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Timed performance measures from a coincidence timing task taking about 10 minutes are shown to have significant correlations with psychometric general intelligence in a group of 56 children. The mean absolute error across three conditions correlated -.294 with Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices scores but was sex-biased, with girls being less accurate than boys. (Author/LMO)

The pea weevil, Bruchus pisorum (L.), is one of the most intractable pest problems of cultivated pea, Pisum sativum L., in the world. This study investigated the transfer of pea weevil resistance from two accessions (PI 595946, PI 343955) of wild pea, Pisum fulvum Sibth. & Sm., to interspecific populations derived from crossing these accessions with a weevil-susceptible pea cultivar (‘Alaska 81’). Partial life tables characterized weevil stage-specific mortality and survivorship on parents and interspecific progeny in two glasshouse trials. Larval mortality rates on pods (F3 plants) of several F2:3 families were between 36.0% and 52.9%. These means were statistically similar to mean mortality rates on pods of resistant parents (45.4% and 46.2%), but significantly greater than mean rates on the susceptible parent (1.2% and 10.6%). Pod surface characteristics contributed to high neonate larval mortality on pods of resistant parents and interspecific progeny. Seed resistance was not broadly transferred to interspecific progeny [revealed by high weevil survivorship in seeds (means mostly >80%) and high seed damage ratings of 3–5 where ratings of 1–2 denote resistance (production of resistant seed averaged 4.2% to 22.8%)]. Estimates of total weevil mortality on pods and seeds of eight F2:3 families were 50–70%. Thus, weevil resistance in the Pisum secondary gene pool can be transferred to interspecific progeny, thereby providing a potential avenue to develop weevil-resistant pea cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the potential hosts for pea powdery mildew pathogen Erysiphe trifolii in the U.S. Pacific Northwest (US PNW). The results of cross inoculation studies in the greenhouse showed various potential hosts for pea powdery mildew pathogen which include Lathyrus latifolius, Medicago polymorpha, and M. lupulina. It notes that the findings of the study provide information for the consideration in developing strategies to select for resistance in pea breeding programs.

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) has a compound leaf like many other legume species. The 'semi-leafless' pea (afaf tltl), with all leaflets transformed into tendrils, is considered one of the most important achievements in pea breeding, due to a significantly enhanced standing ability and equally efficient dry matter production in comparison to normal-leafed genotypes (AFAF TLTL). 'Semi-leafless' cultivars provide high and stable grain yield and are dominant in the modern dry pea production worldwide. There are also 'semi-leafless' cultivars that are autumn-sown and those for forage production. The genotypes with all tendrils transformed into leaflets (afaf tltl), called 'acacia' or 'tendril-less', are extremely prone to lodging and may have importance in breeding for forage production. Little is known about the potential agronomic value of 'acacia-tendril-less' (afaf tltl) genotypes.

The article offers information on the registration of Morton lentil, which was developed and released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service in cooperation with the Washington Agricultural Research Center and the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station. Morton is a winter hardy lentil intended for fall planting directly into standing wheat or barley stubble. It has a small seed with red cotyledons and an absence of seed mottling. It was yield-tested in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, and was evaluated for yield and winter hardiness.

Abstract Background White mold, caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is one of the most important diseases of pea (Pisum sativum L.), however, little is known about the genetics and biochemistry of this interaction. Identification of genes underlying resistance in the host or pathogenicity and virulence factors in the pathogen will increase our knowledge of the pea-S. sclerotiorum interaction and facilitate the introgression of new resistance genes into commercial pea varieties. Although the S. sclerotiorum genome sequence is available, no pea genome is available, due in part to its large genome size (~3500 Mb) and extensive repeated motifs. Here we present an EST data set specific to the interaction between S. sclerotiorum and pea, and a method to distinguish pathogen and host sequences without a species-specific reference genome. Results 10,158 contigs were obtained by de novo assembly of 128,720 high-quality reads generated by 454 pyrosequencing of the pea-S. sclerotiorum interactome. A method based on the tBLASTx program was modified to distinguish pea and S. sclerotiorum ESTs. To test this strategy, a mixture of known ESTs (18,490 pea and 17,198 S. sclerotiorum ESTs) from public databases were pooled and parsed; the tBLASTx method successfully separated 90.1% of the artificial EST mix with 99.9% accuracy. The tBLASTx method successfully parsed 89.4% of the 454-derived EST contigs, as validated by PCR, into pea (6,299 contigs) and S. sclerotiorum (2,780 contigs) categories. Two thousand eight hundred and forty pea ESTs and 996 S. sclerotiorum ESTs were predicted to be expressed specifically during the pea-S. sclerotiorum interaction as determined by homology search against 81,449 pea ESTs (from flowers, leaves, cotyledons, epi- and hypocotyl, and etiolated and light treated etiolated seedlings) and 57,751 S. sclerotiorum ESTs (from mycelia at neutral pH, developing apothecia and developing sclerotia). Among those ESTs specifically expressed, 277 (9.8%) pea ESTs were predicted to be involved in plant defense and response to biotic or abiotic stress, and 93 (9.3%) S. sclerotiorum ESTs were predicted to be involved in pathogenicity/virulence. Additionally, 142 S. sclerotiorum ESTs were identified as secretory/signal peptides of which only 21 were previously reported. Conclusions We present and characterize an EST resource specific to the pea-S. sclerotiorum interaction. Additionally, the tBLASTx method used to parse S. sclerotiorum and pea ESTs was demonstrated to be a reliable and accurate method to distinguish ESTs without a reference genome.

Phenotypic selection of complex traits such as seed yield and protein in the preliminary yield trial (PYT) is often constrained by limited seed availability, resulting in trials with few environments and minimal to no replications. Multi-trait multi-environment enabled genomic prediction (MTME-GP) offers a valuable alternative to predict missing phenotypes of selection candidates for multiple traits and diverse environments. In this study, we assessed the efficiency of MTME-GP for improving seed protein and seed yield in field pea, the top two breeding targets but highly antagonistic traits in pulse crop. We utilized a set of 300 selection candidates in the PYT that virtually represented all possible families of the North Dakota State University field pea breeding program. Selection candidates were evaluated in three diverse, contrasting environments, as indicated by a range of heritability. Using whole- and split-environment cross validation schemes, MTME-GP had higher predictive ability than a standard additive G-BLUP model. Integrating a range of overlapping genotypes in between environments showed improvement on the predictive ability of the MTME-GP model but tends to plateau at 50%-80% training set size. Regardless of the cross-validation scheme, accuracy was among the lowest in stressed environments, presumably due to low heritability for seed protein and yield. This study provided insights into the potential of MTME-GP in a public pulse crop breeding program. The MTME-GP framework can be further improved with more testing environments and integration of additional orthogonal information in the early stages of the breeding pipeline., (© 2024 The Author(s). The Plant Genome published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Crop Science Society of America.)

Background: Effective population size (N e ) is a pivotal parameter in population genetics as it can provide information on the rate of inbreeding and the contemporary status of genetic diversity in breeding populations. The population with smaller N e can lead to faster inbreeding, with little potential for genetic gain making selections ineffective. The importance of N e has become increasingly recognized in plant breeding, which can help breeders monitor and enhance the genetic variability or redesign their selection protocols. Here, we present the first N e estimates based on linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the pea genome., Results: We calculated and compared N e using SNP markers from North Dakota State University (NDSU) modern breeding lines and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) diversity panel. The extent of LD was highly variable not only between populations but also among different regions and chromosomes of the genome. Overall, NDSU had a higher and longer-range LD than the USDA that could extend up to 500 Kb, with a genome-wide average r 2 of 0.57 (vs 0.34), likely due to its lower recombination rates and the selection background. The estimated N e for the USDA was nearly three-fold higher (N e  = 174) than NDSU (N e  = 64), which can be confounded by a high degree of population structure due to the selfing nature of pea., Conclusions: Our results provided insights into the genetic diversity of the germplasm studied, which can guide plant breeders to actively monitor N e in successive cycles of breeding to sustain viability of the breeding efforts in the long term., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Montana accounts for approximately 45% of US dry pea production and the pea leaf weevil (PLW; Sitona lineatus (L.)) is the most common insect pest in this region. After crop emergence adult PLW feed on the foliage to mature and subsequently mate, and the soil-dwelling larvae feed and develop on the nitrogen-fixing root nodules. Producers commonly apply prophylactic insecticide treatments to the seed at planting as well as one or two post-emergent insecticide sprays to control PLW damage. To develop alternative management strategies based on integrated pest management (IPM), this field study evaluated pulse crops grown in Montana for adult feeding preference and larval development. Ten different field pea varieties, along with two faba bean, lentil and chickpea varieties, were evaluated during the 2020 and 2021 field seasons at the Montana State University Arthur H. Post Agronomy Farm., Results: Significant PLW pest pressure was observed within the research plots during both experimental years. Field pea and faba bean were preferred by the foliage feeding adult stage, with all but one variety averaging 39.2 to 86.3 average notches per plant. The pea variety Lifter was significantly preferred over all other comparisons, averaging 142.4 and 95.0 notches per plant in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Adult PLW feeding on lentil and chickpea was minimal, averaging 3.3 to 8.2 and 0.5 to 1.6 notches per plant, respectively. Numbers of larvae were highest on the roots of pea varieties, a known reproductive host, and almost nil on lentil and chickpea roots. Faba bean is also known as reproductive host, but, unexpectedly, larval populations were also low on the two faba bean varieties., Conclusions: The results from this study provide some limited evidence for alternative IPM strategies for field peas based on host plant tolerance or resistance within the range of varieties tested. Adult preference and larval development of PLW varied between the different pulse crops with field peas and faba beans being the most susceptible and lentils and chickpeas being the least susceptible. Host plant resistance against PLW could provide more sustainable IPM approaches in the future. © 2024 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2024 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.)

Designed for middle and high school students to rate the cultural humility levels among their teachers, this two-study article reports on the development and initial validation of the Cultural Humility Scale for Students (CHS-S), which was adapted from the original Cultural Humility Scale used in psychotherapy. Having cultural humility may facilitate positive teacher-student relationships by preventing or responding to cultural differences when they occur. Study 1 validated the scale's use with a sample of middle school students (N = 1522). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor structure (positive factor and negative factor) with 11 total items. Scalar measurement invariance was supported for gender comparisons. Partial scalar models were supported for race/ethnicity and grade comparisons. Compared with boys, girls reported that their teachers displayed significantly higher levels of positive cultural humility (estimate = 0.19, Cohen's d = 0.16, p = .005). Study 2 extended this work to examine high school students (N = 1612) and provided evidence that teacher cultural humility was predictive of teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ). Results indicated that Black students who rated their teachers as having high cultural humility also reported having significantly more trust in their teachers compared to their White peers (p < .001). In terms of gender, boys who rated their teachers as having lower cultural humility had significantly less trust in their teachers and felt more alienated from their teachers compared to girls (p < .001). Results provide initial evidence that the CHS-S may be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring middle and high school students' perceptions regarding their teachers' cultural humility. Additionally, results suggest that perceived teacher cultural humility is significantly associated with TSRQ (p-values ranged from 0.05 to 0.001 in the areas of Trust, Communication, and Alienation) and could be used to complement evaluations of school climate. Limitations and future directions for research and practice are discussed., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Ascochyta blight (AB) is a destructive disease of the field pea ( Pisum sativum L.) caused by necrotrophic fungal pathogens known as the AB-disease complex. To identify resistant individuals to assist AB resistance breeding, low-cost, high throughput, and reliable protocols for AB screening are needed. We tested and optimized three protocols to determine the optimum type of pathogen inoculum, the optimal development stage for host inoculation, and the timing of inoculation for detached-leaf assays. We found that different plant development stages do not affect AB infection type on peas, but the timing of inoculation affects the infection type of detached leaves due to wound-induced host defense response. After screening nine pea cultivars, we discovered that cultivar Fallon was immune to A. pisi but not to A. pinodes or the mixture of the two species. Our findings suggest that AB screening can be done with any of the three protocols. A whole-plant inoculation assay is necessary for identifying resistance to stem/node infection. Pathogen inoculation must be completed within 1.5 h post-detachment to avoid false positives of resistance for detach-leaf assays. It is essential to use a purified single-species inoculum for resistant resource screenings to identify the host resistance to each single species.

Legumes have played an important part in cropping systems since the dawn of agriculture, both as human food and as animal feed. The legume family is arguably one of the most abundantly domesticated crop plant families. Their ability to symbiotically fix nitrogen and improve soil fertility has been rewarded since antiquity and makes them a key protein source. The pea was the original model organism used in Mendel's discovery of the laws of inheritance, making it the foundation of modern plant genetics. This Special Issue provides up-to-date information on legume biology, genetic advances, and the legacy of Mendel.

Genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to identify loci associated with agronomic (days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, seed yield and seed weight), seed morphology (shape and dimpling), and seed quality (protein, starch, and fiber concentrations) traits of field pea ( Pisum sativum L.). A collection of 135 pea accessions from 23 different breeding programs in Africa (Ethiopia), Asia (India), Australia, Europe (Belarus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Lithuania, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine and United Kingdom), and North America (Canada and USA), was used for the GWAS. The accessions were genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). After filtering for a minimum read depth of five, and minor allele frequency of 0.05, 16,877 high quality SNPs were selected to determine marker-trait associations (MTA). The LD decay (LD 1/2max,90 ) across the chromosomes varied from 20 to 80 kb. Population structure analysis grouped the accessions into nine subpopulations. The accessions were evaluated in multi-year, multi-location trials in Olomouc (Czech Republic), Fargo, North Dakota (USA), and Rosthern and Sutherland, Saskatchewan (Canada) from 2013 to 2017. Each trait was phenotyped in at least five location-years. MTAs that were consistent across multiple trials were identified. Chr5LG3&#95;566189651 and Chr5LG3&#95;572899434 for plant height, Chr2LG1&#95;409403647 for lodging resistance, Chr1LG6&#95;57305683 and Chr1LG6&#95;366513463 for grain yield, Chr1LG6&#95;176606388, Chr2LG1&#95;457185, Chr3LG5&#95;234519042 and Chr7LG7&#95;8229439 for seed starch concentration, and Chr3LG5&#95;194530376 for seed protein concentration were identified from different locations and years. This research identified SNP markers associated with important traits in pea that have potential for marker-assisted selection towards rapid cultivar improvement., (Copyright © 2019 Gali, Sackville, Tafesse, Lachagari, McPhee, Hybl, Mikić, Smýkal, McGee, Burstin, Domoney, Ellis, Tar'an and Warkentin.)

New graduate nurses frequently identify mock codes as anxiety-provoking events for them. Mock codes practiced in a safe environment can help ease nurses' anxiety and build confidence. Although one academic medical center has provided mock code experiences for several years, the new graduate nurses requested more practice time. Recent evidence identified deliberate practice as an alternative way to practice skills repeatedly and efficiently. Deliberate practice for mock codes was implemented and has been evaluated positively.