TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Detection and replication of QTL underlying resistance to gastrointestinal nematodes in adult sheep using the ovine 50K SNP array

16 p.Persistence of gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infection and the related control methods have major impacts on the sheep industry worldwide. Based on the information generated with the Illumina OvineSNP50 BeadChip (50 K chip), this study aims at confirming quantitative trait loci (QTL) that were previously identified by microsatellite ‑ based genome scans and identifying new QTL and allelic variants that are associated with indicator traits of parasite resistance in adult sheep. We used a commercial half ‑ sib population of 518 Spanish Churra ewes with available data for fecal egg counts (FEC) and serum levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA) to perform different genome scan QTL mapping analyses based on classical linkage analysis (LA), a combined linkage disequilibrium and linkage analysis (LDLA) and a genome ‑ wide association study (GWAS)This work was supported by a competitive grant from the Castilla and León regional government (Junta de Castilla y León) (Ref. LE245A12-2) and the AGL2012-34437 project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). M Atlija is a grateful grantee of a Marie Curie fellowship funded by the EC-funded Initial Training Network (ITN) NematodeSystemHealth (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-ITN Ref. 264639). B Gutiérrez-Gil is funded through the Spanish “Ramón y Cajal” Programme (RYC-2012-10230) from the MINECO.S

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

The genetic architecture of helminth-specific immune responses in a wild population of Soay sheep (Ovis aries)

Much of our knowledge of the drivers of immune variation, and how these responses vary over time, comes from humans, domesticated livestock or laboratory organisms. While the genetic basis of variation in immune responses have been investigated in these systems, there is a poor understanding of how genetic variation influences immunity in natural, untreated populations living in complex environments. Here, we examine the genetic architecture of variation in immune traits in the Soay sheep of St Kilda, an unmanaged population of sheep infected with strongyle gastrointestinal nematodes. We assayed IgA, IgE and IgG antibodies against the prevalent nematode Teladorsagia circumcincta in the blood plasma of > 3,000 sheep collected over 26 years. Antibody levels were significantly heritable (h2 = 0.21 to 0.57) and highly stable over an individual’s lifespan. IgA levels were strongly associated with a region on chromosome 24 explaining 21.1% and 24.5% of heritable variation in lambs and adults, respectively. This region was adjacent to two candidate loci, Class II Major Histocompatibility Complex Transactivator (CIITA) and C-Type Lectin Domain Containing 16A (CLEC16A). Lamb IgA levels were also associated with the immunoglobulin heavy constant loci (IGH) complex, and adult IgE levels and lamb IgA and IgG levels were associated with the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). This study provides evidence of high heritability of a complex immunological trait under natural conditions and provides the first evidence from a genome-wide study that large effect genes located outside the MHC region exist for immune traits in the wild

A new approach for cultivating the cyanobacterium Nostoc calcicola (MACC-612) to produce biomass and bioactive compounds using a thin-layer raceway pond

The culture of microalgae and cyanobacteria in open systems has been improved through the novel approach of thin-layer raceway ponds. The importance of studying mass cultivation of the cyanobacterium Nostoc calcicola (further as Nostoc) lies in its biotechnological potential as a source of bioactive compounds for food and non-food applications. These compounds include polysaccharides, mycosporine-like amino acids and phycocyanin. Nostoc was cultured outdoors in a thin-layer raceway pond where the biomass production, physiological status, photosynthetic activity, and biochemical composition were monitored through the experimental period of 5 days. The biomass, as did the maximal quantum yield of PSII, maximal electron transport rate (ETRmax) and photosynthetic efficiency (αETR) increased throughout the experimental period showing the optimal operation of the thin-layer raceway ponds, due to the light penetrates deeper into the thin culture layer and thus more light is available to the cells. Oxygen levels in the culture increased over time, but no photoinhibition was evident indicating optimal action of non-photochemical mechanisms. Nostoc increased the total internal carbon content over the experimental period. Chlorophyll increased, whereas the N compounds such as the biliprotein phycocyanin decreased. Among the UV-absorbing compounds, polyphenols, mycosporine-like amino acids, such as shinorine and other unknown UV-A absorbing compounds were detected. There components showed a positive correlation to antioxidant activity. Thus, the optimal accumulation of biomass and the accumulation of bio-active compounds having antioxidant capacity show the possible biotechnological applications of Nostoc