Solange Ferreira da Silveira

Combining ability for grain chemistry quality traits in a white oat diallelic cross

There has been a strong demand for oat genotypes that contain caryopsis with high chemical quality which can suit the different market niches. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to assess the general (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) of white oat cultivars through diallelic crosses providing information about the genetic effects on expression of grain chemical quality components. Also, it was aimed to estimate the heterosis on F1 and F2 generations and the vigor loss due to inbreeding. During 2008, 21 hybrid populations F1 and F2 were obtained from artificial crossing among seven Brazilian white oat cultivars, following the complete diallel design, without considering the reciprocals. These populations and their parents were evaluated in the 2009 season in the experimental field in Capão do Leão, RS, Brazil. The higher values of mean squares associated to GCA indicates a strong contribution of additive genetic effects to the expression of grain chemical components. The parents tested showed a tendency to develop progeny with negative heterosis regarding protein, lipid, β-glucan and soluble dietary fiber in the grain, and positive for the content of nitrogen-free extract, total and insoluble dietary fiber. IAC 7 features a potential parent for obtaining grains with high protein and dietary fiber content, and low caloric content, fit to human diet. Meanwhile, UPF 15 and FAPA Louise can represent donors of alleles to increase lipid contents, while FAPA Louise and URS Guapa can be used to raise the grain nitrogen-free extract contents of lines intended for animal feeding.

Identification of variability for agronomically important traits in rice mutant families

The increase of yield potential in new rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties has been a major challenge for genetic improvement. The generation of mutants, followed by their characterization, constitutes a great possibility to isolate and select genes and genotypes that present agronomic traits of interest. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of chemical mutagen ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) on agronomic traits in 340 M3 families of rice derived from BRS Querencia cultivar. Seeds from each family and the original genotype BRS Querencia were sown in the experimental field, and the characters main panicle length, main panicle weight, main panicle grain weight, flag leaf width and plant height were evaluated. Data were subjected to analysis of variance (p ≤ 0.05), and a comparison of means was carried out by Dunnetts test at 5% significance. The results show that there is genetic variability among the mutant families, suggesting that the mutagen EMS at 1.5% is effective for generating mutants for all assessed traits. Among the characters, plant height was the most affected by the mutagen, which provided an increase in the character. For the main panicle length character, seven families showed means above the control; for main panicle weight and grain weight, four and six mutant families were observed, respectively, with a superior performance in comparison to the control.

The Quest for More Tolerant Rice: How High Concentrations of IronAffect Alternative Splicing?

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a global staple food crop and an important model organism for plant studies. Recent reports have shown that alternative splicing is affected by many stressful conditions, suggesting its importance for the adaptation to adverse environments. Due to the little information on this subject, this study aimed to explore changes in splicing patterns that occur in response to high iron concentration in nutrient solutions. Here we quantified different kind of junctions and splicing events in the transcriptome of a relatively tolerant rice cultivar BRS Querencia, under iron excess with concentration of 300 mg L-1 Fe+2. Plants kept under standard conditions (control) presented 127,781 different splicing junctions, while stressed plants had 123,682 different junctions. Canonical (98.85% and 98.91%), semi-canonical (0.73% and 0.70%) and non-canonical (0.42% and 0.40%) junctions were found in control and stressed plants, respectively. Intron retention was the most frequent event (44.1% and 47.4%), followed by 3’ splice site (22.6% and 21.9%), exon skipping (18.9% and 17.3%) and alternative 5’ splice site (14.4% and 13.4%) in control and stressed plants, respectively. We also found 25 differentially expressed genes (five up and 20 down regulated) that are related to post-translational modifications. These results represent an important step in the understanding of how plant stress responses occur in an iron tolerant genotype, uncovering novel genes involved in iron stress response.

Ecophysiological responses to excess iron in lowland and upland rice cultivars

Iron (Fe) is an essential nutrient for plants but under high concentrations, such as that found naturally in clay and waterlogged soils, its toxic effect can limit production. This study aimed to investigate the stress tolerance responses exhibited by different rice cultivars. Both lowland and upland cultivars were grown under excess Fe and hypoxic conditions. Lowland cultivars showed higher Fe accumulation in roots compared with upland cultivars suggesting the use of different strategies to tolerate excess Fe. The upland Canastra cultivar displayed a mechanism to limit iron translocation from roots to the shoots, minimizing leaf oxidative stress induced by excess Fe. Conversely, the cultivar Curinga invested in the increase of R1/A, as an alternative drain of electrons. However, the higher iron accumulation in the leaves, was not necessarily related to high toxicity. Nutrient uptake and/or utilization mechanisms in rice plants are in accordance with their needs, which may be defined in relation to crop environments. Alterations in the biochemical parameters of photosynthesis suggest that photosynthesis in rice under excess Fe is primarily limited by biochemical processes rather than by diffusional limitations, particularly in the upland cultivars. The electron transport rate, carboxylation efficiency and electron excess dissipation by photorespiration demonstrate to be good indicators of iron tolerance. Altogether, these chemical and molecular patterns suggests that rice plants grown under excess Fe exhibit gene expression reprogramming in response to the Fe excess per se and in response to changes in photosynthesis and nutrient levels to maintain growth under stress.

Heterosis and genetic parameters for grain quality in oat segregating populations

Improvement of quality-related traits of grains is a constant concern in white oat breeding programs, which challenges breeders to understand their dynamics. The performance of different genetic combinations must be thoroughly evaluated to make high nutritional quality cultivars available. This study aimed to estimate the heterosis on F1 and F2 generations, vigor loss, due to inbreeding, and correlation between the grain chemical components to understand the dynamics of these traits, considering two segregating oat progenies. The populations Albasul × UPF 15 (population 1) and IAC 7 × UFRGS 19 (population 2) were developed. Both populations showed transgressive segregant individuals. The combination Albasul × UPF 15 provided significant heterosis for traits β-glucan total and soluble fiber contents, while the population obtained by crossing IAC 7 × UFRGS 19 generated significant gain by heterosis for total fiber, insoluble fibers and non-structural carbohydrate contents. Considering the F2 average for each population, one can observe that population 1 presents higher β-glucan and lipid contents than population 2. On the other hand, population 2 has higher protein content than population 1. In both populations, the non-structural carbohydrate content is strongly and negatively correlated whith protein, total and insoluble fibers. Correlations between total fibers and lipids and between total fibers and insoluble fibers were both positive and high in both populations.

Performance of white oat cultivars for grain chemical content

Abstract: The chemical analysis of market-available white oat cultivars allows for their optimized use for processing, consumption, and in blocks of crosses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of white oat cultivars with regard to grain chemical content, to estimate the correlation between these traits, and to select potential REMAP markers for marker-assisted selection. Fifteen cultivars, grown in three environments, were evaluated for the contents of proteins; lipids; total, insoluble, and soluble dietary fiber; ß-glucan; and carbohydrates. Eight cultivars were analysed with REMAP markers. The cultivars Brisasul and UPFA Gaudéria presented higher contents of ß-glucan, while cultivars URS 21 and URS 22 had higher protein contents. For animal feed, the cultivars Barbarasul and FAPA Louise stood out with high lipid contents. Positive correlations between the contents of lipid and total dietary fiber, protein and insoluble dietary fiber, and total dietary fiber and insoluble dietary fiber were constant in different environments. Also, carbohydrate content was negatively correlated with protein, total dietary fiber, insoluble dietary fiber, and lipid content. A total of thirteen REMAP combinations were selected for variability studies regarding lipid and ß-glucan contents.

Resposta de plântulas de aveia ao estresse por ácidos acético e butírico

The white oat is an excellent winter cropchoice in crop succession systems. The decomposition of organic matter sustained on the soil surface in no tillage conditions associated with poor drainage or excessive moisture increase the formation of organic acids. Among these, acetic and butyric acids have great phytotoxic potential. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of acetic and butyric acids on germination and early seedling development of different oat cultivars. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design, where seeds of cultivars Afrodite, Albasul, Brisasul, FAEM 06, IAC 7, URS 21 and URS Taura, were subjected to four doses of acetic (0, 4, 8 and 12 mM ) and butyric ( 0, 3, 6 and 9 mM)acid. The seeds were kept in germination chamber for ten days. The characters evaluated wereshoot length (CPA), root length (CR), and the percentage of germination (% GER). The toxicity of butyric acid was higher than acetic acid, damaging root development more than shoot length. Cultivars IAC 7 and Brisasul were sensitive and cultivars URS Taura and Afrodite were tolerant tothe organic acids studied. In control and 12 mM acetic acid, there was a correlation between CR and % GER. There is great variation among cultivars in response to acetic and butyric acids.