Extending the rapeseed gene pool with resynthesized Brassica napus II: Heterosis

Hybrid breeding relies on the combination of parents from two differing heterotic groups. However, the genetic diversity in adapted oilseed rape breeding material is rather limited. Therefore, the use of resynthesized Brassica napus as a distant gene pool was investigated. Hybrids were derived from crosses between 44 resynthesized lines with a diverse genetic background and two male sterile winter oilseed rape tester lines. The hybrids were evaluated together with their parents and check cultivars in 2 years and five locations in Germany. Yield, plant height, seed oil, and protein content were monitored, and genetic distances were estimated with molecular markers (127 polymorphic RFLP fragments). Resynthesized lines varied in yield between 40.9 dt/ha and 21.5 dt/ha, or between 85.1 and 44.6% of check cultivar yields. Relative to check cultivars, hybrids varied from 91.6 to 116.6% in yield and from 94.5 to 103.3% in seed oil content. Mid-parent heterosis varied from −3.5 to 47.2% for yield. The genetic distance of parental lines was not significantly correlated with heterosis or hybrid yield. Although resynthesized lines do not meet the elite rapeseed standards, they are a valuable source for hybrid breeding due to their large distance from present breeding material and their high heterosis when combined with European winter oilseed rape

Protective Policy Index (PPI) global dataset of origins and stringency of COVID 19 mitigation policies

This the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordData Records: We have created a Github repository (https://github.com/COVID-policy-response-lab/PPI-data) to store the datasets with the Public Health Protective Policy Index and its components. A copy of the included datafiles, as described below, was deposited with openICPSR15. It presently requires creating an account with the depository. Data access is free. Data location is at https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/project/123401. The datasets are stored as csv files with five types of layouts. “PPI_country_m1.csv” is a file with country-level aggregates of region-level PPIs, computed using method 1, and their components. Each row corresponds to a country-date. The rows are identified using the country name (cname), numeric and 2-letter ISO 3166-1 codes (isocode and isoabbr respectively), as well as a date variable. The names of the policy variables contain four components: the name of the broader category, the name of the category, the level of issuing government (“nat” refers to the national policies, “reg” refers to the subnational policies, and “tot” refers to the combination of national and subnational policies), as well as suffix “ave”. For example, the average Total PPI is denoted as “ppi.all.tot.ave”, and the average stringency of the closures of air borders by the national government is denoted as “borders.air_bord.nat.ave”. See the codebook for the complete list of variables. “PPI_country_m2.csv” is a file with country-level aggregates of region-level PPIs, computed using method 2, and their components. The identifying variables and the naming convention for the policy variables is the same as in “PPI_country_m1.csv”, with the addition of suffix “0.2” at the end of the policy variable names. “PPI_regions_XX_m1.csv” (replace XX with the 2-letter ISO 3166-1 country codes) are country-specific files with region-specific PPIs, computed using method 1, and their components. The identifying variables include the numeric and 2-letter ISO 3166-1 codes of the country (isocode and isoabbr respectively), the name of the region (state_province), its ISO 3166-2 code (iso_state), as well as a date variable. The names of the policy variables contain three components: the name of the broader category, the name of the category, and the level of issuing government (“nat” refers to the national policies, “reg” refers to the subnational policies, and “tot” refers to the combination of national and subnational policies). For example, the average Total PPI is denoted as “ppi.all.tot”, and the stringency of the closures of air borders by the national government is denoted as “borders.air_bord.nat”. “PPI_regions_XX_m2.csv” (replace XX with the 2-letter ISO 3166-1 country codes are country-specific files with region-specific PPIs, computed using method 2, and their components. The identifying variables and the naming convention for the policy variables is the same as in “PPI_regions_XX_m1.csv”, with the addition of the suffix “0.2” at the end of the policy variable names. “changes_regions_m1.csv” is an auxiliary file that describes the changes in the policy states, as recorded in the “PPI_regions_XX_m1.csv” files. Each row in this file corresponds to a change in a value of a policy state variable in a region and of a specific government level. The case identifying variables include the name of the country (cname), the numeric and 2-letter ISO 3166-1 code of the country (isocode and isoabbr, respectively), the name of the region (state_province) and its ISO 3166-2 code, date, policy dimension, and a marker of policies issued by a regional government (subnational). Among others, the attributes included in this file include the branch of the government (branch) and the date when the change was announced (report_date).Code availability; The code used to produce our calculations is available at https://github.com/COVID-policy-response-lab/PPI-dataWe have developed and made accessible for multidisciplinary audience a unique global dataset of the behavior of political actors during the COVID-19 pandemic as measured by their policy-making efforts to protect their publics. The dataset presents consistently coded cross-national data at subnational and national levels on the daily level of stringency of public health policies by level of government overall and within specific policy categories, and reports branches of government that adopted these policies. The data on these public mandates of protective behaviors is collected from media announcements and government publications. The dataset allows comparisons of governments’ policy efforts and timing across the world and can serve as a source of information on policy determinants of pandemic outcomes–both societal and possibly medical

Optimization of xylanase production by filamentous fungi in solid state fermentation and scale-up to horizontal tube bioreactor

Five microorganisms, namely Aspergillus niger CECT 2700, A. niger CECT 2915, A. niger CECT 2088, Aspergillus terreus CECT 2808, and Rhizopus stolonifer CECT 2344, were grown on corncob to produce cell wall polysaccharide-degrading enzymes, mainly xylanases, by solid-state fermentation (SSF). A. niger CECT 2700 produced the highest amount of xylanases of 504±7 U/g dry corncob (dcc) after 3 days of fermentation. The optimization of the culture broth (5.0 g/L NaNO3, 1.3 g/L (NH4)2SO4, 4.5 g/L KH2PO4, and 3 g/L yeast extract) and operational conditions (5 g of bed loading, using an initial substrate to moistening medium of 1:3.6 (w/v)) allowed increasing the predicted maximal xylanase activity up to 2,452.7 U/g dcc. However, different pretreatments of materials, including destarching, autoclaving, microwave, and alkaline treatments, were detrimental. Finally, the process was successfully established in a laboratory-scale horizontal tube biore- actor, achieving the highest xylanase activity (2,926 U/g dcc) at a flow rate of 0.2 L/min. The result showed an overall 5.8-fold increase in xylanase activity after optimization of culture media, operational conditions, and scale-up.We are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the financial support of this work (project CTQ2011-28967), which has partial financial support from the FEDER funds of the European Union; to the Leonardo da Vinci Programme for founding the stay of Felisbela Oliveira in Vigo University; to MAEC-AECID (Spanish Government) for the financial support for Perez-Bibbins, B. and to Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for Perez-Rodriguez's FPU; and to Solla E. and Mendez J. (CACTI-University of Vigo) for their excellent technical assistance in microscopy

Molecular characterization of novel resynthesized rapeseed (brassica napus) lines and analysisi of their genetic diversity in comparison with spring rapeseed cultivars/ Seyis

6 hal. 28 c

Altitudinal impacts on chemical content and composition of Hypericum perforatum, a prominent medicinal herb

Altitudinal variations in the content of main bioactive secondary metabolites namely, hypericin, pseudohypericin, hyperforin, the chlorogenic, neochlorogenic, caffeic and 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acids, isoquercitrin, quercitrin, avicularin, hyperoside, rutin, biapigenin, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin and in the composition of essential oil (EO) among Hypericum perforatum populations from two growing sites of Northern Turkey were investigated in detail for the first time. Aerial parts of 30 individuals at full flowering were collected at five different altitudes (391, 631, 1318, 1586 and 1733 m) of “Anzer” upland and six different altitudes (1311, 1447, 1968, 2068, 20169 and 2210 m) of “Cimil” upland in territory of Rize province, Turkey. Air dried plant samples were assayed for polar ingredients by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and for EO components by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) supported gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses. All the tested polar phytochemicals were detected at various levels depending on altitude in both uplands and the accumulation level of each compound showed a positive consistent and significant response to altitudinal gradient. A considerable diversity in quality and quantity of major EO components was also observed and 2,2,6-trimethyl-cyclohexanone, caryophyllene oxide, tricycloheptane, hexanoic acid, tetradecanol, 2-methyl-dodecane, tetradecane, ?-amorphene, eicosene, ?-cedrene, piperitone, spathulenol, ?-caryophyllene, ?-cadinene and linalool were identified as major EO components depending on altitude. The present results suggest that altitude of plant habitat has an ultimate effect on secondary metabolism of Hypericum perforatum and indicate the investigated populations as new chemotypes in terms of their EO composition. Such kind of findings could be useful to characterize the unique strains with desired chemical composition and can provide new viewpoints for investigations on this valuable medicinal plant. © 2020 SAA

Essential oil composition and variability of Hypericum perforatum from wild populations of northern Turkey

Context: Hypericum perforatum L. (Guttiferae) contains many bioactive secondary metabolites including hypericins, hyperforins, and essential oil.Objective: The present study was conducted to det. the variation in compn. of essential oil in H. perforatum accessions from Turkey.Material and methods: At full flowering, aerial parts of 30 plants were collected from 10 sites of northern Turkey and assayed for essential oil components by GC-FID and GC-MS.Results: The chem. anal. revealed that the main constituents of the all analyzed samples were hydrocarbon and oxygenated sesquiterpenes such as β-caryophyllene (4.08-5.93%), γ-muurolene (5.00-9.56%), β-selinene (5.08-19.63%), α-selinene (4.12-10.42%), d-cadinene (3.02-4.94%), spathulenol (2.34-5.14%), and caryophyllene oxide (6.01-12.18%). Monoterpenes, both hydrocarbon and oxygenated, were represented by scarce amts. of α- and β-pinene, myrcene, linalool, cis- and trans-linalool oxide, and α-terpineol. Principal component anal. was also carried out and, according to the results, the first nine principal components were found to represent 100% of the obsd. variation.Discussion: The chem. variation among the populations is discussed as the possible result of different genetic and environmental factors.Conclusions: The wild populations examd. here are potentially important sources for breeding and improvement of the cultivated varieties

Morphogenetic changes in essential oil composition of Hypericum perforatum during the course of ontogenesis

Context: In the past few years, an increasing interest in the volatile secondary metabolites of Hypericum perforatum L. (Guttiferae) has been arising. Objective: The present study is a contribution to better understand the relationship between the morphological variations and volatile composition during the phenological cycle. Materials and methods: Leaves at the stages of vegetative, floral budding, flowering and green capsule, buds, full opened flowers and green capsules were assayed for essential oil (EO) components by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and GC-mass spectrometry (MS). Results: Significant amounts of sesquiterpenes (oxygenated 26–50% and hydrocarbons 20–40%) and oxygenated hydrocarbons (13–38%) characterized the all analyzed samples showing peculiar fluctuations during the seven phenological stages. Although monoterpenes were present in much lower amounts (monoterpene hydrocarbons 0.4–6%; oxygenated monoterpenes 0.8–6%) they were considered also important discrimination for several stages. The green capsules and the full opened flowers collected at flowering stage were clearly distinguished in terms of EO compositions from the other samples. Discussion: For the first time, the EO composition of Turkish wild Hypericum perforatum was monitored by the hydrodistillation of different plant organs collected at different seven stages in order to point out the modification of target volatiles related to each phenological step. Conclusions: Based on the EO composition monitored during these seven morphological stages by GC-MS, principal component analysis and cluster analysis, significant metabolite modifications were observed during the phenological cycle which involved the levels of specific volatile target compounds belonging to the chemical classes of hydrocarbons, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes

Seasonal variations in soil radon emanation: Long-term continuous monitoring in light of seismicity

Soil gas radon release patterns have been monitored continuously for more than 3 years in the Eastern Mediterranean Province (EMP) (Southern Turkey), alongside regional seismic events, providing a multidisciplinary approach. In the period from January 2008 to January 2011, 14 earthquakes M L ?4 occurred in the study area. By monitoring the sites for more than 3 years, the site-characteristic patterns of soil radon emanation of each site have become evident. Radon emanation data show seasonal (semi-annual) variation characteristics; high soil radon values are between May and October and low soil radon values are between November and April. With available rainfall data, the soil gas radon data can be more reliably evaluated. It is shown in this paper that if radon emanation data are available over sufficiently long periods of time and baseline data (and their seasonal variations) are known with certainty for each monitoring site, then the observation of positive anomalies might provide a correlation or connection to seismic activity. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.TARAL, 105G019Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the financial support received from the TUBITAK TARAL 1007 Program for the TÜRDEP Project (Project No: 105G019). We appreciate all the technical help and support we have received from our colleagues at the TUBITAK Marmara Research Center Earth and Marine Sciences Institute. Special thanks go to Bora Erkan for the production of the figures. Finally, we thank three anonymous reviewers for their constructive reviews and suggestions that improved the manuscript. We acknowledge the promptness and the high quality of the work of the editorial office of the NHAZ