QTL Positioning of Thousand Wheat Grain Weight in Qaidam Basin

TGW is an important agronomic trait that influences the yield and milling quality of wheat. In this paper, after having investigated the phenotype of TGW from 114 ITMI recombinant inbred genealogies in 4 years in Qaidam Basin, a typical plateau oasis agricultural area, and having combined 1410 molecular markers, 7 major QTL loci of the thousand gain weight were screened out with the aid of QTL network software. These loci included qTgw1B (42.6 cm), qTgw2A(77.9 cm), qTgw2D1 (25.4 cm), qTgw2D2 (51.8 cm), qTgw6A1 (56.1 cm), qTgw6A2 (62.2 cm) and qTgw7A(75.7 cm) with their genetic contribution rates between 3.29% - 19.36%. There were two epistatic effect loci2A-2D and2A-6B with their genetic contribution rates as 2.3% and 5.3% respectively. The quantitative genetic locus positioning of thousand hexaploid wheat grain weight in Qaidam Basin can assist us in better understanding the genetic regulatory network formed by TGW, and can also provide a theoretical basis for improving thousand wheat grain weight in this ecological area.

Comparison of Grain Zinc and Iron Concentration between Synthetic Hexaploid Wheats and Their Parents

Deficiencies of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) in human food afflict a large proportion of the world’s population. Wheat is a major food source of minerals. One way to enhance bread wheat’s ability to enrich these minerals would be to take advantage of diversity of wild species by creating synthetic hexaploid wheat (SW). In this study, two minerals (Fe and Zn) concentrated in the grain of Aegilops tauschii Coss. (2n = 2x = 14, DD), Triticum turgidum L. (2n = 4x = 28, AABB), and 33 lines of their corresponding SW (2n = 2x = 42, AABBDD) were evaluated. The results showed that Fe concentration was decreased in most of SW lines compared with their parental Aegilops tauschii accessions, while Zn concentration was greatly increased in most of SW lines compared with their parental Aegilops tauschii accessions. Aegilops tauschii had stronger Fe enrichment than Triticum turgidum while they expressed the same ability for Zn enrichment. The genotypic variance based on their physiological performance was analyzed. SW lines showed less genotypic variance of Fe and Zn concentration than Aegilops tauschii. SW lines showed less genotypic variance of Fe concentration than Triticum turgidum L. lines while they had more genotypic variance of Zn concentration than Triticum turgidum L. lines. Regardless of the fact that the traits expressed in wild relatives of wheat may not predict the traits that will be expressed in SW lines derived from them, production of SW could be a powerful method creating genotypes with enhanced trait expression.

Synthesizing double haploid hexaploid wheat populations based on a spontaneous alloploidization process

Doubled haploid （DH） populations are useful to scientists and breeders in both crop improvement and basic research. Current methods of producing DHs usually need in vitro culture for extracting haploids and chemical treatment for chromosome doubling. This report describes a simple method for synthesizing DHs （SynDH） especially for allopolyploid species by utilizing meiotic restitution genes. The method involves three steps： hybridization to induce recombination, interspecific hybridization to extract haploids, and spontaneous chromosome doubling by selfing the interspecific Fis. DHs produced in this way contain recombinant chromosomes in the genome（s） of interest in a homogeneous background. No special equipment or treatments are involved in the DH production and it can be easily applied in any breeding and/or genetic program. Triticum turgidum L. and Aegilops tauschii Coss, the two ancestral species of common wheat （Triticurn aestivum L.） and molecular markers were used to demonstrate the SynDH method.

Honey vesicle-like nanoparticles protect aged liver from non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH),an advanced form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD),has emerged as the leading cause of liver failure and related death.Currently,no medication is specifically approved to treat NAFLD or NASH.Here we report that oral administration of honey vesiclelike nanoparticles(H-VLNs)to naturally aged mice protects the liver from NASH development.H-VLNs are dominantly taken up by Kupffer cells in the liver and suppress hepatic chronic inflammation and further development of fibrosis and nodule formation in aged mice.Besides their reported antiinflammasome function,H-VLNs are found to inhibit the transcriptional activities of C-JUN and nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB).MicroRNAs miR5119 and miR5108 and phenolic compound luteolin in H-VLNs are identified in suppressing both the C-JUN and NF-kB pathways.Collectively,oral intake of H-VLNs represents a promising new user-friendly modality to prevent the development of NASH.