Spring emergence and canopy development strategies in miscanthus hybrids in Mediterranean, continental and maritime European climates. GCB Bioenergy.

Wild relatives of domesticated Capsicum represent substantial genetic diversity and thus sources of traits of potential interest. Furthermore, the hybridization compatibility between members of Capsicum species complexes remains unresolved. Improving our understanding of the relationship between Capsicum species relatedness and their ability to form hybrids is a highly pertinent issue. Through the development of novel interspecific hybrids in this study, we demonstrate interspecies compatibility is not necessarily reflected in relatedness according to established Capsicum genepool complexes. Based on a phylogeny constructed by genotyping using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and with a portion of the waxy locus, and through principal component analysis (PCA) of phenotypic data, we clarify the relationships among wild and domesticated Capsicum species. Together, the phylogeny and hybridization studies provide evidence for the misidentification of a number of species from the World Vegetable Center genebank included in this study. The World Vegetable Center holds the largest collection of Capsicum genetic material globally, therefore this may reflect a wider issue in the misidentification of Capsicum wild relatives. The findings presented here provide insight into an apparent disconnect between compatibility and relatedness in the Capsicum genus, which will be valuable in identifying candidates for future breeding programs.

A formaldehyde-fixed cell vaccine in adjuvant (syngeneic cells infected with a vaccinia virus recombinant expressing gp160: vacc-gp160) stimulated only nonneutralizing antibody when used on its own in four strains of mice, but a similar nonfixed cell vaccine stimulated neutralizing antibodies up to a titer of 1/320 in C57BL/6 (H-2b) mice previously infected with live vacc-gp160. Synthesis of ELISA antibodies to rgp120 or rgp160 did not correspond closely to the synthesis of neutralizing antibodies and should not therefore be used to monitor the production of neutralizing antibody. The ELISA antibody response produced by boosting with the cell vaccine made with the vaccinia virus expressing gp160 under the control of a T7 promoter (vacc-gp160-PT7) was as high as that in mice given an approximately 10-fold higher dose of purified rgp160. The ELISA antibody response to the cell vaccine made with vacc-gp160-PT7 was better than that in which gp160 was expressed under the vaccinia early/late promoter (vacc-gp160-P7.5). Nearly all mice (92%; 11 of 12) primed by infection with vacc-gp160 produced comparable levels of neutralizing antibodies after a single boost with rgp160, vacc-gp160-PT7-infected cells, or vacc-gp160-P7.5-infected cells. Neutralization titers peaked at around day 22 after boost, and declined by day 29. A second boost with the same vacc-gp160-infected cells gave increased neutralizing titers in all (eight of eight) mice.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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