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Partially mycoheterotrophic (mixotrophic) plants are considered to be more common among phylogenetic lineages that include fully mycoheterotrophic plants. Gentianaceae is one such group. Mixotrophy is not well known for alpine plants in contrast to species of tropical and temporal forests. We tested the hypothesis that green alpine species from the Gentianaceae family can be partially mycoheterotrophic. Leaves of nine pairs of species (alpine plants from the Gentianaceae + reference neighboring AM plants from other families) were collected in Tibetan (Sichuan, China) and Caucasian (Karachai-Cherkessian Republic, Russia) mountains. Stable isotope (13C, 15N) natural abundances were determined in fully developed leaves. In each case leaves of Gentianaceae plants were enriched in 15N more than the leaves of other plants which served as comparisons. Except for two species from the section Pneumonanthe (Gentiana asclepiadea and G. septemfida) the studied Gentianaceae plants did not show significant 13C enrichment. We suggest that relative 15N enrichment of leaves may be considered as an indication of partial mycoheterotrophy in alpine Gentianaceae.

Plant breeding aims to develop improved crop varieties. Many crops have a polyploid and often highly heterozygous genome, which may make breeding of polyploid crops a real challenge. The efficiency of traditional breeding based on crossing and selection has been improved by using marker-assisted selection (MAS), and MAS is also being applied in polyploid crops, which helps e.g. for introgression breeding. However, methods such as random mutation breeding are difficult to apply in polyploid crops because there are multiple homoeologous copies (alleles) of each gene. Genome editing technology has revolutionized mutagenesis as it enables precisely selecting targets. The genome editing tool CRISPR/Cas is especially valuable for targeted mutagenesis in polyploids, as all alleles and/or copies of a gene can be targeted at once. Even multiple genes, each with multiple alleles, may be targeted simultaneously. In addition to targeted mutagenesis, targeted replacement of undesirable alleles by desired ones may become a promising application of genome editing for the improvement of polyploid crops, in the near future. Several examples of the application of genome editing for targeted mutagenesis are described here for a range of polyploid crops, and achievements and bottlenecks are highlighted.

Summary Most alpha‐gliadin genes of the Gli‐D2 locus on the D genome of hexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) encode for proteins with epitopes that can trigger coeliac disease (CD), and several contain a 33‐mer peptide with six partly overlapping copies of three epitopes, which is regarded as a remarkably potent T‐cell stimulator. To increase genetic diversity in the D genome, synthetic hexaploid wheat lines are being made by hybridising accessions of Triticum turgidum (AB genome) and Aegilops tauschii (the progenitor of the D genome). The diversity of alpha‐gliadins in A. tauschii has not been studied extensively. We analysed the alpha‐gliadin transcriptome of 51 A. tauschii accessions representative of the diversity in A. tauschii. We extracted RNA from developing seeds and performed 454 amplicon sequencing of the first part of the alpha‐gliadin genes. The expression profile of allelic variants of the alpha‐gliadins was different between accessions, and also between accessions of the Western and Eastern clades of A. tauschii. Generally, both clades expressed many allelic variants not found in bread wheat. In contrast to earlier studies, we detected the 33‐mer peptide in some A. tauschii accessions, indicating that it was introduced along with the D genome into bread wheat. In these accessions, transcripts with the 33‐mer peptide were present at lower frequencies than in bread wheat varieties. In most A. tauschii accessions, however, the alpha‐gliadins do not contain the epitope, and this may be exploited, through synthetic hexaploid wheats, to breed bread wheat varieties with fewer or no coeliac disease epitopes., Significance Statement We sequenced the expressed alpha‐gliadins in grains of Aegilops tauschii across its range. Some accessions contained the 33‐mer peptide with six overlapping coeliac disease epitopes, indicating that this was introduced into bread wheat from A. tauschii. We also found a large variation in the occurrence of coeliac disease epitopes, including accessions with small numbers of epitopes, suitable as basis for breeding bread wheat varieties with fewer or no coeliac disease epitopes.

Key messageRose has 19 MLO genes. Of these, RhMLO1 and RhMLO2 were shown to be required for powdery mildew infection, which suggests their potential as susceptibility targets towards disease resistance.AbstractPowdery mildew, caused byPodosphaera pannosa, is one of the most serious and widespread fungal diseases for roses, especially in greenhouse-grown cut roses. It has been shown that certainMLO genes are involved in powdery mildew susceptibility and that loss of function in these genes in various crops leads to broad-spectrum, long-lasting resistance against this fungal disease. For this reason, theseMLOgenes are called susceptibility genes. We carried out a genome-wide identification of theMLOgene family in theRosa chinensisgenome, and screened for allelic variants among 22 accessions from seven differentRosaspecies using re-sequencing and transcriptome data. We identified 19MLOgenes in rose, of which four are candidate genes for functional homologs in clade V, which is the clade containing all dicotMLOsusceptibility genes. We detected a total of 198 different allelic variants in the set ofRosaspecies and accessions, corresponding to 5–15 different alleles for each of the genes. Some diploidRosaspecies shared alleles with tetraploid rose cultivars, consistent with the notion that diploid species have contributed to the formation of tetraploid roses. Among the fourRhMLOgenes in clade V, we demonstrated using expression study, virus-induced gene silencing as well as transient RNAi silencing that two of them,RhMLO1andRhMLO2, are required for infection byP. pannosaand suggest their potential as susceptibility targets for powdery mildew resistance breeding in rose.

MotivationThe investigation of quantitative trait loci (QTL) is an essential component in our understanding of how organisms vary phenotypically. However, many important crop species are polyploid (carrying more than two copies of each chromosome), requiring specialised tools for such analyses. Moreover, deciphering meiotic processes at higher ploidy levels is not straightforward, but is necessary to understand the reproductive dynamics of these species, or uncover potential barriers to their genetic improvement.ResultsHere we present polyqtlR, a novel software tool to facilitate such analyses in (auto)polyploid crops. It performs QTL interval mapping in F1 populations of outcrossing polyploids of any ploidy level using identity-by-descent (IBD) probabilities. The allelic composition of discovered QTL can be explored, enabling favourable alleles to be identified and tracked in the population. Visualisation tools within the package facilitate this process, and options to include genetic co-factors and experimental factors are included. Detailed information on polyploid meiosis including prediction of multivalent pairing structures, detection of preferential chromosomal pairing and location of double reduction events can be performed.Availability and implementationpolyqtlR is freely available from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN) at http://cran.r-project.org/package=polyqtlR.Contactpeter.bourke@wur.nl or chris.maliepaard@wur.nlSupplementary informationSupplementary data are available

Background The majority of patients with pancreatic cancer develops cachexia. The mechanisms underlying cancer cachexia development and progression remain elusive, although tumour‐derived factors are considered to play a major role. Pancreatic tumour organoids are in vitro three‐dimensional organ‐like structures that retain many pathophysiological characteristics of the in vivo tumour. We aimed to establish a pancreatic tumour organoid biobank from well‐phenotyped cachectic and non‐cachectic patients to enable identification of tumour‐derived factors driving cancer cachexia. Methods Organoids were generated from tumour tissue of eight pancreatic cancer patients. A comprehensive pre‐operative patient assessment of cachexia‐related parameters including nutritional status, physical performance, body composition, and inflammation was performed. Tumour‐related and cachexia‐related characteristics of the organoids were analysed using histological stainings, targeted sequencing, and real‐time–quantitative PCR. Cachexia‐related factors present in the circulation of the patients and in the tumour organoid secretome were analysed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Results The established human pancreatic tumour organoids presented typical features of malignancy corresponding to the primary tumour (i.e. nuclear enlargement, multiple nucleoli, mitosis, apoptosis, and mutated KRAS and/or TP53). These tumour organoids also expressed variable levels of many known cachexia‐related genes including interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), TNF‐α, IL‐8, IL‐1α, IL‐1β, Mcp‐1, GDF15, and LIF. mRNA expression of IL‐1α and IL‐1β was significantly reduced in organoids from cachectic vs. non‐cachectic patients (IL‐1α: −3.8‐fold, P = 0.009, and IL‐1β: −4.7‐fold, P = 0.004). LIF, IL‐8, and GDF15 mRNA expression levels were significantly higher in organoids from cachectic vs. non‐cachectic patients (LIF: 1.6‐fold, P = 0.003; IL‐8: 1.4‐fold, P = 0.01; GDF15: 2.3‐fold, P

Chrysanthemum is among the top 10 cut, potted, and perennial garden flowers in the world. Despite this, to date, only the genomes of two wild diploid chrysanthemums have been sequenced and assembled. Here, we present the most complete and contiguous chrysanthemum de novo assembly published so far, as well as a corresponding ab initio annotation. The cultivated hexaploid varieties are thought to originate from a hybrid of wild chrysanthemums, among which the diploid Chrysanthemum makinoi has been mentioned. Using a combination of Oxford Nanopore long reads, Pacific Biosciences long reads, Illumina short reads, Dovetail sequences, and a genetic map, we assembled 3.1 Gb of its sequence into nine pseudochromosomes, with an N50 of 330 Mb and a BUSCO complete score of 92.1%. Our ab initio annotation pipeline predicted 95,074 genes and marked 80.0% of the genome as repetitive. This genome assembly of C. makinoi provides an important step forward in understanding the chrysanthemum genome, evolution, and history.

Intercropping is both a well-established and yet novel agricultural practice, depending on one’s perspective. Such perspectives are principally governed by geographic location and whether monocultural practices predominate. Given the negative environmental effects of monoculture agriculture (loss of biodiversity, reliance on non-renewable inputs, soil degradation, etc.), there has been a renewed interest in cropping systems that can reduce the impact of modern agriculture while maintaining (or even increasing) yields. Intercropping is one of the most promising practices in this regard, yet faces a multitude of challenges if it is to compete with and ultimately replace the prevailing monocultural norm. These challenges include the necessity for more complex agricultural designs in space and time, bespoke machinery, and adapted crop cultivars. Plant breeding for monocultures has focused on maximizing yield in single-species stands, leading to highly productive yet specialized genotypes. However, indications suggest that these genotypes are not the best adapted to intercropping systems. Re-designing breeding programs to accommodate inter-specific interactions and compatibilities, with potentially multiple different intercropping partners, is certainly challenging, but recent technological advances offer novel solutions. We identify a number of such technology-driven directions, either ideotype-driven (i.e., “trait-based” breeding) or quantitative genetics-driven (i.e., “product-based” breeding). For ideotype breeding, plant growth modeling can help predict plant traits that affect both inter- and intraspecific interactions and their influence on crop performance. Quantitative breeding approaches, on the other hand, estimate breeding values of component crops without necessarily understanding the underlying mechanisms. We argue that a combined approach, for example, integrating plant growth modeling with genomic-assisted selection and indirect genetic effects, may offer the best chance to bridge the gap between current monoculture breeding programs and the more integrated and diverse breeding programs of the future.

A subset of genetic variants found through screening of patients with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC) and Lynch syndrome impact RNA splicing. Through target enrichment of the transcriptome, it is possible to perform deep‐sequencing and to identify the different and even rare mRNA isoforms. A targeted RNA‐seq approach was used to analyse the naturally‐occurring splicing events for a panel of 8 breast and/or ovarian cancer susceptibility genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51C, RAD51D, PTEN, STK11, CDH1, TP53), 3 Lynch syndrome genes (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6) and the fanconi anaemia SLX4 gene, in which monoallelic mutations were found in non‐BRCA families. For BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51C and RAD51D the results were validated by capillary electrophoresis and were compared to a non‐targeted RNA‐seq approach. We also compared splicing events from lymphoblastoid cell‐lines with those from breast and ovarian fimbriae tissues. The potential of targeted RNA‐seq to detect pathogenic changes in RNA‐splicing was validated by the inclusion of samples with previously well characterized BRCA1/2 genetic variants. In our study, we update the catalogue of normal splicing events for BRCA1/2, provide an extensive catalogue of normal RAD51C and RAD51D alternative splicing, and list splicing events found for eight other genes. Additionally, we show that our approach allowed the identification of aberrant splicing events due to the presence of BRCA1/2 genetic variants and distinguished between complete and partial splicing events. In conclusion, targeted‐RNA‐seq can be very useful to classify variants based on their putative pathogenic impact on splicing., What's new? Hereditary familial breast/ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome involves numerous pathogenic variants, including variants of uncertain clinical significance (VUS). A subset of VUS, however, is suspected to influence RNA splicing, leading to the expression of potentially pathological transcript isoforms. Here, using a targeted RNA‐seq approach, naturally occurring splice isoforms were described for BRCA1/2, RAD51C, RAD51D, and eight additional tumor‐suppressor genes that are associated with HBOC and Lynch syndrome. The targeted RNA‐seq approach also identified aberrant splicing events associated with the presence of BRCA1/2 genetic variants and successfully distinguished complete from incomplete splicing events, which is of major importance in determining pathogenicity.

We developed an in-solution gluten exome capture system called GlutEnSeq (Gluten gene Enrichment and Sequencing), covering the sequence variation of thousands of prolamin genes from various Triticeae species and cultivars. We assessed the efficacy of this capture system in hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using Illumina sequencing. On-target regions were determined based on the Chinese Spring (CS) reference genome sequence. Gluten gene sequences were generally enriched around 10,000-fold. The loss of gluten genes in CS deletion line 1BS-19/6DS-4 was detected as absence of gluten gene coverage on chromosomes 1B and Un (containing the Unmapped α-gliadin genes of chromosome 6D). Two γ-irradiated lines of cultivar Paragon, shown to be affected in their gliadin protein profile, were found to contain homozygous deletions for the α-gliadins on 6A and the γ-gliadins on 1B. Four Fielder CRISPR/Cas9 gliadin gene-edited lines revealed homozygous deletions of the γ-gliadins on 1B and heterozygous deletions for the α-gliadins on 6A. We also detected a decrease of gluten gene coverage within some gluten genes. The bioinformatics pipeline developed here will be further optimised to enable characterisation of small indels within individual gluten genes, in order to fully analyse CRISPR/Cas9 mutant lines for their decrease in immunogenicity for Coeliac patients.

Each year diagnostic laboratories in the Netherlands profile thousands of individuals for heritable disease using next‐generation sequencing (NGS). This requires pathogenicity classification of millions of DNA variants on the standard 5‐tier scale. To reduce time spent on data interpretation and increase data quality and reliability, the nine Dutch labs decided to publicly share their classifications. Variant classifications of nearly 100,000 unique variants were catalogued and compared in a centralized MOLGENIS database. Variants classified by more than one center were labeled as “consensus” when classifications agreed, and shared internationally with LOVD and ClinVar. When classifications opposed (LB/B vs. LP/P), they were labeled “conflicting”, while other nonconsensus observations were labeled “no consensus”. We assessed our classifications using the InterVar software to compare to ACMG 2015 guidelines, showing 99.7% overall consistency with only 0.3% discrepancies. Differences in classifications between Dutch labs or between Dutch labs and ACMG were mainly present in genes with low penetrance or for late onset disorders and highlight limitations of the current 5‐tier classification system. The data sharing boosted the quality of DNA diagnostics in Dutch labs, an initiative we hope will be followed internationally. Recently, a positive match with a case from outside our consortium resulted in a more definite disease diagnosis.

Key message In polyploids, linkage mapping is carried out using genotyping with discrete dosage scores. Here, we use probabilistic genotypes and we validate it for the construction of polyploid linkage maps. Abstract Marker genotypes are generally called as discrete values: homozygous versus heterozygous in the case of diploids, or an integer allele dosage in the case of polyploids. Software for linkage map construction and/or QTL analysis usually relies on such discrete genotypes. However, it may not always be possible, or desirable, to assign definite values to genotype observations in the presence of uncertainty in the genotype calling. Here, we present an approach that uses probabilistic marker dosages for linkage map construction in polyploids. We compare our method to an approach based on discrete dosages, using simulated SNP array and sequence reads data with varying levels of data quality. We validate our approach using experimental data from a potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) SNP array applied to an F1 mapping population. In comparison to the approach based on discrete dosages, we mapped an additional 562 markers. All but three of these were mapped to the expected chromosome and marker position. For the remaining three markers, no physical position was known. The use of dosage probabilities is of particular relevance for map construction in polyploids using sequencing data, as these often result in a higher level of uncertainty regarding allele dosage.

Breast cancer (BC) risk for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers varies by genetic and familial factors. About 50 common variants have been shown to modify BC risk for mutation carriers. All but three, were identified in general population studies. Other mutation carrier-specific susceptibility variants may exist but studies of mutation carriers have so far been underpowered. We conduct a novel case-only genome-wide association study comparing genotype frequencies between 60,212 general population BC cases and 13,007 cases with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. We identify robust novel associations for 2 variants with BC for BRCA1 and 3 for BRCA2 mutation carriers, P, Breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers varies depending on other genetic factors. Here, the authors perform a case-only genome-wide association study and highlight novel loci associated with breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers.

Cereal consumption by humans is older than agriculture. During preceding eras, humans gradually acquired the necessary knowledge and tools for processing and cultivation of cereals, making themselves unconsciously prepared to become the first farmers when climate improved at the end of the last Ice Age, some 12 thousand years ago, in the Near East (Fertile Crescent) region. Early wheat cultivation in fields surrounded by wild relatives facilitated the occurrence of interspecific hybridizations; one of the resulting hybrids was bread wheat, with superior nutritional and food-technological qualities, largely due to the favourable composition of the gluten proteins in the grain. Bread wheat developed from that time into the commodity crop that it is nowadays.Wheat-based foods and food with wheat ingredients can provoke coeliac disease in genetically predisposed susceptible individuals representing 1–2% of the population. Some specific digestion-stable fragments of wheat gluten are recognized by immune cells that become inflammatory in the small intestine, ultimately resulting in a variety of severe symptoms. The large number of gluten genes in wheat’s complex genome hinder conventional breeding to produce a coeliac-safe wheat while maintaining good baking properties, although low gluten levels can be reached. CRISPR/Cas9 enables now to produce wheat line that potentially have a strongly reduced coeliac-immunogenicity, as will be explained from two model studies. An efficient screening pipeline to detect and select promising coeliac-safe(r) wheat lines will be described. Legal and societal aspects regarding the (non) GMO status of gene-edited plants, gluten-free food production chain management, and food labelling will be discussed. Plant Biotechnology

On August 12, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finalized a rule related to gluten-free labeling for foods containing fermented, hydrolyzed ingredients. The FDA believes that there is no scientifically valid analytical method effective for determining gluten in fermented or hydrolyzed foods. In the absence of an analytical method, the FDA has decided to evaluate gluten-free claims on these foods based only on evidence that the food or ingredient used is gluten-free before fermentation or hydrolysis. For example, barley-based beers from which gluten is removed during brewing using special filtration, adsorption and/or enzymatic treatment are therefore excluded from bearing a gluten-free label. The Prolamin Working Group (PWG) acknowledges that the FDA rule is a regulatory act and might have to take into consideration several aspects other than scientific evidence, including risk assessment. Nevertheless, the PWG thinks that science has to be the most important driver for regulatory acts in risk management., Instituto de Estudios Inmunológicos y Fisiopatológicos

Main conclusion: Karyotyping using high-density genome-wide SNP markers identified various chromosomal aberrations in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) with supporting evidence from the 2C DNA content measurements (determined using FCM) and chromosome counts. Abstract: Oil palm produces a quarter of the world’s total vegetable oil. In line with its global importance, an initiative to sequence the oil palm genome was carried out successfully, producing huge amounts of sequence information, allowing SNP discovery. High-capacity SNP genotyping platforms have been widely used for marker–trait association studies in oil palm. Besides genotyping, a SNP array is also an attractive tool for understanding aberrations in chromosome inheritance. Exploiting this, the present study utilized chromosome-wide SNP allelic distributions to determine the ploidy composition of over 1,000 oil palms from a commercial F1 family, including 197 derived from twin-embryo seeds. Our method consisted of an inspection of the allelic intensity ratio using SNP markers. For palms with a shifted or abnormal distribution ratio, the SNP allelic frequencies were plotted along the pseudo-chromosomes. This method proved to be efficient in identifying whole genome duplication (triploids) and aneuploidy. We also detected several loss of heterozygosity regions which may indicate small chromosomal deletions and/or inheritance of identical by descent regions from both parents. The SNP analysis was validated by flow cytometry and chromosome counts. The triploids were all derived from twin-embryo seeds. This is the first report on the efficiency and reliability of SNP array data for karyotyping oil palm chromosomes, as an alternative to the conventional cytogenetic technique. Information on the ploidy composition and chromosomal structural variation can help to better understand the genetic makeup of samples and lead to a more robust interpretation of the genomic data in marker–trait association analyses.

Knowledge of genomic features specific to the human lineage may provide insights into brain-related diseases. We leverage high-depth whole genome sequencing data to generate a combined annotation identifying regions simultaneously depleted for genetic variation (constrained regions) and poorly conserved across primates. We propose that these constrained, non-conserved regions (CNCRs) have been subject to human-specific purifying selection and are enriched for brain-specific elements. We find that CNCRs are depleted from protein-coding genes but enriched within lncRNAs. We demonstrate that per-SNP heritability of a range of brain-relevant phenotypes are enriched within CNCRs. We find that genes implicated in neurological diseases have high CNCR density, including APOE, highlighting an unannotated intron-3 retention event. Using human brain RNA-sequencing data, we show the intron-3-retaining transcript to be more abundant in Alzheimer’s disease with more severe tau and amyloid pathological burden. Thus, we demonstrate potential association of human-lineage-specific sequences in brain development and neurological disease., Knowledge of genomic features specific to humans may be important for understanding disease. Here the authors demonstrate a potential role for these human-lineage-specific sequences in brain development and neurological disease.

Purpose: Because BRCA1 is a high-risk breast/ovarian cancer susceptibility gene, BRCA1 sequence variants of uncertain clinical significance (VUS) complicate genetic counseling. As most VUS are rare, reliable classification based on clinical and genetic data is often impossible. However, all pathogenic BRCA1 variants analyzed result in defective homologous recombination DNA repair (HRR). Thus, BRCA1 VUS may be categorized based on their functional impact on this pathway. Experimental Design: Two hundred thirty-eight BRCA1 VUS—comprising most BRCA1 VUS known in the Netherlands and Belgium—were tested for their ability to complement Brca1-deficient mouse embryonic stem cells in HRR, using cisplatin and olaparib sensitivity assays and a direct repeat GFP (DR-GFP) HRR assay. Assays were validated using 25 known benign and 25 known pathogenic BRCA1 variants. For assessment of pathogenicity by a multifactorial likelihood analysis method, we collected clinical and genetic data for functionally deleterious VUS and VUS occurring in three or more families. Results: All three assays showed 100% sensitivity and specificity (95% confidence interval, 83%–100%). Out of 238 VUS, 45 showed functional defects, 26 of which were deleterious in all three assays. For 12 of these 26 variants, we could calculate the probability of pathogenicity using clinical and genetic data, resulting in the identification of 7 (likely) pathogenic variants. Conclusions: We have functionally categorized 238 BRCA1 VUS using three different HRR-related assays. Classification based on clinical and genetic data alone for a subset of these variants confirmed the high sensitivity and specificity of our functional assays.

Ingestion of gluten proteins (gliadins and glutenins) from wheat, barley and rye can cause coeliac disease (CD) in genetically predisposed individuals. The only remedy is a strict and lifelong gluten-free diet. There is a growing desire for coeliac-safe, whole-grain wheat-based products, as consumption of whole-grain foods reduces the risk of chronic diseases. However, due to the large number of gluten genes and the complexity of the wheat genome, wheat that is coeliac-safe but retains baking quality cannot be produced by conventional breeding alone. CD is triggered by immunogenic epitopes, notably those present in α-, γ-, and ω-gliadins. RNA interference (RNAi) silencing has been used to down-regulate gliadin families. Recently, targeted gene editing using CRISPR/Cas9 has been applied to gliadins. These methods produce offspring with silenced, deleted, and/or edited gliadins, that overall may reduce the exposure of patients to CD epitopes. Here we review methods to efficiently screen and select the lines from gliadin gene editing programs for CD epitopes at the DNA and protein level, for baking quality, and ultimately in clinical trials. The application of gene editing for the production of coeliac-safe wheat is further considered within the context of food production and in view of current national and international regulatory frameworks.

Celiac disease (CD) affects a growing number of individuals worldwide. To elucidate the causes for this increase, future multidisciplinary collaboration is key to understanding the interactions between immunoreactive components in gluten-containing cereals and the human gastrointestinal tract and immune system and to devise strategies for CD prevention and treatment beyond the gluten-free diet. During the last meetings, the Working Group on Prolamin Analysis and Toxicity (Prolamin Working Group, PWG) discussed recent progress in the field together with key stakeholders from celiac disease societies, academia, industry and regulatory bodies. Based on the current state of knowledge, this perspective from the PWG members provides recommendations regarding clinical, analytical and legal aspects of CD. The selected key topics that require future multidisciplinary collaborative efforts in the clinical field are to collect robust data on the increasing prevalence of CD, to evaluate what is special about gluten-specific T cells, to study their kinetics and transcriptomics and to put some attention to the identification of the environmental agents that facilitate the breaking of tolerance to gluten. In the field of gluten analysis, the key topics are the precise assessment of gluten immunoreactive components in wheat, rye and barley to understand how these are affected by genetic and environmental factors, the comparison of different methods for compliance monitoring of gluten-free products and the development of improved reference materials for gluten analysis., Instituto de Estudios Inmunológicos y Fisiopatológicos

We discuss whether genetic engineering and agroecology are compatible. For this, we investigated three cases of genetically engineered crops and considered agroecology as scientific discipline as well as a social movement. One case was the use of cisgenic modifications to make potato durably resistant to late blight, the second was the use of CRISPR/Cas to make rice resistant to bacterial blight and as a third case, we evaluated experiences with cultivating transgenic Bt crops. These cases demonstrated that genetic engineering offers opportunities to grow crops in novel integrated pest management (IPM) systems with, as direct benefit, a decrease in the use of chemical crop protection agents, and as indirect effect that the role of predators and biological control agents can become more important than in present conventional systems based on pesticides. We used a framework based on four concerns (both cons and pros) that were gathered from an extensive societal interaction organized around the Dutch research project DuRPh, which produced a proof-of-concept of a cisgenic late blight-resistant potato. We concluded that genetic engineering and agroecology certainly have synergy in the context of agroecology as science, when applied to making crops less vulnerable to pests and diseases and when combined with cultivation using IPM. By contrast, within the movement context, genetically engineered varieties may be welcomed if they include traits that contribute to successful IPM schemes and are socially benign. Whether they would actually be deemed desirable or acceptable will, however, vary depending on the norms and values of the social movements. We propose that some concerns may be reconcilable in a dialogue. Deontological arguments such as naturalness are more difficult to reconcile, as they relate to deeply felt ethical or cultural values. A step forward would be when also for these arguments everyone can make an informed choice and when these choices can coexist in a respectful manner.

Alpine lichen heaths are polydominant, low-productive communities where lichens and, at some localities, the dwarf shrub Vaccinium vitis-idaea prevail. To analyse the role of herbaceous dominants in the structure of alpine heaths, we established a removal experiment. We tested (1) whether dominant graminoids and forbs differ in their effects on species richness, phytomass, and abundance of individual species; and (2) which remaining species are able to replace the removed dominants. Permanent plots were established in 1996 in the Teberda Reserve (the Northwestern Caucasus, Russia) at 2750 m a.s.l. with four treatments: (1) control, (2) forb removal, (3) graminoid removal, (4) graminoid and forb removal. Target species were clipped every year to avoid regrowth. We counted the shoot numbers of all vascular plants yearly from 1996 to 2009. In 2010, we harvested the aboveground phytomass. We used mixed-effects models to assess the responses of the remaining species and phytomass fractions to the removal. The biomass of the removed dominants was almost compensated for by the remaining species, but due to diffuse competition none of the subordinate species became a new dominant. Graminoid removal reduced community weighted mean leaf dry matter content and litter accumulation. Species number per plot completely recovered after graminoid, not forb removal. Shoot numbers of Antennaria dioica, Arenaria lychnidea, Campanula tridentata, Ranunculus oreophilus, and Trifolium polyphyllum showed positive responses to graminoid removal. Anemone speciosa shoot numbers decreased after graminoid removal. In alpine heath, graminoid dominants contribute more to community structure than forb dominants.

During the 20th century, the economic position of oats (Avena sativa L.) decreased strongly in favour of higher yielding crops including winter wheat and maize. Presently, oat represents only ∼. 1.3% of the total world grain production, and its production system is fragmented. Nonetheless, current interest is growing because of recent knowledge on its potential benefits in food, feed and agriculture. This perspective will serve as a further impetus, with special focus on the recently valued advantages of oats in human food and health.Five approved European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) health claims apply to oats. Four relate to the oat-specific soluble fibres, the beta-glucans, and concern the maintenance and reduction of blood cholesterol, better blood glucose balance and increased faecal bulk. The fifth claim concerns the high content of unsaturated fatty acids, especially present in the endosperm, which reduces the risks of heart and vascular diseases. Furthermore, oat starch has a low glycemic index, which is favourable for weight control. Oat-specific polyphenols and avenanthramides have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Thus, oats can contribute significantly to the presently recommended whole-grain diet.Next to globulins, oats contain a small fraction of prolamin storage proteins, called 'avenins', but at a much lower quantity than gluten proteins in wheat, barley and rye. Oat avenins do not contain any of the known coeliac disease epitopes from gluten of wheat, barley and rye. Long-term food studies confirm the safety of oats for coeliac disease patients and the positive health effects of oat products in a gluten-free diet. These effects are general and independent of oat varieties. In the EU (since 2009), the USA (since 2013) and Canada (since 2015) oat products may be sold as gluten-free provided that any gluten contamination level is below 20. ppm. Oats are, however, generally not gluten-free when produced in a conventional production chain, because of regular contamination with wheat, barley or rye. Therefore, establishing a separate gluten-free oat production chain requires controlling all steps in the chain; the strict conditions will be discussed.Genomic tools, including a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker array and a dense genetic map, have recently been developed and will support marker-assisted breeding. In 2015, the Oat Global initiative emerged enabling a world-wide cooperation starting with a data sharing facility on genotypic, metabolic and phenotypic characteristics. Further, the EU project TRAFOON (Traditional Food Networks) facilitated the transfer of knowledge to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to stimulate innovations in oat production, processing, products and marketing, among others with regard to gluten-free. Finally, with focus on counteracting market fragmentation of the global oat market and production chains, interactive innovation strategies between customers (consumers) and companies through co-creation are discussed.

Questions Festuca varia grasslands occupy extensive areas in the alpine belt of the Caucasus. In the Teberda Reserve the dominant, narrow-leaved grasses Festuca varia and Nardus stricta contribute up to 56% and 22%, respectively, to the total biomass of the community. How does community composition and structure change after removal of the dominant, and is any species able to replace dominants in abundance and function? Location Teberda State Biosphere Reserve, northwestern Caucasus, Russia. Methods We experimentally removed F. varia and N. stricta (as single dominants and both together). After 20 yr of treatment we compared the expected increase in species richness per plot, above-ground phytomass, community biomass-weighted mean SLA and leaf DMC, as well as the inter-annual dynamics of functional groups and the most abundant species. Results Dominant removal led to a decrease in litter after removal of F. varia and of both dominants, and a decrease in total phytomass after removal of both dominants. Biomass of dominants did not respond to the treatments, however N. stricta increased shoot number after F. varia removal. Non-dominant narrow-leaved grasses increased in all the treatments, both in biomass and shoot number. Community biomass-weighted SLA increased in all the treatments, and leaf DMC decreased. Conclusions Dominants play a key role in alpine F. varia grasslands and determine the functional structure and composition of the community. Species from other functional groups and, remarkably, species from the same group, are not able to completely replace them. Traits of F. varia, as the main dominant, control community-weighted leaf traits and litter accumulation.

It has long been recognised that polyploid species do not always neatly fall into the categories of auto- or allopolyploid, leading to the term ‘segmental allopolyploid’ to describe everything in between. The meiotic behaviour of such intermediate species is not fully understood, nor is there consensus as to how to model their inheritance patterns. In this study we used a tetraploid cut rose (Rosa hybrida) population, genotyped using the 68K WagRhSNP array, to construct an ultra-high-density linkage map of all homologous chromosomes using methods previously developed for autotetraploids. Using the predicted bivalent configurations in this population we quantified differences in pairing behaviour among and along homologous chromosomes, leading us to correct our estimates of recombination frequency to account for this behaviour. This resulted in the re-mapping of 25 695 SNP markers across all homologues of the seven rose chromosomes, tailored to the pairing behaviour of each chromosome in each parent. We confirmed the inferred differences in pairing behaviour among chromosomes by examining repulsion-phase linkage estimates, which also carry information about preferential pairing and recombination. Currently, the closest sequenced relative to rose is Fragaria vesca. Aligning the integrated ultra-dense rose map with the strawberry genome sequence provided a detailed picture of the synteny, confirming overall co-linearity but also revealing new genomic rearrangements. Our results suggest that pairing affinities may vary along chromosome arms, which broadens our current understanding of segmental allopolyploidy.

Key message Transformation resulted in deletions and translocations at T-DNA inserts, but not in genome-wide small mutations. A tiny T-DNA splinter was detected that probably would remain undetected by conventional techniques. Abstract We investigated to which extent Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation is mutagenic, on top of inserting T-DNA. To prevent mutations due to in vitro propagation, we applied floral dip transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana. We re-sequenced the genomes of five primary transformants, and compared these to genomic sequences derived from a pool of four wild-type plants. By genome-wide comparisons, we identified ten small mutations in the genomes of the five transgenic plants, not correlated to the positions or number of T-DNA inserts. This mutation frequency is within the range of spontaneous mutations occurring during seed propagation in A. thaliana, as determined earlier. In addition, we detected small as well as large deletions specifically at the T-DNA insert sites. Furthermore, we detected partial T-DNA inserts, one of these a tiny 50-bp fragment originating from a central part of the T-DNA construct used, inserted into the plant genome without flanking other T-DNA. Because of its small size, we named this fragment a T-DNA splinter. As far as we know this is the first report of such a small T-DNA fragment insert in absence of any T-DNA border sequence. Finally, we found evidence for translocations from other chromosomes, flanking T-DNA inserts. In this study, we showed that next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a highly sensitive approach to detect T-DNA inserts in transgenic plants. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00299-017-2098-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in the etiology of monogenic Parkinson’s disease (PD). Yet the role that mitochondrial processes play in the most common form of the disease; sporadic PD, is yet to be fully established. Here, we comprehensively assessed the role of mitochondrial function-associated genes in sporadic PD by leveraging improvements in the scale and analysis of PD GWAS data with recent advances in our understanding of the genetics of mitochondrial disease. We calculated a mitochondrial-specific polygenic risk score (PRS) and showed that cumulative small effect variants within both our primary and secondary gene lists are significantly associated with increased PD risk. We further reported that the PRS of the secondary mitochondrial gene list was significantly associated with later age at onset. Finally, to identify possible functional genomic associations we implemented Mendelian randomization, which showed that 14 of these mitochondrial functionassociated genes showed functional consequence associated with PD risk. Further analysis suggested that the 14 identified genes are not only involved in mitophagy, but implicate new mitochondrial processes. Our data suggests that therapeutics targeting mitochondrial bioenergetics and proteostasis pathways distinct from mitophagy could be beneficial to treating the early stage of PD., This work was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services; project ZO1 AG000949

Special Issue: Focused Ultrasound in Parkinson's Disease., [Background] Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the α‐synuclein (SNCA ) gene are associated with differential risk and age at onset (AAO) of both idiopathic and Leucine‐rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2)‐associated Parkinson's disease (PD). Yet potential combinatory or synergistic effects among several modulatory SNPs for PD risk or AAO remain largely underexplored., [Objectives] The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR ) signaling pathway is functionally impaired in PD. Here we explored whether SNPs in the mTOR pathway, alone or by epistatic interaction with known susceptibility factors, can modulate PD risk and AAO., [Methods] Based on functional relevance, we selected a total of 64 SNPs mapping to a total of 57 genes from the mTOR pathway and genotyped a discovery series cohort encompassing 898 PD patients and 921 controls. As a replication series, we screened 4170 PD and 3014 controls available from the International Parkinson's Disease Genomics Consortium., [Results] In the discovery series cohort, we found a 4‐loci interaction involving STK11 rs8111699, FCHSD1 rs456998, GSK3B rs1732170, and SNCA rs356219, which was associated with an increased risk of PD (odds ratio = 2.59, P, [Conclusions] These findings indicate that genetic variability in the mTOR pathway contributes to SNCA effects in a nonlinear epistatic manner to modulate differential AAO in PD, unraveling the contribution of this cascade in the pathogenesis of the disease. © 2019 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society, Funding Information; Fundació la Marató de TV3. Grant Number: 60510; Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Grant Numbers: Dyskinesia Challenge 2014, MJF_PPMI_10_001, PI044024; National Institutes of Health. Grant Number: LM010098; Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación. Grant Number: SAF2014‐57160R and SAF2017‐88812R.

Thanks to recent advances in high-throughput genotyping tools and software for genetic analyses, it is now possible to perform QTL mapping and genome-wide association analysis in tetraploid roses and to establish the effect of favorable SNP marker haplotype(s) (“plus-alleles”). The challenge is how to use these tools and technologies for rose breeding in a cost-effective way. At least four points need to be addressed: (1) which steps of the breeding process may benefit from marker information; (2) what is the value of the identified plus-alleles for the trait; (3) where in the breeding germplasm do these plus-alleles occur, and (4) how can plants carrying these plus-alleles be selected efficiently. Here we discuss for which purposes markers may be applied.

Background Wheat grains contain gluten proteins, which harbour immunogenic epitopes that trigger Coeliac disease in 1–2% of the human population. Wheat varieties or accessions containing only safe gluten have not been identified and conventional breeding alone struggles to achieve such a goal, as the epitopes occur in gluten proteins encoded by five multigene families, these genes are partly located in tandem arrays, and bread wheat is allohexaploid. Gluten immunogenicity can be reduced by modification or deletion of epitopes. Mutagenesis technologies, including CRISPR/Cas9, provide a route to obtain bread wheat containing gluten proteins with fewer immunogenic epitopes. Results In this study, we analysed the genetic diversity of over 600 α- and γ-gliadin gene sequences to design six sgRNA sequences on relatively conserved domains that we identified near coeliac disease epitopes. They were combined in four CRISPR/Cas9 constructs to target the α- or γ-gliadins, or both simultaneously, in the hexaploid bread wheat cultivar Fielder. We compared the results with those obtained with random mutagenesis in cultivar Paragon by γ-irradiation. For this, Acid-PAGE was used to identify T1 grains with altered gliadin protein profiles compared to the wild-type endosperm. We first optimised the interpretation of Acid-PAGE gels using Chinese Spring deletion lines. We then analysed the changes generated in 360 Paragon γ-irradiated lines and in 117 Fielder CRISPR/Cas9 lines. Similar gliadin profile alterations, with missing protein bands, could be observed in grains produced by both methods. Conclusions The results demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of using CRISPR/Cas9 to simultaneously edit multiple genes in the large α- and γ-gliadin gene families in polyploid bread wheat. Additional methods, generating genomics and proteomics data, will be necessary to determine the exact nature of the mutations generated with both methods. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-019-1889-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

International audience; The recent completion of the rose genome sequence is not the end of a process, but rather a starting point that opens up a whole set of new and exciting activities. Next to a high-quality genome sequence other genomic tools have also become available for rose, including transcriptomics data, a high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism array and software to perform linkage and quantitative trait locus mapping in polyploids. Rose cultivars are highly heterogeneous and diverse. This vast diversity in cultivated roses can be explained through the genetic potential of the genus, introgressions from wild species into commercial tetraploid germplasm and the inimitable efforts of historical breeders. We can now investigate how this diversity can best be exploited and refined in future breeding work, given the rich molecular toolbox now available to the rose breeding community. This paper presents possible lines of research now that rose has entered the genomics era, and attempts to partially answer the question that arises after the completion of any draft genome sequence: ‘Now that we have “the” genome, what’s next?’. Having access to a genome sequence will allow both (fundamental) scientific and (applied) breeding-orientated questions to be addressed. We outline possible approaches for a number of these questions.

© 2018 The Authors. Human Mutation published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The widespread use of next generation sequencing for clinical testing is detecting an escalating number of variants in noncoding regions of the genome. The clinical significance of the majority of these variants is currently unknown, which presents a significant clinical challenge. We have screened over 6,000 early-onset and/or familial breast cancer (BC) cases collected by the ENIGMA consortium for sequence variants in the 5′ noncoding regions of BC susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, and identified 141 rare variants with global minor allele frequency < 0.01, 76 of which have not been reported previously. Bioinformatic analysis identified a set of 21 variants most likely to impact transcriptional regulation, and luciferase reporter assays detected altered promoter activity for four of these variants. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that three of these altered the binding of proteins to the respective BRCA1 or BRCA2 promoter regions, including NFYA binding to BRCA1:c.-287C>T and PAX5 binding to BRCA2:c.-296C>T. Clinical classification of variants affecting promoter activity, using existing prediction models, found no evidence to suggest that these variants confer a high risk of disease. Further studies are required to determine if such variation may be associated with a moderate or low risk of BC.

BACKGROUND: BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the two principal tumour suppressor genes associated with inherited high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Genetic testing of BRCA1/2 will often reveal one or more sequence variants of uncertain clinical significance, some of which may affect normal splicing patterns and thereby disrupt gene function. mRNA analyses are therefore among the tests used to interpret the clinical significance of some genetic variants. However, these could be confounded by the appearance of naturally occurring alternative transcripts unrelated to germline sequence variation or defects in gene function. To understand which novel splicing events are associated with splicing mutations and which are part of the normal BRCA2 splicing repertoire, a study was undertaken by members of the Evidence-based Network for the Interpretation of Germline Mutant Alleles (ENIGMA) consortium to characterise the spectrum of naturally occurring BRCA2 mRNA alternate-splicing events.METHODS: mRNA was prepared from several blood and breast tissue-derived cells and cell lines by contributing ENIGMA laboratories. cDNA representing BRCA2 alternate splice sites was amplified and visualised using capillary or agarose gel electrophoresis, followed by sequencing.RESULTS: We demonstrate the existence of 24 different BRCA2 mRNA alternate-splicing events in lymphoblastoid cell lines and both breast cancer and non-cancerous breast cell lines.CONCLUSIONS: These naturally occurring alternate-splicing events contribute to the array of cDNA fragments that may be seen in assays for mutation-associated splicing defects. Caution must be observed in assigning alternate-splicing events to potential splicing mutations.

Targeted and random mutagenesis of gene families require accurate quantification. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) enables high-throughput screening of copy number variation (CNV). We tested the accuracy of ddPCR for CNV analysis in the large α-gliadin gene family, using degenerate primers. First, duplex ddPCR assays measured α-gliadins in diploid (15–17 copies) and tetraploid (70–76 copies) wheat accessions and a corresponding number in resulting Synthetic Hexaploid Wheat, demonstrating linear amplification up to 86–95 genes. Second, we amplified 61 α-gliadin genes in Chinese Spring. Most α-gliadins of the homoeologous chromosomes 6A and 6D were correctly amplified, as corroborated using deletion and nullisomic-tetrasomic lines, but one group of genes from 6B were not amplified with these primers. Third, in Paragon we amplified 61 α-gliadin genes while selected γ-irradiated mutant lines revealed reductions of 25–50%. Finally, using two duplex ddPCR assays, we showed that CRISPR/Cas9-targeting of α-gliadins in Fielder produced indels (1–50 bp) in up to 10 α-gliadin genes plus large deletions (>300 bp) in 20 of 87 amplified α-gliadin genes. ddPCR is suitable for high-throughput screening of CNV and gene-editing-induced mutations in large gene families, in polyploids. In wheat, ddPCR enables screening of gliadins in breeding programs towards hypoimmunogenic gluten for coeliac patients.

Coeliac Disease (CD) is an auto-immune reaction to gluten in 1–2% of the human population. A gluten-free (GF) diet, excluding wheat, barley, and rye, is the only remedy. This diet is difficult to adhere to, partly because wheat gluten is added to many processed products for their viscoelastic properties. In addition, GF products are less healthy and expensive. Wheat products containing only hypoimmunogenic gluten proteins would be a desirable option. Various gluten peptides that trigger CD have been characterized. A single wheat variety contains around hundred gluten genes, producing proteins with varying numbers of epitopes. Gene editing using CRISPR/Cas9 can precisely remove or modify the DNA sequences coding for immunogenic peptides. Wheat with hypoimmunogenic gluten thus exemplifies the potential of gene editing for improving crops for human consumption where conventional breeding cannot succeed. We describe here, in relation to breeding hypoimmunogenic wheat varieties, the inconsistencies of applying GM regulation in Europe for gene-edited plants while mutation breeding-derived plants are exempted. We explain that healthy products derived from this new technology may become available in the United States, Canada, Argentina and other countries but not in Europe, because of strict regulation of unintended GM risk at the expense of reduction the existing immunogenicity risks of patients. We argue that regulation of gene-edited plants should be based on scientific evidence. Therefore, we strongly recommend implementing the innovation principle. Responsible Research and Innovation, involving stakeholders including CD patient societies in the development of gene-editing products, will enable progress toward healthy products and encourage public acceptance.

The prevalence and spectrum of germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been reported in single populations, with the majority of reports focused on White in Europe and North America. The Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 (CIMBA) has assembled data on 18,435 families with BRCA1 mutations and 11,351 families with BRCA2 mutations ascertained from 69 centers in 49 countries on six continents. This study comprehensively describes the characteristics of the 1,650 unique BRCA1 and 1,731 unique BRCA2 deleterious (disease-associated) mutations identified in the CIMBA database. We observed substantial variation in mutation type and frequency by geographical region and race/ethnicity. In addition to known founder mutations, mutations of relatively high frequency were identified in specific racial/ethnic or geographic groups that may reflect founder mutations and which could be used in targeted (panel) first pass genotyping for specific populations. Knowledge of the population-specific mutational spectrum in BRCA1 and BRCA2 could inform efficient strategies for genetic testing and may justify a more broad-based oncogenetic testing in some populations.

Motivation Polyploid species carry more than two copies of each chromosome, a condition found in many of the world’s most important crops. Genetic mapping in polyploids is more complex than in diploid species, resulting in a lack of available software tools. These are needed if we are to realize all the opportunities offered by modern genotyping platforms for genetic research and breeding in polyploid crops. Results polymapR is an R package for genetic linkage analysis and integrated genetic map construction from bi-parental populations of outcrossing autopolyploids. It can currently analyse triploid, tetraploid and hexaploid marker datasets and is applicable to various crops including potato, leek, alfalfa, blueberry, chrysanthemum, sweet potato or kiwifruit. It can detect, estimate and correct for preferential chromosome pairing, and has been tested on high-density marker datasets from potato, rose and chrysanthemum, generating high-density integrated linkage maps in all of these crops. Availability and implementation polymapR is freely available under the general public license from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN) at http://cran.r-project.org/package=polymapR. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

In ornamental crops the development of genetic and molecular tools for breeding has been slow because of the large number of ornamental species, many of which are genetically complicated for breeding, being outbreeding crops, polyploid, and/or having a large genome.This is changing due to three recent developments: (i) next-generation sequencing can now generate large numbers of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers based on genomic or transcriptomic sequences, (ii) efficient and automated SNP detection systems render genotyping into an automated and relatively cheap process, and (iii) methods and software now exist to analyse these data, also in polyploid crops, to find associations with traits and to generate tools for marker-assisted breeding. The challenge for the coming years will be to implement these tools to speed up breeding.When more genome sequences of ornamental species or related species become available, it will also be possible to move from associated markers (for a trait or QTL region) to the underlying variation in the causal genes. Knowledge of the existing variation in functional alleles will make it possible to consider directing biosynthetic or regulatory pathways towards, e.g. different colour or scent combinations.New plant breeding techniques (also called ‘precision breeding techniques’) add new possibilities to direct the breeding process. Notably, gene editing (also called genome editing) using Crispr/Cas may be used to increase the pool of functional variation, but there are challenges to apply it in ornamentals, in terms of the availability of sequence information for the candidate genes and the existence of transformation and regeneration protocols.

Background Satellite DNA is a rapidly diverging, largely repetitive DNA component of many eukaryotic genomes. Here we analyse the evolutionary dynamics of a satellite DNA repeat in the genomes of a group of Asian subtropical lady slipper orchids (Paphiopedilum subgenus Parvisepalum and representative species in the other subgenera/sections across the genus). A new satellite repeat in Paphiopedilum subgenus Parvisepalum, SatA, was identified and characterized using the RepeatExplorer pipeline in HiSeq Illumina reads from P. armeniacum (2n = 26). Reconstructed monomers were used to design a satellite-specific fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) probe. The data were also analysed within a phylogenetic framework built using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of 45S nuclear ribosomal DNA. Results SatA comprises c. 14.5% of the P. armeniacum genome and is specific to subgenus Parvisepalum. It is composed of four primary monomers that range from 230 to 359 bp and contains multiple inverted repeat regions with hairpin-loop motifs. A new karyotype of P. vietnamense (2n = 28) is presented and shows that the chromosome number in subgenus Parvisepalum is not conserved at 2n = 26, as previously reported. The physical locations of SatA sequences were visualised on the chromosomes of all seven Paphiopedilum species of subgenus Parvisepalum (2n = 26–28), together with the 5S and 45S rDNA loci using FISH. The SatA repeats were predominantly localisedin the centromeric, peri-centromeric and sub-telocentric chromosome regions, but the exact distribution pattern was species-specific. Conclusions We conclude that the newly discovered, highly abundant and rapidly evolving satellite sequence SatA is specific to Paphiopedilum subgenus Parvisepalum. SatA and rDNA chromosomal distributions are characteristic of species, and comparisons between species reveal that the distribution patterns generate a strong phylogenetic signal. We also conclude that the ancestral chromosome number of subgenus Parvisepalum and indeed of all Paphiopedilum could be either 2n = 26 or 28, if P. vietnamense is sister to all species in the subgenus as suggested by the ITS data. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-018-4956-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

MotivationPolyploid species carry more than two copies of each chromosome, a condition found in many of the world’s most important crops. Genetic mapping in polyploids is more complex than in diploid species, resulting in a lack of available software tools. These are needed if we are to realise all the opportunities offered by modern genotyping platforms for genetic research and breeding in polyploid crops.ResultspolymapR is an R package for genetic linkage analysis and integrated genetic map construction from bi-parental populations of outcrossing autopolyploids. It can currently analyse triploid, tetraploid and hexaploid marker datasets and is applicable to various crops including potato, leek, alfalfa, blueberry, chrysanthemum, sweet potato or kiwifruit. It can detect, estimate and correct for preferential chromosome pairing, and has been tested on high-density marker datasets from potato, rose and chrysanthemum, generating high-density integrated linkage maps in all of these crops.Availability and ImplementationpolymapR is freely available under the general public license from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN) athttp://cran.r-project.org/packages=polymapR.ContactChris Maliepaard chris.maliepaard@wur.nl or Roeland E. Voorrips roeland.voorrips@wur.nl

BackgroundGenetic modification of allergenic foods such as apple has the potential to reduce their clinical allergenicity, but this has never been studied by oral challenges in allergic individuals.MethodsWe performed oral food challenges in 21 apple-allergic individuals with Elstar apples which had undergone gene silencing of the major allergen of apple, Mal d 1, by RNA interference. Downregulation of Mal d 1 gene expression in the apples was verified by qRT-PCR. Clinical responses to the genetically modified apples were compared to those seen with the wild-type Elstar using a visual analogue scale (VAS).ResultsGene silencing produced two genetically modified apple lines expressing Mal d 1.02 and other Mal d 1 gene mRNA levels which were extensively downregulated, that is only 0.1-16.4% (e-DR1) and 0.2-9.9% (e-DR2) of those of the wild-type Elstar, respectively. Challenges with these downregulated apple lines produced significantly less intense maximal symptoms to the first dose (Vmax1) than with Elstar (Vmax1 Elstar 3.0mm vs 0.0mm for e-DR1, P=0.017 and 0.0mm for e-DR2, P=0.043), as well as significantly less intense mean symptoms per dose (meanV/d) than with Elstar (meanV/d Elstar 2.2mm vs 0.2mm for e-DR1, P=0.017 and 0.0mm for e-DR2, P=0.043). Only one subject (5%) remained symptom-free when challenged with the Elstar apple, whereas 43% did so with e-DR1 and 63% with e-DR2.ConclusionThese data show that mRNA silencing of Mal d 1 results in a marked reduction of Mal d 1 gene expression in the fruit and reduction of symptoms when these apples are ingested by allergic subjects. Approximately half of the subjects developed no symptoms whatsoever, and virtually all subjects wished to consume the apple again in the future.

Species are shifting their ranges under climate change, with genetic and evolutionary consequences. As a result, the spatial distribution of genetic diversity in a species’ range can show a signature of range expansion. This genetic signature takes time to decay after the range stops expanding and it is important to take that lag time into account when interpreting contemporary spatial patterns of genetic diversity. In addition, the return to spatial equilibrium on an ecologically relevant timescale will depend on migration of genetic diversity across the species’ range. However, during a range shift alleles may go extinct at the retracting range margin due to spatial sorting. Here we studied the spatial pattern of genotypes that differ in dispersal rate across the species range before, during and after a range shift, assessed the effect of range retraction on this pattern, and quantified the duration of the ephemeral genetic signature of range expansion for this trait. We performed simulation experiments with an individual-based metapopulation model under several contemporary climate change scenarios. The results show an increase of the number of individuals with high dispersal rate. If the temperature increased long enough the allele coding for low dispersal rate would go extinct. The duration of the genetic signature of range expansion after stabilisation of the species’ distribution lasted up to 1200 generations after a temperature increase for 60 years at the contemporary rate. This depended on the total displacement of the climate optimum, as the product of the rate of temperature increase and its duration. So genetic data collected in the field do not necessarily reflect current selection pressures but can be affected by historic changes in species distribution, long after the establishment of the current species’ range. Return to equilibrium patterns may be hampered by loss of evolutionary potential during range shift.

The OCAC OncoArray genotyping project: et al., To identify common alleles associated with different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we pooled data from multiple genome-wide genotyping projects totaling 25,509 EOC cases and 40,941 controls. We identified nine new susceptibility loci for different EOC histotypes: six for serous EOC histotypes (3q28, 4q32.3, 8q21.11, 10q24.33, 18q11.2 and 22q12.1), two for mucinous EOC (3q22.3 and 9q31.1) and one for endometrioid EOC (5q12.3). We then performed meta-analysis on the results for high-grade serous ovarian cancer with the results from analysis of 31,448 BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, including 3,887 mutation carriers with EOC. This identified three additional susceptibility loci at 2q13, 8q24.1 and 12q24.31. Integrated analyses of genes and regulatory biofeatures at each locus predicted candidate susceptibility genes, including OBFC1, a new candidate susceptibility gene for low-grade and borderline serous EOC., The OCAC OncoArray genotyping project was funded through grants from the US National Institutes of Health (CA1X01HG007491-01 (C.I.A.), U19-CA148112 (T.A.S.), R01-CA149429 (C.M.P.) and R01-CA058598 (M.T.G.)); Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP-86727 (L.E.K.)); and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (A.B.). Funding for the CIMBA OncoArray genotyping was provided by the Government of Canada through Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation du Québec through Génome Québec, the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation for the PERSPECTIVE project, the US National Institutes of Health (CA1X01HG007491-01 (C.I.A.)), the Odense University Hospital Research Foundation (M.T.), the National R&D Program for Cancer Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea (1420190 (S.K.P.)), the Italian Association for Cancer Research (IG16933 (L.O.)) and German Cancer Aid (110837 (R.K.S.).

With the recent introduction of Poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase inhibitors, a promising novel therapy has become available for ovarian carcinoma (OC) patients with inactivating BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations in their tumor. To select patients who may benefit from these treatments, assessment of the mutation status of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the tumor is required. For reliable evaluation of germline and somatic mutations in these genes in DNA derived from formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded (FFPE) tissue, we have developed a single‐molecule molecular inversion probe (smMIP)‐based targeted next‐generation sequencing (NGS) approach. Our smMIP‐based NGS approach provides analysis of both strands of the open reading frame of BRCA1 and BRCA2, enabling the discrimination between real variants and formalin‐induced artefacts. The single molecule tag enables compilation of unique reads leading to a high analytical sensitivity and enabling assessment of the reliability of mutation‐negative results. Multiplex ligation‐dependent probe amplification (MLPA) and Methylation‐specific multiplex ligation‐dependent probe amplification (MS‐MLPA) were used to detect exon deletions of BRCA1 and methylation of the BRCA1 promoter, respectively. Here, we show that this combined approach allows the rapid and reliable detection of both germline and somatic aberrations affecting BRCA1 and BRCA2 in DNA derived from FFPE OCs, enabling improved hereditary cancer risk assessment and clinical treatment of ovarian cancer patients.

A strict gluten-free diet is currently the only treatment for the 1-2% of the world population who suffer from coeliac disease (CD). However, due to the presence of wheat and wheat derivatives in many food products, avoiding gluten consumption is difficult. Gluten-free products, made without wheat, barley or rye, typically require the inclusion of numerous additives, resulting in products that are often less healthy than gluten-based equivalents. Here, we present and discuss two broad approaches to decrease wheat gluten immunogenicity for CD patients. The first approach is based on food processing strategies, which aim to remove gliadins or all gluten from edible products. We find that several of the candidate food processing techniques to produce low gluten-immunogenic products from wheat already exist. The second approach focuses on wheat breeding strategies to remove immunogenic epitopes from the gluten proteins, while maintaining their food-processing properties. A combination of breeding strategies, including mutation breeding and possibly genome editing, will be necessary to produce coeliac-safe wheat. Individuals suffering from CD and people genetically susceptible who may develop CD after prolonged gluten consumption would benefit from reduced CD-immunogenic wheat. Although the production of healthy and less CD-toxic wheat varieties and food products will be challenging, increasing global demand may require these issues to be addressed in the near future by food processing and cereal breeding companies.

Whole Genome Shotgun (WGS) sequences of plant species often contain an abundance of reads that are derived from the chloroplast genome. Up to now these reads have generally been identified and assembled into chloroplast genomes based on homology to chloroplasts from related species. This re-sequencing approach may select against structural differences between the genomes especially in non-model species for which no close relatives have been sequenced before. The alternative approach is to de novo assemble the chloroplast genome from total genomic DNA sequences. In this study, we used k-mer frequency tables to identify and extract the chloroplast reads from the WGS reads and assemble these using a highly integrated and automated custom pipeline. Our strategy includes steps aimed at optimizing assemblies and filling gaps which are left due to coverage variation in the WGS dataset. We have successfully de novo assembled three complete chloroplast genomes from plant species with a range of nuclear genome sizes to demonstrate the universality of our approach: Solanum lycopersicum (0.9 Gb), Aegilops tauschii (4 Gb) and Paphiopedilum henryanum (25 Gb). We also highlight the need to optimize the choice of k and the amount of data used. This new and cost-effective method for de novo short read assembly will facilitate the study of complete chloroplast genomes with more accurate analyses and inferences, especially in non-model plant genomes.

Sensitivity to lodging of oat varieties has been reduced in the last decades through the introduction of dwarfing genes. However, lodging may still cause significant yield loss, underscoring the need for new oat varieties with higher levels of lodging tolerance. In the present study, we analysed lodging and plant height in a collection of European oat accessions including landraces, old and modern varieties, in order to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for identifying markers associated to lodging tolerance. This collection has been recently genotyped by the Infinium 6K SNP array for oat and SNP data were analysed as continuous intensity ratios, rather than as discrete genotypes (Tumino et al. 2016, Theor Appl Genet 129, pp. 1711–1724). Phenotypes for lodging severity, plant height and growth habit were collected under natural conditions in eight European countries. Plant height correlated to lodging severity as previously observed in many studies, explaining about 30% of lodging variation. GWAS analyses detected six significant associations for lodging and two for plant height. These results indicate that GWAS can successfully be used for identifying markers associated to lodging in oat, even though lodging is a quantitative trait influenced by several plant characteristics.

One of the most promising New Plant Breeding Techniques is genome editing (also called gene editing) with the help of a programmable site-directed nuclease (SDN). In this review, we focus on SDN-1, which is the generation of small deletions or insertions (indels) at a precisely defined location in the genome with zinc finger nucleases (ZFN), TALENs, or CRISPR-Cas9. The programmable nuclease is used to induce a double-strand break in the DNA, while the repair is left to the plant cell itself, and mistakes are introduced, while the cell is repairing the double-strand break using the relatively error-prone NHEJ pathway. From a biological point of view, it could be considered as a form of targeted mutagenesis. We first discuss improvements and new technical variants for SDN-1, in particular employing CRISPR-Cas, and subsequently explore the effectiveness of targeted deletions that eliminate the function of a gene, as an approach to generate novel traits useful for improving agricultural sustainability, including disease resistances. We compare them with examples of deletions that resulted in novel functionality as known from crop domestication and classical mutation breeding (both using radiation and chemical mutagens). Finally, we touch upon regulatory and access and benefit sharing issues regarding the plants produced.

Most common breast cancer susceptibility variants have been identified through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of predominantly estrogen receptor (ER)-positive disease1. We conducted a GWAS using 21,468 ER-negative cases and 100,594 controls combined with 18,908 BRCA1 mutation carriers (9,414 with breast cancer), all of European origin. We identified independent associations at P < 5 × 10−8 with ten variants at nine new loci. At P < 0.05, we replicated associations with 10 of 11 variants previously reported in ER-negative disease or BRCA1mutation carrier GWAS and observed consistent associations with ER-negative disease for 105 susceptibility variants identified by other studies. These 125 variants explain approximately 16% of the familial risk of this breast cancer subtype. There was high genetic correlation (0.72) between risk of ER-negative breast cancer and breast cancer risk for BRCA1 mutation carriers. These findings may lead to improved risk prediction and inform further fine-mapping and functional work to better understand the biological basis of ER-negative breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Cis-acting regulatory SNPs resulting in differential allelic expression (DAE) may, in part, explain the underlying phenotypic variation associated with many complex diseases. To investigate whether common variants associated with DAE were involved in breast cancer susceptibility among BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, a list of 175 genes was developed based of their involvement in cancer-related pathways. METHODS: Using data from a genome-wide map of SNPs associated with allelic expression, we assessed the association of ~320 SNPs located in the vicinity of these genes with breast and ovarian cancer risks in 15,252 BRCA1 and 8211 BRCA2 mutation carriers ascertained from 54 studies participating in the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2. RESULTS: We identified a region on 11q22.3 that is significantly associated with breast cancer risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers (most significant SNP rs228595 p = 7 × 10-6). This association was absent in BRCA2 carriers (p = 0.57). The 11q22.3 region notably encompasses genes such as ACAT1, NPAT, and ATM. Expression quantitative trait loci associations were observed in both normal breast and tumors across this region, namely for ACAT1, ATM, and other genes. In silico analysis revealed some overlap between top risk-associated SNPs and relevant biological features in mammary cell data, which suggests potential functional significance. CONCLUSION: We identified 11q22.3 as a new modifier locus in BRCA1 carriers. Replication in larger studies using estrogen receptor (ER)-negative or triple-negative (i.e., ER-, progesterone receptor-, and HER2-negative) cases could therefore be helpful to confirm the association of this locus with breast cancer risk. Funding for the iCOGS infrastructure came from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme under Grant Agreement No. 223175 (HEALTH-F2-2009-223175) (COGS), Cancer Research UK (C1287/A10118, C1287/A 10710, C12292/A11174, C1281/A12014, C5047/A8384, C5047/A15007, C5047/A10692, C8197/A16565), the National Institutes of Health (CA128978) and Post-cancer GWAS Initiative (1U19 CA148537, 1U19 CA148065, and 1U19 CA148112: the GAME-ON Initiative), the Department of Defence (W81XWH-10-1-0341), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for the CIHR Team in Familial Risks of Breast Cancer, Komen Foundation for the Cure, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. BCFR: this work was supported by Grant UM1 CA164920 from the National Cancer Institute. BFBOCC was supported by Lithuania (BFBOCC-LT): Research Council of Lithuania Grant SEN-18/2015. BIDMC was supported by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. BRCA-gene mutations and breast cancer in South African women (BMBSA) was supported by Grants from the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) to Elizabeth J. van Rensburg. BRICOH: SLN was partially supported by the Morris and Horowitz Families Endowed Professorship. CNIO: this work was partially supported by Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC08), RTICC 06/0020/1060, FISPI08/1120, Mutua Madrilena Foundation (FMMA), and SAF2010-20493. COH-CCGCRN: patients were recruited for this study from the City of Hope Clinical Cancer Genomics Community Research Network, supported in part by Award Number RC4CA153828 (PI: J. Weitzel) from the National Cancer Institute and the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health. CONSIT Team: Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC) to P. Peterlongo (IG 2012 Id. 12821) and P. Radice (IG 2014 Id. 15547). Funds from Italian citizens who allocated the 5 9 1000 share of their tax payment in support of the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, according to Italian laws (INT-Institutional Strategic Projects '5x1000') to S. Manoukian. FiorGen Foundation for Pharmacogenomics to L. Papi. CORE: the CIMBA Data Management and Data Analysis were supported by Cancer Research: UK Grants C12292/A20861, C12292/A11174. ACA is a Cancer Research-UK Senior Cancer Research Fellow. GCT is an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow. J. Lecarpentier has been financially supported by the Fondation ARC (FONDATION ARC, 9 rue Guy Moquet 94803 Villejuif: France), Grant Number SAE20131200623. This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for the "CIHR Team in Familial Risks of Breast Cancer" Program: Grant No. CRN-87521 and the Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade: Grant No. PSR-SIIRI-701. The PERSPECTIVE Project was supported by the Government of Canada through Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Ministere de l'Economie, Innovation et Exportation du Quebec through Genome Quebec, and The Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. This work was also supported by the Ministere de l'Economie, Innovation et Exportation du Quebec: Grant No. PSR-SIIRI-701. DEMOKRITOS: this research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund: ESF) and Greek National Funds through the Operational Program "Education and Lifelong Learning" of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF): Research Funding Program of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology: SYN11_10_19 NBCA. Investing in Knowledge Society through the European Social Fund. The DKFZ Study was supported by the DKFZ. EMBRACE was supported by Cancer Research UK Grants C1287/A10118 and C1287/A11990. D. Gareth Evans and Fiona Lalloo were supported by an NIHR Grant to the Biomedical Research Centre, Manchester. The Investigators at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust were supported by an NIHR Grant to the Biomedical Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Ros Eeles and Elizabeth Bancroft were supported by Cancer Research UK Grant C5047/A8385. Ros Eeles was also supported by NIHR support to the Biomedical Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. FCCC: the authors acknowledge the support from The University of Kansas Cancer Center (P30 CA168524) and the Kansas Bioscience Authority Eminent Scholar Program. A.K.G. was funded by 5U01CA113916, R01CA140323, and by the Chancellors Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Sciences Professorship. The German Consortium of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (GC-HBOC) was supported by the German Cancer Aid (Grant No. 110837, Rita K. Schmutzler). This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund and Free State of Saxony, Germany (LIFE: Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, Project Numbers 713-241202, 713-241202, 14505/2470, 14575/2470). GEMO: the study was supported by the Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer; the Association "Le cancer du sein, parlons-en!" Award; the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for the "CIHR Team in Familial Risks of Breast Cancer" Program and the French National Institute of Cancer (INCa). GEORGETOWN: CI received support from the Non-therapeutic Subject Registry Shared Resource at Georgetown University (NIH/NCI Grant P30-CA051008), the Fisher Center for Hereditary Cancer and Clinical GenomicsResearch, and Swing Fore the Cure. G-FAST: Bruce Poppe is a Senior Clinical Investigator of FWO. Mattias Van Heetvelde obtained funding from IWT. HCSC was supported by a Grant RD12/0036/0006 and 15/00059 from ISCIII (Spain), partially supported by European Regional Development FEDER Funds. The HEBCS was financially supported by the Helsinki University Hospital Research Fund, Academy of Finland (266528), the Finnish Cancer Society and the Sigrid Juselius Foundation. HEBON Study was supported by the Dutch Cancer Society Grants NKI1998-1854, NKI2004-3088, and NKI2007-3756, the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research Grant NWO 91109024, the Pink Ribbon Grants 110005 and 2014-187.WO76, the BBMRI Grant NWO 184.021.007/CP46, and the Transcan Grant JTC 2012 Cancer 12-054. HEBON thanks the Registration Teams of Dutch Cancer Registry (IKNL; S. Siesling, J. Verloop) and the Dutch Pathology database (PALGA; L. Overbeek) for their help in part of the data collection. HRBCP was supported by the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, Dr. Ellen Li Charitable Foundation, The Kerry Group Kuok Foundation, National Institute of Health 1R 03CA130065, and North California Cancer Center. Hungarian Breast and Ovarian Cancer Study (HUNBOCS) was supported by Hungarian Research Grants KTIA-OTKA CK-80745 and OTKA K-112228. ICO: Contract Grant Sponsor: Asociacion Espanola Contra el Cancer, Spanish Health Research Fund; Carlos III Health Institute; Catalan Health Institute and Autonomous Government of Catalonia. Contract Grant Numbers: ISCIIIRETIC RD06/0020/1051, RD12/0036/008, PI10/01422, PI10/00748, PI13/00285, PIE13/00022, 2009SGR290, and 2014SGR364. The IHCC was supported by Grant PBZ_KBN_122/P05/2004. The ILUH Group was supported by the Icelandic Association "Walking for Breast Cancer Research" and by the Landspitali University Hospital Research Fund. INHERIT: this work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for the "CIHR Team in Familial Risks of Breast Cancer" Program: Grant No. CRN-87521 and the Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade: Grant No. PSR-SIIRI-701. The PERSPECTIVE Project was supported by the Government of Canada through Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Grant GPH-129344), the Ministere de l'Economie, Science et Innovation du Quebec through Genome Quebec, and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. IOVHBOCS was supported by Ministero della Salute and "5x1000" Istituto Oncologico Veneto Grant. IPOBCS: this study was in part supported by Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro. kConFab was supported by a Grant from the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and previously by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Queensland Cancer Fund, the Cancer Councils of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia, and the Cancer Foundation of Western Australia. KOHBRA was supported by a Grant from the National R&D Program for Cancer Control, Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, Republic of Korea (1020350). MAYO was supported by NIH Grants CA116167, CA192393, and CA176785, an NCI Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Breast Cancer (CA116201), and a Grant from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. MCGILL: Jewish General Hospital Weekend to End Breast Cancer, Quebec Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade. MODSQUAD was supported by MH CZ: DRO (MMCI, 00209805) and by the European Regional Development Fund and the State Budget of the Czech Republic (RECAMO, CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0101) to LF, and by Charles University in Prague Project UNCE204024 (MZ). MSKCC was supported by Grants from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Robert and Kate Niehaus Clinical Cancer Genetics Initiative, and the Andrew Sabin Research Fund. NAROD: 1R01 CA149429-01. NCI: the research of Drs. MH Greene and PL Mai was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the US National Cancer Institute, NIH, and by Support Services Contracts NO2-CP-11019-50 and N02-CP-65504 with Westat, Inc., Rockville, MD. NICCC was supported by Clalit Health Services in Israel. Some of its activities were supported by the Israel Cancer Association and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), NY. NNPIO: this work has been supported by the Russian Federation for Basic Research (Grants 15-04-01744 and 16-54-00055). NRG Oncology: this study was supported by NRG Oncology Operations Grant Number U10 CA180868 as well as NRG SDMC Grant U10 CA180822, Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) Administrative Office and the GOG Tissue Bank (CA 27469), and the GOG Statistical and Data Center (CA 37517). Drs. Greene, Mai, and Savage were supported by Funding from the Intramural Research Program, NCI. OSUCCG was supported by the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. PBCS: this work was supported by the Italian Association of Cancer Research (AIRC) [IG 2013 N.14477] and Tuscany Institute for Tumors (ITT) Grant 2014-2015-2016. SEABASS: Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Higher Education (UM.C/HlR/MOHE/06), and Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation. The SMC Team was in part sponsored by a Grant from the Israeli Cancer Association to the Israeli Consortium of Hereditary Breast Cancer. SWE-BRCA Collaborators were supported by the Swedish Cancer Society. UCHICAGO was supported by NCI Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Breast Cancer (CA125183), R01 CA142996, 1U01CA161032, and by the Ralph and Marion Falk Medical Research Trust, the Entertainment Industry Fund National Women's Cancer Research Alliance, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. OIO is an ACS Clinical Research Professor. UCLA: Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Foundation; Breast Cancer Research Foundation. UCSF: UCSF Cancer Risk Program and Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. UKFOCR was supported by a Project Grant from CRUK to Paul Pharoah. UPENN: National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R01-CA102776 and R01-CA083855; Breast Cancer Research Foundation; Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure, Basser Research Center for BRCA. VFCTG: Victorian Cancer Agency, Cancer Australia, National Breast Cancer Foundation. WCP: Dr. Karlan was funded by the American Cancer Society Early Detection Professorship (SIOP-06-258-01-COUN) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), Grant UL1TR000124. Sí