The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease Score and the Follow-Up Period Can Cause the Shift of Circulating Lymphocyte Subsets in Liver Transplant Recipients

Little is known about the shift of lymphocytes under the condition of the model for end-stage liver disease score and the follow-up period. Then, we detected the peripheral blood from liver transplant recipients by flow cytometry and compared the results. The model for end-stage liver disease score affected the percentages of T-cell subsets and B cells during the short-term follow-up period, but failed to influence the lymphocyte subsets during the long-term follow-up period. In contrast, the follow-up period not only affected the absolute counts of T-cell subsets and natural killer (NK) cells in patients with the low model for end-stage liver disease scores, but also influenced the percentages and absolute counts of T-cell subsets in patients with the high model for end-stage liver disease scores. In the two-way ANOVA, we further revealed that the model for end-stage liver disease score was associated with the percentages of T cells and CD4+ T cells and the absolute numbers of T-cell subsets and B cells, while the follow-up period was associated with the percentages of T-cell subsets and the absolute numbers of lymphocyte subsets. Therefore, patients with either the low model for end-stage liver disease scores or the long-term follow-up period are in a relatively activated immune condition.

Genome-Wide Association Study for Powdery Mildew and Rusts Adult Plant Resistance in European Spring Barley from Polish Gene Bank

Rusts and powdery mildew are diseases that have a major effect on yield loss in barley. Adult Plant Resistance (APR) is a post-seedling resistance mechanism and its expression is influenced by many factors, including host susceptibility and weather conditions, as well as the timing and severity of disease outbreaks. There are two mechanisms associated with APR: non-hypersensitive and minor gene APR. In this study, 431 European barley accessions were evaluated phenotypically over 2 years (2018–2019) under field conditions, scoring APR to powdery mildew (PM), barley brown rust (BBR), and stem rust (SR), and genotypically using DArTseq. Accessions were grouped into sub-collections by cultivation period (group A—cultivated prior 1985, B—cultivated after 1985, and C—Polish landraces) and by European country of origin or European region. GWAS was conducted for PM, BBR, and SR, and scored at the heading (HA) and milky-waxy (MW) seed stages in 2019 and maximum scores across all replicates were obtained 2018–2019. Disease severity was sufficient to differentiate the collection according to cultivation time and country of origin and to determine SNPs. Overall, the GWAS analysis identified 73 marker–trait associations (MTAs) with these traits. For PM resistance, we identified five MTAs at both the HA stage and when considering the maximal disease score across both growth stages and both years. One marker (3432490-28-T/C) was shared between these two traits; it is located on chromosome 4H. For BBR resistance, six MTAs at HA and one MTA at the MW stage in 2019 and seven MTAs, when considering the maximal disease score across both growth stages and both years, were identified. Of the 48 markers identified as being associated with SR resistance, 12 were on chromosome 7H, 1 was in the telomeric region of the short arm, and 7 were in the telomeric region of the long arm. Rpg1 has previously been mapped to 7HS. The results of this study will be used to create a Polish Gene Bank platform for precise breeding programs. The resistant genotypes and MTA markers will serve as a valuable resource for breeding for PM, BBR, and SR resistance in barley.

Phenotypic Screening of F4 Breeding Lines against Bacterial Blight Disease in Rice

Biotic stresses are major threat to rice production. Among biotic stresses, bacterial leaf blight is one of the major diseases affecting rice grain production in rice growing areas. Present investigation was conducted to evaluate phenotypic effect of 50 breeding lines from a cross (Pranahitha//ISM/MTU1010) in glass house at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Jagtial by inoculating Bacterial leaf blight culture (DX-020) by leaf clipping method. Out of these 50 F4 lines evaluated, twenty nine breeding lines showed resistant reaction with disease score of 1. Eleven lines showed moderately resistant reaction with disease score 3. Twenty nine breeding lines that were resistant with disease score 1, had excellent grain yield. Hence, these lines can be advanced to further generations. Thus the present study has demonstrated that phenotypic selection is successful in the glass house and these breeding lines with higher yield levels are expected to perform better in the field trials and further in the farmers fields with the good level of bacterial blight resistance.

Genetic Testing of Inbred Lines and Single Cross Hybrids against Fusarium Stalk Rot Caused by Fusarium moniliforme in Maize (Zea mays L.)

Globally, Maize (Zea mays L.) is a third major cereal food crop. It is a multipurpose crop with 26% of its production is used as food by human beings. Maize is known as “queen of cereals”, because of its high genetic yield potential, efficient utilization of radiant energy and wider adaptability. About 65 different phytopathogens affect the maize production in different stages of life cycle. Among which Fusarium moniliforme is one such soil borne pathogen causes Fusarium stalk rot (FSR) disease that ultimately reduces maize yield potential over the world. In any breeding program, screening and genetic testing of available germplasm resources against pathogens is necessary to prevent yield losses. Hence, the present research screened around 114 maize inbred lines and 45 single cross hybrids (SCHs) against FSR under artificial epiphytotic conditions. Among 114 inbreds, only four inbreds viz., CM 202, 10878, MAI-759 and MAI-766 (mean disease score of 3-4) showed moderately resistant reaction and out of 45 SCHs, only one hybrid combination i.e., MAI329 × CM202 (mean disease score was 2.60) exhibited resistance reaction against Fusarium stalk rot. Nevertheless, these resistance sources could be utilized in maize breeding programs for obtaining high yielding cultivars with resistance towards FSR disease.

Aromatic Rice with Multiple Disease Resistance Developed through Anther Culture

The experiments were conducted during kharif (June to September) 2018 and 2019 to screen 7 aromatic rice double haploid (DH) lines developed against Bacterial Leaf Bligh (BLB) and blast disease. Three genes Xa21, xa13, xa5 for BLB resistance and two genes Pi1, Pi2 for blast resistance was introgressed into a local aromatic rice variety Dubraj from Chhattisgarh State of India. Dubraj is extremely popular aromatic short medium grain variety in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh region and hence used in this study. RPBIO-226 and PR122 rice variety is used as donor for BLB and blast resistance respectively. 7 DH lines (L-1 to L-7) were developed from the crosses (Dubraj X RPBIO-226 X PR122) in the year 2017. Phenotypic evaluation for BLB diseases resistance has shown that L-1, L-6 and L-7 (score 1) has a similar resistance as the control check RPBIO-226(score-1) and 3 lines with moderate resistance (L-3 score 2) (L-4 score 3) (L-5 score 3). For blast disease, three lines (L-4, L-6 and L-7) were identified as resistance with the disease score of 1, whereas three were grouped under the section moderately resistant (L-1, L-3 and L- 5) with a disease score of 3. Sensory test (1.7% KOH) was conducted for the estimation of presence / absence of aroma. Moderately strong aroma was present in four lines (L-1, L-3, L-6 and L-7). On the basis of yield and presence of aroma in grain, L-3 has been selected with moderately resistant to BLB and blast for further advancement and subsequently evaluated under State Initial Evaluation Trial (SIET) during kharif 2020. Within 3 years of development of DH line, L-3 is under varietal developmental trail, which itself indicate the efficacy of anther culture in fixing homozygosity and speedy development of desired variety within short period of time.