Generation Progeny Research Articles

Super-resolution imaging reveals cytoskeleton-dependent organelle rearrangement within platelets at intermediate stages of maturation

A steady supply of platelets maintains their levels in the blood, and this is achieved by the generation of progeny from platelet intermediates. Using systematic super-resolution microscopy, we examine the ultrastructural organization of various organelles in different platelet intermediates to understand the mechanism of organelle redistribution and sorting in platelet intermediate maturation as the early step of platelet progeny production. We observe the dynamic interconversion between the intermediates and find that microtubules are responsible for controlling the overall shape of platelet intermediates. Super-resolution images show that most of the organelles are located near the cell periphery in oval preplatelets and confined to the bulbous tips in proplatelets. We also find that the distribution of the dense tubular system and α granules is regulated by actin, whereas that of mitochondria and dense granules is governed by microtubules. Altogether, our results call for a reassessment of organelle redistribution in platelet intermediates.

BAC transgenic mice to study the expression of P2X2 and P2Y1 receptors

Extracellular purines are important signaling molecules involved in numerous physiological and pathological processes via the activation of P2 receptors. Information about the spatial and temporal P2 receptor (P2R) expression and its regulation remains crucial for the understanding of the role of P2Rs in health and disease. To identify cells carrying P2X2Rs in situ, we have generated BAC transgenic mice that express the P2X2R subunits as fluorescent fusion protein (P2X2-TagRFP). In addition, we generated a BAC P2Y1R TagRFP reporter mouse expressing a TagRFP reporter for the P2RY1 gene expression. We demonstrate expression of the P2X2R in a subset of DRG neurons, the brain stem, the hippocampus, as well as on Purkinje neurons of the cerebellum. However, the weak fluorescence intensity in our P2X2R-TagRFP mouse precluded tracking of living cells. Our P2Y1R reporter mice confirmed the widespread expression of the P2RY1 gene in the CNS and indicate for the first time P2RY1 gene expression in mouse Purkinje cells, which so far has only been described in rats and humans. Our P2R transgenic models have advanced the understanding of purinergic transmission, but BAC transgenic models appeared not always to be straightforward and permanent reliable. We noticed a loss of fluorescence intensity, which depended on the number of progeny generations. These problems are discussed and may help to provide more successful animal models, even if in future more versatile and adaptable nuclease-mediated genome-editing techniques will be the methods of choice.

Serological and molecular analysis indicates the presence of distinct viral genotypes of Apple stem pitting virus in India.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-02798-5.

MAVERICC: Marker-free Vaccinia Virus Engineering of Recombinants through in vitro CRISPR/Cas9 Cleavage

Vaccinia virus (VACV)-based vectors are in extensive use as vaccines and cancer immunotherapies. VACV engineering has traditionally relied on homologous recombination between a parental viral genome and a transgene-bearing transfer plasmid, an inefficient process that necessitates the use of a selection or screening marker to isolate recombinants. Recent extensions of this approach have sought to enhance the recovery of transgene-bearing viruses through the use of CRISPR-Cas9 engineering to cleave the viral genome in infected cells. However, these methods do not completely eliminate the generation of WT viral progeny and thus continue to require multiple rounds of viral propagation and plaque purification. Here, we describe MAVERICC (marker-free vaccinia virus engineering of recombinants through in vitroCRISPR/Cas9 cleavage), a new strategy to engineer recombinant VACVs in a manner that overcomes current limitations. MAVERICC also leverages the CRISPR/Cas9 system but requires no markers and yields essentially pure preparations of the desired recombinants in a single step. We used this approach to introduce point mutations, insertions, and deletions at multiple locations in the VACV genome, both singly and in combination. The efficiency and versatility of MAVERICC make it an ideal choice for generating mutants and mutant libraries at arbitrarily selected locations in the viral genome to build complex VACV vectors, effect vector improvements, and facilitate the study of poxvirus biology.

Small RNAs and their targets are associated with the transgenerational effects of water-deficit stress in durum wheat

Water-deficit stress negatively affects wheat yield and quality. Abiotic stress on parental plants during reproduction may have transgenerational effects on progeny. Here we investigated the transgenerational influence of pre-anthesis water-deficit stress by detailed analysis of the yield components, grain quality traits, and physiological traits in durum wheat. Next-generation sequencing analysis profiled the small RNA-omics, mRNA transcriptomics, and mRNA degradomics in first generation progeny. Parental water-deficit stress had positive impacts on the progeny for traits including harvest index and protein content in the less stress-tolerant variety. Small RNA-seq identified 1739 conserved and 774 novel microRNAs (miRNAs). Transcriptome-seq characterised the expression of 66,559 genes while degradome-seq profiled the miRNA-guided mRNA cleavage dynamics. Differentially expressed miRNAs and genes were identified, with significant regulatory patterns subject to trans- and inter-generational stress. Integrated analysis using three omics platforms revealed significant biological interactions between stress-responsive miRNA and targets, with transgenerational stress tolerance potentially contributed via pathways such as hormone signalling and nutrient metabolism. Our study provides the first confirmation of the transgenerational effects of water-deficit stress in durum wheat. New insights gained at the molecular level indicate that key miRNA-mRNA modules are candidates for transgenerational stress improvement.

Inheritance of alloplasmic fertility restoration in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) system has been exploited worldwide in field and vegetable crops. In eggplant, alloplasmic CMS lines were developed through interspecific hybridization between Solanum aethiopicum L. × S. melongena L., while the restorer (R) lines were isolated from the reciprocal cross. The knowledge about inheritance of Rf gene is must for its further use in breeding and molecular studies. Therefore, four sets of CMS (D-CMS 291A, D-CMS 99A, D-CMS 5A and D-CMS 72A) and restorer (R 2-1, R 3-4, R 6-2 and R 2596-2) lines were used to develop F1, F2 and backcross progenies, to understand the inheritance mechanism. Phenotyping of all the populations and test of goodness of fit revealed involvement of a single dominant gene (Rf) for fertility restoration. The visual scoring of flowers for male sterility and fertility was further validated with the tests on pollen stainability, germination and index. Among others, media containing 0.5% agar + 300 ppm calcium nitrate + 5% sucrose + 50 mg/l boric acid + 400 mg/l PEG 4000 furnished the best results for in vitro pollen germination. Differences between and within male sterile and restorer lines were observed for pistil and stamen length and girth, pollen stainability and germination. Stable expression of CGMS and restorer lines in all the generation progenies confirmed their utility in future eggplant breeding programs.

Self-Crossing Leads to Weak Co-Variation of the Bacterial and Fungal Communities in the Rice Rhizosphere.

The rhizomicrobial community is influenced by plant genotype. However, the potential differences in the co-assembly of bacterial and fungal communities between parental lines and different generations of rice progenies have not been examined. Here we compared the bacterial and fungal communities in the rhizomicrobiomes of female parent Oryza rufipogon wild rice; male parent Oryza sativa cultivated rice; their F1 progeny; and the F2, F3 and F4 self-crossing generations. Our results showed that the bacterial and fungal α-diversities of the hybrid F1 and self-crossing generations (F2, F3, F4) were closer to one of the two parental lines, which may indicate a role of the parental line in the diversity of the rhizosphere microbial community assembly. Self-crossing from F1 to F4 led to weak co-variation of the bacterial and fungal communities and distinct rhizosphere microbiomes. In the parental and self-crossing progenies, the reduction of community dissimilarity was higher for the fungal community than for the bacterial community.

Measurement of Transgene Copy Number in Plants Using Droplet Digital PCR.

Transgenic plants are produced both to investigate gene function and to confer desirable traits into crops. Transgene copy number is known to influence expression levels, and consequently, phenotypes. Similarly, knowledge of transgene zygosity is desirable for making quantitative assessments of phenotype and tracking the inheritance of transgenes in progeny generations. Since the first transgenic plants were produced, several methods for determining copy number have been applied, including Southern blotting, quantitative real-time PCR, and more recently, sequencing methods; however, each method has specific disadvantages, compromising throughput, accuracy, or expense. Digital PCR (dPCR) divides reactions into partitions, converting the exponential, analogue nature of PCR into a linear, digital signal that allows the frequency of occurrence of specific sequences to be accurately estimated. Confidence increases with the number of partitions; therefore, the availability of emulsion technologies that enable reactions to be divided into tens of thousands of nanodroplets allows accurate determination of copy number in what has become known as digital droplet PCR (ddPCR). ddPCR offers similar benefits of low costs and scalability as other PCR techniques but with superior accuracy and reliability. Graphic abstract: Digital PCR (dPCR) divides reactions into partitions, converting the exponential, analogue nature of PCR into a linear, digital signal that allows the frequency of transgene copy number to be accurately assessed.

Research Article Peach phenological characters: heritability, maternal effect and correlation with brown rot

Peach is a temperate fruit species that is cultivated under various edaphoclimatic conditions all over the world. In Brazil, in the early 1950s, peaches were planted only in Sao Paulo state and in the Southern states, and the harvest period was restricted to 15 days. Currently, mainly due to peach breeding programs, it is cultivated in subtropical areas and even in high altitude tropical areas, with a harvest period of over 100 days. Knowledge of genetic, phenotypic and environmental parameters that influence characters of economic importance is crucial for guiding breeding programs. The objectives of this study were to estimate the heritability of phenological characters, to evaluate their distribution within populations, to test the possible existence of maternal effect and to evaluate the relationship of these traits with brown rot incidence (Monilinia fructicola). The study was performed in Pelotas, RS, Brazil during 2015-2016 to2017-2018 seasons. Sixteen first generation (F1) progenies were evaluated, 10 of them being reciprocal crosses. All genotypes were cultivated in the same area, under the same cultural practices (without fungicide application). Full bloom was considered when more than 50% of flowers were open, and the harvest, when more than 10 fruits reached commercial maturity, the fruit development period being calculated by the difference between full bloom and harvest dates. Brown rot incidence was estimated by the percentage of fruits with symptoms. Broad-sense heritability estimates for full bloom date, harvest date, and fruit development period were high (95 to 98%), and narrow-sense heritabilities were medium to high (65 to 72%). A segregation study of these traits suggests a maternal effect on their heritability, mainly for full bloom and harvest date. The three phenological characters were significantly correlated, and only harvest date had a negative and significant correlation (-0.12) with brown rot incidence.

Neural stem cell pools in the vertebrate adult brain: Homeostasis from cell-autonomous decisions or community rules?

Adult stem cell populations must coordinate their own maintenance with the generation of differentiated cell types to sustain organ physiology, in a spatially controlled manner and over long periods. Quantitative analyses of clonal dynamics have revealed that, in epithelia, homeostasis is achieved at the population rather than at the single stem cell level, suggesting that feedback mechanisms coordinate stem cell maintenance and progeny generation. In the central nervous system, however, little is known of the possible community processes underlying neural stem cell maintenance. Recent work, in part based on intravital imaging made possible in the adult zebrafish, conclusively highlights that homeostasis in neural stem cell pools may rely on population asymmetry and long-term spatiotemporal coordination of neural stem cell states and fates. These results suggest that neural stem cell assemblies in the vertebrate brain behave as self-organized systems, such that the stem cells themselves generate their own intrinsic niche.

Dissecting the Genetic Architecture of Biofuel-Related Traits in a Sorghum Breeding Population.

In sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], hybrid cultivars for the biofuel industry are desired. Along with selection based on testcross performance, evaluation of the breeding population per se is also important for the success of hybrid breeding. In addition to additive genetic effects, non-additive (i.e., dominance and epistatic) effects are expected to contribute to the performance of early generations. Unfortunately, studies on early generations in sorghum breeding programs are limited. In this study, we analyzed a breeding population for bioenergy sorghum, which was previously developed based on testcross performance, to compare genomic selection models both trained on and evaluated for the per se performance of the 3rd generation S0 individuals. Of over 200 ancestral inbred accessions in the base population, only 13 founders contributed to the 3rd generation as progenitors. Compared to the founders, the performances of the population per se were improved for target traits. The total genetic variance within the S0 generation progenies themselves for all traits was mainly additive, although non-additive variances contributed to each trait to some extent. For genomic selection, linear regression models explicitly considering all genetic components showed a higher predictive ability than other linear and non-linear models. Although the number and effect distribution of underlying loci was different among the traits, the influence of priors for marker effects was relatively small. These results indicate the importance of considering non-additive effects for dissecting the genetic architecture of early breeding generations and predicting the performance per se.

Octoploid zoysiagrass: Origin, stability, characteristics, and breeding behavior

AbstractAll known species of zoysiagrass are tetraploids (2n = 4x = 40) but octoploids have been reported. This research was conducted to evaluate ploidy variability from a stand of zoysiagrass where an 8xclone (E11) originated, and to characterize progeny from E11 and other ploidy variable clones. Clone ploidy was determined by flow cytometry and clones and progeny were assessed for aboveground and belowground morphological variability. Clone E11 was confirmed as 8xwith a G1 peak twice that of ‘SS‐500’ (Empire, Sod Solutions, Inc.). Among 31 clones from the field where E11 originated, 20 were tetraploid, but 11 showed two flow cytometry peaks of similar numbers of events – one at a 4xvalue like Empire and a second at an 8xvalue like E11. From the group of 11 clones, three clones (C62, C96, and C107) that initially had double peaks reverted back to the 4xlevel, two (C92 and C105) stabilized at 8x, and six (C4‐1, B10, C13, I31, C87, and C93) continued to show double peaks. Progeny from C62 and C96 were only 4x. Progeny from the E11, C92, and C105 were all 8xexcept for one 6xplant among eight progeny of C105. Progeny from two clones with double peaks (C4‐1 and C93) were only 8x. These results show that, with variable ploidy of histogenic layers, a progeny generation is needed to stabilize 8xlines. Morphology studies showed that E11 generally followed the expected trend of increased size of vegetative and floral parts and root morphology found with chromosome doubling.

Allelism Test between Crosses of High-O/L x High-O/L and Very High-O/L x Very High-O/L Peanut Genotypes

ABSTRACT Crosses were made between High-O/L x High-O/L and between Very High-O/L x Very High-O/L peanut genotypes. The High-O/L parental genotypes were F435-OL-2 and ‘Flavor Runner 458’ and ranged between 20 and 40:1 oleic (O) to linoleic (L) fatty acid methyl ester ratio. The Very High-O/L parental cultivars were ‘Georgia Hi-O/L' and ‘Georgia-11J' and consistently had O/L ratios ≥40:1 over four years at the Tifton, Georgia location when grown under maximum-input production practices with irrigation. F1 plants from the High-O/L x High-O/L cross combination had an average O/L ratio of 32.5:1; whereas, the F1 plants from the Very High-O/L x Very High-O/L crosses had an average O/L ratio of 50:1. Average O/L ratios of both F2 and F3 generation progeny also had similar O/L ratios within High-O/L x High-O/L and Very High-O/L x Very High-O/L crosses. The results from these test crosses suggest that there are at least two different high-oleic genotypes possibly associated with either multiple alleles or modifier genes.

Superinfection and recombination of infectious laryngotracheitis virus vaccines in the natural host

Infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV, Gallid alphaherpesvirus 1) causes severe respiratory disease in chickens and has a major impact on the poultry industry worldwide. Live attenuated vaccines are widely available and are administered early in the life of commercial birds, often followed by one or more rounds of revaccination, generating conditions that can favour recombination between vaccines. Better understanding of the factors that contribute to the generation of recombinant ILTVs will inform the safer use of live attenuated herpesvirus vaccines. This study aimed to examine the parameters of infection that allow superinfection and may enable the generation of recombinant progeny in the natural host. In this study, 120 specific-pathogen free (SPF) chickens in 8 groups were inoculated with two genetically distinct live-attenuated ILTV vaccine strains with 1–4 days interval between the first and second vaccinations. After inoculation, viral genomes were detected in tracheal swabs in all groups, with lowest copies detected in swabs collected from the groups where the interval between inoculations was 4 days. Superinfection of the host was defined as the detection of the virus that was inoculated last, and this was detected in tracheal swabs from all groups. Virus could be isolated from swabs at a limited number of timepoints, and these further illustrated superinfection of the birds as recombinant viruses were detected among the progeny. This study has demonstrated superinfection at host level and shows recombination events occur under a very broad range of infection conditions. The occurrence of superinfection after unsynchronised infection with multiple viruses, and subsequent genomic recombination, highlight the importance of using only one type of vaccine per flock as the most effective way to limit recombination.

C.elegans interprets bacterial non-coding RNAs to learn pathogenic avoidance.

Summary:C. elegans must distinguish pathogenic from nutritious bacterial food sources among the many bacteria it is exposed to in its environment1. Here we show that a single exposure to purified small RNAs isolated from pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14) is sufficient to induce pathogen avoidance, both in the treated animals and in four subsequent generations of progeny. The RNA interference and piRNA pathways, the germline, and the ASI neuron are required for bacterial small RNA-induced avoidance behavior and transgenerational inheritance. A single P. aeruginosa non-coding RNA, P11, is both necessary and sufficient to convey learned avoidance of PA14, and its C. elegans target, maco-1, is required for avoidance. Our results suggest that this ncRNA-dependent mechanism evolved to survey the worm’s microbial environment, use this information to make appropriate behavioral decisions, and pass this information on to its progeny.

Effects of Sublethal Doses of Methyl Benzoate on the Life History Traits and Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) Activity of Aphis gossypii

Safer alternatives to synthetic pesticides are essential for sustainable agriculture. Methyl benzoate (MB) is a volatile essential oil found in several plants. Recent reports of the toxicity of MB to arthropod pests suggest that MB may be a useful alternative insecticide. The present study assessed the effects of a sublethal concentration of MB (LC30, 0.22%) on the life history and reproductive characteristics of the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, in both a treated parental generation (F0) and untreated progeny (F1). MB treatment significantly decreased longevity and fecundity in both the F0 and F1 generations, and prolonged the developmental duration of each immature instar of the F1 generations, compared with controls. The intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ), and net reproductive rate (R0) of the F1 generation were significantly reduced, compared to controls. The mode of action of MB is not known, but in aphids treated with LC30 MB, the activity of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) decreased by more than 65%, compared with untreated controls. AChE activity was rapidly inhibited within 1 h, and remained inhibited for 6 h after in vivo exposure to MB. Moreover, molecular docking analysis revealed that MB had a strong affinity with the catalytic site of AChE, with a binding energy value of −6.2 kcal/mole. Our results suggest that MB targets AChE, and that a sublethal dose of MB can have adverse transgenerational effects on cotton aphids.

Genetic Evaluation for Sexual Maturity and Egg Production Traits in Crossbreeding Experiment Involving Four Local Strains of Chickens

A cross experiment was carried out in Animal Production Research Institute (APRI), in cooperation with Benha University, Egypt for three years starting from February 2013 and terminated 2016. Four pedigreed local strains of chickens Matrouh (MT), Mandarah (MN), Inshas (IN) and Silver Montazah (SM) strains were used. A total of 34 sires and 230 dams from MN strain, 32 sires and 194 dams from MT strain were chosen randomly from 250 cockers and 600 pullets to produce purebreds and crossbreds progenies in the first generation. In the second generation, the crossbred hens of MNxMT were artificially inseminated with fresh semen of Inshas strain (IN), while the crossbred hens of MTxMN were artificially inseminated with fresh semen collected from cocks of Silver Montazah strain (SM) to produce three-way crossbreds (½IN×¼MN¼MT and ½SM×¼MT¼MN). Single trait animal model was used in estimating heritability and in predicting the breeding values (PBV). Crossbreeding effects of direct additive (GI), maternal effects (GM), direct heterosis (HI) and maternal heterosis (HI) were estimated using the procedure of generalized least-squares. The overall means of all genetic groups were 154 day, 1420 g, 39.38 g, 45 egg, 1957 g, 61 egg, 2727 g, 16 day, 411 g, 18 egg, 784 g, 13.5 egg and 593 g for ASM, BWSM, WFE, EN90D, EM90D, EN120D, EM120D, PF10E, EMF10E, EN2DW, EM2DW, EN1WM and EM1WM, respectively Estimates of heritability were moderate for ASM and BWSM (0.23 and 0.69), while they were low for egg production and partial egg recording traits. The GLM showed that three-way crossbreds reported the earlier ASM, heavier BWSM and WFE, the highest EN90D, EN120D and EN2DW and the heaviest EM90D, EM120D and EM2DW. The ranges of predicted breeding values (PBV) of MT strain were slightly higher than that for MN birds. Ranges of PBV recorded by ½MT½MN were nearly similar to those ranges recorded by ½MN½MT. Cross fathered by SM cocks and mothered by (½MT½MN) had higher ranges in PBV for egg production and partial egg recording traits than those cross fathered by IN cocks and mothered by (½MN½MT). The effects of GI on all traits (p≤0.01) and in favour of MN breed. The percentages of GM were significant for sexual maturity traits and non-significant for egg production and partial egg recording traits. Percentages of HI (-3.8, 28.5, -4.6, 29.3, 28.8, 24.9, 19.7, -36.1, -3.2, 17.4, 10.6 and 8.8%) and HM (-2.6, 1.2, 0.03, 7.8, 8.2, 7.8, 8.1, -10.5, 0.2, 7.2, 0.7, 3.2 and 3.3%) were mostly highly significant for all traits for ASM, BWSM, EN90D, EM90D, EN120D, EM120D, PF10E, EMF10E, EN2DW, EM2DW, EN1WM and EM1WM, respectively. We can recommend that Mandarah strain (MN) could be used as a sire and Matrouh (MT) as a dam, depending on the estimates of the direct additive genetic effect GI for the studied traits which were in favor of MN.

Model prediction of a Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitor protein from seeds of Acacia nilotica L. with strong antimicrobial and insecticidal activity.

A Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitor protein has been purified and characterized from seeds of Acacia nilotica L. LC-MS/MS analysis of Acacia nilotica trypsin inhibitor (AnTI) provided the N-terminal fragment of 11 amino acids which yielded 100% identity with already reported Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitor protein of Acacia confusa (AcTI) in UniProtKB database search. SDS-PAGE showed a single band of ~21 kDa under nonreduced condition and appearance of a daughter band (17 kDa) in the presence of β-mercaptoethanol indicating the presence of interchain disulfide linkage typical for Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitors. AnTI was purified from seed extract by using a combination of anion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. Since AnTI showed maximum homology with AcTI, a molecular structure of AcTI was predicted which showed highly β-sheeted molecular conformation similar to crystallographic structure of Enterolobium contortisiliquum trypsin inhibitor (EcTI). AnTI (20 µg) produces significant population inhibition against different human pathogenic bacteria along strong antifungal activity (50 µg). Entomotoxin potential of AnTI was evaluated against two stored grain insect pests Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Tenebrionidae: Coleoptera) and Sitophilus oryzae (Linnaeus) (Curculionidae: Coleoptera). Statistically significant mortality of T. castaneum adults was observed at 1.5 mg after 15 days in comparison to control. Additionally, number of total eggs, larvae, pupae, adults, and their male/female ratio were also severely reduced in comparison to control. Similarly, two generation progeny of S. oryzae was studied after mixing AnTI with rice kernels. Mean percent mortality of adult population was significantly higher after 9 days of exposure in comparison to control group. AnTI significantly reduced the F1 generation while little mortality was observed for F2 generation. Exploration of such potent molecules is the prerequisite of our time regarding the anticipation of postantibiotic era and the development of insect resistance against chemical pesticides.

Uniparental Inheritance of Salinity Tolerance and Beneficial Phytochemicals in Rice

Salinity stress is one of the most problematic constraints to significantly reduce rice productivity. The Saltol QTL (quantitative trait locus) has been known as one among many principal genes/QTLs responsible for salinity tolerance in rice. However, the introgression of the Saltol QTL from the donor (male) into the recipient (female) cultivars induces great recessions from the progeny generation, which results in heavy fieldwork and greater cost and time required for breeding. In this study, the F1 generation of the cross TBR1 (female cultivar, salinity tolerant) × KD18 (male cultivar, salinity susceptible) was preliminarily treated with N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) to induce the mutants M1. Results on physiological traits show that all the M2 (self-pollinated from M1) and M3 (self-pollinated from M2) individuals obtain salinity tolerant levels as the recurrent TBR1. Twelve SSR (simple sequence repeat) markers involved in the Saltol QTL (RM493, RM562, RM10694, RM10720, RM10793, RM10852, RM13197, RM201, RM149, RM508, RM587, and RM589) and other markers related to yield-contributing traits and disease resistance, as well as water and nitrogen use, have efficacy that is polymorphic. The phenotype and genotype analyses indicate that the salinity tolerant Saltol QTL, growth parameter, grain yield and quality, pest resistance, water and nitrogen use efficacy, and beneficial phytochemicals including antioxidants, momilactone A (MA) and momilactone B (MB) are uniparentally inherited from the recurrent (female) TBR1 cultivar and stabilized in the M2 and M3 generations. Further MNU applications should be examined to induce the uniparental inheritance of other salinity tolerant genes such as OsCPK17, OsRMC, OsNHX1, OsHKT1;5 to target rice cultivars. However, the mechanism of inducing this novel uniparental inheritance for salinity tolerance by MNU application needs elaboration.

Studying the Effectiveness of Some Plant Powders on the Biological Activities of the Confused Flour Beetle Tribolium confusum du Val (Coleoptera: Tenebrio-nidae).

This study aims to test the biological effect of three plant powders of (black pepper fruit Piper nigrum L., nutmeg seeds Myristica fragrans Houtt and bay leaf Laurus nobilis L.) when mixed with wheat flour at concentrations of; 0.2, 0.5, 0.75, 1 and 1.5 % (w/w) against the confused flour beetle Tribolium confusum. Results showed that the black pepper fruit caused a decrease in the production of larvae that reached 65.36%, while the nutmeg seeds powder caused a decrease of 50.93% compared with the bay leaf powder, which caused a decrease of 38.20%. The results also showed a decrease in the first generation progeny (F1) that reached 90.75% and 75.34% due to the treatment with the black pepper fruit and the nutmeg seeds powders respectively. However, the bay leaf powder was less effective, with only a decrease of 30.13%.