Total DNA Content and Ploidy Levels in Linnaeoideae with a Focus on Abelia

The Linnaeoideae subfamily was created in Caprifoliaceae to represent the close relationship among the monophyletic genera Abelia, Diabelia, Dipelta, Kolkwitzia, Linnaea, and Vesalea. These closely related genera could possibly be a new source of ornamental traits for Abelia, an economically important genus of woody ornamental shrubs. Breeding among these genera could be challenging as only a few genera and species have a reported total DNA content, ploidy level, and chromosome number. The objective of this research was to fill that gap in the literature. We determined the total DNA content and DNA ploidy levels and estimated chromosome numbers of the species Abelia chinensis (two genotypes), Abelia macrotera var. engleriana, Abelia ×grandiflora, Abelia schumanii, Diabelia serrata, Vesalea floribunda, Zabelia tyaihyonii var. mosanensis, and the Abelia cultivars Edward Goucher, Francis Mason, Lavender Mist, Raspberry Profusion, and Rosy Charm® by flow cytometry. Raphanus sativus ‘Saxa’ was used as an internal standard for holoploid 2C total genome size estimation. For DNA ploidy and chromosome number, A. ×grandiflora (2n = 2x = 32) and Z. tyaihyonii var. mosanensis (2n = 36) were used as internal standards. We also measured the pollen size and stomata length of the species A. chinensis (two genotypes), A. macrotera var. engleriana, V. floribunda, A. ×grandiflora, A. schumanii, and D. serrata, and the Abelia cultivars Francis Mason and Raspberry Profusion. All genotypes have a 2C holoploid total DNA content between 0.87 and 0.95 pg DNA (∼850–930 Mb), except for V. floribunda and Z. tyaihyonii var. mosanensis, which have 1.94 and 1.91 pg DNA, respectively (∼1880 Mb). All genotypes are diploid with 2n = 2x = 32, except for V. floribunda and Z. tyaihyonii var. mosanensis, which have 36 chromosomes (2n = ?x = 36). We observed significant variability in stomata sizes and pollen diameter independent of and not correlated with genome size or chromosome number. A. ×grandiflora has a high percentage of dead pollen (∼30%), as does V. floribunda (43%). This high percentage of dead pollen in the natural species V. floribunda could be the result of aneuploidy. This is the first report of total DNA content in A. chinensis, D. serrata, and Z. tyaihyonii var. mosanensis; total DNA content and estimated chromosome number in V. floribunda; total DNA content and DNA ploidy levels in A. ×grandiflora, A. macrotera var. engleriana, and A. schumanii; and total DNA content, estimated chromosome number, and DNA ploidy levels in the Abelia cultivars Edward Goucher, Francis Mason, Lavender Mist, Raspberry Profusion, and Rosy Charm®

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 14, No. 1

• The Oley Valley Basketmaker • The Sheen of Copper • Pennsylvania Corncribs • Land-Clearing in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania • Funerals in My Childhood Days • Folk Medicine from Western Pennsylvania • Peddlers I Rememberhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/1017/thumbnail.jp

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 30, No. 4

• Farm Animals at the Kutztown Folk Festival • Outdoor Ovens in the Dutch Country • Gold and Silversmithing at the Kutztown Folk Festival: A Look at the Craftsmen and Their Techniques • An Early Pennsylvania Dutch Garden Revisited • The Amish Wedding • Festival Focus • Folk Festival Programs • Quilts and Quilting: Picking the Winners • Macrame: The Art of Creative Knotting • Pennsylvania Dutch Funeral Lore: They Honored Their Dead • The Making of Maple Syrup • Textile Arts Reach Back Into Historyhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/1092/thumbnail.jp

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 20, No. 1

• Chapbook Gallows-Literature In Nineteenth-Century Pennsylvania • The Winding Road to Stick Spatter • The Kunstfest at Old Economy • The Ephrata Codex: Relationships Between Text and Illustration • Report of the Living History Seminar, 1969 • Dairy Products: Folk-Cultural Questionnaire No. 17 • Country School Photographs from Pennsylvaniahttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/1041/thumbnail.jp

Microorganisms from aphid honeydew attract and enhance the efficacy of natural enemies

Aphids are one of the most serious pests of crops worldwide, causing major yield and economic losses. To control aphids, natural enemies could be an option but their efficacy is sometimes limited by their dispersal in natural environment. Here we report the first isolation of a bacterium from the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum honeydew, Staphylococcus sciuri, which acts as a kairomone enhancing the efficiency of aphid natural enemies. Our findings represent the first case of a host-associated bacterium driving prey location and ovipositional preference for the natural enemy. We show that this bacterium has a key role in tritrophic interactions because it is the direct source of volatiles used to locate prey. Some specific semiochemicals produced by S. sciuri were also identified as significant attractants and ovipositional stimulants. The use of this host-associated bacterium could certainly provide a novel approach to control aphids in field and greenhouse systems

The Dutchman Vol. 6, No. 3

● Art in Christmas Cookies ● Cookies, Just for Nice ● The Trump Collection ● Ohio Fractur ● Houses of the Oley Valley ● The Riddle of the Two Front Doors ● The Oldest American Printing Press ● Belsnickel Lore ● Pennsylvania Dutch Pioneers ● The Zehn-uhr Schtickhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/dutchmanmag/1002/thumbnail.jp

The 3-Hydroxy-2-Butanone Pathway Is Required for Pectobacterium carotovorum Pathogenesis

Pectobacterium species are necrotrophic bacterial pathogens that cause soft rot diseases in potatoes and several other crops worldwide. Gene expression data identified Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum budB, which encodes the α-acetolactate synthase enzyme in the 2,3-butanediol pathway, as more highly expressed in potato tubers than potato stems. This pathway is of interest because volatiles produced by the 2,3-butanediol pathway have been shown to act as plant growth promoting molecules, insect attractants, and, in other bacterial species, affect virulence and fitness. Disruption of the 2,3-butanediol pathway reduced virulence of P. c. subsp. carotovorum WPP14 on potato tubers and impaired alkalinization of growth medium and potato tubers under anaerobic conditions. Alkalinization of the milieu via this pathway may aid in plant cell maceration since Pectobacterium pectate lyases are most active at alkaline pH

The semiochemically mediated interactions between bacteria and insects

In natural environment, semiochemicals are involved in many interactions between the different trophic levels involving insects, plants and hosts for parasitoids or prey for predators. These volatile compounds act as messengers within or between insect species, inducing particular behaviours such as the localisation of a source of food, the orientation to an adequate oviposition site, the selection of a suitable breeding site and the localisation of hosts or prey. In this sense, bacteria have been shown to play an important role in the production of volatile compounds which ones act as semiochemicals. This review, focusing on the semiochemically-mediated interactions between bacteria and insects, highlights that bacterial semiochemicals act as important messengers for insects. Indeed, in most of the studies reported here, insects respond to specific volatiles emitted by specific bacteria hosted by the insect itself (gut, mouthparts, etc.) or present in the natural environment where the insect evolves. Particularly, bacteria from the families Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonaceae and Bacillaceae are involved in many interactions with insects. Because semiochemicals naturally produced by bacteria could be a very interesting option for pest management, advances in this field are discussed in the context of biological control against insect pests.Solaphi