Academic literature on the topic 'Laboratory domestication'

This research aimed to evaluated the growth performance of eyespot rasbora (Brevibora dorsiocellata) feeding with different feed in cultured conditions on early stage of domestication. The fishes was collected from river among Balunijuk Village, Bangka Residence. It’s conducted on February until March 2019 at Laboratory of Aquaculture Sub-Laboratory of Hatchery, University of Bangka Belitung. A kinds of feed on this tretment was blood worms (Tubificidae) and commercial feed (pellet). The parameters observed in this research was surival rates, absolute weight and length and feed consumptions level. The result showed that the survival value ranged on 90-100%., the absolute weight was 0,12±0,02 until 0,17±0,02 grams, the absolute length was 0,69±0,17 until 0,79±0,06 cm and a feed consumptions level was 10±0,58 until 11±1,00 gram. In common, the eyespot rasbora (Brevibora dorsiocellata) showed the postively responses on early stage of domestications with different feed on cultured medium.Keywords : Bangka Island, Brevibora dosrsiocellata, Domestication, Eyespot Rasbora

The process of domestication in fish is fundamentally important to conservation efforts because of the extensive use of hatcheries to mitigate population declines. Research into the genetic changes associated with the domestication process in many endangered species is impeded by a lack of genomic tools, long generation times, and large space requirements. The study of the genetics of fish domestication could therefore benefit from the introduction of a model system. In this paper, we document behavioral and growth rate differences observed between a domesticated laboratory strain of zebra danio (Danio rerio) and a strain newly introduced into the laboratory from its native habitat in India. Domesticated zebra danio showed a higher degree of surface orientation, a reduced startle response, and higher growth rate compared with wild zebra danio. Wild–domesticated interstrain hybrids were intermediate in phenotype for all traits. When strains were reared together, most interstrain behavioral differences were maintained, indicating a genetic basis underlying the interstrain phenotypic variation. Phenotypic differences observed in this study are consistent with the effects of domestication in other fish species, indicating that the zebra danio can be used as a model system for studying the genetics of the domestication process in fish.

The paper reviews the findings of two research groups, published in the journal Nature, that focus on the genetic aspects of horses domestication in the Bronze Age. Creating coherence and overcoming the contradictions between the data of paleogenetics and archeology through meta-description, which is based on the prevalence of selection, turns into the some controversial conclusions, including: extrapolation caused by the transfer of anthropomorphic characteristics to the physiological characteristics of the horse and the reduction of actors of social processes to genetic markers. In the context of articles on medical genetics and sociology of science, it is proposed to overcome controversies through a change in the optics of analysis of genetic data in the problem of domestication: rejection of the meta-description of the researching phenomena and the actualization of the logic of meeting social needs and mutational variability preceding domestication. In addition, the paper deals with the problem of interpreting the genetic data of horse domestication only as a hypothesis. The problem is that there is a significant chronological gap of 500-700 years between genetic ancestors and genuine domestic horses (Dom-2). This period includes such significant archaeological cultures as Abashevskaya, post-Poltavka Volga-Ural and others.

Gelidium latifolium is one of red seaweed types potentially can be developed as an industrial raw material. Since Gelidium is currently taken from ocean, the availability of seaweed from aquaculture is necessary to overcome the small number of its availability in nature. In Indonesia, G. latifolium cultivation has not been carried out so that domestication is required. The use of macro and micro nutrients in growth media is essentially needed for the domestication process. Domestication requires fast media and place for growth. The purpose of this study is to determine the growth of biomass and the survival of G. latifolium in different culture media. The study was conducted in a semi-outdoor research laboratory. The method used in this research is laboratory experimental method and Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with the treatment applied using 3 types of culture media (Urea: Za: TSP) by comparison (A) 100: 50: 50% (2 g.L-1), (B) 75: 75: 50% (2 g.L-1) and (C) 75: 50: 75% (2 g.L-1), with 3 replications. The seaweed was kept in 10 L of water in aeration equipped aquarium and filled with 10 g of G. latifolium on each treatment. The best growth rate of G. latifolium biomass is 5.67± 0.58 g and 100±0% are survived in C culture medium with a concentration of 75% Urea: 50% ZA: 75% TSP (2 g.L-1).

Cette thèse est le fruit d’une enquête historique et anthropologique sur les sciences de la vie. Il s’agit de questionner les sciences sous l’angle de la matérialité des pratiques, comme un ensemble d’activités et d’institutions caractéristiques de l’époque moderne. Pour cela, nous avons retracé le parcours scientifique d’un animal singulier, un mollusque marin : la limace aplysie. Le choix d’un tel animal a été guidé par l’importance particulière accordée à l’aplysie par une partie de la communauté des neurobiologistes durant la seconde moitié du XXème siècle. La limace est alors devenue célèbre auprès des biologistes et même au-delà du monde scientifique, après que le neurobiologiste Eric Kandel se soit approprié l’animal pour en faire le modèle phare de ses recherches sur la mémoire à l’échelle des neurones, durant environ un demi-siècle. Le succès de ses travaux, rarement égalé dans son champ de recherche, sera récompensé par le prix Nobel en 2000. Notre histoire commence néanmoins au XVIème siècle, nous décrivons ainsi comment l’aplysie est devenue un objet d’étude pour l’histoire naturelle, puis un animal scientifique pour la biologie naissante. Nous nous focalisons enfin principalement sur la transformation de l’aplysie en un modèle pour la neurobiologie. Nous retraçons ainsi le parcours de domestication de l’aplysie, dont les étapes correspondent à la domestication de la nature par les sciences de la vie, et reflètent les évolutions de la modernité industrielle. En parallèle de ce travail historique, rédigé à partir de sources écrites, des ouvrages scientifiques, des autobiographies et de nombreux articles publiés dans des revues spécialisées, nous avons aussi mené une enquête de terrain selon la méthode de l’observation participante. Pour réaliser cette ethnographie, nous avons passé six mois environ dans un laboratoire de neurobiologie à Bordeaux, auprès de scientifiques dont les recherches sur l’aplysie prolongent et renouvellent celles initiées par Kandel dans les années 1960
This thesis is a historical and anthropological investigation on life sciences. It investigates sciences from the perspective of the materiality of practices, as a set of practices and institutions that characterizes the modern period. To this end, we have retraced the scientific trajectory of a singular animal, a marine mollusk : the sea slug Aplysia. The choice of such an animal was motivated by the peculiar importance attached to Aplysia by many neurobiologists during the second half of the 20th century. The sea slug became famous to biologists and beyond the scientific world, when the neurobiologist Eric Kandel chose it as the flagship model for his researches on memory at the neural and molecular scale, during half a century. The great success of his work, rarely equaled in his field of research, was rewarded by the Nobel Prize in 2000. Nevertheless, our narrative begins in the sixteenth century. We describe how Aplysia became an object of study for natural history, then a scientific animal for nascent biology. Finally, we focus on the transformation of Aplysia into a model organism for neurobiology. Then we retrace the course of the domestication of Aplysia, which reflects the domestication of nature by life sciences embedded in industrial modernity.In parallel with this historical account based on written sources, scientific books, autobiographies and numerous articles published in specialized journals, we also conducted a field survey using the participant observation method. To conduct this ethnography, we spent about six months in a neurobiology laboratory in Bordeaux, with scientists whose researches on Aplysia extend and renew those initiated by Kandel in the 1960s

Esta tese procura articular a pesquisa etnográfica em laboratórios de biologia, genética e bioquímica na qual se destacam os recintos como ambientes de domesticação científica de agentes orgânicos ao pensamento da evolução, abordado pela leitura da obra de Charles Darwin, uma vez que a concepção sobre a variação e a conservação das formas orgânicas, nas expressões deste autor, revela-se fundamento das práticas daqueles laboratórios. O estudo aqui proposto busca contribuir para o debate em torno de uma antropologia da ciência e da modernidade, inspirando-se nos escritos Bruno Latour.
This dissertation proposes an articulation between ethnographical research in laboratories (biology, genetics and biochemistry) in which precincts as environments of scientifical domestication of organic agents stands out and evolutionary thought, considered through Charles Darwins works, insofar as the concept of «variation» and «conservation» of «organic forms», in his saying, stands as the fundament of those laboratories practices. This study aims to contribute to an anthropology of science and modernity, inspired by Bruno Latours writings.

The Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), a major pest of horticulture in eastern Australia, is a relatively poor coloniser of new habitat. This thesis examines behavioural properties that might limit the ability of B. tryoni to establish new populations. As the potential for B. tryoni to establish an outbreak population may be most directly limited by mechanisms associated with dispersal and mating behaviour, these two factors were the focus of this research project. The relevance of dispersal and mating behaviour for control of outbreak populations was assessed. Dispersal (i) Dispersal patterns of males and females are not different. Dispersal of post-teneral male B. tryoni from a point within an orchard near Richmond, New South Wales, was monitored following temporally replicated releases. Application of sterile insect technique (SIT) requires knowledge of dispersal from a release point so that effective release rates can be determined. In addition, dispersal following introduction to new habitat can lead to low or negative population growth and an Allee effect. In Spring and Autumn, 2001 – 2003, three different strains of B. tryoni were released: (1) wild flies reared from infested fruit collected in the Sydney Basin; (2) a laboratory-reared strain with a colour mutation (white marks); and (3) sterile flies obtained by gamma-irradiation of a mass-reared strain. Dispersal was monitored using a grid of traps baited with the male attractant, cuelure. During the majority of releases, flies were massmarked using a self-marking technique and fluorescent pigment powder to enable identification of recaptured flies. A preliminary study found that fluorescent pigment marks had no effect on adult survival and marks did not fade significantly in the laboratory over a period of five weeks after eclosion. As cuelure repels inseminated sexually mature female B. tryoni, unbaited, coloured flat sticky traps, and black and yellow sticky sphere traps baited with a food lure (protein autolysate solution) were used to supplement traps baited with cuelure. The effectiveness of these two sticky trap types was assessed, and recaptures used to compare patterns of dispersal from a release point by male and female B. tryoni. Fluorescent yellow (chartreuse), green, and clear unbaited flat sticky traps were relatively ineffective for monitoring dispersal of sterile male and female B. tryoni, recapturing only 0.1% of released sterile flies. Monitoring dispersal with sticky ball traps baited with protein autolysate solution was more successful, with yellow spheres and black spheres recapturing 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively. Trap colour had no effect on recaptures on flat sticky traps or sticky spheres. Equal recapture rates on yellow and black sticky sphere traps suggests that the odour of yeast autolysate solution was more important than colour for attraction of post-teneral flies to traps. Using the results of recaptures on odoriferous black and yellow sticky sphere traps within one week of release, regression equations of male and female recaptures per trap were found to be similar (Figure 4-3). This is the first study to clearly indicate that post-teneral dispersal patterns of male and female B. tryoni released from a point do not differ, enabling the use of existing models to predict density of both sexes of B. tryoni following post-teneral dispersal. (ii) Males disperse further in Spring than in Autumn, but this is not temperature-related. Analysis of replicated recaptures in traps baited with cuelure revealed that dispersal of male B. tryoni in an orchard near Richmond, New South Wales, was higher in Spring than in Autumn (Figure 5-6). As the maximum daily temperature was significantly higher in Spring than in Autumn this result was unexpected, since earlier studies have found that B. tryoni disperse at the onset of cool weather in search of sheltered over-wintering sites. Dispersal of post-teneral B. tryoni may have been affected by habitat suitability; it was found that seasonal trends in dispersal could have been influenced by local habitat variables. Low mean dispersal distances in Autumn may be explained by the presence of fruiting hosts in the orchard, or the availability of resources required by over-wintering flies. There was no significant correlation between temperature and mean dispersal distance, suggesting that higher rates of dispersal cannot be explained by temperature-related increases in activity. Recapture rate per trap was significantly negatively correlated with increasing daily maximum and average temperature. This may have consequences for detection of B. tryoni outbreaks in quarantine areas due to reduced cuelure trap efficiency. (iii) Maturity and source variation affect dispersal and response to cuelure. This research indicated that most male and female B. tryoni do not disperse far from a release point, suggesting that an invading propagule would not spread far in the first generation. However, there is considerable variation in flight capability among individuals. Comparison of wild, laboratory-reared white marks, and gamma-irradiated sterile male B. tryoni indicated that mean dispersal distance and redistribution patterns were not significantly affected by fly origin. Despite no difference in dispersal distance from the release point, recaptures of wild and sterile males per Lynfield trap baited with cuelure were highest within one week after release, whereas recaptures of white marks males per trap increased in the second week. This result may offer evidence to support the hypothesis that sterile male B. tryoni respond to cuelure at an earlier age. Rearing conditions used to produce large quantities of males for sterilisation by gamma-irradiation may select for earlier sexual maturity. Mating Behaviour (i) Density and sex ratio do not affect mating, except at low densities. Demographic stochasticity in the form of sex ratio fluctuations at low population density can lead to an observed Allee effect. The effect of local group density and sex ratio on mating behaviour and male mating success of a laboratory-adapted strain of B. tryoni was examined in laboratory cages. In the laboratory-adapted strain of B. tryoni used in this study, a group of one female and one male was sufficient for a good chance of mating success. The proportion of females mated and male mating success was not significantly affected by density or sex ratio, although variability in male mating success was higher at low density. This could indicate that mating success of B. tryoni can be reduced when local group density is low owing to decreased frequency in encounters between males and females. (ii) Mass-reared males exhibit aberrant mating behaviour, but this does not reduce mating success. Strong artificial selection in mass-rearing facilities may lead to decreased competitiveness of sterile males released in SIT programs as a result of alteration or loss of ecological and behavioural traits required in the field. The effects of domestication and irradiation on the mating behaviour of males of B. tryoni were investigated by caging wild, mass-reared and sterile (mass-reared and gammairradiated) males with wild females. Mating behaviour of mass-reared males was different from that of wild males, but behaviour of wild and sterile males was similar. Mass-reared males were found to engage in mounting of other males much more frequently than wild and sterile males, and began calling significantly earlier before darkness. Male calling did not appear to be associated with female choice of mating partners, although this does not exclude the possibility that calling is a cue used by females to discriminate between mating partners. Conditions used to domesticate and rear large quantities of B. tryoni for SIT may select for an alternative male mating strategy, with mass-reared males calling earlier and exercising less discrimination between potential mating partners. Despite differences in behaviour of wild, mass-reared and sterile males, frequency of successful copulations and mating success were similar. (iii) Pheromone-calling by males was increased in larger aggregations but this did not result in significantly more female visits. Finally, large laboratory cages with artificial leks were used to investigate the importance in B. tryoni of male group size for female visitation at lek sites and initiation of male pheromone-calling. Calling propensity of male B. tryoni was increased by the presence of conspecific males. Females visited the largest lek more frequently than single males, but there was no correlation between lek size and female visitation. Female B. tryoni had a limited capacity to perceive a difference between the number of calling males; female visitation at leks was only weakly associated with male calling, suggesting that lek size and the number of pheromone-calling males may not be the only factor important in locating mates in B. tryoni. The weak, but positive correlation between male calling and female visitation may indicate that passive attraction maintains lek-mating in B. tryoni. Further studies are essential on mating behaviour of B. tryoni, including identification of male mating aggregations in the field, measurement of habitat variables associated with male aggregations, the influence of density on wild B. tryoni mating success, and the role of pheromone-calling, in order to optimise use of SIT for control of this pest.

The Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), a major pest of horticulture in eastern Australia, is a relatively poor coloniser of new habitat. This thesis examines behavioural properties that might limit the ability of B. tryoni to establish new populations. As the potential for B. tryoni to establish an outbreak population may be most directly limited by mechanisms associated with dispersal and mating behaviour, these two factors were the focus of this research project. The relevance of dispersal and mating behaviour for control of outbreak populations was assessed. Dispersal (i) Dispersal patterns of males and females are not different. Dispersal of post-teneral male B. tryoni from a point within an orchard near Richmond, New South Wales, was monitored following temporally replicated releases. Application of sterile insect technique (SIT) requires knowledge of dispersal from a release point so that effective release rates can be determined. In addition, dispersal following introduction to new habitat can lead to low or negative population growth and an Allee effect. In Spring and Autumn, 2001 � 2003, three different strains of B. tryoni were released: (1) wild flies reared from infested fruit collected in the Sydney Basin; (2) a laboratory-reared strain with a colour mutation (white marks); and (3) sterile flies obtained by gamma-irradiation of a mass-reared strain. Dispersal was monitored using a grid of traps baited with the male attractant, cuelure. During the majority of releases, flies were massmarked using a self-marking technique and fluorescent pigment powder to enable identification of recaptured flies. A preliminary study found that fluorescent pigment marks had no effect on adult survival and marks did not fade significantly in the laboratory over a period of five weeks after eclosion. As cuelure repels inseminated sexually mature female B. tryoni, unbaited, coloured flat sticky traps, and black and yellow sticky sphere traps baited with a food lure (protein autolysate solution) were used to supplement traps baited with cuelure. The effectiveness of these two sticky trap types was assessed, and recaptures used to compare patterns of dispersal from a release point by male and female B. tryoni. Fluorescent yellow (chartreuse), green, and clear unbaited flat sticky traps were relatively ineffective for monitoring dispersal of sterile male and female B. tryoni, recapturing only 0.1% of released sterile flies. Monitoring dispersal with sticky ball traps baited with protein autolysate solution was more successful, with yellow spheres and black spheres recapturing 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively. Trap colour had no effect on recaptures on flat sticky traps or sticky spheres. Equal recapture rates on yellow and black sticky sphere traps suggests that the odour of yeast autolysate solution was more important than colour for attraction of post-teneral flies to traps. Using the results of recaptures on odoriferous black and yellow sticky sphere traps within one week of release, regression equations of male and female recaptures per trap were found to be similar (Figure 4-3). This is the first study to clearly indicate that post-teneral dispersal patterns of male and female B. tryoni released from a point do not differ, enabling the use of existing models to predict density of both sexes of B. tryoni following post-teneral dispersal. (ii) Males disperse further in Spring than in Autumn, but this is not temperature-related. Analysis of replicated recaptures in traps baited with cuelure revealed that dispersal of male B. tryoni in an orchard near Richmond, New South Wales, was higher in Spring than in Autumn (Figure 5-6). As the maximum daily temperature was significantly higher in Spring than in Autumn this result was unexpected, since earlier studies have found that B. tryoni disperse at the onset of cool weather in search of sheltered over-wintering sites. Dispersal of post-teneral B. tryoni may have been affected by habitat suitability; it was found that seasonal trends in dispersal could have been influenced by local habitat variables. Low mean dispersal distances in Autumn may be explained by the presence of fruiting hosts in the orchard, or the availability of resources required by over-wintering flies. There was no significant correlation between temperature and mean dispersal distance, suggesting that higher rates of dispersal cannot be explained by temperature-related increases in activity. Recapture rate per trap was significantly negatively correlated with increasing daily maximum and average temperature. This may have consequences for detection of B. tryoni outbreaks in quarantine areas due to reduced cuelure trap efficiency. (iii) Maturity and source variation affect dispersal and response to cuelure. This research indicated that most male and female B. tryoni do not disperse far from a release point, suggesting that an invading propagule would not spread far in the first generation. However, there is considerable variation in flight capability among individuals. Comparison of wild, laboratory-reared white marks, and gamma-irradiated sterile male B. tryoni indicated that mean dispersal distance and redistribution patterns were not significantly affected by fly origin. Despite no difference in dispersal distance from the release point, recaptures of wild and sterile males per Lynfield trap baited with cuelure were highest within one week after release, whereas recaptures of white marks males per trap increased in the second week. This result may offer evidence to support the hypothesis that sterile male B. tryoni respond to cuelure at an earlier age. Rearing conditions used to produce large quantities of males for sterilisation by gamma-irradiation may select for earlier sexual maturity. Mating Behaviour (i) Density and sex ratio do not affect mating, except at low densities. Demographic stochasticity in the form of sex ratio fluctuations at low population density can lead to an observed Allee effect. The effect of local group density and sex ratio on mating behaviour and male mating success of a laboratory-adapted strain of B. tryoni was examined in laboratory cages. In the laboratory-adapted strain of B. tryoni used in this study, a group of one female and one male was sufficient for a good chance of mating success. The proportion of females mated and male mating success was not significantly affected by density or sex ratio, although variability in male mating success was higher at low density. This could indicate that mating success of B. tryoni can be reduced when local group density is low owing to decreased frequency in encounters between males and females. (ii) Mass-reared males exhibit aberrant mating behaviour, but this does not reduce mating success. Strong artificial selection in mass-rearing facilities may lead to decreased competitiveness of sterile males released in SIT programs as a result of alteration or loss of ecological and behavioural traits required in the field. The effects of domestication and irradiation on the mating behaviour of males of B. tryoni were investigated by caging wild, mass-reared and sterile (mass-reared and gammairradiated) males with wild females. Mating behaviour of mass-reared males was different from that of wild males, but behaviour of wild and sterile males was similar. Mass-reared males were found to engage in mounting of other males much more frequently than wild and sterile males, and began calling significantly earlier before darkness. Male calling did not appear to be associated with female choice of mating partners, although this does not exclude the possibility that calling is a cue used by females to discriminate between mating partners. Conditions used to domesticate and rear large quantities of B. tryoni for SIT may select for an alternative male mating strategy, with mass-reared males calling earlier and exercising less discrimination between potential mating partners. Despite differences in behaviour of wild, mass-reared and sterile males, frequency of successful copulations and mating success were similar. (iii) Pheromone-calling by males was increased in larger aggregations but this did not result in significantly more female visits. Finally, large laboratory cages with artificial leks were used to investigate the importance in B. tryoni of male group size for female visitation at lek sites and initiation of male pheromone-calling. Calling propensity of male B. tryoni was increased by the presence of conspecific males. Females visited the largest lek more frequently than single males, but there was no correlation between lek size and female visitation. Female B. tryoni had a limited capacity to perceive a difference between the number of calling males; female visitation at leks was only weakly associated with male calling, suggesting that lek size and the number of pheromone-calling males may not be the only factor important in locating mates in B. tryoni. The weak, but positive correlation between male calling and female visitation may indicate that passive attraction maintains lek-mating in B. tryoni. Further studies are essential on mating behaviour of B. tryoni, including identification of male mating aggregations in the field, measurement of habitat variables associated with male aggregations, the influence of density on wild B. tryoni mating success, and the role of pheromone-calling, in order to optimise use of SIT for control of this pest.

This book contains 16 chapters that are divided into 2 main parts. The first part discusses the study and applications of animal behaviour; the genetic and physiological aspects of behaviour; the evolution of behaviour; the effects of domestication on animal behaviour; motivation and organization of behaviour; learning and cognition; social and reproductive behaviour; abnormal behaviour, stress and welfare and human animal relationships. The second part contains chapters that describe the species-specific behaviours of poultry, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, cats and laboratory mice and rats.

Abstract The potential output of rabbit meat and fur production, rabbits as pets and laboratory animal, and factors limiting rabbit production are discussed in this chapter while highlighting its history, taxonomy and domestication.

Animal-associated microbiomes are critical to the well-being and proper functioning of the animal host, but only limited studies have examined in-sect microbiomes across different developmental stages. These studies revealed large shifts in microbiome communities, often because of significant shifts in diet during insects’ life cycle. Establishing insect colonies as model laboratory organisms and understanding how to properly feed and care for animals with complex and dynamic life cycles requires improved data. This study examined laboratory raised green June beetles (Cotinis nitida) captured from the field upon emergence from pupae. Starting with wild-caught adults, two generations of beetles were reared in the laboratory, ending with an entirely laboratory raised generation of larvae. The study compared the microbiomes of each generation and the microbiomes of larvae to adults. This study suggests that a diet of commercial, washed fruit for adults and commercial, packaged, organic alfalfa meal for larvae resulted in depauperate gut microbiome communities. Fermentative yeasts were completely absent in the laboratory-raised adults, and major bacterial population shifts occurred from one generation to the next, coupled with high morbidity and mortality in the laboratory-raised generation. Providing laboratory-raised beetles fresh-collected fruit and the larvae field-harvested detritus may therefore vastly improve their health and survival.

Modern cultivated varieties carry only a small fraction of the variation present in the gene pool. The narrow genetic basis of modern crop plants is a result of genetic bottlenecks imposed during early domestication and modern plant breeding. The wild ancestors of most crop plants can still be found in their natural habitats and Germplasm Centers have been established to collect and maintain this material. These wild and unadapted resources can potentially fuel crop plant improvement efforts for many years into the future (Tanksley and McCouch 1997). Unfortunately, scientists have been unable to exploit the majority of the genetic potential warehoused in germplasm repositories. This is especially true as regards to the improvement of quantitative traits like yield and quality. One of the major problems is that much of the wild germplasm is inferior to modern cultivars for many of the quantitative traits that breeders would like to improve. Our research, focusing on the tomato as a model system, has shown that despite their inferior phenotypes, wild species are likely to contain QTLs that can substantially increase the yield and quality of elite cultivars (de Vicente and Tanksley 1992, Eshed and Zamir 1994, Eshed et al. 1996). Using novel population structures of introgression lines (ILs; Eshed and Zamir 1995) and advanced backcross lines (AB; Tanksley et al. 1996) we identified and introduced valuable QTLs from unadapted germplasm into elite processing tomato varieties. Populations involving crosses with five Lycopersicon species (L. pennellii (Eshed and Zamir 1994; Eshed et al. 1996; Eshed and Zamir 1996), L. hirsutum (Bernacchi et al. 1998), L. pimpinellifolium (Tanksley et al. 1996), L. parviflorum (unpub.), L. peruvianum (Fulton et al. 1997) have been field and laboratory tested in a number of locations around the world. QTLs from the wild parent were identified that improve one or more of the key quantitative traits for processing tomatoes (yield, brix, sugar and acid composition and earliness) by as much as 10-30%. Nearly isogenic lines (QTL-NILs) have been generated for a subset of these QTLs. Each QTL-NIL contains the entire genome of the elite cultivated parent except for a segment (5-40 cM) of the wild species genome corresponding to a specific QTL. The genetic material and information that was developed in this program is presently used by American and Israeli seed companies for the breeding of superior varieties. We expect that in the next few years these varieties will make a difference in the marketplace.