Cloning and functional analysis of soluble acid invertase 2 gene (SbSAI-2) in sorghum.

MAIN CONCLUSION: The sorghum soluble acid invertase gene SbSAI-2 was cloned and the function verified in Pichia pastoris and rice, showing the SbSAI-2 affects composition and content of sugar in stem juice. Sugar metabolism is one of the most important metabolic processes in plants, in which soluble acid invertase plays a key role. However, the structure and function of the soluble acid transferase gene in sorghum are still fully unclear. In this study, SbSAI-2 was cloned from the sorghum variety BTx623, and two transcripts were found through sequence analysis, with only one transcript translated into an active protein. There is 72% homology between SbSAI-2 and OsVIN2. The construction of Osvin2 mutant lines and SbSAI-2-1 overexpression lines in Oryza sativa L. japonica. cv. Nipponbare were produced to clarify the invertase functionality. While the invertase activity in the stem of the Osvin2 mutant line was reduced, with no significant difference (P > 0.05), and the contents of fructose and glucose in stem tissue did not change significantly (P > 0.05), and the content of sucrose increased by 38.89% (P < 0.01). In SbSAI-2-1 overexpression lines, the invertase activity in stem was increased by more than 20 times (P < 0.01). The contents of glucose and fructose in stem tissues were increased by two and three times, respectively (P < 0.01), while the content of sucrose was significantly decreased, which was below the detection limit (P < 0.01). This study indicated that SbSAI-2 is a key enzyme related to sucrose metabolism and affects the composition and content of sugar in stems. The result provided further the gene function verification and laid a foundation for the development of molecular markers.

Change of soluble acid invertase gene (SAI-1) haplotype in hybrid sorghum breeding program in China.

Sugar metabolism is the most important and core one which drives plant growth and development. Invertases are key enzymes that regulate sugar metabolism. A still-growing number of studies have revealed that invertases play a crucial role in various aspects of plant growth and development. Crop yield is the product of sugar metabolism; it could be deduced that invertase also regulated the yield formation. So we have done a series of research on soluble acid invertase in sweet sorghum from enzyme activity to gene cloning and functional marker development. In this paper, we sequenced full length of SAI-1 gene in 69 grain sorghum parent lines, trying to see how it differs in their gene sequences and their distribution in related hybrid varieties released in the past. To our surprise, the result showed that B-lines and restore lines (R-line) have almost different SAI-1 haplotype distribution. The change of haplotype of SAI-1 gene is associated with yield gain as with grain sorghum breeding progress, which proved that SAI-1 may take a very important role in yield formation. And we also found the SAI-1 gene tends to become shorter as with the breeding advance, which means short sequence in introns, while exon remains unchanged leading to higher gene efficiency. The best SAI-1 haplotype combination of sorghum hybrid was also found for different planting regions. These findings are of great significance for improving breeding efficiency, understanding heterosis, and germplasm enhancement. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-021-01231-2.

Interpretation of genotype-environment-sowing date/plant density interaction in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] in early mature regions of China.

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is an important crop for food security in semiarid and arid regions due to its high tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses and its good performance in marginal lands with relatively low fertility. To deeply understand the interrelationship among sorghum genotype, environment, sowing dates, and densities in the spring sowing early maturing (SSEM) areas of China, and to provide a basis for specifying scientific and reasonable cultural practices, a two-year field experiment was conducted with six popular varieties at six locations. Combined ANOVA showed that the yield difference between years was significant (P<0.05); the yield differences among locations, varieties, sowing dates, and densities were all highly significant (P<0.01). The variety effect was mainly influenced by location, year, sowing dates and their interactions. The sowing effect was mainly influenced by the location, year, variety and their interactions The plant density effect was significantly influenced by location and location-year interaction. Of the contributions of various test factors to yield variance, the location was the largest one (38.18%), followed by variety (12.31%), sowing date (1.53%), density (0.54%), and year (0.09%), with all these single factors accounting for 52.65%. The total contribution of all two-factor interactions accounted for 14.24%, among which the greatest contributor was location-hybrid interaction (8.07%). The total contribution of all three-factor interactions accounted for 14.58%, of which year-location-hybrid interaction was the largest contributor (9.02%). Sowing dates significantly affected model of sorghum growth and development, especially during the late period. The key climatic factors affecting yield were different among the six locations. Weather factors during the grain filling stages contributed much more than those during the early stage to grain yield. Mid-maturing varieties are recommended other than early maturing varieties for the SSEM areas even when late sowing occurs. Sowing as early as possible is recommended for areas with very short frost-free period (Harbin, Tongliao, and Datong). Proper delayed sowing is recommended for areas with a relative long frost-free period (Gongzhuling, Baicheng and Zhangjiakou). This research will provide a conducive reference for sorghum production in similar areas.

Interaction of genotype-ecological type-plant spacing configuration in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] in China.

Grain sorghum has been a significant contributor to global food security since the prehistoric period and may contribute even more to the security of both food and energy in the future. Globally, precise management techniques are crucial for increasing grain sorghum productivity. In China, with diverse ecological types, variety introduction occasionally occurs across ecological zones. However, few information is available on the effect of ecological type on genotype performance and how plant spacing configuration influences grain yield in various ecological zones. Hence, a series of two-year field experiments were conducted in 2020 and 2021 in four ecological zones of China, from the northeast to the southwest. The experiments included six widely adapted sorghum varieties under six plant spacing configurations (two row spacing modes: equidistant row spacing (60 cm) mode and wide (80 cm)-narrow (40 cm) row spacing mode; three in-row plant spacings: 10 cm, 15 cm, and 20 cm). Our results indicated that ecological type, variety, and plant spacing configuration had a significant effect on sorghum yield. Ecological type contributed the highest proportion to the yield variance (49.8%), followed by variety (8.3%), while plant spacing configuration contributed 1.8%. Sorghum growth duration was highly influenced by the ecological type, accounting for 87.2% of its total variance, whereas plant height was mainly affected by genotype, which contributed 81.6% of the total variance. All test varieties, developed in the south or north, can reach maturity within 94-108 d, just before fall sowing in central China. Generally, sorghum growth duration becomes longer when a variety is introduced from south to north. A late-maturing variety, developed in the spring sowing and late-maturing regions, possibly could not reach maturity in the early-maturing region. The row spacing modes had no significant affect on sorghum yield, but the equal-row spacing mode consistently caused higher yields with only one exception; this might imply that equal-row spacing mode was more advantageous for boosting sorghum yield potential. In contrast, decreasing in-row plant spacing showed significant positive linear associations with sorghum grain yield in most cases. In addition, these results demonstrated that sorghum is a widely adapted crop and enables success in variety introduction across ecological zones.

[Rapid determination of fatty acids in soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] by FT-near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy].

Current breeding programs dealing with fatty acid (FA) concentrations in soybean [Glycine max (L. ) Merr.] require large numbers for gas chromatographic analyses, thus it is important to develop a method for rapid determination of fatty acid by Near-Infrared Reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) in soybeans. The objective of this work was to study the potential of fourier-transform near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (FT-NIRS) to estimate the fatty acid concentrations in Chinese soybean varieties. One hundred and eight of soybean cultivars or lines (the calibration set: 64; the external validation set: 44) were scanned within 4000-12500 cm(-1) of wavenumbers using a standard sample cup by NIRS machinery, and analyzed the fatty acids by gas chromatograph (GC) methods. Equations were developed using partial least squares (PLS) regression and cross validation for multivariate calibration in this study. The optimal spectral region was selected from 6101.9 to 5446.5 cm(-1) based on the OPUS 5.0 software. Cross validation results showed that major FA components such as oleic acid (R2(CV) = 0.94), linoleic acid (R2(CV) = 0.87), linolenic acid (R2(CV) = 0.85), and total saturates (R2(CV) = 0.88) were accurately determined by the proposed equations as compared with the reference data obtained by the GC method. External validation results also demonstrated that equation for oleic acid had the highest predictive ability R(2)val = 0.91), root mean square error of predication (RMSEP) value was 2.47 g x kg(-1) dry weight, the ratios of RMSEP to the standard deviation (SD) was 0.29, which was usable for quality assurance application. Moreover, equations for palmitic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, and total saturates were predicted with the determination coefficients ranging from 0.66 to 0.76, RMSEP values from 0.37 to 2.74 g x kg(-1) dry weight, and RMSEP/SD values from 0.47 to 0.53, which could be used for sample screening. Therefore, we confirmed that a reliable estimation of the major fatty acid components is possible by using NIRS technique in soybeans.

[Development of a new type soybean germplasm with null lipoxygenase isozymes].

Soybean protein is a kind of high-quality protein composed of balanced amino acids. It contains all kinds of amino acids, especially eight amino acids necessary for human, but also contains some components that are not good for human and affect food quality, such as Lipoxygenase (Lox) and Trypsin inhibitor (Ti). Nutritional value and processing quality of soybean can be improved by means of development of new variety with null Lox and Ti. In this paper, a new type soybean germplasm with null lipoxygenase isozymes was developed by Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences through years of biochemical marker assistant selection for null lipoxygenase by means of isoelectric focusing-polyacrylamid gel electrophoresis (IEF-PAGE) in the hybrid progenies of "96P17" (Female parent, a null lipoxygenase 2.3 line) and "93704" (Male parent, a null lipoxygenase 1.3 line). It is the first new soybean germplasm with null Lox1.2.3 genes in our country, which will contribute to soybean breeding for high quality, soybean production and utilization. In this paper, the development process of new type soybean germplasm is described.

[Development of new soybean germplasm with null lipoxygenase and Kunitz trypsin inhibitor genes].

Soybean is one of the most important sources of plant protein for human. Soybean protein is a kind of high-quality protein composed of balanced amino acids, which contains all kinds of amino acids, especially 8 amino acids necessary for human. But it also contains some components that are not good for human and affect food quality, such as lipoxygenase (Lox) and trypsin inhibitor (Ti). Those are important anti-nutritious factors. Nutritional value and processing quality of soybean can be improved by means of development of new variety with null Lox and Ti. In this paper, new soybean germplasms that pyramided multiple genes of high quality, null lipoxygenase and trypsin inhibitor genes (Ix1, Ix2, Ix3 and ti) were developed by means of cross and biochemical marker-assisted selection of progenies for null lipoxygenase and trypsin inhibitor genes using known Lox and Ti markers (protein markers). Female parents were soybean varieties Ludou 4, Zhongpin 661, Yudou 8,91D15, wei8640 popularized in Huanghuaihai Plain. Male parents were varieties introduced from US, trypsin-inhibitor (Ti)-deficient varieties P. I. L83-4387 and near isogenic lines of varieties Century for lipoxygenase (Lox)-deficient genes, Century-2 (Ix2), Century-2.3 (Ix2Ix3) and Century-1.3 (Ix1 Ix3). These new germplasms will promote soybean breeding for improved quality production,and utilization.

[Development of a new soybean variety with null trypsin inhibitor and lipoxygenase 2.3 genes--zhonghuang 16 and its cultivation practices].

Soybean protein is a kind of high-quality protein composed of balanced amino acids, which contains all kinds of amino acid, especially 8 amino acids necessary for human, but also contains some components that are not good for human and affect food quality, such as Trypsin inhibitor and Lipoxygenase. Nutritional value and processing quality of soybean can be improved by means of development of new variety with null Lox and Ti. In this paper, a new soybean variety Zhonghuang 16 (originally name as Zhongzuo 96-952) was developed by Institute of Crop Breeding and Cultivation Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences through years of biochemical marker assistant selection for null trypsin inhibitor by Native-polyacrylamid gel electrophoresis (Native-PAGE) and null lipoxygenase by means of isoelectric focusing-polyacrylamid gel electrophoresis (IEF-PAGE) in the hybrid progenies of "ti15176" (Female parent)--a high-yielding, mosaic virus resistant and null trypsin inhibitor line and "Century-2.3" (Male parent)--a null lipoxygenase near isogene line of an elite American variety "Century". This variety was subjected to Beijing regional trial for summer-sowing soybean during 1999-2000, and to Beijing demonstration test in 2001. In 2002, it was passed the examination and approval by the Beijing Committee of Crop Variety Examination and Approval because of its outstanding characteristics such as high and stable yielding, good quality (high protein and fat content, high protein content and good protein quality-null Ti and Lox2.3), disease resistant and good general character. It is the first new soybean variety with null Ti and Lox2.3 genes in our country. In this paper, the development process and cultivation of Zhonghuang 16 were described.