Meta-QTL analysis and candidate genes for quality traits, mineral content, and abiotic-related traits in wild emmer.

Wild emmer ( ssp. ) genotypes were studied for their high-nutritional value and good tolerance to various types of stress; for this reason, several QTL (quantitative trait loci) studies have been conducted to find favorable alleles to be introgressed into modern wheat cultivars. Given the complexity of the QTL nature, their interaction with the environment, and other QTLs, a small number of genotypes have been used in wheat breeding programs.

Foot Placement in the Basic Position on the Start Block OSB12 of Young Competitive Swimmers.

Background: The basic position on the starting block can influence the performance at the start, as it is the initial phase on which the other phases depend, as well as the swimming performance in sprint events in all swimming styles. The aim of our study is to analyze the effect of the foot in the base position on the block start on performance in the 5 m distance start.

Material And Methods: Fifteen performance swimmers aged 17 ± 2 years were tested in their preferred wide and narrow starting positions, performing a total of six starts during which angular, temporal, and length changes were monitored in block, flight, and underwater phases.

Three Biannual Rotations Cycles with Residue Incorporation Affect Wheat Production and Chemical Soil Properties.

Background: There are few reports of crop rotations with high residue incorporation in terms of their effects on indicator crop yields and soil properties, so this study evaluated the effect of two medium-term biannual rotations on wheat yield development and soil chemical properties after six years of rotation.

Methods: The experiment was conducted with two biannual rotations (canola-wheat and bean-wheat) and four residue incorporation levels (0%, 50%, 100%, and 200%) in an Andisol in south central Chile. Wheat grain yield and residue production were evaluated during each biannual cycle during three cycles of crop rotation, and soil chemical properties were evaluated at final evaluation.

Phenotypic variation in leaf photosynthetic traits, leaf area index, and carbon discrimination of field-grown wheat genotypes and their relationship with yield performance in Mediterranean environments.

Leaf water potential, gas exchange, and chlorophyll fluorescence exhibited significant differences among genotypes, high environmental effects, but low heritability. The highest-yielding and drought-tolerant genotypes presented superior harvest index and grain weight, compared to drought-susceptible ones. Physiological phenotyping can help identify useful traits related to crop performance under water-limited conditions.

Exploring plant responses to abiotic stress by contrasting spectral signature changes.

In this study, daily changes over a short period and diurnal progression of spectral reflectance at the leaf level were used to identify spring wheat genotypes ( L.) susceptible to adverse conditions. Four genotypes were grown in pots experiments under semi-controlled conditions in Chile and Spain.

A comprehensive meta-QTL analysis for yield-related traits of durum wheat ( L. var. ) grown under different water regimes.

Abiotic stress strongly affects yield-related traits in durum wheat, in particular drought is one of the main environmental factors that have effect on grain yield and plant architecture. In order to obtain new genotypes well adapted to stress conditions, the highest number of desirable traits needs to be combined in the same genotype. In this context, hundreds of quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been identified for yield-related traits in different genetic backgrounds and environments.

Leaf and Canopy Traits Associated with Stay-Green Expression Are Closely Related to Yield Components of Wheat Genotypes with Contrasting Tolerance to Water Stress.

The onset and rate of senescence influence key agronomical traits, including grain yield (GY). Our objective was to assess the relationships between stay-green and GY in a set of fourteen spring bread wheat ( L.) genotypes with contrasting tolerance to water stress.

Genetic Yield Gains and Changes in Morphophysiological-Related Traits of Winter Wheat in Southern Chilean High-Yielding Environments.

Both the temperate-humid zone and the southern part of the Mediterranean climate region of Chile are characterized by high wheat productivity. Study objectives were to analyze the yield potential, yield progress, and genetic progress of the winter bread wheat ( L.) cultivars and changes in agronomic and morphophysiological traits during the past 60 years.

Leg Dominance and OSB12 Kick Start Performance in Young Competitive Swimmers.

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in starting and kick-plate positions, pointing to an effect on kick-start performance with the dominant and non-dominant feet placed on the front edge of the OSB12 starting block. The sample included 20 female competitive swimmers whose average age was 16.1 ± 0.

Key Parameters Affecting Kick Start Performance in Competitive Swimming.

The study aims to determine the contribution of kinematic parameters to time to 5 m without underwater undulating and kicking. Eighteen male competitive swimmers started from three weighted positions and set the kick plate to positions 1-5. We used SwimPro cameras and the Dartfish© software.

Genome-Wide Association of Stem Carbohydrate Accumulation and Remobilization during Grain Growth in Bread Wheat ( L.) in Mediterranean Environments.

Water deficit represents an important challenge for wheat production in many regions of the world. Accumulation and remobilization of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs) in stems are part of the physiological responses regulated by plants to cope with water stress and, in turn, determine grain yield (GY). The genetic mechanisms underlying the variation in WSC are only partially understood.

() and () Genes Influence on Semolina Yellowness in Wheat Mediterranean Germplasm.

() and (-1) are key genes involved in the synthesis and catalysis of carotenoid pigments in durum wheat, regulating the increase and decrease in these compounds, respectively, resulting in the distinct yellow color of semolina and pasta. Here, we reported new haplotype variants and/or allele combinations of these two genes significantly affecting yellow pigment content in grain and semolina through their effect on carotenoid pigments. To reach the purpose of this work, three complementary approaches were undertaken: the identification of QTLs associated to carotenoid content on a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population, the characterization of a Mediterranean panel of accessions for and genes, and monitoring the expression of and genes during grain filling on two genotypes with contrasting yellow pigments.

New Findings in the Amino Acid Profile and Gene Expression in Contrasting Durum Wheat Gluten Strength Genotypes during Grain Filling.

Grain protein composition is important in wheat quality and may influence the amino acidic sequence of bioactive peptides obtained from this feedstock. However, the genetic basis modulating the amino acid profile in durum wheat is not well-understood. Therefore, strong and weak gluten strength durum wheat genotypes were evaluated for their amino acid composition along grain filling.

Thermal Imaging Reliability for Estimating Grain Yield and Carbon Isotope Discrimination in Wheat Genotypes: Importance of the Environmental Conditions.

Canopy temperature (Tc) by thermal imaging is a useful tool to study plant water status and estimate other crop traits. This work seeks to estimate grain yield (GY) and carbon discrimination (ΔC) from stress degree day (SDD = Tc - air temperature, Ta), considering the effect of a number of environmental variables such as the averages of the maximum vapor pressure deficit (VPDmax) and the ambient temperature (Tmax), and the soil water content (SWC). For this, a set of 384 and a subset of 16 genotypes of spring bread wheat were evaluated in two Mediterranean-climate sites under water stress (WS) and full irrigation (FI) conditions, in 2011 and 2012, and 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Exploring Agronomic and Physiological Traits Associated With the Differences in Productivity Between Triticale and Bread Wheat in Mediterranean Environments.

In Mediterranean climates soil water deficit occurs mainly during the spring and summer, having a great impact on cereal productivity. While previous studies have indicated that the grain yield (GY) of triticale is usually higher than bread wheat ( L.), comparatively little is known about the performance of these crops under water-limited conditions or the physiological traits involved in the different yields of both crops.

Bioabsorption and Bioaccumulation of Cadmium in the Straw and Grain of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Growing Soils Contaminated with Cadmium in Different Environment.

There is a worldwide increase of heavy metal or potentially toxic element (PTE), contamination in agricultural soils caused mainly by human and industrial action, which leads to food contamination in crops such as in maize. Cadmium (Cd) is a PTE often found in soils and it is ingested through food. It is necessary to determine the bioabsorption, distribution, and accumulation levels in maize to reduce or prevent food chain contamination.

Assessing Wheat Traits by Spectral Reflectance: Do We Really Need to Focus on Predicted Trait-Values or Directly Identify the Elite Genotypes Group?

Phenotyping, via remote and proximal sensing techniques, of the agronomic and physiological traits associated with yield potential and drought adaptation could contribute to improvements in breeding programs. In the present study, 384 genotypes of wheat ( L.) were tested under fully irrigated (FI) and water stress (WS) conditions.

Ascertainment bias from imputation methods evaluation in wheat.

Background: Whole-genome genotyping techniques like Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) are being used for genetic studies such as Genome-Wide Association (GWAS) and Genomewide Selection (GS), where different strategies for imputation have been developed. Nevertheless, imputation error may lead to poor performance (i.e.

Physiological Traits Associated with Wheat Yield Potential and Performance under Water-Stress in a Mediterranean Environment.

Different physiological traits have been proposed as key traits associated with yield potential as well as performance under water stress. The aim of this paper is to examine the genotypic variability of leaf chlorophyll, stem water-soluble carbohydrate content and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ(13)C), and their relationship with grain yield (GY) and other agronomical traits, under contrasting water conditions in a Mediterranean environment. The study was performed on a large collection of 384 wheat genotypes grown under water stress (WS, rainfed), mild water stress (MWS, deficit irrigation), and full irrigation (FI).

SNP-Based QTL Mapping of 15 Complex Traits in Barley under Rain-Fed and Well-Watered Conditions by a Mixed Modeling Approach.

This study identified single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers associated with 15 complex traits in a breeding population of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) consisting of 137 recombinant chromosome substitution lines (RCSL), evaluated under contrasting water availability conditions in the Mediterranean climatic region of central Chile. Given that markers showed a very strong segregation distortion, a quantitative trait locus/loci (QTL) mapping mixed model was used to account for the heterogeneity in genetic relatedness between genotypes.

Wheat genotypic variability in grain yield and carbon isotope discrimination under Mediterranean conditions assessed by spectral reflectance.

A collection of 368 advanced lines and cultivars of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from Chile, Uruguay, and CIMMYT (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo), with good agronomic characteristics were evaluated under the Mediterranean conditions of central Chile. Three different water regimes were assayed: severe water stress (SWS, rain fed), mild water stress (MWS; one irrigation around booting), and full irrigation (FI; four irrigations: at tillering, flag leaf appearance, heading, and middle grain filling).

Increased genomic prediction accuracy in wheat breeding through spatial adjustment of field trial data.

In crop breeding, the interest of predicting the performance of candidate cultivars in the field has increased due to recent advances in molecular breeding technologies. However, the complexity of the wheat genome presents some challenges for applying new technologies in molecular marker identification with next-generation sequencing. We applied genotyping-by-sequencing, a recently developed method to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms, in the genomes of 384 wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes that were field tested under three different water regimes in Mediterranean climatic conditions: rain-fed only, mild water stress, and fully irrigated.