Draft genome sequence of the mulberry tree Morus notabilis

Human utilization of the mulberry–silkworm interaction started at least 5,000 years ago and greatly influenced world history through the Silk Road. Complementing the silkworm genome sequence, here we describe the genome of a mulberry species Morus notabilis. In the 330-Mb genome assembly, we identify 128 Mb of repetitive sequences and 29,338 genes, 60.8% of which are supported by transcriptome sequencing. Mulberry gene sequences appear to evolve ~3 times faster than other Rosales, perhaps facilitating the species’ spread worldwide. The mulberry tree is among a few eudicots but several Rosales that have not preserved genome duplications in more than 100 million years; however, a neopolyploid series found in the mulberry tree and several others suggest that new duplications may confer benefits. Five predicted mulberry miRNAs are found in the haemolymph and silk glands of the silkworm, suggesting interactions at molecular levels in the plant–herbivore relationship. The identification and analyses of mulberry genes involved in diversifying selection, resistance and protease inhibitor expressed in the laticifers will accelerate the improvement of mulberry plants

The Efficiency of Data Assimilation

Data assimilation is the application of Bayes' theorem to condition the states of a dynamical systems model on observations. Any real-world application of Bayes' theorem is approximate, and therefore we cannot expect that data assimilation will preserve all of the information available from models and observations. We outline a framework for measuring information in models, observations, and evaluation data in a way that allows us to quantify information loss during (necessarily imperfect) data assimilation. This facilitates quantitative analysis of tradeoffs between improving (usually expensive) remote sensing observing systems vs. improving data assimilation design and implementation. We demonstrate this methodology on a previously published application of the Ensemble Kalman Filter used to assimilate remote sensing soil moisture retrievals from AMSR-E into the Noah land surface model

ECHIDNA protein impacts on male fertility in Arabidopsis by mediating trans-Golgi network secretory trafficking during anther and pollen development

The trans-Golgi network (TGN) plays a central role in cellular secretion and has been implicated in sorting cargo destined for the plasma membrane. Previously, the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) echidna (ech) mutant was shown to exhibit a dwarf phenotype due to impaired cell expansion. However, ech also has a previously uncharacterized phenotype of reduced male fertility. This semisterility is due to decreased anther size and reduced amounts of pollen but also to decreased pollen viability, impaired anther opening, and pollen tube growth. An ECH translational fusion (ECHPro:ECH-YELLOW FLUORESCENT PROTEIN) revealed developmentally regulated tissue-specific expression, with expression in the tapetum during early anther development and microspore release and subsequent expression in the pollen, pollen tube, and stylar tissues. Pollen viability and production, along with germination and pollen tube growth, were all impaired. The ech anther endothecium secondary wall thickening also appeared reduced and disorganized, resulting in incomplete anther opening. This did not appear to be due to anther secondary thickening regulatory genes but perhaps to altered secretion of wall materials through the TGN as a consequence of the absence of the ECH protein. ECH expression is critical for a variety of aspects of male reproduction, including the production of functional pollen grains, their effective release, germination, and tube formation. These stages of pollen development are fundamentally influenced by TGN trafficking of hormones and wall components. Overall, this suggests that the fertility defect is multifaceted, with the TGN trafficking playing a significant role in the process of both pollen formation and subsequent fertilization

Innate positive chemotaxis to pollen from crops and banker plants in predaceous biological control agents: towards new field lures?

Predator-prey interactions form the core of biological control of arthropod pests. Which tools can be used to monitor and collect carnivorous arthropods in natural habitats and targeted crops? Eco-friendly and effective field lures are urgently needed. In this research, we carried out olfactometer experiments assess innate positive chemotaxis to pollen of seven crop and banker plant by two important predatory biological control agents: the coccinellid Propylea japonica (Thunberg) and the anthocorid Orius sauteri (Poppius). We compared the attractiveness of pollens from crops and banker plants to that of common prey homogenates (aphids and thrips, respectively). Attractiveness of the tested odor sources was checked via field trapping experiments conducted in organic apple orchards and by release-recapture assays in organic greenhouse tomato crops. Maize and canola pollen were attractive to both P. japonica and O. sauteri, in laboratory and field assays. P. japonica was highly attracted by balm mint pollen, whereas O. sauteri was attracted by alfalfa pollen. Our results encourage the use of pollen from crops and banker plants as low-cost and eco-friendly attractors to enhance the monitoring and attraction of arthropod predators in biological control programs

Potential for insecticide-mediated shift in ecological dominance between two competing aphid species

Competition is a key structuring component of biological communities, which is affected by both biotic and abiotic environmental stressors. Among the latter, anthropic stressors and particularly pesticides are noteworthy due to their intrinsic toxicity and large use in agroecosystems. However this issue has been scarcely documented so far. In this context, we carried out experiments under laboratory conditions to evaluate stress imposed by the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid on intra and interspecific competition among two major wheat pest aphids. The bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi L. and the English grain aphid Sitobion avenae F. were subjected to competition on wheat seedlings under varying density combinations of both species and subjected or not to imidacloprid exposure. Intraspecific competition does take place without insecticide exposure, but so does interspecific competition between both aphid species with R. padi prevailing over S. avenae. Imidacloprid interfered with both intra and interspecific competition suppressing the former and even the latter for up to 14 days, but not afterwards when a shift in dominance takes place favoring S. avenae over R. padi, in contrast with the interspecific competition without imidacloprid exposure. These findings hinted that insecticides are indeed able to mediate species interaction and competition influencing community structure and raising management concerns for favoring potential secondary pest outbreaks

Effects of environmental factors on growth, survival, and metamorphosis of geoduck clam (Panopea japonica A. Adams, 1850) larvae

A series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of temperature, salinity, diet, and stocking density on the growth, survival, and metamorphosis of geoduck clam Panopea japonica larvae. The larvae all died at a temperature of 22 °C after day 12, suggesting that the larvae of P. japonica could not survive when the temperature was higher than 22 °C. P. japonica could be incubated at 19 °C for the fast growth, high survival and metamorphosis of larvae. The embryos all died when the salinity was below 25 ppt. The larvae showed poor survival when the salinity was below 25 ppt, with all larvae dying before day 12, suggesting that larvae are sensitive to low salinity. The optimum salinity for the growth, survival and metamorphosis of larvae was 32 ppt. The use of a mixture of Isochrysis galbana and Nitzschia closterium (1:1) as a food source for the P. japonica larvae improved their growth, survival, and metamorphosis. A density of 20 individuals/ml appeared to be optimal for normal D-larvae of Panopea japonica, and 3–9 larvae/ml was optimal for the growth and survival of the P. japonica larvae raised in the hatchery