Genetic Correlations Between Photosynthetic and Yield Performance in Maize Are Different Under Two Heat Scenarios During Flowering

Chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) parameters are reliable early stress indicators in crops, but their relations with yield are still not clear. The aims of this study are to examine genetic correlations between photosynthetic performance of JIP-test during flowering and grain yield (GY) in maize grown under two heat scenarios in the field environments applying quantitative genetic analysis, and to compare efficiencies of indirect selection for GY through ChlF parameters and genomic selection for GY. The testcrosses of 221 intermated recombinant inbred lines (IRILs) of the IBMSyn4 population were evaluated in six environments at two geographically distinctive locations in 3 years. According to day/night temperatures and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), the two locations in Croatia and Turkey may be categorized to the mild heat and moderate heat scenarios, respectively. Mild heat scenario is characterized by daytime temperatures often exceeding 33°C and night temperatures lower than 20°C while in moderate heat scenario the daytime temperatures often exceeded 33°C and night temperatures were above 20°C. The most discernible differences among the scenarios were obtained for efficiency of electron transport beyond quinone A (QA) [ET/(TR-ET)], performance index on absorption basis (PIABS) and GY. Under the moderate heat scenario, there were tight positive genetic correlations between ET/(TR-ET) and GY (0.73), as well as between PIABS and GY (0.59). Associations between the traits were noticeably weaker under the mild heat scenario. Analysis of quantitative trait loci (QTL) revealed several common QTLs for photosynthetic and yield performance under the moderate heat scenario corroborating pleiotropy. Although the indirect selection with ChlF parameters is less efficient than direct selection, ET/(TR-ET) and PIABS could be efficient secondary breeding traits for selection under moderate heat stress since they seem to be genetically correlated with GY in the stressed environments and not associated with yield performance under non-stressed conditions predicting GY during flowering. Indirect selection through PIABS was also shown to be more efficient than genomic selection in moderate heat scenario

Proceedings: 3rd International Conference on Food and Agricultural Economics: COMPETITIVE BUSINESS STRATEGY OF A PUBLIC BREEDING INSTITUTE

Due to squeezed public budgets in both developing and developed countries, the governments’ policy often include privatization of public plant breeding institutes as a proposed solution to the problem. Since vast of commercial plant cultivars have been developed by conventional breeding techniques, the interest for acquiring such institutions raised over the last several decades. However, not much attention has been paid to developing competitive business strategy within the public Institutes so the customers and society may still benefit from the both its value proposition and public good. At the Osijek Agricultural Institute, Croatia, an early developed focus-and-customer-relationship competitive business strategy has always been a linchpin that could financially and technically underpin plant breeders’ education, development of new cultivars and improvement of plant science in the Pannonia region of southeastern Europe. Not less important, this kind of strategy that rely much on personal connection with the customers results better in both - their buying experience and our price positioning in the seed market. It seems that, besides pure transaction, the customers especially appreciate every contact that cannot be found online. Every improvement in this segment of customers’ captivity is crucial and therefore of utmost importance for keeping our business strategy competitive, sustainable and enhanced. The example of the Osijek Agricultural Institute that is presented in this paper shows that regardless of being for-profit entity such as a public owned or private research institute, knowledge on choosing and pursuing a proper business strategy is a point of paramount importance, i.e. it is the question of life or death for every kind of market oriented entity

The Pressure of Fusarium Disease and Its Relation with Mycotoxins in The Wheat Grain and Malt

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most destructive wheat fungal diseases, causing yield loss, quality reduction, and accumulation of mycotoxins. The aim of this research was to summarize the occurrence of major Fusarium mycotoxins: deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-AcDON), nivalenol (NIV), and zearalenone (ZEN) in two consecutive years to search the relationship between disease incidence and severity with mycotoxins found in control and inoculated grains and corresponding malt. In addition, deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (D3G) in one-year research was measured. Tested wheat varieties showed infection scores of 3% (‘U1’ and ‘Sirban Prolifik’) to 79% (‘Golubica’) for Type I resistance evaluation. There were few moderately resistant varieties in view of their areas under the disease progress curve, which can be considered Type III resistance (‘Sirban Prolifik’ and ‘U1’). According to the data quantified by LC–MS/MS, DON decreased in infected malt in comparison to corresponding grain, while ZEN occurred only in infected malt samples. Both 3-AcDON and NIV increased in inoculated malt in comparison to corresponding grain, due to a combination of plant metabolism and de novo synthesis by molds during malting. Based on the results, we can draw a few conclusions: the resistance to Fusarium decreased quantified concentrations of DON; ZEN gets synthetized during malting; unregulated 3-AcDON and NIV increase during malting; more resistant varieties have converted DON to D3G more successfully. Modified mycotoxins should be also included to legislation, since they could be transformed back to the corresponding mycotoxins under food processing conditions or during digestion

Fusarium Head Blight Infestation in Relation to Winter Wheat End-Use Quality—A Three-Year Study

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the major threats for wheat production worldwide. It reduces yield, quality, and feeding value of wheat grains. In addition, mycotoxins produced by Fusarium pathogens can have a negative effect on livestock and human health. The aim of this study was to assess changes in technological quality traits and end-use quality of winter wheat varieties after artificial inoculation with Fusarium spp. over three years. Differences in dough development duration and extensibility were measured as the means of relative reductions due to different environments and varieties’ characteristics. Differences in dough softening during kneading were determined as the means of relative increases due to FHB inoculation. In addition, dough had reduced strength, was stickier, and therefore was more difficult to handle, due to a decrease of the average energy value and resistance to extension in FHB-inoculated wheat, compared to naturally infected plants. Dough development time, stability, and resistance usually varied in a similar way, with FHB-resistant varieties showing a good response to FHB inoculation and maintaining good quality. Increasing the level of Fusarium spp. contamination in more FHB-susceptible wheat varieties worsened their technological quality, primarily, the sedimentation value and the gluten index, and hence had a negative effect on the rheological properties

Performance Indices in Wheat Chlorophyll a Fluorescence and Protein Quality Influenced by FHB

Very little is known about the physiological interactions between wheat quality and Fusarium head blight (FHB), which substantially reduces wheat grain yield and quality worldwide. In order to investigate stress-induced changes in flag leaves from plants artificially inoculated with Fusarium, we screened for chlorophyll a fluorescence transient at 1, 2, 4, 7 and 14 days after Fusarium inoculation. Our results indicate that the maximum quantum yield of photochemistry (Fv/Fm) and the performance index (PI) were not affected by FHB, but there were significant differences in those two traits between different varieties and measurement times. FHB caused a significant reduction in the percentage of glutenins (GLU), high-molecular-weight (HMW), and low-molecular-weight (LMW) subunits in ‘Kraljica’ and ‘Golubica’, unlike ‘Vulkan’, where the percentage of GLU increased

Changes in Antioxidant System during Grain Development of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and Relationship with Protein Composition under FHB Stress

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is found in both temperate and semi-tropical regions and causes losses in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) resulting in reduced yield, deteriorated grain quality, and contamination of the grains with mycotoxins, primarily deoxynivalenol (DON). In this study, we focused on the identification of protein components in Fusarium-inoculated and non-inoculated wheat samples along with the major antioxidant enzymes that Fusarium can encounter during FHB infection process in six winter wheat varieties when FHB symptoms started to occur. Our hypothesis was that wheat antioxidants and H2O2 may play a role against Fusarium infections, consequently preserving protein grain components. Results showed that in more resistant varieties (Olimpija and Vulkan) DON content of inoculated flour was less accumulated and thus the major gluten network was not significantly attacked by Fusarium spp. The maximum increase in guaiacol peroxidase (POD) activity in response to FHB treatment was detected in the FHB-resistant varieties Olimpija and Vulkan, while the lowest increase in H2O2 content was detected in the FHB-susceptible variety Golubica. A particular reduction in the content of both total glutenin and high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits was detected in susceptible wheat varieties after serious artificial infection, along with increased DON accumulation. The defense mechanism in wheat varieties differed, where resistant varieties’ protein composition depended on POD activity as a detoxification agent

Seed Weight as a Covariate in Association and Prediction Studies for Biomass Traits in Maize Seedlings

Background: The seedling stage has received little attention in maize breeding to identify genotypes tolerant to water deficit. The aim of this study is to evaluate incorporation of seed weight (expressed as hundred kernel weight, HKW) as a covariate into genomic association and prediction studies for three biomass traits in a panel of elite inbred lines challenged by water withholding at seedling stage. Methods: 109 genotyped-by-sequencing (GBS) elite maize inbreds were phenotyped for HKW and planted in controlled conditions (16/8 day/night, 25 °C, 50% RH, 200 µMol/m2/s) in trays filled with soil. Plants in control (C) were watered every two days, while watering was stopped for 10 days in water withholding (WW). Fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), and dry matter content (DMC) were measured. Results: Adding HKW as a covariate increased the power of detection of associations in FW and DW by 44% and increased genomic prediction accuracy in C and decreased in WW. Conclusions: Seed weight was effectively incorporated into association studies for biomass traits in maize seedlings, whereas the incorporation into genomic predictions, particularly in water-stressed plants, was not worthwhile