Genomics-Integrated Breeding for Carotenoids and Folates in Staple Cereal Grains to Reduce Malnutrition

Globally, two billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. Cereal grains provide more than 50% of the daily requirement of calories in human diets, but they often fail to provide adequate essential minerals and vitamins. Cereal crop production in developing countries achieved remarkable yield gains through the efforts of the Green Revolution (117% in rice, 30% in wheat, 530% in maize, and 188% in pearl millet). However, modern varieties are often deficient in essential micronutrients compared to traditional varieties and land races. Breeding for nutritional quality in staple cereals is a challenging task; however, biofortification initiatives combined with genomic tools increase the feasibility. Current biofortification breeding activities include improving rice (for zinc), wheat (for zinc), maize (for provitamin A), and pearl millet (for iron and zinc). Biofortification is a sustainable approach to enrich staple cereals with provitamin A, carotenoids, and folates. Significant genetic variation has been found for provitamin A (96–850 mg and 12–1780 mg in 100 g in wheat and maize, respectively), carotenoids (558–6730 mg in maize), and folates in rice (11–51 mg) and wheat (32.3–89.1 mg) in 100 g. This indicates the prospects for biofortification breeding. Several QTLs associated with carotenoids and folates have been identified in major cereals, and the most promising of these are presented here. Breeding for essential nutrition should be a core objective of next-generation crop breeding. This review synthesizes the available literature on folates, provitamin A, and carotenoids in rice, wheat, maize, and pearl millet, including genetic variation, trait discovery, QTL identification, gene introgressions, and the strategy of genomics-assisted biofortification for these traits. Recent evidence shows that genomics-assisted breeding for grain nutrition in rice, wheat, maize, and pearl millet crops have good potential to aid in the alleviation of micronutrient malnutrition in many developing countries

Comparative Profiling of Volatile Compounds in Popular South Indian Traditional and Modern Rice Varieties by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry Analysis

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the major cereal crops cultivated across the world, particularly in Southeast Asia with 95% of global production. The present study was aimed to evaluate the total phenolic content (TPC) and to profile all the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of eight popular traditional and two modern rice varieties cultivated in South India. Thirty-one VOCs were estimated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The identified volatile compounds in the 10 rice varieties belong to the chemical classes of fatty acids, terpenes, alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, phenols, esters, amides, and others. Interestingly, most of the identified predominant components were not identical, which indicate the latent variation among the rice varieties. Significant variations exist for fatty acids (46.9–76.2%), total terpenes (12.6–30.7%), total phenols (0.9–10.0%), total aliphatic alcohols (0.8–5.9%), total alkanes (0.5–5.1%), and total alkenes (1.0–4.9%) among the rice varieties. Of all the fatty acid compounds, palmitic acid, elaidic acid, linoleic acid, and oleic acid predominantly varied in the range of 11.1–33.7, 6.1–31.1, 6.0–28.0, and 0.7–15.1%, respectively. The modern varieties recorded the highest palmitic acid contents (28.7–33.7%) than the traditional varieties (11.1–20.6%). However, all the traditional varieties had higher linoleic acid (10.0–28.0%) than the modern varieties (6.0–8.5%). Traditional varieties had key phenolic compounds, stearic acid, butyric acid, and glycidyl oleate, which are absent in the modern varieties. The traditional varieties Seeraga samba and Kichilli samba had the highest azulene and oleic acid, respectively. All these indicate the higher variability for nutrients and aroma in traditional varieties. These varieties can be used as potential parents to improve the largely cultivated high-yielding varieties for the evolving nutritionalmarket. The hierarchical cluster analysis showed three different clusters implying the distinctness of the traditional and modern varieties. This study provided a comprehensive volatile profile of traditional and modern rice as a staple food for energy as well as for aroma with nutrition

Primary stroke prevention worldwide : translating evidence into action

Funding Information: The stroke services survey reported in this publication was partly supported by World Stroke Organization and Auckland University of Technology. VLF was partly supported by the grants received from the Health Research Council of New Zealand. MOO was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (SIREN U54 HG007479) under the H3Africa initiative and SIBS Genomics (R01NS107900, R01NS107900-02S1, R01NS115944-01, 3U24HG009780-03S5, and 1R01NS114045-01), Sub-Saharan Africa Conference on Stroke Conference (1R13NS115395-01A1), and Training Africans to Lead and Execute Neurological Trials & Studies (D43TW012030). AGT was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. SLG was supported by a National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellowship and an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council synergy grant. We thank Anita Arsovska (University Clinic of Neurology, Skopje, North Macedonia), Manoj Bohara (HAMS Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal), Denis ?erimagi? (Poliklinika Glavi?, Dubrovnik, Croatia), Manuel Correia (Hospital de Santo Ant?nio, Porto, Portugal), Daissy Liliana Mora Cuervo (Hospital Moinhos de Vento, Porto Alegre, Brazil), Anna Cz?onkowska (Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland), Gloria Ekeng (Stroke Care International, Dartford, UK), Jo?o Sargento-Freitas (Centro Hospitalar e Universit?rio de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal), Yuriy Flomin (MC Universal Clinic Oberig, Kyiv, Ukraine), Mehari Gebreyohanns (UT Southwestern Medical Centre, Dallas, TX, USA), Ivete Pillo Gon?alves (Hospital S?o Jos? do Avai, Itaperuna, Brazil), Claiborne Johnston (Dell Medical School, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA), Kristaps Jurj?ns (P Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia), Rizwan Kalani (University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA), Grzegorz Kozera (Medical University of Gda?sk, Gda?sk, Poland), Kursad Kutluk (Dokuz Eylul University, ?zmir, Turkey), Branko Malojcic (University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia), Micha? Maluchnik (Ministry of Health, Warsaw, Poland), Evija Migl?ne (P Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia), Cassandra Ocampo (University of Botswana, Princess Marina Hospital, Botswana), Louise Shaw (Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, Bath, UK), Lekhjung Thapa (Upendra Devkota Memorial-National Institute of Neurological and Allied Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal), Bogdan Wojtyniak (National Institute of Public Health, Warsaw, Poland), Jie Yang (First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China), and Tomasz Zdrojewski (Medical University of Gda?sk, Gda?sk, Poland) for their comments on early draft of the manuscript. The views expressed in this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and they do not necessarily reflect the views, decisions, or policies of the institution with which they are affiliated. We thank WSO for funding. The funder had no role in the design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the study results, writing of the report, or the decision to submit the study results for publication. Funding Information: The stroke services survey reported in this publication was partly supported by World Stroke Organization and Auckland University of Technology. VLF was partly supported by the grants received from the Health Research Council of New Zealand. MOO was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (SIREN U54 HG007479) under the H3Africa initiative and SIBS Genomics (R01NS107900, R01NS107900-02S1, R01NS115944-01, 3U24HG009780-03S5, and 1R01NS114045-01), Sub-Saharan Africa Conference on Stroke Conference (1R13NS115395-01A1), and Training Africans to Lead and Execute Neurological Trials & Studies (D43TW012030). AGT was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. SLG was supported by a National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellowship and an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council synergy grant. We thank Anita Arsovska (University Clinic of Neurology, Skopje, North Macedonia), Manoj Bohara (HAMS Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal), Denis Čerimagić (Poliklinika Glavić, Dubrovnik, Croatia), Manuel Correia (Hospital de Santo António, Porto, Portugal), Daissy Liliana Mora Cuervo (Hospital Moinhos de Vento, Porto Alegre, Brazil), Anna Członkowska (Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland), Gloria Ekeng (Stroke Care International, Dartford, UK), João Sargento-Freitas (Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal), Yuriy Flomin (MC Universal Clinic Oberig, Kyiv, Ukraine), Mehari Gebreyohanns (UT Southwestern Medical Centre, Dallas, TX, USA), Ivete Pillo Gonçalves (Hospital São José do Avai, Itaperuna, Brazil), Claiborne Johnston (Dell Medical School, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA), Kristaps Jurjāns (P Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia), Rizwan Kalani (University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA), Grzegorz Kozera (Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland), Kursad Kutluk (Dokuz Eylul University, İzmir, Turkey), Branko Malojcic (University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia), Michał Maluchnik (Ministry of Health, Warsaw, Poland), Evija Miglāne (P Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia), Cassandra Ocampo (University of Botswana, Princess Marina Hospital, Botswana), Louise Shaw (Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, Bath, UK), Lekhjung Thapa (Upendra Devkota Memorial-National Institute of Neurological and Allied Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal), Bogdan Wojtyniak (National Institute of Public Health, Warsaw, Poland), Jie Yang (First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China), and Tomasz Zdrojewski (Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland) for their comments on early draft of the manuscript. The views expressed in this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and they do not necessarily reflect the views, decisions, or policies of the institution with which they are affiliated. We thank WSO for funding. The funder had no role in the design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the study results, writing of the report, or the decision to submit the study results for publication. Funding Information: VLF declares that the PreventS web app and Stroke Riskometer app are owned and copyrighted by Auckland University of Technology; has received grants from the Brain Research New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence (16/STH/36), Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC; APP1182071), and World Stroke Organization (WSO); is an executive committee member of WSO, honorary medical director of Stroke Central New Zealand, and CEO of New Zealand Stroke Education charitable Trust. AGT declares funding from NHMRC (GNT1042600, GNT1122455, GNT1171966, GNT1143155, and GNT1182017), Stroke Foundation Australia (SG1807), and Heart Foundation Australia (VG102282); and board membership of the Stroke Foundation (Australia). SLG is funded by the National Health Foundation of Australia (Future Leader Fellowship 102061) and NHMRC (GNT1182071, GNT1143155, and GNT1128373). RM is supported by the Implementation Research Network in Stroke Care Quality of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (project CA18118) and by the IRIS-TEPUS project from the inter-excellence inter-cost programme of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (project LTC20051). BN declares receiving fees for data management committee work for SOCRATES and THALES trials for AstraZeneca and fees for data management committee work for NAVIGATE-ESUS trial from Bayer. All other authors declare no competing interests. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseStroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of disability worldwide and its burden is increasing rapidly in low-income and middle-income countries, many of which are unable to face the challenges it imposes. In this Health Policy paper on primary stroke prevention, we provide an overview of the current situation regarding primary prevention services, estimate the cost of stroke and stroke prevention, and identify deficiencies in existing guidelines and gaps in primary prevention. We also offer a set of pragmatic solutions for implementation of primary stroke prevention, with an emphasis on the role of governments and population-wide strategies, including task-shifting and sharing and health system re-engineering. Implementation of primary stroke prevention involves patients, health professionals, funders, policy makers, implementation partners, and the entire population along the life course.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Exploitation of natural variability in maize for β - carotene content using HPLC and gene specific markers

Vitamin A deficiency is a major world health problem, affecting up to 127 million pre-school children and 7 millionpregnant women worldwide (West, 2003). Human selection for yellow endosperm has led to diversification of graincarotenoid content and composition. This variation has remained largely untapped in modern breeding programs thathave focused nearly exclusively on yield gains. Maize displays considerable natural variation for carotenoidcomposition, including vitamin A precursors α-carotene, β-carotene, and β -cryptoxanthin. Sixty four maize inbred linesof India were grown and evaluated for whole kernel carotenoids and beta carotene content using high performanceliquid chromatography (HPLC). The lines averaged 14 :g/g for total carotenoids (5.58 to 63.9 :g/g) and 1.69 :g/g for β-carotene (0.122 to 4.74 :g/g). High level of β - carotene was observed in UMI 946, UMI 176, UMI 79, UMI 34 andUMI 12 and these would be used in the breeding programs to enhance the β – carotene contents. Previous study showedfour natural lcyE polymorphisms explained 58% of the variation in these two branches and a threefold difference in provitaminA compounds. In screening for polymorphisms in key haplotypes, four regions were selected and scored acrossthe entire panel of favourable haplotype using SNP and SSR markers. The polymorphs were obtained for all primer usedand the presence of the amplification of for particular marker showed the increase in β - carotene content across theinbreds. Development of LCYE based breeding markers for maize alone will not be effective unless hydroxylation isalso controlled, for non pro vitamin A xanthophylls compounds will predominate. So in our future study, we should beaiming at breeding for high β - carotene in maize by emphasizing on characterization of β - carotene hydroxylase genesfor enhancing the relative levels of seed β - carotene

Ginseng Genome Database: an open-access platform for genomics of Panax ginseng

Abstract Background The ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) is a perennial herbaceous plant that has been used in traditional oriental medicine for thousands of years. Ginsenosides, which have significant pharmacological effects on human health, are the foremost bioactive constituents in this plant. Having realized the importance of this plant to humans, an integrated omics resource becomes indispensable to facilitate genomic research, molecular breeding and pharmacological study of this herb. Description The first draft genome sequences of P. ginseng cultivar “Chunpoong” were reported recently. Here, using the draft genome, transcriptome, and functional annotation datasets of P. ginseng, we have constructed the Ginseng Genome Database http://ginsengdb.snu.ac.kr/, the first open-access platform to provide comprehensive genomic resources of P. ginseng. The current version of this database provides the most up-to-date draft genome sequence (of approximately 3000 Mbp of scaffold sequences) along with the structural and functional annotations for 59,352 genes and digital expression of genes based on transcriptome data from different tissues, growth stages and treatments. In addition, tools for visualization and the genomic data from various analyses are provided. All data in the database were manually curated and integrated within a user-friendly query page. Conclusion This database provides valuable resources for a range of research fields related to P. ginseng and other species belonging to the Apiales order as well as for plant research communities in general. Ginseng genome database can be accessed at http://ginsengdb.snu.ac.kr/