Leaf Length Variation in Perennial Forage Grasses

Leaf length is a key factor in the economic value of different grass species and cultivars in forage production. It is also important for the survival of individual plants within a sward. The objective of this paper is to discuss the basis of within-species variation in leaf length. Selection for leaf length has been highly efficient, with moderate to high narrow sense heritability. Nevertheless, the genetic regulation of leaf length is complex because it involves many genes with small individual effects. This could explain the low stability of QTL found in different studies. Leaf length has a strong response to environmental conditions. However, when significant genotype × environment interactionshave been identified, their effects have been smaller than the main effects. Recent modelling-based research suggests that many of the reported environmental effects on leaf length and genotype × environment interactions could be biased. Indeed, it has been shown that leaf length is an emergent property strongly affected by the architectural state of the plant during significant periods prior to leaf emergence. This approach could lead to improved understanding of the factors affecting leaf length, as well as better estimates of the main genetic effects

Association study between the gibberellic acid insensitive gene and leaf length in a Lolium perenne L. synthetic variety

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Association studies are of great interest to identify genes explaining trait variation since they deal with more than just a few alleles like classical QTL analyses. They are usually performed using collections representing a wide range of variability but which could present a genetic substructure. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that association studies can be performed using synthetic varieties obtained after several panmictic generations. This demonstration is based on an example of association between the gibberellic acid insensitive gene (GAI) polymorphism and leaf length polymorphism in 'Herbie', a synthetic variety of perennial ryegrass.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Leaf growth parameters, consisted of leaf length, maximum leaf elongation rate (LERmax) and leaf elongation duration (LED), were evaluated in spring and autumn on 216 plants of Herbie with three replicates. For each plant, a sequence of 370 bp in GAI was analysed for polymorphism.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Genetic effect was highly significant for all traits. Broad sense heritabilities were higher for leaf length and LERmax with about 0.7 in each period and 0.5 considering both periods than for LED with about 0.4 in each period and 0.3 considering both periods. GAI was highly polymorphic with an average of 12 bp between two consecutive SNPs and 39 haplotypes in which 9 were more frequent. Linkage disequilibrium declined rapidly with distance with r ²values lower than 0.2 beyond 150 bp. Sequence polymorphism of GAI explained 8-14% of leaf growth parameter variation. A single SNP explained 4% of the phenotypic variance of leaf length in both periods which represents a difference of 33 mm on an average of 300 mm.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Synthetic varieties in which linkage disequilibrium declines rapidly with distance are suitable for association studies using the "candidate gene" approach. GAI polymorphism was found to be associated with leaf length polymorphism which was more correlated to LERmax than to LED in Herbie. It is a good candidate to explain leaf length variation in other plant material.</p

Conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas sobre métodos anticonceptivos en adolescentes de 3° a 5° año de secundaria del instituto público Fernando Salazar del municipio de Nagarote , León , en el periodo 1° febrero al 30 abril de 2019.

El comportamiento sexual y reproductivo de los adolescentes está influenciado por su entorno sociocultural y percepción del bienestar psico-afectivo, lo que plantea necesidades y cuestionamientos frente a su sexualidad. Se calcula que en los países en desarrollo unos 214 millones de mujeres en edad reproductiva desean posponer o detener la procreación pero no utilizan ningún método anticonceptivo moderno. A nivel mundial los conocimientos acerca de la sexualidad y anticoncepción de los adolescentes demuestran que carecen de información suficiente acerca de la reproducción, de la sexualidad, la planificación familiar y la salud; todo esto conlleva al incremento de los riesgos de salud y embarazos precoces. (Sánchez-Meneses, Dávila-Mendoza, & Ponce-Rosas, 2015)

Pleistocene climate changes, and not agricultural spread, accounts for range expansion and admixture in the dominant grassland species <i>Lolium perenne</i> L.

International audienceAim: Grasslands have been pivotal in the development of herbivore breeding since the Neolithic and still represent the most widespread agricultural land use across Europe. However, it remains unclear whether the current large‐scale genetic variation of plant species found in natural grasslands of Europe is the result of human activities or natural processes. Location: Europe. Taxon: Lolium perenne L. (perennial ryegrass). Methods: We reconstructed the phylogeographic history of L. perenne, a dominant grassland species, using 481 natural populations, including 11 populations of closely related taxa. We combined Genotyping‐by‐Sequencing (GBS) and pool‐Sequencing (pool‐Seq) to obtain high‐quality allele frequency calls of ~500 k SNP loci. We performed genetic structure analyses and demographic reconstructions based on the site frequency spectrum (SFS). We additionally used the same genotyping protocol to assess the genomic diversity of a set of 32 cultivars representative of the L. perenne cultivars widely used for forage purposes. Results: Expansion across Europe took place during the Würm glaciation (12–110 kya), a cooling period that decreased the dominance of trees in favour of grasses. Splits and admixtures in L. perenne fit historical climate changes in the Mediterranean basin. The development of agriculture in Europe (7–3.5 kya), that caused an increase in the abundance of grasslands, did not have an effect on the demographic patterns of L. perenne. We found that most modern cultivars are closely related to natural diversity from north-western Europe. Thus, modern cultivars do not represent the wide genetic variation found in natural populations. Main conclusions: Demographic events in L. perenne can be explained by the changing climatic conditions during the Pleistocene. Natural populations maintain a wide genomic variability at continental scale that has been minimally exploited by recent breeding activities. This variability constitutes valuable standing genetic variation for future adaptation of grasslands to climate change, safeguarding the agricultural services they provide

Canonical correlations reveal adaptive loci and phenotypic responses to climate in perennial ryegrass

Germplasm from perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) natural populations is useful for breeding because of its adaptation to a wide range of climates. Climate‐adaptive genes can be detected from associations between genotype, phenotype and climate but an integrated framework for the analysis of these three sources of information is lacking. We used two approaches to identify adaptive loci in perennial ryegrass and their effect on phenotypic traits. First, we combined Genome‐Environment Association (GEA) and GWAS analyses. Then, we implemented a new test based on a Canonical Correlation Analysis (CANCOR) to detect adaptive loci. Furthermore, we improved the previous perennial ryegrass gene set by de novo gene prediction and functional annotation of 39,967 genes. GEA‐GWAS revealed eight outlier loci associated with both environmental variables and phenotypic traits. CANCOR retrieved 633 outlier loci associated with two climatic gradients, characterized by cold‐dry winter versus mild‐wet winter and long rainy season versus long summer, and pointed out traits putatively conferring adaptation at the extremes of these gradients. Our CANCOR test also revealed the presence of both polygenic and oligogenic climatic adaptations. Our gene annotation revealed that 374 of the CANCOR outlier loci were positioned within or close to a gene. Co‐association networks of outlier loci revealed a potential utility of CANCOR for investigating the interaction of genes involved in polygenic adaptations. The CANCOR test provides an integrated framework to analyse adaptive genomic diversity and phenotypic responses to environmental selection pressures that could be used to facilitate the adaptation of plant species to climate change

Atmospheric effects on extensive air showers observed with the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

Atmospheric parameters, such as pressure (P), temperature (T) and density, affect the development of extensive air showers initiated by energetic cosmic rays. We have studied the impact of atmospheric variations on extensive air showers by means of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The rate of events shows a ~10% seasonal modulation and ~2% diurnal one. We find that the observed behaviour is explained by a model including the effects associated with the variations of pressure and density. The former affects the longitudinal development of air showers while the latter influences the Moliere radius and hence the lateral distribution of the shower particles. The model is validated with full simulations of extensive air showers using atmospheric profiles measured at the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

The Fluorescence Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a hybrid detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It combines a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level together with a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The fluorescence detector comprises 24 large telescopes specialized for measuring the nitrogen fluorescence caused by charged particles of cosmic ray air showers. In this paper we describe the components of the fluorescence detector including its optical system, the design of the camera, the electronics, and the systems for relative and absolute calibration. We also discuss the operation and the monitoring of the detector. Finally, we evaluate the detector performance and precision of shower reconstructions.Comment: 53 pages. Submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section