Seed pubescence and shape were shown to be heritable traits. Our findings provide insights into the understanding of the evolution of seed traits in fire-prone environments and demonstrate that human-made fires can be driving evolutionary changes in plant species from ecosystems where fires do not occur naturally.

Sublethal Effects of Insecticide Exposure on Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius) Nymphs: Key Biological Traits and Acetylcholinesterase Activity.

PubMed

Miao, Jin; Reisig, Dominic D; Li, Guoping; Wu, Yuqing

2016-01-01

Megacopta cribraria F. (Hemiptera: Plataspidae), the kudzu bug, is an invasive insect pest of U.S. soybean. At present, insecticide application is the primary and most effective control option for M. cribraria In this study, the potential effects of sublethal and low-lethal concentrations (LC10 and LC40) of three common insecticides on key biological traits and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity of the treated nymphal stage of insect were assessed. The results show that the sublethal concentration of imidacloprid significantly reduced adult emergence rate of M. cribraria A low-lethal concentration of imidacloprid significantly increased nymphal development time, but significantly decreased adult emergence rate and adult longevity. Both sublethal and low-lethal concentrations of acephate caused an increase in nymphal development time and a reduction in adult emergence rate and adult longevity. Fecundity of females was significantly reduced only by exposure to low-lethal concentrations of acephate. Sublethal and low-lethal concentrations of bifenthrin increased nymphal development time, but significantly decreased adult emergence rate. In addition, we found that the AChE activity of M. cribraria was significantly increased only by LC40 imidacloprid, but strongly inhibited by acephate. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Entomological Society of America.

Agronomic performance of insect-protected and herbicide-tolerant MON 89034 × TC1507 × NK603 × DAS-40278-9 corn is equivalent to that of conventional corn.

PubMed

de Cerqueira, Denise T Rezende; Schafer, Ariane C; Fast, Brandon J; Herman, Rod A

2017-07-03

Agronomic characteristics of genetically modified (GM) MON 89034 × TC1507 × NK603 × DAS-40278-9 (PowerCore™ Enlist™), MON 89034 × TC1507 × NK603 (PowerCore™), and DAS-40278-9 (Enlist™) corn, a non-GM near-isogenic hybrid, and 2 commercial non-GM hybrids were assessed in a field study to determine if the agronomic performance of the GM corn hybrids is equivalent to that of non-transgenic hybrid corn. The MON 89034 × TC1507 × NK603 × DAS-40278-9 hybrid corn was developed through stacking of 4 individual transgenic events, MON 89034, TC1507, NK603, and DAS-40278-9 by traditional breeding and contains the cry1A.105 and cry2Ab2 (MON 89034), cry1F and pat (TC1507), cp4 epsps (NK603) and aad-1 (DAS-40278-9) transgenes. These transgenes encode the proteins Cry1A.105, Cry2Ab2, and Cry1F, which confer insect resistance, PAT, CP4 EPSPS, and AAD-1, which confer herbicide tolerance. The following agronomic characteristics were assessed in the study: initial and final stand count, seedling vigor, time to silk, time to pollen shed, pollen viability, plant height, ear height, stalk lodging, root lodging, days to maturity, stay green, disease incidence, insect damage, herbicide injury, and yield. The agronomic assessment was conducted in 2 regions of Brazil (Indianopolis-MG; Cravinhos-SP). The agronomic attributes for all GM entries were statistically indistinguishable from the non-GM near-isogenic hybrid. In addition, most of the agronomic assessments fell within the range of the commercial varieties included in the study. Taken together, MON 89034 × TC1507 × NK603 × DAS-40278, MON 89034 × TC1507 × NK603, and DAS-40278-9 were found to be agronomically equivalent to non-GM corn.

Plant diversity and root traits benefit physical properties key to soil function in grasslands.

PubMed

Gould, Iain J; Quinton, John N; Weigelt, Alexandra; De Deyn, Gerlinde B; Bardgett, Richard D

2016-09-01

Plant diversity loss impairs ecosystem functioning, including important effects on soil. Most studies that have explored plant diversity effects belowground, however, have largely focused on biological processes. As such, our understanding of how plant diversity impacts the soil physical environment remains limited, despite the fundamental role soil physical structure plays in ensuring soil function and ecosystem service provision. Here, in both a glasshouse and a long-term field study, we show that high plant diversity in grassland systems increases soil aggregate stability, a vital structural property of soil, and that root traits play a major role in determining diversity effects. We also reveal that the presence of particular plant species within mixed communities affects an even wider range of soil physical processes, including hydrology and soil strength regimes. Our results indicate that alongside well-documented effects on ecosystem functioning, plant diversity and root traits also benefit essential soil physical properties. © 2016 The Authors Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Sensitivity assessment of freshwater macroinvertebrates to pesticides using biological traits.

PubMed

Ippolito, A; Todeschini, R; Vighi, M

2012-03-01

Assessing the sensitivity of different species to chemicals is one of the key points in predicting the effects of toxic compounds in the environment. Trait-based predicting methods have proved to be extremely efficient for assessing the sensitivity of macroinvertebrates toward compounds with non specific toxicity (narcotics). Nevertheless, predicting the sensitivity of organisms toward compounds with specific toxicity is much more complex, since it depends on the mode of action of the chemical. The aim of this work was to predict the sensitivity of several freshwater macroinvertebrates toward three classes of plant protection products: organophosphates, carbamates and pyrethroids. Two databases were built: one with sensitivity data (retrieved, evaluated and selected from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ECOTOX database) and the other with biological traits. Aside from the "traditional" traits usually considered in ecological analysis (i.e. body size, respiration technique, feeding habits, etc.), multivariate analysis was used to relate the sensitivity of organisms to some other characteristics which may be involved in the process of intoxication. Results confirmed that, besides traditional biological traits, related to uptake capability (e.g. body size and body shape) some traits more related to particular metabolic characteristics or patterns have a good predictive capacity on the sensitivity to these kinds of toxic substances. For example, behavioral complexity, assumed as an indicator of nervous system complexity, proved to be an important predictor of sensitivity towards these compounds. These results confirm the need for more complex traits to predict effects of highly specific substances. One key point for achieving a complete mechanistic understanding of the process is the choice of traits, whose role in the discrimination of sensitivity should be clearly interpretable, and not only statistically significant.

A meta-analysis of zooplankton functional traits influencing ecosystem function.

PubMed

Hébert, Marie-Pier; Beisner, Beatrix E; Maranger, Roxane

2016-04-01

The use of functional traits to characterize community composition has been proposed as a more effective way to link community structure to ecosystem functioning. Organismal morphology, body stoichiometry, and physiology can be readily linked to large-scale ecosystem processes through functional traits that inform on interspecific and species-environment interactions; yet such effect traits are still poorly included in trait-based approaches. Given their key trophic position in aquatic ecosystems, individual zooplankton affect energy fluxes and elemental processing. We compiled a large database of zooplankton traits contributing to carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling and examined the effect of classification and habitat (marine vs. freshwater) on trait relationships. Respiration and nutrient excretion rates followed mass-dependent scaling in both habitats, with exponents ranging from 0.70 to 0.90. Our analyses revealed surprising differences in allometry and respiration between habitats, with freshwater species having lower length-specific mass and three times higher mass-specific respiration rates. These differences in traits point to implications for ecological strategies as well as overall carbon storage and fluxes based on habitat type. Our synthesis quantifies multiple trait relationships and links organisms to ecosystem processes they influence, enabling a more complete integration of aquatic community ecology and biogeochemistry through the promising use of effect traits.

Comparison of the genetic determinism of two key phenological traits, flowering and maturity dates, in three Prunus species: peach, apricot and sweet cherry

PubMed Central

Dirlewanger, E; Quero-García, J; Le Dantec, L; Lambert, P; Ruiz, D; Dondini, L; Illa, E; Quilot-Turion, B; Audergon, J-M; Tartarini, S; Letourmy, P; Arús, P

2012-01-01

The present study investigates the genetic determinism of flowering and maturity dates, two traits highly affected by global climate change. Flowering and maturity dates were evaluated on five progenies from three Prunus species, peach, apricot and sweet cherry, during 3–8 years. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) detection was performed separately for each year and also by integrating data from all years together. High heritability estimates were obtained for flowering and maturity dates. Several QTLs for flowering and maturity dates were highly stable, detected each year of evaluation, suggesting that they were not affected by climatic variations. For flowering date, major QTLs were detected on linkage groups (LG) 4 for apricot and sweet cherry and on LG6 for peach. QTLs were identified on LG2, LG3, LG4 and LG7 for the three species. For maturity date, a major QTL was detected on LG4 in the three species. Using the peach genome sequence data, candidate genes underlying the major QTLs on LG4 and LG6 were investigated and key genes were identified. Our results provide a basis for the identification of genes involved in flowering and maturity dates that could be used to develop cultivar ideotypes adapted to future climatic conditions. PMID:22828898

Comparison of the genetic determinism of two key phenological traits, flowering and maturity dates, in three Prunus species: peach, apricot and sweet cherry.

PubMed

Dirlewanger, E; Quero-García, J; Le Dantec, L; Lambert, P; Ruiz, D; Dondini, L; Illa, E; Quilot-Turion, B; Audergon, J-M; Tartarini, S; Letourmy, P; Arús, P

2012-11-01

The present study investigates the genetic determinism of flowering and maturity dates, two traits highly affected by global climate change. Flowering and maturity dates were evaluated on five progenies from three Prunus species, peach, apricot and sweet cherry, during 3-8 years. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) detection was performed separately for each year and also by integrating data from all years together. High heritability estimates were obtained for flowering and maturity dates. Several QTLs for flowering and maturity dates were highly stable, detected each year of evaluation, suggesting that they were not affected by climatic variations. For flowering date, major QTLs were detected on linkage groups (LG) 4 for apricot and sweet cherry and on LG6 for peach. QTLs were identified on LG2, LG3, LG4 and LG7 for the three species. For maturity date, a major QTL was detected on LG4 in the three species. Using the peach genome sequence data, candidate genes underlying the major QTLs on LG4 and LG6 were investigated and key genes were identified. Our results provide a basis for the identification of genes involved in flowering and maturity dates that could be used to develop cultivar ideotypes adapted to future climatic conditions.

Genome Informed Trait-Based Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karaoz, U.; Cheng, Y.; Bouskill, N.; Tang, J.; Beller, H. R.; Brodie, E.; Riley, W. J.

2013-12-01

Trait-based approaches are powerful tools for representing microbial communities across both spatial and temporal scales within ecosystem models. Trait-based models (TBMs) represent the diversity of microbial taxa as stochastic assemblages with a distribution of traits constrained by trade-offs between these traits. Such representation with its built-in stochasticity allows the elucidation of the interactions between the microbes and their environment by reducing the complexity of microbial community diversity into a limited number of functional ';guilds' and letting them emerge across spatio-temporal scales. From the biogeochemical/ecosystem modeling perspective, the emergent properties of the microbial community could be directly translated into predictions of biogeochemical reaction rates and microbial biomass. The accuracy of TBMs depends on the identification of key traits of the microbial community members and on the parameterization of these traits. Current approaches to inform TBM parameterization are empirical (i.e., based on literature surveys). Advances in omic technologies (such as genomics, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics) pave the way to better-initialize models that can be constrained in a generic or site-specific fashion. Here we describe the coupling of metagenomic data to the development of a TBM representing the dynamics of metabolic guilds from an organic carbon stimulated groundwater microbial community. Illumina paired-end metagenomic data were collected from the community as it transitioned successively through electron-accepting conditions (nitrate-, sulfate-, and Fe(III)-reducing), and used to inform estimates of growth rates and the distribution of metabolic pathways (i.e., aerobic and anaerobic oxidation, fermentation) across a spatially resolved TBM. We use this model to evaluate the emergence of different metabolisms and predict rates of biogeochemical processes over time. We compare our results to observational

A highly concentrated diet increases biogas production and the agronomic value of young bull's manure.

PubMed

Mendonça Costa, Mônica Sarolli Silva de; Lucas, Jorge de; Mendonça Costa, Luiz Antonio de; Orrico, Ana Carolina Amorim

2016-02-01

The increasing demand for animal protein has driven significant changes in cattle breeding systems, mainly in feedlots, with the use of young bulls fed on diets richer in concentrate (C) than in forage (F). These changes are likely to affect animal manure, demanding re-evaluation of the biogas production per kg of TS and VS added, as well as of its agronomic value as a biofertilizer, after anaerobic digestion. Here, we determined the biogas production and agronomic value (i.e., the macronutrient concentration in the final biofertilizer) of the manure of young bulls fed on diets with more (80% C+20% F; 'HighC' diet) or less (65% C+35% F; 'LowC' diet) concentrate, evaluating the effects of temperature (25, 35, and 40°C) and the use of an inoculum, during anaerobic digestion. A total of 24 benchtop reactors were used, operating in a semi-continuous system, with a 40-day hydraulic retention time (HRT). The manure from animals given the HighC diet had the greatest potential for biogas production, when digested with the use of an inoculum and at 35 or 40°C (0.6326 and 0.6207m(3)biogas/kg volatile solids, or VS, respectively). We observed the highest levels of the macronutrients N, P, and K in the biofertilizer from the manure of animals given HighC. Our results show that the manure of young bulls achieves its highest potential for biogas production and agronomic value when animals are fed diets richer in concentrate, and that biogas production increases if digestion is performed at higher temperatures, and with the use of an inoculum. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantitative trait loci and metabolic pathways: genetic control of the concentration of maysin, a corn earworm resistance factor, in maize silks.

PubMed Central

Byrne, P F; McMullen, M D; Snook, M E; Musket, T A; Theuri, J M; Widstrom, N W; Wiseman, B R; Coe, E H

1996-01-01

Interpretation of quantitative trait locus (QTL) studies of agronomic traits is limited by lack of knowledge of biochemical pathways leading to trait expression. To more fully elucidate the biological significance of detected QTL, we chose a trait that is the product of a well-characterized pathway, namely the concentration of maysin, a C-glycosyl flavone, in silks of maize, Zea mays L. Maysin is a host-plant resistance factor against the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie). We determined silk maysin concentrations and restriction fragment length polymorphism genotypes at flavonoid pathway loci or linked markers for 285 F2 plants derived from the cross of lines GT114 and GT119. Single-factor analysis of variance indicated that the p1 region on chromosome 1 accounted for 58.0% of the phenotypic variance and showed additive gene action. The p1 locus is a transcription activator for portions of the flavonoid pathway. A second QTL, represented by marker umc 105a near the brown pericarp1 locus on chromosome 9, accounted for 10.8% of the variance. Gene action of this region was dominant for low maysin, but was only expressed in the presence of a functional p1 allele. The model explaining the greatest proportion of phenotypic variance (75.9%) included p1, umc105a, umc166b (chromosome 1), r1 (chromosome 10), and two epistatic interaction terms, p1 x umc105a and p1 x r1. Our results provide evidence that regulatory loci have a central role and that there is a complex interplay among different branches of the flavonoid pathway in the expression of this trait. PMID:11607699

Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions

DOE PAGES

Butler, Ethan E.; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc; ...

2017-12-01

Accurate trait-environment relationships and global maps of plant trait distributions represent a needed stepping stone in global biogeography and are critical constraints of key parameters for land models. Here, we use a global data set of plant traits to map trait distributions closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration: specific leaf area (SLA), and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen (Nm) and phosphorus (Pm); We propose two models to extrapolate geographically sparse point data to continuous spatial surfaces. The first is a categorical model using species mean trait values, categorized into plant functional types (PFTs) and extrapolating to PFT occurrencemore » ranges identified by remote sensing. The second is a Bayesian spatial model that incorporates information about PFT, location and environmental covariates to estimate trait distributions. Both models are further stratified by varying the number of PFTs; The performance of the models was evaluated based on their explanatory and predictive ability. The Bayesian spatial model leveraging the largest number of PFTs produced the best maps; The interpolation of full trait distributions enables a wider diversity of vegetation to be represented across the land surface. These maps may be used as input to Earth System Models and to evaluate other estimates of functional diversity.« less

Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Butler, Ethan E.; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc

Accurate trait-environment relationships and global maps of plant trait distributions represent a needed stepping stone in global biogeography and are critical constraints of key parameters for land models. Here, we use a global data set of plant traits to map trait distributions closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration: specific leaf area (SLA), and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen (Nm) and phosphorus (Pm); We propose two models to extrapolate geographically sparse point data to continuous spatial surfaces. The first is a categorical model using species mean trait values, categorized into plant functional types (PFTs) and extrapolating to PFT occurrencemore » ranges identified by remote sensing. The second is a Bayesian spatial model that incorporates information about PFT, location and environmental covariates to estimate trait distributions. Both models are further stratified by varying the number of PFTs; The performance of the models was evaluated based on their explanatory and predictive ability. The Bayesian spatial model leveraging the largest number of PFTs produced the best maps; The interpolation of full trait distributions enables a wider diversity of vegetation to be represented across the land surface. These maps may be used as input to Earth System Models and to evaluate other estimates of functional diversity.« less

Personality traits and career satisfaction of health care professionals.

PubMed

Richardson, John D; Lounsbury, John W; Bhaskar, Tripti; Gibson, Lucy W; Drost, Adam W

2009-01-01

Based on Holland's theorizing that vocational satisfaction arises from a good match between one's personality and career choice, one purpose of the study was to examine broad and narrow personality traits that characterize health care workers in comparison with professionals from other occupations. Also investigated were ways in which characteristic traits of health care workers were related to career satisfaction. Professionals utilizing the services of eCareerfit.com responded to online surveys that have been demonstrated to produce reliable and valid measures of broad and narrow personality traits and levels of career satisfaction. An independent sample t test was used to compare means of health care workers with those from other occupations. Pearson product-moment correlations were then computed to assess relationships between the traits and career satisfaction of health care professionals. Two traits that were particularly strong among health care workers were also significantly correlated with career satisfaction: work drive and conscientiousness. Other traits were found to be significantly related to career satisfaction in health care but were not uniquely high in the sample of health care professionals. To increase career satisfaction of health care professionals and thus to improve retention rates, administrators should consider focusing on recruiting and selecting individuals with higher levels of key personality traits.

Different clades and traits yield similar grassland functional responses

PubMed Central

Forrestel, Elisabeth J.; Donoghue, Michael J.; Edwards, Erika J.; Jetz, Walter; du Toit, Justin C. O.; Smith, Melinda D.

2017-01-01

Plant functional traits are viewed as key to predicting important ecosystem and community properties across resource gradients within and among biogeographic regions. Vegetation dynamics and ecosystem processes, such as aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), are increasingly being modeled as a function of the quantitative traits of species, which are used as proxies for photosynthetic rates and nutrient and water-use efficiency. These approaches rely on an assumption that a certain trait value consistently confers a specific function or response under given environmental conditions. Here, we provide a critical test of this idea and evaluate whether the functional traits that drive the well-known relationship between precipitation and ANPP differ between systems with distinct biogeographic histories and species assemblages. Specifically, we compared grasslands spanning a broad precipitation gradient (∼200–1,000 mm/y) in North America and South Africa that differ in the relative representation and abundance of grass phylogenetic lineages. We found no significant difference between the regions in the positive relationship between annual precipitation and ANPP, yet the trait values underlying this relationship differed dramatically. Our results challenge the trait-based approach to predicting ecosystem function by demonstrating that different combinations of functional traits can act to maximize ANPP in a given environmental setting. Further, we show the importance of incorporating biogeographic and phylogenetic history in predicting community and ecosystem properties using traits. PMID:28074042

Bio-effectors from waste materials as growth promoters, an agronomic and metabolomic study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alwanney, Deaa; Chami, Ziad Al; Angelica De Pascali, Sandra; Cavoski, Ivana; Fanizzi, Francesco Paolo

2014-05-01

low application doses; (vi) regarding plant metabolomics study, all treatments showed a different metabolites in respect to Ctrl- treatment. BSG, LPR and Ctrl+ treatments had similar metabolic profile. Finally, Metabolomic study provided an efficient tool and a key reporter about bio-effectors impact on plants. The visible effect and measured agronomical parameters was emphasized and demonstrated by metabolic profiling which offer insights into the affected plant metabolic pathways. As conclusion, our results supported the prediction that plant derived materials may interfere again in plant production regardless their nutritional content. Keywords: Bio-effectors; Metabolomics; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR); Barley; Fennel; Lemon; Tomato.

Endocrine control of exaggerated traits in rhinoceros beetles

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Juvenile hormone (JH) is a key insect growth regulator involved in modulating phenotypically plastic traits in insects such as caste determination in eusocial species, wing polymorphisms in aphids, and mandible size in stag beetle. Male stag beetles have sexually-dimorphic, condition-dependent expre...

Anthropogenic fire drives the evolution of seed traits

PubMed Central

Gómez-González, Susana; Torres-Díaz, Cristian; Bustos-Schindler, Carlos; Gianoli, Ernesto

2011-01-01

Fire is a major disturbance affecting ecosystems worldwide. Phylogenetic studies have shown that the evolution of seed persistence (fire resistance) is associated with fire frequency or severity. However, the existence of specific seed traits resulting from natural selection mediated by fire remains a key question in plant evolution. We evaluated the role of fire in the evolution of seed traits from a microevolutionary perspective, using as a study system a native forb from the Chilean matorral, where fire is a novel, anthropogenic disturbance. We show that anthropogenic fires are shaping the evolution of seed traits such as pubescence and shape. Among-population variation in seed pubescence, shape, and pericarp thickness was strongly associated with fire frequency, and within a population, fire selected those plants with more pubescent seeds, thicker pericarps, and less rounded seeds. Seed pubescence and shape were shown to be heritable traits. Our findings provide insights into the understanding of the evolution of seed traits in fire-prone environments and demonstrate that human-made fires can be driving evolutionary changes in plant species from ecosystems where fires do not occur naturally. PMID:22065739

Intraspecific Trait Variation and Coordination: Root and Leaf Economics Spectra in Coffee across Environmental Gradients

PubMed Central

Isaac, Marney E.; Martin, Adam R.; de Melo Virginio Filho, Elias; Rapidel, Bruno; Roupsard, Olivier; Van den Meersche, Karel

2017-01-01

Hypotheses on the existence of a universal “Root Economics Spectrum” (RES) have received arguably the least attention of all trait spectra, despite the key role root trait variation plays in resource acquisition potential. There is growing interest in quantifying intraspecific trait variation (ITV) in plants, but there are few studies evaluating (i) the existence of an intraspecific RES within a plant species, or (ii) how a RES may be coordinated with other trait spectra within species, such as a leaf economics spectrum (LES). Using Coffea arabica (Rubiaceae) as a model species, we measured seven morphological and chemical traits of intact lateral roots, which were paired with information on four key LES traits. Field collections were completed across four nested levels of biological organization. The intraspecific trait coefficient of variation (cv) ranged from 25 to 87% with root diameter and specific root tip density showing the lowest and highest cv, respectively. Between 27 and 68% of root ITV was explained by site identity alone for five of the seven traits measured. A single principal component explained 56.2% of root trait covariation, with plants falling along a RES from resource acquiring to conserving traits. Multiple factor analysis revealed significant orthogonal relationships between root and leaf spectra. RES traits were strongly orthogonal with respect to LES traits, suggesting these traits vary independently from one another in response to environmental cues. This study provides among the first evidence that plants from the same species differentiate from one another along an intraspecific RES. We find that in one of the world’s most widely cultivated crops, an intraspecific RES is orthogonal to an intraspecific LES, indicating that above and belowground responses of plants to managed (or natural) environmental gradients are likely to occur independently from one another. PMID:28747919

Intraspecific Trait Variation and Coordination: Root and Leaf Economics Spectra in Coffee across Environmental Gradients.

PubMed

Isaac, Marney E; Martin, Adam R; de Melo Virginio Filho, Elias; Rapidel, Bruno; Roupsard, Olivier; Van den Meersche, Karel

2017-01-01

Hypotheses on the existence of a universal "Root Economics Spectrum" (RES) have received arguably the least attention of all trait spectra, despite the key role root trait variation plays in resource acquisition potential. There is growing interest in quantifying intraspecific trait variation (ITV) in plants, but there are few studies evaluating (i) the existence of an intraspecific RES within a plant species, or (ii) how a RES may be coordinated with other trait spectra within species, such as a leaf economics spectrum (LES). Using Coffea arabica (Rubiaceae) as a model species, we measured seven morphological and chemical traits of intact lateral roots, which were paired with information on four key LES traits. Field collections were completed across four nested levels of biological organization. The intraspecific trait coefficient of variation (cv) ranged from 25 to 87% with root diameter and specific root tip density showing the lowest and highest cv, respectively. Between 27 and 68% of root ITV was explained by site identity alone for five of the seven traits measured. A single principal component explained 56.2% of root trait covariation, with plants falling along a RES from resource acquiring to conserving traits. Multiple factor analysis revealed significant orthogonal relationships between root and leaf spectra. RES traits were strongly orthogonal with respect to LES traits, suggesting these traits vary independently from one another in response to environmental cues. This study provides among the first evidence that plants from the same species differentiate from one another along an intraspecific RES. We find that in one of the world's most widely cultivated crops, an intraspecific RES is orthogonal to an intraspecific LES, indicating that above and belowground responses of plants to managed (or natural) environmental gradients are likely to occur independently from one another.

Beyond mean functional traits: Influence of functional trait profiles on forest structure, production, and mortality across the eastern US

Treesearch

Matthew B. Russell; Christopher W. Woodall; Anthony W. D' Amato; Grant M. Domke; Sassan S. Saatchi

2014-01-01

Plant functional traits (PFTs) have increased in popularity in recent years to describe various ecosystems and biological phenomena while advancing general ecological principles. To date, few have investigated distributional attributes of individual PFTs and their relationship with key attributes and processes of forest ecosystems. The objective of this study was to...

A novel way to establish fertilization recommendations based on agronomic efficiency and a sustainable yield index for rice crops.

PubMed

Liu, Chuang; Liu, Yi; Li, Zhiguo; Zhang, Guoshi; Chen, Fang

2017-04-24

A simpler approach for establishing fertilizer recommendations for major crops is urgently required to improve the application efficiency of commercial fertilizers in China. To address this need, we developed a method based on field data drawn from the China Program of the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) rice experiments and investigations carried out in southeastern China during 2001 to 2012. Our results show that, using agronomic efficiencies and a sustainable yield index (SYI), this new method for establishing fertilizer recommendations robustly estimated the mean rice yield (7.6 t/ha) and mean nutrient supply capacities (186, 60, and 96 kg/ha of N, P 2 O 5 , and K 2 O, respectively) of fertilizers in the study region. In addition, there were significant differences in rice yield response, economic cost/benefit ratio, and nutrient-use efficiencies associated with agronomic efficiencies ranked as high, medium and low. Thus, ranking agronomic efficiency could strengthen linear models relating rice yields and SYI. Our results also indicate that the new method provides better recommendations in terms of rice yield, SYI, and profitability than previous methods. Hence, we believe it is an effective approach for improving recommended applications of commercial fertilizers to rice (and potentially other crops).

Bayesian methods for estimating GEBVs of threshold traits

PubMed Central

Wang, C-L; Ding, X-D; Wang, J-Y; Liu, J-F; Fu, W-X; Zhang, Z; Yin, Z-J; Zhang, Q

2013-01-01

Estimation of genomic breeding values is the key step in genomic selection (GS). Many methods have been proposed for continuous traits, but methods for threshold traits are still scarce. Here we introduced threshold model to the framework of GS, and specifically, we extended the three Bayesian methods BayesA, BayesB and BayesCπ on the basis of threshold model for estimating genomic breeding values of threshold traits, and the extended methods are correspondingly termed BayesTA, BayesTB and BayesTCπ. Computing procedures of the three BayesT methods using Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm were derived. A simulation study was performed to investigate the benefit of the presented methods in accuracy with the genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) for threshold traits. Factors affecting the performance of the three BayesT methods were addressed. As expected, the three BayesT methods generally performed better than the corresponding normal Bayesian methods, in particular when the number of phenotypic categories was small. In the standard scenario (number of categories=2, incidence=30%, number of quantitative trait loci=50, h2=0.3), the accuracies were improved by 30.4%, 2.4%, and 5.7% points, respectively. In most scenarios, BayesTB and BayesTCπ generated similar accuracies and both performed better than BayesTA. In conclusion, our work proved that threshold model fits well for predicting GEBVs of threshold traits, and BayesTCπ is supposed to be the method of choice for GS of threshold traits. PMID:23149458

Passion, Trait Self-Control, and Wellbeing: Comparing Two Mediation Models Predicting Wellbeing

PubMed Central

Briki, Walid

2017-01-01

Research has found that passion and trait self-control represented key determinants of wellbeing. Yet, no study to date has attempted to investigate the mediating influences of trait self-control and passion for accounting for the relationships between passion, trait self-control, and wellbeing (dependent variable). Using different frameworks, such as the dualistic model of passion and the neo-socioanalytic theory, the present study proposed two mediation models, considering either trait self-control (model 1) or passion (model 2) as the mediating variable. Five hundred nine volunteers from the United States (326 females and 183 males; Mage = 31.74, SDage = 11.05, from 18 to 70 years old), who reported being passionate about a specific activity (e.g., fishing, swimming, blogging; Mpassion = 5.94, SDpassion = 0.89), answered questionnaires assessing harmonious and obsessive passion, trait self-control, and wellbeing (measured through hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing scales). Preliminary analyses revealed that both models were significant (model 1: absolute GoF = 0.366, relative GoF = 0.971, outer model GoF = 0.997, inner model GoF = 0.973, R2 = 18.300%, p < 0.001; model 2: absolute GoF = 0.298; relative GoF = 0.980; outer model GoF = 0.997; inner model GoF = 0.982; R2 = 12.111%, p < 0.001). Correlational analyses revealed positive relationships between harmonious passion, trait self-control, and wellbeing, and no relationships of obsessive passion with trait self-control and wellbeing. Mediation analyses revealed that trait self-control significantly mediated the relationship between harmonious passion and wellbeing (i.e., partial mediation, VAF = 33.136%). Harmonious passion appeared to significantly mediate the positive effect of trait self-control on wellbeing; however, the size of the mediating effect indicated that (almost) no mediation would take place (i.e., VAF = 11.144%). The present study is the first to examine the relationships between passion, trait

Passion, Trait Self-Control, and Wellbeing: Comparing Two Mediation Models Predicting Wellbeing.

PubMed

Briki, Walid

2017-01-01

Research has found that passion and trait self-control represented key determinants of wellbeing. Yet, no study to date has attempted to investigate the mediating influences of trait self-control and passion for accounting for the relationships between passion, trait self-control, and wellbeing (dependent variable). Using different frameworks, such as the dualistic model of passion and the neo-socioanalytic theory, the present study proposed two mediation models, considering either trait self-control (model 1) or passion (model 2) as the mediating variable. Five hundred nine volunteers from the United States (326 females and 183 males; M age = 31.74, SD age = 11.05, from 18 to 70 years old), who reported being passionate about a specific activity (e.g., fishing, swimming, blogging; M passion = 5.94, SD passion = 0.89), answered questionnaires assessing harmonious and obsessive passion, trait self-control, and wellbeing (measured through hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing scales). Preliminary analyses revealed that both models were significant ( model 1: absolute GoF = 0.366, relative GoF = 0.971, outer model GoF = 0.997, inner model GoF = 0.973, R 2 = 18.300%, p < 0.001; model 2: absolute GoF = 0.298; relative GoF = 0.980; outer model GoF = 0.997; inner model GoF = 0.982; R 2 = 12.111%, p < 0.001). Correlational analyses revealed positive relationships between harmonious passion, trait self-control, and wellbeing, and no relationships of obsessive passion with trait self-control and wellbeing. Mediation analyses revealed that trait self-control significantly mediated the relationship between harmonious passion and wellbeing (i.e., partial mediation, VAF = 33.136%). Harmonious passion appeared to significantly mediate the positive effect of trait self-control on wellbeing; however, the size of the mediating effect indicated that (almost) no mediation would take place (i.e., VAF = 11.144%). The present study is the first to examine the relationships between passion

Trait-based approaches in the analysis of stream fish communities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frimpong, Emmanuel; Angermeier, Paul

2010-01-01

Species traits are used to study the functional organization of fish communities for a range of reasons, from simply reducing data dimensionality to providing mechanistic explanations for observed variation in communities. Ecological and life history traits have been used to understand the basic ecology of fishes and predict (1) species and community responses to habitat and climate alteration, and (2) species extinction, species invasion, and community homogenization. Many approaches in this arena have been developed during the past three decades, but they often have not been integrated with related ecological concepts or subdisciplines, which has led to confusion in terminology. We review 102 studies of species traits and then summarize patterns in traits being used and questions being addressed with trait-based approaches. Overall, studies of fish–habitat relationships that apply habitat templates and hierarchical filters dominate our sample; the most frequently used traits are related to feeding. We define and show the relationships among key terms such as fundamental and realized niches; functional traits, performance, and fitness; tactic, trait-state, syndromes, and strategies; and guilds and functional groups. We propose accelerating research to (1) quantify trait plasticity, (2) identify traits useful for testing ecological hypotheses, (3) model habitat and biotic interactions in communities while explicitly accounting for phylogenetic relationships, (4) explore how traits control community assembly, and (5) document the importance of traits in fish– community responses to anthropogenic change and in delivering ecosystem services. Further synthesis of these topics is still needed to develop concepts, models, and principles that can unify the disparate approaches taken in trait-based analysis of fish communities, link fish community ecology to general community ecology, and inform sustainable management of ecosystems.

Hierarchical traits distances explain grassland Fabaceae species' ecological niches distances.

PubMed

Fort, Florian; Jouany, Claire; Cruz, Pablo

2015-01-01

Fabaceae species play a key role in ecosystem functioning through their capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen via their symbiosis with Rhizobium bacteria. To increase benefits of using Fabaceae in agricultural systems, it is necessary to find ways to evaluate species or genotypes having potential adaptations to sub-optimal growth conditions. We evaluated the relevance of phylogenetic distance, absolute trait distance and hierarchical trait distance for comparing the adaptation of 13 grassland Fabaceae species to different habitats, i.e., ecological niches. We measured a wide range of functional traits (root traits, leaf traits, and whole plant traits) in these species. Species phylogenetic and ecological distances were assessed from a species-level phylogenetic tree and species' ecological indicator values, respectively. We demonstrated that differences in ecological niches between grassland Fabaceae species were related more to their hierarchical trait distances than to their phylogenetic distances. We showed that grassland Fabaceae functional traits tend to converge among species with the same ecological requirements. Species with acquisitive root strategies (thin roots, shallow root systems) are competitive species adapted to non-stressful meadows, while conservative ones (coarse roots, deep root systems) are able to tolerate stressful continental climates. In contrast, acquisitive species appeared to be able to tolerate low soil-P availability, while conservative ones need high P availability. Finally we highlight that traits converge along the ecological gradient, providing the assumption that species with similar root-trait values are better able to coexist, regardless of their phylogenetic distance.

Hierarchical traits distances explain grassland Fabaceae species' ecological niches distances

PubMed Central

Fort, Florian; Jouany, Claire; Cruz, Pablo

2015-01-01

Fabaceae species play a key role in ecosystem functioning through their capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen via their symbiosis with Rhizobium bacteria. To increase benefits of using Fabaceae in agricultural systems, it is necessary to find ways to evaluate species or genotypes having potential adaptations to sub-optimal growth conditions. We evaluated the relevance of phylogenetic distance, absolute trait distance and hierarchical trait distance for comparing the adaptation of 13 grassland Fabaceae species to different habitats, i.e., ecological niches. We measured a wide range of functional traits (root traits, leaf traits, and whole plant traits) in these species. Species phylogenetic and ecological distances were assessed from a species-level phylogenetic tree and species' ecological indicator values, respectively. We demonstrated that differences in ecological niches between grassland Fabaceae species were related more to their hierarchical trait distances than to their phylogenetic distances. We showed that grassland Fabaceae functional traits tend to converge among species with the same ecological requirements. Species with acquisitive root strategies (thin roots, shallow root systems) are competitive species adapted to non-stressful meadows, while conservative ones (coarse roots, deep root systems) are able to tolerate stressful continental climates. In contrast, acquisitive species appeared to be able to tolerate low soil-P availability, while conservative ones need high P availability. Finally we highlight that traits converge along the ecological gradient, providing the assumption that species with similar root-trait values are better able to coexist, regardless of their phylogenetic distance. PMID:25741353

The mean and variability of a floral trait have opposing effects on fitness traits

PubMed Central

Dai, Can; Liang, Xijian; Ren, Jie; Liao, Minglin; Li, Jiyang; Galloway, Laura F.

2016-01-01

Background and Aims Floral traits are essential for ensuring successful pollination and reproduction in flowering plants. In particular, style and anther positions are key for pollination accuracy and efficiency. Variation in these traits among individuals has been well studied, but less is known about variation within flowers and plants and its effect on pollination and reproductive success. Methods Style deflexion is responsible for herkogamy and important for pollen deposition in Passiflora incarnata. The degree of deflexion may vary among stigmas within flowers as well as among flowers. We measured the variability of style deflexion at both the flower and the plant level. The fitness consequences of the mean and variation of style deflexion were then evaluated under natural pollination by determining their relationship to pollen deposition, seed production and average seed weight using structural equation modelling. In addition, the relationship between style deflexion and self-pollen deposition was estimated in a greenhouse experiment. Key Results We found greater variation in style deflexion within flowers and plants than among plants. Variation of style deflexion at the flower and plant level was positively correlated, suggesting that variability in style deflexion may be a distinct trait in P. incarnata. Lower deflexion and reduced variation in that deflexion increased pollen deposition, which in turn increased seed number. However, lower styles also increased self-pollen deposition. In contrast, higher deflexion and greater variability of that deflexion increased variation in pollen deposition, which resulted in heavier seeds. Conclusions Variability of style deflexion and therefore stigma placement, independent from the mean, appears to be a property of individual P. incarnata plants. The mean and variability of style deflexion in P. incarnata affected seed number and seed weight in contrasting ways, through the quantity and potentially quality of pollen

Physiological and Agronomic Performance of the Coffee Crop in the Context of Climate Change and Global Warming: A Review.

PubMed

DaMatta, Fábio M; Avila, Rodrigo T; Cardoso, Amanda A; Martins, Samuel C V; Ramalho, José C

2018-05-30

Coffee is one of the most important global crops and provides a livelihood to millions of people living in developing countries. Coffee species have been described as being highly sensitive to climate change, as largely deduced from modeling studies based on predictions of rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns. Here, we discuss the physiological responses of the coffee tree in the context of present and ongoing climate changes, including drought, heat, and light stresses, and interactions between these factors. We also summarize recent insights on the physiological and agronomic performance of coffee at elevated atmospheric CO 2 concentrations and highlight the key role of CO 2 in mitigating the harmful effects of heat stress. Evidence is shown suggesting that warming, per se, may be less harmful to coffee suitability than previously estimated, at least under the conditions of an adequate water supply. Finally, we discuss several mitigation strategies to improve crop performance in a changing world.

Trait evaluation and trial cultivation of Dongfang No. 2, the hybrid of a male gametophyte clone of Laminaria longissima (Laminariales, Phaeophyta) and a female one of L. japonica.

PubMed

Li, Xiaojie; Cong, Yizhou; Yang, Guanpin; Shi, Yuanyuan; Qu, Shancun; Li, Zhiling; Wang, Guowen; Zhang, Zhuangzhi; Luo, Shiju; Dai, Hongliang; Xie, Jianzu; Jiang, Guangliang; Liu, Jialiang; Wang, Tongyong

2007-04-01

Direct cultivation of the first filial generation of gametophyte clones from different Laminaria species is a highly effective way of utilizing kelp heterozygous vigor (heterosis). A male gametophyte clone of L. longissima Miyabe and a female one of L. japonica Areschoug were hybridized, generating Dongfang No. 2 hybrid kelp. This hybrid kelp was used directly in trial cultivation, and its agronomical traits were evaluated. L. longissima and L. japonica are obviously different and complement each other in their morphological characteristics and ecological performances. The hybrid of their gametophyte clones, Dongfang No. 2, showed 56.8% heterozygous vigor in yield. It also showed increased yields of 41.0 and 76.4% compared to the widely used commercial kelps Variety 1 and Variety 2, respectively. In large-scale cultivation trials at different locations and in different years, Dongfang No. 2 attained significantly higher yields than Varieties 1 and 2, increasing yield by 26.4% on average over Variety 1 and by 65.0% over the other. Dongfang No. 2 has a robust holdfast and a wide, long and deep-brown uniform blade, which shows a distinct middle groove. In addition to yield, Dongfang No. 2 also demonstrates obvious heterozygous vigor in other agronomic traits. It is resistant to strong irradiance, as the two commercial varieties are, has an appropriate vegetative maturation time, and adapts well to a range of different culture conditions. The parentage analysis using AFLP of total DNA and SNP of the ITS region of ribosomal RNA transcription unit showed that Dongfang No. 2 is the real hybrid of L. japonica and L. longissima.

A Systems-Genetics Approach and Data Mining Tool to Assist in the Discovery of Genes Underlying Complex Traits in Oryza sativa

PubMed Central

Ficklin, Stephen P.; Feltus, Frank Alex

2013-01-01

Many traits of biological and agronomic significance in plants are controlled in a complex manner where multiple genes and environmental signals affect the expression of the phenotype. In Oryza sativa (rice), thousands of quantitative genetic signals have been mapped to the rice genome. In parallel, thousands of gene expression profiles have been generated across many experimental conditions. Through the discovery of networks with real gene co-expression relationships, it is possible to identify co-localized genetic and gene expression signals that implicate complex genotype-phenotype relationships. In this work, we used a knowledge-independent, systems genetics approach, to discover a high-quality set of co-expression networks, termed Gene Interaction Layers (GILs). Twenty-two GILs were constructed from 1,306 Affymetrix microarray rice expression profiles that were pre-clustered to allow for improved capture of gene co-expression relationships. Functional genomic and genetic data, including over 8,000 QTLs and 766 phenotype-tagged SNPs (p-value < = 0.001) from genome-wide association studies, both covering over 230 different rice traits were integrated with the GILs. An online systems genetics data-mining resource, the GeneNet Engine, was constructed to enable dynamic discovery of gene sets (i.e. network modules) that overlap with genetic traits. GeneNet Engine does not provide the exact set of genes underlying a given complex trait, but through the evidence of gene-marker correspondence, co-expression, and functional enrichment, site visitors can identify genes with potential shared causality for a trait which could then be used for experimental validation. A set of 2 million SNPs was incorporated into the database and serve as a potential set of testable biomarkers for genes in modules that overlap with genetic traits. Herein, we describe two modules found using GeneNet Engine, one with significant overlap with the trait amylose content and another with

Quantitative genetics of disease traits.

PubMed

Wray, N R; Visscher, P M

2015-04-01

John James authored two key papers on the theory of risk to relatives for binary disease traits and the relationship between parameters on the observed binary scale and an unobserved scale of liability (James Annals of Human Genetics, 1971; 35: 47; Reich, James and Morris Annals of Human Genetics, 1972; 36: 163). These two papers are John James' most cited papers (198 and 328 citations, November 2014). They have been influential in human genetics and have recently gained renewed popularity because of their relevance to the estimation of quantitative genetics parameters for disease traits using SNP data. In this review, we summarize the two early papers and put them into context. We show recent extensions of the theory for ascertained case-control data and review recent applications in human genetics. © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Integration of agronomic practices with herbicides for sustainable weed management in aerobic rice.

PubMed

Anwar, M P; Juraimi, A S; Mohamed, M T M; Uddin, M K; Samedani, B; Puteh, A; Man, Azmi

2013-01-01

Till now, herbicide seems to be a cost effective tool from an agronomic view point to control weeds. But long term efficacy and sustainability issues are the driving forces behind the reconsideration of herbicide dependent weed management strategy in rice. This demands reappearance of physical and cultural management options combined with judicious herbicide application in a more comprehensive and integrated way. Keeping those in mind, some agronomic tools along with different manual weeding and herbicides combinations were evaluated for their weed control efficacy in rice under aerobic soil conditions. Combination of competitive variety, higher seeding rate, and seed priming resulted in more competitive cropping system in favor of rice, which was reflected in lower weed pressure, higher weed control efficiency, and better yield. Most of the herbicides exhibited excellent weed control efficiency. Treatments comprising only herbicides required less cost involvement but produced higher net benefit. On the contrary, treatments comprising both herbicide and manual weeding required high cost involvement and thus produced lower net benefit. Therefore, adoption of competitive rice variety, higher seed rate, and seed priming along with spraying different early-postemergence herbicides in rotation at 10 days after seeding (DAS) followed by a manual weeding at 30 DAS may be recommended from sustainability view point.

Integration of Agronomic Practices with Herbicides for Sustainable Weed Management in Aerobic Rice

PubMed Central

Anwar, M. P.; Juraimi, A. S.; Mohamed, M. T. M.; Uddin, M. K.; Samedani, B.; Puteh, A.; Man, Azmi

2013-01-01

Till now, herbicide seems to be a cost effective tool from an agronomic view point to control weeds. But long term efficacy and sustainability issues are the driving forces behind the reconsideration of herbicide dependent weed management strategy in rice. This demands reappearance of physical and cultural management options combined with judicious herbicide application in a more comprehensive and integrated way. Keeping those in mind, some agronomic tools along with different manual weeding and herbicides combinations were evaluated for their weed control efficacy in rice under aerobic soil conditions. Combination of competitive variety, higher seeding rate, and seed priming resulted in more competitive cropping system in favor of rice, which was reflected in lower weed pressure, higher weed control efficiency, and better yield. Most of the herbicides exhibited excellent weed control efficiency. Treatments comprising only herbicides required less cost involvement but produced higher net benefit. On the contrary, treatments comprising both herbicide and manual weeding required high cost involvement and thus produced lower net benefit. Therefore, adoption of competitive rice variety, higher seed rate, and seed priming along with spraying different early-postemergence herbicides in rotation at 10 days after seeding (DAS) followed by a manual weeding at 30 DAS may be recommended from sustainability view point. PMID:24223513

Emotions and trait emotional intelligence among ultra-endurance runners.

PubMed

Lane, Andrew M; Wilson, Mathew

2011-07-01

The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between trait emotional intelligence and emotional state changes over the course of an ultra-endurance foot race covering a route of approximately 175 miles (282 km) and held in set stages over six days. A repeated measures field design that sought to maintain ecological validity was used. Trait emotional intelligence was defined as a relatively stable concept that should predict adaptive emotional states experienced over the duration of the race and therefore associate with pleasant emotions during a 6-stage endurance event. Thirty-four runners completed a self-report measure of trait emotional intelligence before the event started. Participants reported emotional states before and after each of the six races. Repeated measures ANOVA results showed significant variations in emotions over time and a main effect for trait emotional intelligence. Runners high in self-report trait emotional intelligence also reported higher pleasant and lower unpleasant emotions than runners low in trait emotional intelligence. Findings lend support to the notion that trait emotional intelligence associates with adaptive psychological states, suggesting that it may be a key individual difference that explains why some athletes respond to repeated bouts of hard exercise better than others. Future research should test the effectiveness of interventions designed to enhance trait emotional intelligence and examine the attendant impact on emotional responses to intense exercise during multi-stage events. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

TaER Expression Is Associated with Transpiration Efficiency Traits and Yield in Bread Wheat

PubMed Central

Zheng, Jiacheng; Yang, Zhiyuan; Madgwick, Pippa J.; Carmo-Silva, Elizabete; Parry, Martin A. J.; Hu, Yin-Gang

2015-01-01

that TaER could be exploitable for manipulating important agronomical traits in wheat improvement. PMID:26047019

TaER Expression Is Associated with Transpiration Efficiency Traits and Yield in Bread Wheat.

PubMed

Zheng, Jiacheng; Yang, Zhiyuan; Madgwick, Pippa J; Carmo-Silva, Elizabete; Parry, Martin A J; Hu, Yin-Gang

2015-01-01

that TaER could be exploitable for manipulating important agronomical traits in wheat improvement.

Microarray-assisted fine-mapping of quantitative trait loci for cold tolerance in rice.

PubMed

Liu, Fengxia; Xu, Wenying; Song, Qian; Tan, Lubin; Liu, Jiayong; Zhu, Zuofeng; Fu, Yongcai; Su, Zhen; Sun, Chuanqing

2013-05-01

Many important agronomic traits, including cold stress resistance, are complex and controlled by quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Isolation of these QTLs will greatly benefit the agricultural industry but it is a challenging task. This study explored an integrated strategy by combining microarray with QTL-mapping in order to identify cold-tolerant QTLs from a cold-tolerant variety IL112 at early-seedling stage. All the early seedlings of IL112 survived normally for 9 d at 4-5°C, while Guichao2 (GC2), an indica cultivar, died after 4 d under the same conditions. Using the F2:3 population derived from the progeny of GC2 and IL112, we identified seven QTLs for cold tolerance. Furthermore, we performed Affymetrix rice whole-genome array hybridization and obtained the expression profiles of IL112 and GC2 under both low-temperature and normal conditions. Four genes were selected as cold QTL-related candidates, based on microarray data mining and QTL-mapping. One candidate gene, LOC_Os07g22494, was shown to be highly associated with cold tolerance in a number of rice varieties and in the F2:3 population, and its overexpression transgenic rice plants displayed strong tolerance to low temperature at early-seedling stage. The results indicated that overexpression of this gene (LOC_Os07g22494) could increase cold tolerance in rice seedlings. Therefore, this study provides a promising strategy for identifying candidate genes in defined QTL regions.

Are there pollination syndromes in the Australian epacrids (Ericaceae: Styphelioideae)? A novel statistical method to identify key floral traits per syndrome

PubMed Central

Johnson, Karen A.

2013-01-01

Background and Aims Convergent floral traits hypothesized as attracting particular pollinators are known as pollination syndromes. Floral diversity suggests that the Australian epacrid flora may be adapted to pollinator type. Currently there are empirical data on the pollination systems for 87 species (approx. 15 % of Australian epacrids). This provides an opportunity to test for pollination syndromes and their important morphological traits in an iconic element of the Australian flora. Methods Data on epacrid–pollinator relationships were obtained from published literature and field observation. A multivariate approach was used to test whether epacrid floral attributes related to pollinator profiles. Statistical classification was then used to rank floral attributes according to their predictive value. Data sets excluding mixed pollination systems were used to test the predictive power of statistical classification to identify pollination models. Key Results Floral attributes are correlated with bird, fly and bee pollination. Using floral attributes identified as correlating with pollinator type, bird pollination is classified with 86 % accuracy, red flowers being the most important predictor. Fly and bee pollination are classified with 78 and 69 % accuracy, but have a lack of individually important floral predictors. Excluding mixed pollination systems improved the accuracy of the prediction of both bee and fly pollination systems. Conclusions Although most epacrids have generalized pollination systems, a correlation between bird pollination and red, long-tubed epacrids is found. Statistical classification highlights the relative importance of each floral attribute in relation to pollinator type and proves useful in classifying epacrids to bird, fly and bee pollination systems. PMID:23681546

Freshwater Biological Traits Database (Traits)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The traits database was compiled for a project on climate change effects on river and stream ecosystems. The traits data, gathered from multiple sources, focused on information published or otherwise well-documented by trustworthy sources.

Functional traits and root morphology of alpine plants

PubMed Central

Pohl, Mandy; Stroude, Raphaël; Buttler, Alexandre; Rixen, Christian

2011-01-01

Background and Aims Vegetation has long been recognized to protect the soil from erosion. Understanding species differences in root morphology and functional traits is an important step to assess which species and species mixtures may provide erosion control. Furthermore, extending classification of plant functional types towards root traits may be a useful procedure in understanding important root functions. Methods In this study, pioneer data on traits of alpine plant species, i.e. plant height and shoot biomass, root depth, horizontal root spreading, root length, diameter, tensile strength, plant age and root biomass, from a disturbed site in the Swiss Alps are presented. The applicability of three classifications of plant functional types (PFTs), i.e. life form, growth form and root type, was examined for above- and below-ground plant traits. Key Results Plant traits differed considerably among species even of the same life form, e.g. in the case of total root length by more than two orders of magnitude. Within the same root diameter, species differed significantly in tensile strength: some species (Geum reptans and Luzula spicata) had roots more than twice as strong as those of other species. Species of different life forms provided different root functions (e.g. root depth and horizontal root spreading) that may be important for soil physical processes. All classifications of PFTs were helpful to categorize plant traits; however, the PFTs according to root type explained total root length far better than the other PFTs. Conclusions The results of the study illustrate the remarkable differences between root traits of alpine plants, some of which cannot be assessed from simple morphological inspection, e.g. tensile strength. PFT classification based on root traits seems useful to categorize plant traits, even though some patterns are better explained at the individual species level. PMID:21795278

A worldview of root traits: the influence of ancestry, growth form, climate and mycorrhizal association on the functional trait variation of fine-root tissues in seed plants.

PubMed

Valverde-Barrantes, Oscar J; Freschet, Grégoire T; Roumet, Catherine; Blackwood, Christopher B

2017-09-01

Fine-root traits play key roles in ecosystem processes, but the drivers of fine-root trait diversity remain poorly understood. The plant economic spectrum (PES) hypothesis predicts that leaf and root traits evolved in coordination. Mycorrhizal association type, plant growth form and climate may also affect root traits. However, the extent to which these controls are confounded with phylogenetic structuring remains unclear. Here we compiled information about root and leaf traits for > 600 species. Using phylogenetic relatedness, climatic ranges, growth form and mycorrhizal associations, we quantified the importance of these factors in the global distribution of fine-root traits. Phylogenetic structuring accounts for most of the variation for all traits excepting root tissue density, with root diameter and nitrogen concentration showing the strongest phylogenetic signal and specific root length showing intermediate values. Climate was the second most important factor, whereas mycorrhizal type had little effect. Substantial trait coordination occurred between leaves and roots, but the strength varied between growth forms and clades. Our analyses provide evidence that the integration of roots and leaves in the PES requires better accounting of the variation in traits across phylogenetic clades. Inclusion of phylogenetic information provides a powerful framework for predictions of belowground functional traits at global scales. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

Enhanced efficiency fertilizers: A multi-site comparison of the effects on nitrous oxide emissions and agronomic performance

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The need to understand the effects of enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEF) for their effect on nitrous oxide emissions and agronomic performance was the motivation underpinning this multi-location study across North America. Research locations participating in this study included Ames, IA; Auburn, ...

EVALUATING THE ROLE OF HABITAT QUALITY ON ESTABLISHMENT OF GM AGROSTIS STOLONIFERA PLANTS IN NON-AGRONOMIC SETTINGS

EPA Science Inventory

We compared soil chemistry and plant community data at non-agronomic mesic locations that either did or did not contain genetically modified (GM) Agrostis stolonifera. The best two-variable logistic regression model included soil Mn content and A. stolonifera cover and explained...

Quantitative trait locus analysis of heterosis for plant height and ear height in an elite maize hybrid zhengdan 958 by design III.

PubMed

Li, Hongjian; Yang, Qingsong; Fan, Nannan; Zhang, Ming; Zhai, Huijie; Ni, Zhongfu; Zhang, Yirong

2017-04-17

Plant height (PH) and ear height (EH) are two important agronomic traits in maize selection breeding. F 1 hybrid exhibit significant heterosis for PH and EH as compared to their parental inbred lines. To understand the genetic basis of heterosis controlling PH and EH, we conducted quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis using a recombinant inbreed line (RIL) based design III population derived from the elite maize hybrid Zhengdan 958 in five environments. A total of 14 environmentally stable QTLs were identified, and the number of QTLs for Z 1 and Z 2 populations was six and eight, respectively. Notably, all the eight environmentally stable QTLs for Z 2 were characterized by overdominance effect (OD), suggesting that overdominant QTLs were the most important contributors to heterosis for PH and EH. Furthermore, 14 environmentally stable QTLs were anchored on six genomic regions, among which four are trait-specific QTLs, suggesting that the genetic basis for PH and EH is partially different. Additionally, qPH.A-1.3, modifying about 10 centimeters of PH, was further validated in backcross populations. The genetic basis for PH and EH is partially different, and overdominant QTLs are important factors for heterosis of PH and EH. A major QTL qPH.A-1.3 may be a desired target for genetic improvement of maize plant height.

Morphological Variation and Inter-Relationships of Quantitative Traits in Enset (Ensete ventricosum (welw.) Cheesman) Germplasm from South and South-Western Ethiopia

PubMed Central

Yemataw, Zerihun; Chala, Alemayehu; Grant, Murray R.

2017-01-01

Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) is Ethiopia’s most important root crop. A total of 387 accessions collected from nine different regions of Ethiopia were evaluated for 15 quantitative traits at Areka Agricultural Research Centre to determine the extent and pattern of distribution of morphological variation. The variations among the accessions and regions were significant (p ≤ 0.01) for all the 15 traits studied. Mean for plant height, central shoot weight before grating, and fermented squeezed kocho yield per hectare per year showed regional variation along an altitude gradient and across cultural differences related to the origin of the collection. Furthermore, there were significant correlations among most of the characters. This included the correlation among agronomic characteristics of primary interest in enset breeding such as plant height, pseudostem height, and fermented squeezed kocho yield per hectare per year. Altitude of the collection sites also significantly impacted the various characteristics studied. These results reveal the existence of significant phenotypic variations among the 387 accessions as a whole. Regional differentiations were also evident among the accessions. The implication of the current results for plant breeding, germplasm collection, and in situ and ex situ genetic resource conservation are discussed. PMID:29210979

Genome-wide mapping of spike-related and agronomic traits in a common wheat population derived from a supernumerary parent and an elite parent

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In wheat (Triticum aestivum L), exotic genotypes express a broad range of spike-related traits and could be used as a source of new genes to enrich the germplasm for wheat breeding programs. In the present study, a population of 163 recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between an elite line...

Mapping quantitative trait loci for traits defined as ratios.

PubMed

Yang, Runqing; Li, Jiahan; Xu, Shizhong

2008-03-01

Many traits are defined as ratios of two quantitative traits. Methods of QTL mapping for regular quantitative traits are not optimal when applied to ratios due to lack of normality for traits defined as ratios. We develop a new method of QTL mapping for traits defined as ratios. The new method uses a special linear combination of the two component traits, and thus takes advantage of the normal property of the new variable. Simulation study shows that the new method can substantially increase the statistical power of QTL detection relative to the method which treats ratios as regular quantitative traits. The new method also outperforms the method that uses Box-Cox transformed ratio as the phenotype. A real example of QTL mapping for relative growth rate in soybean demonstrates that the new method can detect more QTL than existing methods of QTL mapping for traits defined as ratios.

Let's go beyond taxonomy in diet description: testing a trait-based approach to prey-predator relationships.

PubMed

Spitz, Jérôme; Ridoux, Vincent; Brind'Amour, Anik

2014-09-01

Understanding 'Why a prey is a prey for a given predator?' can be facilitated through trait-based approaches that identify linkages between prey and predator morphological and ecological characteristics and highlight key functions involved in prey selection. Enhanced understanding of the functional relationships between predators and their prey is now essential to go beyond the traditional taxonomic framework of dietary studies and to improve our knowledge of ecosystem functioning for wildlife conservation and management. We test the relevance of a three-matrix approach in foraging ecology among a marine mammal community in the northeast Atlantic to identify the key functional traits shaping prey selection processes regardless of the taxonomy of both the predators and prey. Our study reveals that prey found in the diet of marine mammals possess functional traits which are directly and significantly linked to predator characteristics, allowing the establishment of a functional typology of marine mammal-prey relationships. We found prey selection of marine mammals was primarily shaped by physiological and morphological traits of both predators and prey, confirming that energetic costs of foraging strategies and muscular performance are major drivers of prey selection in marine mammals. We demonstrate that trait-based approaches can provide a new definition of the resource needs of predators. This framework can be used to anticipate bottom-up effects on marine predator population dynamics and to identify predators which are sensitive to the loss of key prey functional traits when prey availability is reduced. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2014 British Ecological Society.

Intercontinental convergence of stream fish community traits along geomorphic and hydraulic gradients

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lamouroux, N.; Poff, N.L.; Angermeier, P.L.

2002-01-01

Community convergence across biogeographically distinct regions suggests the existence of key, repeated, evolutionary mechanisms relating community characteristics to the environment. However, convergence studies at the community level often involve only qualitative comparisons of the environment and may fail to identify which environmental variables drive community structure. We tested the hypothesis that the biological traits of fish communities on two continents (Europe and North America) are similarly related to environmental conditions. Specifically, from observations of individual fish made at the microhabitat scale (a few square meters) within French streams, we generated habitat preference models linking traits of fish species to local scale hydraulic conditions (Froude number), Using this information, we then predicted how hydraulics and geomorphology at the larger scale of stream reaches (several pool-riffle sequences) should quantitatively influence the trait composition of fish communities. Trait composition for fishes in stream reaches with low Froude number at low flow or high proportion of pools was predicted as nonbenthic, large, fecund, long-lived, nonstreamlined, and weak swimmers. We tested our predictions in contrasting stream reaches in France (n = 11) and Virginia, USA (n = 76), using analyses of covariance to quantify the relative influence of continent vs. physical habitat variables on fish traits. The reach-scale convergence analysis indicated that trait proportions in the communities differed between continents (up to 55% of the variance in each trait was explained by "continent"), partly due to distinct evolutionary histories. However, within continents, trait proportions were comparably related to the hydraulic and geomorphic variables (up to 54% of the variance within continents explained). In particular, a synthetic measure of fish traits in reaches was well explained (50% of its variance) by the Froude number independently of the

Genome-wide association mapping and agronomic impact of cowpea root architecture.

PubMed

Burridge, James D; Schneider, Hannah M; Huynh, Bao-Lam; Roberts, Philip A; Bucksch, Alexander; Lynch, Jonathan P

2017-02-01

Genetic analysis of data produced by novel root phenotyping tools was used to establish relationships between cowpea root traits and performance indicators as well between root traits and Striga tolerance. Selection and breeding for better root phenotypes can improve acquisition of soil resources and hence crop production in marginal environments. We hypothesized that biologically relevant variation is measurable in cowpea root architecture. This study implemented manual phenotyping (shovelomics) and automated image phenotyping (DIRT) on a 189-entry diversity panel of cowpea to reveal biologically important variation and genome regions affecting root architecture phenes. Significant variation in root phenes was found and relatively high heritabilities were detected for root traits assessed manually (0.4 for nodulation and 0.8 for number of larger laterals) as well as repeatability traits phenotyped via DIRT (0.5 for a measure of root width and 0.3 for a measure of root tips). Genome-wide association study identified 11 significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) from manually scored root architecture traits and 21 QTL from root architecture traits phenotyped by DIRT image analysis. Subsequent comparisons of results from this root study with other field studies revealed QTL co-localizations between root traits and performance indicators including seed weight per plant, pod number, and Striga (Striga gesnerioides) tolerance. The data suggest selection for root phenotypes could be employed by breeding programs to improve production in multiple constraint environments.

Evaluation of genetic diversity among soybean (Glycine max) genotypes using univariate and multivariate analysis.

PubMed

Oliveira, M M; Sousa, L B; Reis, M C; Silva Junior, E G; Cardoso, D B O; Hamawaki, O T; Nogueira, A P O

2017-05-31

The genetic diversity study has paramount importance in breeding programs; hence, it allows selection and choice of the parental genetic divergence, which have the agronomic traits desired by the breeder. This study aimed to characterize the genetic divergence between 24 soybean genotypes through their agronomic traits, using multivariate clustering methods to select the potential genitors for the promising hybrid combinations. Six agronomic traits evaluated were number of days to flowering and maturity, plant height at flowering and maturity, insertion height of the first pod, and yield. The genetic divergence evaluated by multivariate analysis that esteemed first the Mahalanobis' generalized distance (D 2 ), then the clustering using Tocher's optimization methods, and then the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA). Tocher's optimization method and the UPGMA agreed with the groups' constitution between each other, the formation of eight distinct groups according Tocher's method and seven distinct groups using UPGMA. The trait number of days for flowering (45.66%) was the most efficient to explain dissimilarity between genotypes, and must be one of the main traits considered by the breeder in the moment of genitors choice in soybean-breeding programs. The genetic variability allowed the identification of dissimilar genotypes and with superior performances. The hybridizations UFU 18 x UFUS CARAJÁS, UFU 15 x UFU 13, and UFU 13 x UFUS CARAJÁS are promising to obtain superior segregating populations, which enable the development of more productive genotypes.

Carotenoid metabolism and regulation in horticultural crops

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Carotenoids are a diverse group of pigments widely distributed in nature. The vivid yellow, orange, and red colors in many horticultural crops attribute to overaccumulation of carotenoids, which contribute to a critical agronomic trait for flowers and an important quality trait for fruits and vegeta...

Penetrative trace fossils from the late Ediacaran of Mongolia: early onset of the agronomic revolution.

PubMed

Oji, Tatsuo; Dornbos, Stephen Q; Yada, Keigo; Hasegawa, Hitoshi; Gonchigdorj, Sersmaa; Mochizuki, Takafumi; Takayanagi, Hideko; Iryu, Yasufumi

2018-02-01

The Cambrian radiation of complex animals includes a dramatic increase in the depth and intensity of bioturbation in seafloor sediment known as the 'agronomic revolution'. This bioturbation transition was coupled with a shift in dominant trace fossil style from horizontal surficial traces in the late Precambrian to vertically penetrative trace fossils in the Cambrian. Here we show the existence of the first vertically penetrative trace fossils from the latest Ediacaran: dense occurrences of the U-shaped trace fossil Arenicolites from late Precambrian marine carbonates of Western Mongolia. Their Ediacaran age is established through stable carbon isotope chemostratigraphy and their occurrence stratigraphically below the first appearance of the trace fossil Treptichnus pedum . These Arenicolites are large in diameter, penetrate down to at least 4 cm into the sediment, and were presumably formed by the activity of bilaterian animals. They are preserved commonly as paired circular openings on bedding planes with maximum diameters ranging up to almost 1 cm, and as U- and J-shaped tubes in vertical sections of beds. Discovery of these complex penetrative trace fossils demonstrates that the agronomic revolution started earlier than previously considered.

Penetrative trace fossils from the late Ediacaran of Mongolia: early onset of the agronomic revolution

PubMed Central

Dornbos, Stephen Q.; Yada, Keigo; Hasegawa, Hitoshi; Gonchigdorj, Sersmaa; Mochizuki, Takafumi; Takayanagi, Hideko; Iryu, Yasufumi

2018-01-01

The Cambrian radiation of complex animals includes a dramatic increase in the depth and intensity of bioturbation in seafloor sediment known as the ‘agronomic revolution’. This bioturbation transition was coupled with a shift in dominant trace fossil style from horizontal surficial traces in the late Precambrian to vertically penetrative trace fossils in the Cambrian. Here we show the existence of the first vertically penetrative trace fossils from the latest Ediacaran: dense occurrences of the U-shaped trace fossil Arenicolites from late Precambrian marine carbonates of Western Mongolia. Their Ediacaran age is established through stable carbon isotope chemostratigraphy and their occurrence stratigraphically below the first appearance of the trace fossil Treptichnus pedum. These Arenicolites are large in diameter, penetrate down to at least 4 cm into the sediment, and were presumably formed by the activity of bilaterian animals. They are preserved commonly as paired circular openings on bedding planes with maximum diameters ranging up to almost 1 cm, and as U- and J-shaped tubes in vertical sections of beds. Discovery of these complex penetrative trace fossils demonstrates that the agronomic revolution started earlier than previously considered. PMID:29515908

Penetrative trace fossils from the late Ediacaran of Mongolia: early onset of the agronomic revolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oji, Tatsuo; Dornbos, Stephen Q.; Yada, Keigo; Hasegawa, Hitoshi; Gonchigdorj, Sersmaa; Mochizuki, Takafumi; Takayanagi, Hideko; Iryu, Yasufumi

2018-02-01

The Cambrian radiation of complex animals includes a dramatic increase in the depth and intensity of bioturbation in seafloor sediment known as the `agronomic revolution'. This bioturbation transition was coupled with a shift in dominant trace fossil style from horizontal surficial traces in the late Precambrian to vertically penetrative trace fossils in the Cambrian. Here we show the existence of the first vertically penetrative trace fossils from the latest Ediacaran: dense occurrences of the U-shaped trace fossil Arenicolites from late Precambrian marine carbonates of Western Mongolia. Their Ediacaran age is established through stable carbon isotope chemostratigraphy and their occurrence stratigraphically below the first appearance of the trace fossil Treptichnus pedum. These Arenicolites are large in diameter, penetrate down to at least 4 cm into the sediment, and were presumably formed by the activity of bilaterian animals. They are preserved commonly as paired circular openings on bedding planes with maximum diameters ranging up to almost 1 cm, and as U- and J-shaped tubes in vertical sections of beds. Discovery of these complex penetrative trace fossils demonstrates that the agronomic revolution started earlier than previously considered.

Transmission fidelity is the key to the build-up of cumulative culture

PubMed Central

Lewis, Hannah M.; Laland, Kevin N.

2012-01-01

Many animals have socially transmitted behavioural traditions, but human culture appears unique in that it is cumulative, i.e. human cultural traits increase in diversity and complexity over time. It is often suggested that high-fidelity cultural transmission is necessary for cumulative culture to occur through refinement, a process known as ‘ratcheting’, but this hypothesis has never been formally evaluated. We discuss processes of information transmission and loss of traits from a cognitive viewpoint alongside other cultural processes of novel invention (generation of entirely new traits), modification (refinement of existing traits) and combination (bringing together two established traits to generate a new trait). We develop a simple cultural transmission model that does not assume major evolutionary changes (e.g. in brain architecture) and show that small changes in the fidelity with which information is passed between individuals can lead to cumulative culture. In comparison, modification and combination have a lesser influence on, and novel invention appears unimportant to, the ratcheting process. Our findings support the idea that high-fidelity transmission is the key driver of human cumulative culture, and that progress in cumulative culture depends more on trait combination than novel invention or trait modification. PMID:22734060

Transmission fidelity is the key to the build-up of cumulative culture.

PubMed

Lewis, Hannah M; Laland, Kevin N

2012-08-05

Many animals have socially transmitted behavioural traditions, but human culture appears unique in that it is cumulative, i.e. human cultural traits increase in diversity and complexity over time. It is often suggested that high-fidelity cultural transmission is necessary for cumulative culture to occur through refinement, a process known as 'ratcheting', but this hypothesis has never been formally evaluated. We discuss processes of information transmission and loss of traits from a cognitive viewpoint alongside other cultural processes of novel invention (generation of entirely new traits), modification (refinement of existing traits) and combination (bringing together two established traits to generate a new trait). We develop a simple cultural transmission model that does not assume major evolutionary changes (e.g. in brain architecture) and show that small changes in the fidelity with which information is passed between individuals can lead to cumulative culture. In comparison, modification and combination have a lesser influence on, and novel invention appears unimportant to, the ratcheting process. Our findings support the idea that high-fidelity transmission is the key driver of human cumulative culture, and that progress in cumulative culture depends more on trait combination than novel invention or trait modification.

Quantile-based permutation thresholds for quantitative trait loci hotspots.

PubMed

Neto, Elias Chaibub; Keller, Mark P; Broman, Andrew F; Attie, Alan D; Jansen, Ritsert C; Broman, Karl W; Yandell, Brian S

2012-08-01

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) hotspots (genomic locations affecting many traits) are a common feature in genetical genomics studies and are biologically interesting since they may harbor critical regulators. Therefore, statistical procedures to assess the significance of hotspots are of key importance. One approach, randomly allocating observed QTL across the genomic locations separately by trait, implicitly assumes all traits are uncorrelated. Recently, an empirical test for QTL hotspots was proposed on the basis of the number of traits that exceed a predetermined LOD value, such as the standard permutation LOD threshold. The permutation null distribution of the maximum number of traits across all genomic locations preserves the correlation structure among the phenotypes, avoiding the detection of spurious hotspots due to nongenetic correlation induced by uncontrolled environmental factors and unmeasured variables. However, by considering only the number of traits above a threshold, without accounting for the magnitude of the LOD scores, relevant information is lost. In particular, biologically interesting hotspots composed of a moderate to small number of traits with strong LOD scores may be neglected as nonsignificant. In this article we propose a quantile-based permutation approach that simultaneously accounts for the number and the LOD scores of traits within the hotspots. By considering a sliding scale of mapping thresholds, our method can assess the statistical significance of both small and large hotspots. Although the proposed approach can be applied to any type of heritable high-volume "omic" data set, we restrict our attention to expression (e)QTL analysis. We assess and compare the performances of these three methods in simulations and we illustrate how our approach can effectively assess the significance of moderate and small hotspots with strong LOD scores in a yeast expression data set.

Use of Multivariate Linkage Analysis for Dissection of a Complex Cognitive Trait

PubMed Central

Marlow, Angela J.; Fisher, Simon E.; Francks, Clyde; MacPhie, I. Laurence; Cherny, Stacey S.; Richardson, Alex J.; Talcott, Joel B.; Stein, John F.; Monaco, Anthony P.; Cardon, Lon R.

2003-01-01

Replication of linkage results for complex traits has been exceedingly difficult, owing in part to the inability to measure the precise underlying phenotype, small sample sizes, genetic heterogeneity, and statistical methods employed in analysis. Often, in any particular study, multiple correlated traits have been collected, yet these have been analyzed independently or, at most, in bivariate analyses. Theoretical arguments suggest that full multivariate analysis of all available traits should offer more power to detect linkage; however, this has not yet been evaluated on a genomewide scale. Here, we conduct multivariate genomewide analyses of quantitative-trait loci that influence reading- and language-related measures in families affected with developmental dyslexia. The results of these analyses are substantially clearer than those of previous univariate analyses of the same data set, helping to resolve a number of key issues. These outcomes highlight the relevance of multivariate analysis for complex disorders for dissection of linkage results in correlated traits. The approach employed here may aid positional cloning of susceptibility genes in a wide spectrum of complex traits. PMID:12587094

A trait-based framework for stream algal communities.

PubMed

Lange, Katharina; Townsend, Colin Richard; Matthaei, Christoph David

2016-01-01

The use of trait-based approaches to detect effects of land use and climate change on terrestrial plant and aquatic phytoplankton communities is increasing, but such a framework is still needed for benthic stream algae. Here we present a conceptual framework of morphological, physiological, behavioural and life-history traits relating to resource acquisition and resistance to disturbance. We tested this approach by assessing the relationships between multiple anthropogenic stressors and algal traits at 43 stream sites. Our "natural experiment" was conducted along gradients of agricultural land-use intensity (0-95% of the catchment in high-producing pasture) and hydrological alteration (0-92% streamflow reduction resulting from water abstraction for irrigation) as well as related physicochemical variables (total nitrogen concentration and deposited fine sediment). Strategic choice of study sites meant that agricultural intensity and hydrological alteration were uncorrelated. We studied the relationships of seven traits (with 23 trait categories) to our environmental predictor variables using general linear models and an information-theoretic model-selection approach. Life form, nitrogen fixation and spore formation were key traits that showed the strongest relationships with environmental stressors. Overall, FI (farming intensity) exerted stronger effects on algal communities than hydrological alteration. The large-bodied, non-attached, filamentous algae that dominated under high farming intensities have limited dispersal abilities but may cope with unfavourable conditions through the formation of spores. Antagonistic interactions between FI and flow reduction were observed for some trait variables, whereas no interactions occurred for nitrogen concentration and fine sediment. Our conceptual framework was well supported by tests of ten specific hypotheses predicting effects of resource supply and disturbance on algal traits. Our study also shows that investigating a

Identifying traits for genotypic adaptation using crop models.

PubMed

Ramirez-Villegas, Julian; Watson, James; Challinor, Andrew J

2015-06-01

Genotypic adaptation involves the incorporation of novel traits in crop varieties so as to enhance food productivity and stability and is expected to be one of the most important adaptation strategies to future climate change. Simulation modelling can provide the basis for evaluating the biophysical potential of crop traits for genotypic adaptation. This review focuses on the use of models for assessing the potential benefits of genotypic adaptation as a response strategy to projected climate change impacts. Some key crop responses to the environment, as well as the role of models and model ensembles for assessing impacts and adaptation, are first reviewed. Next, the review describes crop-climate models can help focus the development of future-adapted crop germplasm in breeding programmes. While recently published modelling studies have demonstrated the potential of genotypic adaptation strategies and ideotype design, it is argued that, for model-based studies of genotypic adaptation to be used in crop breeding, it is critical that modelled traits are better grounded in genetic and physiological knowledge. To this aim, two main goals need to be pursued in future studies: (i) a better understanding of plant processes that limit productivity under future climate change; and (ii) a coupling between genetic and crop growth models-perhaps at the expense of the number of traits analysed. Importantly, the latter may imply additional complexity (and likely uncertainty) in crop modelling studies. Hence, appropriately constraining processes and parameters in models and a shift from simply quantifying uncertainty to actually quantifying robustness towards modelling choices are two key aspects that need to be included into future crop model-based analyses of genotypic adaptation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Whole Trait Theory

PubMed Central

Fleeson, William; Jayawickreme, Eranda

2014-01-01

Personality researchers should modify models of traits to include mechanisms of differential reaction to situations. Whole Trait Theory does so via five main points. First, the descriptive side of traits should be conceptualized as density distributions of states. Second, it is important to provide an explanatory account of the Big 5 traits. Third, adding an explanatory account to the Big 5 creates two parts to traits, an explanatory part and a descriptive part, and these two parts should be recognized as separate entities that are joined into whole traits. Fourth, Whole Trait Theory proposes that the explanatory side of traits consists of social-cognitive mechanisms. Fifth, social-cognitive mechanisms that produce Big-5 states should be identified. PMID:26097268

Isotope ratio mass spectrometry in combination with chemometrics for characterization of geographical origin and agronomic practices of table grape.

PubMed

Longobardi, Francesco; Casiello, Grazia; Centonze, Valentina; Catucci, Lucia; Agostiano, Angela

2017-08-01

Although table grape is one of the most cultivated and consumed fruits worldwide, no study has been reported on its geographical origin or agronomic practice based on stable isotope ratios. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of isotopic ratios (i.e. 2 H/ 1 H, 13 C/ 12 C, 15 N/ 14 N and 18 O/ 16 O) as possible markers to discriminate the agronomic practice (conventional versus organic farming) and provenance of table grape. In order to quantitatively evaluate which of the isotopic variables were more discriminating, a t test was carried out, in light of which only δ 13 C and δ 18 O provided statistically significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) for the discrimination of geographical origin and farming method. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed no good separation of samples differing in geographical area and agronomic practice; thus, for classification purposes, supervised approaches were carried out. In particular, general discriminant analysis (GDA) was used, resulting in prediction abilities of 75.0 and 92.2% for the discrimination of farming method and origin respectively. The present findings suggest that stable isotopes (i.e. δ 18 O, δ 2 H and δ 13 C) combined with chemometrics can be successfully applied to discriminate the provenance of table grape. However, the use of bulk nitrogen isotopes was not effective for farming method discrimination. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Correlation and path analysis of biomass sorghum production.

PubMed

Vendruscolo, T P S; Barelli, M A A; Castrillon, M A S; da Silva, R S; de Oliveira, F T; Corrêa, C L; Zago, B W; Tardin, F D

2016-12-23

Sorghum biomass is an interesting raw material for bioenergy production due to its versatility, potential of being a renewable energy source, and low-cost of production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic variability of biomass sorghum genotypes and to estimate genotypic, phenotypic, and environmental correlations, and direct and indirect effects of seven agronomic traits through path analysis. Thirty-four biomass sorghum genotypes and two forage sorghum genotypes were cultivated in a randomized block design with three replicates. The following morpho-agronomic traits were evaluated: flowering date, stem diameter, number of stems, plant height, number of leaves, green mass production, and dry matter production. There were significant differences at the 1% level for all traits. The highest genotypic correlation was found between the traits green mass production and dry matter production. The path analysis demonstrated that green mass production and number of leaves can assist in the selection of dry matter production.

GWAS for plant growth stages and yield components in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) harvested in three regions of Kazakhstan.

PubMed

Turuspekov, Yerlan; Baibulatova, Aida; Yermekbayev, Kanat; Tokhetova, Laura; Chudinov, Vladimir; Sereda, Grigoriy; Ganal, Martin; Griffiths, Simon; Abugalieva, Saule

2017-11-14

evaluation of foreign germplasm revealed its poor yield performance in Northern Kazakhstan, which is the main wheat growing region in the country. However, it was found that EU and CIMMYT germplasm has high breeding potential to improve yield performance in Central and Southern regions. The use of Principal Coordinate analysis clearly separated the panel into three distinct groups according to their breeding origin. GWAS based on use of the TASSEL 5.0 package allowed the identification of 114 MTAs for twelve agronomic traits. The study identifies a network of key genes for improvement of yield productivity in wheat growing regions of Kazakhstan.

Anxiety and depression, personality traits relevant to tinnitus: A scoping review.

PubMed

Durai, Mithila; Searchfield, Grant

2016-11-01

Scoping reviews of existing literature were conducted to identify key personality traits relevant to tinnitus, and examine the relationship between affective disorders and tinnitus. The methodological framework of Arksey and O'Malley was followed. Sixty studies were chosen for charting the data, 14 studies examined personality traits exclusively, 31 studies examined affective disorders exclusively, and 15 studies investigated both. The presence of one or more specific personality traits of high neuroticism, low extraversion, high stress reaction, higher alienation, lower social closeness, lower well-being, lower self control, lower psychological acceptance, presence of a type D personality, and externalized locus of control were associated with tinnitus distress. Anxiety and depression were more prevalent among the tinnitus clinical population and at elevated levels. Personality traits have a consistent association with the distress experienced by adult tinnitus help-seekers, and help-seekers are also more likely to experience affective symptoms and/or disorders.

Identification of quantitative trait loci for yield and yield components in an advanced backcross population derived from the Oryza sativa variety IR64 and the wild relative O. rufipogon.

PubMed

Septiningsih, E M; Prasetiyono, J; Lubis, E; Tai, T H; Tjubaryat, T; Moeljopawiro, S; McCouch, S R

2003-11-01

A BC(2)F(2) population developed from an interspecific cross between Oryza sativa (cv IR64) and O. rufipogon (IRGC 105491) was used in an advanced backcross QTL analysis to identify and introduce agronomically useful genes from this wild relative into the cultivated gene pool. The objectives of this study were: (1) to identify putative yield and yield component QTLs that can be useful to improve the elite cultivar IR64; (2) to compare the QTLs within this study with previously reported QTLs in rice as the basis for identifying QTLs that are stable across different environments and genetic backgrounds; and (3) to compare the identified QTLs with previously reported QTLs from maize to examine the degree of QTL conservation across the grass family. Two hundred eighty-five families were evaluated in two field environments in Indonesia, with two replications each, for 12 agronomic traits. A total of 165 markers consisting of 131 SSRs and 34 RFLPs were used to construct the genetic linkage map. By employing interval mapping and composite interval mapping, 42 QTLs were identified. Despite its inferior performance, 33% of the QTL alleles originating from O. rufipogon had a beneficial effect for yield and yield components in the IR64 background. Twenty-two QTLs (53.4%) were located in similar regions as previously reported rice QTLs, suggesting the existence of stable QTLs across genetic backgrounds and environments. Twenty QTLs (47.6%) were exclusively detected in this study, uncovering potentially novel alleles from the wild, some of which might improve the performance of the tropical indica variety IR64. Additionally, several QTLs for plant height, grain weight, and flowering time detected in this study corresponded to homeologous regions in maize containing previously detected maize QTLs for these traits.

Investigating the beneficial traits of Trichoderma hamatum GD12 for sustainable agriculture—insights from genomics

PubMed Central

Studholme, David J.; Harris, Beverley; Le Cocq, Kate; Winsbury, Rebecca; Perera, Venura; Ryder, Lauren; Ward, Jane L.; Beale, Michael H.; Thornton, Chris R.; Grant, Murray

2013-01-01

Trichoderma hamatum strain GD12 is unique in that it can promote plant growth, activate biocontrol against pre- and post-emergence soil pathogens and can induce systemic resistance to foliar pathogens. This study extends previous work in lettuce to demonstrate that GD12 can confer beneficial agronomic traits to other plants, providing examples of plant growth promotion in the model dicot, Arabidopsis thaliana and induced foliar resistance to Magnaporthe oryzae in the model monocot rice. We further characterize the lettuce-T. hamatum interaction to show that bran extracts from GD12 and an N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamindase-deficient mutant differentially promote growth in a concentration dependent manner, and these differences correlate with differences in the small molecule secretome. We show that GD12 mycoparasitises a range of isolates of the pre-emergence soil pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and that this interaction induces a further increase in plant growth promotion above that conferred by GD12. To understand the genetic potential encoded by T. hamatum GD12 and to facilitate its use as a model beneficial organism to study plant growth promotion, induced systemic resistance and mycoparasitism we present de novo genome sequence data. We compare GD12 with other published Trichoderma genomes and show that T. hamatum GD12 contains unique genomic regions with the potential to encode novel bioactive metabolites that may contribute to GD12's agrochemically important traits. PMID:23908658

A cross-sectional exploration of the personality traits of dietitians.

PubMed

Ball, L; Eley, D S; Desbrow, B; Lee, P; Ferguson, M

2015-10-01

Personality traits refer to habitual patterns of behaviour, thought and emotions, and have been shown to influence health professionals' career decisions, career development, job satisfaction and retention. There is an opportunity to better understand and support the career pathways of dietitians by exploring their personality traits. The two primary aspects of personality are: (i) temperament traits, which determine automatic emotional responses to experiences, and are generally stable over lifetime, and (ii) character traits, which reflect personal goals and values, and tend to develop with life experience. The present study explored the levels of temperament and character traits of dietitians, as well as their relationship to demographic variables. The study comprised a cross-sectional online survey of 346 Australian dietitians [95% female; mean (SD) age 32 (10) years; mean (SD) time since graduation 7 (9) years]. Temperament and character traits were measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory. Key demographic variables were measured to describe career decisions and pathways of dietitians. Multivariate analyses of variance was used to investigate the relationship between demographic variables and personality traits. Levels of several traits were significantly associated with gender, age and highest level of education. In comparison to the general population, the dietitians displayed average levels of Novelty Seeking; high levels of Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence, Persistence, Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness; and low levels of Self-Transcendence. The dietitians in the present study displayed levels of personality traits that were similar to other health professionals, although they differed from the general population. These findings are the precursor to further work that may inform recruitment strategies and career counselling in dietetics. © 2014 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Which leaf mechanical traits correlate with insect herbivory among feeding guilds?

PubMed Central

Caldwell, Elizabeth; Read, Jennifer; Sanson, Gordon D.

2016-01-01

Background and Aims There is abundant evidence that leaf mechanical traits deter feeding by insect herbivores, but little is known about which particular traits contribute to defence across feeding guilds. We investigated the contribution of multiple mechanical traits from shear, punch and tear tests to herbivore deterrence across feeding guilds. Methods Visible damage from miners and external chewers was measured and sucker feeding density estimated in mature leaves of 20 species of forest shrubs and small trees. Cafeteria trials were undertaken using a generalist chewer (larvae of Epiphyas postvittana, Lepidoptera). Damage was compared with leaf mechanical traits and associated nutrient and chemical defence traits. Key Results Damage by external chewers in the field and by E. postvittana correlated negatively with mechanical traits. Hierarchical partitioning analysis indicated that the strongest independent contribution to chewing damage was by the material trait of specific work to shear, with 68 % of total variance explained by the combination of specific work to shear (alone explaining 54 %) and tannin activity in a regression model. Mining damage did not correlate with mechanical traits, probably because miners can avoid tissues that generate high strength and toughness in mature leaves. Mechanical traits correlated more strongly with chewing damage in the field than chemical defences (total phenolics and tannin activity) and nutrients (nitrogen and water), but nutrients correlated strongly with diet selection in the cafeteria trial. Surprisingly, sucker feeding density correlated positively with mechanical traits and negatively with nutrients. Conclusions Mechanical traits of mature leaves influenced insect feeding guilds differentially, reflecting differences in life history and feeding modes. For external chewers, energy (work) to fracture in shearing tests, at both structural and material levels, was strongly predictive of damage. Knowing which leaf

Political Attitudes Develop Independently of Personality Traits

PubMed Central

Hatemi, Peter K.; Verhulst, Brad

2015-01-01

The primary assumption within the recent personality and political orientations literature is that personality traits cause people to develop political attitudes. In contrast, research relying on traditional psychological and developmental theories suggests the relationship between most personality dimensions and political orientations are either not significant or weak. Research from behavioral genetics suggests the covariance between personality and political preferences is not causal, but due to a common, latent genetic factor that mutually influences both. The contradictory assumptions and findings from these research streams have yet to be resolved. This is in part due to the reliance on cross-sectional data and the lack of longitudinal genetically informative data. Here, using two independent longitudinal genetically informative samples, we examine the joint development of personality traits and attitude dimensions to explore the underlying causal mechanisms that drive the relationship between these features and provide a first step in resolving the causal question. We find change in personality over a ten-year period does not predict change in political attitudes, which does not support a causal relationship between personality traits and political attitudes as is frequently assumed. Rather, political attitudes are often more stable than the key personality traits assumed to be predicting them. Finally, the results from our genetic models find that no additional variance is accounted for by the causal pathway from personality traits to political attitudes. Our findings remain consistent with the original construction of the five-factor model of personality and developmental theories on attitude formation, but challenge recent work in this area. PMID:25734580

Political attitudes develop independently of personality traits.

PubMed

Hatemi, Peter K; Verhulst, Brad

2015-01-01

The primary assumption within the recent personality and political orientations literature is that personality traits cause people to develop political attitudes. In contrast, research relying on traditional psychological and developmental theories suggests the relationship between most personality dimensions and political orientations are either not significant or weak. Research from behavioral genetics suggests the covariance between personality and political preferences is not causal, but due to a common, latent genetic factor that mutually influences both. The contradictory assumptions and findings from these research streams have yet to be resolved. This is in part due to the reliance on cross-sectional data and the lack of longitudinal genetically informative data. Here, using two independent longitudinal genetically informative samples, we examine the joint development of personality traits and attitude dimensions to explore the underlying causal mechanisms that drive the relationship between these features and provide a first step in resolving the causal question. We find change in personality over a ten-year period does not predict change in political attitudes, which does not support a causal relationship between personality traits and political attitudes as is frequently assumed. Rather, political attitudes are often more stable than the key personality traits assumed to be predicting them. Finally, the results from our genetic models find that no additional variance is accounted for by the causal pathway from personality traits to political attitudes. Our findings remain consistent with the original construction of the five-factor model of personality and developmental theories on attitude formation, but challenge recent work in this area.

Leaf traits in parental and hybrid species of Sorbus (Rosaceae).

PubMed

Durkovic, Jaroslav; Kardosová, Monika; Canová, Ingrid; Lagana, Rastislav; Priwitzer, Tibor; Chorvát, Dusan; Cicák, Alojz; Pichler, Viliam

2012-09-01

Knowledge of functional leaf traits can provide important insights into the processes structuring plant communities. In the genus Sorbus, the generation of taxonomic novelty through reticulate evolution that gives rise to new microspecies is believed to be driven primarily by a series of interspecific hybridizations among closely related taxa. We tested hypotheses for dispersion of intermediacy across the leaf traits in Sorbus hybrids and for trait linkages with leaf area and specific leaf area. Here, we measured and compared the whole complex of growth, vascular, and ecophysiological leaf traits among parental (Sorbus aria, Sorbus aucuparia, Sorbus chamaemespilus) and natural hybrid (Sorbus montisalpae, Sorbus zuzanae) species growing under field conditions. A recently developed atomic force microscopy technique, PeakForce quantitative nanomechanical mapping, was used to characterize the topography of cell wall surfaces of tracheary elements and to map the reduced Young's modulus of elasticity. Intermediacy was associated predominantly with leaf growth traits, whereas vascular and ecophysiological traits were mainly parental-like and transgressive phenotypes. Larger-leaf species tended to have lower modulus of elasticity values for midrib tracheary element cell walls. Leaves with a biomass investment related to a higher specific leaf area had a lower density. Leaf area- and length-normalized theoretical hydraulic conductivity was related to leaf thickness. For the whole complex of examined leaf traits, hybrid microspecies were mosaics of parental-like, intermediate, and transgressive phenotypes. The high proportion of transgressive character expressions found in Sorbus hybrids implies that generation of extreme traits through transgressive segregation played a key role in the speciation process.

A new genetic linkage map of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) facilitates genetic dissection of height and spike length and angle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Plant height and spike length and angle are important agronomic traits in the production of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) due to strong correlations with lodging and disease. The objective of this study was to use QTL analysis to identify genetic regions associated with each trait in a recombinant inb...

Evolutionary history of the Afro-Madagascan Ixora species (Rubiaceae): species diversification and distribution of key morphological traits inferred from dated molecular phylogenetic trees

PubMed Central

Tosh, J.; Dessein, S.; Buerki, S.; Groeninckx, I.; Mouly, A.; Bremer, B.; Smets, E. F.; De Block, P.

2013-01-01

Background and Aims Previous work on the pantropical genus Ixora has revealed an Afro-Madagascan clade, but as yet no study has focused in detail on the evolutionary history and morphological trends in this group. Here the evolutionary history of Afro-Madagascan Ixora spp. (a clade of approx. 80 taxa) is investigated and the phylogenetic trees compared with several key morphological traits in taxa occurring in Madagascar. Methods Phylogenetic relationships of Afro-Madagascan Ixora are assessed using sequence data from four plastid regions (petD, rps16, rpoB-trnC and trnL-trnF) and nuclear ribosomal external transcribed spacer (ETS) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. The phylogenetic distribution of key morphological characters is assessed. Bayesian inference (implemented in BEAST) is used to estimate the temporal origin of Ixora based on fossil evidence. Key Results Two separate lineages of Madagascan taxa are recovered, one of which is nested in a group of East African taxa. Divergence in Ixora is estimated to have commenced during the mid Miocene, with extensive cladogenesis occurring in the Afro-Madagascan clade during the Pliocene onwards. Conclusions Both lineages of Madagascan Ixora exhibit morphological innovations that are rare throughout the rest of the genus, including a trend towards pauciflorous inflorescences and a trend towards extreme corolla tube length, suggesting that the same ecological and selective pressures are acting upon taxa from both Madagascan lineages. Novel ecological opportunities resulting from climate-induced habitat fragmentation and corolla tube length diversification are likely to have facilitated species radiation on Madagascar. PMID:24142919

Positive selection on sociobiological traits in invasive fire ants.

PubMed

Privman, Eyal; Cohen, Pnina; Cohanim, Amir B; Riba-Grognuz, Oksana; Shoemaker, DeWayne; Keller, Laurent

2018-06-19

The fire ant Solenopsis invicta and its close relatives are highly invasive. Enhanced social cooperation may facilitate invasiveness in these and other invasive ant species. We investigated whether invasiveness in Solenopsis fire ants was accompanied by positive selection on sociobiological traits by applying a phylogenomics approach to infer ancient selection, and a population genomics approach to infer recent and ongoing selection in both native and introduced S. invicta populations. A combination of whole-genome sequencing of 40 haploid males and reduced-representation genomic sequencing of 112 diploid workers identified 1,758,116 and 169,682 polymorphic markers, respectively. The resulting high-resolution maps of genomic polymorphism provide high inference power to test for positive selection. Our analyses provide evidence of positive selection on putative ion channel genes, which are implicated in neurological functions, and on vitellogenin, which is a key regulator of development and caste determination. Furthermore, molecular functions implicated in pheromonal signaling have experienced recent positive selection. Genes with signatures of positive selection were significantly more often those over-expressed in workers compared with queens and males, suggesting that worker traits are under stronger selection than queen and male traits. These results provide insights into selection pressures and ongoing adaptation in an invasive social insect and support the hypothesis that sociobiological traits are under more positive selection than traits related to non-social traits in such invasive species. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Assessing the Utility of Compound Trait Estimates of Narrow Personality Traits.

PubMed

Credé, Marcus; Harms, Peter D; Blacksmith, Nikki; Wood, Dustin

2016-01-01

It has been argued that approximations of narrow traits can be made through linear combinations of broad traits such as the Big Five personality traits. Indeed, Hough and Ones ( 2001 ) used a qualitative analysis of scale content to arrive at a taxonomy of how Big Five traits might be combined to approximate various narrow traits. However, the utility of such compound trait approximations has yet to be established beyond specific cases such as integrity and customer service orientation. Using data from the Eugene-Springfield Community Sample (Goldberg, 2008 ), we explore the ability of linear composites of scores on Big Five traits to approximate scores on 127 narrow trait measures from 5 well-known non-Big-Five omnibus measures of personality. Our findings indicate that individuals' standing on more than 30 narrow traits can be well estimated from 3 different types of linear composites of scores on Big Five traits without a substantial sacrifice in criterion validity. We discuss theoretical accounts for why such relationships exist as well as the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners.

FishTraits Database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Angermeier, Paul L.; Frimpong, Emmanuel A.

2009-01-01

The need for integrated and widely accessible sources of species traits data to facilitate studies of ecology, conservation, and management has motivated development of traits databases for various taxa. In spite of the increasing number of traits-based analyses of freshwater fishes in the United States, no consolidated database of traits of this group exists publicly, and much useful information on these species is documented only in obscure sources. The largely inaccessible and unconsolidated traits information makes large-scale analysis involving many fishes and/or traits particularly challenging. FishTraits is a database of >100 traits for 809 (731 native and 78 exotic) fish species found in freshwaters of the conterminous United States, including 37 native families and 145 native genera. The database contains information on four major categories of traits: (1) trophic ecology, (2) body size and reproductive ecology (life history), (3) habitat associations, and (4) salinity and temperature tolerances. Information on geographic distribution and conservation status is also included. Together, we refer to the traits, distribution, and conservation status information as attributes. Descriptions of attributes are available here. Many sources were consulted to compile attributes, including state and regional species accounts and other databases.

Agronomic threshold of soil available phosphorus in grey desert soils in Xinjiang, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, B.; Liu, H.; Hao, X. Y.; Wang, X. H.; Sun, J. S.; Li, J. M.; Ma, Y. B.

2016-08-01

Based on 23 years of data, yields of maize, wheat and cotton were modelled under different fertilizer management practices and at different levels of available phosphorus (Olsen-P) in soil. Three types of threshold models were used, namely linear-linear (LL), linear- plateau (LP), and Mitscherlich type exponential (Exp). The agronomic thresholds of available phosphorus were 25.4 mgkg-1 for cotton, 14.8 mgkg-1 for wheat, 13.1 mgkg-1 for maize and 25.4 mgkg-1 for the grey desert soil regions of Xinjiang in China as a whole.

Emotion socialization style in parents of children with callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Pasalich, Dave S; Waschbusch, Daniel A; Dadds, Mark R; Hawes, David J

2014-01-01

Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits manifest a range of deficits in their emotional functioning, and parents play a key role in socializing children's understanding, experience, expression, and regulation of emotions. However, research examining emotion-related parenting in families of children with CU traits is scarce. In two independent studies we examined emotion socialization styles in parents of children high on CU traits. In Study 1, we assessed parents' self-reported beliefs and feelings regarding their own and their child's emotions, in a sample of 111 clinic-referred and community children aged 7-12 years. In Study 2, we directly observed parents' responding to child emotion during an emotional reminiscing task, in a clinic sample of 59 conduct-problem children aged 3-9 years. Taken together, the results were consistent in suggesting that the mothers of children with higher levels of CU traits are more likely to have affective attitudes that are less accepting of emotion (Study 1), and emotion socialization practices that are more dismissing of child emotion (Study 2). Fathers' emotion socialization beliefs and practices were unrelated to levels of CU traits. Our findings provide initial evidence for a relationship between CU traits and parents' emotion socialization style, and have significant implications for the design of novel family-based interventions targeting CU traits and co-occurring conduct problems.

Integration of Plant Defense Traits with Biological Control of Arthropod Pests: Challenges and Opportunities

PubMed Central

Peterson, Julie A.; Ode, Paul J.; Oliveira-Hofman, Camila; Harwood, James D.

2016-01-01

Crop plants exhibit a wide diversity of defensive traits and strategies to protect themselves from damage by herbivorous pests and disease. These defensive traits may be naturally occurring or artificially selected through crop breeding, including introduction via genetic engineering. While these traits can have obvious and direct impacts on herbivorous pests, many have profound effects on higher trophic levels, including the natural enemies of herbivores. Multi-trophic effects of host plant resistance have the potential to influence, both positively and negatively, biological control. Plant defense traits can influence both the numerical and functional responses of natural enemies; these interactions can be semiochemically, plant toxin-, plant nutrient-, and/or physically mediated. Case studies involving predators, parasitoids, and pathogens of crop pests will be presented and discussed. These diverse groups of natural enemies may respond differently to crop plant traits based on their own unique biology and the ecological niches they fill. Genetically modified crop plants that have been engineered to express transgenic products affecting herbivorous pests are an additional consideration. For the most part, transgenic plant incorporated protectant (PIP) traits are compatible with biological control due to their selective toxicity to targeted pests and relatively low non-target impacts, although transgenic crops may have indirect effects on higher trophic levels and arthropod communities mediated by lower host or prey number and/or quality. Host plant resistance and biological control are two of the key pillars of integrated pest management; their potential interactions, whether they are synergistic, complementary, or disruptive, are key in understanding and achieving sustainable and effective pest management. PMID:27965695

Integration of Plant Defense Traits with Biological Control of Arthropod Pests: Challenges and Opportunities.

PubMed

Peterson, Julie A; Ode, Paul J; Oliveira-Hofman, Camila; Harwood, James D

2016-01-01

Crop plants exhibit a wide diversity of defensive traits and strategies to protect themselves from damage by herbivorous pests and disease. These defensive traits may be naturally occurring or artificially selected through crop breeding, including introduction via genetic engineering. While these traits can have obvious and direct impacts on herbivorous pests, many have profound effects on higher trophic levels, including the natural enemies of herbivores. Multi-trophic effects of host plant resistance have the potential to influence, both positively and negatively, biological control. Plant defense traits can influence both the numerical and functional responses of natural enemies; these interactions can be semiochemically, plant toxin-, plant nutrient-, and/or physically mediated. Case studies involving predators, parasitoids, and pathogens of crop pests will be presented and discussed. These diverse groups of natural enemies may respond differently to crop plant traits based on their own unique biology and the ecological niches they fill. Genetically modified crop plants that have been engineered to express transgenic products affecting herbivorous pests are an additional consideration. For the most part, transgenic plant incorporated protectant (PIP) traits are compatible with biological control due to their selective toxicity to targeted pests and relatively low non-target impacts, although transgenic crops may have indirect effects on higher trophic levels and arthropod communities mediated by lower host or prey number and/or quality. Host plant resistance and biological control are two of the key pillars of integrated pest management; their potential interactions, whether they are synergistic, complementary, or disruptive, are key in understanding and achieving sustainable and effective pest management.

The road not taken: Women’s life paths and gender-linked personality traits

PubMed Central

Newton, Nicky J.; Stewart, Abigail J.

2013-01-01

Key studies have established an association between women's social roles and their midlife personalities. The current research expands our understanding by examining personality traits in midlife women who followed normative or non-normative life paths. The normative/non-normative distinction was based on two kinds of social roles that college-educated women undertook until midlife: work and family. Gender-linked personality traits were compared between (1) women in high status professions and women in moderate status professions; (2) women without children and women with children; and (3) single mothers and married mothers. Composite measures of gender-linked traits, based on expert-identified Q-sort items, were used. Each non-normative social role group exhibited a different pattern of gender-linked personality traits inconsistent with conventional female gender roles. PMID:23559687

The relationship between resilience and personality traits in doctors: implications for enhancing well being

PubMed Central

Cloninger, C. Robert; Walters, Lucie; Laurence, Caroline; Synnott, Robyn; Wilkinson, David

2013-01-01

Objective. The health and well being of medical doctors is vital to their longevity and safe practice. The concept of resilience is recognised as a key component of well being and is an important factor in medical training to help doctors learn to cope with challenge, stress, and adversity. This study examined the relationship of resilience to personality traits and resilience in doctors in order to identify the key traits that promote or impair resilience. Methods. A cross sectional cohort of 479 family practitioners in practice across Australia was studied. The Temperament and Character Inventory measured levels of the seven basic dimensions of personality and the Resilience Scale provided an overall measure of resilience. The associations between resilience and personality were examined by Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, controlling for age and gender (α = 0.05 with an accompanying 95% confidence level) and multiple regression analyses. Results. Strong to medium positive correlations were found between Resilience and Self-directedness (r = .614, p < .01), Persistence (r = .498, p < .01), and Cooperativeness (r = .363, p < .01) and negative with Harm Avoidance (r = .−555, p < .01). Individual differences in personality explained 39% of the variance in resilience [F(7, 460) = 38.40, p < .001]. The three traits which contributed significantly to this variance were Self-directedness (β = .33, p < .001), Persistence (β = .22, p < .001) and Harm Avoidance (β = .19, p < .001). Conclusion. Resilience was associated with a personality trait pattern that is mature, responsible, optimistic, persevering, and cooperative. Findings support the inclusion of resilience as a component of optimal functioning and well being in doctors. Strategies for enhancing resilience should consider the key traits that drive or impair it. PMID:24282675

Agronomic efficiency of phosphate fertilizers produced by the re-use of a metallurgical acid residue.

PubMed

Barreto, Matheus Sampaio Carneiro; Mattiello, Edson Marcio; Santos, Wedisson Oliveira; Melo, Leônidas Carrijo Azevedo; Vergütz, Leonardus; Novais, Roberto Ferreira

2018-02-15

The production of fertilizers with industrial wastes reduces the environmental impacts of waste disposal and improves environmental sustainability by generating added-value products. Our objective with this study was to evaluate the agronomic performance and potential soil/plant contamination with heavy metals of alternative phosphate (P) fertilizers, obtained from the acidulation of phosphate rocks (PR) by a metallurgical acidic waste. Seven P fertilizers were evaluated: three PR (Araxá, Patos, and Bayóvar), their respective acidulated products (PAPR), and triple superphosphate fertilizer (TSP). A greenhouse trial was carried out to test the agronomic performances of fertilizers in a sequentially cultivated maize-soybean-white oat. The reaction of PR with acid waste was effective to increase their solubility and improve plant yield and P uptake compared to their natural PR. There was a cumulative recovery by plants of 1.4 and 8.1% of added P via PR and PAPR, respectively. No increase in heavy metal (Cd, Pb, Cr, and Ni) availability in soil or accumulation in shoots was observed, indicating that the PAPR were environmentally safe. The usage of acid waste to produce P fertilizers therefore represents a strategic way to employ marginal products for the production of fertilizers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genetics of phenotypic plasticity and biomass traits in hybrid willows across contrasting environments and years.

PubMed

Berlin, Sofia; Hallingbäck, Henrik R; Beyer, Friderike; Nordh, Nils-Erik; Weih, Martin; Rönnberg-Wästljung, Ann-Christin

2017-07-01

Phenotypic plasticity can affect the geographical distribution of taxa and greatly impact the productivity of crops across contrasting and variable environments. The main objectives of this study were to identify genotype-phenotype associations in key biomass and phenology traits and the strength of phenotypic plasticity of these traits in a short-rotation coppice willow population across multiple years and contrasting environments to facilitate marker-assisted selection for these traits. A hybrid Salix viminalis  × ( S. viminalis × Salix schwerinii ) population with 463 individuals was clonally propagated and planted in three common garden experiments comprising one climatic contrast between Sweden and Italy and one water availability contrast in Italy. Several key phenotypic traits were measured and phenotypic plasticity was estimated as the trait value difference between experiments. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping analyses were conducted using a dense linkage map and phenotypic effects of S. schwerinii haplotypes derived from detected QTL were assessed. Across the climatic contrast, clone predictor correlations for biomass traits were low and few common biomass QTL were detected. This indicates that the genetic regulation of biomass traits was sensitive to environmental variation. Biomass QTL were, however, frequently shared across years and across the water availability contrast. Phenology QTL were generally shared between all experiments. Substantial phenotypic plasticity was found among the hybrid offspring, that to a large extent had a genetic origin. Individuals carrying influential S. schwerinii haplotypes generally performed well in Sweden but less well in Italy in terms of biomass production. The results indicate that specific genetic elements of S. schwerinii are more suited to Swedish conditions than to those of Italy. Therefore, selection should preferably be conducted separately for such environments in order to maximize biomass

Speed breeding for multiple quantitative traits in durum wheat.

PubMed

Alahmad, Samir; Dinglasan, Eric; Leung, Kung Ming; Riaz, Adnan; Derbal, Nora; Voss-Fels, Kai P; Able, Jason A; Bassi, Filippo M; Christopher, Jack; Hickey, Lee T

2018-01-01

Plant breeding requires numerous generations to be cycled and evaluated before an improved cultivar is released. This lengthy process is required to introduce and test multiple traits of interest. However, a technology for rapid generation advance named 'speed breeding' was successfully deployed in bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) to achieve six generations per year while imposing phenotypic selection for foliar disease resistance and grain dormancy. Here, for the first time the deployment of this methodology is presented in durum wheat ( Triticum durum Desf.) by integrating selection for key traits, including above and below ground traits on the same set of plants. This involved phenotyping for seminal root angle (RA), seminal root number (RN), tolerance to crown rot (CR), resistance to leaf rust (LR) and plant height (PH). In durum wheat, these traits are desirable in environments where yield is limited by in-season rainfall with the occurrence of CR and epidemics of LR. To evaluate this multi-trait screening approach, we applied selection to a large segregating F 2 population (n = 1000) derived from a bi-parental cross (Outrob4/Caparoi). A weighted selection index (SI) was developed and applied. The gain for each trait was determined by evaluating F 3 progeny derived from 100 'selected' and 100 'unselected' F 2 individuals. Transgressive segregation was observed for all assayed traits in the Outrob4/Caparoi F 2 population. Application of the SI successfully shifted the population mean for four traits, as determined by a significant mean difference between 'selected' and 'unselected' F 3 families for CR tolerance, LR resistance, RA and RN. No significant shift for PH was observed. The novel multi-trait phenotyping method presents a useful tool for rapid selection of early filial generations or for the characterization of fixed lines out-of-season. Further, it offers efficient use of resources by assaying multiple traits on the same set of plants. Results

Rice epigenomics and epigenetics: challenges and opportunities.

PubMed

Chen, Xiangsong; Zhou, Dao-Xiu

2013-05-01

During recent years rice genome-wide epigenomic information such as DNA methylation and histone modifications, which are important for genome activity has been accumulated. The function of a number of rice epigenetic regulators has been studied, many of which are found to be involved in a diverse range of developmental and stress-responsive pathways. Analysis of epigenetic variations among different rice varieties indicates that epigenetic modification may lead to inheritable phenotypic variation. Characterizing phenotypic consequences of rice epigenomic variations and the underlining chromatin mechanism and identifying epialleles related to important agronomic traits may provide novel strategies to enhance agronomically favorable traits and grain productivity in rice. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Functional Characterisation of a Wide Range of Cover Crop Species: Growth and Nitrogen Acquisition Rates, Leaf Traits and Ecological Strategies

PubMed Central

Tribouillois, Hélène; Fort, Florian; Cruz, Pablo; Charles, Raphaël; Flores, Olivier; Garnier, Eric; Justes, Eric

2015-01-01

Cover crops can produce ecosystem services during the fallow period, as reducing nitrate leaching and producing green manure. Crop growth rate (CGR) and crop nitrogen acquisition rate (CNR) can be used as two indicators of the ability of cover crops to produce these services in agrosystems. We used leaf functional traits to characterise the growth strategies of 36 cover crops as an approach to assess their ability to grow and acquire N rapidly. We measured specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf nitrogen content (LNC) and leaf area (LA) and we evaluated their relevance to characterise CGR and CNR. Cover crop species were positioned along the Leaf Economics Spectrum (LES), the SLA-LDMC plane, and the CSR triangle of plant strategies. LA was positively correlated with CGR and CNR, while LDMC was negatively correlated with CNR. All cover crops could be classified as resource-acquisitive species from their relative position on the LES and the SLA-LDMC plane. Most cover crops were located along the Competition/Ruderality axis in the CSR triangle. In particular, Brassicaceae species were classified as very competitive, which was consistent with their high CGR and CNR. Leaf functional traits, especially LA and LDMC, allowed to differentiate some cover crops strategies related to their ability to grow and acquire N. LDMC was lower and LNC was higher in cover crop than in wild species, pointing to an efficient acquisitive syndrome in the former, corresponding to the high resource availability found in agrosystems. Combining several leaf traits explained approximately half of the CGR and CNR variances, which might be considered insufficient to precisely characterise and rank cover crop species for agronomic purposes. We hypothesised that may be the consequence of domestication process, which has reduced the range of plant strategies and modified the leaf trait syndrome in cultivated species. PMID:25789485

Heat tolerance around flowering in wheat identified as a key trait for increased yield potential in Europe under climate change

PubMed Central

Stratonovitch, Pierre; Semenov, Mikhail A.

2015-01-01

To deliver food security for the 9 billon population in 2050, a 70% increase in world food supply will be required. Projected climatic and environmental changes emphasize the need for breeding strategies that delivers both a substantial increase in yield potential and resilience to extreme weather events such as heat waves, late frost, and drought. Heat stress around sensitive stages of wheat development has been identified as a possible threat to wheat production in Europe. However, no estimates have been made to assess yield losses due to increased frequency and magnitude of heat stress under climate change. Using existing experimental data, the Sirius wheat model was refined by incorporating the effects of extreme temperature during flowering and grain filling on accelerated leaf senescence, grain number, and grain weight. This allowed us, for the first time, to quantify yield losses resulting from heat stress under climate change. The model was used to optimize wheat ideotypes for CMIP5-based climate scenarios for 2050 at six sites in Europe with diverse climates. The yield potential for heat-tolerant ideotypes can be substantially increased in the future (e.g. by 80% at Seville, 100% at Debrecen) compared with the current cultivars by selecting an optimal combination of wheat traits, e.g. optimal phenology and extended duration of grain filling. However, at two sites, Seville and Debrecen, the grain yields of heat-sensitive ideotypes were substantially lower (by 54% and 16%) and more variable compared with heat-tolerant ideotypes, because the extended grain filling required for the increased yield potential was in conflict with episodes of high temperature during flowering and grain filling. Despite much earlier flowering at these sites, the risk of heat stress affecting yields of heat-sensitive ideotypes remained high. Therefore, heat tolerance in wheat is likely to become a key trait for increased yield potential and yield stability in southern Europe in the

Divergent morphological and acoustic traits in sympatric communities of Asian barbets

PubMed Central

Tamma, Krishnapriya

2016-01-01

The opposing effects of environmental filtering and competitive interactions may influence community assembly and coexistence of related species. Competition, both in the domain of ecological resources, and in the sensory domain (for example, acoustic interference) may also result in sympatric species evolving divergent traits and niches. Delineating these scenarios within communities requires understanding trait distributions and phylogenetic structure within the community, as well as patterns of trait evolution. We report that sympatric assemblages of Asian barbets (frugivorous canopy birds) consist of a random phylogenetic sample of species, but are divergent in both morphological and acoustic traits. Additionally, we find that morphology is more divergent than expected under Brownian evolution, whereas vocal frequency evolution is close to the pattern expected under Brownian motion (i.e. a random walk). Together, these patterns are consistent with a role for competition or competitive exclusion in driving community assembly. Phylogenetic patterns of morphological divergence between related species suggest that these traits are key in species coexistence. Because vocal frequency and size are correlated in barbets, we therefore hypothesize that frequency differences between sympatric barbets are a by-product of their divergent morphologies. PMID:27853589

Species Divergence and Phylogenetic Variation of Ecophysiological Traits in Lianas and Trees

PubMed Central

Rios, Rodrigo S.; Salgado-Luarte, Cristian; Gianoli, Ernesto

2014-01-01

The climbing habit is an evolutionary key innovation in plants because it is associated with enhanced clade diversification. We tested whether patterns of species divergence and variation of three ecophysiological traits that are fundamental for plant adaptation to light environments (maximum photosynthetic rate [Amax], dark respiration rate [Rd], and specific leaf area [SLA]) are consistent with this key innovation. Using data reported from four tropical forests and three temperate forests, we compared phylogenetic distance among species as well as the evolutionary rate, phylogenetic distance and phylogenetic signal of those traits in lianas and trees. Estimates of evolutionary rates showed that Rd evolved faster in lianas, while SLA evolved faster in trees. The mean phylogenetic distance was 1.2 times greater among liana species than among tree species. Likewise, estimates of phylogenetic distance indicated that lianas were less related than by chance alone (phylogenetic evenness across 63 species), and trees were more related than expected by chance (phylogenetic clustering across 71 species). Lianas showed evenness for Rd, while trees showed phylogenetic clustering for this trait. In contrast, for SLA, lianas exhibited phylogenetic clustering and trees showed phylogenetic evenness. Lianas and trees showed patterns of ecophysiological trait variation among species that were independent of phylogenetic relatedness. We found support for the expected pattern of greater species divergence in lianas, but did not find consistent patterns regarding ecophysiological trait evolution and divergence. Rd followed the species-level pattern, i.e., greater divergence/evolution in lianas compared to trees, while the opposite occurred for SLA and no pattern was detected for Amax. Rd may have driven lianas' divergence across forest environments, and might contribute to diversification in climber clades. PMID:24914958

Leaf optical properties shed light on foliar trait variability at individual to global scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiklomanov, A. N.; Serbin, S.; Dietze, M.

2017-12-01

Recent syntheses of large trait databases have contributed immensely to our understanding of drivers of plant function at the global scale. However, the global trade-offs revealed by such syntheses, such as the trade-off between leaf productivity and resilience (i.e. "leaf economics spectrum"), are often absent at smaller scales and fail to correlate with actual functional limitations. An improved understanding of how traits vary among communities, species, and individuals is critical to accurate representations of vegetation ecophysiology and ecological dynamics in ecosystem models. Spectral data from both field observations and remote sensing platforms present a rich and widely available source of information on plant traits. Here, we apply Bayesian inversion of the PROSPECT leaf radiative transfer model to a large global database of over 60,000 field spectra and plant traits to (1) comprehensively assess the accuracy of leaf trait estimation using PROSPECT spectral inversion; (2) investigate the correlations between optical traits estimable from PROSPECT and other important foliar traits such as nitrogen and lignin concentrations; and (3) identify dominant sources of variability and characterize trade-offs in optical and non-optical foliar traits. Our work provides a key methodological contribution by validating physically-based retrieval of plant traits from remote sensing observations, and provides insights about trait trade-offs related to plant acclimation, adaptation, and community assembly.

A reference consensus genetic map for molecular markers and economically important traits in faba bean (Vicia faba L.)

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is among the earliest domesticated crops from the Near East. Today this legume is a key protein feed and food worldwide and continues to serve an important role in culinary traditions throughout Middle East, Mediterranean region, China and Ethiopia. Adapted to a wide range of soil types, the main faba bean breeding objectives are to improve yield, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, seed quality and other agronomic traits. Genomic approaches aimed at enhancing faba bean breeding programs require high-quality genetic linkage maps to facilitate quantitative trait locus analysis and gene tagging for use in a marker-assisted selection. The objective of this study was to construct a reference consensus map in faba bean by joining the information from the most relevant maps reported so far in this crop. Results A combination of two approaches, increasing the number of anchor loci in diverse mapping populations and joining the corresponding genetic maps, was used to develop a reference consensus map in faba bean. The map was constructed from three main recombinant inbreed populations derived from four parental lines, incorporates 729 markers and is based on 69 common loci. It spans 4,602 cM with a range from 323 to 1041 loci in six main linkage groups or chromosomes, and an average marker density of one locus every 6 cM. Locus order is generally well maintained between the consensus map and the individual maps. Conclusion We have constructed a reliable and fairly dense consensus genetic linkage map that will serve as a basis for genomic approaches in faba bean research and breeding. The core map contains a larger number of markers than any previous individual map, covers existing gaps and achieves a wider coverage of the large faba bean genome as a whole. This tool can be used as a reference resource for studies in different genetic backgrounds, and provides a framework for transferring genetic information when using different

6 Ways to Teach the 6 Traits of Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollas, Betty

2006-01-01

In this book, experienced educator and presenter Betty Hollas offers scores of strategies for building strong writers in the classroom. Designed with an eye to saving teachers time, the book focuses on: (1) The 3 key things every student needs to remember about each trait; (2) Which books make good read-alouds for the classroom--even for just…

Photoreceptor Mediated Plant Growth Responses: Implications for Photoreceptor Engineering toward Improved Performance in Crops

PubMed Central

Mawphlang, Ophilia I. L.; Kharshiing, Eros V.

2017-01-01

Rising temperatures during growing seasons coupled with altered precipitation rates presents a challenging task of improving crop productivity for overcoming such altered weather patterns and cater to a growing population. Light is a critical environmental factor that exerts a powerful influence on plant growth and development ranging from seed germination to flowering and fruiting. Higher plants utilize a suite of complex photoreceptor proteins to perceive surrounding red/far-red (phytochromes), blue/UV-A (cryptochromes, phototropins, ZTL/FKF1/LKP2), and UV-B light (UVR8). While genomic studies have also shown that light induces extensive reprogramming of gene expression patterns in plants, molecular genetic studies have shown that manipulation of one or more photoreceptors can result in modification of agronomically beneficial traits. Such information can assist researchers to engineer photoreceptors via genome editing technologies to alter expression or even sensitivity thresholds of native photoreceptors for targeting aspects of plant growth that can confer superior agronomic value to the engineered crops. Here we summarize the agronomically important plant growth processes influenced by photoreceptors in crop species, alongwith the functional interactions between different photoreceptors and phytohormones in regulating these responses. We also discuss the potential utility of synthetic biology approaches in photobiology for improving agronomically beneficial traits of crop plants by engineering designer photoreceptors. PMID:28744290

Remote Sensing of plant functional types: Relative importance of biochemical and structural plant traits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kattenborn, Teja; Schmidtlein, Sebastian

2017-04-01

Monitoring ecosystems is a key priority in order to understand vegetation patterns, underlying resource cycles and changes their off. Driven by biotic and abiotic factors, plant species within an ecosystem are likely to share similar structural, physiological or phenological traits and can therefore be grouped into plant functional types (PFT). It can be assumed that plants which share similar traits also share similar optical characteristics. Therefore optical remote sensing was identified as a valuable tool for differentiating PFT. Although several authors list structural and biochemical plant traits which are important for differentiating PFT using hyperspectral remote sensing, there is no quantitative or qualitative information on the relative importance of these traits. Thus, little is known about the explicit role of plant traits for an optical discrimination of PFT. One of the main reasons for this is that various optical traits affect the same wavelength regions and it is therefore difficult to isolate the discriminative power of a single trait. A way to determine the effect of single plant traits on the optical reflectance of plant canopies is given by radiative transfer models. The most established radiative transfer model is PROSAIL, which incorporates biochemical and structural plant traits, such as pigment contents or leaf area index. In the present study 25 grassland species of different PFT were cultivated and traits relevant for PROSAIL were measured for the entire vegetation season of 2016. The information content of each trait for differentiating PFTs was determined by applying a Multi-response Permutation Procedure on the actual traits, as well as on simulated canopy spectra derived from PROSAIL. According to our results some traits, especially biochemical traits, show a weaker separability of PFT on a spectral level than compared to the actual trait measurements. Overall structural traits (leaf angle and leaf area index) are more important for

Trait responses of invasive aquatic macrophyte congeners: colonizing diploid outperforms polyploid

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Understanding traits underlying colonization and niche breadth of invasive plants is key to developing sustainable management solutions to curtail invasions at the establishment phase, when efforts are often most effective. The aim of this study was to evaluate how two invasive congeners differing i...

Deploying QTL-seq for rapid delineation of a potential candidate gene underlying major trait-associated QTL in chickpea

PubMed Central

Das, Shouvik; Upadhyaya, Hari D.; Bajaj, Deepak; Kujur, Alice; Badoni, Saurabh; Laxmi; Kumar, Vinod; Tripathi, Shailesh; Gowda, C. L. Laxmipathi; Sharma, Shivali; Singh, Sube; Tyagi, Akhilesh K.; Parida, Swarup K.

2015-01-01

A rapid high-resolution genome-wide strategy for molecular mapping of major QTL(s)/gene(s) regulating important agronomic traits is vital for in-depth dissection of complex quantitative traits and genetic enhancement in chickpea. The present study for the first time employed a NGS-based whole-genome QTL-seq strategy to identify one major genomic region harbouring a robust 100-seed weight QTL using an intra-specific 221 chickpea mapping population (desi cv. ICC 7184 × desi cv. ICC 15061). The QTL-seq-derived major SW QTL (CaqSW1.1) was further validated by single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker-based traditional QTL mapping (47.6% R2 at higher LOD >19). This reflects the reliability and efficacy of QTL-seq as a strategy for rapid genome-wide scanning and fine mapping of major trait regulatory QTLs in chickpea. The use of QTL-seq and classical QTL mapping in combination narrowed down the 1.37 Mb (comprising 177 genes) major SW QTL (CaqSW1.1) region into a 35 kb genomic interval on desi chickpea chromosome 1 containing six genes. One coding SNP (G/A)-carrying constitutive photomorphogenic9 (COP9) signalosome complex subunit 8 (CSN8) gene of these exhibited seed-specific expression, including pronounced differential up-/down-regulation in low and high seed weight mapping parents and homozygous individuals during seed development. The coding SNP mined in this potential seed weight-governing candidate CSN8 gene was found to be present exclusively in all cultivated species/genotypes, but not in any wild species/genotypes of primary, secondary and tertiary gene pools. This indicates the effect of strong artificial and/or natural selection pressure on target SW locus during chickpea domestication. The proposed QTL-seq-driven integrated genome-wide strategy has potential to delineate major candidate gene(s) harbouring a robust trait regulatory QTL rapidly with optimal use of resources. This will further assist us to extrapolate the

Plant functional traits suggest a change in novel ecological strategies for dominant species in the stages of forest succession.

PubMed

Chai, Yongfu; Yue, Ming; Wang, Mao; Xu, Jinshi; Liu, Xiao; Zhang, Ruichang; Wan, Pengcheng

2016-03-01

In forest succession, the ecological strategies of the dominant species that are based on functional traits are important in the determination of both the mechanisms and the potential directions of succession. Thirty-one plots were established in the Loess Plateau region of northern Shaanxi in China. Fifteen leaf traits were measured for the 31 dominant species that represented the six stages of succession, and the traits included four that were related to morphology, seven to stoichiometry and four to physiological ecology. The species from the different successional stages had different patterns of distribution of the traits, and different key traits predicted the turnover of the species during succession. The ash and the cellulose contents were key regulatory factors of species turnover in the early successional communities, and the trait niche forces in sugar and leaf dry mass content might become more important with the progression of succession. When only the three herb stages were considered, a progressive replacement of the ruderal by the competitive-ruderal species occurred in the intermediate stages of succession, which was followed by the stress-tolerant-competitive or the competitive-stress tolerant-ruderal strategists late in the succession. Thus, the different species that occurred in the different stages of succession shared different trait-based ecological strategies. Additionally, these differences occurred concomitantly with a shift toward competitive-stress tolerant-ruderal strategies.

Meaningful traits for grouping plant species across arid ecosystems.

PubMed

Bär Lamas, Marlene Ivonne; Carrera, A L; Bertiller, M B

2016-05-01

Grouping species may provide some degree of simplification to understand the ecological function of plants on key ecosystem processes. We asked whether groups of plant species based on morpho-chemical traits associated with plant persistence and stress/disturbance resistance reflect dominant plant growth forms in arid ecosystems. We selected twelve sites across an aridity gradient in northern Patagonia. At each site, we identified modal size plants of each dominant species and assessed specific leaf area (SLA), plant height, seed mass, N and soluble phenol concentration in green and senesced leaves at each plant. Plant species were grouped according with plant growth forms (perennial grasses, evergreen shrubs and deciduous shrubs) and plant morphological and/or chemical traits using cluster analysis. We calculated mean values of each plant trait for each species group and plant growth form. Plant growth forms significantly differed among them in most of the morpho-chemical traits. Evergreen shrubs were tall plants with the highest seed mass and soluble phenols in leaves, deciduous shrubs were also tall plants with high SLA and the highest N in leaves, and perennial grasses were short plants with high SLA and low concentration of N and soluble phenols in leaves. Grouping species by the combination of morpho-chemical traits yielded 4 groups in which species from one growth form prevailed. These species groups differed in soluble phenol concentration in senesced leaves and plant height. These traits were highly correlated. We concluded that (1) plant height is a relevant synthetic variable, (2) growth forms adequately summarize ecological strategies of species in arid ecosystems, and (3) the inclusion of plant morphological and chemical traits related to defenses against environmental stresses and herbivory enhanced the potential of species grouping, particularly within shrubby growth forms.

Manager traits and quality-of-care performance in hospitals.

PubMed

Aij, Kjeld Harald; Aernoudts, René L M C; Joosten, Gepke

2015-07-06

This paper aims to assess the impact of the leadership traits of chief executive officers (CEOs) on hospital performance in the USA. The effectiveness and efficiency of the CEO is of critical importance to the performance of any organization, including hospitals. Management systems and manager behaviours (traits) are of crucial importance to any organization because of their connection with organizational performance. To identify key factors associated with the quality of care delivered by hospitals, the authors gathered perceptions of manager traits from chief executive officers (CEOs) and followers in three groups of US hospitals delivering different levels of quality of care performance. Three high- and three low-performing hospitals were selected from the top and bottom 20th percentiles, respectively, using a national hospital ranking system based on standard quality of care performance measures. Three lean hospitals delivering intermediate performance were also selected. A survey was used to gather perceptions of manager traits (providing a modern or lean management system inclination) from CEOs and their followers in the three groups, which were compared. Four traits were found to be significantly different (alpha < 0.05) between lean (intermediate-) and low-performing hospitals. The different perceptions between these two hospital groups were all held by followers in the low-performing hospitals and not the CEOs, and all had a modern management inclination. No differences were found between lean (intermediate-) and high-performing hospitals, or between high- and low-performing hospitals. These findings support a need for hospital managers to acquire appropriate traits to achieve lean transformation, support a benefit of measuring manager traits to assess progress towards lean transformation and lend weight to improved quality of care that can be delivered by hospitals adopting a lean system of management.

Molecular diversity and association mapping of fiber quality traits in exotic G. hirsutum L. germplasm.

PubMed

Abdurakhmonov, I Y; Kohel, R J; Yu, J Z; Pepper, A E; Abdullaev, A A; Kushanov, F N; Salakhutdinov, I B; Buriev, Z T; Saha, S; Scheffler, B E; Jenkins, J N; Abdukarimov, A

2008-12-01

The narrow genetic base of cultivated cotton germplasm is hindering the cotton productivity worldwide. Although potential genetic diversity exists in Gossypium genus, it is largely 'underutilized' due to photoperiodism and the lack of innovative tools to overcome such challenges. The application of linkage disequilibrium (LD)-based association mapping is an alternative powerful molecular tool to dissect and exploit the natural genetic diversity conserved within cotton germplasm collections, greatly accelerating still 'lagging' cotton marker-assisted selection (MAS) programs. However, the extent of genome-wide linkage disequilibrium (LD) has not been determined in cotton. We report the extent of genome-wide LD and association mapping of fiber quality traits by using a 95 core set of microsatellite markers in a total of 285 exotic Gossypium hirsutum accessions, comprising of 208 landrace stocks and 77 photoperiodic variety accessions. We demonstrated the existence of useful genetic diversity within exotic cotton germplasm. In this germplasm set, 11-12% of SSR loci pairs revealed a significant LD. At the significance threshold (r(2)>/=0.1), a genome-wide average of LD declines within the genetic distance at <10 cM in the landrace stocks germplasm and >30 cM in variety germplasm. Genome wide LD at r(2)>/=0.2 was reduced on average to approximately 1-2 cM in the landrace stock germplasm and 6-8 cM in variety germplasm, providing evidence of the potential for association mapping of agronomically important traits in cotton. We observed significant population structure and relatedness in assayed germplasm. Consequently, the application of the mixed liner model (MLM), considering both kinship (K) and population structure (Q) detected between 6% and 13% of SSR markers associated with the main fiber quality traits in cotton. Our results highlight for the first time the feasibility and potential of association mapping, with consideration of the population structure and

Automatic prediction of facial trait judgments: appearance vs. structural models.

PubMed

Rojas, Mario; Masip, David; Todorov, Alexander; Vitria, Jordi

2011-01-01

Evaluating other individuals with respect to personality characteristics plays a crucial role in human relations and it is the focus of attention for research in diverse fields such as psychology and interactive computer systems. In psychology, face perception has been recognized as a key component of this evaluation system. Multiple studies suggest that observers use face information to infer personality characteristics. Interactive computer systems are trying to take advantage of these findings and apply them to increase the natural aspect of interaction and to improve the performance of interactive computer systems. Here, we experimentally test whether the automatic prediction of facial trait judgments (e.g. dominance) can be made by using the full appearance information of the face and whether a reduced representation of its structure is sufficient. We evaluate two separate approaches: a holistic representation model using the facial appearance information and a structural model constructed from the relations among facial salient points. State of the art machine learning methods are applied to a) derive a facial trait judgment model from training data and b) predict a facial trait value for any face. Furthermore, we address the issue of whether there are specific structural relations among facial points that predict perception of facial traits. Experimental results over a set of labeled data (9 different trait evaluations) and classification rules (4 rules) suggest that a) prediction of perception of facial traits is learnable by both holistic and structural approaches; b) the most reliable prediction of facial trait judgments is obtained by certain type of holistic descriptions of the face appearance; and c) for some traits such as attractiveness and extroversion, there are relationships between specific structural features and social perceptions.

Carbon and water cycling in flooded and rainfed rice (Oryza Sativa) ecosystem: Disentangling agronomical and ecological aspects of water use efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nay-Htoon, Bhone; Xue, Wei; Dubbert, Maren; Lindner, Steve; Cuntz, Matthias; Ko, Jonghan; Tenhunen, John; Werner, Christiane

2015-04-01

Agricultural crops play an important role in the global carbon and water cycling process and there is intense research to understand and predict carbon and water fluxes, productivity and water use of cultivated crops under climate change. Mechanistic understanding of the trade of between ecosystem water use efficiency and agronomic water use efficiency to maintain higher crop yield and productive water loss is necessary for the ecosystem sustainability. . We compared water and carbon fluxes of paddy and rainfed rice by canopy scale gas exchange measurements, crop growth, and daily evapotranspiration, transpiration and carbon flux modeling. According to our findings, evaporation contributed strongly (maximum 100% to minimum 45%) to paddy rice evapotranspiration while transpiration of rainfed is almost 50 % of daily evapotranspiration. Water use efficiency (WUE) was higher in rainfed rice both from an agronomic (WUEagro, i.e. grain yield per evapotranspiration) and ecosystem (WUEeco, i.e. gross primary production per evapotranspiration) perspective. However, rainfed rice showed also high ecosystem respiration losses and a slightly lower crop yield, demonstrating that higher WUE in rainfed rice comes at the expense of higher respiration losses of assimilated carbon and lower plant production, compared to paddy rice. Our results highlighted the need to partition water and carbon fluxes to improve our mechanistic understanding of water use efficiency and environmental impact of different agricultural practices. Keywords: Rainfed rice, Paddy rice, water use efficiency, Transpiration/Evapotranspiration, ecosystem WUE, agronomic WUE, Evapotranspiration

The cultural evolution of emergent group-level traits.

PubMed

Smaldino, Paul E

2014-06-01

Many of the most important properties of human groups - including properties that may give one group an evolutionary advantage over another - are properly defined only at the level of group organization. Yet at present, most work on the evolution of culture has focused solely on the transmission of individual-level traits. I propose a conceptual extension of the theory of cultural evolution, particularly related to the evolutionary competition between cultural groups. The key concept in this extension is the emergent group-level trait. This type of trait is characterized by the structured organization of differentiated individuals and constitutes a unit of selection that is qualitatively different from selection on groups as defined by traditional multilevel selection (MLS) theory. As a corollary, I argue that the traditional focus on cooperation as the defining feature of human societies has missed an essential feature of cooperative groups. Traditional models of cooperation assume that interacting with one cooperator is equivalent to interacting with any other. However, human groups involve differential roles, meaning that receiving aid from one individual is often preferred to receiving aid from another. In this target article, I discuss the emergence and evolution of group-level traits and the implications for the theory of cultural evolution, including ramifications for the evolution of human cooperation, technology, and cultural institutions, and for the equivalency of multilevel selection and inclusive fitness approaches.

Mapping QTLs associated with agronomic and physiological traits under terminal drought and heat stress conditions in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

PubMed

Tahmasebi, Sirous; Heidari, Bahram; Pakniyat, Hassan; McIntyre, C Lynne

2017-01-01

Wheat crops frequently experience a combination of abiotic stresses in the field, but most quantitative trait loci (QTL) studies have focused on the identification of QTLs for traits under single stress field conditions. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from SeriM82 × Babax was used to map QTLs under well-irrigated, heat, drought, and a combination of heat and drought stress conditions in two years. A total of 477 DNA markers were used to construct linkage groups that covered 1619.6 cM of the genome, with an average distance of 3.39 cM between adjacent markers. Moderate to relatively high heritability estimates (0.60-0.70) were observed for plant height (PHE), grain yield (YLD), and grain per square meter (GM2). The most important QTLs for days to heading (DHE), thousand grain weight (TGW), and YLD were detected on chromosomes 1B, 1D-a, and 7D-b. The prominent QTLs related to canopy temperature were on 3B. Results showed that common QTLs for DHE, YLD, and TGW on 7D-b were validated in heat and drought trials. Three QTLs for chlorophyll content in SPAD unit (on 1A/6B), leaf rolling (ROL) (on 3B/4A), and GM2 (on 1B/7D-b) showed significant epistasis × environment interaction. Six heat- or drought-specific QTLs (linked to 7D-acc/cat-10, 1B-agc/cta-9, 1A-aag/cta-8, 4A-acg/cta-3, 1B-aca/caa-3, and 1B-agc/cta-9 for day to maturity (DMA), SPAD, spikelet compactness (SCOM), TGW, GM2, and GM2, respectively) were stable and validated over two years. The major DHE QTL linked to 7D-acc/cat-10, with no QTL × environment (QE) interaction increased TGW and YLD. This QTL (5.68 ≤ LOD ≤ 10.5) explained up to 19.6% variation in YLD in drought, heat, and combined stress trials. This marker as a candidate could be used for verification in other populations and identifying superior allelic variations in wheat cultivars or its wild progenitors to increase the efficiency of selection of high yielding lines adapted to end-season heat and drought stress conditions.

Trait coordination, mechanical behaviour and growth form plasticity of Amborella trichopoda under variation in canopy openness

PubMed Central

Trueba, Santiago; Isnard, Sandrine; Barthélémy, Daniel; Olson, Mark E.

2016-01-01

Understanding the distribution of traits across the angiosperm phylogeny helps map the nested hierarchy of features that characterize key nodes. Finding that Amborella is sister to the rest of the angiosperms has raised the question of whether it shares certain key functional trait characteristics, and plastic responses apparently widespread within the angiosperms at large. With this in mind, we test the hypothesis that local canopy openness induces plastic responses. We used this variation in morphological and functional traits to estimate the pervasiveness of trait scaling and leaf and stem economics. We studied the architecture of Amborella and how it varies under different degrees of canopy openness. We analyzed the coordination of 12 leaf and stem structural and functional traits, and the association of this covariation with differing morphologies. The Amborella habit is made up of a series of sympodial modules that vary in size and branching pattern under different canopy openness. Amborella stems vary from self-supporting to semi-scandent. Changes in stem elongation and leaf size in Amborella produce distinct morphologies under different light environments. Correlations were found between most leaf and stem functional traits. Stem tissue rigidity decreased with increasing canopy openness. Despite substantial modulation of leaf size and leaf mass per area by light availability, branches in different light environments had similar leaf area-stem size scaling. The sympodial growth observed in Amborella could point to an angiosperm synapomorphy. Our study provides evidence of intraspecific coordination between leaf and stem economic spectra. Trait variation along these spectra is likely adaptive under different light environments and is consistent with these plastic responses having been present in the angiosperm common ancestor. PMID:27672131

Personality traits and emotional patterns in irritable bowel syndrome.

PubMed

Muscatello, Maria Rosaria A; Bruno, Antonio; Mento, Carmela; Pandolfo, Gianluca; Zoccali, Rocco A

2016-07-28

The review focuses on those personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), constructs (alexithymia and distressed - Type D personality) and emotional patterns (negative and positive) that are of particular concern in health psychology, with the aim to highlight their potential role on the pathogenesis, onset, symptom clusters, clinical course, and outcome of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Personality traits and emotional patterns play key roles in affecting autonomic, immune, inflammatory, and endocrine functions, thus contributing not only to IBS clinical expression and symptomatic burden, but also to disease physiopathology. In this sense, psychological treatments should address those personality traits and emotional features that are constitutive of, and integral to IBS. The biopsychosocial model of illness applied to IBS acknowledges the interaction between biological, psychological, environmental, and social factors in relation to pain and functional disability. A holistic approach to IBS should take into account the heterogeneous nature of the disorder, and differentiate treatments for different types of IBS, also considering the marked individual differences in prevalent personality traits and emotional patterns. Beyond medications, and lifestyle/dietary interventions, psychological and educational treatments may provide the optimal chance of addressing clinical symptoms, comorbid conditions, and quality of life in IBS patients.

Personality traits and emotional patterns in irritable bowel syndrome

PubMed Central

Muscatello, Maria Rosaria A; Bruno, Antonio; Mento, Carmela; Pandolfo, Gianluca; Zoccali, Rocco A

2016-01-01

The review focuses on those personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), constructs (alexithymia and distressed - Type D personality) and emotional patterns (negative and positive) that are of particular concern in health psychology, with the aim to highlight their potential role on the pathogenesis, onset, symptom clusters, clinical course, and outcome of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Personality traits and emotional patterns play key roles in affecting autonomic, immune, inflammatory, and endocrine functions, thus contributing not only to IBS clinical expression and symptomatic burden, but also to disease physiopathology. In this sense, psychological treatments should address those personality traits and emotional features that are constitutive of, and integral to IBS. The biopsychosocial model of illness applied to IBS acknowledges the interaction between biological, psychological, environmental, and social factors in relation to pain and functional disability. A holistic approach to IBS should take into account the heterogeneous nature of the disorder, and differentiate treatments for different types of IBS, also considering the marked individual differences in prevalent personality traits and emotional patterns. Beyond medications, and lifestyle/dietary interventions, psychological and educational treatments may provide the optimal chance of addressing clinical symptoms, comorbid conditions, and quality of life in IBS patients. PMID:27605876

Relationships between structural complexity, coral traits, and reef fish assemblages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darling, Emily S.; Graham, Nicholas A. J.; Januchowski-Hartley, Fraser A.; Nash, Kirsty L.; Pratchett, Morgan S.; Wilson, Shaun K.

2017-06-01

With the ongoing loss of coral cover and the associated flattening of reef architecture, understanding the links between coral habitat and reef fishes is of critical importance. Here, we investigate whether considering coral traits and functional diversity provides new insights into the relationship between structural complexity and reef fish communities, and whether coral traits and community composition can predict structural complexity. Across 157 sites in Seychelles, Maldives, the Chagos Archipelago, and Australia's Great Barrier Reef, we find that structural complexity and reef zone are the strongest and most consistent predictors of reef fish abundance, biomass, species richness, and trophic structure. However, coral traits, diversity, and life histories provided additional predictive power for models of reef fish assemblages, and were key drivers of structural complexity. Our findings highlight that reef complexity relies on living corals—with different traits and life histories—continuing to build carbonate skeletons, and that these nuanced relationships between coral assemblages and habitat complexity can affect the structure of reef fish assemblages. Seascape-level estimates of structural complexity are rapid and cost effective with important implications for the structure and function of fish assemblages, and should be incorporated into monitoring programs.

Do Core Interpersonal and Affective Traits of PCL-R Psychopathy Interact with Antisocial Behavior and Disinhibition to Predict Violence?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennealy, Patrick J.; Skeem, Jennifer L.; Walters, Glenn D.; Camp, Jacqueline

2010-01-01

The utility of psychopathy measures in predicting violence is largely explained by their assessment of social deviance (e.g., antisocial behavior; disinhibition). A key question is whether social deviance "interacts" with the core interpersonal-affective traits of psychopathy to predict violence. Do core psychopathic traits multiply the (already…

Effect of Habitat Conditions and Plant Traits on Leaf Damage in the Carduoideae Subfamily

PubMed Central

Münzbergová, Zuzana; Skuhrovec, Jiří

2013-01-01

Plant traits are the key factors that determine herbivore foraging selection. The traits serving as defense traits against herbivores represent a wide range of traits, such as chemical, physiological, morphological and life-history traits. While many studies considered plant defense traits at the within-species scale, much less is known from comparisons of a wide range of closely related species. The aim of this study was to identify factors responsible for the intensity of leaf damage in the Carduoideae subfamily of Asteraceae, which hosts many invasive species and thus is potential candidate plant species that could be controlled by biological control. Specifically, we wanted to see the relative importance of habitat characteristics, plant size and plants traits in determining the degree of folivory. The study identified several defense traits able to explain differences in herbivory between species after accounting for differences in the habitats in which the species occur and the plant size. Specifically, the most important traits were traits related to the quality of the leaf tissue expressed as the content of phosphorus, water and specific leaf area, which suggests that the leaf quality had a more important effect on the degree of herbivory than the presence of specific defense mechanisms such as spines and hair. Leaf quality is thus a candidate factor that drives herbivore choice when selecting which plant to feed on and should be considered when assessing the danger that a herbivore will switch hosts when introduced to a new range. PMID:23717643

Emotion traits in older suicide attempters and non-attempters.

PubMed

Seidlitz, L; Conwell, Y; Duberstein, P; Cox, C; Denning, D

2001-10-01

Emotion is a flourishing area of cross-disciplinary research that can inform traditional approaches to psychopathology. The present study examines emotion traits associated with attempted suicide in a depressed older sample. Seven emotion traits were compared in depressed inpatients, age 50 years or older, who either had made a suicide attempt after age 50 (n=47) or had never made a suicide attempt (n=38) as assessed by self-report and a review of available medical records. In univariate analyses controlled for age and sex, late-life suicide attempters were lower in Warmth and Positive Emotions than non-attempters. However, only lower Anxiety was associated with attempter status when all seven emotion traits were included as predictors. Of the attempters, those who had made a greater number of attempts reported lower Positive Emotions and higher Anger/Hostility and Guilt, though only lower Positive Emotions had a significant effect independent of the other emotions. In a subsample of 41 patients whose index admission was precipitated by an attempt, lower Anger/Hostility was associated with higher intent to die, and lower Anger/Hostility and lower Guilt was associated with higher lethality of method. The assessments of emotion traits may have been colored by transient moods, including, for the recent attempters, moods associated with the aftermath of their attempt. Participants who completed the key measures may not be representative of older attempters. Emotion traits are associated with suicidal behavior in older depressed patients, and the specific type of emotion and the direction of its association depends on the specific suicide variable examined. Emotion traits may be helpful in assessing suicide risk.

Species divergence and phylogenetic variation of ecophysiological traits in lianas and trees.

PubMed

Rios, Rodrigo S; Salgado-Luarte, Cristian; Gianoli, Ernesto

2014-01-01

The climbing habit is an evolutionary key innovation in plants because it is associated with enhanced clade diversification. We tested whether patterns of species divergence and variation of three ecophysiological traits that are fundamental for plant adaptation to light environments (maximum photosynthetic rate [A(max)], dark respiration rate [R(d)], and specific leaf area [SLA]) are consistent with this key innovation. Using data reported from four tropical forests and three temperate forests, we compared phylogenetic distance among species as well as the evolutionary rate, phylogenetic distance and phylogenetic signal of those traits in lianas and trees. Estimates of evolutionary rates showed that R(d) evolved faster in lianas, while SLA evolved faster in trees. The mean phylogenetic distance was 1.2 times greater among liana species than among tree species. Likewise, estimates of phylogenetic distance indicated that lianas were less related than by chance alone (phylogenetic evenness across 63 species), and trees were more related than expected by chance (phylogenetic clustering across 71 species). Lianas showed evenness for R(d), while trees showed phylogenetic clustering for this trait. In contrast, for SLA, lianas exhibited phylogenetic clustering and trees showed phylogenetic evenness. Lianas and trees showed patterns of ecophysiological trait variation among species that were independent of phylogenetic relatedness. We found support for the expected pattern of greater species divergence in lianas, but did not find consistent patterns regarding ecophysiological trait evolution and divergence. R(d) followed the species-level pattern, i.e., greater divergence/evolution in lianas compared to trees, while the opposite occurred for SLA and no pattern was detected for A(max). R(d) may have driven lianas' divergence across forest environments, and might contribute to diversification in climber clades.

Heavy Metal Uptake by C. esculentus, S. alterniflora and Agronomic Plants from Contaminated Soils and Sediments.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-02-28

in March and potted in April. Seed sowing will ta..-e place in mid-May. The species sown will include a grass. wheat, lettuce and radish and C... effects varied. Soe started negativeLy, and became positive; others remained negative ( radish ), and others were positive aLl the time (wheat). ALL...agronomic plants selected were radish (Webb’s French Break- fast), lettuce (Paris White), wheat (spring), red fescue (Merlin) and ryegrass (S24). Each

Genotypic variation in traits controlling carbon flux responses to precipitation in switchgrass

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Background/Questions/Methods Fluxes of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems are key indicators of their productivity and carbon storage potential. Ecosystem fluxes will be impacted by climate change, especially changes in rainfall amount. Fluxes may also be affected by plant traits, including abovegr...

Genomic resources in fruit plants: an assessment of current status.

PubMed

Rai, Manoj K; Shekhawat, N S

2015-01-01

The availability of many genomic resources such as genome sequences, functional genomics resources including microarrays and RNA-seq, sufficient numbers of molecular markers, express sequence tags (ESTs) and high-density genetic maps is causing a rapid acceleration of genetics and genomic research of many fruit plants. This is leading to an increase in our knowledge of the genes that are linked to many horticultural and agronomically important traits. Recently, some progress has also been made on the identification and functional analysis of miRNAs in some fruit plants. This is one of the most active research fields in plant sciences. The last decade has witnessed development of genomic resources in many fruit plants such as apple, banana, citrus, grapes, papaya, pears, strawberry etc.; however, many of them are still not being exploited. Furthermore, owing to lack of resources, infrastructure and research facilities in many lesser-developed countries, development of genomic resources in many underutilized or less-studied fruit crops, which grow in these countries, is limited. Thus, research emphasis should be given to those fruit crops for which genomic resources are relatively scarce. The development of genomic databases of these less-studied fruit crops will enable biotechnologists to identify target genes that underlie key horticultural and agronomical traits. This review presents an overview of the current status of the development of genomic resources in fruit plants with the main emphasis being on genome sequencing, EST resources, functional genomics resources including microarray and RNA-seq, identification of quantitative trait loci and construction of genetic maps as well as efforts made on the identification and functional analysis of miRNAs in fruit plants.

LC-MS phenolic profiling combined with multivariate analysis as an approach for the characterization of extra virgin olive oils of four rare Tunisian cultivars during ripening.

PubMed

Ben Brahim, Samia; Kelebek, Hasim; Ammar, Sonda; Abichou, Mounir; Bouaziz, Mohamed

2017-08-15

In this work, the phenolic composition of four rare cultivars grown under the same agronomical and environmental conditions was studied. This is to test the effects of cultivars and ripening index essentially on phenolic composition in olive oils as well as tocopherols composition, organoleptic profiling and oxidative properties. Furthermore, some agronomical traits were determined in which a general increase in the size of the fruit and oil contents were recorded for all cultivars. The phenolic fractions were identified and quantified using liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS) in multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM). A total of 13 phenolic compounds belonging to different chemical families were determined. Qualitative and quantitative differences in phenolic composition were observed among cultivars and also among sampling times. On the contrary to the agronomical traits, a general decrease (p<0.05) of total phenolic compounds was observed during maturation. Likewise, a decrease in tocopherols concentrations and oxidative properties was observed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Plant traits related to nitrogen uptake influence plant-microbe competition.

PubMed

Moreau, Delphine; Pivato, Barbara; Bru, David; Busset, Hugues; Deau, Florence; Faivre, Céline; Matejicek, Annick; Strbik, Florence; Philippot, Laurent; Mougel, Christophe

2015-08-01

Plant species are important drivers of soil microbial communities. However, how plant functional traits are shaping these communities has received less attention though linking plant and microbial traits is crucial for better understanding plant-microbe interactions. Our objective was to determine how plant-microbe interactions were affected by plant traits. Specifically we analyzed how interactions between plant species and microbes involved in nitrogen cycling were affected by plant traits related to 'nitrogen nutrition in interaction with soil nitrogen availability. Eleven plant species, selected along an oligotrophic-nitrophilic gradient, were grown individually in a nitrogen-poor soil with two levels of nitrate availability. Plant traits for both carbon and nitrogen nutrition were measured and the genetic structure and abundance of rhizosphere. microbial communities, in particular the ammonia oxidizer and nitrate reducer guilds, were analyzed. The structure of the bacterial community in the rhizosphere differed significantly between plant species and these differences depended on nitrogen availability. The results suggest that the rate of nitrogen uptake per unit of root biomass and per day is a key plant trait, explaining why the effect of nitrogen availability on the structure of the bacterial community depends on the plant species. We also showed that the abundance of nitrate reducing bacteria always decreased with increasing nitrogen uptake per unit of root biomass per day, indicating that there was competition for nitrate between plants and nitrate reducing bacteria. This study demonstrates that nitrate-reducing microorganisms may be adversely affected by plants with a high nitrogen uptake rate. Our work puts forward the role of traits related to nitrogen in plant-microbe interactions, whereas carbon is commonly considered as the main driver. It also suggests that plant traits related to ecophysiological processes, such as nitrogen uptake rates, are more

Statistical epistasis between candidate gene alleles for complex tuber traits in an association mapping population of tetraploid potato

PubMed Central

Li, Li; Paulo, Maria-João; van Eeuwijk, Fred

2010-01-01

Association mapping using DNA-based markers is a novel tool in plant genetics for the analysis of complex traits. Potato tuber yield, starch content, starch yield and chip color are complex traits of agronomic relevance, for which carbohydrate metabolism plays an important role. At the functional level, the genes and biochemical pathways involved in carbohydrate metabolism are among the best studied in plants. Quantitative traits such as tuber starch and sugar content are therefore models for association genetics in potato based on candidate genes. In an association mapping experiment conducted with a population of 243 tetraploid potato varieties and breeding clones, we previously identified associations between individual candidate gene alleles and tuber starch content, starch yield and chip quality. In the present paper, we tested 190 DNA markers at 36 loci scored in the same association mapping population for pairwise statistical epistatic interactions. Fifty marker pairs were associated mainly with tuber starch content and/or starch yield, at a cut-off value of q ≤ 0.20 for the experiment-wide false discovery rate (FDR). Thirteen marker pairs had an FDR of q ≤ 0.10. Alleles at loci encoding ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activase (Rca), sucrose phosphate synthase (Sps) and vacuolar invertase (Pain1) were most frequently involved in statistical epistatic interactions. The largest effect on tuber starch content and starch yield was observed for the paired alleles Pain1-8c and Rca-1a, explaining 9 and 10% of the total variance, respectively. The combination of these two alleles increased the means of tuber starch content and starch yield. Biological models to explain the observed statistical epistatic interactions are discussed. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00122-010-1389-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. PMID:20603706

Designing an Accompanying Ecosystem to Foster Entrepreneurship among Agronomic and Forestry Engineering Students. Opinion and Commitment of University Lecturers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ortiz-Medina, L.; Fernández-Ahumada, E.; Lara-Vélez, P.; Taguas, E. V.; Gallardo-Cobos, R.; del Campillo, M. C.; Guerrero-Ginel, J. E.

2016-01-01

In the Higher School of Agronomic and Forestry Engineering of the University of Cordoba, a collective project conceived as an 'ecosystem to support and accompany entrepreneurs' has been proposed. The approach aims to spread and consolidate the entrepreneurial spirit and to respond to the demands of possible stakeholders involved in the whole…

Dominance genetic variance for traits under directional selection in Drosophila serrata.

PubMed

Sztepanacz, Jacqueline L; Blows, Mark W

2015-05-01

In contrast to our growing understanding of patterns of additive genetic variance in single- and multi-trait combinations, the relative contribution of nonadditive genetic variance, particularly dominance variance, to multivariate phenotypes is largely unknown. While mechanisms for the evolution of dominance genetic variance have been, and to some degree remain, subject to debate, the pervasiveness of dominance is widely recognized and may play a key role in several evolutionary processes. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that the contribution of dominance variance to phenotypic variance may increase with the correlation between a trait and fitness; however, direct tests of this hypothesis are few. Using a multigenerational breeding design in an unmanipulated population of Drosophila serrata, we estimated additive and dominance genetic covariance matrices for multivariate wing-shape phenotypes, together with a comprehensive measure of fitness, to determine whether there is an association between directional selection and dominance variance. Fitness, a trait unequivocally under directional selection, had no detectable additive genetic variance, but significant dominance genetic variance contributing 32% of the phenotypic variance. For single and multivariate morphological traits, however, no relationship was observed between trait-fitness correlations and dominance variance. A similar proportion of additive and dominance variance was found to contribute to phenotypic variance for single traits, and double the amount of additive compared to dominance variance was found for the multivariate trait combination under directional selection. These data suggest that for many fitness components a positive association between directional selection and dominance genetic variance may not be expected. Copyright © 2015 by the Genetics Society of America.

An overview of the genetic dissection of complex traits.

PubMed

Rao, D C

2008-01-01

Thanks to the recent revolutionary genomic advances such as the International HapMap consortium, resolution of the genetic architecture of common complex traits is beginning to look hopeful. While demonstrating the feasibility of genome-wide association (GWA) studies, the pathbreaking Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) study also serves to underscore the critical importance of very large sample sizes and draws attention to potential problems, which need to be addressed as part of the study design. Even the large WTCCC study had vastly inadequate power for several of the associations reported (and confirmed) and, therefore, most of the regions harboring relevant associations may not be identified anytime soon. This chapter provides an overview of some of the key developments in the methodological approaches to genetic dissection of common complex traits. Constrained Bayesian networks are suggested as especially useful for analysis of pathway-based SNPs. Likewise, composite likelihood is suggested as a promising method for modeling complex systems. It discusses the key steps in a study design, with an emphasis on GWA studies. Potential limitations highlighted by the WTCCC GWA study are discussed, including problems associated with massive genotype imputation, analysis of pooled national samples, shared controls, and the critical role of interactions. GWA studies clearly need massive sample sizes that are only possible through genuine collaborations. After all, for common complex traits, the question is not whether we can find some pieces of the puzzle, but how large and what kind of a sample we need to (nearly) solve the genetic puzzle.

GA-Responsive Dwarfing Gene Rht12 Affects the Developmental and Agronomic Traits in Common Bread Wheat

PubMed Central

Chen, Liang; Phillips, Andrew L.; Condon, Anthony G.; Parry, Martin A. J.; Hu, Yin-Gang

2013-01-01

Opportunities exist for replacing reduced height (Rht) genes Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b with alternative dwarfing genes, such as the gibberellin-responsive gene Rht12, for bread wheat improvement. However, a comprehensive understanding of the effects and mode of action of Rht12 is lacking. In the present study, the effects of Rht12 were characterized by analyzing its effects on seeding vigour, seedling roots, leaf and stem morphology, spike development and carbohydrate assimilation and distribution. This was carried out in the four genotypes of F2:3 lines derived from a cross between Ningchun45 and Karcagi (12) in two experiments of autumn sowing and spring sowing. Rht12 significantly decreased stem length (43%∼48% for peduncle) and leaf length (25%∼30% for flag leaf) while the thickness of the internode walls and width of the leaves were increased. Though the final plant stature was shortened (40%) by Rht12, the seedling vigour, especially coleoptile length and root traits at the seedling stage, were not affected adversely. Rht12 elongated the duration of the spike development phase, improved the proportion of spike dry weight at anthesis and significantly increased floret fertility (14%) in the autumn sowing experiment. However, Rht12 delayed anthesis date by around 5 days and even the dominant Vrn-B1 allele could not compensate this negative effect. Additionally, grain size was reduced with the ability to support spike development after anthesis decreased in Rht12 lines. Finally, grain yield was similar between the dwarf and tall lines in the autumn sowing experiment. Thus, Rht12 could substantially reduce plant height without altering seeding vigour and significantly increase spikelet fertility in the favourable autumn sowing environment. The successful utilization of Rht12 in breeding programs will require careful selection since it might delay ear emergence. Nonetheless, the potential exists for wheat improvement by using Rht12. PMID:23658622

Does epigenetic polymorphism contribute to phenotypic variances in Jatropha curcas L.?

PubMed

Yi, Chengxin; Zhang, Shilu; Liu, Xiaokun; Bui, Ha T N; Hong, Yan

2010-11-23

There is a growing interest in Jatropha curcas L. (jatropha) as a biodiesel feedstock plant. Variations in its morphology and seed productivity have been well documented. However, there is the lack of systematic comparative evaluation of distinct collections under same climate and agronomic practices. With the several reports on low genetic diversity in jatropha collections, there is uncertainty on genetic contribution to jatropha morphology. In this study, five populations of jatropha plants collected from China (CN), Indonesia (MD), Suriname (SU), Tanzania (AF) and India (TN) were planted in one farm under the same agronomic practices. Their agronomic traits (branching pattern, height, diameter of canopy, time to first flowering, dormancy, accumulated seed yield and oil content) were observed and tracked for two years. Significant variations were found for all the agronomic traits studied. Genetic diversity and epigenetic diversity were evaluated using florescence Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (fAFLP) and methylation sensitive florescence AFLP (MfAFLP) methods. Very low level of genetic diversity was detected (polymorphic band <0.1%) within and among populations. In contrast, intermediate but significant epigenetic diversity was detected (25.3% of bands were polymorphic) within and among populations. More than half of CCGG sites surveyed by MfAFLP were methylated with significant difference in inner cytosine and double cytosine methylation among populations. Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) based on Nei's epigenetic distance showed Tanzania/India group distinct from China/Indonesia/Suriname group. Inheritance of epigenetic markers was assessed in one F1 hybrid population between two morphologically distinct parent plants and one selfed population. 30 out of 39 polymorphic markers (77%) were found heritable and followed Mendelian segregation. One epiallele was further confirmed by bisulphite sequencing of its corresponding genomic region. Our study

Does epigenetic polymorphism contribute to phenotypic variances in Jatropha curcas L.?

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background There is a growing interest in Jatropha curcas L. (jatropha) as a biodiesel feedstock plant. Variations in its morphology and seed productivity have been well documented. However, there is the lack of systematic comparative evaluation of distinct collections under same climate and agronomic practices. With the several reports on low genetic diversity in jatropha collections, there is uncertainty on genetic contribution to jatropha morphology. Result In this study, five populations of jatropha plants collected from China (CN), Indonesia (MD), Suriname (SU), Tanzania (AF) and India (TN) were planted in one farm under the same agronomic practices. Their agronomic traits (branching pattern, height, diameter of canopy, time to first flowering, dormancy, accumulated seed yield and oil content) were observed and tracked for two years. Significant variations were found for all the agronomic traits studied. Genetic diversity and epigenetic diversity were evaluated using florescence Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (fAFLP) and methylation sensitive florescence AFLP (MfAFLP) methods. Very low level of genetic diversity was detected (polymorphic band <0.1%) within and among populations. In contrast, intermediate but significant epigenetic diversity was detected (25.3% of bands were polymorphic) within and among populations. More than half of CCGG sites surveyed by MfAFLP were methylated with significant difference in inner cytosine and double cytosine methylation among populations. Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) based on Nei's epigenetic distance showed Tanzania/India group distinct from China/Indonesia/Suriname group. Inheritance of epigenetic markers was assessed in one F1 hybrid population between two morphologically distinct parent plants and one selfed population. 30 out of 39 polymorphic markers (77%) were found heritable and followed Mendelian segregation. One epiallele was further confirmed by bisulphite sequencing of its corresponding genomic

Big Five Personality Traits of Cybercrime Victims.

PubMed

van de Weijer, Steve G A; Leukfeldt, E Rutger

2017-07-01

The prevalence of cybercrime has increased rapidly over the last decades and has become part of the everyday life of citizens. It is, therefore, of great importance to gain more knowledge on the factors related to an increased or decreased likelihood of becoming a cybercrime victim. The current study adds to the existing body of knowledge using a large representative sample of Dutch individuals (N = 3,648) to study the relationship between cybercrime victimization and the key traits from the Big Five model of personality (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience). First, multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associations between the personality traits and three victim groups, that is, cybercrime victims versus nonvictims, traditional crime victims versus nonvictims, and cybercrime victims versus traditional crime victims. Next, logistic regression analyses were performed to predict victimization of cyber-dependent crimes (i.e., hacking and virus infection) and cyber-enabled crimes (i.e., online intimidation, online consumer fraud, and theft from bank account). The analyses show that personality traits are not specifically associated with cybercrime victimization, but rather with victimization in general. Only those with higher scores on emotional stability were less likely to become a victim of cybercrime than traditional crime. Furthermore, the results indicate that there are little differences between personality traits related to victimization of cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crimes. Only individuals with higher scores on openness to experience have higher odds of becoming a victim of cyber-enabled crimes.

Expanding Omics Resources for Improvement of Soybean Seed Composition Traits

PubMed Central

Chaudhary, Juhi; Patil, Gunvant B.; Sonah, Humira; Deshmukh, Rupesh K.; Vuong, Tri D.; Valliyodan, Babu; Nguyen, Henry T.

2015-01-01

Food resources of the modern world are strained due to the increasing population. There is an urgent need for innovative methods and approaches to augment food production. Legume seeds are major resources of human food and animal feed with their unique nutrient compositions including oil, protein, carbohydrates, and other beneficial nutrients. Recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) together with “omics” technologies have considerably strengthened soybean research. The availability of well annotated soybean genome sequence along with hundreds of identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with different seed traits can be used for gene discovery and molecular marker development for breeding applications. Despite the remarkable progress in these technologies, the analysis and mining of existing seed genomics data are still challenging due to the complexity of genetic inheritance, metabolic partitioning, and developmental regulations. Integration of “omics tools” is an effective strategy to discover key regulators of various seed traits. In this review, recent advances in “omics” approaches and their use in soybean seed trait investigations are presented along with the available databases and technological platforms and their applicability in the improvement of soybean. This article also highlights the use of modern breeding approaches, such as genome-wide association studies (GWAS), genomic selection (GS), and marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS) for developing superior cultivars. A catalog of available important resources for major seed composition traits, such as seed oil, protein, carbohydrates, and yield traits are provided to improve the knowledge base and future utilization of this information in the soybean crop improvement programs. PMID:26635846

Relations of Distinct Psychopathic Personality Traits with Anxiety and Fear: Findings from Offenders and Non-Offenders.

PubMed

Gillespie, Steven M; Mitchell, Ian J; Satherley, Rose-Marie; Beech, Anthony R; Rotshtein, Pia

2015-01-01

Early descriptions of psychopathy emphasise fearlessness and a lack of nervousness or anxiety as key characteristics of the disorder. However, conflicting evidence suggests that anxiety may be positively correlated with some aspects of the psychopathy construct. This position may seem somewhat paradoxical when considered alongside impaired processing of fear related stimuli in psychopathic personality. The aim of the current paper was to examine the distinct relations of callous, egocentric, and antisocial psychopathic traits with measures of anxiety and social anxiety in samples of non-offenders (Study 1) and violent offenders (Study 2). In Study 2 we also used an emotion recognition task to examine fearful face recognition. In Studies 1 and 2 we showed distinct and opposite significant relationships of egocentric and antisocial psychopathic traits with trait anxiety. Thus, while trait anxiety was negatively predicted by egocentric traits, it was predicted in a positive direction by antisocial traits in both samples. In Study 2 we found that callous traits were predictive of greater impairments in fearful face recognition. These findings suggest that anxiety and fear are distinguishable constructs in relation to psychopathic personality traits, and are discussed in terms of potentially separable mechanisms for these two constructs.

Relations of Distinct Psychopathic Personality Traits with Anxiety and Fear: Findings from Offenders and Non-Offenders

PubMed Central

Gillespie, Steven M.; Mitchell, Ian J.; Satherley, Rose-Marie; Beech, Anthony R.; Rotshtein, Pia

2015-01-01

Early descriptions of psychopathy emphasise fearlessness and a lack of nervousness or anxiety as key characteristics of the disorder. However, conflicting evidence suggests that anxiety may be positively correlated with some aspects of the psychopathy construct. This position may seem somewhat paradoxical when considered alongside impaired processing of fear related stimuli in psychopathic personality. The aim of the current paper was to examine the distinct relations of callous, egocentric, and antisocial psychopathic traits with measures of anxiety and social anxiety in samples of non-offenders (Study 1) and violent offenders (Study 2). In Study 2 we also used an emotion recognition task to examine fearful face recognition. In Studies 1 and 2 we showed distinct and opposite significant relationships of egocentric and antisocial psychopathic traits with trait anxiety. Thus, while trait anxiety was negatively predicted by egocentric traits, it was predicted in a positive direction by antisocial traits in both samples. In Study 2 we found that callous traits were predictive of greater impairments in fearful face recognition. These findings suggest that anxiety and fear are distinguishable constructs in relation to psychopathic personality traits, and are discussed in terms of potentially separable mechanisms for these two constructs. PMID:26569411

Genotypic variation in traits controlling carbon flux responses to precipitation in switchgrass

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Fluxes of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems are key indicators of their productivity and carbon storage potential. Ecosystem fluxes will be impacted by climate change, especially changes in rainfall amount. Fluxes are also related to plant traits, including leaf photosynthesis (ACO2), leaf area ind...

Grain and nutritional quality traits of Southwestern U.S. blue maize landraces

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Anthocyanin-rich pigmented maize has been a key component in socio-cultural life of Native American communities for many centuries. Our research characterizes the grain and nutritional quality traits of southwestern U.S. blue maize landraces. During 2013, six representative accessions and two improv...

Biological Implications in Cassava for the Production of Amylose-Free Starch: Impact on Root Yield and Related Traits

PubMed Central

Karlström, Amanda; Calle, Fernando; Salazar, Sandra; Morante, Nelson; Dufour, Dominique; Ceballos, Hernán

2016-01-01

Cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) is an important food security crop, but it is becoming an important raw material for different industrial applications. Cassava is the second most important source of starch worldwide. Novel starch properties are of interest to the starch industry, and one them is the recently identified amylose-free (waxy) cassava starch. Waxy mutants have been found in different crops and have been often associated with a yield penalty. There are ongoing efforts to develop commercial cassava varieties with amylose-free starch. However, little information is available regarding the biological and agronomic implications of starch mutations in cassava, nor in other root and tuber crops. In this study, siblings from eight full-sib families, segregating for the waxy trait, were used to determine if the mutation has implications for yield, dry matter content (DMC) and harvest index in cassava. A total of 87 waxy and 87 wild-type starch genotypes from the eight families were used in the study. The only significant effect of starch type was on DMC (p < 0.01), with waxy clones having a 0.8% lower content than their wild type counterparts. There was no effect of starch type on fresh root yield (FRY), adjusted FRY and harvest index. It is not clear if lower DMC is a pleiotropic effect of the waxy starch mutation or else the result of linked genes introgressed along with the mutation. It is expected that commercial waxy cassava varieties will have competitive FRYs but special efforts will be required to attain adequate DMCs. This study contributes to the limited knowledge available of the impact of starch mutations on the agronomic performance of root and tuber crops. PMID:27242813

Onion Hybrid Seed Production: Relation with Nectar Composition and Flower Traits.

PubMed

Soto, Veronica C; Caselles, Cristian A; Silva, Maria F; Galmarini, Claudio R

2018-05-28

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the main vegetable crops. Pollinators are required for onion seed production, being honeybees the most used. Around the world, two types of onion varieties are grown: open pollinated (OP) and hybrids. Hybrids offer numerous advantages to growers, but usually have lower seed yields than OP cultivars, which in many cases compromise the success of new hybrids. As pollination is critical for seed set, understanding the role of floral rewards and attractants to pollinator species is the key to improve crop seed yield. In this study, the correlation of nectar-analyzed compounds, floral traits, and seed yield under open field conditions in two experimental sites was determined. Nectar composition was described through the analysis of sugars, phenol, and alkaloid compounds. Length and width of the style and tepals of the flowers were measured to describe floral traits. Floral and nectar traits showed differences among the studied lines. For nectar traits, we found a significant influence of the environment where plants were cultivated. Nonetheless, flower traits were not influenced by the experimental sites. The OP and the male-sterile lines (MSLs) showed differences in nectar chemical composition and floral traits. In addition, there were differences between and within MSLs, some of which were correlated with seed yield, bringing the opportunity to select the most productive MSL, using simple determinations of morphological characters like the length of the style or tepals size.

Larval traits carry over to affect post-settlement behaviour in a common coral reef fish.

PubMed

Dingeldein, Andrea L; White, J Wilson

2016-07-01

Most reef fishes begin life as planktonic larvae before settling to the reef, metamorphosing and entering the benthic adult population. Different selective forces determine survival in the planktonic and benthic life stages, but traits established in the larval stage may carry over to affect post-settlement performance. We tested the hypothesis that larval traits affect two key post-settlement fish behaviours: social group-joining and foraging. Certain larval traits of reef fishes are permanently recorded in the rings in their otoliths. In the bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum), prior work has shown that key larval traits recorded in otoliths (growth rate, energetic condition at settlement) carry over to affect post-settlement survival on the reef, with higher-larval-condition fish experiencing less post-settlement mortality. We hypothesized that this selective mortality is mediated by carry-over effects on post-settlement antipredator behaviours. We predicted that better-condition fish would forage less and be more likely to join groups, both behaviours that would reduce predation risk. We collected 550 recently settled bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum) from three reef sites off St. Croix (USVI) and performed two analyses. First, we compared each settler's larval traits to the size of its social group to determine whether larval traits influenced group-joining behaviour. Secondly, we observed foraging behaviour in a subset of grouped and solitary fish (n = 14) for 1-4 days post-settlement. We then collected the fish and tested whether larval traits influenced the proportion of time spent foraging. Body length at settlement, but not condition, affected group-joining behaviour; smaller fish were more likely to remain solitary or in smaller groups. However, both greater length and better condition were associated with greater proportions of time spent foraging over four consecutive days post-settlement. Larval traits carry over to affect post

Niche evolution and adaptive radiation: Testing the order of trait divergence

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ackerly, D.D.; Schwilk, D.W.; Webb, C.O.

2006-01-01

In the course of an adaptive radiation, the evolution of niche parameters is of particular interest for understanding modes of speciation and the consequences for coexistence of related species within communities. We pose a general question: In the course of an evolutionary radiation, do traits related to within-community niche differences (?? niche) evolve before or after differentiation of macrohabitat affinity or climatic tolerances (?? niche)? Here we introduce a new test to address this question, based on a modification of the method of independent contrasts. The divergence order test (DOT) is based on the average age of the nodes on a tree, weighted by the absolute magnitude of the contrast at each node for a particular trait. The comparison of these weighted averages reveals whether large divergences for one trait have occurred earlier or later in the course of diversification, relative to a second trait; significance is determined by bootstrapping from maximum-likelihood ancestral state reconstructions. The method is applied to the evolution of Ceanothus, a woody plant group in California, in which co-occurring species exhibit significant differences in a key leaf trait (specific leaf area) associated with contrasting physiological and life history strategies. Co-occurring species differ more for this trait than expected under a null model of community assembly. This ?? niche difference evolved early in the divergence of two major subclades within Ceanothus, whereas climatic distributions (?? niche traits) diversified later within each of the subclades. However, rapid evolution of climate parameters makes inferences of early divergence events highly uncertain, and differentiation of the ?? niche might have taken place throughout the evolution of the group, without leaving a clear phylogenetic signal. Similar patterns observed in several plant and animal groups suggest that early divergence of ?? niche traits might be a common feature of niche evolution in

Characterization of biochars to evaluate recalcitrance and agronomic performance.

PubMed

Enders, Akio; Hanley, Kelly; Whitman, Thea; Joseph, Stephen; Lehmann, Johannes

2012-06-01

Biochars (n=94) were found to have ash contents from 0.4% to 88.2%, volatile matter from 13.2% to 70.0%, and fixed carbon from 0% to 77.4% (w/w). Greater pyrolysis temperature for low-ash biochars increased fixed carbon, but decreased it for biochars with more than 20% ash. Nitrogen recovery varied depending on feedstock used to a greater extent (12-68%) than organic (25-45%) or total C (41-76%) at a pyrolysis temperature of 600 °C. Fixed carbon production ranged from no enrichment in poultry biochar to a 10-fold increase in corn biochar (at 600 °C). Prediction of biochar stability was improved by a combination of volatile matter and H:C ratios corrected for inorganic C. In contrast to stability, agronomic utility of biochars is not an absolute value, as it needs to meet local soil constraints. Woody feedstock demonstrated the greatest versatility with pH values ranging from 4 to 9. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genetic parameters and selection of soybean lines based on selection indexes.

PubMed

Teixeira, F G; Hamawaki, O T; Nogueira, A P O; Hamawaki, R L; Jorge, G L; Hamawaki, C L; Machado, B Q V; Santana, A J O

2017-09-21

Defining selection criteria is important to obtain promising genotypes in a breeding program. The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for agronomic traits and to perform soybean line selection using selection indices. The experiment was conducted at an experimental area located at Capim Branco farm, belonging to the Federal University of Uberlândia. A total of 37 soybean genotypes were evaluated in randomized complete block design with three replicates, in which twelve agronomic traits were evaluated. Analysis of variance, the Scott-Knott test at the 1 and 5% level of probability, and selection index analyses were performed. There was genetic variability for all agronomic traits, with medium to high levels of genotype determination coefficient. Twelve lines with a total cycle up to 110 days were observed and grouped with the cultivars MSOY 6101 and UFUS 7910. Three lines, UFUS FG 03, UFUS FG 20, and UFUS FG 31, were highlighted regarding grain yield with higher values than the national average of 3072 kg/ha. The direct selection enabled the highest trait individual gains. The Williams (1962) index and the Smith (1936) and Hazel (1943) index presented the highest selection gain for the grain yield character. The genotype-ideotype distance index and the index of the sum of ranks of Mulamba and Mock (1978) presented higher values of total selection gain. The lines UFUS FG 12, UFUS FG 14, UFUS FG 18, UFUS FG 25, and UFUS FG 31 were distinguished as superior genotypes by direct selection methods and selection indexes.

QTL mapping for Mediterranean corn borer resistance in European flint germplasm using recombinant inbred lines

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Ostrinia nubilalis (ECB) and Sesamia nonagrioides (MCB) are two maize stem borers which cause important losses in temperate maize production, but QTL analyses for corn borer resistance were mostly restricted to ECB resistance and maize materials genetically related (mapping populations derived from B73). Therefore, the objective of this work was to identify and characterize QTLs for MCB resistance and agronomic traits in a RILs population derived from European flint inbreds. Results Three QTLs were detected for stalk tunnel length at bins 1.02, 3.05 and 8.05 which explained 7.5% of the RILs genotypic variance. The QTL at bin 3.05 was co-located to a QTL related to plant height and grain humidity and the QTL at bin 8.05 was located near a QTL related to yield. Conclusions Our results, when compared with results from other authors, suggest the presence of genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis or fortification with effects on resistance to different corn borer species and digestibility for dairy cattle. Particularly, we proposed five candidate genes related to cell wall characteristics which could explain the QTL for stalk tunnelling in the region 3.05. However, the small proportion of genotypic variance explained by the QTLs suggest that there are also many other genes of small effect regulating MCB resistance and we conclude that MAS seems not promising for this trait. Two QTLs detected for stalk tunnelling overlap with QTLs for agronomic traits, indicating the presence of pleitropism or linkage between genes affecting resistance and agronomic traits. PMID:20230603

Agronomic characterization of the Argentina Indicator Region. [U.S. corn belt and Argentine pampas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hicks, D. R. (Principal Investigator)

1982-01-01

An overview of the Argentina indicator region including information on topography, climate, soils and vegetation is presented followed by a regionalization of crop livestock land use. Corn/soybean production and exports as well as agricultural practices are discussed. Similarities and differences in the physical agronomic scene, crop livestock land use and agricultural practices between the U.S. corn belt and the Argentine pampa are considered. The Argentine agricultural economy is described. Crop calendars for the Argentina indicator region, an accompanying description, notes on crop-livestock zones, wheat production, field size, and agricultural problems and practices are included.

Linking the response of bacterial populations to plant development through analysis of rhizosphere-competence traits of soil bacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, H. J.; Karaoz, U.; Zhalnina, K.; Firestone, M. K.; Brodie, E.

2016-12-01

A growing plant root exudes changing combinations of compounds including root litter and other detritus throughout its developmental stages, providing a major source of organic C for rhizosphere bacteria. Clear patterns of microbial succession have been observed in the rhizosphere of a number of plants. These patterns of microbial succession are likely key to the processing of soil organic carbon and nutrient recycling. What is less well understood are the microbial traits, or combinations of traits, selected for during plant development. Are these traits or trait-combinations conserved, and is phylogeny a useful integrator of traits? Understanding the mechanisms underlying ecological succession would enable improved prediction of future rhizosphere states and consequences for C and nutrient cycles. In this study, we resolve the responses of rhizosphere bacteria at strain-level during plant (Avena fatua) developmental stages using both isolation and metagenomic approaches. Metagenome reads from bulk and rhizosphere soils were mapped to the genomes of thirty nine bacterial isolates numerically abundant ( 0.5% in relative abundance) and phylogenetically representative of these soils, and also to ninety six metagenome-derived genome bins. Analysis of temporal coverage patterns demonstrate that bacteria can be classified as positive and negative rhizosphere responders, with traits associated with root exudate utilization being important. Significant strain level diversity was observed and variance in the temporal coverage patterns further distinguished closely related strains of the same genera. For example, while a number of strains from the Bradyrhizobia, Mesorhizobia and Mycobacteria all increased in coverage with root growth, suggesting that recently acquired traits are selected for. Candidate traits distinguishing closely related strains included those related to xylose and other plant cell-wall derived sugar utilization, motility and aromatic organic acid

Connecting infrared spectra with plant traits to identify species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buitrago, Maria F.; Skidmore, Andrew K.; Groen, Thomas A.; Hecker, Christoph A.

2018-05-01

Plant traits are used to define species, but also to evaluate the health status of forests, plantations and crops. Conventional methods of measuring plant traits (e.g. wet chemistry), although accurate, are inefficient and costly when applied over large areas or with intensive sampling. Spectroscopic methods, as used in the food industry and mineralogy, are nowadays applied to identify plant traits, however, most studies analysed visible to near infrared, while infrared spectra of longer wavelengths have been little used for identifying the spectral differences between plant species. This study measured the infrared spectra (1.4-16.0 μm) on individual, fresh leaves of 19 species (from herbaceous to woody species), as well as 14 leaf traits for each leaf. The results describe at which wavelengths in the infrared the leaves' spectra can differentiate most effectively between these plant species. A Quadratic Discrimination Analysis (QDA) shows that using five bands in the SWIR or the LWIR is enough to accurately differentiate these species (Kappa: 0.93, 0.94 respectively), while the MWIR has a lower classification accuracy (Kappa: 0.84). This study also shows that in the infrared spectra of fresh leaves, the identified species-specific features are correlated with leaf traits as well as changes in their values. Spectral features in the SWIR (1.66, 1.89 and 2.00 μm) are common to all species and match the main features of pure cellulose and lignin spectra. The depth of these features varies with changes of cellulose and leaf water content and can be used to differentiate species in this region. In the MWIR and LWIR, the absorption spectra of leaves are formed by key species-specific traits including lignin, cellulose, water, nitrogen and leaf thickness. The connection found in this study between leaf traits, features and spectral signatures are novel tools to assist when identifying plant species by spectroscopy and remote sensing.

The effect of shovel trait on Carabelli's trait in Taiwan Chinese and Aboriginal populations.

PubMed

Hsu, J W; Tsai, P L; Hsiao, T H; Chang, H P; Lin, L M; Liu, K M; Yu, H S; Ferguson, D

1997-09-01

Chinese and other Mongoloid populations differ from Caucasoids by having a high prevalence of shovel trait and a low prevalence of Carabelli's trait. This study was conducted to compare the association between the shovel and the Carabelli's traits between Chinese and aboriginal Mongoloid populations. The research is designed to sample randomly a Chinese population and an aboriginal population having low admixture with neighboring populations. The Mongoloid aboriginal group was from the Bunun tribe who resides in an isolated alpine area in Taiwan. The effects of sex and age on Carabelli's trait were controlled in this study, as was the association between tooth size and Carabelli's trait. Our results show that males had more Carabelli's trait expressed on teeth than females in both of these two Mongoloid populations. The buccolingual diameter of Carabelli's trait teeth was larger than that of teeth without the trait. After controlling for sex, age, and tooth size, the existence of the shovel trait significantly increased the likelihood of having Carabelli's trait, especially in Chinese, which implies another significant ethnic feature for Mongoloid identification.

Traits as dimensions or categories? Developmental change in the understanding of trait terms.

PubMed

Gonzalez, Celia M; Zosuls, Kristina M; Ruble, Diane N

2010-09-01

Recent research has suggested that young children have relatively well-developed trait concepts. However, this literature overlooks potential age-related differences in children's appreciation of the fundamentally dimensional nature of traits. In Study 1, we presented 4-, 5-, and 7-year-old children and adults with sets of characters and asked them to indicate the preferences of a target character who shared appearance attributes with one character (appearance match) and shared a common trait with the other character (trait match). Traits were presented in a way that emphasized either their categorical or their dimensional nature. When the dimensional nature of trait terms was emphasized, the youngest children made fewer trait-based inferences, and the use of traits increased with age. In Study 2, we gave 4-year-old children and adults the same task except that the extent to which appearance cues could serve as a meaningful basis of judgment was varied. Results were consistent with the findings of Study 1, although children were more likely to rely on dimensional presentations of traits in the absence of strong appearance cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Lotus tenuis x L. corniculatus interspecific hybridization as a means to breed bloat-safe pastures and gain insight into the genetic control of proanthocyanidin biosynthesis in legumes

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Proanthocyanidins (PAs) are secondary metabolites that strongly affect plant quality traits. The concentration and the structure of these metabolites influence the palatability and nutritional value of forage legumes. Hence, modulating PAs in the leaves of forage legumes is of paramount relevance for forage breeders worldwide. The lack of genetic variation in the leaf PA trait within the most important forage species and the difficulties in engineering this pathway via the ectopic expression of regulatory genes, prompted us to pursue alternative strategies to enhance this trait in forage legumes of agronomic interest. The Lotus genus includes forage species which accumulate PAs in edible organs and can thus be used as potential donor parents in breeding programs. Results We recovered a wild, diploid and PA-rich population of L. corniculatus and crossed with L. tenuis. The former grows in an alkaline-salty area in Spain while the latter is a diploid species, grown extensively in South American pastures, which does not accumulate PAs in the herbage. The resulting interspecific hybrids displayed several traits of outstanding agronomic relevance such as rhizome production, PA levels in edible tissues sufficient to prevent ruminal bloating (around 5 mg of PAs/g DW), biomass production similar to the cultivated parent and potential for adaptability to marginal lands. We show that PA levels correlate with expression levels of the R2R3MYB transcription factor TT2 and, in turn, with those of the key structural genes of the epicatechin and catechin biosynthetic pathways leading to PA biosynthesis. Conclusions The L. tenuis x L. corniculatus hybrids, reported herein, represent the first example of the introgression of the PA trait in forage legumes to levels known to provide nutritional and health benefits to ruminants. Apart from PAs, the hybrids have additional traits which may prove useful to breed forage legumes with increased persistence and adaptability to

Logistic analysis of the effects of shovel trait on Carabelli's trait in a Mongoloid population.

PubMed

Tsai, P L; Hsu, J W; Lin, L M; Liu, K M

1996-08-01

Mongoloid populations differ from Caucasoids by having a high prevalence of shovel trait and a low prevalence of Carabelli's trait. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the shovel trait on Carabelli's trait in a Mongoloid population. The research design sought a population that resides in an isolated area and exhibits low admixture with neighboring populations. The Mongoloid group selected for study was the Bunun tribe of aborigines who inhabit an alpine area in Taiwan. The effects of sex and age on Carabelli's trait were controlled in this investigation, as was the association between tooth size and Carabelli's trait. Results show that males were more likely to have Carabelli's trait expressed on teeth than females. The buccolingual diameter of Carabelli's trait teeth was larger than that of teeth without the trait. After adjusting for sex, age, and tooth size, the existence of the shovel trait increased the likelihood of having Carabelli's trait by a factor of three, an effect that is significant.

Maize yield gaps caused by non-controllable, agronomic, and socioeconomic factors in a changing climate of Northeast China.

PubMed

Liu, Zhijuan; Yang, Xiaoguang; Lin, Xiaomao; Hubbard, Kenneth G; Lv, Shuo; Wang, Jing

2016-01-15

Closing the gap between current and potential yields is one means of increasing agricultural production to feed the globally increasing population. Therefore, investigation of the geographic patterns, trends and causes of crop yield gaps is essential to identifying where yields might be increased and quantifying the contributions of yield-limiting factors that may provide us potentials to enhance crop productivity. In this study, the changes in potential yields, attainable yields, potential farmers' yields, and actual farmers' yields during the past five decades in Northeast China (NEC) were investigated. Additionally the yield gaps caused by non-controllable, agronomic, and socioeconomic factors were determined. Over the period 1961 to 2010 the estimated regional area-weighted mean maize potential yield, attainable yield, and potential farmers' yield were approximately 12.3 t ha(-1), 11.5 t ha(-1), and 6.4 t ha(-1) which showed a decreasing tendency. The actual farmers' yield over NEC was 4.5 t ha(-1), and showed a tendency to increase (p<0.01) by 1.27 t ha(-1) per decade. The regional mean total yield gap (YGt), weighted by the area in each county dedicated to maize crop, was 64% of potential yield. Moreover, 8, 40, and 16% reductions in potential yields were due to non-controllable factors (YGI), agronomic factors (YGII), and socioeconomic factors (YGIII), respectively. Therefore, the exploitable yield gap, considered here as the difference between the potential yield and what one can expect considering non-controllable factors (i.e. YGt-YGI), of maize in NEC was about 56%. The regional area-weighted averages of YGt, and YGIII were found to have significant decreases of 11.0, and 10.7% per decade. At the time horizon 2010, the exploitable yield gaps were estimated to equal 36% of potential yield. This led to the conclusion that the yield gap could be deeply reduced by improving local agronomic management and controlling socioeconomic factors. Copyright © 2015

The high-quality genome of Brassica napus cultivar 'ZS11' reveals the introgression history in semi-winter morphotype.

PubMed

Sun, Fengming; Fan, Guangyi; Hu, Qiong; Zhou, Yongming; Guan, Mei; Tong, Chaobo; Li, Jiana; Du, Dezhi; Qi, Cunkou; Jiang, Liangcai; Liu, Weiqing; Huang, Shunmou; Chen, Wenbin; Yu, Jingyin; Mei, Desheng; Meng, Jinling; Zeng, Peng; Shi, Jiaqin; Liu, Kede; Wang, Xi; Wang, Xinfa; Long, Yan; Liang, Xinming; Hu, Zhiyong; Huang, Guodong; Dong, Caihua; Zhang, He; Li, Jun; Zhang, Yaolei; Li, Liangwei; Shi, Chengcheng; Wang, Jiahao; Lee, Simon Ming-Yuen; Guan, Chunyun; Xu, Xun; Liu, Shengyi; Liu, Xin; Chalhoub, Boulos; Hua, Wei; Wang, Hanzhong

2017-11-01

Allotetraploid oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) is an agriculturally important crop. Cultivation and breeding of B. napus by humans has resulted in numerous genetically diverse morphotypes with optimized agronomic traits and ecophysiological adaptation. To further understand the genetic basis of diversification and adaptation, we report a draft genome of an Asian semi-winter oilseed rape cultivar 'ZS11' and its comprehensive genomic comparison with the genomes of the winter-type cultivar 'Darmor-bzh' as well as two progenitors. The integrated BAC-to-BAC and whole-genome shotgun sequencing strategies were effective in the assembly of repetitive regions (especially young long terminal repeats) and resulted in a high-quality genome assembly of B. napus 'ZS11'. Within a short evolutionary period (~6700 years ago), semi-winter-type 'ZS11' and the winter-type 'Darmor-bzh' maintained highly genomic collinearity. Even so, certain genetic differences were also detected in two morphotypes. Relative to 'Darmor-bzh', both two subgenomes of 'ZS11' are closely related to its progenitors, and the 'ZS11' genome harbored several specific segmental homoeologous exchanges (HEs). Furthermore, the semi-winter-type 'ZS11' underwent potential genomic introgressions with B. rapa (A r ). Some of these genetic differences were associated with key agronomic traits. A key gene of A03.FLC3 regulating vernalization-responsive flowering time in 'ZS11' was first experienced HE, and then underwent genomic introgression event with A r , which potentially has led to genetic differences in controlling vernalization in the semi-winter types. Our observations improved our understanding of the genetic diversity of different B. napus morphotypes and the cultivation history of semi-winter oilseed rape in Asia. © 2017 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cerebellar Dysfunction, Cognitive Flexibility and Autistic Traits in a Non-Clinical Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ridley, Nicole J.; Homewood, Judi; Walters, Jenny

2011-01-01

Cerebellar dysfunction and impaired cognitive flexibility are key features of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, despite the increasing interest in subclinical autism, no research has yet examined the relationship between these signs and autistic traits in the wider population. This study used the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) questionnaire…

Volitional personality trait change: Can people choose to change their personality traits?

PubMed

Hudson, Nathan W; Fraley, R Chris

2015-09-01

Previous research has found that most people want to change their personality traits. But can people actually change their personalities just because they want to? To answer this question, we conducted 2, 16-week intensive longitudinal randomized experiments. Across both studies, people who expressed goals to increase with respect to any Big Five personality trait at Time 1 tended to experience actual increases in their self-reports of that trait-as well as trait-relevant daily behavior-over the subsequent 16 weeks. Furthermore, we tested 2 randomized interventions designed to help participants attain desired trait changes. Although 1 of the interventions was inefficacious, a second intervention that trained participants to generate implementation intentions catalyzed their ability to attain trait changes. We also tested several theoretical processes through which volitional changes might occur. These studies suggest that people may be able to change their self-reported personality traits through volitional means, and represent a first step toward understanding the processes that enable people to do so. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Relationships Among Ecologically Important Dimensions of Plant Trait Variation in Seven Neotropical Forests

PubMed Central

Wright, Ian J.; Ackerly, David D.; Bongers, Frans; Harms, Kyle E.; Ibarra-Manriquez, Guillermo; Martinez-Ramos, Miguel; Mazer, Susan J.; Muller-Landau, Helene C.; Paz, Horacio; Pitman, Nigel C. A.; Poorter, Lourens; Silman, Miles R.; Vriesendorp, Corine F.; Webb, Cam O.; Westoby, Mark; Wright, S. Joseph

2007-01-01

Background and Aims When ecologically important plant traits are correlated they may be said to constitute an ecological ‘strategy’ dimension. Through identifying these dimensions and understanding their inter-relationships we gain insight into why particular trait combinations are favoured over others and into the implications of trait differences among species. Here we investigated relationships among several traits, and thus the strategy dimensions they represented, across 2134 woody species from seven Neotropical forests. Methods Six traits were studied: specific leaf area (SLA), the average size of leaves, seed and fruit, typical maximum plant height, and wood density (WD). Trait relationships were quantified across species at each individual forest as well as across the dataset as a whole. ‘Phylogenetic’ analyses were used to test for correlations among evolutionary trait-divergences and to ascertain whether interspecific relationships were biased by strong taxonomic patterning in the traits. Key Results The interspecific and phylogenetic analyses yielded congruent results. Seed and fruit size were expected, and confirmed, to be tightly related. As expected, plant height was correlated with each of seed and fruit size, albeit weakly. Weak support was found for an expected positive relationship between leaf and fruit size. The prediction that SLA and WD would be negatively correlated was not supported. Otherwise the traits were predicted to be largely unrelated, being representatives of putatively independent strategy dimensions. This was indeed the case, although WD was consistently, negatively related to leaf size. Conclusions The dimensions represented by SLA, seed/fruit size and leaf size were essentially independent and thus conveyed largely independent information about plant strategies. To a lesser extent the same was true for plant height and WD. Our tentative explanation for negative WD–leaf size relationships, now also known from other

Leptadenia reticulata (Retz.) Wight & Arn. (Jivanti): Botanical, Agronomical, Phytochemical, Pharmacological, and Biotechnological Aspects.

PubMed

Mohanty, Sudipta Kumar; Swamy, Mallappa Kumara; Sinniah, Uma Rani; Anuradha, Maniyam

2017-06-19

Leptadenia reticulata (Retz.) Wight & Arn. (Apocynaceae), is a traditional medicinal plant species widely used to treat various ailments such as tuberculosis, hematopoiesis, emaciation, cough, dyspnea, fever, burning sensation, night blindness, cancer, and dysentery. In Ayurveda, it is known for its revitalizing, rejuvenating, and lactogenic properties. This plant is one of the major ingredients in many commercial herbal formulations, including Speman, Envirocare, Calshakti, Antisept, and Chyawanprash. The therapeutic potential of this herb is because of the presence of diverse bioactive compounds such as α-amyrin, β-amyrin, ferulic acid, luteolin, diosmetin, rutin, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, hentricontanol, a triterpene alcohol simiarenol, apigenin, reticulin, deniculatin, and leptaculatin. However, most biological studies on L. reticulata are restricted to crude extracts, and many biologically active compounds are yet to be identified in order to base the traditional uses of L. reticulata on evidence-based data. At present, L. reticulata is a threatened endangered plant because of overexploitation, unscientific harvesting, and habitat loss. The increased demand from pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and veterinary industries has prompted its large-scale propagation. However, its commercial cultivation is hampered because of the non-availability of genuine planting material and the lack of knowledge about its agronomical practices. In this regard, micropropagation techniques will be useful to obtain true-to-type L. reticulata planting materials from an elite germplasm to meet the current demand. Adopting other biotechnological approaches such as synthetic seed technology, cryopreservation, cell culture, and genetic transformation can help conservation as well as increased metabolite production from L. reticulata. The present review summarizes scientific information on the botanical, agronomical, phytochemical, pharmacological, and biotechnological aspects of

Functional mechanisms of drought tolerance in subtropical maize (Zea mays L.) identified using genome-wide association mapping.

PubMed

Thirunavukkarasu, Nepolean; Hossain, Firoz; Arora, Kanika; Sharma, Rinku; Shiriga, Kaliyugam; Mittal, Swati; Mohan, Sweta; Namratha, Pottekatt Mohanlal; Dogga, Sreelatha; Rani, Tikka Shobha; Katragadda, Sumalini; Rathore, Abhishek; Shah, Trushar; Mohapatra, Trilochan; Gupta, Hari Shankar

2014-12-24

Earlier studies were focused on the genetics of temperate and tropical maize under drought. We identified genetic loci and their association with functional mechanisms in 240 accessions of subtropical maize using a high-density marker set under water stress. Out of 61 significant SNPs (11 were false-discovery-rate-corrected associations), identified across agronomic traits, models, and locations by subjecting the accessions to water stress at flowering stage, 48% were associated with drought-tolerant genes. Maize gene models revealed that SNPs mapped for agronomic traits were in fact associated with number of functional traits as follows: stomatal closure, 28; flowering, 15; root development, 5; detoxification, 4; and reduced water potential, 2. Interactions of these SNPS through the functional traits could lead to drought tolerance. The SNPs associated with ABA-dependent signalling pathways played a major role in the plant's response to stress by regulating a series of functions including flowering, root development, auxin metabolism, guard cell functions, and scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS). ABA signalling genes regulate flowering through epigenetic changes in stress-responsive genes. ROS generated by ABA signalling are reduced by the interplay between ethylene, ABA, and detoxification signalling transductions. Integration of ABA-signalling genes with auxin-inducible genes regulates root development which in turn, maintains the water balance by regulating electrochemical gradient in plant. Several genes are directly or indirectly involved in the functioning of agronomic traits related to water stress. Genes involved in these crucial biological functions interacted significantly in order to maintain the primary as well as exclusive functions related to coping with water stress. SNPs associated with drought-tolerant genes involved in strategic biological functions will be useful to understand the mechanisms of drought tolerance in subtropical maize.

Dominance Genetic Variance for Traits Under Directional Selection in Drosophila serrata

PubMed Central

Sztepanacz, Jacqueline L.; Blows, Mark W.

2015-01-01

In contrast to our growing understanding of patterns of additive genetic variance in single- and multi-trait combinations, the relative contribution of nonadditive genetic variance, particularly dominance variance, to multivariate phenotypes is largely unknown. While mechanisms for the evolution of dominance genetic variance have been, and to some degree remain, subject to debate, the pervasiveness of dominance is widely recognized and may play a key role in several evolutionary processes. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that the contribution of dominance variance to phenotypic variance may increase with the correlation between a trait and fitness; however, direct tests of this hypothesis are few. Using a multigenerational breeding design in an unmanipulated population of Drosophila serrata, we estimated additive and dominance genetic covariance matrices for multivariate wing-shape phenotypes, together with a comprehensive measure of fitness, to determine whether there is an association between directional selection and dominance variance. Fitness, a trait unequivocally under directional selection, had no detectable additive genetic variance, but significant dominance genetic variance contributing 32% of the phenotypic variance. For single and multivariate morphological traits, however, no relationship was observed between trait–fitness correlations and dominance variance. A similar proportion of additive and dominance variance was found to contribute to phenotypic variance for single traits, and double the amount of additive compared to dominance variance was found for the multivariate trait combination under directional selection. These data suggest that for many fitness components a positive association between directional selection and dominance genetic variance may not be expected. PMID:25783700

The use of Spielberger's State-Trait Personality Inventory (trait anxiety subscale) with naval subaquatic specialists.

PubMed

Van Wijk, Charles H

2014-12-01

Panic behavior poses a particular threat to the health and safety of subaquatic occupational specialists. Trait anxiety has previously been identified as a marker of panic behavior under water, and Spielberger's State-Trait Personality Inventory (trait anxiety subscale) has been previously used to measure trait anxiety among subaquatic specialists. Using archived data, the trait anxiety scores of subaquatic specialists were analyzed to meet 3 objectives: 1stly - to develop a trait anxiety profile of subaquatic specialists; 2ndly - to investigate the predictive value of trait anxiety measures upon entering an occupational field; and 3rdly - to establish the reliability of these scores over time. Archival trait-anxiety data from 322 subjects were analyzed statistically. Analysis of the available scores revealed a highly homogenous as well as a very low trait anxiety profile for the investigated occupational group. Additionally, low trait anxiety was somewhat associated with success during specialist training: fewer candidates with high trait anxiety scores completed their qualification. Moreover, measurement of trait anxiety was stable over time, which suggests that when scores for this occupational group are screened, deviations from previous scores could signify a potential need for referral to an intervention from health professionals. Using the trait anxiety subscale as part of occupational health surveillance of subaquatic specialists could support prevention of accidents by identifying high-risk candidates during their annual health assessments, and referral for timeous intervention.

Components of Young Children's Trait Understanding: Behavior-to-Trait Inferences and Trait-to-Behavior Predictions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, David; Gelman, Susan A.; Wellman, Henry M.

2007-01-01

Trait attribution is central to people's naive theories of people and their actions. Previous developmental research indicates that young children are poor at predicting behaviors from past trait-relevant behaviors. We propose that the cognitive process of behavior-to-behavior predictions consists of two component processes: (1) behavior-to-trait…

Traits influencing range contraction in New Zealand's endemic forest birds.

PubMed

Parlato, Elizabeth H; Armstrong, Doug P; Innes, John G

2015-10-01

Understanding vulnerability of endemic taxa to predation is clearly important for conservation management. In New Zealand, predation by introduced mammals such as rats and mustelids is widely recognized as the primary factor responsible for declines of indigenous fauna. The aim of our study was to evaluate the vulnerability of New Zealand's surviving endemic forest bird species to impacts of introduced mammalian predators, and identify key life history attributes underlying this vulnerability. We measured range contraction following the introduction of exotic mammalian predators for 23 endemic forest bird species using information on both pre-human and current distributions. We used Bayesian modeling techniques to analyze whether variation in range contraction was associated with life history traits potentially influencing species' predation vulnerability, while accounting for phylogenetic relatedness. Our results showed that the extent of range contraction varied greatly among species, with some species remaining in available forest habitat throughout most of their pre-human range, and others having disappeared completely from the main islands. Cavity nesting was the key trait associated with more extensive range decline, suggesting that cavity-nesting species are more vulnerable to predation than species that nest in more open sites.

Post-Domestication Selection in the Maize Starch Pathway

PubMed Central

Fan, Longjiang; Bao, Jiandong; Wang, Yu; Yao, Jianqiang; Gui, Yijie; Hu, Weiming; Zhu, Jinqing; Zeng, Mengqian; Li, Yu; Xu, Yunbi

2009-01-01

Modern crops have usually experienced domestication selection and subsequent genetic improvement (post-domestication selection). Chinese waxy maize, which originated from non-glutinous domesticated maize (Zea mays ssp. mays), provides a unique model for investigating the post-domestication selection of maize. In this study, the genetic diversity of six key genes in the starch pathway was investigated in a glutinous population that included 55 Chinese waxy accessions, and a selective bottleneck that resulted in apparent reductions in diversity in Chinese waxy maize was observed. Significant positive selection in waxy (wx) but not amylose extender1 (ae1) was detected in the glutinous population, in complete contrast to the findings in non-glutinous maize, which indicated a shift in the selection target from ae1 to wx during the improvement of Chinese waxy maize. Our results suggest that an agronomic trait can be quickly improved into a target trait with changes in the selection target among genes in a crop pathway. PMID:19859548

Relationships between functional traits and inorganic nitrogen acquisition among eight contrasting European grass species

PubMed Central

Grassein, Fabrice; Lemauviel-Lavenant, Servane; Lavorel, Sandra; Bahn, Michael; Bardgett, Richard D.; Desclos-Theveniau, Marie; Laîné, Philippe

2015-01-01

Backgrounds and Aims Leaf functional traits have been used as a basis to categoize plants across a range of resource-use specialization, from those that conserve available resources to those that exploit them. However, the extent to which the leaf functional traits used to define the resource-use strategies are related to root traits and are good indicators of the ability of the roots to take up nitrogen (N) are poorly known. This is an important question because interspecific differences in N uptake have been proposed as one mechanism by which species’ coexistence may be determined. This study therefore investigated the relationships between functional traits and N uptake ability for grass species across a range of conservative to exploitative resource-use strategies. Methods Root uptake of NH4+ and NO3–, and leaf and root functional traits were measured for eight grass species sampled at three grassland sites across Europe, in France, Austria and the UK. Species were grown in hydroponics to determine functional traits and kinetic uptake parameters (Imax and Km) under standardized conditions. Key Results Species with high specific leaf area (SLA) and shoot N content, and low leaf and root dry matter content (LDMC and RDMC, respectively), which are traits associated with the exploitative syndrome, had higher uptake and affinity for both N forms. No trade-off was observed in uptake between the two forms of N, and all species expressed a higher preference for NH4+. Conclusions The results support the use of leaf traits, and especially SLA and LDMC, as indicators of the N uptake ability across a broad range of grass species. The difficulties associated with assessing root properties are also highlighted, as root traits were only weakly correlated with leaf traits, and only RDMC and, to a lesser extent, root N content were related to leaf traits. PMID:25471096

Intraspecific variation in stomatal traits, leaf traits and physiology reflects adaptation along aridity gradients in a South African shrub

PubMed Central

Carlson, Jane E.; Adams, Christopher A.; Holsinger, Kent E.

2016-01-01

Background and Aims Trait–environment relationships are commonly interpreted as evidence for local adaptation in plants. However, even when selection analyses support this interpretation, the mechanisms underlying differential benefits are often unknown. This study addresses this gap in knowledge using the broadly distributed South African shrub Protea repens. Specifically, the study examines whether broad-scale patterns of trait variation are consistent with spatial differences in selection and ecophysiology in the wild. Methods In a common garden study of plants sourced from 19 populations, associations were measured between five morphological traits and three axes describing source climates. Trait–trait and trait–environment associations were analysed in a multi-response model. Within two focal populations in the wild, selection and path analyses were used to test associations between traits, fecundity and physiological performance. Key Results Across 19 populations in a common garden, stomatal density increased with the source population’s mean annual temperature and decreased with its average amount of rainfall in midsummer. Concordantly, selection analysis in two natural populations revealed positive selection on stomatal density at the hotter, drier site, while failing to detect selection at the cooler, moister site. Dry-site plants with high stomatal density also had higher stomatal conductances, cooler leaf temperatures and higher light-saturated photosynthetic rates than those with low stomatal density, but no such relationships were present among wet-site plants. Leaf area, stomatal pore index and specific leaf area in the garden also co-varied with climate, but within-population differences were not associated with fitness in either wild population. Conclusions The parallel patterns of broad-scale variation, differences in selection and differences in trait–ecophysiology relationships suggest a mechanism for adaptive differentiation in

GlobAl Distribution of GEnetic Traits (GADGET) web server: polygenic trait scores worldwide.

PubMed

Chande, Aroon T; Wang, Lu; Rishishwar, Lavanya; Conley, Andrew B; Norris, Emily T; Valderrama-Aguirre, Augusto; Jordan, I King

2018-05-18

Human populations from around the world show striking phenotypic variation across a wide variety of traits. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are used to uncover genetic variants that influence the expression of heritable human traits; accordingly, population-specific distributions of GWAS-implicated variants may shed light on the genetic basis of human phenotypic diversity. With this in mind, we developed the GlobAl Distribution of GEnetic Traits web server (GADGET http://gadget.biosci.gatech.edu). The GADGET web server provides users with a dynamic visual platform for exploring the relationship between worldwide genetic diversity and the genetic architecture underlying numerous human phenotypes. GADGET integrates trait-implicated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from GWAS, with population genetic data from the 1000 Genomes Project, to calculate genome-wide polygenic trait scores (PTS) for 818 phenotypes in 2504 individual genomes. Population-specific distributions of PTS are shown for 26 human populations across 5 continental population groups, with traits ordered based on the extent of variation observed among populations. Users of GADGET can also upload custom trait SNP sets to visualize global PTS distributions for their own traits of interest.

Trait-based plant ecology: moving towards a unifying species coexistence theory : Features of the Special Section.

PubMed

Escudero, Adrián; Valladares, Fernando

2016-04-01

Functional traits are the center of recent attempts to unify key ecological theories on species coexistence and assembling in populations and communities. While the plethora of studies on the role of functional traits to explain patterns and dynamics of communities has rendered a complex picture due to the idiosyncrasies of each study system and approach, there is increasing evidence on their actual relevance when aspects such as different spatial scales, intraspecific variability and demography are considered.

Responses of leaf traits to climatic gradients: adaptive variation versus compositional shifts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, T.-T.; Wang, H.; Harrison, S. P.; Prentice, I. C.; Ni, J.; Wang, G.

2015-09-01

, but Parea increased with temperature. Although the adaptive nature of many of these trait-climate relationships is understood qualitatively, a key challenge for modelling is to predict them quantitatively. Models must take into account that community-level responses to climatic gradients can be influenced by shifts in PFT composition, such as the replacement of deciduous by evergreen trees, which may run either parallel or counter to trait variation within PFTs. The importance of PFT shifts varies among traits, being important for biophysical traits but less so for physiological and chemical traits. Finally, models should take account of the diversity of trait values that is found in all sites and PFTs, representing the "pool" of variation that is locally available for the natural adaptation of ecosystem function to environmental change.

Genome wide association mapping for grain shape traits in indica rice.

PubMed

Feng, Yue; Lu, Qing; Zhai, Rongrong; Zhang, Mengchen; Xu, Qun; Yang, Yaolong; Wang, Shan; Yuan, Xiaoping; Yu, Hanyong; Wang, Yiping; Wei, Xinghua

2016-10-01

Using genome-wide association mapping, 47 SNPs within 27 significant loci were identified for four grain shape traits, and 424 candidate genes were predicted from public database. Grain shape is a key determinant of grain yield and quality in rice (Oryza sativa L.). However, our knowledge of genes controlling rice grain shape remains limited. Genome-wide association mapping based on linkage disequilibrium (LD) has recently emerged as an effective approach for identifying genes or quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying complex traits in plants. In this study, association mapping based on 5291 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was conducted to identify significant loci associated with grain shape traits in a global collection of 469 diverse rice accessions. A total of 47 SNPs were located in 27 significant loci for four grain traits, and explained ~44.93-65.90 % of the phenotypic variation for each trait. In total, 424 candidate genes within a 200 kb extension region (±100 kb of each locus) of these loci were predicted. Of them, the cloned genes GS3 and qSW5 showed very strong effects on grain length and grain width in our study. Comparing with previously reported QTLs for grain shape traits, we found 11 novel loci, including 3, 3, 2 and 3 loci for grain length, grain width, grain length-width ratio and thousand grain weight, respectively. Validation of these new loci would be performed in the future studies. These results revealed that besides GS3 and qSW5, multiple novel loci and mechanisms were involved in determining rice grain shape. These findings provided valuable information for understanding of the genetic control of grain shape and molecular marker assistant selection (MAS) breeding in rice.

Wheat seed transcriptome reveals genes controlling key traits for human preference and crop adaptation.

PubMed

Henry, Robert J; Furtado, Agnelo; Rangan, Parimalan

2018-05-17

Analysis of the transcriptome of the developing wheat grain has associated expression of genes with traits involving production (e.g. yield) and quality (e.g. bread quality). Photosynthesis in the grain may be important in retaining carbon that would be lost in respiration during grain filling and may contribute to yield in the late stages of seed formation under warm and dry environments. A small number of genes have been identified as having been selected by humans to optimize the performance of wheat for foods such as bread. Genes determining flour yield in milling have been discovered. Hardness is explained by variations in expression of pin genes. Knowledge of these genes should dramatically improve the efficiency of breeding better climate adapted wheat genotypes. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automatic detection and agronomic characterization of olive groves using high-resolution imagery and LIDAR data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caruso, T.; Rühl, J.; Sciortino, R.; Marra, F. P.; La Scalia, G.

2014-10-01

The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union grants subsidies for olive production. Areas of intensified olive farming will be of major importance for the increasing demand for oil production of the next decades, and countries with a high ratio of intensively and super-intensively managed olive groves will be more competitive than others, since they are able to reduce production costs. It can be estimated that about 25-40% of the Sicilian oliviculture must be defined as "marginal". Modern olive cultivation systems, which permit the mechanization of pruning and harvest operations, are limited. Agronomists, landscape planners, policy decision-makers and other professionals have a growing need for accurate and cost-effective information on land use in general and agronomic parameters in the particular. The availability of high spatial resolution imagery has enabled researchers to propose analysis tools on agricultural parcel and tree level. In our study, we test the performance of WorldView-2 imagery relative to the detection of olive groves and the delineation of olive tree crowns, using an object-oriented approach of image classification in combined use with LIDAR data. We selected two sites, which differ in their environmental conditions and in their agronomic parameters of olive grove cultivation. The main advantage of the proposed methodology is the low necessary quantity of data input and its automatibility. However, it should be applied in other study areas to test if the good results of accuracy assessment can be confirmed. Data extracted by the proposed methodology can be used as input data for decision-making support systems for olive grove management.

Fine-Mapping the Branching Habit Trait in Cultivated Peanut by Combining Bulked Segregant Analysis and High-Throughput Sequencing

PubMed Central

Kayam, Galya; Brand, Yael; Faigenboim-Doron, Adi; Patil, Abhinandan; Hedvat, Ilan; Hovav, Ran

2017-01-01

The growth habit of lateral shoots (also termed “branching habit”) is an important descriptive and agronomic character of peanut. Yet, both the inheritance of branching habit and the genetic mechanism that controls it in this crop remain unclear. In addition, the low degree of polymorphism among cultivated peanut varieties hinders fine-mapping of this and other traits in non-homozygous genetic structures. Here, we combined high-throughput sequencing with a well-defined genetic system to study these issues in peanut. Initially, segregating F2 populations derived from a reciprocal cross between very closely related Virginia-type peanut cultivars with spreading and bunch growth habits were examined. The spreading/bunch trait was shown to be controlled by a single gene with no cytoplasmic effect. That gene was named Bunch1 and was significantly correlated with pod yield per plant, time to maturation and the ratio of “dead-end” pods. Subsequently, bulked segregant analysis was performed on 52 completely bunch, and 47 completely spreading F3 families. In order to facilitate the process of SNP detection and candidate-gene analysis, the transcriptome was used instead of genomic DNA. Young leaves were sampled and bulked. Reads from Illumina sequencing were aligned against the peanut reference transcriptome and the diploid genomes. Inter-varietal SNPs were detected, scored and quality-filtered. Thirty-four candidate SNPs were found to have a bulk frequency ratio value >10 and 6 of those SNPs were found to be located in the genomic region of linkage group B5. Three best hits from that over-represented region were further analyzed in the segregating population. The trait locus was found to be located in a ~1.1 Mbp segment between markers M875 (B5:145,553,897; 1.9 cM) and M255 (B5:146,649,943; 2.25 cM). The method was validated using a population of recombinant inbreed lines of the same cross and a new DNA SNP-array. This study demonstrates the relatively straight

Quantifying Variability of Avian Colours: Are Signalling Traits More Variable?

PubMed Central

Delhey, Kaspar; Peters, Anne

2008-01-01

Background Increased variability in sexually selected ornaments, a key assumption of evolutionary theory, is thought to be maintained through condition-dependence. Condition-dependent handicap models of sexual selection predict that (a) sexually selected traits show amplified variability compared to equivalent non-sexually selected traits, and since males are usually the sexually selected sex, that (b) males are more variable than females, and (c) sexually dimorphic traits more variable than monomorphic ones. So far these predictions have only been tested for metric traits. Surprisingly, they have not been examined for bright coloration, one of the most prominent sexual traits. This omission stems from computational difficulties: different types of colours are quantified on different scales precluding the use of coefficients of variation. Methodology/Principal Findings Based on physiological models of avian colour vision we develop an index to quantify the degree of discriminable colour variation as it can be perceived by conspecifics. A comparison of variability in ornamental and non-ornamental colours in six bird species confirmed (a) that those coloured patches that are sexually selected or act as indicators of quality show increased chromatic variability. However, we found no support for (b) that males generally show higher levels of variability than females, or (c) that sexual dichromatism per se is associated with increased variability. Conclusions/Significance We show that it is currently possible to realistically estimate variability of animal colours as perceived by them, something difficult to achieve with other traits. Increased variability of known sexually-selected/quality-indicating colours in the studied species, provides support to the predictions borne from sexual selection theory but the lack of increased overall variability in males or dimorphic colours in general indicates that sexual differences might not always be shaped by similar selective

Early adaptation to oxygen is key to the industrially important traits of Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris during milk fermentation.

PubMed

Cretenet, Marina; Le Gall, Gwenaëlle; Wegmann, Udo; Even, Sergine; Shearman, Claire; Stentz, Régis; Jeanson, Sophie

2014-12-03

. lactis subsp. cremoris MG1363 in the presence of initially high levels of oxygen. This enables the cells to maintain key traits that are of great importance for industry, such as rapid acidification and reduction of the redox potential of the growth media.

Trait Values, Not Trait Plasticity, Best Explain Invasive Species' Performance in a Changing Environment

PubMed Central

Matzek, Virginia

2012-01-01

The question of why some introduced species become invasive and others do not is the central puzzle of invasion biology. Two of the principal explanations for this phenomenon concern functional traits: invasive species may have higher values of competitively advantageous traits than non-invasive species, or they may have greater phenotypic plasticity in traits that permits them to survive the colonization period and spread to a broad range of environments. Although there is a large body of evidence for superiority in particular traits among invasive plants, when compared to phylogenetically related non-invasive plants, it is less clear if invasive plants are more phenotypically plastic, and whether this plasticity confers a fitness advantage. In this study, I used a model group of 10 closely related Pinus species whose invader or non-invader status has been reliably characterized to test the relative contribution of high trait values and high trait plasticity to relative growth rate, a performance measure standing in as a proxy for fitness. When grown at higher nitrogen supply, invaders had a plastic RGR response, increasing their RGR to a much greater extent than non-invaders. However, invasive species did not exhibit significantly more phenotypic plasticity than non-invasive species for any of 17 functional traits, and trait plasticity indices were generally weakly correlated with RGR. Conversely, invasive species had higher values than non-invaders for 13 of the 17 traits, including higher leaf area ratio, photosynthetic capacity, photosynthetic nutrient-use efficiency, and nutrient uptake rates, and these traits were also strongly correlated with performance. I conclude that, in responding to higher N supply, superior trait values coupled with a moderate degree of trait variation explain invasive species' superior performance better than plasticity per se. PMID:23119098

Non-equilibrium dynamics and floral trait interactions shape extant angiosperm diversity

PubMed Central

O'Meara, Brian C.; Smith, Stacey D.; Armbruster, W. Scott; Harder, Lawrence D.; Hardy, Christopher R.; Hileman, Lena C.; Hufford, Larry; Litt, Amy; Magallón, Susana; Smith, Stephen A.; Stevens, Peter F.; Fenster, Charles B.; Diggle, Pamela K.

2016-01-01

Why are some traits and trait combinations exceptionally common across the tree of life, whereas others are vanishingly rare? The distribution of trait diversity across a clade at any time depends on the ancestral state of the clade, the rate at which new phenotypes evolve, the differences in speciation and extinction rates across lineages, and whether an equilibrium has been reached. Here we examine the role of transition rates, differential diversification (speciation minus extinction) and non-equilibrium dynamics on the evolutionary history of angiosperms, a clade well known for the abundance of some trait combinations and the rarity of others. Our analysis reveals that three character states (corolla present, bilateral symmetry, reduced stamen number) act synergistically as a key innovation, doubling diversification rates for lineages in which this combination occurs. However, this combination is currently less common than predicted at equilibrium because the individual characters evolve infrequently. Simulations suggest that angiosperms will remain far from the equilibrium frequencies of character states well into the future. Such non-equilibrium dynamics may be common when major innovations evolve rarely, allowing lineages with ancestral forms to persist, and even outnumber those with diversification-enhancing states, for tens of millions of years. PMID:27147092

Non-equilibrium dynamics and floral trait interactions shape extant angiosperm diversity.

PubMed

O'Meara, Brian C; Smith, Stacey D; Armbruster, W Scott; Harder, Lawrence D; Hardy, Christopher R; Hileman, Lena C; Hufford, Larry; Litt, Amy; Magallón, Susana; Smith, Stephen A; Stevens, Peter F; Fenster, Charles B; Diggle, Pamela K

2016-05-11

Why are some traits and trait combinations exceptionally common across the tree of life, whereas others are vanishingly rare? The distribution of trait diversity across a clade at any time depends on the ancestral state of the clade, the rate at which new phenotypes evolve, the differences in speciation and extinction rates across lineages, and whether an equilibrium has been reached. Here we examine the role of transition rates, differential diversification (speciation minus extinction) and non-equilibrium dynamics on the evolutionary history of angiosperms, a clade well known for the abundance of some trait combinations and the rarity of others. Our analysis reveals that three character states (corolla present, bilateral symmetry, reduced stamen number) act synergistically as a key innovation, doubling diversification rates for lineages in which this combination occurs. However, this combination is currently less common than predicted at equilibrium because the individual characters evolve infrequently. Simulations suggest that angiosperms will remain far from the equilibrium frequencies of character states well into the future. Such non-equilibrium dynamics may be common when major innovations evolve rarely, allowing lineages with ancestral forms to persist, and even outnumber those with diversification-enhancing states, for tens of millions of years. © 2016 The Author(s).

Lichen physiological traits and growth forms affect communities of associated invertebrates.

PubMed

Bokhorst, Stef; Asplund, Johan; Kardol, Paul; Wardle, David A

2015-09-01

While there has been much interest in the relationships between traits of primary producers and composition of associated invertebrate consumer communities, our knowledge is largely based on studies from vascular plants, while other types of functionally important producers, such as lichens, have rarely been considered. To address how physiological traits of lichens drive community composition of invertebrates, we collected thalli from 27 lichen species from southern Norway and quantified the communities of associated springtails, mites, and nematodes. For each lichen species, we measured key physiological thallus traits and determined whether invertebrate communities were correlated with these traits. We also explored whether invertebrate communities differed among lichen groups, categorized according to nitrogen-fixing ability, growth form, and substratum. Lichen traits explained up to 39% of the variation in abundances of major invertebrate groups. For many invertebrate groups, abundance was positively correlated with lichen N and P concentrations, N:P ratio, and the percentage of water content on saturation (WC), but had few relationships with concentrations of carbon-based secondary compounds. Diversity and taxonomic richness of invertebrate groups were sometimes also correlated with lichen N and N:P ratios. Nitrogen-fixing lichens showed higher abundance and diversity of some invertebrate groups than did non-N-fixing lichens. However, this emerged in part because most N-fixing lichens have a foliose growth form that benefits invertebrates, through, improving the microclimate, independently of N concentration. Furthermore, invertebrate communities associated with terricolous lichens were determined more by their close proximity to the soil invertebrate pool than by lichen traits. Overall, our results reveal that differences between lichen species have a large impact on the invertebrate communities that live among the thalli. Different invertebrate groups show

Fathers matter: male body mass affects life-history traits in a size-dimorphic seabird

PubMed Central

Jenouvrier, Stéphanie; Börger, Luca; Weimerskirch, Henri; Ozgul, Arpat

2017-01-01

One of the predicted consequences of climate change is a shift in body mass distributions within animal populations. Yet body mass, an important component of the physiological state of an organism, can affect key life-history traits and consequently population dynamics. Over the past decades, the wandering albatross—a pelagic seabird providing bi-parental care with marked sexual size dimorphism—has exhibited an increase in average body mass and breeding success in parallel with experiencing increasing wind speeds. To assess the impact of these changes, we examined how body mass affects five key life-history traits at the individual level: adult survival, breeding probability, breeding success, chick mass and juvenile survival. We found that male mass impacted all traits examined except breeding probability, whereas female mass affected none. Adult male survival increased with increasing mass. Increasing adult male mass increased breeding success and mass of sons but not of daughters. Juvenile male survival increased with their chick mass. These results suggest that a higher investment in sons by fathers can increase their inclusive fitness, which is not the case for daughters. Our study highlights sex-specific differences in the effect of body mass on the life history of a monogamous species with bi-parental care. PMID:28469021

Genomic approaches for the elucidation of genes and gene networks underlying cardiovascular traits.

PubMed

Adriaens, M E; Bezzina, C R

2018-06-22

Genome-wide association studies have shed light on the association between natural genetic variation and cardiovascular traits. However, linking a cardiovascular trait associated locus to a candidate gene or set of candidate genes for prioritization for follow-up mechanistic studies is all but straightforward. Genomic technologies based on next-generation sequencing technology nowadays offer multiple opportunities to dissect gene regulatory networks underlying genetic cardiovascular trait associations, thereby aiding in the identification of candidate genes at unprecedented scale. RNA sequencing in particular becomes a powerful tool when combined with genotyping to identify loci that modulate transcript abundance, known as expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL), or loci modulating transcript splicing known as splicing quantitative trait loci (sQTL). Additionally, the allele-specific resolution of RNA-sequencing technology enables estimation of allelic imbalance, a state where the two alleles of a gene are expressed at a ratio differing from the expected 1:1 ratio. When multiple high-throughput approaches are combined with deep phenotyping in a single study, a comprehensive elucidation of the relationship between genotype and phenotype comes into view, an approach known as systems genetics. In this review, we cover key applications of systems genetics in the broad cardiovascular field.

Traits determining the digestibility-decomposability relationships in species from Mediterranean rangelands.

PubMed

Bumb, Iris; Garnier, Eric; Coq, Sylvain; Nahmani, Johanne; Del Rey Granado, Maria; Gimenez, Olivier; Kazakou, Elena

2018-03-05

Forage quality for herbivores and litter quality for decomposers are two key plant properties affecting ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling. Although there is a positive relationship between palatability and decomposition, very few studies have focused on larger vertebrate herbivores while considering links between the digestibility of living leaves and stems and the decomposability of litter and associated traits. The hypothesis tested is that some defences of living organs would reduce their digestibility and, as a consequence, their litter decomposability, through 'afterlife' effects. Additionally in high-fertility conditions the presence of intense herbivory would select for communities dominated by fast-growing plants, which are able to compensate for tissue loss by herbivory, producing both highly digestible organs and easily decomposable litter. Relationships between dry matter digestibility and decomposability were quantified in 16 dominant species from Mediterranean rangelands, which are subject to management regimes that differ in grazing intensity and fertilization. The digestibility and decomposability of leaves and stems were estimated at peak standing biomass, in plots that were either fertilized and intensively grazed or unfertilized and moderately grazed. Several traits were measured on living and senesced organs: fibre content, dry matter content and nitrogen, phosphorus and tannin concentrations. Digestibility was positively related to decomposability, both properties being influenced in the same direction by management regime, organ and growth forms. Digestibility of leaves and stems was negatively related to their fibre concentrations, and positively related to their nitrogen concentration. Decomposability was more strongly related to traits measured on living organs than on litter. Digestibility and decomposition were governed by similar structural traits, in particular fibre concentration, affecting both herbivores and micro

Fear conditioning, persistence of disruptive behavior and psychopathic traits: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Cohn, M D; Popma, A; van den Brink, W; Pape, L E; Kindt, M; van Domburgh, L; Doreleijers, T A H; Veltman, D J

2013-10-29

Children diagnosed with Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD), especially those with psychopathic traits, are at risk of developing persistent and severe antisocial behavior. Deficient fear conditioning may be a key mechanism underlying persistence, and has been associated with altered regional brain function in adult antisocial populations. In this study, we investigated the associations between the neural correlates of fear conditioning, persistence of childhood-onset DBD during adolescence and psychopathic traits. From a cohort of children arrested before the age of 12 years, participants who were diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder or Conduct Disorder in previous waves (mean age of onset 6.5 years, s.d. 3.2) were reassessed at mean age 17.6 years (s.d. 1.4) and categorized as persistent (n=25) or desistent (n=25) DBD. Using the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory and functional magnetic resonance imaging during a fear conditioning task, these subgroups were compared with 26 matched healthy controls from the same cohort. Both persistent and desistent DBD subgroups were found to show higher activation in fear processing-related brain areas during fear conditioning compared with healthy controls. In addition, regression analyses revealed that impulsive-irresponsible and grandiose-manipulative psychopathic traits were associated with higher activation, whereas callous-unemotional psychopathic traits were related to lower activation in fear-related areas. Finally, the association between neural activation and DBD subgroup membership was mediated by impulsive-irresponsible psychopathic traits. These results provide evidence for heterogeneity in the neurobiological mechanisms underlying psychopathic traits and antisocial behavior and, as such, underscore the need to develop personalized interventions.

The Relation Between Trait Anger and Impulse Control in Forensic Psychiatric Patients: An EEG Study.

PubMed

Lievaart, Marien; van der Veen, Frederik M; Huijding, Jorg; Hovens, Johannes E; Franken, Ingmar H A

2018-06-01

Inhibitory control is considered to be one of the key factors in explaining individual differences in trait anger and reactive aggression. Yet, only a few studies have assessed electroencephalographic (EEG) activity with respect to response inhibition in high trait anger individuals. The main goal of this study was therefore to investigate whether individual differences in trait anger in forensic psychiatric patients are associated with individual differences in anger-primed inhibitory control using behavioral and electrophysiological measures of response inhibition. Thirty-eight forensic psychiatric patients who had a medium to high risk of recidivism of violent and/or non-violent behaviors performed an affective Go/NoGo task while EEG was recorded. On the behavioral level, we found higher scores on trait anger to be accompanied by lower accuracy on NoGo trials, especially when anger was primed. With respect to the physiological data we found, as expected, a significant inverse relation between trait anger and the error related negativity amplitudes. Contrary to expectation, trait anger was not related to the stimulus-locked event related potentials (i.e., N2/P3). The results of this study support the notion that in a forensic population trait anger is inversely related to impulse control, particularly in hostile contexts. Moreover, our data suggest that higher scores on trait anger are associated with deficits in automatic error-processing which may contribute the continuation of impulsive angry behaviors despite their negative consequences.

Callous-unemotional traits and the treatment of conduct problems in childhood and adolescence: a comprehensive review.

PubMed

Hawes, David J; Price, Matthew J; Dadds, Mark R

2014-09-01

The treatment of conduct problems among children and adolescents with callous-unemotional (CU) traits has been subject to much speculation; however, treatment outcome research has been surprisingly limited and findings have been mixed. This review examines the research to date in this field as it pertains to two key questions. First, are CU traits associated with clinical outcomes and processes in the family based treatment of child and adolescent conduct problems? Second, can family based intervention produce change in CU traits? Using a systematic search strategy, we identified 16 treatment outcomes studies that can be brought to bear on these questions. These studies provide strong evidence of unique associations between CU traits and risk for poor treatment outcomes, while at the same time indicating that social-learning-based parent training is capable of producing lasting improvement in CU traits, particularly when delivered early in childhood. We discuss the potential for this emerging evidence base to inform the planning and delivery of treatments for clinic-referred children with CU traits, and detail an ongoing program of translational research into the development of novel interventions for this high-risk subgroup.

Plant traits and decomposition: are the relationships for roots comparable to those for leaves?

PubMed Central

Birouste, Marine; Kazakou, Elena; Blanchard, Alain; Roumet, Catherine

2012-01-01

Background and Aims Fine root decomposition is an important determinant of nutrient and carbon cycling in grasslands; however, little is known about the factors controlling root decomposition among species. Our aim was to investigate whether interspecific variation in the potential decomposition rate of fine roots could be accounted for by root chemical and morphological traits, life history and taxonomic affiliation. We also investigated the co-ordinated variation in root and leaf traits and potential decomposition rates. Methods We analysed potential decomposition rates and the chemical and morphological traits of fine roots on 18 Mediterranean herbaceous species grown in controlled conditions. The results were compared with those obtained for leaves in a previous study conducted on similar species. Key Results Differences in the potential decomposition rates of fine roots between species were accounted for by root chemical composition, but not by morphological traits. The root potential decomposition rate varied with taxonomy, but not with life history. Poaceae, with high cellulose concentration and low concentrations of soluble compounds and phosphorus, decomposed more slowly than Asteraceae and Fabaceae. Patterns of root traits, including decomposition rate, mirrored those of leaf traits, resulting in a similar species clustering. Conclusions The highly co-ordinated variation of roots and leaves in terms of traits and potential decomposition rate suggests that changes in the functional composition of communities in response to anthropogenic changes will strongly affect biogeochemical cycles at the ecosystem level. PMID:22143881

Leaf optical properties shed light on foliar trait variability at individual to global scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiklomanov, A. N.; Serbin, S.; Dietze, M.

2016-12-01

Recent syntheses of large trait databases have contributed immensely to our understanding of drivers of plant function at the global scale. However, the global trade-offs revealed by such syntheses, such as the trade-off between leaf productivity and resilience (i.e. "leaf economics spectrum"), are often absent at smaller scales and fail to correlate with actual functional limitations. An improved understanding of how traits vary within communities, species, and individuals is critical to accurate representations of vegetation ecophysiology and ecological dynamics in ecosystem models. Spectral data from both field observations and remote sensing platforms present a potentially rich and widely available source of information on plant traits. In particular, the inversion of physically-based radiative transfer models (RTMs) is an effective and general method for estimating plant traits from spectral measurements. Here, we apply Bayesian inversion of the PROSPECT leaf RTM to a large database of field spectra and plant traits spanning tropical, temperate, and boreal forests, agricultural plots, arid shrublands, and tundra to identify dominant sources of variability and characterize trade-offs in plant functional traits. By leveraging such a large and diverse dataset, we re-calibrate the empirical absorption coefficients underlying the PROSPECT model and expand its scope to include additional leaf biochemical components, namely leaf nitrogen content. Our work provides a key methodological contribution as a physically-based retrieval of leaf nitrogen from remote sensing observations, and provides substantial insights about trait trade-offs related to plant acclimation, adaptation, and community assembly.

Microsatellite Variations of Elite Setaria Varieties Released during Last Six Decades in China.

PubMed

Jia, Guanqing; Liu, Xiaotong; Schnable, James C; Niu, Zhengang; Wang, Chunfang; Li, Yuhui; Wang, Shujun; Wang, Suying; Liu, Jinrong; Guo, Erhu; Zhi, Hui; Diao, Xianmin

2015-01-01

Crop improvement is a multifaceted micro-evolutionary process, involving changes in breeding approaches, planting configurations and consumption preferences of human beings. Recent research has started to identify the specific genes or genomic regions correlate to improved agronomic traits, however, an apparent blank between the genetic structure of crop elite varieties and their improving histories in diverse modern breeding programs is still in existence. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) was one of the earliest cereal crops to be domesticated and served as a staple crop for early civilizations in China, where it is still widely grown today. In the present trial, a panel of foxtail millet elite varieties, which were released in the last sixty years in different geographical regions of China, was characterized using microsatellite markers (SSRs). A clear separation of two subpopulations corresponding to the two eco-geographical regions of foxtail millet production in China was identified by the dataset, which also indicated that in more recently released elite varieties, large quantities of accessions have been transferred from spring-sowing to summer-sowing ecotypes, likely as a result of breeding response to planting configurations. An association mapping study was conducted to identify loci controlling traits of major agronomic interest. Furthermore, selective sweeps involved in improvement of foxtail millet were identified as multi-diverse minor effect loci controlling different agronomic traits during the long-term improvement of elite varieties. Our results highlight the effect of transition of planting configuration and breeding preference on genetic evolvement of crop species.

Macroevolution of panicoid inflorescences: a history of contingency and order of trait acquisition

PubMed Central

Reinheimer, R.; Vegetti, A. C.; Rua, G. H.

2013-01-01

Background and Aims Inflorescence forms of panicoid grasses (Panicoideae s.s.) are remarkably diverse and they look very labile to human eyes; however, when performing a close inspection one can identify just a small subset of inflorescence types among a huge morphospace of possibilities. Consequently, some evolutionary constraints have restricted, to some extent, the diversification of their inflorescence. Developmental and genetic mechanisms, the photosynthetic type and plant longevity have been postulated as candidate constraints for angiosperms and panicoids in particular; however, it is not clear how these factors operate and which of these have played a key role during the grass inflorescence evolution. To gain insight into this matter the macroevolutionary aspects of panicoid inflorescences are investigated. Methods The inflorescence aspect (lax versus condensed), homogenization, truncation of the terminal spikelet, plant longevity and photosynthetic type were the traits selected for this study. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo methods were used to test different models of evolution and to evaluate the existence of evolutionary correlation among the traits. Both, models and evolutionary correlation were tested and analysed in a phylogenetic context by plotting the characters on a series of trees. For those cases in which the correlation was confirmed, test of contingency and order of trait acquisition were preformed to explore further the patterns of such co-evolution. Key Results The data reject the independent model of inflorescence trait evolution and confirmed the existence of evolutionary contingency. The results support the general trend of homogenization being a prerequisite for the loss of the terminal spikelet of the main axis. There was no evidence for temporal order in the gain of homogenization and condensation; consequently, the homogenization and condensation could occur simultaneously. The correlation between

Multiple-trait multiple-country genetic evaluation of Holstein bulls for female fertility and milk production traits.

PubMed

Nilforooshan, M A; Jakobsen, J H; Fikse, W F; Berglund, B; Jorjani, H

2014-06-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of including milk yield data in the international genetic evaluation of female fertility traits to reduce or eliminate a possible bias because of across-country selection for milk yield. Data included two female fertility traits from Great Britain, Italy and the Netherlands, together with milk yield data from the same countries and from the United States, because the genetic trends in other countries may be influenced by selection decisions on bulls in the United States. Potentially, female fertility data had been corrected nationally for within-country selection and management biases for milk yield. Using a multiple-trait multiple across-country evaluation (MT-MACE) for the analysis of female fertility traits with milk yield, across-country selection patterns both for female fertility and milk yield can be considered simultaneously. Four analyses were performed; one single-trait multiple across-country evaluation analysis including only milk yield data, one MT-MACE analysis including only female fertility traits, and one MT-MACE analysis including both female fertility and milk yield traits. An additional MT-MACE analysis was performed including both female fertility and milk yield traits, but excluding the United States. By including milk yield traits to the analysis, female fertility reliabilities increased, but not for all bulls in all the countries by trait combinations. The presence of milk yield traits in the analysis did not considerably change the genetic correlations, genetic trends or bull rankings of female fertility traits. Even though the predicted genetic merits of female fertility traits hardly changed by including milk yield traits to the analysis, the change was not equally distributed to the whole data. The number of bulls in common between the two sets of Top 100 bulls for each trait in the two analyses of female fertility traits, with and without the four milk yield traits and their rank

A High-Density Genetic Map with Array-Based Markers Facilitates Structural and Quantitative Trait Locus Analyses of the Common Wheat Genome

PubMed Central

Iehisa, Julio Cesar Masaru; Ohno, Ryoko; Kimura, Tatsuro; Enoki, Hiroyuki; Nishimura, Satoru; Okamoto, Yuki; Nasuda, Shuhei; Takumi, Shigeo

2014-01-01

The large genome and allohexaploidy of common wheat have complicated construction of a high-density genetic map. Although improvements in the throughput of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have made it possible to obtain a large amount of genotyping data for an entire mapping population by direct sequencing, including hexaploid wheat, a significant number of missing data points are often apparent due to the low coverage of sequencing. In the present study, a microarray-based polymorphism detection system was developed using NGS data obtained from complexity-reduced genomic DNA of two common wheat cultivars, Chinese Spring (CS) and Mironovskaya 808. After design and selection of polymorphic probes, 13,056 new markers were added to the linkage map of a recombinant inbred mapping population between CS and Mironovskaya 808. On average, 2.49 missing data points per marker were observed in the 201 recombinant inbred lines, with a maximum of 42. Around 40% of the new markers were derived from genic regions and 11% from repetitive regions. The low number of retroelements indicated that the new polymorphic markers were mainly derived from the less repetitive region of the wheat genome. Around 25% of the mapped sequences were useful for alignment with the physical map of barley. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analyses of 14 agronomically important traits related to flowering, spikes, and seeds demonstrated that the new high-density map showed improved QTL detection, resolution, and accuracy over the original simple sequence repeat map. PMID:24972598

Are Traits Useful? Explaining Trait Manifestations as Tools in the Pursuit of Goals

PubMed Central

McCabe, Kira O.; Fleeson, William

2015-01-01

Traits and motivation mainly have been treated separately for almost a century. The purpose of these studies is to test the proposal that traits and motivation are intricately linked. Specifically, that one explanation for traits, at least in terms of their descriptiveness of what people actually do, is the goals people pursue. Study 1 used experience-sampling methodology to show that almost half the variance in extraversion and conscientiousness manifestation was explained by goal pursuit differences. Both why people enacted more of extraversion and/or conscientiousness than others, and why people enacted extraversion and/or conscientiousness at any given moment were explained by the goals people were pursuing at those moments. Study 2 used experimental methodology to show that extraversion and conscientiousness enactment was in fact caused by the goal pursuit. Study 3 employed observer ratings to show that the goal-dependent enactments of traits were observer-verified actual behaviors. In all three studies, different goals affected different traits discriminatively. Thus, these findings provided strong evidence for one explanation of traits, that they are useful for accomplishing goals. These findings provided one answer to long-standing questions about the conceptual relations between traits and motivation. And these findings clarified the meaning and nature of extraversion and conscientiousness by revealing part of what these traits are for. PMID:26280839

Quantitative and Qualitative Differences in Morphological Traits Revealed between Diploid Fragaria Species

PubMed Central

SARGENT, DANIEL J.; GEIBEL, M.; HAWKINS, J. A.; WILKINSON, M. J.; BATTEY, N. H.; SIMPSON, D. W.

2004-01-01

• Background and Aims The aims of this investigation were to highlight the qualitative and quantitative diversity apparent between nine diploid Fragaria species and produce interspecific populations segregating for a large number of morphological characters suitable for quantitative trait loci analysis. • Methods A qualitative comparison of eight described diploid Fragaria species was performed and measurements were taken of 23 morphological traits from 19 accessions including eight described species and one previously undescribed species. A principal components analysis was performed on 14 mathematically unrelated traits from these accessions, which partitioned the species accessions into distinct morphological groups. Interspecific crosses were performed with accessions of species that displayed significant quantitative divergence and, from these, populations that should segregate for a range of quantitative traits were raised. • Key Results Significant differences between species were observed for all 23 morphological traits quantified and three distinct groups of species accessions were observed after the principal components analysis. Interspecific crosses were performed between these groups, and F2 and backcross populations were raised that should segregate for a range of morphological characters. In addition, the study highlighted a number of distinctive morphological characters in many of the species studied. • Conclusions Diploid Fragaria species are morphologically diverse, yet remain highly interfertile, making the group an ideal model for the study of the genetic basis of phenotypic differences between species through map-based investigation using quantitative trait loci. The segregating interspecific populations raised will be ideal for such investigations and could also provide insights into the nature and extent of genome evolution within this group. PMID:15469944

QTL mapping for sexually dimorphic fitness-related traits in wild bighorn sheep

PubMed Central

Poissant, J; Davis, C S; Malenfant, R M; Hogg, J T; Coltman, D W

2012-01-01

Dissecting the genetic architecture of fitness-related traits in wild populations is key to understanding evolution and the mechanisms maintaining adaptive genetic variation. We took advantage of a recently developed genetic linkage map and phenotypic information from wild pedigreed individuals from Ram Mountain, Alberta, Canada, to study the genetic architecture of ecologically important traits (horn volume, length, base circumference and body mass) in bighorn sheep. In addition to estimating sex-specific and cross-sex quantitative genetic parameters, we tested for the presence of quantitative trait loci (QTLs), colocalization of QTLs between bighorn sheep and domestic sheep, and sex × QTL interactions. All traits showed significant additive genetic variance and genetic correlations tended to be positive. Linkage analysis based on 241 microsatellite loci typed in 310 pedigreed animals resulted in no significant and five suggestive QTLs (four for horn dimension on chromosomes 1, 18 and 23, and one for body mass on chromosome 26) using genome-wide significance thresholds (Logarithm of odds (LOD) >3.31 and >1.88, respectively). We also confirmed the presence of a horn dimension QTL in bighorn sheep at the only position known to contain a similar QTL in domestic sheep (on chromosome 10 near the horns locus; nominal P<0.01) and highlighted a number of regions potentially containing weight-related QTLs in both species. As expected for sexually dimorphic traits involved in male–male combat, loci with sex-specific effects were detected. This study lays the foundation for future work on adaptive genetic variation and the evolutionary dynamics of sexually dimorphic traits in bighorn sheep. PMID:21847139

Fire severity filters regeneration traits to shape community assembly in Alaska's boreal forest

Treesearch

Teresa N. Hollingsworth; Jill F. Johnstone; Emily L. Bernhardt; F. Stuart Chapin

2013-01-01

Disturbance can both initiate and shape patterns of secondary succession by affecting processes of community assembly. Thus, understanding assembly rules is a key element of predicting ecological responses to changing disturbance regimes. We measured the composition and trait characteristics of plant communities early after widespread wildfires in Alaska to assess how...

Trait approach motivation moderates the aftereffects of self-control

PubMed Central

Crowell, Adrienne; Kelley, Nicholas J.; Schmeichel, Brandon J.

2014-01-01

Numerous experiments have found that exercising self-control reduces success on subsequent, seemingly unrelated self-control tasks. Such evidence lends support to a strength model that posits a limited and depletable resource underlying all manner of self-control. Recent theory and evidence suggest that exercising self-control may also increase approach-motivated impulse strength. The two studies reported here tested two implications of this increased approach motivation hypothesis. First, aftereffects of self-control should be evident even in responses that require little or no self-control. Second, participants higher in trait approach motivation should be particularly susceptible to such aftereffects. In support, exercising self-control led to increased optimism (Study 1) and broadened attention (Study 2), but only among individuals higher in trait approach motivation. These findings suggest that approach motivation is an important key to understanding the aftereffects of exercising self-control. PMID:25324814

Exploring callous and unemotional traits in youth via general personality traits: An eye toward DSM-5.

PubMed

Latzman, Robert D; Lilienfeld, Scott O; Latzman, Natasha E; Clark, Lee Anna

2013-07-01

The current study aimed at better understanding callous-unemotional (CU) traits in youth within a traditional personality trait/temperament framework as well as in relation to current proposals for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Participants were 174 mothers and their sons age 11-16 years. Mothers and youth reported on youth CU traits and general personality trait/ temperament dimensions. Overall, analyses revealed significant unique associations of personality trait/temperament dimensions with CU total and subscale scores. Personality trait/temperament dimensions explained 36% to 58% of the variance in CU subscales and total score. Furthermore, specific personality dimensions differentially and uniquely predicted various CU subscales, indicating marked specificity in association such that these traits should be considered separately rather than as a single unit. Taken together, these results confirm the importance of considering traditional personality trait models to understand "callous and unemotional" traits and risk for psychopathy more fully. Additionally, our findings bear implications for the conceptualization and operationalization of these traits in DSM-5.

Agronomic, chemical and genetic profiles of hot peppers (Capsicum annuum ssp.).

PubMed

De Masi, Luigi; Siviero, Pietro; Castaldo, Domenico; Cautela, Domenico; Esposito, Castrese; Laratta, Bruna

2007-08-01

A study on morphology, productive yield, main quality parameters and genetic variability of eight landraces of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum ssp.) from Southern Italy has been performed. Morphological characters of berries and productivity values were evaluated by agronomic analyses. Chemical and genetic investigations were performed by HPLC and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR, respectively. In particular, carotenoid and capsaicinoid (pungency) contents were considered as main quality parameters of hot pepper. For the eight selected samples, genetic similarity values were calculated from the generated RAPD fragments and a dendrogram of genetic similarity was constructed. All the eight landraces exhibited characteristic RAPD patterns that allowed their characterization. Agro-morphological and chemical determinations were found to be adequate for selection, but they resulted useful only for plants grown in the same environmental conditions. RAPD application may provide a more reliable way based on DNA identification. The results of our study led to the identification of three noteworthy populations, suitable for processing, which fitted into different clusters of the dendrogram.

Both the constitutive Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S and tissue-specific AGAMOUS enhancers activate transcription autonomously in Arabidopsis thaliana

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The presence of multiple enhancers and promoters within a single vector often provokes complicated mutual interaction and crosstalk, thereby, altering promoter specificity, which causes serious problems for precisely engineering gene function and agronomic traits in transgenic plants. Enhancer elem...

Sub-threshold autism traits: the role of trait emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility.

PubMed

Gökçen, Elif; Petrides, Konstantinos V; Hudry, Kristelle; Frederickson, Norah; Smillie, Luke D

2014-05-01

Theory and research suggests that features of autism are not restricted to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and that autism-like traits vary throughout the general population at lower severities. The present research first investigated the relationship of autism traits with trait emotional intelligence and empathy in a sample of 163 adults aged between 18 and 51 years (44% male). It then examined performance on a set of tasks assessing social cognition and cognitive flexibility in 69 participants with either high or low scores on ASD traits. Results confirm that there is pronounced variation within the general population relating to ASD traits, which reflect similar (though less severe) social-cognitive and emotional features to those observed in ASDs. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Power and Autistic Traits

PubMed Central

Overskeid, Geir

2016-01-01

Autistic traits can help people gain and sustain power, and has probably done so throughout history, says the present paper. A number of testable claims follow from this assumption. First, the powerful should have more autistic traits than others – which they do appear to have. Among other things, powerful people, and those with many autistic traits, tend to prefer solitary activities and are often aloof. Moreover, they are often rigid and socially insensitive, low on empathy and with low scores on the trait of agreeableness – and as a rule they do not have many friends. Both groups are also more self-centered than others, more honest, less submissive, more sensitive to slights, and with a stronger tendency to engage in abstract thinking. They tend to behave in bossy or dominant ways, and their moral judgment is more based on rules than on feelings. In addition to experimental evidence, I cite biographies showing that a surprising number of presidents, prime ministers and other powerful people seem to have had traits like those in question – and interestingly, in animals, leaders are often rigid and insensitive to group members’ needs and feelings, mostly acting the way they are themselves inclined to, not responding much to others. Problem solving is important in leadership, and people with many autistic traits appear often to be better thinkers than typical subjects with similar IQs. However, these and other congruities could be coincidences. Hence the question of whether traits the two groups have in common also have a common cause constitutes a strong test of the paper’s thesis – and a common cause does appear to exist, in the form of testosterone’s effects on the central nervous system. Finally, there is evidence that, other things equal, powerful men have more reproductive success than others. If men wielding power do indeed have more autistic traits than those less powerful, this will lead to, other things equal, such traits becoming more

RNA Interference for Functional Genomics and Improvement of Cotton (Gossypium sp.)

PubMed Central

Abdurakhmonov, Ibrokhim Y.; Ayubov, Mirzakamol S.; Ubaydullaeva, Khurshida A.; Buriev, Zabardast T.; Shermatov, Shukhrat E.; Ruziboev, Haydarali S.; Shapulatov, Umid M.; Saha, Sukumar; Ulloa, Mauricio; Yu, John Z.; Percy, Richard G.; Devor, Eric J.; Sharma, Govind C.; Sripathi, Venkateswara R.; Kumpatla, Siva P.; van der Krol, Alexander; Kater, Hake D.; Khamidov, Khakimdjan; Salikhov, Shavkat I.; Jenkins, Johnie N.; Abdukarimov, Abdusattor; Pepper, Alan E.

2016-01-01

RNA interference (RNAi), is a powerful new technology in the discovery of genetic sequence functions, and has become a valuable tool for functional genomics of cotton (Gossypium sp.). The rapid adoption of RNAi has replaced previous antisense technology. RNAi has aided in the discovery of function and biological roles of many key cotton genes involved in fiber development, fertility and somatic embryogenesis, resistance to important biotic and abiotic stresses, and oil and seed quality improvements as well as the key agronomic traits including yield and maturity. Here, we have comparatively reviewed seminal research efforts in previously used antisense approaches and currently applied breakthrough RNAi studies in cotton, analyzing developed RNAi methodologies, achievements, limitations, and future needs in functional characterizations of cotton genes. We also highlighted needed efforts in the development of RNAi-based cotton cultivars, and their safety and risk assessment, small and large-scale field trials, and commercialization. PMID:26941765

RNA Interference for Functional Genomics and Improvement of Cotton (Gossypium sp.).

PubMed

Abdurakhmonov, Ibrokhim Y; Ayubov, Mirzakamol S; Ubaydullaeva, Khurshida A; Buriev, Zabardast T; Shermatov, Shukhrat E; Ruziboev, Haydarali S; Shapulatov, Umid M; Saha, Sukumar; Ulloa, Mauricio; Yu, John Z; Percy, Richard G; Devor, Eric J; Sharma, Govind C; Sripathi, Venkateswara R; Kumpatla, Siva P; van der Krol, Alexander; Kater, Hake D; Khamidov, Khakimdjan; Salikhov, Shavkat I; Jenkins, Johnie N; Abdukarimov, Abdusattor; Pepper, Alan E

2016-01-01

RNA interference (RNAi), is a powerful new technology in the discovery of genetic sequence functions, and has become a valuable tool for functional genomics of cotton (Gossypium sp.). The rapid adoption of RNAi has replaced previous antisense technology. RNAi has aided in the discovery of function and biological roles of many key cotton genes involved in fiber development, fertility and somatic embryogenesis, resistance to important biotic and abiotic stresses, and oil and seed quality improvements as well as the key agronomic traits including yield and maturity. Here, we have comparatively reviewed seminal research efforts in previously used antisense approaches and currently applied breakthrough RNAi studies in cotton, analyzing developed RNAi methodologies, achievements, limitations, and future needs in functional characterizations of cotton genes. We also highlighted needed efforts in the development of RNAi-based cotton cultivars, and their safety and risk assessment, small and large-scale field trials, and commercialization.

Trait Emotional Intelligence and Personality

PubMed Central

Furnham, Adrian; Petrides, K. V.

2015-01-01

This study investigated if the linkages between trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) and the Five-Factor Model of personality were invariant between men and women. Five English-speaking samples (N = 307-685) of mostly undergraduate students each completed a different measure of the Big Five personality traits and either the full form or short form of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue). Across samples, models predicting global TEIQue scores from the Big Five were invariant between genders, with Neuroticism and Extraversion being the strongest trait EI correlates, followed by Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness. However, there was some evidence indicating that the gender-specific contributions of the Big Five to trait EI vary depending on the personality measure used, being more consistent for women. Discussion focuses on the validity of the TEIQue as a measure of trait EI and its psychometric properties, more generally. PMID:25866439

Apparent plasticity in functional traits determining competitive ability and spatial distribution: a case from desert.

PubMed

Xie, Jiang-Bo; Xu, Gui-Qing; Jenerette, G Darrel; Bai, Yong-fei; Wang, Zhong-Yuan; Li, Yan

2015-07-20

Species competitive abilities and their distributions are closely related to functional traits such as biomass allocation patterns. When we consider how nutrient supply affects competitive abilities, quantifying the apparent and true plasticity in functional traits is important because the allometric relationships among traits are universal in plants. We propose to integrate the notion of allometry and the classical reaction norm into a composite theoretical framework that quantifies the apparent and true plasticity. Combining the framework with a meta-analysis, a series of field surveys and a competition experiment, we aimed to determine the causes of the dune/interdune distribution patterns of two Haloxylon species in the Gurbantonggut Desert. We found that (1) the biomass allocation patterns of both Haloxylon species in responses to environmental conditions were apparent rather than true plasticity and (2) the allometric allocation patterns affected the plants' competition for soil nutrient supply. A key implication of our results is that the apparent plasticity in functional traits of plants determines their response to environmental change. Without identifying the apparent and true plasticity, we would substantially overestimate the magnitude, duration and even the direction of plant responses in functional traits to climate change.

Apparent plasticity in functional traits determining competitive ability and spatial distribution: a case from desert

PubMed Central

Xie, Jiang-Bo; Xu, Gui-Qing; Jenerette, G. Darrel; Bai, Yong-fei; Wang, Zhong-Yuan; Li, Yan

2015-01-01

Species competitive abilities and their distributions are closely related to functional traits such as biomass allocation patterns. When we consider how nutrient supply affects competitive abilities, quantifying the apparent and true plasticity in functional traits is important because the allometric relationships among traits are universal in plants. We propose to integrate the notion of allometry and the classical reaction norm into a composite theoretical framework that quantifies the apparent and true plasticity. Combining the framework with a meta-analysis, a series of field surveys and a competition experiment, we aimed to determine the causes of the dune/interdune distribution patterns of two Haloxylon species in the Gurbantonggut Desert. We found that (1) the biomass allocation patterns of both Haloxylon species in responses to environmental conditions were apparent rather than true plasticity and (2) the allometric allocation patterns affected the plants’ competition for soil nutrient supply. A key implication of our results is that the apparent plasticity in functional traits of plants determines their response to environmental change. Without identifying the apparent and true plasticity, we would substantially overestimate the magnitude, duration and even the direction of plant responses in functional traits to climate change. PMID:26190745

Herbivory as an important selective force in the evolution of floral traits and pollinator shifts

PubMed Central

Overson, Rick P.; Raguso, Robert A.; Skogen, Krissa A.

2017-01-01

Abstract Floral trait evolution is frequently attributed to pollinator-mediated selection but herbivores can play a key role in shaping plant reproductive biology. Here we examine the role of florivores in driving floral trait evolution and pollinator shifts in a recently radiated clade of flowering plants, Oenothera sect. Calylophus. We compare florivory by a specialist, internal feeder, Mompha, on closely related hawkmoth- and bee-pollinated species and document variation in damage based on floral traits within sites, species and among species. Our results show that flowers with longer floral tubes and decreased floral flare have increased Mompha damage. Bee-pollinated flowers, which have substantially smaller floral tubes, experience on average 13% less Mompha florivory than do hawkmoth-pollinated flowers. The positive association between tube length and Mompha damage is evident even within sites of some species, suggesting that Mompha can drive trait differentiation at microevolutionary scales. Given that there are at least two independent shifts from hawkmoth to bee pollination in this clade, florivore-mediated selection on floral traits may have played an important role in facilitating morphological changes associated with transitions from hawkmoth to bee pollination. PMID:28011456

Evaluation and comparison of insulation efficiency of three enhancer-blocking insulators in plants

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Enhancer-promoter interactions potentially compromise the precise engineering of gene function and agronomically important traits in crops, which demands the adoption of strong, effective enhancer-blocking insulators to block such communication in a transgene construct. In this study, we evaluated ...

Artificial Selection for Determinate Growth Habit in Soybean

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Determinacy is an agronomically important trait associated with the domestication in soybean (Glycine max). Most soybean cultivars are classifiable into indeterminate and determinate growth habit, while Glycine soja, the wild progenitor of soybean, is indeterminate. Indeterminate (Dt1) and determina...

CLUSTERED PRIMARY BRANCH 1, a new allele of DWARF11, controls panicle architecture and seed size in rice.

PubMed

Wu, Yongzhen; Fu, Yongcai; Zhao, Shuangshuang; Gu, Ping; Zhu, Zuofeng; Sun, Chuanqing; Tan, Lubin

2016-01-01

Panicle architecture and seed size are important agronomic traits that directly determine grain yield in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Although a number of key genes controlling panicle architecture and seed size have been cloned and characterized in recent years, their genetic and molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we identified a mutant that produced panicles with fascicled primary branching and reduced seeds in size. We isolated the underlying CLUSTERED PRIMARY BRANCH 1 (CPB1) gene, a new allele of DWARF11 (D11) encoding a cytochrome P450 protein involved in brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis pathway. Genetic transformation experiments confirmed that a His360Leu amino acid substitution residing in the highly conserved region of CPB1/D11 was responsible for the panicle architecture and seed size changes in the cpb1 mutants. Overexpression of CPB1/D11 under the background of cpb1 mutant not only rescued normal panicle architecture and plant height, but also had a larger leaf angle and seed size than the controls. Furthermore, the CPB1/D11 transgenic plants driven by panicle-specific promoters can enlarge seed size and enhance grain yield without affecting other favourable agronomic traits. These results demonstrated that the specific mutation in CPB1/D11 influenced development of panicle architecture and seed size, and manipulation of CPB1/D11 expression using the panicle-specific promoter could be used to increase seed size, leading to grain yield improvement in rice. © 2015 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Genetic correlations between wool traits and meat quality traits in Merino sheep.

PubMed

Mortimer, S I; Hatcher, S; Fogarty, N M; van der Werf, J H J; Brown, D J; Swan, A A; Jacob, R H; Geesink, G H; Hopkins, D L; Edwards, J E Hocking; Ponnampalam, E N; Warner, R D; Pearce, K L; Pethick, D W

2017-10-01

Genetic correlations between 29 wool production and quality traits and 25 meat quality and nutritional value traits were estimated for Merino sheep from an Information Nucleus (IN). Genetic correlations among the meat quality and nutritional value traits are also reported. The IN comprised 8 flocks linked genetically and managed across a range of sheep production environments in Australia. The wool traits included over 5,000 yearling and 3,700 adult records for fleece weight, fiber diameter, staple length, staple strength, fiber diameter variation, scoured wool color, and visual scores for breech and body wrinkle. The meat quality traits were measured on samples from the and included over 1,200 records from progeny of over 170 sires for intramuscular fat (IMF), shear force of meat aged for 5 d (SF5), 24 h postmortem pH (pHLL; also measured in the , pHST), fresh and retail meat color and meat nutritional value traits such as iron and zinc levels, and long-chain omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid levels. Estimated heritabilities for IMF, SF5, pHLL, pHST, retail meat color lightness (), myoglobin, iron, zinc and across the range of long-chain fatty acids were 0.58 ± 0.11, 0.10 ± 0.09, 0.15 ± 0.07, 0.20 ± 0.10, 0.59 ± 0.15, 0.31 ± 0.09, 0.20 ± 0.09, 0.11 ± 0.09, and range of 0.00 (eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic, and arachidonic acids) to 0.14 ± 0.07 (linoleic acid), respectively. The genetic correlations between the wool production and meat quality traits were low to negligible and indicate that wool breeding programs will have little or no effect on meat quality. There were moderately favorable genetic correlations between important yearling wool production traits and the omega-3 fatty acids that were reduced for corresponding adult wool production traits, but these correlations are unlikely to be important in wool/meat breeding programs because they have high SE, and the omega-3 traits have little or no genetic variance. Significant genetic

Effects of Trait Self-Control on Response Conflict About Healthy and Unhealthy Food.

PubMed

Gillebaart, Marleen; Schneider, Iris K; De Ridder, Denise T D

2016-12-01

Self-control leads to positive life outcomes, but it is poorly understood. While previous research has focused on self-control failure, self-control success remains unexplored. The current studies aim to shed more light on the mechanisms of self-control by focusing on the resolution of response conflict as a key component in self-control success. Trait self-control was measured, and participants reported on the magnitude of response conflict they experienced about healthy and unhealthy foods in Study 1 (N = 146; M age  = 33.03; 59 females, 83 males, 4 unknown). The response conflict process was assessed in Study 2 (N = 118; M age  = 21.45; 68 females, 41 males, 9 unknown). Outcomes showed that self-reported evaluative response conflict about food items was smaller for people high in trait self-control. Study 2 revealed that higher trait self-control predicted faster resolution of self-control conflict, and an earlier peak of the response conflict. Taken together, these results provide insight into what makes people with high trait self-control successful, namely, how they handle response conflict. Implications for self-control theories and future directions are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.