Avena longiglumis: a 3,961 Mb diploid oat genome sequence assembly

The study presents the chromosome-level genome assembly of Avena longiglumis, a diploid oat species. The assembly is high-quality, with 99% completeness and 40,845 annotated protein-coding genes. It provides insights into genome evolution, expansion, and structural variations, offering valuable information for oat breeding and functional genomics. Additionally, mitochondrial genome and comparative studies have been conducted.

ImmunoFISH – Simultaneous visualisation of proteins and DNA sequences gives insight into meiotic processes in nuclei of grasses

Sepsi A, Fábián A, Jäger K, Heslop-Harrison JS, Schwarzacher T. ImmunoFISH: simultaneous visualisation of proteins and DNA sequences gives insight into meiotic processes in nuclei of grasses. Frontiers in Plant Science. 9: 1193. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01193 ImmunoFISH is a method combining immunolabelling (IL) with fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) to simultaneously detect the nuclear distribution of proteins and specific DNA…

Polyploidy and interspecific hybridisation: partners for adaptation, speciation and evolution in plants

337. Alix K, Gérard PR, Schwarzacher T, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2017. Polyploidy and interspecific hybridisation: partners for adaptation, speciation and evolution in plants. Annals of Botany 120(2): 183-194. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcx079  (Free access). Polyploidy, defined as whole genome duplication, is present in almost all lineages of higher plants, with multiple rounds of polyploidy occurring in most extant species. This Annals…

The agriculture-nutrition-health nexus at the cost of water availability

332. Noorka IR, Taufiqullah, Heslop-Harrison JS, Schwarzacher T. 2017. The agriculture-nutrition-health nexus at the cost of water availability in maize diverse genotypes to ensure food security. International Journal of Water Resources and Arid Environments 6(2): 242-251, 2017 ISSN 2079-7079 publisher site: https://psipw.org/attachments/article/401/13e.pdf Originally published as:  2016. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Water Resources and the Arid Environments (ICWRAE…

CENH3 morphogenesis reveals dynamic centromere associations during synaptonemal complex formation and the progression through male meiosis in hexaploid wheat

330. Sepsi A, Higgins JD, Heslop-Harrison JS, Schwarzacher T. 2017. CENH3 morphogenesis reveals dynamic centromere associations during synaptonemal complex formation and the progression through male meiosis in hexaploid wheat. Plant Journal 89: 235-249. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tpj.13379 and Author Version: Sepsi et al. 2016. CENH3 and wheat meiosis. Plant Journal. See bottom of page for YouTube video links. During…

Introgression of chromosome segments from multiple alien species in wheat breeding lines with wheat streak mosaic virus resistance

324. Ali N, Heslop-Harrison JS, Ahmad H, Graybosch RA, Hein GL, Schwarzacher T. 2016. Introgression of chromosome segments from multiple alien species in wheat breeding lines with wheat streak mosaic virus resistance. Heredity (2016) 117, 114–123; published online 1 June 2016 doi:10.1038/hdy.2016.36 Author version: N_Ali_et al 2016 Multiple Alien Introgressions in Wheat Publisher site: http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/hdy201636a.pdf Pyramiding of…

Chromosomal distribution and evolution of retrotransposons in diploid and polyploid Brachiaria forage grasses

319. Santos FC, Guyot R, Valle CB do, Chiari L, Techio VH, Heslop-Harrison P, Vanzela ALL. 2015. Chromosomal distribution and evolution of abundant retrotransposons in plants: gypsy elements in diploid and polyploid Brachiaria forage grasses. Chromosome Research 23(3): 571-582. DOI: 10.1007/s10577-015-9492-6 Text Brachiaria_Fabiola_Santos_etal AuthorVersion. Abstract: Like other eukaryotes, the nuclear genome of plants consists of DNA with…

Wheat-Thinopyrum bessarabicum recombinant lines with intercalary translocations

318. Patokar C, Sepsi A, Schwarzacher T, Kishii M, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2016. Molecular cytogenetic characterization of novel wheat-Thinopyrum bessarabicum recombinant lines carrying intercalary translocations. Chromosoma 125: 163–172. 10.1007/s00412-015-0537-6 Publisher website. Version from Wheat-Thinopyrum introgression and chromosomal recombinants. Thinopyrum bessarabicum (2n=2x=14, JJ or EbEb) is a valuable source of genes for bread wheat (2n = 6x=42) improvement because…

The origin of an old, resource-efficient crop, Broomcorn millet or Panicum miliaceum

307. Hunt HV, Badakshi F, Romanova O, Howe CJ, Jones M, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2014. Reticulate evolution in Panicum (Poaceae): the origin of tetraploid broomcorn millet, P. miliaceum. Journal of Experimental Botany 65 (12), 3165-3175.  DOI:10.1093/jxb/eru161 . (Link to local copy J. Exp. Bot.-2014-Hunt-3165-75) Panicum miliaceum (broomcorn millet) is a tetraploid cereal which was among the first domesticated crops, but is now a minor…

In situ hybridization: a course on FISH and ChIp

In situ hybridization – a course on FISH and ChIp In situ hybridization, now largely with fluorescent detection so ‘fluorescent in situ hybridization’ or FISH, is a key method for localizing DNA sequences along chromosomes and occassionally within interphase nuclei. RNA in situ hybridization (not discussed here) is used for locating gene transcripts within nuclei….

Fertilizer statistics: changes and usage

Fertilizer has been critical to crop yields from the start of agriculture, and the application of artificially fixed nitrogen has been fundamental to crop yield increases since the 1970s. However, finding definitive data about absolute amounts, costs, effects on yields and changes in application is tricky – with dispersed literature, many units, confusion with sales…