Mapping QTLs for seed yield and drought susceptibility index in soybean (Glycine max L.) across different environments

Drought stress has long been a major constraint in maintaining yield stability of soybean （Glycine max （L.） Merr.） in rainfed ecosystems. The identification of consistent quantitative trait loci （QTL） involving seed yield per plant （YP） and drought susceptibility index （DSI） in a population across different environments would therefore be important in molecular marker-assisted breeding of soybean cultivars suitable for rainfed regions. The YP of a recombinant line population of 184 F2：7：11 lines from a cross of Kefengl and Nannong1138-2 was studied under water-stressed （WS） and well-watered （WW） conditions in field （F） and greenhouse （G） trials, and DSI for yield was calculated in two trials. Nineteen QTLs associated with YP-WS and YP-WW, and 10 QTLs associated with DSI, were identi- fied. Comparison of these QTL locations with previous findings showed that the majority of these regions control one or more traits re- lated to yield and other agronomic traits. One QTL on molecular linkage group （MLG） K for YP-F, and two QTLs on MLG C2 for YP-G, remained constant across different water regimes. The regions on MLG C2 for YP-WW-F and MLG H for YP-WS-F had a pleiotropic effect on DSI-F, and MLG A1 for YP-WS-G had a pleiotropic effect on DSI-G. The identification of consistent QTLs for YP and DSI across different environments will significantly improve the efficiency of selecting for drought tolerance in soybean.

Factor analysis of earthquake-induced geological disasters of the M7.0 Lushan earthquake in China

The seismic intensities, lithologic characteristics and terrain features from a 3000 km2-region near the epicenter of the Lushan earthquake are used to analyze earthquake-induced geological disaster. The preliminary results indicate that secondary effects of the earthquake will affect specific areas, including those with glutenite and carbonate bedrock, a seismic intensity of IX, slopes between 40° and 50°, elevations of less than 2500 m, slope change rates between 20° and 30°, slope curvatures from - 1 to -0.5 and 0. 5 to 1, and relief between 50 and 100 m. Regions with susceptibility indices greater than 0.71 are prone to landslides and collapses. The secondary features are mainly distributed on both sides of the ridges that extend from Baosheng to Shuangshi and from Baosheng to Longxing. Other features are scattered on both sides of the ridges that extend from Qishuping to Baosheng and from Masangping to Lingguan. The distribution of the earthquake-related features trends in the NE direction, and the area that was most affected by the Lushan earthquake covers approximately 52.4 km^2.

A Forest Fire Risk Assessment Using ASTER Images in Peninsular Malaysia

Based on the physical concept of heat energy of pre-ignition,a new fire susceptibility index (FSI) is used to estimate forest fire risk. This physical basis allows calculation of ignition probabilities and comparisons of fire risk across eco-regions. The computation of the index requires inputs of fuel temperature and fuel moisture content (FMC),both of which can be estimated using remote sensing data. While ASTER data for land surface temperatures (LST) was used as proxys for fuel temperatures,fuel moisture content is estimated by regression technique utilizing the ratio NDVI/LST of ASTER data. FSIs are computed in peninsular Malaysia for nine days before the fires of 2004 and 2005 and validated with fire occurrence data. Results show that the FSI increases as the day approaches the fire day. This trend can be observed clearly about four days before the day of fire. It suggests that FSI can be a good estimator of fire risk. The physical basis provides a more meaningful FSI,allows calculation of ignition probabilities and facilitates the development of a future class of fire risk models. FSI can be used to compare fire risk across different eco-regions and time periods. FSI retains the flexibility to be localized to a vegetation type or eco-regions for improved performance.

Resistance of Seven Biscuit Types to Infestation by Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Seven biscuit types namely, Okin, Digestive, Cabin, Peanut, Cream crackers, Hobnobs and Glucose and wheat flour were screened for their resistance to Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) at ambient temperature of 28±2 ℃ and 78±2% relative humidity in the laboratory. 50 g of each biscuit sample were infested with four female and two male adult beetles and left for 15 days then remove for a resistant experiment and 70 days for a mortality experiment. Each treatment and the control without beetles were replicated three times. Results showed that there was significant difference (P<0.05) in the mortality rate of T. castaneum in the biscuit types and wheat flour samples, while there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the weight loss of biscuit types. The highest adult mortality of beetles (100%) was obtained from Peanut biscuits at 28 days after infestation while there was only 5.5% adult mortality in wheat flour at 70 days after infestation. The susceptibility index was 0 for all the biscuit types since there was no adult emergence indicating that they were resistant to T. castaneum infestation. Resistance in the biscuit types could be due to chemical additives (e.g. sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate) used in the production of biscuits, which may have inhibitory effect on the development of T. castaneum and also the low moisture content of the biscuits. Packages that can easily be perforated or damaged to allow absorption of moisture from the environment should not be used in packing biscuits.

Triple test cross analysis for seed yield and its components in sesame under water stress conditions

Water deficit is a limiting factor in sesame cultivars yield,thus identification of genetic mechanisms of sesame traits under water stress conditions is essential to development of water stress tolerant genotypes.Hence,the triple test cross(TTC)analysis in F_(2) population of the sesame cross(NA_(76)NA_(54))was used.Since,30 TTC families with their 13 respective parents were evaluated during the summer season 2020 under two irrigation treatments.i.e.,normal irrigation with 5952.38 m^(3) hm^(-2) of applied water,and water stress with 2976.19 m^(3) hm^(-2) of applied water.This was implemented at the experimental field of Kafr El Hamam/Sharkia,Agricultural Research Station,Agricultural Research Center(ARC),Egypt.Additive(D)and dominance(H)gene actions as well as epistatic and its two components of additiveadditive,additivedominance plus dominancedominance were involved in the inheritance of all studied traits under both irrigation treatments and their combined analysis.The degree of dominance(H/D)^(0.5) verified the presence of partial dominance in most cases.The correlation coefficient between sums(additive)and differences(dominance)was non-significant,showing that dominant genes between lines were ambidirectional.The moderately water stress tolerant TTC families as the best selected families were found in families 22,25,10,12,and 15.Therefore,postponing selection in these selected families to later segregating generations for all studied traits would be effective to exploit the positive effects of additiveadditive epistasis.

Recombinants for Enhanced Productivity and Drought Tolerance in Barley （Hordeum vulgare L.）

In an attempt to enhance productivity as well as drought tolerance of barley cultivar, a 5 × 5 diallel cross involving rainfed cultivars was made. Of the 10 crosses, cross K603 x K560 was most promising as it yielded highest number of recombinants （21 in irrigated and 36 in rainfed conditions）; the cultivar K506 was considered as drought resistant （drought susceptibility index 〈 1）. A total of 22 out of 64 and 18 out of 59 most promising F2 recombinants in irrigated and rainfed conditions, respectively from 6 crosses were evaluated for yield, harvest index as well as proline content. All the recombinants selected under rainfed condition （including a few from irrigated condition） showed enhanced level of proline content coupled with high grain yield and harvest index. Further, a total of twenty-nine segregants （12 rainfed and 17 irrigated derived cultures） showing significantly higher values of proline content and grain yield were grown during 2007-2008 under both the environments, rainfed and irrigated to determine the geometric mean （GM） and drought susceptibility index （S）. The segregants （Culture No. 8, 10 ＆ 13） derived from cross K 603 × K 560 and culture No. 5 from K 560 × RD 2508 gave maximum mean yield under rainfed and geometric mean coupled with lower drought susceptibility index （S）. Also, it has been observed that the transgressive segregants selected from limited water environment （rainfed） performed better than those selected from irrigated environment for higher grain yield and drought tolerance.

Canopy Temperature Depression as a Potential Selection Criterion for Drought Resistance in Wheat

Field studies were conducted at Bushland, Texas, USA, in 2004 to examine usefulness of canopy temperature depression （CTD）, the difference of air-canopy temperature, in screening wheat （Triticum aestivum L.） genotypes for yield under dryland and irrigated. Forty winter wheat genotypes were grown under irrigation and dryland. CTDs were recorded after heading between 1 330 and 1 530 h on 6 clear days for dryland and 9 days for irrigation. Drought susceptible index （DSI） for each genotype was calculated using mean yield under dryland and irrigated conditions. Genotypes exhibited great differences in CTD under each environment. The dryland CTDs averaged 1.33℃ ranging from -0.67 to 2.57℃, and the average irrigation CTD were 4.59℃ ranging from 3.21 to 5.62℃. A low yield reduction was observed under dryland conditions relative to irrigated conditions for high-CTD genotypes. CTD values were highly negatively correlated with DSI under dryland, and genotypes of CTDs = 1.3℃ in dryland condition were identified as drought resistant. For 21 genotypes classified as drought resistant by DSI, their CTDs were 1.68℃ for dryland and 4.35℃ for irrigation on average; for 19 genotypes classified as drought susceptible by DSI, average CTD was 0.94℃ in dryland and 4.85℃ in irrigation. The high-yield genotypes consistently had high CTD values, and the low-yield ones had low CTD values for all measurements in dryland. After heading, genotypes maintained consistent ranking for CTD. Regression results for CTD and yield suggested that the best time for taking CTD measurement was 3-4 weeks after heading in irrigation but any time before senescence in dryland. Crop water stress index （CWSI） calculated from CTD data was highly correlated with CWSI calculated from yield, which suggesting traditional costly CWSI measurement may be improved by using portable infrared thermometers. Most importantly, grain yield was highly correlated with CTD under dryland （R^2 = 0.79-0.86） and irrigation （R^2 = 0.46-0.58） conditions. These results clearly indicated grain yield and water stress can be predicted by taking CTD values in field, which can be used by breeding programs as a potential selection criterion for grain yield and drought resistance in wheat, but a second study year is needed to confirm further.