Fast genetic mapping in barley: case studies of cuticle mutants using RNA-sequencing

Barley(Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the earliest domesticated crop species and ranked as the fourth largest cereal production worldwide. Forward genetic studies in barley have greatly advanced plant genetics during the last century; however, most genes are identified by the conventional mapping method. Array genotyping and exome-capture sequencing have also been successfully used to target the causal mutation in barley populations, but these techniques are not widely adopted because of associated costs and partly due to the huge genome size of barley. This review summarizes three mapping cases of barley cuticle mutants in our laboratory with the help of RNA-sequencing. The causal mutations have been successfully identified for two of them and the target genes are located in the pericentromeric regions. Detailed information on the mapping-by-sequencing, mapping-and-sequencing, and RNA-sequencing assisted linkage mapping are presented and some limitations and challenges on the mapping assisted by RNA sequencing are also discussed. The alternative and elegant methods presented in this review may greatly accelerate forward genetics of barley mapping, especially for laboratories without large funding.     

Overview of In - Situ Biodegradation and Enhancement

Microbial degradation technologies have been developed to restore ground water quality in aquifers polluted by organic contaminants effectively in recent years. However, in course of the degradation, the formation of biofilms in ground water remediation technology can be detrimental to the effectiveness of a ground water remediation project. Several alternatives are available to a remedial design engineer, such as Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRBs) and in -situ bioremediation, Hydrogen Releasing Compounds (HRCs) barrier, Oxygen Releasing Compounds (ORCs) barrier etc. which are efficient and cost- effective technologies. Excessive biomass formation renders a barrier ineffective in degrading the contaminants, Efforts are made to develop kinetics models which accurately determine bio - fouling and bio - filn formation and to control excessive biomass formation.     

The mass ratio of Charon to Pluto from Hubble Space Telescope astrometry with the fine guidance sensors

The mass ratio of Charon to Pluto is a basic parameter describing the binary system and is necessary for determining the individual masses and densities of these two bodies. Previous measurements of the mass ratio have been made, but the solutions differ significantly (Null et al., 1993; Young et al., 1994; Null and Owen, 1996; Foust et al., 1997; Tholen and Buie, 1997). We present the first observations of Pluto and Charon with a well-calibrated astrometric instrument—the fine guidance sensors on the Hubble Space Telescope. We observed the motion of Pluto and Charon about the system barycenter over 4.4 days (69% of an orbital period) and determined the mass ratio to be 0.122±0.008 which implies a density of 1.8 to 2.1 g cm⁻³ for Pluto and 1.6 to 1.8 g cm⁻³ for Charon. The resulting rock-mass fractions for Pluto and Charon are higher than expected for bodies formed in the outer solar nebula, possibly indicating significant postaccretion loss of volatiles.     

BLazar天体的光变及多波段能谱特性

本文综述了活动星系核 ,特别是blazar天体的研究现状 ,对blazar天体的多波段与多波段能谱特性研究进行了较为详细的评述。主要的研究工作包括以下内容 :(一 )γ噪blazar天体的短时标光变研究 ,通过对 1 6个γ噪blazar天体 (其中包括全部已证认和观测到VHEγ射线爆发的可能甚高能γ射线源 )自 1 998年的光学观测及光变分析研究表明 ,短时标光变 (小时量级 )是GeVγ噪blazar天体的普遍特性 ,光变幅度通常可达 0 .6mag/h ,对PKS 1 51 0 -0 89类星体的观测发现在一个小时内对象变暗 2个星等 ,对如此激烈的光变变暗目前的理论还不能很好的解释 ,但它同样反映了辐射区域的内部结构 ;而对TBLs的监测表明 ,其光学波段的短时标光变没有其他对象激烈 ,出现的频度和振幅变化都较小 ;(二 )在研究γ噪blazar天体光变时 ,研究了寄主星系对光变的影响 ,得到了 1ES 2 3 44 + 51 4的光变与PSF的FWHM的关联 ,表明随着大气视宁度的下降 (即FWHM变大 ) ,对象变暗 ,即由于寄主星系的影响从而导致假光变的产生 ;(三 )引进两个多波段复合谱指数 ,αxox=αox-αx 及αoro=αor-αo。对样本的统计研究表明 ,RBLs是能谱特性界于XBLs和OVVs之间的一类中间态 ,所得结果支持了Sambrunaetal.( 1 996)大样本多波段能谱分布特性的统计研     

Variability of Soft X—ray Spectral Shape in Blazars Observed by ROSAT

1 INTRODUCTION Blazars, including BL Lac objects, highly polarized and optically violently variable quasars,and flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), are characterized by highly variable non-thermalemission which dominates their characteristics from radio to y-ray bands. The mechanismbelieved to be responsible for their broadband emission is synchrotron radiation followed by in-verse Compton (IC) scattering at higher energies (e.g. Blandford & Konigl 1979). Relativisticbeaming of a jet…