Molecular breeding for combating salinity stress in sorghum: progress and prospects.

This chapter discusses current progress and prospects of molecular breeding and strategies for developing better saline-tolerant sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) varieties. Most molecular breeding techniques for salt tolerance have been carried out in controlled environments where the plants were not exposed to any variation of the surrounding environment, producing reliable results. Due to the polygenic nature of salt tolerance, the identified quantitative trait loci (QTLs) could be false QTLs. Therefore, QTL validation is important in different plant populations and field conditions. Subsequently, marker validation is important before utilizing marker-assisted selection for screening salt-tolerant plants. Combining molecular breeding with conventional breeding can hasten the development of salt-tolerant sorghum varieties.

The evidence landscape in precision medicine

Precision medicine is beginning to make an impact on the treatment of different diseases, but there are still challenges that must be overcome, such as the complexity of interventions, the need for marker validation, and the level of evidence necessary to demonstrate effectiveness. In this Perspective, we describe how evidence landscapes can help to address these challenges.

Molecular Cloning, Expression Profiling, and Marker Validation of the Chicken Myoz3 Gene

Myozenin3 (Myoz3) has been reported to bind multiple Z-disc proteins and hence play a key role in signal transduction and muscle fiber type differentiation. The purpose of current study is to better understand the basic characteristics of Myoz3. Firstly, we cloned the ORF (open reading frame) of the Myoz3 gene. AA (amino acid) sequence analysis revealed that the Myoz3 gene encodes a 26 kDa protein which have 97% identities with that of turkey. Expression profiling showed that Myoz3 mRNA is mainly expressed in leg muscle and breast muscle. Furthermore, we investigated Myoz3 gene polymorphisms in two broiler breeds, the Yellow Bantam (YB) and the Avian. Five SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) were identified in the YB breed and 3 were identified in the Avian breed. Genotypes and haplotype were constructed and their associations with carcass traits were analyzed. In the YB breed, c.516 C>T had a strong effect on both shank bone length and the L⁎ value of breast muscle, and the H1H3 diplotype had the highest FC compared to other diplotypes. The markers identified in this study may serve as useful targets for the marker-assisted selection (MAS) of growth and meat quality traits in chickens.