Publications by authors named "Asa Grimberg"

Article Synopsis
  • - Faba bean is a globally cultivated legume that shows promise for increasing plant-based protein production, which is essential for sustainable food systems.
  • - A study involving 220 faba bean varieties aimed to assess phenotypic diversity, analyze the effects of breeding on traits, and identify genetic markers through a genome-wide association study (GWAS).
  • - The research found significant genetic variation for key traits, demonstrated correlations between yield and certain agronomic factors, and discovered novel genetic markers linked to flowering time and other traits, highlighting the impact of breeding on the crop.
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Faba bean () is a legume grown in diverse climate zones with a high potential for increased cultivation and use in food due to its nutritional seeds. In this study, we characterized seed tissue development in faba bean to identify key developmental processes; from embryo expansion at the expense of the endosperm to the maturing storage stages of the bean seed. A spatio-temporal transcriptome profiling analysis, combined with chemical nutrient analysis of protein, starch, and lipid, of endosperm and embryo tissues at different developmental stages, revealed gene expression patterns, transcriptional networks, and biochemical pathways in faba bean.

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Background: Cooking time and cooking evenness are two critical quantities when determining the cooking quality (termed cookability) of pulses. Deciphering which factors contribute to pulse cookability is important for breeding new cultivars, and the identification of potential cookability predictors can facilitate breeding efforts. Seeds from 24 morphologically diverse pea accessions were tested to identify contributing factors and potential predictors of the observed cookability using a Mattson cooker.

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Quinoa ( Willd.) is a crop that has great potential for increased cultivation in diverse climate regions. The seed protein quality obtained from this crop is high concerning the requirements to meet human nutritional needs, but the seed protein content is relatively low if compared to crops such as grain legumes.

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Article Synopsis
  • Wheat is a major global staple crop, and new varieties with varied grain compositions can expand its uses.
  • The study focused on oil-accumulating transgenic wheat, revealing increased lipid (triacylglycerol) and decreased starch content in developing grains.
  • Mature grains exhibited reduced weight and altered morphology, affecting milling processes and leading to bran contamination in flour.
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Background: Cereal grains, including wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), are major sources of food and feed, with wheat being dominant in temperate zones. These end uses exploit the storage reserves in the starchy endosperm of the grain, with starch being the major storage component in most cereal species.

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Uniquely, oat, among cereals, accumulates an appreciable amount of oil in the endosperm together with starch. Oat is also recognized for its soluble fibers in the form of β-glucans. Despite high and increasing interest in oat yield and quality, the genetic and molecular understanding of oat grain development is still very limited.

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Article Synopsis
  • High levels of storage compounds like oil and starch are crucial for agricultural crops, prompting research into their genetic regulation, particularly the role of the transcription factor WRINKLED1 (WRI1).
  • This study found that WRI1 operates within an autoregulatory feedback loop, where increased WRI1 homolog levels reduce transcriptional activity of the Arabidopsis promoter region, driven by specific DNA-binding domains.
  • Conclusively, the research indicates that WRI1's negative regulation occurs indirectly through downstream effects, and creating semi-synthetic WRI1 variants could enhance its utility in biotechnological advancements.
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The signalling pathways that control seasonal modulation of carbon metabolism in perennial plants are poorly understood. Using genetic, metabolic and natural variation approaches, we identify factors mediating photoperiodic control of storage lipid accumulation in the model tree hybrid aspen (Populus tremula × tremuloides). We characterized lipid accumulation in transgenic hybrid aspen with impaired photoperiodic and hormonal responses.

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Background: Carbon accumulation and remobilization are essential mechanisms in plants to ensure energy transfer between plant tissues with different functions or metabolic needs and to support new generations. Knowledge about the regulation of carbon allocation into oil (triacylglycerol) in plant storage tissue can be of great economic and environmental importance for developing new high-yielding oil crops. Here, the effect on global gene expression as well as on physiological changes in leaves transiently expressing five homologs of the transcription factor WRINKLED1 (WRI1) originating from diverse species and tissues; Arabidopsis thaliana and potato (Solanum tuberosum) seed embryo, poplar (Populus trichocarpa) stem cambium, oat (Avena sativa) grain endosperm, and nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) tuber parenchyma, were studied by agroinfiltration in Nicotiana benthamiana.

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Oat (Avena sativa L.) is unusual among the cereal grains in storing high amounts of oil in the endosperm; up to 90% of total grain oil. By using oat as a model species for oil metabolism in the cereal endosperm, we can learn how to develop strategies to redirect carbon from starch to achieve high-oil yielding cereal crops.

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To identify the underlying molecular basis of carbon partitioning between starch and oil we conducted 454 pyrosequencing, followed by custom microarrays to profile gene expression throughout endosperm development, of two closely related oat cultivars that differ in oil content at the expense of starch as determined by several approaches including non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging. Comparative transcriptome analysis in conjunction with metabolic profiling displays a close coordination between energy metabolism and carbon partitioning pathways, with increased demands for energy and reducing equivalents in kernels with a higher oil content. These studies further expand the repertoire of networks regulating carbon partitioning to those involved in metabolism of cofactors, suggesting that an elevated supply of cofactors, here called cofactomes, contribute to the allocation of higher carbon pools for production of oils and storage proteins.

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Since the cereal endosperm is a dead tissue in the mature grain, beta-oxidation is not possible there. This raises the question about the use of the endosperm oil in cereal grains during germination. In this study, mobilization of lipids in different tissues of germinating oat grains was analysed using thin-layer and gas chromatography.

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