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Developing high yielding safflower cultivars with good adaptation to diverse environmental conditions can improve production in terms of seed yield and reduce the deficiency in edible oil. The genetic variability that exists among and within populations for desirable agronomic traits can be used to develop elite cultivars. A total of 94 safflower accessions from 26 different countries were used in this study to evaluate morphoagronomic performance, determine the pattern of similarity centers, and identify the best performing accessions by conducting 2 field experiments in Pakistan and Turkey using augmented design. Genetic diversity for important yield and yield traits was described including capitulum diameter (17.30 to 28.30 mm), branches per plant (5.10 to 17.30), capitula per plant (8.70 to 80.40), and seed yield per plant (4.86 to 51.02 g). These analyses showed a good level of variation in the current study. Using principal component analysis, it was observed that days to flower initiation, days to 50% flowering, days to flower completion, seed yield per plant, capitula per plant, branches per plant, seeds per capitulum, and capitulum diameter were the major contributors to the observed genetic variability in the evaluated safflower panel. Seed yield per plant reflected a significant and positive correlation with capitula per plant, branches per plant, and capitulum diameter, and these traits can be suggested as a selection criterion in safflower breeding programs. The hierarchical clustering was in agreement with the patterns of 7 similarity centers based on seed yield per plant, capitula per plant, capitulum diameter, and branches per plant. During this study, a few promising safflower accessions were selected for future breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 96 indigenous Brassica rapa accessions were collected from different locations of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) markers were used to identify the most diverse genotypes among the collected lots. Twenty six (26) different SSR primers were used for (genetic) variability among collected genotypes. These primers were selected from literature based on their previous results. These primers produced 135 scorable bands of which 75 were polymorphic, with an average of 55.5% polymorphic loci, and reflected the broader genetic background of the collected genotypes. An average 2.88 polymorphic bands with an average PIC value of 0.49 was recorded. Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) divided all genotypes into three main groups. Group one contained three clusters, while group two and three had four and two clusters each. Based on the UPGMA dendrogram, genotypes collected from Kohat, Bannu, Swat and Haripur showed considerable amount of variation. From the present study, it is concluded that SSR markers can be proved as the best tool for the genetic variability of other local and exotic B. rapa genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is one of the important staple food crops and cultivated worldwide. In present study we have evaluated 49 diverse rice germplasm for economically important quantitative traits. Thirty key yield related traits including days to heading and maturity, percent lodging, ligule length, number of nodes, peduncle length, grain yield, leaf length/width, plant height, stem height and diameter, primary and secondary branches/panicle, total tillers and productive till-ers/plant, 1,000 grains weight, grain length, breadth and thickness, etc. were measured. All the genotypes showed varied response to different traits. Maximum grain yield/plant (23g) and seed yield/plant (25g) was recorded in IR-84675-7-3-2-B-B and IRGC 33498 genotypes, respectively. The elite genotypes IR-OSF101, IR80416-B-32-3, IR-84678-25-5-B, IR-84677-21-1-B, IR-84675-7-3-2-B-B, IRGC 29008, IRGC 25926, IRGC 33498, IR-83140-B-32-B, HH25-SAL-9Y3-Y1, IRO-4L-191 and IR-83142-B-79-B were also noted that showed better morphological performances than other genotypes. The high yielding elite rice genotypes are recommended for breeding program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brassica napus is an important cultivated oilseed crop famous for good quality oil (Canola oil) yet its production is insufficient to meet the domestic demands. One of the problems due to which reduction in yield occurs, is pod shattering at maturity and during harvesting. Enhanced inherent shatter resistance is the best solution for this problem. The phenotypic variation of such complex trait can be studied through Association mapping. The present study was based on delineation of marker-trait associations by using simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers. A collection of 75 randomly selected most diverse lines, based on the results of previous experiment, was genotyped using 55 polymorphic SSRs covering whole genomes. The population structure and linkage disequilibrium (LD) was measured from the genotypic data after removal of minor alleles with P > 0.01, and marker trait associations were was also determined. Minimum 1 and maximum 4 SSRs were found to be highly associated with each trait studied. Important marker-trait associations found were days to 100% maturity with "Ra2A11", pod shatter percentage with "sNRA85", plant height with "sR94102" seed yield per plant with "PBCESSRJU15" and thousand seed weight with "sNRB35". These highly associated markers may effectively be used in Marker assisted breeding of Brassica napus. The SSR markers, found highly associated to various traits may be utilized in MAS of Brassica napus inbreeding programs to reduce varietal development time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Genetika (0534-0012) is the property of Serbian Genetics Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Genetika (0534-0012) is the property of Serbian Genetics Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Genetic diversity was studied in 39 indigenous Brassica juncea accessions along with a check for 10 morphological and 4 biochemical traits under field conditions by cluster and principal component analyses. Each accession was sown in 2 rows of 4 meter length. Row to row and plant to plant spacing was kept at 45 and 10 cm respectively. Cluster analysis divided the total 39 accessions into five and seven major groups during 2007 and 2008, respectively. Data based on first and second five PCs with > 1 contributed 73.30% and 64.45% of the variability amongst accessions, respectively. Scatter plot and tree diagrams demonstrated sufficient diversity among the Brassica juncea accessions for various morphological and biochemical traits and some extent of association between different clusters. The results concluded that morpho -biochemical diversity in the studied material is structured by genotypes and this diversity could be utilized for future cu ltivar breeding and germplasm conservation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic diversity among 45 Indian mustard ( Brassica juncea L.) genotypes comprising 37 germplasm collections, five advance breeding lines and three improved cultivars was investigated at the DNA level using the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. Fifteen primers used generated a total of 92 RAPD fragments, of which 81 (88%) were polymorphic. Of these, 13 were unique to accession ‘Pak85559’. Each primer produced four to nine amplified products with an average of 6.13 bands per primer. Based on pairwise comparisons of RAPD amplification products, Nei and Li's similarity coefficients were calculated to evaluate the relationships among the accessions. Pairwise similarity indices were higher among the oilseed accessions and cultivars showing narrow ranges of 0.77–0.99. An unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages cluster analysis based on these genetic similarities placed most of the collections and oilseed cultivars close to each other, showing a low level of polymorphism between the accessions used. However, the clusters formed by oilseed collections and cultivars were comparatively distinct from that of advanced breeding lines. Genetically, all of the accessions were classified into a few major groups and a number of individual accessions. Advanced breeding lines were relatively divergent from the rest of the accessions and formed independent clusters. Clustering of the accessions did not show any pattern of association between the RAPD markers and the collection sites. A low level of genetic variability of oilseed mustard was attributed to the selection for similar traits and horticultural uses. Perhaps close parentage of these accessions further contributed towards their little diversity. The study demonstrated that RAPD is a simple and fast technique to compare the genetic relationship and pattern of variation among the gene pool of this crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being predominant protein of maize seed, its nutritional quality is dependent on composition of zein polypeptides. The major storage protein of maize seed is alcohol soluble zein, which accounts for more than 50% of total seed storage protein. The variation of zein fraction of seed storage protein in maize genetic resources was assessed by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Variation in terms of absence and presence, intensity and molecular size was observed in zein polypeptides. On the basis of variation in banding patterns of zein polypeptides, the maize genetic resources were classified into five variation groups which highlight the wide variation in zein polypeptides among maize genetic resources. The group 2 exhibited high accumulation of 70 and 60 kDa zein polypeptides and group 3 exhibited high accumulation of 25 and 20 kDa zein polypeptides as compared to group 1, 4 and 5.These maize genetic resources might have significant implications for nutritional quality improvement of maize.© 2014 Friends Science Publishers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic diversity was assessed among 32 advanced wheat breeding lines included in the National Uniform Wheat Yield Trials (2006-07) of Pakistan using molecular (DNA) and biochemical (SDS-PAGE) markers. Of the 72 RAPD primers used for initial screening, 15 were found polymorphic. A total of 140 bands (61.4% polymorphic) were generated by the 15 random decamer primers. Genetic similarity coefficients ranged from 0.81 to 0.94 for rainfed and from 0.70 to 0.93 for the normal seeding date group. Cluster analysis using the unweighted pair group method of arithmetic averages (UPGMA) clustered the 32 advanced wheat breeding lines into one major and three small groups. Maximum level of polymorphism (90%) was observed for the primer OPA-05. Lines N9 and N11 showed the least genetic similarities (0.70-0.82 and 0.71-0.83, respectively) with rest of the lines studied. Line RF1 had the maximum similarity (0.81-0.94) with other lines. Wheat lines included in the normal seeding date were relatively distantly related than those in the rainfed group. Seed storage protein analysis produced 19 subunits ranging from 29-120KDa. Similarity coefficients ranged from 0.53 to 1.0 for the normal seeding date and from 0.47 to 1.0 for the rainfed group. High molecular weight subunits (particularly 120KDa) showed greater polymorphism than the lower molecular weight subunits. Narrow genetic base was observed in wheat lines included in the rainfed group. DNA fingerprinting of advanced breeding lines may help to avoid release of varieties with narrow genetic base in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]