Aflatoxin exposure is associated with an increased risk of gallbladder cancer.

Gall bladder cancer (GBC) is common among the socioeconomically deprived populations of certain geographical regions. Aflatoxin is a genotoxic hepatocarcinogen, which is recognized to have a role in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the role of aflatoxin in the pathogenesis of GBC is largely unknown.

Safflower ( L.) crop adaptation to residual moisture stress: conserved water use and canopy temperature modulation are better adaptive mechanisms.

Oilseeds with high productivity and tolerance to various environmental stresses are in high demand in the food and industrial sectors. Safflower, grown under residual moisture in the semi-arid tropics, is adapted to moisture stress at certain levels. However, a substantial reduction in soil moisture has a significant impact on its productivity.

Grain legume seed systems for smallholder farmers: Perspectives on successful innovations.

Grain legumes are nutritionally important components of smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Unfortunately, limited access to quality seed of improved varieties at affordable prices due to inadequate seed systems has reduced their contribution to improving nutrition and reducing poverty in these regions. This paper analyses four seed systems case studies: chickpea in Ethiopia and Myanmar; cowpea in Nigeria; and tropical grain legumes in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda highlighting outcomes, lessons learned, and the enabling factors which supported the successful innovations.

Mapping Water Stress Incidence and Intensity, Optimal Plant Populations, and Cultivar Duration for African Groundnut Productivity Enhancement.

Groundnut production is limited in Sub-Saharan Africa and water deficit or "drought," is often considered as the main yield-limiting factor. However, no comprehensive study has assessed the extent and intensity of "drought"-related yield decreases, nor has it explored avenues to enhance productivity. Hence, crop simulation modeling with SSM (Simple Simulation Modeling) was used to address these issues.

Calcium Biofortification: Three Pronged Molecular Approaches for Dissecting Complex Trait of Calcium Nutrition in Finger Millet () for Devising Strategies of Enrichment of Food Crops.

Calcium is an essential macronutrient for plants and animals and plays an indispensable role in structure and signaling. Low dietary intake of calcium in humans has been epidemiologically linked to various diseases which can have serious health consequences over time. Major staple food-grains are poor source of calcium, however, finger millet [ (L.

Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling High Iron and Zinc Content in Self and Open Pollinated Grains of Pearl Millet [ (L.) R. Br.].

Pearl millet is a multipurpose grain/fodder crop of the semi-arid tropics, feeding many of the world's poorest and most undernourished people. Genetic variation among adapted pearl millet inbreds and hybrids suggests it will be possible to improve grain micronutrient concentrations by selective breeding. Using 305 loci, a linkage map was constructed to map QTLs for grain iron [Fe] and zinc [Zn] using replicated samples of 106 pearl millet RILs (F) derived from ICMB 841-P3 × 863B-P2.

Evidence of Genomic Exchanges between Homeologous Chromosomes in a Cross of Peanut with Newly Synthetized Allotetraploid Hybrids.

Cultivated peanut and synthetics are allotetraploids (2 = 4 = 40) with two homeologous sets of chromosomes. Meiosis in allotetraploid peanut is generally thought to show diploid-like behavior. However, a recent study pointed out the occurrence of recombination between homeologous chromosomes, especially when synthetic allotetraploids are used, challenging the view of disomic inheritance in peanut.

Overcoming Phosphorus Deficiency in West African Pearl Millet and Production Systems: Promising Options for Crop Improvement.

West Africa (WA) is among the most food insecure regions. Rapid human population growth and stagnating crop yields greatly contribute to this fact. Poor soil fertility, especially low plant available phosphorus (P) is constraining food production in the region.

Exploiting Phenylpropanoid Derivatives to Enhance the Nutraceutical Values of Cereals and Legumes.

Phenylpropanoids are a diverse chemical class with immense health benefits that are biosynthesized from the aromatic amino acid L-phenylalanine. This article reviews the progress for accessing variation in phenylpropanoids in germplasm collections, the genetic and molecular basis of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and the development of cultivars dense in seed-phenylpropanoids. Progress is also reviewed on high-throughput assays, factors that influence phenylpropanoids, the site of phenylpropanoids accumulation in seed, Genotype × Environment interactions, and on consumer attitudes for the acceptance of staple foods rich in phenylpropanoids.

Evaluation of Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.)] Reference Genes in Various Tissues and under Abiotic Stress Conditions for Quantitative Real-Time PCR Data Normalization.

Accurate and reliable gene expression data from qPCR depends on stable reference gene expression for potential gene functional analyses. In this study, 15 reference genes were selected and analyzed in various sample sets including abiotic stress treatments (salt, cold, water stress, heat, and abscisic acid) and tissues (leaves, roots, seedlings, panicle, and mature seeds). Statistical tools, including geNorm, NormFinder and RefFinder, were utilized to assess the suitability of reference genes based on their stability rankings for various sample groups.

EcoTILLING-Based Association Mapping Efficiently Delineates Functionally Relevant Natural Allelic Variants of Candidate Genes Governing Agronomic Traits in Chickpea.

The large-scale mining and high-throughput genotyping of novel gene-based allelic variants in natural mapping population are essential for association mapping to identify functionally relevant molecular tags governing useful agronomic traits in chickpea. The present study employs an alternative time-saving, non-laborious and economical pool-based EcoTILLING approach coupled with agarose gel detection assay to discover 1133 novel SNP allelic variants from diverse coding and regulatory sequence components of 1133 transcription factor (TF) genes by genotyping in 192 diverse desi and kabuli chickpea accessions constituting a seed weight association panel. Integrating these SNP genotyping data with seed weight field phenotypic information of 192 structured association panel identified eight SNP alleles in the eight TF genes regulating seed weight of chickpea.

Genome-Wide Scans for Delineation of Candidate Genes Regulating Seed-Protein Content in Chickpea.

Identification of potential genes/alleles governing complex seed-protein content (SPC) is essential in marker-assisted breeding for quality trait improvement of chickpea. Henceforth, the present study utilized an integrated genomics-assisted breeding strategy encompassing trait association analysis, selective genotyping in traditional bi-parental mapping population and differential expression profiling for the first-time to understand the complex genetic architecture of quantitative SPC trait in chickpea. For GWAS (genome-wide association study), high-throughput genotyping information of 16376 genome-based SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism) discovered from a structured population of 336 sequenced desi and kabuli accessions [with 150-200 kb LD (linkage disequilibrium) decay] was utilized.

Quantitative genetic analysis of agronomic and morphological traits in sorghum, Sorghum bicolor.

The productivity in sorghum is low, owing to various biotic and abiotic constraints. Combining insect resistance with desirable agronomic and morphological traits is important to increase sorghum productivity. Therefore, it is important to understand the variability for various agronomic traits, their heritabilities and nature of gene action to develop appropriate strategies for crop improvement.

Application of genomics-assisted breeding for generation of climate resilient crops: progress and prospects.

Climate change affects agricultural productivity worldwide. Increased prices of food commodities are the initial indication of drastic edible yield loss, which is expected to increase further due to global warming. This situation has compelled plant scientists to develop climate change-resilient crops, which can withstand broad-spectrum stresses such as drought, heat, cold, salinity, flood, submergence and pests, thus helping to deliver increased productivity.

Genomics-assisted breeding for boosting crop improvement in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan).

Pigeonpea is an important pulse crop grown predominantly in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Although pigeonpea growing area has considerably increased, yield has remained stagnant for the last six decades mainly due to the exposure of the crop to various biotic and abiotic constraints. In addition, low level of genetic variability and limited genomic resources have been serious impediments to pigeonpea crop improvement through modern breeding approaches.

Groundnut improvement: use of genetic and genomic tools.

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), a self-pollinated legume is an important crop cultivated in 24 million ha world over for extraction of edible oil and food uses. The kernels are rich in oil (48-50%) and protein (25-28%), and are source of several vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, biologically active polyphenols, flavonoids, and isoflavones.