Characterization of pea seed nutritional value within a diverse population of Pisum sativum.

Micronutrient malnutrition is a global concern that affects more than two billion people worldwide. Pea (Pisum sativum) is a nutritious pulse crop with potential to assist in tackling hidden hunger. Here we report seed ionomic data of 96 diverse pea accessions collected via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). We found a 100 g serving of peas provides the following average percent daily value for U.S. recommendations: 8% Ca, 39% Mg, 73% Cu, 37% Fe, 63% Mn, 45% Zn, 28% K, and 43% P. Correlations were observed between the majority of minerals tested suggesting strong interrelationships between mineral concentration levels. Hierarchical clustering identified fifteen accessions with high-ranking mineral concentrations. Thirty accessions could be compared to earlier inductively coupled optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) data, which revealed significant differences particularly for elements at extreme low or high levels of accumulation. These results improve our understanding of the range of variation in mineral content found in peas and provide additional mineral data resources for germplasm selection.

Spaceflight-induced alternative splicing during seedling development in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Plants grown in spaceflight experience novel environmental signals, including those associated with microgravity and ionizing radiation. Spaceflight triggers a response involving transcriptional re-programming and altered cell morphology, though many aspects of this response remain uncharacterized. We analyzed the spaceflight-induced transcriptome with a focus on genes that undergo alternative splicing to examine differential splicing associated with spaceflight-an unstudied characteristic of the molecular response to spaceflight exposure. RNA sequence data obtained during the APEX03 spaceflight experiment that was collected from two Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes at two seedling stages grown onboard the International Space Station, or as ground controls at Kennedy Space Center, were re-examined to detect alternative splicing differences induced by spaceflight. Presence/absence variation analysis was used to identify putative expression-level differences in alternatively spliced isoforms between spaceflight and ground controls and was followed by analysis of significant differential alternative splicing. This study provides the first evidence of a role for alternative splicing in the molecular processes of physiological adaptation to the spaceflight environment.

Utilization of single-image normalized difference vegetation index (SI-NDVI) for early plant stress detection.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: An imaging system was refined to monitor the health of vegetation grown in controlled conditions using spectral reflectance patterns. To measure plant health, the single-image normalized difference vegetation index (SI-NDVI) compares leaf reflectance in visible and near-infrared light spectrums. METHODS AND RESULTS: The SI-NDVI imaging system was characterized to assess plant responses to stress before visual detection during controlled stress assays. Images were analyzed using Fiji image processing software and Microsoft Excel to create qualitative false color images and quantitative graphs to detect plant stress. CONCLUSIONS: Stress was detected in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings within 15 min of salinity application using SI-NDVI analysis, before stress was visible. Stress was also observed during ammonium nitrate treatment of Eruca sativa plants before visual detection. Early detection of plant stress is possible using SI-NDVI imaging, which is both simpler to use and more cost efficient than traditional dual-image NDVI or hyper-spectral imaging.