Application of AHP and DTOPSIS in Sugarcane Breeding

The weights of ten important traits of sugarcane, including the number of hair groups, plant height, defoliation capability, stalk diameter, ratooning property, stalk number of disease resistance, cane yield, sucrose content and sugar yield, were distributed with the Analytic Hierarchy Process （AHP） method. Ten Yuetang series of sugarcane lines were evaluated by Dynamic Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution （DTOPSIS）. AHP results indicated that the weights of ten traits were 0. 013 4, 0.022 7, O. 030 2, 0.040 8, 0.065 3, 0.088 1, 0.116 2, 0. 160 6, 0.198 4 and 0.264 5, respectively, with random consistency ratio C.R. =0.098 1 〈0.1, suggesting that the distribution of the weights of evaluation indicators was reasonable. Comprehensive evaluation of 10 sugarcane lines by DTOPSLS method combining with the conclusion of AHP showed that the comprehensive performances of Yuetang 03-393 and Yuetang 03-373 were much better than other sugarcane lines, with relative approach degree Ci ranking the first and second, respectively, which was basically consistent with the practical survey, suggesting that Yuetang 03-393 and Yuetang 03-373 were suitable for large-scale popularization. The above results confirmed the feasibility of applying AHP and DTOPSIS in comprehensive evaluation of new crop varieties and provided reference for the breeding of new sugarcane lines.

Selection for Eldana saccharina Borer Resistance in Early Stages of Sugarcane Breeding in South Africa

Eldana saccharina (eldana) is the most wide-spread sugarcane borer in South Africa and causes losses estimated at US$90 million. Breeding for resistance started in 1980. The objectives of this study were to examine the potential of evaluating sugarcane families and parents by using data collected from the seedling stage (Stage I) and determine the potential of using logistic regression models in Stage II to enhance breeding for eldana resistance. Data were collected from Stage I trials (BML12 and FML13) at Bruyns Hill and Pongola research stations, respectively, and Stage II (BSL12 and SSL12) at Bruyns Hill and Glenside research stations, respectively. There were significant family effects for BML12 (P = 0.0029) and FML13 (P = 0.0003) indicating families with low eldana dame could be selected. Family variance for BML12 (P = 0.0144) and FML13 (P = 0.0878) were significant indicating large variability. Broad sense heritability of 0.52 (BML12) and 0.51 (FML13) indicated the effectiveness of selecting elite families. The predicted gains were 19.93% (BSL12) and 68.89% (FML13) indicating the value of family selection. The results showed significant female effects (BML12, P = 0.0017;FML13, P = 0.0041) indicating the dominance of maternal effects and suggested additive genetic control. Significant Female x Male interaction effect (FML13, P = 0.0442) suggested existence of non-additive genetic effects. Logistic regression analysis results showed significant (BSL12, P < 0.0001;SSL12, P = 0.0232) suggesting selecting for eldana was effective. Sensitivity analysis validated discriminating ability for eldana damage. Adopting family selection and logistic regression models would enhance breeding for eldana resistance.

ASP-Based Programs of Best Linear Unbiased Prediction-Estimated Breeding Values in Breeding Stock

In order to improve the breeding effect of livestock, the data were read from an Excel file with Active Server Page （ASP） programs, and the breeding values of breeding stock were calculated by best linear unbiased prediction （BLUP） method.

Breeding and Evaluation of a New Sugarcane Variety,Guitang 46

Guitang 46 is an excellent sugarcane variety bred by the Sugarcane Research Institute of Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences under the"FiveNursery"breeding program through regional trials and production experiments,which exhibits high yield,stable yield,and various excellent characters such as medium maturing,high sucrose content,good ratoon ability,more effective stems,uniform growth and strong resistance to smut.Moreover,Guitang 46 has strong lodging resistance and good defoliation ability,which is suitable for both mechanical management and harvesting,and manual operations.Therefore,Guitang 46 is a new variety with high promotion potential.In June 2015,Guitang 46 was approved by Guangxi Crop Variety Approval Committee[GSZ2015001].At present,Guitang 46 has been cultivated within a certain area.

Breeding of Yuetang 08776,a New Sugarcane Variety Suitable for Mechanized Production

[Objectives]To study the breeding of a new sugarcane variety Yuetang 08776 suitable for mechanized production.[Methods]With Yuetang 96-86 as the female parent and Yuetang 99-66 as the male parent,Yuetang 08776 was bred by the Bioengineering Institute of Guangdong Academy of Sciences.It was approved as a non-major crop variety by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in December,2019.Through many years of multi-pilot trials,the characters,traits and disease resistance of Yuetang 08776 were investigated,and the key points of its cultivation technique were summarized.[Results]Yuetang 08776 is characterized by medium maturity,high sugar content,high and stable yield,strong cold and drought resistance,large number of effective stems,strong ratooning ability and lodging resistance.Yuetang 08776 has excellent agronomic traits,and has been identified as moderately resistant to smut and mosaic disease.The average cane yield of Yuetang 08776 was 119.89 t/ha,18.50 t/ha higher than that of CK,an increase of 18.25%.The average sugar yield was 17.15,2.11 t/ha higher than that of CK,an increase of 14.03%.The average sucrose content of Yuetang 08776 in the early period(November to December)was 13.20%,0.71 percentage points lower than that of CK;in the middle and late period(January to March of the following year),the average sucrose content was 15.23%,0.22 percentage points lower than that of CK;and the average sucrose content of the whole period was 14.21%,0.47 percentage points lower than that of CK.[Conclusions]Yuetang 08776 is a sugarcane variety with medium maturity,high sugar,high and stable yield,strong resistance and good ratooning.It is suitable for mechanized seeding,management and harvesting,and suitable for planting and popularizing in most sugarcane production areas of Guangdong,Guangxi and Yunnan.

Estimation of genetic parameters and breeding values in shrimp F enneropenaeus chinensis using the REML/BLUP procedure

An analysis of a selection experiment was used to assess the impact of various animal model struc- tures on REML estimates of variance components. The analyses were carried out based on 162 d body mass （BM） of 1 287 animals from 21 paternal half-sib groups of Fenneropenaeus chinensis. Estimated breeding values （EBV） of BM of all individuals were estimated using eight statistical models （A, AB, ABC, ABDC, ABMFC, ABMDC, ABFDC and ABMFDC） and BLUP （best linear unbiased prediction）. These models were designed involving factors such as sex, spawn date as fixed effects, maternal genetic effects, full-sib family effects as random effects, mean BM of families at tagging and age at recording （covariate）. The results demonstrate the importance of correct interpretation of effects in the data set, particularly those that can influence resemblance between relatives. The data structure and the particular model that was applied markedly influenced the magnitude of variance component estimates. Models based on few effects obtained upward biased estimates of additive genetic variance. The accuracy of genetic parameters and breeding value es- timated by ABFDC model was higher than other models. The results imply that additive genetic direct value, full-sib family effects, and covariance effects besides sex and spawn date as fixed effects were very important for estimating genetic parameters and breeding value of body mass. This model had a heritability estimate of 162 d BM of 0.44. The comparison of the efficiency of selection based on breeding values or phenotypic value revealed great difference： average breeding value of the best 24 families selected by the 162 d BM breeding value and phenotype were 0.577 g and 0.366 g, respectively, representing a 36.57% higher efficiency in the former. In conclusion, selection based on breeding value was more effective than selection based on phenotypic value. Our results indicate that effects influencing the magnitude of estimates should be taken into account when estimating heritability and breeding values for BM.

Mapping and breeding value evaluation of a semi-dominant semidwarf gene in upland rice

Plant height is an important trait related to yield potential and plant architecture. A suitable plant height plays a crucial role in improvement of rice yield and lodging resistance. In this study, we found that the traditional upland landrace ＇Kaowenghan＇ （KWH） showed a special semi-dwarf phenotype. To identify the semi-dwarf gene from KWH, we raised BC2F4 semi-dwarf introgression lines （IL） by hybridization of the japonica rice cultivar ＇Dianjingyoul＇ （DJY1） and KWH in a DJY1 background. The plant height of the homozygous semi-dwarf IL （IL-87） was significantly reduced compared with that of DJY1. The phenotype of the F1 progeny of the semi-dwarf IL-87 and DJY1 showed that the semi-dwarf phenotype was semi- dominant. QTL mapping indicated that the semi-dwarf phenotype was controlled by a major QTL qDH1 and was localized between the markers RM6696 and RM12047 on chromosome 1. We also developed near-isogenic lines （NIL） from the BC3F3 population, and found that the yield of homozygous NIL （NIL-2） was not significantly different compared to DJY1. Breeding value evaluation through investigation of the plant height of the progeny of NIL （NIL-2） and cultivars from different genetic background indicate that the novel semi-dwarf gene shows potential as a genetic resource for rice breeding.

Estimated Breeding Value in Iranian Buffaloes

This study was conducted from 1992-2002 on 65,534 individual milk records and fat percentage in 473 herds, in six provinces of Khuzestan, Mazndaran, W. Azerbaijan, E. Azerbaijan, Ardabil and Gilan. The data was analyzed by SAS sotfware using GLM procedure. The heritability and breeding value of 1,195 animals were calculated by DFRML procedure. The average milk yield per lactation, days of lactation, fat percentage and LSM of fat percentage were 1,513 kg, 202 days, 5.04 and 6.77, respectively. The estimated heritability of milk was 0.16. The LSM of average milk production in the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, E. Azerbaijan, W. Azerbaijan, Khuzestan and Ardabil were： 1,452, 1,586, 1,382, 1,183, 2,135 and 1,189 kg, respectively. These results indicated that Khuzestan province has the highest potential in the field of milk production. The top five highest breeding value bulls have been introduced to artificial insemination＇s station in the city of Uremia.

Selection of New Sugarcane Variety Guitang 42 with High Yield and High Sugar Content and Suitable for Mechanized Production

[Objective] This study was conducted to provide and promote high-yield,high-sugar, high-lodging resistance cane varieties and change the situation of singleness of sugarcane variety in Guangxi. [Method] The variety, Guitang 04-1001（Guitang 42）, a progeny of the cross ROC22 ×Guitang 92-66, was bred and evaluated in the aspects of morphological characteristics and production characteristics through the breeding program of a five-nursery-system protocol by both regional and production trials. [Results] Under many years of experiments, Guitang 42 was shown with high stalk, medium to large stalk diameter, easy stripping, good germination, medium tillering ability, and more population of millable stalks; and high resistance to mosaic and pokkah boeng, medium resistance to smut, high drought tolerance, and good ratooning ability. During the five-nursery-system procedure, the average of cane and sugar yield was 95.06-108.87 t/hm^2 and 15.11-16.85 t/hm^2, which were higher than CK by 11.3%-14.1% and 16.0%-18.9%, respectively. In the regional trial in 2011 and 2012, the achieved cane yield of 101.7 t/hm^2, sugar yield of 15.03 t/hm^2 and sucrose contents of 14.46% were higher than CK by 9.26%, 14.45% and0.66%, respectively. In the production trial in 2012, the average cane yield was88.62 t/hm^2, which was higher than ROC22 by 7.9%. Guitang 42 was approved by Guangxi Crop Variety Approval Committee in 2013 and elected to Guangxi Top 10 sugarcane commercial variety in 2014. [Conclusion] Guitang 42 has the characteristics of early maturity, high yield, high sugar content, good ratooning ability, and high resistance to lodging（i.e., good comprehensive traits）, and could be popularized in south sugarcane regions in China.

Databasing Molecular Identities of Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) Clones Constructed with Microsatellite (SSR) DNA Markers

This paper reports the development of the first SSR marker-based sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) molecular identity database in the world. Since 2005, 1,025 sugarcane clones were genotyped, including 811 Louisiana, 45 Florida, 39 Texas, 130 foreign, and eight consultant/seed company clones. Genotyping was done on a fluorescence-capillary electrophoresis detection platform involving 21 highly polymorphic SSR markers that could potentially amplify 144 distinctive DNA fragments. Genotyping data were processed with the GeneMapper? software to reveal electrophoregrams that were manually checked against the 144 fragments. The presence (A) or absence (C) of these 144 fragments in any sugarcane clone was recorded in an affixed sequence order as a DNAMAN? file to represent its molecular identity being achieved into a local molecular identity database. The molecular identity database has been updated annually by continued genotyping of newly assigned sugarcane clones. The database provides molecular descriptions for new cultivar registration articles, enables sugarcane breeders to identify mis-labeled sugarcane clones in crossing programs and determine the paternity of cross progeny, and ensures the desired cultivars are grown in farmers’ fields.

Effects of Space Radiation Mutation on Germination and Growth of Sugarcane Hybrid Seeds

[Objectives] This study was conducted to investigate the mutagenic effects of space radiation mutagenesis on sugarcane hybrid seeds. [Methods] Sugarcane hybrid spikes were subjected to space radiation mutagenesis treatment to identify the effects on the germination, seedling growth and plant growth and development of sugarcane hybrid seeds. [Results] The space radiation treatment had a great impact on the germination and growth of sugarcane hybrid seeds, especially on the germination of sugarcane seeds. The germination number per gram of seeds increased significantly, and the survival rate of seedlings increased significantly. The effect on the growth status was relatively small. The average number of tillers decreased slightly, the percentage of available stems increased, and the plants became higher, which resulted in a greater effect on sugarcane yield. Sugarcane sucrose was increased. The seed germination and late growth status indicated that space radiation promoted the germination and growth of sugarcane hybrid seeds. [Conclusions] This study provides a basis for the space radiation mutagenesis breeding of sugarcane hybrid seeds and the promotion of sugarcane breeding process.

Research Progresses of Sugarcane Brown Rust Resistance Gene and Molecular Markers

Brown rust is a main sugarcane disease in China, affecting stable development of sugarcane industry. Resistance breeding is an effective measure to control sugarcane rust, and looking for diverse sugarcane rust resistance alternative resources is another important way to improve rust resistance level. This article reviewed from the aspects of construction of sugarcane genetic map, research progress of rust resistance gene, development of rust resistance molecular markers, and research strategies of rust resistance gene, in order to provide scientific guidance and reference for rust resistance breeding.

Advances in Studies of Genetic Improvement of Sugarcane

Sugarcane(Saccharum spp.) is a large perennial herbaceous plant that is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of the world,and it is also one of the most efficient crops in the world in converting energy from sunlight into chemical energy. As an essential sugar crop and energy crop,sugarcane is receiving an increasing concern for its variety improvement. Traditional breeding and cultivation techniques have contributed a lot to increasing sugarcane yield and sucrose content. In recent years,development and application of biotechnology provide much help for genetic improvement of sugarcane. For convenience of breeders fully knowing advances in studies of sugarcane genetic improvement,this paper elaborated conventional breeding,genomics,GM technology,and molecular marker assisted breeding.

An Investigation Report on Production Conditions of Sugarcane in Guangxi in 2016

To predict and assess production conditions of sugarcane in Guangxi in 2016,by using methods of field survey and data collection,the seedling situation,breed structure,planting area,planting period,plant diseases and insect pests of sugarcane in six major sugarcane producing cities of Guangxi were surveyed. The results show that the overall situation of sugarcane seedlings in Guangxi in 2016 became slightly worse than that in 2015,but there were enough good sugarcane seedlings in 2016. The dead heart rate of sugarcane decreased in most sugarcane regions from 2015 to 2016,that is,the comprehensive control of borers gave initial results; the smut infection rate of sugarcane rose from 2015 to 2016 and tended to increase. The situation of decrease in the planting area of sugarcane in three consecutive years was controlled,and the planting area of sugarcane increased slightly from 2015 to 2016. Due to the construction of ' double high' bases,the breed variety of sugarcane in Guangxi was improved further in 2016. It is necessary to strengthen field management and conduct chemical weeding,prevention and control of borers and aphids in the later period in time.

Whole-population Mapping of Sugarcane Germplasm Using Linkage Disequilibrium

Commercially grown sugarcane cultivars are advanced generation hybrids between two polyploid ancestor species, S. off icinarum L. (x=10, 2n=8x=80) and S. spontaneum (x= 8, 2n=5-16x=40-128). Modern cultivars

Comparative study of estimation methods for genomic breeding values

Estimation of genomic breeding values is important in genomic selection. Bayesian and BLUP methods are the main techniques employed. In this study,we conducted a comparative study of Bayes A, Bayes B,Bayes Cp and GBLUP methods in simulated data and real data of Chinese Holstein cattle. Results showed that, in simulated data, the accuracies of all methods were all similarly elevated with the increase of reference population size, but they made different responses to the changes of marker number or QTL number. In real data of Chinese Holstein cattle, Bayes A generated the highest accuracy almost for all six traits, and GBLUP performed as well as Bayes A for the traits of milk yield, fat yield and protein yield, while for the trait of fat percentage, protein percentage and somatic cell score, three Bayesian methods showed superior to GBLUP. Comprehensively analyzing above results, it can be speculated that accuracies of the three Bayesian methods are not only influenced by the absolute value of QTL number or marker number, but may also be influenced by the ratio of QTL number to marker number. And there is at least one kind of Bayesian methods performing better than GBLUP, when the ratio of QTL number versus marker number is very small or involving large-effect QTL.

Prediction of Low Heating Value of Sugar Cane Bagasse as a Fuel for Industrial Boilers in the High Relative Humidity Region: Case of Cameroon

Many attempts have been made to estimate calorific value of bagasse using mathematical equations, which were created based on data from proximate, ultimate, physical and chemical analysis. Questions have been raised on the applicability of these equations in different parts of the globe. This study was initiated to tackle these problems and also check the most suited mathematical models for the Law Heating Value of Cameroonian bagasse. Data and bagasse samples were collected at the Cameroonian sugarcane factory. The effects of cane variety, age of harvesting, source, moisture content, and sucrose on the LHV of Cameroon bagasse have been tested. It was shown that humidity does not change within a variety, but changes from the dry season to the rainy season;the sugar in the rainy season is significantly different from that collected in the dry season. Samples of the same variety have identical LHV. LHV in the dry season is significantly different from LHV in the rainy season. According to the fact that this study was done for cane with different ages of harvesting, the maturity of Cameroonian sugarcane does not affect LHV of bagasse. Tree selected models are much superior tool for the prediction of the LHV for bagasse in Cameroon compared to others. The standard deviation of these validated models is around 200 kJ/kg compared to the experimental. Thus, the models determined in foreign countries, are not necessarily applicable in predicting the LHV of bagasse in other countries with the same accuracy as that in their native country. There was linear relationship between humidity, ash and sugar content in the bagasse. It is possible to build models based on data from physical composition of bagasse using regression analysis.

A comparison of genomic selection methods for breeding value prediction

Recent advances in molecular genetics techniques have made dense marker maps available, and the prediction of breeding value at the genome level has been employed in genetics research. However, an increasingly large number of markers raise both statistical and computational issues in genomic selection （GS）, and many methods have been developed for genomic prediction to address these problems, including ridge regression-best linear unbiased prediction （RR-BLUP）, genomic best linear unbiased prediction, BayesA, BayesB, BayesCπ, and Bayesian LASSO. In this paper, these methods were compared regarding inference under different conditions, using real data from a wheat data set and simulated scenarios with a small number of quantitative trait loci （QTL） （20）, a moderate number of QTL （60, 180） and an extreme number of QTL （540）. This study showed that the genetic architecture of a trait should be fully considered when a GS method is chosen. If a small amount of loci had a large effect on a trait, great differences were found between the predictive ability of various methods and BayesCπ was recommended. Although there was almost no significant difference between the predictive ability of BayesCπ andBayesB, BayesCπ is more feasible than BayesB for real data analysis. If a trait was controlled by a moderate number of genes, the absolute differences between the various methods were small, but BayesA was also found to be the most accurate method. Furthermore, BayesA was widely adaptable and could perform well with different numbers of QTL. If a trait was controlled by an extreme number of minor genes, almost no significant differences were detected between the predictive ability of various methods, but RR-BLUP slightly outperformed the others in both simulated scenarios and real data analysis, thus demonstrating its robustness and indicating that it was quite effective in this case.

Analysis and Research on the Functional Value and Development Opportunities of Hainan National Breeding and Multiplication

To further specify significance and development orientation of Hainan National Breeding and Multiplication ( hereinafter referred to as HNBM) ,such concepts as value engineering,industrial cluster and regional economy were introduced by analyzing its properties and interpreting relevant policies,its functions,value and development opportunities were analyzed from multiple perspectives. According to the comprehensive analysis,HNBM concerns national core political and economic benefits in strategic and fundamental sense,which is a result of powerful comprehensive functions of HNBM and need of modern agricultural development. In addition,HNBM has a bottleneck in the development of industrial cluster. Only co-promoted by the province and the ministry,and by applying top-level design,breaking the conditionality,integrating and optimizing existing resources,HNBM will be constructed into a high-new seed industry center.

Analysis of the Key Issues about the Regularized Construction of Hainan National Breeding and Multiplication Base

Based on winter nursery and shuttle breeding, Hainan National Breeding and Multiplication （HNBM）, with off-season breeding and seed production as the essence, has become a national strategic resource. The way of HNBM rising to the national strategy was analyzed through the aspects of technology features, historical characteristics, irreplaceability, function and value hierarchy, and the key problems. As the major achievement of the practice of scientific research and historical selec- tion, HNBM played an irreplaceable role in the climatic conditions, scientific breed- ing, and seed production in disaster relief, protecting the safety of the seed industry and Iocational advantages. Based on the analysis on the functions, values and ex- isted problems of HNBM, the function and value hierarchical structure of HNBM was established through introducing concepts of value engineering, industrial clusters and regional economy. But to fully achieve the industrial clustering development and functional values of HNBM, it needed to solve the key problems existed in top-level planning, experimental bases, system design, hardware construction and ecological security. Some suggestions were put forward in this paper, including setting up key scientific research protection zones, improving the regulations and policies safeguard mechanism and management system of HNBM, drawing up and carrying out the base development planning of HNBM, and striving for financial support from national policies.