Evaluation of the U.S. peanut mini core collection using a molecular marker for resistance to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sclerotinia minor</Emphasis> Jagger

Cultivated peanut, the second most economically important legume crop throughout the United States and the third most important oilseed in the world, is consistently threatened by various diseases and pests. Sclerotinia minor Jagger (S. minor), the causal agent of Sclerotinia blight, is a major threat to peanut production in the Southwestern U.S., Virginia, and North Carolina and can reduce yield by up to 50% in severely infested fields. Although host plant resistance would provide the most effective solution to managing Sclerotinia blight, limited sources of resistance to the disease are available for use in breeding programs. Peanut germplasm collections are available for exploration and identification of new sources of resistance, but traditionally the process is lengthy, requiring years of field testing before those potential sources can be identified. Molecular markers associated with phenotypic traits can speed up the screening of germplasm accessions, but until recently none were available for Sclerotinia blight resistance in peanut. This study objective of this study was to characterize the US peanut mini-core collection with regards to a recently discovered molecular marker associated with Sclerotinia blight resistance. Ninety-six accessions from the collection were available and genotyped using the SSR marker and 39 total accessions from spanish, valencia, runner market types were identified as new potential sources of resistance and targeted for further evaluation in field tests for Sclerotinia blight resistance.     

Yield potential and salt tolerance of quinoa on salt‐degraded soils of Pakistan

Quinoa is recently introduced to Pakistan as a salt‐tolerant crop of high nutritional value. Open field trials were conducted to evaluate its performance on normal and salinity/sodicity‐degraded lands at two locations of different salinity/sodicity levels, S₁ (UAF Farm, Normal Soil), S₂ (Paroka Farm UAF, saline sodic), S₃ (SSRI Farm, normal) and S₄ (SSRI Farm, saline sodic) during 2013–2014. Two genotypes (Q‐2 and Q‐7) were grown in lines and were allowed to grow till maturity under RCBD split‐plot arrangement. Maximum seed yield (3,062 kg/ha) was achieved by Q‐7 at normal field (S₁) soil which was statistically similar with yield of same genotype obtained from salt‐affected field S₂ (2,870 kg/ha). Furthermore, low yield was seen from both genotypes from both S₃ and S₄ as compared to S₁ and S₂. Q‐7 was best under all four conditions. Minimum yield was recorded from Q‐2 (1,587 kg/ha) at S₄. Q‐7 had higher SOD, proline, phenolic and K⁺ contents, and lower Na⁺ content in leaves as compared to Q‐2. High levels of antioxidants and K⁺/Na⁺ of Q‐7 helped to withstand salt stress and might be the cause of higher yields under both normal and salt‐affected soils. Seed quality (mineral and protein) did not decrease considerably under salt‐affected soils even improved seed K⁺, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺.     

Mineral bioavailability in grains of Pakistani bread wheat declines from old to current cultivars

Estimating variation in grain mineral concentration and bioavailability in relation to grain yield and the year of cultivar release is important for breeding wheat with increased content of bioavailable minerals. The grain yield and yield components, grain phytate concentration, and concentration and bioavailability of minerals (zinc Zn, iron Fe and calcium Ca) in wheat grains were estimated in 40 wheat cultivars released in Punjab (Pakistan) during the last five decades. Mean grain Zn and Ca concentrations in current-cultivars were significantly lower (≥14%) than in obsolete cultivars released during the Green Revolution (1965–1976). Much of this variation was related to increased grain weight in current-cultivars. There was a positive correlation among minerals (r = 0.39 or higher, n = 40) and minerals with phytate in wheat grains (r = 0.38 or higher, n = 40). The tested cultivars varied widely in grain yield and grain phytate-to-mineral molar ratios (phytate:mineral). Compared to obsolete cultivars, the current-cultivars had a higher phytate:mineral ratio in grains, indicating poor bioavailability of minerals to humans. The study revealed a non-significant relationship between grain yield and phytate:mineral ratios in grains. Therefore, breeding for lower phytate:mineral ratios in wheat grains can ensure increased mineral bioavailability without significant reduction in the yield potential. Future breeding should be focused on developing new genotypes suitable for mineral biofortification and with increased mineral bioavailability in grains.     

Breeding for boron tolerance in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) using a high‐throughput phenotypic assay and molecular markers

This study describes the identification of a quantitative trait locus (QTL) in the recombinant inbred line population of ILL2024 × ILL6788 and subsequent validation of associated molecular markers. A high‐quality genetic linkage map was constructed with 758 markers that cover 1,057 cM, with an average intermarker distance of 2 cM. QTL analysis revealed a single genomic region on Lc2 to be associated with B tolerance and accounted for up to 76% of phenotypic variation (Vp). The best markers for B tolerance were assessed for their utility in routine breeding applications using validation panels of diverse lentil germplasm and breeding material derived from ILL2024. A marker generated from the dense genetic map of this study was found to be the most accurate of all markers available for B tolerance in lentil, with a success rate of 93% within a large breeding pool derived from ILL2024. However, given the number of the unrelated lines for which the marker–trait association was not conserved, B tolerance screening is still required at later stages to confirm predicted phenotypes.     

Identification of superior parents and hybrids for improving canola production under optimum and late sowing conditions

Major advancement in canola breeding depends on heterotic hybrids that require high general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) inbred lines. In order to estimate heritability, gene action type, GCA, SCA and heterosis and to identify superior hybrids with wider adaptation to cold, one hundred canola hybrids were produced by crossing 10 lines and 10 testers in a Line?×?Tester mating design. The F₁ and F₂ generations were sown in α-lattice design in 2012 and 2013 growing seasons under optimum (early October) and late sowing (early November) conditions to be evaluated for days to flowering, days to physiological maturity, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, thousand seed weight, seed yield and leaf electrical conductivity. The combined analysis indicated sufficient genetic diversity in the population and significant difference between two sowing date. The Line?×?Tester analysis presented significant GCA and SCA effects for all studied traits across optimum and late sowing conditions. The main gene action type was found to be non-additive, especially incomplete dominance and over-dominance in both conditions. Narrow-sense heritability ranged from low to moderate whereas broad-sense heritability was recorded more than 60% for all of the studied traits in both generations and conditions. The average heterosis in F₂ population for all studied traits was lower than that in F₁ representing this fact that heterosis is generally related to the heterozygosity at the population level and poorly correlated with heterozygosity at the individual level.     

Genetic dissection of grain yield traits in a large collection of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) germplasm

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - Understanding genetic architecture of a crop germplasm is necessary for designing a successful breeding program. Herein, we evaluated a large collection...     

Comparing mating designs to restore seed production of interspecific hybrids between Trifolium repens (white clover) and Trifolium uniflorum

Interspecific hybrids between Trifolium uniflorum and cultivated white clover (Trifolium repens) have highly useful characteristics for temperate pastoral systems derived from both parent species. However, the early hybrids (F₁ and BC₁) also have unacceptably poor seed production for commerce. This study analysed the basis for the poor seed production and investigated breeding strategies for overcoming the problem. The BC₁F₁ generation produced lower‐than‐expected numbers of heads per plant and seeds per floret. Backcrossing of selected hybrids to white clover corrected these deficiencies and created new variation. Seed numbers were also returned to near target levels by recurrent selection within the BC₁ generation. Thus, it was possible to retain a theoretical average of 25% of T. uniflorum genome and still achieve high seed production per plant. The BC₁F₂ and BC₂F₁ generations produced high seed numbers per plant, along with reasonable variation. Both of these second‐generation hybrid forms have high reproductive potential and should be the focus for the selection of the desired combinations of agronomic and seed production traits.     

Effects of carbohydrate source and polyethylene glycol on maturation and germination of somatic embryos in walnut (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Juglans regia</Emphasis> L.)

Low efficiency of somatic embryo maturation, germination, and conversion to plantlets is a major problem in many species including J. regia L. Germination efficiency of somatic embryos is very low in walnut. In this study, effects of two carbohydrate sources, sucrose and maltose (each at 3% and 6%), and two kinds of PEG (4000 and 6000) (each at four levels of 1.5%, 3%, 5% and 7.5%) on maturation and germination of walnut embryos were tested. The number of somatic embryos increased conspicuously on medium containing PEG. Furthermore, higher levels of PEG-4000 (7.5%) could remarkably enhance the morphogenesis of somatic embryos and the number of embryos produced. PEG-4000 stimulated somatic embryo maturation of walnut. This stimulatory effect was dependent on the carbohydrate source used. Sucrose in combination with PEG-4000 produced 50% of cotyledonary and normal somatic embryos. Different concentrations of PEG were effective on the number of embryos with a shoot meristem. PEG-4000 7.5% and sucrose 3.0% produced the highest rate (50.0%) of normal shooting embryos. However, PEG (4000, 6000) and maltose caused an unfavorable effect and increased the frequency of abnormal shaped somatic embryos.     

Flowering time in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.): a key factor for global adaptability

Wheat is one of the most widely cultivated crops and, being the staple diet of more than 40 countries, it plays an imperative role in food security. Wheat has remarkable genetic potential to synchronize its flowering time with favourable environmental conditions. This ability to time its flowering is a key factor for its global adaptability and enables wheat plant to produce satisfactory grain yield under very diverse temperature and soil moisture conditions. Vernalization (Vrn), photoperiod (Ppd) and earliness per se (Eps) are the three genetic systems controlling flowering time in wheat. The objective of this review is to provide comprehensive information on the physiological, molecular and biological aspects of the three genetic constituents of flowering and maturity time in wheat. Reviews written in the past have covered either one of the aspects; and generally focused on one of the three genetic constituents of the flowering time. The current review provides (a) a detailed overview of all three gene systems (vernalization, photoperiod and earliness per se) controlling flowering time, (b) details of the primer sequences, their annealing temperatures and expected amplicon sizes for all known markers of detecting vernalization and photoperiod alleles, and (c) an up to date list of QTLs affecting flowering and/or maturity time in wheat.