Chlorophytum borivilianum is an important medicinal plant known as ‘Safed musli’, used in many Ayurvedic vital tonics and aphrodisiac formulations. The species was first described from India in 1954 and reached rare status in nature due to overexploitation. Owing to its increased demand, the species has attracted the attention of farmers as well as researchers in several institutions. The present paper deals with various research aspects such as conservation biology, cytology, chemistry, plant genetic resources, micropropagation, crop management, etc. conducted on the crop for the last two decades in India. The species is diploid 2n=4x=28 and is mainly vegetatively propagated. Seeds remain dormant for nearly 10 months and also suffer from poor germination. Fleshy roots of the species contain saponins having therapeutic value. Germplasm collections made from different states in India show the occurrence of wide genetic variability in terms of plant type, maturity period, growth and yield characters, and size and shape of fleshy roots. Although the species is cross-pollinated in nature, self-pollination is also feasible artificially. One high-yielding cultivar and two high-yielding morphotypes have been recently identified. A micropropagation protocol using different explants has been standardized and agrotechnology for cultivation developed. Successful use of synthetic seed has also been reported. The article presents a comprehensive overview of the current state of research in the species with due emphasis on future thrust and possibilities.

To reduce the level of redundancy in a collection of cultivated lettuce, data from 160 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fragments and 10 polymorphic microsatellites were used in combination with passport data and morphological data, the latter obtained from an experimental field trial performed for verification purposes. Based on the observed distribution of the number of marker differences between and within accessions, a minimum of three AFLP differences and two microsatellite differences were regarded as levels warranting distinction between accessions in the redundancy analysis. The strategy followed in the redundancy analysis was mainly based on the confirmation of duplication by each of two independently generated data sources. The molecular data were used for the validation as well as the identification of potential duplicates, revealing a total number of 198 redundancies, corresponding to 12.9% of the total collection. Trueness to type, number of characterization and evaluation data, and collection management considerations, such as available seed quantities and germination percentages, were used as primary, secondary and tertiary criteria to decide which accession from duplication groups to maintain in the collection. Removal of accessions showed negligible effects on total collection diversity, as quantified for AFLPs and microsatellites, characterization and evaluation traits and resistance profiles against downy mildew pathotypes, indicating that the applied strategy was effective.

The sequence-specific amplified polymorphism (S-SAP) method was used to genotype 198 Nordic bread wheat landraces and cultivars from the 19th to the 21st centuries. It was shown that the Sukkula-9900-LARD retrotransposon primer was highly suitable for resolving closely related wheat materials. Cluster analysis was generally consistent with pedigree information and revealed a clear separation for growth habit but not for countries. A principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) showed a separation into different time periods (before 1910, 1910–1969 and 1970–2003). These results are consistent with the breeding history and pedigree information, indicating that little hybridization has occurred between winter and spring wheat, in contrast to frequent exchange of germplasm between the Nordic countries. Estimates of gene diversity, the PCoA results, and changes in band frequencies across time indicate that plant breeding has led to substantial genetic shifts in Nordic wheat. Diversity was reduced through selections from landraces during the early 20th century, followed by a period of relatively lower genetic diversity, and a subsequent increase and net gains in diversity from the late 1960s onwards through the use of exotic germplasm. Thus, an anticipated loss of overall genetic diversity was found to be negligible, although allele losses have occurred at specific loci.

The regions of north-eastern Ethiopia are known for their high levels of sorghum genetic diversity, and for being drought prone. For centuries, sorghum has been developed and maintained by farmers for its adaptation to the marginal and heterogeneous environment of these regions. The objective of this study was to examine the genetic diversity and population structure of 200 sorghum landraces collected from seven lowland districts, using 30 microsatellite markers sampled from all linkage groups of the sorghum genome. Both distance-based and model-based analytical approaches were used to analyse the data. The data analysis revealed that there was a large variation among all the markers under study. The values of polymorphic information content ranged from 0.26 to 0.88, with a mean value of 0.61, reflecting the high discriminating ability of the markers studied. The mean value of total gene diversity was 0.69, which partitioned 86% among the landraces and 14% within the landraces. Gene diversity among the landraces was largely due to the variation among the genotypes within the geographic origins. Landraces sampled from different collection sites appeared to cluster together, indicating the existence of a high level of gene flow among the sites of collection. This indicates that a relatively small, random collection of landraces would capture the bulk of genetic diversity in the target area. A moderately high level of genetic differentiation and a relatively low level of gene flow were observed between sorghum races and maturity groups. Given that the target area is marginal, drought prone and heterogeneous, the study of genetic diversity among sorghum landraces could serve as an important indicator of valuable alleles for drought tolerance in future sorghum improvement programmes.

Successful conservation strategies require that taxa are prioritized because resources for planning and implementation are always limited. In this study, we created a partial checklist of crop wild relatives (CWR) that occur in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and identified the taxa of highest priority for regional conservation planning based on their importance for food and economic security. We found that the region contains over 1900 wild relatives of species cultivated for food, beverages, ornamental, forage/fodder, forestry, medicinal, environmental and other uses. Prioritization of these species was based on two criteria: (i) the value of the related crop for human food and economic security in the region and/or globally, and (ii) the potential or known value of the wild relatives of those crops for crop improvement. The region contains 745 CWR species related to 64 human food and beverage crops that are of high socioeconomic importance and 100 of these are of immediate priority for conservation action. The results of this study show that the SADC region contains a wealth of CWR diversity that is not only of value for food and economic security within the region but also globally. Furthermore, this study represents the first step in developing a CWR conservation and sustainable use strategy for the region, where its implementation would contribute to food security and well-being.

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in Europe and in the USA in grafting watermelon onto bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl. In this study, genetic diversity and relationships were examined [using 236 sequence-related amplified polymorphism markers] among 56 United States plant introductions (PIs) of L. siceraria and PIs of important cucurbit crops [including Cucurbita maxima Duchesne (winter squash), Cucurbita pepo L. (squash and pumpkin), Citrullus spp. (watermelon), Cucumis melo L. (melon) and Cucumis sativus L. (cucumber)]. The analysis showed that L. siceraria is distinct and has similar genetic distances to the cucurbit species examined herein. The L. siceraria PIs were assembled into two major clusters. One cluster includes groups of PIs collected mostly in South Asia (India) and a few PIs collected in the Mediterranean region and in Northeast Africa. The second cluster includes groups of PIs collected mainly in Southern Africa and in North, Central and South America, and PIs collected in China, Indonesia and Cyprus. All L. siceraria PIs in this study were susceptible to the southern root-knot nematode (RKN) [Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White) Sandground]. However, several PIs, among them a group of closely related PIs collected in Mexico and Florida, were less infected with southern RKNs. All L. siceraria PIs were infested with whiteflies [Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius)], while several PIs were less infested than others and need further evaluation and selection for developing breeding lines that may be less appealing to this pest. Most of the PIs that showed resistance to zucchini yellow mosaic virus and tolerance to powdery mildew were collected in India and belong to the same phylogenetic groups (PGs). Experiments with L. siceraria PIs representing different PGs showed similar grafting compatibility with watermelon. Findings from this study should be useful for the development of superior L. siceraria rootstock lines with enhanced resistance to diseases and insect pests of cucurbit crops.

Annual wild soybean characterized with more number of branches and pods may contain favourable exotic genes/alleles for improving the yield potential of cultivated soybeans. To evaluate the wild alleles/segments, the chromosome segment substitution line population SojaCSSLP3 comprising 158 lines with N24852 (wild) as the donor and NN1138-2 (cultivated) as the recurrent parent was tested under three environments. The phenotypic data along with 198 simple sequence repeat markers were analysed for qualitative trait loci (QTL)/segments associated with the number of branches on the main stem (BN) and number of pods per plant (PN) using the inclusive composite interval mapping procedure (RSTEP-LRT-ADD model) of ICIM version 3.0. The analysis was carried out for individual environments due to a significant G × E interaction. A total of eight QTL/segments associated with BN and eight QTL/segments associated with PN were detected under the three environments, with all the wild segments having positive effects. Among these, two QTL/segments for each of the two traits could be detected under two or three environments and three QTL/segments could be detected for both traits. Four QTL/segments associated with BN and one QTL/segment associated with PN were identified only in SojaCSSLP3, not reported for cultivated crosses in the literature. The detected wild segments may provide materials for further characterization, cloning and pyramiding of the alleles conferring the two traits.

Molecular investigations of qualitative and quantitative changes in the genetic diversity of cultivated crops are useful for plant breeding and the management of crop genetic resources. A genotyping study, based on 28 genomic (g-SSR) and 13 expressed sequence tag-derived (e-SSR) microsatellite markers uniformly distributed across the barley genome, was conducted on samples of cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) collected at intervals of 40–50 years in three comparable geographical regions in Austria, Albania and India. The analysis indicated an absence of any significant differences either in the total number of alleles per locus or in g-SSR and e-SSR polymorphic information content (PIC) values from the Indian and Austrian materials. However, a slight reduction in genetic diversity was noted among the materials collected in Albania. The trend in numbers of collection mission-specific SSR alleles suggests significant allele flow over the time interval sampled. The g-SSRs yielded a higher mean number of alleles per locus and a superior PIC than the e-SSR markers. We conclude that a qualitative, rather than a quantitative shift in diversity has taken place over time, and that g-SSR markers detect more diversity than do e-SSR markers.

Legume flavonoids have received considerable attention due to their beneficial effects on human health. Flavonoid content in the seeds of 36 germplasm accessions of guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] was quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). On a per 100 g basis, the seed contained, on average, 1.114 mg (0–2.355) daidzein, 0.700 mg (0–1.685) genistein, 0.553 mg (0–1.250) quercetin and 14.460 mg (10.70–19.82) kaempferol. A significant positive correlation was observed between the content of daidzein and genistein; however, significant negative correlations existed between the content of kaempferol and daidzein and of kaempferol and genistein. Compared to soybean seeds, guar seeds contained very low amounts of daidzein and genistein, but a high amount of kaempferol. The information about the levels of flavonoids in guar seeds will be useful to breeding programmes for improving guar seed quality. Furthermore, the high kaempferol content of guar seeds may expand its nutraceutical and pharmaceutical utilization.

A coiled coil-nucleotide binding site-leucine-rich repeat gene RB/Rpi-blb1 isolated from Solanum bulbocastanum confers broad-spectrum resistance to Phytophthora infestans and is currently employed in potato breeding for durable late blight (LB) resistance. RB homologues were reported in several Solanum species; some of them retained defence function. Here, we report additional evidence on RB-like sequences in 21 Solanum species of the section Petota. The panel of Solanum species was screened with three RB-related PCR markers. RB-like sequences were found in every tested Solanum accession, suggesting universal distribution of RB structural homologues among Solanum genomes, while locus-specific RB-629 was found only in 15 species. Phylogenetic analysis of RB-629 sequences suggested a highly conservative pattern of polymorphisms that was neither species- nor series-specific. Apparently, duplication and evolution of RB-like loci preceded Solanum speciation. Marker presence and particular haplotypes were not immediately associated with high LB resistance.

Development of core collection representing the diversity in the entire germplasm creates a better access and enhanced utilization of the main collection thus allowing rapid evaluation in crop improvement programs. Core collections are dynamic in nature and needs revisiting when additional germplasm and information becomes available. In the current study, an attempt was made to re-define the previously developed yam (Dioscorea spp) core collection using 56 morphological traits. Information on additional acquired germplasm and presence of duplicates or mislabelled accessions in the entire collection was also used. The re-defined core collection consisted of 843 accessions and represented about 20% of the entire collection. It included six Dioscorea species, of which accessions of Dioscorea rotundata are in the majority (73.54%) followed by Dioscorea alata (21.35%), Dioscorea bulbifera (1.66%), Dioscorea cayenensis (1.42%), Dioscorea dumetorum (1.42%) and Dioscorea esculenta (0.59%). The Shannon weaver diversity index and principal component analysis revealed the maximum diversity captured in the core from the base collection. This re-defined core collection is more valuable than the original core since it represents true-to-type accessions ensuring reliability for enhanced utilization of germplasm in yam improvement programs.

To evaluate the responses of some important agronomic traits of 14 bread wheat cultivars, a split plot experiment was conducted based on a randomized complete block design under non-stress, moderate and severe salinity stress conditions. In this study, Backcross and Roshan were identified as the most salinity-tolerant cultivars, while Mihan and Shirudi were considered as the most salinity-sensitive cultivars. The proline content, as well as Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS) and vacuolar-type H+-ATPase subunit E (W36) gene expression levels, were examined in these cultivars under normal, moderate and high salinity stress conditions. The proline content and P5CS gene expression level increased with a rise in NaCl concentration. Further, a direct relationship was observed between the proline content and P5CS gene expression in all samples. Our results showed that W36 gene expression in Backcross and Roshan cultivars, as the most resistant ones, strongly increased with elevation of the NaCl concentrations. On the other hand, in the sensitive cultivars such as Mihan and Shirudi, small changes were observed in the gene expression levels with rising salinity levels. Additionally, Backcross and Roshan cultivars had the highest proline content as well as P5CS and W36 genes expression levels under moderate and high salinity stress levels.

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were employed to assess intraspecific variability in water yam (Dioscorea alata L.). Fifty-three accessions of diverse geographic origins in West and Central Africa (Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Chad) and Puerto Rico were analysed using three AFLP primer combinations. Of the 342 amplification products generated, a mean of 53.4% were polymorphic. Genetic similarity coefficients ranged from 0.29 to 0.95. The accessions could be clustered into three major genetic groups with one outlier. Each group was a mixture of accessions of different geographical origin indicating that geography has not played a major role in the differentiation of the species. A few accessions clustered very tightly suggesting that there may be duplicate accessions in the collection. The wide genetic variation observed constitutes a good basis for genetic improvement of yam.

Induction of mutations using chemical mutagens has proved to be a useful tool in crop improvement and has advantages over transgenic approaches in view of legislative restrictions and intellectual property. Among the chemical mutagens, ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) has been widely used to generate novel traits. In this study, we constructed an EMS mutant population consisting of 3945 M2 mutant lines using a Korean landrace of Capsicum annuum ‘Yuwol-cho’. In total, 1480 M2 mutant lines were evaluated for novel traits. The mutant lines showed phenotypic variations such as plant growth (small size and dwarfism), development of leaves (variegation, colour and morphological changes), flowers (inflorescence, morphological and organ colour changes), and fruits (morphological and colour changes). Most of these mutant phenotypes were inherited recessively. Many of the mutant phenotypes were unique in pepper, while some were similar to those of known mutants in other plant species. These mutant lines will be useful for the study of gene function in C. annuum.

Knowledge of pollen movement and frequency of interspecific hybridization in fragmented populations of rare species is a prerequisite for the implementation of conservation measures. In a large-scale study area (14,000 hectares) we analysed 297 Malus sylvestris trees with nine nuclear microsatellite markers. After open pollination of 564 offspring from 51 mother trees located in seven harvesting sites were investigated and genetic paternity analysis was performed. The paternal parent was identified for 213 offspring and the pollen dispersal distances between mother and pollen source were calculated. A large proportion of detected pollination events (42.4%) were observed within a radius of 50 m of the mother tree. The comparison of different tree densities indicated that with decreasing density the pollen dispersal distances increase. We observed pollination over long distances with a maximum of 10.7 km which is probably one of the reasons for a low spatial genetic structure within the M. sylvestris population and a stable genetic diversity in the offspring. Incorporating microsatellite data of 21 apple cultivars, a hybridization frequency of nearly 8% was determined. With decreasing tree density the number of hybridization events increased. Based on the results of our study an enhancement of the density of existing M. sylvestris populations is recommend to reduce the likelihood of hybridization. The production of young plants originated from seeds collected after open pollination is not advisable. Instead of that the seedlings for further reintroduction measures should be produced by controlled crossings in seed orchards to ensure ‘true type’ M. sylvestris individuals.

In Arabidopsis, a variety of mapping populations have been used for the detection of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) responsible for natural variation. In this study, we present an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of populations used. To do this, we compare the results of both experimental and natural populations for the commonly analysed trait flowering time. It is expected that genome wide association (GWA) mapping will be an increasingly important tool for QTL mapping because of the high allelic richness and mapping resolution in natural populations. In Arabidopsis, GWA mapping becomes ever more facilitated by the increasing availability of re-sequenced genomes of many accessions. However, specifically designed mapping populations such as recombinant inbred lines and near isogenic lines will remain important. The high QTL detection power of such experimental populations can identify spurious GWA associations, and their unique genomic structure is superior for investigating the role of low-frequency alleles. Future QTL studies will therefore benefit from a combined approach of GWA and classical linkage analysis.

This is the first report on increasing yield and nutritional content of snake melon (Cucumis melo L. var. flexuosus) by exploiting intraspecific genetic variation of genetically diverse melons. Inbred snake melon ‘Punjab Long melon 1’ (PLM1) was hybridized with five genetically diverse inbred melons: KP 7 (var. momordica), AM 72 (var. acidulus), ‘Arya 1’ (var. chate), 04-02 (var. tibish) and ‘Punjab Wanga’ (unknown botanical variety). The parents and hybrids were evaluated at three locations for nine traits. Hybrids PLM1 × 04-02 and PLM1 × ‘Punjab Wanga’ exhibited significant (P0.05) heterosis for the number of marketable fruits per plant, and ascorbic acid and carotenoid contents of marketable fruits.

Molecular markers have been used to study genetic diversity within a set of Lablab purpureus accessions collected from the southern states of India. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) molecular marker studies using a total of 78 L. purpureus accessions with nine primer combinations showed there was very little genetic diversity within the L. purpureus accessions from the southern Indian germplasm collection as compared to a set of 15 accessions from other international germplasm collections that included African accessions. The set of 15 were selected from a random amplified length polymorphism (RAPD) marker study and chosen on the basis of widest genetic distance. Further molecular analysis with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) markers from 97 expressed sequence tag (EST) and gene-specific primer pairs, designed from a range of legume sequences, concurred with the AFLP analyses. Both of these approaches provide a wealth of markers for diversity and mapping studies. The 97 sequence-specific primer pairs tested in L. purpureus resulted in 70% amplification success, with 44% of primer pairs amplifying single bands and 10% double bands. Markers generated from these EST and genomic sequences provide useful cross-reference to comparative legume genomics that will potentially have long-term benefit to legume plant breeding.