Paleolinguistics brings more light on the earliest history of the traditional Eurasian pulse crops

Traditional pulse crops such as pea, lentil, field bean, bitter vetch, chickpea and common vetch originate from Middle East, Mediterranean and Central Asia^1^. They were a part of human diets in hunter-gatherers communities^2^ and are one of the most ancient cultivated crops^3,4^. Europe has always been rich in languages^5^, with individual families still preserving common vocabularies related to agriculture^6,7^. The evidence on the early pulse history witnessed by the attested roots in diverse Eurasian proto-languages remains insufficiently clarified and its potential for supporting archaeobotanical findings is still non-assessed. Here we show that the paleolinguistic research may contribute to archaeobotany in understanding the role traditional Eurasian pulse crops had in the everyday life of ancient Europeans. It was found that the Proto-Indo-European language^8,9^ had the largest number of roots directly related to pulses, such as *arnk(')- (a leguminous plant), *bhabh- (field bean), *erəgw[h]- (a kernel of leguminous plant; pea), *ghArs- (a leguminous plant), *kek-, *k'ik'- (pea) and *lent- (lentil)^10,11,12^, numerous words subsequently related to pulses^13,14^ and borrowings from one branch to another^15^, confirming their essential place in the nutrition of Proto-Indo-Europeans^16,17,18^. It was also determined that pea was the most important among Proto-Uralic people^19,20,21^, while pea and lentil were the most significant in the agriculture of Proto-Altaic people^22,23,24^. Pea and bean were most common among Caucasians^25,26^, Basques^27,28^ and their hypothetical common forefathers^29^ and bean and lentil among the Afro-Asiatic ancestors of modern Maltese^30^. Our results demonstrate that pulses were common among the ancestors of present European nations and that paleolinguistics and its lexicological and etymological analysis may be useful in better understanding the earliest days of traditional Eurasian crops. We believe our results could be a basis for advanced multidisciplinary approach to the pulse crop domestication, involving plant scientists, archaeobotanists and linguists, and for reconstructing even earlier periods of pulse history

Genome-wide association mapping: a case study in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Association-based trait mapping is an innovative methodology based on linkage disequilibrium. Studies in plants, especially in cereals, are rare. A genome-wide association study of wheat is reported, in which a large number of diversity array technology markers was used to genotype a winter wheat core collection of 96 accessions. The germplasm was structured into two sub-populations. Twenty agronomic traits were measured in field trials conducted over up to eight growing seasons. Association analysis was performed with two different approaches, the general linear model incorporating the Q-matrix only and the mixed linear model including also the kinship-matrix. In total, 385 marker-trait associations significant in both models were detected. The intrachromosomal location of many of these coincided with those of known major genes or quantitative trait loci, but others were detected in regions where no known genes have been located to date. These latter presumptive loci provide opportunities for further wheat improvement, based on a marker approach

Determination of Population Structure of Wheat Core Collection for Association Mapping

The microsatellites, as one of the most robust markers for identification of wheat varieties, were used for assessment of genetic diversity and population structure to promote effective use of genetic resources. In this study, the set of 284 wheat varieties were genotyped using 30 microsatellite markers. The chosen SSR markers were located among almost all linkage groups and covered all three genomes. The genotypes used originate from 24 different breeding centers worldwide and are included in an extensive core collection of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad, Serbia. The total number of detected alleles was 349 at all analyzed loci. The average number of detected allelic variant per locus was 11.5. The mean value of polymorphic information content was 0.68. According to the probability of data obtained by program Structure, the results have shown presence of 6 subpopulations within the studied set of genotypes. The population structure positively correlated to some extent with geographic origin. The available pedigree data were included for additional explanation of population structure. The results of this study should provide valuable information for future association studies using the diverse wheat breeding material

Morphogenetic responses of embryo culture of wheat related to environment culture conditions of the explant donor plant

Availability of immature embryos as explants to establish wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by tissue culture can be limited by climatic factors and the lack of high quality embryos frequently hampers experimentation. This study evaluates the effects of rainfall, various temperature-based variables and sunshine duration on tissue culture response (TCR) traits including callus formation (CF), regenerating calli (RC), and number of plants per embryo (PPE) for 96 wheat genotypes of worldwide origin. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the significance of a particular climatic factor on TCR traits and to determine the period of wheat growth during which these factors were the most effective. The genotypes were grown in an experimental field during three seasons differing in meteorological conditions. The relationships between TCR traits and climatic factors within three time periods of wheat growth: 2, 6 and 10 weeks prior to embryo sampling were analysed by biplot analysis. The tissue culture traits were influenced at very different degrees by climatic factors: from 16.8% (RC) to 69.8% (CF). Donor plant environment with high temperatures and low rainfalls reduced (p lt 0.05) the tissue culture performance of wheat genotypes. Callus formation was most sensitive to the temperature based factors. The environmental conditions between flowering and the medium milk stage were the most important for CF, while RC and PPE were not particularly related to any period

Potential uses of microsatellites in marker-assisted selection for improved bread-making quality in wheat

Implementation of marker assisted selection (MAS) in conventional breeding programs could allow assessment of the genetic potential of specific genotypes prior to their phenotypic evaluation. Furthermore, it could identify important trait alleles or marker-trait associations for further determination of a precise position for the loci of interest. Potential uses of microsatellite markers in molecular evaluation of bread-making quality was tested in a sample of 69 wheat genotypes that were genotyped with 3 microsatellites linked to previously mapped QTLs for loaf volume and Hagberg falling number on chromosome 3A. A total of 19 alleles were found, with an average of 6.33 alleles per loci, and average PIC value of 0.40. Specific SSR alleles were tested for association with bread-making related parameters. The association study approach, which uses statistical analysis of marker and phenotypic data, showed significant association of a specific allele at the GWM674 locus with Hagberg falling number in wheat

Genetic architecture of adult plant resistance to leaf rust in a wheat association mapping panel

Leaf rust caused by Puccina triticina is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of wheat (Triticum aestivum). Adult plant resistance (APR) is an effective strategy to achieve long-term protection from the disease. In this study, findings are reported from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using a panel of 96 wheat cultivars genotyped with 874 Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) markers and tested for adult leaf rust response in six field trials. A total of 13 quantitative trait loci (QTL) conferring APR to leaf rust were identified on chromosome arms 1BL, 1DS, 2AS, 2BL, 2DS, 3BS, 3BL, 4AL, 6BS (two), 7DS, 5BL/7BS and 6AL/6BS. Of these, seven QTLs mapped close to known resistance genes and QTLs, while the remaining six are novel and can be used as additional sources of resistance. Accessions with a greater number of combined QTLs for APR showed lower levels of disease severity, demonstrating additive and significant pyramiding effects. All QTLs had stable main effects and they did not exhibit a significant interaction with the experiments. These findings could help to achieve adequate levels of durable resistance through marker-assisted selection and pyramiding resistance QTLs in local germplasm.Fil: Gerard, Guillermo Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales. Centro de Investigacion para la Sustentabilidad de Los Suelos Agrícolas y Forestales; ArgentinaFil: Kobiljski, B.. Biogranum; SerbiaFil: Lohwasser, U.. Leibniz‐Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung; AlemaniaFil: Börner, A.. Leibniz‐Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung; AlemaniaFil: Simon, Maria Rosa. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales. Centro de Investigacion para la Sustentabilidad de Los Suelos Agrícolas y Forestales; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentin

Locating stable across environment QTL involved in the determination of agronomic characters in wheat

The International Triticeae Mapping Initiative (ITMI) recombinant inbred line (RIL) population was used to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying some key agronomic characters in bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.). Trait measurements were taken from five independent field experiments performed in Serbia. Stable across environment QTL involved in the determination of heading/flowering time and ear morphology/grain yield were detected on, respectively, chromosome arms 2DS and 4AL. These map locations are consistent with those obtained where the same population has been grown in contrasting geographical sites. However, as a result of QTL × environment interactions, not all these QTL are expressed in all environments. Nevertheless the (pleiotropic) effect on ear morphology appears to be expressed in almost all environments, and so represents a high value target for wheat improvement