Ecology and genomics of an important crop wild relative as a prelude to agricultural innovation

Domesticated species are impacted in unintended ways during domestication and breeding. Changes in the nature and intensity of selection impart genetic drift, reduce diversity, and increase the frequency of deleterious alleles. Such outcomes constrain our ability to expand the cultivation of crops into environments that differ from those under which domestication occurred. We address this need in chickpea, an important pulse legume, by harnessing the diversity of wild crop relatives. We document an extreme domestication-related genetic bottleneck and decipher the genetic history of wild populations. We provide evidence of ancestral adaptations for seed coat color crypsis, estimate the impact of environment on genetic structure and trait values, and demonstrate variation between wild and cultivated accessions for agronomic properties. A resource of genotyped, association mapping progeny functionally links the wild and cultivated gene pools and is an essential resource chickpea for improvement, while our methods inform collection of other wild crop progenitor species

Social mindfulness and prosociality vary across the globe

Humans are social animals, but not everyone will be mindful of others to the same extent. Individual differences have been found, but would social mindfulness also be shaped by one’s location in the world? Expecting cross-national differences to exist, we examined if and how social mindfulness differs across countries. At little to no material cost, social mindfulness typically entails small acts of attention or kindness. Even though fairly common, such low-cost cooperation has received little empirical attention. Measuring social mindfulness across 31 samples from industrialized countries and regions (n = 8,354), we found considerable variation. Among selected country-level variables, greater social mindfulness was most strongly associated with countries’ better general performance on environmental protection. Together, our findings contribute to the literature on prosociality by targeting the kind of everyday cooperation that is more focused on communicating benevolence than on providing material benefits

Customer emotions in service failure and recovery encounters

Emotions play a significant role in the workplace, and considerable attention has been given to the study of employee emotions. Customers also play a central function in organizations, but much less is known about customer emotions. This chapter reviews the growing literature on customer emotions in employee–customer interfaces with a focus on service failure and recovery encounters, where emotions are heightened. It highlights emerging themes and key findings, addresses the measurement, modeling, and management of customer emotions, and identifies future research streams. Attention is given to emotional contagion, relationships between affective and cognitive processes, customer anger, customer rage, and individual differences

Reply to Komatsu et al.: from local social mindfulness to global sustainability efforts?

Komatsu et al. (1) argue that Van Doesum et al. (2) may have overlooked the role of GDP in reporting a positive association between social mindfulness (SoMi) and the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) at country level. Although the relationship between EPI and SoMi is relatively weaker for countries with higher GDP, that does not imply that the overall observed relationship is a statistical artifact. Rather, it implies that GDP may be a moderator of the relationship between EPI and SoMi. The observed correlation is a valid result on average across countries, and the actual effect size would, at least to some degree, depend on GDP.Social decision makin

Reply to Nielsen et al.: social mindfulness is associated with countries’ environmental performance and individual environmental concern

Nielsen et al. (1) argue that Van Doesum et al. (2) need to consider three points for their interpretation of a positive association between individual-level social mindfulness (SoMi) and environmental performance (EPI) at the country level (3). The association is weaker when 1) it is controlled for GDP and 2) when the data of three countries are removed; also, 3) the data do not address the association between SoMi and individual-level environmental concern. We discuss these points in turn.Social decision makin

Cyclotomy of Order 15 Over Gf (p2), p = 4, 11 (Mod 15)

For primes p ≡ 4, 11 (mod 15) explicit formulae are obtained for the cyclotomic numbers of order 15 o

TheTsn1–ToxA interaction in the wheat–Stagonospora nodorum pathosystem parallels that of the wheat–tan spot system

The wheat tan spot fungus (Pyrenophora tritici-repentis) produces a well-characterized host-selective toxin (HST) known as Ptr ToxA, which induces necrosis in genotypes that harbor the Tsn1 gene on chromosome 5B. In previous work, we showed that the Stagonospora nodorum isolate Sn2000 produces at least 2 HSTs (SnTox1 and SnToxA). Sensitivity to SnTox1 is governed by the Snn1 gene on chromosome 1B in wheat. SnToxA is encoded by a gene with a high degree of similarity to the Ptr ToxA gene. Here, we evaluate toxin sensitivity and resistance to S. nodorum blotch (SNB) caused by Sn2000 in a recombinant inbred population that does not segregate for Snn1. Sensitivity to the Sn2000 toxin preparation cosegregated with sensitivity to Ptr ToxA at the Tsn1 locus. Tsn1-disrupted mutants were insensitive to both Ptr ToxA and SnToxA, suggesting that the 2 toxins are functionally similar, because they recognize the same locus in the host to induce necrosis. The locus harboring the tsn1 allele underlies a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) for resistance to SNB caused by Sn2000, and explains 62% of the phenotypic variation, indicating that the toxin is an important virulence factor for this fungus. The Tsn1 locus and several minor QTLs together explained 77% of the phenotypic variation. Therefore, the Tsn1-ToxA interaction in the wheat-S. nodorum pathosystem parallels that of the wheat-tan spot system, and the wheat Tsn1 gene serves as a major determinant for susceptibility to both SNB and tan spot

Toward Structural Correctness: Aquatolide and the Importance of 1D Proton NMR FID Archiving

The revision of the structure of the sesquiterpene aquatolide from a bicyclo[2.2.0]hexane to a bicyclo[2.1.1]hexane structure using compelling NMR data, X-ray crystallography, and the recent confirmation via full synthesis exemplify that the achievement of "structural correctness" depends on the completeness of the experimental evidence. Archived FIDs and newly acquired aquatolide spectra demonstrate that archiving and rigorous interpretation of 1D H-1 NMR data may enhance the reproducibility of (bio)chemical research and curb the growing trend of structural misassignments. Despite being the most accessible NMR experiment, 1D H-1 spectra encode a wealth of information about bonds and molecular geometry that may be fully mined by H-1 iterative full spin analysis (HiFSA). Fully characterized 1D H-1 spectra are unideterminant for a given structure. The corresponding FIDs may be readily submitted with publications and collected in databases. Proton NMR spectra are indispensable for structural characterization even in conjunction with 2D data. Quantum interaction and linkage tables (QuILTs) are introduced for a more intuitive visualization of 1D J-coupling relationships, NOESY correlations, and heteronuclear experiments. Overall, this study represents a significant contribution to best practices in NMR-based structural analysis and dereplication