Morphological variation within a sour cherry collection     

Kimberly H. Krahl  Ali Lansari  Amy F. Iezzoni 《Euphytica》1991,52(1):47-55

Summary Morphological traits of 28 full-sib sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) families developed with pollen from European sour cherry selections were evaluated with principal component (PC) analysis. The traits which loaded on the first PC were size characters such as lateral length, leaf area, fruit weight, and trunk diameter increase. These character loading on the first PC could be interpreted as representing gradations between morphologies characteristic of the 2 presumed progenitor species, sweet cherry (P. avium L.) and ground cherry (P. fruticosa Pall.). Mean family differences in trunk diameter increase, lateral length, leaf area, and fruit weight varied approximately 12, 3.7, 2.5, and 2 fold, respectively. These results suggest that it may be possible to select sour cherry hybrids approaching the tree and fruit size of either progenitor species. The results are discussed in reference to germplasm collection and the potential of certain cultivars and hybrids as parents.  相似文献   

Re-test of Rhinocyllus conicus host specificity, and the prediction of ecological risk in biological control     

Amy E. Arnett  Svata M. Louda 《Biological conservation》2002,106(2):251-257

Biological control is proposed as an ecological strategy to manage the threat of invasive plants, especially in natural areas. To pursue this strategy, we need to know that the host specificity criteria used to evaluate ecological risk with deliberate introduction of an exotic insect for biocontrol are sufficient to predict potential impact on native species. Host specificity is defined by adult feeding and oviposition preferences and larval development. One way to evaluate the criteria is to re-examine case histories where ecological effects are recorded, such as that of Rhinocyllus conicus Frölich. This flower head weevil, released in North America in 1968 to control exotic thistles like Musk thistle (Carduus nutans L), is now reducing seed production by multiple native North American thistle species (Cirsium spp.), and local population density of Platte thistle (Cirsium canescens Nutt.). We hypothesized that host specificity of R. conicus has changed since pre-release testing, providing an explanation for the unexpected magnitude of the documented ecological effects. Instead, when we re-tested host specificity of weevils naturalized over 28 generations, we found that host specificity has not changed. Naturalized adults of R. conicus showed strong feeding and oviposition preference for Musk thistle over Platte thistle. In addition, larval development by these weevils was faster and more successful (to larger size) on Musk thistle than on Platte thistle. Thus, our results indicate that a change in host specificity cannot explain the unexpectedly large build-up of R. conicus and significant ecological effect on Platte thistle. We conclude that accurate prediction of the potential level of impact on native host plants in the field requires further ecological information in addition to host specificity.  相似文献   

Competitive ability of selected Cyclopia Vent. rhizobia under glasshouse and field conditions     

Amy C. Spriggs  Felix D. Dakora 《Soil biology & biochemistry》2007,39(1):58-67

This study tested the competitive ability of three locally isolated Cyclopia rhizobia and strain PPRICI3, the strain currently recommended for the cultivation of Cyclopia, a tea-producing legume. Under sterile glasshouse conditions, the three locally isolated strains were equally competitive with strain PPRICI3. In field soils, the inoculant strains were largely outcompeted by native rhizobia present in the soil, although nodule occupancy was higher in nodules growing close to the root crown (the original inoculation area). In glasshouse experiments using field soil, the test strains again performed poorly, gaining less than 6% nodule occupancy in the one soil type. The presence of Cyclopia-compatible rhizobia in field soils, together with the poor competitive ability of inoculant strains, resulted in inoculation having no effect on Cyclopia yield, nodule number or nodule mass. The native rhizobial population did not only effectively nodulate uninoculated control plants, they also out-competed introduced strains for nodule occupancy in inoculated plants. Nonetheless, the Cyclopia produced high crop yields, possibly due to an adequate supply of soil N.  相似文献   

Florida manatees, Trichechus manatus latirostris, respond to approaching vessels     

Stephanie M Nowacek  Randall S Wells  Edward C.G Owen  Richard O Flamm 《Biological conservation》2004,119(4):517-523

Florida manatees inhabit shallow coastal and estuarine waters of the southeast US, a range that brings them into frequent contact with vessels. More than 30% of documented annual mortalities are attributed to vessel collisions, and most living animals bear the scars of multiple, non-lethal encounters. To document the behavior of manatees in the presence of vessels, we recorded their movements with an overhead video system. We scored six aspects of behavior during 170 vessel approaches, and compared their behavior with 187 control segments when no boats were present. Manatees in shallow waters and at the edge of the channel responded to approaches by orienting towards the nearest deep water, a boat channel, and increasing their swimming speed. Close boat approaches and shallow water depths exacerbated these responses. Our results indicate that manatees detect and respond to approaching vessels with an apparent flight response, a response which includes movement towards deeper water. If given sufficient time, i.e., approached or passed slowly, the manatees may then be able to reach deeper water and safe depths.  相似文献   

8S globulin of mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek]: cloning and characterization of its cDNA isoforms, expression in Escherichia coli, purification, and crystallization of the major recombinant 8S isoform     

Bernardo AE  Garcia RN  Adachi M  Angeles JG  Kaga A  Ishimoto M  Utsumi S  Tecson-Mendoza EM 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2004,52(9):2552-2560

Three isoforms of the cDNA of the major 8S globulin of mungbean, 8Salpha, 8Salpha', and 8Sbeta, were isolated, cloned, and characterized. The cDNA sequences of 8Salpha, 8Salpha', and 8Sbeta had open reading frames of 1362, 1359 or 1362, and 1359 bp, respectively, which code for 454, 453 or 454, and 453 amino acids corresponding to molecular weights of 51 973, 51 627 or 51 758, and 51 779, respectively. Homology in terms of cDNA and amino acid sequences was 91-92% between 8Salpha and 8Salpha', 87% between 8Salpha and 8Sbeta, and 86-88% between 8Salpha' and 8Sbeta. The signal peptide was found to be 1-25, 1-24 or 25, and 1-23 for 8Salpha, 8Salpha', and 8Sbeta, respectively, using the signalP website (Nielsen, H.; Engelbrecht, J.; Brunak, S.; von Heijne, G. Protein Eng. 1997, 10, 1-6). The propeptide was determined to be IVHREN. A single site for glycosylation (N-X-S/T) was observed about 90 amino acids from the C terminus. Homology between mungbean 8S isoforms and other 7-8S proteins ranged from 45 to 68% within members of the legume family and 29 to 34% for crops of different species. The major isoform 8Salpha was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by successive ammonium sulfate fractionation, hydrophobic interaction, and Mono Q column chromatography. The recombinant 8Salpha, but not the native form, was successfully crystallized producing rhombohedral crystals.  相似文献   

Synthesis of the sednet work package 5 outcomes     

Susanne Heise  Sabine E. Apitz  Marc Babut  Helge Bergmann  Piet den Besten  Gerald J. Ellen  Jan Joziasse  Alexandra Katsiri  Vera Maaß  Amy Oen  Adriaan Slob  Sue White 《Journal of Soils and Sediments》2004,4(4):233-235

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Quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (QNMR) spectroscopy for assessing the purity of technical grade agrochemicals: 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and sodium 2,2-dichloropropionate (Dalapon sodium)     

Wells RJ  Hook JM  Al-Deen TS  Hibbert DB 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2002,50(12):3366-3374

Comparison of quantitative NMR spectroscopy (QNMR) with chromatographic methods such as gas chromatography (GC) or high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the determination of the purity of and impurities in technical grade agrochemicals, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 1, and Dalapon sodium (sodium 2,2-dichloropropionate), 10, has revealed that QNMR is more precise and accurate than the chromatographic methods. Quantitative impurity profiling of technical grade 1 is rapid and accurate using 600 MHz (1)H NMR. Extra dispersion at the relatively high frequency allowed full assignment of the NMR spectrum of 1 and its related organic impurities in technical samples. The percentage purity of 1 was measured by the difference QNMR method, which involves summing the amounts of impurities and subtracting from 100%. Results are superior in consistency to those obtained by chromatographic methods. The percentage purity of Dalapon sodium, 10, in technical grade batches is readily obtained by (1)H QNMR, using either the difference method or the internal standard method, using dimethyl sulfone (DMSO2) internally as a reference material, that is chemically unrelated to the analyte. The latter method also allows the simultaneous identification and quantification of impurities, many of which are either not accessible to or detectable by the chromatographic methods. Uncertainty budgets for the QNMR method are presented and demonstrate that the major contributors to uncertainty lie in the weighing of the chemicals and in purity of the standard reference material prior to the QNMR experiment.  相似文献   

Stabilization of Z DNA in vivo by localized supercoiling   总被引：40，自引：0，他引：40  

A R Rahmouni  R D Wells 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1989,246(4928):358-363

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Engineering enzyme specificity by "substrate-assisted catalysis"   总被引：8，自引：0，他引：8  

P Carter  J A Wells 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1987,237(4813):394-399

A novel approach to engineering enzyme specificity is presented in which a catalytic group from an enzyme is first removed by site-directed mutagenesis causing inactivation. Activity is then partially restored by substrates containing the missing catalytic functional group. Replacement of the catalytic His with Ala in the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin gene (the mutant is designated His64Ala) by site-directed mutagenesis reduces the catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) by a factor of a million when assayed with N-succinyl-L-Phe-L-Ala-L-Ala-L-Phe-p-nitroanilide (sFAAF-pNA). Model building studies showed that a His side chain at the P2 position of a substrate bound at the active site of subtilisin could be virtually superimposed on the catalytic His side chain of this serine protease. Accordingly, the His64Ala mutant hydrolyzes a His P2 substrate (sFAHF-pNA) up to 400 times faster than a homologous Ala P2 or Gln P2 substrate (sFAAF-pNA or sFAQF-pNA) at pH 8.0. In contrast, the wild-type enzyme hydrolyzes these three substrates with similar catalytic efficiencies. Additional data from substrate-dependent pH profiles and hydrolysis of large polypeptides indicate that the His64Ala mutant enzyme can recover partially the function of the lost catalytic histidine from a His P2 side chain on the substrate. Such "substrate-assisted catalysis" provides a new basis for engineering enzymes with very narrow and potentially useful substrate specificities. These studies also suggest a possible functional intermediate in the evolution of the catalytic triad of serine proteases.  相似文献   

Biological Control of Yellow Nutsedge with the Indigenous Rust Fungus Puccinia canaliculata     

Phatak SC  Sumner DR  Wells HD  Bell DK  Glaze NC 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1983,219(4591):1446-1447

Yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus L.) is a serious weed problem in the United States and other countries. An indigenous rust fungus [Puccinia canaliculata (Schw.) Lagerh.], pathogenic on yellow nutsedge, was released in early spring as a potential biological control agent. The fungus inhibited nutsedge flowering and new tuber formation. The fungus also dehydrated and killed nutsedge plants. The successful control of yellow nutsedge by a rust epiphytotic under experimental conditions demonstrates the potential use of the rust in an integrated weed management system.  相似文献