Play Report: Twilight Imperium - 24th May 2015

Personal Log of Admiral Waaz, Commander of the Yssaril Military

I’ve just landed ground troops in the capital. It’s a bold move and I’m worried that I’ve made my play for the capital system of Mecatol Rex too early. My twin Dreadnought class ships were two systems away from the capital; too far away to support the invasion force. Maybe I’m a fool for revealing my intentions this early? But the opportunity was there! I had to take it! The Sardakk N’orr had Dreadnoughts two systems away from the capital as well and intelligence from our spies revealed that their admiral had ordered his ships to fly at flank speed, allowing them to reach the system before I could cope with them. Thankfully, the Yssaril Tribes are a wily race and sabotaged the enemy Dreadnoughts, buying us enough time to move our friendly Dreadnoughts into position to defend the capital system. The Sardakk N’orr moved into the Mecatol Rex system without their Dreadnoughts but their fleet damn near destroyed my forces regardless. Had it not been for the courageous efforts of the Yssaril engineers carrying out emergency repairs during the battle I shudder to think of the casualties we could have incurred. We’ve kept the system this time; I just hope we can hold it until the mission is finished.

Time passes…

We’ve made significant technology advances but I’ve still not yet completed my objective. In the intervening time the Sardakk N’orr have readied a huge invasion fleet and both the Universities of Jol-Nar and the diplomatic Xxcha Kingdom have increased their presence in the systems adjacent to Mecatol Rex. The Mentak Coalition, a race of deceitful pirates, have cut off the supply lines to Mecatol Rex, a situation made worse by Mecatol Rex recently being declared a holy planet on which industry is prohibited. My troops stationed there are dug in deep, but reinforcing the system is no longer an option. Outraged by my treatment of the Sardakk N’orr, the Emirates of Hacan launched a successful assault on a system containing two economically important Yssaril controlled planets. They are currently blockading the space dock in that system, preventing the production of new Yssaril ships. What is worse, of course, is that the Hacan now have a fleet of Dreadnoughts and Cruisers in flight range of the planet on which I was born and raised. I’m having to decide whether to commit resources to complete my objective or to protect the plant on which my family live; it’s a decision I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. I just need to maintain control of Mecatol Rex for a little longer, but all of these enemy fleets are making me nervous.

A new emperor is soon to take the imperial throne…

We did it! We bloody well did it! Our scientists finally finished the work they needed to do on Mecatol Rex; whatever we need that research for, it better be worth it. It couldn’t have happened sooner enough; the Sardakk N’orr armada was so close to Mecatol Rex that from the capital all you could see in the sky was menacing metal. Our fleet left the system just in time and were able to make it back into friendlier systems to reclaim terretories lost to the Hacan and defend our race’s ancestral home planets. With my primary objective completed, I was tasked with maintaining the Yssaril borders while final efforts to claim the imperial thone were enacted. We were too late. The piratical Mentak Coalition made a ruthless push to claim the home planets of the Xxcha Kingdom, winning them enough influence to take the throne. I can’t hide my disappointment about the lack of a Yssaril emperor, but I’m sure the Mentak will be suitable leaders. My only wish is for peace to be restored to this troubled galaxy.

Paper Summary: Functional alleles of the flowering time regulator FRIGIDA in the Brassica oleracea genome

Abbreviations

  • FRIGIDA - FRI
  • FLOWERING LOCUS C - FLC
  • FE SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE 2 - FSD2

Introduction

  • Vernalization requirement determines the life history strategy which plants adopt.
  • Flowering time influences the fitness of plants by affecting when plants set seed.
  • Flowering time also affects a number of agromonic traits by influencing the growth pattern of plants.
  • FRI gene expression represses flowering by promoting expression of FLC.

Notes

  • 2 FRI genes identified in Brassica oleracea: BolC.FRI.a and BolC.FRI.b.
  • Sequence analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana FRI and its orthologues in other species has identified a conserved region of 37 amino acids in the N-terminal region of the protein.
  • Both BolC.FRI.a and BolC.FRI.b contain this conserved region, providing evidence for them being FRI orthologues.
  • BolC.FRI.a maps to Brassica oleracea chromosome C3 and BolC.FRI.b maps to chromosome C9.
  • The two regions where BolC.FRI.a and BolC.FRI.b map are syntenic with Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 5, while FRI is located at the top of Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 4.
  • The orthologue of FRI in Arabidopsis lyrata is found in a region of the genome which is homologous to Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 5.
  • Within this region is an annotated gene model (AT5G51090), which shows homology to FRI and is likely to be a pseudogene, and FSD2 (AT5G51100).
  • Propose that a recombination event relocated FRI in Arabidopsis thaliana from chromosome 5 to chromosome 4.
  • This event left a non-functional remnant of FRI in a genomic position on chromosome 5 which is syntenic with FRI in other Brassicaceae.
  • Across 55 varieties of Brassica oleracea, 2 common alleles were identified for BolC.FRI.a.
  • Both common alleles of BolC.FRI.a were able to complement Arabidopsis thaliana plants which were mutant in FRI, indicating that both are functional.

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