Locations In Alberta Research Articles

GENOTYPE × ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN SMOOTH BROMEGRASS. I. YIELD

Twenty-one progenies and the parents of a 7 × 7 half diallel cross of smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) were evaluated at four locations in Alberta in each of two years, for genetic variation and genetic by environment interactions in the expression of their yield potentials. Years, locations and their interactions were highly significant in the combined analysis of variance. Combining ability analysis revealed that general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) were both important in the expression of yield, including spring, fall and annual yield, whereas GCA was more important than SCA for yield per area. Although the genotype × environment interactions were all highly significant, variation accounted for by combining ability effects was generally higher than the interaction effects of GCA and SCA respectively, with environments. High average GCA effects for spring, fall and annual yield were demonstrated for the clones UA5, UA9 and B42. These together with the high average SCA effects suggested that the three clones could be included in a synthetic to develop high yielding cultivars. The results suggested that recurrent selections involving multi-location and multi-year testing seems necessary in breeding for high yielding bromegrass cultivars in Alberta.

GENOTYPE × ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN SMOOTH BROMEGRASS. II. MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH FORAGE YIELD

The parents and progenies of a 7 × 7 diallel cross of smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) were evaluated for the genetic variability of some morphological characters and their associations with yield, at four locations in Alberta in 1976 and 1977. Locations, years and their interactions were highly significant for all characters and were subsequently treated as eight environments. The partition of the genotypic variance into general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) showed that for all morphological characters, GCA was more important than SCA, indicating the importance of additive genetic effects. The genotype × environment (GE) interactions were highly significant. Variation accounted for by GCA was generally higher than the interaction effects of GCA and SCA with environments. Phenotypic and genotypic correlation coefficients revealed that both tiller density and height were significantly correlated with yields. Path coefficient analysis also showed that tiller density, followed by leaf area and tiller dry weight, exerted the greatest direct influence on yield. Selection for large leaf area and more and heavier tillers per unit area would simultaneously increase bromegrass productivity. Furthermore, selection should be based on multi-year and multi-location tests.

Georgraphic and morphological variation in the presence and absence of the pelvic skeleton in the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans (Kirtland), in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Brook sticklebacks, Culaea inconstans (Kirtland), are known from 20 locations in Alberta and Saskatchewan in which a high proportion of the individuals lack all or part of the pelvic skeleton. These locations are interspersed and surrounded by other locations containing individuals with a normal pelvic skeleton. Individuals which lack the skeleton are of both sexes and are fertile in at least one of the lakes.Considerable variation exists between locations in the proportion of individuals with and without the pelvic skeleton. Morphological intermediates are known from most of the 20 locations and virtually all degrees of pelvic skeleton formation exist between its absence and its full development. Little or no gradation exists, however, in pelvic spine length between their absence and presence. Although the pelvic spines are the first part of the pelvic skeleton to appear during ontogeny, they are present only in intermediates with a virtually complete skeleton base. In addition, many intermediates are highly asymmetrical in their pelvic skeleton while development during the ontogeny of normal individuals is symmetrical.There is a greater tendency for individuals in which the pelvic skeleton is deficient to occur in lakes which lack an outlet rather than to occur in lakes with a permanent outlet. An unusually high proportion of the lakes with these aberrant individuals have been subject to fishery management activities (fish introduction and poisoning), but these disturbances are not causing the loss of the pelvic skeleton.

EFFECT OF VARIETY AND GROWING CONDITIONS ON THE PROTEIN AND AMINO ACID COMPOSITION OF RAPESEED

The protein content and the distribution of essential amino acids in the protein of six varieties or strains of rapeseed grown at three widely separated locations in Alberta, Beaverlodge, Edmonton and Lethbridge, were studied. Differences in protein content and amino acid distribution in the protein of the seed attributable to varietal or strain effects were noted. Turkish and Polish rapeseed were significantly lower in protein content than rapeseed of the Argentine variety. The Argentine variety and the two strains of Argentine-type studied were significantly lower in lysine than the Polish variety. Station differences in protein content approached significance at the 5 per cent level while location had a highly significant effect on the lysine content of the protein of the seed and significant effects on the histidine, arginine, phenylalanine and leucine content.

Sulphur Isotope Abundances in Petroleum and Associated Materials

A study has been made of the sulphur isotope ratios for petroleum from many different oil fields in the United States and Canada. The S34/S32 ratio for petroleum varies by about 4.5 per cent as compared with a total spread of about 9 per cent for terrestrial sulphur. The single large oil pools appear to be uniform in isotopic content. Also, oils from widely separated locations in Alberta, found in the same reservoir rock, have similar sulphur isotope ratios. On the other hand, the actual sulphur content of these latter oils may vary by a factor of 10. This result indicates that there is little or no fractionation of the sulphur isotopes in the maturation of the oil in which sulphur is lost. The fact that the H2S and its associated petroleu have similar sulphur isotope content is further evidence for this view. The sulphur isotope ratio for petroleum would seem, therefore, to give information concerning the isotopic content of the source sulphur at the time of petroleum formation. This in turn would reveal something about the environment in which the petroleum was formed. The very high S34 content of the petroleum in the recent sediments of the Uinta basin in Utah confirms the non-marine origin of these deposits. The decrease in S34 content with age and depth of petroleum deposit in the basin suggests a gradual S34 enrichment of the sulphate over a period of time in the enclosed lake, probably due to bacterial action.