QTL Analysis for Grain Iron and Zinc Concentrations in Two O. nivara Derived Backcross Populations

Identification of quantitative trait loci （QTLs） for grain mineral elements can assist in faster and more precise development of micronutrient dense rice varieties through marker-assisted breeding. In the present study, QTLs were mapped for Fe and Zn concentrations in two BC2F3 mapping populations derived from the crosses of O. sativa cv Swarna with two different accessions of O. nivara. In all, 10 and 8 QTLs were identified for grain Fe and Zn concentrations in population 1, and 7 and 5 QTLs were identified in population 2, respectively. Eighty percent of the QTLs detected in both populations were derived from O. nivara. Five QTLs for Fe and three QTLs for Zn explained more than 15% phenotypic variance either in interval or composite interval mapping. The locations of O. nivara derived QTLs such as qFe2.1, qFe3.1, qFe8.2 and qZn12.1 were consistently identified in both the populations. Epistatic interaction was observed only between RM106 and RM6 on chromosome 2 and between RM22 and RM7 on chromosome 3 for Fe concentration in population 1. Sixteen candidate genes for metal homeostasis were found to co-locate with 10 QTLs for Fe and Zn concentrations in both the populations. Most of the Fe and Zn QTLs were found to co-locate with QTLs for grain yield and grain quality traits. Some of the major effect QTLs identified can be used to improve rice grain Fe and Zn concentrations.

Effects of insoluble Zn,Cd,and EDTA on the growth,activities of antioxidant enzymes and uptake of Zn and Cd in Vetiveria zizanioides

A root-bag experiment was conducted to study the effects of insoluble Zn, Cd, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid （EDTA） on the plant growth, activities of antioxidant enzymes, proline, glutathione （GSH）, water-soluble proteins and malondialdehyde （MDA） of Vetiveria zizanioides. The V. zizanioides uptake capacity of Zn and Cd also determined. The results showed that plant growth of V. zizanioides was inhibited by Zn and Cd. The shoot dry weight （SDW） and root dry weight （RDW） decrease by 14.2%, 14.1%, 17.0% and 17.3%, 32.5%, 35.7%, respectively, compared to the control without EDTA addition. After adding EDTA, shoot and root dry weight decreased over 10% and 15%, respectively. The toxicity from insoluble Zn and Cd in soil on SDW and RDW of V. zizanioides was in order： Zn＋Cd 〉 Cd 〉 Zn. The activities of superoxide dismutase （SOD）, peroxidase （POD） and catalase （CAT）, and contents of MDA and proline increased significantly, while the contents of GSH and water-soluble proteins decreased markedly with increasing Zn and Cd toxicity. With EDTA, shoot and root Zn concentrations increased in the Zn treatment by 7.3% and 37.4%, and Cd concentrations in the combined Zn and Cd treatment increased by 18.6% and 391.9% compared to the treatment without EDTA. However, Zn and Cd concentrations in shoot and roots decreased in the Cd treatment compared to the plants grown in absence of EDTA, with exception of root Cd concentration in the presence of EDTA.

Relative bioavailability of tribasic zinc sulfate for broilers fed a conventional corn-soybean meal diet

An experiment was carried out to investigate the relative bioavailability of tribasic zinc（Zn） sulfate relative to Zn sulfate for broilers fed a conventional corn-soybean meal diet. A total of 504 1-d-old Arbor Acres commercial male chicks were randomly assigned by body weight of birds to one of seven treatments involving a 2×3 factorial arrangement with three levels of added Zn（30, 60, or 90 mg of Zn kg–1） and two Zn sources（tribasic Zn sulfate and Zn sulfate） plus a control with no added Zn for an experimental phase of 14 d. Plasma Zn, tibia ash Zn, pancreas Zn, and pancreas metallothionein（MT） messenger RNA（m RNA） were analyzed at 6 or 14 d of age post-hatching. The results showed that plasma Zn, tibia ash Zn, pancreas Zn, and pancreas MT m RNA increased linearly（P〈0.002） as dietary Zn concentration increased at 6 or 14 d of age. The R2 for a linear model was greater on d 6 than on d 14 for the above 4 responsive criteria, and among these indices, the fitting of the tibia ash Zn concentration was the best（R2=0.99）. Therefore, based on slope ratios from the multiple linear regressions of the above 4 indices of the birds at 6 d of age on daily intake of dietary Zn, the bioavailabilities of tribasic Zn sulfate relative to Zn sulfate（100%） were 95.6%（P=0.18）, 83.5%（P=0.01）, 87.9%（P=0.53）, and 75.9%（P=0.38） for the tibia ash Zn, pancreas Zn, plasma Zn, and pancreas MT m RNA, respectively. The results indicated that generally, Zn from tribasic Zn sulfate was as available as Zn from Zn sulfate for broilers.