Association Analysis and Estimation of Breeding Values of Iranian Table Grapevine Germplasm by Integrating Pomological and Molecular Data

Genetic resources in each country are valuable assets for sustainable development. An accurate knowledge of genetic behavior and identification of genomic loci associated with important economic traits will help breeders to run efficiently their breeding programs. Fourteen important pomological traits were measured on 45 Iranian table grape cultivars during three successive years. Molecular profile of studied cultivars was prepared with 39 (Simple sequence Repeat) SSR primers pairs. Genetic structure analysis based on the SSR markers revealed two sub-populations (K = 2) in the association panel. In association analysis using mixed linear model seven loci were found to be significantly associated with the studied traits at 5% probability level. Breeding values were also estimated for the pomological traits using the best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP). “Saghal Solian”, “At Ouzum”, “Garmian”, “Rishbaba Qermez”, “Taifi”, “Shahroudi”, “Sahebi Qermez”, “Lal Qermez”, “Alhaghi”, “Sarghola”, “Chava Ga”, “Qzl Ouzum” and “Agh Shani” table grape cultivars showed high and positive breeding value for cluster length, width and weight. Whereas “Garmian”, “Rishbaba Qermez”, “Fakhri”, “Agh Shani”, “Lal Sefid” and “Shirazi” had positive and high breeding value for pollen germination, fruit set in open pollination and fruit set under controlled pollination. Finally, Sarghola” and “Qzl Ouzum” showed the positive and highest breeding value for berry weight, flesh weight, cluster length, cluster width and cluster weight. The cultivar with high and positive breeding value can be used as a good parent for breeding of traits in hybridization programs because they can better transfer the desirable characteristics to the progeny in each case.

Inverse centrifugal effect induced by collective motion of vortices in rotating thermal convection

When a fluid system is subject to strong rotation, centrifugal fluid motion is expected, i.e., denser (lighter) fluid moves outward (inward) from (toward) the axis of rotation. Here we demonstrate, both experimentally and numerically, the existence of an unexpected outward motion of warm and lighter vortices in rotating thermal convection. This anomalous vortex motion occurs under rapid rotations when the centrifugal buoyancy is sufficiently strong to induce a symmetry-breaking in the vorticity field, i.e., the vorticity of the cold anticyclones overrides that of the warm cyclones. We show that through hydrodynamic interactions the densely distributed vortices can self-aggregate into coherent clusters and exhibit collective motion in this flow regime. Interestingly, the correlation of the vortex velocity fluctuations within a cluster is scale-free, with the correlation length being proportional ( ≈ 30%) to the cluster length. Such long-range correlation leads to the counterintuitive collective outward motion of warm vortices. Our study brings insights into the vortex dynamics that are widely present in nature.

On the Shapes of the Polish Word: Phonotactic Complexity and Diversity

The aim of this contribution is to identify the dominant shapes of the Polish word with reference to three criteria: cluster complexity (i.e., cluster size), saturation (the number of clusters in a word), and diversity (in terms of features of consonant description). The dominant word shape is understood as the most frequent or typical skeletal pattern, expressed by means of alternations or groupings of Cs (consonants) and Vs (vowels), e.g., CVCCV etc., or by means of specific features (of place, manner, voice, and the sonorant/obstruent distinction). Our work focuses on 2 aspects of Polish phonotactics: (1) the relation between cluster complexity and saturation of words with clusters, (2) the degrees of diversity in features of place, manner, and voice within clusters. Using corpus data, we have established that only 4.17% of word shapes have no clusters. The dominant word shape for a one-cluster word is CVCCVCV. The most frequent scenario for a word shape is to contain two clusters, of which 67% are a combination of a word initial and a word medial cluster. We have found that: (1) cluster length is inversely proportional to the number of clusters in a word; (2) nearly 73% of word types contain clusters of the same size, e.g., two CCs or two CCCs (Polish words prefer saturation over complexity); (3) MOA is more diversified than POA across clusters and words.

Inverse centrifugal effect induced by collective motion of vortices in rotating turbulent convection

When a fluid system is subject to strong rotation, centrifugal fluid motion is expected, i.e., denser (lighter) fluid moves outward (inward) from (toward) the axis of rotation. Here we demonstrate, both experimentally and numerically, the existence of an unexpected outward motion of warm and lighter vortices in rotating turbulent convection. This anomalous vortex motion occurs under rapid rotations when the centrifugal buoyancy is sufficiently strong to induce a symmetry-breaking in the vorticity field, i.e., the vorticity of the cold anticyclones overrides that of the warm cyclones. We show that through hydrodynamic interactions the densely populated vortices can self-aggregate into coherent clusters and exhibit collective motion in this flow regime. Interestingly, the correlation of the vortex velocity fluctuations within a cluster is scale-free, with the correlation length being about 30% of the cluster length. Such long-range correlation leads to the collective outward motion of cyclones. Our study provides new understanding of vortex dynamics that are widely present in nature.

Plant breeding evaluation of the red currant cultivar ‘Podarok Pobeditelyam’ and its inbred progeny

Background. Inbreeding, as a way to produce progenies from organisms in different degrees of kinship, is an important genetic and breeding technique used to improve various crops, including fruit and berry plants. Inbreeding has not been extensively used with red currant, so a study of the possibility to employ closely related crosses in breeding practice with this crop remains relevant. The purpose of this study was to assess the breeding potential of the red currant cultivar ‘Podarok Pobeditelyam’ by disclosing economic and biological characteristics in its inbred progeny.Methods and materials. The research was carried out at the red currant breeding site of the Russian Research Institute of Fruit Crop Breeding (VNIISPK, Orel) in 2016–2018. The seedlings obtained from the self-pollination of a new red currant cultivar, ‘Podarok Pobeditelyam’, were the objects of the study. Records and observations were carried out according to the program and methodology for breeding and variety studies of fruit, berry and nut crops.Results and conclusion. The percentage of long-cluster seedlings (cluster length > 10 cm) in the inbred progeny of cv. ‘Podarok Pobeditelyam’ was 21.8%; segregation of large-fruited seedlings (berry weight > 0.65 g) was observed at the level of 17%; the maximum degree of transgression (Tsmax) was 42%; and the incidence of transgressive seedlings was 37%. The analysis of the progeny showed that cv. ‘Podarok Pobeditelyam’ is a homozygote for the dominant Rc gene that controls the red color of the berries, and displays donor properties for the trait “dry detachment of berries”. The study of the cultivar’s self-pollinated progeny did not reveal any inbreeding depression in F1 seedlings from closely related crosses as far as plant condition or productivity is concerned. The selected seedlings are of interest for further variety research and use in breeding practice as new source material.

Prostaglandins regulate invasive, collective border cell migration

While prostaglandins (PGs), short-range lipid signals, regulate cell migration, their mechanisms of action are poorly understood in collective migration. To address this, we useDrosophilaborder cell migration during Stage 9 of oogenesis. The border cells delaminate from the epithelium, and migrate collectively and invasively between the nurse cells. Pxt is theDrosophilacyclooxygenase-like enzyme responsible for all PG synthesis. Loss of Pxt results in both a significant delay in border cell migration during Stage 9 and an increase in cluster length compared to wild-type controls. Contributing to these phenotypes is altered integrin localization. Integrins are enriched on the border cell membranes, and this enrichment is lost inpxtmutants. Active integrins require interaction with the actin cytoskeleton. As we previously found PGs regulate the actin bundler Fascin and Fascin is required for border cell migration, we hypothesized PGs regulate Fascin to control integrins. Supporting this, loss of Fascin results in apxt-like integrin localization, and dominant genetic interaction studies reveal that co-reduction of Pxt and Fascin results in delayed and elongated border cell clusters. Together these data lead to the model that PG signaling controls Fascin, and thereby integrins, to mediate on-time border cell migration and maintain cluster cohesion.

EVALUATION OF NITROGEN MONITORING, BUD FERTILITYAND ‘THOMPSON SEEDLESS’ GRAPEVINE PRODUCTION ON DIFFERENT ROOTSTOCKS

ABSTRACT Methods of nitrogen analysis were adopted in leaf tissues in the laboratory, nitrate content in the sap of petioles and chlorophyll relative index (CRI, in SPAD unit), as well as the evaluation of the buds fertility rates, production and qualitative aspects of cluster and berries of ‘Thompson Seedless’ vine, grafted on rootstocks ‘Harmony’, ‘Jales’ ‘Paulsen 1103’ and ‘SO4’. The applied dose of N was 80 kg ha-1, and the experiment was installed in the Submédio do Vale do São Francisco, Brazil. The experiment was performed in a randomized blocks design, with four treatments and five replicates, with the experimental plot represented by five plants. In addition to the analysis of N, cluster length and width (cm) and fresh mass (g), berries length, diameter (mm), volume (mL), mass of fresh matter of berries, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), SS/TA ratio, potential bud fertility (productive, vegetative, dead and dark buds in %) and real bud fertility (%). There were differences in nitrogen content in the leaves, nitrate in sap and CRI of ‘Thompson Seedless’ in relation to rootstocks. ‘Thompson Seedless’ expressed better potential for the development of clusters and berries when grafted on ‘Harmony’.

Effect of integrated nutrient management on growth, yield and yield attributing characters in cluster bean [Cymopsis tetragonaloba (L.) Taub.

The experiment was carried out during kharif season of 2013. The experiment was conducted in randomized block design with three replications using cv. HG - 365, with eleven treatments. The combination of FYM and vermicompost with two kinds of bio-fertilizers (Azotobacter and PSB) and reduced doses of chemical fertilizers were tested in comparison to recommended dose fertilizer. The yield components viz., number of clusters plant-1, number of pods in a cluster, length and diameter of pod differed significantly due to the different INM treatment. The treatment 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers and 25% RDF through vermicompost along with biofertilizers (Rhizobium at 25 g kg-1 seed + PSB at 5 kg ha- 1) recorded significantly highest pod yield (159.58 g plant-1). Hence, it was concluded that, for getting optimum growth, and higher pod yield the crop should be supplied with the 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers and 25% RDF through vermicompost alongwith biofertilizers (Rhizobium at 25 g kg-1 seed + PSB at 5 kg ha-1).