Estudos sôbre o quiabeiro II: efeitos da autofecundação e do cruzamento

The present work deals with the study of the effects of selfing and crossing in pures lines of okra inbred for five generations and the methods of breeding in this plant. This work is party of a large program of this Dept. to study heterosis in plants naturally self pollinated. The technic of selfing consists of tying with a string the floral bud before anthesis. To make controlled crosses, it is necessary to emasculate the flowers removing the anthers with small forceps, and to cover the flowers with a bag and wait for 1 or 2 days until the blooming. Also, the male parents are covered with paper bags prior to flowering. Finally, the pollen is brushed lightly over the stigma of the emasculated flowers and the females unit rebagged. The authors have tried without sucess the technic of soda fountain straw used for cotton. The treatments were: I) Fl of the cross pure-line x foreign variety (not improved by breeding). II) Fl of the cross pure-line x parental variety and III) pure-line 5 generations inbred. In order to compare the production of these three treatments, a randomized blocks with 4 replications was designed; since we had 6 families in each treatment, the total number was: 4 replications x 3 treatments x 6 families: = 72. Each familiy was planted in lines of 10 plants. Owing to the design devised, the present experiment corresponds to a split-plot. The analysis of variance of the number and the weight of the pods is given in tables 2 and 4, and shows the following: 1) The production expressed in both numbers and weights of the cross, - pure lines x foreign variety - was statistically smaller than the others treatments, i, e., the cross of pure-lines x parental variety and the pure-lines; 2) The production of the treatments pure-lines x parental variety and selfed purelines was the same. It was proved that the selfing do not produce harmful effects in okra, it was benefical, since after 5 inbred generations the production was the same when compared with Fl of the parental variety. Also, the methods of pure-lines are indicated to improve varieties of okra.

Notes on the breeding behavior of lizards / by Karl P. Schmidt.

v.20:no.9(1935)

Male-female interaction during breeding and non-breeding seasons in Akodon azarae (Rodentia, Muridae)

Dyad encounters between male and female adults of Akodon azarae (Fischer, 1829) were analyzed by means of observational techniques in a natural closure during the breeding and non-breeding seasons. The animals were held in observation during 21 days, with daily 15-minute recordings of interindividual separation distance, relative displacements, characteristics of the male-female interaction, copulation, and construction and exclusive or shared use of nests by each pair. The couples, which bred successfully, showed, on average, the longest separation distance between male and female allowed by the closure. During the first two weeks of gestation the females exhibited more displacements than their respective mates did. The male-pregnant female encounters were significantly more aggressive than those recorded between pairs which did not breed successfully. During the non-breeding season a shorter average distance between individuals and a frequent use of nests shared by the pair were recorded. The results obtained are discussed within the framework of the social system of A. azarae.

Breeding activity of Scinax centralis (Anura, Hylidae) in Central Brazil

From January, 1997 to April, 1998, we studied breeding activity in a population of Scinax centralis Pombal & Bastos, 1996, in the state of Goiás, inside the Cerrado Biome, Brazil. The behavior of males and females in the choruses, the relationships between environmental variables and the presence of individuals, the spatial distribution pattern, amplexus and clutches were analyzed. The breeding season occurred from November to May. The majority of males began to call when they entered the chorus; they were defending their calling sites against other males. We found a positive correlation between the number of females and males in the choruses, but no significant correlation was observed between the operational sexual ratio (OSR, number of reproducing females/number of reproducing males) and the number of calling males. OSR was highly male-biased; on average, there were 40 males for each female. The presence of individuals was positively correlated with air temperature of two previous days and negatively correlated with rainfall on the observation day. Generally, males were non-randomly distributed and satellite males were observed. Females were larger and heavier than males. Egg number, but not diameter of the egg, was correlated with the female size.

First nesting record of the Bay-Capped Wren-Spinetail Spartonoica maluroides (Aves, Furnariidae) in Brazil, with nest and nestling descriptions and notes on breeding behavior

The only breeding record of Spartonoica maluroides (d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837) for Brazil is based on the observation of a fledgling in southern Rio Grande do Sul in January 1976. On 7 December 2005 we discovered a nest containing three nestlings at the southeastern end of Lagoa Pequena, municipality of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul. The nest was concealed at the base of a cavity in a Spartina densiflora (Poaceae) tussock located at the edge of a saltmarsh. The nest was built of fine pieces of dead Scirpus olneyi (Cyperaceae) and S. densiflora leaves firmly interlaced to the internal leaves of the tussock. Live leaves of S. densiflora lining the cavity comprised a substantial part of the nest's architecture, forming most of its upper lateral walls and roof. The lower section was more elaborate, resembling a deep cup and forming a distinct incubation chamber. Adults reached the nest's interior through an irregular apical opening amidst the leaves. The nest was 244 mm high and 140 mm wide. The incubation chamber had an external diameter of 138.5 mm, an internal diameter of 79.4 mm and was 86 mm deep. It was lined with fine leaves and white plant fibers. Nestlings were five to six days old. A total of 107 neossoptiles restricted to the capital, spinal and alar tracts were recorded in one nestling. The distribution of neossoptiles in the ocular region of S. maluroides forms a distinct pattern which can be typical of Furnariidae and related families. Two adults attended the nest, bringing small insects to the nestlings and removing fecal sacs. We recorded at least 74 visits to the nest during a ca. 6 h period during an afternoon. The average number of visits per hour was 12.8 ± 1.3. An adult bird spent on average 0.7 ± 0.56 minutes inside the nest attending nestlings. The nest remained unattended on average for 3.61 ± 3.13 minutes. The hour of the day had no influence on the amount of time spent by an adult in the nest or away from it. We returned to the area on 15 December 2005 and found the nest abandoned. Observations confirm that S. maluroides is a resident breeder in southern Brazil and that the saltmarshes of the Lagoa do Patos estuary are an important year-round habitat for the species. A nestling and the nest were collected to document the record.

Abundance, breeding and food of the Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea (Aves, Ardeidae) in the Patos Lagoon estuary, a recently colonized area in southern Brazil

We document the expansion of the breeding distribution of the Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758) to 850 km beyond its previous southern limit in South America. In addition we present data on abundance, breeding biology and food of the species in the Patos Lagoon estuary, the area which the species recently colonized. The maximum abundance recorded in the breeding colony and in a nocturnal roosting site was 53 and 49 individuals respectively. Nesting occurred from September to March. Birds nested in a mixed breeding colony together with about 3,000 breeding pairs of seven other species of Pelecaniformes, in a swampy forest near the margin of the estuary. Five nests were between 1.5 and 4.3 m from the ground, on the shrub Daphnopsis racemosa (Thymelaeaceae), on the trees Sebastiana brasiliensis (Euphorbiaceae) and Mimosa bimucronata (Leguminosae), or on the bamboo Bambusa sp. (Poaceae). Four nests produced two fledglings each, while one nest was abandoned. Of 13 grouped samples of food regurgitated by five nestlings, Pink Shrimp Farfantepenaeus paulensis (Perez-Farfante, 1967) constituted 70% in mass, while total length of ingested fishes and shrimps varied mostly between 20 and 50 mm. Estuarine prey items represented 99% of the total food mass. The recent southward expansion of the breeding range of the Little Blue Heron in South America may be a response to climate warming of the Patos Lagoon estuary. Degradation of estuaries in the southwestern Atlantic may also be forcing the birds to breed in areas outside previous geographical range.

Review of the breeding status of birds in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Information on the breeding biology of birds is essential for improving avian life-history theory and implementing sound management and conservation actions for these organisms. Comprehensive reviews of this kind of information are lacking for most Neotropical regions, including Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost Brazilian state. Aiming to update the knowledge on the reproductive status of birds in Rio Grande do Sul, we reviewed breeding records of all potential breeding species recorded in the state using a set of predefined, restrictive criteria for accepting breeding evidences as effective. Data satisfying our criteria were available for 165 species in the literature. We also collected novel breeding information obtained in the state for an additional 126 species, including observations for several species whose reproductive biology is poorly known. Among these are birds previously unknown to breed in Brazil. This new data and the critical review of the previous information resulted in a total of 291 species for which breeding evidences are accepted as effective. This corresponds to 54.7% of the 532 species considered either confirmed or potential breeders in the state. In addition to providing information on nesting dates, clutch size, nest architecture and breeding behavior of south Brazilian birds, our review serves as a benchmark for the adequate assessment of avian breeding records elsewhere. We hope to stimulate observers to rigorously document breeding events, especially for taxa for which basic information is lacking.

Transferring QTL technology to the pig breeding industry (PigQTech) - a demonstration project

The aim of the project has been to demonstrate how the farm animal breeding industry can utilise gene mapping technology to accelerate genetic improvement. Previous theoretical studies had suggested that the use of marker assisted selection could potentially increase the annual improvement for quantitative traits like backfat with about 10% and for more difficult traits such as meat quality and reproduction by as much as 40-60% compared with existing technology. The work has comprised two major tasks: 1. Commercially relevant populations have been screened for segregation at QTLs identified in experimental populations. The aim has been to establish optimal strategies for QTL detection in commercial pig populations and the extent to which QTLs explaining major phenotypic differences between divergent lines used in experimental studies also explain quantitative variation within commercial lines. The results are important for specifying future strategies for finding economically valuable QTLs. 2. Marker assisted backcrossing has been used to demonstrate how a QTL allele can be introgressed from one breed to another. The work has focused on the major fatness QTL on pig chromosome 4 previously identified in a wild pig/Large White intercross. The end result was not designed to be a commercially viable product in its own right, but the process has validated a number of points of major importance for the exploitation of QTLs in livestock.

Genetics: biased transmission of genomes according to parents of origin.

A new study shows that wood ant queens selectively pass the maternally-inherited half of their genome to their daughters and the paternally-inherited half to their sons. This system, which most likely evolved from ancestral hybridization, creates distinct genetic lineages.

Prenatal Representations of Family in Parents and Coparental Interactions as Predictors of Triadic Interactions During Infancy

In this study, we explored the predictive role of family interactions and family representations in mothers and fathers during pregnancy for postnatal motherfatherinfant interactions during the first 2 years after birth. Families (N = 42) were seen at the fifth month of pregnancy and at 3 and 18 months after birth. During pregnancy, parents were asked to play with their baby at the first meeting by using a doll in accordance with the procedure of the prenatal Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP; A. Corboz-Warnery & E. Fivaz-Depeursinge, 2001; E. Fivaz-Depeursinge, F. Frascarolo-Moutinot, & A. Corboz-Warnery, 2010). Family representations were assessed by administering the Family System Test (T. Gehring, 1998). Marital satisfaction and the history of the couple were assessed through self-reported questionnaires. At 3 and 18 months, family interactions were assessed in the postnatal LTP. Infant temperament was assessed through parent reports. Results show that (a) prenatal interactions and child temperament are the most important predictors of family interactions and (b) paternal representations are predictive of family interactions at 3 months. These results show that observational assessment of nascent family interactions is possible during pregnancy, which would allow early screening of family maladjustment. The findings also highlight the necessity of taking into account paternal representations as a significant variable in the development of family interactions.