Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) Beauv) is one of the earliest domesticated grains, which has been cultivated in northern China by 8,700 years before present (YBP) and across Eurasia by 4,000 YBP. Owing to a small genome and diploid nature, foxtail millet is a tractable model crop for studying functional genomics of millets and bioenergy grasses. In this study, we examined nucleotide sequen...

We investigated the molecular bases for resistance to several classes of herbicides that bind tubulins in green foxtail (Setaria viridis L. Beauv.). We identified two alpha- and two beta-tubulin genes in green foxtail. Sequence comparison between resistant and sensitive plants revealed two mutations, a leucine-to-phenylalanine change at position 136 and a threonine-to-isoleucine change at posit...

Dendrobium officinale is one of the most well-known traditional Chinese medicines, and polysaccharide is its main active ingredient. Many studies have investigated the synthesis and accumulation mechanisms of polysaccharide, but until recently, little was known about the molecular mechanism of how polysaccharide is synthesized because no related genes have been cloned. In this study, we cloned ...

The architecture of a plant affects its ability to compete for light and to respond to environmental stresses, thus affecting overall fitness and productivity. Two components of architecture, branching and height, were studied in 182 F7 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) at the vegetative, flowering and mature developmental stages in the panicoid C4 model grass system, Setaria. The RIL population ...

Objective: Fusarium diseases that cause grain mold and stalk rot of millet are the most important diseases, of these crops in Iran. Fusarium can cause stalk rots, ear rots, and grain mold, resulting in serious production losses in millet, and produce mycotoxins that are harmful to both humans and domesticated animals.  Methods: A total of 23 Fusarium isolates were rec...

Ecological selection forces for weedy and domesticated traits have influenced the evolution of seed shape in Setaria resulting in similarity in seed shape that reflects similarity in ecological function rather than reflecting phylogenetic relatedness. Seeds from two diploid subspecies of Setaria viridis, consisting of one weedy subspecies and two races of the domesticated subspecies, and four o...