Plant Breeding and Genetics Commons^™

Breeding For Modified Seed Composition In Soybean: Selection Of Genotypes, Yield Stability, And Environmental Effects, Luciano Miguel Jaureguy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The development of cultivars with modified seed composition represents an excellent alternative to cope with the world's need for more nutritious food. Understanding the genetic and environmental factors controlling crop seed quality traits is of crucial importance for such an endeavor. The objectives of this study were: a) to evaluate the efficiency of phenotype and marker-assisted selection for low stachyose and low phytate soybean breeding lines, and their yield stability, b) to study the effect of management practices planting date and delayed harvest on soybean seed composition, and c) to study the potential association between soil properties and leaf chemical …

Taxonomy And Dna Barcoding In The Genus Manfreda (Salisb.) Asparagaceae, William David Ritchie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The genus Manfreda Salisb. of Asparagaceae is a genus of potential horticultural interest and is currently subject to breeding efforts at the University of Arkansas. A lack of taxonomic clarity however undermines the classification of potential inter - and intrageneric hybrids. The study aims to assess existing species delimitation within the genus Manfreda employing morphology while investigating the potential utility of Consortium for the Barcode of Life Plant (CBOL) DNA Barcodes for identification of specific taxa and an External Transcribed Spacer (ETS) - Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) DNA barcode for developed hybridized taxa.

Observation of 855 herbarium specimens facilitated phylogenetic …

Evaluation Of The Recombination Efficiencies Of Flp Proteins, Linh Duy Nguyen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Site-specific recombination systems are powerful tools for genetic modification. They have been used to integrate a transgene into a pre-defined locus and to remove marker genes from a transgene locus. Two of the most widely used site-specific recombination systems in plants are the Cre/lox system from the bacteriophage P1 and the FLP/FRT system from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The Cre/lox system is well-characterized and is the first choice in application of site-specific recombination system. However, some applications such as marker-free site-specific gene integration require the use of two recombination systems. In addition, the availability of alternative recombination systems can offer …

Fuzzy Clustering Of Cpp Family In Plants With Evolution And Interaction Analyses, Tao Lu, Yongchao Dou, Chi Zhang

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Background: Transcription factors have been studied intensively because they play an important role in gene expression regulation. However, the transcription factors in the CPP family (cystein-rich polycomb-like protein), compared with other transcription factor families, have not received sufficient attention, despite their wide prevalence in a broad spectrum of species, from plants to animals. The total number of known CPP transcription factors in plants is 111 from 16 plants, but only 2 of them have been studied so far, namely TSO1 and CPP1 in Arabidopsis thaliana and soybean, respectively.

Methods: In this work, to study their functions, we applied …

Rosette Iron Deficiency Transcript And Microrna Profiling Reveals Links Between Copper And Iron Homeostasis In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Brian M. Waters, Samuel A. Mcinturf, Ricardo J. Stein

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Iron (Fe) is an essential plant micronutrient, and its deficiency limits plant growth and development on alkaline soils. Under Fe deficiency, plant responses include up-regulation of genes involved in Fe uptake from the soil. However, little is known about shoot responses to Fe deficiency. Using microarrays to probe gene expression in Kas-1 and Tsu-1 ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana, and comparison with existing Col-0 data, revealed conserved rosette gene expression responses to Fe deficiency. Fe-regulated genes included known metal homeostasis-related genes, and a number of genes of unknown function. Several genes responded to Fe deficiency in both roots and rosettes. …

Genetic Diversity, Pathogenicity/Virulence Variation And Population Structure Of Rhizoctonia Spp. Associated With Rice Sheath Blight In Arkansas And Qtl Mapping For Disease Resistance, Vanina Lilian Castroagudin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice sheath blight (ShB) is one of the most prevalent diseases in rice. The significance of this disease is increasing due to more intensive production practices globally. Rhizoctonia solani Kühn AG 1 - IA [teleomorph: Thanatephorus cucumeris (A.B. Frank) Donk] is considered the primary ShB pathogen of rice. However, Rhizoctonia oryzae-sativae, Rhizoctonia oryzae, and R. solani AG 2 and AG 11, have also been isolated from sheath blight-like lesions on rice.Up to now, there is little information on genetic diversity and patterns of molecular evolution of the fungus, and there is no study on the structure of the R. solani …

The Identification Of Quantitative Trait Loci For Sucrose And Stachyose Content In Soybean Seed, Ailan Zeng

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sucrose is a desirable sugar in soybean seed that affects the quality and taste of soyfoods, while stachyose is a non-digestible sugar that induces flatulence in non-ruminant animals. Therefore, soybean cultivars with high sucrose and/or low stachyose would be valuable for soyfood and meal markets. The objectives of this study were to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) or genes associated with seed sucrose and stachyose content using simple sequence repeat (SSR) or single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. A low sucrose line, MFS-553, was crossed with a high sucrose plant introduction, PI 243545, to develop the sucrose QTL mapping population. A …

The Evolution Of Natural Plant Communities Through Crop Migration And Crop-To-Weed Gene Flow, Meredith G. Schafer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the rising demand for food and biofuels, the efficiency of crop production has become vital to assuring food security. Genetically engineered (GE) crop varieties are broadly thought to be a solution for improving the efficiency of crop production, but concerns regarding their release have heightened as more discoveries have focused on the influence of genetically engineered crops on native and weedy plant species. Risk assessment of GE crop varieties focuses on two main areas: feralization of crop systems and crop-weed hybridization. Risks include naturalization, transgene introgression, and the formation of novel genotypes in natural systems. In this study, roadside …

The Pseudomonas Syringae Hrpj Protein Controls The Secretion Of Type Iii Translocator Proteins And Has A Virulence Role Inside Plant Cells, Emerson Crabill, Andrew Karpisek, James R. Alfano

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

The bacterial plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae injects effector proteins into plant cells via a type III secretion system (T3SS), which is required for pathogenesis. The protein HrpJ is secreted by P. syringae and is required for a fully functional T3SS. A hrpJ mutant is non-pathogenic and cannot inject effectors into plant cells or secrete the harpin HrpZ1. Here we show that the hrpJ mutant also cannot secrete the harpins HrpW1 and HopAK1 or the translocator HrpK1, suggesting that these proteins are required in the translocation (injection) of effectors into plant cells. Complementation of the hrpJ mutant with secretion incompetent HrpJ …

Cotton Response To High Temperature Stress During Reproductive Development, Justin B. Phillips

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Temperature is a primary controller of the rate of plant growth, developmental events, and fruit maturation. Increased temperatures from global climate change are projected to cause substantial losses in crop productivity by the end of the twenty-first century. Elevated temperatures affect all stages of cotton development, but the crop seems to be particularly sensitive to adverse temperatures during reproductive development. In Arkansas, temperature stress is considered to be one of the main factors affecting cotton yield. Environmental stress during floral development is a major reason for the disparity between actual and potential yields. Field and growth chamber studies were conducted …

The Seed 2.0: Evolving Intellectual Property Rights Of Agricultural Germplasm, Jennifer Wai-Shing Maguire

Buffalo Intellectual Property Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Genetic Engineering Of Dunaliella: Potential For Improved Biofuel Production, Alison Wirshing

Honors Theses and Capstones

Biodiesel produced from algal lipids is a promising source of renewable energy. Reasons for using algae, as opposed to vascular plants, are numerous. Oleaginous algae do not require fertile land or fresh water to grow, and therefore do not compete with food crop resources. Algae have short generation times and higher growth rates than larger vascular plants allowing for synthesis and accumulation of large quantities of neutral lipids, about 20-50% of the dry cell weight, in a short period of time. The efficiency of biodiesel production from oleaginous algae could be improved by using transgenic (genetically engineered) algae. The goal …

Diversification And Expression Of The Pin, Aux/Lax, And Abcb Families Of Putative Auxin Transporters In Populus, Nicola Carraro, Tracy Elizabeth Tisdale-Orr, Ronald Matthew Clouse, Anne Sophie Knöller, Rachel Spicer

Botany Faculty Publications

Intercellular transport of the plant hormone auxin is mediated by three families of membrane-bound protein carriers, with the PIN and ABCB families coding primarily for efflux proteins and the AUX/LAX family coding for influx proteins. In the last decade our understanding of gene and protein function for these transporters in Arabidopsis has expanded rapidly but very little is known about their role in woody plant development. Here we present a comprehensive account of all three families in the model woody species Populus, including chromosome distribution, protein structure, quantitative gene expression, and evolutionary relationships. The PIN and AUX/LAX gene families …

Vitamin Deficiencies In Humans: Can Plant Science Help?, Teresa B. Fitzpatrick, Gilles J. C. Basset, Patrick Borel, Fernando Carrari, Dean Dellapenna, Paul D. Fraser, Hanjo Hellmann, Sonia Osorio, Christophe Rothan, Victoriano Valpuesta, Catherine Caris-Veyrat, Alisdair R. Fernie

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

The term vitamin describes a small group of organic compounds that are absolutely required in the human diet. Although for the most part, dependency criteria are met in developed countries through balanced diets, this is not the case for the five billion people in developing countries who depend predominantly on a single staple crop for survival. Thus, providing a more balanced vitamin intake from high-quality food remains one of the grandest challenges for global human nutrition in the coming decade(s). Here, we describe the known importance of vitamins in human health and current knowledge on their metabolism in plants. Deficits …

Varietal Release History (2006-2012) Of Intsormil-Supported Nars Breeding Programs, Intsormil

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

Spreadsheet of varietal release history for sorghum and pearl millet, by year, of INTSORMIL-supported national agricultural research systems breeding programs. Includes country, name of variety, on-farm yield, yield of local check variety, amount of seed produced (including breeder and whether Basic/Foundation certified), qualities other than yield (such as drought tolerance, forage quality, food type, etc.), and additional comments, such as whether birds will attack the crop at a particular time during the growing process, etc.

Country data for: Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Uganda, Zambia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Comparative Analysis Of Grapevine Whole-Genome Gene Predictions, Functional Annotation, Categorization And Integration Of The Predicted Gene Sequences, Jerome Grimplet, John Van Hemert, Pablo Carbonell-Bejerano, Jose Diaz-Riquelme, Julie Dickerson, Anne Fennell Dr, Mario Pezzotti, Jose M. Martinez-Zapater

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Background: The first draft assembly and gene prediction of the grapevine genome (8X base coverage) was made available to the scientific community in 2007, and functional annotation was developed on this gene prediction. Since then additional Sanger sequences were added to the 8X sequences pool and a new version of the genomic sequence with superior base coverage (12X) was produced.
Results: In order to more efficiently annotate the function of the genes predicted in the new assembly, it is important to build on as much of the previous work as possible, by transferring 8X annotation of the genome to the …

Critical Roles Of Rna-Binding Proteins In Mirna Biogenesis In Arabidopsis, Guodong Ren, Bin Yu

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of gene expression and play critical roles in modulating metabolism, development and physiology in animals and plants. miRNA levels are transcriptionally and post-transcriptionally controlled for their proper function. Recent studies have shown that RNA-binding proteins play important roles in producing miRNAs by affecting the accurate and/or efficient processing of precursors of miRNAs. Many of these RNA-binding proteins also have roles in general RNA metabolism, indicating potential connections between miRNA biogenesis and other RNA metabolism. Here, we focus on the function of several RNA-binding proteins in miRNA biogenesis in Arabidopsis.

Post-Transcriptional Control Of Mirna Abundance In Arabidopsis, Guodong Ren, Bin Yu

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs (small RNAs) that are 20–24nt in length and predominantly repress gene expression at post-transcriptional levels. They regulate many biological processes including development, metabolism and physiology. Numerous studies have revealed that the steady-state levels of miRNA are under sophisticated control to ensure their proper function. In this review, we summarize recent advances on regulation of miRNA processing and stability in plants.

Uridylation Of Mirnas By Hen1 Suppressor1 In Arabidopsis, Guodong Ren, Xuemei Chen, Bin Yu

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

HEN1-mediated 2′-O-methylation has been shown to be a key mechanism to protect plant microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) as well as animal piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) from degradation and 3′ terminal uridylation [1–8]. However, enzymes uridylating unmethylated miRNAs, siRNAs, or piRNAs in hen1 are unknown. In this study, a genetic screen identified a second-site mutation hen1 suppressor1-2 (heso1-2) that partially suppresses the morphological phenotypes of the hypomorphic hen1-2 allele and the null hen1-1 allele in Arabidopsis. HESO1 encodes a terminal nucleotidyl transferase that prefers to add untemplated uridine to the 3′ end of RNA, which is …

The Dna- And Rna-Binding Protein Factor Of Dna Methylation 1 Requires Xh Domain-Mediated Complex Formation For Its Function In Rna-Directed Dna Methylation, Meng Xie, Guodong Ren, Chi Zhang, Bin Yu

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Studies have identified a sub-group of SGS3-LIKE proteins including FDM1–5 and IDN2 as key components of RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway (RdDM). Although FDM1 and IDN2 bind RNAs with 5' overhangs, their functions in the RdDM pathway remain to be examined. Here we show that FDM1 interacts with itself and with IDN2. Gel filtration suggests that FDM1 may exist as a homodimer in a heterotetramer complex in vivo. The XH domain of FDM1 mediates the FDM1–FDM1 and FDM1–IDN2 interactions. Deletion of the XH domain disrupts FDM1 complex formation and results in loss-of-function of FDM1. These results demonstrate that XH domainmediated …

Metabolic And Gene Expression Changes Triggered By Nitrogen Deprivation In The Photoautotrophically Grown Microalgae Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii And Coccomyxa Sp. C-169, Joseph Msanne, Di Xu, Anji Reddy Konda, J. Armando Casas-Mollano, Tala Awada, Edgar B. Cahoon, Heriberto Cerutti

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Microalgae are emerging as suitable feedstocks for renewable biofuel production. Characterizing the metabolic pathways involved in the biosynthesis of energy-rich compounds, such as lipids and carbohydrates, and the environmental factors influencing their accumulation is necessary to realize the full potential of these organisms as energy resources. The model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii accumulates significant amounts of triacylglycerols (TAGs) under nitrogen starvation or salt stress in medium containing acetate. However, since cultivation of microalgae for biofuel production may need to rely on sunlight as the main source of energy for biomass synthesis, metabolic and gene expression changes occurring in Chlamydomonas and …

Sorgo Dicta - 10 Bmr: Sorgo De Doble Propósito Especial Para Ensilaje, Alberto Morán Araujo, Miriam Villeda

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

La Dirección de Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria (DICTA), con el propósito de mejorar la productividad de la ganadería en Honduras, produce la variedad de sorgo DICTA‐10 BMR.

Con esta variedad de sorgo, DICTA contribuye con la seguridad alimentaria de las familias productoras, de escasos recursos.

Esta variedad proviene de la variedad de sorgo CENTA S2 a la que se le introdujeron los genes “BMR 12,” cuya característica más evidente es que la vena central de las hojas es de color café.

Este sorgo de nervadura marrón o BMR (Brown Middle Rib) se caracteriza por tener contenidos bajos de lignina.

El …

Superweeds And Suspect Seeds: Does The Genetically-Engineered Crop Deregulation Process Put American Agriculture At Risk, Margaret Sova Mccabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

The federal government’s regulatory approach to genetically engineered (GE) crops, known as “The Framework”, is now twenty-five years old. Despite two and half decades of a consistent regulatory regime, GE crop and food regulation remains controversial. This article suggests that regulatory science and its tenets of independence, transparency, and public science should guide reforms of The Framework so that it is an efficient and reliable regulatory system. The article has four parts: 1) it provides a brief overview of the history of GE crop regulation; 2)it describes the key attributes of The Framework and related regulatory documents, with particular focus …

Molecular Phylogenetics Of Alternanthera (Gomphrenoideae, Amaranthaceae): Resolving A Complex Taxonomic History Caused By Different Interpretations Of Morphological Characters In A Lineage With C4 And C3-C4 Intermediate Species, Ivonne Sánchez-Del Pino, Timothy J. Motley, Thomas Borsch

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Aternanthera (Amaranthaceae) is a diverse genus (80-200 species) largely restricted to the American Tropics. With Pedersenia and Tidestromia, it makes up the Alternantheroid clade in Gomphrenoideae. Parsimony and Bayesian analyses of nucleotide sequences of nuclear (ITS) and plastid (rpl16, trnL-F) and morphological characters identify that the capitate stigma of Alternanthera is a synapomorpy within the Alternantheroids. Within Alternanthera, two major clades were resolved, both of which were marked by otherwise homoplasious characters of the gynoecium: Clade A [99% jackknife (JK); 1.0 posterior probability (PP)] with nine species and Clade B (60% JK; 0.98 PP) with 22 …

Effects Of Reactive Oxygen Species On Life History Traits Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, Samson William Smith

Dissertations and Theses

Evolutionary life history theory predicts that tradeoffs among fitness-related phenotypes will occur as a result of resource limitations and/or physiological constraints. Such tradeoffs are defined as the cost(s) incurred on one component of fitness (e.g., reproduction) by the increased expression of another fitness-related trait (e.g., longevity). Only recently have researchers begun to investigate the mechanistic bases of life history tradeoffs. A recent proposal is that reactive oxygen species (ROS) have a central role in shaping life history traits and tradeoffs. Research on disparate animal taxa has highlighted strong correlations between oxidative stress resistance and fitness-related life history traits, for example. …

Larval Survival And Plant Injury Of Cry1ab-Susceptible, -Resistant, And -Heterozygous Genotypes Of The Sugarcane Borer On Transgenic Corn Containing Single Or Pyramided Bt Genes, David S. Wangila, B. Rogers Leonard, Yaoyu Bai, Graham P. Head, Fangneng Huang

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Transgenic corn (Zea mays L.) products expressing multiple Bt proteins targeting a same group of insect pests have become commercially available in the U.S. The first commercialized pyramided Bt corn technologies for managing lepidopteran pests include Genuity® VT Triple Pro™ and Genuity® SmartStax™. In this study, larval survival and plant injury of Cry1Ab-susceptible (Cry1Ab-SS), -resistant (Cry1Ab-RR), and -heterozygous (Cry1Ab-RS) genotypes of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis F., on five commercial corn hybrids were evaluated in a leaf tissue bioassay and two greenhouse trials during 2010–2011. The five hybrids included two non-Bt corn and three Bt corn hybrids representing three …

Development And Application Of Methods Used To Source Prehistoric Southwestern Maize: A Review, Larry Benson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Archaeological cobs free of mineral contaminants should be used to source the soils in which they were grown. Mineral contaminants often contain much higher concentrations of metals than vegetal materials and can alter a cob’s apparent metal and heavy-isotope content. Cleaning a cob via immersion in an acid solution for more than a few minutes will result in the incongruent and sometimes complete leaching of metals, including strontium (Sr), from the cob. When using ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr to determine the location of potential agriculture fields, it is best to either integrate several depth-integrated soil samples or to integrate several …

Efficacy Of A Novel Molecular Tool In Silencing Arabidopsis Genes, Chase Purnell, Vibha Srivastava, M. Aydin Akbudak, Scott J. Nicholson

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

RNA interference (RNAi), a pathway capable of silencing genes, has until recently only been achievable in the laboratory by the use of one method, expression of inverted repeat sequences of DNA. These constructs generate a double-stranded RNA, which in turn induce post-transcriptional silencing of other genes that bear sequence homology with the transgene. This approach of targeted gene silencing is extremely useful for studying the function of genes and engineering new traits in both plants and animals. It has recently been discovered that a transgene lacking the polyadenylation signal, called a truncated transgene, is also capable of inducing RNAi in …