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Mitochondrial DNA-based diversity study of Hungarian brown hares (Lepus europaeus Pallas 1778)
23-29Views:172The brown hare being an important game species which is widespread across the European continent has been in focus of many population genetic studies. However only a few comprising researches can be found on the diversity of Central-European populations.
The aim of our large scale long term ongoing study is to fill this gap of information on the species by describing the genetic history and structure of the brown hare populations of the area using both mitochondrial DNA markers and genomic skin and hair colour regulating genes.
This article gives forth a part of our results concerning the mitochondrial DNA diversity of Hungarian brown hares based on amplification of a 512 bp long D-loop sequence. N=39 tissue or hair samples have been collected from 15 sampling sites on the Hungarian Great Plain. We have described a high level of haplotype diversity (Hd=0.879±0.044) based on a 410 bp alignment of our sequences. We have found 17 haplotypes within our sample set with the nucleotid diversity of π=0.01167±0.0022. Our ongoing research shows high genetic diversity for the brown hare in the studied region and a second alignment with 156 sequences downloaded from GenBank indicates a geographic pattern of haplotypes among the studied populations though these results need confirmation by our further analyses.
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75 years of the chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (Murr.) Barr in Europe
82-85Views:237The chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica is a native pathogen in East Asia and has been introduced into North America and Europe. Historical records and population genetic studies revealed at least three major introduction events from Asia into Europe.
Nowadays, chestnut blight is present in almost the entire distribution range of European chestnut, i.e. from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caucasus. The C. parasitica population in most countries has been studied in respect to the diversity of vegetative compatibility (vc) types and the occurrence of hypovirulence. The vc type diversity of the different populations varied considerably. Typically, a high diversity of vc types has been found in areas with a long history of chestnut blight and where sexual recombination between divergent genotypes commonly has occurred. On the other hand, newly established populations often showed a low diversity with only one, or a few vc types present.
Hypovirulence, i.e. the occurrence of C. parasitica isolates infected by Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 has been found widespread in Europe. Natural dissemination and active biological control applications have lead to a high prevalence of the hypovirus and to the recovery of many chestnut stands. Virulent cankers became hypovirus-infected within a short time and ceased expansion. There is concern that the diversity of vegetative compatibility types could increase in Europe through sexual reproduction between C. parasitica genotypes originating from different introductions. A higher level of vegetative incompatibility would not only hamper hypovirus spread within a population but could also select for lower virulence in CHV-1 and subsequently lead to an erosion of biological control. Recent studies, however, indicate that the vc type barriers are not so restrictive than previously assumed and that so far no evidence for an erosion of biological control system in high diversity populations can be observed.
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Morphological diversity of current melons (Cucumis melo) compared to a medieval type
84-90Views:159Morphological diversity of melon (Cucumis melo); phenotype reconstruction of a medieval sample. Morphological diversity among 47 melon (Cucumis melo) cultivars and landraces from Hungarian germplasm collection (ABI, Tápiószele) were analyzed with an ultimate aim to characterize morphologically cv. Hógolyó, which showed the closest genetic similarity to a medieval melon recovered from the 15th century. Cultivars based on fruit morphology were grouped into the three main types of melon as reticulatus, cantalupensis and inodorus. Cluster analysis (by SPSS-11) based on 23 morphological (quantitative and qualitative) traits recorded revealed an extreme diversity among accessions, nevertheless cultivars were clustered into main melon clusters with only two exceptions of inodorus type cv. Zimovka J. and Afghanistan. Cultivars Sweet ananas and Ezüst ananász; and two Hungarian landraces Kisteleki and Nagycserkeszi showed close similarity. Cultivars Hógolyó and Túrkeve of inodorus type
were also grouped in one cluster, which provide insight into the morphological reconstruction of the medieval melon recovered from the 15th century. These results also indicate that old Hungarian landraces could be re-introduced into breeding programs for broadening genetic base of melon. -
Use of molecular marker methods in the classification of bamboo taxa: A review
51-59Views:254Bamboo plants are currently attractive to researchers because of their versatile uses. Understanding the bamboos’ genetic level is needed to develop new varieties. Taxonomic identification is the basis for plant development. Bamboos were identified as their taxonomical morphological characters which are dependent on environmental factors. Molecular Marker techniques can be used to perform accurate genotype identification, which can be used for genetic diversity analyses. The RFLP, RAPD, AFLP, SSR, ISSR, iPBS, SCARS, SCoT, SRAP marker systems have been shown to be able to efficiently determine the genetic diversity of bamboo species based on genotyping. This paper summarizes research that aims to analyze the genetic diversity of bamboo species on a molecular basis.
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Identification of Hucul mare families by mtDNA markers
75-79Views:233Hundred animal species have disappeared during the last century. By this time, approximately one-third of domestic animals have been in the endangered category. Hucul horses are also in this category; furthermore saving the genetic diversity beside the race preservation is an important challenge as well. The number of mares and stallions is only one of the expressive elements of genetic diversity; together with their quality determine the genetic variability of this breed. Beyond that, if an exact breed can originates from more founders, it can be more renewed genetically. Stud book documents these data by registering the mare families and stallions’ genealogical lineage. Molecular genetics, especially mitochondrial DNA analysis can make the precise identification of mare families possible. As a result of these molecular based methods, protection of genetic diversity, as well as breed preservation became more reliable. After the primer designing, the optimal primer pair was chosen which targets a 1092 bp length DNA sequence in the cytochrome b region. After the successful PCR optimalisation, we determined 170 Hucul mares’ sequences. According to our results, the samples compose ten haplotypes, which are much less, than the registered number of mare families in the stud book. Further investigations are needed to reach more representative results, and drawn the further consequences.
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Genetic diversity study in Hungarian coldblooded horses
29-34Views:290Because of the feeding technology innovation, accelerated transport and communication facilities breeds of high performance breeds replaced local autochone breeds worldwide. These latter species however have an important role in gene conservation. Hungarian cold-blooded horse breeding stock are lacking pedigree, the actual founder breed mares are not known. For this reason, it is an major priority defining the genetic backround of the existing flock, for that breeding could operate with purposeful using of origin maternal founders. In the present study 195 cold-blooded Hungarian mares tail and mane sample were analized. Our analysis was carried out between 15531–15752 base pairs in mithocrondial DNA D-loop region, which reported a total of 222 base pairs. Fourtyone polymorphic sites were determined, which resulted in 39 haplotypes (h=39). The average pairwise differences were k=6.825. High haplotype and nucleotide diversity values were observed (Hd=0.968±0.003, π=0.026±0.003). Based on the previously defined variable positions of haplotypes defined by Jansen et al (2002), we groupped our haplotypes into haplogroups. 23 percent of the studied population (45 mares) belonged to haplogroup F1. Nearly 97% of the analyzed population was classified into one of eight haplogroups defined by Jansen.et al. (2002). This study gives genetic information nearly 25% of the Hungarian population. Another possibility would be patterning more mares or involving more genetic marker in the study which will assuming the possibility of a more comprehensive analysis.
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Investigation of genetic diversity in irradiated maize lines and its relation to hybrid performance
20-26Views:228Knowledge of genetic diversity among available parental lines is fundamental for successful hybrid maize breeding. The aims of this study were to estimate (1) genetic similarity (GS) and genetic distance (GD) (based on Jaccard index) in four maize inbreed lines; (2) to classify the lines according to their GD and GS; (3) to determine hybrid performance based on GD and heterosis for yield ability in 4x4 full diallel system. We used morphological description and AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphisms) for estimation genetic polymorphism in four maize inbred lines. We estimated the applicability of genetic similarity in SC and reciproc hybrids for prediction of their performance.
Three primer combinations were used to obtain AFLP markers, producing 207 bands, 70 of whit were polimorphic. The dendogram based on genetic similarities (GS) and genetic distance (GD) and morphological description separated four inbred lines into well-defined groups. Morphological description just with AFLP analysis showed reliable results. In view of genetic distance, the UDL 1 line and their linear and reciprocal crosses showed significant heterosis effect, which was confirmed by heterosis calculation based on grain yield. -
Genetic diversity of the Hungarian draft horse assessed by mitochondrial DNA
29-32Views:253Hungarian draft is a horse breed with a recent mixed ancestry. It was developed in the 1920s by crossing local mares with draught horses imported from France and Belgium. To genetically characterize the breed and to set up the basis for a conservation programme, we have employed a molecular marker: a 256-bp D-loop mitochondrial DNA fragment. We analyzed 124 horses representing Hungarian draft horses to assess the maternal phylogeography of the breed. Sequence analysis of a 256-bp segment revealed a total of 34 haplotypes with thirty-four polymorphic sites. High haplotype and nucleotide diversity values (Hd=0.953±0.001; π=0.024±0.001) were detected. The average number of pairwise differences were k=5.998. This breed counts 800 mares today, and only survive due to breeding programmes, this way each haplotype frequency depends on the extent to which mares are involved into the breeding. The reduced number of surviving maternal lineages emphasizes the importance of establishing a conservation plan for this endangered breed. Due to the revealed 34 polymorphic sites we could presuppose twelve maternal linages, which could be a first step for making a breeding programme.
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Effect of Silver willow “Russian olive” (Elaeagnus angustifolia) on extensive sheep management
157-162Views:105We carried out a study in the Karcag Research Institute, which affected the areas of narrow-leaved silver willow. In the framework of this research, we performed Balázs's coenology, and thus established the degree of Borhidi degradation, which resulted in the fact that the areas of the silver willow were degraded practically irreversibly, the diversity of the grassland has decreased. We consider it very important to study these grassland areas of silver willows, as they can provide an additional fodder base for sheep grazing, which will also increase the sustainability of the grassland. The obtained soil analysis results show that the soil samples of the silver willow areas are richer in nitrogen (p-value: 0.006) and phosphorus (p-value: 0.003) than the examined control area.
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The Evaluation of Grazed Grasslands on the Hortobágy
50-54Views:137The sward composition of different grasslands on Puszta Hortobágy has been developed according to prevailing abiotic and biotic factors. The abiotic conditions have been more or less constans for long periods of time, and the abiotic factors are determined by ecological conditions (climate, soil, topography). Among biotic factors grazing of herbivores was important in the development of Hortobágy grasslands for centuries (Sipos and Varga, 1993). Result of three-year investigations on the sward composition of grasslands utilised in different ways are presented. Data on ground cover, number of plant species, representation of different plant groups (grasses, sedge and bent-grass, herbs, legumes) and weeds are reported from six different grazed grassland types from Puszta Hortobágy.
In 1999-2001 a sward composition survey was conducted. Sample areas of 2x2 m2 were marked out in three replicates: on temporarily waterlogged grassland grazed by cattle (A), on dry grassland grazed by cattle (B), on dry grassland grazed by sheep (C), on dry grassland grazed by buffaloes (D), on dry grassland grazed by buffaloes and geese (E), on dry grassland cut for hay in May then grazed by geese (F). On the sample areas sward composition of grasslands was estimated according to Balázs (1949).
The average ground cover of different grasslands ranged between 60 and 100% (Table 2). The lowest value was found for grasslands C and E, which are grazed by sheep (C) and buffaloes and geese alternately (E). In these grasslands were some open spaces, on the other grasslands completely closed swards covers were observed.
The species diversity of these natural grasslands are high (Table 2). The grassland F, which were cut for hay in May had the lowest diversity (17-21). The highest number of species was found on grassland A and B (32-51), on other grazed grasslands (C, D, E) had 29-48 species.
The different plant groups had different representation in the total ground cover (Table 3). The number of herbs was always higher then that of grasses, but the cover of herbs was lower then that of grasses. The legumes and the sedge and bent grasses were present in high abundance in grassland A, but in the other grasslands were not.
The composition of herbs should be a warning for future utilisation systems on some grasslands of Hortobágy. Some species of herbs, e.g. Achillea millefolium, Artemisia vulgaris, Carduus acanthoides, Cirsium arvense, Cirsium vulgare Eryngium campestre, Galium mollugo, Galium verum, Ononis spinosa, Rumex crispus, Verbascum phlomoideus, Phragmites australis can be invasive on short grasslands. -
The stinging nettle as an alternative food crop
68-70Views:92Vegetables play an important role in human health and have an important effect on the human diet. It is equally serious to improve the volume, the diversity and the year round equability of vegetable consumption. The stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.) is an alternative vegetable crop and available from the beginning of Spring to the end of Autumn; therefore, it can improve both the diversity and the equability of vegetable consumption. The stinging nettle has a superb nutritive value, it is a prospinach and it can be cooked in many ways.
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Population genetic results of Hungarian Botrytis cinerea isolates establishing new technologies with decreased chemical usage against grey mould
259-261Views:127Botrytis cinerea causes gray mold on a high number of crop plants. Information about the populations of plant pathogen fungi may help to develop new strategies for the effective and economic crop protection with reduced fungicide usage. Hungarian B. cinerea populations were characterized with using different molecular genetic parameters. B. cinerea group I strains, characterized with high rate of fenhexamid resistance, could be detected only in restricted number. The Hungarian B. cinerea populations were characterized with high genetic diversity, and the regular occurrence of sexual reproduction. These results highlight the importance of rotating different type of fungicide in the plant protection technology against grey mould.
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Genetic Diversity of Hair Colour in Horses
40-45Views:94The main aim of this study was to analyze sources of variability for coat colour expressed as a quantitative trait as well as to determine non genetic factors influencing horse colour variation and shades. Traditional Hungarian horse breeds such as Lipizzan (grey), Gidran (chestnut), Shagya Arabian and Arabian Pure Bred (grey) and Nonius (bay and black) horses were involved in the current study. We report results using direct measurements of horse coat colour using objective colorimetric dimensions and a spectrophotometer for determining hair melanin. Correlation analysis indicated that the single biological component that correlated best with the total melanin content of horse hair is the L* value (r=-0.858, p<0.0001). Subjective colour classes and coat colour variables L* and a* were obviously related, with R2 values of 0.88 and 0.46 respectively, with a lower R2 for b* of 0.22 (all p<0.001).
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Examination of microsatellite markers of Dorper sheep breed
57-61Views:230Number of not woolly and molty sheep exceeds 60 million throughout the world. Their numbers and their importance is growing, still they have appeared in the past two decades all over in North-America, Australia, New-Zealand and also in Europe. The South African Dorper has been a pioneer among them in Hungary. It was introduced in 2006 in the country. The Dorper sheep is the second largest breed in South Africa, which was developed from the crossing of Dorset Horn and the Blackhead Persian. The aim of the EU Member States in terms of this specific breed is increasing the small populations, improving the productive qualities, in addition to this avoiding inbreeding. However, finding appropriate breeding stock is difficult due to the small size of available populations and also to the suspected common of origin. With the help of various molecular genetic methods we could get a total view of the genetic background of these flocks. Nowadays the most commonly known and used genetic markers are microsatellites, because their applications give fast, accurate and easily reproducible results. There is no specific descriptive information on the genetic background of Dorper populations in the various EU countries , also regarding diversity between populations. Therefore in our work we want to optimize the conditions of applicability of 31 selected microsatellite reactions as a first step of mapping the entire genetic background of the different EU Dorper populations.
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Anthropogenic effects on the fish fauna of River Hernád
21-27Views:161The fish fauna of the River Hernád was examined in 24 sampling sites in summer of 2014. As a result of the survey 31 species were detected of which eight are protected and three are highly protected by law in Hungary. The presence of the adventive tubenose goby (Proterorhinus semilunaris) in the estuary of the Hernád was observed for the first time by us. The most frequently detected species (with 100% frequency of occurrence, FO) were the chub (Squaliuscephalus), the bitterling (Rhodeusamarus) and the bleak (Alburnusalburnus), in addition the bleak was also the most dominant fish of the river. The hydraulic works have detrimental effect on the number of species and specimens and on the diversity of the fish fauna as well. The natural sections of the River Hernád have the most diverse fish assemblages.
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The effect of foreign stallions on the Hungarian Furioso-North Star breed
67-70Views:207The most common aim of animal conservation programs is to maintain genetic diversity. Furioso-North Star is an indigenous Hungarian horse breed originated from Mezőhegyes Stud. The breed is based on two founder stallions, Furioso Senior and North Star Senior. The aim of this research study was to analyze the effect of the foreign breeding stallions to the genetic structure of Hungarian Furioso-North Star breed. The genetic structure of the breed was studied from pedigree data what was received from the Furioso-North Star Horse Breeding Association. Foals born between 2015–2018 were chosen as reference population. Every breeding stallion was marked by nationality (Austrian, Czech, German, Hungarian, Romanian or Slovak) according to their birth place. The population was described with genetic variability, what was calculated using Endog software. The Furioso-North Star breed is popular in Central Europe and nearby countries. The stallion imports and the stallion transfers were necessary and useful as they made changes in the composition of the genetic variability. The new genes and the new lines have refreshed the genetic structure. There were several breeds, like the Nonius, Shagya Arabian and English Thoroughbred, whose had an impact on the genetic structure of the Furioso-North Star breed.
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Cytochrome b diversity of Hungarian Botrytis cinerea strains
18-21Views:120In the mitochondrion of eukaryotes, cytochrome b is a component of respiratory chain complex III. Cytochrome b is encoded by the
cytochrome b (CYTB) gene located in the mitochondrial genome. The fungicidal activity of QoIs relies on their ability to inhibit mitochondrial respiration by binding at the so-called Qo site (the outer quinol-oxidation site) of the complex III. Since their introduction, QoIs (like azoxystrobin) have become essential components of plant disease control programs because of their wide-ranging efficacy against many agriculturally important fungal diseases like grey mould on various crops. QoI resistance primarily arises from a target-site-based mechanism involving mutations in the mitochondrial CYTB. As the management of grey mould is often dependent on chemicals, the rational design of control programs requires the information about the diversity of genes connected with resistance in field populations of the pathogen.
Monospore B. cinerea field isolates has been collected during 2008-2009 from different hosts in Hungary. PCR fragment length analysis
indicated the high frequency presence of type large intron in the isolates while in a few strains G143A substitution could also be detected.
These results indicated the heterogeneity of CYTB in the Hungarian B. cinerea populations, which possibly involve the heteroplasmy of this
mitochondrial gene, moreover indicates the existence op azoxystrobin resistant populations in Hungary.
This work was supported by NKFP-A2-2006/0017 grant. Erzsébet Fekete is a grantee of the János Bolyai Scholarship (BO/00519/09/8). -
Preservation of Biological Diversity of Domestic Animals in Hungary
18-29Views:115Since the 1992 Rio de Janeiro UNO Congress domestic animals belong also officially to the genetic diversity of the world. Non commercial domestic animal breeds should be maintained for many cultural and technical reasons. Conservation and preservation of living beings is nowadays in the programme of many regional, national and international organizations.
The preservation of domestic animals is possible in situ (at the original place and conditions) and ex situ (by cryogenic methods).
There are three era in the history of preservation of domestic animals: the epoch of spontaneous maintenance, the period of sporadic national activities and the era of international programme.
Some of the questions to be solved by scientific research: the principles of selection of the candidate populations for maintenance, the different degrees of endangeredness, the necessary population size to be subsidized, the problem of inbreeding, the best mating systems etc.
In Hungary the maintenance of endangered domestic animal breeds is based upon the low.
The following breeds are on the list of protected breeds:
− the Hungarian Grey cattle,
− the Lipizzan, Shagya, Nonius, Gidran, Furioso,Kisbér Halfbred, Murinsulaner and Hucul horses,
− the Racka, Tsigai and Cikta sheep,
− the Mangalitsa pig,
− the Hungarian yellow, white, speckled and the Transsylvanian naked necked hen,
− the Bronze Turkey,
− the Frizzle Feathered goose.
Hopefully in the near future the breeders of traditional domestic animal breeds will find the possible niches for their special products. -
Perspectives of the livestock sector in the Philippines: A review
175-188Views:3161The Philippine livestock industry is a vital component in the country's agricultural sector. It contributes around 18.23 percent of the gross output value in agriculture and provides livelihood to many people living in rural areas, signifying its importance with regard to the country’s economy. The constantly increasing demand for animal protein associated with the increase of the world’s population led to the intensification of livestock production, realized through the various initiatives implemented by the government, such as the import of high producing purebreds of various species. This strategy greatly influenced the country's animal genetic resource's diversity and increased food animals' population; however, it impacted the native breeds of food animals. Understanding the characteristics, performance and value of native and exotic breeds is essential to prioritize their livestock industry existence. Thus, this paper aims to characterize various native and exotic breeds of livestock in the Philippines and assess the current conservation of native animals.
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New challenges in soil management
91-92Views:227Soil management represents two important tasks that are harmonization of the soil protection with demands of the crop to be grown on the given land under prevailing farming condition. Further goals are to preserve and/or develop the soil physical, biological and chemical condition and to avoid the unfavourable changes of the soil biological activity and the soil structure. Classical authors emphasised the importance of creating proper seedbed for plants. In the physical approach, tillage was believed to play an important role in controlling soil processes. Consequently, the period of several centuries dominated by this approach is referred to as the era of crop-oriented tillage (Birkás et al., 2017). The overestimation of the importance of crop requirements resulted in damaging the soils, which inevitably led to turn to the soil-focused tillage. Since the first years of climate change, as the new trends have raised concern, tillage must be turned into a climate-focused effort with the aim of reducing climate-induced stresses through improving soil quality.The development of soil management has always been determined by the economical background. At the same time, deteriorating site conditions have contributed to the conception of new tillage trends by forcing producers to find new solutions (e.g. dry farming theory in the past or adaptable tillage theory nowadays). Győrffy (2009) recited the most important keywords were listed in 2001 and that seemed to be important in the future of crop production. These keywords (endeavours) were as follows:− Biofarming, organic farming, alternative farming, biodynamic farming, low input sustainable agriculture;− Mid-tech farming, sustainable agriculture, soil conservation farming, no till farming, environmentally sound, environmentally friendly, diversity farming;− Crop production system, integrated pest management, integrated farming, high-tech farming;− Site specific production, site-specific technology, spatial variable technology, satellite farming;− Precision farming.Győrffy’s prognosis proved to be realistic and the efforts mentioned above have mostly been implemented. New challenges have also appeared in soil management in relation to the last decades. The most important endeavours for the future are:1) Preserving climate-induced stresses endangering soils.2) Turn to use climate mitigation soil tillage and crop production systems.3) Applying soil management methods are adaptable to the different soil moisture content (over dried or wet may be quite common).4) Use effectual water conservation tillage.5) Use soil condition specific tillage depth and method.6) Adapting the water and soil conservation methods in irrigation.7) Preserving and improving soil organic matter content by tillage and crop production systems.8) Considering that stubble residues are matter for soil protection, humus source and earthworm’ feed.9) Site-specific adoption of green manure and cover crops.10) Applying site-adopted (precision) fertilization and crop protection. Considering the development in agriculture, new endeavours will occur before long. -
Q-PCR analysis of the resistance of Hungarian Botrytis cinerea isolates toward azoxystrobin
41-44Views:120The genes being in the mitochondrial DNA primarily encode the enzymes of cellular respiration. Fungicides belonging to the family of quinol oxidase inhibitors (QoIs) play on important role in the protection against several plant diseases caused by fungi. These fungicides bind to the cytochrome bc1 complex so they block electron transport between cytochrome b and cytochrome c1. This way these fungicides inhibit the ATP synthesis consequently they inhibit the mitochondrial respiration. The QoI resistance has two mechanisms. One of them is the point mutation of the cytochrome b gene (CYTB), e.g. the substitution of a single glycine by alanine at position 143 results in high-resistance. The other is the cyanide-resistant alternative respiration sustained by the alternative oxidase.
In a cell there are several mitochondria. The phenomenon when the genomes of all mitochondria in the cell are identical is called homoplazmy. If in the cell there is wild and mutant mitochondrial DNA this is called heteroplasmy. Whether the mutation in the mitochondria causes fenotypical diversity or does not depend on the dose, i.e. it depends on the percentage of the changed mitochondrials. During our work we investigated Botrytis cinerea single spore isolates which have been collected in 2008-2009 on different host plants. Our goal was to decide whether heteroplasmy influences the level of resistance. We managed to detect the change of the level of heteroplasmy, so the change the level of the resistance due to the treatment with fungicide. -
The status of the Hungarian Merino sheep breed compared to the other merino breeds
151-156Views:285Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds have been widely known and distributed across the world, both as purebred and admixed populations. They represent a diverse genetic resource which over time has been used as the basis for the development of new breeds. In spite of this, their gene-pool potential is still unexplored. The Merino sheep represent the most important sheep resource of the Hungarian husbandry. It has the largest amount of individuals between both of the stock and commercial flocks. But in Europe the Merino stocks went through a drastic reduction in number. Thus these breeds became endangered in several countries as well as in Hungary. In this study we would like to present the recent status of different Merino breeds of the world to ground our further phylogenetic research with the Hungarian Merino breed.
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What has Harmonia axyridis to do with Dante's Divine Comedy
82-88Views:97The multicoloured Asian ladybird beetle (Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773)), a former successful biological control agent in the USA and Western Europe became an invasive alien species threatening the diversity of native aphidophagous insects through competition and praying, a horticultural pest consuming various fruits and adversely affecting the wine quality and a human nuisance when occurring at high densities in buildings. Due to this dubious fame, attention has been paid to it also at national level which made inevitable to find for it a fitting name in different languages. In some cases and countries a version of the English name has been chosen however, regarding the meaning of this translated term in Hungarian, the try cannot be called fortunate. The objective of this contribution is to stress the function of common animal names in the Hungarian Sprachraum and to find a right and proper alternative with the help of etymology, mythology, classical literature, art (painting) and the experiences of Hungarian fruit and grape growers.
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Data on the Orthoptera fauna of characteristic agricultural landscape in the Carpathian Lowland
25-34Views:187Orthoptera fauna and assemblages of natural and semi-natural grasslands of the Hungarian Lowland are well-known, however, little is known about assemblages living in agricultural and anthropogenic habitats such as arable lands, roadsides, hedges, and riverbanks. Due to climate change, intensification of agriculture, and change of habitat use, these habitat types become increasingly important.
To collect data on these mainly unknown habitat types, a three-year study was carried out on the Orthoptera fauna and assemblages of the firth region of the Tisza and Sajó rivers. This area was mainly unknown, and our research contributes to increasing knowledge and provides a base for further investigations.
In the 40 sampling sites of the studied region, an occurrence of 30 Orthoptera species was recorded based on 2241 sampled individuals. In this study, we provide 540 new distribution data records of orthopterans that means an almost eightfold increase of the known data. Orthoptera assemblages of different agricultural habitat types showed significant differences considering both species richness and composition. Data suggested that non-cultivated habitat patches of dirt-roads, roadsides and stubble fields and even extensively used pastures, hayfields and alfalfa, red clover, and even wheat fields can preserve relatively species-rich Orthoptera assemblages. Contrary weedy sites of these cultivars and intensively used arable lands (maize, sunflower and rape fields) showed extremely low species diversity.
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Analysis of the genetic origin of European hare (Lepus europaeus) (technical literature review)
49-54Views:201Fossil datas showed that the lagomorphs appeared in Asia during the later Eocene and leporids separated from ochotonids during the Oligocen or Upper Eocene. During the Pleistocene, climatic changes induced major shifts in species distributions, forcing them to refugia.
In Europe, the continuous oscillations led to the production of greater subspecific and specific diversity in the southern peninsulas (Iberia, Italy, Balkan) which were the main refugial areas for other species as well. Evolution, phylogeny and population genetics of the Lagomorpha species are still poorly known and the taxonomic distinction is still unclear for some species. Conservation genetics is the discipline which use genetic techniques and analysis methods to preserve species and dynamics. Usually it is working together with population genetics what role is to investigate the origin, the maintenance, the organization and the causes of genetic variation between natural populations. In the present study I reviewed the results of origin and phylogenetic studies of Brown hare populations from the last decades.