Plant breeding relies on genetic variation to produce new and improved cultivars. One way to obtain novel traits is by inducing mutations. The present study aimed to create a Fusarium crown rot (FCR) and Fusarium head blight (FHB)-resistant mutagenized wheat population using ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) and identify mutant resistance to FCR and FHB, which could provide a starting point for resistance breeding. The optimal mutagenesis conditions were determined based on the germination percentage. This study used six Chinese wheat cultivars, namely Jimai22, Hengguan35, Shixin828, Gaoyou2018, Keiwei20, and Keiwei18, to create a mutant population by treating them with EMS. For Shixin828, the optimal condition was 0.8% EMS with a 50-55% germination rate. For Hengguan35 and Jimai22, it was 0.6% EMS. For Gaoyou2018 and Kewei20, it was 0.8% and 0.4-0.6%, respectively. The FCR disease index of the mutant lines (M1) ranged from 10.00 to 77.67. For M2, the number of individual mutant plants demonstrating resistance to FCR varied from 76 to 102. In M3, 570 healthy plants were obtained using various EMS concentrations. The mutant line Kewei18 demonstrated the most resistance to FCR, FHB, and Deoxynivalenol (DON) infection. Kewei20 mutants had a higher FHB susceptibility than other mutants. Overall, mutants from the Kewei18 genetic background displayed better disease resistance to both diseases and DON contamination than natural plants. Mutants with or moderate resistance to FCR and FHB could be used in breeding and genetic studies to identify FHB and FCR-resistant Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) in wheat.
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In this study, in order to understand the differentiation process of
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The world population is projected to reach to 9.7 billion people by 2050. With increasing population and improving living standards, the demand for food is accelerating. In order to meet increasing demand for food while arable land and other resources are decreasing, agriculture needs all the tools available to sustainably increase crop yields. Development of effective genetically modified (GM) traits to protect crops from abiotic and biotic stressors is a critical aspect of sustainable yield improvement. Efficient identification of traits and rapid integration of the traits into commercial elite germplasm requires robust and rapid trait testing. Monsanto has developed numerous high-throughput phenotyping platforms to support rapid trait identification and integration. Selected phenotyping platforms will be reviewed to gain understanding of how they are utilized for trait phenotyping.
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Crop improvement is essential to attaining world food security and enhancing nutrition for human beings. Both conventional breeding and modern molecular breeding have contributed to increased crop production and quality. However, the time and resources for breeding practices have been limited. It takes a long time to bring a novel improved crop to the market, and the genetic sources from wild species cannot be always available for crops of our interests. Genome editing technology implemented molecular breeding can overcome those limitations of time and resource by facilitating the specific editing of plant genomes. However, there is a long-lasting argument about the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In this review, we briefly summarize the principle of genome editing tools, focusing on the CRISPR/Cas9 system and the application of these tools to plants in the service of crop engineering.
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Most eukaryotic organisms display specialized cellular and behavioral oscillations with a period of approximately 24 hours, which are called circadian rhythms. The biological clock generates a rhythm that conveys temporal information over a day. Through this system, most eukaryotic organisms appropriately respond to daily or seasonal environmental changes by regulating their physiology and development in a time-dependent manner, conferring the organism with an adaptive advantage. In plants, the endogenous timing system also controls many important physiological processes including flower opening, hormone synthesis, metabolic pathways and gene expression so that these sessile species may survive efficiently in changing environments. Temperature compensation (TC) is one of the defining features of the clock mechanism. Under this mechanism, the pace of the clock, or period, remains stable over a broad range of physiologically relevant temperatures, which is unlikely to happen in other biochemical reactions. Thus, this mechanism allows organisms to sustain their ordinary life in various thermal environments by providing an accurate measure of the passage of time, regardless of the ambient temperature. Considering the current global climate changes our planet is undergoing, understanding the fundamental mechanism underlying TC cannot be overemphasized. In this review, we discuss the molecular organization of the plant circadian clock and the concept of TC, as well as the significance of plant TC in conferring fitness under the current increasing thermal environments.