Landolphia kirkii is scrambling shrub forming an integral part of the flora along the coastal areas of north-eastern South Africa. The non-sustainable harvesting of fruit as food source, by monkeys and rural communities and the highly recalcitrant nature of their seeds threatens the continuation of the species. In addition, the ability of the plants to produce high quality rubber makes its long-term conservation highly desirable. Previously, attempts have been made to cryopreserve germplasm of L. kirkii, but no survival had been recorded at cryogenic temperatures of below -140ºC. The present study reports on the effects of rapid dehydration, chemical cryoprotectants and various cooling rates, thawing and imbibition treatments on survival of embryonic axes excised with cotyledons completely removed, as well as with 3 mm portion of each cotyledon attached, from fresh, mature, recalcitrant seeds of L. kirkii. Survival was assessed by the ability for both root and shoot development in in vitro culture, the tetrazolium test and electrolyte leakage readings. At seed shedding, embryonic axes were at the high mean water content of 2.24 g gˉ¹ (dry mass basis). All axes (with and without attached cotyledonary segments) withstood rapid (flash) drying to a water content of c. 0.28 g gˉ¹; however, the use of chemical cryoprotectants, singly or in combination, before flash-drying was lethal. Rapid cooling rates were detrimental to axes flash-dried to 0.28 g gˉ¹, with no explants showing shoot production after exposure to -196ºC and -210ºC. Ultrastructural examination revealed that decompartmentation and loss of cellular integrity were associated with viability loss after rapid cooling to cryogenic temperatures, although lipid bodies retained their morphology regardless of the thawing temperature employed. Furthermore, analysis of the lipid composition within embryos of L. kirkii revealed negligible amounts of capric and lauric acids, suggested to be the medium-chained saturated fatty acids responsible for triacylglycerol crystallisation when lipid-rich seeds are subjected to cryogenic temperatures. Hence, lipid crystallisation was not implicated in cell death following dehydration, exposure to cryogenic temperatures and subsequent thawing and rehydration. Rapid rehydration of embryonic axes of L. kirkii by direct immersion in a calcium-magnesium solution at 25ºC for 30 min (as apposed to slow rehydration on moistened filter paper or with rehydration in water) was associated with highest survival post-dehydration. Cooling at 1ºC minˉ¹ and 2ºC minˉ¹ facilitated survival of 70 and 75% respectively of axes with attached cotyledonary segments at 0.28 g gˉ¹ after exposure to - 70ºC. Viability retention of 40 and 45% were recorded when embryonic axes with attached cotyledonary segments were cooled at 14 and 15ºC minˉ¹ to temperatures below -180ºC. However, no axes excised without attached cotyledonary segments produced shoots after cryogenic exposure. The use of slow cooling rates is promising for cryopreservation of mature axes of L. kirkii, but only when excised with a portion of each cotyledon left attached. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

Orientador: Sandra Helena Unêda Trevisoli / Banca: Everlon Cid Rigobelo / Banca: Viviane Formice Vianna / Resumo: A soja destaca-se como a oleaginosa de maior importância no mundo, tendo em vista sua relevância nutricional e econômica. Devido ao aumento da área cultivada e, consequentemente da produtividade, o Brasil atualmente, é considerado o maior exportador de soja. No entanto, observa-se que a base genética da soja é restrita, devido à indisponibilidade de alelos capazes de enfrentar estresses bióticos e abióticos de forma totalmente eficiente. Desta forma, os programas de melhoramento visam aumentar a variabilidade genética para o desenvolvimento de cultivares mais produtivas e adaptadas. Estudos a respeito de novas fontes de germoplasma, como as Plant Introductions - PIs, tornam-se necessários para a identificação de características agronômicas de interesse para os melhoristas. Sendo assim, o presente trabalho possui como objetivo geral a avaliação do desempenho agronômico e a divergência genética de 93 acessos de soja, pertencentes a um painel de diversidade visando a obtenção de dados que possam ser utilizados no incremento de programas de melhoramento de soja brasileiros / Abstract: Soybean stands out as the most important oilseed in the world, given its nutritional and economic importance. Due to increased acreage and hence productivity, today, Brazil is the largest exporter of soybeans. However, it is observed that the genetic basis of soybean is restricted due to the unavailability of alleles able to cope with biotic and abiotic stresses fully efficiently. Thus, breeding programs aimed at increasing the genetic variability for the development of more productive and adapted cultivars. Studies regarding new sources of germplasm, such as Plant Introductions - PIs, become necessary for the identification of agronomic traits of interest to breeders. Therefore, the present work has as main objective the evaluation of agronomic performance and the genetic diversity of 93 accesses of soybean, belonging to a panel of diversity in order to obtain data that can be used in the growth of Brazilian soybean breeding programs / Mestre

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Wheat breeders must effectively maintain and manage existing genetic diversity in order to continue the development of superior genotypes. It is therefore fundamental that the genetic relationships and diversity within the germplasm pools be thoroughly characterized and understood. Recently, DNA-based markers have provided powerful tools for genetic diversity analysis. This study investigates the usefulness of nuclear and chloroplast simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers in characterizing Pacific Northwest wheat (Triticum aestivum) breeding germplasm, and explores the patterns of genetic relatedness revealed by these markers. The 15 chloroplast SSRs were effective in differentiating between B-type, D-type, and barley (Hordeum vulgare) cytoplasms. Genetic distance estimates were determined for each pair of lines studied and analyzed using UPGMA clustering. The markers revealed five plastomic types within the B-type cytoplasm studied. Several lines of wheat in this germplasm, including important PNW cultivars like Madsen, were found to contain D-type cytoplasm rather than the B cytoplasm of wheat. Nuclear SSR assays using 24 markers revealed three major clusters of germplasms: PNW soft white winter wheat, Western European-derived lines, and Great Plains accessions, as well as two clusters of more distantly related lines and genetic stocks. The primary defining characteristic of these clusters was regional adaptation. Subgroups of these major groups often clustered together on the basis of pedigree and market class. When nuclear and chloroplast SSR data was combined in analysis, the primary defining characteristic of the dendrogram became the type of cytoplasm rather than regional adaptation, with secondary divisions based on pedigree relationships. Cultivars released prior to 1950 were found to have a minimum of 20% of alleles in common for nuclear and chloroplast data combined, despite being unrelated via pedigree information. Heterogeneity was 2.3% for all marker/variety combinations. Overall, these sets of markers were found to be effective in characterizing the genetic relatedness of PNW wheat breeding germplasm. / Graduation date: 2003

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Botany / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Arizona, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 263-271).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-07-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T21:04:20Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 araujo_fp_dr_botfca.pdf: 860426 bytes, checksum: e6646af0ab59a2403e60928f75194d0c (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido com a finalidade de avaliar a variabilidade morfoagronômica de Passiflora cincinnata Mast., distribuída em diferentes regiões agroecológicas do Nordeste brasileiro. Foram utilizadas 32 características obtidas em experimento conduzido na Embrapa Semi-Árido, em Petrolina-PE, em delineamento de blocos ao acaso com quatro repetições. O desempenho dos acessos foi avaliado pela análise univariada e os estudos relativos à divergência genética foram realizados com base nos procedimentos multivariados, utilizando-se a distância generalizada de Mahalanobis (D2) e a técnica de agrupamento por variáveis canônicas. A dispersão gráfica dos acessos teve como eixos as primeiras variáveis canônicas. A estratégia de coleta de acessos de P. cincinnata mostrou-se efetiva porque os acessos coletados apresentaram variabilidade genética para todos os descritores utilizados na avaliação. Os caracteres mais importantes para discriminação entre acessos foram: diâmetro das hastes (DH), número de glândulas foliares (NGF), número de glândulas por bráctea (NGB), viabilidade de pólen (VP), massa do fruto (PF), massa da semente (MS) e massa total de frutos (MTF). Contudo, por serem caracteres influenciados pelo ambiente, os acessos devem ser avaliados em mais de um ambiente. O agrupamento dos acessos com base em suas variabilidades genéticas não foi correlacionado com sua origem geográfica. Foram obtidos acessos que, pela alta produtividade de frutos, podem ser recomendados para cultivos experimentais em áreas de produtores. / The present work was developed aiming at evaluating the morphoagronomic variability of Passiflora cincinnata Mast., which is distributed in different agroecological regions in Northeast Brazil. Data from 32 characters were used in experiments, carried out at Embrapa Tropical Semi-Arid, Petrolina-PE, Brazil, in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The behaviour of accesses was evaluated by univariate analysis and the studies related to the genetic diversity were done based on the multivariate procedures, using the general distance of Mahalanobis (Dø) and the grouping technique by canonic variables. The graphic dispersion of the accesses used the first canonic variables as axis. The strategies for collecting the accesses of P. cincinnata proved to be effective because the collected accesses showed genetic variability for all the descriptors used in the evaluation. The most important characters for the discrimination among accesses were: stem diameter (SD), number of leaf glands (NLG), number of glands per bract (NGB), pollen viability (PV), fruit mass (FM), seed mass (SM) and total fruit mass (TFM). However, as the environment influences the characters, the accesses must be evaluated in more than one environment. Grouping of accesses based on their genetic variability was not correlated with their geographic origin. Since some accesses showed high fruit productivity, they can be recommended to farmers for experimental growing.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-09T12:28:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014-07-18Bitstream added on 2015-04-09T12:47:50Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000817675.pdf: 435803 bytes, checksum: 9790ca90cd43e847593a2eb809ac5ab5 (MD5) / A soja destaca-se como a oleaginosa de maior importância no mundo, tendo em vista sua relevância nutricional e econômica. Devido ao aumento da área cultivada e, consequentemente da produtividade, o Brasil atualmente, é considerado o maior exportador de soja. No entanto, observa-se que a base genética da soja é restrita, devido à indisponibilidade de alelos capazes de enfrentar estresses bióticos e abióticos de forma totalmente eficiente. Desta forma, os programas de melhoramento visam aumentar a variabilidade genética para o desenvolvimento de cultivares mais produtivas e adaptadas. Estudos a respeito de novas fontes de germoplasma, como as Plant Introductions – PIs, tornam-se necessários para a identificação de características agronômicas de interesse para os melhoristas. Sendo assim, o presente trabalho possui como objetivo geral a avaliação do desempenho agronômico e a divergência genética de 93 acessos de soja, pertencentes a um painel de diversidade visando a obtenção de dados que possam ser utilizados no incremento de programas de melhoramento de soja brasileiros / Soybean stands out as the most important oilseed in the world, given its nutritional and economic importance. Due to increased acreage and hence productivity, today, Brazil is the largest exporter of soybeans. However, it is observed that the genetic basis of soybean is restricted due to the unavailability of alleles able to cope with biotic and abiotic stresses fully efficiently. Thus, breeding programs aimed at increasing the genetic variability for the development of more productive and adapted cultivars. Studies regarding new sources of germplasm, such as Plant Introductions - PIs, become necessary for the identification of agronomic traits of interest to breeders. Therefore, the present work has as main objective the evaluation of agronomic performance and the genetic diversity of 93 accesses of soybean, belonging to a panel of diversity in order to obtain data that can be used in the growth of Brazilian soybean breeding programs