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Cultivated beet (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris) originated from sea beet (B. vulgaris ssp. maritima (L.) Arcang), a wild beet species widely distributed along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, as well as northern Africa. Understanding the evolution of sea beet will facilitate its efficient use in sugarbeet improvement. We used SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) covering the whole genome to analyze 599 sea beet accessions collected from the north Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea coasts. All B. maritima accessions can be grouped into eight clusters with each corresponding to a specific geographic region. Clusters 2, 3 and 4 with accessions mainly collected from Mediterranean coasts are genetically close to each other as well as to Cluster 6 that contained mainly cultivated beet. Other clusters were relatively distinct from cultivated beets with Clusters 1 and 5 containing accessions from north Atlantic Ocean coasts, Clusters 7 and Cluster 8 mainly have accessions from northern Egypt and southern Europe, and northwest Morocco, respectively. Distribution of B. maritima subpopulations aligns well with the direction of marine currents that was considered a main dynamic force in spreading B. maritima during evolution. Estimation of genetic diversity indices supported the formation of B. maritima subpopulations due to local genetic drift, historic migration, and limited gene flow. Our results indicated that B. maritima originated from southern Europe and then spread to other regions through marine currents to form subpopulations. This research provides vital information for conserving, collecting, and utilizing wild sea beet to sustain sugarbeet improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentusMoench) is valued for its edible green seed pods. Twenty-five okra genotypes were sown to determine the genetic variability for 10 yield- and quality-related traits. Minor differences between genotypic and phenotypic variance indicated low environmental variance. All traits were positively correlated with yield per plant except for photosynthetic-active radiation and carbohydrate percentage, which exhibited a negative association. Cluster analysis grouped genotypes in three clusters; cluster 1 consisted of five genotypes; cluster 2 consisted of 13, and cluster 3 consisted of seven. The three principal components explained 63.5% of total existing genetic variability. Selection from genotypes in cluster 1 had high genetic diversity, which results in high pod yield. The genotype Diksha could be used for developing plants with good quality fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments were conducted to develop an efficient maize regeneration system using mature and immature embryos of four maize elite lines (Agaiti-85, Golden, Soneri and Sultan). The comparative studies revealed that all maize lines were responsive to callus and plant regeneration from mature and immature embryos. The culture medium Chu's N6 was used in both experiments. Immature embryos efficiently produced callus and regenerated plants therefore, when cultured on medium supplemented with 2,4-D, kinetin, 6-BAP and IBA at concentrations of 2 mL L-1, 0.2, 0.2 and 0.3 g L-1, respectively. However, callus-to-plant regeneration system for mature embryos required these growth regulators at higher concentrations (5 mL L-1, 0.4 g L-1, 0.5 g L-1 and 0.6 g L-1, respectively). The regeneration frequencies ranged from 40 to 75% using immature embryos, compared to 55 to 80% from immature embryos of all elite lines of maize under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]