Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.5
4.0
Journals
Plants
Special Issues
Cereal Crop Breeding
share announcement

Cereal Crop Breeding

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Physiology and Crop Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 22130

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jindong Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Wheat Improvement Centre, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: breeding; genetics; marker-assisted selection; wheat
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yamei Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Agriculture, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
Interests: breeding; genetics; marker-assisted selection; molecular biology; rice
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yingjun Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Cereal and Oil Crops, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China
Interests: genetics; wheat; maize; molecular breeding; bioinformatics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cereal crops, such as wheat, maize, rice, barley, etc., are the main food source worldwide. Cereals occupy nearly 75% of the total acreage and provide over half of the world’s caloric consumption. Benefiting from modern breeding technology, cereal yields have increased significantly in the past half century. However, recent studies have shown that the global annual increase for major crops has slowed down to around 1% after entering the 21st century.

Breeding varieties with a higher yield, quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress is the environmental and friendly approach to food security. Breeding methods are various, and include traditional and modern breeding technologies. The development of biotechnology, molecular biology, genomics and genome editing effectively improved breeding efficiency. All of the above approaches require genetic resources and germplasms. However, an urgent issue for modern cultivars is the narrowing of genetic diversity due to domestication and selection. Thus, marker-assisted selection (MAS) based on QTLs or genes (identified by forward and reverse genetics) is important for crop breeding. Breakthroughs in breeding techniques (genomic selection, genome editing, etc.), the new data from traditional agronomic breeding methods and the quality of grain production are also recommended topics for this Special Issue. The research topics will mainly focus on theoretical and applied research that facilitates cereal breeding. We welcome submissions of original research and review articles addressing the following issues, but you are not limited to these topics:

  1. Genetic analysis to uncover the complex quantitative traits (particularly, quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress).
  2. The MAS breeding, genomic selection/prediction and molecular design breeding for cereal crops.
  3. The new data from traditional agronomic breeding methods and the quality of grain production.
  4. The domestication and selection signatures for cereal crops.
  5. Identifying the desired allelic variants or breeding available haplotypes.
  6. The technological advances in molecular breeding.

Dr. Jindong Liu
Dr. Yamei Wang
Dr. Yingjun Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • breeding
  • cereal crops
  • marker-assisted selection (MAS)
  • genes
  • quality
  • yield

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (9 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

14 pages, 3794 KiB  
Article
Genotypic Differences in Morphological, Physiological and Agronomic Traits in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in Response to Drought
by Qingqing Wang, Yi Wu, Suleiman Fatimoh Ozavize, Cheng-Wei Qiu, Paul Holford and Feibo Wu
Plants 2024, 13(2), 307; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13020307 - 20 Jan 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2013
Abstract
Drought is one of the main environmental factors affecting crop growth, and breeding drought-tolerant cultivars is one of the most economic and effective ways of increasing yields and ensuring sustainable agricultural production under drought stress. To facilitate the breeding of drought-tolerant wheat, this [...] Read more.
Drought is one of the main environmental factors affecting crop growth, and breeding drought-tolerant cultivars is one of the most economic and effective ways of increasing yields and ensuring sustainable agricultural production under drought stress. To facilitate the breeding of drought-tolerant wheat, this study was conducted to evaluate genotypic differences in the drought tolerance of 334 wheat genotypes collected from China and Australia with the aim of screening for drought-tolerant and -sensitive genotypes and to elucidate the corresponding physiological mechanisms. A hydroponic-air experiment (roots exposed to air for 7 h/d and continued for 6 d) showed significant genotypic differences in shoot and root dry weights among the genotypes. The relative shoot and root dry weights, expressed as the percentage of the control, showed a normal distribution, with variation ranges of 20.2–79.7% and 32.8–135.2%, respectively. The coefficients of variation were in the range of 18.2–22.7%, and the diversity index was between 5.71 and 5.73, indicating a rich genetic diversity among the wheat genotypes for drought tolerance. Using phenotypic differences in relative dry weights in responses to drought stress, 20 of each of the most drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive genotypes were selected; these were further evaluated in pot experiments (watering withheld until the soil moisture content reached four percent). The results showed that the trends in drought tolerance were consistent with the hydroponic-air experiment, with genotypes W147 and W235 being the most drought-tolerant and W201 and W282 the most sensitive. Significant genotypic differences in water use efficiency in response to drought were observed in the pot experiment, with the drought-tolerant genotypes being markedly higher and the two sensitive genotypes being no different from the control. A marked increase in bound water content in the drought stress plants was observed in the two drought-tolerant genotypes, while a decrease occurred in the free water. The reductions in photochemical efficiencies of PSII, transpiration rates, net photosynthesis rates, chlorophyll contents and stomatal conduction in the drought-sensitive genotypes W201 and W282 under drought stress were higher than the two tolerant genotypes. This study provides a theoretical guide and germplasm for the further genetic improvement of drought tolerance in wheat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cereal Crop Breeding)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 2895 KiB  
Article
Uncovering Novel QTLs and Candidate Genes for Salt Tolerance at the Bud Burst Stage in Rice through Genome-Wide Association Study
by Caijing Li, Changsheng Lu, Mengmeng Yang, Guangliang Wu, Mvuyeni Nyasulu, Haohua He, Xiaopeng He and Jianmin Bian
Plants 2024, 13(2), 174; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13020174 - 8 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1451
Abstract
Salt stress is one of the most important factors limiting rice growth and yield increase. Salt tolerance of rice at the bud burst (STB) stage determines whether germinated seeds can grow normally under salt stress, which is very important for direct seeding. However, [...] Read more.
Salt stress is one of the most important factors limiting rice growth and yield increase. Salt tolerance of rice at the bud burst (STB) stage determines whether germinated seeds can grow normally under salt stress, which is very important for direct seeding. However, reports on quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and candidate genes for STB in rice are very limited. In this study, a natural population of 130 indica and 81 japonica rice accessions was used to identify STB-related QTLs and candidate genes using a genome-wide association study (GWAS). Nine QTLs, including five for relative shoot length (RSL), two for relative root length (RRL), and two for relative root number (RRN), were identified. Five of these STB-related QTLs are located at the same site as the characterized salt tolerance genes, such as OsMDH1, OsSRFP1, and OsCDPK7. However, an important QTL related to RSL, qRSL1-2, has not been previously identified and was detected on chromosome 1. The candidate region for qRSL1-2 was identified by linkage disequilibrium analysis, 18 genes were found to have altered expression levels under salt stress through the RNA-seq database, and 10 of them were found to be highly expressed in the shoot. It was also found that, eight candidate genes (LOC_Os01g62980, LOC_Os01g63190, LOC_Os01g63230, LOC_Os01g63280, LOC_Os01g63400, LOC_Os01g63460, and LOC_Os01g63580) for qRSL1-2 carry different haplotypes between indica and japonica rice, which exactly corresponds to the significant difference in RSL values between indica and japonica rice in this study. Most of the accessions with elite haplotypes were indica rice, which had higher RSL values. These genes with indica-japonica specific haplotypes were identified as candidate genes. Rice accessions with elite haplotypes could be used as important resources for direct seeding. This study also provides new insights into the genetic mechanism of STB. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cereal Crop Breeding)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 6594 KiB  
Article
Effects of Salt Stress on Grain Yield and Quality Parameters in Rice Cultivars with Differing Salt Tolerance
by Zhikang Li, Tianyang Zhou, Kuanyu Zhu, Weilu Wang, Weiyang Zhang, Hao Zhang, Lijun Liu, Zujian Zhang, Zhiqin Wang, Baoxiang Wang, Dayong Xu, Junfei Gu and Jianchang Yang
Plants 2023, 12(18), 3243; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12183243 - 12 Sep 2023
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2998
Abstract
Rice yield and grain quality are highly sensitive to salinity stress. Salt-tolerant/susceptible rice cultivars respond to salinity differently. To explore the variation in grain yield and quality to moderate/severe salinity stress, five rice cultivars differing in degrees of salt tolerance, including three salt-tolerant [...] Read more.
Rice yield and grain quality are highly sensitive to salinity stress. Salt-tolerant/susceptible rice cultivars respond to salinity differently. To explore the variation in grain yield and quality to moderate/severe salinity stress, five rice cultivars differing in degrees of salt tolerance, including three salt-tolerant rice cultivars (Lianjian 5, Lianjian 6, and Lianjian 7) and two salt-susceptible rice cultivars (Wuyunjing 30 and Lianjing 7) were examined. Grain yield was significantly decreased under salinity stress, while the extent of yield loss was lesser in salt-tolerant rice cultivars due to the relatively higher grain filling ratio and grain weight. The milling quality continued to increase with increasing levels. There were genotypic differences in the responses of appearance quality to mild salinity. The appearance quality was first increased and then decreased with increasing levels of salinity stress in salt-tolerant rice but continued to decrease in salt-susceptible rice. Under severe salinity stress, the protein accumulation was increased and the starch content was decreased; the content of short branched-chain of amylopectin was decreased; the crystallinity and stability of the starch were increased, and the gelatinization temperature was increased. These changes resulted in the deterioration of cooking and eating quality of rice under severe salinity-stressed environments. However, salt-tolerant and salt-susceptible rice cultivars responded differently to moderate salinity stress in cooking and eating quality and in the physicochemical properties of the starch. For salt-tolerant rice cultivars, the chain length of amylopectin was decreased, the degrees of order of the starch structure were decreased, and pasting properties and thermal properties were increased significantly, whereas for salt-susceptible rice cultivars, cooking and eating quality was deteriorated under moderate salinity stress. In conclusion, the selection of salt-tolerant rice cultivars can effectively maintain the rice production at a relatively high level while simultaneously enhancing grain quality in moderate salinity-stressed environments. Our results demonstrate specific salinity responses among the rice genotypes and the planting of salt-tolerant rice under moderate soil salinity is a solution to ensure rice production in China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cereal Crop Breeding)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 2013 KiB  
Communication
OsGSTU17, a Tau Class Glutathione S-Transferase Gene, Positively Regulates Drought Stress Tolerance in Oryza sativa
by Jinyan Li, Lijun Meng, Shuohan Ren, Chunying Jia, Ruifang Liu, Hongzhen Jiang and Jingguang Chen
Plants 2023, 12(17), 3166; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12173166 - 4 Sep 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2004
Abstract
As a great threat to the normal growth of rice, drought not only restricts the growth of rice, but also affects its yield. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) have antioxidant and detoxification functions. In rice, GSTs can not only effectively cope with biological stress, but [...] Read more.
As a great threat to the normal growth of rice, drought not only restricts the growth of rice, but also affects its yield. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) have antioxidant and detoxification functions. In rice, GSTs can not only effectively cope with biological stress, but also play a defense role against abiotic stress. In this study, we selected OsGSTU17, a member gene that was induced by drought, to explore the role of GSTs and analyze their physiological mechanisms that are involved in rice drought tolerance. With the CRISPR/Cas9 knockout system techniques, we obtained two independent mutant lines of osgstu17. After 14 days of drought stress treatment, and then re-supply of the water for 10 days, the survival rate of the osgstu17 mutant lines was significantly reduced compared to the wild-type (WT). Similarly, with the 10% (w/v) PEG6000 hydroponics experiment at the seedling stage, we also found that compared with the WT, the shoot and root biomass of osgstu17 mutant lines decreased significantly. In addition, both the content of the MDA and H2O2, which are toxic to plants, increased in the osgtu17 mutant lines. On the other hand, chlorophyll and proline decreased by about 20%. The activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase, which react with peroxides, also decreased by about 20%. Under drought conditions, compared with the WT, the expressions of the drought stress-related genes OsNAC10, OsDREB2A, OsAP37, OsP5CS1, OsRAB16C, OsPOX1, OsCATA, and OsCATB in the osgtu17 mutant lines were significantly decreased. Finally, we concluded that knocking out OsGSTU17 significantly reduced the drought tolerance of rice; OsGSTU17 could be used as a candidate gene for rice drought-tolerant cultivation. However, the molecular mechanism of OsGSTU17 involved in rice drought resistance needs to be further studied. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cereal Crop Breeding)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 2464 KiB  
Article
The Identification of a Yield-Related Gene Controlling Multiple Traits Using GWAS in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.)
by Yizhong Zhang, Xinqi Fan, Du Liang, Qi Guo, Xiaojuan Zhang, Mengen Nie, Chunhong Li, Shan Meng, Xianggui Zhang, Peng Xu, Wenqi Guo, Huiyan Wang, Qingshan Liu and Yuxiang Wu
Plants 2023, 12(7), 1557; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12071557 - 4 Apr 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2400
Abstract
Sorghum bicolor (L.) is one of the oldest crops cultivated by human beings which has been used in food and wine making. To understand the genetic diversity of sorghum breeding resources and further guide molecular-marker-assisted breeding, six yield-related traits were analyzed for 214 [...] Read more.
Sorghum bicolor (L.) is one of the oldest crops cultivated by human beings which has been used in food and wine making. To understand the genetic diversity of sorghum breeding resources and further guide molecular-marker-assisted breeding, six yield-related traits were analyzed for 214 sorghum germplasm from all over the world, and 2,811,016 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers were produced by resequencing these germplasms. After controlling Q and K, QTLs were found to be related to the traits using three algorisms. Interestingly, an important QTL was found which may affect multiple traits in this study. It was the most likely candidate gene for the gene SORBI_3008G116500, which was a homolog of Arabidopsis thaliana gene-VIP5 found by analyzing the annotation of the gene in the LD block. The haplotype analysis showed that the SORBI_3008G116500hap3 was the elite haplotype, and it only existed in Chinese germplasms. The traits were proven to be more associated with the SNPs of the SORBI_3008G116500 promoter through gene association studies. Overall, the QTLs and the genes identified in this study would benefit molecular-assisted yield breeding in sorghum. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cereal Crop Breeding)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 7194 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Profiling of Aconitase Gene Family Members Reveals Their Roles in Plant Development and Adaptation to Diverse Stress in Triticum aestivum L.
by Mahipal Singh Kesawat, Bhagwat Singh Kherawat, Chet Ram, Anupama Singh, Prajjal Dey, Jagan Singh Gora, Namrata Misra, Sang-Min Chung and Manu Kumar
Plants 2022, 11(24), 3475; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11243475 - 12 Dec 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3154
Abstract
Global warming is a serious threat to food security and severely affects plant growth, developmental processes, and, eventually, crop productivity. Respiratory metabolism plays a critical role in the adaptation of diverse stress in plants. Aconitase (ACO) is the main enzyme, which catalyzes the [...] Read more.
Global warming is a serious threat to food security and severely affects plant growth, developmental processes, and, eventually, crop productivity. Respiratory metabolism plays a critical role in the adaptation of diverse stress in plants. Aconitase (ACO) is the main enzyme, which catalyzes the revocable isomerization of citrate to isocitrate in the Krebs cycle. The function of ACO gene family members has been extensively studied in model plants, for instance Arabidopsis. However, their role in plant developmental processes and various stress conditions largely remained unknown in other plant species. Thus, we identified 15 ACO genes in wheat to elucidate their function in plant developmental processes and different stress environments. The phylogenetic tree revealed that TaACO genes were classified into six groups. Further, gene structure analysis of TaACOs has shown a distinctive evolutionary path. Synteny analysis showed the 84 orthologous gene pairs in Brachypodium distachyon, Aegilops tauschii, Triticum dicoccoides, Oryza sativa, and Arabidopsis thaliana. Furthermore, Ka/Ks ratio revealed that most TaACO genes experienced strong purifying selection during evolution. Numerous cis-acting regulatory elements were detected in the TaACO promoters, which play a crucial role in plant development processes, phytohormone signaling, and are related to defense and stress. To understand the function of TaACO genes, the expression profiling of TaACO genes were investigated in different tissues, developmental stages, and stress conditions. The transcript per million values of TaACOs genes were retrieved from the Wheat Expression Browser Database. We noticed the differential expression of the TaACO genes in different tissues and various stress conditions. Moreover, gene ontology analysis has shown enrichment in the tricarboxylic acid metabolic process (GO:0072350), citrate metabolic process (GO:0006101), isocitrate metabolic process GO:0006102, carbohydrate metabolic (GO:0005975), and glyoxylate metabolic process (GO:0046487). Therefore, this study provided valuable insight into the ACO gene family in wheat and contributed to the further functional characterization of TaACO during different plant development processes and various stress conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cereal Crop Breeding)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 4983 KiB  
Article
Effects of Different Fertilizer Treatments, Environment and Varieties on the Yield-, Grain-, Flour-, and Dough-Related Traits and Cookie Quality of Weak-Gluten Wheat
by Hongya Wu, Zunjie Wang, Xiao Zhang, Junchan Wang, Wenjing Hu, Hui Wang, Derong Gao, Edword Souza and Shunhe Cheng
Plants 2022, 11(23), 3370; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11233370 - 4 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2071
Abstract
Weak-gluten wheat is the main raw material for crisp and soft foods such as cookies, cakes, and steamed breads in China. However, it remains challenging to find an appropriate fertilization regime to balance the yield and quality of wheat for special uses (such [...] Read more.
Weak-gluten wheat is the main raw material for crisp and soft foods such as cookies, cakes, and steamed breads in China. However, it remains challenging to find an appropriate fertilization regime to balance the yield and quality of wheat for special uses (such as cookie making). Here, four nitrogen (N) fertilizer treatments were compared in terms of effects on the yield-, grain-, flour-, and dough-related traits and cookie quality of nine weak-gluten wheat varieties. Compared with other treatments, the treatment M (which had 180 kg ha−1 N fertilizers with basal fertilizer:tillering fertilizer:jointing fertilizer = 5:1:4) was a superior fertilization strategy as it could ensure a higher yield (4.46 kg block−1) and proper traits related to cookie quality. Moreover, environmental conditions and wheat genotypes exhibited significant effects on many quality-related traits. The quality of Chinese crisp biscuits showed a significant association with unit weight, redness, and solvent retention capacity in lactic acid solution, while that of American cookies was influenced by thousand-grain weight, hardness, rate of yield flour, and formation time as indicated by the Mantel test. Additional Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated that thousand-grain weight, hardness, and rate of yield flour can affect the quality of American cookies. Our findings demonstrate that it is necessary to comprehensively consider local conditions, variety selection, and optimal fertilization to achieve high-quality weak-gluten wheat for cookie making. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cereal Crop Breeding)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

19 pages, 2490 KiB  
Review
Genomics for Yield and Yield Components in Durum Wheat
by Francesca Taranto, Salvatore Esposito and Pasquale De Vita
Plants 2023, 12(13), 2571; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12132571 - 7 Jul 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2296
Abstract
In recent years, many efforts have been conducted to dissect the genetic basis of yield and yield components in durum wheat thanks to linkage mapping and genome-wide association studies. In this review, starting from the analysis of the genetic bases that regulate the [...] Read more.
In recent years, many efforts have been conducted to dissect the genetic basis of yield and yield components in durum wheat thanks to linkage mapping and genome-wide association studies. In this review, starting from the analysis of the genetic bases that regulate the expression of yield for developing new durum wheat varieties, we have highlighted how, currently, the reductionist approach, i.e., dissecting the yield into its individual components, does not seem capable of ensuring significant yield increases due to diminishing resources, land loss, and ongoing climate change. However, despite the identification of genes and/or chromosomal regions, controlling the grain yield in durum wheat is still a challenge, mainly due to the polyploidy level of this species. In the review, we underline that the next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies coupled with improved wheat genome assembly and high-throughput genotyping platforms, as well as genome editing technology, will revolutionize plant breeding by providing a great opportunity to capture genetic variation that can be used in breeding programs. To date, genomic selection provides a valuable tool for modeling optimal allelic combinations across the whole genome that maximize the phenotypic potential of an individual under a given environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cereal Crop Breeding)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 1438 KiB  
Review
Current Progress and Future Prospect of Wheat Genetics Research towards an Enhanced Nitrogen Use Efficiency
by Yun Zhao, Shahidul Islam, Zaid Alhabbar, Jingjuan Zhang, Graham O’Hara, Masood Anwar and Wujun Ma
Plants 2023, 12(9), 1753; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12091753 - 25 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2684
Abstract
To improve the yield and quality of wheat is of great importance for food security worldwide. One of the most effective and significant approaches to achieve this goal is to enhance the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in wheat. In this review, a comprehensive [...] Read more.
To improve the yield and quality of wheat is of great importance for food security worldwide. One of the most effective and significant approaches to achieve this goal is to enhance the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in wheat. In this review, a comprehensive understanding of the factors involved in the process of the wheat nitrogen uptake, assimilation and remobilization of nitrogen in wheat were introduced. An appropriate definition of NUE is vital prior to its precise evaluation for the following gene identification and breeding process. Apart from grain yield (GY) and grain protein content (GPC), the commonly recognized major indicators of NUE, grain protein deviation (GPD) could also be considered as a potential trait for NUE evaluation. As a complex quantitative trait, NUE is affected by transporter proteins, kinases, transcription factors (TFs) and micro RNAs (miRNAs), which participate in the nitrogen uptake process, as well as key enzymes, circadian regulators, cross-talks between carbon metabolism, which are associated with nitrogen assimilation and remobilization. A series of quantitative genetic loci (QTLs) and linking markers were compiled in the hope to help discover more efficient and useful genetic resources for breeding program. For future NUE improvement, an exploration for other criteria during selection process that incorporates morphological, physiological and biochemical traits is needed. Applying new technologies from phenomics will allow high-throughput NUE phenotyping and accelerate the breeding process. A combination of multi-omics techniques and the previously verified QTLs and molecular markers will facilitate the NUE QTL-mapping and novel gene identification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cereal Crop Breeding)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-9
Back to TopTop