Driving Sustainable Popcorn Breeding for Drought Tolerance in Brazil.

Drought currently affects several regions worldwide and tends to be more frequent due to climate change. It might compromise food security and the economic structure related to agribusiness. Popcorn has a crucial role in the Brazilian economy, but the cultivars that adapt to water stress, the most prejudicial abiotic stress for crop productivity, are unknown to date.

Regional Heritability Mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling Traits Related to Growth and Productivity in Popcorn ( L.).

The method of regional heritability mapping (RHM) has become an important tool in the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling traits of interest in plants. Here, RHM was first applied in a breeding population of popcorn, to identify the QTLs and candidate genes involved in grain yield, plant height, kernel popping expansion, and first ear height, as well as determining the heritability of each significant genomic region. The study population consisted of 98 S1 families derived from the 9th recurrent selection cycle (C-9) of the open-pollinated variety UENF-14, which were genetically evaluated in two environments (ENV1 and ENV2).

Supporting Physiological Trait for Indirect Selection for Grain Yield in Drought-Stressed Popcorn.

The identification of traits associated with drought tolerance in popcorn is a contribution to support selection of superior plants under soil water deficit. The objective of this study was to choose morphological traits and the leaf greenness index, measured on different dates, to estimate grain yield (GY) and popping expansion (PE), evaluated in a set of 20 popcorn lines with different genealogies, estimated by multiple regression models. The variables were divided into three groups: morpho-agronomic traits-100-grain weight (GW), prolificacy (PR), tassel length (TL), number of tassel branches, anthesis-silking interval, leaf angle (FA) and leaf rolling (FB); variables related to the intensity of leaf greenness during the grain-filling period, at the leaf level, measured by a portable chlorophyll meter (SPAD) and at the canopy level, calculated as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI).

Water Use Efficiency in Popcorn ( L. var. everta): Which Physiological Traits Would Be Useful for Breeding?

To ensure genetic gains in popcorn breeding programs carried out under drought conditions knowledge about the response of morphophysiological traits of plants to water stress for the selection of key traits is required. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate popcorn inbred lines with agronomically efficient (P2 and P3) and inefficient (L61 and L63) water use and two hybrids (P2xL61 and P3xL63) derived from these contrasting parents, cultivated under two water regimes (WW watered-WW; and water-stressed-WS) in a greenhouse, replicated five times, where each experimental unit consisted of one plant in a PVC tube. Irrigation was applied until stage V6 and suspended thereafter.

Effect of Drought Stress on Capsaicin and Antioxidant Contents in Pepper Genotypes at Reproductive Stage.

Pepper is one of the most important vegetables and spices in the world. Principal pungency is contributed by secondary metabolites called capsaicinoids, mainly synthesized in the placenta of pepper fruit. Various factors, including drought, limit pepper production.

SNP-based mixed model association of growth- and yield-related traits in popcorn.

The identification of the genes responsible for complex traits is highly promising to accelerate crop breeding, but such information is still limited for popcorn. Thus, in the present study, a mixed linear model-based association analysis (MLMA) was applied for six important popcorn traits: plant and ear height, 100-grain weight, popping expansion, grain yield and expanded popcorn volume per hectare. To this end, 196 plants of the open-pollinated popcorn population UENF-14 were sampled, selfed (S1), and then genotyped with a panel of 10,507 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers distributed throughout the genome.