Efficiency of marker-assisted selection in detection of ascochyta blight resistance in Tunisian chickpea breeding lines

Ascochyta blight (AB) resistance reactions were studied in 23 chickpea cultivars, mainly advanced lines and Tunisian varieties from the Tunisian chickpea breeding program, growing both at two locations and under controlled conditions. Two co-dominant markers both associated with AB resistance were also used in this study; the CaETR marker tightly linked to QTLAR1 in combination with the SCAR SCY17590 marker linked to QTLAR2 to explore their usefulness in discriminating between resistant and susceptible chickpea genotypes. These two markers contribute efficiently in the selection of new chickpea varieties with better combinations of alleles to ensure durable resistance to AB. The advanced line V10 presenting the resistance allele for CaETR, but being still heterozygous for the SCAR17590 was characterized as resistant to moderately resistant in field studies and under controlled conditions. This line could be very useful for developing a new variety that is fixed for both resistance alleles and expresses good levels of resistance to AB in different chickpea cropping environments. These markers are very useful in assisting chickpea breeding programs, especially thanks to their robustness, their co-dominance and their utility across different genetic backgrounds

BAUTISTA, ANA E HIJO [Material gráfico]

Copia digital. Madrid : Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, 201

Molecular characterization and genetic diversity of Prunus rootstocks

The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03044238Twenty microsatellite primer pairs, previously developed in peach, were used to characterize and to explore genetic relationships among 44 clones, representing three groups of rootstocks defined as: (1) Peach-based rootstocks (Prunus dulcis x P. persica, P. persica x P. davidiana); (2) Myrobalan - Marianna plums (P. cerasifera, and interspecific hybrids having P. cerasifera as a parent); and (3) Slow growing plums (P. insititia, P. domestica, and P. domestica x P. spinosa). Eighteen SSR markers, from the 20 initially used, were able to amplify polymorphic products for the Peach-based rootstocks and 13 common markers gave also polymorphism for the Myrobalan-Marianna and Slow growing plums groups. The Dice coefficient of similarity was calculated between all pairs of accessions and their genetic similarity represented by a principal coordinate analysis. The genetic diversity detected among the 44 clones studied divided them in three groups, which are in agreement with their current taxonomic classification and their morphological characteristics. A set of three microsatellites (BPPCT001, CPPCT022 and UDP98-407) can distinguish between all the clones analyzed. The analysis within groups reveal another two sets of three SSR to distinguish between the clones from the peach based rootstocks and the myrobalan-Marianna plums respectively and only a single SSR is needed to distinguish within the clones from the Slow growing plums group. These results demonstrate the high potential of the SSR analysis for peach rootstock identification and studies of diversity in Prunus species.This research was funded by CICYT (Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología AGL 2005-05533), INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, RF03-014-C2 and RF2007-00026-C02-01), DGA (Diputación General de Aragón, A44). M. Bouhadida was supported by a fellowship from the AECI (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional) of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an I3P-PC2006 contract from the CSIC-FSE for M.J. Gonzalo.Peer reviewe

First finds of Prunus domestica L. in Italy from the Phoenician and Punic periods (6th-2nd centuries BC)

Abstract During the archaeological excavations in the Phoenician and Punic settlement of Santa Giusta (Oristano, Sardinia, Italy), dating back to the 6th–2nd centuries bc, several Prunus fruitstones (endocarps) inside amphorae were recovered. The exceptional state of preservation of the waterlogged remains allowed morphometric measurements to be done by image analysis and statistical comparisons made with modern cultivated and wild Prunus samples collected in Sardinia. Digital images of modern and archaeological Prunus fruitstones were acquired with a flatbed scanner and analysed by applying image analysis techniques to measure 26 morphometric features. By applying stepwise linear discriminant analysis, a morphometric comparison was made between the archaeological fruitstones of Prunus and the modern ones collected in Sardinia. These analyses allowed identification of 53 archaeological fruitstones as P. spinosa and 11 as P. domestica. Moreover, the archaeological samples of P. spinosa showed morphometric similarities in 92.5% of the cases with the modern P. spinosa samples currently growing near the Phoenician and Punic site. Likewise, the archaeological fruitstones identified as P. domestica showed similarities with the modern variety of P. domestica called Sanguigna di Bosa which is currently cultivated near the village of Bosa. Currently, these findings represent the first evidence of P. domestica in Italy during the Phoenician and Punic periods. Keywords Archaeobotany · Image analysis · Morphometric features · Prunus · Sardini

Population genetic analysis of brazilian peach breeding germplasm.

ABSTRACT Peach has great economic and social importance in Brazil. Diverse sources of germplasm were used to introduce desirable traits in the Brazilian peach breeding pool, composed mainly by local selections and accessions selected from populations developed by the national breeding programs, adapted to subtropical climate, with low chill requirement, as well as accessions introduced from several countries. In this research, we used SSR markers, selected by their high level of polymorphism, to access genetic diversity and population structure of a set composed by 204 peach selected genotypes, based on contrasting phenotypes for valuable traits in peach breeding. A total of 80 alleles were obtained, giving an average of eight alleles per locus. In general, the average value of observed heterozygosity (0.46) was lower than the expected heterozygosity (0.63). STRUCTURE analysis assigned 162 accessions splitted into two subpopulations based mainly on their flesh type: melting (96) and non-melting (66) flesh cultivars. The remaining accessions (42) could not be assigned under the 80% membership coefficient criteria. Genetic variability was greater in melting subpopulation compared to non-melting. Additionally, 55% of the alleles present in the breeding varieties were also present in the founder varieties, indicating that founding clones are well represented in current peach cultivars and advanced selections developed. Overall, this study gives a first insight of the peach genetic variability available and evidence for population differentiation (structure) in this peach panel to be exploited and provides the basis for genome-wide association studies

study of second and third order non linear optical effects in optical nanofibers

Cette thèse de doctorat porte sur l'étude d'effets optiques non linéaires d’ordres 2 et 3 dans des nanofibres optiques de silice qui sont des fibres optiques étirées jusqu'à atteindre des diamètres de l'ordre de la longueur d'onde.La première application étudiée est la réalisation de convertisseurs de longueur d’onde dans le visible en régime sub-nanoseconde, domaine peu couvert par les sources impulsionnelles actuelles. Le principe de ces convertisseurs repose sur la diffusion Raman stimulée dans le champ évanescent d’une nanofibre optique de silice baignée dans un liquide. En définissant et optimisant leur domaine de fonctionnement, nous avons atteint des efficacités de conversion externes de l'onde de pompe à 532 nm vers le premier ordre Stokes de l'éthanol à 630 nm proches de 60%. Les performances de nos convertisseurs sont très répétables et ouvrent la voie à une nouvelle famille de convertisseurs de longueur d'onde très compacts, efficaces, fiables et entièrement fibrés.La seconde application visée concerne l'étude d'une source de paires de photons corrélés émettant autour de 1,5 μm pour les télécommunications quantiques. Notre source est basée sur le mécanisme de fluorescence paramétrique à la surface d’une nanofibre optique de silice. Dans l'accord de phase modal étudié, l'onde de pompe est émise sur le mode TM01 à 775 nm et les paires de photons corrélés sont générées autour de 1,5 microm sur le mode fondamental HE11, avec l'avantage de pouvoir se recoupler avec un minimum de pertes dans un réseau fibré. Nos études ont principalement porté sur le choix de la fibre standard permettant d'optimiser l'efficacité du mécanisme, la conception de la nanofibre et de ses tapers ainsi que la mise en place d'expériences préliminaires pour l'excitation de modes d'ordre supérieur.In this PhD thesis we study 2nd and 3rd order optical non-linearities in optical nanofibers, which are obtained by stretching standard fibers until their diameter becomes of the order of magnitude of the wavelength. The first application is the realization of wavelength converters in the visible range in the sub-ns regime, range which is only minimally covered by pulsed sources. The principle of these converters is to use stimulated Raman scattering in the evanescent field immersed in a liquid. By defining and optimizing their operating range, we have reach external conversion efficiencies from the pump at 532 nm to the first Stokes order of ethanol at 630 nm near to 60%. The performances of our converters are very repeatable and open the way to a new family of very compact, reliable and all-fibered components.The second application is the study of a source of correlated photon pairs for quantum telecommunications. Our source is based of parametric fluorescence on the surface of a silica nanofiber. In the phase-matching we propose, the pump wave is emitted on the mode TM01 at 775 nm and the photon pairs are emitted around1.5 μm in the fundamental mode, enabling a recoupling with only a few losses in the optical network. Our study mainly concern the choice of the standard fiber enabling to optimize the efficiency of the mechanism, the conception of the nanofiber and its tapers as well as the implementation of preliminary experiments for the excitation of high ordrer modes

Étude d’effets optiques non linéaires d’ordres 2 et 3 dans des nanofibres optiques

In this PhD thesis we study 2nd and 3rd order optical non-linearities in optical nanofibers, which are obtained by stretching standard fibers until their diameter becomes of the order of magnitude of the wavelength. The first application is the realization of wavelength converters in the visible range in the sub-ns regime, range which is only minimally covered by pulsed sources. The principle of these converters is to use stimulated Raman scattering in the evanescent field immersed in a liquid. By defining and optimizing their operating range, we have reach external conversion efficiencies from the pump at 532 nm to the first Stokes order of ethanol at 630 nm near to 60%. The performances of our converters are very repeatable and open the way to a new family of very compact, reliable and all-fibered components.The second application is the study of a source of correlated photon pairs for quantum telecommunications. Our source is based of parametric fluorescence on the surface of a silica nanofiber. In the phase-matching we propose, the pump wave is emitted on the mode TM01 at 775 nm and the photon pairs are emitted around1.5 μm in the fundamental mode, enabling a recoupling with only a few losses in the optical network. Our study mainly concern the choice of the standard fiber enabling to optimize the efficiency of the mechanism, the conception of the nanofiber and its tapers as well as the implementation of preliminary experiments for the excitation of high ordrer modes.Cette thèse de doctorat porte sur l'étude d'effets optiques non linéaires d’ordres 2 et 3 dans des nanofibres optiques de silice qui sont des fibres optiques étirées jusqu'à atteindre des diamètres de l'ordre de la longueur d'onde.La première application étudiée est la réalisation de convertisseurs de longueur d’onde dans le visible en régime sub-nanoseconde, domaine peu couvert par les sources impulsionnelles actuelles. Le principe de ces convertisseurs repose sur la diffusion Raman stimulée dans le champ évanescent d’une nanofibre optique de silice baignée dans un liquide. En définissant et optimisant leur domaine de fonctionnement, nous avons atteint des efficacités de conversion externes de l'onde de pompe à 532 nm vers le premier ordre Stokes de l'éthanol à 630 nm proches de 60%. Les performances de nos convertisseurs sont très répétables et ouvrent la voie à une nouvelle famille de convertisseurs de longueur d'onde très compacts, efficaces, fiables et entièrement fibrés.La seconde application visée concerne l'étude d'une source de paires de photons corrélés émettant autour de 1,5 μm pour les télécommunications quantiques. Notre source est basée sur le mécanisme de fluorescence paramétrique à la surface d’une nanofibre optique de silice. Dans l'accord de phase modal étudié, l'onde de pompe est émise sur le mode TM01 à 775 nm et les paires de photons corrélés sont générées autour de 1,5 microm sur le mode fondamental HE11, avec l'avantage de pouvoir se recoupler avec un minimum de pertes dans un réseau fibré. Nos études ont principalement porté sur le choix de la fibre standard permettant d'optimiser l'efficacité du mécanisme, la conception de la nanofibre et de ses tapers ainsi que la mise en place d'expériences préliminaires pour l'excitation de modes d'ordre supérieur