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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Simulation of sugar kelp ( Saccharina latissima ) breeding guided by practices to accelerate genetic gains

Abstract Though Saccharina japonica cultivation has been established for many decades in East Asian countries, the domestication process of sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) in the Northeast United States is still at its infancy. In this study, by using data from our breeding experience, we will demonstrate how obstacles for accelerated genetic gain can be assessed using simulation approaches that inform resource allocation decisions. Thus far, we have used 140 wild sporophytes that were sampled in 2018 from the northern Gulf of Maine to southern New England. From these sporophytes, we sampled gametophytes and made and evaluated over 600 progeny sporophytes from crosses among the gametophytes in 2019 and 2020. The biphasic life cycle of kelp gives a great advantage in selective breeding as we can potentially select both on the sporophytes and gametophytes. However, several obstacles exist, such as the amount of time it takes to complete a breeding cycle, the number of gametophytes that can be maintained in the laboratory, and whether positive selection can be conducted on farm-tested sporophytes. Using the Gulf of Maine population characteristics for heritability and effective population size, we simulated a founder population of 1,000 individuals and evaluated the impact of overcoming these obstacles on rate of genetic gain. Our results showed that key factors to improve current genetic gain rely mainly on our ability to induce reproduction of the best farm-tested sporophytes, and to accelerate the clonal vegetative growth of released gametophytes so that enough gametophyte biomass is ready for making crosses by the next growing season. Overcoming these challenges could improve rates of genetic gain more than 2-fold. Future research should focus on conditions favorable for inducing spring reproduction, and on increasing the amount of gametophyte tissue available in time to make fall crosses in the same year.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Genetic analysis in the Collaborative Cross breeding population

Genetic reference populations in model organisms are critical resources for systems genetic analysis of disease related phenotypes. The breeding history of these inbred panels may influence detectable allelic and phenotypic diversity. The existing panel of common inbred strains reflects historical selection biases, and existing recombinant inbred panels have low allelic diversity. All such populations may be subject to consequences of inbreeding depression. The Collaborative Cross (CC) is a mouse reference population with high allelic diversity that is being constructed using a randomized breeding design that systematically outcrosses eight founder strains, followed by inbreeding to obtain new recombinant inbred strains. Five of the eight founders are common laboratory strains, and three are wild-derived. Since its inception, the partially inbred CC has been characterized for physiological, morphological, and behavioral traits. The construction of this population provided a unique opportunity to observe phenotypic variation as new allelic combinations arose through intercrossing and inbreeding to create new stable genetic combinations. Processes including inbreeding depression and its impact on allelic and phenotypic diversity were assessed. Phenotypic variation in the CC breeding population exceeds that of existing mouse genetic reference populations due to both high founder genetic diversity and novel epistatic combinations. However, some focal evidence of allele purging was detected including a suggestive QTL for litter size in a location of changing allele frequency. Despite these inescapable pressures, high diversity and precision for genetic mapping remain. These results demonstrate the potential of the CC population once completed and highlight implications for development of related populations. Supplementary material consists of Supplementary Table 1 Phenotypic means, variances, ranges and heritabilities for all traits and generations, Supplementary Table 2, all phenotypic values, Supplementary Table 3, multiple QTL mapping.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Additive and Non-Additive Genetic Variances for Tree Growth in Several Hybrid Poplar Populations and Implications Regarding Breeding Strategy

Populus species (P. deltoides, P. maximowiczii, P. nigra) and their inter-specific hybrids were tested for growth rate over a five year period at four test locations in Minnesota, USA, to estimate genetic variance components. The breeding scheme incorporated recurrent selection of full-sib families of pure species parents, production of F 1 inter-specific hybrids from selected families, and selection of clones within the F 1 s. Improvement of yield through time using this scheme is predicated on the assumption that additive effects comprise a significant portion of the total genetic variance. The estimates of additive and non-additive variances reported are not traditional point estimates, because a fully balanced mating design was impossible due to parental incompatibilities which result in incomplete breeding matrices. Instead, bounded estimates, not previously used in tree genetics research, are derived from linear combinations of formulae of genetic expectations observed among-family, among-clone, and environmental variances. Our results suggest that combined family and mass selection would lead to increases in growth rate of 27 % and 47 % per generation in P. deltoides and P. nigra , respectively. Broad sense-based clonal selection within the F 1 could yield selection responses in excess of 90 % of the mean of such populations. Among-family variance comprised about 1/3 of total genetic variance while within-family variance was always about 2/3 of total genetic variance, regardless of pedigree. With this beind said, the results indicate that recurrent intraspecific selective breeding followed by interspecific hybridization and non-recurrent selection based on broad sense genetic variation would constitute an effective yield improvement strategy.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

PWR core design, neutronics evaluation and fuel cycle analysis for thorium-uranium breeding recycle

This paper was focused on core design, neutronics evaluation and fuel cycle analysis for Thorium-Uranium Breeding Recycle in current PWRs, without any major change to the fuel lattice and the core internals, but substituting the UOX pellet with Thorium-based pellet. The fuel cycle analysis indicates that Thorium-Uranium Breeding Recycle is technically feasible in current PWRs. A 4-loop, 193-assembly PWR core utilizing 17 x 17 fuel assemblies (FAs) was taken as the model core. Two mixed cores were investigated respectively loaded with mixed reactor grade Plutonium-Thorium (PuThOX) FAs and mixed reactor grade {sup 233}U-Thorium (U{sub 3}ThOX) FAs on the basis of reference full Uranium oxide (UOX) equilibrium-cycle core. The UOX/PuThOX mixed core consists of 121 UOX FAs and 72 PuThOX FAs. The reactor grade {sup 233}U extracted from burnt PuThOX fuel was used to fabrication of U{sub 3}ThOX for starting Thorium-. Uranium breeding recycle. In UOX/U{sub 3}ThOX mixed core, the well designed U{sub 3}ThOX FAs with 1.94 w/o fissile uranium (mainly {sup 233}U) were located on the periphery of core as a blanket region. U{sub 3}ThOX FAs remained in-core for 6 cycles with the discharged burnup achieving 28 GWD/tHM. Compared with initially loading, the fissile material inventory in U{sub 3}ThOX fuel has increased by 7% via 1-year cooling after discharge. 157 UOX fuel assemblies were located in the inner of UOX/U{sub 3}ThOX mixed core refueling with 64 FAs at each cycle. The designed UOX/PuThOX and UOX/U{sub 3}ThOX mixed core satisfied related nuclear design criteria. The full core performance analyses have shown that mixed core with PuThOX loading has similar impacts as MOX on several neutronic characteristic parameters, such as reduced differential boron worth, higher critical boron concentration, more negative moderator temperature coefficient, reduced control rod worth, reduced shutdown margin, etc.; while mixed core with U{sub 3}ThOX loading on the periphery of core has no visible impacts on neutronic characteristics compared with reference full UOX core. The fuel cycle analysis has shown that {sup 233}U mono-recycling with U{sub 3}ThOX fuel could save 13% of natural uranium resource compared with UOX once through fuel cycle, slightly more than that of Plutonium single-recycling with MOX fuel. If {sup 233}U multi-recycling with U{sub 3}ThOX fuel is implemented, more natural uranium resource would be saved. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Growth Disparity in Sympatric Kokanee Breeding Groups

Abstract Growth is arguably the most important dynamic rate function due to its interaction with survival and recruitment. As such, understanding the mechanisms underlying growth is a primary focus of fisheries research. Kokanee Oncorhynchus nerka in Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho, provide an interesting case study for investigating the factors that influence growth. Early-run and late-run kokanee occur in Lake Pend Oreille, but early-run fish generally grow faster than late-run fish. The observed growth disparity between early- and late-run fish could be due to genetic differences between the two groups. Conversely, a common hatchery practice of slowing growth by reducing feed has been hypothesized to elicit a compensatory growth response in early-run fish and to explain the size difference between breeding groups. Using two different experiments, we tested the hypotheses that (1) early-run kokanee are genetically disposed to grow faster than late-run kokanee at identical water temperatures; and (2) feed restriction elicits a compensatory growth response in early-run kokanee that explains the observed size difference between breeding groups. Estimates of mean FL, weight, Fulton's condition factor (K), and specific growth rate (SGR) were not significantly different (P ≥ 0.05) between early-run and late-run fish in the first experiment. However, water temperature was positively related to mean FL, weight, K, and SGR for both breeding groups. Fish that were subjected to food deprivation exhibited an increased growth rate and obtained weights similar to those of control fish. Overall, our results suggest that early- and late-run fish have similar growth potential, but certain hatchery practices likely provide early-run fish with an initial advantage in growth, size, or both.

Klein, Zachary B.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Global interfertility and heterosis in sugar kelp populations: a next step in sugar kelp breeding

Abstract The potential of seaweed aquaculture is restricted by high labor, production and processing costs, leading to low economic viability. Selective breeding can improve yields and cultivation efficiency, thereby decreasing production costs. Until now, genetic resources as input for Saccharina latissimabreeding trials have been sourced strictly locally, due to concerns regarding outplanting genetically exogenous material in local waters. Here we study, for the first time, worldwide interregional fertility of the seaweedS. latissima,in order to assess the potential of including globalS. latissimagenetic resources for selective breeding with regard to heterosis. We quantified the yield (as an indicative aquacultural performance) and morphological traits of intra- and interregionalS. latissimahybrids originating from a broad range of locations in a common garden experiment. Our results show that the practical application of worldwideS. latissimagenetic resources in breeding programs is feasible based on global interfertility. We found a wide morphological diversity of hybrids and observed significant heterosis in interregional hybrids. The degree of heterosis could not be linked to geographic distance. These findings reveal that worldwide genetic resources can considerably contribute toS. latissimabreeding programs and could offer a major next step in improving yields and quality traits.

Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology↗
DOE OSTI2024

Efficacy and Costs of Restoring Wetland Breeding Habitat for Imperiled Amphibians in the Southeastern U.S.

Herbaceous isolated wetlands in the North American Southeastern Coastal Plain are important breeding sites for many imperiled amphibians. However, most are degraded from alterations to historic fire disturbance and hydrologic regimes. Without fire, encroaching woody vegetation can transition wetlands to more terrestrial conditions and negatively impact amphibian breeding habitat, yet few studies have experimentally tested the efficacy, cost, or temporal requirement of current methods to restore herbaceous wetland vegetation. Here, we tested the interaction of manipulating wetland canopy and leaf litter/duff to promote herbaceous vegetation within one year (i.e., one breeding season) in degraded herbaceous wetlands in South Carolina. We assessed plant response via herbaceous cover, composition, and species similarity to the wetland seed bank and then related treatment performance to treatment cost. Removing trees combined with burning, disturbing, or removing duff significantly increased herbaceous cover and proportions of wetland plants and graminoids. Removing trees alone did not improve herbaceous cover compared to closed-canopy controls, and manipulating duff alone had limited positive effects on plant cover and composition. The most expensive yet effective treatment was Tree Removal-Duff Removal, while Tree Removal-Duff Disturbance was the most cost-effective. At a minimum, we recommend removing trees and burning to kickstart herbaceous recovery. Promisingly, comparisons of our data with previous seed bank studies from these same wetlands indicate there was limited seed bank attrition during 30 years of woody encroachment. Results from this study should aid practitioners in choosing wetland restoration techniques to better conserve at-risk species in the Southeastern Coastal Plain.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

High throughput phenotyping to accelerate crop breeding and monitoring of diseases in the field

Effective implementation of technology that facilitates accurate and high-throughput screening of thousands of field-grown lines is critical for accelerating crop improvement and breeding strategies for higher yield and disease tolerance. Progress in the development of field-based high throughput phenotyping methods has advanced considerably in the last 10 years through technological progress in sensor development and high-performance computing. In this paper, we review recent advances in high throughput field phenotyping technologies designed to inform the genetics of quantitative traits, including crop yield and disease tolerance. Successful application of phenotyping platforms to advance crop breeding and identify and monitor disease requires: (1) high resolution of imaging and environmental sensors; (2) quality data products that facilitate computer vision, machine learning and GIS; (3) capacity infrastructure for data management and analysis; and (4) automated environmental data collection. Finally, accelerated breeding for agriculturally relevant crop traits is key to the development of improved varieties and is critically dependent on high-resolution, high-throughput field-scale phenotyping technologies that can efficiently discriminate better performing lines within a larger population and across multiple environments.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Four chromosome scale genomes and a pan-genome annotation to accelerate pecan tree breeding

Genome-enabled biotechnologies have the potential to accelerate breeding efforts in long-lived perennial crop species. Despite the transformative potential of molecular tools in pecan and other outcrossing tree species, highly heterozygous genomes, significant presence–absence gene content variation, and histories of interspecific hybridization have constrained breeding efforts. To overcome these challenges, here, we present diploid genome assemblies and annotations of four outbred pecan genotypes, including a PacBio HiFi chromosome-scale assembly of both haplotypes of the ‘Pawnee’ cultivar. Comparative analysis and pan-genome integration reveal substantial and likely adaptive interspecific genomic introgressions, including an over-retained haplotype introgressed from bitternut hickory into pecan breeding pedigrees. Further, by leveraging our pan-genome presence–absence and functional annotation database among genomes and within the two outbred haplotypes of the ‘Lakota’ genome, we identify candidate genes for pest and pathogen resistance. Combined, these analyses and resources highlight significant progress towards functional and quantitative genomics in highly diverse and outbred crops.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

X-ray investigation of cross-breed silk in cocoon, yarn and fabric forms

Recently Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute, Mysore developed many improved cross breeds and bivoltine hybrids. Newly developed cross breeds recorded fibre characteristics which are significantly superior over existing control hybrids. This aspect has been investigated using X-ray diffraction technique. We have employed line profile analysis to compute microstructural parameters. These parameters are compared with physical parameters of newly developed cross breed silk fibers for a better understanding of structure-property relation in these samples.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Detection of Breeding Blankets Using Antineutrinos

The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement between the United States and Russia makes arrangements for the disposal of 34 metric tons of excess weapon-grade plutonium. Under this agreement Russia plans to dispose of its excess stocks by processing the plutonium into fuel for fast breeder reactors. To meet the disposition requirements this fuel would be burned while the fast reactors are run as burners, i.e., without a natural uranium blanket that can be used to breed plutonium surrounding the core. Here, we discuss the potential application of antineutrino monitoring to the verification of the presence of a breeding blanket. We found that a 36 kg antineutrino detector, exploiting coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering and made of silicon could determine the presence of a breeding blanket at a liquid sodium cooled fast reactor at the 95 percent confidence level within 90 days.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2025

Numerical investigation of two-dimensional buoyancy-driven eddies in liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic flows in breeding blankets *

Abstract Lead–lithium flows are key features in the design of tokamak breeding blanket concepts such as the dual-coolant lead–lithium (DCLL). Since they flow under magnetic fields, they are affected by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects. The neutron flux originating in the tokamak plasma heats the breeding blanket channels in a non-uniform manner, inducing buoyancy forces in the liquid metal. Buoyancy may become a source of quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) turbulence, and the appearance of eddies may affect the transport of heat and tritium across the blanket. Blankets characterized by high-speed liquid metal flows (such as DCLL) will need ceramic insulating walls to reduce the MHD-related pressure drop in the channels. In our simulations, we have used the Q2D model proposed by Sommeria and Moreau (SM82) which is especially suitable for modeling electrically insulating channel flows. On top of that, we have modelled buoyancy forces in the momentum equation using the Oberbeck–Boussinesq approximation. In this work, we include a validation of the implemented Q2D model in buoyancy-driven cases and identify a thermohydraulic configuration that promotes the generation of eddies and the accumulation of tritium. We also show the results provided by our post-processing tool based on the bi-dimensional fast Fourier transform for eddy detection and characterization. We complete our investigation by performing an initial assessment of how eddies can accumulate tritium in the breeding blanket. We conclude by discussing the relevance of preventing accumulation of tritium within the blanket and suggest a possible solution.

Suarez, Daniel (ORCID:0000000251740100)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Post-composing ontology terms for efficient phenotyping in plant breeding

Abstract Ontologies are widely used in databases to standardize data, improving data quality, integration, and ease of comparison. Within ontologies tailored to diverse use cases, post-composing user-defined terms reconciles the demands for standardization on the one hand and flexibility on the other. In many instances of Breedbase, a digital ecosystem for plant breeding designed for genomic selection, the goal is to capture phenotypic data using highly curated and rigorous crop ontologies, while adapting to the specific requirements of plant breeders to record data quickly and efficiently. For example, post-composing enables users to tailor ontology terms to suit specific and granular use cases such as repeated measurements on different plant parts and special sample preparation techniques. To achieve this, we have implemented a post-composing tool based on orthogonal ontologies providing users with the ability to introduce additional levels of phenotyping granularity tailored to unique experimental designs. Post-composed terms are designed to be reused by all breeding programs within a Breedbase instance but are not exported to the crop reference ontologies. Breedbase users can post-compose terms across various categories, such as plant anatomy, treatments, temporal events, and breeding cycles, and, as a result, generate highly specific terms for more accurate phenotyping.

Mathematical & Computational Biology↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effects of exogenous GnRH administration on lambing performance of oestrus‐synchronized Kazak ewes during the breeding season

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of GnRH at insemination on lambing performance of Kazak ewes. Oestrus was synchronized in 774 adult Kazak ewes using an intravaginal sponge impregnated with flurogestone acetate. The sponge was left in the vagina for 12 days followed with an injection of 330 IU of eCG at sponge removal. Each ewe was inseminated twice at 48 h and 60 h after sponge removal. The treatment group ( n = 387) was intramuscularly injected at the first insemination with a dose of 25 μg GnRH and the control group ( n = 387) with saline solution. The results showed that GnRH administration significantly decreased the fertility rate. In addition, significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the twin birth rate, the abortion rate and the litter size. In conclusion, GnRH administration at insemination was not recommended in Kazak ewes undergoing the fixed time artificial insemination during the breeding season. The breed may be a critical determinant of the potential for the exploitation of GnRH application in sheep breeding programmes.

Zhang, Jing↗
DOE OSTI2014

Accelerating the Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) Breeding Cycle Using Genomic Selection Approaches

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a perennial grass undergoing development as a biofuel feedstock. One of the most important factors hindering breeding efforts in this species is the need for accurate measurement of biomass yield on a perhectare basis. Genomic selection on simple-to-measure traits that approximate biomass yield has the potential to significantly speed up the breeding cycle. Recent advances in switchgrass genomic and phenotypic resources are now making it possible to evaluate the potential of genomic selection of such traits. We leveraged these resources to study the ability of three widely-used genomic selection models to predict phenotypic values of morphological and biomass quality traits in an association panel consisting of predominantly northern adapted upland germplasm. High prediction accuracies were obtained for most of the traits, with standability having the highest ten-fold cross validation prediction accuracy (0.52). Moreover, the morphological traits generally had higher prediction accuracies than the biomass quality traits. Nevertheless, our results suggest that the quality of current genomic and phenotypic resources available for switchgrass is sufficiently high for genomic selection to significantly impact breeding efforts for biomass yield.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Selection Signatures Underlying Dramatic Male Inflorescence Transformation During Modern Hybrid Maize Breeding

Inflorescence capacity plays a crucial role in reproductive fitness in plants, and in production of hybrid crops. Maize is a monoecious species bearing separate male and female flowers (tassel and ear, respectively). The switch from open-pollinated populations of maize to hybrid-based breeding schemes in the early 20th century was accompanied by a dramatic reduction in tassel size, and the trend has continued with modern breeding over the recent decades. The goal of this study was to identify selection signatures in genes that may underlie this dramatic transformation. Using a population of 942 diverse inbred maize accessions and a nested association mapping population comprising three 200-line biparental populations, we measured 15 tassel morphological characteristics by manual and image-based methods. Genome-wide association studies identified 242 single nucleotide polymorphisms significantly associated with measured traits. We compared 41 unselected lines from the Iowa Stiff Stalk Synthetic (BSSS) population to 21 highly selected lines developed by modern commercial breeding programs, and found that tassel size and weight were reduced significantly. We assayed genetic differences between the two groups using three selection statistics: cross population extended haplotype homozogysity, cross-population composite likelihood ratio, and fixation index. All three statistics show evidence of selection at genomic regions associated with tassel morphology relative to genome-wide null distributions. These results support the tremendous effect, both phenotypic and genotypic, that selection has had on maize male inflorescence morphology.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Safeguarding Commercial Breed and Burn Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors

A new class of reactors is under development in the United States. These new reactor designs use fast neutron spectra and rely on fuel technology advancements to reach fleet-wide operating conditions where neither enrichment nor reprocessing fuel are required to sustain or grow the fleet. Achieving this level of operation requires nuclear fuel that can remain in the reactor environment for much longer than current limits. The transfer of irradiated fuel is also required as the initial fissile source for new and replacement reactors. This class of reactors is known as breed and burn reactors and can be deployed as a fleet whereby the transfer of fuel is used to power subsequent generations of reactors. The use of breed and burn reactors reduces, and potentially eliminates, the need for enrichment and reprocessing to sustain a reactor fleet. Currently, enrichment and reprocessing plants require extremely complicated safeguards implementation and offer States diversion pathways for indirect use material. By eliminating the need for these facilities, a nuclear power fleet based on the BREED AND BURN reactor concept has the potential to indirectly reduce the burden on IAEA safeguards. However, this complex dynamic system does pose new safeguards challenges that are explored further in this report.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development of Production Strains of Chlamydomonas Using Breeding Technologies

Chlamydomonas is a well-studied strain with excellent breeding capability. It can produce recombinant proteins in the raceway in the greenhouse. Increasing the pH of the culture resulted in a very stable cultivation process and cultures did not crash. This strain was not tolerant of high UV levels at KAF. This is can be probably easily overcome by breeding with a light tolerant strain. Overall Chlamydomonas is a very promising strain for production of recombinant proteins not only in the lab but also outdoors. It has excellent breeding capability and its progeny expressed the introduced protein for a long tiem. Chlamydomonas sp. produced lipids but overall lipid yield was low with highest lipid content of 15%. Chlamydomonas is a genus with a great potential for production of various specific proteins. It can be potentially cultivated outdoors and should be further investigated for production of specific molecules.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗