A Genome-Wide Association Study Pinpoints Quantitative Trait Genes for Plant Height, Heading Date, Grain Quality, and Yield in Rye (Secale cereale L.).

Rye is the only cross-pollinating Triticeae crop species. Knowledge of rye genes controlling complex-inherited traits is scarce, which, currently, largely disables the genomics assisted introgression of untapped genetic variation from self-incompatible germplasm collections in elite inbred lines for hybrid breeding. We report on the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) in rye based on the phenotypic evaluation of 526 experimental hybrids for plant height, heading date, grain quality, and yield in 2 years and up to 19 environments. We established a cross-validated NIRS calibration model as a fast, effective, and robust analytical method to determine grain quality parameters. We observed phenotypic plasticity in plant height and tiller number as a resource use strategy of rye under drought and identified increased grain arabinoxylan content as a striking phenotype in osmotically stressed rye. We used DArTseq™ as a genotyping-by-sequencing technology to reduce the complexity of the rye genome. We established a novel high-density genetic linkage map that describes the position of almost 19k markers and that allowed us to estimate a low genome-wide LD based on the assessed genetic diversity in elite germplasm. We analyzed the relationship between plant height, heading date, agronomic, as well as grain quality traits, and genotype based on 20k novel single-nucleotide polymorphism markers. In addition, we integrated the DArTseq™ markers in the recently established 'Lo7' reference genome assembly. We identified cross-validated SNPs in 'Lo7' protein-coding genes associated with all traits studied. These include associations of the WUSCHEL-related homeobox transcription factor DWT1 and grain yield, the DELLA protein gene SLR1 and heading date, the Ethylene overproducer 1-like protein gene ETOL1 and thousand-grain weight, protein and starch content, as well as the Lectin receptor kinase SIT2 and plant height. A Leucine-rich repeat receptor protein kinase and a Xyloglucan alpha-1,6-xylosyltransferase count among the cross-validated genes associated with water-extractable arabinoxylan content. This study demonstrates the power of GWAS, hybrid breeding, and the reference genome sequence in rye genetics research to dissect and identify the function of genes shaping genetic diversity in agronomic and grain quality traits of rye. The described links between genetic causes and phenotypic variation will accelerate genomics-enabled rye improvement.

Multicentre prospective observational study on professional wound care using honey (Medihoney™).

In recent years, the treatment of wounds with honey has received an increasing amount of attention from healthcare professionals in Germany and Austria. We conducted a prospective observational multicentre study using Medihoney™ dressings in 10 hospitals - nine in Germany and one in Austria. Wound-associated parameters were monitored systematically at least three times in all patients. Data derived from the treatment of 121 wounds of various aetiologies over a period of 2 years were analysed. Almost half of the patients were younger than 18 years old, and 32% of the study population was oncology patients. Overall, wound size decreased significantly during the study period and many wounds healed after relatively short time periods. Similarly, perceived pain levels decreased significantly, and the wounds showed noticeably less slough/necrosis. In general, our findings show honey to be an effective and feasible treatment option for professional wound care. In addition, our study showed a relationship between pain and slough/necrosis at the time of recruitment and during wound healing. Future comparative trials are still needed to evaluate the extent to which the positive observations made in this and other studies can definitely be attributed to the effects of honey in wound care.

Antioxidant capacity in cultivated and wild Solanum species: the effect of wound stress.

Wild potatoes are of increasing interest as a gene pool in breeding. In this study, 23 genotypes of two cultivated (S. tuberosum subsp. andigena, S. phureja) and two wild Solanum species (S. chacoense, S. pinnatisectum) were evaluated for contents of soluble phenols and soluble proteins as well as their antioxidant capacity measured as ascorbic acid and trolox equivalent. Amounts of phenols present in tuber tissue ranged from 0.25 to 2.84 mg kg(-1) fw. On average, S. pinnatisectum (pnt) exhibited 3.9-fold greater quantities of phenols in its tuber tissue than the other Solanum species. In pnt tissue, high phenol content coincided with high levels of soluble proteins and antioxidants. It is concluded that an involvement of individual accessions of pnt in breeding could be profitable for the antioxidant potential and thus for the nutritional value of new potato cultivars. The results also revealed that soluble phenols as well as proteins present in tuber tissue substantially contributed to the total antioxidant capacity of potatoes. Moreover, it was found that quantities of soluble phenols, proteins and antioxidants increased notably upon wounding the tubers, a fact which underlines the role of all these components in wound stress responses of potatoes.