Six different putative UDP-glucose glucosyltransferase clones were isolated from a cassava cotyledon cDNA library probed with an Acc I-Bgl II restriction fragment from a UDP-glucose flavonoid 3-O-glucosyltransferase from Antirrhinum majus. The heterologous probe contained a glucosyltransferase consensus signature amino acid sequence which was also present in the cassava cDNA clones. Nucleotide and derived amino acid sequences are presented for two of the clones. Northern analysis showed different patterns of expression for the six genes in developing seedling tissues, indicating temporal and tissue-specific regulation. A comparative analysis was made of the six cassava clone derived amino acid sequences and other reported UDP-glucosyltransferase genes. Highly conserved residues in plant genes from three species allow redefinition of essential residues within the signature sequence for secondary plant product metabolism glucosyltransferase genes.

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This review has found that a wide range of internal and external factors impact the FP decision-making process. Key external issues related to current service delivery such as the provision and timing of FP information, and lack of referral from oncology to the fertility clinic. However, internal issues such as women's fears concerning the perceived risks associated with pursuing FP also hindered decision-making but these 'risks' were typically overestimated and non-evidence based. These findings suggest that the implementation of a range of decision support interventions may be of benefit within the clinical care pathway of FP and cancer. Women would benefit from the provision of more evidence-based FP information, ideally received at cancer diagnosis, in advance of seeing a fertility specialist, for example through the implementation of patient decision aids. Healthcare professionals in both oncology and fertility services may also benefit from the implementation of training programmes and educational tools targeted at improving the communication skills needed to improve collaborative decision-making and deliver care that is patient-centred. Exploration of the current barriers, both intellectual and practical, that prevent some patients from accepting FP will help care providers to do better for their patients in the future. Finally, the extent to which a poorer prognosis and moral, ethical and religious beliefs influence the FP decision-making process also warrant further research.

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The genetic structure, as assessed by isozymes, is described for three populations of outbreeding sexuals, three populations of obligate agamosperms, and six accessions of inbreeding sexual Taraxacum. Fifteen loci in 10 isozyme systems were identified, and isozyme bands were previously shown to be allelic in sexual x sexual and were confirmed as allelic in sexual x agamosperm crosses. Sexual x agamosperm crosses gave rise to both diploid sexual and tetraploid agamospermous offspring. Eight loci were found to be monomorphic, or almost so, in outbreeding sexuals and the agamosperms. Six loci were polymorphic in sexual outbreeders and two of the agamosperm populations; the third agamosperm population was polymorphic at only four loci. For outbreeding sexuals, genotype frequencies were consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibria. For the agamosperm populations, 14 out of 16 polymorphic loci were invariably heterozygous. In outbreeding sexual populations nearly all individuals had different genotypes. For two agamospermous populations, all individuals had the same genotype. For the third, three genotypes occurred. For the agamosperms all offspring studied showed the maternal genotype. For four of the inbreeding sexual accessions, all of the original siblings showed the same genotype, and their offspring only had maternal genotypes. For the fifth, one locus was polymorphic, but only homozygotes occurred in either generation. The sixth inbreeding accession, which may be partially outbred, was heterozygous at two loci in one individual, and heterozygous at one locus in another. These loci segregated in the offspring. With respect to various measures of genetic variation, sexual outbreeders and agamosperms were similar for the proportion of loci polymorphic, but this was lower in the inbreeders. The number of alleles per locus were similar for the sexual outbreeders and agamosperms, but this was higher in the inbreeders. Twice as many loci per individual were heterozygous in the agamosperms as in the sexual outbreeders, but the proportion heterozygous in the inbreeders was very low. Genotypic diversity was very high in the sexual outbreeders, and very low in the agamosperms. It was also very low within accessions, but high between accessions for the inbreeders.