Study of Parental Polymorphism and Allelic Variation for Grain Quality and Yield Traits in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Using SSR Markers

Aim: Identification of polymorphic markers is prerequisite for conducting any QTL mapping experiment because if the parents are polymorphic for the traits of interest, then further selection of plants in the progenies becomes easy. Hence, the objective of the present study was to identify polymorphic markers for grain quality and yield traits among the parental lines Improved Samba Mahsuri and Badshabhog. Place and Duration of Study: It was carried out at Molecular Breeding Lab, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi - 221 005, India, during 2019. Methodology: Two parents Improved Samba Mahsuri and Badshabhog were used for the present study. The DNA extraction was done as per the CTAB method suggested by Murray and Thompson. Standard PCR protocol was followed. Results: For parental polymorphism survey, a total of 576 randomly selected SSR markers including 26 gene specific markers related to aroma, cooking and eating quality, grain dimension and yield related traits distributed across the 12 chromosomes of rice were used. Overall, 96 markers including 4 gene specific markers were found to be polymorphic between the two genotypes indicating a total polymorphism percentage of 16.67%. The highest polymorphism percentage was recorded on chromosome 6 (26.67%) followed by chromosome 4 (21.43%) and the lowest polymorphism percentage was observed on chromosome 10 (8.93%). The gene specific markers nksbad2, ARO7, BADEX7_5 and SSI were found to be polymorphic. Conclusion: Based on the present study it may be concluded that the polymorphic markers identified will further be utilized in genotyping of F2:3 population, linkage analysis and mapping QTL’s for grain quality and yield traits.

Comparison of Late Blight Resistance and Yield of Potato Varieties

Growing more resistant potato varieties is one of the most effective strategies to control late blight, to protect potato yield and to prevent harming the environment. The main aim of our study was to identify potato varieties with higher resistance to late blight and which were high yielding in Estonian conditions and suitable for organic farming. During the three-year trial, twelve potato varieties were tested at the Jõgeva Plant Breeding Institute (PBI) in 2010-2012. Foliage late blight (Phytophtora infestance (Mont) de Bary) and yield were estimated. First infection of late blight occurred in different times during the trial years. The three-year average infection level indicated that early varieties ‘Arielle’, ‘Impala’ and ‘Princess’ were more damaged than other varieties in the first estimation. Late varieties ‘Ando’, ‘Anti’, ‘Juku’ and ‘Sarme’ had higher late blight resistance. Their foliage damage remained less than 30% in the last estimation. The new medium variety ‘Teele’ had a lower infection rate than other medium varieties and did not significantly differ from late varieties. Based on these data, late varieties, early variety ‘Maret’ and medium variety ‘Teele’ can be considered suitable for organic farming. The new variety ‘Teele’ had the highest threeyear average tuber yield (52.8 t ha-1). Varieties ‘Impala’, ‘Princess’ and ‘Secura’ had significantly lower yield. Yield loss of these varieties might have been caused by higher late blight infection during trial years

State Priekuļi Plant Breeding Institute – A Century of Agricultural Research and Plant Breeding

The State Priekuïi Plant Breeding Institute (previously Wenden, Cçsis or Priekuïi Experimental and Breeding Station) started its operation in 1913. The main aims of research have remained the same for the last century: to provide knowledge on crop management and to create crop varieties suitable to local growing conditions and farming systems, acceptable to consumer requirements. Supply to farmers of high quality seed material of cereals, potato, pea, clover and grasses is an essential part of the scope. Overall, 31 crop species have been involved in a wide range of studies. More than 100 different crop varieties have been bred since the beginning of the 20th century. Potato varieties ‘Brasla’, ‘Agrie Dzeltenie’, winter rye variety ‘Kaupo’, pea varieties ‘Vitra’, ‘Retrija’, barley variety ‘Idumeja’ and several clover and grass varieties are widely grown in farmers’ fields. The first hulless barley variety in the Baltic States, ‘Irbe’, and winter triticale variety ‘Inarta’ have been bred in the Institute recently. Long-term crop rotation trials have been run for more than 50 years. A number of outstanding scientists and agronomists have worked in the Institute: potato breeders E. Knappe and V. Gaujers, cereal breeders J. Lindermanis, M. Gaiíe, and M. Sovere, grass breeders P. Pommers, A. Apinis, and I. Holms, pea breeder M. Vitjaþkova, researchers on crop management R. Sniedze and V. Miíelsons, research manager and director U. Miglavs and others

Development of Rye Leaf Diseases and Possibilities for Their Control

Diseases of rye (Secale cereale), an important crop in Latvia, might be a risk factor for rye production. The aim of the study was to determine features of rye leaf diseases, to estimate the risk of rye diseases under conditions of Latvia, and to compare various schemes of fungicide treatment that possibly might be useful for integrated disease control. Field trials were carried out from 2009 to 2012 in two locations in Latvia - State Stende Cereals Breeding Institute and State Priekuïi Plant Breeding Institute. Sixteen trials (two cultivars each year, two sites, and four years) were established during the investigations. Each trial was one-factor design with three variants of fungicide treatment: control (without fungicides), standard treatment during heading (GS 51-55), and DSS (Decision support system). Leaf scald caused by Rhynchosporium secalis and brown rust, caused by Puccinia recondita, were found to be the most important rye diseases during the study. Average additional yield achieved by fungicide application was 8%. Number of rainy days (more than seven, starting from GS 31) was not a sufficient threshold for the control of rye diseases. It was necessary to make assessment of the disease development in the the field. Fungicide application might be necessary if symptoms of leaf scald appear on the youngest leaves after beginning of stem elongation (GS 31-32).

Effect of Management Practices on Soil Microstructure and Surface Microrelief

Soil surface roughness (SSR) and porosity were evaluated from soils located in two farms belonging to the Plant Breeding Institute of the University of Sidney. The sites differ in their soil management practices; the first site (PBI) was strip-tilled during early fall (May 2010), and the second site (JBP) was under power harrowed tillage at the end of July 2010. Both sites were sampled in mid-August. At each location, SSR was measured for three 1 m2subplots using shadow analysis. To evaluate porosity and aggregation, soil samples were scanned using X-ray computed tomography with 5 μm resolution. The results show a strong negative correlation between SSR and porosity, 20.13% SSR and 41.38% porosity at PBI versus 42.00% SSR and 18.35% porosity at JBP. However, soil images show that when soil surface roughness is higher due to conservation and soil management practices, the processes of macroaggregation and structural porosity are enhanced. Further research must be conducted on SSR and porosity in different types of soils, as they provide complementary information on the evaluation of soil erosion susceptibility.

DR FRANCIS GEOFFREY HUGH LUPTON 16 July 1921–23 May 2006Dr Lupton, a distinguished plant breeder, was editor of Experimental Agriculture for 11 years from 1984 to 1995

My first encounter with Francis Lupton was as one of a group of students from Aberystwyth visiting the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI) at Cambridge, UK, as part of an Easter vacation tour in 1954. We were given a presentation, delivered with military precision, on wheat breeding by a tall, rather thin young man with a distinctly authoritative voice. Lupton had returned to Cambridge after the war to complete his interrupted studies, after seeing active service in the Middle East, Italy and Greece where he took part in some of the bitterest fighting, about which he characteristically said little. After graduating, he joined the PBI, under the directorship of G. D. H. Bell, in 1948. The Institute, which had previously been part of Cambridge University, had been hived off after the war to come under the aegis of the Agricultural Research Council. Lupton was assigned to the wheat breeding programme, thereby inheriting the mantle of Biffen and Engledow.

George Douglas Hutton Bell. 18 October 1905 – 27 June 1993

Douglas Bell was the doyen of British plant breeders. He worked to turn what was previously a craft that made some use of science into a science–based technology.Having taken a first–class honours degree at the University College of Wales (Bangor), Bell went to the Cambridge University Plant Breeding Institute in 1928. There he worked under the supervision of F. L. (later Sir Frank) Engledow (FRS 1946). His PhD research concerned genetic variability in barley varieties, and barley remained his principal interest henceforth. At the height of his powers Bell was able rapidly to assess the agricultural potential of wide arrays of genetically distinct lines. This was based on keen observation and the ability to discriminate among many characteristics simultaneously. It often seemed like intuition. At the same time he was a keen judge of the malting quality of barley grain and was often called on to exercise his skill in competitions.After completing the PhD requirements, Bell continued to work with Engledow in the Cambridge School of Agriculture, first as a demonstrator and then as a lecturer. Generations of students praised the clarity of his lectures. From Engledow he inherited an interest in the components of yield in cereals. Starting with the number of ears per plant, spikelets per ear, grains per spikelet and grain weight he became interested in the physiology of yield. This subsequently led him to promote attempts to use physiological characteristics to predict yielding ability in the selection of new varieties. Also during this period Bell assisted Engledow in wheat breeding, work that resulted in the development of the breadmaking winter–wheat variety Holdfast.Bell's leadership in plant breeding came to its full realization when he became Director of the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI), Cambridge, in 1947. The government had decided in the immediate postwar period to expand agricultural research in the UK. Numbers of free–standing research establishments were created with the general responsibility for them vested in the Agricultural Research Council. Under these arrangements the PBI was separated from Cambridge University. As Director, Bell together with the governing body set a policy for the institute. It was then his responsibility to choose a site (Trumpington, Cambridge), recruit a staff and plan the buildings and facilities including the farm.

A single recessive gene confers effective resistance to powdery mildew of field pea grown in northern New South Wales

Reactions to powdery mildew (Erysiphe pisi Syd.) of a range of varieties, advanced lines and pea germplasm from the Australian Temperate Field Crops Collection (ATFCC) were evaluated under field conditions at Narrabri, New South Wales. Thirteen resistant genotypes, including 3 M257 sister lines [M257-2-1 (Mukta), M257-3-6 and M257-5-1], Glenroy, Kiley and PSI 11 from Australian breeding programs, and LE 25 (ATC 1275), ATC 649, ATC 767, ATC 823, ATC 1036, ATC 1121 and ATC 1181 from the ATFCC, along with 8 susceptible lines Dinkum, Bohatyr, Jupiter, Greenfeast, Solara, P441-6, Trapper and Cressy Blue, were used to make resistant × resistant, resistant × susceptible and susceptible × susceptible combinations to examine the inheritance of resistance. Parental lines and F1 and F2 populations were evaluated in the field under natural disease epiphytotics at the Plant Breeding Institute, Narrabri, during the winters of 1996 and 1997. In 1996, resistant and susceptible F2 plants were selected from 5 crosses, and further examined as F3 families in 1997. No fully resistant line was identified among the parents. F1 reactions indicated that resistance was governed by recessive genes and there were no maternal effects. Segregation patterns in the F2 and F3 generations supported the hypothesis of resistance in the genotypes M257-5-1, Glenroy, Kiley, ATC 649 and ATC 1121 being conferred by the same single recessive gene.

Adjusting for fertility and competition in variety trials

A joint model for plot yield in response to fertility trends and interplot competition is described. The model combines the mixed model representation of a cubic smoothing spline to model fertility and a regression model with auto-regressive terms to model competition. Estimation is based on a generalization of residual maximum likelihood. The methods were applied to a series of 70 sugar beet trials conducted by the Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge, UK, and the results summarized.