Haploids and doubled haploids are invaluable for basic genetic studies and in crop improvement. A novel method of haploid induction through genetic engineering of the Centromere Histone Protein gene, CENH3, has been demonstrated in Arabidopsis. The present study was undertaken to develop haploid inducer (HI) lines of Brassica juncea based on the principles elaborated in Arabidopsis. B. juncea w...

The yeast actin cytoskeleton is polarized during most of the cell cycle. Certain environmental factors and mutations are associated with depolarization of the actin cytoskeleton. Is depolarization of the actin cytoskeleton a specific response, or is it a nonspecific reaction to harsh conditions or poor metabolism? If depolarization is a nonspecific response, then any mutation that slows growth ...

The present experiments were undertaken to determine whether, in parthenogenesis, heterozygous embryos develop better than homozygous embryos. Such experiments may provide an approach to elucidating whether fertilized embryos develop better than parthenogenetic ones because of heterozygosity, or if the sperm provides another contribution necessary for complete embryonic development. The parthen...

Predicting adaptive evolutionary trajectories is a primary goal of evolutionary biology. One can differentiate between forward and backward predictability, where forward predictability measures the likelihood of the same adaptive trajectory occurring in independent evolutions and backward predictability measures the likelihood of a particular adaptive path given the knowledge of starting and fi...

Doubled haploids are routinely created and phenotypically selected in plant breeding programs to accelerate the breeding cycle. Genomic selection, which makes use of both phenotypes and genotypes, has been shown to further improve genetic gain through prediction of performance before or without phenotypic characterization of novel germplasm. Additional opportunities exist to combine genomic pre...

We have identified and cloned a novel essential myosin I in Aspergillus nidulans called myoA. The 1,249-amino acid predicted polypeptide encoded by myoA is most similar to the amoeboid myosins I. Using affinity-purified antibodies against the unique myosin I carboxyl terminus, we have determined that MYOA is enriched at growing hyphal tips. Disruption of myoA by homologous recombination resulte...

The aim of this research was to improve our understanding of how ploidy level influences phenotype and gene expression in Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis). Haploid plants (2n = 10) was induced by 0.2% colchicine to produce diploid (2n = 20) and tetraploid plants (2n = 40). The aneuploid (2n = 24) was also obtained by hybridization between diploid plants as the female and tetra...

Mutations of the myosin heavy-chain (MHC) gene of Drosophila melanogaster were identified among a group of dominant flightless and recessive lethal mutants (map position 2-52, 36A8-B1,2). One mutation is a 0.1-kilobase deletion in the 5' region of the MHC gene and reduces MHC protein in the leg and thoracic muscles of heterozygotes to levels found in 36AC haploids. Three mutations are insertion...

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a single cyclin-dependent kinase, Cdc28, regulates both G1/S and G2/M phase transitions by associating with stage-specific cyclins. During progression through S phase and G2/M, Cdc28 is activated by the B-type cyclins Clb1-6. Because of functional redundancy, specific roles for individual Clbs have been difficult to assign. To help genetically define such roles, str...

Increased mitotic recombination enhances the risk for loss of heterozygosity, which contributes to the generation of cancer in humans. Defective DNA replication can result in elevated levels of recombination as well as mutagenesis and chromosome loss. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a null allele of the RAD27 gene, which encodes a structure-specific nuclease involved in Okazaki fragment ...