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Background Diversification on the basis of utilization is a hallmark of Beta vulgaris (beet), as well as other crop species. Often, crop improvement and management activities are segregated by crop type, thus preserving unique genome diversity and organization. Full interfertility is typically retained in crosses between these groups and more traits may be accessible if the genetic basis of crop type lineage were known, along with available genetic markers to effect efficient transfer (e.g., via backcrossing). Beta vulgaris L. (2n =18) is a species complex composed of diverged lineages (e.g., crop types), including the familiar table, leaf (chard), fodder, and sugar beet crop types. Using population genetic and statistical methods with whole genome sequence data from pooled samples of 23 beet cultivars and breeding lines, relationships were determined between accessions based on identity-by-state metrics and shared genetic variation among lineages. Results Distribution of genetic variation within and between crop types showed extensive shared (e.g. non-unique) genetic variation. Lineage specific variation (e.g. apomorphy) within crop types supported a shared demographic history within each crop type, while principal components analysis revealed strong crop type differentiation. Relative contributions of specific chromosomes to genome wide differentiation were ascertained, with each chromosome revealing a different pattern of differentiation with respect to crop type. Inferred population size history for each crop type helped integrate selection history for each lineage, and highlighted potential genetic bottlenecks in the development of cultivated beet lineages. Conclusions A complex evolutionary history of cultigroups in Beta vulgaris was demonstrated, involving lineage divergence as a result of selection and reproductive isolation. Clear delineation of crop types was obfuscated by historical gene flow and common ancestry (e.g. admixture and introgression, and sorting of ancestral polymorphism) which served to share genome variation between crop types and, likely, important phenotypic characters. Table beet was well differentiated as a crop type, and shared more genetic variation within than among crop types. The sugar beet group was not quite as well differentiated as the table beet group. Fodder and chard groups were intermediate between table and sugar groups, perhaps the result of less intensive selection for end use.

Sugarbeets account for 55 to 60% of U.S. sugar production. Cercospora leaf spot (CLS), primarily caused by the fungal pathogen , is a major foliar disease of sugarbeet. Since leaf tissue is a primary site of pathogen survival between growing seasons, this study evaluated management strategies to reduce this source of inoculum. Fall- and spring-applied treatments were evaluated over three years at two study sites. Treatments included standard plowing or tilling immediately post-harvest, as well as the following alternatives to tillage: a propane-fueled heat treatment either in the fall immediately pre-harvest or in the spring prior to planting, and a desiccant (saflufenacil) application seven days pre-harvest. After fall treatments, leaf samples were evaluated to determine viability. The following season, inoculum pressure was measured by monitoring CLS severity in a susceptible beet variety planted into the same plots and by counting lesions on highly susceptible sentinel beets placed into the field at weekly intervals (fall treatments only). No significant reductions in survival or CLS were observed following fall-applied desiccant. The fall heat treatment, however, significantly reduced lesion sporulation (2019-20 and 2020-21, < 0.0001; 2021-22, < 0.05) and isolation (2019-20, < 0.05) in at-harvest samples. Fall heat treatments also significantly reduced detectable sporulation for up to 70- (2021-22, < 0.01) or 90-days post-harvest (2020-21, < 0.05). Reduced numbers of CLS lesions were observed on sentinel beets in heat-treated plots from May 26-June 2 ( < 0.05) and June 2-9 ( < 0.01) in 2019, as well as June 15-22 ( < 0.01) in 2020. Both fall- and spring-applied heat treatments also reduced the area under the disease progress curve for CLS assessed the season after treatments were applied (Michigan 2020 and 2021, < 0.05; Minnesota 2019, < 0.05; 2021, < 0.0001). Overall, heat treatments resulted in CLS reductions at levels comparable to standard tillage, with more consistent reductions across year and location. Based on these results, heat treatment of fresh or overwintered leaf tissue could be used as an integrated tillage-alternative practice to aid in CLS management.

Summary Eukaryotic translation initiation factors (eIFs) are important for mRNA translation but also pivotal for plant‐virus interaction. Most of these plant‐virus interactions were found between plant eIFs and the viral protein genome‐linked (VPg) of potyviruses. In case of lost interaction due to mutation or deletion of eIFs, the viral translation and subsequent replication within its host is negatively affected, resulting in a recessive resistance. Here we report the identification of the Beta vulgaris Bv‐eIF(iso)4E as a susceptibility factor towards the VPg‐carrying beet chlorosis virus (genus Polerovirus). Using yeast two‐hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays, the physical interaction between Bv‐eIF(iso)4E and the putative BChV‐VPg was detected, while the VPg of the closely related beet mild yellowing virus (BMYV) was found to interact with the two isoforms Bv‐eIF4E and Bv‐eIF(iso)4E. These VPg‐eIF interactions within the polerovirus‐beet pathosystem were demonstrated to be highly specific, as single mutations within the predicted cap‐binding pocket of Bv‐eIF(iso)4E resulted in a loss of interaction. To investigate the suitability of eIFs as a resistance resource against beet infecting poleroviruses, B. vulgaris plants were genome edited by CRISPR/Cas9 resulting in knockouts of different eIFs. A simultaneous knockout of the identified BMYV‐interaction partners Bv‐eIF4E and Bv‐eIF(iso)4E was not achieved, but Bv‐eIF(iso)4EKO plants showed a significantly lowered BChV accumulation and decrease in infection rate from 100% to 28.86%, while no influence on BMYV accumulation was observed. Still, these observations support that eIFs are promising candidate genes for polerovirus resistance breeding in sugar beet.

Background Sugar beet is a highly salt-tolerant crop. However, its ability to withstand high salinity is reduced compared to sea beet, a wild ancestor of all beet crops. The aim of this study was to investigate transcriptional patterns associated with physiological, cytological and biochemical mechanisms involved in salt response in these closely related subspecies. Salt acclimation strategies were assessed in plants subjected to either gradually increasing salt levels (salt-stress) or in excised leaves, exposed instantly to salinity (salt-shock). Result The majority of DEGs was down-regulated under stress, which may lead to certain aspects of metabolism being reduced in this treatment, as exemplified by lowered transpiration and photosynthesis. This effect was more pronounced in sugar beet. Additionally, sugar beet, but not sea beet, growth was restricted. Silencing of genes encoding numerous transcription factors and signaling proteins was observed, concomitantly with the up-regulation of lipid transfer protein-encoding genes and those coding for NRTs. Bark storage protein genes were up-regulated in sugar beet to the level observed in unstressed sea beet. Osmotic adjustment, manifested by increased water and proline content, occurred in salt-shocked leaves of both genotypes, due to the concerted activation of genes encoding aquaporins, ion channels and osmoprotectants synthesizing enzymes. bHLH137 was the only TF-encoding gene induced by salt in a dose-dependent manner irrespective of the mode of salt treatment. Moreover, the incidence of bHLH-binding motives in promoter regions of salinity-regulated genes was significantly greater than in non-regulated ones. Conclusions Maintaining homeostasis under salt stress requires deeper transcriptomic changes in the sugar beet than in the sea beet. In both genotypes salt shock elicits greater transcriptomic changes than stress and it results in greater number of up-regulated genes compared to the latter. NRTs and bark storage protein may play a yet undefined role in salt stress-acclimation in beet. bHLH is a putative regulator of salt response in beet leaves and a promising candidate for further studies.

Weeds are a crucial threat to agriculture, and in order to preserve crop productivity, spreading agrochemicals is a common practice with a potential negative impact on the environment. Methods that can support intelligent application are needed. Therefore, identification and mapping is a critical step in performing site-specific weed management. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data streams are considered the best for weed detection due to the high resolution and flexibility of data acquisition and the spatial explicit dimensions of imagery. However, with the existence of unstructured crop conditions and the high biological variation of weeds, it remains a difficult challenge to generate accurate weed recognition and detection models. Two critical barriers to tackling this challenge are related to (1) a lack of case-specific, large, and comprehensive weed UAV image datasets for the crop of interest, (2) defining the most appropriate computer vision (CV) weed detection models to assess the operationality of detection approaches in real case conditions. Deep Learning (DL) algorithms, appropriately trained to deal with the real case complexity of UAV data in agriculture, can provide valid alternative solutions with respect to standard CV approaches for an accurate weed recognition model. In this framework, this paper first introduces a new weed and crop dataset named Chicory Plant (CP) and then tests state-of-the-art DL algorithms for object detection. A total of 12,113 bounding box annotations were generated to identify weed targets (Mercurialis annua) from more than 3000 RGB images of chicory plantations, collected using a UAV system at various stages of crop and weed growth. Deep weed object detection was conducted by testing the most recent You Only Look Once version 7 (YOLOv7) on both the CP and publicly available datasets (Lincoln beet (LB)), for which a previous version of YOLO was used to map weeds and crops. The YOLOv7 results obtained for the CP dataset were encouraging, outperforming the other YOLO variants by producing value metrics of 56.6%, 62.1%, and 61.3% for the mAP@0.5 scores, recall, and precision, respectively. Furthermore, the YOLOv7 model applied to the LB dataset surpassed the existing published results by increasing the mAP@0.5 scores from 51% to 61%, 67.5% to 74.1%, and 34.6% to 48% for the total mAP, mAP for weeds, and mAP for sugar beets, respectively. This study illustrates the potential of the YOLOv7 model for weed detection but remarks on the fundamental needs of large-scale, annotated weed datasets to develop and evaluate models in real-case field circumstances.

“Rhizomania” of sugar beet is a soilborne disease complex comprised of beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) and its plasmodiophorid vector, Polymyxa betae. Although BNYVV is considered the causal agent of rhizomania, additional viruses frequently accompany BNYVV in diseased roots. In an effort to better understand the virus cohort present in sugar beet roots exhibiting rhizomania disease symptoms, five independent RNA samples prepared from diseased beet seedlings reared in a greenhouse or from field-grown adult sugar beet plants and enriched for virus particles were subjected to RNAseq. In all but a healthy control sample, the technique was successful at identifying BNYVV and provided sequence reads of sufficient quantity and overlap to assemble > 98% of the published genome of the virus. Utilizing the derived consensus sequence of BNYVV, infectious RNA was produced from cDNA clones of RNAs 1 and 2. The approach also enabled the detection of beet soilborne mosaic virus (BSBMV), beet soilborne virus (BSBV), beet black scorch virus (BBSV), and beet virus Q (BVQ), with near-complete genome assembly afforded to BSBMV and BBSV. In one field sample, a novel virus sequence of 3682 nt was assembled with significant sequence similarity and open reading frame (ORF) organization to members within the subgenus Alphanecrovirus (genus Necrovirus; family Tombusviridae). Construction of a DNA clone based on this sequence led to the production of the novel RNA genome in vitro that was capable of inducing local lesion formation on leaves of Chenopodium quinoa. Additionally, two previously unreported satellite viruses were revealed in the study; one possessing weak similarity to satellite maize white line mosaic virus and a second possessing moderate similarity to satellite tobacco necrosis virus C. Taken together, the approach provides an efficient pipeline to characterize variation in the BNYVV genome and to document the presence of other viruses potentially associated with disease severity or the ability to overcome resistance genes used for sugar beet rhizomania disease management.

Massive outbreaks of virus yellows (VY) and syndrome “basses richesses” (SBR) are thought to be responsible for the major loss of sugar beet yields in 2020 in western cantons of Switzerland. Typical yellowing symptoms were visible during field inspections, and control measures were reportedly ineffective or even absent. Both diseases induce yellowing but have distinct etiologies; while VY is caused by aphid-transmitted RNA viruses, SBR is caused by the cixiid-transmitted γ-proteobacterium Candidatus Arsenophonus phytopathogenicus. To clarify the situation, samples from diseased plants across the country were screened for the causal agents of VY and SBR at the end of the season. Beet yellows virus (BYV) and Beet chlorosis virus (BChV) showed high incidence nationwide, and were frequently found together in SBR-infected fields in the West. Beet mild yellowing virus (BMYV) was detected in two sites in the West, while there was no detection of Beet western yellows virus or Beet mosaic virus. The nucleotide diversity of the detected viruses was then investigated using classic and high-throughput sequencing. For both diseases, outbreaks were analyzed in light of monitoring of the respective vectors, and symptoms were reproduced in greenhouse conditions by means of insect-mediated inoculations. Novel quantification tools were designed for BYV, BChV and Ca. A. phytopathogenicus, leading to the identification of specific tissues tropism for these pathogens.

Main conclusionAlthough sugar beet is a salt- and drought-tolerant crop, high salinity, and water deprivation significantly reduce its yield and growth. Several reports have demonstrated stress tolerance enhancement through stress-mitigating strategies including the exogenous application of osmolytes or metabolites, nanoparticles, seed treatments, breeding salt/drought-tolerant varieties. These approaches would assist in achieving sustainable yields despite global climatic changes.Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is an economically vital crop for ~ 30% of world sugar production. They also provide essential raw materials for bioethanol, animal fodder, pulp, pectin, and functional food-related industries. Due to fewer irrigation water requirements and shorter regeneration time than sugarcane, beet cultivation is spreading to subtropical climates from temperate climates. However, beet varieties from different geographical locations display different stress tolerance levels. Although sugar beet can endure moderate exposure to various abiotic stresses, including high salinity and drought, prolonged exposure to salt and drought stress causes a significant decrease in crop yield and production. Hence, plant biologists and agronomists have devised several strategies to mitigate the stress-induced damage to sugar beet cultivation. Recently, several studies substantiated that the exogenous application of osmolytes or metabolite substances can help plants overcome injuries induced by salt or drought stress. Furthermore, these compounds likely elicit different physio-biochemical impacts, including improving nutrient/ionic homeostasis, photosynthetic efficiency, strengthening defense response, and water status improvement under various abiotic stress conditions. In the current review, we compiled different stress-mitigating agricultural strategies, prospects, and future experiments that can secure sustainable yields for sugar beets despite high saline or drought conditions.

Cultivated beets (Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris) are unable to form reproductive shoots during the first year of their life cycle. Flowering only occurs if plants get vernalized, that is, pass through the winter, and are subsequently exposed to an increasing day length (photoperiod) in spring. Here, we show that the regulation of flowering time in beets is controlled by the interplay of two paralogs of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene in Arabidopsis that have evolved antagonistic functions. BvFT2 is functionally conserved with FT and essential for flowering. In contrast, BvFT1 represses flowering and its down-regulation is crucial for the vernalization response in beets. These data suggest that the beet has evolved a different strategy relative to Arabidopsis and cereals to regulate vernalization.

Betanin is a red pigment of red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.), providing the beneficial effects to maintain human health. Betanin is involved in the characteristic red color of red beetroot, and used as an edible dye. Betanin is known to be a highly unstable pigment, and water solutions of betanin are nearly fully degraded after heating at 99°C for 60 min in the experimental conditions of this study. The present study investigated the effects of red beetroot juice (RBJ) and betanin on immune cells, and found that stimulation with RBJ and betanin induces interleukin (IL)-1[beta], IL-8, and IL-10 mRNA in a human monocyte derived cell line, THP-1 cells. This mRNA induction after stimulation with RBJ and betanin was not significantly changed after heat treatment when attempting to induce degradation of the betanin. Following these results, the effects of heat degradation of betanin on the inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW264 cells and the antioxidant capacity were investigated. The results showed that the inhibition activity of RBJ and betanin with the LPS induced NO production is not altered after heat degradation of betanin. In addition, the results of FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) and DPPH (1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) assays indicate that a not inconsiderable degree of the antioxidant capacity of RBJ and betanin remained after heat degradation of betanin. These results suggest that it is important to consider the effects of degradation products of betanin in the evaluation of the beneficial effects of red beetroot on health.