Genome-wide SNP discovery and QTL mapping for fruit quality traits in inbred backcross lines (IBLs) of solanum pimpinellifolium using genotyping by sequencing

Background: Solanum pimpinellifolium has high breeding potential for fruit quality traits and has been used as a donor in tomato breeding programs. Unlocking the genetic potential of S. pimpinellifolium requires high-throughput polymorphism identification protocols for QTL mapping and introgression of favourable alleles into cultivated tomato by both positive and background selection. Results: In this study we identified SNP loci using a genotyping by sequencing (GBS) approach in an IBL mapping population derived from the cross between a high yielding fresh market tomato and S. pimpinellifolium (LA1589) as the recurrent and donor parents, respectively. A total of 120,983,088 reads were generated by the Illumina HiSeq next-generation sequencing platform. From these reads 448,539 sequence tags were generated. A majority of the sequence tags (84.4%) were uniquely aligned to the tomato genome. A total of 3.125 unique SNP loci were identified as a result of tag alignment to the genome assembly and were used in QTL analysis of 11 fruit quality traits. As a result, 37 QTLs were identified. S. pimpinellifolium contributed favourable alleles for 16 QTLs (43.2%), thus confirming the high breeding potential of this wild species. Conclusions: The present work introduced a set of SNPs at sufficiently high density for QTL mapping in populations derived from S. pimpinellifolium (LA1589). Moreover, this study demonstrated the high efficiency of the GBS approach for SNP identification, genotyping and QTL mapping in an interspecific tomato population.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK 114Z116

Fruit tree leafrollers (Lepidoptera) and parasites (Hymenoptera) introduced in the Vancouver District, British Columbia

Introduced European species comprised 5 of the 6 most common and 8 of the 11 total species of leafrollers found on apple and pear in the Vancouver district in 1977. Parasitism was low. Two of the leafroller parasites, Apanteles ater (Ratz.) and A. longicauda (Wesm.), and a gracilariid parasite, Achrysocharoides zwölferi (Delucchi), are European species new to North America

Natural enemies of budworms, Choristoneura spp. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), on Douglas-fir near Yale, British Columbia, in 1977

Two species of Choristoneura were reared from an infestation on Douglas fir in the Yale-Spuzzum area in 1977: occidentalis Free, and an apparently undescribed species. Larvae with parasites averaged 47.6 percent and increased from 14.5 percent in larvae collected early in May to 74 percent in those collected early in July. Pupae with parasitism were 52 percent. Three well-known species of budworm parasites comprised 85 percent of the parasites reared. Eight other species of Lepidoptera were reared from the Douglas fir. One of these, Dioryctria pseudotsugella Munroe, becomes a predator on budworm prepupae and pupae when all the foodplant foliage has been consumed by budworms

THE EFFECT OF ABSCISIC ACID APPLICATION ON ROOT-SHOOT LENGTH AND SOME ANTIOXIDANT ENZYME ACTIVITIES OF TWO DIFFERENT TOMATO SEEDLINGS

ABSTRACT In this study, we determined the changes in root-shoot length, chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, and some antioxidant enzyme activities in leaf tissues of two different tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Aspendos and Donna) seedlings exposed to exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) 7 day intervals for a period of 28 days. Tomato seedlings were grown under controlled conditions using at seedling industry. When the seedlings had first true leaves, ABA was sprayed at 1, 10, 50 and 100 µM on upper and lower epidermis of plants. While 1 and 10 µM ABA exposure caused increases, 50 and 100 µM ABA exposure caused decreases in root and stem length of both tomato cultivars compared to control

Test-retest reliability of tetrax® static posturography system in young adults with low physical activity level

Purpose/Background: Assessment of postural sway with force plates can be affected by type of measurement and various clinical parameters such as age and activity level of the individual person. For this reason, variability is detected in postural reactions of healthy subjects without balance impairment. Test-retest reliability of postural sway in adolescent athletes has been measured using a force plate and additional test-retest studies have been suggested for subjects of different age groups with different activity levels. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to assess test-retest reliability of Tetrax (R) Static Posturography in young adults with low physical activity level, and examine the relationship between posturography results and low activity level.Methods: Young adults older than 18 years of age were included in the study. Demographic characteristics of the cases were recorded including age, weight, height, body mass index (BMI, kg/m(2)) and dominant extremity. Number of falls in the previous six months, lower body endurance (sit to stand test) and single-leg eyes closed stance test were recorded. Activity level of participants was determined according to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Posturographic evaluation of all volunteers was completed using the Tetrax (R) Interactive Postural Balance System (Sunlight Medical Ltd, Israel). Fall risk and general stability index (SI) calculated by the Tetrax (R) were recorded. Following the first test, measurements were repeated 24 to 48 hours later for reliability purposes.Results: Sixty-five subjects (28 male, 37 female; mean age 22.2 +/- 1.1 years, mean BMI 22.6 +/- 3.3 kg/m(2)) were evaluated. All participants were classified as minimally active according to mean IPAQ score (1042.1 +/- 517.7 [231 -2826] MET-minutes per week). ICC scores between the first and second tests for fall index and total stability index were excellent (ICC2,1 = 0.858, 0.850, respectively). Fall risk determined by using the Tetrax (R) device was negatively correlated with lower body endurance (p=0.001, r=-0.446), vigorous activity score (p=0.011, -0.312) and total activity score (p=0.029, r=-0.271), and positively correlated with single leg stance score (p=0.001, r=0.606). There was a weak correlation between fall risk history and the fall risk determined by using Tetrax (R) device (p=0.04, r=0.255). There were no correlations between fall risk and height, weight, and BMI (p>0.05).Conclusions: The results demonstrated the high test-retest reliability of Tetrax (R) interactive balance system in young healthy adults with low physical activity level. Future studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of increasing physical activity level on postural control

Location of chlorogenic acid biosynthesis pathway and polyphenol oxidase genes in a new interspecific anchored linkage map of eggplant

© Gramazio et al.; licensee BioMed Central. 2014. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated

Presence of the Eucalyptus gall wasp Ophelimus maskelli and its parasitoid Closterocerus chamaeleon in Portugal: first record, geographic distribution and host preference

The Eucalyptus gall wasp Ophelimus maskelli (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and its parasitoid Closterocerus chamaeleon (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) were observed for the first time in Portugal, in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Data on the distribution of O. maskelli in Portugal, differences in the susceptibility of two host species, Eucalyptus globulus and Eucalyptus camaldulensis, and parasitism by C. chamaeleon are given