Low-temperature germination (LTG) is an important agronomic trait for direct seeding of rice in temperate regions of East Asia. To dissect the genetic control of LTG, we constructed a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross of japonica variety USSR5 and indica variety N22. Three putative QTL involved ...

Lycopene content is a key component of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit quality, and is a focus of many tomato-breeding programs. Two QTLs for increased fruit lycopene content, inherited from a high-lycopene S. pimpinellifolium accession, were previously detected on tomato chromosomes 7 and 12 using a S. lycopersicum × S. pimpinellifolium RIL ...

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) that affects heading date (HD) and the number of spikelets per panicle (SPP) was previously identified in a small region on chromosome 7 in rice (Oryza sativa L.). In order to further characterize the QTL region, near isogenic lines (NILs) were quickly obtained by self-crossing ...

INTRODUCTION: Flag leaf width (FLW) is directly related to photosynthetic capacity and yield potential in wheat. In a previous study, Qflw.nau-5A controlling FLW was detected on chromosome 5A in the interval possessing Fhb5 for type I Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance using are combinant inbred line population derived from Nanda2419 ...

Abstract Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important food crops in the world, especially in Asian countries, and salinity is a major constraint to the sustainability and expansion of rice cultivation. Genetically improving salt tolerance of rice is a highly important objective of rice breeding programs. Traits ...

Wheat (Triticum spp.) root water uptake is enhanced with increasing chromosome ploidy, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. The leaf transpiration rate (E), individual root (Lpr) and cortical cell (Lpc) hydraulic conductivity, cortical cell volume (Vc) and transcription levels of two putative plasma intrinsic aquaporin genes (PIPs) were investigated in ...

Genetic relationships between plant height and root morphology were investigated in a diverse set of wheat germplasm [199 double-haploid progeny derived from a cross between Avalon and Cadenza (Triticum aestivum L.), Rht near-isogenic lines (NILs), and accessions from the Watkins Collection] to investigate whether Rht genes controlling shoot height also ...

Glaucousness is described as the scattering effect of visible light from wax deposited on the cuticle of plant aerial organs. In wheat, two dominant genes lead to non-glaucous phenotypes, Inhibitor of wax 1 (Iw1) and Iw2. The molecular mechanisms and the exact extent (beyond visual assessment) by which these genes ...

Phosphorus (P) is one of the essential macronutrients for plant growth and development. Grain yield is the primary trait of interest in maize breeding programs. Maize grain yield and yield-related traits are seriously affected by P deficiency. Kernel number per row (KN), as one of the major components of grain ...

TaSAP1, a member of the stress association protein (SAP) gene family from wheat, is involved in response to several abiotic stresses, including drought, salt and cold. In this study, TaSAP1-A1, a TaSAP1 member on chromosome 7A, and its flanking sequences were isolated. Polymorphism analysis indicated that the average nucleotide diversity ...

The ear leaf is one of the most important leaves in maize (Zea mays); it affects plant morphology and yield. To better understand its genetic basis, we examined ear leaf length, ear leaf width and ear leaf area for quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in a recombinant inbred line population ...

Hybrid zones have long intrigued evolutionary biologists and provide a natural laboratory to explore the evolution of reproductive isolation (speciation). Molecular characterization of hybrid zone dynamics can provide insight into the strength of reproductive isolation as well as the underlying evolutionary processes shaping gene flow. Approximately one-third of darter species ...

Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, the causative agent of stem rust in wheat, is a devastating disease of durum wheat. While more than 50 stem rust resistance (Sr) loci have been identified in wheat, only a few of them have remained effective against Ug99 (TTKSK race) and other durum-specific Ethiopian ...

Wide adoption of direct-seeded rice practices has been hindered by poorly leveled fields, heavy rainfall and poor drainage, which cause accumulation of water in the fields shortly after sowing, leading to poor crop establishment. This is due to the inability of most rice varieties to germinate and reach the water ...

Non-additive allelic interactions underlie over dominant and under dominant inheritance, which explain positive and negative heterosis. These heteroses are often observed in the aboveground traits, but rarely reported in root. We identified a very short root (VSR) phenotype in the F(1) hybrid between the common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) landrace ...

The development of alien addition lines is important for transferring useful genes from exotic species into common wheat. A hybrid of common wheat cv. 7182 (2n = 6x = 42, AABBDD) and Psathyrostachys huashanica Keng (2n = 2x = 14, NsNs) via embryo culture produced the novel intergeneric disomic addition line 59-11. The seed morphology of 59-11 resembled ...

BACKGROUND: Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a highly drought sensitive crop, and most semi dwarf rice varieties suffer severe yield losses from reproductive stage drought stress. The genetic complexity of drought tolerance has deterred the identification of agronomically relevant quantitative trait loci (QTL) that can be deployed to improve rice ...

Humid rain-fed agriculture is a special environment for wheat (Triticum aestivum) culture that tends to negatively affect wheat yield and quality. To identify quality characters of wheat in a humid environment, we conducted quality analysis and quantitative trait loci (QTL) detection in a recombinant inbred line whose parent had a ...

Improved mapping, multi-environment quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis and dissection of allelic effects were used to define a QTL associated with grain yield, thousand grain weight and early vigour on chromosome 3BL of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under abiotic stresses. The QTL had pleiotropic effects and showed QTL x ...

The location of major QTLs contributing to stem and leaf [Na(+) ] and [K(+) ] was previously reported in chromosome 7 using two connected populations of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of tomato. HKT1;1 and HKT1; 2, two tomato Na(+) -selective class I-HKT transporters, were found to be closely linked, where ...

Introgression of sequences from crop species in wild relatives is of fundamental and practical concern. Here, we address gene flow between cultivated wheat and its widespread polyploid relative, Aegilops triuncialis, using 12 EST-SSR markers mapped on wheat chromosomes. The presence of wheat diagnostic alleles in natural populations of the barbed ...

Modern wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties in Western Europe have mainly been bred, and selected in conditions where high levels of nitrogen-rich fertilizer are applied. However, high input crop management has greatly increased the risk of nitrates leaching into groundwater with negative impacts on the environment. To investigate wheat nitrogen ...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an attractive model to study the genetic basis of adventitious organ formation capacity, since there is considerable natural genetic variation among wild relatives. Using a set of 46 introgression lines (ILs), each containing a small chromosomal segment of Solanum pennellii LA716 introgressed and mapped into ...

Drought limits plant growth and threatens crop productivity. A barley (Hordeum vulgare) ethylene imine-induced monogenic recessive mutant cer-zv, which is sensitive to drought, was characterized and genetically mapped in the present study. Detached leaves of cer-zv lost 34.2 % of their initial weight after 1 h of dehydration. The transpiration was much ...

Most tetraploid durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L var. durum) cultivars are susceptible to Fusarium head blight (FHB). This study reports novel quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with FHB resistance. A backcross recombinant inbred line (BCRIL) population was developed from the cross BGRC3487/2*DT735, and 160 lines were evaluated for resistance to ...

Forage quality combines traits related to protein content and energy value. High-quality forages contribute to increase farm autonomy by reducing the use of energy or protein-rich supplements. Genetic analyses in forage legume species are complex because of their tetraploidy and allogamy. Indeed, no genetic studies of quality have been published ...

KEY MESSAGE : The performance of callus induction and callus differentiation was evaluated by 9 indices for 140 RILs; 2 major QTLs associated with plant regeneration were identified. In order to investigate the genetic mechanisms of tissue culture response, 140 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from 93-11 (Oryza sativa ssp. ...

Potato is the third most important staple food crop in terms of consumption, yet it is relatively susceptible to yield loss because of drought. As a first step towards improving drought tolerance in this crop, we set out to identify the genetic basis for drought tolerance in a diploid potato ...

Breeding for resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) in durum wheat continues to be hindered by the lack of effective resistance sources. Only limited information is available on resistance QTL for FHB in tetraploid wheat. In this study, resistance to FHB of a Triticum dicoccum line in the background of ...

Fruit lycopene content and total soluble solid content are important factors determining fruit quality of tomatoes; however, the dynamic quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling lycopene and soluble solid content have not been well studied. We mapped the chromosomal regions controlling these traits in different periods in F(2:3) families derived from ...

Rusts are the most important biotic constraints limiting wheat productivity worldwide. Deployment of cultivars with broad spectrum rust resistance is the only environmentally viable option to combat these diseases. Identification and introgression of novel sources of resistance is a continuous process to combat the ever evolving pathogens. The germplasm of ...

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is an important disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The aim of this study was to determine the effects of quantitative trait locus (QTL) regions for resistance to FHB and estimate their effects on reducing FHB damage to wheat in Hokkaido, northern Japan. We examined 233 ...

Chromosome aneuploidy is a major cause of pregnancy loss, abnormal pregnancy and live births following both natural conception and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and increases exponentially with maternal age in the decade preceding the menopause. Molecular genetic analysis following natural conception and spontaneous miscarriage demonstrates that trisomies arise mainly in ...

Grain shape and size are involved in the main components of the domestication syndrome in cereals. Wheat grain shape has been dramatically altered at each stage of the domestication of tetraploid wheat and through common wheat speciation. To elucidate the evolutionary change of wheat grain shape, principal component (PC) analysis ...

The key to plant survival under NaCl salt stress is maintaining a low Na(+) level or Na(+)/K(+) ratio in the cells. A population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs, F(2∶9)) derived from a cross between the salt-tolerant japonica rice variety Jiucaiqing and the salt-sensitive indica variety IR26, was used to determine ...

To determine characteristics of classical and partial deletions of the y chromosome azoospermia factor (azf) region transmitted from father to son by natural fertilization. patients from northeastern china with primary male infertility (n = 10) and their fathers were investigated. healthy fertile men and women were recruited as positive and ...

A limited backcross procedure was utilized to introgress genes associated with grain quality traits from Oryza rufipogon (Accession No. IRGC 105491), a wild rice from Malaysia, to the cultivated rice O. sativa cv. MR219, a popular high yielding Malaysian rice cultivar. A set of 10 BC(2)F(7) progenies were selected based ...

This study was carried out to evaluate the genetic effect of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) conferring drought tolerance in wheat. A population of 120 F(2) individuals from the cross between the drought-tolerant S-78-11 and drought-sensitive Tajan cultivars were analyzed for their segregation under drought stress conditions. The relative water content ...

Pigeonpea is an important grain legume of the semi-arid tropics and sub-tropical regions where it plays a crucial role in the food and nutritional security of the people. The average productivity of pigeonpea has remained very low and stagnant for over five decades due to lack of genomic information and ...

The precise control of spindle microtubule (MT) dynamics is essential for chromosome capture and alignment. Kif18A/kinesin-8, an essential regulator of kinetochore MT dynamics, accumulates at its plus-ends in metaphase but not prometaphase cells. The underlying mechanism of time-dependent and kinetochore MT-specific plus-end accumulation of Kif18A is unknown. Here, we examined ...

Eukaryotic chromosome ends have a DNA-protein complex structure termed telomere. Integrity of telomeres is essential for cell proliferation. Genome-wide screenings for telomere length maintenance genes identified several components of the transcriptional regulator, the Mediator complex. Our work provides evidence that Mediator is involved in telomere length regulation and telomere heterochromatin ...

Telomeres are specialised nucleoproteic complexes localised at the physical ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes that maintain their stability and integrity. In vertebrate chromosomes, the DNA component of telomeres is constituted by (TTAGGG)n repeats, which can be localised at the terminal regions of chromosomes (true telomeres) or at intrachromosomal sites (interstitial ...

Reverse transcriptases have shaped genomes in many ways. A remarkable example of this shaping is found on telomeres of the genus Drosophila, where retrotransposons have a vital role in chromosome structure. Drosophila lacks telomerase; instead, three telomere-specific retrotransposons maintain chromosome ends. Repeated transpositions to chromosome ends produce long head to ...

Drosophila telomeres are remarkable because they are maintained by telomere-specific retrotransposons, rather than the enzyme telomerase that maintains telomeres in almost every other eukaryotic organism. Successive transpositions of the Drosophila retrotransposons onto chromosome ends produce long head-to-tail arrays that are analogous in form and function to the long arrays of ...

Escherichia coli FtsK is a septum-located DNA translocase that co-ordinates the late stages of cytokinesis and chromosome segregation. Relatives of FtsK are present in most bacteria; in Bacillus subtilis, the FtsK orthologue, SpoIIIE, transfers the majority of a chromosome into the forespore during sporulation. DNA translocase activity is contained within ...

The bacterial transposon Tn917 inserts preferentially in the terminus region of some members of the Firmicutes. To determine what molecular process was being targeted by the element, we analyzed Tn917 target site selection in Bacillus subtilis. We find that Tn917 insertions accumulate around the central terminators, terI and terII, in ...

In several bacterial species, the faithful completion of chromosome partitioning is known to be promoted by a conserved family of DNA translocases that includes Escherichia coli FtsK and Bacillus subtilis SpoIIIE. FtsK localizes at nascent division sites during every cell cycle and stimulates chromosome decatenation and the resolution of chromosome ...

The DNA translocase function of Bacillus subtilis SpoIIIE is essential for spore development and is important during vegetative growth for moving trapped chromosomal DNA away from division septa. Two papers in this issue of Molecular Microbiology, from the teams of Peter Graumann and William Burkholder, have characterized a second SpoIIIE/FtsK-like ...

The Bacillus anthracis genome reflects its close genetic ties to Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis but has been shaped by its own unique biology and evolutionary forces. The genome is comprised of a chromosome and two large virulence plasmids, pXO1 and pXO2. The chromosome is mostly co-linear among B. anthracis ...

Here, we present the electroporation as a feasible and efficient method for introducing circularized and linearized DNA into Bacillus subtilis chromosome. Two integration experiments were carried out and demonstrated the feasibility and efficiency of electroporation to introduce the target DNA into the B. subtilis chromosome. By using of electroporation, a ...