In vitro Plant Regeneration of Pepper Cytoplasmic Male Sterility (CMS) Lines via Cotyledon Culture

An in vitro shoot regeneration procedure was developed in pepper （ Capsicum annuum L. ） cytoplasmic male sterility （CMS） lines 9704A and 8214A using cotyledon as explant. The callus and bud cluster derived from cotyledon tissue explants were proliferated on Murashige and Skoog （MS） medium supplemented with different combinations of 6-benzladenine （6-BA）, indole-3-acetic acid （IAA）, gibberellic acid （GA3） and silver nitrate （AgNO3）. From the formula of MS appended with 5.0 mg/L 6-BA, 1.0 mg/L IAA and 5.0 mg/L AgNO3, for the explants callus and bud cluster, the maximum differentiation rates （ respectively 100.0% and 58.3% ） and average number of adventitious bud from each explant （respectively 18.8 and 13.2） were obtained. The optimum medium combination for the elongation of adventitious bud was determined to be： MS ＋ 3.0 mg/L 6-BA ＋ 1.0 mg/L IAA ＋ 5.0 mg/L AgNO3 ＋ 2.0 mg/L GA3, from which the elongation rates of buds from callus and bud cluster were both 100%, and the average number of per explant adventitious bud number reached 6.3 and 5.8, respectively. And all the elongated shoots were successfully rooted on half-strength MS medium supplemented with 0.3-0.5 mg/L IAA.

Breeding and Utilization of Japonicalinous CMS Line Chunjiang 19A with Wide Compatibility and High Outcrossing Rate

[Objective] To breed and utilize the japonicalinous cytoplasmic male sterile （CMS） line Chunjiang 19A with wide compatibility and high outcrossing rate. [Method] Cbunjiang 16A was used as the female parent to cross with Indica-Japonica crossing material B125, which was used as male parent. Backcross breeding was contin- ued for consecutive generations to breed the CMS lines with wide compatibility and high outcrossing rate. [Result] Chunjiang 19A is a late medium Japonica CMS line with good fertility stability. The proportion of sterile plants and pollen abortion rates are 100% and the Cheng＇s index is 14. It is the japonicalinous CMS line with early flowering, partial stigma exsertion, high outcrossing rate, wide compatibility, high re- sistance to stripe disease and good combining ability. The hybrid rice combinations originated from Chunjiang 19A have strong tUlering ability, dominant heterosis, high resistance to stripe disease, great yield potential and good color change at mature stage. [Conclusion] The successful breeding of Chunjiang 19A laid good foundation for the breeding of Japonica hybrid rice and Indica-Japonica hybrid rice combinations with high seed production and dominant heterosis, showing a promising application prospect.

Breeding of High-quality Soft-grain Indica CMS Line Longfeng A

Longfeng A, derived from the cross of Bo A/（Zhenshan 97B/Bo B F1//Bo B/Gui 2 F1）, is a new high-quality indica CMS line with soft-grain characteristics in cooking rice. The CMS line is characterized by good agronomic traits, complete pol en sterility, stale fertility, favorable outcrossing habits, high combining ability and good grain quality. It was technical y identified by Guangxi Crop Variety Appraisal Committee in June, 2013.

Study on Photosynthetic Characteristics of a Rice CMS Line Renong 1A with Yellow-green Revertible Leaves

[Objective] Understanding the photosynthetic characteristics of the rice CMS line Renong 1A with leaf color markers can promote its utilization in breeding. [Method] The wild type （WT） of rice spontaneous mutant with virescent-yellow leaves that was the male parent of Renong 1A was selected as the control, and the contents of photosynthetic pigments, photosynthetic parameters, light-response curve and chlorophyll fluorescence kinetic parameters of Renong 1A were measured at the tillering stage. [Result] New leaves of Renong 1A yellowed obviously in the early period. Chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate and values of parameters Pdt, F/Fm Fv＇/Fm＇,φPSII, and ETR of Renong 1A were all significantly lower than those of the control. However, there was no difference between Renong 1A and the control in terms of photosynthetic rate of leaves turning green. [Conclusion] The photosynthetic capacity of new leaves of Renong 1A decreased at the early stage due to the reduction of chlorophyll content, and then it became normal at the later stage with the increase of chlorophyll content.

Breeding and Application of WA-type Indica CMS Line Ningxian 2A in Rice

Ningxian 2A is a new Indica CMS line with WA type sterile cytoplasm in rice. It was developed from the testcross between WA type indica CMS line Jin 23A and the single plant selected from the F_4 population of the cross Wuxiang 2B×Jin 23B followed by successive backcross over years. In September, 2014, it was technically identified by Jiangsu Provincial Crop Variety Appraisal Committee. Ningxian 2A has the characteristics of complete pollen sterility, high outcrossing rate, good plant type, high combining ability and good grain quality. Among its hybrids, Ningxian you 8（ Ningxian 2A×R08） was registered and released for commercial production in Jiangsu Province in May, 2015.

Breeding of Indica Rice CMS Line Renong 1A with Virescent-yellow Leaf

Renong 1Ais a new indica CMS line with leaf color marker, developed by testcrossing and continuous backcrossing, using a spontaneous mutant with vires-cent-yel ow leaf isolated from the progenies of T98B /Jin 23B ×Yixiang 1B as the male parent, and Fengyuan A as the female parent. Al the chlorotic leaves of Renong 1A turn green in later developmental stages from leaf tip to base. This is the reason why Renong 1A is a new ideal leaf color marker material in indica rice. It shows apparent and stable leaf marker trait, good agronomic traits, high outcross-ing rate, complete pol en sterility, fine grain quality and high combining ability. Renong 1A has already been technical y identified and certified by Hainan Provincial Crop Variety Appraisal Committee in 2013.

Breeding and Application of Japonica CMS Line Yangfujing 7A with Fine Grain Quality, Disease Resistance and High Combining Ability in Rice

Yangfujing 7A, derived from the cross between Xu 9201A and Yangfujing 7 and its successive backcrosses, is a BT-type japonica CMS line developed by the Agricultural Institute of Riparian Region of Jiangsu Province. It shows good integrat- ed characteristics, stable male sterility, good flowering habits, high out crossing rate, strong disease resistance, fine grain quality （reaching the 1st class of national standards for fine quality rice） and high combining ability. In 2012, it was technically identified in Jiangsu Province. Its F1 hybrid combination Tongyoujingl （Yangfujing 7 A/R98）, showing high yield and good grain quality, was registered and released to commercial production by Jiangsu Crop Variety Appraisal Committee in 2013.

Development of Chinese Near-isogenic Line of Rice and Their Differentiating Ability of Pathogenic Races of Blast Fungus

The rice( Oryza L. ) variety, Lijiangxintuanheigu(LTH), is a universally susceptible variety. A set of near-isogenic lines (NILs) of rice which has single resistance gene for each line was developed by use of LTH as recurrent parent and Kusabue,Tsuyuake, K1, PiNo. 4, K60 and BL1, which are from Kiyosawa's differential varieties(KDV), as donor parents. Differentiating ability of these NILs to Philippine isolates was compared with that of their donor parents, KDV and IRRI' s NILs. The results of comparative studies were as follows: (1) Differentiating ability of Chinese NILs to Philippine isolates was much stronger than that of their donor parents and that of KDV. (2) Chinese NILs had similar ability to differentiate races to IRRI's NILs or higher differentiating ability than them. But IRRI's NILs almost had no differentiating ability to isolates from japonica rice-growing regions. They can not be used to differentiate races of isolates from japonica ricegrowing regions. Whereas, Chinese NILs can be used to differentiate races of isolates from both japonica ricegrowing regions and indica rice-growing regions. It was concluded that the set of Chinese NILs can be used as international differentials.

Mapping a Novel Gene of Cold Tolerance at Booting Stage by Using Near-Isogenic Lines in japonica Rice

Genetic analysis showed that cold tolerance at booting stage of near-isogenic lines （NILs） of Kunmingxiaobaigu was controlled by a gene with large phenotypic variance. One hundred and sixty-four simple sequence repeats （SSR） distributed over 12 chromosomes were used to screen polymorphism between Towata （recurrent parent, RP） and near-isogenic line pool （NILP）, and two SSR markers at the long arm of chromosome 5 showed polymorphism in comparison with RP genome. Of the two markers, RM31 was found possibly linked with the cold tolerance gene at booting stage through one-way ANOVA. Twelve SSR markers around RM31 were then used to detect polymorphism between RP and NIL, and only RM7452 had polymorphism. The gene of cold tolerance at booting stage was further mapped on chromosome 5 between RM7452 and RM31 with genetic distances of 4.8 cM and 8.0 cM, respectively. This gene explained 10.50% of phenotypic variance and 5.10% of phenotypic variance of fully filled grains, and was tentatively designated as Ctb（t）.

Effect of high-molecular-weight glutenin subunit deletion on soft wheat quality properties and sugar-snap cookie quality estimated through near-isogenic lines

High-molecular-weight glutenin subunits（HMW-GSs） play a critical role in determining the viscoelastic properties of wheat dough. The HMW-GSs are encoded by Glu-A1, Glu-B1, and Glu-D1 loci on the long arms of chromosomes 1A, 1B, and 1D, respectively. In the present study, four near-isogenic lines with different HMW-GS deletions and compositions at the Glu-A1 and Glu-D1 loci in Yangmai 18 background were used for quality analysis. Deletion in Glu-D1 showed much weaker gluten quality and dough strength than null Glu-A1 genotype and wild genotype（WT）, based on the measurements of sodium dodecyl sulfate（SDS）-sedimentation, lactic acid solvent retention capacity（SRC）, gluten index, development time, stability time, and alveograph P and L values. The deletion of Glu-D1 did not significantly affect grain hardness, grain protein content, water SRC, sodium carbonate SRC, and sucrose SRC. Double null genotype in Glu-A1 and Glu-D1 and single null genotype in Glu-D1 showed significantly higher cookie diameter, crispness, and lower cookie height compared with single null genotype in Glu-A1 and WT. These indicate that the null Glu-D1 genotype is useful for improvement of biscuit quality, and use of this germplasm would be a viable strategy to develop new wheat varieties for biscuit processing.

Breeding of High Quality Indica CMS Line Xinlong A

Xinlong A was a high quality indica CMS line developed with early rice intermediate material 05Zao20(Zhouyou 903/Zhong9B F6)as female parent and IR58025B/Q96 F4 as male parent,Jin23A was then used as female parent for test crossing with BC,and backcrossed and bred with complete fertility and abortion lines.The male sterile line had the characteristics of good agronomic characters,strong combining ability,good resistance,high yield and good quality which reaches gradeⅡstandard of national high quality rice.It showed broad prospects and was technically identified in Jiangxi Province in 2017.

Physiological Macro-lesions Enhanced Resistance to Blast (Magnaporthe grisea) in Rice Near-isogenic Lines

Roll-leaf-1 （rl-1） and spot-leaf-1 （spl-1） were two near-isogenic lines, which were obtained after 3 to 4 backcrosses with early season indica rice Zhefu 802 as recurrent parent. Henna macro-lesions, referred as physiological or morphological markers, began to appear on leaves at 4.5- to 6.0-leaf stage. The rice seedlings were inoculated at 3.5-, 5.0- and 7.0-leaf stages with high pathogenic races Zhong A1 and Zhong B1 of Magnaporthe grisea, respectively. The resistance of rl-1, spl-1 and Zhefu 802 against blast was significantly different. The seedlings of Zhefu 802 at 3.5- to 7.0-leaf stage were susceptible to races Zhong A1 and Zhong B1 of M. grisea, whereas those of rl-1 and spl-1 at 3.5-, 5.0- and 7.0-leaf stages were susceptible, moderately resistant and resistant, respectively. These results suggested that the enhanced resistance of rl-1 and spl-1 related to the appearance of their morphological marker lesions. The experiment provided a basis for studying lesion mimic and hypersensitive response in association with disease resistance.

Genetic Improvement and Biological Characteristic Analysis of Dwarf Abortive TypeJaponicaCMS Lines with Wide Compatibility

From the view of methodology for genetic improvement ofJaponicacytoplasmic male sterile(CMS) lines,we introduced the breeding process of the dwarf-abortive type(DA type)JaponicaCMS line Chunjiang 95A with wide compatibility,and further investigated the biological characteristics of the DA type Chunjiang 95A and its isonuclear alloplasmic CMS line Dian-I type Chunjiang 95A.The results show that DA type Chunjiang 95A is a japonicalinous CMS line and mainly typical abortive,which is better in fertility stability than stained abortive typeJaponica CMS lines.The DA type Chunjiang 95A is featured with high stigma exsertion,good flowering habit,high outcrossing rate and wide compatibility.Its recoverability differs from stained abortive typeJaponicaCMS lines.Moreover,we discussed genetic improvement of the typical abortive type JaponicaCMS lines and the application prospects of heterosis.

Analysis on the Breeding and Major Traits of Wide-adaptability Indica CMS Line Yungu 3A

Breeding sterile lines is the key to the development of hybrid rice with wide adaptability. However, at present, few wide-adaptability sterile lines have been applied in production practice. In this study, Yungu 3A, a new WA-type Indica CMS line with good grain quality, was developed by hybridization between Yunfeng 66A with wide adaptability as female parent and F1 plants of Yunfeng 66B/D62B as male parent and continuous backcrossing. According to the results, the finally obtained lndica CMS line Yungu 3A has good plant type and leaf shape, strong tillering ability, excellent flowering habit, stable and complete male sterility with the sterile plant rate and pollen sterility rate of 100%, strong combining ability, high outcrossing rate, low sensitivity to light and temperature, and strong disease resistance, which was approved by Yunnan Provincial Crop Variety Appraisal Committee in 2013. Yungu 3A is conducive to the development of new hybrid rice combinations with good quality and wide adaptability, exhibiting a promising prospect of application.

Breeding and Application of Quality Indica CMS Line Taonong 1A in Rice

Taonong 1 A, developed from the cross of Jin 23A/（644B /Yixiang B） F2 and its successive backcrosses over years, is an indica CMS line in rice. It is characteristic of good agronomic characters, restorability, fine grain quality and high multiplication and hybrid seed yield. In 2012, its F1 hybrid combination Taoyou Xi- angzhan （Taonong 1A/Huanghuazhan） was evaluated as a 2nd class fine quality rice variety in Hunan Province. Both Taonong 1A and Taoyou Xiangzhan were regis- tered for release to commercial production by Hunan Provincial Crop Variety Ap- praisal Committee in 2015.

Breeding of near-isogenic japonica rice lines with three major genes for resistance to bacterial blight

From 1986 to 1993, a set of near-isogenic japonicarice Iines with three major genes Xα-3, Xα - 4,and Xα-12 for resistance to bacterial blight(Xan-thomonas oryzae pv.oryzae)were developed anddesignated as CBB3, CBB4, and CBB12 respective-

Alternative kind of hydrogen atoms as a possible explanation for the latest puzzling observation of the 21 cm radio line from the early Universe

There is a puzzling astrophysical result concerning the latest observation of the absorption profile of the redshifted radio line 21 cm from the early Universe(as described in Bowman et al.). The amplitude of the profile was more than a factor of two greater than the largest predictions. This could mean that the primordial hydrogen gas was much cooler than expected. Some explanations in the literature suggested a possible cooling of baryons either by unspecified dark matter particles or by some exotic dark matter particles with a charge a million times smaller than the electron charge. Other explanations required an additional radio background. In the present paper, we entertain a possible different explanation for the above puzzling observational result: the explanation is based on the alternative kind of hydrogen atoms(AKHA),whose existence was previously demonstrated theoretically, as well as by the analysis of atomic experiments. Namely, the AKHA are expected to decouple from the cosmic microwave background(CMB) much earlier(in the course of the Universe expansion) than usual hydrogen atoms, so that the AKHA temperature is significantly lower than that of usual hydrogen atoms. This seems to lower the excitation(spin) temperature of the hyperfine doublet(responsible for the 21 cm line) sufficiently enough for explaining the above puzzling observational result. This possible explanation appears to be more specific and natural than the previous possible explanations. Further observational studies of the redshifted 21 cm radio line from the early Universe could help to verify which explanation is the most relevant.

The Construction of Heat-resistant Near Isogenic Line (NIL) of Bombyx mori and the Development of Molecular Marker Breeding Technique

[Objective] The study aimed to provide theoretical basis for development and application of molecular marker breeding technique to obtain Bombyx mori near-isogenic lines （NILs）. [Method] Thermotolerance gene was introduced into sensitive variety Ou17 by developing NILs and recurrent backcross,then through six generations of backcross,thermotolerance-assisted selection,and two generations of self-cross. [Result] Bombyx mori NILs carrying thermotolerance gene （new germplasm） were produced. Meanwhile,thermotolerance level of progenies of each backcross and molecular markers of NILs were determined,and then attempts were made to produce practical thermotolerance hybrids by using thermotolerance varieties whose thermotolerance gene is linked to SSR markers. [Conclusion] The study successfully construct thermotolerance NILs,monitor thermotolerance level and breeding results of progenies of each backcross,and determine molecular marker of NILs.

Analysis of Heterosis, Combining Ability and Heritability of Cadmium Content in Brown Rice of Three-line Indica Hybrid Rice

Five cytoplasmic male sterile （CMS） lines were used as parents in an incomplete diallet cross and six restorer lines of rice design （Nc II design）. Thirty hybrid combinations with the same growth period were selected as experimental ma- terials to investigate the heterosis, combined ability and heredity of Cd content in brown rice of indica hybrid rice. According to the results, Cd content in brown rice showed a significantly negative heterosis; the general combining ability and specific combination ability of Cd content in CMS and restorer lines both reached extremely significant level （P〈0.01）, indicating that both genetic improvement of parents and e- valuation of combinations are important to the breeding of hybrid combinations with low accumulation of Cd; the broad-sense heritabitity and narrow-sense heritability of Cd content were both relatively high with slight differences, which respectively reached 97.73% and 80.10%, indicating that Cd content in brown rice mainly de- pends on the additive action of genes; in addition, parent improvement showed bet- ter effect on the selection of early generation.

Characterization of QTL for unique agronomic traits of new-plant-type rice varieties using introgression lines of IR64

To enhance the yield potential of an elite indica rice cultivar,an introgression(BC_3-derived) line of IR64,YTH288,was developed using a new-plant-type cultivar,IR66215-44-2-3,as a donor parent.YTH288 has agronomically valuable characteristics such as large panicles,few unproductive tillers,and large leaves inherited from NPT.To identify the genetic basis of these traits,we used 167 F_2 plants derived from a cross between IR64 and YTH288 to conduct QTL analysis for five agronomic traits:days to heading(DTH),culm length(CL),flag leaf length(FLL),flag leaf width(FLW),and filled spikelet number per panicle(FSN).Six putative QTL were detected:four on chromosome4(for CL,FLL,FLW,and FSN) and two on chromosome 2(for DTH and FLL).All QTL with the IR66215-44-2-3 allele,except that for FLL on chromosome 2,had positive effects on each trait.To confirm the effects of these putative QTL,we developed NILs with the IR64 genetic background by marker-assisted selection.We observed significant differences in several agronomic traits between IR64 and NILs that carried these QTL on chromosomes2 and 4.Additionally,four IR64-NILs carrying chromosomal segments derived from different NPT varieties on the long arm of chromosome 4 exhibited similar pleiotropic To enhance the yield potential of an elite indica rice cultivar, an introgression(BC3-derived) line of IR64, YTH288, was developed using a new-plant-type cultivar,IR66215-44-2-3, as a donor parent. YTH288 has agronomically valuable characteristics such as large panicles, few unproductive tillers, and large leaves inherited from NPT.To identify the genetic basis of these traits, we used 167 F2 plants derived from a cross between IR64 and YTH288 to conduct QTL analysis for five agronomic traits: days to heading(DTH), culm length(CL), flag leaf length(FLL), flag leaf width(FLW), and filled spikelet number per panicle(FSN). Six putative QTL were detected: four on chromosome4(for CL, FLL, FLW, and FSN) and two on chromosome 2(for DTH and FLL). All QTL with the IR66215-44-2-3 allele, except that for FLL on chromosome 2, had positive effects on each trait. To confirm the effects of these putative QTL, we developed NILs with the IR64 genetic background by marker-assisted selection. We observed significant differences in several agronomic traits between IR64 and NILs that carried these QTL on chromosomes2 and 4. Additionally, four IR64-NILs carrying chromosomal segments derived from different NPT varieties on the long arm of chromosome 4 exhibited similar pleiotropiceffects for unique agronomic traits. These NILs can be used as research materials for studying each trait and as breeding materials for yield improvement of indica rice cultivars.