Selection of winter cereals for organic agriculture

Productivity in agriculture has more than tripled in developed countries since the 1950s. Beyond the success of plant breeding, the increased use of inorganic fertilizers, application of pesticides, and spread of irrigation also contributed to this success. However, impressive yield increases started to decline in the 1980s because of the lack of sustainability. One of the most beneficial ways to increase sustainability is organic agriculture. In such systems the prerequisite of successful farming is the availability of crop genotypes that perform well. However, selection of winter cereals for sub-optimal growing conditions is still neglected, and the organic seed market also lacks of information on credibly tested varieties suitable for organic agriculture

The identification of wheat genetic resources with high dietary fiber content

The quality properties of different variety mixtures and composite cross populations were studied with the aim of identifying genotypes with high dietary fiber content and to cultivate and examine the effect of these components on the end-use quality. Based on the results of a Europe-wide trial, we could detect two populations and variety mixtures which had significantly higher total (TOTAX) and water extractable arabinoxylan (WEAX) content, than most of the studied genotypes, with positive effect on the human health. These populations/mixtures are promising dietary fiber resources and suitable not only for organic but also for conventional farming, especially in Central Europe. The seeds of the best population (Mv Elit CCP) was multiplied to supply it for interested farmers in Hungary in the frame of the European trial on organic heterogeneous materials

Performance and selection of winter durum wheat genotypes in different European conventional and organic fields

Sustainability is a key factor for the future of agriculture. Productivity in agriculture has more than tripled in developed countries since the 1950s. Beyond the success of plant breeding, the increased use of inorganic fertilizers, application of pesticides, and spread of irrigation also contributed to this success. However, impressive yield increases started to decline in the 1980s because of the lack of sustainability. One of the most beneficial ways to increase sustainability is organic agriculture. In such agro-ecosystem-based holistic production systems the prerequisite of successful farming is the availability of crop genotypes that perform well. However, selection of winter durum wheat for sub-optimal growing conditions is still mainly neglected, and the organic seed market also lacks of information on credibly tested winter durum varieties suitable for organic agriculture

Comparison of bread wheat varieties with different breeding origin under organic and low input management

The aims of the study were to compare 37 bread wheat varieties with different breeding origin under conventional and organic farming conditions in Hungary and Austria for three years and to identify traits highly sensitive to management systems that could be separated according to their suggested selecting environments. According to the results, heading date, sensitivity to leaf rust and powdery mildew had high heritability, thus, for economic reasons, it is reasonable to select for these traits in conventional fields even if the selection target is organic agriculture. On the contrary, selection for grain yield, test weight, leaf-inclination and vigorous growth should be done later in the target environment. It was concluded that the selecting environment has measurable effects on the performance of bread wheat varieties. Our results could help organic breeders in their selection work, especially in the continental climatic zone of Europe

Functional compounds of einkorn and emmer genotypes

Three einkorn and two emmer genotypes were analysed for concentration of microelements (Fe, Zn and Se) and lipid soluble antioxidants (α-tocopherol, α-tocotrienol and β-carotene). A diversity was observed in micronutrient content, but most of the genotypes have significantly higher trace element and antioxidant contents than the control wheat variety. The emmer genotypes contain lower Fe and β-carotene concentration than einkorn genotypes. The einkorn genotypes have significant higher antioxidant content than the wheat control. On average einkorn has more than three times more β-carotene than the wheat variety. Our results are useful for species/variety choice in functional food production not only for organic but also for conventional farmers, who have/want to operate under low input conditions, especially in Central Europe

IT background of the medium-term storage of Martonvásár Cereal Genebank resources in phytotron cold rooms

Genebanks are storage facilities designed to maintain the plant genetic resources of crop varieties (and their wild relatives) and to ensure that they are made available and distributed for use by plant breeders, researchers and farmers. The Martonvásár Cereal Genebank (MV-CGB) collection evolved from the working collections of local breeders and consists predominantly of local and regional materials. Established in 1992 by the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Bedő, 2009), MVCGB with its over 10,000 accessions of the major species (Triticum, Aegilops, Agropyron, Elymus, Thinopyrum, Pseudoroegneria, Secale, Hordeum, Avena, Zea mays), became one of the approx. 80 cereal germplasm collections that exist globally. In Martonvásár breeding is underway on a number of cereal species, and large numbers of genotypes are tested each year in the field and under laboratory conditions. The increasing size of the research programmes assisted by a modern genebank background involve an enormous increase in the quantity of data that must be handled during research activities such as traditional breeding, pre-breeding and organic breeding. A computerized system is of primary importance to synchronize breeding and genebank activities, to monitor the quality and quantity of seed accessions in cold storage, to assist the registration of samples, and to facilitate characterization, regeneration and germplasm distribution

Late Pleistocene paleosol formation in a dynamic aggradational microenvironment - A case study from the Malá nad Hronom loess succession (Slovakia)

The geomorphological characteristics of the loess succession at Malá nad Hronom (Slovakia) mean that it provides a valuable opportunity for the investigation of differences in soil formation in various topographic positions. Along with the semiquantitative characterization of the paleosols (on the basis of physical properties, texture, the characteristics of peds, clay films, horizon boundaries), high-resolution field magnetic susceptibility measurements and sampling were carried out along four different sections of the profile. Samples for luminescence dating were also taken, in order to establish the chronostratigraphical position of the paleosols studied. The comparison of various proxies revealed the differences in soil formation in a dynamic aggradational microenvironment for the same paleosol horizons located in various positions along the slope. Contrary to expectation, paleosols developed in local top or slope topographical positions did not display significant differences in e.g. in their degree of development, nor the characteristics of their magnetic susceptibility curves. In the case of paleosols in positions lower down the slope, signs of quasi-permanent sediment input could be recognized as being present as early as during the formation of the soil itself. This sediment input would seem to be surpassed in the case of pedogenesis strengthened by the climate of the last interglacial (marine isotope stage - MIS 5). Pedogenesis seems to be sustained by renewed intense dust accumulation in the Late Pleistocene, in MIS 3, though compared to MIS 5, the climate of MIS 3 did not favor intense pedogenesis. Despite the general belief that loess series formed in plateau positions can preserve terrestrial records without significant erosion, in the case of the Malá nad Hronom loess this is not so. Compared to the sequence affected by erosional events in the local top position, the sequence affected by quasi-continuous sediment input in the lower slope position seems to have preserved the soil horizons intact.International Visegrad Fund (project Number 11410020). The paper was also supported by a long-term conceptual development subvention available to research organizations RVO: 68145535 from the Institute of Geonics AS CR, by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract No. APVV-0625-11 (project “A new synthesis of the Western Carpathians landform evolution – preparation of the database for testing of key hypotheses”. B. Bradák acknowledges the financial support of project BU235P18 (Junta de Castilla y Leon, Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERD), project PID2019-108753GB-C21 / AECI / 10.13039/501100011033 of the Agencia Estatal de Investigación and project PID2019-105796GB-100 / AECI / 10.13039/501100011033 of the Agencia Estatal de Investigación

Expression of Protease-Activated Receptor 1 and 2 and Anti-Tubulogenic Activity of Protease-Activated Receptor 1 in Human Endothelial Colony-Forming Cells

Endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) are obtained from the culture of human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (hPBMNC) fractions and are characterised by high proliferative and pro-vasculogenic potential, which makes them of great interest for cell therapy. Here, we describe the detection of protease-activated receptor (PAR) 1 and 2 amongst the surface proteins expressed in ECFCs. Both receptors are functionally coupled to extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1 and 2, which become activated and phosphorylated in response to selective PAR1- or PAR2-activating peptides. Specific stimulation of PAR1, but not PAR2, significantly inhibits capillary-like tube formation by ECFCs in vitro, suggesting that tubulogenesis is negatively regulated by proteases able to stimulate PAR1 (e.g. thrombin). The activation of ERKs is not involved in the regulation of tubulogenesis in vitro, as suggested by use of the MEK inhibitor PD98059 and by the fact that PAR2 stimulation activates ERKs without affecting capillary tube formation. Both qPCR and immunoblotting showed a significant downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor 2 (VEGFR2) in response to PAR1 stimulation. Moreover, the addition of VEGF (50–100 ng/ml) but not basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) (25–100 ng/ml) rescued tube formation by ECFCs treated with PAR1-activating peptide. Therefore, we propose that reduction of VEGF responsiveness resulting from down-regulation of VEGFR2 is underlying the anti-tubulogenic effect of PAR1 activation. Although the role of PAR2 remains elusive, this study sheds new light on the regulation of the vasculogenic activity of ECFCs and suggests a potential link between adult vasculogenesis and the coagulation cascade

Cytomolecular identification of individual wheat-wheat chromosome arm associations in wheat-rye hybrids

Chromosome pairing in the meiotic metaphase I of wheatrye hybrids has been characterized by sequential genomic and fluorescent in situ hybridization allowing not only the discrimination of wheat and rye chromosomes, but also the identification of the individual wheat and rye chromosome arms involved in the chromosome associations. The majority of associations (93.8%) were observed between the wheat chromosomes. The largest number of wheat-wheat chromosome associations (53%) was detected between the A and D genomes, while the frequency of B-D and A-B associations was significantly lower (32 and 8%, respectively). Among the A-D chromosome associations, pairing between the 3AL and 3DL arms was observed with the highest frequency, while the most frequent of all the chromosome associations (0.113/ cell) was found to be the 3DS-3BS. Differences in the pairing frequency of the individual chromosome arms of wheat-rye hybrids have been discussed in relation to the homoeologous relationships between the constituent genomes of hexaploid wheat

A versatile modular vector set for optimizing protein expression among bacterial, yeast, insect and mammalian hosts

We have developed a unified, versatile vector set for expression of recombinant proteins, fit for use in any bacterial, yeast, insect or mammalian cell host. The advantage of this system is its versatility at the vector level, achieved by the introduction of a novel expression cassette. This cassette contains a unified multi-cloning site, affinity tags, protease cleavable linkers, an optional secretion signal, and common restriction endonuclease sites at key positions. This way, genes of interest and all elements of the cassette can be switched freely among the vectors, using restriction digestion and ligation without the need of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This vector set allows rapid protein expression screening of various hosts and affinity tags. The reason behind this approach was that it is difficult to predict which expression host and which affinity tag will lead to functional expression. The new system is based on four optimized and frequently used expression systems (Escherichia coli pET, the yeast Pichia pastoris, pVL and pIEx for Spodoptera frugiperda insect cells and pLEXm based mammalian systems), which were modified as described above. The resulting vector set was named pONE series. We have successfully applied the pONE vector set for expression of the following human proteins: the tumour suppressor RASSF1A and the protein kinases Aurora A and LIMK1. Finally, we used it to express the large multidomain protein, Rho-associated protein kinase 2 (ROCK2, 164 kDa) and demonstrated that the yeast Pichia pastoris reproducibly expresses the large ROCK2 kinase with identical activity to the insect cell produced counterpart. To our knowledge this is among the largest proteins ever expressed in yeast. This demonstrates that the cost-effective yeast system can match and replace the industry-standard insect cell expression system even for large and complex mammalian proteins. These experiments demonstrate the applicability of our pONE vector set