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Wheat is frequently exposed to high temperature during anthesis and ripening period, which resulted in yield loss and detrimental end-use-quality. The transcriptome analysis of wheat under high temperature stress during the early stage of the grain filling period was undertaken. Three expression patterns of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) during grain filling period were identified. The DEGs of seed storage protein and starch-branching enzyme showed continuous increases in their expressions during high temperature stress, as well as during the recovery period. The activities of the enzymes responsible for the elimination of antioxidants were significantly affected by exposure to high temperature stress. Only the WAS-2 family genes showed increased transcription levels under high temperature stress in dehulled spikelets. The relative transcription levels for sub-genome specific WAS-2 genes suggested that WAS-2 genes reacted with over-expression under high temperature stress and decreased back to normal expression during recovery. We propose the role of WAS-2 as a protective mechanism during the stage of grain development under high temperature in spikelets.

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) of wheat reduces grain yield and has deleterious effects on wheat flour quality. PHS resistance is strongly associated with grain color and seed dormancy. Resistance to PHS is a priority of wheat breeding program. We have studied a population of 122 Doubled Haploid (DH) lines from the cross between two cultivars, 'Keumkang' and 'Olgeuru', in order to detect QTLs correlated with PHS resistance. PHS was evaluated using mist spray in the humid chamber (PHS-MS), and the germination index (GI) was determined for two years. The variety 'Keumkang' has white grains and higher percentage of PHS rate (30.2%), while 'Olgeuru' has red grains and lower PHS rate (2.8%). There was significant difference in grain color according to the GI. PHS-MS was positively correlated with GI (r = 0.732, P < 0.001). Two molecular markers, Xbarc12 and Xgwm3, were found correlated with PHS resistance and GI. These markers were mapped on chromosomes 3A and 3D with LOD scores of 4.95 and 4.02, respectively. Xbarc12 explained the highest amount of phenotypic variation (R 2 ) which is 11.99% in GI and 27.25% in PHS. Xgwm3 explained 9.10% of phenotypic variation in GI. The respective value of PHS-MS and GI in Korean wheat cultivars ranged from 1.37% to 86.75% and from 0.03 to 0.73. This study provides useful information for marker-assisted wheat breeding for PHS resistance improvement in Korea.

Fusarium head blight (FHB; scab) caused mainly by Fusarium graminearum is a devastating disease of wheat and barley around the world. FHB causes yield reductions and contamination of grain with trichothecene mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON) which are a major health concern for humans and animals. The objective of this research was to develop an easy seed or seedling inoculation assay, and to compare these assays with whole plant resistance of twenty-nine Korean winter wheat cultivars to FHB. The clip-dipping assay consists of cutting off the coleoptiles apex, dipping the coleoptiles apex in conidial suspension, covering in plastic bag for 3 days, and measuring the lengths of lesions 7 days after inoculation. There were significant cultivar differences after inoculation with F. graminearum in seedling relative to the controls. Correlation coefficients between the lesion lengths of clip-dipping inoculation and FHB Type II resistance from adult plants were significant (r=0.45; P

The grain and agronomic characteristics of Korean barley cultivars were investigated with respect to ethanol yield. Test weight, grain yield, and starch yield showed noticeable variation among the cultivars. Grain yields were higher in covered barley and non-waxy barley. Starch yield was higher in non-waxy barley than waxy barley. Protein, β-glucan, and starch content of tested cultivars ranged in 10.0-12.9%, 4.4-7.5% and 49.7-65.3%, respectively. Naked barley cultivar had higher starch content than covered barley cultivar. However, covered barley had high starch yield because it has higher grain yield than naked barley. Covered barley cultivar had higher husk content, ranging 7.6-14.0%, than that of naked barley cultivar, ranging 5.3-8.0%. Starch content was positively correlated with amylose content, test weight, ethanol yield and negatively correlated with protein, husk, β-glucan content. Ethanol yield per ton was positively correlated with starch content, but negatively correlated with husk content. Ethanol yield per hectare was positively correlated with starch yield, grain yield, grain weight and negatively correlated with protein, test weight. From this research, the important characteristics of barley cultivar as a bioethanol producing material were starch content and grain yield. Optimum barley genotype was non-waxy naked barley that had low protein, β-glucan, husk content, and high starch content and grain yield.

Barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) and Barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV) cause severe diseases in winter barley in Europe and East Asia. We investigated the effect of different level of resistance to virus disease on the plant growth and yield in whole-crop barley. In the virus infection, BaYMV was detected all tested cultivars in first diagnosis at 30th March. BaYMV infection was identified only in the susceptible Sunwoobori in 6th April, but not in the Yuyeon (moderate, M) and Youngyang (moderate resistant, MR) cultivars. Plant height was restrained about 14.6~32.9% in overwintered plant regeneration stage depending on the resistance of each cultivar. The tiller numbers also reduced to 8.7~19.7% by BaYMV infection in overwintering season. We evaluated culm length, spike length, and spike number in the virus-infected field and non-infected field. For the culm length, Youngyang (MR) reduced only 14.5% by BaYMV. However Sunwoo (susceptible, S) and Yuyeon (M) cultivars were decreased to 24.8~42.7%. The spike length and spike number also affected to 8.9~21.3% and 24.3~31.0%, respectively, depending on the resistance. After harvesting, dry-matter yield of whole crop yield reduced by approximately 21.6~58.0% according to cultivar resistant degrees. For example, Sunwoobori (S) decreased 58.0% in comparing to non-infected field. The grain yield was also significantly reduced in virus infected cultivars. Sunwoobori (S) was severely decrease more than 60.0%. Yuyeonbori (M) and Youngyangbori (MR) also decreased 30.0~47.5% by the viral infection comparing to those in the non-infected field.

Barley is an important substrate for forage production in winter season of Korea. In this study, field trials were carried out to investigate the effects of harvest time and cultivar on the yield and quality of forage barleys developed in Korea. Four whole crop barley cultivars (Youngyang, Wooho, Yuyeon and Dami) were selected and harvested on five separate growth stages (heading, and intervals of 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks after heading) in split plot design with three replications. Forage yield and nutritive value were determined. Results from this experiment indicated significant differences due to harvest time and cultivar in dry matter yield and total digestible nutrients (TDN) yield for forage. The interaction between harvest time and cultivar was not significant. The TDN yield trends were increasing with later harvest time due to higher dry matter yield and TDN content. This experiment provides some interesting results with respects to optimum harvest time, feed value and ultimately yield for the different whole crop barley cultivars.