Genetic diversity among sugarcane hybrids (Saccharum spp) is pre-requisite for sugarcane improvement through breeding. Twelve decamer oligonucleotide random-amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were utilized to investigate the genetic potential among 24 sugarcane cultivars. A total of 120 fragments were originated by 12 RAPD primers. An average number of fragments were obtained as 11.42 fra...

A total of 787 non-waxy rice lines- 116 hybrids and 671 inbreds-were used to study the apparent amylose content (AAC), gelatinization temperature (GT), and rapid visco analyzer (RVA) pasting viscosity properties of rice starch to understand their importance in breeding better rice varieties. The investigated traits showed a wide range of diversity for both hybrid (HG) and inbred (IG) groups. Th...

Early planting of bambara groundnuts (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc) in the southern Africa enables farmers to fetch premium prices before the markets are flooded with produce from the main summer growing period. However, adaptation of the crop outside the main growing season has not been studied in Zimbabwe. Therefore, this study evaluated 20 varieties at four planting dates covering contrasting ...

There are two mildew diseases affecting cucurbit crops: powdery mildew and downy mildew. Both fungal pathogens produce wind-dispersed spores that can be moved long distances, thus they cannot be avoided. Fungicides and resistant varieties have been important for managing these diseases. Unfortunately, both pathogens have demonstrated ability to evolve new strains that are not controlled as effe...

Adaptation to divergent environments creates and maintains biological diversity, but we know little about the importance of different agents of ecological divergence. Coevolution in obligate mutualisms has been hypothesized to drive divergence, but this contention has rarely been tested against alternative ecological explanations. Here, we use a well-established example of coevolution in an obl...

The Asian arowana (Scleropages formosus), one of the world's most expensive cultivated ornamental fishes, is an endangered species. It represents an ancient lineage of teleosts: the Osteoglossomorpha. Here, we provide a high-quality chromosome-level reference genome of a female golden-variety arowana using a combination of deep shotgun sequencing and high-resolution linkage mapping. In addition...

BACKGROUND Soybean is a short-day crop of agricultural, ecological, and economic importance. The sensitive photoperiod responses significantly limit its breeding and adaptation. GmFT2a, a putative florigen gene with different transcription profiles in two cultivars (late-maturing Zigongdongdou and early-maturing Heihe 27) with different maturity profiles, is key to flowering and maturation. How...

Maize landraces derived from tropical germplasm represent an important source of genetic variability, which is currently poorly understood and under-exploited by Brazilian crop breeding programs. The aims of our study were to a) estimate the genetic diversity across 48 varieties of maize landraces cultivated at different locations in the States of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) and Paraná (PR) by ...

BACKGROUND Cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) is a common congenital craniofacial anomaly that may negatively affect an individual's appearance, health-related quality of life, or speech. In Spain, Colombia, and Chile the overall prevalence of CL/P ranges from 0.53 to 1.59 cases per 1000 live births. Currently, there is no patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument that is specific for patients with...