Association mapping reveals loci associated with multiple traits that affect grain yield and adaptation in soft winter wheat

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are useful to facilitate crop improvement via enhanced knowledge of marker-trait associations (MTA). A GWAS for grain yield (GY), yield components, and agronomic traits was conducted using a diverse panel of 239 soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes evaluated across two growing seasons and eight site-years. Analysis of variance showed significant environment, genotype, and genotype-by-environment effects for GY and yield components. Narrow sense heritability of GY (h ²  = 0.48) was moderate compared to other traits including plant height (h ²  = 0.81) and kernel weight (h ²  = 0.77). There were 112 significant MTA (p < 0.0005) detected for eight measured traits using compressed mixed linear models and 5715 single nucleotide polymorphism markers. MTA for GY and agronomic traits coincided with previously reported QTL for winter and spring wheat. Highly significant MTA for GY showed an overall negative allelic effect for the minor allele, indicating selection against these alleles by breeders. Markers associated with multiple traits observed on chromosomes 1A, 2D, 3B, and 4B with positive minor effects serve as potential targets for marker assisted breeding to select for improvement of GY and related traits. Following marker validation, these multi-trait loci have the potential to be utilized for MAS to improve GY and adaptation of soft red winter wheat.     

Deposition of gold mining tailings in tropical soils: metal pollution and toxicity to earthworms

Journal of Soils and Sediments - This study consists of the evaluation of metals acute toxicity levels taking into consideration a hypothetic scenario of dam breaking and land deposition of two...     

School food in Mexican children

OBJECTIVE: To establish the school eating habits of Mexican children, who are prone to obesity and later to high rates of adult chronic diseases. DESIGN: Questionnaires for students and parents with staff questionnaires and interviews. SETTING: Randomly sampled schools in a socio-economically representative district of Mexico City. SUBJECTS: Subjects were 1504 adolescents aged 10-19 years attending schools in Mexico City, 27 teachers and seven headmasters, sampled from both public and private schools and from the full range of socio-economic groups. RESULTS: Foods brought from home were of a higher nutritional quality than those purchased at school, where purchases were dominated by crisps, soft drinks and other items with high energy density. Girls were more inclined to purchase inappropriately; those from poorer homes purchased less. Private-school students irrespective of socio-economic grade brought more food from home and purchased more expensive food at school. School policies allowed food and drink vendors to market any products within the schools, which benefited financially from these activities. CONCLUSIONS: Current school food policies are conducive to amplifying the current epidemic of obesity and related adult chronic diseases, and need to change.     

Preparation of high hydroxyl equivalent weight polyols from vegetable oils

Multiple novel vegetable oil-based polyols were synthesized from the reaction-addition to epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) by a series of acid acyl moieties derived from vegetable oils. The acid acyl moieties were linoleic acid (LA), ricinoleic acid (RC), ricinoleic acid estolide (RC estolide) and hydrolyzed bodied soybean oil (HBSBO). LA and RC were commercially available but RC estolide and HBSBO were synthesized by enzymatic catalytic reactions. In the reaction-addition, ESBO was heated with the acid acyl moieties at 170 °C, atmospheric pressure without any catalyst and solvent. The synthesized vegetable oil-based polyols had acid numbers less than 10 (mg KOH/g), hydroxy numbers of 82–152 (mg KOH/g), and hydroxyl equivalent weights of 370–680. The polyols made from RC estolide and HBSBO had improved numbers of OH equivalent weight comparing to the numbers from alkoxyl hydroxyl soybean oil which is widely used commercial soy-based polyols.     

Impact of timber harvesting on carbon storage in montane forests of central Mexico

New Forests - Cut stumps are the legacy of forest harvesting and allow for the estimation of carbon loss from the ecosystem. The objective of this study was to estimate aboveground carbon storage...     

Technogenic deposits formed from dredged sediments deposition: toxic effects on earthworms

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Dredged sediments are often disposed on land areas and can cause adverse effects on soil biota, since these materials generally may contain toxic agents. This work...