Hybrid grain production in wheat benefits from synchronized flowering and high female flower receptivity.

The performance of plant hybrids relative to line breeding types is generally associated with higher yields, better adaptation, and improved yield stability. In bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), however, a broad commercial success for hybrids has not been accomplished until now largely due to the low efficiency of hybrid grain production, which is highly attributable to its self-pollinating nature.

Trait-customized sampling of core collections from a winter wheat genebank collection supports association studies.

Subsampling a reduced number of accessions from genebank collections, known as core collections, is a widely applied method for the investigation of stored genetic diversity and for an exploitation by breeding and research. Optimizing core collections for genome-wide association studies could potentially maximize opportunities to discover relevant and rare variation. In the present study, eight strategies to sample core collections were implemented separately for two traits, namely susceptibility to yellow rust and stem lodging, on about 6,300 accessions of winter wheat ( L.

A biomimetic branching signal-passing tile assembly model with dynamic growth and disassembly.

Natural biological branching processes can form tree-like structures at all scales and, moreover, can perform various functions to achieve specific goals; these include receiving stimuli, performing two-way communication along their branches, and dynamically reforming (extending or retracting branches). They underlie many biological systems with considerable diversity, frequency, and geometric complexity; these include networks of neurons, organ tissue, mycorrhizal fungal networks, plant growth, foraging networks, etc. This paper presents a biomimetic DNA tile assembly model (Y-STAM) to implement dynamic branching processes.

Origin and evolution of the bread wheat D genome.

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a globally dominant crop and major source of calories and proteins for the human diet. Compared with its wild ancestors, modern bread wheat shows lower genetic diversity, caused by polyploidisation, domestication and breeding bottlenecks. Wild wheat relatives represent genetic reservoirs, and harbour diversity and beneficial alleles that have not been incorporated into bread wheat.

Accelerated farmland bird population declines in European countries after their recent EU accession.

Agricultural intensification is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. In Europe, intensification progressed over the 20th century and was accelerated by instruments of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries standing outside the EU until the beginning of the 21st century employed less intensive farming and are considered one of the continent's farmland biodiversity strongholds.

Capitalizing on genebank core collections for rare and novel disease resistance loci to enhance barley resilience.

In the realm of agricultural sustainability, the utilization of plant genetic resources for enhanced disease resistance is paramount. Preservation efforts in genebanks are justified by their potential contributions to future crop improvement. To capitalize on the potential of plant genetic resources, we focused on a barley core collection from the German ex situ genebank and contrasted it with a European elite collection.

Long-term population trends of 48 urban bird species correspond between urban and rural areas.

Colonization of urban areas by wild species is a widespread phenomenon investigated from various ecological and evolutionary perspectives, yet long-term population trends of organisms in urban areas remain understudied. To fill this knowledge gap, we used data from a large-scale breeding bird monitoring scheme and computed population trends in 48 urban bird species in urban and rural areas of a central European country, Czechia. In most species, trends were similar in both environments, indicating common drivers and/or connections between urban and rural populations.

Heritable microbiome variation is correlated with source environment in locally adapted maize varieties.

Beneficial interactions with microorganisms are pivotal for crop performance and resilience. However, it remains unclear how heritable the microbiome is with respect to the host plant genotype and to what extent host genetic mechanisms can modulate plant-microbiota interactions in the face of environmental stresses. Here we surveyed 3,168 root and rhizosphere microbiome samples from 129 accessions of locally adapted Zea, sourced from diverse habitats and grown under control and different stress conditions.

Sympatry in a nightingale contact zone has no effect on host-specific blood parasite prevalence and lineage diversity.

Parasites are a key driving force behind many ecological and evolutionary processes. Prevalence and diversity of parasites, as well as their effects on hosts, are not uniform across host species. As such, the potential parasite spillover between species can significantly influence outcomes of interspecific interactions.

Dense city centers support less evolutionary unique bird communities than sparser urban areas.

Urbanization alters avian communities, generally lowering the number of species and contemporaneously increasing their functional relatedness, leading to biotic homogenization. Urbanization can also negatively affect the phylogenetic diversity of species assemblages, potentially decreasing their evolutionary distinctiveness. We compare species assemblages in a gradient of building density in seventeen European cities to test whether the evolutionary distinctiveness of communities is shaped by the degree of urbanization.

Genomic prediction reveals unexplored variation in grain protein and lysine content across a vast winter wheat genebank collection.

Globally, wheat ( L.) is a major source of proteins in human nutrition despite its unbalanced amino acid composition. The low lysine content in the protein fraction of wheat can lead to protein-energy-malnutrition prominently in developing countries.

Heterosis in crop improvement.

Heterosis, also known as hybrid vigor, is the phenomenon wherein a progeny exhibits superior traits relative to one or both parents. In terms of crop breeding, this usually refers to the yield advantage of F hybrids over both inbred parents. The development of high-yielding hybrid cultivars across a wider range of crops is key to meeting future food demands.

Species-specific traits affect bird species' susceptibility to global change.

The current ecological crisis has risen extinction rates to similar levels of ancient mass extinctions. However, it seems to not be acting uniformly across all species but affecting species differentially. This suggests that species' susceptibility to the extinction process is mediated by specific traits.

Symptom frequency and exposure to a cyanobacteria bloom in Florida.

This investigation was undertaken to characterize health effects associated with a major bloom of blue-green algae due to the proliferation Microcystis aeruginosa that occurred in Florida in 2018. Cyanobacteria produce multiple toxins, including the potent hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs), that have been reported to cause illness in exposed persons worldwide. Widespread exposure to toxins released by blue-green algae during the 2018 bloom was shown by the presence of MCs in the nasal passages of 95 percent of the individuals studied previously in south Florida (Schaefer et al.

Genetic control and prospects of predictive breeding for European winter wheat's Zeleny sedimentation values and Hagberg-Perten falling number.

Sedimentation values and falling number in the last decades have helped maintain high baking quality despite rigorous selection for grain yield in wheat. Allelic combinations of major loci sustained the bread-making quality while improving grain yield. Glu-D1, Pinb-D1, and non-gluten proteins are associated with sedimentation values and falling number in European wheat.

Maximization through optimization? On the relationship between hybrid performance and parental genetic distance.

Heterosis is the improved performance of hybrids compared with their parental components and is widely exploited in agriculture. According to quantitative genetic theory, genetic distance between parents at heterotic quantitative trait loci is required for heterosis, but how heterosis varies with genetic distance has remained elusive, despite intensive research on the topic. Experimental studies have often found a positive association between heterosis and genetic distance that, however, varied in strength.

Professor Andreas Graner: driven by the quest to unlock crop plant genomes for conservation and utilization of germplasm for breeding.

Professor Andreas Graner stands as a towering figure in international crop plant genomics research, leaving an indelible imprint on the field over the past four decades. As we commemorate the 80th anniversary of Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, Germany and Professor Graner's retirement in September 2023, here we celebrate and acknowledge his profound impact on crop genome analyses and genebank genomics. His trailblazing work extends from developing the first integrated RFLP map of barley, establishing the foundation of barley genome sequencing, and advancing functional genomics of malting quality, to pioneering the use of high-throughput phenomics.

Rapid gene content turnover on the germline-restricted chromosome in songbirds.

The germline-restricted chromosome (GRC) of songbirds represents a taxonomically widespread example of programmed DNA elimination. Despite its apparent indispensability, we still know very little about the GRC's genetic composition, function, and evolutionary significance. Here we assemble the GRC in two closely related species, the common and thrush nightingale.

Chemical pancreatectomy in non-human primates ablates the acini and ducts and enhances beta-cell function.

Chronic pancreatitis is a debilitating disease affecting millions worldwide. These patients suffer from bouts of severe pain that are minimally relieved by pain medications and may necessitate major surgeries with high morbidity and mortality. Previously, we demonstrated that "chemical pancreatectomy," a pancreatic intraductal infusion of dilute acetic acid solution, ablated the exocrine pancreas while preserving the endocrine pancreas.

A survey on molecular-scale learning systems with relevance to DNA computing.

DNA computing has emerged as a promising alternative to achieve programmable behaviors in chemistry by repurposing the nucleic acid molecules into chemical hardware upon which synthetic chemical programs can be executed. These chemical programs are capable of simulating diverse behaviors, including boolean logic computation, oscillations, and nanorobotics. Chemical environments such as the cell are marked by uncertainty and are prone to random fluctuations.

Spatial Overlap and Habitat Selection of Corvid Species in European Cities.

Understanding habitat and spatial overlap in sympatric species of urban areas would aid in predicting species and community modifications in response to global change. Habitat overlap has been widely investigated for specialist species but neglected for generalists living in urban settings. Many corvid species are generalists and are adapted to urban areas.

Chemical pancreatectomy in non-human primates ablates the acini and ducts and enhances beta-cell function.

Chronic pancreatitis is a debilitating disease affecting millions worldwide. These patients suffer from bouts of severe pain that are minimally relieved by pain medications and may necessitate major surgeries with high morbidity and mortality. Previously, we demonstrated that "chemical pancreatectomy," a pancreatic intraductal infusion of dilute acetic acid solution, ablated the exocrine pancreas while preserving the endocrine pancreas.