Genome-wide transcriptional changes associated with allopolyploidy and fiber domestication in cotton (Gossypium spp. L.)

Interspecific hybridization and subsequent genome doubling (allopolyploidy) is a common phenomenon in flowering plant lineages. Within the cotton genus, Gossypium L., two diploid species merged 1-2 mya to form an allopolyploid species that would eventually give rise to 5 distinct species; two of which would be domesticated and dominate world cotton commerce. This series of experiments examines two facets of the human-entwined evolution of the Gossypium genus: one, genome-wide expression alterations associated with the formation of nascent allopolyploids and two, the transcriptome-wide changes in fiber, concomitant with domestication. To better understand the genome-wide transcriptional changes that occur during the formation of nascent polyploids, these experiments examined the transcriptional state of two sets of diploid parents and their synthetic, colchicine doubled, allopolyploid derivatives. Specifically, RNA from leaf tissue for each trio (maternal, paternal and colchicine-doubled synthetic) was hybridized to a custom Nimblegen microarray platform capable of interrogating over 40,000 unique loci with an average of 7 probes. For each trio, we grew 5 individuals in a random block design in each of 3 growth chambers. We pooled RNA from these individuals to create 3 samples per chamber, per taxon, per trio, for a total of 54 slides. To understand the context of genome wide expression levels in the nascent allotetraploid plants, we compared the expression levels of the allotetraploid to that of its two progenitors and a midparent in silico value derived from a combination of the mean expression value and the combined deviation. The analysis revealed a strong bias of per-gene expression values in the allotetraploids toward one parent in each trio. In one trio the allotetraploid is heavily biased to the paternal genome donor and in the other trio biased to the maternal donor, indicating the direction of the cross does not control dominance. Additionally, the dominance effect is bi-directional, where the allotetraploid may be up- or down-regulated to match the dominant parent. These data offer intriguing insight into the potential evolutionary relevance of polyploids in plant diversification. To understand the genome-wide expression changes associated with domestication, we examined the global transcriptional state of developing fiber in three separate domesticated cotton species and their wild progenitors. Cotton plants from the allotetraploid species G. hirsutum, G. barbadense and the diploid G. herbaceum were grown alongside their wild progenitors. Beginning 2 days post anthesis (dpa) we isolated fiber from wild-domesticate contrasts at 5 time points corresponding to just after initiation, primary expansion, primary cell wall growth, the transition to secondary cell wall growth and secondary cell wall deposition. When compared to their wild counterparts, we diagnose \u3e5,000 unique genes differentially expressed in each contrast yet only a small group (611) shared among all; potentially illustrating that parallel morphological domestication may have convergent origins at the molecular level. Many genes whose products are directly relevant to cell wall and fiber biogenesis were diagnosed as differentially expressed, including the cell wall biosynthetic machinery, cytoskeletal structural and modifying proteins, members of apoptotic pathways, primary hormone receptors and transcriptional factors known to be key regulators of trichome and fiber development

Ludlow Fair; Train Story

The Marinello One-Acts presented two plays about women at John Carroll University, October 19-22, 2006https://collected.jcu.edu/plays/1144/thumbnail.jp

Social Media Technology Use and Salesperson Performance: A Two Study Examination of the Role of Salesperson Behaviors, Characteristics, and Training

Extending the literature on sales technology, we use two studies to develop and test a model involving salesperson-customer shared technology tools, referred to as Social Media Technology (SMT). Specifically, we demonstrate the impacts of SMT in B2B sales contexts on customer relationship performance and objective sales performance through key mediating behaviors and characteristics. Empirical findings from two studies, cross-company and within-company data, demonstrate the effects of SMT on salesperson product information communication, diligence, product knowledge, and adaptability. Moderating effects suggest that the integration of SMT in the absence of training on the technology may not yield the best results. Findings suggest that firms must allocate the resources necessary to properly implement SMT strategies. The framework tested provides a foundation for integration of SMT into buyer-seller interactions

When Time is Sales: The Impact of Sales Manager Time Allocation Decisions on Sales Team Performance

Sales managers often take on the dual responsibilities of managing a sales team and selling to customers. This practice raises questions about how sales managers\u27 time allocation to managing and selling activities affects sales team performance. Building on qualitative findings, this research first highlights and categorizes activities that are regularly competing for the limited time resources of today\u27s sales managers. Our qualitative results reveal a prevalence of sales managers taking a hybrid approach to managing their sales teams by regularly allocating time toward both managing and selling activities. Through a resource allocation lens, we investigate how the time allocation decisions of these hybrid sales managers influence sales team performance. Our findings underscore the importance of effective time management for sales managers across a core set of leader behaviors, including managing people, managing information (planning and analysis), customer interaction, and administrative tasks. Ultimately, boundary conditions suggest counterintuitive implications of team experience on the value derived from various manager activities. Findings suggest that when managing more (less) experienced teams, managers should focus on spending more time on managing people (customer interaction)

Strengths-Based Case Management: Implementation With High-Risk Youth

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://alliance1.metapress.com/home/main.mpx.Few effective methods of intervention exist for youth at risk for negative life outcomes. One method used successfully with both adults with chronic mental illness and adults with substance abuse problems is strengths-based case management (SBCM). Based on the principles of strengths theory, SBCM aims to assist individuals in identifying and achieving personal goals, with an emphasis on the case manager-client relationship and client self-determination. In the current study, the authors report findings from a feasibility study that implemented SBCM with adolescent runaways. Challenges to implementation, such as financial status, the role of families, abuse and neglect, developmental issues, education, peer relationships, and transportation, are examined. The current findings suggest that it is feasible to successfully implement SBCM with adolescents, but the challenges to application are different with this group compared with adults, given the developmental differences between adolescents and adults

Same legal status but unequal treatment: bureaucratic discrimination against mobile EU citizens

EU Citizenship guarantees the same rights to all mobile EU citizens who move to another member state. And yet, as a recent study by Christian Adam, Xavier Fernández-i-Marín, Oliver James, Anita Manatschal, Carolin Rapp and Eva Thomann indicates, some EU citizens are more likely than others to face discrimination when interacting with their host country’s public administration. Remarkably, they find that patterns of discrimination displayed by public administrators are very similar to patterns of discriminatory behaviour displayed by the general public

Opening the Crystalline Color Superconductivity Window

Cold dense quark matter is in a crystalline color superconducting phase wherever pairing occurs between species of quarks with chemical potentials whose difference \delta\mu lies within an appropriate window. If the interaction between quarks is modeled as point-like, this window is rather narrow. We show that when the interaction between quarks is modeled as single-gluon exchange, the window widens by about a factor of ten at accessible densities and by much larger factors at higher density. This striking enhancement reflects the increasingly (1+1)-dimensional nature of the physics at weaker and weaker coupling. Our results indicate that crystalline color superconductivity is a generic feature of the phase diagram of cold dense quark matter, occurring wherever one finds quark matter which is not in the color-flavor locked phase. If it occurs within the cores of compact stars, a crystalline color superconducting region may provide a new locus for glitch phenomena.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Recent highlights from STAR

The Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC (STAR) experiment takes advantage of its excellent tracking and particle identification capabilities at mid-rapidity to explore the properties of strongly interacting QCD matter created in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC. The STAR collaboration presented 7 parallel and 2 plenary talks at Strangeness in Quark Matter 2017 and covered various topics including heavy flavor measurements, bulk observables, electro-magnetic probes and the upgrade program. This paper highlights some of the selected results

A highly tunable silicone-based magnetic elastomer with nanoscale homogeneity

Magnetic elastomers have been widely pursued for sensing and actuation applications. Silicone-based magnetic elastomers have a number of advantages over other materials such as hydrogels, but aggregation of magnetic nanoparticles within silicones is difficult to prevent. Aggregation inherently limits the minimum size of fabricated structures and leads to non-uniform response from structure to structure. We have developed a novel material which is a complex of a silicone polymer (polydimethylsiloxane-co-aminopropylmethylsiloxane) adsorbed onto the surface of magnetite (γ-Fe203) nanoparticles 7–10 nm in diameter. The material is homogenous at very small length scales (< 100 nm) and can be crosslinked to form a flexible, magnetic material which is ideally suited for the fabrication of micro- to nanoscale magnetic actuators. The loading fraction of magnetic nanoparticles in the composite can be varied smoothly from 0 – 50% wt. without loss of homogeneity, providing a simple mechanism for tuning actuator response. We evaluate the material properties of the composite across a range of nanoparticle loading, and demonstrate a magnetic-field-induced increase in compressive modulus as high as 300%. Furthermore, we implement a strategy for predicting the optimal nanoparticle loading for magnetic actuation applications, and show that our predictions correlate well with experimental findings