The effects of two levels of temperature and of water supply on grain development of wheat (cv. Warigal) were studied by imposing treatments during the early or late period of cell division. High temperature (28°C day/20°C night) accelerated development of the grain. Dry matter accumulation and cell division proceeded at a higher rate but had a shorter duration in the high temperature treatments. Maximum cell number, final cell size and the number of large starch granules per cell were not significantly reduced by high temperature. Drought and drought × high temperature reduced the storage capacity of the grain, with a decrease in number of cells and starch granules in the endosperm. Cell size was also reduced when treatments were imposed late during cell division. Duration of dry matter accumulation and cell division was reduced in the drought and drought × high temperature treatments. The combined effects of drought and high temperature were much more severe than those of each separate treatment. The amount of sucrose per cell was similar in all treatments. It appears unlikely that the supply of sucrose to the endosperm cells is the main limiting factor of dry matter accumulation in both drought and high temperature treatments.

Data from advanced breeding experiments between 1985 and 1994 were used to determine the effects of region, year and environment on the quality of canola grown across Victoria. Estimates from these unbalanced data were made using residual maximum likelihood. Environmental effects were large relative to cultivar effects for oil and protein content, while the reverse occurred for glucosinolate content. High oil contents (and low seed protein contents) were correlated with cooler spring temperatures and higher spring rainfall. Oil contents were lowest, on average, in canola grown in dry years, or from the hotter regions, such as the Mallee, and were highest in canola from the cooler, wetter regions, such as south-western and north-eastern Victoria. Fatty acid composition varied with year and region. Means for saturated fatty acid content averaged 6.4 0.1%. The oleic acid content averaged 60.3 0.4% and was higher in canola grown in central Victoria and the Wimmera, and in most years, in north-eastern Victoria compared with other regions. Low temperatures and low rainfall reduced oleic acid content. Linoleic acid content averaged 19.7 0.3% and linolenic acid averaged 10.4 0.3%, with the content of these fatty acids negatively correlated with the content of oleic acid. Erucic acid levels were below 0.6% in all regions.

BackgroundField pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a self-pollinating, diploid, cool-season food legume. Crop production is constrained by multiple biotic and abiotic stress factors, including salinity, that cause reduced growth and yield. Recent advances in genomics have permitted the development of low-cost high-throughput genotyping systems, allowing the construction of saturated genetic linkage maps for identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with traits of interest. Genetic markers in close linkage with the relevant genomic regions may then be implemented in varietal improvement programs.ResultsIn this study, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers associated with expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were developed and used to generate comprehensive linkage maps for field pea. From a set of 36,188 variant nucleotide positions detected through in silico analysis, 768 were selected for genotyping of a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population. A total of 705 SNPs (91.7%) successfully detected segregating polymorphisms. In addition to SNPs, genomic and EST-derived simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were assigned to the genetic map in order to obtain an evenly distributed genome-wide coverage. Sequences associated with the mapped molecular markers were used for comparative genomic analysis with other legume species. Higher levels of conserved synteny were observed with the genomes of Medicago truncatula Gaertn. and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) than with soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), Lotus japonicus L. and pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan [L.] Millsp.). Parents and RIL progeny were screened at the seedling growth stage for responses to salinity stress, imposed by addition of NaCl in the watering solution at a concentration of 18 dS m-1. Salinity-induced symptoms showed normal distribution, and the severity of the symptoms increased over time. QTLs for salinity tolerance were identified on linkage groups Ps III and VII, with flanking SNP markers suitable for selection of resistant cultivars. Comparison of sequences underpinning these SNP markers to the M. truncatula genome defined genomic regions containing candidate genes associated with saline stress tolerance.ConclusionThe SNP assays and associated genetic linkage maps developed in this study permitted identification of salinity tolerance QTLs and candidate genes. This constitutes an important set of tools for marker-assisted selection (MAS) programs aimed at performance enhancement of field pea cultivars.

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