Research Notes : Inheritance of insensitivity to long daylength

Genetic tests for daylength insensitivity have been run using PI 297,550 reported to be day-neutral by Polson (1972), as source material. Segregating material was grown under long days at various times from 1973 to 1979, either in a growth cabinet (Buzzell et al., 1974) or in a greenhouse with daylength 27 extended to 20 hours with incandescent light. Material was classified at 35 to 42 days after planting as either non-flowering, sensitive (S), or flowering, insensitive (I)

Brazilian spring wheat germplasm as source of genetic variability.

As part of a Canada-Brazil germplasm exchange, 106 modern and ancient Brazilian spring wheat cultivars have been genotyped and phenotypically evaluated in Canada since 201

Edible Grain Legumes

Edible grain legumes, including dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), dry pea (Pisum sativum L.), chickpea (Cicer arientinum L.), and lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus), have served as important sources of protein in the human diet for thousands of years. In the United States, these crops are consumed nationally and produced for export markets. The objectives of this study were to examine yield gains in edible grain legume crops over the past 25 yr. Genetic gain in dry bean during the past 30 yr based on common trials was 13.9 kg ha−1 yr−1 (0.77% yr−1) and 17.4 kg ha−1 yr−1 (0.85% yr−1) for navy and pinto bean cultivars, respectively. Data from national yield trials on research sites indicates that yield gains were 0.4, 0.7, 0.9, and 1.7% for pinto, navy, black, and kidney beans, respectively. The results also suggest that dry bean cultivars have not reached a yield plateau for most market classes. Continued introgression of germplasm from other races of common bean should provide new sources of genetic diversity to enhance yield in the future. Over the past 25 yr, the production of cool season food legumes (pea, lentil, and chickpea) in the United States has increased dramatically; however, yields of dry pea in the United States have decreased by 0.3% per year, lentil yields have increased by only 0.1% per year, and chickpea yields have increased by 2.8% per year. Pea and lentil production has increased dramatically in Montana and North Dakota, but the cultivars grown in this region were originally developed in the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW) and Canada and are likely not well adapted for Montana and North Dakota. Several currently grown cultivars are at least 20 yr old, but new cultivars have been released that are superior to these older cultivars

Genetic and environmental effects on crop development determining adaptation and yield

Slafer, Gustavo Ariel. ICREA - AGROTECNIO - Spain.Kantolic, Adriana Graciela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Appendino, María Laura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Tranquilli, Gabriela Edith. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Recursos Naturales. Instituto de Recursos Biológicos. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Miralles, Daniel Julio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Savin, Roxana. ICREA - AGROTECNIO - Spain.Crop development is a sequence of phenological events controlled by the genetic background and influenced by external factors, which determines changes in the morphology and/or function of organs (Landsberg, 1977). Although development is a continuous process, the ontogeny of a crop is frequently divided into discrete periods, for instance ‘vegetative’, ‘reproductive’ and ‘grain - filling’ phases (Slafer, 2012). Patterns of phenological development largely determine the adaptation of a crop to a certain range of environments. For example, genetic improvement in grain yield of wheat has been associated with shorter time from sowing to anthesis in Mediterranean environments of western Australia (Siddique et al., 1989), whereas no consistent trends in phenology were found where drought is present but not necessarily terminal, including environments of Argentina, Canada and the USA (Slafer and Andrade, 1989, 1993; Slafer et al., 1994a) (Fig. 12.1). Even in agricultural lands of the Mediterranean Basin where wheat has been grown for many centuries, breeding during the last century did not clearly change phenological patterns (Acreche et al., 2008). This chapter focuses on two major morphologically and hysiologically contrasting grain crops: wheat and soybean. For both species, we have an advanced understanding of development and physiology in general. Wheat is a determinate, long-day grass of temperate origin, which is responsive to vernalization. Soybean is a typically indeterminate (but with determinate intermediate variants), short-day grain legume of tropical origin, which is insensitive to vernalization. Comparisons with other species are used to highlight the similarities and differences. The aims of this chapter are to outline the developmental characteristics of grain crops and the links between phenology and yield, to revise the mechanisms of environmental and genetic control of development and to explore the possibilities of improving crop adaptation and yield potential through the fine-tuning of developmental patterns