Historical Alfalfa Landraces Perform Higher Yield Under Dry Farming in Turkey

AbstractDrought is a serious abiotic stress affecting crop yield and is an increasingly significant challenge to crop production with the climate change. Cultivars that perform well under limited water are the key for the global food security. One of the main problems for plant breeders is the availability of plant germplasm that could perform well under water limited conditions. There is wealth of wild germplasm adapted to water limited environments but they yield poorly in agricultural systems. However, historical landraces could be the key to counterbalance the yield loses due to increased drought caused by climate change. Alfalfa is a forge legume cultivated throughout the world and affected from drought significantly. USDA Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) has a collection of Turkish alfalfa landraces gathered in second half of the last century. In this study, we evaluated the agronomic performance of a total of 100 historical landraces, wild accessions and modern cultivars in a replicated field trial in two locations in Kars Province of Turkey in order to evaluate the field performance of the accessions under non-irrigated conditions and to compare yield performance of landraces with modern cultivars.The results revealed that when all 100 entries were evaluated, the historical landraces on average perform as high as modern cultivars for the agronomic traits such as total biomass yield and plant height. When the accessions and entries considered separately, the top 20 high yielding accessions were all landraces with a few high performing wild accessions outperforming modern cultivars. The results conclude that historical landraces could directly be used in dry agriculture possess significant alleles for water use efficiency. The outcome of the current study suggests that the evaluation of plant genetic resources, especially historical landraces, under different climate conditions is vital for effective breeding strategies

Abschätzung des Kern-DNA-Gehalts und Bestimmung des Zusammenhangs zwischen Höhenlage und Genomgröße türkischer Haferakzessionen (Avena spp.) aus der USDA-Sammlung]

Crop improvement is an important approach to overcome challenges raised from future uncertainties of agricultural systems and growing human population. The fundamental need for such improvement efforts is the availability of well characterized plant germplasm with sufficient genetic diversity. The 2C DNA is defined as the nuclear DNA content of an unreplicated diploid cell (in G1 phase) and is used both to get an estimate of genome size and ploidy level. Flow cytometry provides accurate and fast estimation of the genome size of plants. The genus Avena belongs to Poaceae (Gramineae) family and includes approximately 30species including common oat (A.sativa). There are 837 Avena accessions in the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Germplasm Resources Information Network (USDA-GRIN) collected from Turkey. This also is the largest ex situ Avena collection from Turkey. However, initial genomic characterization of the collection has not yet been conducted. We estimated genome sizes and determined ploidy levels of Turkish oat collection. Nuclear DNA content of accessions ranged from 25.66 to 26.56pg for A.sativa, from 25.48 to 26.88pg for A.sterilis and from 24.85 to 26.41pg for A.fatua. The average and range values for all three hexaploid species were in asimilar close range. The range for putative tetraploid accessions belonging to A.barbata was from 12.79 to 16.90pg. We found anumber of aggregates. Furthermore, there was anegative correlation found between altitude and genome size. Obtained results will help to better utilize Avena collection in breeding efforts. ZusammenfassungDie Verbesserung von Nutzpflanzen ist ein wichtiger Ansatz, um die Herausforderungen zu bewaltigen, die sich aus den zukunftigen Unsicherheiten der landwirtschaftlichen Systeme und der wachsenden Bevolkerung ergeben. Die Grundvoraussetzung fur solche Verbesserungsbemuhungen ist die Verfugbarkeit von gut charakterisiertem Keimgewebe der Pflanze mit ausreichender genetischer Vielfalt. Die 2C-DNA ist definiert als der Kern-DNA-Gehalt einer nicht replizierten diploiden Zelle (in der G1-Phase) und wird sowohl zur Abschatzung der Genomgro ss e als auch des Ploidiegrads verwendet. Die Durchflusszytometrie ermoglicht eine genaue und schnelle Abschatzung der Genomgro ss e von Pflanzen. Die Gattung Avena gehort zur Familie der Poaceae (Gramineae) und umfasst etwa 30Arten, darunter auch den gemeinen Hafer (A.sativa). Im USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Germplasm Resources Information Network (USDA-GRIN) wurden 837 Avena-Akzessionen aus der Turkei gesammelt. Dies ist gleichzeitig die gro ss te ex-situ-Avena-Sammlung aus der Turkei. Eine erste genomische Charakterisierung der Sammlung ist jedoch noch nicht erfolgt. Wir schatzten die Genomgro ss en und ermittelten die Ploidiegrade der turkischen Hafersammlung. Der Kern-DNA-Gehalt lag bei A.sativa zwischen 25,66 und 26,56pg, bei A.sterilis zwischen 25,48 und 26,88pg und bei A.fatua zwischen 24,85 und 26,41pg. Die Werte fur alle drei hexaploiden Arten lagen in einem ahnlichen Bereich. Die Werte fur mutma ss lich tetraploide Akzessionen von A.barbata lagen zwischen 12,79 und 16,90pg. Wir haben eine Reihe von Aggregaten gefunden. Au ss erdem wurde eine negative Korrelation zwischen Hohenlage und Genomgro ss e festgestellt. Die erzielten Ergebnisse werden dazu beitragen, die Avena-Sammlung besser fur Zuchtungsbemuhungen nutzen zu konnen

Sainfoin Pod Threshing Images

This dataset consists of 500 images of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) seed pods, seed, and split seeds. The images were taken as a part of an experiment to determine minimum sample size of seed pods needed to accurately estimate pod threshing trait heritability within sainfoin breeding lines. The experiment was a complete factorial design with the following factors: Sainfoin named varieties: AAC Mountainview, Delaney, Eski , Rocky Mountain Remont, and Shoshone Sample Size: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 grams of dried seed pods Two different threshing types: Belt thresher processed 3X, Haldrup Impact Thresher (35sec @ Speed 9) This makes for a total factorial combination set of 5 varieties X 5 sample sizes X 2 threshing types = 50. Each combination was comprised of 10 individual replicates where each replicate in a combination was a unique, random sample of seeds of the same mass (So, 10 random, 2g samples of Eski seed, processed by belt thresher; 10 random, 5g samples of Delaney seed processed by the Haldrup thresher, etc.). This makes for a total of 500 experimental units that comprise the sample set. Once the seeds were sampled, weighed, and processed through the threshing equipment, they were weighed again and imaged. The threshed seeds were scattered onto an imaging platform with a blue background, lit by 2 LED panels, and photographed with a Sony ILCE-7RM2 at the following settings: ISO: 100 Exposure: 1/40s Focal Length: 55mm Format: TIFF Size: 7968x5320 The raw images were converted from TIFF files to JPEG format and annotated in image labeling software. The seed objects were annotated with bounding boxes classified as the following classes pod: an enclosed seed pod seed: a seed which was successfully threshed from the legume pod carpel split: a seed threshed from the pod, but which split in two halves during the threshing process All image annotations were exported into the convenient COCO format. No further image processing was performed. The image set was split into a 80/20 training and validation step using `scikit-learn` in Python 3.11 stratifying the datasets equally over the various experimental factor levels. The zip file 'train_val_images.zip' contains a 'train' folder with 400 training images, 'val' containing 100 validation images, an image taken with a color correction card named 'color_test.jpg', and a json file with all the annotations. Another file called 'seed_weights.csv' contains the image_name to global-key mapping in tabular format as well as the before and after threshing seed weights for each experimental sample

Analysis of Large Seeds from Three Different Medicago truncatula Ecotypes Reveals a Potential Role of Hormonal Balance in Final Size Determination of Legume Grains

Legume seeds are important as protein and oil source for human diet. Understanding how their final seed size is determined is crucial to improve crop yield. In this study, we analyzed seed development of three accessions of the model legume, Medicago truncatula, displaying contrasted seed size. By comparing two large seed accessions to the reference accession A17, we described mechanisms associated with large seed size determination and potential factors modulating the final seed size. We observed that early events during embryogenesis had a major impact on final seed size and a delayed heart stage embryo development resulted to large seeds. We also observed that the difference in seed growth rate was mainly due to a difference in embryo cell number, implicating a role of cell division rate. Large seed accessions could be explained by an extended period of cell division due to a longer embryogenesis phase. According to our observations and recent reports, we observed that auxin (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) ratio could be a key determinant of cell division regulation at the end of embryogenesis. Overall, our study highlights that timing of events occurring during early seed development play decisive role for final seed size determinatio

Nutritional quality of Onobrychis viciifolia (Scop.) seeds: A potentially novel perennial pulse crop for human use

Abstract Onobrychis viciifolia (hereafter sainfoin) is an autotetraploid (2n = 4x = 28), allogamous insect‐pollinated perennial legume originating from the Caucasus that has historically been cultivated as a forage. As a perennial legume, sainfoin has the potential to improve the sustainability of agriculture and food systems in multiple ways. Sainfoin can provide continuous living cover and biological nitrogen fixation to enhance soil fertility and health. It can also provide ecosystem services as a resource for pollinators and wildlife in addition to nitrogen fixation. Building on this history of valuable uses, The Land Institute is developing sainfoin as a pulse crop for human use. With the goal of supporting human diets with a sustainable, perennial protein source and nutrient‐dense crop, this innovation requires a thorough understanding of the chemical composition of sainfoin seeds to ensure safety and potential nutritional quality. Using seeds from commercial sainfoin varieties developed for forage production, grown by commercial sainfoin seed growers in the western United States, this study evaluates seed composition as part of an ongoing investigation into sainfoin's potential as a novel pulse. We found crude protein content (38.78%) comparable with soybean and lupine, fat content (6.96%) comparable with lupine and chickpea, and starch (7.1%) and dietary fiber content (48.96%) comparable with lupine. Phytic acid content was higher than pulses (1790.89 mg). Ash (3.81%), iron (64.14 ppm), and zinc contents (61.63 ppm) were in the higher end of the range for pulses. This study indicates that sainfoin could become a novel, nutrient‐dense crop for human nutrition. Future studies are required to further characterize seed composition and safety and demonstrate how common legume processing techniques may influence nutritional quality

Perennial Baki™ Bean Safety for Human Consumption: Evidence from an Analysis of Heavy Metals, Folate, Canavanine, Mycotoxins, Microorganisms and Pesticides

Global food production relies on annual grain crops. The reliability and productivity of these crops are threatened by adaptations to climate change and unsustainable rates of soil loss associated with their cultivation. Perennial grain crops, which do not require planting every year, have been proposed as a transformative solution to these challenges. Perennial grain crops typically rely on wild species as direct domesticates or as sources of perenniality in hybridization with annual grains. Onobrychis spp. (sainfoins) are a genus of perennial legumes domesticated as ancient forages. Baki™ bean is the tradename for pulses derived from sainfoins, with ongoing domestication underway to extend demonstrated benefits to sustainable agriculture. This study contributes to a growing body of evidence characterizing the nutritional quality of Baki™ bean. Through two studies, we investigated the safety of Baki™ bean for human consumption. We quantified heavy metals, folate, and canavanine for samples from commercial seed producers, and we quantified levels of mycotoxins, microorganisms, and pesticides in samples from a single year and seed producer, representing different varieties and production locations. The investigated analytes were not detectable or occurred at levels that do not pose a significant safety risk. Overall, this study supports the safety of Baki™ bean for human consumption as a novel pulse crop