The concentrations of both essential nutrients and chemically similar toxic analogues accumulated in cereal grains have a major impact on the nutritional quality and safety of crops. Naturally occurring genetic diversity can be exploited for the breeding of improved varieties through introgression lines (ILs). In this study, multi-element analysis was conducted on vegetative leaves, senesced fl...

The occurrence of an extra-plastidial isoform of ADP-glucose (Glc) pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) among starch-storing organs was investigated in two ways. First, the possibility that an extra-plastidial isoform arose during the domestication of cereals was studied by comparing the intracellular distribution of enzyme activity and protein in developing endosperm of noncultivated Hordeum species wit...

Early flowering is an important trait influencing grain yield and quality in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in short-season cropping regions. However, due to large and complex genomes of these species, direct identification of flowering genes and their molecular characterization remain challenging. Here, we used a bioinformatic approach to predict flowering-related...

To study genome evolution and diversity in barley (Hordeum vulgare), we have sequenced and compared more than 300 kb of sequence spanning the Rph7 leaf rust disease resistance gene in two barley cultivars. Colinearity was restricted to five genic and two intergenic regions representing <35% of the two sequences. In each interval separating the seven conserved regions, the number and type of rep...

Uniparental chromosome elimination occurs in several interspecific hybrids of plants. We studied the mechanism underlying selective elimination of the paternal chromosomes during the early development of Hordeum vulgare × Hordeum bulbosum embryos. The following conclusions regarding the role of the centromere-specific histone H3 variant (CENH3) in the process of chromosome elimination were draw...

The effects of four environmental stresses of heat, drought, wounding and cell culture, on the transcriptional reactivation of seven long terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTRs) of barley (Hordeum vulgare) genome, were investigated. These LTRs included two Copia-type (Bare and Maximus); and five Gypsy-type (Erika, Jeli, Sabrina, Sukkula1 and Sukkula3) LTRs. RT-qPCR analyses revealed that Erika1...

A system for Egyptian barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv Giza 123) transformation via biolistic bombardment has been established. Immature embryos 1.0-1.5 mm in length were aseptically isolated from barley plants cultivated in the open field. Embryos were then cultured on callus induction medium with scutellum side up. Scutellum derived calli were bombarded with the plasmid pAHC25, containing the ma...

To identify the proteins induced by Fe deficiency, we have compared the proteins of Fe-sufficient and Fe-deficient barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) roots by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Peptide sequence analysis of induced proteins revealed that formate dehydrogenase (FDH), adenine phosphoribosyltransferase, and the lds3 gene product (for Fe deficiency-specific) increased in F...

Nitrate induces the formation of nitrate reductase activity in barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Himalaya) aleurone layers. Previous work has demonstrated de novo synthesis of alpha-amylase by gibberellic acid in the same tissue. The increase in nitrate reductase activity is inhibited by cycloheximide and 6-methylpurine, but not by actinomycin D. Nitrate does not induce alpha-amylase synthesis, an...