Genome-Wide Association Studies Identified Three Independent Polymorphisms Associated with α-Tocopherol Content in Maize Kernels

Tocopherols are a class of four natural compounds that can provide nutrition and function as antioxidant in both plants and animals. Maize kernels have low α-tocopherol content, the compound with the highest vitamin E activity, thus, raising the risk of vitamin E deficiency in human populations relying on maize as their primary vitamin E source. In this study, two insertion/deletions (InDels) within a gene encoding γ-tocopherol methyltransferase, Zea mays VTE4 (ZmVTE4), and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located ∼85 kb upstream of ZmVTE4 were identified to be significantly associated with α-tocopherol levels in maize kernels by conducting an association study with a panel of ∼500 diverse inbred lines. Linkage analysis in three populations that segregated at either one of these three polymorphisms but not at the other two suggested that the three polymorphisms could affect α-tocopherol content independently. Furthermore, we found that haplotypes of the two InDels could explain ∼33% of α-tocopherol variation in the association panel, suggesting ZmVTE4 is a major gene involved in natural phenotypic variation of α-tocopherol. One of the two InDels is located within the promoter region and associates with ZmVTE4 transcript level. This information can not only help in understanding the underlying mechanism of natural tocopherol variations in maize kernels, but also provide valuable markers for marker-assisted breeding of α-tocopherol content in maize kernels, which will then facilitate the improvement of maize as a better source of daily vitamin E nutrition

Changes in DNA methylation assessed by genomic bisulfite sequencing suggest a role for DNA methylation in cotton fruiting branch development

Cotton plant architecture, including fruit branch formation and flowering pattern, influences plant light exploitation, cotton yield and planting cost. DNA methylation has been widely observed at different developmental stages in both plants and animals and is associated with regulation of gene expression, chromatin remodelling, genome protection and other functions. Here, we investigated the global epigenetic reprogramming during the development of fruiting branches and floral buds at three developmental stages: the seedling stage, the pre-squaring stage and the squaring stage. We first identified 22 cotton genes which potentially encode DNA methyltransferases and demethylases. Among them, the homologous genes of CMT, DRM2 and MET1 were upregulated at pre-squaring and squaring stages, suggesting that DNA methylation is involved in the development of floral buds and fruit branches. Although the global methylation at all of three developmental stages was not changed, the CHG-type methylation of non-expressed genes was higher than those of expressed genes. In addition, we found that the expression of the homologous genes of the key circadian rhythm regulators, including CRY, LHY and CO, was associated with changes of DNA methylation at three developmental stages

Sustainable supply chain management: framework and further research directions

This paper argues for the use of Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM) in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). The literature has identified antecedents and drivers for the adoption of SSCM. However, there is relatively little research on methodological approaches and techniques that take into account the dynamic nature of SSCM and bridge the existing quantitative/qualitative divide. To address this gap, this paper firstly systematically reviews the literature on SSCM drivers; secondly, it argues for the use of alternative methods research to address questions related to SSCM drivers; and thirdly, it proposes and illustrates the use of TISM and Cross Impact Matrix-multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis to test a framework that extrapolates SSCM drivers and their relationships. The framework depicts how drivers are distributed in various levels and how a particular driver influences the other through transitive links. The paper concludes with limitations and further research directions

Quantitative trait loci for resistance to pre-harvest sprouting in US hard white winter wheat Rio Blanco

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) of wheat is a major problem that severely limits the end-use quality of flour in many wheat-growing areas worldwide. To identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for PHS resistance, a population of 171 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was developed from the cross between PHS-resistant white wheat cultivar Rio Blanco and PHS-susceptible white wheat breeding line NW97S186. The population was evaluated for PHS in three greenhouse experiments and one Weld experiment. After 1,430 pairs of simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers were screened between the two parents and two bulks, 112 polymorphic markers between two bulks were used to screen the RILs. One major QTL, QPhs.pseru-3AS, was identified in the distal region of chromosome 3AS and explained up to 41.0% of the total phenotypic variation in three greenhouse experiments. One minor QTL, QPhs.pseru-2B.1, was detected in the 2005 and 2006 experiments and for the means over the greenhouse experiments, and explained 5.0–6.4% of phenotypic variation. Another minor QTL, QPhs.pseru-2B.2, was detected in only one greenhouse experiment and explained 4.5% of phenotypic variation for PHS resistance. In another RIL population developed from the cross of Rio Blanco/NW97S078, QPhs.pseru-3AS was significant for all three greenhouse experiments and the means over all greenhouse experiments and explained up to 58.0% of phenotypic variation. Because Rio Blanco is a popular parent used in many hard winter wheat breeding programs, SSR markers linked to the QTLs have potential for use in high-throughput marker-assisted selection of wheat cultivars with improved PHS resistance as well as fine mapping and map-based cloning of the major QTL QPhs.pseru-3AS

Inflation of Stressed Cylindrical Tubes: An Experimental Study

International audienceThe inflation of an initially stressed cylindrical shell provides a good illustration of the phenomenon of the initiation and propagation of an instability, which shares the same mathematical and mechanical features with a variety of other strain localization phenomena in engineering structures and materials. The high speed CCD camera and digital image processing system were used to measure the 3D shape of the inflated cylindrical tube. The localized bulge of a cylindrical tube with closed ends forms when the internal pressure reaches a critical value Pcr. As more air is filled into the tube, the pressure drops but the radius at the centre of the bulge will increase until it reaches a maximum value r max. With continued inflation, the pressure stays at a constant value Pp. The purpose of this study is to investigate the critical and propagation pressures in the tubes and the profile outside when the shells under axial tension and internal pressure were inflating. We focus on the influence of the axial tension on the critical pressure. In this paper the problem is explored through experimental efforts. A series of experiments were conducted on commercially available natural rubber latex tubes involving different geometries and initial axial tensions, which were regarded as isotropic, homogeneous, incompressible and hyper-elastic materials

A Study on the Adaptability of Yunnan Tea Cultivars in Southern Fujian

With Camellia sinensis (L.) O.Kuntze cv Fuding Dabaicha as the control, an experiment was conducted to study the adaptability of Yunnan tea cultivars Zijuan, Yunkang 10, Yunkang 14, Foxiang 3, Yuncha 1, Jinggu Dabaicha, Xueya 100, in Zhangzhou, south Fujian tea area, during 2012-2014. The results show that the tea cultivars (Yunkang 14, Foxiang 3, Jinggu Dabaicha) grow in general conditions; while the cultivars (Zijuan, Yunkang 10, Yuncha 1, Xueya 100) show good adaptability in south Fujian tea area, and they grow in good conditions, and they are as good as the control cultivar Fuding Dabaicha, in terms of bud leaf traits, resistance and chemical quality, etc. So these cultivars are suitable for cultivation in southern Fujian tea area

Synthesis and characterization of castor oil-based polymeric surfactants

Dehydrated castor oil was epoxidized using phosphoric acid as a catalyst and acetic acid peroxide as an oxidant to produce epoxidized castor oil (ECO). Ring-opening polymerization with stannic chloride was used to produce polymerized ECO (PECO), and sodium hydroxide used to give hydrolyzed PECO (HPECO). The HPECO was characterized by Fourier transform infrared, 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies, gel permeation chromatography, and differential scanning calorimetry. The weight-average molecular weight of soluble PECO and HPECO were 5026 and 2274 g·mol-1, respectively. PECO and HPECO exhibited glass transition. Through neutralizing the carboxylic acid of HPECO with different counterions, castor oil-based polymeric surfactants (HPECO-M, where M= Na+, K+ or triethanolamine ion) exhibited high efficiency to reduce the surface tension of water. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of HPECO-M ranged from 0.042 to 0.098 g·L-1 and the minimum equilibrium surface tensions at CMC (gcmc) of HPECO-M ranged from 25.6 to 30.0 mN·m-1. The water-hexadecane interfacial energy was calculated from measured surface tension using harmonic and geometric mean methods. Measured values of water-hexadecane interfacial tension agreed well with those calculated using the harmonic and geometric mean methods