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Salt stress is a serious environmental threat reducing crop yield. Hence, developing any breeding plan requires an understanding of the basic physiology and cell molecular genetic regulation under salinity stress. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of gene expression changes on ion homeostasis comprising salt overly sensitive (SOS1) and vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter (NHX1) along with ion content measurement and proline content in the rice mutants at Rice Research Institute of Iran in 2018-2019. To survey these realities, tolerant mutant genotypes (em₄hs290 and em₄hs84) along with Hashemi parent cultivar, IR28 (sensitive), and FL478 (tolerant) seedlings were treated with 100 mM NaCl. Based on the results of growth indices, the seedling length of Hashemi cultivar and IR28 decreased considerably about 44.7%, and 44.2% reduction to that of the control, and the leaves progressively yellowed. Results showed that proline content and K⁺ and K⁺/Na⁺ ratio increased about ~2–3-fold higher in the tolerant genotypes than in the susceptible ones. Also, the overall amount of the OsNHX1 and SOS1 expression increased in tolerant genotypes compared to the susceptible ones. Accordingly, the compatible solute accumulation significantly advanced resulting in improvement of ionic homeostasis and probably suppresses the stress. Moreover, the variable pattern of gene expression in the two salt-tolerant mutants (em₄hs290 and em₄hs84) and Hashemi parent showed that the induced mutation could increase the salt-tolerant in mutant genotypes through ionic and osmotic homeostasis. Generally, these tolerant mutant genotypes could be applied to develop salt-tolerant varieties in rice breeding programs which can bring on production sustainability.

 

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Pear is one of the most important pome fruits in the world fruit market with a high nutritional value. This study was performed to determine the phenolic compounds and some chemical properties of the flesh and peel of 12 Asian and European pears. Chlorogenic acid and rutin were found the important phenolic compounds in the peel which were measured using HPLC. Fruit titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), firmness, color, nutrient elements, and total phenol contents were measured across the various cultivars. Potassium was the most abundant nutrient, followed by nitrogen and calcium, respectively. As the total phenol increased, so did the amount of rutin. Principal components analysis (PCA) of all data showed that European and Asian pear cultivars were categorized and placed into two distinct groups. In general, the different European and Asian pear studied cultivars were different in terms of most of the studied biochemical traits, and significant relationships were observed between some traits.
 

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To extend the genetic base of Iranian tomato germplasm, 93 landraces were collected from the northwest of Iran and East Anatolian of Turkey, along with three commercial cultivars, and their genetic structure were studied using 39 SSR primers. Thirty-five polymorphic SSR loci generated a total of 118 alleles in the studied germplasm. Number of alleles per locus and effective number of alleles averaged 3.37 and 2.47, respectively. Expected heterozygosity of SSRs varied from 0.227 (TMS24) to 0.773 (LEta016), averaged 0.558. The mean number of alleles per genomic-SSRs (3.61) was more than that of EST-SSRs (2.66). Cluster analysis using Neighbour Joining (NJ) method placed 96 tomato genotypes in eight groups. Little congruence was found between NJ dendrogram and geographical distances. Genetic structure analysis of the germplasm using Bayesian method revealed two sub-populations and separated cherry tomatoes from the other landraces and commercial cultivars. Out of the 21 morphological characters, significant (P≤ 0.05) marker-trait associations were found for 18 characters. Each of SSR loci TC11, TC948, and Tom236-237 was associated with three characters. The genetic variability, structure, and markers associated with the studied traits in the current study can be used for planning tomato breeding programs and future studies.

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Rapeseed is cultivated as a valuable oilseed plant throughout the world. The rapeseed oil contains significant amounts of unsaturated fatty acids. A total number of twenty-five cultivars of (winter/spring) rapeseed were grown in greenhouse conditions. In order to investigate genetic diversity, genomic DNA was extracted from the leaves and polymerase chain reaction was performed using 12 pairs of SRAP primers. Based on the results, 96 polymorphic bands were detected, in which the EM10-ME10 primer pairs with 14 bands and the EM1-ME14 and EM10-Me1 primer pairs with 4 bands had produced the maximum and minimum number of polymorphic bands, respectively. The Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) index varied from 0.25 to 0.499 and the genetic diversity based on Nei's index was 0.18 to 0.33. The cluster analysis using UPGMA method, with 95% accuracy of the grouping, was introduced as more appropriate than the other clustering methods. This method divided the studied cultivars into five distinct groups. The most genetic distance was recorded between Hydromel and Elvis, Zarfam, Artist and Okapi cultivars, and the lowest was shown between Artist and Okapi cultivars. Based on the results of principal coordinate analysis, the first and second components explained 83.66% of the variation, which represents the improper distribution of the SRAP markers on the whole genome. Overall, this study demonstrated high genetic diversity among cultivated rapeseed cultivars, which may be attributed to their high genetic background and environmental effects.

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Beta vulgaris L. subsp. maritima (L.) Arcang., sea beet, is a morphologically and genetically variable species, belonging to beet primary gene-pool. This crop wild relative is a valuable genetic resource for resistance improvement in beets and could play an important role in crop yield sustainability. Eleven Madeiran sea beet populations were characterized using morphological descriptors and genetic markers. Our goal was to evaluate these populations as a potential source of valuable genetic material. Morphological characterization showed a high quantitative variation among populations. Plant height and inflorescence height parameters had the highest influence in the separation of populations. Molecular analysis was performed with polymorphic SSRs to determine genetic variability between populations. Both PCA and PCoA revealed three clusters that separated the populations according to morphological and genetic traits, respectively. This study contributes to the knowledge of sea beet diversity in Madeira’s archipelago and to the perception that the islands' specific environmental conditions influence its genetic variability, making these populations a possible gene source for sugar beet breeding programs

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Strawberry (Fragaria spp.) is broadly planted for its fruit, fragrance, color, taste, and sweetness. Some people are concerned about transgenic plants and their products. Furthermore, genetic diversity is one of the basics of plant breeding programs. Polyploidy induction is one of the solutions to create genetic diversity and to reduce the concerns about transgenic plants. This experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design to induce polyploidy in strawberry (Fragaria spp. cv. Kurdistan) using different concentrations of colchicine. We aimed to examine the possibility of polyploidy induction, to determine the best concentration, and to evaluate strawberry responses to polyploidy. The tetraploidy percentage in the plants treated by 0.7% colchicine was more ‎than 80%. Tetraploid plants had a greater fruit ‎length and diameter, fresh fruit weight, and larger fruit ‎volume than the controls. Such plants had ‎a lower stomata number with a larger size and a larger chloroplast number ‎ than the diploids. ‎Ultimately, considering the flow cytometry results, and the number of modified plants, the best concentration was 0.7% colchicine treatment, which could be used as a suitable concentration for ploidy induction in strawberries.
 

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Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) is an important dual-purpose crop in drought and famine prone areas as it is used as human food as well as livestock feed and fodder. However, the variation for forage quality traits of grass pea remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to characterize the genetic diversity of grass pea collections from Africa, Asia, and Europe, and identify genotypes for superior agronomic and forage nutritional quality traits. The principal component analysis revealed that the first three principal components from nutritional quality parameters viz., NDF, ADF, cellulose, lignin and ash percent, and from agronomic traits viz., plant height, nodes per plant, leaf area, green and dry biomass accounted for the majority of the total variation. In addition, a total of 59 polymorphic alleles were detected at 11 SSR loci with an average of 5.36 alleles per locus and the polymorphic information content ranged from 0.49 to 0.76. Three accessions (IF1872, IF2177 and IF2156) with higher biomass than the check and four accessions (IF1327, IF1312, IL-10-76 and IF1307) with excellent nutritive value in both green forage as well as straw were identified. The present study revealed high genetic variation for biomass and nutritional quality traits in grass pea collections that could be useful for development of high-yielding, nutritionally rich, and dual-purpose varieties.

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Mutagenesis has been one of the effective methods for creating genetic diversity and plant mutants can be significant bio-resources for crop breeding and functional genomics studies. The genetic and phenotypic diversity of 95 selected mutants from 17 mutant populations, obtained from an EMS mutagenized rice Hashemi variety, were phenotypically and molecularly assessed in M₃ generation. Phenotypic variation of these mutants showed that grain yield components varied among the selected mutants compared to the control plants. In parallel, genetic diversity assessed by 13 Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats )ISSR) primers showed that the number of amplified fragments per primer varied from 4 (pr1-7) to 11 (ISSR-7, ISSR-11). In general, 13 primers amplified 99 fragments, 50 of which were polymorphic (52.92%). The genetic variation created by ISSR markers within 17 populations varied from 11.11% in HM9 (Hashemi Mutant Line number 9) to 45.45% in HM2. The average molecular polymorphism value was 0.27. In the total genetic variance, 95% of differences were attributed to within-population diversity, and 5% were related to among-populations. The Unweighted Pair-Group Method with Arithmetic mean (UPGMA) trees illustrating ISSR diversity classified the rice mutant population into seven groups, which were further supported by model-based STRUCTURE analysis. In general, the studied mutant genotypes revealed desirable genetic characteristics in populations 13 and 17, with em₃h204 and em₃h280 genotypes being the most divergent. 

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The sugar beet crop has always been attacked by various pests and diseases. Rhizomania viral disease, which has spread in different regions of sugar beet cultivation, has become a disease of prime importance for the crop in the last three decades. Resistant cultivar usage is the only reliable way to manage rhizomania disease. In order to identify promising genotypes, eleven sugar beet genotypes with natural infection to rhizomania, in a company with three controls, were assessed in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. The experiment was conducted in six research stations of Karaj, Khoy, Kermanshah, Mashhad, Miandoab, and Shiraz for two cropping seasons (2020 and 2021). Based on the rhizomania score, all genotypes had acceptable resistance to the disease. The Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) stability analysis illustrated that the first five principal components were significant and specified 88.8% of the total genotype by environment interaction variance. Gen-7, Gen-10, Gen-11, and Gen-2 were selected as stable genotypes based on the AMMI model. Genotype plus Genotype by Environment Interaction (GGE) biplot results also confirmed the superiority of Gen-10 and Gen-11 regarding sugar yield and stability in disease-infected environments. According to the results of the Multi-Trait Stability Index (MTSI), genotypes Gen-4, Gen-1, Gen-2, and Gen-11 were identified as stable genotypes under rhizomania-infected conditions. By applying different stability measurement methods, in addition to identifying the genotypes’ adaptation to different environments, accurate decisions for future breeding or cultivar registration can be achieved.

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Drought is a major abiotic stress in arid and semi-arid areas. This study examines how drought stress and different rootstocks affect aerial part physiology and macronutrient uptake in two seedlings of pear cultivars, 'Dargazi' and 'Louise Bonne,' grafted onto 'Dargazi' and 'Pyrodwarf' rootstocks. Treatments were well-watered as control (100% Field Capacity, FC), moderate (60% FC), and severe drought (30% FC). Drought stress decreased the Root-to-Shoot weight ratio (R/SH), Leaf Relative Water Content (LRWC), Soluble Protein (SP), Photosynthetic Nitrogen Use Efficiency (PNUE), leaf osmotic potential (Ψs), Leaf potassium (LK⁺), Root Calcium (RCa²⁺), Root Nitrogen (RN), Stomatal aperture (SA), net photosynthetic rate (An), transpiration rate (E), stomatal conductance (gs), and instantaneous carboxylation Efficiency of Rubisco (EiC) in all scion-rootstock combinations. Under drought stress, levels of proline (Prol), Glycine Betaine (GB), Total Soluble Carbohydrate (TSC), root potassium (RK⁺), leaf calcium (LCa²⁺), leaf nitrogen (LN), leaf and root phosphorus (P) increased. 'Dargazi' as the cultivar or rootstock showed better instantaneous Water Use Efficiency (WUEi), Nitrogen Utilization Efficiency (NUtE), and Nitrogen Uptake Efficiency (NUpE), with higher LN, LNO³⁻, LNH⁴⁺, Prol, and Ψs under severe stress. 'Louise Bonne' had higher amounts of R/SH weight ratio, Total Nitrogen Accumulation (TNA), leaf and root nitrate reductase activity (NRA),  An, intracellular carbon dioxide concentration (Ci), E, and root nitrate (RNO³⁻) under moderate stress. 'Pyrodwarf' rootstock demonstrated the highest TNA and RCa²⁺ under moderate stress conditions. These results indicated that 'Dargazi' demonstrated better tolerance under severe stress, while 'Pyrodwarf' and 'Louise Bonne' were more effective under moderate stress conditions.

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Micromorphological characteristics of seed sculpturing might be effective in circumscribing the infra-specific taxa in the genus Vicia. The present study was conducted to determine whether microstructural and seed coat texture data obtained from SEM images can serve as sufficient tools for delimiting Vicia genus. Other than visual inspections, a variety of texture-based methods, including the four conventional approaches of GLCM, LBP, LBGLCM, and SFTA, and the four pre-trained convolutional neural networks, namely, ResNet50, VGG16, VGG19, and Xception models were employed to extract features and to classify the species of Vicia genus using SEM images. In a subsequent step, the four unsupervised k-means, Mean-shift, agglomerative, and Gaussian mixture classification methods were used to group the identified Vicia spices based on the underlying features thus extracted. Moreover, the three supervised classifiers of Multilayer Perceptron Network (MLP), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) were compared in terms of capability in discriminating the different visually-identified classes. SEM results showed that three classes might be identified based on the micromorphological character-species connections and that the differences among the species in the Vicia genus and the validity of Vicia sativa could be confirmed. Regarding the performance of the classifiers, SFTA textural descriptor outperformed the GLCM, LBP, and LBGLCM algorithms, but yielded a decreased accuracy compared with deep learning models. The combined Xception model and a MLP classifier was successful to discriminate the species in the Vicia genus with the best classification performances of 99 and 96% in training and testing, respectively.

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