ABSTRACT Zoochoric plants usually produce fruits with a mechanical barrier in the exocarp, or chemical inhibitors in the fruit pulp (mesocarp) or seed coat (endocarp) to achieve required dormancy. Tamarindus indica L. is one such zoochoric tree species, but the role of possible bioactive chemicals in the ecology of its fruit and seed dispersal has not been explored before. We investigated the germination

It would be helpful to have genomewide selection schemes that increase genetic gains within the same cost and same time as currently required in breeding programs. My objective was to assess if and how two-cycle genomewide selection can increase maize (Zea mays L.) genetic gains in a cost-neutral and time-neutral manner. As per industry sources, per-unit costs were assumed equal for genotyping, doubled

Breeding for tolerance to high plant density (HPD) stress resulted in remarkable increase in grain yield per unit area in temperate maize. In spite of improved germplasm and reasonable adoption of hybrid technology, average maize productivity in tropics is still much below the achievable potential, primarily due to natural abiotic stresses and poor management due to lack of access to key inputs. A

Important components of a successful embryo transfer program in cattle are the superovulatory response and embryo production. Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and antral follicle count (AFC) have been proposed as biomarkers of the reproductive response in superovulated cattle; however, their predictive ability appears to be influenced by climate. Objective herein was to evaluate AMH and AFC as predictors

Phytic acid (myo-inositol 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexakisphosphate; InsP6) is the main storage form of phosphorus in plant seeds, and it decreases the bioavailability of minerals in the feed of monogastric animals. The enzyme myo-inositol-1-phosphate synthase (MIPS, EC 5.1.1.4) catalyzes the conversion of D-glucose-6-phosphate to myo-inositol-1-phosphate, which is the initial step of phytic acid biosynthesis.

Drought is the most important factor limiting crop production in arid and semiarid regions of the world. Epigenetic changes including DNA methylation are involved in response to environmental stresses such as drought. In this study, the coupled restriction enzyme digestion-random amplification (CRED-RA) technique was used to evaluate the methylation patterns in leaf of two Iranian barley cultivars

In this paper, we examine preferences for flooring properties that enhance animal welfare in dairy cattle barns among a sample of Swedish dairy farmers. The findings reveal that respondents differ in their choice of flooring properties that improve farm animal welfare. The findings also show that they consider low-slip risk and the softness of floors to be the most important properties. Findings from

In the breeding plans of animals, it is essential to have sound estimates of genetic parameters for economically important traits. Over the previous years, genetic parameter estimates have been reported for conformation traits in horses. However, these estimates have been got from studies based on various horse populations. This has resulted in considerable variability among heritability and genetic

In the U.S. Upper Midwest where growing seasons are short, establishing winter annual cover crops following corn (Zea mays L.) is challenging. Winter camelina [Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz] shows promise as a winter annual cover crop that can be dual cropped with soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] to help diversify the corn–soybean rotation. This 2-yr field study in southern and western Minnesota evaluated

Expression of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) is crucial for the development of prion diseases. Amino acid changes in PrPC or a reduced amount of PrPC may modulate disease resistance. The relative abundance of C1, a natural α-cleavage fragment of PrPC, was previously found to be associated with a resistant PRNP genotype in sheep. Goats are another small ruminant where classical scrapie susceptibility

Successful domestication and introduction into culture of new forms of rubber-bearing dandelions require not only determination of the content and quality of rubber in them, but also accurate species identification and genetic certification of valuable lines and forms. The objects of our study were three samples of Taraxacum kok-saghyz Rodin KAZ08-023, L2, Sary Jaz, brown-seeded and pink-seeded forms

In vitro haploid production followed by chromosome doubling greatly enhances the production of complete homozygous wheat lines in a single generation. This work aimed to develop wheat doubled haploid genetic stock resistant to yellow and brown rust via intergeneric hybridization with Imperata cylindrica and its further characterization. The wheat doubled haploid (DH) line was developed by crossing

Breeding for resistance to Fusarium ear rot (FER; Fusarium verticillioides Nirenberg) and fumonisin (FUM) contamination in maize (Zea mays L.) is labor intensive, time consuming, and expensive. The objective of this study is to explore three possible shortcuts to improve the efficiency of breeding for resistance to FER and FUM: relying on natural instead of artificial inoculation of Fusarium verticillioides

The three pre-ensiling treatments dry matter (DM) concentration, wilting intensity and sucrose addition have recently been shown to affect the chemical composition of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) silages (LS) with highest true protein preservation and improved fermentation quality when lucerne was wilted with high intensity to 35% DM concentration and ensiled with the addition of sucrose. Provided

The objective of this randomized, controlled study was to evaluate the reproductive and economic performance of dairy Holstein heifers managed for first to third artificial inseminations (AIs) with or without an intravaginal progesterone device (IPD) under different temperature-humidity indexes (THI) and combined with AI after observed estrus. A total of 503 heifers from one rearing commercial farm

Although conventional battery hen cages are still prevalent in the global market, the movement towards greener methods is gaining momentum beyond Europe. However, egg quality and the degree to which it is affected by the different systems of production remains a controversial subject and there is still no consensus among researchers. Using PRISMA guidelines the literature reporting the housing systems

This aim of this study was to analyze the influence of socieoconomic, environmental and farm variables on the existing genetic values (Expected Progeny Differences - EPDs) of the different clusters of Nelore animals in Brazil. The data evaluated included EPDs of 1,462,485 animals, males and females born between 2000 to 2011, same period of the compiled variables used (socieoconomic, environmental and

To assess the current genetic status of a useful coastal plant Glehnia littoralis F. Schmidt ex Miq. in Japan, the genetic diversity within and among natural populations was investigated. A total of 601 individuals from 32 local populations were genotyped using inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers. In addition, most likelihood inference of the outcrossing rate was determined based on genotyping

ABSTRACT This study is aimed at producing economical and high-quality phalsa diet squash (DSP) by partial or full replacement of sucrose with an equivalent sweetness from the safe artificial sweeteners, such as sucralose and saccharine. A zero-order, first-order, and second-order models were used to describe the kinetics degradation of vitamin C, toftal anthocyanin content, phenolic, and phosphorus

There is an increasing need to account for genotype-by-environment (G × E) interactions in livestock breeding programs to improve productivity and animal welfare across environmental and management conditions. This is even more relevant for pigs because selection occurs in high-health nucleus farms, while commercial pigs are raised in more challenging environments. In this study, we used single-step

The fatty acid profile of oilseed Brassica carinata has prompted interest as a renewable fuel feedstock due to the high proportions of erucic acid (C22:1) in its seed. In addition, B. carinata produces a sulfur-rich secondary metabolite, called glucosinolates (GSLs), that protects the plant from pests and disease but also reduces meal palatability and its nutritional value. In B. carinata, it is not

Wheat demand in Bangladesh has increased significantly in recent years, becoming the second major staple cereal after rice. Domestic production of wheat accounts for only 16% of domestic use. More than 30 wheat varieties have been released in the past 30 years by the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI). In the last 10 years alone, nine varieties with improved yield and disease resistance

Rye translocation is a significant genetic resource used in the development of drought-tolerant wheat varieties. The effects of vernalization genes on root angles in the reciprocal recombinant inbred population carrying rye translocation were investigated in the study. Three hundred and five bread wheat lines obtained from reciprocal recombinant inbred line population, which were found to carry rye

While the adoption of genomic evaluations in livestock has increased genetic gain rates, its effects on genetic diversity and accumulation of inbreeding have raised concerns in cattle populations. Increased inbreeding may affect fitness and decrease the mean performance for economically important traits, such as fertility and growth in beef cattle, with the age of inbreeding having a possible effect

Chilto (Solanum betaceum Cav.) is a traditional Andean crop, appreciated for its high nutritional and commercial value. Despite it is cultivated in many countries, the information about the diversity, and conservation of wild populations is still missing. The objectives of this work were to characterize wild populations of the species in northwestern Argentina, regarding the morphological traits of

The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the fourth most important crop for global food security. Its tubers contain high concentrations of antioxidants, especially in genotypes with red or purple pigmentation. The Potato Genebank of the Universidad Austral of Chile includes accessions that show pigmentation in their flesh and/or skin as well as high levels of anthocyanins, but little is known about the

Weight of lambs produced per ewe is an important economic-related trait for French meat sheep farmers. Consequently, genetic improvement of their ewes is based on selecting maternal traits using a global index, called MAT, which combines estimated breeding values for litter size at lambing (LS), weight at 30 days of age (W30D) and viability over the same period. The frame of this study is to compare

At the start of lactation, a severe energy deficiency can have negative impacts on dairy cows’ performance and health. The objective of this 3 × 2 factorial study was to compare the effects of three concentrate (C) build-up strategies during transition period (C-21; C1; C+21) and two milking frequencies (M) during 1st week of lactation (once vs. twice-daily milking; M1 vs. M2) on feed intake, milk

Animal production influences the environment through land-use changes and the cycle of nutrients such as CO2. Pork production is an essential sector of agribusiness nowadays. This type of farming will also be affected by climate change since the production of animal feeds depends on the weather. New information on pork production is vital to study the amount of feed wasted through sow yield and environmental

Rice is one of staple food crops in the world. Improving the drought tolerance of rice has become an important issue for maintaining or increasing its grain production under water stress caused by the greenhouse effect. For achieving this goal, quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping is considered to be useful in plant breeding. In this study, a doubled-haploid (DH) population was used as elite materials

Seedling vigor is a desirable trait in direct-seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.) to improve plant establishment and enhance weed competition. In this study, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on seedling vigor traits was performed on a rice panel of 244 accessions consisting of the five major rice subpopulations, aromatic, aus, tropical japonica, temperate japonica and indica using the 7K SNP Cornell-IR

At initial breeding stages, using a replicated check design is a viable alternative to reduce experimental field area as well as financial and operational costs. In this situation, spatial modeling could act to increase prediction accuracy of plant genotypic values. The objectives of this study were to demonstrate how spatially adjusted models can be used to reduce experimental error and how to compare

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) has unrealized potential as an alternative crop in many semiarid regions including central Argentina. Our objective was to relate how temperature and precipitation conditions with fall (5 June 2012 and 23 Apr. 2013) and winter sowing (13 Aug. 2012 and 20 Aug. 2013) affected phenology, yield, yield components, and oil percent in four winter and eight spring-type safflower

Tuber quality is the subject of great interest among the processing industry and consumers worldwide. Being a polygenic trait, its enhancement requires a systematic understanding of their genetic complexity. Molecular genetics offered valuable solutions to the challenging endeavours of slow genetic gains in conventional potato breeding. With the advent of linkage maps, molecular markers and availability

The seed collecting phase of the ‘Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change’ project was, to the best of our knowledge, the most comprehensive crop wild relatives (CWR) collecting and conservation mission to-date and provides priceless genetic diversity for ongoing and future crop breeding efforts. The seed collecting started in 2013 and was concluded in 2019, it was carried out in 22 countries in Africa

The evolution and domestication of pigs is a complex and ongoing process. Despite its rich biodiversity and proximity to the geographical origins of Sus scrofa domesticus, the place of Indian pigs in the global phylogeny is unclear. Using microarray-derived (porcine 60K SNP chip) genotypes of 11 Ghurrah pigs from North-Western India and a public dataset comprising 2113 pigs of 146 breeds, we determined

The pathogenicity of tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) is unknown; therefore, it has not been completely evacuated. In this study, we planned to find the possible therapeutic role of Celecoxib supplementation in thiram-induced TD chickens. Three hundred sixty (n = 360) broiler chickens were divided into 3 groups as control (C), thiram (T) and Celecoxib supplementary group (ST) for day 1 (8 day old), 2 (9

Tissue strength of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) roots could be an interesting breeding target, as it is a possible indicator for storability and influences the manufacturing process. The objective of this study was to analyze the importance of genotype and environment and their interaction on three texture parameters (puncture resistance, tissue firmness, and compressive strength) and to investigate

ABSTRACT Advances in genome editing technologies have tremendous potential to address the limitations of classical resistance breeding. CRISPR-Cas9 based gene editing has been applied successfully in plants to tolerate virus infections. In this study, we successfully tested CRISPR-Cas9 system to counteract cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) caused by whitefly transmitted cotton leaf curl viruses (CLCuVs)

Feed efficiency is a major driver of the sustainability of pig production systems. Understanding the biological mechanisms that underlie these agronomic traits is an important issue for environment questions and farms' economy. This study aimed at identifying genomic regions that affect residual feed intake (RFI) and other production traits in two pig lines divergently selected for RFI during nine

Maximizing yield is very important when developing new cultivars. However, yield must usually be improved jointly with other key traits, which can prove challenging when they are unfavorably correlated. Genomic predictions can facilitate the selection of promising lines among the progeny of crosses, but it may also help in selecting crosses that are more likely to produce improved lines by predicting

A seed remains attached to mother plant through funiculus which is the only means of communication between seed and mother plant. In general, the funiculus gets detached from seeds at maturity while harvesting and threshing. However, out of about 950 accessions of field pea screened at ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur, India, 8 accessions were identified to have intact funiculus in

In sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), development of male-sterile versions (A-lines) of the seed parents (B-lines) is a tedious and time-consuming process limiting opportunities for the improvement of new seed parents. Assessment of the value of a potential new seed parent requires testcross hybrid evaluations, but because of male fertility of these lines, conventional methods are inadequate to

Greenbug (Schizaphis graminum Rondani) is one of the aphids causing significant cereal yield losses worldwide, and greenbug biotype H is virulent to all known greenbug resistance genes in barley. Wild barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum) accession WBDC336 (PI 682028) exhibits resistance to greenbug biotypes C, E, H, I, WY81, WY12 MC, and WY86. To investigate the genetics of greenbug resistance

Despite the ability of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] to withstand harsh environmental conditions, it is susceptible to water-deficit stress during grain filling. To identify postflowering, drought-tolerant sorghum genotypes, parents of nested association mapping populations were evaluated under controlled and water-deficit conditions in greenhouse and field conditions. In both experiments,

Xinjiang is currently the most dominant cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)-growing region in China and possesses abundant radiation resource. The cultivation techniques such as wide and narrow row-spacing and high density are widely adopted to obtain high cotton yield in the region. However, the region is facing some problems including poor light transmittance in the field and low exploitation for light

Heading date is an important agronomic trait in rice (Oryza sativa L.). We previously fine-mapped two complementary genes, Late Heading Date 1 and Late Heading Date 2 (LH2), that control the late heading trait in rice. Here, we cloned and analyzed the function of LH2. LH2 was fine-mapped to a 53-kb genomic region. Sequencing analysis revealed that there were differences in the coding sequence of LOC_Os08g07740

Potatoes is often considered a drought-sensitive crop and its sustainable production is threatened due to frequent drought episodes. Drought tolerance is a complex trait of increasing importance in potatoes therefore its yield is threatened. The differential response of several physiological and agronomical traits was evaluated in a diverse potatoes panel under contrasting water regimes to identify

Lysine and tryptophan are two essential amino acids and these are deficit in maize grain thus posing the problem of nutritional deficiencies in the consumers. A wide range of deficiency symptoms like cognitive disorder, kwashiorkor disease, reduced appetite, impaired skeleton development, delayed growth and aberrant behaviour are associated with lysine and tryptophan deficiency. These amino acids are

‘Sikkim Primitive’ is a prolific maize landrace with five to nine ears per plant. Though the landrace was discovered in 1960s, loci governing the prolificacy was not identified. Here, a prolific inbred ‘MGUSP101’ developed from ‘Sikkim Primitive’ was crossed with two nonprolific inbreds, namely, HKI1128 and UMI1200. Two F2:3 populations (MGUSP101 × HKI1128 and MGUSP101 × UMI1200) were evaluated at

Wild rice species are expected to possess genes that are potentially useful for rice breeding. Backcross inbred lines (BILs) derived from a cross of a japonica rice ‘Shiokari’ and a progeny line from a cross of a japonica ‘Taichung 65’ and Oryza longistaminata MwM were examined for agronomic traits. Some BILs showed vigorous growth and increased yield relative to ‘Shiokari’. One of such BILs was further

Time- and resource-efficient identification of promising lines is of utmost importance in hybrid breeding. Here, we present a novel approach to evaluate female candidate lines for single-cross hybrids, which saves four to five generations by obtaining general (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effect estimates prior to the introgression of the female lines into a male sterility-inducing cytoplasm

Ascochyta fabae is a fungal pathogen responsible for marked yield losses in spring and winter faba beans worldwide. The aim of this genome-wide association study (GWAS) using 188 diverse winter faba bean inbred lines was to exploit earlier Ascochyta blight resistance studies and to identify new resistance loci. Phenotyping after artificial inoculation under controlled conditions revealed significant

Seed size is an important factor affecting soybean (Glycine max) yield and quality, and the length and width of the pods are significantly related to the seed size. Soybean two-seed pod is a stable pod-setting trait. Based on soybean chromosome segment substitution line (CSSL), QTL-seq method was used to locate the QTL of soybean two-seed pod length (TSPL) and width (TSPW) and to mine the related genes

Recombinant inbred lines (RILs) developed from a cross between rust resistant (FLIP-2004-7L) and susceptible (L-9–12) genotypes were phenotyped against lentil rust at two hot-spot locations for two consecutive years (2017–2018 and 2018–2019) and analysed genetically for molecular map construction. Based on the mean score of both the locations, the RILs were classified into resistant and susceptible

Poinsettia is an economically important ornamental potted plant in which certain bract colour variants are often obtained by mutation breeding. Previously, in poinsettia, we identified Bract1, a GST gene involved in the sequestration and transport of anthocyanins to the vacuole. This gene carries a short, highly mutable 4-bp repeat in its coding region. Loss of one repeat unit leads to a loss of function

The correct article title is provided here, Vulnerability of coffee (Coffea spp.) genetic resources in the United States.

Lactation is characterized by an increase in energy demand and glucose consumption, which may also be linked to the concurrent compromise in immune function during early lactation. Magnesium (Mg) could be involved in this link based on its role for more than 600 metabolic reactions associated with energy metabolism, in addition to its essential role in glucose metabolism. Therefore, the current study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of partial substitution of berseem hay (BH) with Panicum maximum (PM) on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics, and caecal fermentation activity of rabbits. Eighty-four growing male NZW rabbits aged six-week-old with an initial body weight of 746.43 ± 1.7 g, were randomly assigned to four groups (21 in each). Rabbits