A set of Bosnia and Herzegovina grapevine cultivars was analyzed by microsatellite markers in order to assess true cultivar identity, genetic relationships and to detect the level of genetic diversity. Survey expeditions resulted in the collection of 51 samples from 8 locations. By amplifying 22 SSR loci, 25 unique genotypes were detected, revealing new synonyms and homonyms. Parent-offspring relationship analysis resulted in one trio elucidating the parentage of the cultivar Zupljanka. Assessment of true cultivar identity, identification of synonym cultivars, i.e., duplicates, will be used for establishing a grapevine germplasm collection with maximum genetic variability and minimum number of plants.
COBISS.SI-ID: 7172473
Quantitative and qualitative studies of various aspects of the perception of biotechnology were conducted among 469 Slovenian high school students of average age 17 years. Our research aimed to explore relationships among students’ pre-knowledge of molecular and human genetics, and their attitudes to four specific biotechnological applications. These applications—Bt corn, genetically modified (GM) salmon, somatic and germ line gene therapy (GT)—were investigated from the viewpoints of usefulness, moral acceptance and risk perception. With all four biotechnological applications, patterns of both rationalistic—deontological and teleological—and intuitive moral reasoning were identified. Students with poorer genetics pre-knowledge applied an intuitive pattern of moral reasoning more frequently than their peers with better pre-knowledge. A pattern of emotive reasoning was detected only in the case of GM salmon. A relatively low quality of students’ moral reasoning, as demonstrated by their brief and small number of supporting justifications (explanations), show that there is a strong need for practising skills of argumentation about socio-scientific issues in Slovenian high schools on a much larger scale. The implications for future research and classroom applications are discussed.
COBISS.SI-ID: 6727033
Horse chestnut is a relict species considered to have horticultural and medical importance.. Androgenesis of horse chestnut was induced in microspores and anther culture on MS media. Some of the horse chestnut androgenic embryos were albinos. Addition of abscisic acid in media with horse chestnut androgenic embryos has circumvented the reproduction cycle barriers. The microspore culture proved to be a better model system for embryo production and albino embryo reduction than anther culture. Flow cytometry analysis after maturation treatments induced by ABA showed that 88 % of green embryos originating from microspore culture were haploid.
COBISS.SI-ID: 7381113
Genomic and cDNA sequences corresponding to a ferredoxin-sulfite reductase (SiR) have been cloned from bulb onion (Allium cepa L.) and the expression of the gene and activity of the enzyme characterized with respect to sulfur (S) supply. Cloning, mapping and expression studies revealed that onion has a single functional SiR gene and also expresses an unprocessed pseudogene (φ-SiR). In hydroponically-grown plants, levels of SiR transcripts were significantly higher in the roots of S-sufficient when compared with S-deficient plants of the pungent cultivar ‘W202A’ but not the less pungent cultivar ‘Texas Grano’. In a factorial field trial with and without sulfur fertilization, a statistically significant increase in SiR activity was observed in the leaves of the pungent cultivar ‘Kojak’ in response to added S but not in the less pungent cultivar ‘Encore’.
COBISS.SI-ID: 7272313
Brown rot fungus Monilinia laxa (Aderh. & Ruhl.) Honey is an important plant pathogen in stone and pome fruits in Europe. We applied a proteomic approach in a study of M. laxa isolates obtained from apples and appricots in order to show the host specifity of the isolates and to analyse differentially expressed proteins in terms of host specifity, fungal pathogenicity and identification of candidate proteins for diagnostic marker development. A total of 50 differentially expressed mycelium proteins, as shown by 2-DE, were r analyzed by LC-MS/MS, yielding 41 positive identifications. The identified mycelia proteins were functionally classified into 6 functional groups and some proteins expressed only in apple isolates have been described as virulence factors in other fungi. The acetolactate synthase was almost 11-fold more abundant in apple-specific isolates than in appricote isolates and might be implicated in M. laxa host specificity. Ten proteins identified only in apple isolates are potential candidates for the development of M. laxa host specific diagnostic markers.
COBISS.SI-ID: 7207289