Middle School Students From China’s Rice Area Show More Adaptive Creativity but Less Innovative and Boundary-Breaking Creativity

The present study aimed to conduct a cross-cultural comparison of creative thinking among Chinese middle school students from the rice- and wheat-growing areas in China through the lens of the rice theory, which postulates that there are major psychological differences among the individuals in these agricultural regions. Differences in cultural mindsets and creativity between the rice group (n = 336) and the wheat group (n = 347) were identified using the Chinese version of (1) the Auckland Individualism and Collectivism Scale (AICS) and (2) the Test for Creative Thinking–Drawing Production (TCT–DP), respectively. Interesting findings were obtained. The results of latent mean analyses indicate that the rice group showed significantly more collectivism and adaptive creativity than the wheat group but less individualism and innovative and boundary-breaking creativity. However, the two groups showed no significant differences in their overall creative performance, as reflected in the TCT–DP composite score. Moreover, results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that collectivism was positively related to adaptive creativity but negatively related to innovative and boundary-breaking creativity; however, a reverse pattern was found for individualism. These findings enrich the discourse regarding the rice theory and shed important light on the effect of culture on creativity.

Cytogenetic identification and molecular marker development for the novel stripe rust-resistant wheat–Thinopyrum intermedium translocation line WTT11

Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is one of the most destructive diseases of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) worldwide. Xiaoyan 78829, a partial amphidiploid developed by crossing common wheat with Thinopyrum intermedium, is immune to wheat stripe rust. To transfer the resistance gene of this excellent germplasm resource to wheat, the translocation line WTT11 was produced by pollen irradiation and assessed for immunity to stripe rust races CYR32, CYR33 and CYR34. A novel stripe rust-resistance locus derived from Th. intermedium was confirmed by linkage and diagnostic marker analyses. Molecular cytogenetic analyses revealed that WTT11 carries a TTh·2DL translocation. The breakpoint of 1B was located at 95.5 MB, and the alien segments were found to be homoeologous to wheat-group chromosomes 6 and 7 according to a wheat660K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array analysis. Ten previously developed PCR-based markers were confirmed to rapidly trace the alien segments of WTT11, and 20 kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers were developed to enable genotyping of Th. intermedium and common wheat. Evaluation of agronomic traits in two consecutive crop seasons uncovered some favorable agronomic traits in WTT11, such as lower plant height and longer main panicles, that may be applicable to wheat improvement. As a novel genetic resource, the new resistance locus may be useful for wheat disease-resistance breeding.

Genome sequences of the five Sitopsis species of Aegilops and the origin of polyploid wheat B-subgenome

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L., BBAADD) is a major staple food crop worldwide. The diploid progenitors of the A- and D-subgenomes have been unequivocally identified, that of B however remains ambiguous and controversial but is suspected to be related to species of Aegilops, section Sitopsis. Here, we report the assembly of chromosome-level genome sequences of all five Sitopsis species, namely Ae. bicornis, Ae. longissima, Ae. searsii, Ae. sharonensis, and Ae. speltoides, as well as partial assembly of Ae. mutica genome for phylogenetic analysis. Our results support that the donor of bread wheat B-subgenome is a distinct, probably extinct, diploid species that diverged from an ancestral progenitor of the B-lineage similar to Ae. mutica and Ae. speltoides. The five Sitopsis species have variable genome sizes (4.11-5.89 Gb) with high proportions of repetitive sequences (85.99-89.81%); nonetheless, they retain high collinearity with other wheat genomes. Differences in genome size are primarily due to independent post-speciation amplification of transposons rather than to inter-specific genetic introgression. We also identified a set of Sitopsis genes pertinent to important agronomic traits that can be harnessed for wheat breeding. These resources provide a new roadmap for evolutionary and genetic studies of the wheat group.

The Effect of High Amounts of Wheat Gluten Meal and Corn Gluten Meal Added to the Diets on Some Serum Parameters in Rats

The aim of this study was to determine the effects on some serum parameters of wheat and corn gluten diet, which is also a high protein source. A total of 24 male rats aged 20 days and divided into 3 groups, each containing 8 rats were used in the study. The majority of the protein content in the diet of soybean meal as a Control group; in the diet of wheat gluten as a Wheat group; in the diet of corn gluten as a Corn group were composed. At the end of the study, blood samples taken from all animals were analysed. In the study, serum glucose, TP, urea, creatinine and BUN levels were found to be significantly decreased in Corn group compared to Wheat group. Serum ALT levels were similar with the Control and Wheat groups, but it was found to be significantly decreased in the Corn group. Serum AST levels were significantly lower in the Corn group. Serum GGT levels were significantly lower in both Corn and Wheat groups compared to Control group. Serum Ca and P levels were similar with all groups, whereas Mg levels were significantly decreased in Wheat and Corn groups compared to the Control group. As a result, it can be said that corn gluten added to the diet has more positive effects than wheat gluten in terms of both liver enzyme activities (AST, ALT and GGT) and renal parameters (Urea and BUN).

The results of the use of winter forms of Triticum durum Desf. in the selection of spring durum wheat

Variety of spring durum wheat ‘Yadritsa’ and new promising lines were created using a winter component. The new breeding material belongs to the short-stemmed wheat group with high resistance to lodging (8–9 points) and exceeds the standard variety in productivity by 0.7–1.5 tons per 1 ha while maintaining high grain quality.

Toxicological Evaluation of Selected Gluten-Rich Diets on Rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Gluten-rich foods are staple foods in many countries because they are nutritious, tasty and cosmopolitan, but lately, concerns are rife about the safety of gluten, necessitating an in-depth investigation. This study, therefore, evaluated the toxicity of two gluten-rich foods, namely wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare). Eighteen (18) mixed-sex experimental rats (Rattus norvegicus) were divided into 3 groups of 6 rats each. Group 1 was made the control, while groups 2 and 3 were fed ad libitum barley and wheat diets, respectively. The rats were monitored daily for 60 days, after which blood samples were taken for hematological and liver function tests. The livers, hearts, kidneys, and ovaries of the rats were also collected for histopathological examination. The hematological parameters of the test rats, including the packed cell volume (PCV), hemoglobin (Hb), white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), and lymphocytes (LYM) had no statistical significance (p>0.05), while the liver enzymes, including the alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total protein (TP), and albumin (ALB) were significantly elevated. There were no histopathological changes in the livers, kidneys, hearts, and ovaries of the test rats compared with the control. The rats in the wheat group completed 2 reproductive cycles, while the barley and control rats made 1 cycle each. On average, the number of offspring per birth of the control was 8, while the barley and wheat groups had 9 and 12, respectively. The offspring survival rate of the control was 90%, whereas the barley and wheat rats had 89.91 and 90.20%, respectively. The results obtained showed that the gluten diets did not induce any serious side effect in the treated rats and even enhanced the health of the rats, particularly the reproductive performance. Gluten-rich foods are therefore considered safe and healthy for gluten-tolerant individuals.

Genome-wide sequence information reveals recurrent hybridization among diploid wheat wild relatives

Many conflicting hypotheses regarding the relationships among crops and wild species closely related to wheat (the genera Aegilops, Amblyopyrum, and Triticum) have been postulated. The contribution of hybridization to the evolution of these taxa is intensely discussed. To determine possible causes for this, and provide a phylogeny of the diploid taxa based on genome-wide sequence information, independent data was obtained from genotyping-by-sequencing and a target-enrichment experiment that returned 244 low-copy nuclear loci. The data were analyzed with Bayesian, likelihood and coalescent-based methods. D statistics were used to test if incomplete lineage sorting alone or together with hybridization is the source for incongruent gene trees. Here we present the phylogeny of all diploid species of the wheat wild relatives. We hypothesize that most of the wheat-group species were shaped by a primordial homoploid hybrid speciation event involving the ancestral Triticum and Am. muticum lineages to form all other species but Ae. speltoides. This hybridization event was followed by multiple introgressions affecting all taxa but Triticum. Mostly progenitors of the extant species were involved in these processes, while recent interspecific gene flow seems insignificant. The composite nature of many genomes of wheat group taxa results in complicated patterns of diploid contributions when these lineages are involved in polyploid formation, which is, for example, the case in the tetra-and hexaploid wheats. Our analysis provides phylogenetic relationships and a testable hypothesis for the genome compositions in the basic evolutionary units within the wheat group of Triticeae.