Responses to low temperature stress in phaseolus species

Expansion of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) crops in the northern Great Planes has been hampered due to the lack of cultivars demonstrating sufficient vitality under low temperature conditions. Phaseolus angustissimus L., a wild bean species, has been previously shown to possess the ability to survive low temperatures in field trials. Freezing tolerance experiments under controlled conditions resulted in P. angustissimus demonstrating a greater capacity for freezing tolerance than P. vulgaris, as all P. vulgaris plants studied were dead at -2.5oC while most P. angustissimus plants treated to the same conditions survived. Exposure to chilling temperatures over five days resulted in stunted growth in both species, but the cultivated bean suffered more compared to the wild bean, as noted by a marked loss in tissue water content over the first three days of chilling. Interspecific macroarray hybridizations of a cDNA library from cold acclimated Medicago sativa L. using cDNAs derived from non-chilled and three-day chilled P. vulgaris and P. angustissimus plants showed that P. vulgaris showed more changes in gene expression after three days of chilling. Also, P. vulgaris showed a general trend towards down-regulation of the transcripts sampled on the third day of chilling compared to P. angustissimus. RT-PCR experiments were conducted using cDNAs from plant tissues exposed to various durations of chilling to confirm the results from the macroarray experiment. These time-course RT-PCR experiments revealed expression patterns across various chilling durations in genes identified from the macroarray. Data from these experiments suggest that P. vulgaris and P. angustissimus seedlings respond differently to low temperature exposure, and that some of the changes in P. angustissimus transcripts monitored here may be useful for researchers in better understanding how Phaseolus species can respond better to chilling temperatures

Tourists' Awareness, Attitudes, and Perceptions of Wildlife Souvenirs: A Case Study in Cuba

Considerable research has been conducted on tourist souvenirs but one area that has been widely neglected in souvenir literature is the concept of wildlife souvenirs. Many tourists purchase wildlife products when they go traveling, as evidenced by the continued production, sale, and confiscation of wildlife items such as coral/shell jewellery and animal skin/fur accessories around the world. Endangered species are often infiltrated into the souvenir trade and tourists both knowingly and unknowingly purchase endangered items as trip memorabilia. While the economic, environmental, and legal implications of the trade in wildlife have been well documented, the impacts of wildlife souvenirs have not; particularly the environmental consequences which are predominantly unknown. The purpose of this research was to assess tourists’ awareness, attitudes, and perceptions of wildlife souvenirs by exploring their purchase behaviour, general awareness, attitudes and perceptions, perception of environmental impact, and awareness of importation laws. A survey was conducted in the resort town of Varadero, Cuba in order to assess the frame of mind of international tourists (and potential souvenir consumers) while abroad. The findings revealed that there were significant differences in the way tourists identify with wildlife souvenirs and that these differences were occasionally attributed to sex and age but frequently attributed to geographic region (or place of origin). In general, tourists were found to be largely unaware of the concept of wildlife souvenirs and their implications, and fickle in terms of their attitudes and behaviours. A greater effort to educate the traveling public about the trade in wildlife and wildlife souvenirs would be a valuable strategy in enhancing overall awareness, promoting sustainable consumer practices, and conserving the world’s wildlife resources

Comparative study of GC-MS characterization, antioxidant activity and hyaluronidase inhibition of different species of Lavandula and Thymus essential oils

The chemical compositions of essential oils of Lavandula angustifolia, Lavandula latifolia, Lavandula hybrida cultivar Grosso and cultivar Super, Thymus zygis with high proportions of thymol and linalool and Thymus hyemalis, from Murcia country (Spain), were studied in relative (%), absolute (mM) and chiral concentrations by GC/MS. Hyaluronidase inhibition and antioxidant activities of the essential oils were evaluated using ABTS(center dot+), DPPH center dot, ORAC, chelating power, hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide, TBARS and reducing power assays. Linalool and linalyl acetate were the most abundant components in the Lavandula genus whereas thymol, linalool and 1,8-cineole were the most abundant molecules in the respective Thymus species. Chiral determination of the main components showed (+)-enantiomers like terpinen-4-ol, beta-pinene, borneol and a-terpineol and (-)-enantiomers like linalool, linalyl acetate and camphene in Lavandula sp. In the case of Thymus sp. (+)-enantiomers like a-pinene, limonene, terpinen-4-ol and a-terpineol and (-)-enantiomers like borneol were found. Essential oils containing thymol were found especially powerful in all assays but chelating power, ORAC and hydroxyl radical scavenging assays. The capacity for inhibiting hyaluronidase showed that T. zygis with a high proportion of thymol was the most effective inhibitor. Essential oils containing thymol and linalool/linalyl acetate have a potential use as antioxidant agents. Thymol shows strong inhibition of hyaluronidase. Copyright (C) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

An interpretive review of selective sweep studies in Bos taurus cattle populations: identification of unique and shared selection signals across breeds

This review compiles the results of 21 genomic studies of European Bos taurus breeds and thus provides a general picture of the selection signatures in taurine cattle identified by genome-wide selection-mapping scans. By performing a comprehensive summary of the results reported in the literature, we compiled a list of 1,049 selection sweeps described across 37 cattle breeds (17 beef breeds, 14 dairy breeds and 6 dual-purpose breeds), and four different beef-vs-dairy comparisons, which we subsequently grouped into core selective sweep (CSS) regions, defined as consecutive signals within 1 Mb of each other. We defined a total of 409 CSSs across the 29 bovine autosomes, 232 (57%) of which were associated with a single-breed (Single-breed CSSs), 134 CSSs (33%) were associated with a limited number of breeds (Two-to-four-breed CSSs) and 39 CSSs (9%) were associated with five or more breeds (Multi-breed CSSs). For each CSS, we performed a candidate gene survey that identified 291 genes within the CSS intervals (from the total list of 5,183 BioMart-extracted genes) linked to dairy and meat production, stature and coat colour traits. A complementary functional enrichment analysis of the CSS positional candidates highlighted other genes related to pathways underlying behaviour, immune response and reproductive traits. The Single-breed CSSs revealed an over-representation of genes related to dairy and beef production, this was further supported by over-representation of production-related pathway terms in these regions based on a functional enrichment analysis. Overall, this review provides a comparative map of the selection sweeps reported in European cattle breeds and presents for the first time a characterization of the selection sweeps that are found in individual breeds. Based on their uniqueness, these breed-specific signals could be considered as divergence signals, which may be useful in characterising and protecting livestock genetic diversity

Analysis of validated and population specific SNP parentage panels in pedigreed and commercial beef cattle populations

A pedigreed population containing 71 calves and 8 sires was used to compare sire qualification using three genotyping platforms (14 microsatellite, real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR), and 100, 200, 500, and 1,000 SNP arrays). Parentage was also qualified in an unknown-pedigree population containing 8,480 calves with 460 sires using SNP arrays. The three platforms qualified the true sire in the known-pedigree population with zero mismatches. The 100 and 200 SNP arrays yielded specificities of 0.92 and 0.99 with a 1% mismatch rate in the known-pedigree population, respectively. In the larger population, SNP panels of the 500 and 1,000 highest minor allele frequency SNPs were also evaluated. The 1,000 SNP panel qualified paternity to a single sire for 82.1% of calves with 1 or 2 % mismatches. Not all commercial sires were genotyped which accounts for missing paternity for some calves. In this larger population, the 100 SNP array qualified multiple sires to 0.42% of calves and single sires to 81.6% of calves without mismatches. The 200 SNP array assigned unique paternity, and 79.8% of calves were qualified to a sire without mismatches. With a 2% mismatch rate, sire qualifications agreed with the 1,000 SNP array. This study highlights the interplay between population size, genotyping error rates, and the specificity and sensitivity of parentage platforms.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author