The xylan backbone of arabinoxylan (AX), the major cell wall polysaccharide in the wheat starchy endosperm, is synthesised by xylan synthase which is a complex of three subunits encoded by the ...GT43_1, GT43_2 and GT47_2 genes. RNAi knock-down of either GT43_1 or all three genes (triple lines) resulted in decreased AX measured by digestion with endoxylanase (to 33 and 34.9% of the controls) and by monosaccharide analysis (to 45.9% and 47.4% of the controls) with greater effects on the amount of water-extractable AX (to 20.6 and 19.9% of the controls). Both sets of RNAi lines also had greater decreases in the amounts of substituted oligosaccharides released by digestion of AX with endoxylanase than in fragments derived only from the xylan backbone. Although the GT43_1 and triple lines had similar effects on AX they did differ in their contents of soluble sugars (increased in triple only) and on grain size (decreased in triple only). Both sets of transgenic lines had decreased grain hardness, indicating effects on cell wall mechanics. These results, and previously published studies of RNAi suppression of GT43_2 and GT47_2 and of a triple mutant of GT43_2, are consistent with the model of xylan synthase comprising three subunits one of which (GT47_2) is responsible for catalysis with the other two subunits being required for correct functioning but indicate that separate xylan synthase complexes may be responsible for the synthesis of populations of AX which differ in their structure and solubility.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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•Grain protein deviation has been determined for European wheat cultivars grown in multi-environment trials.•Significant variation has been demonstrated, in mean GPD and in stability ...between environments.•The variation in GPD has been apportioned between the effects of genotype, environment and G x E interactions.•GPD is an attractive target for breeders to improve NUE and reduce the nitrogen requirement for breadmaking wheat.
There is a well-established negative relationship between the yield and the concentration of protein in the mature wheat grain. However, some wheat genotypes consistently deviate from this relationship, a phenomenon known as Grain Protein Deviation (GPD). Positive GPD is therefore of considerable interest in relation to reducing the requirement for nitrogen fertilization for producing wheat for breadmaking. We have carried out two sets of field experiments on multiple sites in South East England. The first set comprised 11 field trials of 6 cultivars grown over three years (2008–2011) and the second comprised 9 field trials of 40 genotypes grown over two years (2015–2017) and 5 field trials of 30 genotypes grown in a single year (2017–2018). All trials comprised three replicate randomized plots of each genotype and nutrient regime. These studies showed strong genetic variation in GPD, which also differed in stability between genotypes, with cultivars bred in the UK generally having higher GPD and higher stability than those bred in other European countries. The heritability of GPD was estimated as 0.44, based on data from the field trials of 30 and 40 genotypes. The largest component contributing to the genetic variance was genotype (0.30), with a smaller contribution of the interaction between genotype and year/site (0.11) and a small (but statistically significant) contribution of nitrogen level. These studies suggest that selection for GPD is a viable target for breeders.
•Blended grains from varieties of emmer, spelt and bread wheat were compared.•Wholemeal flours were processed using sourdough and yeast systems.•Flours, doughs and breads were analysed to determine ...fibre and metabolites.•Small differences were observed between the products from the three types of wheat.•The greatest differences were between the between sourdough and yeast breads.
Wholemeal flours from blends of bread wheat, emmer and spelt were processed into bread using yeast-based and sourdough fermentation. The bread wheat flour contained significantly higher concentrations of total dietary fibre and fructans than the spelt and emmer flours, the latter having the lowest contents. Breadmaking using sourdough and yeast systems resulted in changes in composition from flour to dough to bread including increases in organic acids and mannitol in the sourdough system and increases in amino acids and sugars (released by hydrolysis of proteins and starch, respectively) in both processing systems. The concentrations of fructans and raffinose (the major endogenous FODMAPs) were reduced by yeast and sourdough fermentation, with yeast having the greater effect. Both systems resulted in greater increases in sugars and glycerol in emmer than in bread wheat and spelt, but the significance of these differences for human health has not been established.
This discussion paper considers some of the practical and ethical aspects of doing qualitative interviews using synchronous online visual technologies within a shifting research context. It is argued ...that the immediate access to potential participants and subsequent data collection necessitate adjustment to the ways in which qualitative researchers understand and apply ethics, accountability, and responsibility in their data collection processes. We examine the parallels between interviewing face-to-face and interviewing using technology from a practical and integral perspective. In the online environment researchers require a heightened sensitivity and awareness of their attitudes, knowledge, and skills before, during and after the interview to ensure that the process is safe, rigorous and meaningful for collecting comprehensive qualitative data. To do this, we consider how to plan, conduct and end online interviews using voice over internet protocol.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background: The term military sexual trauma MST is increasingly used to describe instances of sexual harassment/assault that occur between serving personnel during military service. However, in the ...absence of a clear universal definition, MST is an increasingly contested term, with confusion about its scope, application to differing jurisdictions and implications for responses and treatment.Objective: This editorial provides a universal definition of MST, decoupled from any national system or framework.Method: Drawing on existing international evidence about the nature and impact of MST.Results and Conclusion: We argue that MST terminology provides a unique framing which recognises the institutional nature of MST victimisation and situates the context, behaviours, and impact on a continuum of violence.Background: The term military sexual trauma MST is increasingly used to describe instances of sexual harassment/assault that occur between serving personnel during military service. However, in the absence of a clear universal definition, MST is an increasingly contested term, with confusion about its scope, application to differing jurisdictions and implications for responses and treatment.Objective: This editorial provides a universal definition of MST, decoupled from any national system or framework.Method: Drawing on existing international evidence about the nature and impact of MST.Results and Conclusion: We argue that MST terminology provides a unique framing which recognises the institutional nature of MST victimisation and situates the context, behaviours, and impact on a continuum of violence.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background and objectives
The water absorption (WA) of white wheat flour is a major factor affecting processing quality, and millers, therefore, process their wheat to achieve the required level. ...Although it is likely that WA is determined by the amounts and compositions of three major grain components, starch, protein, and arabinoxylan, the contribution of the latter is not agreed and not recognized in the widely used Farrand equation.
Findings
We have measured a range of parameters related to fiber amount and composition and tested the ability of these to improve the prediction of WA using a modified Farrand equation. The addition of a range of single fiber traits improved the prediction of WA from a baseline of 82.98% to a maximum of 86.78%, but inclusion of all fiber traits as PCs resulted in a further improvement to 90%. Inclusion of the PCs also accounted for variation in WA between harvest years. The greatest improvement from inclusion of a single trait was observed with β‐glucan, the inclusion of arabinogalactan peptide (AGP) also resulted in improved prediction of WA.
Conclusions
The study shows that fiber components contribute to variation in WA, including differences between harvest years, but that β‐glucan and AGP have similar or greater impacts than AX.
Significance and novelty
The study dissects the contributions of AX amount and composition to WA and demonstrates a contribution of b‐glucan for the first time.
Recent policy reviews, academic research and high-profile media critiques have repeatedly emphasised the UK military as a hypermasculine culture, seemingly permissive of sexual violence, marked by ...high prevalence of sexual offences and an inadequate justice response. The service justice system has been characterised by low conviction rates and poor treatment of victim-survivors of sexual offences, prompting recommendation that rape should be tried in the civilian criminal justice system rather than the service justice system. Despite notable debate on this matter, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) ultimately rejected this recommendation in December 2021 and instead committed to implementing clear and meaningful change within the service justice system response to sexual offences. In light of this decision, this article interrogates available data about the current service justice system response to sexual offending, and lessons that may be learnt from the civilian criminal justice system, to highlight current obstacles to justice and outline areas in which further research and scrutiny is necessary.
Summary
Wheat contains abundant xylan in cell walls of all tissues, but in endosperm, there is an unusual form of xylan substituted only by arabinose (arabinoxylan; AX) that has long chains and low ...levels of feruloylation, a fraction of which is extractable in water (WE‐AX). WE‐AX acts as soluble dietary fibre but also gives rise to viscous extracts from grain, a detrimental trait for some non‐food uses of wheat. Here, we show that a glycosyl transferase family 43 wheat gene abundantly expressed in endosperm complements the Arabidopsis irx9 mutant and so name the three homoeologous genes TaIRX9b. We generated wheat lines with a constitutive knockout of TaIRX9b by stacking loss‐of‐function alleles for these homeologues from a mutagenized hexaploid wheat population resulting in decreases in grain extract viscosity of 50%–80%. The amount and chain length of WE‐AX molecules from grain of these triple‐stack lines was decreased accounting for the changes in extract viscosity. Imaging of immature wheat grain sections of triple‐stacks showed abolition of immunolabelling in endosperm with LM11 antibody that recognizes epitopes in AX, but also showed apparently normal cell size and shape in all cell types, including endosperm. We identified differentially expressed genes from endosperm of triple‐stacks suggesting that compensatory changes occur to maintain this endosperm cell wall integrity. Consistent with this, we observed increased ferulate dimerization and increased cross‐linking of WE‐AX molecules in triple‐stacks. These novel wheat lines lacking functional TaIRX9b therefore provide insight into control of wheat endosperm cell walls.
Dietary fibre (DF) has multiple health benefits and wheat grains are major sources of DF for human health. However, DF is depleted in white wheat flour which is more widely consumed than wholegrain. ...The major DF component in white flour is the cell wall polysaccharide arabinoxylan (AX). We have identified the Chinese wheat cultivar Yumai 34 as having unusually high contents of AX in both water-soluble and insoluble forms. We have therefore used populations generated from crosses between Yumai 34 and four other wheat cultivars, three with average contents of AX (Ukrainka, Altigo and Claire) and one also having unusually high AX (Valoris), in order to map QTLs for soluble AX (determined as relative viscosity of aqueous extracts of wholemeal flours) and total AX (determined by enzyme fingerprinting of white flour). A number of QTL were mapped, but most were only detected in one or two crosses. However, all four crosses showed strong QTLs for high RV/total AX on chromosome 1B, with Yumai 34 being the increasing parent, and a KASP marker for the Yumai 34 high AX allele was validated by analysis of high AX lines derived from Yumai 34 but selected by biochemical analysis. A QTL for RV was also mapped on chromosome 6B in Yumai 34 x Valoris, with Valoris being the increasing allele, which is consistent with the observation of transgressive segregation for this population. Association studies in an independent germplasm panel identified marker trait associations for relative viscosity in these same locations while direct selection for fibre content in breeding resulted in high levels of enrichment for the Yumai 34 1B allele. The data therefore indicate that marker-assisted breeding can be used to develop wheat with high AX fibre in white flour.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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