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Soybean accounts for over a quarter of the world's oilseed consumption and over 70% of the world's protein meal consumption. The separate development of high oleic, low linolenic acid (HOLL) soybean and high‐protein (HP) soybean means that no soybean cultivar on the market has an optimal fatty acid profile and increased protein. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate high protein, high oleic acid, and low linolenic acid (HP‐HOLL) soybean. A five‐gene stack was created using a two‐phase forward breeding scheme and marker‐assisted selection method. Forty‐six HP‐HOLL lines from three genetic backgrounds were grown in six environments in the Southeast United States. Although genotype‐by‐environment interaction was significant for seed composition traits, lines met the >75% and <3% cutoffs for oleic acid and linolenic acid, respectively, and met or exceeded the protein concentration of the HP parent. No negative interaction could be detected between the HP and HOLL traits. Additionally, yield testing in four environments indicated yield parity for some lines, suggesting HP and HOLL soybean cultivars with high yield could be selected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing demand for vegetable oil and protein requires breeding efforts to enhance the yield of oilseed rape. This can be achieved by reducing seed cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content. The objective of the study was to analyse seed yield and important agronomic traits of two distinct bulks of genotypes from two crosses, with low (6%) and high seed lignin content (10%). The two genotype bulks were formed by mixing seeds of 12 doubled haploid lines with either low or high lignin content. The genotypes were selected from two large doubled haploid populations based on lignin content, flowering time and plant height. The bulks were field‐tested in replicated yield trials. Seed quality analysis confirmed significant differences in seed lignin content between the two bulks. Seed oil content was moderately higher in the low lignin bulks of both crosses. Seed, oil and protein yield in both crosses were moderately to significantly higher in the low lignin bulks. Further breeding for reduced fibre content will help increase seed oil and protein content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapeseed protein consists mainly of the seed storage protein cruciferin and napin. Cruciferin and napin have different nutritional values and techno‐functional properties. Shifting the cruciferin/napin ratio towards either more napin or more cruciferin could allow diversified applications. The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic variation of cruciferin and napin in modern winter rapeseed cultivars. Cruciferin and napin contents were analysed by SDS‐PAGE. Genetic variation for both protein fractions was highly significant. Heritabilities were high ranging from 74% for cruciferin to 82% for napin. Napin was positively correlated with glucosinolate (rS =.52**) and seed protein content (rS =.48**). Additional plant material with much larger trait variation was included to develop near‐infrared reflectance spectroscopical calibrations. The Near‐infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) equations showed high fractions of explained variance in cross and independent validation of around.9 for all traits, indicating that the NIRS equations can be applied in routine screening of plant material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Peanut is an important oil and cash crop in China. We selected 540 peanut cultivars—released in three ecological regions of China (Yellow River, Yangtze River and Southeast Coast regions)—to examine changes in quality characters and pod yield in the last 60 years. From 1957 to 2016, crude fat, protein and pod yields in peanut cultivars increased significantly in the three regions. In contrast, the crude fat content, as opposed to its yield, did not change in the Yellow River region, increased in the Yangtze River region and decreased in the Southeast Coast region, and the protein content decreased in the Yellow and Yangtze River regions but did not change in the Southeast Coast region. Peanut cultivars grown in the Yellow and Yangtze River regions had higher mean crude fat contents, while those in the Southeast Coast region had higher mean protein contents. In future, breeders and farmers should pay more attention to high protein peanuts in the Southeast Coast region and high oil peanuts in the Yellow River and Yangtze River regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food-grade soybeans [ Glycine max (L.) Merr] used to produce tofu have specific seed composition, shape, size and colour requirements. Seed qualities, such as protein content, have been correlated with tofu texture. The objective of this study was to determine the relationships between textural qualities of tofu and seed characters, including shape, size, density, weight, protein content and oil content. Tofu was produced from the seed of 48 high-protein or food-grade soybean lines grown at two locations in 2010. Four tofu textural traits were assessed including work to failure, deformability, stiffness and hardness. Seed protein and oil content were significantly correlated with stiffness and hardness, and protein was additionally correlated with work to failure. Pearson's correlation coefficients ranged from 0.45 to 0.60 (adjusted P-values < 0.002) for protein and −0.49 to −0.35 for oil (adjusted P-values < 0.016). No significant correlations between tofu texture and seed volume or shape were detected. Seed protein content can be assessed for indirect selection for tofu firmness, whereas this study reveals no evidence that seed size affects tofu texture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amount, composition and distribution of seed storage proteins in rice are important factors for flavour and quality. We have analysed the seed proteomes of a relatively high-quality cultivar, ‘Gopum’ and a relatively low-quality cultivar, ‘Dobong’. By two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and subsequent MALDI-TOF/MS, we identified ‘Gopum’- and ‘Dobong’-specific seed proteins at 15 or 50 days after flowering. Of 53 identified proteins, we chose 15 that may have important roles in quality determination or maintenance through regulation of protein stability or disease resistance during grain filling and storage. By real-time (RT)-PCR, the expression of a few proteins tightly correlated with transcript levels at specific stages, while that of others did not. Our results suggest that levels of the identified proteins are determined post-transcriptionally or post-translationally, and that proteins which were expressed in the seeds of either ‘Gopum’ or ‘Dobong’ may affect rice flavour and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maize samples (n = 309) containing 3090 single intact kernels from a broad variety of breeding materials were scanned by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) to develop non-destructive determination calibrations for crude protein, starch and oil content in kernels. Calibration equations of single kernels were developed by partial least square regression (PLS). Regression parameters between the chemical values, determined by reference methods, and the predicted values, determined by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy, were verified by cross validation and external validation. It was found that embryo position had a significant influence on the effect of calibrations. Reliable calibrations were developed for the prediction of protein and starch contents with the embryo upwards, whereas the oil content required the embryo to be downwards. The cross validation and external validation coefficients for protein were 0.91 and 0.94, for starch 0.90 and 0.89 and for oil 0.94 and 0.95, respectively. The data suggested that NIRS could be successfully used in breeding programmes, as an accurate and non-destructive tool to predict protein, starch and oil contents at the level of single kernels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing the meal and protein quality of winter rapeseed ( Brassica napus L.) for food and feed purposes is gaining importance in rapeseed breeding programmes. Rapeseed meal has a high content of phenolic acid esters, mainly sinapate esters, which have been shown to cause a dark colour and a bitter taste in rapeseed meal and derived protein products. The aim of the present study was to analyse the genetic variation for individual and total sinapate ester content, to develop Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopic (NIRS) calibrations, and to identify genotypes with a low sinapate ester content after testing in the field. The following sinapate esters were analysed by HPLC: sinapoylcholine (sinapine), sinapoylglucose, and a minor group of ‘other sinapate esters’ which includes free sinapate. A genotypically diverse set of seed samples of winter oilseed rape (old and new cultivars, breeding lines, resynthesized rapeseed) from different years and locations was collected, their NIRS spectra recorded and the samples were further analysed by HPLC. The complete NIRS calibration seed sample set (n = 575) showed a large variation in total sinapate ester content, ranging from 3.2 to 12.7 mg sinapate equivalents per g seeds. The NIRS calibration equations showed high fractions of explained variances in cross validation ( ) ranging from 0.75 (other sinapate esters) to 0.85 (sinapoylglucose). The standard errors of cross validation (SECV) ranged from 0.38 (other sinapate esters) to 0.70 mg/g seed (total sinapate esters). In validation and in independent validations the predicted results were not always acceptable, indicating that the NIRS calibrations need to be extended by analysing samples from new populations. Following replicated field experiments, a doubled haploid line obtained from the old Dutch cultivar Mansholts’ Hamburger Raps, and related DH lines from the cross DH Mansholts’ × Express were confirmed to have a 30–40% lower sinapate ester content compared to check cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry matter (DM) content and quality parameters of maize grain are important traits in breeding of maize hybrids. New developments in near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) allow to determine DM content and product quality parameters directly on plot combine harvesters. The main objective of our study was to examine the potential of NIRS on combine harvester (NOCH) for determination of DM, crude protein (CP) and starch (ST) contents in maize grain. Plot combine harvesters equipped with spectrometers were used. Eleven locations were harvested in Europe during 2003 and 2004. The NOCH calibration models were developed with standard error of prediction (SEP) and coefficient of determination for validation ( R ) of 1.2% and 0.95 for DM, 0.3% and 0.88 for CP, and 1.0% and 0.79 for ST, respectively. NOCH is a promising technology for determination of DM, CP and ST contents of maize grain for breeding purposes, because it automates the assessment of each harvested plot, and the information for making selection decision is rapidly available to plan the next generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of selection using three indirect tests for grain quality on grain yield and dough, and baking properties, measured as alveograph strength, alveograph tenacity/extensibility ratio and loaf volume. The three tests were flour protein content, flour sedimentation and high molecular weight glutenin subunits. Of the indirect tests used for grain quality, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)-sedimentation allowed the highest intensity of selection for a combined trait index of the target grain quality and grain yield characteristics. The top 48% of the material could be retained on the basis of SDS-sedimentation, resulting in retention of atleast two-thirds of the top 10% of genotypes for the combined trait index. Flour protein percentage, a weighted high molecular weight glutenin index and an index combining all the indirect tests — flour protein, SDS-sedimentation and high molecular weight glutenins — gave selection intensities of 61%, 64% and 55%, respectively, for the combined trait index. If the objective of selection is dough strength alone, then a weighted index of all indirect traits (flour protein, SDS-sedimentation and high molecular weight glutenins) provided the highest selection intensity (26%). Other selection intensities for individual target traits were 24% for the prediction of loaf volume from flour protein, 40% for the prediction of tenacity/extensibility ratio using SDS-sedimentation and 68% for the prediction of grain yield using SDS-sedimentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the nutritive value of rice protein, it is necessary to increase the level of lysine and threonine. Ten high-lysine mutants were selected from N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced (MNU-induced) mutant lines, using high-performance liquid chromatography for amino acid analysis. The lysine content of these mutants ranged from 5.10% to 6.38% of total amino acids, while that of the original varieties was about 4%. All high-lysine mutants also had a greatly increased histidine content and a floury endosperm. An increase in lysine content of the albumin/globulin fraction was characteristic of the MNU-induced high-lysine mutants. The segregation ratio of normal to floury endosperm in the F2 seeds from a cross between `Kinmaze' and a high-lysine mutant fitted the expected 3:1 ratio. The high level of lysine and the floury endospeun may be controlled by the same gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seed storage protein content of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. dururn) has an important effect on nutritional value and pasta-making characteristics. The objective of this study was to determine by association with genetic markers the number, chromosomal location, and magnitude of effect of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling protein concentration in kernels. A set of 65 recombinant inbred lines (Rh) was developed by single seed descent from a cross between cultivated durum wheat cv. 'Messapia' (low protein content) and accession MG4343 of the wild tetraploid wheat var. dicoccoides (high protein content). This population was characterized for eight morphological, six storage protein, one isozyme and 124 RFLP loci. Field trials were conducted in one location in 1993 and two locations in 1994. QTLs were mapped by regression analysis on each marker locus for each location and for the average across environments. A total of six putative QTLs were located on chromosome arms 4BS, 5AL, 6AS, 6BS and 7BS. The number and size of QTLs detected varied across environments. The marker with the highest P value per QTL in each environment and across environments was chosen for a multiple linear regression analysis, which explained 49.2- 56.4% of the phenotypic variation for protein content. Only some of the markers were found to be negatively associated with plant grain yield and/or seed weight in one or two of the environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The HMW glutenin subunit and gliadin compositions of 57 German-grown varieties of wheat were determined by 1D- and 2D-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, respectively. A Glu-I quality score was calculated for each variety based on previously observed associations between individual HMW glutenin subunits and SDS-sedimentation volume. The results indicated that approximately 30 % of the variation in bread-making quality of the varieties was accounted for by variation in the Glu-1 quality score, and that this proportion was raised to 54 % if the presence or absence of chromosome 1BL.1RS was taken into account. It was also shown that allelic variation at tile Gli-1 and Gli-2 loci had a relatively minor effect on quality; indeed, the only significant effect was associated with variation at Gli-B1, and the influence of this locus was principally due to the detrimental effect of 1BL.1RS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of bean common mosaic virus on yield, yield components and seed protein content was studied in four bean cultivars and their F[SUB1] hybrids. The results of this experiment showed a significant decrease for yield in diseased plants: the 100 seed weight was also significantly reduced in one of the diseased varieties. The percentage of protein was increased in virus-diseased plants: this increase was due to non-protein nitrogen. Usually, the percentage of heterosis in virus-diseased F[SUB1] hybrid of two susceptible varieties was decreased while in F[SUB1] hybrid of "susceptible × resistant" varieties it was increased. This study shows the danger of drawing conclusions in quantitative genetic studies when dealing with both diseased and healthy plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prediction of grain and stover quality parameters in maize (Zea mays L.) by near infra-red reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) was studied. A total of 110 grain and 135 stover samples originating from different genotypes and environments were assayed. Calibration equations for content of crude protein (CP), crude fat (CF), starch (ST), and water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) in grain were obtained by multiple linear regression of known manual values on NIRS data from the odd numbered samples. Calibrations for CP, acid detergent fibre (ADF), in vitro digestible organic matter according to the Tilley & Terry (IVDOM-T & T) and the gas production (IVDOM-Gp) method, respectively, and metabolizable energy (ME) in stover were developed analogously. Equations were validated with the evennumbered .samples and for ME additionally with the 1584 stover samples from an experiment with 66 F1 hybrids tested in six environments. The coefficients of multiple determination (R2) of the prediction equations ranged from 0.80 for IVDOM-Gp and ME in stover to 0.94 for CP in grain. Standard errors of calibration (SEC) and prediction (SEP) were in most cases not higher than commonly reported for conventional manual assays. With regard to the correct ranking of hybrids, prediction equations for ME applied well to stover samples from other environments with one exception. We concluded that NIRS can evaluate the quality traits investigated to a similar degree to that of conventional methods of analysis. Since NIRS is simple and safe to operate and allows rapid screening of several quality traits simultaneously, it should be particularly attractive for breeding purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was made of the effects of the Gli-B3/Glu-B2 encoded prolamins on durum-wheat quality. Twenty-six F[SUB3] lines from the durum wheat cross 'Abadia' × 'Mexicali 75' were analysed electrophoretically for prolamin composition and for the following quality parameters: SDS sedimentation value, mixing properties, and percentage grain protein and percentage vitreous kernels. The results showed that the presence or absence of the Gli-B3/Glu-B2 encoded prolamins did not result in any significant difference in the quality characteristics of the F[SUB3] lines; however, as expected, the LMW glutenins encoded at Glu-B3 showed large differences and are therefore the major prolamins influencing durum wheat gluten quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimization of data collection processes in plant breeding programmes is of the highest importance for plant breeders. In rapeseed-breeding, data collection and selection must be carried out in a very restricted period of time because of the short time span between harvesting and sowing. Near-infrared spectroscopy on combine harvesters (NOCH) improves the data collection processes in breeding programmes of grain crops such as maize, and it may also improve the data collection processes in breeding programmes of rapeseed. The objective of this study was to assess the potential of NOCH for the determination of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), oil and glucosinolate (GSL) contents in rapeseed. A plot combine harvester equipped with a near-infrared diode-array spectrometer was used. Reference values for DM content were determined by the oven method. Reference values for the quality traits were established by laboratory near-infrared spectroscopy. NOCH showed a high potential for the determination of DM, CP, oil, and GSL contents. Use of NOCH in breeding may increase the efficiency of data collection processes and might dramatically accelerate the development of rapeseed cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this study were estimation of the variability of seed yield, oil content, oleic acid and linoleic acid content in single plant progenies and lines derived from Turkish sesame populations, and the improvement of different type lines with regard to high seed yield, high oil content and specific fatty acid composition. Different types of lines were developed — i.e. lines which yielded over 1000 kg seeds/ha from the yield type progenies and lines which yielded over 63% of oil content from oil type progenies — but it was not possible to improve lines where fatty acid composition differed dramatically from that of oleic and linoleic type progenies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]