On-farm assessment of yield and quality traits in durum wheat.

Background: Durum wheat is key source of calories and nutrients for many regions of the world. Demand for it is predicted to increase. Further efforts are therefore needed to develop new cultivars adapted to different future scenarios.

Impact of different on-farm management practices on bread wheat quality: a case study in the Yaqui Valley.

Background: Continuous development of new wheat varieties is necessary to satisfy the demands of farmers, industry, and consumers. The evaluation of candidate genotypes for commercial release under different on-farm conditions is a strategy that has been strongly recommended to assess the performance and stability of new cultivars in heterogeneous environments and under different farming systems. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the grain yield and quality performance of ten different genotypes across six contrasting farmers' field conditions with different irrigation and nitrogen fertilization levels, and to develop suggestions to aid breeding programs and farmers to use resources more efficiently.

Bayesian modelling of phosphorus content in wheat grain using hyperspectral reflectance data.

Background: As a result of the technological progress, the use of sensors for crop survey has substantially increased, generating valuable information for modelling agricultural data. Plant spectroscopy jointly with statistical modeling can potentially help to assess certain chemical components of interest present in plants, which may be laborious and expensive to obtain by direct measurements. In this research, the phosphorus content in wheat grain is modeled using reflectance information measured by a hyperspectral sensor at different wavelengths.

Biological nitrification inhibitor-trait enhances nitrogen uptake by suppressing nitrifier activity and improves ammonium assimilation in two elite wheat varieties.

Synthetic nitrification inhibitors (SNI) and biological nitrification inhibitors (BNI) are promising tools to limit nitrogen (N) pollution derived from agriculture. Modern wheat cultivars lack sufficient capacity to exude BNIs, but, fortunately, the chromosome region (Lr#n-SA) controlling BNI production in , a wild relative of wheat, was introduced into two elite wheat cultivars, ROELFS and MUNAL. Using BNI-isogenic-lines could become a cost-effective, farmer-friendly, and globally scalable technology that incentivizes more sustainable and environmentally friendly agronomic practices.

Enlisting wild grass genes to combat nitrification in wheat farming: A nature-based solution.

Active nitrifiers and rapid nitrification are major contributing factors to nitrogen losses in global wheat production. Suppressing nitrifier activity is an effective strategy to limit losses from agriculture. Production and release of nitrification inhibitors from plant roots is termed "biological nitrification inhibition" (BNI).

Towards more sustainable agricultural landscapes: Lessons from Northwestern Mexico and the Western Highlands of Guatemala.

A systematic process for assessing progress toward landscape sustainability goals is developed and tested. Application of the approach builds capacity and promotes continual improvements in management practices, thus enabling timely action to address changing conditions while progressing toward locally defined goals. We consider how the approach applies to agricultural landscapes, that is farm ecosystem interactions with the environment and human well-being.

Pulmonary Malakoplakia by in an HIV-Infected Patient in Mexico: A Case Report.

Background: -related pulmonary malakoplakia is a rare condition with few reported cases; hereby, we present a case associated with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and thus far to our knowledge, the first report in Mexico. It is estimated that approximately 10% of the infections occur in immunocompetent patients, whereas the rest are immune deficient, targeting virtually any organ. Histologically, malakoplakia is characterized by the buildup of infiltrated inflammatory tissue as a consequence of the gathering of histiocytes embedded with concentric inclusions.

Multi-Temporal and Spectral Analysis of High-Resolution Hyperspectral Airborne Imagery for Precision Agriculture: Assessment of Wheat Grain Yield and Grain Protein Content.

This study evaluates the potential of high resolution hyperspectral airborne imagery to capture within-field variability of durum wheat grain yield (GY) and grain protein content (GPC) in two commercial fields in the Yaqui Valley (northwestern Mexico). Through a weekly/biweekly airborne flight campaign, we acquired 10 mosaics with a micro-hyperspectral Vis-NIR imaging sensor ranging from 400-850 nanometres (nm). Just before harvest, 114 georeferenced grain samples were obtained manually.

A study of allelic diversity underlying flowering-time adaptation in maize landraces.

Landraces (traditional varieties) of domesticated species preserve useful genetic variation, yet they remain untapped due to the genetic linkage between the few useful alleles and hundreds of undesirable alleles. We integrated two approaches to characterize the diversity of 4,471 maize landraces. First, we mapped genomic regions controlling latitudinal and altitudinal adaptation and identified 1,498 genes.

Application of unmanned aerial systems for high throughput phenotyping of large wheat breeding nurseries.

Background: Low cost unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have great potential for rapid proximal measurements of plants in agriculture. In the context of plant breeding and genetics, current approaches for phenotyping a large number of breeding lines under field conditions require substantial investments in time, cost, and labor. For field-based high-throughput phenotyping (HTP), UAS platforms can provide high-resolution measurements for small plot research, while enabling the rapid assessment of tens-of-thousands of field plots.

Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2 °C target.

More than 100 countries pledged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Yet technical information about how much mitigation is needed in the sector vs. how much is feasible remains poor.

Assessment of iron bioavailability in ten kinds of Chinese wheat flours using an in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell model.

Objective: To compare iron bioavailability (Fe BV) from ten selected kinds of Chinese wheat flours in order to provide scientific basis for further human trials and enable plant breeding programs to screen biofortified wheat cultivars.

Methods: An in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell model was used to assess Fe BV of ten flour samples from six leading Chinese wheat cultivars and the stability of Fe BV in one cultivar was studied across three growing environments.

Results: Significant differences were observed in both Fe BV and Fe bioavailability per gram of food (Fe BVPG) among cultivars (P<0.

The quantity of zinc absorbed from wheat in adult women is enhanced by biofortification.

Biofortification of crops that provide major food staples to large, poor rural populations offers an appealing strategy for diminishing public health problems attributable to micronutrient deficiencies. The objective of this first-stage human study was to determine the increase in quantity of zinc (Zn) absorbed achieved by biofortifying wheat with Zn. Secondary objectives included evaluating the magnitude of the measured increases in Zn absorption as a function of dietary Zn and phytate.

Selenium in Australia: selenium status and biofortification of wheat for better health.

Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for humans and animals, but is deficient in at least a billion people worldwide. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a major dietary source of Se.

Potential for improving bioavailable zinc in wheat grain (Triticum species) through plant breeding.

A "whole-body" radioassay procedure was used to assess retention and absorption by rats of Zn in mature kernels of whole grain wheat harvested from 28 genotypes (Triticum spp.) grown in nutrient solution supplied with 2 microM ZnSO4 radiolabeled with 65Zn. Grain-Zn concentration differed among genotypes and ranged from 33 to 149 microg g(-1) of dry weight (DW); similarly, grain-Fe concentration varied approximately 4-fold, from 80 to 368 microg g(-1) of DW.