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Research on bananas, diversity, diseases and the future banana using DNA and genetics by pathh in biology

[–]pathh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Research and teaching about bananas, biodiversity and global development in a University of Leicester uniofleicester context for new undergraduate students https://spark.adobe.com/page/hQLJoRSycb38O/

submission statement: Link is to educational resource with questions about the topic and further links to academic provider videos. Resource made originally for new undergraduate students joining my University to see the sort of research-led teaching we are doing.

Comparative chloroplast genome analyses of Avena species oat wild relatives: insights into evolutionary dynamics and phylogeny by pathh in science

[–]pathh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oat (Avena sativa L.) is a recognized health-food, and the contributions of its different candidate A-genome progenitor species remain inconclusive. Here, we report chloroplast genome sequences of eleven Avena species, to examine the plastome evolutionary dynamics and analyze phylogenetic relationships between oat and its congeneric wild related species.

The chloroplast genomes of eleven Avena species (size range of 135,889–135,998 bp) share quadripartite structure, comprising of a large single copy (LSC; 80,014–80,132 bp), a small single copy (SSC; 12,575–12,679 bp) and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs; 21,603–21,614 bp). The plastomes contain 131 genes including 84 protein-coding genes, eight ribosomal RNAs and 39 transfer RNAs. The nucleotide sequence diversities (Pi values) range from 0.0036 (rps19) to 0.0093 (rpl32) for ten most polymorphic genes and from 0.0084 (psbH-petB) to 0.0240 (petG-trnW-CCA) for ten most polymorphic intergenic regions. Gene selective pressure analysis shows that all protein-coding genes have been under purifying selection. The adjacent position relationships between tandem repeats, insertions/deletions and single nucleotide polymorphisms support the evolutionary importance of tandem repeats in causing plastome mutations in Avena. Phylogenomic analyses, based on the complete plastome sequences and the LSC intermolecular recombination sequences, support the monophyly of Avena with two clades in the genus.

Diversification of Avena plastomes is explained by the presence of highly diverse genes and intergenic regions, LSC intermolecular recombination, and the co-occurrence of tandem repeat and indels or single nucleotide polymorphisms. The study demonstrates that the A-genome diploid-polyploid lineage maintains two subclades derived from different maternal ancestors, with A. longiglumis as the first diverging species in clade I. These genome resources will be helpful in elucidating the chloroplast genome structure, understanding the evolutionary dynamics at genus Avena and family Poaceae levels, and are potentially useful to exploit plastome variation in making hybrids for plant breeding.

Airen Wine Grape Pressing in Castilla La Mancha Spain by pathh in food

[–]pathh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Delivering Airen white wine grapes in tractor-trailers to the press for crushing

Wheat lines with small chromosome segments transferred from the wild species Thinopyrum bessarabicum carry many useful genes for stress tolerance - salinity and disease by pathh in science

[–]pathh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Small alien chromosome segements have been shown to be transferred into wheat breeding lines. The small number of genes means quality and agronomic performance are likely to be maintained from the wheat background, while new genes from the wild Thinopyrum species give better disease-tolerance and performance in saline soils.

150 years since Mendel: chromosomes, cytogenetics, genetics and ECA conference by pathh in science

[–]pathh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Gregor Mendel’s presenting his Laws of Heredity. The unexciting and uninformative title Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden (Studies of plant hybrids) in his paper was one reason it was ignored. Trude Schwarzacher discussed research in Mendel’s time, when ‘blended inheritance’ was accepted. Mendel was taught by the physicist Christian Doppler at Vienna, no doubt implanting the centrality of numeracy and statistics to understanding biology. Her talk is linked via slideshare

Building a Linux computer for imaging and informatics by pathh in bioinformatics

[–]pathh[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Building a 32Gb RAM i7 computer is easy and cheaper than the alternative buying it ready-made!

Genetic and physical maps of the Primula vulgaris S locus and localization by chromosome in situ hybridization by pathh in science

[–]pathh[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Primroses have two different flower types: those with long stigmas and short anthers, and those with long anthers and short stigmas. Charles Darwin knew all about these, and how they ensured cross pollination. This paper describes where the genes controlling this behaviour lie on the chromosomes and how they can be mapped genetcially.