The replicative spread of retrotransposons in the genome creates new insertional polymorphisms, increasing retrotransposon numbers and potentially both their share of the genome and genome size. The BARE-1 retrotransposon constitutes a major, dispersed, active component of Hordeum genomes, and BARE-1 number is positively correlated with genome size. We have examined genome size and BARE-1 insertion patterns and number in wild barley, Hordeum spontaneum, in Evolution Canyon, Lower Nahal Oren, Mount Carmel, Israel, along a transect presenting sharply differing microclimates. BARE-1 has been sufficiently active for its insertional pattern to resolve individuals in a way consonant with their ecogeographical distribution in the canyon and to distinguish them from provenances outside the canyon. On both slopes, but especially on the drier south-facing slope, a simultaneous increase in the BARE-1 copy number and a decrease in the relative number lost through recombination, as measured by the abundance of solo long terminal repeats, appear to have driven the BARE-1 share of the genome upward with the height and dryness of the slope. The lower recombinational loss would favor maintenance of more full-length copies, enhancing the ability of the BARE-1 family to contribute to genome size growth. These local data are consistent with regional trends for BARE-1 in H. spontaneum across Israel and therefore may reflect adaptive selection for increasing genome size through retrotransposon activity.
In the past few decades performance measurement systems have been employed in the public sector to enforce accountability and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of operations. Performance measurement systems as part of research evaluation are a special case. In this article, the suitability of performance measurement for the evaluation of research is analysed, drawing on experiences from a group of 15 international agricultural research centres that conduct research with a development mission. The performance measurement system initiated by donors was intended to become part of a streamlined monitoring and evaluation system and to enhance transparency, accountability, learning, and decision making, including decisions about future funding. The experiences showed that: (i) there were large year-to-year fluctuations that were probably related to the selected indicators rather than actual performance, therefore undermining annual conclusions about performance; (ii) using the indicator information for resource allocation influenced performance reporting and emphasized comparison between centres; and (iii) performance measurement information was not used efficiently in other evaluations. The article examines lessons drawn from the objectives, expectations and results of the performance measurement exercise for planning monitoring systems for research in multi-partner settings.
Twenty varieties and breeders’ lines of winter rye, Secale cereale L., including Finnish, Polish, Russian, Swedish and Danish germplasm, were tested for their anther culture ability. To establish a reference point, the initial culture method was based on published results from rye anther culture. Following results from methodological studies, a modified protocol was tested on the same 19 winter rye lines. The modifications to the protocol included growth of mother plants under controlled greenhouse conditions, prolonged cold pretreatment of spikes for 3 weeks at 4°C, excision of anthers with microspores in the late uninucleate/binucleate developmental stage and induction on liquid medium supplemented with a buoyancy increasing component, Ficoll. With the modified protocol, the total production of green androgenetic plants increased nearly fivefold; it reached an average of 2.75% with the best line yielding 12.5%, while the proportion of green to albino plants increased by 50% to 25.1%. Eighteen rye lines showed green plant regeneration ability. Several genetically different winter rye lines with relatively good anther culture ability, yielding ≤ 1/% green plants per 100 anthers, were identified for the use in further methodical studies and for researching doubled haploidy in rye breeding.
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