Flowering time and grain filling, regulated by temperature-responsive (vernalization) and day length (photoperiod) genes, are critical factors in wheat production. In this study, we analyzed genetic variation at the VRN-A1, VRN-B1, PPD-A1, PPD-B1, PPD-D1, EPS-A1, EPS-D1, and WAPO-A1 loci in 188 Spanish wheat landraces and compared them to 28 modern cultivars. Growth habit and phenological traits (days to heading and maturity) were assessed in field trials, and the impact of genetic variability on these traits was evaluated. Our results revealed distinct genetic diversity patterns between landraces and modern cultivars and confirmed that the absence of spring alleles at VRN1 loci was necessary for a winter growth habit. Dominant alleles from VRN1 gene (Vrn-A1a, Vrn-A1b, Vrn-B1a) and photoperiod-insensitive alleles from PPD1 gene (Ppd-B1a, Ppd-D1a) consistently promoted early heading and flowering, despite genotype-by-environment (G×E) interactions. Interestingly, Ppd-D1b allele, although classified as photoperiod-insensitive exhibited, delayed flowering likely due to its molecular variation. While allelic variation at EPS1 locus had no significant impact on phenology, results suggested a potential role for WAPO1 in flowering regulation. Our findings highlight the genetic diversity within Spanish wheat landraces, offering valuable genetic resources for optimizing flowering time and improving wheat adaptation to complex agro-climatic conditions.

The Oregon Wolfe Barley (OWB) mapping population (Reg. no. MP-4, NSL 554937 MAP) is a resource for genetics research and instruction. The OWBs are a set of doubled haploid barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) lines developed at Oregon State University from the F1 of a cross between Dr. Robert Wolfe's dominant and recessive marker stocks. Exhibiting a high level of genetic and phenotypic diversity, the OWBs are used throughout the world as a research tool for barley genetics. To date, these endeavors have led to 56 peer-reviewed publications, as well as three reports in the Barley Genetics Newsletter. At the same time, the OWBs are widely used as an instructor resource at the K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels. They are currently used at universities and/or institutes in German, Italy, Norway, Spain, and the United States and are currently being developed further for educational use in other countries. Genotype and phenotype data, lesson plans, and seed availability information are available herein and online.

Based on previous reports, exposure to pesticides could be linked to the prevalence increase of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Gestational exposure to chlorpyrifos (CPF) has been associated with ASD diagnosis in humans and ASD-like behaviors in rodents. However, ASD severity degree results from the complex relationship between genetic background and environmental factors. Thus, animals with a genetic vulnerability and prenatally exposed to CPF could have a more severe ASD-like phenotype. Fragile X syndrome is one of the most common monogenic causes of ASD, characterized by a mutation in the X chromosome which alters the expression of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). Based on this, some fmr1 knockout (KO) rodent models have been developed to study the physiological and genetic basis of ASD. Both fmr1-KO and wild-type male rats (F2 generation) were used in the present study. F1 pregnant females were randomly exposed to 1 mg/kg/mL/day of CPF (s.c.) from GD12.5–15.5 or vehicle. Different behavioral, developmental, and molecular variables were analyzed in F2 males. KO rats were heavier, emitted altered USVs, were socially inefficient, reacted more to a novel stimulus, were hyperactive when exploring a new context, but hypoactive when exploring anxiety-inducing environments, and had an upregulated hippocampal expression of the grin2c gene. When exposed to low doses of CPF during gestation, these KO rats showed decreased climbing capacity, dysfunctional social interaction, and increased hippocampal expression for kcc1 and 5ht2c genes. Gestational CPF exposure increased the ASD-like phenotype in those animals with a genetic vulnerability, although its effect was less generalized than expected. It is the first time that this additive effect of CPF exposure and the fmr1-KO genetic vulnerability model is explored concerning social traits or any other behavior.

CRABS CLAW ( CRC ) orthologues play a crucial role in floral meristem (FM) determinacy and gynoecium formation across angiosperms, key developmental processes for ensuring successful plant reproduction and crop production. Here, we revealed that the incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity of the carpel-inside-carpel phenotype observed in flowers of the tomato fruit iterative growth ( fig ) mutant is due to a lack of function of a homologue of the CRC gene, Solanum lycopersicum CRCa ( SlCRCa ). Likewise, a comprehensive functional analysis of SlCRCa and SlCRCb paralogues, including Arabidopsis complementation experiments, allowed us to propose that they operate as positive regulators of FM determinacy by acting in a compensatory and partially redundant manner to safeguard the proper formation of flowers and fruits. Furthermore, we provide the first evidence for the role of putative CRC orthologues as members of the chromatin remodelling complex that terminates floral stem cell activity by repressing WUSCHEL expression.

The molecular and behavioral effects of the developmental exposure to low doses of Chlorpyrifos (CPF) have been intensively studied in young (neonates and adolescents), and adult animals. However, no study examined influences of developmental CPF exposure in older adult or geriatric rats. This is relevant as such ages are generally linked to cognitive decline and the onset of specific neurodegenerative disorders, some of them previously associated with CPF exposure in both preclinical and human studies. 1 mg/kg/mL of CPF was orally administered to both male and female Wistar rats from Postnatal day 10 to 15. Animals' spatial memory, learning, compulsivity, motricity, and anxiety were analyzed with Morris Water Maze (15-16 months of age) and the Plus-maze (at 18 months of age). Results showed that postnatal CPF exposure did not alter either spatial memory, compulsive-like behaviors, or anxiety levels in late-adult rats. However, CPF exposed rats were hyposensitive to brief disruptions (Probe stage) following the learning phase and showed a general decrease in locomotor activity in both paradigms. These data are relevant as it is the first time that developmental exposure to CPF has been studied at such a late age, observing important effects in locomotor activity that could be linked to specific pathologies previously associated with CPF effects in people. Future studies should extend these findings to other behaviors and molecular outcomes.

After a basic description of the different sets of genetic tools and genomic approaches most relevant for modern crop breeding (e. g., QTL mapping, GWAS and genomic selection; transcriptomics, qPCR and RNA-seq; transgenesis and gene editing), this review paper describes their history and the main achievements in rice, wheat and maize research, with a further focus on crop traits related to the improvement of plant responses to face major abiotic constrains, including nutritional limitations, drought and heat tolerance, and nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE). Remarkable differences have been evidenced regarding the timing and degree of development of some genetic approaches among these major crops. The underlying reasons related to their distinct genome complexity, are also considered. Based on bibliographic records, drought tolerance and related topics (i.e., water-use efficiency) are by far the most abundantly addressed by molecular tools among the breeding objectives considered. Heat tolerance is usually more relevant than NUE in rice and wheat, while the opposite is true for maize.

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a secondary air pollutant and a greenhouse gas, whose concentration has been increasing since the industrial era and is expected to increase further in the near future. O3 molecules can be inhaled by humans and animals, causing significant health problems; they can also diffuse through the leaf stomata of plants, triggering significant phytotoxic damage that entails a weakening of the plant, reducing its ability to cope with other abiotic and biotic stresses. This eventually leads to a reduction in the yield and quality of crops, which is a serious problem as it puts global food security at risk. Due to the importance of this issue, a bibliometric analysis on O3 in the plant research field is carried out through the Web of Science (WoS) database. Different aspects of the publications are analysed, such as the number of documents published per year, the corresponding scientific areas, distribution of documents by countries, institutions and languages, publication type and affiliations, and, finally, special attention is paid to O3 study in plants by means of studies about the word occurrence frequency in titles and abstracts, and the articles most frequently cited. The bibliometric study shows the great effort made by the scientific community in order to understand the damages caused by O3 in plants, which will help reduce the big losses that O3 causes in agriculture.

In the context of a general genetics course, mathematical descriptions of Mendelian inheritance and population genetics are sometimes discouraging and students often have serious misconceptions. Innovative strategies in expositive classes can clearly encourage student’s motivation and participation, but laboratories and practical classes are generally the students’ favourite academic activities. The design of lab practices focused on learning abstract concepts such as genetic interaction, genetic linkage, genetic recombination, gene mapping, or molecular markers is a complex task that requires suitable segregant materials. The optimal population for pedagogical purposes is an F2 population, which is extremely useful not only in explaining different key concepts of genetics (as dominance, epistasis, and linkage) but also in introducing additional curricular tools, particularly concerning statistical analysis. Among various model organisms available, barley possesses several unique features for demonstrating genetic principles. Therefore, we generated a barley F2 population from the parental lines of the Oregon Wolfe Barley collection. The objective of this work is to present this F2 population as a model to teach Mendelian genetics in a medium–high-level genetics course. We provide an exhaustive phenotypic and genotypic description of this plant material that, together with a description of the specific methodologies and practical exercises, can be helpful for transferring our fruitful experience to anyone interested in implementing this educational resource in his/her teaching.

Alterations in attention and inhibitory control are common features in several neurological disorders. Environmental factors such as exposure to pesticides have been linked to their appearance. Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is one of the most widely used organophosphate compounds in the world. CPF exposure during development seems to be critical for later behavioral and molecular disruptions during adult ages, although this depends on the specific period of development, where the preweaning period is one of the least studied. Despite the abundant empirical work made in the last decades on developmental CPF exposure, the systematic study of this on attention is sparse, and nonexistent concerning inhibitory control, without a single study on preweaning developmental stages. The present research explored the effects of the exposure to low doses of CPF that do not elicit a significant inhibition of the Cholinesterases during this developmental period on rats' behavior in the five-choice serial reaction time task. Behavioral manipulations (inter-trial interval and stimulus duration), pharmacological manipulations (cholinergic and GABAergic drugs) and brain gene expression analyses were also conducted. Exposure to CPF decreased the locomotor activity and enhanced the learning profile of the female rats, increased the impulsive rates, unmasked by a longer inter-trial interval, hypo-sensitized the cholinergic system and down-regulated the mRNA expression levels of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the dorsal striatum of the male rats. This happened without significant inhibition of the brain Acetylcholinesterase. All this new information corroborates that the exposure to a common pesticide at low doses during a key, but under-explored developmental period importantly affects different behaviors, neurotransmitter systems, and molecules that are altered in the main neurological disorders observed nowadays.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental pathology characterized by altered verbalizations, reduced social interaction behavior, and stereotypies. Environmental factors have been associated with its development. Some researchers have focused on pesticide exposure. Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is the most used Organophosphate. Previous developmental studies with CPF showed decreased, enhanced or no effect on social outcomes eminently in mice. The study of CPF exposure during preweaning stages on social behavior is sparse in mice and non-existent in rats. d stressors could be at the basis of ASD development, and around postnatal day 10 in the rat is equivalent to the human birthday in neurodevelopmental terms. We explored the effects of exposure to low doses (1mg/kg/mL/day) of CPF during this stage regarding: sociability, dominance gut microbiome and plasma metabolomic profile, since alterations in these systems have also been linked to ASD. There was a modest influence of CPF on social behavior in adulthood, with null effects during adolescence. Dominance and hierarchical status were not affected by exposure. Dominance status explained the significant reduction in reaction to social novelty observed on the sociability test. CPF induced a significant gut microbiome dysbiosis and triggered a hyperlipidemic, hypoglycemic/hypogluconeogenesis and a general altered cell energy production in females. These behavioral results in rats extend and complement previous studies with mice and show novel influences on gut metagenomics and plasma lipid profile and metabolomics, but do not stablish a relation between the exposure to CPF and the ASD phenotype. The effects of dominance status on reaction to social novelty have an important methodological meaning for future research on sociability.

Grain cereals such as wheat, barley, rice, and maize are the nutritional basis of humans and animals worldwide. Thus, these crop plants are essential in terms of global food security. We conducted a bibliometric assessment of scientific documents and patents related to wheat and barley through the Scopus database. The number of documents published per year, their affiliation and corresponding scientific areas, the publishing journals, document types and languages were metricized. The main keywords included in research publications concerning these crops were also analysed globally and clustered in thematic groups. In the case of keywords related to agronomy or genetics and molecular biology, we considered documents dated up to 1999, and from 2000 to 2018, separately. Comparison of the results obtained for wheat and barley revealed some remarkable different trends, for which the underlying reasons are further discussed.

Development is especially sensitive to Chlorpyrifos (CPF) toxicity, associated with several neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders where motor function dysfunction is a core symptom. Amongst the alternative molecular targets to cholinesterases inhibition, developmental CPF alters different components in the most important neurotransmitter systems, although this depends on the exposure period. Exposure during the late postnatal preweaning stage is the least studied by far. This period includes essential neurodevelopmental processes and has an important translational meaning. The present study analyzed the influence of low doses of CPF on this developmental window on locomotor activity and the state of the different neurotransmitter systems by pharmacological challenges. Brain gene expression and microbiome modulation following CPF were also analyzed. CPF exposure long-term increased spontaneous vertical activity, female's activity following acute stress, hyposensitized the cholinergic system and hypersensitized the GABAergic system, up-regulated both muscarinic 2 receptor and GABA-A-α2 receptor subunit in the dorsal striatum and the frontal cortex, respectively and induced gut microbiota dysbiosis at both genus and species levels. The present study supports alternative molecular targets than the ChEs following late postnatal, preweaning exposure to low doses of CPF, focusing on both cholinergic and GABAergic systems and the gut microbiome as an important factor.

Agriculture is the basis for food production on a global scale. Sustainable agriculture tries to improve or maintain the quality of food without compromising the environment. As sessile organisms, plants cannot avoid adverse environmental conditions and contact with other living organisms. The damage caused to plants by other living organisms such as parasites and pathogens (virus, bacteria, fungi, nematodes or insects) brings about what is known as biotic stress. Plants are constantly exposed to biotic stress, which causes changes in plant metabolism involving physiological damages that lead to a reduction of their productivity. To fight biotic stress, plants have developed sophisticated defense mechanisms. Thus, understanding plant defense mechanisms might prevent important crop and economic losses. In this article, a bibliometric analysis of biotic stress is carried out. Different aspects of the publications are analyzed, such as publication type, research field, journal type, countries and their institutions, as well as the keyword occurrence frequency, and finally special attention is paid to the plant studied by the leading countries and institutions. As expected, journals selected by authors to publish their relevant findings are plant-specific journals. However, it should be noted that the fourth position, in terms of the number of publications per journal, is occupied by BMC Genomics journal. Such a journal considers mainly articles on genomics, which indicates the involvement of genetic factors in the control of biotic stress. Analysis of the keywords used in publications about biotic stress shows the great interest in the biotic–abiotic stress interaction, in the gene expression regulation in plants as well as phytohormones in the current research. In short, the great effort made by the scientific community in the biotic and abiotic stresses field with the aim to understand, regulate and control plant damages caused by biotic stress agents will help in the development of sustainable agriculture.

Living organisms are usually exposed to various DNA damaging agents so the mechanisms to detect and repair diverse DNA lesions have developed in all organisms with the result of maintaining genome integrity. Defects in DNA repair machinery contribute to cancer, certain diseases, and aging. Therefore, conserving the genomic sequence in organisms is key for the perpetuation of life. The machinery of DNA damage repair (DDR) in prokaryotes and eukaryotes is similar. Plants also share mechanisms for DNA repair with animals, although they differ in other important details. Plants have, surprisingly, been less investigated than other living organisms in this context, despite the fact that numerous lethal mutations in animals are viable in plants. In this manuscript, a worldwide bibliometric analysis of DDR systems and DDR research in plants was made. A comparison between both subjects was accomplished. The bibliometric analyses prove that the first study about DDR systems in plants (1987) was published thirteen years later than that for other living organisms (1975). Despite the increase in the number of papers about DDR mechanisms in plants in recent decades, nowadays the number of articles published each year about DDR systems in plants only represents 10% of the total number of articles about DDR. The DDR research field was done by 74 countries while the number of countries involved in the DDR & Plant field is 44. This indicates the great influence that DDR research in the plant field currently has, worldwide. As expected, the percentage of studies published about DDR systems in plants has increased in the subject area of agricultural and biological sciences and has diminished in medicine with respect to DDR studies in other living organisms. In short, bibliometric results highlight the current interest in DDR research in plants among DDR studies and can open new perspectives in the research field of DNA damage repair.

SummaryWith the completion of genome sequencing projects, the next challenge is to close the gap between gene annotation and gene functional assignment. Genomic tools to identify gene functions are based on the analysis of phenotypic variations between a wild type and its mutant; hence, mutant collections are a valuable resource. In this sense, T‐DNA collections allow for an easy and straightforward identification of the tagged gene, serving as the basis of both forward and reverse genetic strategies. This study reports on the phenotypic and molecular characterization of an enhancer trap T‐DNA collection in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), which has been produced by Agrobacterium‐mediated transformation using a binary vector bearing a minimal promoter fused to the uidA reporter gene. Two genes have been isolated from different T‐DNA mutants, one of these genes codes for a UTP‐glucose‐1‐phosphate uridylyltransferase involved in programmed cell death and leaf development, which means a novel gene function reported in tomato. Together, our results support that enhancer trapping is a powerful tool to identify novel genes and regulatory elements in tomato and that this T‐DNA mutant collection represents a highly valuable resource for functional analyses in this fleshy‐fruited model species.

Photosynthetic activity is indispensable for plant growth and survival and it depends on the synthesis of plastidial isoprenoids as chlorophylls and carotenoids. In the non-mevalonate pathway (MEP), the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase 1 (DXS1) enzyme has been postulated to catalyze the rate-limiting step in the formation of plastidial isoprenoids. In tomato, the function of DXS1 has only been studied in fruits, and hence its functional relevance during plant development remains unknown. Here we report the characterization of the wls-2297 tomato mutant, whose severe deficiency in chlorophylls and carotenoids promotes an albino phenotype. Additionally, growth of mutant seedlings was arrested without developing vegetative organs, which resulted in premature lethality. Gene cloning and silencing experiments revealed that the phenotype of wls-2297 mutant was caused by 38.6 kb-deletion promoted by a single T-DNA insertion affecting the DXS1 gene. This was corroborated by in vivo and molecular complementation assays, which allowed the rescue of mutant phenotype. Further characterization of tomato plants overexpressing DXS1 and comparative expression analysis indicate that DXS1 may play other important roles besides to that proposed during fruit carotenoid biosynthesis. Taken together, these results demonstrate that DXS1 is essentially required for the development and survival of tomato plants.

Nowadays, national curriculums for different university degrees in Spain are designed based on a competency catalogue; being the term competence understood as a cluster of related abilities, commitments, knowledge, and skills that describe learning results from a determinate study program and that enable a person to act effectively in a job or situation. In degrees from the University of Almeria (UAL), three types of skills must be contemplated i.e. 1st, Generic skills included in Royal Decree RD1393/2007 of 29 October, approved by the State Central Administration, that establishes regulations for Official University Studies; 2nd, Generic skills of the UAL, approved by the Governing Council of the University the 17th of June 2008, which are transversal skills appearing in all degrees; and 3rd, Specific skills of each title, in this case the grade in Environmental Studies. Part of these specific skills may have been agreed throughout the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, as happened in this case (RD1393/2007). In this paper, generic skills of the UAL (UAL1 to UAL10) are analyzed in 36 subjects comprising the aforementioned grade: UAL1- Basic knowledge of profession, UAL2- Using Information and Communication Techniques (ICTs), UAL3- Capacity to solve problems successfully, UAL4- Writing and oral expression with clarity in Spanish language, UAL5- Development of a sense of criticism and self-criticism, UAL6- Ability to work in a group, UAL7- Learning a foreign language, UAL8- Commitment to Ethical Business, UAL9- Capacity to design, manage and undertake a task, and UAL10- Social Responsibility of Business. The analysis of UAL skills showed that UAL4, UAL6 and UAL9 skills are the most frequent in the degree. UAL4 and UAL6 are considered in 66% of subjects, while UAL9 appears in 53% of the cases. The rest of the skills are represented in less than 50% of subjects. Skills that are less present are UAL7 and UAL8, appearing only in 5.5% and 13.8% of the subjects respectively. On the other hand, when skills are studied by years, five of those ten skills (UAL1, UAL2, UAL7, UAL8 and UAL10) are not represented in any subjects for one or two years of the degree. All skills are only considered at the same time, and in a higher percentage, in the last year of the degree. This study determinates that only three UAL generic skills are considered in a high percentage of subjects, suggesting that the rest of skills should be represented in a higher number of subjects. This advice is easy to carry out due to the fact that only four of thirty six subjects of this degree consider more than five skills in their study plans, and four subjects have a unique competence. Additionally, the current way of life and its implication in climatic change do the Ethical Commitment competence are indispensable in Environmental Studies. In a similar way, the present business competition and globalized world professionals indicate that knowledge of a second language is necessary. Consequently, both skills, UAL7 and UAL8, must improve noticeably their involvement in subjects of Environmental Science degree.

Floral organogenesis requires coordinated interactions between genes specifying floral organ identity and those regulating growth and size of developing floral organs. With the aim to isolate regulatory genes linking both developmental processes (i.e., floral organ identity and growth) in the tomato model species, a novel mutant altered in the formation of floral organs was further characterized. Under normal growth conditions, floral organ primordia of mutant plants were correctly initiated, however, they were unable to complete their development impeding the formation of mature and fertile flowers. Thus, the growth of floral buds was blocked at an early stage of development; therefore, we named this mutant as unfinished flower development (ufd). Genetic analysis performed in a segregating population of 543 plants showed that the abnormal phenotype was controlled by a single recessive mutation. Global gene expression analysis confirmed that several MADS-box genes regulating floral identity as well as other genes participating in cell division and different hormonal pathways were affected in their expression patterns in ufd mutant plants. Moreover, ufd mutant inflorescences showed higher hormone contents, particularly ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) and strigol compared to wild type. Such results indicate that UFD may have a key function as positive regulator of the development of floral primordia once they have been initiated in the four floral whorls. This function should be performed by affecting the expression of floral organ identity and growth genes, together with hormonal signaling pathways.

Within the tomato MADS-box gene family, TOMATO AGAMOUS1 (TAG1) and ARLEQUIN/TOMATO AGAMOUS LIKE1 (hereafter referred to as TAGL1) are, respectively, members of the euAG and PLE lineages of the AGAMOUS clade. They perform crucial functions specifying stamen and carpel development in the flower and controlling late fruit development. To gain insight into the roles of TAG1 and TAGL1 genes and to better understand their functional redundancy and diversification, we characterized single and double RNAi silencing lines of these genes and analyzed expression profiles of regulatory genes involved in reproductive development. Double RNAi lines did show cell abnormalities in stamens and carpels and produced extremely small fruit-like organs displaying some sepaloid features. Expression analyses indicated that TAG1 and TAGL1 act together to repress fourth whorl sepal development, most likely through the MACROCALYX gene. Results also proved that TAG1 and TAGL1 have diversified their functions in fruit development: while TAG1 controls placenta and seed formation, TAGL1 participates in cuticle development and lignin biosynthesis inhibition. It is noteworthy that both TAG1 and double RNAi plants lacked seed development due to abnormalities in pollen formation. This seedless phenotype was not associated with changes in the expression of B-class stamen identity genes Tomato MADS-box 6 and Tomato PISTILLATA observed in silencing lines, suggesting that other regulatory factors should participate in pollen formation. Taken together, results here reported support the idea that both redundant and divergent functions of TAG1 and TAGL1 genes are needed to control tomato reproductive development.