bims-plasge 2020-03-08 papers

PLoS One. 2020 ;15(3): e0229554

Evaluation and identification of wild lentil accessions for enhancing genetic gains of cultivated varieties.

Mohar Singh, Sandeep Kumar, Ashwani Kumar Basandrai, Daisy Basandrai, Nikhil Malhotra, Deep Rattan Saxena, Dorin Gupta, Ashutosh Sarker, Kuldeep Singh.

Domesticated lentil has a relatively narrow genetic base globally and most released varieties are susceptible to severe biotic and abiotic stresses. The crop wild relatives could provide new traits of interest for tailoring novel germplasm and cultivated lentil improvement. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate wild lentil accessions for identification of economically viable agro-morphological traits and resistance against major biotic stresses. The study has revealed substantial variations in seed yield and its important component characters. Further, the diversity analysis of wild accessions showed two major clusters which were bifurcated into sub-clusters, thereby suggesting their wider genetic divergence. However, principal component analysis exhibited that seed yield plant-1, number of seeds plant-1, number of pods plant-1, harvest index and biological yield plant-1 contributed significantly to the total genetic variation assessed in wild lentil taxa. Moreover, some of the wild accessions collected from Syria and Turkey regions showed resistance against more than one disease indicating rich diversity of lentil genetic resources. The identification of most promising genotypes carrying resistance against major biotic stresses could be utilized in the cultivated or susceptible varieties of lentil for enhancing genetic gains. The study has also identified some trait specific accessions, which could also be taken into the consideration while planning distant hybridization in lentil.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229554

Plant Biol (Stuttg). 2020 Mar 05.

Mitochondrial Ribosomal Protein S9M is Involved in Male Gametogenesis and Seed Development in Arabidopsis.

Changqing Lu, Zijing Xie, Feng Yu, Lianfu Tian, Xiaohua Hao, Xiaohui Wang, Liangbi Chen, Dongping Li.

Mitochondrial function is critical for cellular vitality in all eukaryotes including plants. Although plant mitochondria house a large number of proteins, only a small portion of proteins have been studied in the context of plant development and physiology. We used knock-down mutant of RPS9M to study its important role in male gametogenesis and seed development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Knock-down of RPS9M in rps9m-3 mutant led to abnormal pollen development and impaired pollen tube growth. In addition, both the embryo and endosperm development were affected. Phenotype analysis revealed that the rps9m-3 mutant contained lesser endosperm nuclear, and the embryo cell divisions and embryo pattern were affected, resulting in abnormal and defective embryo. Lowering the level of RPS9M in rps9m-3 plants affect mitochondrial ribosome biogenesis, energy metabolism and production of reactive oxygen species. Our data revealed that RPS9M plays important roles in normal gametophyte development and seed formation, possibly by sustaining mitochondria function.

Keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana ; development; mitochondrion; pollen; ribosomal protein; seed

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.13108

Theor Appl Genet. 2020 Mar 02.

Fine mapping of leaf rust resistance gene Rph13 from wild barley.

Matthias Jost, Davinder Singh, Evans Lagudah, Robert F Park, Peter Dracatos.

KEY MESSAGE: Fine mapping of the barley leaf rust resistance locus Rph13 on chromosome 3HL facilitates its use in breeding programs through marker-assisted selection. Barley leaf rust (BLR-caused by Puccinia hordei) is a widespread fungal disease that can be effectively controlled by genetic resistance. There is an ongoing need to both diversify and genetically characterise resistance loci to provide effective and durable control given the ongoing threat of rapidly evolving P. hordei populations. Here, we report on the molecular genetic characterisation of the Rph13 locus, originally derived from wild barley and transferred to barley accession Berac (then referred to as PI 531849). The 2017 reference genome of cv. Morex was used as a road map to rapidly narrow both a genetic and physical intervals around the Rph13 resistance locus. Using recombination-based mapping, we narrowed the physical interval to 116.6 kb on chromosome 3H in a segregating population of a cross of the Rph13 carrying resistant line PI 531849 with the leaf rust-susceptible cultivar Gus. We identified two nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat genes as likely candidates for the Rph13 resistance. Sequences from the candidate genes enabled the development of a KASP marker that distinguished resistant and susceptible progeny and was found to be predictive and useful for MAS.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-020-03564-6