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The development of green super rice varieties with improved nutrient use efficiency (NuUE) is a vital target area to increase yield and make it more stable under rainfed conditions. In the present study, we followed an early backcross (BC) breeding approach by using a high-yielding and widely adapted Xian variety, Weed Tolerant Rice 1 (WTR-1), as a recipient and a Geng variety, Hao-An-Nong (HAN), as a donor. Starting from the BC1F2 generation, the BC population went through one generation of selection under irrigated, low-input, and rainfed conditions, followed by four consecutive generations of screening and selection for high grain yield (GY) under six different nutrient conditions (NPK, 75N, -N, -P, -NP, and -NPK), leading to the development of 230 BC1F6 introgression lines (ILs). These 230 ILs were evaluated under the same six nutrient conditions for 13 agro-morphological and grain yield component traits in comparison to four checks and parents. Significant trait variations were observed between the treatments and ILs. Positive correlations were identified for GY with biomass, panicle length, flag-leaf area, flag-leaf width, filled grain number per panicle, 1000-grain weight, and tiller number under -N, -P, -NP, and -NPK conditions. Out of 230 ILs, 12 were identified as promising under two or more nutrient deficiency conditions. The results demonstrated an efficient inter-subspecific BC breeding procedure with a first round of selection under rainfed-drought conditions, followed by four generations of progeny testing for yield performance under six nutrient conditions. The promising ILs can be useful resources for molecular genetic dissection and understanding the physiological mechanisms of NuUE. Keywords: Nutrient use efficiency, Grain yield, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Green super rice

The aim of this research paper is to recognize patterns and relationships in the data collected from World Bank Statistics using the “Correlation” data mining technique and the “Correlation Matrix”. The data used spans from the Year 2000–2005 and includes numerous countries of the world. It comprises of data related to the international economic and health statistics. The software Rapid Miner is used in order to analyze and evaluate the data. This paper aims to discover underlying patterns related to various attributes that are difficult to detect or predict.

In our day to day life, predictability of gold's price is significant in many domains such as economics, trading, investment, and financial and political environments. Better investment decision could be made when gold price values are accurately predicted. The main objective of this research is to forecasts whether the price of gold will rise or decline in the near future. Decision Tree, Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), and Linear Regression are all different classification algorithms that have been used in this paper to predict the gold price movement direction. The performance of each of these algorithms has been investigated while using the Rapidminer software.

Rice eating and cooking quality and protein content (PC) are important properties affecting consumers’ preferences, nutrition and health. Linkage QTL mapping and association studies are usually applied to genetically dissect related traits, which could be further facilitated by high density SNP markers and gene annotation based on reference genome to rapid identify candidate genes associated with interested traits. Here, we carried out an association study for apparent amylose content (AC), gel consistency (GC), gelatinization temperature (GT) and PC evaluated in two environments using a diverse panel of 258 accessions from 3 K Rice Genome Project. Wide phenotypic variations were observed in this panel. Genome-wide association study using 22,488 high quality SNPs identified 19 QTL affecting the four traits. Combining gene-based association study and haplotype analyses plus functional annotation allowed us to shortlist nine candidate genes for four important QTL regions affecting AC, GC and GT, including two cloned genes (Wx and ALK), and seven novels. The research suggested that GWAS and gene-based association analysis followed by haplotype analysis is an effective way to detect candidate genes. The identified genes and QTL provided valuable sources for future functional characterization and genetic improvement of rice eating and cooking quality and PC.

BackgroundImproving performance of rice under drought stress has potential to significant impact on rice productivity. Previously we reported that OsLG3 positively control rice grain length and yield.ResultsIn this study, we found that OsLG3 was more strongly expressed in upland rice compared to lowland rice under drought stress condition. Candidate gene association analysis showed that the natural variation in OsLG3 was associated with tolerance to water deficit stress in germinating rice seeds. Transgenic rice with enhanced OsLG3 expression exhibited improved tolerance to drought and that is most likely due to enhanced ROS scavenging efficiency. Phylogenetic analysis and pedigree records indicated that the tolerant allele of OsLG3 has potential to improve drought tolerance of japonica rice.ConclusionsCollectively, our work revealed that the natural variation of OsLG3 contributes to rice drought tolerance and the elite allele of OsLG3 is a promising genetic resource for the development of drought-tolerant and high-yield rice varieties.

Rice bacterial blight, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), and drought stress are common reducers of rice yields in some regions of Asia and Africa. The rice introgression line H471 exhibits broad-spectrum dual resistance to Xoo and drought tolerance. To obtain a deeper understanding of crosstalk between signaling pathways in response to Xoo infection and drought stress, whole-genome transcriptome analyses of H471 and its recurrent parent Huang-Hua-Zhan (HHZ) were performed. A set of significant KEGG pathways involved in dual stress resistance were inferred by comparing H471 and HHZ samples under Xoo infection and drought stress using the gene set enrichment analysis method. We detected 178 genes that were differentially expressed in H471 common in response to the dual stresses when compared with HHZ, including genes for signaling perception and transduction, transcription regulation, and stress response. Putative common co-regulatory networks were constructed using 39 of the differentially expressed genes from the three different functional groups. These results will be a valuable source of information for further investigations on crosstalk between signaling pathways responsive to Xoo infection and drought stress in rice.

This study demonstrates genotyping-by-sequencing-based single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-typing in 11 early-backcross introgression populations of rice (at BC1F5), comprising a set of 564 diverse introgression lines and 12 parents. Sequencing using 10 Ion Proton runs generated a total of ∼943.4 million raw reads, out of which ∼881.6 million reads remained after trimming for low-quality bases. After alignment, 794,297 polymorphic SNPs were identified, and filtering resulted in LMD50 SNPs (low missing data, with each SNP, genotyped in at least 50% of the samples) for each sub-population. Every data point was supported by actual sequencing data without any imputation, eliminating imputation-induced errors in SNP calling. Genotyping substantiated the impacts of novel breeding strategy revealing: (a) the donor introgression patterns in ILs were characteristic with variable introgression frequency in different genomic regions, attributed mainly to stringent selection under abiotic stress and (b) considerably lower heterozygosity was observed in ILs. Functional annotation revealed 426 non-synonymous deleterious SNPs present in 102 loci with a range of 1–4 SNPs per locus and 120 novel SNPs. SNP-typing this diversity panel will further assist in the development of markers supporting genomic applications in molecular breeding programs.

Appearance and milling quality are two crucial properties of rice grains affecting its market acceptability. Understanding the genetic base of rice grain quality could considerably improve the high quality breeding. Here, we carried out an association analysis to identify QTL affecting nine rice grain appearance and milling quality traits using a diverse panel of 258 accessions selected from 3K Rice Genome Project and evaluated in two environments Sanya and Shenzhen. Genome-wide association analyses using 22,488 high quality SNPs identified 72 QTL affecting the nine traits. Combined gene-based association and haplotype analyses plus functional annotation allowed us to shortlist 19 candidate genes for seven important QTL regions affecting the grain quality traits, including two cloned genes (GS3 and TUD), two fine mapped QTL (qGRL7.1 and qPGWC7) and three newly identified QTL (qGL3.4, qGW1.1, and qGW10.2). The most likely candidate gene(s) for each important QTL were also discussed. This research demonstrated the superior power to shortlist candidate genes affecting complex phenotypes by the strategy of combined GWAS, gene-based association and haplotype analyses. The identified candidate genes provided valuable sources for future functional characterization and genetic improvement of rice appearance and milling quality.

Drought is a major abiotic threat in rice production; thus, there is a need to develop adaptable rice varieties that can withstand drought stress and still produce high yield in non-stressed environments. Green Super Rice (GSR) cultivars address this issue. These cultivars are bred through an innovative introgression breeding strategy that requires less irrigation water and chemical inputs without compromising grain quality and yield. This study verified the physiological efficiency and performance of newly developed GSR cultivars that previously showed favorable response to drought during advanced yield trials. Five drought-tolerant GSR cultivars and two checks were subjected to continuously flooded (CF) and drought-stressed environments during the dry seasons of 2011 and 2012 at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) experimental farms in Los Banos, Philippines. The cultivars’ ability to allocate assimilates and accumulate biomass under drought stress during the reproductive stage was verified. Leaf area index (LAI), biomass dry weight, and panicle yield were measured at the panicle initiation (PI), flowering (FL), and physiological maturity (PM) of the sample cultivars. All the cultivars performed satisfactorily in the CF environment with grain yield ranging from 5 to 11.5 tons ha −1 . Water stress during the reproductive stage significantly reduced grain yield by 75–88% in the moderate drought (soil water tension between 100 and 300 kPa in upper 15 cm soil layer) and 77–96% in the severe drought (soil water tension >300 kPa in upper 15 cm soil layer) experiments. The shortened reproductive duration mainly contributed to the significant reduction in yield under drought stress. Two GSR cultivars, GSR IR1-5-S10-D1-D1 and IR83142-B-19-B, responded well in severe drought environments, with grain yield almost similar to the drought check (1.79 tons ha −1 ). Under moderate drought stress, there was a relative yield advantage of 25% and 40% for the two GSR cultivars over the drought check, respectively. Yield advantage across environments, varying from fully irrigated to drought-stressed, was 31–36%. These two GSR cultivars were effective in mobilizing stored carbohydrates from the vegetative organs to the panicles and not shortening the duration from flowering to maturity, to allow all reserved carbohydrates be allocated to storage organs as a mechanism to cope with drought stress. Lower leaf area index (LAI), which allowed balanced biomass accumulation and lower transpiration, without a significant decrease in grain filling duration, was another drought-coping strategy. These physiological responses and characteristics apparently enabled the GSR cultivars to withstand drought stress; these are key indicators for varietal selection in drought-prone environments, particularly in severe drought stress in the reproductive stage. Despite the poor ability of some cultivars to cope with severe drought, three out of five selected GSR cultivars produced grain yield (2.0–2.9 tons ha −1 ) that was the same or higher than the drought check in moderate drought stress. The introgression breeding technique applied in the newly developed drought-tolerant cultivars through the GSR breeding strategy was found to be effective. It could produce high yields in both CF and water-limited environments, and thus, it could serve as a model for other breeding programs to adopt.

Here we analyse genetic variation, population structure and diversity among 3,010 diverse Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) genomes from the 3,000 Rice Genomes Project. Our results are consistent with the five major groups previously recognized, but also suggest several unreported subpopulations that correlate with geographic location. We identified 29 million single nucleotide polymorphisms, 2.4 million small indels and over 90,000 structural variations that contribute to within- and between-population variation. Using pan-genome analyses, we identified more than 10,000 novel full-length protein-coding genes and a high number of presence–absence variations. The complex patterns of introgression observed in domestication genes are consistent with multiple independent rice domestication events. The public availability of data from the 3,000 Rice Genomes Project provides a resource for rice genomics research and breeding., Analyses of genetic variation and population structure based on over 3,000 cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) genomes reveal subpopulations that correlate with geographic location and patterns of introgression consistent with multiple rice domestication events.

This study aims to describe and analyze deeply the use of Moodle's open source e-learning at Syafi'i Akrom Pekalongan Vocational School. This is a kind of field research and the process of collecting the data uses observation, interviews and documentation techniques. Data analysis was conducted using analytical description and comparative method (Constant Comparative Method) techniques. The results showed: (1) Moodle-based e-learning at Syafi'i Akrom vocational school has not been utilized properly and optimally by all teachers and only IT teachers knowing how to use it; (2) Moodle-based Arabic E-learning at Syafi'i Akrom Vocational School also has not been utilized properly and optimally in Arabic learning process. It still uses conventional methods and media by having face to face meeting with the provided media; (3) The aim and objective of e-learning at Syafi'i Akrom Pekalongan Vocational School is realizing the media as one of the alternative media in learning to create more independent learning process without problems of place and time. Besides, the teacher has more flexible time due to the Internship Program for the XI graders; (4) The supporting factors of Arabic e-learning in Syafii Akrom vocational school are sufficiently complete facilities, the existence of elearning.ponpes-smksa.sch.id as the e-learning website, sufficient funding support, IT training, and student ability in the use of ICT. The obstacles of the e-learning in this vocational school is the lack of ability and interest of teachers in using IT that enables the lack of ability to provide more interactive material for the students, the complexity of the features in Moodle, and the students’ who come from non Madrasa / Islamic boarding school backgrounds which have low ability in understanding Arabic.

Quantitative trait locus (QTL) for grain size traits that include grain length (GL), grain width (GW), grain thickness (GT) as well as thousand grain weight (TGW) were identified using F2 population derived from a cross between a japonica cultivar Nongken58 and its large grain-sized mutant, ‘Dali’, which was selected in SP2 generation of plants from Nongken58 seeds exposed to cosmic radiation upon space-flight, and then advanced it over eight successive generations by bagging the panicles to ensure self pollination. ‘Dali’ had similar GW and GT but 4.8 mm longer in GL, and 18.1 g heavier in TGW than those of Nongken58. Seven main-effect QTLs (M-QTLs) were identified for the grain size and weight traits. Among them, three M-QTLs, QGs3a and QGs3b for both GL and TGW, and QGs5 for GW, GT and TGW, which had strong additive effects on grain shape and grain weight, were validated in the two F2 plant-derived F3 populations. The three M-QTLs were found to be non-allelic to the cloned genes GS3, GL3.1, qSW5 and QGs5 by comparative mapping. However, there was only one pair of digenic epistasis involving QGs3b for TGW detected in this population. Interestingly, homozygous ‘Dali’ alleles at the QGs3a, QGs3b and QGs5 showed significant increase in the grain size and weight, suggesting these novel alleles of ‘Dali’ at the above three loci may be a very useful for marker-assisted improvement of grain quality for japonica cultivars.

Three populations with a total of 125 BC2F3:4 introgression lines (ILs) selected for high yields from three BC2F2 populations were used for genetic dissection of rice yield and its related traits. The progeny testing in replicated phenotyping across two environments and genotyping with 140 polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers allowed the identification of 21 promising ILs that had significantly higher yields than the recurrent parent Shuhui527 (SH527). A total of 94 quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified using the selective introgression method based on Chi-squared (χ2) and multi-locus probability tests and the RSTEP-LRT method based on stepwise regression. These QTL were mostly mapped to 12 clusters on seven rice chromosomes. Several important properties of the QTL affecting grain yield (GY) and its related traits were revealed. The first one was the presence of strong and frequent non-random associations between or among QTL that affect low-heritability traits (GY and spikelet number per panicle, SN) in the ILs with high trait values. Second, beneficial alleles at 88.9 % GY and 75 % SN QTL for increased productivity were from the donors, suggesting that direct phenotypic selection for high yield in our introgression breeding program was a powerful way to transfer beneficial alleles at many loci from the donors into SH527. Third, most QTL were in clusters with large effects on multiple traits, which should be the focal points in further investigations and marker-assisted selection in rice. The majority of the QTL identified were expressed only in one of the environments, suggesting that differential expression of QTL in different environments is the primary genetic basis of genotype × environment interaction. Finally, a large variation in both the direction and magnitude of QTL effects was detected for different donor alleles at seven QTL in the same genetic background and environments. This finding suggests the possible presence of functional diversity among the donor alleles at these loci. The promising ILs and QTL identified provide valuable materials and genetic information for further improving the yield potential of SH527, which is a backbone restorer of hybrid rice in China.

Four bacterial blight (BB) resistance genes, Xa7, Xa21, Xa22 and Xa23, were introgressed into an elite hybrid rice restorer line Huahui 1035, by marker-assisted selection (MAS). Ten promising BB resistant lines identified by MAS approach in Huahui 1035 restorer background and their respective F1 hybrids with a cytoplasmic male sterile line i.e. Jinke 1A, three BB resistant gene donors and their recurrent parent were evaluated for BB resistance by inoculating them with eleven representative races of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) in China. Further, the ten marker assisted selection of BB (MAS-BB) resistant restorer lines and their F1 hybrids were also characterized for agro-morphological traits and grain yield. Results revealed that restorer lines with Xa23 introgression i.e. HBQ809 and HBQ810 were found to be resistant to all eleven Chinese representative Xoo races, showing broad spectrum resistance to BB. However, the lines possessing Xa7 or Xa7+Xa21 were resistant to ten out of eleven Xoo races. While restorer lines with Xa21 were resistant to nine out of eleven Xoo races. Interestingly, the F1 hybrids with Xa23, Xa7 or Xa7+Xa21 were resistant to two severe epidemic Xoo races of China. Restorer lines i.e. HBQ807 and HBQ808 possessing Xa22 were only resistant to six or five out of inoculated eleven Xoo races. Lesion length comparisons between restorer lines and their F1 hybrids for the above four BB resistance genes showed them to be dominant in heterozygote genotype. Three promising high yielding F1 hybrids with BB resistance were identified for immediate exploitation for hybrid rice production in China.

Rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV) and stripe virus (RSV) are the two chronic viral diseases causing great damage to rice (Oryza sativa L.) production in China, and both are transmitted by the small brown planthopper (SBPH, Laodelphaxstriatellus Fallen). Quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting field resistance to these two viral diseases were identified using QTL mapping software in a set of reciprocal introgression lines derived from the cross between Lemont and Teqing. A panel of 119 landraces was used for marker confirmation and allele mining. A total of 17 quantitative resistance loci (QRL) for the infection incidences of RBSDV and RSV were discovered and belong to 16 regions on all chromosomes except chromosome 12. Among them, 12 QRL were confirmed by association mapping, and many novel alleles at these loci were mined from the set of landraces. Only one region was found to be responsible for the genetic overlap between the field resistance against RBSDV and RSV, which was reported to be associated with SBPH resistance. The favorable alleles at the above novel and/or overlapping loci should be effective for marker-assisted selection breeding for resistance against the two diseases and the insect. Different strategies of varietal development and effective deployment against the two viral diseases are also discussed.

With 3 figures Abstract Genetic analysis of F2 and backcross populations of an induced temperature-sensitive genic male sterility (TGMS) mutant source F 61 with normal pollen parents revealed that TGMS trait was controlled by a single recessive gene. Molecular tagging of TGMS trait was attempted using polymorphic randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers through bulked segregant analysis. The RAPD primers UBC 345830, UBC 313927, microsatellites RM224 and RM21 produced putative markers, which differentiate parents and bulks from sterile parent and sterile bulks. The RAPD analysis of individual F2 plants with the primer UBC345830 showed perfect marker–phenotype cosegregation. The 830-bp RAPD fragment, which segregated with TGMS locus at a distance of 1.33 cM, was eluted and cloned, and sequence information was used for designing sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) primer, which cosegregated with TGMS locus at a distance of 0.8 cM. TGMS locus was mapped onto chromosome 11 using RM21 and RM224, flanking it at a distance of 4.3 and 3.0 cM, respectively. The DNA markers tightly linked to TGMS gene (tms8) in F 61 can be cost effectively used for marker-assisted selection of TGMS trait.

A novel bacterial blight (BB) resistance gene, Xa23 , identified from Oryza rufipogon was introgressed into three popular restorer lines (Minghui63, YR293 and Y1671) for wild abortive cytoplasmic male sterility by marker-assisted backcross breeding approach in combination with artificial inoculation and stringent phenotypic selections. The three derived BB resistant restorer lines (Minghui63– Xa23 , YR293– Xa23 and Y1671– Xa23 ) and their hybrid combinations with Zhenshan97A (Shanyou63– Xa23 ), NongfengA (Fengyou293– Xa23 ) and Zhong9A (Zhongyou1671– Xa23 ) demonstrated similar BB resistance spectrum as the donor parent, CBB23 (B). The newly developed BB resistant restorers and their derived hybrids were identical to their respective original versions for agronomic traits especially under disease free condition. However, under severe disease condition, the three BB resistant restorer lines exhibited significantly higher grain weight and spikelet fertility as compared to the respective original restorer lines thus further resulting in BB resistant hybrids with significantly higher grain yields than their respective popular original hybrids. The results indicated that the Xa23 gene could completely express its dominant broad spectrum resistance in different backgrounds of both restorer and male sterile lines across different growth stages, suggesting its immense breeding value in BB resistance improvement for hybrid rice. Moreover, a reasonable utilization and deployment of Xa23 gene for efficient control of BB disease in hybrid rice production was recommended.

The present study was carried out to illustrate high-efficient detection of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with selected introgression lines (ILs) and the existence of ‘hidden genes’ conferring drought tolerance (DT). 52 selected DT ILs, derived from BC 2 F 2 population developed by crossing and backcrossing the susceptible recurrent parent (RP) IR64 with the susceptible donor Khazar were planted under irrigation and drought condition. Four important agronomic traits, e.g., grain yield (GY), heading date (HD), panicle numbers per plant (PN), and plant height (PH) were evaluated and 83 SSR polymorphic molecular markers were used for genotypic analysis. Chi-square test based on genetic hitch-hiking and one-way analysis of variances (ANOVA) were used to detect drought-related loci. Nine and 36 loci were detected by chi-square test and one-way ANOVA, respectively. Five common loci were observed by comparing the results of the two methods, among which two QTLs linked with RM7, and RM241 were detected under irrigation condition, both of the favorable alleles were from RP and explained 13% phenotypic variation (PV) for GY and 28% PV for PH, respectively. The other three QTLs linked with RM163, RM18, and RM270 were detected under drought condition, the favorable alleles were all from the donor and explained 10, 24, and 19% PV for HD, PH, and PH, respectively. Five common loci were observed by comparing the results of chi-square test and one-way ANOVA including two QTLs (one for GY and one for PH) under irrigation condition and three QTLs (one for HD and two for PH) under drought condition. By combining phenotypic and genotypic analysis, drought escape could be inferred as the main mechanism for drought tolerance in the present study. The results in present study suggested that the selected ILs population analyzed by chi-square test and one-way ANOVA was quite effective for DT QTL detection with low inputs and could also produce useful materials for breeding with wide genetic diversity for drought tolerance.

As muslims, we understand that Arabic language is very urgent for the development and improvement of our religious knowledge and practices. Many muslim students have willingness to master the language to be able to communicate and understand religious texts, which are mostly written in Arabic. Most of them, however, are not interested in Arabic language class, due to the difficulties in terms of pronunciation, reading, and writing. Understanding the expressions and grammatical features (al-Nahwu and Al-Sharf) are the other challenges that the students cannot handle in short time and the themes are boring. In brief, there is an assumption that studying Arabic is difficult. The questions, then, are how to change the assumption?, and what are the best method and strategy for students in studying the language in an enjoyable, fun, and supportive atmosphere? These questions show both reality and challenge, especially for the Arabic language teachers and lecturers, that there is a need to change the conventional teaching of Arabic language and at the same time, to find a new method and real actions to answer the above questions. This article offers a new method of teaching which focuses not only on teaching of Arabic language but also enjoyable, fun, and full of spirit atmosphere. The method is called by “outbound using fun games” or “outbound fun games”.

Adaptability of Green Super Rice Lines under Dry Season of Rainfed Lowland Condition in Regency of Pati. Green Super Rice (GSR) is rice genotype which is designed to have high yield, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, as well as efficient fertilization and water. GSR is expected to have good adaptability and results under rainfed conditions. Evaluation of GSR lines under rainfed egro-ecosystem had been conducted in the District of Jakenan, Pati, Central Java, which is representing of rainfed lowland condition in Java, during Dry Season 2014. The research was conducted in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two replications, consisted of 30 GSR rice lines and four check varieties, i.e. Inpari 13, Inpari 10, Inpari 23, and Situ Bagendit. Twenty one days old seedlings were transplanted into a 1 m x 5 m plot size, with 1-3 seedlings per hole with planting space of 20 x 20 cm. The watering depended on the rainfall and pumped water from water reservoir. The results showed that the lines had significant differences on yield and agronomic characters. HHZ2-SKI-2-7-0Kr-JK-IND (4.09 t/ha) had the highest yield, significantly higher than the best check Situ Bagendit (3.04 t/ha). Additionally, three genotipes, i.e. HHZ2-SKI-2-7-0Kr-JK-IND, HHZ4-SKI-5-4-0Kr-JK-IND (3.91 t/ha), and Zhonghua1-SKI-1-IND (3.85 t/ha) had higher yield compared to the second best check, Inpari 13 (2.88 t/ha). The selected GSR lines had equal characteristic to popular adopted varieties such as Situ Bagendit and Inpari 13 i.e. maturity around 100 DAS, plant height around 100 cm, and 1000 grain weight around 25 g. This results indicated that the lines had good prospect for further testing in the development of new varieties for rainfed lowland rice in Indonesia. Abstrak Green Super rice (GSR) adalah tanaman padi yang dirancang untuk memiliki daya hasil tinggi, toleran terhadap cekaman biotik dan abiotik, serta efisien pemupukan dan air. GSR diharapkan memiliki daya adaptasi dan hasil yang baik pada kondisi sawah tadah hujan. Evaluasi galur-galur padi GSR pada lahan tadah hujan telah dilakukan di Kecamatan Jakenan, Kabupaten Pati Jawa Tengah pada MK 2014. Penelitian menggunakan rancangan percobaan acak kelompok 2 ulangan dengan perlakuan 30 galur padi GSR dan empat varietas pembanding. Galur-galur GSR yang dievaluasi merupakan galur hasil seleksi di Indramayu pada musim sebelumnya. Varietas pembanding yang digunakan adalah Inpari 13, Inpari 10, Inpari 23, dan Situ Bagendit. Bibit umur 20 hari setelah sebar dari setiap galur dan varietas pembanding ditanam 1-3 bibit per lubang pada plot berukuran 1 m x 5 m dengan jarak tanam 20 cm x 20 cm. Pengairan bergantung pada turunnya hujan dan pompa air dari embung penampung air hujan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa galur yang diuji memiliki perbedaan nyata dan sangat berbeda nyata pada karakter agronomi yang diamati. HHZ2-SKI-2-7-0Kr-JK-IND (4,09 t/ha) memiliki hasil tertinggi, nyata lebih tinggi daripada cek terbaik Situ Bagendit (3,04 t/ha). Selain galur tersebut, memiliki hasil lebih tinggi dari pada cek terbaik kedua, Inpari 13 (2,88 t/ha), yaitu HHZ4-SKI-5-4-0Kr-JK-IND (3,91 t/ha), dan Zhonghua1-SKI-1-IND(3,85 t / ha). Galur-galur GSR tersebut memiliki karakteristik setara dengan varietas-varietas yang telah diterima luas petani seperti Situ Bagendit dan Inpari 13, yaitu memiliki umur sekitar 100 HSS, tinggi tanaman sekitar 100 cm, dan bobot 1000 butir sekitar 25 g. Hasil pengujian tersebut mengindikasikan bahwa galur-galur GSR terseleksi memiliki prospek yang cerah untuk diuji lebih lanjut untuk mendapatkan varietas padi spesifik lahan sawah tadah hujan di masa yang akan datang.

Submergence is an important factor limiting rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield in many rain-fed lowland areas of Asia. Here we explored the genetic basis of submergence tolerance (ST) in rice and facilitated simultaneous improvement of ST of rice. The genome-wide patterns of donor introgressions in 162 backcross (BC) progenies selected for ST from 12 populations of nine crosses between three recipients and three donors were characterized using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The genome-wide responses of donor alleles to strong phenotypic selection for ST were reflected in three aspects: (i) significant over introgression of the donor alleles at 295 loci in 167 functional genetic units (FGUs) across the rice genome, (ii) greatly increased homozygosity or loss of heterozygosity genome-wide, and (iii) pronounced nonrandom associations between or among the detected ST loci, which led us to discovery of putative genetic networks (multilocus structures) underlying ST of rice. Our results suggest that ST of rice is controlled by large numbers of loci involved in multiple positively regulated signaling pathways. Restoration of one or more of these broken pathways in the BC progeny by genetic complementation from introgressed functional donor alleles at ST loci provide an appropriate explanation for transgressive segregation of ST and other complex traits in rice.

The two-line system of hybrid rice seed production based on thermo-sensitive genic male-sterile (TGMS) lines is much more cost-effective, simple and efficient than the three-line system with cytoplasmic male sterility. In this study, we report the introgression of a rice blast resistance gene Pi2 from VE6219 and a bacterial blight (BB) resistance gene Xa23 from HBQ810 into Guangzhan63-4S (GZ63-4S), an elite TGMS rice line, through marker-assisted pyramiding, leading to the development of Hua1015S, a blast- and BB-resistant pyramided line. The newly developed TGMS line Hua1015S and its derived hybrids showed resistance to rice blast and BB. Hua1015S had a similar critical temperature point of fertility–sterility alteration to GZ63-4S and similar key agronomic and grain quality traits. However, Hua1015S gave higher hybrid seed yields on account of increased outcrossing rates due to better floral traits, e.g. spikelet dehiscence, angle of glume opening, and stigma exsertion. The newly developed TGMS parental line Hua1015S with Pi2 and Xa23 is currently being utilized for heterosis breeding of broad-spectrum blast- and BB-resistant two-line rice hybrids and as an improved disease donor source for further TGMS parental line improvement.

Background Bacterial blight, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), is a devastating rice disease worldwide. Xa39 is a resistance (R) gene with a broad-spectrum hypersensitive response (BSHR) to Xoo. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms of resistance mediated by Xa39 remain unclear. In this study, the transcriptome profiling of a rice line carrying Xa39 and its parents at the early stage of Xoo infection were investigated. Results A rice introgression line H471 carrying Xa39 exhibited a typical local hypersensitive response phenotype, accompanied by programmed cell death after inoculation with the Xoo Philippines’ race 9b. Transcriptome profiling of H471 and its parents at 1 and 2 days post-inoculation was performed using RNA sequencing. In total, 306 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in H471 compared with its recurrent parent Huang-Hua-Zhan after inoculation with Xoo. Among them, 121 (39.5%) genes, with functional enrichments that were related to defense response, protein amino acid phosphorylation, and apoptosis, were found to be constitutively expressed. The other 185 (60.5%) genes, with GO terms that belonged to defense response, were significantly responsive to Xoo infection in H471. Ten up-regulated and 12 down-regulated genes encoding intracellular immune receptors were identified in H471 compared with Huang-Hua-Zhan. LOC_Os11g37759, which was located in the fine-mapping region harboring Xa39, is a Xa39 candidate gene. The putative BSHR-related co-regulatory networks were constructed using 33 DEGs from four functional groups, including gibberellic acid receptors and brassinosteroid regulators, which were differentially co-expressed with LOC_Os11g37759 in infected H471. Our results indicated that there might be cross-talk between the Xa39-mediated signal transduction cascades and the GA/BR signaling pathway, and that the defense mechanism was related to diverse kinases, transcription factors, post-translational regulation, and R genes. Conclusions The present study provides the comprehensive transcriptome profile of a rice introgression line carrying Xa39 and its parents, and identifies a set of DEGs involved in BSHR mediated by Xa39. These data provide novel insights into the regulatory networks of plant disease resistance mediated by R genes, and the identified DEGs will serve as candidates for Xa39 cloning and for further understanding the molecular mechanism of BSHR. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1329-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Innovative Male Sterility Systems for Exploitation of Hybrid Vigour in Crop Plants 1 - Environment Sensitive Genic Male Sterility System

Complete resistance (CR) and partial resistance (PR) of rice ( Oryza sativa L.) to its bacterial pathogen, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae ( Xoo ), was genetically dissected by using 2 mapping populations and 10 Xoo races. Two CR genes, 50 quantitative resistance loci, and 60 digenic interactions were identified, which showed various degrees of race specificity to the Xoo races. The complex epistasis between these loci led us to the discovery of complex genetic networks underlying the rice defensive system to Xoo . The networks consisted of two major components: one representing interactions between alleles at the R loci of rice and alleles at the corresponding avirulence loci of Xoo for CR and the other comprising interactions between quantitative resistance loci in rice and their corresponding aggressiveness loci in Xoo for PR. The race specificity of PR and its strong genetic overlap with CR indicate that PR is essentially “weaker” CR. The genetic networks discovered are expected to maintain a high level of the allelic diversity at avirulent loci in the pathogen by stabilizing selection, which may maintain a high allelic diversity at R loci in the host by the frequency-dependent selection.

Tremendous efforts have been taken worldwide to develop genome-wide genetic stocks for rice functional genomic (FG) research since the rice genome was completely sequenced. To facilitate FG research of complex polygenic phenotypes in rice, we report the development of over 20,000 introgression lines (ILs) in three elite rice genetic backgrounds for a wide range of complex traits, including resistances/tolerances to many biotic and abiotic stresses, morpho-agronomic traits, physiological traits, etc., by selective introgression. ILs within each genetic background are phenotypically similar to their recurrent parent but each carries one or a few traits introgressed from a known donor. Together, these ILs contain a significant portion of loci affecting the selected complex phenotypes at which allelic diversity exists in the primary gene pool of rice. A forward genetics strategy was proposed and demonstrated with examples on how to use these ILs for large-scale FG research. Complementary to the genome-wide insertional mutants, these ILs opens a new way for highly efficient discovery, candidate gene identification and cloning of important QTLs for specific phenotypes based on convergent evidence from QTL position, expression profiling, functional and molecular diversity analyses of candidate genes, highlights the importance of genetic networks underlying complex phenotypes in rice that may ultimately lead to more complete understanding of the genetic and molecular bases of quantitative trait variation in rice.

One hundred and ninety three parental lines obtained from 26 countries for an international rice molecular breeding program were evaluated using 101 well-distributed simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. An overall genetic diversity of 0.68 and an average of 6.3 alleles per locus were revealed, indicating a high level of genetic variation in these lines. Cluster analysis of the 193 accessions showed three major groups and nine subgroups. Group I corresponded to the classical indica subspecies, whereas groups II and III belong to the japonica subspecies. Indica and japonica differentiation accounted for only 6.5% of the total variation in the entire sample and 93.5% was due to within-subspecies diversity. Differentiation among eco-geographic regions accounted for 24% of the diversity within the subspecies. Larger amounts of the eco-geographical differentiation were resolved within japonica than within indica. The largest indica-japonica differentiation based on the single locus level was detected by markers on chromosomes 9 and 12, while the smallest differentiation was detected by markers on chromosomes 4 and 8. Furthermore, genetic differences at the single-locus and two-locus levels, as well as components due to allelic and gametic differentiation, were revealed between indica and japonica and among the main geographic regions. The multilocus analysis in genetic diversity showed a higher proportion of variation caused by predominant non-random associations of different loci within and among the classified subspecies and geographic subdivisions. The results suggest that selection for eco-geographical adaptation on multilocus associations was largely responsible for the maintenance of the extensive variation in the primary gene pool of rice.

Breeding of rice varieties with low carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) emission is essential in reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, we compared the gross CO 2 e emission of two newly developed green super rice (GSR) varieties with elite hybrids and nationally released farmer-cultivated varieties from production to post-production in the dry and wet seasons in Laguna, Philippines. The average gross CO 2 e emission was 17.9 tons CO 2 e ha -1 or 2.98 tons CO 2 e ton -1 rice (production 82%, post-production 18%). Contributing to this total were soil emissions at 72%, the use of chemicals at 5%, burning of rice straw at 3%, cooking at 12%, and transportation at 5%. The average social cost of carbon (SCC) per ton of rice was estimated at $119. Increasing grain yield per unit area with shorter growth duration decreased CO 2 e emission of rice per unit of weight. Cultivation of rice varieties GSR8 and GSR2 emitted 37.0% lower CO 2 e than the popular inbred varieties.

To develop superior rice varieties with improved yield in most rainfed areas of Asia/Africa, we started an introgression-breeding program for simultaneously improving yield and tolerances of multiple abiotic stresses. Using eight BC1 populations derived from a widely adaptable recipient and eight donors plus three rounds of phenotypic selection, we developed 496 introgression lines (ILs) with significantly higher yield under drought, salt and/or non-stress conditions in 5 years. Six new varieties were released in the Philippines and Pakistan and many more are being evaluated in multi-location yield trials for releasing in several countries. Marker-facilitated genetic characterization revealed three interesting aspects of the breeding procedure: (1) the donor introgression pattern in specific BC populations was characteristic; (2) introgression frequency in different genomic regions varied considerably, resulting primarily from strong selection for the target traits; and (3) significantly lower heterozygosity was observed in BC progenies selected for drought and salinity tolerance. Applying strong phenotypic selection under abiotic stresses in early segregating generations has major advantages for not only improving multiple abiotic stress tolerance but also achieving quicker homozygosity in early generations. This breeding procedure can be easily adopted by small breeding programs in developing countries to develop high-yielding varieties tolerant of abiotic stresses. The large set of trait-specific ILs can be used for genetic mapping of genes/QTL that affect target and non-target traits and for efficient varietal development by designed QTL pyramiding and genomics-based recurrent selection in our Green Super Rice breeding technology.

Jian-Long Xu1,2* and Jauhar Ali3 1Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China 2Shenzhen Institute of Breeding & Innovation, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, China 3Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology, International Rice Research Instiute, Metro Manila, Philippines *Corresponding author: Jian-Long Xu, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China, Tel: 010-82105854; E-mail: xujlcaas@126.com

A total of 787 non-waxy rice lines- 116 hybrids and 671 inbreds-were used to study the apparent amylose content (AAC), gelatinization temperature (GT), and rapid visco analyzer (RVA) pasting viscosity properties of rice starch to understand their importance in breeding better rice varieties. The investigated traits showed a wide range of diversity for both hybrid (HG) and inbred (IG) groups. The combinations of the different categories of AAC and GT were random in HG but were non-random in IG. For inbred lines, the high level of AAC tended to combine with the low level of GT, the intermediate level of AAC tended to have high or intermediate GT, and the low level of AAC tended to have high or low GT. Some stable correlations of the AAC, GT, and RVA properties may be the results derived from the physicochemical relationships among these traits, which rice breeders could utilize for selection in advanced breeding generations. Through cluster analysis, IG and HG were divided into 52 and 31 sub-clusters, respectively. Identifying the cultivars having AAC, GT, and RVA properties similar to that of popular high-quality rice varieties seems to be an interesting strategy and could be directly used for adaptation trials to breed high-quality rice varieties in targeted areas in a more customized manner.

The present study of genetic analysis is an attempt to precisely characterize diverse temperature-sensitive genic male-sterile (TGMS) lines so as to explore the possibilities of utilizing the most promising in large-scale hybrid seed production. Genetical studies revealed that the TGMS segregants derived from crosses involving TGMS lines ID24 and SA2 expressed differential fertility levels at low-temperature conditions. A majority of these progenies expressed transgressive segregation towards either sterility of fertility, causing instability of sterility and low reversibilty of fertility which may be due to large numbers of single-locus QTLs and their epistatic interactions. We identified two putative genes imparting temperature-sensitive male sterility after observing crosses involving diverse TGMS sources. To identify suitable molecular markers closely linked to the trait we used RAPD, AFLP and microsatellites which generated polymorphism through bulked segregant analysis. AFLP analysis using a smaller genome kit resulted in enormous polymorphism, out of which the combination EAA/MCAG amplified a 330-bp fragment, which closely segregated with the gene at a distance of 5.3 cM. This fragment was eluted for cloning and from the sequence a STS primer (TS200) was developed which produced a dominant polymorphism specific to TGMS. The microsatellite RM257, located earlier on chromosome 9, was linked with the TGMS trait in SA2 at a distance of 6.2 cM. RM257 produced a codominant polymorphism with 145-bp (sterile) and 132-bp (fertile) products. Both individually and collectively, the markers TS200 and RM257 located on either side of the TGMS locus are very useful for marker-assisted selection.

Multi-Environment Trials (MET) are conventionally used to evaluate varietal performance prior to national yield trials, but the accuracy of MET is constrained by the number of test environments. A modeling approach was innovated to evaluate varietal performance in a large number of environments using the rice model ORYZA (v3). Modeled yields representing genotype by environment interactions were used to classify the target population of environments (TPE) and analyze varietal yield and yield stability. Eight Green Super Rice (GSR) and three check varieties were evaluated across 3796 environments and 14 seasons in Southern Asia. Based on drought stress imposed on rainfed rice, environments were classified into nine TPEs. Relative to the check varieties, all GSR varieties performed well except GSR-IR1-5-S14-S2-Y2, with GSR-IR1-1-Y4-Y1, and GSR-IR1-8-S6-S3-Y2 consistently performing better in all TPEs. Varietal evaluation using ORYZA (v3) significantly corresponded to the evaluation based on actual MET data within specific sites, but not with considerably larger environments. ORYZA-based evaluation demonstrated the advantage of GSR varieties in diverse environments. This study substantiated that the modeling approach could be an effective, reliable, and advanced approach to complement MET in the assessment of varietal performance on spatial and temporal scales whenever quality soil and weather information are accessible. With available local weather and soil information, this approach can also be adopted to other rice producing domains or other crops using appropriate crop models.

The Green Revolution (GR-I) included worldwide adoption of semi-dwarf rice cultivars (SRCs) with mutant alleles at GA20ox2 or SD1 encoding gibberellin 20-oxidase. Two series of experiments were conducted to characterize the pleiotropic effects of SD1 and its relationships with large numbers of QTLs affecting rice growth, development and productivity. The pleiotropic effects of SD1 in the IR64 genetic background for increased height, root length/mass and grain weight, and for reduced spikelet fertility and delayed heading were first demonstrated using large populations derived from near isogenic IR64 lines of SD1. In the second set of experiments, QTLs controlling nine growth and yield traits were characterized using a new molecular quantitative genetics model and the phenotypic data of the well-known IR64/Azucena DH population evaluated across 11 environments, which revealed three genetic systems: the SD1-mediated, SD1-repressed and SD1-independent pathways that control rice growth, development and productivity. The SD1-mediated system comprised 43 functional genetic units (FGUs) controlled by GA. The SD1-repressed system was the alternative one comprising 38 FGUs that were only expressed in the mutant sd1 backgrounds. The SD1-independent one comprised 64 FGUs that were independent of SD1. GR-I resulted from the overall differences between the former two systems in the three aspects: (1) trait/environment-specific contributions; (2) distribution of favorable alleles for increased productivity in the parents; and (3) different responses to (fertilizer) inputs. Our results suggest that at 71.4 % of the detected loci, a QTL resulted from the difference between a functional allele and a loss-of-function mutant, whereas at the remaining 28.6 % of loci, from two functional alleles with differentiated effects. Our results suggest two general strategies to achieve GR-II (1) by further exploiting the genetic potential of the SD1-repressed and SD1-independent pathways and (2) by restoring the SD1-mediated pathways, or ‘back to the nature’ to fully exploit the genetic diversity of those loci in the SD1-mediated pathways which are virtually inaccessible to most rice-breeding programs worldwide that are exclusively based on sd1.

Myo-inositol oxygenase (MIOX), a unique monooxygenase, catalyzes the oxidation of myo-inositol to d-glucuronic acid. However, the protective role of MIOX in plants against oxidative stress or drought stress remains unknown. In this study, the functional characterization of MIOX obtained from the cDNA library of upland rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. IRAT109), was performed. OsMIOX was expressed predominantly in the roots and induced by drought, H₂O₂, salt, cold and abscisic acid. The transgenic rice lines overexpressing OsMIOX showed obviously improved growth performance in the medium containing 200 mM mannitol. Further, the survival rate of leaves from the transgenic rice lines was significantly higher than that of the wild type plants under polyethylene glycol treatment. It was discovered that the activity of ROS-scavenging enzymes and proline content, as well as the transcript levels of many ROS scavenging genes were significantly increased in transgenic plants compared to the wild type plants under drought stress conditions. Together, these data suggest that OsMIOX has a specific function in drought stress tolerance by decreasing oxidative damage.

Agile software development methods and techniques have been demonstrated to improve employee morale, enhance end-product quality, and achieve customer satisfaction. Agile adoption always comes with special challenges and thus fundamental organizational changes are necessary for successful outcome. In this paper we present an in-depth case study for adopting Scrum in a multi-team and multi-project situation to a government entity in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E). While there are many successful stories for adopting Scrum in large and small organizations, there is little known about adoption stories in a multi-project/multi-team environments. In this paper we present a case study for an unsuccessful adoption of Scrum in a government entity in the U.A.E. The government entity under study have used the traditional waterfall approach for many years and decided to move to Agile software development method. This study highlights the challenges faced during the adoption of Scrum method with recommendations to address them. Each organization has its unique properties and one case study is not enough to draw conclusions for the U.A.E environment. However, the results obtained from this paper help software engineers to better understand the development environment and context factors for software projects in the U.A.E and many lessons may be learned for future Agile adoption.

Effect of genetic background on detection of quantitative trait locus (QTL) governing salinity tolerance (ST) was studied using two sets of reciprocal introgression lines (ILs) derived from a cross between a moderately salinity tolerant japonica variety, Xiushui09 from China, and a drought tolerant but salinity susceptible indica breeding line, IR2061–520–6-9 from the Philippines. Salt toxicity symptoms (SST) on leaves, days to seedling survival (DSS), and sodium and potassium uptake by shoots were measured under salinity stress of 140 mmol/L of NaCl. A total of 47 QTLs, including 26 main-effect QTLs (M-QTLs) and 21 epistatic QTLs (E-QTLs), were identified from the two sets of reciprocal ILs. Among the 26 M-QTLs, only four (15.4%) were shared in the reciprocal backgrounds while no shared E-QTLs were detected, indicating that ST QTLs, especially E-QTLs, were very specific to the genetic background. Further, 78.6% of the M-QTLs for SST and DSS identified in the reciprocal ILs were also detected in the recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from the same cross, which clearly brings out the background effect on ST QTL detection and its utilization in ST breeding. The detection of ILs with various levels of pyramiding of nonallelic M-QTL alleles for ST from Xiushui09 into IR2061-520-6-9 allowed us to further improve the ST in rice.

An indica pyramiding line, DK151, and its recurrent parent, IR64, were evaluated under drought stress and non-stress conditions for three consecutive seasons. DK151 showed significantly improved tolerance to drought. The DNA methylation changes in DK151 and IR64 under drought stress and subsequent recovery were assessed using methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism analysis. Our results indicate that drought-induced genome-wide DNA methylation changes accounted for ∼12.1% of the total site-specific methylation differences in the rice genome. This drought-induced DNA methylation pattern showed three interesting properties. The most important one was its genotypic specificity reflected by large differences in the detected DNA methylation/demethylation sites between DK151 and IR64, which result from introgressed genomic fragments in DK151. Second, most drought-induced methylation/demethylation sites were of two major types distinguished by their reversibility, including 70% of the sites at which drought-induced epigenetic changes were reversed to their original status after recovery, and 29% of sites at which the drought-induced DNA demethylation/methylation changes remain even after recovery. Third, the drought-induced DNA methylation alteration showed a significant level of developmental and tissue specificity. Together, these properties are expected to have contributed greatly to rice response and adaptation to drought stress. Thus, induced epigenetic changes in rice genome can be considered as a very important regulatory mechanism for rice plants to adapt to drought and possibly other environmental stresses.

Drought is the most important factor limiting rice productivity in the rainfed areas of Asia. In this study, 48 pyramiding lines (PLs) and their recurrent parent, IR64, were evaluated over two years for their yield performances and related traits under severe drought stress at the reproductive stage (RS), the vegetative stage (VS) and irrigated control in order to understand the relationship between drought tolerance (DT) and yield potential (YP) in rice and their underlying mechanisms. When compared with IR64, all PLs had significantly improved DT to RS and 36 PLs also had significantly improved DT to VS. In addition, 17 PLs had higher YP than IR64 and the remaining 31 PLs had a similar YP IR64 under irrigated conditions. Detailed characterization of the PLs revealed three possible mechanisms that functioned together to contribute to their improved DT. The most important mechanism was dehydration avoidance (DA), characterized by significantly higher growth rate and biomass of all PLs than IR64 under stress and no reduction in biomass under control conditions. The second mechanism was efficient partitioning, characterized by improved harvest index in all PLs compared with IR64, resulting primarily from heavier grain weight and/or higher spikelet fertility under control conditions, which was the major constituent of the improved YP in the 17 best performing PLs. Drought escape (DE) by accelerated heading under drought was the third mechanism that contributed to DT of the PLs to RS. The considerable variation in the measured traits among the PLs with similar levels of DT and YP implies the complex genetic control of the mechanisms for DT/YP and offers opportunities to improve DT and YP further by fine-tuning of a small number of QTLs segregating among the PLs using MAS. Finally, our results indicate that selection for yield plus some secondary traits under appropriate type(s) of stress and non-stress conditions similar to the target environments are critically important for improving both DT and YP in rice.

Data Structures is a core course in almost all Computer Science programs. Textbooks and courses on Data Structures these days are programming-languages-based with those based on object-oriented programming (OOP) in dominance. In many cases, they base their pedagogy on software design patterns. However, because of heavy reliance on abstraction, they place greater demands on learners. In this study, we design and implement a visualization tool that makes it easier for students to understand object-oriented data structures.

MYB-type transcription factors (TFs) play essential roles in plant growth, development and respond to environmental stresses. Role of MYB-related TFs of rice in drought stress tolerance is not well documented. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a novel MYB-related TF, OsMYB48-1, of rice. Expression of OsMYB48-1 was strongly induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG), abscisic acid (ABA), H2O2, and dehydration, while being slightly induced by high salinity and cold treatment. The OsMYB48-1 protein was localized in the nucleus with transactivation activity at the C terminus. Overexpression of OsMYB48-1 in rice significantly improved tolerance to simulated drought and salinity stresses caused by mannitol, PEG, and NaCl, respectively, and drought stress was caused by drying the soil. In contrast to wild type plants, the overexpression lines exhibited reduced rate of water loss, lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content and higher proline content under stress conditions. Moreover, overexpression plants were hypersensitive to ABA at both germination and post-germination stages and accumulated more endogenous ABA under drought stress conditions. Further studies demonstrated that overexpression of OsMYB48-1 could regulate the expression of some ABA biosynthesis genes (OsNCED4, OsNCED5), early signaling genes (OsPP2C68, OSRK1) and late responsive genes (RAB21, OsLEA3, RAB16C and RAB16D) under drought stress conditions. Collectively, these results suggested that OsMYB48-1 functions as a novel MYB-related TF which plays a positive role in drought and salinity tolerance by regulating stress-induced ABA synthesis.

Object-oriented methodologies suggest to create different models of a system indicative of its different aspects. Object Modeling Technique (OMT), an object-oriented methodology, represents the static structure of classes in a system by an ER-style diagram called the object model, and the dynamic behavior of the classes by a set of state transition diagrams called the dynamic model. To speed up the software development process, it has been desired to have CASE tools that can automatically generate code from these models. In the present work, an attempt has been made to find methods to automatically generate executable code from the object-oriented models in general and the dynamic model in particular. An object-oriented approach has been proposed to convert a state diagram representing the behavior of a multi-state class into code. States are treated as classes and transitions as their operations. Inheritance is used to implement state hierarchy and object composition is used to implement concurrent states. It is realized that active objects can well be represented by activity diagrams rather than state diagrams. In the proposed approach, active objects are implemented as Java threads. A system, O-Code, has also been developed that implements the proposed method and automatically generates executable Java code from the specifications of the object and dynamic models. A comparison with Rhapsody shows that the code generated by O-Code is much more compact, efficient and understandable than that of Rhapsody., 1998