A pin-based probe for electronic moisture meters to determine moisture content in a single wheat kernel.

Background: Optimum moisture in straw and grain at maturity is important for timely harvesting of wheat. Grain harvested at the right time has reduced chance of being affected by adverse weather conditions which is important to maintain grain quality and end use functionality. Wheat varieties with a short dry down period could help in timely harvest of the crop.

LodgeNet: an automated framework for precise detection and classification of wheat lodging severity levels in precision farming.

Wheat lodging is a serious problem affecting grain yield, plant health, and grain quality. Addressing the lodging issue in wheat is a desirable task in breeding programs. Precise detection of lodging levels during wheat screening can aid in selecting lines with resistance to lodging.

Multi-locus genome-wide association study of fusarium head blight in relation to days to anthesis and plant height in a spring wheat association panel.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a highly destructive fungal disease of wheat to which host resistance is quantitatively inherited and largely influenced by the environment. Resistance to FHB has been associated with taller height and later maturity; however, a further understanding of these relationships is needed. An association mapping panel (AMP) of 192 predominantly Canadian spring wheat was genotyped with the wheat 90K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array.

Conditional Mapping Identified Quantitative Trait Loci for Grain Protein Concentration Expressing Independently of Grain Yield in Canadian Durum Wheat.

Grain protein concentration (GPC) is an important trait in durum cultivar development as a major determinant of the nutritional value of grain and end-use product quality. However, it is challenging to simultaneously select both GPC and grain yield (GY) due to the negative correlation between them. To characterize quantitative trait loci (QTL) for GPC and understand the genetic relationship between GPC and GY in Canadian durum wheat, we performed both traditional and conditional QTL mapping using a doubled haploid (DH) population of 162 lines derived from Pelissier × Strongfield.

A Cultivated Form of a Red Seaweed (Chondrus crispus), Suppresses β-Amyloid-Induced Paralysis in Caenorhabditis elegans.

We report here the protective effects of a methanol extract from a cultivated strain of the red seaweed, Chondrus crispus, against β-amyloid-induced toxicity, in a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans, expressing human Aβ1-42 gene. The methanol extract of C. crispus (CCE), delayed β-amyloid-induced paralysis, whereas the water extract (CCW) was not effective.

λ-Carrageenan Suppresses Tomato Chlorotic Dwarf Viroid (TCDVd) Replication and Symptom Expression in Tomatoes.

The effect of carrageenans on tomato chlorotic dwarf viroid (TCDVd) replication and symptom expression was studied. Three-week-old tomato plants were spray-treated with iota(ɩ)-, lambda(λ)-, and kappa(κ)-carrageenan at 1 g·L-1 and inoculated with TCDVd after 48 h. The λ-carrageenan significantly suppressed viroid symptom expression after eight weeks of inoculation, only 28% plants showed distinctive bunchy-top symptoms as compared to the 82% in the control group.

Proteome Analysis of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Mutants Reveals Differentially Induced Proteins during Brown Planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) Infestation.

Although rice resistance plays an important role in controlling the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, not all varieties have the same level of protection against BPH infestation. Understanding the molecular interactions in rice defense response is an important tool to help to reveal unexplained processes that underlie rice resistance to BPH. A proteomics approach was used to explore how wild type IR64 and near-isogenic rice mutants with gain and loss of resistance to BPH respond during infestation.

Liuwei Dihuang (LWDH), a traditional Chinese medicinal formula, protects against β-amyloid toxicity in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans.

Liuwei Dihuang (LWDH), a classic Chinese medicinal formula, has been used to improve or restore declined functions related to aging and geriatric diseases, such as impaired mobility, vision, hearing, cognition and memory. Here, we report on the effect and possible mechanisms of LWDH mediated protection of β-amyloid (Aβ) induced paralysis in Caenorhabditis elegans using ethanol extract (LWDH-EE) and water extract (LWDH-WE). Chemical profiling and quantitative analysis revealed the presence of different levels of bioactive components in these extracts.

Expression of fatty acid and lipid biosynthetic genes in developing endosperm of Jatropha curcas.

Background: Temporal and spatial expression of fatty acid and lipid biosynthetic genes are associated with the accumulation of storage lipids in the seeds of oil plants. In jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.), a potential biofuel plant, the storage lipids are mainly synthesized and accumulated in the endosperm of seeds.

Tasco(®), a product of Ascophyllum nodosum, imparts thermal stress tolerance in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Tasco(®), a commercial product manufactured from the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum, has been shown to impart thermal stress tolerance in animals. We investigated the physiological, biochemical and molecular bases of this induced thermal stress tolerance using the invertebrate animal model, Caenorhabiditis elegans. Tasco(®) water extract (TWE) at 300 μg/mL significantly enhanced thermal stress tolerance as well as extended the life span of C.

Carrageenans, sulphated polysaccharides of red seaweeds, differentially affect Arabidopsis thaliana resistance to Trichoplusia ni (cabbage looper).

Carrageenans are a collective family of linear, sulphated galactans found in a number of commercially important species of marine red alga. These polysaccharides are known to elicit defense responses in plant and animals and possess anti-viral properties. We investigated the effect of foliar application of ι-, κ- and λ-carrageenans (representing various levels of sulphation) on Arabidopsis thaliana in resistance to the generalist insect Trichoplusia ni (cabbage looper) which is known to cause serious economic losses in crop plants.

Production of marker-free transgenic rice expressing tissue-specific Bt gene.

The hybrid Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) δ-endotoxin gene Cry1Ab/Ac was used to develop a transgenic Bt rice (Oryza sativa L.) targeting lepidopteran insects of rice. Here, we show the production of a marker-free and tissue-specific expressing transgenic Bt rice line L24 using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and a chemically regulated, Cre/loxP-mediated DNA recombination system.

An improved method for RNA isolation and cDNA library construction from immature seeds of Jatropha curcas L.

Background: RNA quality and quantity is sometimes unsuitable for cDNA library construction, from plant seeds rich in oil, polysaccharides and other secondary metabolites. Seeds of jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) are rich in fatty acids/lipids, storage proteins, polysaccharides, and a number of other secondary metabolites that could either bind and/or co-precipitate with RNA, making it unsuitable for downstream applications.

Categories and inheritance of resistance to Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) in mutants of indica rice 'IR64'.

Varietal mutants can be useful for developing durable resistance, understanding categories of resistance, and identifying candidate genes involved in defense responses. We used mutants of rice 'IR64' to isolate new sources of resistance to the planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae). We compared two mutants that showed a gain and loss of resistance to N.

High-resolution genetic mapping of bacterial blight resistance gene Xa10.

Bacterial blight of rice, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), is the most devastating disease of rice (Oryza sativa L). Rice lines that carry resistance (R) gene Xa10 confer race-specific resistance to Xoo strains harboring avirulence (Avr) gene avrXa10.