Genome-Wide Association Study and Genomic Prediction of Soft Wheat End-Use Quality Traits Under Post-Anthesis Heat-Stressed Conditions.

Wheat end-use quality is an important component of a wheat breeding program. Heat stress during grain filling impacts wheat quality traits, making it crucial to understand the genetic basis of wheat quality traits under post-anthesis heat stress. This study aimed to identify the genomic regions associated with wheat quality traits using genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and evaluate the prediction accuracy of different genomic selection (GS) models.

Refinement of a Published Gene-Physical Activity Interaction Impacting HDL-Cholesterol: Role of Sex and Lipoprotein Subfractions.

Large-scale gene-environment interaction (GxE) discovery efforts often involve analytical compromises for the sake of data harmonization and statistical power. Refinement of exposures, covariates, outcomes, and population subsets may be helpful to establish often-elusive replication and evaluate potential clinical utility. Here, we used additional datasets, an expanded set of statistical models, and interrogation of lipoprotein metabolism via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based lipoprotein subfractions to refine a previously discovered GxE modifying the relationship between physical activity (PA) and HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C).

Maize inbreds show allelic variation for diel transcription patterns.

Circadian entrainment and external cues can cause gene transcript abundance to oscillate throughout the day, and these patterns of diel transcript oscillation vary across genes and plant species. Less is known about within-species allelic variation for diel patterns of transcript oscillation, or about how regulatory sequence variation influences diel transcription patterns. In this study, we evaluated diel transcript abundance for 24 diverse maize inbred lines.

Common and rare genetic variation intersects with ancestry to influence human skin and plasma carotenoid concentrations.

Carotenoids are dietary bioactive compounds with health effects that are biomarkers of fruit and vegetable intake. Here, we examine genetic associations with plasma and skin carotenoid concentrations in two rigorously phenotyped human cohorts (n=317). Analysis of genome-wide SNPs revealed heritability to vary by genetic ancestry (h=0.

Virulence Characterization and Population Structure of f. sp. in Henan Province, China.

Wheat stripe rust, caused by f. sp. (), poses a significant threat to wheat production, particularly in Henan province, which produces more than 36 million tons of wheat grain every year, the highest production among all provinces in China.

A Sorghum / Homolog Functions in PAMP-Triggered Immunity and Cell Death in Response to Infection.

(L.) Moench is the fifth most important cereal crop and expected to gain prominence due to its versatility, low input requirements, and tolerance to hot and dry conditions. In warm and humid environments the productivity of sorghum is severely limited by the hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen , the causal agent of anthracnose.

Thermotolerance screening of genotypes using seed germination assay.

Temperature is a fundamental factor influencing the processes of seed germination. Investigating the response of carinata to thermal stress and establishing a dependable and efficient method for screening thermotolerance will enhance breeding programs and model applications. We assessed the response of 12 carinata genotypes to a range of eight temperatures, spanning from 8 to 37 °C, throughout the germination process.

Multi-sensor and multi-temporal high-throughput phenotyping for monitoring and early detection of water-limiting stress in soybean.

Soybean ( [L.] Merr.) production is susceptible to biotic and abiotic stresses, exacerbated by extreme weather events.

Priority actions for Fusarium head blight resistance in durum wheat: Insights from the wheat initiative.

Fusarium head blight (FHB), mainly caused by Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum, is a major wheat disease. Significant efforts have been made to improve resistance to FHB in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), but more work is needed for durum wheat (Triticum turgidum spp. durum).

Functional Connectivity to the Amygdala in the Neonate Is Impacted by the Maternal Anxiety Level During Pregnancy.

Background And Purpose: Anxiety during pregnancy is common, and exposure to heightened anxiety during pregnancy may influence children's brain development and functioning. However, it is unclear if exposure to low levels of anxiety in utero would also impact the developing brain. The current prospective and longitudinal study included 40 healthy pregnant women without pregnancy complications or previous diagnosis of anxiety disorders.

Identification of leaf rust resistance loci in hard winter wheat using genome-wide association mapping.

Leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina (Pt), is a serious constraint to wheat production. Developing resistant varieties is the best approach to managing this disease. Wheat leaf rust resistance (Lr) genes have been classified into either all-stage resistance (ASR) or adult-plant resistance (APR).

Sorghum rhizosphere bacteriome studies and generation of multistrain beneficial bacterial consortia.

The plant rhizosphere microbiome plays a crucial role in plant growth and health. Within this microbiome, bacteria dominate, exhibiting traits that benefit plants, such as facilitating nutrient acquisition, fixing nitrogen, controlling pathogens, and promoting root growth. This study focuses on designing synthetic bacterial consortia using key bacterial strains which have been mapped and then isolated from the sorghum rhizosphere microbiome.

Long-term impact of tillage on microbial communities of an Eastern European Chernozem.

As conservation agricultural practices continue to spread, there is a need to understand how reduced tillage impacts soil microbes. Effects of no till (NT) and disk till (DT) relative to moldboard plow (MP) were investigated in a long-term experiment established on Chernozem. Results showed that conservation practices, especially NT, increased total, active and microbial biomass carbon.

Evaluating two live-attenuated vaccines against serovar Reading in turkeys: reduced tissue colonization and cecal tonsil transcriptome responses.

Vaccines that cross-protect across serovars of () would be a beneficial intervention against emerging and persistent isolates of concern for the turkey industry. The 2017-2019 foodborne outbreak of serovar Reading (. Reading) revealed the need for effective control of this serovar in turkey production.

First report of subsp. infecting southern shagbark hickory () in Georgia, USA.

Southern shagbark hickory (Carya carolinae-septentrionalis) is one of several deciduous trees in the family Juglandaceae and genus Carya that are native to North America. Southern shagbark hickory has a restricted distribution to the Southeast U.S.

Surveys of genotypes in breeding stations and commercial rice fields in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Puerto Rico from 2017 to 2019.

Major resistance (R) gene mediated resistance to rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is often overcome by the fungus due to the occurrences of new races with altered corresponding avirulence (AVR) genes. In this study, blast diseased rice tissue samples were collected from breeding stations and commercial rice fields in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Puerto Rico during 2017-2019 to determine the efficacy of major R genes, Pi-ta, Pik, Pizt, Pi9, and Pi33. A total of 185 blast isolates were isolated from the diseased tissue samples to examine the existence of AVR genes AVR-Pita1, AVR-Pib, AVR-Pik, AVR-Pizt, AVR-Pi9 and ACE1.

First Report of sp. Causing Downy Mildew of Stock () in Ohio.

, commonly known as stock, is a flowering plant species in the Brassicaceae popularly used as a cut flower due to its fragrant, long-lasting blooms. In September 2023, stock 'Iron White' plants displaying symptoms and signs of downy mildew were observed within a high tunnel in a cut flower farm in Franklin Co., OH.

A low cost and labor-efficient method for rearing an invasive beetle, Carpophilus truncatus (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae).

The carpophilus beetle, Carpophilus truncatus Murray, 1864 (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) is an invasive pest recently detected in California's tree nut crop orchards. Here we report a simple, labor-saving, and cost-effective rearing system for C. truncatus utilizing banana and industrial sand components.

Exploiting historical agronomic data to develop genomic prediction strategies for early clonal selection in the Louisiana sugarcane variety development program.

Genomic selection can enhance the rate of genetic gain of cane and sucrose yield in sugarcane (Saccharum L.), an important industrial crop worldwide. We assessed the predictive ability (PA) for six traits, such as theoretical recoverable sugar (TRS), number of stalks (NS), stalk weight (SW), cane yield (CY), sugar yield (SY), and fiber content (Fiber) using 20,451 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with 22 statistical models based on the genomic estimated breeding values of 567 genotypes within and across five stages of the Louisiana sugarcane breeding program.

Getting better with age: Lessons from the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE).

The Kenya long-term exclosure experiment (KLEE) was established in 1995 in semi-arid savanna rangeland to examine the separate and combined effects of livestock, wildlife and megaherbivores on their shared environment. The long-term nature of this experiment has allowed us to measure these effects and address questions of stability and resilience in the context of multiple drought-rainy cycles. Here we outline lessons learned over the last 29 years, and how these inform a fundamental tension in long-term studies: how to balance the need for question-driven research with the intangible conviction that long-term data will yield valuable findings.

MaizeCODE reveals bi-directionally expressed enhancers that harbor molecular signatures of maize domestication.

Modern maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) was domesticated from Teosinte parviglumis (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis), with subsequent introgressions from Teosinte mexicana (Zea mays ssp.