309 research outputs found
A study of solid-stem expression in durum and common wheat
The wheat stem sawfly (WSS) is a damaging insect pest of wheat in North America. Resistance to WSS has primarily been achieved by introgressing the stem-solidness QTL SSt1 into elite cultivars. This thesis comprehensively examined the expression of SSt1 from both the phenotypic and genetic perspective. The first study investigated the influence of four sowing densities on pith expression for two newly released solid-stemmed durum cultivars, CDC Fortitude and AAC Raymore. Both cultivars had strong pith expression (average stem-solidness > 3.9) across all environments and sowing densities, in contrast to the common wheat cultivar Lillian (average stem-solidness = 2.2). Increasing sowing density had a positive effect on grain yield in all cultivars, but was negatively associated with stem-solidness. These findings suggest that, unlike with Lillian, altering sowing density is not required to achieve effective sawfly resistance with CDC Fortitude and AAC Raymore. For the second study, we improved the resolution of the SSt1 interval in durum and common wheat by localizing coincident QTL near the telomere of 3BL (LOD = 94 - 127, R2 = 78 - 92 %). The SSt1 interval spanned a 1.6 Mb interval on chromosome 3B. Minor QTL were identified on chromosomes 2A, 2D, 4A, and 5A that synergistically enhanced the expression of SSt1 to increase stem-solidness. These results suggest breeding for improved stem-solidness is possible by combining SSt1 with favorable alleles at minor loci. Finally, we investigated gene expression and structural variation within the SSt1 interval. This showed that in addition to structural variation between genome assemblies, the SSt1 locus has also undergone a series of functional gene duplication/expansion events. One gene encoding a Dof transcription factor (TraesCS3B01G60880) was consistently up-regulated across solid-stemmed cultivars. Further investigation revealed that solid-stemmed cultivars carry multiple copies of TraesCS3B01G60880. Screening of a mutant population identified two mutant lines with a hollow-stemmed phenotype that either have a deletion, or reduced expression of TraesCS3B01G60880. Taken together, this research provides new insights into the phenotypic and genetic expression of SSt1 in wheat, and will provide an important foundation for future experiments that will help breeders improve resistance to the WSS
A Novel Agonist of the TRIF Pathway Induces a Cellular State Refractory to Replication of Zika, Chikungunya, and Dengue Viruses.
The ongoing concurrent outbreaks of Zika, Chikungunya, and dengue viruses in Latin America and the Caribbean highlight the need for development of broad-spectrum antiviral treatments. The type I interferon (IFN) system has evolved in vertebrates to generate tissue responses that actively block replication of multiple known and potentially zoonotic viruses. As such, its control and activation through pharmacological agents may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for simultaneously impairing growth of multiple virus types and rendering host populations resistant to virus spread. In light of this strategy\u27s potential, we undertook a screen to identify novel interferon-activating small molecules. Here, we describe 1-(2-fluorophenyl)-2-(5-isopropyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-1,2-dihydrochromeno[2,3
Measurements of differential cross sections of Z/gamma*+jets+X events in proton anti-proton collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV
We present cross section measurements for Z/gamma*+jets+X production,
differential in the transverse momenta of the three leading jets. The data
sample was collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron proton
anti-proton collider at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV and corresponds to
an integrated luminosity of 1 fb-1. Leading and next-to-leading order
perturbative QCD predictions are compared with the measurements, and agreement
is found within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties. We also make
comparisons with the predictions of four event generators. Two
parton-shower-based generators show significant shape and normalization
differences with respect to the data. In contrast, two generators combining
tree-level matrix elements with a parton shower give a reasonable description
of the the shapes observed in data, but the predicted normalizations show
significant differences with respect to the data, reflecting large scale
uncertainties. For specific choices of scales, the normalizations for either
generator can be made to agree with the measurements.Comment: Published in PLB. 11 pages, 3 figure
Simultaneous measurement of the ratio B(t->Wb)/B(t->Wq) and the top quark pair production cross section with the D0 detector at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV
We present the first simultaneous measurement of the ratio of branching
fractions, R=B(t->Wb)/B(t->Wq), with q being a d, s, or b quark, and the top
quark pair production cross section sigma_ttbar in the lepton plus jets channel
using 0.9 fb-1 of ppbar collision data at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV collected with the
D0 detector. We extract R and sigma_ttbar by analyzing samples of events with
0, 1 and >= 2 identified b jets. We measure R = 0.97 +0.09-0.08 (stat+syst) and
sigma_ttbar = 8.18 +0.90-0.84 (stat+syst)} +/-0.50 (lumi) pb, in agreement with
the standard model prediction.Comment: submitted to Phys.Rev.Letter
Search for charged Higgs bosons decaying to top and bottom quarks in ppbar collisions
We describe a search for production of a charged Higgs boson, q \bar{q'} ->
H^+, reconstructed in the t\bar{b} final state in the mass range 180 <= M_{H^+}
<= 300 GeV. The search was undertaken at the Fermilab Tevatron collider with a
center-of-mass energy sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV and uses 0.9 fb^{-1} of data collected
with the D0 detector. We find no evidence for charged Higgs boson production
and set upper limits on the production cross section in the Types I, II and III
two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDMs). An excluded region in the (M_{H^+},tan\beta)
plane for Type I 2HDM is presented.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter
Measurement of the B0_s semileptonic branching ratio to an orbitally excited D_s** state, Br(B0_s -> Ds1(2536) mu nu)
In a data sample of approximately 1.3 fb-1 collected with the D0 detector
between 2002 and 2006, the orbitally excited charm state D_s1(2536) has been
observed with a measured mass of 2535.7 +/- 0.6 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst) MeV via
the decay mode B0_s -> D_s1(2536) mu nu X. A first measurement is made of the
branching ratio product Br(b(bar) -> D_s1(2536) mu nu X).Br(D_s1(2536)->D*
K0_S). Assuming that D_s1(2536) production in semileptonic decay is entirely
from B0_s, an extraction of the semileptonic branching ratio Br(B0_s ->
D_s1(2536) mu nu X) is made.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX, version with minor changes as accepted by
Phys. Rev. Let
Measurement of the W boson mass
We present a measurement of the W boson mass in W -> ev decays using 1 fb^-1
of data collected with the D0 detector during Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron
collider. With a sample of 499830 W -> ev candidate events, we measure M_W =
80.401 +- 0.043 GeV. This is the most precise measurement from a single
experiment.Comment: As published in PR
Search for new fermions ("quirks") at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider
We report results of a search for particles with anomalously high ionization
in events with a high transverse energy jet and large missing transverse energy
in fb of integrated luminosity collected by the D0 experiment at
the Fermilab Tevatron collider. Production of such particles
(quirks) is expected in scenarios with extra QCD-like {\it SU(N)} sectors, and
this study is the first dedicated search for such signatures. We find no
evidence of a signal and set a lower mass limit of 107 ~GeV for the mass of a
charged quirk with strong dynamics scale in the range from 10 keV to
1 MeV.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter
Measurement of the forward-backward charge asymmetry and extraction of sin^2Theta^{eff}_W in ppbar -> Z/\gamma^{*}+X -> e+e+X events produced at \sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV
We present a measurement of the forward-backward charge asymmetry ()
in events at a center-of-mass energy
of 1.96 TeV using 1.1 fb of data collected with the D0 detector at the
Fermilab Tevatron collider. is measured as a function of the invariant
mass of the electron-positron pair, and found to be consistent with the
standard model prediction. We use the measurement to extract the
effective weak mixing angle .Comment: 7 Pages, 1 Figure, 3 Tables, Accepted by Phys. Rev. Let
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