Establishing Genetic Relation between a Marker Locus and Fungal Disease in Grapevine Using Multidimensional Scaling Analysis

WOS: 000285236000028In a hybrid population of Italia (female) and Mercan (male) grape cultivars with their 60 offsprings a classical two point linkage analysis was attempted with 300 RAPD 20 SSR and 24 AFLP primers using Mapmaker/Exp 30 Linkage groups of 12 in Italia and 4 in Mercan were attained with 25 and 8 marker loci respectively Resistance phenotypes and segregating characteristics were scored as quantitative traits in two growing seasons MDS analysis was performed to examine the relationship between the marker loci and the fungal diseases powdery and downy mildew both of which developed naturally on the progenies Results of the MDS showed that five and eight marker loci were in close relationship with the powdery and downy mildew respectively The R-2 was 62 12% which considered as acceptable fit and the stress coefficient was 026TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [TARP 2189]This study was a derivation of combined data obtained from the two separate PhD theses fulfilled by Z Gokbayrak and B Isci We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from TUBITAK (Project Code Number TARP 2189) We also would like to thank Mehmet Mendes (Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University) for his invaluable help in statistical analysi

Molecular mechanisms of resistance to spirodiclofen and spiromesifen in Tetranychus urticae

Ketoenol acaricides have been widely used to control Tetranychus urticae populations across the world. However, control failure due to resistance development is an increasing concern. To sustain resistance management, it is therefore important to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying resistance, as well as understand the level of cross-resistance they convey between different ketoenol acaricides, such as spirodiclofen or spiromesifen. A T. urticae population with moderate levels of resistance to ketoenols was collected from a carnation greenhouse and further selected in the laboratory with spirodiclofen and spiromesifen, separately, until high levels of resistance were achieved. Synergism assays indicated the involvement of P450 monooxygenases and, to a lesser extent, carboxyl/cholinesterases in resistance. Genome-wide gene expression analysis of ketoenol-selected populations compared to the initial field-collected population and a susceptible reference laboratory population further supported the hypothesis of P450-mediated resistance to ketoenols. In addition to metabolic resistance, target-site resistance was also investigated, but no amino acid substitutions in the carboxyl-transferase (CT) domain of the acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase), the target-site of ketoenols, were found in the studied populations. However, increased expression of ACCase was found in the spiromesifen-selected, but not in the spirodiclofen-selected population. Finally, changes in resistance levels of some commonly used acaricides were identified after selection with spiromesifen or spirodiclofen

Occurrence and identification of grapevine phytoplasmas in main viticultural regions of Turkey

Intensive surveys were conducted in the main viticultural areas of Turkey in 2009-2010. Two hundred eighty nine symptomatic and 20 non-symptomatic plant samples were collected and subjected to nucleic acid extraction followed by PCR, nested PCR and RFLP analyses to detect phytoplasma presence and for their identification. The incidence rate of phytoplasma infections 18.33% and the majority of the symptomatic grapevines were infected with grapevine yellows phytoplasmas belonging to 16SrXII-A subgroup (“bois noir”). Phytoplasmas of 16SrV group, aster yellows (16SrI-B) and pigeon pea witches’ broom (16SrIX) groups were also detected in the surveyed vineyards. Phytoplasma-associated infections were present more on wine grapevine cultivars (73.6%), such as Alphonse Lavallée, Alicante Bouschet, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, compared to table grapes (26.4%), such as Bogazkere, Sirfani, Tahannebi and Emir

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) in Turkey: results of a nationwide multicenter study

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease that is prevalent among eastern Mediterranean populations, mainly non-Ashkenazi Jews, Armenians, Turks, and Arabs. Since a large proportion of all the FMF patients in the world live in Turkey, the Turkish FMF Study Group (FMF-TR) was founded to develop a patient registry database and analyze demographic, clinical, and genetic features. The cohort was composed of 2838 patients (mean age, 23.0 +/- 13.33 yr; range, 2-87 yr), with a male:female ratio of 1.2:1. There was a mean period of 6.9 +/- 7.65 years from disease onset to diagnosis; the period was about 2 years shorter for each decade since 1981. Ninety-four percent of patients were living in the central-western parts of the country; however, their familial origins (70% from the central-eastern and Black Sea regions) reflected not only the ongoing east to west migration, but also the historical roots of FMF in Turkey. Patients' clinical features included peritonitis (93.7%), fever (92.5%), arthritis (47.4%), pleuritis (31.2%), myalgia (39.6%), and erysipelas-like erythema (20.9%). Arthritis, arthralgia, myalgia, and erysipelas-like erythema were significantly more frequent (p < 0.001) among patients with disease onset before the age of 18 years. Genetic analysis of 1090 patients revealed that M694V was the most frequent mutation (51.4%), followed by M680I (14.4%) and V726A (8.6%). Patients with the M694V/M694V genotype were found to have an earlier age of onset and higher frequencies of arthritis and arthralgia compared with the other groups (both p < 0.001). In contrast to other reported studies, there was no correlation between amyloidosis and M694V homozygosity in this cohort. However, amyloidosis was still remarkably frequent in our patients (12.9%), and it was prevalent (27.8%) even among the 18 patients with a disease onset after age 40 years. Twenty-two patients (0.8%) had nonamyloid glomerular diseases. The high prevalence of vasculitides (0.9% for polyarteritis nodosa and 2.7% for Henoch-Schonlein purpura) and high frequency of pericarditis (1.4%) were striking findings in the cohort. Phenotype II cases (those patients with amyloidosis as the presenting or only manifestation of disease) were rare (0.3% or less). There was a high rate of a past diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever, which suggested a possible misdiagnosis in children with FMF presenting with recurrent arthritis. To our knowledge, this is the largest series of patients with FMF reported from 1 country. We describe the features of the disease in the Turkish population and show that amyloidosis is still a substantial problem