Genomics Approaches to Dissect the Genetic Basis of Drought Resistance in Durum Wheat

A better knowledge of the genetic basis of the mechanisms underlying the adaptive response to drought will be instrumental to more effectively deploy marker-assisted selection (MAS) to improve yield potential while optimizing water-use efficiency. Genomics approaches allow us to identify and clone the genes and QTLs that underlie the adaptive response of durum wheat to drought. Linkage and association mapping have allowed us to identify QTLs for traits that influence drought resistance and yield in durum and bread wheat. Once major genes and QTLs that affect yield under drought conditions are identified, their cloning provides a more direct path for mining and manipulating beneficial alleles. While QTL analysis and cloning addressing natural variation will increasingly shed light on mechanisms of adaptation to drought and other adverse conditions, more emphasis on approaches relying on resequencing, candidate gene identification, 'omics' platforms and reverse genetics will accelerate the pace of gene/QTL discovery. Genomic selection provides a valuable option to improve wheat performance under drought conditions without prior knowledge of the relevant QTLs. Modeling crop growth and yield based on the effects of major QTLs offers an additional opportunity to leverage genomics information. Although it is expected that genomics-assisted breeding will enhance the pace of durum wheat improvement, major limiting factors are how to (i) phenotype genetic materials in an accurate, relevant and high-throughput fashion and (ii) more effectively translate the deluge of molecular and phenotypic data into improved cultivars. A multidisciplinary effort will be instrumental to meet these challenges

Mining a Collection of triticum diccoccoid Landraces for Resistance to Races of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici at Seedling Stage

Stem rust caused by Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. and E. Henn. (Pgt), is one of the most destructive pathogen of wheat which causing  considerable yield losses. It has become a renewed threat to global wheat production after the emergence and spread of new race known as TTKSK or  Ug99 and related races from Africa. Races of the pathogen in the “Ug99 lineage” are of international concern due to their virulence for widely used stem  rust resistance genes and their spread throughout Africa. Seedlings of 183 diccocciod wheat accessions which were assembled by University of Bologna,  department of agricultural sciences were evaluated for their response to stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) infection under greenhouse condition  at University of Minnesota St. Paul campus during 2012 with an objective of identifying diccoccoid wheat accessions that could serve as sources of  resistance to stem rust to enhance durable resistant variety development. Seedling infection types were evaluated using three stem rust races viz TTKSK,  TRTTF and TTTTF. A high level of phenotypic variation was observed in response to races TTKSK, TRTTF and TTTTF in the test entries, allowing for selection  in these germplasm as a pre-breeding work. Out of the tested accessions, 32 diccoccoid wheat accessions exhibited low infection types (0–2)  response to all the three races and hence selected as a source of resistance to stem rust. These wheat germplasm which are identified as resistant along  with adult plant resistant germplasm will be promising genetic stocks for accumulating resistances genes to acquire durable resistance and long lasting  variety/ies.&nbsp

Sequence-Based Marker Assisted Selection in Wheat

Wheat improvement has traditionally been conducted by relying on artificial crossing of suitable parental lines followed by selection of the best genetic combinations. At the same time wheat genetic resources have been characterized and exploited with the aim of continuously improving target traits. Over this solid framework, innovations from emerging research disciplines have been progressively added over time: cytogenetics, quantitative genetics, chromosome engineering, mutagenesis, molecular biology and, most recently, comparative, structural, and functional genomics with all the related -omics platforms. Nowadays, the integration of these disciplines coupled with their spectacular technical advances made possible by the sequencing of the entire wheat genome, has ushered us in a new breeding paradigm on how to best leverage the functional variability of genetic stocks and germplasm collections. Molecular techniques first impacted wheat genetics and breeding in the 1980s with the development of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)-based approaches. Since then, steady progress in sequence-based, marker-assisted selection now allows for an unprecedently accurate ‘breeding by design’ of wheat, progressing further up to the pangenome-based level. This chapter provides an overview of the technologies of the ‘circular genomics era’ which allow breeders to better characterize and more effectively leverage the huge and largely untapped natural variability present in the Triticeae gene pool, particularly at the tetraploid level, and its closest diploid and polyploid ancestors and relatives

JRC technical work supporting Commission second level legislation on risk based contributions to the (single) resolution fund

JRC supported the DG MARKT by developing quantitative analyses for the preparation of the second level legislation on bank contributions to be paid to the EU national Resolution Funds and to the Single Resolution Fund SRF for countries participating to the Banking Union. The present report summarizes all the extensive analyses on the calculation of banks contributions supporting the whole policy process. All analyses were based on a dataset that JRC built assembling individual bank unconsolidated balance sheet data, provided directly by the MS. JRC developed the technical details to measure the risk profile of each bank. Starting from a selection of balance sheet indicators, which account for the different aspects of each bank activity, the methodology aggregates them into a single composite risk indicator. The risk indicator is then combined with the bank size measure to compute the share of aggregated contribution each bank joining the fund would pay. JRC also investigated the decrease in contributions of applying a special treatment for the computation of the small banks’ contributions: these banks will not pay contributions based on their risk profile but will be instead lump-sum contributions, depending on their size only. JRC assessed the sensitivity of the distribution of contributions when changing some elements of the overall mechanism used to measure risk and compute contributions. Finally, following the discussion at the political level, JRC also assessed some technical issues related to the calculation of the contribution base and it tested the impact on banks contributions of different options for the phasing in of the single resolution fund.JRC.G.1-Financial and Economic Analysi

Desmoplastic melanoma: a challenge for the oncologist

To evaluate clinical, pathologic and genetic features of desmoplastic melanoma (DM).MATERIALS & METHODS: Analysis of all DM records from 1991 to 2015. RESULTS: The most common location of DMs was the head and neck (69%); median age and follow-up were 60.5 and 7.3 years, respectively. A familial predisposition for DMs and others malignancies was analyzed. Thin Breslow thickness (<4.5 mm) was associated with an intraepidermal component or a previous lentigo maligna, whereas high Breslow thickness (>4.5 mm) was observed in 'pure' DM. CONCLUSION: DM could progress from an early phase, characterized by an intraepidermal component, to late phase, characterized by a dermal nodule. This hypothesis correlates with melanoma genetic and NF1 mutation, which could be an early event in the progression of DM

Genome-wide association mapping for grain shape and color traits in Ethiopian durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum)

Abstract Grain shape and color strongly influence yield and quality of durum wheat. Identifying QTL for these traits is essential for transferring favorable alleles based on selection strategies and breeding objectives. In the present study, 192 Ethiopian durum wheat accessions comprising 167 landraces and 25 cultivars were genotyped with a high-density Illumina iSelect 90 K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) wheat array to conduct a genome-wide association analysis for grain width (GW), grain length (GL), CIE (Commission Internationale l'Eclairage) L* (brightness), CIE a* (redness), and CIE b* (yellowness) traits. The accessions were planted at Sinana Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia in the 2015/2016 cropping season in a complete randomized block design with three replications. Twenty homogeneous and healthy seeds per replicate were used for trait measurement. Digital image analysis of seeds with GrainScan software package was used to generate the phenotypic data. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences between accessions for all traits. A total of 46 quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified for all traits across all chromosomes. One novel major candidate QTL (−lg P ≥ 4) with pleiotropic effects for grain CIE L* (brightness) and CIE a* (redness) was identified on the long arm of chromosome 2A. Eighteen nominal QTL (−lg P ≥ 3) and 26 suggestive QTL (−lg P ≥ 2.5) were identified. Pleiotropic QTL influencing both grain shape and color were identified

BRAFV600E mutated and wild type melanomas: dermoscopy and reflectance confocal microscopy characterization

The advent of modern molecular approaches was of crucial importance for the identification of melanoma genetic signatures, opening new horizons in the treatment of metastatic disease with molecular targeted therapies. Similarly the melanoma diagnosis is aided by reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM): a promising technique that allows non-invasive imaging from the skin surface to the upper dermis with quasi-histologic resolution. The most common melanoma mutation involves the gene BRAF and it is represented by the BRAFV600E, however, V600K, V600R and V600D mutations are also known. Because different genetic aberrations categorize melanoma subtypes with distinct clinical characteristics, it is reasonable to hypothesize that a distinctive molecular signature corresponds to specific morphologic patterns. A comparison between the dermoscopic patterns of BRAF p.V600E, BRAF p.V600K and wild-type BRAF primary melanomas was assessed from a collection of 12 lesions (4 primary melanomas per each BRAFV600 mutated status and 4 wt). In 9 cases the RCM images were available and the frequency of the RCM descriptors was examined. The RCM analysis showed that the presence of plump bright cells, collagen bundles and inflammatory cells in the dermis were frequently observed even when dermoscopy showed no regression features. Our study showed that regression phenomena and the associated dermoscopic and RCM descriptors could help the clinician to discriminate between the different BRAF mutated status, providing key information for patient screening, management and follow-up

Piezoelectric Nanofibers for Integration in Multifunctional Materials

This paper deals with realization of multifunctional composite materials, having piezoelectric effect. First of all polymeric mats of electrospun piezoelectric nanofibers were realized with different geometries. Such effect has been maximized by designing properly the electrospinning apparatus in order to enhance the electric field in the interelectrodic space which polarize the dipolar moments. The mats are then integrated in a silicon rubber matrix and measurements of the electromechanical response of the composite materials thus manufactured are performed. A good integration of nanofibers inside the host material is evidenced by electron microscopy images, allowing delaminations, which could occur using piezoelectric films, to be avoided. A large electrical response to both impact and vibration stimuli has been finally demonstrated

Review of the SYMBOL model

An integral part of the model quality control and quality assurance at the European Commission is a scientific peer-review of models, including those developed and used by its Directorate-General Joint Research Centre (JRC). The present reports details the outcome of the review of the SYstemic Model of Banking Originated Losses (SYMBOL), which was carried out by an external scientific Review Panel closely following ‘Guidelines for the review of models used in support of EU policies’. The review aimed at verifying and consolidating the scientific credibility of SYMBOL and identifying most promising/relevant areas for a future model development. The report includes also a first reaction from the SYMBOL team, detailing among others how Review Panel’s suggestions will be addressed.JRC.I.1-Modelling, Indicators and Impact Evaluatio

Root system architecture phenotyping of durum wheat reveals differential selection for a major QTL in contrasting environments

This study reports the characterization of 183 elite durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum Desf.) for RSA and shoot developmental traits. Plants were grown in controlled conditions up to the 7th leaf appearance (late tillering) using the phenotyping platform GROWSCREEN-Rhizo at the Institut f\ufcr Bio und Geowissenschaften Pflanzenwissenschaften