Vernalization requirement of wild beet Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima: among population variation and its adaptive significance

As the major source of sugar in moderate climates, sugar-producing beets (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris) have a high economic value. However, the low genetic diversity within cultivated beets requires introduction of new traits, for example to increase their tolerance and resistance attributes - traits that often reside in the crop wild relatives. For this, genetic information of wild beet relatives and their phylogenetic placements to each other are crucial. To answer this need, we sequenced and assembled the complete plastome sequences from a broad species spectrum across the beet genera Beta and Patellifolia, both embedded in the Betoideae (order Caryophyllales). This pan-plastome dataset was then used to determine the wild beet phylogeny in high-resolution. We sequenced the plastomes of 18 closely related accessions representing 11 species of the Betoideae subfamily and provide high-quality plastome assemblies which represent an important resource for further studies of beet wild relatives and the diverse plant order Caryophyllales. Their assembly sizes range from 149,723 bp (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris) to 152,816 bp (Beta nana), with most variability in the intergenic sequences. Combining plastome-derived phylogenies with read-based treatments based on mitochondrial information, we were able to suggest a unified and highly confident phylogenetic placement of the investigated Betoideae species. Our results show that the genus Beta can be divided into the two clearly separated sections Beta and Corollinae. Our analysis confirms the affiliation of B. nana with the other Corollinae species, and we argue against a separate placement in the Nanae section. Within the Patellifolia genus, the two diploid species Patellifolia procumbens and Patellifolia webbiana are, regarding the plastome sequences, genetically more similar to each other than to the tetraploid Patellifolia patellaris. Nevertheless, all three Patellifolia species are clearly separated. In conclusion, our wild beet plastome assemblies represent a new resource to understand the molecular base of the beet germplasm. Despite large differences on the phenotypic level, our pan-plastome dataset is highly conserved. For the first time in beets, our whole plastome sequences overcome the low sequence variation in individual genes and provide the molecular backbone for highly resolved beet phylogenomics. Hence, our plastome sequencing strategy can also guide genomic approaches to unravel other closely related taxa.

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High levels of functional divergence in toxicity towards prey among the venoms of individual pigmy rattlesnakes

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2018.0876 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 20180876 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Sarah A. Smiley-Walters ◽

Terence M. Farrell ◽

H. Lisle Gibbs

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Functional Significance ◽

Functional Divergence ◽

Adaptive Significance ◽

Population Variation ◽

Population Differences ◽

Relative Toxicity ◽

Molecular Phenotype ◽

Functional Variation ◽

Sistrurus Miliarius

Venom is a complex molecular phenotype that shows high levels of variation in expressed proteins between individuals within and between populations. However, the functional significance of this variation in terms of toxicity towards prey is largely unknown. Here, we assessed the relative toxicity of venom from individual pygmy rattlesnakes ( Sistrurus miliarius ) on brown anoles ( Anolis sagrei ) using a novel assay involving tests of fixed doses of venom from individual snakes on individual lizards. We found high levels of functional variation between individual venoms within populations with individual differences (nested within population) explaining 3.6 times more variation in toxicity than population differences. Our results suggest a previously unappreciated adaptive significance to within-population variation in venom. They argue that selective mechanisms that maintain variation within populations may be of equal or greater importance to divergent selection leading to local adaption between populations as evolutionary explanations of venom variation within species.

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Construction and characterization of a BAC library for the molecular dissection of a single wild beet centromere and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) genome analysis

Genome ◽

10.1139/g01-076 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 44 (5) ◽

pp. 846-855 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Frank Gindullis ◽

Daryna Dechyeva ◽

Thomas Schmidt

Keyword(s):

Sugar Beet ◽

Beta Vulgaris ◽

Bac Library ◽

Artificial Chromosome ◽

Average Insert Size ◽

Insert Size ◽

Single Chromosome ◽

Beta Procumbens ◽

Wild Beet

We have constructed a sugar beet bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library of the chromosome mutant PRO1. This Beta vulgaris mutant carries a single chromosome fragment of 6-9 Mbp that is derived from the wild beet Beta procumbens and is transmitted efficiently in meiosis and mitosis. The library consists of 50 304 clones, with an average insert size of 125 kb. Filter hybridizations revealed that approximately 3.1% of the clones contain mitochondrial or chloroplast DNA. Based on a haploid genome size of 758 Mbp, the library represents eight genome equivalents. Thus, there is a greater than 99.96% probability that any sequence of the PRO1 genome can be found in the library. Approximately 0.2% of the clones hybridized with centromeric sequences of the PRO1 minichromosome. Using the identified BAC clones in fluorescence in situ hybridization experiments with PRO1 and B. procumbens chromosome spreads, their wild-beet origin and centromeric localization were demonstrated. Comparative Southern hybridization of pulsed-field separated PRO1 DNA and BAC inserts indicate that the centromeric region of the minichromosome is represented by overlapping clones in the library. Therefore, the PRO1 BAC library provides a useful tool for the characterization of a single plant centromere and is a valuable resource for sugar beet genome analysis.Key words: Beta vulgaris, BAC library, Beta procumbens minichromosome, centromere, FISH.

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Uromyces betae. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

IMI Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria ◽

10.1079/dfb/20056400177 ◽

1968 ◽

Author(s):

E. Punithalingam

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Great Britain ◽

Sugar Beet ◽

Geographical Distribution ◽

Beta Vulgaris ◽

Channel Islands ◽

Seed Crop ◽

Uromyces Betae ◽

Wild Beet

Abstract A description is provided for Uromyces betae[Uromyces beticola]. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: On sugar beet, beetroot, spinach beet, mangolds and wild beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris, B. vulgaris subsp. maritima), Beta vulgaris, B. cycla, B. rapa. DISEASES: Beet rust. First appears as small, cinnamon brown pustules scattered over the lamina, which in susceptible plants quickly spreads over the entire foliage causing the older leaves to wilt, wither and die prematurely. The younger leaves remain erect but their blades become crumpled drooping and yellowish. Badly rusted plants with blisters on leaf blades and petiole finally collapse. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Africa (Algeria, Canary Is., Libya, Madeira, Morocco, S. Africa); Asia (Israel, Iran, U.S.S.R.); Australasia (Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania); Europe (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Channel Islands, Czechoslovakia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Sardinia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, U.S.S.R., Yugoslavia); N. America (Canada, Mexico, U.S.A.); S. America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay). (C.M.I. Map No. 265) TRANSMISSION: Mainly by urediospores (McKay, 1952, 44, 566a). Overwinters on seed crop stecklings, clamped mangolds, groundkeeping beet and mangolds. Spores adhering to seed clusters helps to spread the disease. Reports from U.S.S.R. indicate that teliospores retain viability for 2 yrs. in store houses.

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Betacyanins and Betaxanthins in Cultivated Varieties of Beta vulgaris L. Compared to Weed Beets

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules25225395 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (22) ◽

pp. 5395

Author(s):

Milan Skalicky ◽

Jan Kubes ◽

Hajihashemi Shokoofeh ◽

Md. Tahjib-Ul-Arif ◽

Pavla Vachova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sugar Beet ◽

Beta Vulgaris ◽

Food Industry ◽

Early Stage ◽

Sugar Beets ◽

Stability Tests ◽

Fodder Beet ◽

Swiss Chard ◽

Wild Beet ◽

Red Coloration

There are 11 different varieties of Beta vulgaris L. that are used in the food industry, including sugar beets, beetroots, Swiss chard, and fodder beets. The typical red coloration of their tissues is caused by the indole-derived glycosides known as betalains that were analyzed in hypocotyl extracts by UV/Vis spectrophotometry to determine the content of betacyanins (betanin) and of betaxanthins (vulgaxanthin I) as constituents of the total betalain content. Fields of beet crops use to be also infested by wild beets, hybrids related to B. vulgaris subsp. maritima or B. macrocarpa Guss., which significantly decrease the quality and quantity of sugar beet yield; additionally, these plants produce betalains at an early stage. All tested B. vulgaris varieties could be distinguished from weed beets according to betacyanins, betaxanthins or total betalain content. The highest values of betacyanins were found in beetroots ‘Monorubra’ (9.69 mg/100 mL) and ‘Libero’ (8.42 mg/100 mL). Other beet varieties contained less betacyanins: Sugar beet ‘Labonita’ 0.11 mg/100 mL; Swiss chard ‘Lucullus,’ 0.09 mg/100 mL; fodder beet ‘Monro’ 0.15 mg/100 mL. In contrast with weed beets and beetroots, these varieties have a ratio of betacyanins to betaxanthins under 1.0, but the betaxanthin content was higher in beetcrops than in wild beet and can be used as an alternative to non-red varieties. Stability tests of selected varieties showed that storage at 22 °C for 6 h, or at 7 °C for 24 h, did not significantly reduce the betalain content in the samples.

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