The tropical palm Mauritia flexuosa has highly nutritious fruits and is an important food resource for both humans and wildlife throughout its geographic range in South America. Unsustainable harvesting threatens wild populations. Mauritia f. occurs primarily in wetlands called Aguajales where it can become the dominating canopy species. Seed predation and dispersal can dramatically affect the survival and distribution of plant species in tropical rainforests (Janzen 1970, Connell 1971, Bleher & Böhning-Gaese 2001, Paine & Beck 2007, Mari et al. 2008). Increased knowledge of seed predation and germination requirements is essential for successful management of this commercially and ecologically important palm. Four experiments were conducted in Manu National Park in southeastern Peru to study: (1) Seed survival in the Aguajal, (2) Quantify seed predators on dry land, (3) Insect visitors and consumers of fruits and seeds, and (4) Germination in greenhouse experiments. Seed survival was significantly higher below water compared to on dry micro sites within the Aguajal. Seeds and fruits placed on dry land were preyed upon by both insects and mammals. Terrestrial insects were the most important predators. Different insects visited fruits and seeds, indicating a successive breakdown of different tissues. Seed survival was also higher below water and/or soil in the greenhouse experiment. This may suggest that the distribution of Mauritia f. is highly influenced by seed predation and that water protects seeds from their insect enemies.

Orchardgrass (<i>Dactylis glomerata</i> L.) and western wheatgrass (<i>Pascopyrum smithii </i>(Rydb.) L.) seeds have different degrees of dormancy that result in non-uniform seedling emergence in the field. Seed dormancy of the two species, in part, causes disagreement between germination tests in the laboratory and seedling emergence in the field. Experiments were conducted over two years in the laboratory and in the field to determine the effects of alternating temperatures on changes in seed dormancy and germination of orchardgrass and western wheatgrass. The two western wheatgrass cultivars (Walsh and LC9078a) had deeper dormancy than the two orchardgrass cultivars (Arctic and Lineta). Dormancy of both species was broken by temperatures with 10oC amplitude; this temperature variation was similar to that which occurred at a 1 cm depth in the soil. Optimal temperatures for germination of orchardgrass (10-25oC) were broader than those for western wheatgrass (15-20oC). Seedling emergence of orchardgrass was less sensitive to seeding date in the spring than western wheatgrass; seedling emergence of western wheatgrass increased as seeding date was delayed from early to late May if soil water was not limiting. The rate of seedling emergence increased with increasing temperature in both species, therefore, faster and more uniform seedling emergence can be expected from late spring seeding dates. Seeds were often exposed to light during germination tests in the laboratory while planting seeds in the soil usually prevented exposure of seeds to light. Seedling emergence of orchardgrass in the field was usually less than the germination percentage obtained in the laboratory because of light exposure during germination tests could break dormancy in orchardgrass seeds and the small seeds of orchardgrass had limited energy reserves for pre-emergence seedling growth. On the other hand, germination of western wheatgrass seeds was reduced by exposure to light during germination and seeds were larger than those of orchardgrass. Therefore, seedling emergence of western wheatgrass in the field was usually greater than germination tests would predict. The use of thermal time models to study seed dormancy changes and germination revealed the dual effects of temperature on these processes. The modified thermal time model takes the difference between germination and seedling emergence into account and can accurately predict seedling emergence in the field (R2=0.88 to 0.99). Thermal time models for predicting seedling emergence in the field can also be developed for other forages, however, cultivar- and species-specific parameters must be developed for the models.

Poor seed coat colour desirability in green lentil (<i>Lens culinaris</i>) costs lentil producers millions of dollars each year. The monetary value that Canadian lentil producers receive for their crop is based on the visual characteristics of the seed coat, mainly the colour. Higher value is given for samples described to have more desirable green seed coat colour. A breeding line, 1294M-23, has been noticed to consistently produce more desirable green lentil samples.<p>A cross was made between 1294M-23 and a less desirable breeding line 1048-8R with the goal of studying the heritability of green seed coat desirability measured by the Acurum® machine. The resulting progeny were taken to F7 by single seed descent. In 2005 and 2006 the recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were seeded in a randomized complete block design at three sites in the current main lentil growing region of Saskatchewan. To measure the seed coat colour of the samples, the Acurum® machine, which is a colour analyzing machine developed for grain crops, was used to consistently compare the samples. The study illustrated that the trait has large environmental effects and is quantitative with a high broad sense heritability of 0.82, using this specific cross and environments. Transgressive segregation occurred for RILs that had more desirable green seed coats and lower index scores than the desirable parent, 1294M-23. A tester that included all registered green lentil cultivars set was grown with the RILs in all environments. The seed coat colour index scores of the tester set fit into a small section of the range of index scores. They all had relatively high mean index scores, meaning less desirable, showing little genetic variation for the trait in current Canadian green lentil cultivars. <p>Chlorophyll was extracted from seed coats of some of the RILs. The amount of total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a, and chlorophyll b was compared to the Acurum® scores using regression analysis. The study found that there was significant relationship between chlorophyll a and b content and the index score, explaining 32 and 37 percent of the variation, respectively. <p>Another portion of the study was to determine if preharvest treatment of the green lentil crop has an effect on the green seed coat colour of the sample. A set of genotypes consisting of all registered green seed coat cultivars was grown at two locations in Saskatchewan in both 2005 and 2006. Prior to harvest a plot of each genotype was swathed, and a second plot was desiccated with diquat. After harvest the samples were analyzed for green seed coat colour using the Acurum® machine. In general, across most genotypes, sites, and years, swathing produced a significantly more desirable green lentil sample. The desirable green parent from the RILs, 1294M-23 produced the most desirable green lentil sample in this study. When the maturity rating was correlated to the Acurum® score a significant positive relationship was found in 2005 but not in 2006. This showed that lines with later maturity could be associated with more desirable green seed coat colour in some environments. Thus caution must be taken when selecting for more desirable phenotypes that genetic gains are being made rather than indirect selection for longer maturity.

Grain quality in chickpea (<i>Cicer arietinum</i> L.) is a major factor affecting its consumption for human nutrition and health benefits. Some of the major factors affecting chickpea grain quality are: seed weight, size, colour, protein, starch and amylose concentration, and amylopectin structure. The objectives of this study were to: 1) determine variation, repeatability and genotype by environment interaction on thousand seed weight, starch, amylose and protein concentration of chickpea cultivars adapted to western Canada; 2) assess variations in global chickpea germplasm for thousand seed weight, seed size, protein, starch and amylose concentrations; and 3) characterize the desi and kabuli type chickpea for starch concentration, composition, and amylopectin structure to study their effect on starch enzymatic hydrolysis. Limited variation was observed in seed composition of chickpea cultivars adapted to the western Canadian prairies. Significant genotype by environment interaction occurred for starch, amylose, and protein (except for kabuli) concentrations, seed yield and thousand seed weight indicating that testing over a wide range of environments is needed to identify genotypes for grain quality improvement. Repeatability of starch, amylose, and protein concentrations was low and inconsistent across chickpea market classes. Broad sense heritability was higher than repeatability across all traits for all market classes implying that repeatability estimates do not set upper limits to heritability if significant genotype by environment interaction is present. The negative relationship between seed constituents and yield indicates that selection for chickpea cultivars with desired seed composition may require compromise with yield and indirect selection. All the mini core accessions that had above average seed diameter score in both desi and kabuli also had above average score for thousand seed weight. Selecting mini core with promising intrinsic and extrinsic quality characteristics may reduce yield. Slowly digestible starch was negatively correlated with hydrolysis index in both pure starch and meal starch of desi and kabuli. Amylose had a strong relationship with resistant starch but not with rate of starch hydrolysis. Genotypes with a significantly higher rate of starch hydrolysis had significantly lower 60-80 µm starch granule size volume. Amylopectin B2 chains were related to slowly digestible starch of meal (except kabuli) and extracted starch. Resistant starch positively correlated with B1 fraction of amylopectin chain length in both desi and kabuli meal starch. Our results suggest that there is no major difference between starch composition in the two chickpea market classes, although only three genotypes of each class were tested. The meal components affect the starch hydrolytic properties and the effect is genotype specific. The results also show that amylopectin structure influences starch hydrolytic properties. These observations emphasize that complete characterization of seed components is needed to obtain meaningful results regarding the desired nutritional and health benefits attributed to any grain.

Axonal damage, demyelination and inflammation of the central nervous system are the major pathological features of multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is thought to be due to an abnormal T cell mediated immune response. Oxidative stress plays an important role in the advancement of MS. The reduced glutathione (GSH) has very important role in the management of oxidative stress. In our experiment we used Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) animal model that mimic human MS and tested the effect of Thymoquinone (TQ) a constituent of oil of Nigella Sativa also known as black seed. Thirty female mice strain C57BL/6J between 6 to 12 weeks of age were placed into 3 groups of 10 and MOG was used subcutaneously (s.c) to induce EAE. Group A, the control group. Group B, received MOG (s.c) and TQ intraperiotoneally (i.p) from day 1 till day 50. Group C, received MOG (s.c) and TQ (i.p) was given on the appearance of first sign and symptoms of Chronic relapsing EAE (CR-EAE). All Mice were examined daily for behavioral deficits and all euthanized and sacrificed on day 50. In this study we found mice belonging to group C (EAE with TQ treatment after the appearance of chronic symptoms) were observed to have the highest mean clinical scores in both the acute and chronic phases of EAE with symptom reduction following the TQ injections. Group B (which received daily TQ injections) had decreased symptoms compared to Group A and C. Glutathione level dropped significantly in the control group (p < 0.05) and increased (p > 0.05) in groups B and C mice who received TQ injections. We also noted that EAE clinical signs correlated well with the extent of perivascular lymphocyte infiltrate compared with normal histology following TQ injections. Our results indicate that TQ, due to its anti-oxidant effects is almost 80% preventive and 50% curative in CR-EAE. These results could assist further studies on the mechanism of the action of TQ in CR-EAE and on the possibility of treating the chronic- relapsing phase of human multiple sclerosis. It seems within the realm of possibility that TQ may be as, if not more, therapeutically efficacious as interferon â and glatiramer acetate.

Climate change is predicted to increase rates of fire activity in boreal forests. A shortened fire return interval may result in different outcomes of community structure in the northern boreal forest, since the age of a forest influences seed production and potential post-fire regeneration. With two closely timed fires, dominant boreal conifers such as black spruce (Picea mariana) may be vulnerable to regeneration failures after fire because of the long time required to reach reproductive maturity. I report on the relationship between stand age and seed productivity of black spruce in northern Yukon Territory and central Alaska. I used fire history maps to select sites of various stand ages, including stand ages that would occur in a short fire return interval (less than 80 years) versus longer fire intervals (up to 200 years). At each site, I measured stand density and basal area using the point-center-quarter method. Ten black spruce trees were randomly selected for cone surveys and age analysis. I also selected a subset of five trees for detailed analyses of cone and seed production within yearly cohorts. The results of this study illustrate the strong relationships between stand age and stand basal area with cone and seed production of northern black spruce. The resulting equations can be used to predict the seed capacity and regeneration potential of black spruce stands with known stand basal area or stand age. I estimate, along with the number of seeds required to produce a two year old black spruce seedling on high quality seedbeds, stands burned at an age less than 50 years will likely have reduced black spruce post-fire density. On low quality seedbeds, black spruce forests are more vulnerable to regeneration failures and fire cycles less than 150 years are likely to result in reduced recruitment. Under a shortened fire return interval these northern black spruce forests are likely to have reduced post-fire density.

<p>Drylands, comprising arid and semi-arid areas and the dry subtropics, over some 40% of the world's land area and support approximately 2 billion people, including at least 1 billion who depend on dryland agriculture and grazing. 10-20% of drylands are estimated to have already undergone degradation or desertification, and lack of monitoring and assessment remains a key impediment to preventing further desertification. Change in vegetation cover, specifically in the spatial organization of vegetation may occur prior to irreversible land degradation, and can be used to assess desertification risk. Coherent spatial structures arise in the distribution of dryland vegetation where plant growth is localized in regular spatial patterns. Such "patterned vegetation" occurs across a variety of vegetation and soil types, extends over at least 18 million ha, occurs in 5 continents and is economically and environmentally valuable in its own right.</p> <p>Vegetation patterning in drylands arises due to positive feedbacks between hydrological forcing and plant growth so that the patterns change in response to trends in mean annual rainfall. Mathematical models indicate that vegetation patterns collapse to a desertified state after undergoing a characteristic set of transformations so that the condition of a pattern at any point in time can be explicitly linked to ecosystem health. This dissertation focuses on the mathematical description of vegetation patterns with a view to improving such predictions. It evaluates the validity of current mathematical descriptions of patterning for the specific case of small-scale vegetation patterns and proposes alternative hypotheses for their formation. It assesses the significance of seed dispersal in determining pattern form and dynamics for two cases: vegetation growing on flat ground with isotropic patterning, and vegetation growing on slopes and having anisotropic (i.e. directional) patterning. Thirdly, the feedbacks between local biomass density and infiltration capacity, one of the positive feedbacks believed to contribute to patterning, are quantified across a wide range of soil and climatic conditions, and new mathematical descriptions of the biomass-infiltration relationship are proposed. Finally the influence of land surface microtopography on the partitioning of rainfall into infiltration and runoff is assessed.</p> / Dissertation

Due to the technology development, the diet habit has completely changed. It accompanied by the metabolite diseases relevant to blood glucose and lipids, which are dependent with the atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. In this study, we using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) to characterize triglycerides in human plasma. In the other, the glycosylated hemoglobin in human whole blood was detected by liquid electrospray laser desorption ionization (Liquid ELDI/MS). Triglycerides are energy source (9 kcal/g) in human body, derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. It is a main constituent of vegetable oil and animal fats. In clinical diagnosis, human plasma was mixed with triglyceride Kit to react to the final 520 nm UV-absorbing substance, then the concentration was quantified consistent with the calibration line by UV/Visible spectrometry. By the way, it needed Kit chemicals for one trial. MALDI-TOF/MS is a simple and easy method to operate to detect complex compounds in human plasma, only need to optimize the parameters (solvent collection, sample dilution, matrix selection, sample pretreatment ) to form a homogeneous crystals. The developed ¡§seed layer¡¨ method can reduce the sweet spot effect and cause a lower with-in spot variation (RSD < 20%) compared to ¡§premix¡¨ method (RSD >30%). Combined with statistic software 2D peak distribution, a semi-quantification can be observe of 24 different triglyceride concentration human plasmas. The level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in whole blood is currently the most important measurement of long-term control of the glycemic state of diabetes. As a result of the interferences of high concentrations of metabolites, proteins and salts in whole blood, tedious sample cleanup procedures must be performed prior to subjecting the sample solutions to conventional LC/MS and MALDI analyses for the detection of HbA1c. Electrospray laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (ELDI/MS), a two-step ambient ionization technique, has been developed to characterize analytes directly from the liquid sample surface. One drop of the diluted hole blood (1/10, v/v in water) was placed on the stainless steel plate. The sample droplet was irradiated with a pulse laser, the desorbed analytes were post-ionized in an electrospray (ESI) plume (ESI solution: 70% methanol in water, 0.1% acetic acid), and the analyte ions were detected by a ion trap mass analyzer. Through this study, the protocol for efficiently characterizing HbA1c present in a drop of diluted whole blood with ELDI/MS was established. We successfully detected the ion signal of HbA1c with ELDI/MS. Quantification of the level of HbA1c in the whole blood of diabetic patients was achieved by calculating the ratio of the ion peak area of the glycosylated and non-glycosylated hemoglobin ions. A linear relationship exists for the quantitative results of HbA1c in whole blood of 20 diabetic patients obtained between ELDI/MS and that through conventional spectroscopic measurement.

The objectives of my research were twofold: 1) to evaluate new technologies (camera traps and a new type of GPS collar) for studying large mammals in tropical forests, and 2) to study the ecology of the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) in the Peruvian Amazon. Camera traps proved to be an efficient tool for mammal inventories in tropical forests. They recorded 24 out of 28 terrestrial medium and large sized mammal species with a survey effort of 2340 camera days. Camera traps were also able to reveal important information on habitat use, activity patterns and the use of mineral licks for five Amazonian ungulate species. There was a high spatial overlap between all the species with the grey brocket deer being the only species that was restricted to terra firme forest. White-lipped peccaries, tapirs and red brocket deer frequently used mineral licks, whereas collared peccaries and grey brocket deer were hardly ever observed at licks. A new type of GPS collar (TrackTag) tested in this study performed well under the dense canopy of a tropical forest. Position success rates of 87% for stationary collars and 48% for collars placed on tapirs were comparable to data obtained with GPS collars in temperate forests. The mean location error for stationary collars inside the forest was 28.9 m and the 95% error was 76.8 m. GPS collars placed on six tapirs for seven to 182 days showed home range sizes of 102 to 386 hectares. Tapirs were mainly nocturnal and areas used for foraging during the night differed from resting sites used during the day. Tapirs could walk up to 10 km to visit a mineral lick. Visits were irregular at intervals of a few days up to 36 days. The analysis of 135 tapir dung samples showed that tapirs ingest seeds of over 120 plant species. Seeds were found throughout the year but monthly species diversity was related to fruit availability. The size distribution of ingested seeds was related to availability. Most seeds were less then 10 mm wide, but seeds up to 25 mm were found. Both camera traps and TrackTag GPS collars greatly increased the possibilities for studying large rainforest mammals. The two technologies collect complementary information and each one is suited for a different set of questions.

Among the available methods of creating selectable variation, induced mutagenesis has been historically under-utilized in cotton improvement. Dick Auld showed that chemical mutagenesis could be used to enhance fiber length of a medium staple cotton cultivar without sacrificing yield. The goal of this project was to determine if mutagenesis could be used to improve the fiber quality of a germplasm line already considered to be at the upper-limits of fiber length. Seed of TAM 94 L-25 were treated with EMS in 2001 and the M2 generation was produced at Lubbock, Texas in 2002. More than 1200 M3 plants were grown at College Station, Texas in 2004, harvested individually, and HVI fiber properties determined. The top and bottom 1 percent for UHML, strength, and elongation were selected and the seeds of these individuals planted as an M4 progeny row nursery in 2005. Approximately ten individual plants per progeny row were harvested for re-evaluation of fiber parameters. From the approximately 1600 individual TAM 94L-25 M4 plants harvested in 2005, 61 were selected and subsequently treated as pure lines. Agronomic performance trials were conducted on 61 of those TAM 94L-25 M lines along with the M0 check and two commercial cultivar checks, Fiber Max 832 and Phytogen 355, in 2008 and 2009 in College Station and Weslaco, Texas. Within-boll yield components were examined for 13 representative mutant lines and the three checks. TAM 94L-25 averaged 751 kg lint ha^-1, 31.1 mm UHML, 303 kN m kg^-1 fiber bundle strength, and 6.0 percent elongation. The 61 mutant lines yielded from 366 to 932 kg lint ha^-1, exhibited UHML from 24.3 to 34.9 mm, fiber bundle strengths of 261 to 333 kN m kg^-1, and elongations from 5.4 to 8.1 percent. Seed surface area of the TAM 94L-25 M-lines was between 99 and 124 mm^2, and fibers per unit seed surface area from 123 to 168 fibers mm^-2. The M0 parent, TAM 94L-25 averaged 125 mm^2 seed-1, and 128 fibers mm^-2. The data presented herein demonstrate that EMS-induced mutagenesis was successful in creating TAM 94L-25 M-lines with superior fiber and yield traits to that of the non-mutated, high fiber quality parent, TAM 94L-25.