Agronomic and seed traits of soybean lacking seed lipoxygenase isozymes

No differences (P\u3e 0.05) were found between the mean performance of triple-null and normal lines for seed yield, maturity, lodging resistance, seed weight, and seed protein content. Mean plant height of normal lines was greater (P \u3c0.01) than triple-null lines by 4 cm and mean seed oil content of normal lines was greater (P\u3c0.01) than triple-null lines by 3 g kg-ù It will be possible to develop seed lipoxygenase-free soybean cultivars with desirable agronomic and seed characteristics.Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] seeds contain three lipoxygenase isozymes that cause off-flavors in soy protein-containing foods. The use of lipoxygenase-free soybean seed for food applications may be desirable. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of genetically eliminating the lipoxygenase isozymes on agronomic and seed traits of soybean. From the backcross of the three lipoxygenase-null alleles lx₁lx₂lx₃ into \u27IA2020\u27, 27 BC₁F₂ -derived lines lacking the three isozymes (triple-null) and 27 BC₁F₂ derived lines containing the three isozymes (normal) were identified. The lines were evaluated in a replicated test during 1996 at three locations in Iowa. There were significant differences (P \u3c0.01) among locations for all traits measured, except for maturity

Assessment of plant introductions for increasing the genetic variability of soybean populations

Plant introductions (PIs) may increase the genetic variability of soybean populations and lead to greater genetic gains from selection. Five soybean populations containing different percentages of PI parentage were developed at Iowa State University to evaluate the use of PIs for increasing genetic variability for seed yield in a recurrent selection program. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance and genetic variability of the Cycle 4 (C4) populations of AP 10 (100 % PI), AP 11 (75 % PI), AP12 (50 % PI), AP13 (25 % PI), and AP14 (0 % PI) for agronomic traits and seed composition. Multiplexing technology for simple sequence repeats (SSRs) was developed to facilitate the molecular diversity analysis of the elite and PI parents of AP 10 to AP 14. The mean performance of the C4 populations for seed yield was inversely proportional to the percentage of PI parentage that was initially present in CO. Genetic variance estimates for seed yield were similar among populations, indicating that the PIs did not provide greater genetic variability when recurrent selection was conducted for four cycles. AP 10 to AP 13 had higher means and more genetic variability for seed weight and, in particular, protein content, suggesting PIs may be valuable for the simultaneous improvement of yield and protein in a recurrent selection program. Eleven multiplex sets comprising 74 SSR markers were developed to analyze the molecular diversity of the PI and elite parents of AP 10 to AP 14. Results from the analysis showed greater diversity and less genetic similarity among the PIs than among the elite genotypes. The least amount of genetic similarity was between the PIs and elite genotypes. The ability of SSRs to distinguish among elite soybean genotypes and PIs with agronomic merit may facilitate the transfer of favorable alleles from PIs into elite populations

A study on premenstrual syndrome symptoms and their association with sleep quality in nursing staff

Background: Symptoms in the premenstrual period can be debilitating and troublesome and impacts the general health of women. There is a dearth of studies examining the relationship between sleep quality and premenstrual symptoms in women, especially in Indian settings. The current study was conducted with the aim of looking at the frequency of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in different age groups and the association of these symptoms with sleep quality in nursing staff.Methods: The cross-sectional study involved 450 female nursing staff between 25- 50 years of age from various tertiary care hospitals who were administered the Premenstrual Tension Syndrome Rating Scale (PMTS) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The data was then statistically analyzed.Results: The prevalence of premenstrual symptoms was found to be 85.6% amongst the participants (according to the ACOG criteria), while the proportion of females suffering from PMS (according to DSM IVTR criteria) was 36.5%. A correlation analysis between total scores of PMTS and PSQI showed a positive, linear and significant association.Conclusions: The intensity of PMS was associated with reduction in sleep quality in present study. Further studies on PMS and sleep related parameters need to carry out in larger samples to give impetus to our findings

RNA-Seq Analysis of a Soybean Near-Isogenic Line Carrying Bacterial Leaf Pustule-Resistant and -Susceptible Alleles

Bacterial leaf pustule (BLP) disease is caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycines (Xag). To investigate the plant basal defence mechanisms induced in response to Xag, differential gene expression in near-isogenic lines (NILs) of BLP-susceptible and BLP-resistant soybean was analysed by RNA-Seq. Of a total of 46 367 genes that were mapped to soybean genome reference sequences, 1978 and 783 genes were found to be up- and down-regulated, respectively, in the BLP-resistant NIL relative to the BLP-susceptible NIL at 0, 6, and 12h after inoculation (hai). Clustering analysis revealed that these genes could be grouped into 10 clusters with different expression patterns. Functional annotation based on gene ontology (GO) categories was carried out. Among the putative soybean defence response genes identified (GO:0006952), 134 exhibited significant differences in expression between the BLP-resistant and -susceptible NILs. In particular, pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) and damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) receptors and the genes induced by these receptors were highly expressed at 0 hai in the BLP-resistant NIL. Additionally, pathogenesis-related (PR)-1 and -14 were highly expressed at 0 hai, and PR-3, -6, and -12 were highly expressed at 12 hai. There were also significant differences in the expression of the core JA-signalling components MYC2 and JASMONATE ZIM-motif. These results indicate that powerful basal defence mechanisms involved in the recognition of PAMPs or DAMPs and a high level of accumulation of defence-related gene products may contribute to BLP resistance in soybean

SSR and AFLP based genetic diversity of soybean germplasm differing in photoperiod sensitivity

Forty-four soybean genotypes with different photoperiod response were selected after screening of 1000 soybean accessions under artificial condition and were profiled using 40 SSR and 5 AFLP primer pairs. The average polymorphism information content (PIC) for SSR and AFLP marker systems was 0.507 and 0.120, respectively. Clustering of genotypes was done using UPGMA method for SSR and AFLP and correlation was 0.337 and 0.504, respectively. Mantel's correlation coefficients between Jaccard's similarity coefficient and the cophenetic values were fairly high in both the marker systems (SSR = 0.924; AFLP = 0.958) indicating very good fit for the clustering pattern. UPGMA based cluster analysis classified soybean genotypes into four major groups with fairly moderate bootstrap support. These major clusters corresponded with the photoperiod response and place of origin. The results indicate that the photoperiod insensitive genotypes, 11/2/1939 (EC 325097) and MACS 330 would be better choice for broadening the genetic base of soybean for this trait