Reverse Genetic Analysis of \u3cem\u3eEhd1\u3c/em\u3e for an Association between Flowering Time and Seed Dormancy in Rice (\u3cem\u3eOryza sativa\u3c/em\u3e L.)

This research aimed to understand the evolutionary mechanism of seed dormancy and flowering time and to provide basic knowledge for the manipulation of germination features in crop breeding. Flowering time and seed dormancy are two adaptive traits for flowering plants. Seed dormancy (SD) helps regulate the timing of germination to promote the survival of seed-bearing plants in adverse environments. Cereal crops and weedy/wild relatives, such as Asian cultivated rice and weedy rice (Oryza sativa L.), have weak and strong seed dormancy, respectively. Thus, weedy and cultivated rice has been used as a model system to investigate mechanisms of seed dormancy in the previous research. Flowering time (FT) determines the timing of the seed set. Both seed dormancy and flowering time may associate with each other to complete the life cycle in natural ecosystems. A cluster of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for SD/FT (SD10/FT10) was identified on chromosome 10, which was responsible for an SD-FT association in rice (O. sativa L.). Fine-mapping delimited SD10/FT10 to a 200-kb region, which contains Early heading1 (Ehd1). Ehd1 encodes a Myb transcriptional factor (TF) and promotes flowering. Thus, Ehd1 could be an underlying gene of FT10. However, Ehd1 was not reported for an effect on SD. Thus, the research was conducted to determine if Ehd1 is an underlying gene for the QTL FT10 only or both FT10 and SD10. The first objective of this research was to evaluate RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated effects of Ehd1 on FT and SD in generations of transgenic lines. An Ehd1-RNAi construct was used to transform the cultivar Nippponbare (O. sativa, ssp. Japonica), and then introduced into the genetic background of EM93-1 (O. sativa, ssp. indica), the donor of the flowering-promoting allele at FT10/SD10 or Ehd1, by marker-assisted backcrossing (BC). Single plant-derived BC2F3 (selected from #14 and #47), BC2F4 and BC2F5 (selected from #81 and #84) lines were evaluated for the presence or absence of the Ehd1-RNAi transgene using Hygromycin-B testing, for time (days) from germination to flowering (DTF), and the degree of SD by standard germination testing. These generations of data demonstrated that there was one copy of the transgene segregating in the lines, silencing Ehd1 delayed flowering and also enhanced seed dormancy, and there was a negative correlation between DTF and germination percentage. These results indicate that Ehd1 has pleiotropic effects on both FT and SD. The second objective of this research was to identify genes related by Ehd1 to influences FT and SD. Quantitative trait analysis (QTL) was used to identify the possible genes in a mapping population of about 300 F2 plants from a cross between an Ehd1- RNAi transgenic line and EM93-1. The mapping population was evaluated for DTF, SD, and the resist (R) or susceptible (S) response to Hygromicyn B, and genotyped for about 50 DNA markers distributed along the 12 chromosomes. A single copy of the RNAi construct (T-DNA) was mapped to chromosome 7, and the position was flanked by markers RM295 and RM3325. Large differences in both FT and SD between the R and S groups were observed in the mapping population. Five QTL for FT and two QTL for SD were detected in the population. Both of the FT and SD QTL includes one mapped at the transfer DNA (T-DNA) insertion position of the Ehd1-RNAi transgene. All these QTLs were located on chromosomes 7 or 8, but not on chromosome 10 or near Ehd1. The QTL differed in effect on FT or SD between the R and S groups. These results suggested that Ehd1 influences FT and SD at least partly by regulating expressions of genes underlying the QTL on chromosomes 7 and 8. This research provided evidence that Ehd1 has phenotypic effects on flowering time and seed dormancy, and Ehd1 also regulates expressions of some other genes to influence the SD-FT association

Untersuchung des Anteils wachstumsfördernder Ausgaben in der EU-Regionalpolitik

Die EU-Regionalpolitik bildet den zweitgrößten Posten im EU-Budget. Ein zentrales Ziel ist die Verringerung ökonomischer Unterschiede zwischen den Regionen der EU. Hinsichtlich der Wachstumswirkungen sind jedoch Zweifel entstanden. Das ZEW hat daher eine Analyse der Wachstumswirkungen auf Basis eines innovativen Ansatzes vorgenommen

Investigation of the Experiment Design Skills of Biology and Science Teachers and Preservice Teachers

In this study, it was aimed to examine the experiment design skills of Biology and Science teachers and preservice teachers. For this purpose, 85 Biology and 80 Science teachers and preservices given information about laboratory approaches, experiment types and science process skills were asked to design an experiment about germination. In the reports of the experiments designed by the teachers and the presevice teachers, they were expected to give information about the factors affecting germination, write the problem, determine the hypotheses and the variables, plan their experiments and reach a conclusion. In the analysis of the reports, the sets of data digitized by forming a graded scoring scale were analyzed by benefiting from SPSS package program and their experiment design levels were analyzed based on their fields, being a teacher or a preservice teacher and gender. From the obtained data, it was determined that the number of those who designed an experiment was very low and although there were significant differences between the Biology and the Science teachers and preservice teachers in terms of designing an experiment according to many criteria, there was a difference only in one criterium according to gender

Gorham–Stout disease or new entity on the basis of vasculopathy

Gorham–Stout disease (GSD) is a rare osteolytic bone disease also known as vanishing bone disease. The pathogenesis of GSD is not well understood. Studies showed that lymphatic and blood endothelial cells in addition to macrophages secrete TNFa and IL-6 that stimulate osteoclast formation with osteolysis. Also TNFa secretion inhibits osteoblast differentiation and new bone formation. It is known that cytokines such as TNFa, IL-1 and complement system activation are responsible for inflammation and necrosis in the vessel wall at vasculitis. Both diseases have similar pathogenesis. Here, we presented a case of Gorham’s disease with involvement of bilateral humerus, systemic arterial thrombosis and mesenteric vasculitis.Keywords: Gorham–Stout disease; Vanishing bone disease; Vasculitis; Thrombosi

Spontaneously Generated Inhomogeneous Phases via Holography

We discuss a holographic model consisting of a U(1) gauge field and a scalar field coupled to a charged AdS (anti-de Sitter) black hole under a spatially homogeneous chemical potential. By turning on a higher-derivative interaction term between the U(1) gauge field and the scalar field, a spatially dependent profile of the scalar field is generated spontaneously. We calculate the critical temperature at which the transition to the inhomogeneous phase occurs for various values of the parameters of the system. We solve the equations of motion below the critical temperature, and show that the dual gauge theory on the boundary spontaneously develops a spatially inhomogeneous charge density. In addition to that we discuss the zeroes and poles of the determinant of the retarded Green function (det GR) at zero frequency in a holographic system of charged massless fermions interacting via a dipole coupling. For large negative values of the dipole coupling constant p, det GR possesses only poles pointing to a Fermi liquid phase. We show that a duality exists relating systems of opposite p. This maps poles of det GR at large negative p to zeroes of det GR at large positive p, indicating that the latter corresponds to a Mott insulator phase. This duality suggests that the properties of a Mott insulator can be studied by mapping the system to a Fermi liquid and then for small values of p, det GR contains both poles and zeroes (pseudo-gap phase). Finally, we study holographic fermions in the spontaneously generated holographic lattice background defined above. We solve the equations of motion below Tc (critical temperature) and analyze the change in Fermi surface due to introduction of the holographic lattice. The band structure of this fermionic system was also analyzed numerically and it was found that a band gap was formed due to lattice effects

The effects of fiscal rules on public finances and their identification

Many economic studies analyse the impact of fiscal rules and discuss their effectiveness in limiting excessive debt. A majority of these studies, however, neglects or only deals insufficiently with the potential issue of endogeneity. In this paper, we propose a novel identification approach which identifies the impact of fiscal rules free from effects driving simultaneously the fiscal performance and the existence or strength of rules at the country level. In its core, the approach relies on unexpected shocks in long-run growth in order to derive a setting free from unobserved fiscal preferences and to allow for causal interpretation