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et al., 1971). Fresh or frozen vegetable soybean can be cooked just like sweet pea (Pisum sativum L.) or lima Edamame (pronounced eh-dah-MAH-meh) are large-seeded soybean (Phaseolus limensis L.), either stir fried or added bean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] harvested as green pods at the R6 stage when the seed are approximately 80% matured. The demand to stews and soups. They are nutritious and rich in phyfor edamame as fresh or frozen vegetable is increasing worldwide. tochemicals beneficial to humans. Masuda (1991) com-Currently, lack of adapted edamame cultivars is one of the major pared vegetable soybean quality with that of green peas factors limiting its commercial production in the southeastern USA.(P. sativum) and reported nearly 56% more protein A need exists, therefore, to evaluate and identify Asian vegetable content for vegetable soybean than that of green peas. soybean genotypes for potential production and/or as a source of The combination of low oil content and the relatively vegetable traits for breeding suitable cultivars. In a 4-yr study, six high protein content of fresh green soybean seeds makes Japanese edamame cultivars, four large-seeded Japanese plant introthem particularly desirable to the health conscious peoductions, two Chinese vegetable soybean cultivars, and two adapted ple seeking low fat, high protein snacks (Brar and Car-U.S. cultivars were evaluated for fresh green pod and seed yields and ter, 1993). The USA currently imports more than 10 000 seed composition at the R6 stage. The genotypes were planted in a randomized complete block with four replications and were harvested Mg of frozen edamame each year and this is estimated to at the R6 stage. The mean fresh pod and seed yields were 18.5 and increase to 25 000 Mg by 2005 (Lin, 2001). Soybean 9.6 Mg ha Ϫ1 , respectively. The PI 181565, 'Tambagura', 'Shangrao with 78 to 220 g isoflavone g Ϫ1 dried seed weight, de-Wan Qingsi', and PI 200506 with fresh pod and seed yields in excess pending upon isoflavone type (Mohamed et al., 2001), of 20 and 10 Mg ha Ϫ1 , respectively, offer potential for commercial is one of the few natural sources of isoflavones. Messina production in Georgia. The seed oil and protein contents ranged from (2001) summarized the results of several clinical studies 130.7 to 155.8 and 333.2 to 386.0 g kg Ϫ1 , respectively. The mean glucosethat showed the association of soyfoods, particularly soy content was 67.1 g kg Ϫ1 , whereas the mean phytate content was 12.6 isoflavones with reduction in blood serum cholesterol gkg Ϫ1 . Fresh pod weight was the major yield determinant (R 2 ϭ 0.88).

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BackgroundAlthough chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), an important food legume crop, is sensitive to salinity, considerable variation for salinity tolerance exists in the germplasm. To improve any existing cultivar, it is important to understand the genetic and physiological mechanisms underlying this tolerance.ResultsIn the present study, 188 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from the cross ICCV 2 × JG 11 were used to assess yield and related traits in a soil with 0 mM NaCl (control) and 80 mM NaCl (salinity) over two consecutive years. Salinity significantly (P < 0.05) affected almost all traits across years and yield reduction was in large part related to a reduction in seed number but also a reduction in above ground biomass. A genetic map was constructed using 56 polymorphic markers (28 simple sequence repeats; SSRs and 28 single nucleotide polymorphisms; SNPs). The QTL analysis revealed two key genomic regions on CaLG05 (28.6 cM) and on CaLG07 (19.4 cM), that harboured QTLs for six and five different salinity tolerance associated traits, respectively, and imparting either higher plant vigour (on CaLG05) or higher reproductive success (on CaLG07). Two major QTLs for yield in the salinity treatment (explaining 12 and 17% of the phenotypic variation) were identified within the two key genomic regions. Comparison with already published chickpea genetic maps showed that these regions conferred salinity tolerance across two other populations and the markers can be deployed for enhancing salinity tolerance in chickpea. Based on the gene ontology annotation, forty eight putative candidate genes responsive to salinity stress were found on CaLG05 (31 genes) and CaLG07 (17 genes) in a distance of 11.1 Mb and 8.2 Mb on chickpea reference genome. Most of the genes were known to be involved in achieving osmoregulation under stress conditions.ConclusionIdentification of putative candidate genes further strengthens the idea of using CaLG05 and CaLG07 genomic regions for marker assisted breeding (MAB). Further fine mapping of these key genomic regions may lead to novel gene identification for salinity stress tolerance in chickpea.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-015-0491-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The genus Dendrobium is one of the largest genera of the Orchidaceae Juss. family, although some of its members are the most threatened today. The reason why many species face a vulnerable or endangered status is primarily because of anthropogenic interference in natural habitats and commercial overexploitation. The development and application of modern techniques and strategies directed towards in vitro propagation of orchids not only increases their number but also provides a viable means to conserve plants in an artificial environment, both in vitro and ex vitro, thus providing material for reintroduction. Dendrobium seed germination and propagation are challenging processes in vivo and in vitro, especially when the extreme specialization of these plants is considered: (1) their biotic relationships with pollinators and mycorrhizae; (2) adaptation to epiphytic or lithophytic life-styles; (3) fine-scale requirements for an optimal combination of nutrients, light, temperature, and pH. This review also aims to summarize the available data on symbiotic in vitro Dendrobium seed germination. The influence of abiotic factors as well as composition and amounts of different exogenous nutrient substances is examined. With a view to better understanding how to optimize and control in vitro symbiotic associations, a part of the review describes the strong biotic relations of Dendrobium with different associative microorganisms that form microbial communities with adult plants, and also influence symbiotic seed germination. The beneficial role of plant growth-promoting bacteria is also discussed.