“Wild barley serves as a source for biofortification of barley grains”

The continuing growth of the human population creates an inevitable necessity for higher crop yields, which are mandatory for the supply with adequate amounts of food. However, increasing grain yield may lead to a reduction of grain quality, such as a decline in protein and mineral nutrient concentrations causing the so-called hidden hunger. To assess the interdependence between quantity and quality and to evaluate the biofortification potential of wild barley, we conducted field studies, examining the interplay between plant development, yield, and nutrient concentrations, using HEB-YIELD, a subset of the wild barley nested association mapping population HEB-25. A huge variation of nutrient concentration in grains was obtained, since we identified lines with a more than 50% higher grain protein, iron, and zinc concentration in comparison to the recurrent parent ‘Barke’. We observed a negative relationship between grain yield and nutritional value in barley, indicated by predominantly negative correlations between yield and nutrient concentrations. Analyzing the genetic control of nutrient concentration in mature grains indicated that numerous genomic regions determine the final nutritional value of grains and wild alleles were frequently associated with higher nutrient concentrations. The targeted introgression of wild barley alleles may enable biofortification in future barley breeding.</p

Barley yield formation under abiotic stress depends on the interplay between flowering time genes and environmental cues

Abstract Since the dawn of agriculture, crop yield has always been impaired through abiotic stresses. In a field trial across five locations worldwide, we tested three abiotic stresses, nitrogen deficiency, drought and salinity, using HEB-YIELD, a selected subset of the wild barley nested association mapping population HEB-25. We show that barley flowering time genes Ppd-H1, Sdw1, Vrn-H1 and Vrn-H3 exert pleiotropic effects on plant development and grain yield. Under field conditions, these effects are strongly influenced by environmental cues like day length and temperature. For example, in Al-Karak, Jordan, the day length-sensitive wild barley allele of Ppd-H1 was associated with an increase of grain yield by up to 30% compared to the insensitive elite barley allele. The observed yield increase is accompanied by pleiotropic effects of Ppd-H1 resulting in shorter life cycle, extended grain filling period and increased grain size. Our study indicates that the adequate timing of plant development is crucial to maximize yield formation under harsh environmental conditions. We provide evidence that wild barley alleles, introgressed into elite barley cultivars, can be utilized to support grain yield formation. The presented knowledge may be transferred to related crop species like wheat and rice securing the rising global food demand for cereals

Tortuosity and Microstructure Effects in Porous Media

This open access book presents a thorough look at tortuosity and microstructure effects in porous materials. The book delivers a comprehensive review of the subject, summarizing all key results in the field with respect to the underlying theories, empirical data available in the literature, modern methodologies and calculation approaches, and quantitative relationships between microscopic and macroscopic properties. It thoroughly discusses up to 20 different types of tortuosity and introduces a new classification scheme and nomenclature based on direct geometric tortuosities, indirect physics-based tortuosities, and mixed tortuosities (geometric and physics-based). The book also covers recent progress in 3D imaging and image modeling for studying novel aspects of tortuosity and associated transport properties in materials, while providing a comprehensive list of available software packages for practitioners in the community. This book is a must-read for researchers and students in materials science and engineering interested in a deeper understanding of microstructure–property relationships in porous materials. For energy materials in particular, such as lithium-ion batteries, tortuosity is a key microstructural parameter that can greatly impact long-term material performance. Thus, the information laid out in this book will also greatly benefit researchers interested in computational modeling and design of next-generation materials, especially those for sustainability and energy applications

Optimizing the procedure of grain nutrient predictions in barley via hyperspectral imaging

Hyperspectral imaging enables researchers and plant breeders to analyze various traits of interest like nutritional value in high throughput. In order to achieve this, the optimal design of a reliable calibration model, linking the measured spectra with the investigated traits, is necessary. In the present study we investigated the impact of different regression models, calibration set sizes and calibration set compositions on prediction performance. For this purpose, we analyzed concentrations of six globally relevant grain nutrients of the wild barley population HEB-YIELD as case study. The data comprised 1,593 plots, grown in 2015 and 2016 at the locations Dundee and Halle, which have been entirely analyzed through traditional laboratory methods and hyperspectral imaging. The results indicated that a linear regression model based on partial least squares outperformed neural networks in this particular data modelling task. There existed a positive relationship between the number of samples in a calibration model and prediction performance, with a local optimum at a calibration set size of ~40% of the total data. The inclusion of samples from several years and locations could clearly improve the predictions of the investigated nutrient traits at small calibration set sizes. It should be stated that the expansion of calibration models with additional samples is only useful as long as they are able to increase trait variability. Models obtained in a certain environment were only to a limited extent transferable to other environments. They should therefore be successively upgraded with new calibration data to enable a reliable prediction of the desired traits. The presented results will assist the design and conceptualization of future hyperspectral imaging projects in order to achieve reliable predictions. It will in general help to establish practical applications of hyperspectral imaging systems, for instance in plant breeding concepts

Klimaneutrales Deutschland : von der Zielsetzung zur Umsetzung - Vertiefung der Szenariopfade ; Studie

Die deutsche Wirtschaft steckt in einer Krise, gleichzeitig verschärft sich die globale Klimakrise. Damit sich die deutsche Industrie zukunftsfähig aufstellen kann, muss ihre Wettbewerbsfähigkeit gestärkt werden. Dies geht einher mit der Chance, international eine Vorreiterstellung im Bereich der klimaneutralen Zukunftstechnologien einzunehmen. Dafür haben das Wuppertal Institut und die Universität Kassel im Rahmen der Agora-Studie "Klimaneutrales Deutschland - Von der Zielsetzung zur Umsetzung" einen Zielpfad für die Transformation des Industriesektors erarbeitet. Die vorliegende Vertiefung der Szenariopfade zeichnet Wege, wie die deutsche Industrie das Klimaschutzziel für 2030 erreichen kann und gleichzeitig Kurs auf eine klimapositive Produktion bis 2045 nimmt

Wild barley, a resource to optimize yield stability and quality of elite barley : kumulative Dissertation

Die Wildgerstenpopulation Halle Exotic Barley-YIELD (HEB-YIELD), ist eine Subpopulation der „nested association mapping“ Population HEB-25, welche verwendet wurde um die Bedeutung der Pflanzenentwicklung auf abiotische Stresstoleranz (Stickstoffmangel, Trocken- & Salzstress) und Ertragsbildung innerhalb eines weltweiten Feldversuchs zu untersuchen. Mit Dundee (UK), Halle (GER), Al-Karak (JOR), Dubai (UAE) und Adelaide (AUS) standen fünf sehr unterschiedliche Umwelten zur Verfügung. Des Weiteren konnte durch signifikante Effekte von vier Hauptblühgenen (Ppd-H1, Sdw1, Vrn-H1 and Vrn-H3) auf Pflanzentwicklung, Ertragskomponenten, Kornertrag und Korninhaltsstoffen die Wichtigkeit der Pflanzenentwicklung bestätigt werden. Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass eine ausgeprägte negative Korrelation zwischen Ertrag und Kornqualität in Gerste besteht. Die nasschemische Analyse von Korninhaltstoffen ist kostspielig, allerdings kann sie teilweise durch den Einsatz von hyperspektraler Bildgebung ersetzt werden. Der Erfolg von hyperspektraler Bildgebung ist maßgeblich durch ausgereifte Kalibrationsmodellen beeinflusst.The wild barley population Halle Exotic Barley-YIELD (HEB-YIELD), a subset of the nested association mapping population HEB-25, has been used to investigate the importance of plant development on abiotic stress tolerance (nitrogen deficiency, drought stress & salt stress) and yield formation in a worldwide field study. The locations encompassed a diverse set of environments, Dundee (UK), Halle (GER), Al-Karak (JOR), Dubai (UAE) and Adelaide (AUS). Furthermore, the relevance of plant development has been highlighted by uncovering significant effects of four major flowering time loci (Ppd-H1, Sdw1, Vrn-H1 and Vrn-H3) on plant development itself, as well as on yield components, grain yield and grain nutrient concentration. It could be demonstrated that there exists a pronounced negative relationship between yield and grain quality in barley. Exemplified by low nutrient concentrations in high yielding genotypes. The classic analysis of grain quality is expensive, but can be partly replaced by the application of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) as shown for mature barley grains of HEB-YIELD. For the success of HSI a trustworthy calibration model is essential

Barley yield formation under abiotic stress depends on the interplay between flowering time genes and environmental cues

Since the dawn of agriculture, crop yield has always been impaired through abiotic stresses. In a field trial across five locations worldwide, we tested three abiotic stresses, nitrogen deficiency, drought and salinity, using HEB-YIELD, a selected subset of the wild barley nested association mapping population HEB-25. We show that barley flowering time genes Ppd-H1, Sdw1, Vrn-H1 and Vrn-H3 exert pleiotropic effects on plant development and grain yield. Under field conditions, these effects are strongly influenced by environmental cues like day length and temperature. For example, in Al-Karak, Jordan, the day length-sensitive wild barley allele of Ppd-H1 was associated with an increase of grain yield by up to 30% compared to the insensitive elite barley allele. The observed yield increase is accompanied by pleiotropic effects of Ppd-H1 resulting in shorter life cycle, extended grain filling period and increased grain size. Our study indicates that the adequate timing of plant development is crucial to maximize yield formation under harsh environmental conditions. We provide evidence that wild barley germplasm, introgressed into elite barley cultivars, can be utilized to improve grain yield. The presented knowledge may be transferred to related crop species like wheat and rice securing the rising global food demand for cereals