Anthocyanin mutations improving tomato and pepper tolerance to adverse climatic conditions

The effect of four mutated genes affecting anthocyanin biosynthesis was investigated relative to tomato and pepper germination capacities and early seedlings and plantlets growth. The study was performed on isogenic/near isogenic lines (IL/NIL) differing for genes ah (Hoffmann’s anthocyaninless), aw (anthocyanin without) and bls (babylea syndrome) in tomato and al ₁ (anthocyaninless – 1) in pepper. Germination responses of the IL/NILs showed that genes ah, aw and bls in tomato and al ₁ in pepper enhanced germination abilities under stress conditions regardless of the inherent seed properties that imparted rapid germination. This evaluation was conducted with four very different types of stress: 13 ^°C, 33 ^°C,120 mM NaCl and 15% PEG-6000 water solutions. The four genes exercised no effect on root and hypocotyl elongation under the same stress conditions and their effect on plantlets growth varied depending on the genotype and the treatment. The usefulness of genes ah, aw, blsand al ₁ in breeding tomato and pepper cultivars tolerant to adverse climatic conditions at germination when used as a morphological marker, is discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Polyamines induced by hot water treatments reduce chilling injury and decay in pepper fruit

Treatment of peppers with hot water (53°C) for 4 min was found to be effective in alleviating chilling injury and reducing decay after 14 and 28 days of storage at 8°C. Treatment at 45°C for 15 min was less effective in maintaining pepper quality during storage. Packaging with low density polyethylene film significantly reduced weight loss and chilling injury during low temperature storage. Lower O₂ and higher CO₂ levels were found in internal and in-package atmospheres of heated fruit than controls. Ethylene was not detected in the in-package atmosphere of treated fruit, but was present in the control. Polyamine levels increased immediately after hot water treatments. Putrescine levels increased during storage at 8°C particularly in heat-treated fruit and in packaged fruit. A significant increase in putrescine was noted in packaged fruit treated at 53°C for 4 min after 14 days of storage. Spermine levels decreased in control fruit during storage. However, heat treatment in combination with film packaging maintained higher levels of spermine in peppers during storage than controls. These results indicated that hot water treatment in conjunction with film packaging may delay chilling injury and decay of bell peppers through a mechanism that involved elevation of polyamine levels.     

Fine mapping of foxglove aphid (Aulacorthum solani) resistance gene Raso1 in soybean and its effect on tolerance to Soybean dwarf virus transmitted by foxglove aphid

Soybean dwarf virus (SbDV) causes serious dwarfing, yellowing and sterility in soybean (Glycine max). The soybean cv. Adams is tolerant to SbDV infection in the field and exhibits antibiosis to foxglove aphid (Aulacorthum solani), which transmits SbDV. This antibiosis (termed “aphid resistance”) is required for tolerance to SbDV in the field in segregated progenies of Adams. A major quantitative trait locus, Raso1, is reported for foxglove aphid resistance. Our objectives were to fine map Raso1 and to reveal whether Raso1 alone is sufficient to confer both aphid resistance and SbDV tolerance. We introduced Raso1 into cv. Toyomusume by backcrossing and investigated the degree of aphid antibiosis to foxglove aphid and the degree of tolerance to SbDV in the field. All Raso1-introduced backcross lines showed aphid resistance. Interestingly, only one Raso1-introduced backcross line (TM-1386) showed tolerance to SbDV in the field. The results demonstrated Raso1 alone is sufficient to confer aphid resistance but insufficient for SbDV tolerance. Tolerance to SbDV was indicated to require additional gene(s) to Raso1. Additionally, Raso1 was mapped to a 63-kb interval on chromosome 3 of the Williams 82 sequence assembly (Glyma1). This interval includes a nucleotide-binding site–leucine-rich repeat encoding gene and two other genes in the Williams 82 soybean genome sequence.     

Heterosis and heritability in crosses among Asian and Ethiopian parents of hot pepper genotypes

Hot pepper is the most important worldwide grown and consumed spice and vegetable crop. Though hybrid breeding has been proposed for genetic improvement in the crop, but there is lack of information on heterosis in crosses among crop genotypes in Ethiopia. Twelve genotypes (nine Asian and three Ethiopian parents) of hot pepper were crossed in 2003 cropping season in a half-diallel fashion to fit Griffing’s fixed effect model analysis. An open field experiment was conducted in 2004/2005 to investigate heterosis for fourteen traits in 66 F₁ hybrids grown together with their 12 selfed parents. Highly significant genotypic differences were observed for all the traits except for leaf area. Variance component due to specific combining ability (dominance) were larger than that due to general combining ability (additive) for each of the studied traits with few exceptions. Broad sense heritability (H _b²) for fruit traits were more than 60% and with wide gap from narrow sense heritability (h _n²) for most of the important traits like number of fruit per plant (H _b² = 88.3% and h _n² = 46.0%), days to maturity (H _b² = 87.2% and h _n² = 23.1%) and dry fruit yield per plant (H _b² = 72.6% and h _n² = 14.6%). Maximum heterosis over mid-parent and better-parent, and economic superiority of hybrid over standard check were recorded, respectively for dry fruit yield per plant (163.8, 161.8 and 92.1%), number of fruits per plant (104.4, 79.6 and 136.4%) and days to maturity (−29.8, −31.5 and −23.6%). These observations suggested a possibility of utilizing dominance genetic potentiality available in diverse genotypes of the crop by heterosis breeding for improving hot pepper to the extent of better economic return compared to the current commercial cultivar under production in the country. Low narrow sense versus very high broad sense heritability for days to maturity and dry fruit yield per plant could be a sign for achievability of earliness and high fruit yield using heterosis in hot pepper. The maximum heterobeltiosis were recorded either from F₁s obtained from Ethiopian and Asian crosses or from within Asian crosses, suggesting the possibility of maximizing heterosis by considering genetically diverse parental genotypes. The manifestation of highest heterosis in hybrids from among Asian lines indicated existence of genetic diversity among Asian genotypes and the potentiality for improvement of hot pepper using genotypes from different regions of the world along with elite inbred lines from local cultivars.     

湘研辣椒品种育繁销一体化研究

本研究主要是探讨科研单位如何发挥新品种优势 ,自办公司 ,由育种向生产、经营领域延伸 ,促进科研成果转化。通过建立新的运行机制 ,解决目前我国种子培育、生产、经营“小、散、低”的问题 ,实现育、繁、销一体化 ,使有限资源能优化配置和充分利用 ,发挥整体功能和规模效应 ,向产业化方向发展。1　湘研辣椒品种的选育1980～ 1988年我中心成功地选育出了第一代系列辣椒品种湘研 1～ 10号 ,由于品种优良 ,迅速在生产上推广 ,并于 1995年获得了国家科技进步二等奖。但由于我国蔬菜生产已发生根本性变化 ,由供不应求到目前出现的阶段性的和结构…     

Trait inheritance in pepper (Capsicum spp.) cultivars identified as resistant to green peach aphid (Myzus persicae)

The green peach aphid, here abbreviated as green peach aphid (GPA), is a significant global pest of pepper. Conventional insecticide use risks the development of resistance and harms beneficial insects, whereas the deployment of resistant pepper cultivars offers an effective, economical and eco-friendly management strategy. However, no GPA resistance gene has yet been identified in pepper. In this study, greenhouse and field screening for resistance to GPA in 24 pepper cultivars identified 'ZDC' as highly resistant and 'DYJJ' as highly susceptible. Subsequent inheritance analysis using these cultivars as parents showed that the segregation ratio of resistant and susceptible offspring was 1:1 for F₁ plants and 3:1 for F₂ plants. This indicated that pepper resistance to GPA was controlled by a single dominant gene. The highly resistant cultivar 'ZDC' may enable incorporation of resistance in future breeding programmes following further investigations to establish a fuller understanding of the genetics of GPA resistance in this species.     

Modelling nitrogen stress with probe genotypes to assess genetic parameters and genetic determinism of winter wheat tolerance to nitrogen constraint

Environmental and economical constraints in Europe will favour low nitrogen (N) input systems and wheat varieties adapted to moderate N deficiency. In this context, we studied the dynamics of genetic parameters according to N stress intensity and characterized the genetic determinants for plant tolerance to N deficiency. Thus, we combined N stress modelling with a genetic approach. Two hundred and twenty-two doubled haploid lines were experimented in the field for a range of nitrogen conditions. Those conditions were characterized by the Nitrogen Nutrition Index (NNI) of Récital. Grain Yield (GY) and Kernel Number (KN) were assessed. For GY and KN, and for each line, factorial regressions using NNI of Récital as environmental index were performed. In addition, we assessed the sensitivity to N stress (slopes of the regression) and the performances under low N conditions (predicted values for a NNI of 0.5). QTL detection was performed on these parameters as well as on KN and GY measured in each environment. G × N variance increased with N stress intensity whereas heritability and genetic variance decreased. 11 QTL regions were detected: 3 were N supply-specific QTL (on linkage groups 2A2, 3A and 4B) while 4 contained QTL detected under N⁺ and under N⁻ (2D1, 4B and 5A1). Out of these four, 2 coincided with QTL for factorial regression parameters (2D1 and 4B). Finally, 4 QTL were specific for factorial regression parameters (3B, 5A2 and 7B2). The role of genes commonly used in breeding programs (rht-B1 on 4B, and Ppd1 on 2D1) in plant adaptation to nitrogen constraint was highlighted. Future studies should focus on grain protein yield, another target for low-N breeding scheme.     

Genotypic variability of sugarcane resistance to the aphid Melanaphis sacchari,vector of the Sugarcane yellow leaf virus

The objective of this study was to analyse the genotypic variability of sugarcane resistance to the main aphid vector of the Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (ScYLV) (Polerovirus, Luteoviridae), Melanaphis sacchari. We assessed the incidence of aphids in a field trial comparing 181 sugarcane cultivars. Based on the percentage of infested leaves, aphid incidence was scored every two weeks during three cropping seasons. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant genotype, and genotype × year variance, and high broad sense heritability. Using semivariograms, we showed that the alpha lattice design used in the field trial was able to cope with spatial correlation issues caused by the patchy nature of aphid infestations. Twenty‐two aphid resistant cultivars were identified. A laboratory study of the development of M. sacchari on four of these 22 resistant cultivars confirmed the resistant status of three of them. We observed modest positive phenotypic and genetic correlations between the aphid incidence and the incidence of ScYLV. The 22 cultivars resistant to M. sacchari showed twofold lower mean virus incidence than the remaining 159 cultivars.     

Relationship between heterosis and genetic distance based on morphological traits and AFLP markers in pepper

Genetic diversity is considered as one of the criteria for the selection of parents for hybrid breeding. The present study was undertaken to evaluate genetic divergence among seven pepper cultivars and to assess the relationship between heterosis and parental genetic distance. Twenty‐one F₁ hybrids and seven parents were evaluated for 15 morphological characters in a greenhouse and in the field. The parents were examined for DNA polymorphisms using six amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) primer combinations. Cluster analysis using two genetic distance measures grouped the seven parents differently. Mid‐parent and high‐parent heterosis was observed for most characters. Most hybrids outperformed the parental lines for fruit yield, earliness and plant height. Morphological and AFLP‐based distance measurements were efficient enough to allocate pepper genotypes into heterotic groups. The correlations of morphological distances with mid‐parent heterosis were significant for days to flowering and maturity, suggesting earliness can be predicted from morphological distances of parental lines. However, the correlations of AFLP‐measured genetic distances with mid‐ and high‐parent heterosis were non‐significant for all characters, except for fruit diameter, and proved to be of no predictive value.     

Relationship between tolerance and resistance to pepper mottle virus in a cross between Capsicum annuum L. × Capsicum chinense Jacq.

Summary Progenies of a cross between pepper cultivar Delray Bell (Capsicum annuum L.) tolerant to pepper mottle virus (PeMoV) and P.I. 159236 (Capsicum chinense Jacq.), resistant to PeMoV were evaluated in greenhouse experiments. The F₁ generation was susceptible to PeMoV, whereas the backeross generations to both parents and the F₂ segregated in a ratio of 1:1. This indicates that PeMoV resistance is controlled at the same locus in both parents or at two closely linked loci. Each parent is homozygous for one locus and the homozygous condition of either allele results in failure to support virus; in heterozygous condition as observed in the F₁ generation, the effect of a single allele is insufficient even when one allele of each type is present, resulting in systemic infection.The abstract of this paper was presented at the IVth Eucarpia Capsicum meetings held in October at Wageningen, Netherlands.Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations Journal Series Paper No. 3175.     

Analysis of genetic variability of aluminium tolerance response in triticale

Comparative analyses of genetic variability of aluminium tolerance response were made in a range of triticale genotypes of two sets, one consisting of six Australian cultivars (or lines), the other consisting of eight South African lines and an Australian check, by following solution culture and screening under controlled growth cabinet conditions. Results showed that Tahara, Tahara ‘S’ and Abacus were the most Al-tolerant triticales among the Australian genotypes in terms of root regrowth characteristics at 10 μg.g^-1 Al. The 19th ITSN 70-4, along with the standard cultivar Tahara was superior to all other South African genotypes; the eight South African genotypes spanned the range from Al-tolerant, moderately Al-tolerant to Al-sensitive. Regrown root length and percentage of seedlings with root regrowth were the two key indicators for screening and evaluating Al tolerance response. Considerable genetic variability of tolerance to Al stress among the two sets of tested genotypes was revealed by the estimates of genetic parameters. High heritability values were recorded for those two indicators, with associated high levels of relative genetic advance (RGA). Further improvement of varietal tolerance to Al stress in triticale could be anticipated through selection and breeding. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Aluminum tolerance in barley: Methods for screening and genetic analysis

Aluminum (Al) tolerance in roots of two cultivars of barley was studied using hematoxylin staining and root re-growth procedures. This study was performed in two F₂ segregating populations originated from crosses between the tolerant FM-404 and sensitive Harrington cultivars. The F₂ progeny analysed with hematoxylin staining revealed a segregation ratio of 3 tolerant: 1 sensitive, showing that the Al tolerance is controlled by a single gene with complete dominance for tolerance. The root re-growth measures do not confirm the 3:1 ratio. This last result can be explained due to the occurrence of genes that affect root growth rate or to the difficulties found in the evaluation of root re-growth. Barley has a complex root system, which makes it difficult to measure root re-growth after an extended period in nutrient solution. Due to the simplicity, reliability and better precision, the hematoxylin staining is the best procedure to determine the Al tolerance and its inheritance in barley. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Assessment of genetic diversity in bread wheat genotypes for tolerance to drought using AFLPs and agronomic traits

Moisture stress greatly limits the productivity of wheat in many wheat-growing regions of the world. Knowledge of the degree of genetic diversity among parental materials for key selection traits will facilitate the development of high yielding, stress tolerant wheat cultivars. The objectives of this study were to: (i) use amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) to assess genetic diversity among bread wheat lines and cultivars with different responses to drought stress in two distinct environments and, (ii) compare genetic diversity estimated by AFLPs with diversity evaluated on agronomic performance under drought stress. Twenty-eight genotypes, 14 from Iran and 14 developed or obtained by CIMMYT, were evaluated in the study. Phenotypic data on the 14 Iranian lines were obtained in Iran, and data on the 14 CIMMYT lines were collected in Mexico. Ten AFLP primer pairs detected 335 polymorphic bands among the 28 cultivars. At the 5th fusion level of the resulting dendrogram, 6 genotype clusters were identified. Thirteen of the 14 CIMMYT genotypes grouped into one cluster while 4 of the remaining groups were comprised only of Iranian genotypes. When the agronomic performance of the Iranian materials was compared with the AFLP diversity analysis, 5 of the 6 drought susceptible genotypes clustered together in the agronomic dendrogram, and were located in the same cluster in the AFLP dendrogram. However, the drought tolerant Iranian materials did not show the same degree of relationship. The CIMMYT materials did not demonstrate a significant association between agronomic performance and genetic diversity determined using AFLPs. Clearly these data show that there are genotypes with similar agronomic performance and different genetic constitutions in this study that can be combined in a breeding program to potentially improve tolerance to drought stress.     

Incompatibility and resistance to woolly apple aphid in apple

The study investigated the reported linkage of the locus for resistance to woolly apple aphid with the locus for incompatibility. Apple seedlings from the cross ‘Northern Spy’(heterozygous for resistance) בTotem’(susceptible) were scored for resistance, and for incompatibility genotype, by analysis of stylar ribonucleases, and for Got‐1, the isoenzyme marker for incompatibility. Cosegregation analysis provided no evidence that the loci for resistance and incompatibility are linked. Two rootstock cultivars,‘M9’and ‘Merton 789′, which in early work had been reported to give poor set in crosses with ‘Northern Spy’, were found to have the same incompatibility genotype as ‘Northern Spy’, namely S₁S₃.‘M4’and ‘Irish Peach’, two other cultivars that had given poor set when crossed on to ‘Northern Spy’, appeared to be homozygous at the incompatibility locus and to have the genotypes S₃S₃ and S₁S₁, respectively.     

Nuclear genetic control of variation in simazine tolerance in oilseed brassicas

Summary Brassica napus is a natural allotetraploid derived from the diploid species B. rapa L. (syn. campestris L.) and B. oleracea L. Somatic hybrids synthesized from highly heterozygous lines of these two diploid species were evaluated for fertility. The hybrids were obtained from two fusion experiments which differed in the B. rapa full-sibling parent used as the source of protoplasts. Both B. rapa siblings were lelf-incompatible (SI) yet contained different S-alleles; the B. oleracea species parent was self-compatible (SC). Eight tetraploid hybrids examined had very high female and male fertility; eight hybrids with higher ploidy had low fertility. Hybrids derived from one B. rapa sibling were self-incompatible, whereas those derived from the other B. rapa sibling were fully self-compatible. These data suggest that the different S-alleles of each B. rapa sibling displayed varying penetrance relative to the SC of the B. oleracea parent when combined in B. napus.Abbreviations SC self-compatibility - SI self-incompatibility     

Nuclear genetic control of variation in simazine tolerance in oilseed brassicas

Summary Substantial variation in tolerance to the triazine herbicide simazine was observed among a wide range of Brassica napus cultivars grown in a hydroponic screening system. None of these cultivars was as tolerant of are simazine treatment as the Canadian cultivar Triton which carries cytoplasmic gene(s) which confer a high level of resistance through their modification of chloroplast membranes to which triazine herbicides normally bind. A field study showed that the most tolerant cultivar Haya had a significantly higher yield than Triton in both handweeded plots and plots treated with 1000 ml/ha simazine. This finding supported other observations that the yield potential of cultivars such as Triton is substantially reduced because of the impairment of photosynthesis by cytoplasmic gene(s) for triazine resistance. A slight reduction in the yield of Haya with an increase in simazine concentration from 500 to 1000 ml/ha suggested that further increases in simazine concentration required for optimal weed control are likely to have a detrimental effect on the yield of Haya and other tolerant cultivars. Genetic analyses of variation in simazine tolerance in populations derived from crosses among cultivars representative of the range in tolerance indicated that the narrow-sense heritability of tolerance was of sufficient magnitude to allow for isolation of genotypes tolerant of higher simazine concentrations. These could be utilized in developing high yielding cultivars in areas of southern Australia where simazine treatment is necessary for effective weed control in Canola crops.     

Genome-wide detection of genetic loci associated with soybean aphid resistance in soybean germplasm PI 603712

Soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura) has become one of the major pests of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in North America since 2000. At least four biotypes of soybean aphid have been confirmed in the United States. Genetic characterization of new sources of soybean aphid resistance will facilitate the expansion of soybean gene pool for soybean aphid resistance and thus will help to develop soybean aphid resistant cultivars. To characterize the genetic basis of soybean aphid resistance in PI 603712, a newly identified resistant germplasm line, 142 F₂ plants derived from the cross ‘Roberts’ × PI 603712 and their parents were evaluated for soybean aphid resistance in the greenhouse, and were genotyped with BARCSoySNP6K Illumina Infinium II BeadChip. A genome-wide molecular linkage map was constructed with 1495 polymorphic SNP markers. QTL analysis revealed that PI 603712 possessed two major loci associated with soybean aphid resistance, located on chromosome 7 and 16, respectively. The locus on chromosome 7 was dominantly expressed and positioned about one Mega-base-pair distant from the previously identified resistance locus Rag1. The locus on chromosome 16 was positioned near the previously identified resistance locus Rag3 and expressed partially dominance or additive effect. Interestingly, two minor loci were also detected on chromosomes 13 and 17 but the alleles from PI 603712 decreased the resistance. In developing soybean aphid resistant cultivars through marker-assisted selection, an appropriate combination of resistance loci should be selected when PI 603712 is used as a donor parent of resistance.     

Breeding and genetic studies of tolerance to several bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) bacterial pathogens

Summary A breeding and genetic program to develop Phaseolus vulgaris bean varieties tolerant to the bacterial pathogens Pseudomonas phaseolicola, Xanthomonas phaseoli and Corynebacterium flaccumfaciens was conducted from 1962 to the present tme. The research progress is reported. Great Northern (GN) Nebraska #1, sel. 27 and PI 150414 dry bean lines were highly tolerant to races 1 and 2 of the halo blight bacterium (P. phaseolicola). The tolerant inoculated leaf, pod, and non-systemic chlorosis reactions to this bacterium were each controlled by different major genes. Coupling linkage was detected between genes controlling the leaf and systemic chlorosis reactions. GN Nebraska #1, sel. 27 and PI 207262 were tolerant to isolates (USA) of X. phaseoli, causal pathogen of common blight disease. Reaction to this bacterium was inherited quantitatively. Narrow sense heritability estimates of the disease reaction were low. Genes controlling late maturity and tolerant reaction were found to be linked in crosses with GN Nebraska #1, sel. 27 but linkage was not apparent in one cross with PI 207262. A different reaction of pod and foliage was observed in some bean lines. Susceptibility increased with the onset of plant maturity. PI 165078 was tolerant to C. flaccumfaciens and the disease reaction was simply inherited. The dry bean varieties GN Tara and GN Jules, tolerant X. phaseoli, and GN Emerson tolerant to C. flaccumfaciens and X. phaseoli were released in recent years. Breeding approaches to develop bean varieties tolerant to these bacterial pathogens is discussed.Published as Paper No. 3711, Journal Series, Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station. Research was conducted under Project No. 20-3.     

Potato germplasm development for warm climates: genetic enhancement of tolerance to heat stress

Complex potato hybrids were derived through unilateral sexual polyploidization between Solanum tuberosum cv. Atlantic and 11 diploid hybrids that produced 2n pollen through co-orientation of second division spindles. The hybrids represented the following genomic compositions: TAPB, TAPC, and TAPM where T = S. tuberosum, A = S. andigena, P = S. phureja, B = S. berthaultii, C = S. chacoense, and M = S. microdontum. The B, C, and M components of the hybrids had been selected from heat tolerant accessions. The heat tolerance and agronomic performance of the hybrids were assessed under both controlled environments and field tests. The hybrids exhibited good tuberization potential (tuber number, tuber weight and percent plants producing tubers) under heat stress conditions in controlled environments. Under severe heat stress conditions in the field in Israel, many of the hybrids tuberized when Atlantic failed to produce any tubers at all. Under more moderate heat stress in Virginia, the complex hybrids exhibited total tuber yield not significantly different from Atlantic, although the tuber set per plant was greater. However, the complex hybrids were more tolerant to heat necrosis and hollow heart than Atlantic. Total glycoalkaloids in field-grown tubers did not exceed the acceptable limit for 13 of 26 selections examined. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Inheritance of adult-plant resistance to Phytophthora capsici in pepper

Summary Inheritance studies were conducted to determine the genetic basis of adult-plant resistance in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) to Phytophthora capsici. F₁, backcrosses and F₂ populations were developed using the resistant parent Criollo de Morellos 334 and susceptible parents Agronômico 10-G and Yolo Wonder. Pepper plants, at 36 days post-emergence, were inoculated near the base of the stem with an inoculum suspension of 5×10⁴ zoospores/ml. Segregation ratios in the F₂ generation of 13 resistant to 3 susceptible plants fit a 2-gene model for resistance with dominant and recessive epistasis.