Browsing by Subject "winter"

Hybrid wheat has been the focus of much research for its potential high yield, high protein content and better resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Nowadays, only CHA (Chemical Hybridizing Agent) method is used to induce male sterility at a commercial scale. However, this technique is hard to implement on a large production scale and other methods have been investigated for several years. CMS (Cytoplasmic Male Sterility) has been shown to be a promising way to develop hybrid wheat. However, one downside of the technique is the challenging breeding stage step and the associated conversion and restoration process. To fully express the potential gain in yield, the restoration of the cytoplasmic sterility must be complete for the F1 to be fully fertile. In this study, we investigated different methods to assess fertility restoration in nursery and compared the results with the trial notations. The collected data were also used to feed a genomic selection model to predict the behavior of untested hybrids. The results showed a high experimental error of the bagging method originated mostly from human manipulation. The visual scoring showed higher repeatability but was poorly correlated with trial score. A deeper study of the trial scoring revealed an interesting effect coming from the female and an expression of sterility for commercial lines and CHA hybrid checks. Good prediction accuracies were found for genomic selection on both methods, however deeper studies and cross prediction are needed. The multilocation trials remained the best option to score fertility restoration

Mercury (Hg) is a heavy metal acknowledged as a worldwide contaminant that accumulates in organisms and biomagnifies in food webs. The organic methylmercury (MeHg) species is harmful to animals, including humans, and mainly derived from the diet. The dietary Hg consumed by fish is mostly removed through the intestine, but some of the MeHg bioaccumulates, especially in the white muscle tissue of fish. Perch (Perca fluviatilis) and roach (Rutilus rutilus) are commonly found fish species in Finland. Perch has additional im-portance as it is the national fish of Finland, a popular food fish, as well as a monitoring species used to evaluate the chemical status of lakes. Seasonal variation of Hg in muscle tissue of fish is supposedly caused by starvation in winter, which condenses Hg in the muscle, and growth dilution in summer, which refers to fast somatic growth during the growing season, which dilutes Hg in the muscle. Similar to winter, spawning has also been found to condense Hg in muscle tissue of fish due to high energy investment into gonad development. Seasonal variation of Hg and variables driving seasonal changes have been shown to differ between fish species. Seasonal variation has been studied mainly during the open-water season. However, less is known about how winter conditions under ice affect Hg levels in fish. In this MSc thesis, I asked (Q1) How total mercury (THg) content in the muscle tissue of perch and roach change annually? (Q2) How THg bioaccumulation in the muscle tissue of perch and roach change annually? (Q3) What are the factors explaining annual variation in THg content in the muscle tissue of perch and roach? The practical application of results was to discuss if annual variation should be considered in monitoring programs and human health questions. The materials used in this study were collected from Lake Pääjärvi monthly from March 2020 to March 2021. Fish were collected using gillnet series. Length, weight, sex, sexual maturity, stomach fullness, Fulton’s condition factor (K), and muscle THg were determined from each fish. The annual length-corrected THg content variation was tested using analysis of variance. The annual THg bioaccumulation variation in the relationship between muscle and fish length was tested using simple linear regression analysis, and the seasonal variation in THg bioaccumulation was tested with LOESS regression analysis. Variables affecting seasonal variation were tested with stepwise multiple linear regression analysis. THg content of perch was the highest in winter and spring and the lowest in fall, while roach showed no significant seasonal variation. THg bioaccumulation of both species was highest in winter, spring, and early summer and lowest in fall. Perch displayed more substantial seasonal variation than roach. Biological and environmental variables that explained the THg content of perch were length, ice thickness, gonadosomatic index (GSI), light, and condition factor. Variables that explained the THg content of roach were length, sex, and total phosphorus (Tot-P). This study confirmed that starvation in winter, growth dilution in summer, and spawning in spring/early summer are vital factors driving seasonal variation. Due to evident seasonal variation, monitoring month should be pre-set in current monitoring programs.

In winter plants are exposed to harsh winter conditions with low temperatures being one of the major challenging factors. Traditionally winter has been considered a period unfavourable for plant growth and activity, but newer findings reveal higher levels of activity than previously assumed possible. Adaptations to different winter conditions are observed between species but also within species between populations which can be expressed in differing phenology between populations. Dormancy is a widespread phenomenon in the plant kingdom with major importance in plant evolution. Dormancy is considered to be present in seeds and buds of a wide spectre of plant groups, but asexual reproductive units like bulbils have been thought to lack the ability to undergo the phenomenon of dormancy. Findings suggest that a dormancy-like phenomenon can also be present in bulbils. Allium oleraceum is a bulb forming geophyte with a widespread distribution in Europe that grows on many differing habitats. The predominate form of reproduction in the species is the vegetative formation of bulbils. The wide distribution has led to adaptation to different environmental conditions, furthermore the species displays six levels of polyploidi partially differing in traits like ecology. The differences between cytotypes are regional and there are large intracytotytpic variations. In Finland tetra- and pentaploid populations have been reported, differing in their distribution patterns. The Finnish cytotypes exhibit differences in morphology but there is also evidence for ecological differences between the cytotypes. In addition, there is an atypical tetraploid population which differ significantly morphologically from other tetraploid populations. The objective of this master’s project was to examine the growth of bulbils from three different origins of Allium oleraceum. Another objective of the experiment was to give information on differences between the cytotypes in Finland, tetra- and pentaploids, but also the atypical tetraploid cytotype. Furthermore, I investigated whether the bulbils exhibit a dormancy-like phenomenon, with a special focal point on dormancy according to Vegis’ theory (1964). Earlier findings have shown considerable capability of growth during winter in Allium oleraceum, which is also examined in this project. The experiment included collected bulbils from two localities. Tetra- and pentaploid bulbils were collected from a mixed population of both cytotypes in Tvärminne, Hangö, and tetraploid bulbils were also collected from the atypical tetraploid population on Sveaborg, Helsingfors. Growth experiments were done outside and in growth chambers with controlled temperature and light conditions. The bulbils were planted outside in early autumn. Of each origin one group was kept outside during the entire winter, one group was put in growth chambers in December and one group was put in growth chambers in February to examine the effect of differing winter length on growth. During the experiment, the timing of growth onset in bulbs and leaf growth was followed up. The origins included in this project exhibited considerable differences. The pentaploid cytotype from Tvärminne had bulbils of greater size than the tetraploid cytotypes, between which there was only an indication of a difference. For the bulbils from the atypical tetraploid population growth onset took place early in the autumn and the vast majority of the bulbils started growing in a short period of time. For the two origins from Tvärminne the growth onset took place later and a considerable number of bulbils started growing in the spring. The tetraploid cytotype from Tvärminne exhibited earlier growth onset and a higher share of bulbils started growing in the autumn than the pentaploid cytotype from Tvärminne. In the growth chambers the differences between the three origins were not as obvious but the two cytotypes from Tvärminne were affected by the timing of the experiment more than the atypical tetraploid cytotype from Sveaborg. The observed differences between the origins in the experiment are thought reflect the different distribution patterns of the cytotypes and could hence be adaptations to different conditions. The atypical tetraploid population could be of Central European origin which would mean that it could have adaptations to mild winters which would explain the big difference between this origin and the two other origins. Between the two experiments in the growth chambers significant differences were observed. The growth was considerably greater in February than in December for all origins, especially in the midmost temperatures. The observed differences between the two experiments signifies that bulbils of Allium oleraceum exhibits a dormancy-like phenomenon and according to Vegis’ theory. In contrary to earlier findings, only little growth was observed during winter. The lack of considerable growth could be explained by the thick snow cover which made the amount of light that reached the plants very low which then led to little growth. The results from this project suggest that there are differences between the three different origins of bulbils included. Further studies are needed to find out if the observer differences are adaptations to local conditions or if there are differences on a higher level between the Finnish cytotypes.