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

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