Search

Samples of the carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu were brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We analyzed 17 Ryugu samples measuring 1 to 8 millimeters. Carbon dioxide–bearing water inclusions are present within a pyrrhotite crystal, indicating that Ryugu’s parent asteroid formed in the outer Solar System. The samples contain low abundances of materials that formed at high temperatures, such as chondrules and calcium- and aluminum-rich inclusions. The samples are rich in phyllosilicates and carbonates, which formed through aqueous alteration reactions at low temperature, high pH, and water/rock ratios of

Most deletions for the short arm of chromosome 2A (2AS), and the telocentric chromosome for the long arm of chromosome 2A (2AL), are available only in the heterozygous condition in 'Chinese Spring' hexaploid wheat. This is due to the female sterility, and therefore self-sterility, of their homozygotes, caused by the partial or entire loss of the 2AS chromosome arm on which genes for normal synapsis and female fertility are located. On the other hand, a D-genome disomic substitution line 2D(2A) of 'Langdon' tetraploid wheat, in which chromosome 2D is disomically substituted for chromosome 2A, is available (i.e., self-fertile) despite chromosome 2A being missing in this line. This fact indicates that another gene for female fertility must be present in Langdon 2D(2A). We attempted to develop self-fertile 2AS homozygous deletion and ditelosomic 2AL lines by transferring this female fertility gene, through a series of crosses and cytological screening, from Langdon 2D(2A) to the two aneuploid lines. We finally obtained self-fertile 2AS homozygous deletion and ditelosomic 2AL lines. These lines displayed normal meiotic chromosome pairing and lacked all 12 of the 2AS markers used for PCR analysis.

Dissection of the rye genome is desirable for the genomics research of rye. Some alien chromosomes called “gametocidal chromosomes” induce chromosomal rearrangements in gametes lacking the alien chromosome when they are introduced into common wheat. This genetic system was named “gametocidal system.” The gametocidal system also induces chromosomal rearrangements in rye chromosomes added to common wheat and has been used for generating rye chromosomal segments in the background of common wheat. Common wheat lines with single rye chromosomal segments, which are called “dissection lines,” have proved useful for the cytological mapping of the rye chromosomes.

Chromosomal structural changes-deletions and translocations-occurred in almost half the progeny of a monosomic addition line of common wheat, Triticum aestivum (2n = 42, AABBDD), which had a chromosome from Aegilops cylindrica (2n = 28, CCDD). Most of the progeny with chromosomal structural changes lacked the A. cylindrica chromosome. Chromosome breaks were observed in various regions of all the wheat chromosomes and the A. cylindrica chromosome. Chromosome aberrations occurred far less frequently both in the self-progeny of the disomic addition plants and in the F1 monosomic addition plants derived from reciprocal crosses with normal common wheat. These findings suggest that when the A. cylindrica chromosome was in the sporophytes, chromosome breakage was likely to occur in the gametophytes that lacked it but that the gametophytes were still functional, resulting in the production of offspring with chromosomal structural changes.

International audience; Despite a long history, the production of useful alien introgression lines in wheat remains difficult mainly due to linkage drag and incomplete genetic compensation. In addition, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the impact of foreign chromatin on plant phenotype. Here, a comparison of the transcriptomes of barley, wheat and a wheat-barley 7HL addition line allowed the transcriptional impact both on 7HL genes of a non-native genetic background and on the wheat gene complement as a result of the presence of 7HL to be assessed. Some 42% (389/923) of the 7HL genes assayed were differentially transcribed, which was the case for only 3% (960/35301) of the wheat gene complement. The absence of any transcript in the addition line of a suite of chromosome 7A genes implied the presence of a 36 Mbp deletion at the distal end of the 7AL arm; this deletion was found to be in common across the full set of Chinese Spring/Betzes barley addition lines. The remaining differentially transcribed wheat genes were distributed across the whole genome. The up-regulated barley genes were mostly located in the proximal part of the 7HL arm, while the down-regulated ones were concentrated in the distal part; as a result, genes encoding basal cellular functions tended to be transcribed, while those encoding specific functions were suppressed. An insight has been gained into gene transcription in an alien introgression line, thereby providing a basis for understanding the interactions between wheat and exotic genes in introgression materials.

In a solution of the copolymer, P(EHMA-APMA), consisting of ethylhexyl methacrylate (EHMA) and the photo-responsive azopyridine methacrylate (APMA), the E form of APMA showed photo-reversible isomerization to the Z form upon UV irradiation. After addition of the cobalt(II) Schiff base (CoS), the copolymer complex, P(EHMA-(E)-APMA)-CoS, was produced, and the (E)-APMA moieties coordinated to CoS no longer underwent photo-induced isomerization. The complexation-sensitive isomerization of (E)-APMA had a large extinction coefficient and the apparent equilibrium constant (Kapp) for the coordination reaction of (E)-APMA with CoS in a dilute solution was calculated to be 4.4 × 104 M−1 ([APMA moiety] = 0.05 mM) and 1.0 × 105 M−1 ([APMA moiety] = 0.003 mM) at 25 °C. The resulting concentration-dependent large Kapp values were due mainly to a micro-heterogeneous solution environment, consisting of a micro-suspension with a large solvent phase and a small polymer-domain phase caused by the extreme dilution, in addition to the thermodynamic stabilization of the five-coordinate CoS via the local concentration effect of the coordinating polymeric APMA ligands located only in the polymer domain.

Background There is no curative treatment for wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA). ω-5 Gliadin is one of the dominant allergens affecting WDEIA patients. The use of ω-5 gliadin-free wheat flour in the regular diet is considered one of the prophylactic approaches against the elicitation of allergic symptoms and sensitization to ω-5 gliadin. We sought to find hypoallergenic bread wheat (or common wheat) that lacked the genes encoding ω-5 gliadin and to evaluate its in vitro allergenicity. We also aimed to evaluate the sensitization ability of one of the selected hypoallergenic wheat lines by using a possible animal model of wheat allergy. Methods We screened the deletion lines of bread wheat by western blotting to ascertain common wheat lines lacking the ω-5 gliadin locus. The deletion lines we used have partial deficiency of chromosome 1B (Endo and Gill, 1996). To assess sensitization ability of gluten from the selected deletion line, guinea pigs were fed with either the gluten from the selected deletion line or commercially available gluten, and allergic score was evaluated after challenging the same gluten preparations. Results We found that a deletion line 1BS-18 had the least deficiency of chromosome 1B among the deletion stocks lacking the ω-5 gliadin locus. The challenge test using the guinea pigs revealed that the symptoms induced by application of the 1BS-18 gluten were much less than that of commercially available gluten. Conclusions The deletion line 1BS-18, which lacked the ω-5 gliadin locus, is likely to have a low sensitization capacity in the guinea pig. The use of the wheat products of the 1BS-18 line in daily life may provide a feasible solution for the onset of wheat allergy.

Three transgenic HOSUT lines of winter wheat, HOSUT12, HOSUT20, and HOSUT24, each harbor a single copy of the cDNA for the barley sucrose transporter gene HvSUT1 (SUT), which was fused to the barley endosperm-specific Hordein B1 promoter (HO; the HOSUT transgene). Previously, flow cytometry combined with PCR analysis demonstrated that the HOSUT transgene had been integrated into different wheat chromosomes: 7A, 5D, and 4A in HOSUT12, HOSUT20, and HOSUT24, respectively. In order to confirm the chromosomal location of the HOSUT transgene by a cytological approach using wheat aneuploid stocks, we crossed corresponding nullisomic-tetrasomic lines with the three HOSUT lines, namely nullisomic 7A-tetrasomic 7B with HOSUT12, nullisomic 5D-tetrasomic 5B with HOSUT20, and nullisomic 4A-tetrasomic 4B with HOSUT24. We examined the resulting chromosomal constitutions and the presence of the HOSUT transgene in the F2 progeny by means of chromosome banding and PCR. The chromosome banding patterns of the critical chromosomes in the original HOSUT lines showed no difference from those of the corresponding wild type chromosomes. The presence or absence of the critical chromosomes completely corresponded to the presence or absence of the HOSUT transgene in the F2 plants. Investigating telocentric chromosomes occurred in the F2 progeny, which were derived from the respective critical HOSUT chromosomes, we found that the HOSUT transgene was individually integrated on the long arms of chromosomes 4A, 7A, and 5D in the three HOSUT lines. Thus, in this study we verified the chromosomal locations of the transgene, which had previously been determined by flow cytometry, and moreover revealed the chromosome-arm locations of the HOSUT transgene in the HOSUT lines.

This study adds to the research on the education of Asian immigrant adolescents by situating how generation, language, nationality, and race complexly impacted how a group of 1.5-generation Japanese youth have made sense of their multiple “non-dominant” identities as immigrant Americans and transnational students within an urban high school setting that publicly promoted a mission of inclusivity but, in practice, devalued “non-dominant” cultural and linguistic expressions. The findings highlight how the youth have contested the English-only ideologies and racialized expectations at their school through alternative literacies and other diverse enactments of their identities, such as by speaking Japanese or Japanglish (a mix of Japanese and English) and expressing their “Made in Japan” pride through the public display of nationalistic symbols and various bilingual or Japanese-language textual representations. New directions are offered for theorizing 1.5-generation Asian immigrant youth linguistic e...

We produced 15 dissection lines of common wheat carrying segments of chromosome 1R of wild rye (Secale montanum) (1Rm) by the gametocidal system. Using the 1Rm dissection lines and previously established 24 dissection lines of chromosome 1R from cultivated rye (Secale cereale cv. ‘Imperial’) (1Ri), we conducted cytological mapping of 97 markers that were amplified in the 1Ri addition line. Sixty-eight of the 97 markers were amplified in the 1Rm addition line. To reveal what structural differentiation occurred in chromosome 1R during domestication, we compared the cytological map of chromosome 1Ri with that of chromosome 1Rm, and also with the previously published cytological map of chromosome 1R from wheat cultivar ‘Burgas 2’ (1RB). There was one discrepancy in marker order in the satellite region between chromosomes 1Ri and 1RB, while there were four discrepancies in marker order between chromosomes 1Ri and 1Rm. These results suggested that during the domestication of rye, some intrachromosomal rearrangements had occurred in chromosome 1R, although this chromosome is regarded as the most stable chromosome in the rye genome.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is endowed with solar energy that can be harvested and stored as hydrogen, which has gained increasing focus as a secondary energy medium. This paper introduces modeling and feasibility analysis of cost-optimized hydrogen production, storage, shipment, and methanation in the MENA region. The analysis is based on the economic modeling of hydrogen production through the combination of photovoltaic solar power and electrolysis systems, utilizing NASA surface Meteorology and Solar Energy database (2010) [1]. A system of 100MW grid-connected photovoltaic PV power plant (grid-PV) in combination with hydrogen producing electrolyzer are simulated using spatial data for the MENA region. Then, the simulation assesses cost of methane production by Sabatier synthesis of carbon dioxide. The unit cost of hydrogen from a system, which consists of 100MW PV solar plant and electrolyzer, ranged 4-8 US$/kg. Methanation was found to be expensive vis-a-vis regionally traded natural gas. Location is a major determinant to hydrogen cost due to the difference in irradiation and logistics. In conclusion, this paper can serve as an atlas for mapping the cost of solar power and hydrogen production in the MENA region, and facilitates further research in the future.

Barley is a model for other Triticeae genomes and is frequently used for cytological studies. In this chapter, we focus on cytogenetic approaches helping to improve physical mapping of the barley genome and describe the previous utilization of repetitive and low-copy probes successfully applied to barley. We demonstrate how the analysis of barley centromeres provided a better understanding of the process of uniparental chromosome elimination resulting in haploid plants. In addition, we describe how the downsizing of barley chromosomes was achieved by the production of aneuploids, and the application of the gametocidal system and telomere seeding.

We dissected barley chromosomes 1H and 6H added to common wheat by the gametocidal system and identified structural changes of the chromosomes by fluorescence in situ hybridization and genomic in situ hybridization. We found five aberrations of chromosome 1H, all of which lacked the long arm: one small fragment with the subtelomeric HvT01 sequence, one terminal deletion, and three telocentric chromosomes of the short arm. We established 33 dissection lines carrying single aberrant 6H chromosomes, of which 15 were deletions, 16 were translocations and two were isochromosomes. We conducted PCR analysis of the aberrant barley chromosomes using 75 and 81 EST markers specific to chromosomes 1H and 6H, respectively. This enabled us to construct a cytological map of chromosome 6H and to compare it to the previously reported genetic map and also to the physical map, which were released by the International Barley Genome Sequencing Consortium. The marker orders on the three maps were largely in agreement. The cytological map had better resolution in the proximal region of chromosome 6H than the corresponding genetic map. We discuss some of the discrepancies in marker order between the three maps that might be due to intraspecific polymorphism and gene duplication, as well as to technical problems inherent in the physical mapping process.

Common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important cereals in the world. To improve wheat quality and productivity, the genomic sequence of wheat must be determined. The large genome size (∼17 Gb/1 C) and the hexaploid status of wheat have hampered the genome sequencing of wheat. However, flow sorting of individual chromosomes has allowed us to purify and separately shotgun-sequence a pair of telocentric chromosomes. Here, we describe a result from the survey sequencing of wheat chromosome 6B (914 Mb/1 C) using massively parallel 454 pyrosequencing. From the 4.94 and 5.51 Gb shotgun sequence data from the two chromosome arms of 6BS and 6BL, 235 and 273 Mb sequences were assembled to cover ∼55.6 and 54.9% of the total genomic regions, respectively. Repetitive sequences composed 77 and 86% of the assembled sequences on 6BS and 6BL, respectively. Within the assembled sequences, we predicted a total of 4798 non-repetitive gene loci with the evidence of expression from the wheat transcriptome data. The numbers and chromosomal distribution patterns of the genes for tRNAs and microRNAs in wheat 6B were investigated, and the results suggested a significant involvement of DNA transposon diffusion in the evolution of these non-protein-coding RNA genes. A comparative analysis of the genomic sequences of wheat 6B and monocot plants clearly indicated the evolutionary conservation of gene contents., コムギのゲノム配列の概要解読に成功 -コムギの新品種開発の加速化に期待-. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2014-07-24.

This ethnographic case study describes how three Japanese immigrant parents in a midsize urban community in the Midwest viewed heritage-language education in relation to their children's socioemotional development as bicultural Americans. The literature review offers a comparative and historical analysis of Japanese schools in the diaspora to reveal trends in terms of how Japanese culture, identity, and language have been articulated and represented in these dynamic community-run spaces across multiple generations and sociopolitical contexts. Methods included analysis of site documents, interviews with the parents, and on-site participant observations. The findings reveal how the participants have strategically used the ethnic community's structure to encourage their children to maintain strong attachments to their ethnic identities through language and literacy education. The findings also highlight the challenges of rearing bicultural and bilingual children in ethnocentric spaces, particularly given the...

Based on the similarity in gene structure between rice and wheat, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based landmark unique gene (PLUG) system enabled us to design primer sets that amplify wheat genic sequences including introns. From the previously reported wheat PLUG markers, we chose 144 markers that are distributed on different chromosomes and in known chromosomal regions (bins) to obtain rye-specific PCR-based markers. We conducted PCR with the 144 primer sets and the template of the Imperial rye genomic DNA and found that 131 (91.0%) primer sets successfully amplified PCR products. Of the 131 PLUG markers, 110 (76.4%) markers showed rye-specific PCR amplification with or without restriction enzyme digestion. We assigned 79 of the 110 markers to seven rye chromosomes (1R to 7R) using seven wheat-rye (cv. Imperial) chromosome addition and substitution lines: 12 to 1R, 8 to 2R, 11 to 3R, 8 to 4R, 16 to 5R, 12 to 6R, and 12 to 7R. Furthermore, we located their positions on the short or long (L) chromosome arm, using 13 Imperial rye telosomic lines of common wheat (except for 3RL). Referring to the chromosome bin locations of the 79 PLUG markers in wheat, we deduced the syntenic relationships between rye and wheat chromosomes. We also discussed chromosomal rearrangements in the rye genome with reference to the cytologically visible chromosomal gaps.

Gametocidal (Gc) chromosomes induce various types of chromosomal mutations during gametogenesis in the chromosomes of common wheat and alien chromosomes added to common wheat. However, it is not yet known whether the Gc chromosome causes aberrations at the nucleotide level because mutations caused by Gc chromosomes have been studied only by cytological screening. In order to know whether the Gc chromosome induces point mutations, we conducted PCR analysis and sequencing with the progeny of a common wheat line that is disomic for barley chromosome 2H and monosomic for Gc chromosome 2C. We analyzed 18 2H-specific EST sequences using 81 progeny plants carrying a cytologically normal-appearing 2H chromosome and found no nucleotide changes in the analyzed 1,419 sequences (in total 647,075 bp). During this analysis, we found six plants for which some ESTs could not be PCR amplified, suggesting the presence of chromosomal mutations in these plants. The cytological and PCR analyses of the progeny of the six plants confirmed the occurrence of chromosomal mutations in the parental plants. These results suggested that the Gc chromosome mostly induced chromosomal aberrations, not nucleotide changes, and that the Gc-induced chromosomal mutations in the six plants occurred after fertilization.

Chromosome mutations occur in common wheat carrying a monosome of gametocidal (Gc) chromosomes 2C and 3C(SAT). These Gc chromosomes have been known to induce chromosomal breakage in a rye chromosome 1R added to common wheat. We attempted to introduce the two Gc chromosomes into the other six rye chromosome (2R to 7R) addition or substitution lines of common wheat to establish a set of chromosomal rearrangement-inducing lines for rye chromosomes. We obtained critical plants that had a pair of rye chromosomes and one Gc chromosome for 2R, 3R, 4R and 6R, and semi-critical plants that were monotelodisomic and monosomic for 5R. Chromosomal aberrations are expected to occur in the progeny of these plants. Besides we established self-fertile disomic 2C addition lines of common wheat that were disomic substitution for 3R, disomic addition for 6R, monotelodisomic for 5R, and monosomic for 7R. We can produce the critical plants of the respective rye chromosomes by crossing above lines to the respective wheat-rye disomic addition or substitution lines. During the cytological screening in this study, we found Gc-induced chromosomal aberrations for every rye chromosome. The stocks reported here can be used to produce dissection lines for each of the rye chromosomes in common wheat by the Gc system.

Flow cytometry enables chromosomes to be sorted into different groups based on their characteristics, such as relative DNA content and the presence of repetitive DNA sequences. Despite the recent progress in the analysis of plant genome organization and chromosome structure, there is a need for easy methods to assign DNA sequences to individual chromosomes. Here, we describe an easy way to allocate genes or DNA sequences to chromosomes in wheat using flow-sorted chromosomes combined with fluorescence in situ hybridization and PCR analyses.

The effects of reduced dimensions and the interfaces on antiferromagnetic quantum criticality are studied in epitaxial Kondo superlattices, with alternating n layers of heavy-fermion antiferromagnet CeRhIn_{5} and seven layers of normal metal YbRhIn_{5}. As n is reduced, the Kondo coherence temperature is suppressed due to the reduction of effective Kondo screening. The Néel temperature is gradually suppressed as n decreases and the quasiparticle mass is strongly enhanced, implying dimensional control toward a quantum critical point. Magnetotransport measurements reveal that a quantum critical point is reached for the n=3 superlattice by applying small magnetic fields. Remarkably, the anisotropy of the quantum critical field is opposite to the expectations from the magnetic susceptibility in bulk CeRhIn_{5}, suggesting that the Rashba spin-orbit interaction arising from the inversion symmetry breaking at the interface plays a key role for tuning the quantum criticality in the two-dimensional Kondo lattice.

Flow cytometry enables chromosomes to be sorted into different groups based on their characteristics, such as relative DNA content and the presence of repetitive DNA sequences. Despite the recent progress in the analysis of plant genome organization and chromosome structure, there is a need for easy methods to assign DNA sequences to individual chromosomes. Here, we describe an easy way to allocate genes or DNA sequences to chromosomes in wheat using flow-sorted chromosomes combined with fluorescence in situ hybridization and PCR analyses.

Rye B chromosomes, which are supernumerary chromosomes dispensable for the host but increase in number by non-disjunction after meiosis, have been reported to affect meiotic homoeologous pairing in wheat-rye hybrids. The effect of a rye B chromosome (B) and its segments (B-9 and B-10) on homoeologous pairing was studied in hybrids between common wheat (2n=42) and Aegilops variabilis (2n=28), with reference to the Ph1 gene located on wheat chromosome 5B. The B-9 and B-10 chromosomes are derived from reciprocal translocations between a wheat and the B chromosomes, and the former had the B pericentromeric segment and the latter had the B distal segment. Both the B and B-9 chromosomes suppressed homoeologous pairing when chromosome 5B was absent. On the other hand, the B-9 and B-10 chromosomes promoted homoeologous pairing when 5B was present. On pairing suppression, B-9 had a greater effect in one dose than in two doses, and B-9 had a greater effect than B-10 had in one dose. These results suggested that the effect of the B chromosomes on homoeologous pairing was not confined to a specific region and that the intensity of the effect varied depending on the presence or absence of 5B and also on the segment and dose of the B chromosome. The mean chiasma frequency (10.23) in a hybrid (2n=36) possessing 5B and one B-9 was considerably higher than that (2.78) of a hybrid (2n=35) possessing 5B alone, and was comparable with that (14.09) of a hybrid (2n=34) lacking 5B. This fact suggested that the B chromosome or its segment can be used in introducing alien genes into wheat by inducing homoeologous pairing between wheat and alien chromosome.

12 Pags., 6 Tabls., 1 Fig. The complet list of authors is: María Muñoz-Amatriaín, Matthew J. Moscou, Prasanna R. Bhat, Jan T. Svensson, Jan Bartoš, Pavla Suchánková, Hana Šimková, Takashi R. Endo, Raymond D. Fenton, Stefano Lonardi, Ana M. Castillo, Shiaoman Chao, Luis Cistué, Alfonso Cuesta-Marcos, Kerrie L. Forrest, Matthew J. Hayden, Patrick M. Hayes, Richard D. Horsley, Kihara Makoto, David Moody, Kazuhiro Sato, María P. Vallés, Brande B.H. Wulff, Gary J. Muehlbauer, Jaroslav Doležel, and Timothy J. Close., Recent advances in high-throughput genotyping have made it easier to combine information from different mapping populations into consensus genetic maps, which provide increased marker density and genome coverage compared to individual maps. Previously, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based genotyping platform was developed and used to genotype 373 individuals in four barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) mapping populations. This led to a 2943 SNP consensus genetic map with 975 unique positions. In this work, we add data from six additional populations and more individuals from one of the original populations to develop an improved consensus map from 1133 individuals. A stringent and systematic analysis of each of the 10 populations was performed to achieve uniformity. This involved reexamination of the four populations included in the previous map. As a consequence, we present a robust consensus genetic map that contains 2994 SNP loci mapped to 1163 unique positions. The map spans 1137.3 cM with an average density of one marker bin per 0.99 cM. A novel application of the genotyping platform for gene detection allowed the assignment of 2930 genes to flow-sorted chromosomes or arms, confirmed the position of 2545 SNP-mapped loci, added chromosome or arm allocations to an additional 370 SNP loci, and delineated pericentromeric regions for chromosomes 2H to 7H. Marker order has been improved and map resolution has been increased by almost 20%. These increased precision outcomes enable more optimized SNP selection for markerassisted breeding and support association genetic analysis and map-based cloning. It will also improve the anchoring of DNA sequence scaffolds and the barley physical map to the genetic map., This work was supported by the USA National Science Foundation (DBI-0321756 to TJC and SL), the Human Frontier Science Program (LT000218/2011-L to MJM) and Gatsby Charitable Foundation (MJM and BBHW), the Czech Ministry of Education Youth and Sports and the European Regional Development Fund (LC06004 and CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0007 to JD, JB, HŠ and PS), the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain (AGL2007-62930/AGR and GEN2006-28560), and the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Plant Genome, Genetics and Breeding Program of USDA’s Cooperative State Research and Extension Service (2009-65300-05645 to TJC, SL and GJM).

Supernumerary (B) chromosomes of rye are not required for plant development and exhibit a reduced transcription activity. These special features inspired us to analyse whether there are differences between A and B chromatin organization in interphase nuclei. Applying fluorescence in situ hybridization, we found that both rye A and B chromosomes added to hexaploid wheat showed in meristematic nuclei a string-like shape and a clear Rabl orientation. In 4C differentiated leaf nuclei, a more relaxed chromatin structure, round-shaped chromosome territories and a less pronounced Rabl configuration were found. Also, the observed random association of homologues in 2C and 4C nuclei indicated in general a similar behaviour of A and B chromosomes. Whereas in differentiated 4C nuclei A sister centromeres are separated, B sister centromeres align in nearly all nuclei. In short, despite the different transcription activity of A and B chromosomes, both types of chromosomes exhibit a similar organization in meristematic and differentiated interphase nuclei. But the deletion of a B chromosome segment responsible for non-disjunction during gametogenesis induces released sister centromeres also in some interphase nuclei of somatic tissue. Hence, the control of rye B chromosome non-disjunction is also active in sporophytic cells.

We used gametocidal (Gc) chromosomes 2C and 3C[SAT] to dissect barley 2H added to common wheat. The Gc chromosome induces chromosomal breakage resulting in chromosomal aberrations in the progeny of the 2H addition line of common wheat carrying the monosomic Gc chromosome. We conducted in situ hybridization to select plants carrying structurally rearranged aberrant 2H chromosomes and characterized them by sequential C-banding and in situ hybridization. We established 66 dissection lines of common wheat carrying single aberrant 2H chromosomes. The aberrant 2H chromosomes were of either deletion or translocation or complicated structural change. Their breakpoints were distributed in the short arm (2HS), centromere (2HC) and the long arm (2HL) at a rough 2HS/2HC/2HL ratio of 2:1:2. We conducted PCR analysis of the 66 dissection lines using 115 EST markers specific to chromosome 2H. Based on the PCR result, we constructed a physical or cytological map of chromosome 2H that were divided into 34 regions separated by the breakpoints of the aberrant 2H chromosomes. Forty-seven markers were present in 2HS and 68 in 2HL. We compared the 2H cytological map with a previously reported 2H genetic map using 44 markers that were used in common to construct both maps. The order of markers in the distal region was the same on both maps but that in the proximal region was somewhat contradictory between the two maps. We found that the markers distributed rather evenly in the genetic map were actually concentrated in the distal regions of both arms as revealed by the cytological map. We also recognized an EST-marker or gene-rich region in the 2HL interstitial region slightly to the telomere.

We investigated the effects of various concentrations of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB, 0, 0.1, 1 and 10 mM), a ketone body, added to chemically-defined maturation medium with or without energy substrates (glucose, pyruvate and lactate) on nuclear maturation rates up to the metaphase stage of the second meiotic division (M-II stage). In addition, we also assessed the influence of BHB on glutathione content, sperm penetration rate and embryonic development up to the blastocyst stage of oocytes matured under the presence of these energy substrates. Nuclear maturation rates up to the M-II stage of oocytes matured with BHB in each concentration group did not show a significant increase compared with the control (0 mM) groups in both the presence and absence of energy substrates. Although glutathione contents were not significantly different in each BHB concentration group, the sperm penetration rate in the I mM BHB group was significantly higher (p

The short arm of rye chromosome 1R (1RS) is introduced into many common wheat cultivars because of its agronomic importance. The gametocidal system has been used to produce dissection lines carrying segments of rye chromosome 1R. We focused on establishing more dissection lines for 1RS and on obtaining PCR-based markers specific to 1RS. We established 66 1RS dissection lines carrying 1RS segments of chromosome 1R derived from a common wheat cultivar ‘Burgas 2’ and obtained 27 markers. We conducted a PCR analysis using the dissection lines and markers, and divided 1RS into 17 regions separated by the breakpoints. Comparison of the ‘Burgas 2’ 1RS map with another map of 1RS derived from ‘Imperial’ rye implied a restructuring between the 2 1RS chromosomes.

Several species of the genus Aegilops, wild relatives of wheat (Triticum aestivum, 2n = 6x = 42, AABBDD) carry gametocidal (Gc) genes. Gc genes kill the gametes without themselves by causing chromosomal breakage during post-meiotic cell divisions, and therefore are strong segregation distorters. The Gc gene Gc3-C1 derived from chromosome 3C of Ae. triuncialis (2n = 4x = 28, CCUU) induces chromosomal breakage in wheat cultivar 'Chinese Spring' (CS) but not in cultivar 'Norin 26' (N26). This cultivar-specific inhibition of Gc function is caused by a suppressor gene Igc1 located on chromosome 3B of N26. Igc1 is presumed to be a modified Gc gene without breakage function because of its homoeology to Gc3-C1. Here we report the results of linkage and physical mapping of Igc1 to help elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying Gc action. Segregation analysis of the phenotypic data in BC(1)F(1) mapping population of the cross between (CSxN26)F(1) and CS + 3C" showed a 1:1 segregation ratio indicating that Igc1 is a dominant gene. In the linkage analysis, three molecular marker loci Xgwm285, Xgwm376, and Xcfp1886 cosegregated with the Igc1 locus. Bin mapping assigned the loci Xgwm285 and Xcfp1886 to bin C-3BS1-0.33 and Xgwm376 to bin C-3BL2-0.22. Physical mapping using Gc-induced chromosomal deletion lines of chromosome 3B of N26 revealed that the Igc1 locus resides in 52.0% or 2.1% of bins C-3BS1-0.33 and C-3BL2-0.22, respectively. Pericentromeric localization of Igc1 in chromosome 3B of N26 may have a positive effect to keep the two-component system of the Gc action. Map-based cloning approach to isolate the Igc1 may be difficult because recombination is depleted in the pericentromeric region. As is shown in this study, the combination of genetic and physical mapping offers high efficiency to identify the regions where genes are located especially in regions with low levels of recombination.

We used two gametocidal (Gc) chromosomes 2C and 3C(SAT) to dissect barley chromosome 4H added to common wheat. The Gc chromosome induced chromosomal structural rearrangements in the progeny of the 4H addition line of common wheat carrying the monosomic Gc chromosome. We conducted in situ hybridization to select plants carrying rearranged 4H chromosomes and characterized the rearranged chromosomes by sequential C-banding and in situ hybridization. We established 60 dissection lines of common wheat carrying single rearranged 4H chromosomes. The rearranged 4H chromosomes had either a deletion or a translocation or a complicated structural change. The breakpoints were distributed in the short arm, centromere and the long arm at a rough ratio of 2:2:1. We conducted PCR analysis using the dissection lines and 93 EST markers specific to chromosome 4H. Based on the PCR result, we constructed a cytological map of chromosome 4H with 18 regions separated by the breakpoints of the rearranged chromosomes. Thirty-seven markers were present in the short arm and 56 in the long arm, and about 70% of the markers were present in no more than the distal 25.6% and 43.1% regions of the short and long arms, respectively. It is noteworthy that nine of the short-arm markers and 13 of the long-arm markers existed in the small subtelomeric regions at both ends characterized by the HvT01 sequences. We reconstructed a genetic map using 38 of the 93 markers that was used to construct the cytological map of chromosome 4H. The order of the markers on the genetic map was almost the same as that on the cytological map. On the genetic map, no markers were available in the pericentromeric region, but on the cytological map, 14 markers were present in the proximal region, and one of the markers was in the centromeric region of the short arm.

Rye chromosome 1R harbors many agronomically important genes such as resistance genes for rusts. Using the gametocidal system, we dissected the 1R chromosome substituted for wheat chromosome 1B in a common wheat cultivar 'Burgas 2'. The gametocidal system induces chromosomal breakage in the 1R chromosome, as well as in wheat chromosomes. We cytologically examined a pool of prescreened common wheat plants that had been shown to have single or multiple rearranged 1R chromosomes and established 95 common wheat lines carrying single 1R segments. We conducted PCR analysis of these lines, termed '1R dissection lines', using 10 PCR-based 1R-specific markers. We mapped the 10 PCR-based markers along the 1R chromosome with the breakpoints of the 1R dissection lines. Based on the PCR result and the positions of the primary and secondary constrictions, we could separate the breakpoints of the rearranged 1R chromosomes into 12 regions along the 1R chromosome. On the other hand, using the breakpoints, we could separate the PCR-based markers from each other except for two markers. These dissection lines are useful in mapping DNA markers and may facilitate the construction of contig maps.

Barley is one of the major cereals in the world. The analysis of genomes is important in modern breeding, but the barley genome is too huge and complicated that it is still difficult to arrange sequenced pieces of the genome in order. Each of the barley chromosomes or chromosome arms has been added to common wheat and such barley chromosome addition lines have been used in determining the chromosomal regions of genes and DNA markers. It is undoubtedly desirable to have the genome divided into smaller pieces in separate common wheat lines. There is a unique genetic system in common wheat that induces frequent chromosomal structural rearrangements. This system is called the gametocidal (Gc) system involving alien chromosomes called Gc chromosomes, which were introduced into common wheat from certain wild species belonging to the genus Aegilops. When the Gc chromosome exists in a common wheat plant in monosomic condition, the plant produces two types of gamete, one with the Gc chromosome and the other without the Gc chromosome; chromosomal rearrangements occur only in the latter one. Such Gc-induced chromosomal rearrangements are either lethal to gametes or semi-lethal, and in the latter case the gametes are fertilized to develop into viable zygotes carrying rearranged chromosomes. The Gc system proved to be effective in inducing structural rearrangements in barley chromosomes added to common wheat, as well as in common wheat chromosomes. Thus-induced rearranged chromosomes include deletions of barley chromosomes and translocations between the barley and wheat chromosomes. The present author termed common wheat lines carrying rearranged barley chromosomes ‘dissection lines’ of a barley chromosome. So far dissection lines for three barley chromosomes have been produced and used in the cytological mapping of the barley chromosomes. In this article the progress in the cytological dissection of the barley genome is described.

We used the gametocidal system to dissect a barley chromosome 3H added to common wheat. The gametocidal system induced chromosomal structural changes in the 3H addition line of common wheat, and we cytologically screened for rearranged chromosomes involving the 3H chromosome by in situ hybridization (FISH/GISH). We established 50 common wheat lines carrying single rearranged (or dissected) 3H chromosomes of independent origin. The dissected 3H chromosomes were either deletions or translocations with wheat chromosomes, and their breakpoints were in the centromere/the long arm/the short arm in a rough ratio of 1:2:2. We used these so-called 3H dissection lines to map 36 EST markers that were polymorphic between euploid common wheat and the 3H addition line and that had been used for the construction of a 3H genetic map. We conducted PCR analysis to detect the EST markers in the dissection lines. The results of the PCR analysis, which mostly corresponded to the retained or lost segments of the dissected 3H chromosomes, allowed us to place the 36 EST markers into 20 chromosomal regions flanked by the breakpoints of the dissected chromosomes. We compared this physical map constructed in this study with a 3H genetic map constructed using the same EST markers. The order of all EST markers was consistent between the two maps. We briefly discuss on the advantage of the physical mapping using dissection lines over genetic mapping.

In this paper, to clarify a rule indentation effect on failure occurrence in the surface layer of paperboard, an aluminum foil coated paperboard was experimentally scored and folded by using a couple of creasing rules and square groove plates. The specimen was made with a 15 μm thickness aluminum foil and a 360 g/m2 high quality white-coated paperboard by using adhesive glue spray. The state of creased part was observed with a CCD microscope and the relationship between the bending momentum resistance and the bending angle was compared with that of the normal paperboard. The relationship between the indentation depth of creasing rule and the in-plane stretching strain in the surface layer was investigated by using a new measurement method, and the occurrence limit of surface failure of aluminum foil was discussed with the tensile strength of the material. Through this work, it was confirmed that the in-plane stretching strain in the surface layer has affected the failure limit of aluminum foil layer of the specimen. It was also concluded that the proposed method of strain measurement on the bent surface layer was enable to discuss the failure strength of surface layer.

Serum trace elements were analyzed by PIXE method in a patient with acute aortic dissection during the supportive process by a Nutrition support team (NST). The patient was a 53-year old male who suffered from acute aortic dissection on March 1, 2007. He received emergent Bentall operation and bow pars total displacement. Since he suffered from diarrhea as a result of hypoalbuminemia and bowel dysfunction, enteral nutrition was not sufficient to maintain adequate intake. Therefore, we also used parenteral nutrition until the 97th disease day. Afterwards, the patient managed only with enteral nutrition. We measured serum trace elements during these periods. Serum trace elements such as Fe , Zn and Se were preserved within normal ranges. On the other hand, Cu gradually decreased until the 54th disease day (44 μg/l) and stayed in the lower levels around the detection limit until the 109th disease day. Thereafter, Cu slightly increased and reached 117 μg/l on the 131st disease day (reference range of serum Cu in adult males: 700~1,300 μ g/l ). It was suggested that the serum levels of these trace elements might reflect the nutritional stages of the patient and could be useful as clinical markers for nutritional therapies.

Rye chromosome 1R contains many agronomically useful genes. Physical dissection of chromosome 1R into segments would be useful in mapping 1R-specific DNA markers and in assembling DNA clones into contig maps. We applied the gametocidal system to produce rearranged 1R chromosomes of Imperial rye (1R(i)) added to common wheat. We identified rearranged 1R(i) chromosomes and established 55 1R(i) dissection lines of common wheat carrying a single rearranged 1R(i) chromosome. Fifty-two of the rearranged 1R(i) chromosomes had single breakpoints and three had double breakpoints. The 58 breakpoints were distributed in the short arm excluding the satellite (12 breakpoints), in the satellite (4), in the long arm (28), and in the centromere (14). Out of the 55 lines, nine were homozygous for the rearranged 1R(i) chromosomes, and the remaining lines were hemizygous. We developed 26 PCR-based EST markers that were specific to the 1R(i) chromosome, and nine of them amplified 1R(i) arm-specific PCR products without restriction-enzyme digestion. Using the nine EST markers and two previously reported 1R-specific markers, we characterized the 55 1R(i) dissection lines, and also proved that we can select critical progeny plants carrying specific rearranged 1R(i) chromosomes by PCR, without cytological screening, in 48 out of the 55 hemizygous dissection lines.

EGENES is a knowledge-based database for efficient analysis of plant expressed sequence tags (ESTs) that was recently added to the KEGG suite of databases. It links plant genomic information with higher order functional information in a single database. It also provides gene indices for each genome. The genomic information in EGENES is a collection of EST contigs constructed from assembly of ESTs. Due to the extremely large genomes of plant species, the bulk collection of data such as ESTs is a quick way to capture a complete repertoire of genes expressed in an organism. Using ESTs for reconstructing metabolic pathways is a new expansion in KEGG and provides researchers with a new resource for species in which only EST sequences are available. Functional annotation in EGENES is a process of linking a set of genes/transcripts in each genome with a network of interacting molecules in the cell. EGENES is a multispecies, integrated resource consisting of genomic, chemical, and network information containing a complete set of building blocks (genes and molecules) and wiring diagrams (biological pathways) to represent cellular functions. Using EGENES, genome-based pathway annotation and EST-based annotation can now be compared and mutually validated. The ultimate goals of EGENES will be to: bring new plant species into KEGG by clustering and annotating ESTs; abstract knowledge and principles from large-scale plant EST data; and improve computational prediction of systems of higher complexity. EGENES will be updated at least once a year. EGENES is publicly available and is accessible by the following link or by KEGG's navigation system (http://www.genome.jp/kegg-bin/create_kegg_menu?category=plants_egenes).

We dissected barley chromosome 5H added to common wheat by a genetic method or the gametocidal system. Firstly, we induced chromosomal breaks in the offspring of a 5H addition line of common wheat carrying a gametocidal chromosome and cytologically screened for plants with structural chromosomal changes involving 5H, such as deletions and translocations. Secondly, we screened the progeny of such plants to establish common wheat lines carrying structurally changed chromosomes containing single segments of the dissected 5H. Using 23 representative 5H dissection lines, we physically mapped 97 barley EST markers assigned to 5H. The ESTs fell into 20 regions of 5H between the breakpoints of the 23 dissected segments, distributing rather evenly along the chromosome, with significantly higher frequency in the distal region of the long arm. The ESTs, in turn, allowed us to distinguish the breakpoints of dissected 5H segments. We demonstrated by PCR (polymerase chain reaction), as well as by in situ hybridization, that these dissected 5H segments were stably transmitted in the dissection lines. We discuss the usefulness of the 5H dissection lines for physical mapping of DNA markers. These 5H dissection lines are available from National BioResource Projects-Wheat, Japan.

Background A complete genome sequence is an essential tool for the genetic improvement of wheat. Because the wheat genome is large, highly repetitive and complex due to its allohexaploid nature, the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) chose a strategy that involves constructing bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-based physical maps of individual chromosomes and performing BAC-by-BAC sequencing. Here, we report the construction of a physical map of chromosome 6B with the goal of revealing the structural features of the third largest chromosome in wheat. Results We assembled 689 informative BAC contigs (hereafter reffered to as contigs) representing 91 % of the entire physical length of wheat chromosome 6B. The contigs were integrated into a radiation hybrid (RH) map of chromosome 6B, with one linkage group consisting of 448 loci with 653 markers. The order and direction of 480 contigs, corresponding to 87 % of the total length of 6B, were determined. We also characterized the contigs that contained a part of the nucleolus organizer region or centromere based on their positions on the RH map and the assembled BAC clone sequences. Analysis of the virtual gene order along 6B using the information collected for the integrated map revealed the presence of several chromosomal rearrangements, indicating evolutionary events that occurred on chromosome 6B. Conclusions We constructed a reliable physical map of chromosome 6B, enabling us to analyze its genomic structure and evolutionary progression. More importantly, the physical map should provide a high-quality and map-based reference sequence that will serve as a resource for wheat chromosome 6B. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1803-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) decided to adopt the strategy of chromosome sorting and short read assembly to overcome difficulties of wheat genome sequencing derived from the hexaploid status, the large genome size (about 17 Gb) and high repeat contents (more than 80 %). Our Japanese group was responsible for the sequencing of wheat chromosome 6B. Using DNAs from the flow-sorted chromosome arms, we conducted whole-chromosome shotgun sequencing of chromosome 6B. We sequenced more than 12 million reads obtained from the short and long arms by GS-FLX Titanium, and assembled contigs of 235 Mb for 6BS and 273 Mb for 6BL were generated by GS assembler 2.7 (Roche). These assemblies cover 56.6 % and 54.9 % of estimated sizes of 6BS (415 Mb) and 6BL (498 Mb), respectively. We annotated repetitive regions covering more than 80 % of contigs, 4,798 possible expressed loci, and various kinds of RNA genes using our annotation pipeline. We also found the evolutionary conserved regions among syntenic chromosomes from four grass genomes. For application of the 6B sequences to wheat genomics, various kinds of markers, such as simple sequence repeat (SSR) and insertion site-based polymorphism (ISBP) markers were constructed. Combination of the marker data with the comparative genome analysis will lay a strong foundation of functional genomics of the group-6 chromosomes in wheat.