Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) cultivars with genetic reduction in seed phytate concentration will be a valuable resource to livestock producers both nutritionally and economically, as well as in the preservation of the environment. However, due to association with reduced seed germination and field emergence potential, low phytate (LP) soybean cultivars are not being advanced to commercializa...

Meloidogyne javanica is an important nematode pest of pigeonpea. Thirty-four pigeonpea cultivars and 227 germplasm accessions were evaluated for resistance to M. javanica based on number of galls, egg masses, size of galls, and area of root covered with galls. Galls were not formed on 75% of the cultivars, and no egg masses were observed on the roots of four cultivars (UPAS 120, Pant A3, CO 1, ...

The incidence of clavicipitaceous anamorphic endophytes, non-choke inducing endosymbiotic fungi of the genus Neotyphodium that systemically infect grasses, in eighteen Hordeum species from the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System was examined using light and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Seventeen plant inventory accessions from only three Hordeum species, including H. bogdanii, H. brevis...

Knowing the extent and structure of genetic variation in germplasm collections is essential for the conservation and utilization of biodiversity in cultivated plants. Cucumber is the fourth most important vegetable crop worldwide and is a model system for other Cucurbitaceae, a family that also includes melon, watermelon, pumpkin and squash. Previous isozyme studies revealed a low genetic diver...

The need for the conservation of plant genetic resources has been widely accepted. Germplasm characterization and evaluation yield information for more efficient utilization of these valuable resources. The aim of the present study was to characterize the pea germplasm conserved at the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute of Turkey using morphological and simple sequence repeat (SSR)-based mo...

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L., 2n = 2x = 12) is an economically important vegetable crop worldwide and one of the healthiest vegetables due to its high concentrations of nutrients and minerals. The objective of this research was to conduct genetic diversity and population structure analysis of a collection of world-wide spinach genotypes using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers. Gen...

Plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is an important apple, Malus domestica Borkh., pest that significantly hinders sustainable apple production in eastern North America. The potential for host plant resistance to plum curculio among apple germplasm has never been rigorously evaluated. Thus, studies were conducted to assess the susceptibility of a number o...

Foxtail millet (Setariaitalica L.) is a tractable experimental model crop for studying functional genomics of millets and bioenergy grasses. But the limited availability of genomic resources, particularly expressed sequence-based genic markers is significantly impeding its genetic improvement. Considering this, we attempted to develop EST-derived-SSR (eSSR) markers and utilize them in germplasm...

The fragility of a single-source, geographically concentrated supply of natural rubber, a critical material of the modern economy, has brought guayule ( ​Parthenium argentatum​ A. Gray) to the forefront as an alternative source of natural rubber. The improvement of guayule for commercial-scale production has been limited by the lack of genomic tools and well-characterized genetic resources requ...

The characterization of genetic divergence and relationships of a set of germplasm is essential for its efficient applications in crop breeding and understanding of the origin/evolution of crop varieties from a given geographical region. As the largest rice producing country in Europe, Italy holds rice germplasm with abundant genetic diversity. Although Italian rice varieties and the traditiona...