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Despite evidence from previous case studies showing that agronomic traits partially determine the resulting yield of different rice ( L.) varieties, it remains unclear whether this is true at the ecotype level. Here, an extensive dataset of the traits of 7686 rice varieties, released in China from 1978 to 2017, was used to study the relationship between yield and other agronomic traits. We assessed the association between yield and other agronomic traits for four different rice ecotypes, i.e., indica inbred, indica hybrid, japonica inbred, and japonica hybrid. We found that associations between agronomic traits and yield were ecotype-dependent. For both the indica inbred and indica hybrid ecotypes, we found that greater values of certain traits, including the filled grain number per panicle, 1000-grain-weight, plant height, panicle length, grains per panicle, seed setting rate, long growth period, low panicle number per unit area, and low seed length/width ratio, have accounted for high grain yield. In the japonica inbred and japonica hybrid ecotypes, we found that only high panicle number per unit area and long growth period led to high grain yield. Indirectly, growth period consistently had a positive effect on yield in all ecotypes, and plant height had a positive effect on yield for the indicas and japonica inbred only. Plant height had a negative effect for the japonica hybrid. Altogether, our findings potentially have valuable implications for improving the breeds of rice ecotypes.

For sustainable biomass production of Miscanthus × giganteus (hereafter miscanthus), understanding the impact of stand age and nitrogen (N) fertilization on biomass yield is crucial. This study investigated the effects of varying N fertilization rates (0, 56, 112, and 168 kg N ha−1) on yield components (tiller height, density, and weight) and their correlations with end‐of‐season biomass yield in miscanthus. We also explored end‐of‐season biomass yield prediction using in‐season traits (canopy height, leaf area index, and leaf chlorophyll content [LCC]). The study was conducted at two sites in Illinois: a previously unfertilized 10‐year‐old miscanthus research stand at Urbana and a 16‐year‐old commercial stand at Pesotum with a history of annual 56N application. Results from 2018 to 2021 in Urbana and 2020 to 2021 in Pesotum showed increased biomass yields with N fertilization, varying by rate, year, and location. Biomass yield in Pesotum peaked at 56N, while in Urbana, it increased significantly at 112 kg N ha−1. Biomass yield was strongly correlated with tiller height and weight measured at Urbana across N rates. Morphological traits measured every 2–3 weeks during the 2020 and 2021 growing seasons showed that canopy height was the strongest single predictor of miscanthus biomass yield, followed by LCC. Mid‐August to September measurements of these traits were the best predictors of biomass yield. Multiple regressions involving the canopy height and LCC further improved yield predictions. We conclude that while N enhances biomass yields of aging miscanthus, the optimum rate depends on the site, environmental conditions, and management history. Nitrogen enhances the biomass yield of mature miscanthus, but optimum rates may vary depending on site‐specific factors, environmental conditions, and management history.

In this study, the genetic and molecular diversity of 60 quinoa accessions was assessed using agronomically important traits related to grain yield as well as microsatellite (SSR) markers, and informative markers linked to the studied traits were identified using association study. The results showed that most of the studied traits had a relatively high diversity, but grain saponin and protein content showed the highest diversity. High diversity was also observed in all SSR markers, but KAAT023, KAAT027, KAAT036, and KCAA014 showed the highest values for most of the diversity indices and can be introduced as the informative markers to assess genetic diversity in quinoa. Population structure analysis showed that the studied population probably includes two subclusters, so that out of 60 quinoa accessions, 29 (48%) and 23 (38%) accessions were assigned to the first and second subclusters, respectively, and eight (13%) accessions were considered as the mixed genotypes. The study of the population structure using Structure software showed two possible subgroups (K = 2) in the studied population and the results of the bar plot confirmed it. Association study using the general linear model (GLM) and mixed linear model (MLM) identified the number of 35 and 32 significant marker-trait associations (MTAs) for the first year (2019) and 37 and 35 significant MTAs for the second year (2020), respectively. Among the significant MTAs identified for different traits, the highest number of significant MTAs were obtained for grain yield and 1000-grain weight with six and five MTAs, respectively.

This research aimed to study the impact of the reciprocal cross and heterosis phenomena on numerous tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) characteristics. Fifty-one different traits were measured, including leaf, shoot, root, flower, fruit, yield and yield components, and physiochemical characteristics. The results showed that reciprocal crosses, such as plant mass, petal length, cone length, pistil length, fruit width, fruit length, single fruit weight, fruit flesh weight, seed and placenta weight, number of fruits locules, fruit calyx weight, number of days to flower, total sugar, ascorbic acid, anthocyanin, and total phenolic concentration, significantly influenced various traits. In addition, the results showed that several traits showed positive high parent heterosis, which are the sepal length, pistil length, flower fresh weight, flower dry weight, flower moisture content, number of clusters per plant, number of flowers per plant, number of flowers per cluster, number of fruits per cluster, fruits number per plant, total fruits weight per plant, leaf length, leaf fresh weight, leaf dry weight, number of branches per plant, plant height, plant mass, ascorbic acid, total carotene, and anthocyanin. These results will be significantly helpful for the future breeding program, especially for developing F1 cultivars with significant quality and quantity.

Cowpea, in addition to being a food and feed crop, plays a key role in sustainable farming. The present study’s goal is to develop new high-yielding cowpea varieties. A Field experiment was carried out across 3 summer seasons and the breeding program included 28 distinct cowpea varieties, out of which five potential parents were selected for this investigation. Local cultivars, i.e., Cream 7 ‘Cr7’, Dokki 331 ‘D331’, Commercial 1 ‘Com1’, and introduced cultivars, i.e., Colossus ‘Col’ and Asian Introduction ‘AI’ were utilized to produce six crosses in two generations apart; F 1 and F 2 : Col x AI, Col x Com1, Cr7 x AI, Cr7 x Com1, D331 x AI, and D331 x Com1. ‘AI’ and ‘Com1’ were superior in pod length, pod diameter, number of seeds/pod and seeds weight/pod, whereas ‘Col’, ‘Cr7’ and ‘D331’ were superior in seeds yield/plant, number of pods/plant and the least number of aborted ovules/pod. The genotypes/crosses showed greater genotypic variance (GV) than phenotypic variance (PV) for number of pods/plant, pod length, number of seeds/pod, number of aborted ovules/pod, fresh pod weight, seeds weight/pod, and seeds yield/plant. All studied variables showed high heritability (H%) in genotypes/crosses, despite the exception of seeds weight/pod, which ranged from 29.14 in ‘D331’ to 83.7 in F 2 of Col x Com1. F 2 plants and their parents’ genotypes showed greater H%. Cr7 x AI developed the most H%, 99.04% for number of pods/plant. D331 x Com1 and Cr7 x AI exhibited moderate H% for fresh pod weight in F 1 , but all other crosses had high H%. F 1 and F 2 crosses yielded moderate to high GCV and PCV for number of seeds/pod. Variations in parental genotypes and crossings reflect genetic diversity and the possibility of selection. Crossing with ‘AI,’ and ‘Com1’ genotypes enhanced the performance of the other varieties, ‘Col’, ‘D331’ and ‘Cr7’. Cr7 x Com1 and D331 x AI were selected as the most promising crosses for cowpea breeding programs.

Background Drought stress is a critical challenge to rice production, necessitating the development of drought-tolerant genotypes. This study aimed to evaluate the drought tolerance of rice genotypes, including traditional parental lines (Hashemi, Khazar, Fajr, and Tarom Mahalli) and their corresponding mutant lines, under normal and drought stress conditions. Methods Agronomic traits such as plant height, spike number, spike length, seed fertility, and yield were analyzed under both conditions. The performance of these genotypes was further assessed using drought tolerance indices. Statistical methods including cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were applied to identify the most resilient genotypes. Results Mutant lines demonstrated superior drought resilience compared to their parental counterparts. Specifically, genotypes like TM-230-VE-7-5-1, TM-B-2-1-E, and HM-250-7-6 exhibited higher yields and better stability of key traits under stress conditions. Cluster analysis and PCA emphasized the strong performance of TM-230-VE-7-5-1, which emerged as the most drought-tolerant genotype, excelling across various drought tolerance indices. Conclusions The selected mutant lines, particularly TM-230-VE-7-5-1, showed significant potential for breeding programs aimed at improving drought tolerance in rice. These findings have substantial implications for enhancing rice production in drought-prone regions, contributing to sustainable agricultural practices.

Excess rainfalls may be the cause of waterlogging in soil, which affects the growth and development of wheat. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to examine the effects of waterlogging on shoot and root growth and physiological characteristics of wheat. Three experiments were conducted: experiment 1 (E1): evaluation of seedling growth on ten Iranian winter wheat varieties with waterlogging periods (1–4, 4–8, 8–12, and 12–16 days starting from seed germination). Seminal roots and plumule were investigated at seedling. The others are E2: pretreatment of waterlogging (15 days) at tillering and stem elongation stages and its effects on shoot and root growth at anthesis stage and experiment 3 (E3): pretreatment of waterlogging (15 days) at tillering and jointing stages and its effects on yield and yield components and also evaluation of stress tolerance indexes. The results of the seedling growth test (E1) showed that 1–4- and 4–8-day waterlogging severity reduced seminal root length (94.5 to 93.7 %) and plumule length (86.2 to 50.0 %) compared to control. Results of E2 indicated that waterlogging stress decreased shoot dry weight, root dry weight, total secondary root length, and chlorophyll a + b content of flag leaf by 28–31, 44–35, 20–31, and 28–35 %, respectively. Also, result of E3 showed that the grain yields of wheat varieties at two conditions of stress were different in base tolerance indexes. In general, the responses of wheat varieties to waterlogging were different at the three experiments. The varieties that had the most of dry weight and length of the root were tolerant. Thus, it is possible to use these characteristics as an index for selecting the varieties with tolerance to waterlogging.

Two genes, HvSAP8 and HvSAP16, encoding Zinc-finger proteins, were identified earlier as active in barley plants. Based on bioinformatics and sequencing analysis, six SNPs were found in the promoter regions of HvSAP8 and one in HvSAP16, among parents of two barley segregating populations, Granal × Baisheshek and Natali × Auksiniai-2. ASQ and Amplifluor markers were developed for HvSAP8 and HvSAP16, one SNP in each gene, and in each of two populations, showing simple Mendelian segregation. Plants of F6 selected breeding lines and parents were evaluated in a soil-based drought screen, revealing differential expression of HvSAP8 and HvSAP16 corresponding with the stress. After almost doubling expression during the early stages of stress, HvSAP8 returned to pre-stress level or was strongly down-regulated in plants with Granal or Baisheshek genotypes, respectively. For HvSAP16 under drought conditions, a high expression level was followed by either a return to original levels or strong down-regulation in plants with Natali or Auksiniai-2 genotypes, respectively. Grain yield in the same breeding lines and parents grown under moderate drought was strongly associated with their HvSAP8 and HvSAP16 genotypes. Additionally, Granal and Natali genotypes with specific alleles at HvSAP8 and HvSAP16 were associated with improved performance under drought via higher 1000 grain weight and more shoots per plant, respectively.

Oilseed crops are widely planted and are closely associated with human nutrition and health. Globally, increased nitrogen (N) deposition has a significant impact on agricultural production; however, in‐depth knowledge of oilseed crop yields and quality is still lacking. Here, we performed a global meta‐analysis from 128 published papers with 462 paired observations to evaluate the response of oilseed crop yields, yield composition, protein, and oil content to simulated N deposition. The meta‐analysis showed that simulated N deposition significantly increased oilseed crop yields in a dose‐dependent and duration‐dependent manner. The yield compositions were also changed by N deposition, where pod numbers per plant (PNP) and seed weights per pod were significantly increased. Interestingly, our analysis identified PNP as the key factor determining the oilseed crop yield response to simulated N deposition. Additionally, the form of N deposition had no striking influence on either yields or yield components, whereas differences in the sensitivity in rape responses reflected differences in crop species. In terms of oilseed crop quality, although simulated N deposition increased the seed protein content in a dose‐dependent manner, there was a significant negative impact on the seed oil content. Furthermore, this negative correlation between seed oil content and biomass under simulated N deposition implies adverse effects caused by a dilution effect. Overall, our results suggest discrete responses of oilseed crop yield, seed protein and oil content to simulated N deposition. This study has ecological and biological implications for oilseed crop yield and quality responses facing global N deposition. Nitrogen (N) deposition has tremendous impacts on crop yield and quality, while knowledge of oilseed crops is still lacking. Here, we performed a meta‐analysis to evaluate the oilseed crop responses to simulated N deposition and found that simulated N deposition increased oilseed crop yields and seed protein content in a dose‐dependent manner but decreased seed oil content. Besides, pod numbers per plant was identified as the key driver in determining crop yield responses to N deposition. Our results have ecological and biological implications for oilseed crop yield and quality responses to global N deposition.

Trinexapac-ethyl (Moddus) is known as a plant growth regulator widely used in sugarcane to boost sugar yield and improve harvest efficiency. The objectives of this study were to investigate responses of sugarcane growth, physiology and yield components to application of Moddus in grand growth phase and to determine differences in plant response to Moddus™ among sugarcane cultivars. The experiment was conducted in 2 years with plant cane crop of three cultivars (CP 00–1101, CP 01–1372 and CP 05–1526) and two Moddus™ treatments [an unsprayed check and a two-time application of Moddus™ (0.4 L ha −1 each time) at 149 and 215 days after planting]. The field trail was laid out as a split-plot design (Moddus™ treatments as main plots and cultivars as sub-plots). Plant growth and physiological measurements were taken in June–August and yield data were collected in mid-December. A novel finding was that cultivar and Moddus™ interactions were significant in leaf relative chlorophyll level (SPAD reading), mean stalk weight, cane yield, commercial recoverable sucrose (CRS) and sucrose yield. Moddus™ application increased the SPAD readings of CP 01–1372 and CP 05–1526, but did not affect that of CP 00–1101. Neither leaf photosynthetic rate nor leaf N responded to Moddus™, but Moddus™ reduced normalized difference vegetation index and stalk length. Moddus™ application in grand growth phase decreased sucrose yield of CP 00–1101, but increased sucrose yield of CP 05–1526 because of high stalk weight and CRS. Therefore, the Moddus™ application for improving seed-cane quality and yield should depend on cultivars and their growth behavior.