Journal: Euphytica

Abbreviation

Euphytica (Wagening.)

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Springer

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ISSN

0014-2336
1573-5060

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Publications 1 - 10 of 19
  • Genome-wide association study for septoria tritici blotch resistance reveals the occurrence and distribution of Stb6 in a historic Swiss landrace collection
    Item type: Journal Article
    Dutta, Anik; Croll, Daniel; McDonald, Bruce; et al. (2021)
    Euphytica
    Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by the fungus Zymoseptoria tritici, is a major constraint in global wheat production. The lack of genetic diversity in modern elite wheat cultivars largely hinders the improvement of STB resistance. Wheat landraces are reservoirs of untapped genetic diversity, which can be exploited to find novel STB resistance genes or alleles. Here, we characterized 188 Swiss wheat landraces for resistance to STB using four Swiss Z. tritici isolates. We used a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genetic variants associated with the amount of lesion and pycnidia production by the fungus. The majority of the landraces were highly resistant for both traits to the isolate 1E4, indicating a gene-for-gene relationship, while higher phenotypic variability was observed against other isolates. GWAS detected a significant SNP on chromosome 3A that was associated with both traits in the isolate 1E4. The resistance response against 1E4 was likely controlled by the Stb6 gene. Sanger sequencing revealed that the majority of these ~ 100-year-old landraces carry the Stb6 resistance allele. This indicates the importance of this gene in Switzerland during the early 1900s for disease control in the field. Our study demonstrates the importance of characterizing historic landrace collections for STB resistance to provide valuable information on resistance variability and contributing alleles. This will help breeders in the future to make decisions on integrating such germplasms in STB resistance breeding.
  • Promising options for improving performance and proanthocyanidins of the forage legume sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop)
    Item type: Review Article
    Kölliker, Roland; Kempf, Katharina; Malisch, Carsten S.; et al. (2017)
    Euphytica
    Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) is an underutilized perennial forage legume with high potential as a forage source for ruminants in grassland based livestock production systems. The species is also particularly valued for its content of proanthocyanidins (PA; also known as condensed tannins), which have been shown to improve animal health by reducing bloat, and by diminishing gastro-intestinal parasites, can reduce nitrogen losses through excreted urine and may also have the potential to lower methane emissions. However, sainfoin cultivation is not widespread today, mainly due to the limited availability of high performing cultivars and agronomic constraints such as slow establishment, poor competitive ability and limited yield stability. In this paper, we give an overview on the importance and the potential of sainfoin and review recent findings regarding cultivation practices and the variability observed for agronomic and quality traits. A special focus is placed on the potential and implications for targeted improvement through breeding. Results show that stability of sainfoin yields can be significantly improved when grown in mixtures with appropriate companion species and it was shown that the choice of cultivar, management practices and drought could have an impact on PA content and composition. Various studies demonstrate large variability in agronomic performance, PA concentration and PA composition among and within sainfoin accessions, highlighting the big potential to improve this species by breeding. In addition, we highlight recent advances in breeding research such as high rates of self-fertilization in this generally allogamous species and the development of molecular genetic resources, which build the basis for novel breeding strategies and the targeted exploitation of sainfoin germplasm in the future.
  • Role of the genes Md-ACO1 and Md-ACS1 in ethylene production and shelf life of apple (Malus domestica Borkh)
    Item type: Journal Article
    Costa, Fabrizio; Stella, Sara; Van de Weg, W. Eric; et al. (2005)
    Euphytica
  • Enhanced polycross breeding of tall fescue through marker-based paternity identification and estimation of combining ability
    Item type: Journal Article
    Pirnajmedin, Fatemeh; Majidi, Mohammad Mahdi; Barre, Philippe; et al. (2020)
    Euphytica
    Half-sib (HS) mating is the most important breeding method of open-pollinated sexual forage grasses such as tall fescue. Progeny testing procedures of half-sib families can only measure general combining ability (GCA) due to the unknown pollen donor. In tall fescue, genetic studies using HS mating and application of molecular markers for paternity identification in polycross progenies are so far limited. In this study, 960 genotypes from sixteen half-sib families of tall fescue derived from polycrosses, along with their corresponding parental genotypes were evaluated for agro-morphological traits in the field during 2016 and 2017. Genetic diversity of the parental genotypes was assessed using twenty EST-SSR markers and then a minimal set of primers was used to identify the most likely male parent in the polycross progenies. Considerable genetic variation was observed among the parental genotypes based on both morphological and molecular assessments. Moderate to high estimates of narrow sense heritability (0.53–0.84) for morphological traits indicated that phenotypic selection can be successful to achieve genetic progress. The EST-SSR markers allowed to identify a unique paternal parent in 177 of the offspring which were divided into 66 full-sib families. The number of genotypes per full-sib family varied from 1 to 11. Marker data used to identify full-sib families, estimate specific combining ability (SCA), and select siblings based on the genetic value of both parents. No clear association was found between GCA of parents and the corresponding SCA for forage yield, indicating that both additive and dominant gene actions may play a role in the genetic control of this trait. The obtained results highlighted the importance of marker-based paternity identification to increase gain from selection in polycross breeding programs of tall fescue. © 2020, Springer Nature B.V.
  • Modern wheat semi-dwarfs root deep on demand: response of rooting depth to drought in a set of Swiss era wheats covering 100 years of breeding
    Item type: Journal Article
    Friedli, Cordula N.; Abiven, Samuel; Fossati, Dario; et al. (2019)
    Euphytica
    Breeding for enhanced rooting depth and root biomass in deeper soil layers is a promising strategy to adapt wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants to drought periods. We evaluated (1) the extent of indirect selection of root traits during the last century of wheat breeding and (2) how it affected the variety performance under well-watered conditions compared to gradually developing drought stress. Fourteen bread wheat genotypes covering 100 years of Swiss wheat breeding were grown in 1.6 m tall columns in the greenhouse under well-watered and drought conditions. Root parameters, such as rooting depth and root biomass and above ground parameters were determined at flowering and maturity. Rooting depth showed a negative trend in response to year of release under well-watered conditions but not under early water stress. Modern varieties responded with enhanced root allocation to deeper soil layers. Consequently, rooting depth was positively correlated with plant height at well-watered conditions but not under early water stress. Considerable genetic variation for rooting depth among modern varieties indicates that the trait is selectable without strong alteration of plant height. We conclude that modern varieties adjusted rooting depth to water demand.
  • Early sex identification by leaflet distance in plantlets of Cycas revoluta
    Item type: Journal Article
    De Luca, Ylenia; Cozzolino, Salvatore; Cristaudo, Antonia; et al. (2024)
    Euphytica
    In dioecious plants, the process of sex determination usually occurs during the reproductive stage. However, it can be challenging to determine the sex of long-lived plants with long generation times. This is true for Cycas revoluta, which produces toxic seeds in female plants, leading to a preference for male plants in public green spaces. In this study we aim to identify a morphological trait that can be used to distinguish between the sexes in C. revoluta at a very early stage of plant growth. We sampled C. revoluta seedlings/plantlets at three different early growth stages and identified the sex of individuals by PCR amplification of a male-specific molecular marker. On the same plants, we measured morphological traits, including the distance between leaflets on the leaf rachis, perimeter, area, number of indents, and leaf complexity, and evaluated their correlation with the sex of the individuals. Among all measured traits, the medium distance between leaflets on the leaf rachis was found to be a sexually dimorphic morphological trait in Cycas plantlets in all three growth stages. In particular, the distance between leaflets on the leaf rachis in the upper part of the leaf in the first stage revealed no overlap between the sexes. Whenever available, morphological traits for sex differentiation in greenhouses and plant nurseries can represent a rapid and economic tool when coupled with automatized image recognition systems.
  • Technology generation to dissemination: lessons learned from the tef improvement project
    Item type: Journal Article
    Cannarozzi, Gina; Chanyalew, Solomon; Assefa, Kebebew; et al. (2018)
    Euphytica
    Indigenous crops also known as orphan crops are key contributors to food security, which is becoming increasingly vulnerable with the current trend of population growth and climate change. They have the major advantage that they fit well into the general socio-economic and ecological context of developing world agriculture. However, most indigenous crops did not benefit from the Green Revolution, which dramatically increased the yield of major crops such as wheat and rice. Here, we describe the Tef Improvement Project, which employs both conventional- and molecular-breeding techniques to improve tef—an orphan crop important to the food security in the Horn of Africa, a region of the world with recurring devastating famines. We have established an efficient pipeline to bring improved tef lines from the laboratory to the farmers of Ethiopia. Of critical importance to the long-term success of this project is the cooperation among participants in Ethiopia and Switzerland, including donors, policy makers, research institutions, and farmers. Together, European and African scientists have developed a pipeline using breeding and genomic tools to improve the orphan crop tef and bring new cultivars to the farmers in Ethiopia. We highlight a new variety, Tesfa, developed in this pipeline and possessing a novel and desirable combination of traits. Tesfa’s recent approval for release illustrates the success of the project and marks a milestone as it is the first variety (of many in the pipeline) to be released.
  • Towards a marker assisted breeding for resistance against apple scab
    Item type: Journal Article
    Gianfranceschi, Luca; McDermott, Joseph M.; Seglias, Nicole; et al. (1994)
    Euphytica
  • Monitoring the dynamics of wheat stem elongation: genotypes differ at critical stages
    Item type: Journal Article
    Kronenberg, Lukas; Yu, Kang; Walter, Achim; et al. (2017)
    Euphytica
    Stem elongation is a critical phase for yield formation in wheat (Triticum aestivum). This study proposes the use of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) for phenotyping of growth dynamics during wheat stem elongation in high temporal resolution and high throughput in the field. TLS was implemented on a novel field phenotyping platform carrying a cable suspended sensor head moveable in 3D over a 1 ha field. Canopy height was recorded on 335 winter wheat genotypes across two consecutive years. Scans were done in 3-d intervals during the stem elongation phase. Per day, 714 plots (two replications plus checks) were scanned within 3.5 h. The results showed that canopy height increased linearly with thermal time. Based on this linearity, 15 and 95% of final height were used as proxy measures for the onset and termination of stem elongation, respectively. We observed high heritability between 0.76 and 0.91 for the onset, termination and duration of stem elongation. The onset of stem elongation showed a positive covariance with the termination of stem elongation and final height indicating some regulatory dependencies. Yet there was no apparent relationship between onset and duration of stem elongation. Due to its precision, the TLS method allows to measure the dynamics of stem elongation in large sets of genotypes. This in turn offers opportunities to investigate the genetic control of the transitions between early vegetative growth, stem elongation and flowering. Understanding the genetic control of these transitions is an important milestone towards knowledge-based crop improvement.
Publications 1 - 10 of 19