Euphytica最新文献

Guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub] is an annual diploid legume (2n = 2x = 14) crop and is drought and heat tolerant. This crop is primarily grown for the high concentration of galactomannan gum that is present in the seed endosperm, and it can improve ecosystem services by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. However, the genetics of guar nodulation remains poorly understood. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the variation of nodule and plant growth traits in a set of guar germplasm. A total of 225 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guar accessions were evaluated for nodule traits in three runs of a greenhouse pot study. Results showed that all traits except fresh plant biomass varied significantly among genotypes (p-values < 0.05). Broad-sense heritability was high for nodule diameter, nodule weight per plant, and plant biomass production, indicating that genetic gain in these traits can be attained through the plant breeding process. This is promising, since selection for high values in these traits would be expected to increase nitrogen fixation and yield. There were strong and significant positive correlations between nodule number and both fresh and dry nodule weights (r = 0.79 and 0.71, respectively), as well as dry plant biomass and dry nodule weight (r = 0.8), indicating that greater plant growth is associated with increased nodule weight. Many genotypes were found to perform better than checks included in this study, which may be useful in guar breeding initiatives. PI288747 is top performing accession for all traits except nodule diameter which can be a good parent for breeding program. Overall, this research will help breeders enhance guar nodulation, nitrogen fixation, and yield by utilizing the scientific knowledge obtained and superior germplasm identified through this study.Please confirm if the author names are presented accurately and in the correct sequence (given name, middle name/initial, family name). Author 1 Given name: [specify authors given name] Last name [specify authors last name]. Also, kindly confirm the details in the metadata are correct.Author names are correct

Chestnut weevil (Cuculio sp.) is one of the most nefarious insect pests, adversely affecting chestnut cultivation. Despite the economic importance of chestnut, genetic differences of susceptibility to weevil infestation among cultivars has not been clarified. We estimated the environmental variance for the infestation rate of chestnut weevil (IRCW) using seven cultivars/selections with two single-tree replicates for 11 years. Analysis of variance using root-squared-transformed values of the IRCW revealed significant effects of genotype, year, the genotype × year interactions, and tree within genotype. Year variance consisted of 66% of the total variance, while genetic variance and genotype × year interaction account for a certain percentage (11.9% and 12.9%, respectively). Linear regression analysis of the IRCW and nut harvesting date (NHD) revealed their close association. Because NHD is a high heritability trait, the genetic effect of IRCW would be mostly explained by the difference in NHD among cultivars. Interestingly, ‘Riheiguri,’ a Japanese–Chinese hybrid cultivar, has a lower IRCW than others even after adjustment for the effect of NHD. A 2 years evaluation of IRCW with five single-tree replicates confirmed that the IRCW of ‘Riheiguri’ was lower than ‘Tsukuba,’ a Japanese cultivar with almost the same NHD. Our results demonstrated that the year variance was the largest variance component of the IRCW, whereas the genetic difference was closely associated with the difference in NHD, but was also related to factor(s) other than NHD. Elucidating this unknown factor may open the possibility of breeding tolerant cultivars for the chestnut weevil.

Tomato with prolonged fruit shelf life and improved postharvest quality would be an interesting commodity for breeders and consumers. A weak ethylene receptor mutant of experimental tomato, Sletr1-2, exhibits extended fruit shelf life without any undesirable pleiotropic effects. In this study, we elucidate the impact of Sletr1-2 mutation on the plant growth and fruit quality of the near-isogenic line containing the Sletr1-2 locus (NIL-Sletr1-2) under the genetic background of commercial tomatoes. The heterozygote line of BC3F1 and homozygote line of BC3F1, NIL-Sletr1-2 were generated by crossing the original Sletr1-2 mutant with commercial tomato cultivar ‘Intan’ and backcrossed three times. The plant growth and fruit quality were evaluated to identify the impact of Sletr1-2 mutation on NIL-Sletr1-2. The results showed that NIL-Sletr1-2 resulted in a longer fruit shelf life compared to BC2F1 and also ‘Intan’ while they have a smaller fruit size compared to BC3F1 and also resulted in orange-color fruit. These results indicate that Sletr1-2 mutation has favorable impacts on the postharvest quality of NIL-Sletr1-2 tomato fruit, resulting in improving fruit shelf-life, but still producing a smaller fruit size.

The study objective was to assess the potential benefits of using genomic tools in organic plant breeding programs to enhance selection efficiency. A diversity panel of 247 spring naked barley accessions was characterized under Irish organic conditions over 3 years. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were performed on 19 traits related to agronomy, phenology, diseases, and grain quality, using the information on 50 K Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP). Four models (EMMA, G model, BLINK, 3VMrMLM) were applied to 5 types of Best Linear Unbiased Predictors (BLUP): within-year, mean, aggregated within-year). 1653 Marker-Trait-Associations (MTA) were identified, with 259 discovered in at least two analyses. 3VMrMLM was the best-performing model with significant MTA together explaining the largest proportion of the additive variance for most traits and BLUP types (from 1.4 to 50%). This study proposed a methodology to prioritize main effect MTA from different models’ outputs, using multi-marker regression analyses with markers fitted as fixed or random factors. 36 QTL, considered major, explained more than 5% of the trait variance on each BLUP type. A candidate gene or known QTL was found for 18 of them, with 13 discovered with 3VMrMLM. Multi-model GWAS was useful for validating additional QTL, including 8 only discovered with BLINK or G model, thus allowing a broader understanding of the traits’ genetic architecture. In addition, results highlighted a correlation between the trait value and the number of favorable major QTL exhibited by accessions. We suggest inputting this number in a multi-trait index for a more efficient Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) of accessions best balancing multiple quantitative traits.

A lack of reliable winter hardiness has impeded the adoption of winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in much of the northern United States. Direct selection for winter survival is time consuming and often unreliable. In addition, because survival is a binary trait, selection towards small quantitative gains can be difficult. One solution to these challenges is to identify indirect selection traits: anatomical or physiological characteristics which can be measured in the absence of winter stress, but which contribute to improved winter survival. Here, we survey a range of winter and spring barley, as well as winter wheat, winter rye, and perennial species of the genus Hordeum, all of which are more winter hardy than barley, to identify traits associated with winter survival. We identified several traits as promising candidates for selection. These included crown depth and leaf metaxylem diameter, which previous studies have identified as indirect selection traits. New candidates identified by our study include crown diameter and leaf midvein and blade thickness, as well as a suite of traits which suggest a pattern of reduced and efficient investment in above-ground structures. The effect of these traits on winter survival need to be validated and quantified by further experiments, but they represent a promising early step in a potentially valuable breeding strategy.

In order to rapidly adapt to the evolving climate and sustainably nourish the growing global population, plant breeders are actively investigating more efficient strategies to enhance crop yields. In this study, we present the development of a bread wheat mapping population and backcross breeding program, serving as a valuable genetic resource for mapping the effects of different alleles on trait performance. We employed innovative methodologies to rapidly introgress traits into the bread wheat cultivar. Specifically, we utilized two parents, including Tosunbey x Tahirova2000, in a recombinant inbred line population, in addition, a backcross strategy was applied with line 148 (obtained by crossing Tosunbey x Tahirova2000 with high gluten quality) as the recipient parent of the Nevzatbey cv., known for its awnless feature. The two most important applications of the rapid breeding method are extending the light period and breaking dormancy in early harvested seeds. Both applications were successfully implemented in our study. Our vegetation periods ranging from approximately 50–60 days. Additionally, an early genotype in our developed population was harvested in 40 days. Considering that the genotype underwent a 15-day vernalization period, the generation cycle, including vernalization, drying, and refrigeration, was completed in a total of 64 days. Notably, we employed not only biochemical markers for selection but also incorporated the rapid generation advance technology known as ‘speed breeding’, allowing us to develop BC₅F₁ within a span of two years. We posit that this approach proves instrumental in swiftly transferring genes for multiple target traits into adapted wheat cultivars or in pyramiding desirable traits within elite breeding material.

The aim of the study was to assess the genetic structure and quantitative heritability of cotton yield, yield components and fiber quality parameters under well-watered (100%) and deficit (50%) irrigation conditions using a complete full diallel cross method with six cotton genotypes. The F₁ and F₂ generations were obtained to study the effect of irrigation conditions on genotypic variation and maternal effects on the traits studied. Parental, F₁ and F₂ generations were growed under full and deficit irrigation conditions and selected agronomic and fiber quality traits were measured. The data were analysed using various methods, including Griffing Method I, Model I analysis of variance, full diallel table analysis of variance, Jinks-Hayman diallel hybrid analysis. The Jinks-Hayman analysis of variance showed that dominant effects were more important in the inheritance of all traits, as indicated by the negative value of the difference between the additive variance and the dominance variance (D-H₁). In addition, the average degree of dominance (H₁/D)^1/2 was greater than 1, indicating the predominance of dominant gene action in inheritance. The study concluded that starting selection in the F₅–F₆ generation is appropriate for drought resistant cotton breeding studies. It also emphasised the importance of conducting drought resistant cotton breeding under drought conditions due to the differences in gene movement between well-watered irrigation and drought stress conditions. The study highlighted the importance of population selection, environmental factors, data collection and analysis interpretation in breeding studies. It suggested that the Griffing diallel analysis method is suitable for hybrid breeding studies, while the Jinks-Hayman type analysis method is suitable for studying the genetic structures of populations.

Tocopherol and sterol are non-dietary functional molecules in sunflower oil, which act as antioxidants, reduce cholesterol and improve immunity against diseases. The present study was designed to determine tocopherol and sterol contents in 13 high and two low oleic acid sunflower hybrids across two seasons (spring and autumn) and four locations under subtropical conditions of Pakistan with contrasting reproductive phase temperatures. The results showed that tocopherol and sterol contents varied across the seasons and locations. Autumn planting produced high tocopherol content. Moreover, locations under high temperature during reproductive phase negatively affected the sterol and tocopherol contents. High oleic acid hybrids yielded 38% higher tocopherol content than low oleic acid hybrids. High oleic acid hybrids produced higher sterol contents at all locations and seasons. Hybrids such as H4 and H5 are considered stable due to comparatively close values of tocopherol and sterol contents across the four locations when compared with standard checks and other hybrids during spring season as indicated from various stability parameters. Hybrids H8, H4 and H5 also manifested higher magnitude of heterosis for tocopherol and sterol contents that may be due to overdominance gene action. Breeding lines such as B.116.P, B.112.P and RH.365 were positive combiners for the investigated traits, thus likely carrying positive alleles for both tocopherol and sterol traits.

Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) has an important role in the global market, with consumption increasing steadily in the past decades. Adapted to multiple environments, a relevant question when investigating fruit quality attributes is the performance of different genotypes over multiple environmental conditions. In this study, we hypothesize that the use of environmental covariables (ECs) can improve the understanding of genotype-by-environment interaction and guide breeders’ decisions. To test it, we used twenty-four genotypes, evaluated across five harvest seasons (2018–2022) in four mega-environments in Florida (Citra FL, Central-North FL, Central FL and South FL), and investigated the impact of twenty-one environmental covariables on the phenotypic expression of five fruit quality traits (weight, total soluble solids, total titratable acidity, firmness, and size). Our contributions in this study are three: (I) first, we identified important temporal windows affecting the phenotypic plasticity for multiple traits; (II) using the environmental covariables, we draw attention on the importance of ECs that characterize the mega-environments and use such information in a mixed model framework to explain the genotype-by-environment interaction; and finally (III) we used linear regression (in the form of Finlay-Wilkinson regression) to estimate adaptability and stability metrics to select promising genotypes. Overall, these findings offer insights into the utility of environmental variables in explaining genotype stability and plasticity, thus, providing a framework to enhance predictive responses and optimize resource allocation in blueberry breeding.

Guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub] is a legume primarily grown for the guar gum in its endosperm, which is used in industrial, chemical, and food applications. Guar seed also contains protein, though this aspect of the crop has been much less studied. The high protein content makes it a good livestock feed source and the tender pods a nutritious vegetable for humans. The objective of this study was to evaluate seed protein content of diverse guar germplasm accessions sourced from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) plat germplasm repository. A two-year field study was conducted at Chillicothe and Lubbock, Texas, in 2021 and 2022. Nitrogen combustion analysis was used to evaluate protein content on ground seed samples and data was analyzed using JMP Genomics ® 7 (SAS Institute, Inc.). Significant location X year X genotype interaction (P-value < 0.05) and main genotype effects (P-value < 0.05) were identified for seed protein content. Broad-sense heritability (H) for protein content was 80.7%, indicating that most variation was due to genetics and the trait is selectable in breeding. A total of 10 guar genotypes had 0.5% higher protein content, across all locations and years, than the check genotype ‘Santa Cruz’. These findings identify high seed protein guar lines that can be used as parents in guar breeding and contribute basic knowledge on factors affecting seed protein in the crop.