Complementary Analysis and Implementation Plan for Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives in Finland.

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are valuable wild plant species that can be used as genetic resources providing adaptive traits to crop plants and therefore they play an important role in future food security. This paper describes in situ and ex situ conservation planning of CWR species in Finland and includes the following parts: (a) drafting of the national CWR priority list, (b) undertaking the in situ conservation gap analysis and (c) identifying ex situ conservation gaps and multi-species collecting sites for the CWR in Finland. As a result of the study, essential information was acquired, which will enhance future planning of active science-based practical conservation of CWR in Finland. Based on the new data and earlier work, a number of conservation recommendations are presented. This national work has been carried out in connection with the larger Nordic regional CWR co-operation.

Differences in Dietary Intake and Vitamin and Mineral Status of Infants and Children on Dialysis Receiving Feeds or Eating Normal Food.

OBJECTIVES: Knowledge of the vitamin and mineral intake and status of children on dialysis is scarce. Guidelines suggest supplementation of water-soluble vitamins, but the need for supplementation of minerals is less clear. We evaluated vitamin and mineral intake and status of children on chronic dialysis in our center. METHODS: We reviewed patient records of all 33 children aged 0-16 years who were treated with chronic dialysis at a University Hospital between December 2014 and August 2019. Dietary intake was estimated from feed prescriptions and 3-day food records. Vitamin and mineral determinations were performed as part of routine care. RESULTS: Food records or adherence to dietary prescription of feeds were available for 29 children. Dietary intake of most nutrients was sufficient in children on feeds, but children not on feeds had low intakes of vitamins D, B1, B2, and B6 as well as zinc, iron, and calcium from their diet. Insufficient intake was corrected with supplementation. We discovered some children with blood concentrations below the reference range for vitamins D (3.1%) and C (15.4%) and copper (16.7%) and selenium (3.1%). In contrast, various proportions of children with blood concentrations above the reference range were detected for all nutrients apart from vitamin D. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, children receiving sufficient amounts of renal-specific feeds to meet at least 100% of age-specific requirements do not appear to need multivitamin-mineral supplementation, apart from vitamin D and calcium; in addition, children on PD usually need a sodium supplement and, on rare occasions with low intake from feeds, a phosphate supplement is needed. This study further revealed that other children at our center are more prone to deficient intakes of several vitamins and minerals, requiring supplementation based on dietetic review and, in some instances, laboratory measurements.

Oat Anther Culture and Use of DH-Lines for Genetic Mapping.

Possibility to make doubled haploids (DHs) from varying crossing populations is a useful tool for enhancing cultivar breeding, and a source of valuable material for genetic research. Oats is reported to be recalcitrant in anther culture with low response and genotype dependency. However, the best recoveries reported have reached up to 30 green regenerants per 100 isolated anthers, which clearly addresses the potential of this technique. In this chapter, one successful oat anther culture protocol is described in detail. Due to the total homozygosity reached in one generation, DH-lines are also an excellent material for genetic mapping. In this chapter, the use of DH-mapping population for marker analyses and linkage mapping is presented.

An updated doubled haploid oat linkage map and QTL mapping of agronomic and grain quality traits from Canadian field trials.

The first doubled haploid oat linkage map constructed at MTT Agrifood Research Finland was supplemented with additional microsatellites and Diversity Array Technology (DArT) markers to produce a map containing 1058 DNA markers and 34 linkage groups. The map was used to locate quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for 11 important breeding traits analyzed from Finnish and Canadian field trials. The new markers enabled most of the linkage groups to be anchored to the 'Kanota' × 'Ogle' oat ( Avena sativa L.) reference map and allowed comparison of the QTLs located in this study with those found previously. Two to 12 QTLs for each trait were discovered, of which several were expressed consistently across several environments.

QTLs for important breeding characteristics in the doubled haploid oat progeny.

A homozygous mapping population, consisting of doubled haploid (DH) oat (Avena sativa L.) plants generated through anther culture of F1 plants from the cross between the Finnish cultivar 'Aslak' and the Swedish cultivar 'Matilda', was used to construct an oat linkage map. Ten agronomic and quality traits were analyzed in the DH plants from field trials in 2005 and 2006. Leaf blotch (caused by Pyrenophora avenae) resistance was also evaluated in a greenhouse test with 2 different isolates. One to 8 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were found to be associated with each trait studied. Some chromosomal regions affected more than 1 trait; for example, 4 regions affected both protein and oil content. This study gives valuable information to oat breeders concerning the inheritance of important traits, and it provides potential tools to assist breeding.

The first doubled haploid linkage map for cultivated oat.

To date, all linkage maps of hexaploid oat (Avena sativa L.) have been constructed using recombinant inbred lines (RILs). Doubled haploids (DHs), however, have the advantage over RILs of their comprehensive homozygosity. DHs have been used for mapping in several cereal species, but in oats the production of large DH populations has only recently become an option. A linkage map of hexaploid oat was constructed using an anther culture-derived DH population (137 individuals) from the F1 individuals of a cross between the Finnish cultivar 'Aslak' and the Swedish cultivar 'Matilda'. The map is composed of 28 linkage groups containing 625 DNA markers: 375 AFLPs (amplified fragment length polymorphisms), 3 IRAPs (inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphisms), 12 ISSRs (inter simple sequence repeats), 12 microsatellites, 57 RAPDs (random amplified polymorphic DNAs), 59 REMAPs (retrotransposon-microsatellite amplified polymorphisms), 105 SRAPs (sequence-related amplified polymorphisms), and 2 SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms). The total map size is 1526 cM. Over half of the markers in the map showed distorted segregation, with alleles from 'Aslak' usually prevailing. This is explained by the better performance of 'Aslak' in anther culture. Quantitative trait loci affecting some important quality and agronomic traits are being localized on the map.

A major gene for grain cadmium accumulation in oat (Avena sativa L.).

Cadmium (Cd) is a nonessential heavy metal that is highly toxic to living cells at very low concentrations. Most of the Cd in plants derives from soils. Owing to the large amounts consumed, cereals are the major source of dietary Cd, and Cd content in oat can exceed accepted limits. Plants have a set of mechanisms that control the uptake, accumulation, trafficking, and detoxification of Cd and other metals. Genetic factors affect the variation in Cd level between plant species and cultivars, and the development of cultivars that poorly accumulate Cd is a worthwhile goal. Because of the expense of Cd screening, the use of molecular markers linked to low Cd accumulation could be an alternative to phenotyping for selection. In this study, such markers were sought using bulked-segregant analysis in an F2 population from the cross between oat cultivars 'Aslak' and 'Salo', the second of which is known to be a high Cd accumulator. Four markers associated with grain Cd concentration were found: 2 RAPDs (random amplified polymorphic DNAs), 1 REMAP (retrotransposon-microsatellite amplified polymorphism), and 1 SRAP (sequence-related amplified polymorphism). The first 3 were converted into more reproducible SCAR (sequence-characterized amplified region) markers. The 4 markers were assigned to 1 linkage group that exhibited a QTL (quantitative trait locus) representing a major gene for grain Cd concentration.

Generation of SNP markers for short straw in oat (Avena sativa L.).

Short straw is a desired trait in oat germplasm (Avena sativa L.). Marker-assisted selection, a key tool for achieving this objective, is limited by the presence and number of available markers. Here, we have attempted to develop markers sufficiently linked to a gene specifying short straw so that marker-assisted selection could be applied. Bulked-segregant analysis was used to identify anonymous PCR-based markers associated with the dwarfing gene Dw6 in an F2 population from the cross between A. sativa "Aslak" and A. sativa "Kontant". One random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and 1 retrotransposon-microsatellite amplified polymorphism (REMAP) marker were found to be associated with height. These were converted into codominant single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. The SNP-REMAP and the SNP-RAPD markers were located 5.2 and 12.6 cM from Dw6, respectively. They can be used in future efforts both to enhance oat germplasm by application of molecular markers and to determine the nature of the gene through positional cloning.