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Barley is indeed a versatile cereal crop, valued for its uses in food, animal feed, and increasingly in biofuel production. As interest grows in developing new barley genotypes that are better adapted to diverse environmental conditions and production systems, integrating agro-morphological evaluations with molecular marker analyses in barley breeding programs is essential for developing new genotypes. It is necessary to explore the genetic diversity of those germplasm to predicate their responses to targeted environments and regions. The current study explored the phenotypic and genotypic relations among Saudi advanced germplasm to facilitate the development of superior barley cultivars suitable for desert environments. Molecular microsatellites (SSR) markers revealed considerable wide genetic variation among Saudi germplasm and checks. Population structure analyses revealed four main groups. Those groups were validated using similarity analyses and coefficients. As well, principal components analysis (PCA) and heat map analyses separated the studied genotypes into four main groups. The improved Saudi germplasm, selected from the barley breeding program, revealed considerably wide genetic and phenotypic diversities, indicating the feasibility of selection to improve for semi-arid conditions. The improved line KSU-BR-C/G-2 had the highest grain yield and harvest index in the first season. Rihana/Lignee was followed by the KSU-BR-C/G-2 genotype, with a grain yield averaging 6734.07 (kg ha−1), in the first season. KSU-BR-88-29-10 yielded 20,000 kg ha−1 for biomass yield. In the second year, KSU-BR-30-7 had the highest biomass yield, with 27,037.04 kg ha−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A doubled haploid (DH) production system for wheat using a microspore culture method produced seeds and subsequently regenerated haploid wheat plants derived from the F1 plants of two wheat populations (Irena × Ksu102 and Klasic × Ksu105). 68 DH were obtained from both populations. Field trials of these DH lines were conducted over two seasons. Genotypic differences were highly significant for all agronomic traits recorded. Sets of five gene- or allele-specific PCR markers were used for identification of genes encoding high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin subunits Ax1 and Ax2* at the Glu-A1 locus, Bx7, Bx7*, By8 and By17 at the Glu-B1 locus and Dx5, Dy10 and Dy12 at the Glu-D1 locus in wheat inbred lines. The method developed for providing DH lines and subsequent molecular analysis and quality could be useful for improving bread-making quality and developing new cultivars. Abbreviations: DH: doubled haploid; HMW: high molecular weight; HMW-GS: high molecular weight glutenins subunits; MAB: marker-assisted breeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The small ubiquitin-related modifier genes regulate the function of the cellular proteins, which are associated with cell stress-tolerance. Identification and understanding the functional localization of these genes are very important to mitigate the stresses. In this study, we identified a novel small ubiquitin-related modifier gene and studied its functional localization in the cell. This new finding will be very valuable in increasing our understanding of the mechanism of stress-tolerance. Small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) regulates the cellular function of diverse proteins through post-translational modifications. The current study defined a new homolog of SUMO genes in the rice genome and named it OsSUMO7. Putative protein analysis of OsSUMO7 detected SUMOylation features, including di-glycine (GG) and consensus motifs (ΨKXE/D) for the SUMOylation site. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated the high homology of OsSUMO7 with identified rice SUMO genes, which indicates that the OsSUMO7 gene is an evolutionarily conserved SUMO member. RT-PCR analysis revealed that OsSUMO7 was constitutively expressed in all plant organs. Bioinformatic analysis defined the physicochemical properties and structural model prediction of OsSUMO7 proteins. A red fluorescent protein (DsRed), fused with the OsSUMO7 protein, was expressed and localized mainly in the nucleus and formed nuclear subdomain structures. The fusion proteins of SUMO-conjugating enzymes with the OsSUMO7 protein were co-expressed and co-localized in the nucleus and formed nuclear subdomains. This indicated that the OsSUMO7 precursor is processed, activated, and transported to the nucleus through the SUMOylation system of the plant cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]