Analysis of seed and maternal genetic effects on cooking quality characters in indica hybrid rice

We analysed seed and maternal genetic effects on characters of cooking quality in indica hybrid rice by using the model for quantitative characters of seeds of cereal crops. Incomplete diallel crosses were made by using six male sterile lines (Zhenshan 97A, Erjiuqing A, Erjiunan 1A, V20A, Zhe’nan 1A and Zhe’nan 3A)as females and three restorer lines(Cezao 2-2, T49 and 26715)as males. Sampled seeds were used to measure the cooking quality characters, including amylose content(%), gelatinization temperature(alkali spreading score)and gel consistency(mm). Results indicated that some rice cooking quality characters were controlled by both seed genes and maternal genes (see table). Gel consistency was mainly controlled by maternal effects, but also

Path analysis and estimation of additive and epistatic gene effects of barley SSD lines

In the paper presented, 99 single seed descent barley lines as well as their parental forms Roland and Apex were studied. The grain weight components and their interrelations were analyzed using simple coefficients of correlation. The direct and indirect effects of such components on grain weight per plant and 1 000-grain weight were estimated using path analysis. In the 2006 and 2007, the spike length and number of spikelets per spike were the determinants of grain weight. Genetic parameters as additive and epistasis effects were estimated for all studied traits. The results indicate the importance of both additive and epistasis gene effects of number of spikes per plant, grain weight per spike, grain number per plant and grain weight per plant in this study.

Morphological Identification of the Main Fungi Associated with Sesame in Burkina Faso

Several fungal species are responsible for diseases that damage sesame crop and cause production losses. These seed-borne fungi cause serious damage by reducing seed germination. To identify the fungi associated with sesame seeds in Burkina Faso, 72 sesame seed samples were collected from 24 localities in the main production areas (Sudanian zone, Sudano-Sahelian zone, Sahelian zone). These samples were submitted for seed health analysis using the blotting paper incubation method. The results obtained revealed that the seed samples were contaminated by various fungi, the main ones being: Fusarium spp. Link: Fr. infecting 97.22% of the samples, Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid. (90.28%), Alternaria sesamicola E. Kawamura (83.33%), Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boedijn (76.39%), Cercospora sesami A. Zimmerm. (73.61%), Phoma sorghina Boerema, Dorenbosch, & Van Kesteren (73.61%), Aspergillus flavus Link: Fr. (69.44%), Cladosporium sphaerospermum Penz. (56.94%), Rhizopus sp. Ehrenb. (40.28%) and A. niger Tiegh. (36.11%). In each seed sample, 0.25% to 94% of the seeds host one or more fungal species. Regarding the climatic zones, the results revealed that A. sesamicola and A. flavus were more represented in the Sudanian zone than in the Sudano-Sahelian and Sahelian zones;while P. sorghina, and C. sphaerospermum were more encountered in the Sahelian zone than in the other two zones. This study showed that the majority of sesame seeds produced and used by farmers in Burkina Faso host one or more species of fungi at high levels.

Occurrence and molecular characterization of Potato spindle tuber viroid(PSTVd) isolates from potato plants in North China

China is the largest potato producing country worldwide,with this crop representing the fourth largest staple food crop in China.However,the steady presence of Potato spindle tuber viroid（PSTVd） over the past five decades has a significant economic impact on potato production.To determine why PSTVd control measures have been ineffective in China,more than 1 000 seed potatoes collected between 2009 and 2014 were subjected to PSTVd detection at the Supervision and Testing Center for Virus-free Seed Potatoes Quality,Ministry of Agriculture,China.A high PSTVd infection rate（6.5%） was detected among these commercial seed potatoes.Some breeding lines of potato collected from 2012 to 2015 were also tested for PSTVd infection,revealing a high rate of PSTVd contamination in these potato propagation materials.Furthermore,comparison of the full-length sequences of 71 different Chinese PSTVd isolates revealed a total of 74 predominant PSTVd variants,which represented 42 different sequence variants of PSTVd.Comparative sequence analysis revealed 30 novel PSTVd sequence variants specific to China.Comprehensive phylogenetic analysis uncovered a close relationship between the Chinese PSTVd sequence variants and those isolated from Russia.It is worth noting that three intermediate strains and six mild strains were identified among these variants.These results have important implications for explaining the ineffective control of PSTVd in China and thus could serve as a basic reference for designing more effective measures to eliminate PSTVd from China in the future.