Sorghum bicolor, a photosynthetically efficient C4 grass, represents an important source of grain, forage, fermentable sugars, and cellulosic fibers that can be utilized in myriad applications ranging from bioenergy to bioindustrial feedstocks. Sorghum’s efficient fixation of carbon per unit time per unit area per unit input has led to its classification as a preferred biomass crop highlighted by its designation as an advanced biofuel by the U.S. Department of Energy. Due to its extensive genetic diversity and worldwide colonization, sorghum has considerable diversity for a range of phenotypes influencing productivity, composition, and sink/source dynamics. To dissect the genetic basis of these key traits, we present a sorghum carbon-partitioning nested association mapping population generated by crossing 11 diverse founder lines with Grassl as the single recurrent female. By exploiting existing variation among cellulosic, forage, sweet and grain sorghum carbon partitioning regimes, the sorghum carbon-partitioning nested association mapping population will allow the identification of important biomass-associated traits, elucidate the genetic architecture underlying carbon partitioning and improve our understanding of the genetic determinants affecting unique phenotypes within Poaceae. We contrast this nested association mapping population with an existing grain population generated using Tx430 as the recurrent female. Genotypic data are assessed for quality by examining variant density, nucleotide diversity, linkage decay, and is validated using pericarp and testa phenotypes to map known genes affecting these phenotypes. We release the 11-family nested association mapping population along with corresponding genomic data for use in genetic, genomic, and agronomic studies with a focus on carbon-partitioning regimes.
The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a molecular biological technique for `amplifying' selected DNA sequences. In the decade after its invention, PCR has worked its way into numerous fields of practice. It was one of the DNA-profiling techniques which were subjected to detailed, critical scrutiny during the OJ Simpson trial. In this paper we `follow the technique around' to investigate how PCR is adapted to different circumstances in science, medicine, industry and criminal forensics. We examine how PCR adapted in different organizational contexts, and we also treat it as a cultural object in its own right. Interviews with staff scientists, managers, technicians, forensic case workers and others involved in the design and use of PCR indicate that this named and patented technique is both a stabilized artefact with standard uses in many circumstances of production, and a highly flexible and often problematic procedure. The paper explores the material and organizational contingencies which in some times and places give PCR impressive stability and industrial strength, and in others subvert its standardized and commercialized identity.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.