Pre-mRNA maturation in trypanosomatids occurs through a process called trans-splicing which involves excision of introns and union of exons in two independentIn the process of pre-mRNA maturation, known as splicing, the introns (non-coding regions of polypeptides) are removed from primary transcripts and the exons (coding regions) joined to form a contiguous sequence specifying a functional polypeptide. It was observed that the process is dependent on ribonucleoproteins, small molecules of RNA binding proteins with different forms and sizes, assembling a macromolecular complex called the spliceosome, where the maturation reaction takes place (Leningher et al. 1995). In trypanosomes, all the RNAs are processed by a mechanism different from that in mammals (cis-splicing) called trans-splicing, a process that involves the union of the exons in two independent transcripts. However, in recent studies it was observed that cis-splicing can also occur in the gene PAP (poly-A polymerase) of Trypanosoma brucei and T. cruzi, suggesting that both trans and cis-splicing, occur in these parasites, with a predominance of trans-splicing (Mair et al. 2000).The SL RNA or miniexon is a primary transcript synthesized independently of pre-mRNA and trans-spliced in all nuclear mRNA. The majority of mRNAs is synthesized as polycistronic precursors (Agabian 1990). T. brucei SL RNA contains an unusual cap structure consisting of 7-methylguanosine linked to four modified nucleosides. This modification of trypanosomatid SL sequence might be required for the function of the SL RNA in trans-splic-

RESUMO -O objetivo do presente trabalho foi analisar a diversidade genética e o desempenho agronômico de um grupo de linhagens avançadas e superiores de soja, oriundas de cruzamentos biparentais, quádruplos e óctuplos, para identificar futuras combinações superiores e promissoras. O experimento foi conduzido na área experimental da Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho", Campus de Jaboticabal, São Paulo. Os caracteres avaliados foram: número de dias para floração, altura da planta na floração, número de dias para maturidade, altura da planta na maturidade, altura de inserção da primeira vagem, número de ramos, número de vagens por planta, valor agronômico, acamamento, peso de cem sementes e produtividade de grãos. Para o cálculo das distâncias fenotípicas foi utilizada a distância generalizada de Mahalanobis e a contribuição relativa de cada caráter. Dentre os genótipos analisados, 19 linhagens obtiveram altos rendimentos, sendo superiores às testemunhas (V-max, CD 216, CD 219 e Conquista). A maior distância encontrada foi entre as linhagens JAB 41 e JAB 17 (279,81), seguidas por JAB 40 e JAB 17 (261,38) e entre JAB 40 e JAB 22 (255,46). Verificou-se a formação de seis grupos pelo agrupamento de Ward, indicando a presença de variabilidade genética entre as linhagens avaliadas. O aumento do número de genitores não foi determinante para o aumento da diversidade genética entre as linhagens, bem como não foi o fator responsável pelo agrupamento ou não dos genótipos avaliados. Palavras-chave:Glycine max. Dissimilaridade. Produtividade. Ward. ABSTRACT -The aim of this study was to analyse the genetic diversity and agronomic performance of a group of advanced and superior strains of soybean, derived from biparental, four-way and eight-way crosses, in order to identify future promising and superior combinations. The experiment was carried out in the experimental area of the Paulista State University, Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Jaboticabal Campus, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The characteristics under evaluation were: number of days to flowering, plant height at flowering, number of days to maturity, plant height at maturity, height of the first pod, number of branches, number of pods per plant, agronomic value, lodging, one hundred seed weight and seed yield. , The Mahalanobis distance and the relative contribution of each characteristic were used to calculate the phenotypic distances. Among the genotypes analysed, 19 strains displayed high productivity, being superior to the controls (V-max, CD 216, CD 219 and Conquista). The greatest distance found was between strains JAB 41 and JAB 17 (279.81), followed by JAB 40 and JAB 17 (261.38) and between JAB 40 and JAB 22 (255.46). There were six groups formed using the Ward method, indicating the presence of genetic variability among the tested strains. Increasing the number of parents had no effect on the increase in genetic diversity between the strains, and was not the factor responsible for the grouping or not of the genotypes under test.

The objective of the present study is the evaluation of genetic parameters in F 4 and F 5 soybean populations from two crosses, which are potentially resistant to Asian soybean rust. The genotypes were developed from the cross between parents, which were resistant and susceptible to the disease, and totaled 137 genotypes in generation F 4 and 283 genotypes in F 5. The experimental design was augmented blocks with two checks between the treatments. The following agronomic characters were evaluated: plant height at maturity, first pod insertion height, number of nodes and branches, agronomic value, lodging, number of pods and seeds per plant and seed production. After the genotypes were submitted to analyses of variance, heritability, and selection gains, it was observed that Cross 1 had superior progenies, which were potentially resistant to Asian soybean rust and also had good productivity.

Influence of supplementation of the culture medium on in vitro development of Jatropha curcas Influência da suplementação do meio de cultura no desenvolvimento in vitro de plântulas de Jatropha curcas

Jatropha belonging to Euphorbiaceae family has around 170 species distributed throughout tropical semi-arid regions of Africa and the Americas. Some of its species include Jatropha curcas L. (Physic Nut), Jatropha pohliana Müll.Arg. (Brazilian Purging Nut) and Jatropha gossypiifolia L. (Black Physic Nut). Phenotypic and genetic studies of a population are important for plant improvements, helping in the characterization of accesses, as well as facilitating selection of parental for directed crossings.Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate accesses of three Jatropha species from different regions of Brazil, through morphological characters and ISSR molecular markers, in order to group them according to the existing degree of divergence. A higher interspecific variability, rather than intraspecific, was observed among accesses, for morphological as well as molecular characters. Qualitative and quantitative characters showed variability between accesses and may serve as reference for future genetic studies. There was no relation between similarity patterns and geographical origin of accesses in the group analysis. Average percentage of polymorphism found for inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers between the studied accesses was 40.6%. A higher genetic variability interspecific was observed than intraspecific, suggesting the search for genetic variability among species Jatropha through interspecific crosses.

Focusing on the genetic traits, seed coat and hilum pigmentation, in soybeans destined for human consumption is necessary due to the relevance of these traits for product acceptability by the consumer market. We investigated the traits seed coat, hilum color and bleeding hilum, in F 2:3 populations originating from crosses between the soybean grain type ('BRSMG 810C' with yellow seed coat, black hilum, and gray pubescence; bleeding hilum and white flower) with food types ('BRSMG 790A' with yellow seed coat and hilum, brown pubescence, no bleeding hilum and purple flower; 'BRSMG 800A' with brown seed coat and hilum, brown pubescence, no bleeding hilum and purple flower).We evaluated 317 plants from cross A ('BRSMG 810C' x 'BRSMG 790A') and 357 plants from cross B ('BRSMG 810C' x 'BRSMG 800A'). The resulting progenies adjusted to the expected ratio, considering four genes (R/I/W/T) controlling the expression of seed coat and hilum pigmentation for both crosses. In cross B, genotypes ii prevented the expression of the W and T alleles in the seed coat pigmentation. The expression of the ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 18 (4): gmr18372 L.C.A.A. Teixeira et al. 2 bleeding hilum phenotype varied and presented monogenic inheritance, with complete dominance for no bleeding hilum. The genes responsible for bleeding hilum are linked with the T_ genotype (brown pubescence). Thus, in these crosses,hybridization was an efficient means to obtain genetic variability. This will aid in the production of for food grade soybean cultivars.

In soybean (Glycine max L.) breeding programs, segregation is normally observed, and it is not possible to have replicates of individuals because each genotype is a unique copy. Therefore, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used as a nondestructive tool to classify soybeans by genotypes and to predict oil content. A total of 260 soybean genotypes were divided into five classes, which were composed of 32, 52, 82, 46, and 49 samples of the BV, BVV, EB, JAB, and L class, respectively. NIR spectra were obtained using oven-dried samples (80 g) in a reflectance mode. A successive projection algorithm and genetic algorithm with linear discriminant analysis discriminated genotypes of the low (L class) from the high (EB class) for oil content (88.89% accuracy). The partial least square regression models for oil content were considered good (root mean square error of prediction of 0.96%). Therefore, NIRS can be used as a non-destructive tool in soybean breeding programs, but further investigation is necessary to improve the robustness of the models. It is important to note that to use the models, it is necessary to collect NIR spectra from dry soybean samples.