Germination of seeds of some summer annuals in Kentucky (eastern USA) in late-winter lead to the hypothesis that under present climate conditions the whole length of the winter cold stratification (CS) period is not required for dormancy-break of seeds of summer annuals with physiological dormancy (PD). We evaluated our data from germination phenology studies of 45 species (69 datasets) and buried-seed

Cumulative oxidative damage from the unavoidable formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) contributes to seed ageing. Low-molecular-weight (LMW) antioxidants, such as water-soluble glutathione (GSH) and lipid-soluble tocochromanols, can prevent ROS from causing damage, especially when antioxidant enzymes are inactive due to desiccation. However, loss of tocochromanols does not always accompany seed

Oxygen is a major factor of seed germination since it allows resumption of respiration and subsequent metabolism reactivation during seed imbibition, thus leading to the production of reducing power and ATP. Most studies carried out in the 60s to 85s indicate that oxygen requirement depends on the species and is modulated by environmental factors. They have also demonstrated that the covering structures

ABSTRACT The current science on food allergy supports the dual allergen exposure hypothesis where sensitization to allergenic proteins is favored by dermal and inhalation exposure, and tolerization against allergy is favored by exposure in the gut. This hypothesis is bolstered by the epidemiological evidence showing that regions where children are exposed early in life to allergenic foods have lower

Empirically assessing the impact of preselection on genetic evaluation of preselected animals requires comparing scenarios that take different approaches into account, including scenarios without preselection. However, preselection is almost always performed in animal breeding programs, so it is difficult to have a dataset without preselection. Hence, most studies on preselection have used simulated

Compared to medium-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data, high-density SNP data contain abundant genetic variants and provide more information for the genetic evaluation of livestock, but it has been shown that they do not confer any advantage for genomic prediction and heritability estimation. One possible reason is the uneven distribution of the linkage disequilibrium (LD) along the genome

The rabbit cecum hosts and interacts with a complex microbial ecosystem that contributes to the variation of traits of economic interest. Although the influence of host genetics on microbial diversity and specific microbial taxa has been studied in several species (e.g., humans, pigs, or cattle), it has not been investigated in rabbits. Using a Bayes factor approach, the aim of this study was to dissect

Integrating cover crops (CCs) into dryland crop rotations could suppress weeds and provide an alternative option for herbicide-resistant (HR) weed control in no-tillage (NT) systems. Field experiments investigated weed suppression potential of spring-planted CCs and their impacts on plant available water, crop yields and net returns. The CC treatments were implemented during the fallow phase of a NT

Many changes affecting the management of genetic diversity occurred following recommendations made by the National Research Council in the aftermath of the Southern Leaf Corn blight epidemic of 1970–71. New maize breeding programs involving both publicly and privately funded collaborators were initiated. The number and scope of international maize breeding programs increased. Changes in germplasm usage

In the face of global pressures of change and biodiversity loss, crop wild relatives (CWR) and wild-utilized plants (WUS) urgently require conservation attention. To advance conservation, we assembled a national inventory of CWR and WUS in Canada. To assess current ex situ conservation, we gathered a virtual metacollection of CWR and WUS accession data from national genebanks and from botanical gardens

Zoysiagrasses have been predominately utilized as turfgrass for residential and commercial lawns in addition to golf course fairways and tees due to reduced input requirements compared to bermudagrass. The recent development of fine-textured zoysiagrass cultivars has sparked interest in using zoysiagrass on putting greens. A complete-factorial field experiment was conducted over replicate trials in

Stem rot, caused by the Sclerotium rolfsii, imposes severe yield losses in peanuts worldwide. Breeding for resistance is challenging since not enough is known about mechanisms for resistance. The goals of this study were (1) to evaluate the field resistance of recombinant Inbred lines derived from a resistant X susceptible cross, (2) to associate quantitative loci (QTLs), and (3) to reveal potential

Xenia, pollination of florets with genetically-unrelated pollen; male sterility, removal of fertile pollen; and synchronous pollination, application of pollen when all silks are present are well-documented processes that influence kernel formation and development in maize. There also have been numerous reports in which xenia and male sterility were combined in an attempt to increase kernel number,

Plant breeding is central to agriculture, and shifts in plant breeding practices (e.g., hybrid development) and selection goals (e.g., response to synthetic fertilizer) have catalyzed monumental and persistent changes in agricultural production systems of all scales with social, political, economic, and environmental repercussions. While plant breeders are largely trained in the sciences of biology

Fast, memory-efficient, and reliable algorithms for estimating genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV) for multiple traits and environments are needed to make timely decisions in breeding. Multivariate genomic prediction exploits genetic correlations between traits and environments to increase accuracy of GEBV compared to univariate methods. These genetic correlations are estimated simultaneously

In genomic prediction including data of 3- or 4-way crossbred animals, line composition is usually fitted as a regression on expected line proportions, which are 0.5, 0.25 and 0.25, respectively, for 3-way crossbred animals. However, actual line proportions for the dam lines can vary between ~ 0.1 and 0.4, and ignoring this variation may affect the genomic estimated breeding values of purebred selection

Coastal desert vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula is almost entirely dominated by halophytes. Natural populations provide a genetic resource for ecological remediation and may also have direct economic value. High intrapopulation variation of seed traits is presumed to increase population persistence in the unpredictable climatic conditions of this hyper-arid desert. We investigated whether intrapopulation

If not accounted for, genotype x environment (G×E) interactions can decrease the accuracy of genetic evaluations and the efficiency of breeding schemes. These interactions are reflected by genetic correlations between countries lower than 1. In countries that are characterized by a heterogeneity of production systems, they are also likely to exist within country, especially when production systems

The English grain aphid Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) causes significant yield and quality losses in wheat worldwide, and the use of insect-resistant wheat varieties reduces the loss level. The present study aimed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) and perform putative candidate gene evolutionary analysis for S. avenae resistance in 261 F2:5 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from the cross

ABSTRACT The comprehensiveness of the allergen database used to bioinformatically compare a novel food protein with known allergens is critical to the ability to assess the allergenic risk of newly expressed proteins in genetically engineered crops. The strength of the relationship between a candidate GE protein’s amino acid sequence and that of known allergens is used to predict cross-reactive risk

Meat quality and composition traits have become valuable in modern pork production; however, genetic improvement has been slow due to high phenotyping costs. Combining genomic information with multi-trait indirect selection based on cheaper indicator traits is an alternative for continued cost-effective genetic improvement. Data from an ongoing breeding program were used in this study. Phenotypic and

Grain weathering in grain sorghum is a persistent concern for producers in warm and humid climates. Further, grain sorghum genotypes are known to vary in their response to grain weathering; in some cases, this response is associated with a specific grain trait. For example, waxy endosperm sorghum is perceived to be more susceptible to grain weathering. This study herein compared waxy, heterozygous

Research establishing optimal sowing dates and supplemental irrigation can help to alleviate the adverse effects of water deficit conditions on safflower agronomic performance in dry regions. The main objective of this study was to assess the effects of sowing date (early and late) and irrigation quantity on morphological, grain and oil traits in safflower during two growing seasons. Irrigation treatments

Guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub] is an alternative crop in the Southern High Plains that thrives in semi-arid regions, due to its low water input requirements. Field experiments were conducted in 2017 and 2018 at New Deal, TX to evaluate the response of guar (cv. Matador) to four levels of deficit irrigation (DI; extreme – 51 mm, severe – 127 mm, moderate – 203 mm, and mild – 279 mm). Soil

ABSTRACT Expression of the HAHB4 sunflower transcription factor confers drought tolerance to wheat event IND-ØØ412-7 (HB4® wheat). After confirming the compositional equivalence of event IND-ØØ412-7 with conventional wheat, its nutritional similarity to its non-genetically modified (GM) counterpart was analyzed by performing a 42-day broiler feeding study. Isoenergetic diets containing 40% flour from

Duration of fertility (DF) is an important economic trait in poultry production because it has a strong effect on chick output. Various criteria or traits to assess DF on individual hens have been reported but they are affected by many nongenetic factors. Thus, a reliable definition and associated genetic parameters are needed. Because egg production is also vital in chicken breeding, knowledge of

Selection of livestock based on their robustness or sensitivity to environmental variation could help improve the efficiency of production systems, particularly in the light of climate change. Genetic variation in robustness arises from genotype-by-environment (G × E) interactions, with genotypes performing differently when animals are raised in contrasted environments. Understanding the nature of

It is expected that functional, mainly missense and loss-of-function (LOF), and regulatory variants are responsible for most phenotypic differences between breeds and genetic lines of livestock species that have undergone diverse selection histories. However, there is still limited knowledge about the existing missense and LOF variation in commercial livestock populations, in particular regarding population-specific

Genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV) by single-step genomic BLUP (ssGBLUP) are affected by the centering of marker information used. The use of a fixed effect called J factor will lead to GEBV that are unaffected by the centering used. We extended the use of a single J factor to a group of J factors. J factor(s) are usually included in mixed model equations (MME) as regression effects but a transformation

Meta-analysis describes a category of statistical methods that aim at combining the results of multiple studies to increase statistical power by exploiting summary statistics. Different industries that use genomic prediction do not share their raw data due to logistic or privacy restrictions, which can limit the size of their reference populations and creates a need for a practical meta-analysis method

ABSTRACT Potato virus Y (PVY) is a deadly environmental constraint that damages productivity of potato (Solanum tuberosum) around the globe. One of the major challenges is to develop resistance against PVY. Emerging clustered regularly short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas systems have the potential to develop resistance against PVY. In the current research, CRISPR-Cas13 has been exploited to target

We investigated the thermal thresholds to seed germination and the variations in abscisic acid (ABA) levels and oxidative metabolism during seed dormancy-breaking and germination in two palm species with differences in desiccation tolerance. We used Mauritia flexuosa (buriti palm, desiccation-sensitive seeds) from swampy habitats (Veredas) and Attalea speciosa (babassu, desiccation-tolerant seeds)

White clover (Trifolium repens L.), an economically important forage legume in temperate pastures, provides quality herbage and plant-available nitrogen. Enhancing breeding efforts to improve dry matter (DM) yield and vegetative persistence will increase on-farm value of this forage. To increase genetic gain for such traits, breeding tools like genomic selection have proven to be highly valuable in

High temperature has been a major limiting factor for wheat productivity and will become a significant driver of yield loss as global warming progresses. Many wheat-growing regions worldwide experience terminal heat stress during the grain-filling period, resulting in grain yield reduction. A sustainable solution to mitigate heat stress-induced damage is to develop heat-tolerant cultivars. To achieve

The growing regional and global interests in legume crops for cover cropping and sustainable agricultural has provided new opportunities for growers to incorporate faba bean (Vicia faba) into their production systems. Much of faba bean's potential, especially in the western United States high N fixation potential compared to other cultivated legumes. However, faba bean production is currently hindered

Studies on gray leaf spot (GLS) of maize have reported inconsistencies in the relationship between partial disease resistance and agronomic traits. Understanding this variation could facilitate the use of agronomic traits as a basis for selection to improve partial resistance to GLS. Coinheritance of nine agronomic traits with partial resistance to GLS was examined among forty-eight maize inbred lines

In animal genetics, linear mixed models are used to deal with genetic and environmental effects. The variance and covariance terms of these models are usually estimated by restricted maximum likelihood (REML), which provides unbiased estimators. A strong hypothesis of REML estimation is the multi-normality of the response variables. However, in practice, even if the marginal distributions of each phenotype

Although bovine milk is regarded as healthy and nutritious, its high content of saturated fatty acids (FA) may be harmful to cardiovascular health. Palmitic acid (C16:0) is the predominant saturated FA in milk with adverse health effects that could be countered by substituting it with higher levels of unsaturated FA, such as oleic acid (C18:1cis-9). In this work, we performed genome-wide association

Knowledge of water use rates and responses to deficit irrigation practices in cool-season turfgrasses is important, particularly in climates where irrigation is required to maintain turf quality. This is Part I of two companion papers reviewing cool-season turfgrass water use and requirements. Part I presents the history of early water conservation and quantification methods in turfgrass and summarizes

Knowledge of drought resistance of cool-season turfgrasses is important because drought stress can occur wherever they are grown, even in humid regions with wet climates. This review is Part II of two companion papers that review water use and requirements in cool-season turfgrasses. Part I presented the history of early water conservation and quantification methods in turfgrass and then summarized

Water consumption and supply for the urban landscape continues to be a concern for many communities throughout the United States. A two-year field study was conducted in the cool-humid region to determine the irrigation requirements of drought sensitive (DS) and drought resistant (DR) Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.: KBG) and tall fescue [Festuca arundinacea Schreb.; syn. Schedonorus arundinaceus

The algorithm for proven and young (APY) has been suggested as a solution for recursively computing a sparse representation for the inverse of a large genomic relationship matrix (G). In APY, a subset of genotyped individuals is used as the core and the remaining genotyped individuals are used as noncore. Size and definition of the core are relevant research subjects for the application of APY, especially

Recombination is a fundamental part of mammalian meiosis that leads to the exchange of large segments of DNA between homologous chromosomes and is therefore an important driver of genetic diversity in populations. In breeding populations, understanding recombination is of particular interest because it can break up unfavourable linkage phases between alleles and produce novel combinations of alleles

To estimate genetic and environmental effects on traits associated with garlic functional value and postharvest quality, the content of total organosulfur compounds, phenolics, and solids were determined in selected garlic cultivars grown at four locations in Mendoza, Argentina. To this end, an initial experiment considered five cultivars grown in two locations and two years, and a second experiment

Studies at a regional scale suggest that although maize yield increased substantially, sensitivity to water deficit also increased concurrently with crop improvement. This study assessed changes in yield and yield stability after two decades of breeding by evaluating two cohorts of hybrids released by the AQUAmax(R) program, and comparing them to a non-AQUAmax control. Studies were conducted in 2019

Predicting the performance of new plant genotypes under new environmental conditions could accelerate the development of locally adapted and climate resilient cultivars. Enabling these predictions may rely on extending the genomewide prediction framework to include environmental covariates (EC), but such models have generally been tested under limited, less breeding-realistic contexts. Using a barley

BACKGROUND Recombination is a fundamental part of mammalian meiosis that leads to the exchange of large segments of DNA between homologous chromosomes and is therefore an important driver of genetic diversity in populations. In breeding populations, understanding recombination is of particular interest because it can break up unfavourable linkage phases between alleles and produce novel combinations

Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important crop in sub-Sahara Africa for both human consumption and livestock feed. Maize use is often limited by ear-rotting fungi, some of which produce deleterious secondary metabolites. The aim of this study was to determine the inheritance of resistance to Fusarium verticillioides as an indirect way of selecting for resistance to secondary metabolites such as the mycotoxin

Fall dormancy is a vital component of alfalfa yield in northern climates, but selection for the trait is often done at the expense of winter survival. We performed one cycle of selection to reduce fall dormancy in two winter hardy cultivars (Yellowhead and Peace) using a new indoor screening method. We compared the reduced dormancy populations with their respective initial cultivars for fall dormancy

On the cover: Castor flowers. Close-spaced plant arrangement increases biomass and seed yields of castor crop in tropical fall–winter conditions. See Kotz-Gurgacz et al. (https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20708). Photo credit: Tailene E. Kotz-Gurgacz.

Wheat (Triticum spp.) yield is increased by either producing and testing variants of yield-limiting genes or crossing to create new allelic combinations. Tiller number and seeds per tiller influence wheat yield, and both are impacted by the Teosinte Branched1 (TB1) gene. We screened 16 hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars, 15 hard red winter wheat cultivars and lines, and 10 durum

An important goal in animal breeding is to improve longitudinal traits. The objective of this study was to explore for longitudinal residual feed intake (RFI) data, which estimated breeding value (EBV), or combination of EBV, to use in a breeding program. Linear combinations of EBV (summarized breeding values, SBV) or phenotypes (summarized phenotypes) derived from the eigenvectors of the genetic covariance

Bayesian genomic prediction methods were developed to simultaneously fit all genotyped markers to a set of available phenotypes for prediction of breeding values for quantitative traits, allowing for differences in the genetic architecture (distribution of marker effects) of traits. These methods also provide a flexible and reliable framework for genome-wide association (GWA) studies. The objective

Seeds show important variation as plant regenerative units among species, but their evolutionary co-variations with other plant characteristics are still poorly understood. Whilst a positive association of seed mass with genome size (GS) and life forms has already been documented, a broad-scale quantification of their evolutionary correlation and adaptive selection has never been conducted. Here, we

Plant breeders often focus on production traits such as yield and disease resistance, while quality traits such as flavor are given low priority. Food manufacturers and consumers have expressed interest in superior flavor experiences suggesting that flavor attributes should play a more prominent role in selection. Flavor attributes were evaluated among a subset of the North Carolina State University

Estimation of the rate of genetic gain over time allows quantification of breeding progress. Here we report on the rate of grain yield and zinc concentration increase over 11 years of targeted wheat biofortification breeding at CIMMYT. Data from yield trials evaluated across multiple locations in South Asia showed average increases in grain yield potential of approximately 0.755% per year. Across locations

Retrospective studies are critical to investigate changes in physiological traits related to nitrogen (N) uptake and yield formation. N is a key yield-limiting nutrient in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), as in most crops, so improving its N internal efficiency (NIE, yield to N uptake ratio) could increase productivity and sustainability. Understanding changes in N efficiency across time linked

Conventional breeding has produced low levels of yield increase in lentils in recent decades. As hybrids have led to large increases in yield in other crops, we examined the possibility of using hybrids in lentils. In 52 hybrids between Australian commercial varieties and lines from a global collection of cultivated and wild accessions, we found 15 of the combinations had seed yield hybrid vigor, with

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) breeders use spaced-seedling plots for evaluations of biomass yield, but prior studies are ambiguous about the relationship between performance in spaced plots and commercial seeded sward performance. This study used a split-plot incomplete block design to evaluate 52 half-sib switchgrass families across two years to determine the correlations among four different

ABSTRACT China has been investing heavily in biotechnology to increase agricultural productivity. While a number of Chinese developed GM crops have cleared the required scientific hurdles – some more than a decade ago – commercialization has not been approved. The regulatory regime for GMOs in China is relatively less well understood than that of the US or the EU. This paper provides a systematic overview