Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-coding RNAs of more than 200 nucleotides. To date, the roles of lncRNAs in soybean fatty acid synthesis have not been fully studied. Here, the low-linolenic acid mutant ‘MT72′ and the wild-type control ‘JN18′ were used as materials. The lncRNAs in young pods at 30 and 40 days (d) after flowering were systematically identified and analyzed using transcriptome sequencing technology combined with bioinformatics tools. A total of 39,324 lncRNAs and 561 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified. A lncRNAs-miRNAs-protein-coding genes (mRNAs) network was constructed, and 46 lncRNAs, 46 miRNAs and 137 mRNAs were found to be correlated. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis of 12 targeted mRNAs in the competing endogenous RNA network showed that these lncRNAs may be involved in the biological processes of fatty acid transport, lipid synthesis and cell division. Finally, the expression levels of differentially expressed lncRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs were verified using qRT-PCR. The expression patterns of most genes were consistent with the sequencing results. In conclusion, new information was provided for the study of fatty acid synthesis by lncRNAs in young soybean pods.

Background Breeding for new maize varieties with propitious root systems has tremendous potential in improving water and nutrients use efficiency and plant adaptation under suboptimal conditions. To date, most of the previously detected root-related trait genes in maize were new without functional verification. In this study, seven seedling root architectural traits were examined at three developmental stages in a recombinant inbred line population (RIL) of 179 RILs and a genome-wide association study (GWAS) panel of 80 elite inbred maize lines through quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping and genome-wide association study. Results Using inclusive composite interval mapping, 8 QTLs accounting for 6.44–8.83 % of the phenotypic variation in root traits, were detected on chromosomes 1 (qRDWv3-1-1 and qRDW/SDWv3-1-1), 2 (qRBNv1-2-1), 4 (qSUAv1-4-1, qSUAv2-4-1, and qROVv2-4-1), and 10 (qTRLv1-10-1, qRBNv1-10-1). GWAS analysis involved three models (EMMAX, FarmCPU, and MLM) for a set of 1,490,007 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained via whole genome next-generation sequencing (NGS). Overall, 53 significant SNPs with a phenotypic contribution rate ranging from 5.10 to 30.2 % and spread all over the ten maize chromosomes exhibited associations with the seven root traits. 17 SNPs were repeatedly detected from at least two growth stages, with several SNPs associated with multiple traits stably identified at all evaluated stages. Within the average linkage disequilibrium (LD) distance of 5.2 kb for the significant SNPs, 46 candidate genes harboring substantial SNPs were identified. Five potential genes viz. Zm00001d038676, Zm00001d015379, Zm00001d018496, Zm00001d050783, and Zm00001d017751 were verified for expression levels using maize accessions with extreme root branching differences from the GWAS panel and the RIL population. The results showed significantly (P < 0.001) different expression levels between the outer materials in both panels and at all considered growth stages. Conclusions This study provides a key reference for uncovering the complex genetic mechanism of root development and genetic enhancement of maize root system architecture, thus supporting the breeding of high-yielding maize varieties with propitious root systems.

The associations of yield and its components offer important information in breeding plants. A study was conducted at the Araka Agricultural Research Center, Hossana, Ethiopia during 2012 growing season under rain fed condition on 18 potato genotypes/varieties to determine the association of yield and its components. The association was analyzed by correlation coefficient, and further subjected by path coefficient analysis to estimate direct and indirect effects of each character on tuber yield. Positive and significant correlation were found between tuber yield and biological yield, plant height and tuber yield, stems per plant and tuber per plant. The genotypic correlation coefficients were higher than the corresponding phenotypic correlation coefficients for most of the characters indicating the inherent association among the characters. Path analysis of tuber yield and its components shows that stems per plant, biological yield and harvest index exerted positive highest direct influence on tuber yield indicating their importance as selection index for yield improvement.

The efficient plantlets regeneration of peanut is the most important and a primary step to successfully transform gene and apply recently developed genome editing techniques for crop yield improvement. The purpose of this research is to develop protocol for peanut cultivars applying different concentration of hormones for selected peanut cultivars and develop plantlets regeneration protocol. There is no previously reported protocol for the Chinese peanut cultivar N3 and Yu-hua-14. We optimized shoot and root regeneration protocol for two peanut cultivars. Both cultivars showed positive response for the cytokinin plant growth hormone 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and thidiazuron (TDZ). The highest shooting rate (97%) was found in a medium supplemented with 4 mg/L BAP and (94.33%) for 1 mg/L TDZ. Hence, more shoot initiation was observed at higher concentration of BAP as compared to TDZ. However, the maximum root regeneration (81%) was found on medium containing 0.3 mg/L 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and the highest rooting rate (96.33%) was found in a medium containing 1 mg/L α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), indicating lower concentration of NAA induce more rooting rate than 2,4-D treatment. In this study, cotyledonary node was used, and this method was found to be efficient and rapid for in vitro peanut regeneration. © 2022 Friends Science Publishers

Efficient in vitro plantlet regeneration is an important step to successfully transform genes for the improvement of agronomic traits. A combination of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and thidiazuron (TDZ) plant growth regulators was applied to evaluate shoot regeneration capacity whereas α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) combination with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), and 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) with 6-benzylaminopurine were tested to optimize root induction for two peanut cultivars. The result showed combination (BAP with TDZ) was found to be effective in promoting shoot. The highest shoot regeneration frequency (93%) was obtained on a medium supplemented with 4 mg/L BAP and 0.5 mg/L TDZ while an average regeneration frequency (87%) was achieved in a medium containing combinations of 2 mg/L BAP with 1 mg/L TDZ. The shooting rate increased for both cultivars as the concentrations of BAP increased and TDZ decreased. The highest rooting rate (93%) was obtained on a medium supplemented with 3.5 mg/L NAA with 2.5 mg/L BAP for both cultivars. The rooting rate increased as the concentration of auxin to cytokinin ratio increased. The maximum rooting rate (83%) was obtained on MS medium supplemented with 0.3 mg/L 2, 4-D with 0.2 mg/L BAP for the cultivar N3. The result indicated that BAP with NAA was much better than BAP with 2, 4-D in rooting rate. Thus, the protocol developed was genotype independent and effective for peanut tissue culture.