Project description:The domestication and transmission of cereals is one of the most fundamental components of early farming, but direct evidence of their use in early culinary practices and economies has remained frustratingly elusive. Using analysis of a well-preserved Early Bronze Age wooden container from Switzerland, we propose novel criterial for the identification of cereal residues. Using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we identified compounds typically associated with plant products, including a series of phenolic lipids (alkylresorcinols) found only at appreciable concentration in wheat and rye bran. The value of these lipids as cereal grain biomarkers were independently corroborated by the presence of macrobotanical remains embedded in the deposit, and wheat and rye endosperm peptides extracted from residue. These findings demonstrate the utility of a lipid-based biomarker for wheat and rye bran and offer a methodological template for future investigations of wider range of archaeological contexts. Alkylresorcinols provide a new tool for residue analysis which can help explore spread and exploitation of cereal grains, a economically fundamental component the advent and spread of farming.
Project description:Frost tolerance is the main component of winter-hardiness. To express this trait, plants have to sense low temperature, and respond by activating the process of cold acclimation. The molecular mechanisms of this acclimation have not been fully understood in the agronomically important group of forage grasses, including Lolium-Festuca species. Herein, the introgression forms of L. multiflorum/F. arundinacea distinct with respect to their frost tolerance, were used as models for the comprehensive, proteomic and physiological, research to recognize the crucial components of cold acclimation in forage grasses. The obtained results stressed the importance of photosynthetic performance under acclimation to low temperature. The stable level of photochemical processes after three weeks of cold acclimation in the introgression form with a higher level of frost tolerance, combined simultaneously with the stable level of CO2 assimilation after that period, despite decreased stomatal conductance, indicated the capacity for that form to acclimate its photosynthetic apparatus to low temperature. This phenomenon was driven by the Calvin cycle efficiency, associated with revealed here accumulation profiles and activities of chloroplastic aldolase. The capacity to acclimate the photosynthetic machinery to cold could be one of the most crucial components of forage grass metabolism to improve frost tolerance.
Project description:In rice (Oryza sativa L.), the number of panicles, spikelets per panicle and grain weight are important components of grain yield. These characteristics are controlled by quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and are derived from variation inherent in crops.The identification of different yield related QTLs facilitates an understanding of the mechanisms involved in cereal crop yield, and may have utility in improving grain yield in cereal crops. an understanding of the mechanisms involved in cereal crop yield, and may have utility in improving grain yield in cereal crops. In the present study, We cloned and characterized a large-panicle QTL, and confirmed that the newly identified gene OsEBS (enhancing biomass and spikelet number) increased plant height, leaf size and spikelet number per panicle, leading to an average of 37.62% increase in total grain yield per plant. trait loci (QTLs) and are derived from variation inherent in crops. OsEBS-transgenic rice B10201 and B10301 and control Guichao2
Project description:In rice (Oryza sativa L.), the number of panicles, spikelets per panicle and grain weight are important components of grain yield. These characteristics are controlled by quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and are derived from variation inherent in crops.The identification of different yield related QTLs facilitates an understanding of the mechanisms involved in cereal crop yield, and may have utility in improving grain yield in cereal crops. an understanding of the mechanisms involved in cereal crop yield, and may have utility in improving grain yield in cereal crops. In the present study, We cloned and characterized a large-panicle QTL, and confirmed that the newly identified gene OsEBS (enhancing biomass and spikelet number) increased plant height, leaf size and spikelet number per panicle, leading to an average of 37.62% increase in total grain yield per plant. trait loci (QTLs) and are derived from variation inherent in crops.
Project description:Cereal aphids continue to be an important agricultural pest, with complex lifecycle and dispersal behaviours. Spatially-explicit models that are able to simulate flight initiation, movement direction, distance and timing of arrival of key aphid species can be highly valuable to area-wide pest management programmes. Here I present an overview of how knowledge about cereal aphid flight and migration can be utilized by mechanistic simulation models. This article identifies specific gaps in knowledge for researchers who may wish to further scientific understanding of aphid flight behaviour, whilst at the same time provides a synopsis of the knowledge requirements for a mechanistic approach applicable to the simulation of a wide range of insect species. Although they are one of the most comprehensively studied insect groups in entomology, it is only recently that our understanding of cereal aphid flight and migration has been translated effectively into spatially-explicit simulation models. There are now a multitude of examples available in the literature for modelling methods that address each of the four phases of the aerial transportation process (uplift, transport in the atmosphere, initial distribution, and subsequent movement). I believe it should now be possible to draw together this knowledgebase and the range of modelling methods available to simulate the entire process: integrating mechanistic simulations that estimate the initiation of migration events, with the large scale migration modelling of cereal aphids and their subsequent local movement.
Project description:Beef tenderness is a complex trait of economic importance for the beef industry. Understanding the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying this trait may help improve the accuracy of breeding programs and deliver a better product quality to consumers. However, little is known about epigenetic effects in the muscle of Bos taurus and their implications in tenderness, and no studies have been conducted in Bos indicus. Therefore, we analyzed Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS) to search for differences in the methylation profile of Bos indicus skeletal muscle with extreme values for beef tenderness (tender = 6 animals, tough = 6 animals).