No description available.

No description available.

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Genetic diversity and the effect of lamb and dam inbreeding on multiple traits were analyzed in an 11-yr closed population of sheep established in 1983 and remained closed after 1987, with 50% Dorset, 25% Rambouillet, and 25% Finnsheep breeding to determine selection response for spring fertility. The population had been randomly divided in 1987 into a fall-lambing selection line (S) of 125 ewes and 10 rams, fall-lambing environmental control line (E) of 55 ewes and 5 rams, and a spring-lambing genetic control line (G) of 45 ewes and 5 rams. Inbreeding effects were estimated from 2678 lambs and 556 dams present after the creation of the respective lines. The traits assessed were ewe spring-fertility, lambing date, lamb birth, 60 d, and 120 d weight, and lamb survival to 1, 3, and 14 d. Genetic diversity was assessed by estimating change in inbreeding per generation (ΔF) and effective number of breeding animals (N_e), and parameters derived from gene drop simulations and an iterative procedure developed by Boichard et al. (1997); effective number of founders (f_e), effective number of ancestors (f_a), founder genome equivalents (f_g), and two additional measures of genetic diversity (GD₁, GD2). In order to estimate the diversity available in S and G, three sets of animals from the end of the study and one set of animals at line formation were considered in each line: all lambs born (including dead lambs), all matings (including potential offspring, even if a lamb was not born), and all rams and ewes available at the end of the study and at line formation. At the time of line formation, most of the loss in diversity was due to unequal founder representation. The smaller population of G, as compared to S, caused a greater decrease in diversity due to bottlenecks at line formation. Very little diversity was lost due to additional drift by the time of line formation because selection had not occurred and a random mixing of founders was the goal. Allelic diversity decreased moderately; of the 322 founder alleles, there were 71% in S and 58% in G of rams and ewes (RE) that appeared in at least 50 runs of gene drop. By the end of the study in 1998, the amount of allelic diversity had decreased substantially. Of the alleles possible in RE at the end of the study in S and G, only 6 and 8 %, respectively, appeared in greater than 50 simulations of gene drop. The measures of f_e, f_a, and f_g revealed there was not much additional loss in diversity from the line founders to the end of the study due to unequal founder representation, but there was a larger amount of loss due to bottlenecks and additional drift. The diversity loss was similar, which was the goal of the selection study, when values for RE were compared in S and G. The effects of lamb and dam inbreeding were estimated from REML analysis. Effects of lamb or dam inbreeding were negative but not significant for lambing date or survival to 1, 3, or 14 d. Spring fertility was estimated to decrease by 0.70 ± 0.30 %/% inbreeding of the ewe (P < 0.01), which seems even greater since the average spring fertility was only 47.5 %. Effects of lamb inbreeding on birth, 60-d, and 120-d weights were -0.012 ± 0.006 (P < 0.05), -0.045 ± 0.020 (P < 0.05), and -0.130 ± 0.034 kg/% (P < 0.01), respectively. Dam inbreeding had smaller effects on birth, 60-d, and 120-d weights of -0.008 ± 0.010 (ns), -.033 ± 0.034 (ns), and -0.087 ± 0.056 (P < 0.1) kg/%, respectively. / Master of Science

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An epidemic increase in severity and incidence of asochyta blight, caused by Ascochyta rabiei (Pass) Labrousse (teleomorph: <i>Didymella rabiei</i> (Kovachevski) v. Arx. Syn. <i>Mycosphaerella rabiei </i>Kovachevski), has occurred on chickpea (<i>Cicer arietinum</i> L.) crops in Saskatchewan over the past 5 growing seasons. In order to explore the nature of the outbreak, studies assessing population differences in pathogenicity and genetic variability were employed. Isolates of <i>A. rabiei</i> collected in 1998, 2001 and 2002 were inoculated onto 7 differential chickpea genotypes for pathogenicity testing. <p> Significant isolate by differential interaction occurred, but accounted for a low proportion of the total variability suggesting no genotype specific relationship exists between <i>A. rabiei</i> and <i>C. arietinum</i>. Furthermore, it was found that when averaged over all differentials, the isolates from 2001 and 2002 caused significantly greater disease than isolates from 1998, suggesting that the disease epidemic is in part due to a shift in the population to overall greater aggressiveness. The largest increase in disease severity was observed on the cultivar Sanford, which was widely grown in commercial chickpea fields before 1999. To evaluate the genetic diversity of different <i>A. rabiei</i> populations, 30 isolates from 1998 and 30 isolates from 2002 were compared with random amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting. Several clusters of isolates collected from either 1998 or 2002 were approximately 60% genetic similar suggesting divergence of these populations of <i>A. rabiei</i>. However, analysis of molecular variance showed that over 90% of the variation occurred within populations. Pairwise differences and gene diversity over loci showed that genetic diversity of the 2 populations had the same amount of genetic variability. Analysis of mating type distributions revealed that the populations from 1998, 2001 and 2002 did not significantly depart from a 1:1 ratio suggesting random mating of each population. Further supporting the hypothesis of a randomly mating population, linkage disequilibrium for both 1998 and 2002 populations was very low.

An epidemic increase in severity and incidence of asochyta blight, caused by Ascochyta rabiei (Pass) Labrousse (teleomorph: <i>Didymella rabiei</i> (Kovachevski) v. Arx. Syn. <i>Mycosphaerella rabiei </i>Kovachevski), has occurred on chickpea (<i>Cicer arietinum</i> L.) crops in Saskatchewan over the past 5 growing seasons. In order to explore the nature of the outbreak, studies assessing population differences in pathogenicity and genetic variability were employed. Isolates of <i>A. rabiei</i> collected in 1998, 2001 and 2002 were inoculated onto 7 differential chickpea genotypes for pathogenicity testing. <p> Significant isolate by differential interaction occurred, but accounted for a low proportion of the total variability suggesting no genotype specific relationship exists between <i>A. rabiei</i> and <i>C. arietinum</i>. Furthermore, it was found that when averaged over all differentials, the isolates from 2001 and 2002 caused significantly greater disease than isolates from 1998, suggesting that the disease epidemic is in part due to a shift in the population to overall greater aggressiveness. The largest increase in disease severity was observed on the cultivar Sanford, which was widely grown in commercial chickpea fields before 1999. To evaluate the genetic diversity of different <i>A. rabiei</i> populations, 30 isolates from 1998 and 30 isolates from 2002 were compared with random amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting. Several clusters of isolates collected from either 1998 or 2002 were approximately 60% genetic similar suggesting divergence of these populations of <i>A. rabiei</i>. However, analysis of molecular variance showed that over 90% of the variation occurred within populations. Pairwise differences and gene diversity over loci showed that genetic diversity of the 2 populations had the same amount of genetic variability. Analysis of mating type distributions revealed that the populations from 1998, 2001 and 2002 did not significantly depart from a 1:1 ratio suggesting random mating of each population. Further supporting the hypothesis of a randomly mating population, linkage disequilibrium for both 1998 and 2002 populations was very low.

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<p>The distribution and abundance of many coral reef organisms are affected by their predator’s distribution and abundance. Loss of predators may cause a shift in species compositions that will cascade down to other ecological processes on the reef. One example of a shift like this is the growing sea urchin populations inhabiting the coral reefs of East Africa. Areas with high fishing pressure often have large populations of sea urchins. The large populations of sea urchins have a negative impact on the reef ecology both by their grazing and bio-erosion as well as on fish growth and the recovery of fish populations. Previous population genetic studies conducted on<em> Diadema setsosum</em>, using mtDNA and allozymes, found genetic structuring between populations on a large geographical and evolutionary scale. The aim of this study was to examine the genetic population structure of the sea urchin <em>Diadema setosum</em>, at four sites around Zanzibar. We used the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique, a fast and effective method with high resolution. The long term objective is to understand the migration pattern and colonization of <em>D. setosum</em> to facilitate possible management actions. We found a significant genetic structuring of <em>D. setosum</em> hence the populations can not be considered panmictic. The reason behind this structure does not seem to be based on the geography nor size. One possible explanation might be that the structure lies on a larger geographical scale than we have studied, further studies around the Western Indian Ocean may reveal this. Another explanation may be that the structuring is due to differences in spawning time between the different phenotypes and an analysis of gonad maturations may give information about this. To find the reasons behind the observed genetic structure is of great importance for management of the sea urchins and therefore the management of whole reef ecosystems.</p>

The Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion of northern California and southern Oregon has extremely high biodiversity, but conservation centers on the protection of habitat for the northern spotted owl. A network of late successional reserves has been established without consideration of potential for protecting overall biodiversity, including genetic diversity. Mitochondrial DNA sequences are used to examine the population structure of Acrotrichis xanthocera (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae) sampled from five late successional reserves within the Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion and five comparison sites from northern California. Measures of gene flow, phylogenetic analysis, and nested clade analysis are employed to infer historical demographic and phylogeographic processes. Results show that A. xanthocera populations have undergone past range expansion, but gene flow is currently limited. Individual late successional reserves do not adequately protect the genetic variation in this species. Although further research is needed, these results are likely to be congruent for other edaphic arthropod species. Improvement of the late successional reserve system is warranted for maximum protection of the genetic diversity of soil arthropod populations.