Seed germination and dormancy traits of forbs and shrubs important for restoration of North American dryland ecosystems

© 2018 German Society for Plant Sciences and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands In degraded dryland systems, native plant community re-establishment following disturbance is almost exclusively carried out using seeds, but these efforts commonly fail. Much of this failure can be attributed to the limited understanding of seed dormancy and germination traits. We undertook a systematic classification of seed dormancy of 26 species of annual and perennial forbs and shrubs that represent key, dominant genera used in restoration of the Great Basin ecosystem in the western United States. We examined germination across a wide thermal profile to depict species-specific characteristics and assessed the potential of gibberellic acid (GA3) and karrikinolide (KAR1) to expand the thermal germination envelope of fresh seeds. Of the tested species, 81% produce seeds that are dormant at maturity. The largest proportion (62%) exhibited physiological (PD), followed by physical (PY, 8%), combinational (PY + PD, 8%) and morphophysiological (MPD, 4%) dormancy classes. The effects of chemical stimulants were temperature- and species-mediated. In general, mean germination across the thermal profile was improved by GA3 and KAR1 for 11 and five species, respectively. We detected a strong germination response to temperature in freshly collected seeds of 20 species. Temperatures below 10 °C limited the germination of all except Agoseris heterophylla, suggesting that in their dormant state, the majority of these species are thermally restricted. Our findings demonstrate the utility of dormancy classification as a foundation for understanding the critical regenerative traits in these ecologically important species and highlight its importance in restoration planning

Rethinking dog domestication by integrating genetics, archeology, and biogeography

The dog was the first domesticated animal but it remains uncertain when the domestication process began and whether it occurred just once or multiple times across the Northern Hemisphere. To ascertain the value of modern genetic data to elucidate the origins of dog domestication, we analyzed 49,024 autosomal SNPs in 1,375 dogs (representing 35 breeds) and 19 wolves. After combining our data with previously published data,we contrasted the genetic signatures of 121 breeds with a worldwide archeological assessment of the earliest dog remains. Correlating the earliest archeological dogswith the geographic locations of 14 so-called “ancient” breeds (defined by their genetic differentiation) resulted in a counterintuitive pattern. First, none of the ancient breeds derive fromregionswhere the oldest archeological remains have been found. Second, three of the ancient breeds (Basenjis, Dingoes, and New Guinea Singing Dogs) come from regions outside the natural range of Canis lupus (the dog’s wild ancestor) and where dogs were introduced more than 10,000 y after domestication. These results demonstrate that the unifying characteristic among all genetically distinct so-called ancient breeds is a lack of recent admixturewith other breeds likely facilitated by geographic and cultural isolation. Furthermore, these genetically distinct ancient breeds only appear so because of their relative isolation, suggesting that studies of modern breeds have yet to shed light on dog origins. We conclude by assessing the limitations of past studies and how next-generation sequencing of modern and ancient individuals may unravel the history of dog domestication

Seleção recorrente recíproca na obtenção de híbridos interpopulacionais de milho-pipoca Reciprocal recurrent selection to obtain interpopulation hybrids of popcorn

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência da seleção recorrente recíproca em produzir híbridos de milho-pipoca (Zea mays) de progênies endógamas superiores, com famílias de irmãos-completos. O programa de seleção recorrente recíproca envolveu as populações de milho-pipoca 'Viçosa' e 'Beija-Flor'. Os testes dos híbridos S0xS0 e S1xS1 foram conduzidos em delineamento látice, nos anos agrícolas de 2002/2003 e 2004/2005. Os dois ensaios incluíram testemunhas comerciais comuns, que permitiram a comparação do desempenho dos híbridos. Analisaram-se a produtividade e a capacidade de expansão. Foram preditos ganhos direto e indireto com a seleção em capacidadede expansão, avaliada em pipoqueira de ar quente e na pipocadora "Metric Weight Volume Tester". Os ganhos observados foram calculados para avaliar a eficiência da seleção recorrente recíproca. As análises de covariância mostraram variabilidade genotípica nas populações. Em relação às testemunhas comerciais, os híbridos S0xS0 foram inferiores em qualidade e equivalentes em produtividade, e os híbridos S1xS1 foram equivalentes nas duas características. O ganho observado na capacidade de expansão foi substancial, cerca de 4 mL g-1, superior ao ganho predito (2,8 mL g-1). A redução observada na produtividade não foi relevante. Verificou-se redução na variabilidade genotípica quanto à capacidade de expansão. O método de seleção recorrente recíproca foi eficiente em produzir híbridos S1xS1 superiores aos S0xS0.<br>The objective of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of reciprocal recurrent selection in producing hybrids of popcorn (Zea mays) from superior endogamous progenies, with full-sibling families. The reciprocal recurrent selection program involved the 'Viçosa' and 'Beija-Flor' popcorn populations. Tests of the hybrids S0xS0 and S1xS1 were carried out in lattice design, in the agricultural years 2002/2003 and 2004/2005. The two assays included common commercial controls, allowing for the comparison of the hybrids performance. Productivity and expansion capacity were evaluated. Direct and indirect gains with selection were predicted on expansion capacity assessed in hot air and Metric Weight Volume Tester popcorn makers. The gains observed were calculated to evaluate the efficiency of the reciprocal recurrent selection. The covariance analyses showed genotypic variability in the populations. When compared to the commercial controls, the S0xS0 hybrids were inferior in quality and equivalent in productivity; and the S1xS1 hybrids were equivalent in both traits. The observed gain in expansion capacity was substantial (around 4 mL g-1) and higher than the predicted gain (2.8 mL g-1). The reduction observed in productivity was not relevant. Reduction in the genotypic variability was verified for expansion capacity. The reciprocal recurrent selection method was efficient in producing S1xS1 hybrids superior to S0xS0 hybrids