Genetic control of grain yield and phenology was examined in the Excalibur/Kukri doubled haploid mapping population grown in 32 field experiments across the climatic zones of southern Australia, ...India and north-western Mexico where the wheat crop experiences drought and heat stress. A total of 128 QTL were identified for four traits: grain yield, thousand grain weight (TGW), days to heading and grain filling duration. These QTL included 24 QTL for yield and 27 for TGW, showing significant interactions with the environment (
Q
*
E
). We also identified 14 QTL with a significant, small main effects on yield across environments. The study focussed on a region of chromosome 1B where two main effect QTL were found for yield and TGW without the confounding effect of phenology. Excalibur was the source of favourable alleles:
QYld.aww
-
1B.2
with a peak at 149.5–150.1 cM and
QTgw.aww
-
1B
at 168.5–171.4 cM. We developed near isogenic lines (NIL) for the interval including
QYld.aww
-
1B.2
and
QTgw.aww
-
1B
and evaluated them under semi-controlled conditions. Significant differences in four pairs of NIL were observed for grain yield but not for TGW, confirming a positive effect of the Excalibur allele for
QYld.aww
-
1B.2
. The interval containing
QYld.aww
-
1B.2
was narrowed down to 2.9 cM which corresponded to a 2.2 Mbp genomic region on the chromosome 1B genomic reference sequence of cv. Chinese Spring and contained 39 predicted genes.
In bread wheat, QTL interval mapping was conducted for nine important drought responsive agronomic traits. For this purpose, a doubled haploid (DH) mapping population derived from Kukri/Excalibur was ...grown over three years at four separate locations in India, both under irrigated and rain-fed environments. Single locus analysis using composite interval mapping (CIM) allowed detection of 98 QTL, which included 66 QTL for nine individual agronomic traits and 32 QTL, which affected drought sensitivity index (DSI) for the same nine traits. Two-locus analysis allowed detection of 19 main effect QTL (M-QTL) for four traits (days to anthesis, days to maturity, grain filling duration and thousand grain weight) and 19 pairs of epistatic QTL (E-QTL) for two traits (days to anthesis and thousand grain weight). Eight QTL were common in single locus analysis and two locus analysis. These QTL (identified both in single- and two-locus analysis) were distributed on 20 different chromosomes (except 4D). Important genomic regions on chromosomes 5A and 7A were also identified (5A carried QTL for seven traits and 7A carried QTL for six traits). Marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS) involving pyramiding of important QTL reported in the present study, together with important QTL reported earlier, may be used for improvement of drought tolerance in wheat. In future, more closely linked markers for the QTL reported here may be developed through fine mapping, and the candidate genes may be identified and used for developing a better understanding of the genetic basis of drought tolerance in wheat.
Plant breeding conventionally depends on genetic variability available in a species to improve a particular trait in the crop. However, epigenetic diversity may provide an additional tier of ...variation. The recent advent of epigenome technologies has elucidated the role of epigenetic variation in shaping phenotype. Furthermore, the development of epigenetic recombinant inbred lines (epi-RILs) in model species such as Arabidopsis has enabled accurate genetic analysis of epigenetic variation. Subsequently, mapping of epigenetic quantitative trait loci (epiQTL) allowed association between epialleles and phenotypic traits. Likewise, epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) and epi-genotyping by sequencing (epi-GBS) have revolutionized the field of epigenetics research in plants. Thus, quantitative epigenetics provides ample opportunities to dissect the role of epigenetic variation in trait regulation, which can be eventually utilized in crop improvement programs. Moreover, locus-specific manipulation of DNA methylation by epigenome-editing tools such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) can potentially facilitate epigenetic based molecular breeding of important crop plants.
Nutritional deficiency is found to be a major threat to human health, especially in low-income countries. Thus it is essential to improve nutritional qualities of important food crops. Foxtail millet ...is second largest cultivated millet and 2–5 times nutritionally richer than major cereal crops. During the present study, we identified genetic determinants of ten nutritional elements including potassium, nickel, calcium, boron, magnesium, phosphorus, sulphur, zinc, manganese and iron for the first time in foxtail millet. For this purpose, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted using 93 diverse accessions and 10 K SNPs (distributed across all the nine foxtail millet chromosomes). Altogether, 74 marker-trait associations (MTAs) were identified to be associated with above mentioned ten elements, out of which ten (10) MTAs (associated with B, Mg, Zn and Fe) showed high confidence -log(p) > 5.78. Identified desirable SNP alleles and favourable haplotypes may prove useful in foxtail breeding. Also, significant pyramiding effect suggested that associated elements can be substantially enhanced through combining more than one MTA. Candidate genes residing within or near the association signal may be selected for functional characterization. Superior genotypes identified may prove as a potential donor in foxtail millet breeding assisted through the molecular marker.
•Seventy-four markers were associated with micronutrient traits in foxtail millet.•Ten marker-trait associations identified for four elements had high confidence.•SNP alleles and favourable haplotypes are useful in foxtail millet breeding.•Superior genotypes identified may serve as potential donor.
Glancing angle deposition (GLAD) is a technique for the fabrication of sculpted micro- and nanostructures under the conditions of oblique vapor flux incident and limited adatom diffusion. GLAD-based ...nanostructures are emerging platforms with broad sensing applications due to their high sensitivity, enhanced optical and catalytic properties, periodicity, and controlled morphology. GLAD-fabricated nanochips and substrates for chemical and biosensing applications are replacing conventionally used nanomaterials due to their broad scope, ease of fabrication, controlled growth parameters, and hence, sensing abilities. This review focuses on recent advances in the diverse nanostructures fabricated via GLAD and their applications in the biomedical field. The effects of morphology and deposition conditions on GLAD structures, their biosensing capability, and the use of these nanostructures for various biosensing applications such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR), fluorescence, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and colorimetric- and wettability-based bio-detection will be discussed in detail. GLAD has also found diverse applications in the case of molecular imaging techniques such as fluorescence, super-resolution, and photoacoustic imaging. In addition, some in vivo applications, such as drug delivery, have been discussed. Furthermore, we will also provide an overview of the status of GLAD technology as well as future challenges associated with GLAD-based nanostructures in the mentioned areas.
The Myo-Inositol-1-phosphate synthase (MIPS) gene family is involved in the myo-inositol synthesis and plays a significant role in signal transduction, membrane biogenesis, oligosaccharides ...synthesis, auxin storage and transport, programmed cell death and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. This study comprehensively identified the MIPS genes in Rosaceae plant species, and 51 MIPS genes were identified from 26 Rosaceae species. The phylogenetic analysis divided the MIPSs into two clades (clade I; subfamily
Amygdaloideae
specific, and clade II; subfamily
Rosoideae
specific). MIPS genes of all 26 Rosaceae species consist of similar gene structure, motif and domain composition, which shows their conserved nature. The cis-regulatory elements (CREs) analysis revealed that most
Rosaceae
MIPS genes play a role in growth, development, and stress responses. Furthermore, the qRT-PCR analysis also revealed the involvement of
RcMIPS
gene in plant development and response to abiotic stresses, including drought and heat. The results of the present study contribute to the understanding of the biological function of Rosaceae MIPS genes, and that could be used in further functional validations.
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a hazardous gas, which not only harms living beings but also poses a significant risk to damage materials placed in culture and art museums, due to its corrosive nature. We ...demonstrate a novel approach for selective rapid detection of H2S gas using silver nanorods (AgNRs) arrays on glass substrates at ambient conditions. The arrays were prepared by glancing angle deposition method. The colorimetric and water wetting properties of as-fabricated arrays were found to be highly sensitive toward the sulfurization, in the presence of H2S gas with a minimal concentration in ppm range. The performance of AgNRs as H2S gas sensor is investigated by its sensing ability of 5 ppm of gas with an exposure time of only 30 s. We have developed an android-based mobile app to monitor real-time colorimetric detection of H2S. The wettability detection has been carried out by a mobile camera. A comparative analysis for different gases reveals the highest sensitivity and selectivity of the array AgNRs toward H2S. The rapid detection has also been demonstrated for H2S emission from aged wool fabric. Thus, high sensing ability of AgNRs toward H2S gas may have potential applications in health monitoring and art conservation.
•Importance of redox-active ligands.•Application of redox-active ligands in aluminum chemistry.•Recent development in the synthesis of aluminum complexes supported by imino-pyridine ligands.•Recent ...development in the synthesis of aluminum complexes supported by BIAN ligands.•Recent development in the synthesis of aluminum complexes supported by formazanate ligands.
Applications of aluminum as a catalyst for organic/inorganic transformation reactions are ideal because of its easy availability, inexpensiveness, and non-toxicity. However, successful implementation of Al(III) complexes as catalysts require an easy reduction-oxidation cycle between Al(III) and Al(I). Nevertheless, molecular complexes of Al(I) are not common, often require special efforts for their synthesis and isolation. Additionally, the Al(I)→Al(III) oxidation reaction is facile whereas the corresponding Al(III)→Al(I) reduction occurs only under highly reducing conditions. This creates a problem in developing Al(I)/Al(III) couple catalytic cycle for practical application. But, for aluminum complexes to be applicable in redox transformations, complexes must readily undergo reversible oxidation and reduction processes. One can envision applying a redox-active ligand where instead of aluminum the ligand would be reversibly oxidized and reduced to perform a certain electron transfer process. So, the development of a large pool of aluminum complexes supported by redox-active ligands is very important. In this review article, we have summarized recent developments on the syntheses of aluminum complexes with some redox-active ligands. This may help in designing new catalysts for future applications.
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