Genetic Markers and Horticultural Germplasm Management

This paper is adapted from the text of a seminar of the same title presented as part of the Workshop on Sustainability of Vegetable Breeders’ Genetic Resources, 26 July 1993, at the 90th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Horticultural Science. It represents the distillation of a more extensive treatment of genetic markers and germplasm management (Bretting and Widrlechner, 1995)

Phylogenetic Relationships among North American Popcorns and Their Evolutionary Links to Mexican and South American Popcorns

To determine genetic relationships among representative popcorns (Zea mays L.) of the New World, 56 maize populations from the USA and nine Latin American countries were characterized for 29 morphological traits, 18 isozyme loci, and 31 SSR loci. Cluster and principal component analyses were performed upon standardized morphological data and allelic frequencies from isozyme and SSR loci to elucidate relationships among populations within a geographical and historical context. Three groups of popcorn, with distinctive morphological characteristics and genetic profiles, were identified in the North American populations. The first group includes the North American Yellow Pearl Popcorns, which are currently the most important for U.S. commercial production. This group could be derived from introductions of the race Curagua from Chile into New England in the 19th Century. The second group includes the North American Pointed Rice Popcorns, which probably originated from the complex of traditional races of pointed popcorns from Latin America, such as Palomero Toluqueño, Confite Puntiagudo, Canguil, and Pisankalla, which diffused from the highlands of central Mexico into northern Mexico and then into southwestern USA. The third group includes the North American Early Popcorns, which show a marked influence of Northern Flint maize, from which they probably acquired the trait of early maturity. This third group also shows genetic influences of maize from northwestern Mexico and even from early European varieties of popcorn introduced late in the 19th Century. We propose that the three groups of North American popcorn identified in this study be recognized taxonomically as distinct races, and we provide characteristic traits as well as isozyme and SSR alleles to define the new races

Allozyme Variation in Domesticated Annual Sunflower and Its Wild Relatives

The annual sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is a morphologically and genetically variable species composed of wild, weedy, and domesticated forms that are used for ornament, oilseed, and edible seeds. In this study, we evaluated genetic variation in 146 germplasm accessions of wild and domesticated sunflowers using allozyme analysis. Results from this survey showed that wild sunflower exhibits geographically structured genetic variation, as samples from the Great Plains region of the central United States were genetically divergent from accessions from California and the southwestern United States. Sunflower populations from the Great Plains harbored greater allelic diversity than did wild sunflower from the western United States. Comparison of genetic variability in wild and domesticated sunflower by principal coordinate analysis showed these groups to be genetically divergent, in large part due to differences in the frequency of common alleles. Neighbor-Joining analyses of domesticated H. annuus, wild H. annuus and two closely related wild species (H. argophyllus T. & G. and H. petiolaris Nutt.) showed that domesticated sunflowers form a genetically coherent group and that wild sunflowers from the Great Plains may include the most likely progenitor of domesticated sunflowers

La ciudad perdida vs la ciudad ganada : transformación de los barrios de promoción oficial

En la década de los 40 del siglo XX se inició en España un cambio de modelo económico y social que afectó de forma directa al crecimiento de la ciudad. Los Barrios de Promoción Oficial fueron la solución al problema de la vivienda en España, sin embargo, la ciudad ha evolucionado desde entonces y la sustitución de algunos de estos barrios ha sido inevitable. Esta sustitución no siempre ha respondido de forma adecuada ante los problemas que había presentes en el barrio. Tras un análisis de algunos de los Barrios de Promoción Oficial que se sustituyeron, se eligieron dos que por su escala, su adecuada circunscripción y su patente mejoría o manifiesto empeoramiento, eran adecuados para un estudio más en profundidad. Con el fin de definir qué criterios se han de seguir para que un barrio sea o no de buena calidad desde el punto de vista urbanístico, se analizaron tanto los barrios originales como los actuales. Basándose en el estudio, se definieron los criterios para una buena actuación: un buen tratamiento de la morfología urbana y el viario para dotar de estructura al barrio; la alternancia de la tipología con el fin de jerarquizar la estructura urbana y de aportar un ritmo claro al barrio; un adecuado tratamiento de los espacios libres, con atención a la vegetación, acompañando al viario o agrupada en jardines

Comparison of anonymous and targeted molecular markers for the estimation of genetic diversity in ex situ conserved Lactuca

The anonymous marker systems microsatellites (simple sequence repeats), amplified fragment length polymorphisms and sequence-specific amplified polymorphisms were compared with the targeted marker systems sequence-related amplified polymorphisms, target region amplification polymorphisms and nucleotide binding site profiling for their ability to describe the genetic diversity in a selected set of 80 Lactuca accessions. The accessions were also described morphologically, and all characterisation methods were evaluated against the genetic diversity assessed by a panel of three crop experts. The morphological data showed a low level of association with the molecular data, and did not display a consistently better relationship with the experts’ assessments in comparison with the molecular data. In general, the diversity described by the targeted molecular markers did not differ markedly from that of the anonymous markers, resulting in only slight differences in performance when related to the expert-based assessments. It was argued that markers targeted to specific gene sequences may still behave as anonymous markers and that the type of marker system used is irrelevant when at low taxonomic levels a clear genetic structure is absent due to intensive breeding activities

Membrane vesicles, current state-of-the-art: emerging role of extracellular vesicles

Release of membrane vesicles, a process conserved in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, represents an evolutionary link, and suggests essential functions of a dynamic extracellular vesicular compartment (including exosomes, microparticles or microvesicles and apoptotic bodies). Compelling evidence supports the significance of this compartment in a broad range of physiological and pathological processes. However, classification of membrane vesicles, protocols of their isolation and detection, molecular details of vesicular release, clearance and biological functions are still under intense investigation. Here, we give a comprehensive overview of extracellular vesicles. After discussing the technical pitfalls and potential artifacts of the rapidly emerging field, we compare results from meta-analyses of published proteomic studies on membrane vesicles. We also summarize clinical implications of membrane vesicles. Lessons from this compartment challenge current paradigms concerning the mechanisms of intercellular communication and immune regulation. Furthermore, its clinical implementation may open new perspectives in translational medicine both in diagnostics and therapy