Exploring the relationship between grain yield and heading date traits and their
stability parameters at phenotypic, genetic, and molecular levels is the milestone for
improving yield and adaptation in barley. We evaluated a mapping population
comprising 298 doubled haploid lines in multienvironmental trials in Egypt.
Composite interval mapping revealed 35 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with four
pleiotropic QTLs. A major QTL bPb-9110 (140.3 cM on 3H) with a peak LOD greater
than 24 was found to be associated with the stability statistics bi and R2 of heading
date. Additionally, the marker bPb-1213 on 1H was correlated to heading date, grain
yield, and the statistic bi (GYP). We also found that the gene HvFT4 (2H, 66 cM) had
a significant impact on the heading date due to the presence of exotic alleles. This
gene was closely linked to the photoperiod Ppd-H1 gene by 24.9 cM, and both genes
play a major role in regulating flowering time in barley. Our results provide evidence
that stability statistics pinpoint genetic control and appear promising for
marker-assisted selection.

The present study investigated the influence of the quail diet polluted with aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) and its detoxification by using clay as a feed additive on the growth performance and some blood biochemical components of growing Japanese quail with reference to sex. A total number of 120 Japanese quail chicks (1 week old), was randomly divided into 10 groups (24 chicks/ group). A 5 × 2 factorial arrangement experiment was performed and included five levels of AFB₁ (0 ppm, 1 mg/kg AFB₁, 1 mg/kg AFB₁ + 1% clay, 2 mg/kg AFB₁ and 2 mg/kg AFB₁ + 1% clay) and two sexes. Birds fed with aflatoxin free diet had significantly (P ≤ 0.05 and 0.01) higher final live body weight, weight gain and lower mortality rate than the other groups. Addition of 1% clay significantly (P ≤ 0.05 and 0.01) improved the growth performance traits and diminished aflatoxin effect when compared to groups without the addition of clay. Obtained results indicated significant (P ≤ 0.05) differences between the two sexes in their response to aflatoxicosis in the final live body weight and weight gain. Our results showed significant (P ≤ 0.01) changes in all blood biochemicals (total protein, albumin, globulin, total cholesterol, creatinine, uric acid) and activities of serum enzymes studied due to the toxicity of AFB₁. Conclusively, the consumption of polluted diets with AFB₁ caused deleterious effects on the growth performance and blood biochemicals components of Japanese quail, while dietary addition of natural clay to the diet of growing Japanese quail caused beneficial effects.

In this study, the physicochemical characteristics of camel's milk (CM) obtained from different arid and semi-arid regions in Egypt, including Aswan, Luxor, and Shalateen, were investigated. No significant differences were recorded in pH values. Significant differences were recorded in the titratable acidity (%). The milk samples collected from Luxor area had the highest value. Significant differences were recorded in total solids (TS) content between the camel milk samples. The camel milk samples collected from Aswan area have the highest values in fat, protein, and ash content. For the Luxor, Aswan, and Shalateen regions, antioxidant activity (%) and total phenolic compound content were 77.31, 69.14, 73.94%, and 1.48, 1.60, and 1.74 mg/100 g, respectively. In raw camel milk (CM), vitamin C content was recorded at 24.9, 26.03, and 21.92 mg/100g for the Luxor, Aswan, and Shalateen regions, respectively. On the other hand, the results were 13.69, 14.31, and 12.05 for the Luxor, Aswan, and Shalateen regions, respectively, after the pasteurization process. The amounts of K and Na were 1132, 1321, 1217, and 574, 702, and 621 mg/100g for the Luxor, Aswan, and Shalateen regions, respectively

Sweet corn was originally due to the recessive allele sugary1 (su1). Sweet corn breeders frequently use field corn genotypes for broadening the narrow genetic base of sweet corn but they have to deal with the reduced viability of su1 plants within some field corn genetic backgrounds. Emergence and seedling vigor are the most critical traits affecting the viability of su1 plants. In two populations of RILs involving sweet corn inbred lines developed from B73 × P39 and B73 × IL14 h, a net natural selection was revealed acting against the su1 allele. In the field, 27 QTLs were detected for the RILs released from B73 × P39 and 24 QTLs for those from B73 × IL14 h, while different numbers of QTLs were detected in growth chamber trials, depending on the seed origin and evaluation conditions that were not consistent across genotypes or environments. The viability of su1 is under genetic and environmental controls with significant additive effects that are probably due to multiple genes with minor contribution. There are specific genes involved in the mutant viability and these genes depend not only on the mutant and the environment but also on the genetic background into which the mutant is introduced. Some of the QTLs identified in this study explained large proportions of variance and could be used by sweet corn breeders in breeding new genotypes from field × sweet corn crosses.

Climate change and global warming have become the most significant challenges to the agricultural production worldwide, especially in arid and semiarid areas. The main purpose of plant breeding programs now is to produce a genetically wide range of genotypes that can withstand the adverse effects of climate change. Moreover, farmers have to reallocate their cultivars due to their ability to tolerate unfavorable conditions. During this study, two field experiments and climate analysis based on 150 years of data are conducted to reallocate some genotypes of bread wheat in respect to climate change based on their performance under drought stress conditions. Climatic data indicate that there is an increase in temperature over all Egyptian sites coupled with some changes in rain amount. Among the tested cultivars, cultivar Giza 160 was the perfect one, while cultivar Masr 03 was the weakest one. Susceptibility indices are a good tool for discovering the superior genotypes under unfavorable conditions and, interestingly, some of the cultivars with high performance were among the superior cultivars in more than one of the tested traits in this study. Finally, combining the climatic data and the experimental data, we can conclude that cultivars Giza 160 and Sakha 94 are suitable for growning in zones with harsh environments, such as the eastern desert and southern Egypt, while cultivars Gemmeza 11, Sahel 01, Sakha 98, Sids 12, and Sakha 93 are suitable for growning in zones with good growing conditions, such as the Nile Delta region and northern Egypt

Background

Appropriate flowering time is very important to the success of modern agriculture. Maize (Zea mays L.) is a major cereal crop, originated in tropical areas, with photoperiod sensitivity. Which is an important obstacle to the utilization of tropical/subtropical germplasm resources in temperate regions. However, the study on the regulation mechanism of photoperiod sensitivity of maize is still in the early stage. Although it has been previously reported that ZmCCT is involved in the photoperiod response and delays maize flowering time under long-day conditions, the underlying mechanism remains unclear.

Results

Here, we showed that ZmCCT overexpression delays flowering time and confers maize drought tolerance under LD conditions. Implementing the Gal4-LexA/UAS system identified that ZmCCT has a transcriptional inhibitory activity, while the yeast system showed that ZmCCT has a transcriptional activation activity. DAP-Seq analysis and EMSA indicated that ZmCCT mainly binds to promoters containing the novel motifs CAAAAATC and AAATGGTC. DAP-Seq and RNA-Seq analysis showed that ZmCCT could directly repress the expression of ZmPRR5 and ZmCOL9, and promote the expression of ZmRVE6 to delay flowering under long-day conditions. Moreover, we also demonstrated that ZmCCT directly binds to the promoters of ZmHY5, ZmMPK3, ZmVOZ1 and ZmARR16 and promotes the expression of ZmHY5 and ZmMPK3, but represses ZmVOZ1 and ZmARR16 to enhance stress resistance. Additionally, ZmCCT regulates a set of genes associated with plant development.

Conclusions

ZmCCT has dual functions in regulating maize flowering time and stress response under LD conditions. ZmCCT negatively regulates flowering time and enhances maize drought tolerance under LD conditions. ZmCCT represses most flowering time genes to delay flowering while promotes most stress response genes to enhance stress tolerance. Our data contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory mechanism of ZmCCT in controlling maize flowering time and stress response.

This study was carried out during 2011 and 2012 seasons on "Manfalouty" pomegranate cv. grown at the experimental orchard of Pomology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University. The objectives of this study were examining the effects of pre-harvest spray with CaCl2 (4%) and GA3 (100 ppm) as well as post-harvest treatments with jasmine oil (2.5 cm3 /L), olive oil (2.5 cm3 /L), fiber gard (20 cm3 /L) and wrapping individually fruit with food polyolefin stretch as an improving effect in physicochemical characteristics of "Manfalouty" pomegranate cv. during storage under room temperature (22+5°C). The experiments were set up on split-plot arrangements in complete randomized block design (CRBD), with three replicates, 20 fruits each. According to the obtained results of this study, it could be deduced that pre-harvest spray with GA3 (100 ppm) gave in general, the best results on improving physical and chemical characteristics, followed by CaCl2 (4%) during the two growth seasons, as well as wrapping individually fruits with food polyolefin stretch gave the best quality during shelf-life period, followed by dipping fruits in both jasmine oil or olive oil and fiber gard during fruit storage under room temperature. Therefore, the authors recommended with wrapping individually fruits to keep fruits with good quality during fruit storage under room temperature.