Hordeum marinum Huds. is a waterlogging-tolerant wild relative of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Greater root porosity (gas volume per root volume) and formation of a barrier to reduce root radial O2 loss (ROL) contribute to the waterlogging tolerance of H. marinum and these traits are evident in some H. marinum-wheat amphiploids. We evaluated root porosity, ROL patterns and tolerance to hypoxic stagnant conditions for 10 various H. marinum (two accessions) disomic chromosome addition (DA) lines in wheat (two varieties), produced from two H. marinum-wheat amphiploids and their recurrent wheat parents. None of the DA lines had a barrier to ROL or higher root porosity than the wheat parents. Lack of a root ROL barrier in the six DA lines for H. marinum accession H21 in Chinese Spring (CS) wheat indicates that the gene(s) for this trait do not reside on one of these six chromosomes; unfortunately, chromosome 3 of H. marinum has not been isolated in CS. Unlike the H21-CS amphiploid, which formed a partial ROL barrier in roots, the H90-Westonia amphiploid and the four derived DA lines available did not. The unaltered root aeration traits in the available DA lines challenge the strategy of using H. marinum as a donor of these traits to wheat.

Hypertension is a major public health problem globally in both the developed and developing countries. In Bangladesh, approximately 20% of adult and 40–65% of elderly people suffer from hypertension. According to Non Communicable Disease risk factors survey, one third of the Bangladeshi population never measured their blood pressure. The prevalence of self reported hypertension was 12.5% (men 10.9% and women 13.9%). Many risk factors underlying hypertension have been identified including non- modifiable factors such as age, gender, genetic factors, and race, as well as modifiable factors including overweight, high sodium intake, and reduced physical activity. The aim of this review was to present the scenery of hypertension and as well as present the exponential trend of hypertension in Bangladesh. We included 9 studies for the review that met the inclusion criteria and study objectives. Analyses of exponential trend reveled an increase in hypertension prevalence among adult population at a rate of 0.04 (R=0.33) per year. This review studies have demonstrated that interventions aimed at changing these modifiable factors might contribute to prevent the development of hypertension. Cardiovasc. j. 2015; 8(1): 59-64

Wheat is only moderately tolerant of salinity and is sensitive to waterlogging. Salt and waterlogging tolerance in wheat might be improved by wide hybridization with more stress tolerant wild relatives in the Triticeae.

Wheat is only moderately tolerant of salinity and is sensitive to waterlogging. Salt and waterlogging tolerance in wheat might be improved by wide hybridization with more stress tolerant wild relatives in the Triticeae.Wide hybridization between the waterlogging-tolerant halophyte Hordeum marinum and nine wheat cultivars (Triticum spp.) produced amphiploids containing all chromosomes from H. marinum and the wheat parent.The amphiploids had lower Na+, higher K+, and a much higher K+:Na+ ratio in leaves than the respective wheat parent, and several also had less leaf injury, when grown in saline conditions. Growth responses of two amphiploids (one with a bread wheat cv. Westonia and one with a durum wheat cv. Tamaroi) were studied in a range of salinity and waterlogging treatments over 25 d. Growth of the H90-Tamaroi amphiploid was greater than Tamaroi at 100-300 mM NaCl, whereas the H90-Westonia amphiploid was not different from Westonia, although both amphiploids had higher leaf K+:Na+ ratios. Under a combination of waterlogging and salinity, both amphiploids were superior to the wheat parents.This study demonstrates the potential of genes from H. marinum to improve the salt and waterlogging tolerance of wheat.

Background and aims Wheat is only moderately tolerant of salinity and is sensitive to waterlogging. Salt and waterlogging tolerance in wheat might be improved by wide hybridization with more stress tolerant wild relatives in the Triticeae. Methods Wide hybridization between the waterlogging-tolerant halophyte Hordeum marinum and nine wheat cultivars ( Triticum spp.) produced amphiploids containing all chromosomes from H. marinum and the wheat parent. Results The amphiploids had lower Na + , higher K + , and a much higher K + :Na + ratio in leaves than the respective wheat parent, and several also had less leaf injury, when grown in saline conditions. Growth responses of two amphiploids (one with a bread wheat cv. Westonia and one with a durum wheat cv. Tamaroi) were studied in a range of salinity and waterlogging treatments over 25 d. Growth of the H90-Tamaroi amphiploid was greater than Tamaroi at 100–300 mM NaCl, whereas the H90-Westonia amphiploid was not different from Westonia, although both amphiploids had higher leaf K + :Na + ratios. Under a combination of waterlogging and salinity, both amphiploids were superior to the wheat parents. Conclusions This study demonstrates the potential of genes from H. marinum to improve the salt and waterlogging tolerance of wheat.

• Wide hybridization of waterlogging-tolerant Hordeum marinum with wheat (Triticum aestivum) to produce an amphiploid might be one approach to improve waterlogging tolerance in wheat. • Growth, root aerenchyma and porosity, and radial oxygen loss (ROL) along roots were measured in four H. marinum-wheat amphiploids and their parents (four accessions of H. marinum and Chinese Spring wheat) in aerated or stagnant nutrient solution. A soil experiment was also conducted. • Hordeum marinum maintained shoot dry mass in stagnant nutrient solution, whereas the growth of wheat was markedly reduced (40% of aerated control). Two of the four amphiploids were more tolerant than wheat (shoot dry masses of 59-72% of aerated controls). The porosity of adventitious roots when in stagnant solution was higher in H. marinum (19-25%) and the four amphiploids (20-24%) than in wheat (16%). In stagnant solution, adventitious roots of H. marinum formed a strong ROL barrier in basal zones, whereas, in wheat, the barrier was weak. Two amphiploids formed a strong ROL barrier and two formed a moderate barrier when in stagnant solution. • This study demonstrates the transfer of higher root porosity and a barrier to ROL from H. marinum to wheat through wide hybridization and the production of H. marinum-wheat amphiploids.

Author(s): Malik1,2,3, AI; English1,2, JP; Shepherd1,4, KA; Islam2,5, AKMR; Colmer1,2, TD | Abstract: Saline agricultural lands are often prone to waterlogging. H. marinum accessions were collected from the grain-belt of Western Australia and evaluated for tolerance to salinity, O2-deficiency, and these two stresses combined. The H. marinum accessions showed variation in tolerance, but were all substantially more tolerant than wheat (cv. Chinese Spring). All H. marinum accessions were better able to maintain [K+] in leaves when exposed to salinity, compared with wheat. H. marinum formed a barrier to ROL in adventitious roots when grown in stagnant, O2-deficient solution, by contrast wheat lacked a barrier. In summary, compared with wheat, H. marinum was less affected by saline and waterlogging alone; and also by these stress combined.

This paper presents a review of projects undertaken over the past 2 decades aimed at improving the yield and/ or quality attributes of translocation lines carrying rust resistance genes from species related to wheat, so as to make these lines more suitable for use in breeding programs. Homeologous recombination between the alien chromosome segments and normal wheat chromosomes was induced in a ph1bph1b background. Lines with shortened alien chromatin were selected using dissociation patterns of molecular-based markers. A new line of bread wheat was developed containing a shortened chromosome 1RS segment carrying rust resistance gene SrR (Secale cereale L.), in which a defect affecting dough- quality appears to have been deleted. In addition, several advanced lines were produced with modified 6Ae#1L chromosome segments with Sr26 (Thinopyrum ponticum), 2S#1 chromosome segments with Sr32, and a previously unnamed gene, a 2S#2 chromosome segment with Sr39 (Triticum speltoides), 4G#1 chromosome segments with Sr37, and 2G#2 chromosome segments with Sr40 (T. timopheevii).

Growth, grain production, and physiological traits were evaluated for Hordeum marinum, Triticum aestivum (cv. Chinese Spring), and a H. marinum-T. aestivum amphiploid, when exposed to NaCl treatments in a nutrient solution. H. marinum was more salt tolerant than T. aestivum and the amphiploid was intermediate, both for vegetative growth and relative grain production. H. marinum was best able to 'exclude' Na(+) and Cl(-), particularly at high external NaCl. At 300 mM NaCl, concentrations of Na(+) (153 micromol g(-1) dry mass) and Cl(-) (75 micromol g(-1) dry mass) in the youngest fully-expanded leaf blade of H. marinum were, respectively, only 7% and 4% of those in T. aestivum; and in the amphiploid the Na(+) and Cl(-) concentrations were 39% and 36% of those in T. aestivum. Glycinebetaine and proline concentrations in the youngest fully-expanded leaf blade of plants exposed to 200 mM NaCl were highest in H. marinum (128 and 60 micromol g(-1) dry mass, respectively), lowest in T. aestivum (85 and 37 micromol g(-1) dry mass), and intermediate in the amphiploid (108 and 54 micromol g(-1) dry mass). Thus, salt tolerance of H. marinum was expressed in the H. marinum-T. aestivum amphiploid.

A new method for screening wheat for boron tolerance has been developed to overcome the problems of methods used in the past. Seedlings were grown for 10 days while suspended over B-rich solutions. Their root lengths were then measured as an index of tolerance. Five varieties of wheat were screened at seven concentrations of B. Results were obtained more quickly and easily than from the alternative methodologies and compared favourably. Screening of 128 doubled haploid lines from a cross between Halberd and (Wl*MMC) suggested that transgressive segregation had occurred.

The genetic constitution of fifteen materials derived from the cross wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. "Chinese Spring") X barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. "Betzes") was analyzed, and six disomic alien substitution lines were screened by GISH. The chromosome configurations in pollen mother cells at meiotic metaphase I (PMCs M I) of F, from each disomic substitution line respectively crossed with double ditelocentric lines 2A, 2B and 2D of "Chinese Spring" were observed, and a set of wheat-barley disomic alien substitution lines 2H(A), 2H(B) and 2H(D) were obtained. The RFLP analysis with the probe psr131 on the short arm of wheat homeologous group 2 combining with four restriction enzymes were carried out. The results indicated that the probe psr131 could be used as molecular marker to tag the barley chromosome 2H. The barley chromosome 2H had good genetic compensation ability for wheat chromosomes 2B and 2D in vitality and other agronomic characters. The result of testing seed was that the wheat appearance starch quality had been changed from the half-farinaceous of "Chinese Spring" to the half-cutin of substitution lines by transferring the barley chromosome 2H to wheat.

Boron is an essential plant micro-nutrient which can be phytotoxic to plants if present in soils in high concentration. Boron toxicity has been recognised as an important problem limiting production in the low rainfall areas of southern Australia, West Asia and North Africa. Genetic variation for boron toxicity tolerance in wheat has been well-characterised. The efficiency of breeding for boron toxicity tolerance could be greatly enhanced by the development of molecular markers associated with QTLs for tolerance in wheat. A population of 161 doubled haploids from a cross between the tolerant cultivar Halberd and the moderately sensitive cultivar Cranbrook was used to identify chromosomal regions involved in boron tolerance. A combined RFLP and AFLP linkage map of the Cranbrook x Halberd population was used to identify chromosomal regions involved in the boron tolerance traits measured. Regions on chromosome 7B and 7D were associated with leaf symptom expression. The region on chromosome 7B was also associated with the control of boron uptake and with a reduction in the effect of boron toxicity on root-growth suppression. RFLP markers at the chromosome 7B and 7D loci were shown to be effective in selecting for improved boron tolerance in an alternative genetic background. Halberd alleles at the chromosome 7B locus were associated with the concentration of boron in whole shoots and grain. The concentration of boron in whole shoots and in grain were both related to grain yield in a field trial conducted on soil containing toxic levels of boron. Implications relating to marker-assisted selection for boron toxicity tolerance in wheat are discussed.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is potentially a new source of genes for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) improvement. Wheat-barley chromosome recombinant lines provide a means for introgressing barley genes to wheat genome by chromosome engineering, and since these are expected to occur only rarely in special cytogenetic stocks, an efficient selection skill is necessary to identify them. To convert RFLP markers to barley allele-specific PCR markers useful for effective production of wheat-barley recombinant lines, 91 primer sets derived from RFLP clones which were previously mapped to the barley chromosomes were examined for PCR amplification using 'Chinese Spring' wheat, 'Betzes' barley and the wheat-barley chromosome addition lines. The polymorphisms were detected by an agarose gel electrophoresis of the PCR products without digestion with restriction enzymes. Out of 81 primer sets producing polymorphisms between the wheat and barley genomes, 26 amplified barley chromosome-specific DNAs which were confirmed to be located on the same chromosome as the RFLP markers by using the wheat-barley chromosome addition lines. These amplified DNAs represent barley allele-specific amplicons, which distinguish barley alleles from their wheat homoeologous counterparts. The present investigation revealed a higher probability for obtaining allele-specific amplicons from genomic DNA-derived RFLP markers than from cDNA-derived ones. The barley allele-specific amplicons developed in this study, namely, four for chromosome 2H, two for 3H, seven for 4H, eight for 5H, one for 6H and four for 7H, are suitable for identifying 'Chinese Spring' wheat- 'Betzes' barley recombinant chromosomes. However, one out of eight barley allele-specific amplicons on chromosome 5H did not detect a unique barley band in a 'New Golden' barley chromosome 5H addition line of 'Shinchunaga' wheat, indicating there may be a need to reconstruct allele-specific amplicons with different barley cultivars.

Boron toxicity has been recognised as an important problem limiting production in the low-rainfall regions of southern Australia, West Asia and North Africa. Genetic variation for boron toxicity tolerance in barley has been characterised but the mode of inheritance and the location of genes controlling tolerance were not previously known. A population of 150 doubled-haploid lines from a cross between a boron toxicity tolerant Algerian landrace, Sahara 3771, and the intolerant Australian cultivar Clipper was screened in four tolerance assays. An RFLP linkage map of the Clipper×Sahara population was used to identify chromosomal regions associated with boron tolerance in barley. Interval regression-mapping allowed the detection of four chromosomal regions involved in the boron tolerance traits measured. A region on chromosome 2H was associated with leaf-symptom expression, a region on chromosome 3H was associated with a reduction of the affect of boron toxicity on root growth suppression, a region on chromosome 6H was associated with reduced boron uptake, and a region on chromosome 4H was also associated with the control of boron uptake as well as being associated with root-length response, dry matter production and symptom expression. The benefits and potential of marker-assisted selection for boron toxicity tolerance are discussed.

The cereal cyst nematode (CCN), Heterodera avenae Woll., is an economically damaging pest of barley in many of the world’s cereal-growing areas. The development of CCN-resistant cultivars may be accelerated through the use of molecular markers. A number of resistance genes against the pest are well known; one of them, the single dominant Ha 2 resistance gene, has been shown to be effective against the Australian pathotype and maps to chromosome 2 of barley. Segregation analysis identified two restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers flanking the resistance gene in two doubled-haploid populations of barley. AWBMA 21 and MWG 694 mapped 4.1 and 6.1 cM respectively from the Ha 2 locus in the Chebec×Harrington cross and 4.0 and 9.2 cM respectively in the Clipper×Sahara cross. Analysis of a further seven sources of CCN resistance in the form of near-isogenic lines (NILs) indicates that all available sources of resistance to the Australian pathotype of CCN in barley represent the Ha 2 locus.

Introgression of chromosomal segments across large taxonomic distances has long been an objective of scientists interested in understanding the relationships between genes and their effect on phenotype. Barley and wheat represent cultivated members of the Triticeae with different zones of adaptation, different responses to pathogens, and different end-use characteristics. Introduction of small, well-characterized chromosomal segments among grass relatives presents an opportunity to both better understand how genes perform in novel genomic environments and to learn more about the evolutionary novelties which differentiate related species. Since the distribution of the wheat-barley addition lines, the potential power and value of a comprehensive series of wheat/barley translocation lines has been widely appreciated. A scarcity of easy-to-use markers which unambiguously distinguish barley loci from their wheat homologues has limited the ability of scientists to identify the relatively rare inter-chromosomal recombination events which are the necessary antecedents of these lines. Since the single most critical pathogen affecting U.S. wheat producers is Karnal bunt (Tilletia indica) and since barley carries a gene conferring immunity, molecular markers may prove practically and immediately important. In this report we describe a series of 135 barley-specific markers amplified by 115 primer sets developed from sequences from previously mapped restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers. These easily distinguish the cognate barley products from their wheat counterparts and should find ready use in the identification of lines which contain wheat/barley translocation events.