Kazakhstan is an agrarian country with 270 million hectares utilized for animal and crop production. The foremost
objective
of the state agriculture programs in Kazakhstan is to achieve food security of country on the basis of competitive crop production. Demand for soybean as an oil crop and animal feed is steadily growing in Kazakhstan and hence soybeans can be a great attribute for food security in this region. Currently, over 90% of all soybean production is concentrated in one region (Almaty) because the crop is highly sensitive to photoperiod and temperature. The climatological conditions in majority of the region pose difficulties in growing the soybeans. In this review, we discussed the impact of the geographical and environmental conditions in enhancing the soybean cultivation in different parts of Kazakhstan. Additionally, we have taken an account of current status of soybean production and the barriers that may have great influence on the soybean yield. Because soybean is a short-day plant, the main role in its adaptation to areas in Kazakhstan is played by its
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Eight advanced breeding lines of cowpea [
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Aggregate selection helps making selection decisions for improved profitability and permits to exploit information on correlated traits to improve accuracy. In the present study, the efficiency of trait selection was assessed by the Smith-Hazel (SHI) and the Pesek-Baker (PBI) models in 35 wheat genotypes under drought stress at heading and well-irrigated conditions at the Research Farm of Shiraz University, Iran in 2011 and 2012 years. The analysis of correlated response (CR) revealed that thousand grain weight (TGW) with CR = 24.05 (in 2011) and 9.15 (in 2012) and harvest index (HI) with CR = 18.37 (in 2011) and 9.08 (in 2012) had higher indirect effects on grain yield (GY) increase under drought stress. In both years, biological yield (BY), grain number/spike (GN), TGW, and GY had the highest genetic gain (
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Black gram [
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The present study evaluated the biochemical effects of proton beam irradiation in soybean. Seeds of two Korean elite cultivars (Kwangan and Pungsannamul) were irradiated by a 57-MeV proton beam in the range of 50–400 Gy. We measured the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), antioxidant enzymes, and chlorophyll. MDA contents in proton beam-irradiated plants were higher than those in control plants. The activity of antioxidant enzymes differed between the two cultivars. In Kwangan, ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity increased by 29% relative to the control at 55 Gy and decreased by 58% at 308 Gy. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities decreased by 47 and 25% relative to the control at 55 Gy and recovered to 87 and 56% of that at 55 Gy with 172 Gy and 117 Gy, respectively. In Pungsannamul, APX and SOD decreased by 32 and 35% relative to the control at 62 Gy, with the highest value observed at 243 Gy. In terms of the chlorophyll content, the two varieties responded similarly to proton beam irradiation, whereas in Kwangan, no significant reduction was observed above 100 Gy when compared with the control. Proton beam irradiation affected chlorophyll b more than chlorophyll a. These results show that the activity of antioxidant enzymes decreased in response to irradiation with approximately 50 Gy proton beams, then increased gradually with increasing doses, followed by a moderate decrease at higher doses. According to correlation with MDA contents and antioxidant enzyme activities, defense system of Pungsannamul was less activated by proton-beam irradiation than that of Kwangan.
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Sorghum is a major staple crop and vital for the marginal farmers in Asian and African countries. Landraces or germplasm lines adapted to biotic and abiotic stresses are the prime source of adaptive traits in the crop breeding programs. In order to assess the genetic variability, 141 exotic germplasm lines and 36 popular varieties were evaluated for eight agro-morphological traits. Wide range of values were observed for grain yield (6.6–124.4 g/plant), seed index (1.5–7.1 g/100 seeds), panicle length (8–44 cm) and panicle width (7.25 cm). High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed for grain yield per plant. The values of broad sense heritability in the sorghum core population ranged from 0.75 to 0.99. Seed weight, days to flowering, panicle width and leaf area were significantly correlated with grain yield (
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Leafspot is one of the major diseases of peanut (
objective
of this study was to identify and map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for resistance to leafspot disease. An F2:6 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population, derived from a released cultivar Tamrun OL07 and a highly tolerant breeding line Tx964117, were used as a mapping population. A total of 90 RILs were planted for disease phenotyping in Yoakum, Texas in 2010 and 2012. A genetic map spanning the 20 linkage groups was developed using 1,211 SNP markers based on double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq). A total of six quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified, with LOD score values of 3.2–5.0 and phenotypic variance explained ranging from 11%–24%. Major QTLs identified in this study may be used as potential targets for peanut improvement to leafspot disease through molecular breeding.
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AP2/EREBP gene family consists of transcription factor genes with a conserved AP2 DNA-binding domain and is involved in various biological processes. AP2/EREBP gene families were identified through genome-wide searches in five Cucurbitaceae species including cucumber, wild cucumber, melon, watermelon, and bitter gourd, which consisted of more than 100 genes in each of the five species. The gene families were further divided into five groups including four subfamilies (ERF, DREB, AP2 and RAV) and a soloist group. Among the subfamilies, DREB subfamily which is known to be related to abiotic stress response was more analyzed and a total of 25 genes were identified as Cucurbitaceae homologues of Arabidopsis
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Resource plants are important and have strong potential for a variety of utilities as crops or pharmaceutical materials. However, most resource plants remain wild and thus their utility for breeding and biotechnology is limited. Molecular markers are useful to initiate genetic study and molecular breeding for these understudied resource plants. We collected various wild collections of
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