Crop Science最新文献

Turfgrass species mixtures are often recommended over the use of single species due to greater genetic diversity to meet broader landscape needs. However, the intended composition of the mixture can change over time due to rates, contrasting tolerance to environmental stresses, and management practices. Strategies used to increase tolerance to stresses, such as drought, include applications of beneficial microorganisms, which may favor some turfgrass species in a mixture. The application of mycorrhizal inoculant is popular, but mycorrhizae's impact on turfgrass mixture response to drought is unknown. To address both the need for more information about turfgrass mixtures and the use of microbial inoculants, field experiments were conducted in Minnesota using mixtures and monocultures of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), and hard fescue (Festuca brevipila Tracey), each with and without inoculation with mycorrhizae. Plots were exposed to sequential drought and recovery periods lasting ∼30 days. Data were collected on turfgrass health and species cover. Results showed that the application of mycorrhizal inoculant during the establishment period did not impact species cover and had little effect on reducing symptoms of drought stress. Hard fescue performed the best during both drought and recovery even when mixed at a low proportion with the other species, especially when mixed with Kentucky bluegrass. Turfgrass species cover was consistent across drought and recovery periods, except for when species were replaced by bare soils or weeds.

Bourdoncle, W., Lemke, B., Maloney, P., Pellet, J.-L., Zhao, J., Fouquet, R., Cargill, E., & Barten, T. (2023). The brachytic2 mutation alone or its combination with the brown midrib3 mutation improves fiber digestibility in forage maize. Crop Science, 63, 2856–2864. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.21078

This erratum corrects the following error:

The data in the last column of Table 1, labeled “Milk (kg milk Mg⁻¹ DM)” were mistakenly given in lbs per US ton of DM and not the metric units:

This has now been updated to include the correct metric units in the “Milk (kg milk Mg⁻¹ DM)” column:

We apologize for this error.

Phytic acid (PA) is the primary storage form of phosphorus in seeds and is considered an anti-nutritional factor because of its ability to chelate essential minerals, thereby reducing their bioavailability. However, identifying low-PA mutants in large populations requires a cost-effective, accurate, and high-throughput screening method. A previously reported colorimetric method for quantifying PA in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). However, the throughput of that method is relatively low. In this study, we modified several key steps of the protocol to improve its throughput. The accuracy of the modified protocol was validated by comparing it with the original method and a commercially available PA quantification kit. The new high-throughput protocol showed high reproducibility and successfully distinguished existing low-PA mutants from their wild-type parent. The protocol was then used to screen a diversity panel of 202 pea accessions (Pisum sativum L.), which revealed a wide genetic variation in PA content. We identified two novel low-PA accessions, JI0383 and JI3253, with 69% and 48% reductions in PA, respectively, compared to the population mean values. This cost-effective method is expected to help researchers and breeders accelerate the development of low-PA crops to meet the current demand for high-quality plant-based foods.

Pea is a model organism in biology and an agronomic crop, entering the genomics era. Although RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) has become the main transcriptomic approach in biology, there is currently no genome-wide expression atlas covering a wide range of biological conditions for this species. Here, we generate a transcriptomic atlas in Pisum sativum by integrating 149 publicly available RNA-seq libraries, covering 10 cultivars, and a comprehensive collection of plant organs and several environmental stress conditions (heat, low temperature, nutrient, and water deficit). As proof of concept, we first verified the expression profiles of key gene families, such as sugar transporters and transcription factors (TF), across this transcriptomic atlas. Using a systems biology approach, we then inferred a regulatory network of genes responsive to water deficit, from which we predicted putative TF-target interactions, including genes encoding monosaccharide transporter PsSTP13.2 and sugar facilitator PsSWEET6. Finally, we exploited our meta-analysis to identify new reference genes with stable expression based on their coefficient of variation. Ten reference genes were validated by quantitative PCR across various biological samples, including different pea varieties, organs, and stress conditions (water deficit and fungal pathogen infection). Three reference genes (Psat6g102320, Psat6g163160, and Psat7g253080) outperformed the expression stability of common housekeeping genes (TFIIA, PPIIA, and β-tubulin). Altogether, this atlas opens new avenues of integrative research in the genomics and systems biology era of legume crops.

Root and tuber crops are a good source of food energy on a global scale, particularly in African and Asian nations. Nevertheless, these crops can be susceptible to abiotic stresses such as excessive heat, high salinity, drought, and nutrient deficiencies, which have detrimental effects on the physiological and metabolic processes of the plants, severely decreasing their yield. These abiotic stresses induce alterations in molecular structures, particularly at a protein level. With the release of the genome sequence and assembly of many root and tuber crops such as potato, cassava, beet, yam, taro, and sweet potato, opportunities for improvement of these crops against different abiotic factors have become possible. This review describes advances in the use of proteomics tools in understanding the response of root and tuber crops to abiotic stress, in order to provide insight for breeding strategies. These advancements can boost crop yields, increase agricultural productivity, and enhance global food security.

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is the fifth most important cereal grain crop worldwide and is used as both feed and food grain. While grain composition and quality are important, they have traditionally been a lower priority relative to grain yield. If methods to predict composition and quality are available, this could be added to the selection criteria with minimal addition of time or cost. Herein, the genetic inheritance of sorghum grain quality traits was assessed in hybrids obtained by crossing 10 elite inbreds from Texas A&M and Kansas State University following factorial mating designs. Grain samples from these 100 hybrids were collected from 10 evaluation environments and then analyzed for starch, protein, fat, and fiber using near-infrared spectroscopy. In addition, grain samples were characterized for three physical factors: kernel hardness index (KHI), kernel diameter (KD), and kernel weight (KW). Environmental effects were a major source of variation for starch (33.9%), fat (53.5%), and fiber (53.9%), whereas genetic effects were prominent for protein (29.9%), KHI (59.7%), KD (56.9%), and KW (43.8%). Starch, fiber, KHI, and KD predictions were more accurate (0.38–0.74) than those for protein, fat, and KW (0.26–0.70). Finally, multi-trait genomic selection models that included grain yield and days to anthesis improved prediction accuracies up to 18% for grain quality traits over single-trait models. In conclusion, these genomic selection models have the potential to effectively and concurrently select for grain composition and quality factors in sorghum.

Plant growth and development require tightly regulated concentration of heavy metal ions, which function as essential nutrients. In this context, the P1B-heavy metal ATPase (HMA), also known as the HMA family, is critical for mediating metal ion uptake, root-to-shoot translocation, and vacuolar sequestration in plants. This study presents a comprehensive characterization of 11 HMA genes in Phaseolus vulgaris L. (PvHMA). Phylogenetic analysis classified the PvHMAs genes into six distinct clusters, supported by conserved gene structure and motif distributions. PvHMA1, -2, -5, -6, -7, and -11 exhibited widespread expression across multiple tissues and harbored a diverse array of cis-regulatory elements in their promoter, suggesting multiple roles in plant growth and development. In contrast, PvHMA3 and PvHMA8 displayed tissue-specific expression patterns, being predominantly expressed in roots and leaves, respectively. Under zinc stress, PvHMA1, localized in chloroplasts, showed marked upregulation in shoot tissue. Notably, this transcriptional response was not observed under copper exposure, despite the high structural similarity between PvHMA1 and its Arabidopsis thaliana homolog, AtHMA1 (where AtHMA is Arabidopsis thaliana HMA). PvHMA2, an ortholog of the A. thaliana HMA2/4, exhibited increased sensitivity to cobalt stress. Additionally, PvHMA5 and -11 were differentially expressed in shoots in response to zinc treatment. Collectively, these findings provide a detailed overview of the HMA family in P. vulgaris and reveal a complex regulatory network of transporters involved in heavy metal homeostasis, with implications for plant nutrition, development, and stress responses.

Gibberella ear rot (GER) of maize, caused by Fusarium graminearum, poses a serious threat to human and animal safety as mycotoxins are deposited in the grain during fungal colonization and are hazardous to human and animal health. Currently, no completely resistant germplasm has been identified, and the underlying mechanisms of resistance remain unclear. In this study, we evaluated three near-isogenic line (NIL) populations for resistance to GER—NC344 × H100 (DRIL), B73 × Oh43 (nNIL), and B73 × teosinte (tNIL)—across multiple environments. The recurrent parents, H100 and B73, were moderately resistant to GER. NC344 is susceptible to GER. Oh43 is moderately resistant to GER. The teosinte donor parent, PI 384071, had unknown resistance to GER. We employed two inoculation methods—kernel injection and silk channel injection—to assess their impact on genotype response to F. graminearum. The inoculation method did not significantly affect genotype response, although kernel inoculations produced more consistent disease levels. We identified lines with significantly increased susceptibility to GER compared to their recurrent parent in each population. We employed quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping to identify markers associated with GER in the NC344 × H100 population. We identified QTL on chromosomes 4, 5, and 9. We highlight a large region on chromosome 5 that may harbor important alleles for GER resistance and for resistance to other ear rots. This study underscores the utility of NILs in dissecting the genetic basis of GER resistance and provides valuable resources for future fine mapping, gene discovery, and resistance breeding.

Productivity in strip intercropping systems is influenced by interspecific competition. Most research focused on initial design factors such as species combinations, row ratios, and sowing times; the potential to enhance productivity by regulating interspecific competition through altering crop growth within the system has been underexplored. A 2-year field experiment compared sole wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), sole alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), and wheat/alfalfa strip intercropping under different alfalfa cutting times and numbers of border rows cut. In this study, we defined the human active intervention targeting crop growth itself in the strip intercropping system as internal regulation. Results demonstrated that internal regulation significantly enhanced system productivity by altering interspecific competition, increasing yield by 21.2% in 2022 and 31.0% in 2023 compared with weighted monoculture yields. The land equivalent ratio for all internal regulation treatments was greater than 1. Internal regulation can change the border row effect of alfalfa and make wheat become the dominant crop in wheat/alfalfa strip intercropping system; the minimum competitive ratio values of alfalfa against wheat were 0.64 and 0.66 for 2022 and 2023, respectively. The treatment, which involved cutting the first border rows and the second border rows of alfalfa at 10 days before the first flowering stage, achieved the highest system yield and land use efficiency. Thus, internal regulation via suitable alfalfa cutting during the co-growth period in wheat/alfalfa strip intercropping can adjust the interspecific relationship and increase the system yield, providing a reasonable method to increase the strip intercropping yield and ensure food security.

Breeding bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) involves creating progeny combining multiple desired traits from hybridization and ensuring their adaptation and performance to various environments through rigorous testing. Turfgrass breeding programs in the southern United States collaborated to breed new bermudagrass lines for drought resistance. Thus, the objectives of this study were to evaluate advanced bermudagrass lines and to characterize their genetic gain in performance traits, reliability, genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI), and stability. The study, encompassing 34 advanced lines and three standard cultivars planted in randomized complete block designs with three replications, was carried out at eight locations across the southern United States from 2020 to 2023. Experimental lines OSU2073, OSU2081, OSU2082, TifB20201, and TifB20205 showed improved drought response relative to the drought resistant cultivar TifTuf with significant genetic gain in the mega-environment (a group of locations that share similar environment conditions in which a crop has consistent performance across them) of Dallas, TX, and Stillwater, OK. Substantial GEIs were observed under drought stress across the southern United States. This study highlights the continuous genetic gain made in breeding efforts to improve drought resistance of bermudagrass and identifies new cultivar candidates for conserving irrigation water to the turf industry.