Comprehensive genomic resources related to domestication and crop improvement traits in Lima bean

Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.), one of the five domesticated Phaseolus bean crops, shows a wide range of ecological adaptations along its distribution range from Mexico to Argentina. These adaptations make it a promising crop for improving food security under predicted scenarios of climate change in Latin America and elsewhere. In this work, we combine long and short read sequencing technologies with a dense genetic map from a biparental population to obtain the chromosome-level genome assembly for Lima bean. Annotation of 28,326 gene models show high diversity among 1917 genes with conserved domains related to disease resistance. Structural comparison across 22,180 orthologs with common bean reveals high genome synteny and five large intrachromosomal rearrangements. Population genomic analyses show that wild Lima bean is organized into six clusters with mostly non-overlapping distributions and that Mesomerican landraces can be further subdivided into three subclusters. RNA-seq data reveal 4275 differentially expressed genes, which can be related to pod dehiscence and seed development. We expect the resources presented here to serve as a solid basis to achieve a comprehensive view of the degree of convergent evolution of Phaseolus species under domestication and provide tools and information for breeding for climate change resiliency.

Does the Genomic Landscape of Species Divergence in Phaseolus Beans Coerce Parallel Signatures of Adaptation and Domestication?

Exploring the genomic architecture of species and populations divergence aids understanding how lineages evolve and adapt, and ultimately can show the repeatability of evolutionary processes. Yet, the genomic signatures associated with divergence are still relatively unexplored, leading to a knowledge gap on whether species divergence ultimately differs in its genetic architecture from divergence at other spatial scales (i.e., populations, ecotypes). Our goal in this research was to determine whether genomic islands of speciation are more prone to harbor within-species differentiation due to genomic features, suppressed recombination, smaller effective population size or increased drift, across repeated hierarchically nested levels of divergence. We used two species of Phaseolus beans with strong genepool and population sub-structure produced by multiple independent domestications each especially in Andean and Mesoamerican / Middle American geographies. We genotyped 22,531 GBS-derived SNP markers in 209 individuals of wild and cultivated Phaseolus vulgaris and Phaseolus lunatus. We identified six regions for species-associated divergence. Out of these divergence peaks, 21% were recovered in the four within-species between-genepool comparisons and in the five within-genepool wild-cultivated comparisons (some of the latter did retrieve genuine signatures of the well described multiple domestication syndromes). However, genomic regions with overall high relative differentiation (measured by FST) coincided with regions of low SNP density and regions of elevated delta divergence between-genepools (ΔDiv), independent of the scale of divergence. The divergence in chromosome Pv10 further coincided with a between-species pericentric inversion. These convergences suggest that shared variants are being recurrently fixed at replicated regions of the genome, and in a similar manner across different hierarchically nested levels of divergence, likely as result of genomic features that make certain regions more prone to accumulate islands of speciation and within-species divergence. In summary, neighboring signatures of speciation, adaptation and domestication in Phaseolus beans are influenced by ubiquitous genomic constrains, which may continue to fortuitously shape genomic differentiation at various others scales of divergence.

In-law relationships when a child is homosexual

The purpose of this study is to review related literature concerning in-law relationships and begin an empirical exploration of the relationship between parents of gay men and lesbians and their child's significant other. Three hundred forty-seven parents of lesbians and gay men were surveyed regarding their sexuality, religiosity, socioeconomic status, attitude toward homosexuality, years they have known their child was homosexual, number of other children in the family, and acceptance of their homosexual child's significant other. A model was designed and tested via analysis of covariance structures in the LISREL VII package (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1989). Results suggest that the proposed model and the model estimated for the data are not significantly different, indicating support for the model. Future research issues are offered.

Response of parents to learning that their child is homosexual and concern over AIDS: a national study

This study was a survey of 402 parents of gay and lesbian children from the northeastern, southern, midwestern, and western regions of the United States. Of particular interest was parental response to the knowledge of their child's homosexuality and the AIDS outbreak. Although parents suffered emotional upset upon learning of their children's homosexuality, many progressed through a five-stage grief process that ended with acceptance. Fear of the spread of AIDS, that their offspring might contract AIDS, or that their child might suffer from the backlash related to AIDS were concerns for most parents. Attitudes toward AIDS were not very different between mothers and fathers. However, older parents were more likely to have more positive attitudes toward AIDS than younger parents, and liberal parents were more likely to have a more positive outlook than their conservative counterparts.

Family backgrounds of gay fathers: a descriptive study

This study assessed data on the early family backgrounds of gay fathers with particular emphasis on parent-son relationships. Questionnaire responses from 30 gay fathers, derived from a larger nationwide study of 285 homosexual men from dignity chapters in the Northeastern, Midwestern, Southern, Southwestern, and Western United States were analyzed using chi-squared test of independence. Respondents reported growing up in intact homes where heterosexual relationships were modeled for them, pleasant memories existed, and marital discord was not commonplace. Although relationships with mothers were perceived to be slightly better than those with fathers, both maternal and paternal parent-child relationships were described more as adequate and positive than inadequate or negative.

Locus of control of unwed adolescent fathers versus adolescent nonfathers

20 unwed adolescent fathers ( M = 17.5 yr.) were matched by age with 20 nonfathers. Their responses to the Nowicki-Strickland scale suggest that adolescent fathers are not psychologically different in their ability to control outcomes in their lives than the controls.

Sex-role orientation of gay fathers versus gay nonfathers

This study compared the sex-role orientation of 30 gay fathers and 30 gay nonfathers from the Northeastern, Midwestern, Southern, Southwestern, and Western United States. Scores from the Bem Sex-role Inventory were analyzed by a chi squared test of independence. Analysis indicated that gay men who father children are no more masculine than gay men who do not father children. The myth linking masculinity and gay fatherhood was refuted, and these findings were presented as further evidence that sexual behavior and sex-role orientation are unrelated phenomena and develop out of separate experiences.

Sex role endorsement among homosexual men across the life span

This study assessed the sex role endorsement of homosexual men at different ages across the life span. A sample of homosexual men from dignity chapters in the northeastern, midwestern, southern, southwestern, and western United States was mailed a demographic questionnaire and th Bem Sex Role Inventory. Respondents were classified into four age brackets and categorized as androgynous, masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated. A pattern of diverse sex role endorsement was found from adolescence to maturity in which gay men were equally androgynous, masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated at each age level. This finding contradicted an earlier study of heterosexual men that reported increasing numbers of androgynous males with age. The contrast suggests that the sex role endorsement of gay men may be very different from their heterosexual counterparts. It was further suggested tht gay men are capable of meshing masculine and feminine aspects of their personalities early as well as later in life, that gay men do not comprise a homogeneous group, and that the stereotype of cross-gender role endorsement is unfounded.