Genetic effects of nine <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium barbadense</Emphasis> L. chromosome substitution lines in top crosses with five elite Upland cotton <Emphasis Type="Italic">G. hirsutum</Emphasis> L. cultivars

Crosses between Gossypium barbadense L and Gossypium hirsutum L. (Upland cotton) have produced limited success in introgressing fiber quality genes into the latter. Chromosome substitution lines (CSBL) have complete chromosomes or chromosome arms from G. barbadense, line 3-79, substituted for the corresponding chromosome or arms in G. hirsutum in a near isogenic background of TM-1. We top crossed nine CSBL and their parents (TM-1 and 3-79) with five cultivars. Parental lines and their F₂ populations were evaluated in four environments for agronomic and fiber quality traits. The CSBL and their F₂ hybrids showed wide ranges for both agronomic and fiber traits of economic importance. Genetic analysis showed that additive variances were larger than dominance variances for lint percentage, boll weight, lint yield, fiber length, strength, elongation, micronaire, and yellowness; whereas, dominance variances were larger than additive variances only for uniformity of fiber length and equal for fiber reflectance. For all traits, except boll weight and lint yield, significant additive effects of one or more chromosomes from 3-79 in TM-1 background were greater than the corresponding TM-1 chromosome. In addition, we identified specific chromosomes from G. barbadense (3-79) that carry alleles for improvements in specific fiber quality traits in Upland cotton. Favorable additive effects of individual chromosomes or chromosome segments from 3-79 relative to corresponding chromosomes or chromosomes segments from TM-1 were identified in this study as follows: Lint percentage, chromosome/arms 10, 16-15; longer fibers, chromosome/arms 01, 11sh, 26Lo; more uniform fibers, chromosomes/arms 01, 11sh, 10, 17-11; stronger fibers, chromosome/arms 01, 11sh, 12sh, 26Lo, 17-11; fiber elongation, chromosomes/arms 01, 11sh, 26Lo, 10, 17-11; reduced fiber micronaire, chromosome/arms 01, 12sh, 4-15, 16-15, 17-11; fibers with more reflectance, chromosome/arms 10, 4-15, 16-15, 17-11; fiber with less yellowness, chromosome arms 4-15, 17-11. Based on the present study, we concluded that by using CSBL, favorable fiber quality alleles can be introgressed into Upland cotton, thus greatly improving the breeder’s ability for improvement of Upland cotton for a variety of traits. These data should provide useful genetic information to the cotton breeding industry at large.     

Genetic effects of introgression genomic components from Sea Island cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium barbadense</Emphasis> L.) on fiber related traits in upland cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>. <Emphasis Type="Italic">hirsutum</Emphasis> L.)

The germplasm with exotic genomic components especially from Sea Island cotton (Gossypium barbadense L. Gb) is the dominant genetic resources to enhance fiber quality of upland cotton (G. hirsutum L., Gh). Due to low efficiency of phenotypic evaluation and selection on fiber quality, genetic dissection of favorable alleles using molecular markers is essential. Genetic dissection on putative Gb introgressions related to fiber traits were conducted by SSR markers with mapping populations derived from a cross between Luyuan343 (LY343), a superior fiber quality introgression line (IL) with genomic components from Gb, and an elite Upland cotton cv. Lumianyan#22 (LMY22). Among 82 polymorphic loci screened out from 4050 SSRs, 42 were identified as putative introgression alleles. A total of 29 fiber-related QTLs (23 for fiber quality and six for lint percentage) were detected and most of which clustered on the putative Gb introgression chromosomal segments of Chr.2, Chr.16, Chr.23 and Chr.25. As expected, a majority of favorable alleles of fiber quality QTLs (12/17, not considering the QTLs for fiber fineness) came from the IL parent and most of which (11/12) were conferred by the introgression genomic components while three of the six (3/6) favorable alleles for lint percentage came from the Gh parent. Validation of these QTLs using an F₈ breeding population from the same cross made previously indicated that 13 out of 29 QTLs showed considerable stability. The results suggest that fiber quality improvement using the introgression components could be facilitated by marker-assisted selection in cotton breeding program.     

Germplasm evaluation and transfer of Verticillium wilt resistance from Pima (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium barbadense</Emphasis>) to Upland cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">G. hirsutum</Emphasis>)

Verticillium wilt (VW, Verticillium dahliae) is a worldwide destructive soil-borne fungal disease and employment of VW resistant cultivars is the most economic and efficient method in sustainable cotton production. However, information concerning VW resistance in current commercial cotton cultivars and transfer of VW resistance from Pima (Gossypium barbadense) to Upland (Gossypium hirsutum) cotton is lacking. The objective of the current study was to report findings in evaluating commercial cotton cultivars and germplasm lines for VW resistance in field and greenhouse (GH) experiments conducted in 2003, 2006, and 2007. In the study, 267 cultivars and germplasm lines were screened in the GH, while 357 genotypes were screened in the field. The results indicated that (1) VW significantly reduced cotton yield, lint percentage, 50% span length and micronaire, but not 2.5% span length and fiber strength, when healthy and diseased plants in 23 cultivars were compared; (2) some commercial cotton cultivars developed by major cotton seed companies in the US displayed good VW resistance; (3) many Acala cotton cultivars released in the past also had good VW resistance, but not all Acala cotton germplasm are resistant; (4) Pima cotton possessed higher levels of VW resistance than Upland cotton, but the performance was reversed when the root system was wounded after inoculation; (5) VW resistance in some conventional cultivars was transferred into their transgenic version through backcrossing; and (6) some advanced backcross inbred lines developed from a cross between Upland and Pima cotton showed good VW resistance. The successful development of VW resistant transgenic cultivars and transfer of VW resistance from Pima to Upland cotton implies that VW resistance is associated with a few genes if not a major one.     

Seed trait evaluation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium barbadense</Emphasis> L. chromosomes/arms in a <Emphasis Type="Italic">G. hirsutum</Emphasis> L. background

Investigation of cotton nutritional components is important because its seeds provide a useful nutritional profile and can possibly serve as a biofuel resource. In this study, five cultivars, 13 cotton chromosome substitution (CS-B) lines, their donor parent, '3-79', and their recurrent parent, 'TM-1', were evaluated for seed traits over four environments. A mixed linear model approach with the jackknife method was employed to estimate variance components and to predict genotypic effects for each seed trait. Genotypic effects were more important than genotype by environment interaction for all seed traits. Chromosome associations with these seed traits were detected using the comparative method by comparing the differences between each CS-B line and TM-1. For example, chromosome 4 of 3-79 in TM-1 background was associated with reduced seed index (SI), embryo percentage, protein percentage while associated with increased seed oil percentage and seed fiber percentage. Other chromosome associations with these seed traits were also observed in this study. SI was highly correlated with three seed index traits: seed protein index, seed oil index (OI), and seed fiber index. Lint percentage, boll number, and lint yield were positively correlated with protein percentage while negatively correlated with SI and OI. SI and seed fiber content exhibited negative correlations with micronaire but positive correlations with fiber length and strength. Results suggested that agronomic traits and seed nutrition components can be improved simultaneously.     

Molecular diversity of Egyptian cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium barbadense</Emphasis> L.) and its relation to varietal development

Twenty-eight Egyptian cotton (Gossypium barbadense L.) genotypes (varieties and hybrids) were used for analysis of genetic diversity using DNA based markers (ISSR, SSR, and EST) and to study varietal development of cotton. The ISSR markers gave the highest percentage of polymorphic bands as well as polymorphic information content compared with the other molecular markers (i.e. EST and SSR markers). Using clustering analysis, no general clustering according to the pedigree history of the genotypes was observed. Using principal coordinate analysis (PCOORDA), cotton genotypes were separated by the first three principal coordinates (PC1, PC2, and PC3) accounting for 11.5, 8.6, and 7.2% of the total genetic variance, respectively. The cotton genotypes were distributed into three parts based on the first PC, each part containing a group of varieties having a common ancestor. ‘Giza 12’ variety was the common ancestor for the varieties included in the first part and ‘Ashmouni’ variety was the common ancestor for the varieties included in the second part, while both ‘Sakha 3’ and ‘Sakha 4’ varieties were common ancestors for the varieties included in the third part. The results of the PCOORDA also showed better resolution of the genetic diversity than cluster analysis especially in the illustration of the varietal development of cotton. That means that principal coordinate analysis can be strongly used either alone or in combination with cluster analysis to discuss both genetic diversity and varietal development in the cotton genotypes.     

Fiber initiation development in Upland cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium hirsutum</Emphasis> L.) cultivars varying in lint percentage

The ovules at the stage of fiber initiation from −1 to +1 days post-anthesis (dpa) were studied, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), in five Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars varying in lint percentage from 28.53% to 43.10%. Our results indicated that on −1 days post-anthesis (−1 dpa), fiber cell protrusions were found in all cultivars, but these protrusions varied among different materials and the differences did not correlate with ultimate lint percentage of each cultivar. At 0 days post-anthesis (dpa), a large amount of fiber cell protrusions appeared on the ovular surface of all samples, and these protrusions had been elongated significantly by +1 dpa. Interestingly, fiber density at +1 dpa of almost all samples was always significantly lower than that at 0 dpa except Simian3, the cultivar with the highest lint percentage 43.10%. This observation suggests that with the expanding of the cotton ovular volume, fiber “diluting” degree on the ovular surfaces might be related to higher or lower lint percentage. Qiannong465, the cultivar with the lowest lint percentage (28.53%), was found to exhibit the fewest fiber protrusions. Rather, many sunken, morphologically abnormal protrusions were observed on the ovular surface at 0 dpa. Correlation analysis suggested that either fiber protrusion density at 0 dpa or fiber elongation density at +1 dpa had a highest positive correlation with lint percentage, secondly with lint index. The grey relational analysis was essentially consistent with these findings. Thus we have identified two important parameters that could provide invaluable predictive information for cotton breeding.     

Successful induction of trigenomic hexaploid <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica</Emphasis> from a triploid hybrid of <Emphasis Type="Italic">B.</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">napus</Emphasis> L. and <Emphasis Type="Italic">B. nigra</Emphasis> (L.) Koch

A triploid hybrid with an ABC genome constitution, produced from an interspecific cross between Brassica napus (AACC genome) and B. nigra (BB genome), was used as source material for chromosome doubling. Two approaches were undertaken for the production of hexaploids: firstly, by self-pollination and open-pollination of the triploid hybrid; and secondly, by application of colchicine to axillary meristems of triploid plants. Sixteen seeds were harvested from triploid plants and two seedlings were confirmed to be hexaploids with 54 chromosomes. Pollen viability increased from 13% in triploids to a maximum of 49% in hexaploids. Petal length increased from 1.3 cm (triploid) to 1.9 cm and 1.8 cm in the two hexaploids and longest stamen length increased from 0.9 cm (triploid) to 1.1 cm in the hexaploids. Pollen grains were longer in hexaploids (43.7 and 46.3 μm) compared to the triploid (25.4 μm). A few aneuploid offsprings were also observed, with chromosome number ranging from 34 to 48. This study shows that trigenomic hexaploids can be produced in Brassica through interspecific hybridisation of B. napus and B. nigra followed by colchicine treatment.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Agrobacterium</Emphasis>-mediated transformation of cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium hirsutum</Emphasis> L.) with a fungal phytase gene improves phosphorus acquisition

A phytase gene (phyA), isolated from Aspergillus ficuum (AF537344), was introduced into cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to increase the phosphorus (P) acquisition efficiency of cotton. Southern and Northern blot analyses showed that the phyA was successfully incorporated into the cotton genome and expressed in transgenic lines. After growing for 45 days with phytate (Po) as the only P source, the shoot and root dry weights of the transgenic plants all increased by nearly 2.0-fold relative to those of wild-type plants, but were similar to those of transgenic plants supplied with inorganic phosphorus. The phytase activities of root extracts prepared from transgenic plants were 2.4- to 3.6-fold higher than those from wild-type plants, and the extracellular phytase activities of transgenic plants were also 4.2- to 6.3-fold higher. Furthermore, the expressed phytase was secreted into the rhizospheres as demonstrated by enzyme activity staining. The transgenic plants accumulated much higher contents of total P (up to 2.1-fold after 30 days of growth) than the wild-type plants when supplied with Po. These findings clearly showed that cotton plant transformed with a fungal phytase gene was able to secret the enzyme from the root, which markedly improved the plant’s ability to utilize P from phytate. This may serve as a promising step toward the development of new cotton cultivars with improved phosphorus acquisition.     

Overcoming obstacles to interspecific hybridization between <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium hirsutum</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">G. turneri</Emphasis>

Gossypium turneri, a wild cotton species (2n = 2X = 26, D₁₀D₁₀) originating from Mexico, possesses invaluable characteristics unavailable in the cultivated tetraploid cotton gene pool, such as caducous involucels at anthesis, resistance to insects and tolerance to abiotic stresses. However, transferring desired characteristics from wild species into cultivated cotton is often fraught with diverse obstacles. Here, Gossypium hirsutum (as the maternal parent) and G. turneri were crossed in the Hainan Province of China, and the obtained hybrid seeds (2n = 3X = 39, ADD₁₀) were treated with 0.075% colchicine solution for 48 h to double the chromosome complement in order to overcome triploid F₁ sterility and to generate a fertile hexaploid. Chromosome doubling was successful in four individuals. However, the new synthetic hexaploids derived from these individuals were still highly sterile, and no seeds were generated by selfing or crossing. Therefore, an embryo rescue technique was employed in an attempt to produce progenies from the new synthetic hexaploids. Consequently, a total of six large embryos were obtained on MSB2K medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l^?1 KIN and 250 mg l^?1 CH using ovules from backcrossing that were 3 days post-anthesis. Four grafted surviving seedlings were confirmed to be the progenies (pentaploids) of the new synthetic hexaploids using cytological observations and molecular markers. Eight putative fertile individuals derived from backcrossing the above pentaploids were confirmed using SSR markers and generated an abundance of normal seeds. This research lays a foundation for transferring desirable characteristics from G. turneri into upland cotton.     

Improved salt tolerance and seed cotton yield in cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium hirsutum</Emphasis> L.) by transformation with <Emphasis Type="Italic">betA</Emphasis> gene for glycinebetaine synthesis

Homozygous transgenic cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plants that accumulated glycinebetaine (GB) in larger quantities were more tolerant to salt than wild-type (WT) plants. Four transgenic lines, namely 1, 3, 4, and 5, accumulated significantly higher levels of GB than WT plants did both before and after salt stress. At 175 and 275 mM NaCl, seeds of all the transgenic lines germinated earlier and recorded a higher final germination percentage, and the seedlings grew better, than those of the WT. Under salt stress, all the lines showed some characteristic features of salt tolerance, such as higher leaf relative water content (RWC), higher photosynthesis, better osmotic adjustment (OA), lower percentage of ion leakage, and lower peroxidation of the lipid membrane. Levels of endogenous GB in the transgenic plants were positively correlated with RWC and OA. The results indicate that GB in transgenic cotton plants not only maintains the integrity of cell membranes but also alleviates osmotic stress caused by high salinity. Lastly, the seed cotton yield of transgenic lines 4 and 5 was significantly higher than that of WT plants in saline soil. This research indicates that betA gene has the potential to improve crop’s salt tolerance in areas where salinity is limiting factors for agricultural productivity.     

Search in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanum</Emphasis> (section <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lycopersicon</Emphasis>) germplasm for sources of broad-spectrum resistance to four <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tospovirus</Emphasis> species

The genus Tospovirus was considered as monotypic with Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) being the only assigned species. However, extensive studies with worldwide isolates revealed that this genus comprises a number of species with distinct virulence profiles. The Neotropical South America is one center of Tospovirus diversity with many endemic species. Groundnut ringspot virus (GRSV), TSWV, Tomato chlorotic spot virus (TCSV), and Chrysanthemum stem necrosis virus (CSNV) are the predominant tomato-infecting species in Brazil. Sources of resistance were found in Solanum (section Lycopersicon) mainly against TSWV isolates from distinct continents, but there is an overall lack of information about resistance to other viral species. One-hundred and five Solanum (section Lycopersicon: Solanaceae) accessions were initially evaluated for their reaction against a GRSV isolate by analysis of symptom expression and systemic virus accumulation using DAS-ELISA. A subgroup comprising the most resistant accessions was re-evaluated in a second assay with TSWV, TCSV, and GRSV isolates and in a third assay with a CSNV isolate. Seven S. peruvianum accessions displayed a broad-spectrum resistance to all viral species with all plants being free of symptoms and systemic infection. Sources of resistance were also found in tomato cultivars with the Sw-5 gene and also in accessions of S. pimpinellifolium, S. chilense, S. arcanum, S. habrochaites, S. corneliomuelleri, and S. lycopersicum. The introgression/incorporation of these genetic factors into cultivated tomato varieties might allow the development of genetic materials with broad-spectrum resistance, as well as with improved levels of phenotypic expression.     

Stability analysis for bollworm complex in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium hirsutum</Emphasis> L.

One approach to improve cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) yield is to identify stable genotypes for low or no bollworms damage as it accounts low cost of cultivation to a considerable extent. The objective of the study was to identify stable genotypes for low bollworms damage under protected and unprotected experiments. Fifty cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) genotypes were evaluated for open bollworms damage percent (spotted, pink and Heliothis bollworms) for 3 years during 2003–2005 under protected and unprotected conditions. Variance due to genotypes, environments, genotype × environment and genotype × environment (linear) components were highly significant for the trait in protected and unprotected experiments. Under protected experiment, genotypes CSH 3020 and 3045 were found to be desirable and stable while genotype CSH 3058 was suited for poor environments. Fourteen genotypes viz. CSH 3034, 3035, 3043, 3044, 3047, 3051, 3053, 3058, 3059, 3094, 3106, 3114, 3123 and CSH-3157 were fairly stable under unprotected environments. The study lead to the conclude that in general for the two experiments the genotypes differed for stability for low bollworms damage.     

Chromosomal assignment of AFLP markers in upland cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium hirsutum</Emphasis> L.)

In this research, we used two sets of cotton aneuploid (G. hirsutum × G. tomentosum and G. hirsutum × G. barbadense) plants to locate AFLP markers to chromosomes using deletion analysis method. Thirty-eight primer combinations were used to generate 608 polymorphic AFLP markers. A total of 98 AFLP markers were assigned to 22 different cotton chromosomes or chromosome arms. Of those assigned markers, 63.3% were assigned to A genome and 36.7% were assigned to D genome. A low rate (14.3%) of common markers were found between those assigned AFLP markers with the AFLP markers from an intraspecific cross population developed previous in our lab. Based on the 16 common markers, we were able to associate the 13 linkage groups previously identified in our lab to eight chromosomes. Further research will be carried out by using SSR markers with known location to associate unassigned linkage groups to chromosomes.     

Expression of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bruguiera gymnorhiza</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">BgARP1</Emphasis> enhances salt tolerance in transgenic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis</Emphasis> plants

We have previously reported that expression of salt-responsive genes, including Bruguiera gymnorhiza ankyrin repeat protein 1 (BgARP1), enhances salt tolerance in both Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Arabidopsis. In this report, we further characterized BgARP1-expressing Arabidopsis to elucidate the role of BgARP1 in salt tolerance. BgARP1-expressing plants exhibited more vigorous growth than wild-type plants on MS plates containing 125–175 mM NaCl. Real-time PCR analysis showed enhanced induction of osmotin34 in the 2-week-old transformants under 125 mM NaCl. It was also showed that induction of typical salt-responsive genes, including RD29A, RD29B, and RD22, was blunted and delayed in the 4-week-old transformants during 24 h after 200 mM NaCl treatment. Ion content analysis showed that transgenic plants contained more K⁺, Ca²⁺, and NO₃ ⁻, and less NH₄ ⁺, than wild-type plants grown in 200 mM NaCl. Our results suggest that BgARP1-expressing plants may reduce salt stress by up-regulating osmotin34 gene expression and maintaining K⁺ homeostasis and regulating Ca²⁺ content. These results indicate that BgARP1 is functional on a heterogeneous background.     

SSR markers for marker assisted selection of root-knot nematode (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Meloidogyne incognita</Emphasis>) resistant plants in cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium hirsutum</Emphasis> L)

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L) cultivars highly resistant to the southern root-knot nematode (RKN) [Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White) Chitwood] are not available. Resistant germplasm lines are available; however, the difficulty of selecting true breeding lines has hindered applied breeding and no highly resistant cultivars are available to growers. Recently, molecular markers on chromosomes 11 and 14 have been associated with RKN resistance, thus opening the way for marker assisted selection (MAS) in applied breeding. Our study aimed to determine the utility of these markers for MAS. Cross one was RKN resistant germplasm M240 RNR × the susceptible cultivar, FM966 and is representative of the initial cross a breeder would make to develop a RKN resistant cultivar. Cross two consists of Clevewilt 6 × Mexico Wild (PI563649), which are the two lines originally used to develop the first highly RKN resistant germplasm. Mexico Wild is photoperiodic. We phenotyped the F₂ of cross one for gall index and number of RKN eggs per plant and genotyped each plant for CIR 316 (chromosome 11) and BNL 3661 (chromosome 14). From this, we verified that MAS was effective, and the QTL on chromosome 14 was primarily associated with a dominant RKN resistance gene affecting reproduction. In the first F₂ population of cross two, we used MAS to identify 11 plants homozygous for the markers on chromosomes 11 and 14, and which also flowered in long days. Progeny of these 11 plants were phenotyped for RKN gall index and egg number and confirmed as RKN highly resistant plants. Generally about 7–10 generations of RKN phenotyping and progeny testing were required to develop the original RKN highly resistant germplasms. Our results show that commercial breeders should be able to use the markers in MAS to rapidly develop RKN resistant cultivars.     

RDA derived <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza minuta</Emphasis>-specific clones to probe genomic conservation across <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza</Emphasis> and introgression into rice (<Emphasis Type="Italic">O. sativa</Emphasis> L.)

Molecular markers have been successfully used in rice breeding however available markers based on Oryza sativa sequences are not efficient to monitor alien introgression from distant genomes of Oryza. We developed O. minuta (2n = 48, BBCC)-specific clones comprising of 105 clones (266–715 bp) from the initial library composed of 1,920 clones against O. sativa by representational difference analysis (RDA), a subtractive cloning method and validated through Southern blot hybridization. Chromosomal location of O. minuta-specific clones was identified by hybridization with the genomic DNA of eight monosomic alien additional lines (MAALs). The 37 clones were located either on chromosomes 6, 7, or 12. Different hybridization patterns between O. minuta-specific clones and wild species such as O. punctata, O. officinalis, O. rhizomatis, O. australiensis, and O. ridleyi were observed indicating conservation of the O. minuta fragments across Oryza spp. A highly repetitive clone, OmSC45 hybridized with O. minuta and O. australiensis (EE), and was found in 6,500 and 9,000 copies, respectively, suggesting an independent and exponential amplification of the fragment in both species during the evolution of Oryza. Hybridization of 105 O. minuta specific clones with BB- and CC-genome wild Oryza species resulted in the identification of 4 BB-genome-specific and 14 CC-genome-specific clones. OmSC45 was identified as a fragment of RIRE1, an LTR-retrotransposon. Furthermore this clone was introgressed from O. minuta into the advanced breeding lines of O. sativa.     

Creation of new maize germplasm using alien introgression from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Zea mays</Emphasis> ssp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">mexicana</Emphasis>

Zea mays ssp. mexicana, an annual wild relative of maize, has many desirable characteristics for maize improvement. To transfer alien genetic germplasm into maize background, F₁ hybrids were generated by using Z. mays ssp. mexicana as the female parent and cultivated maize inbred line Ye515 as the male parent. Alien introgression lines, with a large range of genetic diversity, were produced by backcross and successive self-pollinations. A number of alien introgression lines with the predominant traits of cultivated maize were selected. Genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) proved that small chromosome segments of Z. mays ssp. mexicana had been integrated into the maize genome. Some outstanding alien introgression lines were evaluated in performance trials which showed 54.6% hybrids had grain yield greater than that of hybrid check Yedan12 which possessed 50% Ye515 parentage, and 17.1, 9.9% hybrids had grain yield competitive or greater than those of Nongda108 and Zheng958, which were elite commercial hybrids in China, respectively. The results indicated that some of the introgression lines had excellent agronomic traits and combining ability for maize cultivar, and demonstrated that Z. mays ssp. mexicana was a valuable source for maize breeding, and could be used to broaden and enrich the maize germplasm.     

Identification of genetic sources with attenuated <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tomato chlorosis virus</Emphasis>-induced symptoms in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanum</Emphasis> (section <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lycopersicon</Emphasis>) germplasm

The whitefly-transmitted Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) (genus Crinivirus) is associated with yield and quality losses in field and greenhouse-grown tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) in South America. Therefore, the search for sources of ToCV resistance/tolerance is a major breeding priority for this region. A germplasm of 33 Solanum (Lycopersicon) accessions (comprising cultivated and wild species) was evaluated for ToCV reaction in multi-year assays conducted under natural and experimental whitefly vector exposure in Uruguay and Brazil. Reaction to ToCV was assessed employing a symptom severity scale and systemic virus infection was evaluated via RT-PCR and/or molecular hybridization assays. A subgroup of accessions was also evaluated for whitefly reaction in two free-choice bioassays carried out in Uruguay (with Trialeurodes vaporariorum) and Brazil (with Bemisia tabaci Middle-East-Asia-Minor1—MEAM1?=?biotype B). The most stable sources of ToCV tolerance were identified in Solanum habrochaites PI 127827 (mild symptoms and low viral titers) and S. lycopersicum ‘LT05’ (mild symptoms but with high viral titers). These two accessions were efficiently colonized by both whitefly species, thus excluding the potential involvement of vector-resistance mechanisms. Other promising breeding sources were Solanum peruvianum (sensu lato) ‘CGO 6711’ (mild symptoms and low virus titers), Solanum chilense LA1967 (mild symptoms, but with high levels of B. tabaci MEAM1 oviposition) and Solanum pennellii LA0716 (intermediate symptoms and low level of B. tabaci MEAM1 oviposition). Additional studies are necessary to elucidate the genetic basis of the tolerance/resistance identified in this set of Solanum (Lycopersicon) accessions.     

Genetic analysis of the fiber quality and yield traits in <Emphasis Type="Italic">G. hirsutum</Emphasis> background using chromosome segments substitution lines (CSSLs) from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium barbadense</Emphasis>

Developing chromosome segments substitution lines (CSSLs) is an effective method for broadening the cotton germplasm resource, and improving the fiber quality and yield traits. In this study, the 1054 F₂ individual plants and 116 F_2:3 lineages were generated from the two parents of MBI9749 and MBI9915 selected from BC₅F_3:5 lines which originated from hybridization of CCRI36 and Hai1, and advanced backcrossing and repeated selfing. Genotypes of the parents and F₂ population were analyzed. The results showed that 19 segments were introgressed for MBI9749 and 12 segments were introgressed for MBI9915, distributing on 17 linkage groups. The average background recovery rate to the recurrent parent CCRI36 was 96.70% for the two parents. An average of 16.46 segments was introgressed in F₂ population. The average recovery rate of 1054 individual plants was 96.85%, and the mean length of sea island introgression segments was 157.18 cM, accounting for 3.15% of detection length. QTL mapping analysis detected 22 QTLs associated with fiber quality and yield traits in the F₂ and F_2:3 populations. These QTLs distributed on seven chromosomes, and the phenotypic variation was explained ranging from 1.20 to 14.61%. Four stable QTLs were detected in F₂ and F_2:3 populations, simultaneously. We found that eight QTLs were in agreement with the previous research. Six QTL-clusters were identified for fiber quality and yield traits, in which five QTL-clusters were on chromosome20. The results indicated that most of QTL-clusters always improve the fiber quality and have negative additive effect for yield related traits. This study demonstrated that CSSLs provide basis for fine mapping of the fiber quality and yield traits in future, and could be efficiently used for pyramiding favourable alleles to develop the new germplasms for breeding by molecular marker-assisted selection.