Fatty acid profiling in gobhi sarson (Brassica napus)

An experiment was carried out during 2017-2018 to estimate fatty acids and the oil content (OC) in fifteen Brassica napus genotypes. The quality parameters of oil include fatty acids (FA) and the oil content (OC), important trait differed significantly (p?0.05) amongst the Brassica species genotype. Among the genotypes, significant differences were noted for the fatty acids and the oil content (OC). In Brassica napus seeds oil content varies in between the range of 37.45–41.86% respectively. The saturated fatty acid (SFA) includes the Palmitic acid (PA) varied in between the range of 2.68–4.43% and oleic acid (OA) content results lied between 8.88-56.18% respectively. In linoleic acid (LA) and linolenic acid (LNA), presence of significant differences (p?0.05) was there. The content of linoleic acid (LA) lies in the range between 12.97- 17.98% respectively and linolenic acid (LNA) content varied from 13.41-23.42% respectively. The stearic acid (SA) content varied from1.20-1.66 respectively. Erucic acid, another essential trait, significant differences were noted amongst the Brassica species genotypes i.e. 12.96-48.80%. The minimum erucic acid (EA) content was noted in GSL-1 genotype and the genotypes namely RSPN-28 and CNH-13-2, EC552608, GSC-6 have also low EA content and the rest of the genotypes namely, RSPN-29, DGS-1, RSPN-25, CNH-11-7, CNH-11-13, RL-1359, HNS-1101, GSC-101, CNH-11-2, HNS-1102 have high erucic content. In fatty acids (FA) content, significant differences were observed in rapeseed-mustard. Desirable cultivars with higher yield and oil content are the chief objective of this concerned study to be further employed in the breeding program.

Development and Validation of Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR Assays for Erucic Acid Content in Indian Mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and Coss.]

Brassica juncea L. is the most widely cultivated oilseed crop in Indian subcontinent. Its seeds contain oil with very high concentration of erucic acid (≈50%). Of late, there is increasing emphasis on the development of low erucic acid varieties because of reported association of the consumption of high erucic acid oil with cardiac lipidosis. Erucic acid is synthesized from oleic acid by an elongation process involving two cycles of four sequential steps. Of which, the first step is catalyzed by β-ketoacyl-CoA synthase (KCS) encoded by the fatty acid elongase 1 (FAE1) gene in Brassica. Mutations in the coding region of the FAE1 lead to the loss of KCS activity and consequently a drastic reduction of erucic acid in the seeds. Molecular markers have been developed on the basis of variation available in the coding or promoter region(s) of the FAE1. However, majority of these markers are not breeder friendly and are rarely used in the breeding programs. Present studies were planned to develop robust kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASPar) assays with high throughput and economics of scale. We first cloned and sequenced FAE1.1 and FAE1.2 from high and low erucic acid (<2%) genotypes of B. juncea (AABB) and its progenitor species, B. rapa (AA) and B. nigra (BB). Sequence comparisons of FAE1.1 and FAE1.2 genes for low and high erucic acid genotypes revealed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 8 and 3 positions. Of these, three SNPs for FAE1.1 and one SNPs for FAE1.2 produced missense mutations, leading to amino acid modifications and inactivation of KCS enzyme. We used SNPs at positions 735 and 1,476 for genes FAE1.1 and FAE1.2, respectively, to develop KASPar assays. These markers were validated on a collection of diverse genotypes and a segregating backcross progeny. KASPar assays developed in this study will be useful for marker-assisted breeding, as these can track recessive alleles in their heterozygous state with high reproducibility.

Phytochemistry and antioxidant activity of Amaranthus viridis L (Green leaf)

Phytochemistry and antioxidant activity of Amaranthus viridis L (Green leaf) were undertaken with standard methods. The leaf sample after being screening for phytochemicals, contained tannins, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids, phenolic compounds, proteins and anthraquinones at different concentrations. A further study using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometry (GC-MS) analytic method on the leaf sample revealed a total of twenty-two detailed compounds among which are 3-Hydroxy-N-methylphenethylamine, Erucic acid, n-Hexadecanoic acid, 1,2-Propanediol,3-chloro-, and Cystamine. 3-Hydroxy-N-methylphenethy lamine had the highest retention time; Erucic acid had the highest molecular weight while n-Hexadecanoic acid had the highest peal area. Most of the compounds have important applications in body care products and cosmetics, pharmaceutical or food industries. A. viridis leaf extract exhibited a better antioxidant activity against the ascorbic acid used as control in the present study. The phytochemicals present in the leaf sample could be behind its antioxidant activity. The study has shown the phytochemistry and antioxidant activity of A. viridis leaf sample.

High-yielding cultivar of spring turnip rapeseed of “000” type Gratsiya

The spring turnip rapeseed cultivar Gratsiya was developed at the Siberian experimental station – a branch of V.S. Pustovoit All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Crops by multiple individual and family selections from high-yielding, yellowseeded forms of the German cultivar Eldorado. In 2020, we isolated elite plant in the selection nursery by the main agronomic valuable traits: early maturity, high productivity, resistance to lodging, yellow seed color, low content of glucosinolates in the seeds and erucic acid in the oil. According to the results of three years competitive trials (2018–2020), 12 promising numbers with a growing season of 66–70 days were evaluated and a promising high-yielding number 31119 – the cultivar of type “000” Gratsiya was isolated. The cultivar of spring turnip rapeseed Gratsiya exceeded the standard cultivar Pobeda in seed yield by 0.21 t/ha and in oil yield by 0.08 t/ha. By the main agronomic traits, the cultivar Gratsiya differs from the standard one in lower content of glucosinolates in seeds (14.6 µmol/g) and erucic acid in oil (0.43 %). Seedlings are green, without wax coating, the plant is semi-dense, medium-branched, plant height of 120– 135 cm. The fruit is a pod, 5–7 cm long. Seeds are yellow, with an addition of brown – up to 2 %. Thousand-seed weight is 2.5–2.8 g. It is moderately drought-resistant, has uniform ripening, is suitable for mechanical harvesting, and is recommended for cultivation throughout the Russian Federation because of its early maturity.

The Effects of Using Pineapple Stem Starch as an Alternative Starch Source and Ageing Period on Meat Quality, Texture Profile, Ribonucleotide Content, and Fatty Acid Composition of Longissimus Thoracis of Fattening Dairy Steers

The effects of different starch sources (ground corn (CO), ground cassava (CA) and pineapple stem starch (PI)) and ageing period (14 and 21 days) on meat characteristics of Holstein steers were investigated. Starch sources had no effect on meat characteristics, while meat aged for 14 days had less thawing loss than that aged for 21 days. Meat from steers fed PI had higher levels of inosine monophosphate (IMP) than the others (p < 0.05). With increasing duration of ageing, the content of IMP and guanosine monophosphate in the meat decreased, while the content of hypoxanthine increased (p < 0.05). Meat from steers fed CO had the highest oleic acid but the lowest erucic acid (p < 0.05) in contrast to meat from steers fed PI, which had the lowest oleic acid but the highest erucic acid. Steers fed CO appeared to produce healthier meat as this was positively associated with monounsaturated fatty acid content. Meat from steers fed PI had higher levels of IMP, which may be associated with good taste.

Development of B. carinata with super-high erucic acid content through interspecific hybridization

Key message Disomic alien chromosome addition Brassica carinata lines with super-high erucic acid content were developed through interspecific hybridization with B. juncea and characterized using molecular, cytological and biochemical techniques. Abstract Brassica carinata [A.] Braun (BBCC, 2n = 34) is a climate-resilient oilseed. Its seed oil is high in erucic acid (> 40%), rendering it well suited for the production of biofuel and other bio-based applications. To enhance the competitiveness of B. carinata with high erucic B. napus (HEAR), lines with super-high erucic acid content were developed through interspecific hybridization. To this end, a fad2B null allele from Brassica juncea (AABB, 2n = 36) was introgressed into B. carinata, resulting in a B. carinata fad2B mutant with erucic acid levels of over 50%. Subsequently, the FAE allele from B. rapa spp. yellow sarson (AA, 2n = 20) was transferred to the fad2B B. carinata line, yielding lines with erucic acid contents of up to 57.9%. Molecular analysis using the Brassica 90 K Illumina Infinium™ SNP genotyping array identified these lines as disomic alien chromosome addition lines, with two extra A08 chromosomes containing the BrFAE gene. The alien chromosomes from B. rapa were clearly distinguished by molecular cytogenetics in one of the addition lines. Analysis of microspore-derived offspring and hybrids from crosses with a CMS B. carinata line showed that the transfer rate of the A08 chromosome into male gametes was over 98%, resulting in almost completely stable transmission of an A08 chromosome copy into the progeny. The increase in erucic acid levels was accompanied by changes in the proportions of other fatty acids depending on the genetic changes that were introduced in the interspecific hybrids, providing valuable insights into erucic acid metabolism in Brassica.