Characterization Of Genetic Resources Research Articles

Determining the genetic diversity of some black cumin genotypes collected in different regions of Türkiye using RAPD markers

Black cumin is one of the important medicinal aromatic plants belonging to the Ranunculaceae family. It is mostly used in the Middle East and for some diseases, especially in the Iranian region. It is important to know the genetic resources of such important medicinal and aromatic plants. Characterization of genetic resources sheds light on both the conservation of genetic resources and the future breeding studies. In this study, a total of 8 black cumin plants were characterized with 17 RAPD primers. Presence (1) and absence (0) scoring of gel images was performed using the Agarose Gel Electrophoresis (AGE) method. In genetic characterization, phylogenetic dendrogram with Bayesian statistics and Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) with Jaccard similarity index were performed. As a result of the findings, the Nigella damascena, one of the black cumin plant species, was 100% separated from the Nigella sativa species. Additionally, Nigella sativa species differed among Konya, Eskişehir and Çameli genotypes. It gave similar results to Bayesian statistics in PCoA. The analysis indicated that Konya, Eskişehir and Çameli genotypes of Nigella sativa species have a higher potential to be used in breeding studies compared to other genotypes.

Characterization of prolamin storage protein profiles in Tunisian pearl millet landraces toward better utilization and improvement

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesThis study reports for the first time the variation of prolamin profiles among 51 pearl millet landraces representing seven populations prospected from contrasted bioclimatic areas of Tunisia.FindingsA total of 27 prolamins bands were detected, ranging from 11 to 245 kDa. Among them, 14 were polymorphic, resulting in a polymorphism rate of 51.85%. The bands with lower molecular weights are the most frequent. The biochemical marker M25.4 showed the highest value of Nei genetic diversity (h = 0.500), Shannon information index (I = 0.693), and effective number of alleles per locus Ne (2). At the population level, the polymorphism rates ranged between 50% (Mahdia) and 92.86% (Hammem Jebli, Kairouan, Medenine). The population of Kairouan showed the highest genetic diversity indices (I = 0.511 ± 0.054, h = 0.345 ± 0.041), while the lowest levels were recorded for the population of Mahdia (I = 0.268 ± 0.076, h = 0.177 ± 0.052). Analysis of molecular variance analysis indicated that the highest amount of genetic diversity was encompassed within the studied populations (89%). This was supported by low genetic differentiation (PhiPT = 0.110, p = .029) and Nei genetic distance values. The classification pattern using ward dendrogram and factorial analyses revealed the distinction of two clusters with a low genetic structure based on the geographic origins of landraces.Significance and NoveltyThe detected biochemical protein polymorphism could be a highly effective tool for the genetic resources characterization of pearl millet landraces, which will be further utilized in breeding investigations and taxonomic surveys of this cereal crop.

Genetic parameters in Conilon coffee in an irrigated systema in cerrado

The production of robusta coffee plays a significant role in the Brazilian economy and the agriculture of various Brazilian states due to its adaptability and high yield. The characterization of genetic resources and the estimation of genetic parameters of populations contribute to breeding programs in the development of genotypes adapted to the irrigated cultivation system in the Cerrado, for the target traits. The objective was to characterize the available genetic resources of robusta coffee in elite collections and estimate genetic parameters related to agronomic traits in an irrigated cultivation system in the Cerrado. Productivity, processed coffee yield, plant height, and the number of vegetative and reproductive nodes in plagiotropic branches were evaluated for 35 robusta coffee genotypes over two consecutive years, using a split-plot design with genotypes as the main plots, replicated three times, and years as the subplots. The data were subjected to analysis of variance, and genetic parameters were estimated. Significant genotype effects were observed only for plant height. Significant effects were observed for the year factor and genotype x year interaction for all traits. High heritability values and a genotypic coefficient of variation greater than the environmental coefficient of variation were obtained for plant height. Negative genotypic variances were obtained for the other traits. Favorable conditions exist for selecting smaller stature genotypes based on plant height, associated with productivity.

A review on efforts for improvement in medicinally important chemical constituents inAconitum through biotechnological interventions.

The genus Aconitum belongs to the family Ranunculaceae, is endowed with more than 350 species on the earth. Medicinally important aconitine type of diterpenoid alkaloids are the characteristic compounds in most of the Aconitum species. The present review endeavored the major research carried out in the field of genetic resource characterization, pharmacological properties, phytochemistry, major factors influencing quantity, biosynthetic pathways and processing methods for recovery of active ingredients, variety improvement, propagation methods, and important metabolite production through cell/organ culture of various Aconitum species. More than 450 derivatives of aconitine-type C19 and C20-diterpenoid alkaloids along with a few other non-alkaloidal compounds, such as phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and fatty acids, have been identified in the genus. A few Aconitum species and theircommon diterpenoid alkaloid compounds are also well characterized for analgesic, inflammatory and cytotoxic properties. However, the different isolated compound needs to be validated for supporting other traditional therapeutical uses of the plant species. Aconitine alkaloids shared common biosynthesis pathway, but their diversification mechanism remains unexplored in the genus. Furthermore, the process needs to be developed on secondary metabolite recovery, mass-scale propagation methods, and agro-technologies for maintaining the quality of products. Many species are losing their existence in nature due to over-exploitation or anthropogenic factors; thus, temporal monitoring of the population status in its habitat, and suitable management programs for ascertaining conservation needs to be developed.

Genetic Diversity Analysis in Foxtail Millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.] Genotypes

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is one of the least studied crops in terms of genetic resource characterization and genetic enhancement while compare to cereals. Hundred foxtail millet lines representing the national collection were evaluated at Medziphema, Nagaland University in Summer-2022 for polygenic trait evaluation and data subjected to genetic diversity analyses. Hundred foxtail millet genetic resources were divided into ten clusters by non-hierarchical cluster analysis (k-mean) was used and Elbow method was used to find out the optimum number of clusters. Genotypes were grouped into different cluster viz. Cluster I (6), Cluster II (9), Cluster III (12), Cluster IV (4), Cluster V (9), Cluster VI (8), Cluster VII (14), Cluster VIII (17), Cluster IX (17) and Cluster X (4). Cluster X had four accessions which are characterized by desired mean values and the genotypes belongs to these clusters can be utilized for the future breeding programs. The first five PCA components generated up to 82.43 percent of the diversity across genotypes tested for various agro-morphological variables. The first principal component explained 37.50 percent while, the second, third, fourth and five principal component exhibited 16.53 percent, 10.91 percent, 9.53 percent and 7.49 percent variability respectively, among the germplasm lines for the traits under study. Genotypes G2, G5, G10, G27 have low values for days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height and high values for panicle length, flag leaf length and peduncle length, biological yield, fodder yield and grain yield per plant so that these genotypes can be used for general cultivation under Nagaland conditions and these materials could be used in further breeding programme

Conventional breeding of Pacific Island staple crops: A paradox

Abstract The Pacific Islands (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia) were the last region in the world to be colonized by modern humans. In their migrations, they dispersed asexually propagated food plants that were first domesticated in Melanesia and exposed them to further selection in diverse insular environments. Later, staple food crops were introduced from South America. In our search for research on genetic resources characterization and breeding conducted between 1950 and 2022, we retrieved 338 references on 13 crop species. All studies were examined, and a review is presented here. Relatively few were on genetic improvement (92 references) compared to those on morphological diversity (246 references). The paradox is that the Pacific is considered a region exposed to the climatic crisis, perhaps more vulnerable than any other region in the world. This paradox is surprising when we consider that most people in the Pacific are growing staple food crops, for household use and/or for local markets, and occasionally for export. In some countries, it involves more than 75% of the population with a considerable contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). Plant breeding has not been considered a priority to mitigate against forthcoming changes in climate, which is likely to be detrimental to crops with a narrow genetic base. We suggest several possible reasons and that conventional plant breeding should be given high priority based on new approaches that include geographical distribution of allelic diversity.

Phenotypic diversity for fruit quality traits and bioactive compounds in red-fleshed guava: Insights from multivariate analyses and machine learning algorithms

Precise characterization of genetic resources is critically important for developing high yielding and nutri-rich guava cultivars. This study aimed at delineating phenotypic diversity for fruit yield, quality and bioactive compounds in the newly developed red-fleshed guava selections and hybrids. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the associated effect-size estimates revealed a high degree of phenotypic diversity for most of tree growth and fruit quality traits, minerals and bioactive compounds in the guava accessions analyzed. Principal Component Analysis efficiently discerned key trends in data with first and second Principal Components representing nutritional and bioactive compounds, and fruit yield attributes, respectively. Grouping of guava accessions into separate k-means clusters evinced a fairly high genetic divergence for the traits examined. Correlation and network analyses revealed that total antioxidant activity of fruits was strongly and positively regulated by total phenols (TP), β-carotene (β-car) and flavonoids (Flav). Gradient Boosting and Random Forest regression models also confirmed an overarching influence of TP, β-car and Flav in determining the total antioxidant activity. Our findings are expected to assist the guava breeders in selecting suitable parental combinations for future hybridization programs. The promising guava accessions identified by us meet the fresh consumption and processing standards, and may thus be considered for commercial planting.

Characterization of Genetic Resources of Microorganism as Response of Climate Change

Identifying previously unknown genetic loci directing microbial adaptation holds great promise for using such discoveries to increase biomass yield Researchers are using genetic, genomic, and systems biology approaches to screen micro bialgenomes for genes and gene segments linked Such screens could reveal new insight into adaptation and nutrient use Metabolism. Novel pathways and master regulatory genes also may emerge from such investigations. Examples of screening techniques and associated approaches follow. Microbial communities can be analyzed using many techniques; microscopic, cultivation, immunological and nucleic-acid based molecular techniques. During the last years, nucleic-acid based molecular techniques have been used to identify and quantify microorganisms in the environment and technical applications. Most of these techniques are based on the extraction of DNA from cultures, bioreactors or environmental samples, followed by the amplification of extracted DNA using the Polymerase Chain Reaction, and finally analysis of the amplification products. In most of cases, the 16S ribosomal RNA gene of prokaryotic cells is analyzed for the PCR-based identification of bacteria. To address the biodiversity and to identify new species generating evident for Use Genetic Technology to Discover Genes Controlling Biomass with hypothesize that microbe that plays a biological role in adaptations to environmental factors. Where metabolic engineering has been defined as the direct improvement of product formation through the modification of specific biochemical reactions or the introduction of new ones, so it is implementation on microorganism and plant leading to drug discovery. Some critical steps enclose a well-organized and competent way and optimal metabolic engineering Moreover, the use genomics data for the activation of silent metabolic clusters can be incorporated.

Wheat cultivars and natural‐based substances: Impacts on epidemiological parameters of yellow dwarf disease

AbstractFor many years, control methods against aphid‐transmitted barley/cereal yellow dwarf viruses (B/CYDV) in cereal fields were mainly based on the use of neonicotinoid (NNI)‐coated seeds. The ban of NNI by the EU in 2018 has reinforced the interest of the scientific community in the characterization of genetic resources and biological protections to find alternatives to chemicals for the management of B/CYDV. Eleven BYDV‐susceptible wheat varieties were tested using a set of experimental procedures to evaluate their potential to alter parameters linked to the biology of aphids (Rhopalosiphum padi) and spread of virus (BYDV‐PAV). Moreover, two natural‐based substances (azadirachtin and mineral oil) were tested for their impact on the ability of aphids to survive, colonize and transmit the virus. Results showed that the 11 genotypes tested have a level of susceptibility to virus infection similar to the susceptible reference cv. Rubisko. However, when characterization focused on virus load, latency period and aphid fecundity, partial resistance phenotypes were observed for some cultivars. Furthermore, azadirachtin increased aphid mortality and decreased aphid fecundity. Thus, in addition to genes described for their ability to limit B/CYDV infections, the genetic backgrounds of B/CYDV‐susceptible wheat cultivars and azadirachtin‐based treatment should be considered for future management strategies against yellow dwarf disease.

Genetic diversity, population structure and relationship of Ethiopian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) landraces as revealed by SSR markers

Evaluation and characterization of genetic resources maintained at both in situ and ex situ GenBanks have important implications for future utilization in association mapping studies, genetic selection, breeding and conservation activities. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity, population structure and relationship of 384 Ethiopian barley genotypes collected from different barley growing regions of Ethiopia using 49 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Analysis of these 49 SSR markers amplified a total of 478 alleles with an average of 9.755 alleles per locus were obtained of which 97.07% of the loci were observed to be polymorphic. Nei's genetic diversity index (h) was 0.654 and the Shannon diversity index (I) was 0.647, indicating that the genetic diversity in barley genotypes studied was moderately high. At the population level, mean per cent of polymorphic loci (PPL) showed 98.37%, h = 0.388 and I = 0.568. Highest level of genetic diversity was observed in the Arsi population (with PPL = 100%, h = 0.439, I = 0.624); the lowest value observed was in population from Jimma (with PPL = 75.51%, h = 0.291, I = 0.430). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) result showed significant genetic differentiation within and between populations (P<0.001), with 84.21% and 15.79% of the variation occurring within and among populations, respectively. Further, genetic variation analysis showed a coefficient of gene differentiation of 0.053 and a gene flow value of 4.467 among populations. The 384 barley genotypes were divided into seven genetic clusters according to STRUCTURE, neighbour-joining tree and principal coordinate analysis, correlating significantly with geographic distribution. These results signified presence of significant variations within and among populations (P<0.001), with the highest of the variation occurring within populations. The results will also assist with the design of conservation strategies, such as genetic protection via both in situ and ex situ conservation.

SSR based molecular profiling of elite cultivars of basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The experiment was conducted to assess the available genetic variability amongst Indian Basmati rice and identify co-dominant and reproducible robust simple sequence repeat markers for drought resistance and their utilization in marker assisted selection for developing drought resistant / tolerant aromatic rice cultivars in various parts of India as well as in world. DNA was isolated from fresh and young leaf tissues of 35 cultivars of basmati rice using the CTAB procedure of Doyle and Doyle with slightly modifications. The DNA was further quantified by spectrophotometer at 260 nm and 280 nm. The quality and quantity of DNA were checked by agarose gel electrophoresis. Out of 60 SSR markers, 18 were found to be polymorphic and the rest 42 primers were monomorphic. One of the main purposes of SSR markers in genomic study is the characterization of genetic resources to help gene bank management. The informative (18) SSR markers were capable to discriminate the entire cultivars of basmati rice used in this research work. A total of 52 alleles at 18 loci could be scored. The allelic richness per locus diversified from 2 to 5 with an average of 2.89 alleles per locus. The amplitude of Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) value is 0.066 (RM 1068) to 0.730 (RM 1059) with an average of 0.505. The Jaccard’s similarity coefficient ranged from 0.79 to 0.95. Polymorphic finding content showed a positive correlation (r =0.69) with number of alleles at the SSR locus. However it is recommended that SSR markers can be efficiently utilized for this purpose. The maximum similarity coefficient was observed between Jeerakasab and Kalanamak with a coefficient value of 95% and the minimum similarity was found between Jeerakasab and Pusa basmati-1 with a coefficient value of 79%.

The Road to Sorghum Domestication: Evidence From Nucleotide Diversity and Gene Expression Patterns.

Native African cereals (sorghum, millets) ensure food security to millions of low-income people from low fertility and drought-prone regions of Africa and Asia. In spite of their agronomic importance, the genetic bases of their phenotype and adaptations are still not well-understood. Here we focus on Sorghum bicolor, which is the fifth cereal worldwide for grain production and constitutes the staple food for around 500 million people. We leverage transcriptomic resources to address the adaptive consequences of the domestication process. Gene expression and nucleotide variability were analyzed in 11 domesticated and nine wild accessions. We documented a downregulation of expression and a reduction of diversity both in nucleotide polymorphism (30%) and gene expression levels (18%) in domesticated sorghum. These findings at the genome-wide level support the occurrence of a global reduction of diversity during the domestication process, although several genes also showed patterns consistent with the action of selection. Nine hundred and forty-nine genes were significantly differentially expressed between wild and domesticated gene pools. Their functional annotation points to metabolic pathways most likely contributing to the sorghum domestication syndrome, such as photosynthesis and auxin metabolism. Coexpression network analyzes revealed 21 clusters of genes sharing similar expression patterns. Four clusters (totaling 2,449 genes) were significantly enriched in differentially expressed genes between the wild and domesticated pools and two were also enriched in domestication and improvement genes previously identified in sorghum. These findings reinforce the evidence that the combined and intricated effects of the domestication and improvement processes do not only affect the behaviors of a few genes but led to a large rewiring of the transcriptome. Overall, these analyzes pave the way toward the identification of key domestication genes valuable for genetic resources characterization and breeding purposes.

Towards Development, Maintenance, and Standardized Phenotypic Characterization of Single-Seed-Descent Genetic Resources for Lupins.

Well-characterized genetic resources are fundamental to maintain and provide the various genotypes for pre-breeding programs for the production of new cultivars (e.g., wild relatives, unimproved material, landraces). The aim of the current article is to provide protocols for the characterization of the genetic resources of two lupin crop species: the European Lupinus albus and the American Lupinus mutabilis. Intelligent nested collections of lupins derived from homozygous lines (single-seed descent) are being developed, established, and exploited using cutting-edge approaches for genotyping, phenotyping, data management, and data analysis within the INCREASE project (EU Horizon 2020). This will allow us to predict the phenotypic performance of genotyped lines, and will further boost research and development in lupins. Lupins stand out due to their high-quality seed protein (∼40% of seed dry weight) and other primary components in the seeds, which include fatty acids, dietary fiber, and minerals. The potential of lupins as a crop is highlighted by the multiple benefits of plant-based food in terms of food security, nutrition, human health, and sustainable production. The use of lupins in foods, along with other well-studied and widely used food legumes, will also provide a greatly diversified plant-based food palette to meet the Global Goals for Sustainable Development to improve people's lives by 2030. © 2021 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Lupin seed phenotypic descriptors Basic Protocol 2: Lupin seed imaging Basic Protocol 3: Standardized phenotypic characterization of lupin genetic resources grown towards primary seed increase (development of single-seed descent genetic resources).

Trait characterization of genetic resources reveals useful variation for the improvement of cultivated Nordic red clover

AbstractRed clover (Trifolium pratense L.) is the most important forage legume in the Nordic region, but its utilization is limited by poor persistency. The improvement of cultivated red clover can potentially take advantage of the numerous wild populations and landraces conserved in gene banks; however, there is often limited information available on the phenotypic and genetic characteristics of this material. We characterized 48 populations conserved at NordGen for a number of traits and compared them to commercial cultivars. The material was evaluated in field trials at four locations over two years and in an experiment under controlled conditions. Considerable variation was identified, with stem length, growth type and flowering date having the highest broad sense heritabilities. Traits related to plant size were strongly associated with late flowering and upright growth and differed between landraces/cultivars on the one hand and wild populations on the other. There was a large genotype by environment interaction on winter survival, which only partially correlated with freezing tolerance under controlled conditions. A majority of gene bank accessions exceeded the commercial cultivars in winter survival and freezing tolerance and can therefore be a genetic resource for future improvement of these traits. The phenotypic variation among accessions was associated with two main axes of climatic variation at the collection site. Petiole length of young plants under controlled conditions as well as plant size in the field increased with increasing summer temperature and decreasing summer precipitation, while number of leaves and an apparent vernalization requirement, recorded under controlled conditions, increased with decreasing annual and winter temperature. We discuss the implications these results have for collection, conservation and utilization of red clover genetic resources in the Nordic region.

Genomic and biotechnological interventions in Prosopis cineraria: current status, challenges and opportunities

The present review illustrates an inclusive overview on the progress made in the area of genomics, population genetics, phylogenetics, non-GM biotechnology and genomic resource development in Prosopis cineraria and also suggests how genomic and biotechnological research will accelerate gene discovery, molecular breeding and crop improvement program in P. cineraria. In the era of global climate change, plant resources able to tolerate adverse stressful environments particularly drought, heat, cold and salt stresses have immense importance. The adaptation of plants towards different abiotic stresses depend on the coordination and regulation of multiple stress-responsive genes. The tree species vital to arid environments possess a gene pool representing useful characteristics related to abiotic stresses. Utilization and characterization of genetic resources of plants of arid regions can lead to an increase in our knowledge of the genes that are linked to abiotic stress related traits. Prosopis cineraria is an important tree of Indian Thar desert and is able to survive in adverse environmental conditions. Genomics and identification of genomic resources of this important tree species may be useful in determination of its adaptive evolution under adverse environmental conditions. Little progress has been made for this tree species in the area of population genetics, genomic and genetic resources development in the form of transcriptome sequencing, generation of ESTs against the heat and drought stresses, and identification of genomic SSRs. The feasibility of micropropagation as a non-GM biotechnology has also been demonstrated in P. cineraria. In this review, we also compared the genomic resource development in P. cineraria with other Prosopis species and some other model forest tree species like Populus, Eucalyptus, Quercus, Pinus, Picea, Castanea. However, genomic resource developed in P. cineraria is almost negligible comparatively to other model plants and still considered as less studied species. Although, many stress-responsive genes have been identified in a number of model plants, the native plant species grown naturally under harsh environment are rich source of novel abiotic stress-tolerant genes. More efforts are therefore needed to characterise this tree species using most modern genomic, genetic and biotechnological tools. More genomic research would accelerate gene discovery and molecular breeding in P. cineraria and increase its acceptability as classical tree species at global level for abiotic stress tolerance.

Phenotypic characterization of genetic resources of indigenous cattle in West Gondar zone of Ethiopia

Phenotypic characterization of genetic resources of indigenous cattle in West Gondar zone of Ethiopia

Molecular Marker Technology for Crop Improvement

Since the 1980s, agriculture and plant breeding have changed with the development of molecular marker technology. In recent decades, different types of molecular markers have been used for different purposes: mapping, marker-assisted selection, characterization of genetic resources, etc. These have produced effective genotyping, but the results have been costly and time-consuming, due to the small number of markers that could be tested simultaneously. Recent advances in molecular marker technologies such as the development of high-throughput genotyping platforms, genotyping by sequencing, and the release of the genome sequences of major crop plants open new possibilities for advancing crop improvement. This Special Issue collects sixteen research studies, including the application of molecular markers in eleven crop species, from the generation of linkage maps and diversity studies to the application of marker-assisted selection and genomic prediction.

Investigation of obsolete diversity of rye (Secale cereale L.) using multiplexed SSR fingerprinting and evaluation of agronomic traits

Common rye (Secale cereale L.) is one of the most important cereals in Europe. Nevertheless, its germplasm collections are among the least numerous compared with cereals. There are only about 27,000 Secale accessions in 70 gene banks around the world. Despite extensive research on the molecular characterization of genetic resources, only a fraction of this collection has been described. The main objective of the presented study was to perform genotypic and phenotypic characterization of an obsolete gene pool represented by 100 accessions originated from 28 countries around the world and preserved in the gene bank of the Polish Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden – Center for Biological Diversity Conservation in Powsin. Genetic analysis using simple sequence repeat markers showed that the obsolete gene pool is relatively large. This indicates that different sources of variability were used in breeding programs. However, the genetic variation is in no way related to the place of origin. Despite the great differences in the genetic make-up, the collection showed a broadly common phenotype. This could result in a low level of interest among breeders in the stored germplasm, undervalued as a source of important but not easily observable traits, e.g., high disease resistance, which was found in some accessions.

Muturu cattle breed management in the smallholder farming area of the Ouémé district in the south of Benin: rearing practices, objectives, and constraints.

An exploratory survey was conducted to understand breeding practices and breeding objectives as well as the constraints as a first step towards developing breeding strategies for the conservation of Muturu cattle breed in Ouémé smallholder farming area of South Benin. Data were generated through randomly interviewing 100 selected Muturu cattle keepers in the municipalities of Adjarra, Adjohoun, Akpro-Missérété, and Bonou using an electronic animal genetic resource characterization, inventory, and monitoring tool. Results indicated that the Muturu cattle were mainly kept for their meat. The mean herd sizes of 3, 5, 4, and 33 were obtained in Adjarra, Adjohoun, Akpro-Misserete, and Bonou respectively. Cattle keepers were exclusively male in the various municipalities surveyed except for Adjohoun, where 28.57% of cattle keepers were female. Preference was given to this breed because it is less demanding in terms of inputs and well adapted to the local environment. Mating was generally uncontrolled. The animals were fed on a natural pasture exclusively irrespective of the season. Robustness and vigor were the most frequently reported traits in selecting breeding bulls, while breeding females were kept based on their offspring's growth and conformation. The decline in the number of Muturu cattle in the region was largely attributed to the competition for land used for other purposes such as crop cultivation and animal theft. Considering the devastating threat on the Muturu cattle breed, it is recommended that a participatory management scheme be designed and implemented for in situ conservation of the Muturu cattle breed in Benin.

STRAWBERRY FRUIT (FRAGARIA × ANANASSA DUCH.) AS A VALUABLE SOURCE OF NUTRITIONAL AND BIO-LOGICALLY ACTIVE SUBSTANCES (REVIEW)

For the last time a lot of attention has been paid to strawberry as a garden crop. All this thanks to its preventive and medical benefits related to the consumption of its fruit. The paper presents the data analysis of foreign and domestic researchers on the accumulation of basic food components (sugars, organic acids), vitamins, mineral substances and other valuable ones in. Which determine the high antioxidant properties of strawberries. On the basis of scientific literature sources, the vitamin profile was compiled wich reflects the accumulation of vitamin groups, specific for a given crop. With all diversity of vitamins found in strawberry fruits, the fruits of this plant are primarily good as a valuable source of ascorbic acid, folic acid, polyphenolic compounds (anthocyanins, ellagic acid). As for mineral substances, the presence of iron amount confirms the fact. In spite of fact that the strawberry composition is studied enough, the further detailed characterization of genetic resources is necessary both by total antioxidant activity and by definite chemical components, the last ones, obviously, present the antioxidant complex of strawberry fruits. The given information will be a base for future related investigations of phytochemical compounds of fruits and berries. They are extraordinary important in healthy food of humans as well as in creation of nutraceutical products.