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Genetic variations in clonally propagated bermudagrass cultivars Identified by DNA fingerprinting

Praveen Nagh Yerramsetty, Michael P. Anderson, Charles M. Taliaferro,and ²Dennis L Martin.

Abstract

Clonally propagated bermudagrass constitute a major source of turf in the Southern United States. Most of parents for the clonally propagated bermudagrasses were initially introduced from other countries at some time in the past. Few of the cultivars were introduced from China by researchers in the Oklahoma State Agricultural Experimental Station. The objective of this DAF project was to determine the degree of genetic relatedness of these new introduced Chinese cultivars with the existing vegetative cultivars commonly grown in the United States by using DNA fingerprinting technique (DAF). A total of 89 bands were scored using four DAF primers. The cluster analysis was able to distinguish all the varieties studied into 6 distinct groups indicating the existence of wide genetic variations in the cultivars examined. Tifton 10 showed near similarity coefficient to the Chinese cultivars, the cultivar Tifton 10 was directly increased by the plant collection in Shanghai China by Glenn W. Burton. The closer grouping of Tifton 10 with the recently introduced Chinese accessions indicates the existence of similarity of germplasm within China. The cultivar Tifsport a radiation induced mutant from ‘Midiron’ bermudagrass and Tifway, were the most closely related varieties with an SC of 0.94. The two cultivars Tifsport and Tifway which are morphologically undistinguishable showed a very similar banding pattern indicating these cultivars to be nearly identical. The most distinct cultivars in this study were Midlawn and Quickstand which showed a SC of 0.72.

(Pages 1-8) PDF full text


Electrophoretic profiles of gliadin subunits to evaluate genetic diversity of Triticum persicum Boiss. and Triticum pyramidale Percival.

Ardashir Kharabian, Andy Jones, Behzad Kaviani
Abstract

The genetic diversity of two tetraploid wheat species were analyzed by examining gliadin seed storage     protein markers at the Gli-A1 and Gli-B1 loci. Samples were collected from Iran, some areas of the Middle East and north of Africa (Egypt) comprising 15 populations of Triticum persicum and Triticum   pyramidale. High rate of electrophoretic polymorphism was detected at the loci studied in two selected species. In T. persicum a total of 72 allelic variants at 2 loci were detected, including 41 for Gli-A1 and 31 for Gli-B1 . In the T. pyramidale samples, 50 allelic variants were totally observed. The number of alleles were 28 and 22 for Gli-A1 and Gli-B1 respectively. No null alleles were observed in the T. persicum samples. The total number of allelic variants in Iranian and   other countries samples of T.persicum were distinguished 42 and 30, respectively. In T.pyramidale conversely, the total number of allelic variants for Egyptian samples were 19 where is higher than other selected countries. In T.persicum population No 1 from Noorabad of Iran showed highest level of genetic diversity (A = 3.00, Ne = 2.11, He = 0.63 and GD = 0.51 ). In T.pyramidale population No,7 from cairo of Egypt had highest diversity ( A = 3.00, Ne = 2.50, He = 0.67 and GD = 0.57).

(Pages 9-16) PDF Full text


Prediction of 3-dimensional structure of EMV1, a group 1 late embryogenesis abundant protein of Vigna radiata Wilczek.

Subramanian Rajesh, Muthurajan Raveendran and Ayyanar Manickam

Abstract
Late embryogenesis abundant proteins (LEA) are associated with desiccation tolerance among photosynthetic organisms and have been reported in mono- and dicot plants as well as in nematodes, yeast, bacteria and cyanobacteria. Although the functional role of LEA proteins remains speculative, there is evidence supporting their participation in acclimation and/or in the adaptive response to stress. EMV1 is a Group 1 LEA protein isolated from Vigna radiata, which is speculated to impart desiccation tolerance in plants. The homology model of this protein was generated by using the LOOPP software based on available structural homologues in protein databases. The final model obtained by molecular mechanics and dynamics method was refined and assessed by PROCHECK and shown to be reliable. The generated model could prove be helpful in understanding functional characteristics of this important class of desiccation tolerance protein.

(Pages 17-25) PDF Full text


Linking transcript profiles to metabolites and metabolic pathways: A systems biology approach to transgene risk assessment

*Kiambi DK, Fortin M, Stromvick M

Abstract

In recent years, questions related to molecular composition and its implications for nutrition and health have been raised as advances in technology speed up the introduction of new diversity into breeding programs, either via transgenic technology or by using molecular markers in combination with wide crosses. Metabolite profiling offers great opportunities for characterization of this diversity phenotypically with respect to its metabolite composition. It provides a powerful resource to guide breeding programs and to alert researchers to positive or detrimental traits at an early stage. The power of this approach will be vastly increased by combining it with transcript profiling and a systematic survey of the metabolite composition of the plant products that are already on the market. This integrated approach and holistic profiling within a systems biology approach enables the careful tracking of the response of the organism to conditional perturbations at different molecular and genetic levels using available databases. This approach to profiling will not only provide a baseline for comparison of plants with novel traits (PNTs) with traditional comparators that are ‘generally recognized as safe’, but also provide a rational framework for risk assessment via 'substantial equivalence'. It also provides important inputs into nutritional research and contributes to the public debate about the acceptability of changes in food-production chains and development of science based regulation of plants with novel traits.

(Pages 26-36) PDF Full text


Mass modeling of two varieties of apricot (prunus armenaica L.) with some physical characteristics

E. Mirzaee, S. Rafiee,A.R. Keyhani, Z. Emam Djom-eh, K. Kheiralipour

Abstract

In this study the mass of tow Iranian apricot varieties were predicted with using different physical characteristics in four models includes: Linear, Quadratic, S-curve, and Exponential. According to the results, the best and the worst models for prediction the mass of Ghavami cultivar were based on volume and length of the fruit with determination coefficients of 0.80 and 0.61, respectively. Also these results for Rajabali cultivar were based on criteria projected area and length of the fruit with determination coefficients of 0.97 and 0.63, respectively. Also observed that Exponential model was not suitable at all.

(Pages 37-43) PDF Full text