A cotton PATE cDNA clone has a 1.7-kb insert with an coding region for 410 amino acids, lacking codons for the three N-terminal amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence of the PATE preprotein has a characteristic stromal-targeting domain and a 63% identity to the Arabidopsis FatB1 thioesterase sequence. A cotton genomic clone containing a 17.4-kb DNA segment was found to encompass a palmitoyl-ACP thioesterase (FatB1) gene. The gene spans 3.6 kb with six exons and five introns. The six exons are identical in nucleotide sequence to the open reading frame of the corresponding cDNA, and would encode a preprotein of 413 amino acids. The preprotein is identified as a FatB thioesterase from its deduced amino acid sequence similarity to those of other FatB thioesterase preproteins. A 5'-flanking region of 914 bp was sequenced, with the potential promoter/enhancer elements including basic helix-loop-helix elements (E box). Alkaline blot hybridization of cotton genomic DNA suggests the presence at least two FatB1 thioesterase genes in cotton. Four plasmid constructs for both constitutive and seed-specific anti-sense RNA suppression and gene-transgene co- suppression of PATE gene expression were successfully generated. Two overlapping cotton genomic clones were found to encompass a Δ-12 fatty acid desaturase (FAD2-3) …

Roseate spoonbills are colonial nesting birds with breeding grounds extending from the United States Gulf coast to the pampas of Argentina. The U.S. population suffered a severe bottleneck from 1890 to 1920. The population's recovery was slow and partially credited to migrations from Mexican rookeries, but a gene pool reduction would be expected. Five polymorphic Spoonbill autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci [three (GAT)n, one (AAAG)n and one (GT)n] and one Z/W-linked microsatellite exhibiting sex-specific dimorphism were isolated and characterized. The Z/W-linked STR locus accurately confirmed the sex of each bird. Allelic profiles for 51 spoonbills obtained from Dallas (Texas), Fort Worth (Texas) and Sedgwick County (Kansas) zoos revealed a non-continuous distribution of allele frequencies, consistent with the effects of a population bottleneck. Allelic frequencies also differed significantly between the isolated zoo populations. Although extra-pair copulations were suspected and difficult to document, zoos commonly used observational studies of mating pairs to determine familial relationships among adults and offspring. STR parentage analysis of recorded family relationships excluded one or both parents in 10/25 cases studied and it was further possible to identify alternative likely parents in each case. Mistaken familial relationships quickly lead to the loss of genetic variability in captive …

Putative cotton cDNA clones and cognate genomic clones for a palmitoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase (PATE) and an osmotin-like pathogenesis-related 5 (PR5) protein have been isolated and characterized. PATE is a class B fatty acid thioesterase with specificity for saturated long-chain fatty acids such as palmitate, and is implicated as a key enzyme to be targeted for regulation of fatty acid synthesis in order to alter cotton seed oil profiles. A nearly full-length 1.7-kb cDNA clone was isolated using a hybridization probe derived from an Arabidopsis PATE cDNA clone designated TE 3-2. A 17-kb genomic segment encompassing the PATE gene was also isolated, which has six exons and five introns with high sequence identity with other FatB cDNA/gene sequences. The deduced PATE preprotein amino acid sequence of 413 residues has putative signal sequences for targeting to the chloroplast stroma. PR5 proteins called osmotins are made in response to fungal pathogen stress or osmotic stress (water deprivation or salt exposure). Osmotins may actually form pores in fungal membranes, leading to osmotic rupture and destruction of the fungal cells. A cotton osmotin-like PR5 cDNA insert of 1,052 base-pairs was isolated and shown to encode a preprotein of 242 amino acids and is …