Late-maturity α-amylase (LMA): exploring the underlying mechanisms and end-use quality effects in wheat.

MAIN CONCLUSION: A comprehensive understanding of LMA from the underlying molecular aspects to the end-use quality effects will greatly benefit the global wheat industry and those whose livelihoods depend upon it. Late-maturity α-amylase (LMA) leads to the expression and protein accumulation of high pI α-amylases during late grain development. This α-amylase is maintained through harvest and leads to an unacceptable low falling number (FN), the wheat industry's standard measure for predicting end-use quality. Unfortunately, low FN leads to significant financial losses for growers. As a result, wheat researchers are working to understand and eliminate LMA from wheat breeding programs, with research aims that include unraveling the genetic, biochemical, and physiological mechanisms that lead to LMA expression. In addition, cereal chemists and quality scientists are working to determine if and how LMA-affected grain impacts end-use quality. This review is a comprehensive overview of studies focused on LMA and includes open questions and future directions.

Genotyping by multiplexed sequencing (GMS): A customizable platform for genomic selection.

As genotyping technologies continue to evolve, so have their throughput and multiplexing capabilities. In this study, we demonstrate a new PCR-based genotyping technology that multiplexes thousands of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers with high-throughput capabilities in a simple protocol using a two-step PCR approach. The bioinformatic pipeline is user friendly and yields results that are intuitive to interpret. This method was tested on two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations that had previous genotyping data from the Illumina Infinium assay for Triticum aestivum L. and the two data sets were found to be 100% in agreement. The genotyping by multiplexed sequencing (GMS) protocol multiplexes 1,656 wheat SNP markers, 207 syntenic barley SNP markers, and 49 known informative markers, which generate a possible 2,433 data points (including homoeoalleles and paralogs). This genotyping approach has the flexibility of being sequenced on either the Ion Torrent or Illumina next generation sequencing (NGS) platforms. Products are the result of direct sequencing and are therefore more reliable than scatter plot analysis which is the output of other genotyping methods such as the Illumina Infinium assay, komeptitive allele specific PCR and other like technologies.