Intra-population genetic variance for grain iron and zinc contents and agronomic traits in pearl millet

AbstractCrop biofortification is a sustainable approach for fighting micronutrient malnutrition in the world. The estimation of variance components in genetically broad-based populations provides information about their genetic architecture, allowing the design of an appropriate biofortification breeding method for cross-pollinated crops such as pearl millet. The objective of this study was to estimate intra-population genetic variance using self (S1) and half-sib (HS) progenies in two populations, AIMP92901 and ICMR312. Field trials were evaluated in two contrasting seasons (2009 rainy and 2010 summer; otherwise called environments) in Alfisols at ICRISAT, Patancheru. Analyses of variance showed highly significant variation for S1s and HS progenies, reflecting high within-population genetic variation for both micronutrients and other key traits. However, the HS showed narrow ranges and lower genetic variances than the S1 for all of the traits. The micronutrients were highly positively correlated in S1 (r=0.77 to 0.86; P<0.01) and HS (r=0.74 to 0.77; P<0.01) progenies of both populations, implying concurrent genetic improvement for both micronutrients. The genetic variance component was different among populations for Fe and Zn contents across environments, with AIMP92901 showing a greater proportion of dominance and ICMR312 greater additive variance for these micronutrients. The estimates of variance (additive and dominance) were specific for each population, given their dependence on the additive and dominance effects of the segregating loci, which also differ among populations. The possible causes for such differences were discussed. The results showed that the expression of these micronutrients in pearl millet shows largely additive variance, so that breeding high-iron hybrids will require incorporation of these micronutrient traits into both parental lines

Burden of musculoskeletal disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 1990–2013: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

Moradi-Lakeh M, Forouzanfar MH, Vollset SE, et al. Burden of musculoskeletal disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 1990–2013: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 2017;76(8):annrheumdis-2016-210146

Global, regional, and national burden of traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, 1990-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) are increasingly recognised as global health priorities in view of the preventability of most injuries and the complex and expensive medical care they necessitate. We aimed to measure the incidence, prevalence, and years of life lived with disability (YLDs) for TBI and SCI from all causes of injury in every country, to describe how these measures have changed between 1990 and 2016, and to estimate the proportion of TBI and SCI cases caused by different types of injury. METHODS: We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study 2016 to measure the global, regional, and national burden of TBI and SCI by age and sex. We measured the incidence and prevalence of all causes of injury requiring medical care in inpatient and outpatient records, literature studies, and survey data. By use of clinical record data, we estimated the proportion of each cause of injury that required medical care that would result in TBI or SCI being considered as the nature of injury. We used literature studies to establish standardised mortality ratios and applied differential equations to convert incidence to prevalence of long-term disability. Finally, we applied GBD disability weights to calculate YLDs. We used a Bayesian meta-regression tool for epidemiological modelling, used cause-specific mortality rates for non-fatal estimation, and adjusted our results for disability experienced with comorbid conditions. We also analysed results on the basis of the Socio-demographic Index, a compound measure of income per capita, education, and fertility. FINDINGS: In 2016, there were 27·08 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 24·30-30·30 million) new cases of TBI and 0·93 million (0·78-1·16 million) new cases of SCI, with age-standardised incidence rates of 369 (331-412) per 100 000 population for TBI and 13 (11-16) per 100 000 for SCI. In 2016, the number of prevalent cases of TBI was 55·50 million (53·40-57·62 million) and of SCI was 27·04 million (24·98-30·15 million). From 1990 to 2016, the age-standardised prevalence of TBI increased by 8·4% (95% UI 7·7 to 9·2), whereas that of SCI did not change significantly (-0·2% [-2·1 to 2·7]). Age-standardised incidence rates increased by 3·6% (1·8 to 5·5) for TBI, but did not change significantly for SCI (-3·6% [-7·4 to 4·0]). TBI caused 8·1 million (95% UI 6·0-10·4 million) YLDs and SCI caused 9·5 million (6·7-12·4 million) YLDs in 2016, corresponding to age-standardised rates of 111 (82-141) per 100 000 for TBI and 130 (90-170) per 100 000 for SCI. Falls and road injuries were the leading causes of new cases of TBI and SCI in most regions. INTERPRETATION: TBI and SCI constitute a considerable portion of the global injury burden and are caused primarily by falls and road injuries. The increase in incidence of TBI over time might continue in view of increases in population density, population ageing, and increasing use of motor vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles. The number of individuals living with SCI is expected to increase in view of population growth, which is concerning because of the specialised care that people with SCI can require. Our study was limited by data sparsity in some regions, and it will be important to invest greater resources in collection of data for TBI and SCI to improve the accuracy of future assessments

Iron pearl millet

Non-PRIFPRI2; CRP4; HarvestPlusHarvestPlus; A4NHCGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH

Variability and relationships among forage yield and quality traits in pearl millet

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.], owing to its high photosynthetic efficiency and biomass production ability, fewer disease and insect pest problems, and tolerance to multiple environmental stresses, is a valuable forage crop, especially in view of climate change consequences. Nine open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) and 27 top-cross hybrids made on three male-sterile lines (A-lines) were evaluated in Alfisols at ICRISAT, Patancheru in the rainy season for two years. When harvested at 50 days after sowing, top-cross hybrids out-yielded OPVs, on an average, by about 30%, most likely due to relatively earlier flowering and higher biomass accumulation. At 80 d harvest, the dry forage yield of OPVs was similar to those of the hybrids. Forage nitrogen (N), in vitro digestibility and metabolizable energy content were used as laboratory fodder quality traits. Significant differences among the OPVs and among the hybrids were observed for these three quality traits, both at 50 d and 80 d harvest. While forage N declined by 49% at 80 d harvest, in vitro digestibility and metabolizable energy declined by 16-18%. At 50 d harvest, forage N content, in vitro digestibility and metabolizable energy were all significantly negatively correlated with forage yield both in OPVs and hybrids. At 80 d harvest, forage yield was not associated with any of the three quality traits in OPVs. In hybrids, forage yield was significantly negatively correlated with forage N content, while it was significantly positively correlated with the other two quality traits. These results indicate better prospects of combining high forage yield with high levels of in vitro digestibility and metabolizable energy in hybrids than in OPVs of pearl millet

Fast-track approach to breeding high-iron pearl millet cultivars

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.], is an important food and nutritional security cereal, grown on more than 28 million ha in some of the most marginal dryland environments in the arid and semi-arid tropical regions of Africa and Asia (largely India). The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in alliance with the HarvestPlus, has undertaken biofortification research to develop high-iron cultivars of this crop. As a fast-track approach, high-iron open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) and hybrid parents identified from the mainstream breeding program; which did not include Fe density as a target trait, have been used to breed cultivars with enhanced iron (Fe) density. For instance, exploitation of intra-population variability in ICTP 8203, a high-Fe commercial OPV in India, led to the development of its higher-Fe version, released at All India level as Dhanashakti, which had 71 mg kg-1 Fe density (9% higher than ICTP 8203). It also had 11% higher grain yield. Dhanashakti has now been adopted by 60,000 farmers. Intra-population improvement for Fe density in three other OPVs has led to similar results. Two high-Fe hybrids (ICMH 1201 and ICMH 1301) were developed by crossing high-Fe hybrid parents identified from the mainstream breeding program, which have the Fe density similar to that of Dhanashakti but 33-38% higher grain yield. ICMH 1201 is being commercialized using Truthfully Labeled Seed by a seed company, reaching 35,000 farmers in 2014. ICMH 1201, ICMH 1301, along with several other high-Fe hybrids, are at advanced testing stage in the national and state trials. Further, within-line selection in the parental lines of hybrid ICMH 1201 produced sub-hybrids that had significant variability among them, with some sub-hybrids having 7-12% higher Fe density and 4-8% higher grain yield than ICMH 1201

Variability in stover quality traits in commercial hybrids of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) and grain-stover trait relationships

Pearl millet stover is an important cattle feed particularly in arid areas and nutritional quality traits of the stover become more and more important. Eight commercial and two experimental hybrids of pearl millet were evaluated for stover fodder quality traits and their potential trade-off with stover and grain yield. The stover quality traits analyzed were nitrogen, in vitro digestibility and metabolisable energy content. Highly significant (P<0.01) variations were observed for grain yields (2860 to 4220 kg/ha), stover yields (range 3760 to 4930 kg/ha), stover nitrogen (0.62 to 1.10%), stover in vitro digestibility (37.6 to 46.7%) and stover metabolisable energy (5.26 to 6.88 MJ/kg). Stover nitrogen content was negatively associated with grain and stover yield but no such trade-offs were observed between stover in vitro digestibility and metabolisable energy contents on one hand and grain and stover yield on the other. Hybrid GK 1044 had the lowest stover nitrogen content (0.62%) and highest stover digestibility (46.7%) and metabolisable energy (6.88 MJ/kg), while MLBH 267 with the highest stover nitrogen (1.10%) and the lowest stover digestibility (37.6%) and metabolisable energy (5.26 MJ/kg). These two contrasting hybrids were re-planted on large plots in the second year and their stover tested in vivo with sheep as sole feed. Digestible organic matter intake was significantly higher in GK 1044 than in MLBH 267 (13.5 versus 12.5 gram per kg live weight) and nitrogen balance tended (P<0.10) to be more favourable in GK 1044 than in MLBH 267 (−0.008 versus -0.10 gram per kg live weight. These results show that among commercial high-yielding pearl millet hybrids, some can be found with high grain and stover yield, high stover digestibility and metabolisable energy. The observations from the feeding trial suggest that stover in vitro digestibility and metabolisable energy are more important than stover nitrogen content in determining stover quality

A simple and rapid screening method for grain zinc content in pearl millet

Field and laboratory studies were conducted in Andhra Pradesh, India, to evaluate the effectiveness of a rapid screening method using Perl's Prussian blue stain for screening grain samples from different pearl millet genotypes for zinc (Zn) content. A total of 29 entries representing a wide range of grain Zn concentrations was evaluated in 5 different seasons for genotype × environment interaction. The estimation of grain Zn content was done using the sib-mated grain samples from the 2005 rainy and 2006 summer seasons following the AAS method. Of these, 9 pearl millet genotypes with a wide range of grain Zn content were chosen to standardize the DTZ staining procedure. The procedure was further validated using the grain samples of the remaining 20 entries obtained from sib-mating. Results showed that whole grain flour of pearl millet genotypes with different Zn concentrations, when treated with DTZ stain, showed an increase in the intensity of red colour formation with increasing Zn concentration. The intensity of red colour varied in genotypes having low, medium and high grain Zn content. In genotypes having high Zn content, the red colour was more intense than in those having medium Zn content. The intensity of red colour was very less or none in genotypes having less than 37 mg Znkg. DTZ staining can therefore be useful at least in separating flour samples with Zn concentrations lower than 40 mgkg. These results suggested that DTZ staining was effective in separating genotypes with high and low Zn contents. The cost analysis of DTZ staining protocol showed that the chemical cost per sample was approximately US$ 0.75, which showed that this method was simple, rapid and inexpensive