The potential of young vegetative quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) as a new sustainable protein-rich winter leafy crop under Mediterranean climate.

The demand for protein products has significantly risen in the last few years. In western countries, animals are the primary source of protein; however, plants could take a share of this market due to lower production costs, among other advantages such as a lower environmental footprint. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.

Novel Mutation in the Acetohydroxyacid Synthase (AHAS), Gene Confers Imidazolinone Resistance in Chickpea L. Plants.

Chickpea ( L.) is an important crop in crop-rotation management in Israel. Imidazolinone herbicides have a wide spectrum of weed control, but chickpea plants are sensitive to acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS; also known as acetolactate synthase [ALS]) inhibitors.

Characterization of a Chickpea Mutant Resistant to Pers. and Forsk.

Chickpea ( L.) is a major pulse crop in Israel grown on about 3000 ha spread, from the Upper Galilee in the north to the North-Negev desert in the south. In the last few years, there has been a gradual increase in broomrape infestation in chickpea fields in all regions of Israel.

Biofilm formation onto starch fibres by Bacillus subtilis governs its successful adaptation to chickpea milk.

Beneficial biofilms may confer effective adaptation to food matrices that assist bacteria in enduring hostile environmental conditions. The matrices, for instance, dietary fibres of various food products, might serve as a natural scaffold for bacterial cells to adhere and grow as biofilms. Here, we report on a unique interaction of Bacillus subtilis cells with the resistant starch fibresof chickpea milk (CPM), herein CPM fibres, along with the production of a reddish-pink pigment.

The Effects of Herbicides Targeting Aromatic and Branched Chain Amino Acid Biosynthesis Support the Presence of Functional Pathways in Broomrape.

It is not clear why herbicides targeting aromatic and branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis successfully control broomrapes-obligate parasitic plants that obtain all of their nutritional requirements, including amino acids, from the host. Our objective was to reveal the mode of action of imazapic and glyphosate in controlling the broomrape and clarify if this obligatory parasite has its own machinery for the amino acids biosynthesis. callus was studied to exclude the indirect influence of the herbicides on the parasite through the host plant.

Determination of polyphenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity in colored chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.).

Dry legumes are staple and potentially functional food, being a good source of polyphenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity. The objective of this study was to determine the total polyphenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and their relation with antioxidant capacity in 17 chickpea lines having colored seed coats (black, red, brown, green, rubiginous, gray, yellow, cream, or beige). The seed coat usually contains more than 95% of these compounds.

Enhanced levels of methionine and cysteine in transgenic alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) plants over-expressing the Arabidopsis cystathionine gamma-synthase gene.

With the aim of increasing the methionine level in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and thus improving its nutritional quality, we produced transgenic alfalfa plants that expressed the Arabidopsis cystathionine gamma-synthase (AtCGS), the enzyme that controls the synthesis of the first intermediate metabolite in the methionine pathway. The AtCGS cDNA was driven by the Arabidopsis rubisco small subunit promoter to obtain expression in leaves.

Soluble methionine enhances accumulation of a 15 kDa zein, a methionine-rich storage protein, in transgenic alfalfa but not in transgenic tobacco plants.

With the general aim of elevating the content of the essential amino acid methionine in vegetative tissues of plants, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and tobacco plants, as well as BY2 tobacco suspension cells, were transformed with a beta-zein::3HA gene under the 35S promoter of cauliflower mosaic virus encoding a rumen-stable methionine-rich storage protein of 15 kDa zein. To examine whether soluble methionine content limited the accumulation of the 15 kDa zein::3HA, methionine was first added to the growth medium of the different transgenic plants and the level of the alien protein was determined.

Poor competitive fitness of transgenically mitigated tobacco in competition with the wild type in a replacement series.

Transgenic crops can interbreed with other crop cultivars or with related weeds, increasing the potential of the hybrid progeny for competition. To prevent generating competitive hybrids, we previously tested tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) as a model for validating the transgenic mitigation (TM) concept using tandem constructs where a gene of choice is linked to mitigating genes that are positive or neutral to the crop, but deleterious to a recipient under competition.

Tandem constructs to mitigate transgene persistence: tobacco as a model.

Some transgenic crops can introgress genes into other varieties of the crop, to related weeds or themselves remain as 'volunteer' weeds, potentially enhancing the invasiveness or weediness of the resulting offspring. The presently suggested mechanisms for transgene containment allow low frequency of gene release (leakage), requiring the mitigation of continued spread. Transgenic mitigation (TM), where a desired primary gene is tandemly coupled with mitigating genes that are positive or neutral to the crop but deleterious to hybrids and their progeny, was tested as a mechanism to mitigate transgene introgression.

Coexpression of the soybean vegetative storage protein beta subunit (S-VSPbeta) either with the bacterial feedback-insensitive dihydrodipicolinate synthase or with S-VSPalpha stabilizes the S-VSPbeta transgene protein and enhances lysine production in transgenic tobacco plants.

Soybean vegetative storage proteins (S-VSPs) are lysine-rich leaf proteins, originally found to accumulate to high levels in depodded soybean plants. In the present study, we overexpressed S-VSPbeta, the ruminant stable subunit of the S-VSP genes, in transgenic tobacco plants. The S-VSPbeta protein accumulated in all organs studied, but its level declined drastically with leaf age.

Combined expression of S-VSPalpha in two different organelles enhances its accumulation and total lysine production in leaves of transgenic tobacco plants.

Soybean vegetative storage proteins (S-VSPs) accumulate to high levels in vacuoles of both wild types and heterologous plants. Here it is shown that directing S-VSPalpha to two different organelles-chloroplasts and vacuoles-in a single transgenic plant significantly increased its accumulation. Accumulation of S-VSPalpha in heterologous plants correlated with total soluble lysine.

Resistance of soybean vegetative storage proteins (S-VSPs) to proteolysis by rumen microorganisms.

Soybean vegetative storage proteins (S-VSPs) are lysine-rich and, hence, are potentially of high nutritive value for high productive ruminants. Using S-VSPs from wild-type soybean and from transgenic tobacco plants expressing either one of the two S-VSPs subunits (S-VSP alpha or S-VSP beta) or both, we tested their stability in cow rumen fluid under in situ conditions, using SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Proteolysis and degradation pattern of S-VSPs from transgenic tobacco leaves occurred relatively fast compared with that of wild-type (WT) soybean plants.