Molecular and cellular studies of early endosperm development in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Barley grain is an important commercial crop, being used mainly as an animal feed and in the production of malt for the brewing and distilling industries. The protein and carbohydrate composition of the endosperm (the major storage tissue) determines the grain quality and suitability for different end uses. The differentiation and maturation stages of endosperm development have been extensively studied. However, little is known about the cellular and molecular biology of the syncytial and cellularisation stages of development which occur within the first 8 days post anthesis (DPA). Events occurring during this period of development are particularly important as the overall pattern for the development and structure of the grain is laid down. Patterns of gene expression during the syncytial and cellularisation stages were investigated. A cDNA library was constructed from whole caryopses aged between 1 and 10 DPA. This cDNA library was then differentially screened using mRNA from 3 and 10 DPA caryopses. Northern and dot blot analysis led to the isolation of a number of clones which appear to show variation in level of expression. Partial sequencing of some of these clones and FASTA analysis (Genetics Computer Group, 1991) has shown four clones to have significant identity to sequences in the databases. These clones were clone 27B which showed identity to Ketol acid reductoisomerase (KARI) sequences, clone 16D which showed identity to Caffeoyl CoA-O-methyltransferase (CCoAOMT) sequences, clone 3B which showed identity to sucrose synthase sequences and clone 16B which showed identity to blue copper-binding protein sequences. A further 4 clones which were sequenced showed no significant identity to data base entries following FASTA analysis (Genetics Computer Group, 1991). The temporal and spatial distribution of these clones within tissues of barley caryopses was then analysed by in-situ hybrdisation. None were found to be associated uniquely with the endosperm tissues of barley caryopses. However, there were indications that the expression of the genes represented by the cDNA clones might vary during the course of development. Immunolocation studies utilising a set of JIM (John Innes Monoclonal) antibodies (and MAC207), which recognise carbohydrate epitopes of arabinogalactan proteins (AGP) were also carried out. AGPs have been associated with the plant cell surface and have been ascribed a number of possible functions related to developmental processes. The temporal and spatial distribution of AGPs within barley endosperm was analysed using sections from fixed and embedded barley caryopses and immunolocalisation techniques at the light microscope level. This revealed that at least one AGP epitope, recognised by JIM13, was expressed during early barley grain formation. JIM 13 binding was observed in developing barley caryopses at the beginning of endosperm cellularisation. It was localised to the first anticlinal and then periclinal endosperm cell walls, to the crease region and the nucellar/endosperm boundary. It was not observed in any caryopsis tissue at the earlier stage of syncytial endosperm and unfortunately its distribution could not be studied at later stages of endosperm development because of poor structural integrity within the sections

Proceedings of the International Conference on Genetic Improvement of Sorghum and Pearl Millet

In 1971, an international symposium, Sorghum in the Seventies , organized by the All India Coordinated Sorghum Improvement Project with support from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Rockefeller Foundation was held in Hyderabad, India. The symposium reviewed the current knowledge base of the scientific, production and nutritional aspects of sorghum as a crop and as a human food. In 1981, ICRISAT, INTSORMIL, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) sponsored Sorghum in the Eighties , an international symposium at ICRISAT Center in India, to review the achievements accomplished in sorghum research during the preceding 10 years. They reviewed sorghum\u27s role as an important cereal food, feed, construction material, and fuel in the developed and developing countries. In 1994, after discussion among INTSORMIL and ICRISAT scientists, it was recognized that an international meeting on the genetic improvement of grain sorghum and pearl millet was needed and would be strongly supported by the international sorghum and millet research community. Those discussions led to the September 1996 International Conference on Genetic Improvement of Sorghum and Pearl Millet. Grain sorghum and pearl millet are major food grains in the semiarid tropics of Africa, India, and South America. Sorghum ranks fifth among the world\u27s cereals, following wheat, maize, rice, and barley. F AO includes all millets together in its production estimates. Current estimates indicate that annual world sorghum production is approximately 61 million metric tons and world millet production is approximately 20 million metric tons. The inaugural speaker of this 1996 conference, Dr. Leland House, indicated global population is projected to increase to nine billion people by the year 2030 and is projected to increase most rapidly in the developing world. This will create a growing demand for food, as well as potential new market opportunities for food products developed from these basic grains

Between Thames and Medway: Archaeological excavations on the Hoo Peninsula and its environs

Between 2005 and 2013, Archaeology South-East undertook four excavations on the southern part of the Isle of Thanet, Kent. The sites fall broadly into two divisions, along geographic and thematic lines: the Bradstow School and Hereson School sites in Broadstairs were located on prehistoric round barrows and their associated features; and the Manston Road and St Lawrence College sites in Ramsgate largely had evidence of prehistoric to medieval rural land use, including burial and settlement

Artificial Neural Networks in Agriculture

Modern agriculture needs to have high production efficiency combined with a high quality of obtained products. This applies to both crop and livestock production. To meet these requirements, advanced methods of data analysis are more and more frequently used, including those derived from artificial intelligence methods. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are one of the most popular tools of this kind. They are widely used in solving various classification and prediction tasks, for some time also in the broadly defined field of agriculture. They can form part of precision farming and decision support systems. Artificial neural networks can replace the classical methods of modelling many issues, and are one of the main alternatives to classical mathematical models. The spectrum of applications of artificial neural networks is very wide. For a long time now, researchers from all over the world have been using these tools to support agricultural production, making it more efficient and providing the highest-quality products possible

Cereal Genomics

Cereals make an important component of daily diet of a major section of human population, so that their survival mainly depends on the cereal grain production, which should match the burgeoning human population. Due to painstaking efforts of plant breeders and geneticists, at the global level, cereal production in the past witnessed a steady growth. However, the cereal production in the past has been achieved through the use of high yielding varieties, which have a heavy demand of inputs in the form of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides/pesticides, leading to environmental degradation. In view of this, while increasing cereal production, one also needs to keep in mind that agronomic practices used for realizing high productivity do not adversely affect the environment. Improvement in cereal production in the past was also achieved through the use of alien genetic variation available in the wild relatives of these cereals, so that conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources is another important area, which is currently receiving the attention of plant breeders. The work leading to increased cereal production in the past received strong support from basic research on understanding the cereal genomes, which need to be manipulated to yield more from low inputs without any adverse effects as above. Through these basic studies, it also became fairly apparent that the genomes of all cereals are related and were derived from the same lineage, million of years ago

Cereal Genomics II

During the last decades, major advances have been made in the field of cereal genomics. For instance, high-density genetic maps, physical maps, QTL maps and even draft genome sequence have become available for several cereal species. This has been facilitated by the development of next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, so that, it is now possible to sequence genomes of hundreds or thousands of accessions of an individual cereal crop. Significant amounts of data generated using these latest NGS technologies created a demand for computational tools to analyse this massive data. These developments related to technology and the tools, along with their applications not only to plant and genome biology but also to breeding have been documented in this volume. The volume, entitled “Cereal Genomics II”, therefore supplements the earlier edited volume “Cereal Genomics” published in 2004. The new volume has updated chapters, from the leading authorities in their fields, on molecular markers, next generation sequencing platform and their use for QTL analysis, domestication studies, functional genomics and molecular breeding. In addition, there are also chapters on computational genomics, whole genome sequencing and comparative genomics of cereals. The book should prove useful to students, teachers and young research workers as a ready reference to the latest information on cereal genomics

The Evolution of Agriculture, Food and Drink in the Ancient Niger River Basin: Archaeobotanical studies from Mali and Benin

This doctoral thesis examines the evolution of the agricultural and food economies that supported the communities that gave rise to complex societies in West Africa, as well as the agricultural systems that sustained the succeeding polities around the Niger River Valley. One of the major goals of my thesis was to reconstruct the evolution of food and beer systems, including both production and consumption. The aim of my thesis goes beyond simply documenting the arrival of new practices or new crop taxa. It also addresses the consumption practices that these crops gave rise to, and how they became embedded in the social, economic, political and environmental history of past African societies. The time period covered by this research (from 2000 BC. Until Today) witnesses climatic fluctuations, with continual oscillations between dry and humid phases. Many social changes also occurred during this period. One of the most important modifications in the African landscape, during the first and second millennium AD, is the growth of the West African states and empires, such as those of Ghana and Mali, as well as various Songhay polities. The extension and maturation of these political entities likely impacted on local agricultural systems, urbanization, and trade networks. The history and peopling of West Africa, and particularly in the Niger River area, is connected to issues of food consumption and social organisation. Indeed, we also have to study the ethno-historic framework of the area. This research includes an analysis of archaeobotanical material recovered from sites located in North Benin and Mali. The 13 sites from Benin were excavated for the ‘Crossroad of empires’ ERC project during three field seasons (2012-14). As for the samples from Malian sites, 4 were recovered by Kevin MacDonald during excavations in the 1990s, Sadia in Dogon country was excavated by the APA Swiss project in 2010-11 and Togu 2A excavated by Daouda Keita (Université des sciences Socials et Géstion, Bamako, Mali) for the Markadugu Project led by Nikolas Gestrich from the Frobenius Institute (Frankfurt, Germany)