Diallel Analysis of Diplodia Ear Rot Resistance in Maize.

A diallel cross of seven inbreds and one synthetic line of maize were analyzed in 1994 and 1995 for their reaction to Diplodia ear rot. An additional inbred line was included in the 1995 analysis. Plants were inoculated by placing a pycnidiospore suspension (5 × 103 spores per ml) of Stenocarpella maydis in the whorl at the V14 to V15 growth stage. Crosses were evaluated for disease incidence of Diplodia ear rot at harvest, and the percentage of plants with Diplodia ear rot in a plot was used for analysis. In both years, general combining ability (GCA) effects were significant. In 1995, specific combining ability effects were also significant. There were no reciprocal effects. There was no significant interaction between year and genotypes, indicating that crosses reacted the same in both years. Inbred lines B37, H111, B68, and MS had negative GCA effects that contributed toward resistance in both years. VA26, with intermediate resistance to Diplodia ear rot, contributed toward susceptibility. Only inbred lines with a high degree of resistance should be used as parents.

Investigation of the influences of puberty, genetics, and environment on the composition of subgingival periodontal floras.

The classical twin model was utilized in this study in an attempt to determine the importance of host genetics to the composition of the subgingival flora. Simultaneously, the effect of puberty on the flora composition was assessed. The compositions of the floras were significantly different at ages 11 and 14 in the same people, indicating that transition to an adult flora composition may be initiated during puberty. However, the numbers of subjects who had prepubertal and postpubertal testosterone levels in this study were too small to demonstrate significant differences based solely on testosterone level (P = 0.053 and 0.11 for tests of unrelated members, i.e., all twins "a," the first twin of each pair, and all twins "b," the second twin of each pair). Sixteen unrelated 11-year-old subjects had prepubertal levels of less than 30 ng of testosterone per dl of serum, and only six of these unrelated subjects had levels above 300 ng/dl by age 14. Of their twin siblings, who formed the second group of unrelated individuals, 15 had prepubertal levels and only 5 reached postpubertal levels. Unpaired t tests indicated that Veillonella atypica, Prevotella denticola, and Prevotella melaninogenica were among the species that contributed most to changes in flora composition during puberty. The compositions of subgingival floras of 11-year-old monozygous and dizygous male twins were significantly more similar than those of unrelated subjects in the study (P = 0.004 and 0.009, respectively). At 12.5 years of age, the floras of monozygous twins remained more similar than those of unrelated subjects (P = 0.001), but the dizygous-twin floras were not significantly more similar than those of unrelated people. This difference corresponded with moderate and varied testosterone levels within dizygous-twin pairs at age 12.5. By age 14 both monozygous and dizygous twins again had floras with compositions more similar than those of unrelated people (P = 0.008 and 0.002, respectively). Estimates of the genetic contributions to the increased similarity of the floras of twins as compared with floras of unrelated people indicated that the concentrations of several species in the flora may be influenced by host genetic factors. The prevalence of certain other species appeared to be controlled primarily by environment.

Growth impact of O3, NO 2 and/or SO 2 on pinus taeda.

Seedlings of two full-sib families of loblolly pine expressing different degrees of sensitivity to O3 were exposed to 0.05 ppm O3, 0.10 ppm NO2, and/or 0.14 ppm SO2 for 6 hr/day for 28 consecutive days. The treatments were O3, NO2, SO2 (each used alone), O3+SO2, O3+NO2, and O3+NO2+SO2. Significant growth suppressions were noted with the relatively sensitive family in all but the the NO2 alone treatments. The O3+SO2 treatment had a more significant effect than O3 alone, but adding NO2 had an inconsistent effect. Significant growth suppressions were noted for the relatively non-sensitive family only in the O3+SO2 and O3+SO2+NO2 combination treatments. Adding NO2 to O3+SO2 had a slightly stimulatory effect. The relatively sensitive pine family suffered a 30% height growth suppression versus a 14% height growth suppression for the relatively insensitive family when exposed to the 3 pollutant combination. Symptoms were noted on less than 4% of the foliage in the most severe treatments. The pollutant concentrations used in this study were below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for each pollutant.