The effect of light intensity on the production of oat (Avena sativa L.) doubled haploids through oat × maize crosses

Oat haploid embryos were obtained by wide crossing with maize. The effect of light intensity during the growing period of donor plants (450 and 800 µmol m−2 s−1) and in vitro cultures (20, 40, 70 and 110 µmol m−2 s−1) was examined for the induction and development of oat DH lines. Oat florets (26008) from 32 genotypes were pollinated with maize and treated with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. All the tested genotypes formed more haploid embryos when donor plants were grown in a greenhouse (9.4%) compared to a growth chamber (6.1%). The light intensity of 110 µmol m−2 s−1 during in vitro culture resulted in the highest percentage of embryo germination (38.9%), conversion into plants (36.4%) and DH line production (9.2%) when compared with lower light intensities (20, 40 and 70 µmol m−2 s−1). The results show that the growth conditions of the donor plant and light intensity during in vitro culture can affect the development of haploid embryos. This fact may have an impact on oat breeding programs using oat × maize crosses

Obtaining of winter rye (Secale cereale L. ssp. cereale) haploid embryos through hybridization with maize (Zea Mays L.)

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of selected factors on rye (Secale cereale L.) haploid embryo production by the wide crossing method. The study was performed on fifteen winter rye genotypes. This is the first time for rye when besides the genotype, on the enlargement of ovaries and haploid embryo production, such factors as: type of auxin analogues 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid (dicamba) and 4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropyridine-2-carboxylic acid (picloram), and the time between florets emasculation and pollination were investigated. All factors had a significant impact on rye ovary enlargement, however the haploid embryo formation depended only on rye genotype, not on kind of auxin and days between emasculation to pollination. In total, twenty one haploid embryos were formed by six genotypes of fifteen tested. On average, 13.86% (after 2,4-D treatment) to 20.05% (after dicamba treatment) enlarged ovaries per emasculated florets were obtained. Most of the ovaries enlarged when florets were pollinated 4 and 6 days after emasculation. Most of the haploid embryos formed when florets were pollinated 6 days after emasculation. The obtained haploid embryos did not germinate

Chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters in the evaluation of oat DH lines yield components

Chlorophyll a fluorescence can provide insight into the ability of plants to tolerate environmental conditions that can damage photosynthetic apparatus and decrease yield. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters and yield components of oat DH lines. All DH lines significantly differed in chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters and yield components. The overall performance index of PSII photochemistry (PI), showed the highest variation between DH lines, whereas the lowest had the ratio of variable to maximum fluorescence (Fv/Fm). The highest differences were observed in the number of grains per plant (21.3 to 600). Thousand-grain weight varied from 17.82 g to 41.01 g and the biomass from 8.01 g to 29.31 g. The highest negative correlations were found between Fv/Fm, Area (pool size of electron acceptors from PSII), PI and grain number per plant and biomass. Positive correlations were observed between light energy absorption (ABS/CS), grain number per plant and biomass, as well as the amount of excitation energy trapped in PSII reaction centers (TRo/CS) and biomass. Principal component analysis of chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters, together with yield components, discriminated two oat DH lines groups according to their photosynthetic efficiency and yield

UV-B radiation modifies the acclimation processes to drought or cadmium in wheat

Under natural conditions plants are often subjected to multiple stress factors. The main aim of the present work was to reveal how UV-B radiation affects acclimation to other abiotic stressors. Wheat seedlings grown under normal light conditions or normal light supplemented with UV-B radiation were exposed to drought or Cd stress and were screened for changes in the contents of salicylic acid and its putative precursor ortho-hydroxy-cinnamic acid, and in the activity of the key synthesis enzyme, phenylalanine ammonia lyase. Certain other protective mechanisms, such as antioxidant enzyme activities and polyamines, were also investigated. PEG treatment under UV-B radiation did not cause wilting, but resulted in more pronounced salicylic acid accumulation, which may provide protection against drought stress in wheat plants. In contrast, the high level of salicylic acid accumulation in Cd-treated plants was not further enhanced by UV-B stress, but resulted in pronounced oxidative stress and the activation of antioxidant systems and polyamine synthesis. Changes in the levels of phenolic compounds are accompanied by increased phenylalanine ammonia lyase activity in the roots, but not in the leaves. The similar pattern observed for stress-induced changes in salicylic acid and ortho-hydroxy-cinnamic acid contents suggested that salicylic acid may play a decisive role via ortho-hydroxy-cinnamic acid. The results indicated that UV-B radiation might have either a positive or negative impact under the same conditions in wheat, depending on the type of secondary abiotic stress factor. The protective or damaging effects observed may be related to changes in the levels of phenolic compounds

Genetic prediction of male pattern baldness

Male pattern baldness can have substantial psychosocial effects, and it has been phenotypically linked to adverse health outcomes such as prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease. We explored the genetic architecture of the trait using data from over 52,000 male participants of UK Biobank, aged 40-69 years. We identified over 250 independent genetic loci associated with severe hair loss (P<5x10-8). By splitting the cohort into a discovery sample of 40,000 and target sample of 12,000, we developed a prediction algorithm based entirely on common genetic variants that discriminated (AUC = 0.78, sensitivity = 0.74, specificity = 0.69, PPV = 59%, NPV = 82%) those with no hair loss from those with severe hair loss. The results of this study might help identify those at greatest risk of hair loss, and also potential genetic targets for intervention

Evaluation of the predictive capacity of DNA variants associated with straight hair in Europeans

DNA-based prediction of hair morphology, defined as straight, curly or wavy hair, could contribute to an improved description of an unknown offender and allow more accurate forensic reconstructions of physical appearance in the field of forensic DNA phenotyping. Differences in scalp hair morphology are significant at the worldwide scale and within Europe. The only genome-wide association study made to date revealed the Trichohyalin gene (TCHH) to be significantly associated with hair morphology in Europeans and reported weaker associations for WNT10A and FRAS1 genes. We conducted a study that centered on six SNPs located in these three genes with a sample of 528 individuals from Poland. The predictive capacity of the candidate DNA variants was evaluated using logistic regression; classification and regression trees; and neural networks, by applying a 10-fold cross validation procedure. Additionally, an independent test set of 142 males from six European populations was used to verify performance of the developed prediction models. Our study confirmed association of rs11803731 (TCHH), rs7349332 (WNT10A) and rs1268789 (FRAS1) SNPs with hair morphology. The combined genotype risk score for straight hair had an odds ratio of 2.7 and these predictors explained similar to 8.2% of the total variance. The selected three SNPs were found to predict straight hair with a high sensitivity but low specificity when a 10-fold cross validation procedure was applied and the best results were obtained using the neural networks approach (AUC = 0.688, sensitivity = 91.2%, specificity = 23.0%). Application of the neural networks model with 65% probability threshold on an additional test set gave high sensitivity (81.4%) and improved specificity (50.0%) with a total of 78.7% correct calls, but a high non-classification rate (66.9%). The combined TTGGGG SNP genotype for rs11803731, rs7349332, rs1268789 (European frequency = 4.5%) of all six straight hair-associated alleles was identified as the best predictor, giving >80% probability of straight hair. Finally, association testing of 44 SNPs previously identified to be associated with male pattern baldness revealed a suggestive association with hair morphology for rs4679955 on 3q25.1. The study results reported provide the starting point for the development of a predictive test for hair morphology in Europeans. More studies are now needed to discover additional determinants of hair morphology to improve the predictive accuracy of this trait in forensic analysis. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved