Zanemarene gajene mahunarke Srbije - bob (Vicia faba)

Faba bean is cultivated locally in Serbia with no available official data. The collection at Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad contains 141 accessions of food and feed faba bean. Forage yields in faba bean may surpass 40 t ha-1 of green forage and 8 t ha-1 of forage dry matter, while grain yields are often higher than 5 t ha-1. Faba bean may produce more than 1,500 kg ha-1 of forage crude protein and about 2,000 kg ha-1 of grain crude protein, as well as more than 250 kg ha-1 of above-ground biomass nitrogen. The first Serbian feed faba bean breeding programme, carried out at Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad, resulted in registration of two cultivars in 2007, Gema and Šarac, with more than 4,500 kg ha-1 of grain and more than 45 t ha-1 of green forage.Bob se u Srbiji gaji lokalno i bez zvaničnih podataka. Zbirka Instituta za ratarstvo i povrtarstvo u Novom Sadu sadrži 141 akcesiju povrtarskog i stočnog boba. Prinosi krme boba mogu da premaše 40 t ha-1 zelene krme i 8 t ha-1 suve materije krme, dok su prinosi zrna često veći od 5 t ha-1. Bob može da proizvede više od 1.500 kg ha-1 sirovih proteina krme i oko 2.000 kg ha-1 sirovih proteina zrna, kao i više od 250 kg ha-1 azota nadzemne biomase. U okviru prvog srpskog programa oplemenjivanja boba, koji se odvija u Institutu za ratarstvo i povrtarstvo u Novom Sadu, tokom 2007. stvorene su i priznate dve sorte, Gema i Šarac, sa prinosima od više od 4.500 kg ha-1 zrna i više od 45 t ha-1 zelene krme

Plant genetic resources and their use in organic agriculture

Organic agriculture and plant genetic resources are closely related topics, as organic farming relies on the conservation and use of diverse and adapted varieties of crops. Plant genetic resources are the raw materials that can help improve the productivity and quality of organic agriculture, as well as enhance its resilience to environmental stresses and pests. Organic agriculture also contributes to the in-situ conservation of plant genetic resources by maintaining and selecting local varieties that have a high degree of genetic variability. An important goal of the ECOBREED project is to identify genetic and phenotypic variations for morphological, abiotic/biotic tolerances/resistance and nutritional quality traits that can be used in organic breeding. The first step to achieve this goal was to make the inventory of available genotypes of four crops: wheat, potato, soybean, and buckwheat. For this purpose, we have examined genetic resources of four crops stored in gene banks, used in previous European and national research projects, and available through plant breeding programmes and seed companies. We have also used agronomic data on available and used varieties in organic farming, varieties characterized by good disease resistance and quality. Selected 200 wheat genotypes originate from 12 different European countries, 197 potato accessions were identified from several databases, the list contains 242 soybean accessions that originated all around the world and of buckwheat were identified through international databases. Much of the material represents cultivars that were released in the last two decades and are included in either the European list or national lists

On the Coevolution of Transposable Elements and Plant Genomes

Plant genomes are unique in an intriguing feature: the range of their size variation is unprecedented among living organisms. Although polyploidization contributes to this variability, transposable elements (TEs) seem to play the pivotal role. TEs, often considered intragenomic parasites, not only affect the genome size of the host, but also interact with other genes, disrupting and creating new functions and regulatory networks. Coevolution of plant genomes and TEs has led to tight regulation of TE activity, and growing evidence suggests their relationship became mutualistic. Although the expansions of TEs represent certain costs for the host genomes, they may also bring profits for populations, helping to overcome challenging environmental (biotic/abiotic stress) or genomic (hybridization and allopolyploidization) conditions. In this paper, we discuss the possibility that the possession of inducible TEs may provide a selective advantage for various plant populations

Diversity of Leaf Cuticular Transpiration and Growth Traits in Field-Grown Wheat and Aegilops Genetic Resources

Plants are subjected to unregulated water loss from their surface by cuticular transpiration. Therefore, specific morphophysiological changes may occur during leaf development to eliminate water loss. This study aimed to examine the cuticular transpiration of 23 winter wheat genotypes and their wild-growing predecessors of the genus Aegilops, which were divided into three groups to demonstrate their diversity. The genotypes were sown in autumn and grown in regular field trials at the Research Institute of Plant Production in Piešťany, Slovakia. Cuticular transpiration and growth parameters were analyzed in the postanthesis growth stage. Gravimetric measurement of residual water loss was performed on detached leaves with a precisely measured leaf area. The lowest nonproductive transpiration values were observed in modern wheat genotypes, while higher cuticular transpiration was observed in a group of landraces. Aegilops species generally showed the highest cuticular transpiration with increased water loss, but the total water loss per plot was low due to the low leaf area of the wild wheat relatives. Some of the growth parameters showed a good correlation with cuticular transpiration (e.g., dry mass per plant), but direct relationships between leaf traits and cuticular transpiration were not observed. This study identified a high diversity in cuticular resistance to water loss in wheat and Aegilops accessions of different origins. The potential of identifying and exploiting genetic resources with favorable cuticular transpiration in crop breeding is discussed

CHARACTERIZATION OF GLIADIN AND HMW GLUTENIN PROTEIN COMPOSITION IN COLOURED WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.) VARIETIES

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Wheat is one of the most important grains in our daily diet. Coloured wheat contains natural anthocyanin compounds. Bioactive compounds in wheat have attracted increasingly more interest from breeders because of their benefits. It is important to fully understand protein properties of red, blue, purple, and yellow-coloured wheat in order to predict their potential uses for culturing new varieties. All 21 accessions originating from different geographical areas of world were evaluated for high molecular weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS) and T1BL.1RS wheat-rye translocation using SDS-PAGE and A-PAGE. The data indicated the prevalence of the allele 1 (36%), allele 0 (30%) and allele 2* (34%) at the Glu-1A and five alleles, namely 7+8 (36%), 7+9 (29%), 20 (21%), 7 (12%) and 17+18 (2%) represented the Glu-1B. Existence of 2 alleles at the locus Glu-1D was revealed, in fact 21% of them showed the subunit pairs Glu-1D 5+10 correlated with good bread making properties. Protein subunit Glu-1A1 and Glu-1A2* were correlated positively with improved dough strength as compared to subunit null. On the chromosome Glu-1B subunit 17+18 and 7+8 were associated with slightly stronger gluten type than 7+9, whereas subunit 20 and 7 were associated with weak gluten properties. On the basis of electrophoretic separation of gliadin fraction it was found that only one genotype contained T1BL.1RS wheat-rye translocation. The Glu-1 quality score ranged from 4 to 10. Suitable accessions can be used for the crossing programs to improve colour and good technological quality of bread wheat.&nbsp; </em><br /><br /><strong>doi:10.5219/161</strong></span

Evaluation of Hyperspectral Reflectance Parameters to Assess the Leaf Water Content in Soybean

Nondestructive assessment of water content and water stress in plants is an important component in the rational use of crop irrigation management in precision agriculture. Spectral measurements of light reflectance in the UV/VIS/NIR region (350&ndash;1075 nm) from individual leaves were acquired under a rapid dehydration protocol for validation of the remote sensing water content assessment in soybean plants. Four gravimetrical approaches of leaf water content assessment were used: relative water content (RWC), foliar water content as percent of total fresh mass (FWCt), foliar water content as percent of dry mass (FWCd), and equivalent water thickness (EWT). Leaf desiccation resulted in changes in optical properties with increasing relative reflectance at wavelengths between 580 and 700 nm. The highest positive correlations were observed for the relations between the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) and EWT (rP = 0.860). Data analysis revealed that the specific water absorption band at 970 nm showed relatively weaker sensitivity to water content parameters. The prediction of leaf water content parameters from PRI measurements was better with RMSEs of 12.4% (rP = 0.786), 9.1% (rP = 0.736), and 0.002 (rP = 0.860) for RWC, FWCt, and EWT (p &lt; 0.001), respectively. The results may contribute to more efficient crop water management and confirmed that EWT has a statistically closer relationship with reflectance indices than other monitored water parameters

Molecular Characterization of Potato Virus Y (PVY) Using High-Throughput Sequencing: Constraints on Full Genome Reconstructions Imposed by Mixed Infection Involving Recombinant PVY Strains

In recent years, high throughput sequencing (HTS) has brought new possibilities to the study of the diversity and complexity of plant viromes. Mixed infection of a single plant with several viruses is frequently observed in such studies. We analyzed the virome of 10 tomato and sweet pepper samples from Slovakia, all showing the presence of potato virus Y (PVY) infection. Most datasets allow the determination of the nearly complete sequence of a single-variant PVY genome, belonging to one of the PVY recombinant strains (N-Wi, NTNa, or NTNb). However, in three to-mato samples (T1, T40, and T62) the presence of N-type and O-type sequences spanning the same genome region was documented, indicative of mixed infections involving different PVY strains variants, hampering the automated assembly of PVY genomes present in the sample. The N- and O-type in silico data were further confirmed by specific RT-PCR assays targeting UTR-P1 and NIa genomic parts. Although full genomes could not be de novo assembled directly in this situation, their deep coverage by relatively long paired reads allowed their manual re-assembly using very stringent mapping parameters. These results highlight the complexity of PVY infection of some host plants and the challenges that can be met when trying to precisely identify the PVY isolates involved in mixed infectio

ECOBREED–increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of organic crop breeding

The ECOBREED project is coordinated by the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia and is carried out in collaboration with 25 partner organisations representing 15 countries: AT, CN, CZ, DE, ES, GR, HU, IT, PL, RO, RS, SI, SK, UK and USA. ECOBREED will improve the availability of seed and varieties suitable for organic and low- input production. Activities will focus on four crop species, selected for their potential contribution to increase competitiveness of the organic sector, i.e. wheat (both common Triticum aestivum L. and durum Triticum durum L.), potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), soybean (Glycine max (L). Merr), and common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.). The project will develop (a) methods, strategies and infrastructures for organic breeding, (b) varieties with improved stress resistance, resource use efficiency and quality and (c) improved methods for the production of high-quality organic seed. The objectives of the project are: •To increase the availability of seeds and varieties for the organic and low-input sector •To identify traits and combinations of traits suited to organic and low-input production environment including high nutrient use efficiency and weed competitiveness/ allelopathy •To increase breeding activities for organic and low-input crop production. •ECOBREED will increase the competitiveness of the organic and low-input breeding and farming sectors by: •Identifying genetic and phenotypic variation in morphological, abiotic/biotic tolerance/resistance and nutritional quality traits that can be used in organic breeding •Evaluation of the potential of genetic variation for enhanced nutrient acquisition •Evaluation of the potential for increased weed competitiveness and control •Optimisation of seed production/multiplication via improved agronomic and seed treatment protocols •Developing efficient, ready-to-use farmer participatory breeding systems •Pre-breeding of elite varieties for improved agronomic performance, biotic/abiotic stress resistance/tolerance and nutritional quality •Development of training programmes in (a) genomic tools/techniques, (b) PPB and (c) use and application of improved phenotyping capabilities. •Ensuring optimum and rapid utilisation and exploitation of project deliverables and innovations by relevant industry and other user/stakeholder groups