Identification of QTLs for resistance to leaf spots in cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) through GWAS analysis.

KEY MESSAGE: Two QTLs on ChrB09 significantly associated with both early and late leaf spots were identified by genome-wide association study in the US peanut mini-core collection. Early leaf spot (ELS) and late leaf spot (LLS) are two serious peanut diseases in the USA, causing tens of millions of dollars of annual economic losses. However, the genetic factors underlying resistance to those diseases in peanuts have not been well-studied. We conducted a genome-wide association study for the two peanut diseases using Affymetrix version 2.0 SNP array with 120 genotypes mainly coming from the US peanut mini-core collection. A total of 46 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified with phenotypic variation explained (PVE) from 10.19 to 24.11%, in which eighteen QTLs are for resistance to ELS and 28 QTLs for LLS. Among the 46 QTLs, there were four and two major QTLs with PVE higher than 16.99% for resistance ELS and LLS, respectively. Of the six major QTLs, five were located on the B sub-genome and only one was on the A sub-genome, which suggested that the B sub-genome has more potential resistance genomic regions than the A sub-genome. In addition, two genomic regions on chromosome B09 were found to provide significant resistance to both ELS and LLS. A total of 74 non-redundant genes were identified as resistance genes, among which, twelve candidate genes were in significant genomic regions including two candidate genes for both ELS and LLS, and other ten candidate genes for ELS. The QTLs and candidate genes obtained from this study will be useful to breed peanuts for resistances to the diseases.

Getting out of the game: desistance from drug trafficking.

BACKGROUND: This ethnographic study was conducted along the U.S.-Mexico border, the centre of the western hemispheric illicit drugs trade. It examines factors that encouraged or discouraged drug traffickers to "get out of the game" (a common slang reference to leaving the drug business). METHODS: In-depth, life history interviews were conducted of thirty ex-traffickers in the El Paso/Ciudad Juárez area. Participants discussed their experiences exiting drug trafficking and their retrospective, often conflicted, feelings about the trade. RESULTS: Although leaving drug trafficking is a complex and multi-faceted process, the principle factors for study participants were (1) punishment (by authorities or other traffickers), (2) self-image and identity, (3) social ties, (4) life course changes and (5) drug use/abuse. CONCLUSION: Traffickers often want to quit, but their divided self-identities make it difficult to relinquish the power and exhilaration they derive from the illicit drugs business. Harm reduction policies are needed that address the embeddedness of trafficker identities in dense webs of family, community, street gangs and transnational cartels, and the larger society, as well as the seductive appeal of Hollywood and pro-cartel narco-media. Traffickers need pathways that allow them to exit the illicit drugs business without surrendering their identity. Prison sentences are not enough to encourage traffickers to stop-also needed are culturally sensitive policies that help traffickers get out of the game and stay out.