Yield and bunch quality component comparison between two-way crosses and multi-way crosses of DxP oil palm progenies

Breeding for hybrid DxP oil palm in many commercial seed producers has recently switched from simple two-way crosses to complicated multi-way crosses with the hope of increasing hybrid vigour and thus higher yield potential. The objective of this study was to evaluate the yield potential of the multi-way (MW) crosses as compared to conventional two way (TW) crosses in United Plantations Berhad. A trial was set up in 2004 where 20 crosses of both multi-way and two-way combinations were field planted and evaluated for six years after maturity. Palms were assessed for yield traits and bunch components through bunch analysis. Fresh fruit bunch weight for both types of crosses was significantly different with MW crosses yielding 37.11 tonnes per ha per year as opposed to TW crosses with 36.40. MW crosses had 1.46 tonnes oil per ha per year advantage over TW. High coefficient of variation (CV%) was seen for selected traits such as bunch number (BNO), average bunch weight (ABW), kernel, shell and mesocarp to bunch (KB, SB and MB), oil to dry and oil to wet mesocarp (ODM and OWM), as well as mean fruit weight (MFW). ANOVA showed that replicate (REP), year (Y) and progeny (ID) were significantly different (p≤0.01) for BNO and fresh fruit bunch (FFB) in both crosses but not significant for REP in ABW of TW. REP was not significant for all the traits except ODM whereas ID was significant for all the traits in both TW and MW. Phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variance (PCV and GCV) were low (<10%) for all the traits in both types of crosses with MW crosses showing higher PCV and GCV in most cases. Heritability for ABW, FFB, KB, oil to bunch (OB), SB and MFW were higher in MW crosses but lower for BNO, fruit to bunch (FB), MB, ODM and OWM compared to TW crosses

Nutrient losses through runoff from several types of fertilisers under mature oil palm

This study was conducted to understand the effects of fertiliser type (straights, compounds and controlled-release fertilisers) on N, P, K and Mg losses by surface runoff. The study was conducted in a mature oil palm field using three 20 m by 6 m erosion plots containing two palms per plot with the soil type being Typic Kandiudults and slopes ranging from 5.5° to 7.5°. Nutrient losses were measured in the eroded sediment and runoff water for every rainfall event over a period of 24 months. Nutrient losses were higher in the runoff water than in the eroded sediments. Broadcast application of controlled-release fertilisers and its slow dissolving nature made it prone to washing down the slope. Hence, higher nutrient losses were observed in the controlled-release fertilisers compared to other treatments. Compound fertilisers showed lower total losses for N (4.96%), K (3.95%) and Mg (0.65%) compared to straight fertilisers. Lower P losses were observed in the straights compared to the compound fertilisers due to higher percentage of soluble P in the compound fertilisers. Controlled- release fertilisers recorded high nutrient losses in the sediments caused by the washout Except for nitrogen, controlled-release fertilisers recorded higher losses for P (56.56%), K (19.83%) and Mg (10.36%) compared to straight fertilisers. Nitrogen losses were 18.15% lower in the controlled-release fertilisers compared to straights. Compound fertilisers showed lowest losses for N and K compared to straight fertilisers. Based on the data, it is postulated that compound fertilisers can lead to better nutrient uptake compared to straight fertilisers. However, this hypothesis needs to be tested through field experiments measuring nutrient uptake and its effect on oil palm productivity

Application of spectroscopy for nutrient prediction of oil palm

Oil palm crop has been an important source of income to Malaysian economy, thus it is important to ensure the crops obtain optimum nutrient supply to achieve a higher productivity. This study aimed to investigate the ability of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy for predicting nutrient deficiency of oil palm tree based on its leaf samples. Near-infrared spectral data was measured using a full range spectroradiometer with wavelength ranging from 350 to 2500 nm from three different frond numbers, namely frond 3, frond 9 and frond 17. Partial least square method was used to develop calibration and prediction models data for the prediction of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium of oil palm. The result indicated that the full range spectrometer can be used to predict the nutrient deficiency of oil palm tree based on 30 leaf samples. Frond 17 was found to have a better prediction accuracy than frond 3 and frond 9. The value of coefficient of determination (R2) for frond 17 for values of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium of 0.98, 0.98 and 0.98 while frond 3 results with 0.21, 0.12 and 0.19 and frond 9 had values of 0.05, 0.49 and 0.48 respectively. In terms of Root Mean Square Error of Prediction for frond 17 ranged between 1.40 and 1.55 while frond 3 and frond 9 ranges from 0.01 to 0.15 and 0.01 to 0.21 respectively. In summary, spectroradiometer can be used to predict nutrient deficiency in oil palm frond frond17 using partial least square analysis

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) linked to compactness in an interspecific backcross two (BC2) population of oil palm

Conventional quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of a mapping family is carried out to generate molecular tools for development of compact interspecific hybrid palms that can be planted more closely for higher yields per unit land area. Genetic maps were constructed for an interspecific backcross two (BC2) oil palm population using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A total of 1744 markers were mapped onto 16 linkage groups, spanning 1499.5 cM with an average marker interval of 0.86 cM. Using empirical genome and chromosome-wide thresholds, QTL analysis yielded a number of significant associations with vegetative characters for palm compactness. Subsequent QTL analysis revealed two major and two putative QTL linked to rachis length and petiole cross-section, two important characters for palm compactness. The QTL identified are an important step towards the implementation of marker assisted selection (MAS), enabling breeders to make early informed decisions on improving interspecific hybrids

Fine-mapping and cross-validation of QTLs linked to fatty acid composition in multiple independent interspecific crosses of oil palm

Background - The commercial oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) produces a mesocarp oil (commonly called ‘palm oil’) with approximately equal proportions of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (FAs). An increase in unsaturated FAs content or iodine value (IV) as a measure of the degree of unsaturation would help to open up new markets for the oil. One way to manipulate the fatty acid composition (FAC) in palm oil is through introgression of favourable alleles from the American oil palm, E. oleifera, which has a more unsaturated oil.Results - In this study, a segregating E. oleifera x E. guineensis (OxG) hybrid population for FAC is used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) linked to IV and various FAs. QTL analysis revealed 10 major and two putative QTLs for IV and six FAs, C14:0, C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1 and C18:2 distributed across six linkage groups (LGs), OT1, T2, T3, OT4, OT6 and T9. The major QTLs for IV and C16:0 on LGOT1 explained 60.0 – 69.0 % of the phenotypic trait variation and were validated in two independent BC2 populations. The genomic interval contains several key structural genes in the FA and oil biosynthesis pathways such as PATE/FATB, HIBCH, BASS2, LACS4 and DGAT1 and also a relevant transcription factor (TF), WRI1. The literature suggests that some of these genes can exhibit pleiotropic effects in the regulatory networks of these traits. Using the whole genome sequence data, markers tightly linked to the candidate genes were also developed. Clustering trait values according to the allelic forms of these candidate markers revealed significant differences in the IV and FAs of the palms in the mapping and validation crosses.Conclusions - The candidate gene approach described and exploited here is useful to identify the potential causal genes linked to FAC and can be adopted for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in oil palm<br/

Vítězslava Kaprálová - searching for one's own way: Partita for a string orchestra and piano op. 20, Concerto for violin, clarinet and orchestra op. 21

Univerzita Karlova Filozoficka fakulta Ustav hudebni vedy Obor: Hudebni veda Diplomova prace Autor: Michaela Janouskova Vitezslava Kapnilova - hledani vlastni cesty Partita pro klavir a smyccovy- orchestr Ope 20 Concertino pro housle, klarinet a orchestr Ope 21 Praze Knihovna ustavu hlldebni Filozoficke faku mlm. J. Palsons 2, Prana 11638 Vedouci diplomove prace: Prof. PhDr. MgA. Milan SlavickJ Oponent diplomove prace: Prof PhDr. Jarmila Gabrielova esc. Datum odevzdani diplomove prace: srpen 2007 Uvod Kapitola III OBSAH Partita pro smyccory orchestr a klavir Ope 20 Kapitola 112 Partita pro smyccory orchestr a klavir Ope 20 - analyza Kapitola 1111 Concertino pro housIe, klarinet a orchestr Ope 21 Kapitola 1112 Concertino pro housIe, klarinet a orchestr Ope 21 - analyza Kapitola III s. 1 - 3 s. 4-7 s.8 - 27 s. 28 - 33 s. 34 - 50 s. 51- 67 Tre Ricercari Bohusiava Martinu a jejich vliv na utvareni noveho ryrazu orchestrainich del VitezsIavy Kapralove Kapitola IV s. 68 - 74 Partita a Concertino v kontextu del VitezsIavy Kapralove Zaver s. 75 - 76 Literatura s. 77 - 78 Pfilohy s. 79 - 89 Prohlasuji, ze jsem diplomovou praci vypracovala samostatne a pouzila vYhradne citovanych pramenu. Souhlasim s pujcovarnm teto pnice ke studijnim ucelum. Uvod Jak napovida jiz sam nazev, bude rna prace venovana skladatelce..

Loss of Karma transposon methylation underlies the mantled somaclonal variant of oil palm

Somaclonal variation arises in plants and animals when differentiated somatic cells are induced into a pluripotent state, but the resulting clones differ from each other and from their parents. In agriculture, somaclonal variation has hindered the micropropagation of elite hybrids and genetically modified crops, but the mechanism responsible remains unknown. The oil palm fruit 'mantled' abnormality is a somaclonal variant arising from tissue culture that drastically reduces yield, and has largely halted efforts to clone elite hybrids for oil production. Widely regarded as an epigenetic phenomenon, 'mantling' has defied explanation, but here we identify the MANTLED locus using epigenome-wide association studies of the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis. DNA hypomethylation of a LINE retrotransposon related to rice Karma, in the intron of the homeotic gene DEFICIENS, is common to all mantled clones and is associated with alternative splicing and premature termination. Dense methylation near the Karma splice site (termed the Good Karma epiallele) predicts normal fruit set, whereas hypomethylation (the Bad Karma epiallele) predicts homeotic transformation, parthenocarpy and marked loss of yield. Loss of Karma methylation and of small RNA in tissue culture contributes to the origin of mantled, while restoration in spontaneous revertants accounts for non-Mendelian inheritance. The ability to predict and cull mantling at the plantlet stage will facilitate the introduction of higher performing clones and optimize environmentally sensitive land resources