Relationships between morphological descriptors and RAPD markers for assessing genetic variability in Hippophae rhamnoides L.

Knowledge of genetic relatedness among accessions of germplasm is necessary for the development of breeding strategies to produce improved cultivars. The present investigation on Hippophae rhamnoides was carried out to assess its genetic variability in Himachal Pradesh, India, by employing morphological and RAPD markers. Different areas of Himachal Pradesh were surveyed and eight sites were finally selected Twenty four genotypes were selected for further studies, i.e., three genotypes from each site. On the basis of morphological studies, the genotypes of the Ropa site （Kinnaur） were considered elite genotypes. To assess the variability at the molecular level, RAPD patterns were studied by random primers. The total number of bands amplified was 607, out of which 487 bands were identified as polymorphic, depicting 80.23 per cent variability. Six unique bands were produced from three primers （OPA- 05, OPA-10 and OPD-08） specific for five genotypes, including three genotypes of the Ropa site, Kinnaur District.

Morphological Characterization of Mango （Mangifera indica） Accessions Based on Brazilian Adapted Descriptors

The aim of this study was to characterize 103 mango accessions of the field germplasm collection of Embrapa semi-arid region, located in Juazeiro, Bahia, Brazil and to apply 50 morphological descriptors established by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, livestock and supply to help in the development of new mango cultivars for the Northeastern region of Brazil. Four trees were selected for each accession and eight adult leaves, eight flowers and 16 fruits were collected from each tree. Morphological characteristics ranging from plant size to seed embryo were evaluated. Simple percentages were estimated for all the descriptors. Only the descriptors for leaf symmetry and fruit waxiness did not show variability among the accessions. Eight accessions did not show fruits with fibers, while nine other accessions presented flesh firmness, which is an important characteristic to improve breeding. The soluble solids content was high, above 14 ~Brix for 95% of the accessions with Tommy Atkins showing the lowest value, 12.5 ~Brix. A great diversity was found in the color of the epidermis ranging from green to red. The accessions Amrapali and Salitre presented a dark orange flesh color. The obtained data set, are the most comprehensive so far in Brazil, it allows choosing the best parents to develop new cultivars and will also contribute to the protection of mango cultivars in Brazil.

Morphological Characterization in Wild Species of Heliconias(Heliconia spp)in Mexico

In Mexico, the utilization of native heliconias germplasm for preservation and genetic improvement purposes, has been limited partly because of the unawareness between their population similarities and differences, and because of the degree of genetic divergence that exists among the interspecific and intraspecific ecotypes originated from different regions of the humid tropics. The objective of the present study was to morphological characterization wild species of the genus Heliconias in Mexico through some qualitative and quantitative morphological descriptors. Fifty-five qualitative and quantitative morphological characters were studied in 25 accessions from 11 native species. Characters of plant, leaf, inflorescence, flower, fruit, and seed were taken into account. Data was analyzed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. Two analyses were carried out: the first one was for the 25 accessions that included characters of flower (55 variables), whereas the second was for only 19 accessions (66 variables) concluded until seed. The first six components explained a 69.4% of the total variation based on PCA. The variables which contributed most significantly were: leaf length (p < 0.001), limb width (p < 0.001), limb's petiole length (p < 0.001), pseudostem thickness (p < 0.05)/width at 60 cm (p < 0.05), rachis width (p < 0.05)/thickness (p < 0.001), second bract width (p < 0.001), growth (p < 0.001) and type of inflorescence (p < 0.05), petiole (p < 0.05) and peduncle length (p < 0.05), rachis color (p < 0.05), and wax in limb (p < 0.05) and in pseudostem (p < 0.05). Thirty-eight descriptors were suggested to differentiate wild species of heliconias in Mexico.

A New Electronic Instrumentation Approach for the Acquisition of Microscopic Blood Smear Images for the Automatic Diagnosis of Anemia

Anemia is a blood abnormality that affects the quantity and quality of red blood cells in the human body. This sometimes banal sign spares no continent and no social stratum. This anomaly is generally appreciated through biological analyzes of patients’ blood. These analyzes, which boil down to the knowledge of hemato-metric constants, cannot by themselves allow the characterization of certain forms of anemia in the sense that most anemia are related to the morphology and color of red blood cells. Our work in this paper is to perform blood smears on patients and perform a morphological and colorimetric analysis of red blood cells on these smears. This approach allowed us to highlight on each erythrocyte morphological and colorimetric descriptors to accurately identify the types of anemia by image processing methods. This identification is performed in an automated environment to allow pathologists to respond quickly to anemia-related emergencies and also improve the treatment to be conducted. This automation required the implementation of a new approach to electronic instrumentation and the acquisition of microscopic blood smear images for the automatic and rapid diagnosis of anemia.