World Congress on
Plant Genomics and Plant Science

Biography:

Nicolet Jean Louis has 40 years of experience in seed industry and vegetable breeding. He graduated as Agronomic Ingenior ENSA Montpellier in 1973.He has Experience of 41 years in Sluis & Goort then Syngenta and 15 years as crops manager.

Abstract:

As breeder for pepper and squash for Sluis & Groot, I realized 6 interspecific introgressions of several genes of resistance into commercial varieties. My targets were in pepper PMMV (TMV), TSW, Potyvirus, in squash Potyvirus (ZYMV, WMV), CMV, Powdery Mildew.  Most of these resistances are now standards in the market and used by all the community of breeders when relevant. Interspecific crossings are difficult to perform and barriers of sterility must be overcome. All the resistances mentioned above are under control of monogenic dominant gene. Why? Easier to track during the bridge process. These resistances have been challenged during these last 20-30 years leading to different situations. More surprising, some cases of genes interactions were discovered, unexpected pleiotropic effects appeared after combining “weak” genes. Introgression of interspecific traits into a cultivated species is one step. Another step is to create commercial products. The wild genes are coming surrounded by others inside the segment of introgression which could lead to deleterious effect. The story is different for each gene. The use molecular markers and gene sequencing change completely the approach of interspecific transfer of traits. Tracking the gene(s) via molecular markers during the bridge process (from F1 to BC2-3) simplify the operation. No need for phenotyping to follow the gene of interest. It opens the possibility to consider recessive genes and polygenic traits. The development of molecular markers inside the wild donor species is needed to use these markers. Highly density maps and “fine mapping” will help. But the segments of insertion and the expression of the genes in a very different background can still results into difficulties.

Biography:

Dr. Farag Mohamed has years experience in Plant Pathology. He is currently working as a researcher in Plant Pathology Res. Institute, Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt. He is in Cooperation with General Administration for training and Agriculture Extension in held training courses for Agricultural Extension agents in plant pathology field. He has an Excellent experience in conducting researches in induction and biological control in the field of plant disease.

Abstract:

Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L) is a root competitor weed that represents a major constraint for several crops production all over the world. Bindweed has adopted a parasitic lifestyle on pepper plants (Capsicum annuum L). Parasitic plants develop a multicellular infectious organ called a haustorium.  In March 2017. 42 samples were collected from Minia and Beni Suef governorates, Egypt and evaluated for their virulence against pepper plants. Pathogensity test were carried out in sids research station. These populations tested were able to attack the pepper roots (Balady variety) appearing polar and dwarf leaves compared to leaves of uninfected control plants. The histological structures of Convolvulus arvensis and pepper roots revealed that the vascular xylem of the bindweed primary and secondary haustoria eventually connected with phloem conducting elements of the host root. By use of the light microscope, boundary features of the penetration and connection of the secondary to the primary root (in healthy pepper plants) were compared histologically with those of the haustoria and the host root cells (in infected pepper plants). These findings are important in assessing the potential of the parasite as an agronomically significant pest in Egypt.

Biography:

Magdalena Zuk has completed her PhD at 2003 in Wroclaw University and work on diversification of secondary metabolites in crop plants (flax, potato).She use techniques of  molecular biology including gene isolation and expression analysis, protein expression and analysis, plant transformation and in vitro cultures, metabolite identification in particular focusing phenolic components by HPLC-MS analysis.  She`s foxused on biomedical application of flax by-products. She published more than 35 papers in reputed journals. Member of a board of Linum Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting pro-health use of a flax products.

Abstract:

Many biochemical pathways in plants show a tendency to be flexible and to be responsive to environmental changes. This is related to the fact that plants cannot avoid environmental stress. One of the best examples is the phenolics pathway.The chalcone synthase (CHS) gene controls the key step in the flavonoid biosynthesis. Gene down-regulation resulted in tannin accumulation and reduction in lignin synthesis, but flax growth was not affected. This suggests that lignin content and thus cell wall characteristics might be modulated through CHS activity. This study investigated the possibility that CHS affects cell wall sensing as well as polymer content and arrangement. CHS-suppressed and thus lignin-reduced plants showed significant changes in expression of genes involved in both synthesis of components and cell wall sensing. This was accompanied by increased levels of cellulose and hemicellulose. CHS-reduced flax also showed significant changes in morphology and arrangement of the cell wall. The stem tissue layers were enlarged averagely twofold compared to the control, and the number of fiber cells more than doubled. The stem morphology changes were accompanied by reduction of the crystallinity index of the cell wall. CHS silencing induces a signal transduction cascade that leads to modification of plant metabolism in a wide range and thus cell wall structure.

Since GM crops are rather scarcely accepted worldwide, several studies have proposed epigenetic modification, based on  the plant treatment with short oligonucleotide sequences (OLIGO) that are homologues to the gene of interest. In most cases OLIGO silences the target gene by interference but in few cases target gene activation was reported. The recent data suggests that OLIGO technology is effective in the analysis of gene function as well as in the generating new types of plants. OLIGOs technology was also effective in CHS engineering in flax

Biography:

Jan szopa-skorkowski is currently working as Professor in Department of Biochemistry Genetic, University of Wrocław, Poland. Jan szopa-skorkowski international experience includes various programs, contributions and participation in different countries for diverse fields of study. His research interests reflect wide range of publications in various national and international journals.

Abstract:

Many biochemical pathways in plants show a tendency to be flexible and to be responsive to environmental changes. This is related to the fact that plants cannot avoid environmental stress. One of the best examples is the phenolics pathway.The chalcone synthase (CHS) gene controls the key step in the flavonoid biosynthesis. Gene down-regulation resulted in tannin accumulation and reduction in lignin synthesis, but flax growth was not affected. This suggests that lignin content and thus cell wall characteristics might be modulated through CHS activity. This study investigated the possibility that CHS affects cell wall sensing as well as polymer content and arrangement. CHS-suppressed and thus lignin-reduced plants showed significant changes in expression of genes involved in both synthesis of components and cell wall sensing. This was accompanied by increased levels of cellulose and hemicellulose. CHS-reduced flax also showed significant changes in morphology and arrangement of the cell wall. The stem tissue layers were enlarged averagely twofold compared to the control, and the number of fiber cells more than doubled. The stem morphology changes were accompanied by reduction of the crystallinity index of the cell wall. CHS silencing induces a signal transduction cascade that leads to modification of plant metabolism in a wide range and thus cell wall structure.

Since GM crops are rather scarcely accepted worldwide, several studies have proposed epigenetic modification, based on  the plant treatment with short oligonucleotide sequences (OLIGO) that are homologues to the gene of interest. In most cases OLIGO silences the target gene by interference but in few cases target gene activation was reported. The recent data suggests that OLIGO technology is effective in the analysis of gene function as well as in the generating new types of plants. OLIGOs technology was also effective in CHS engineering in flax

Biography:

Rouja Haghdoust is a PhD student in plant breeding instituted the University of Sydney. Rouja has a broad interest in molecular basis of plant-pathogen interactions and plants molecular genetics. Her PhD project is focused on study of the genetic basis of resistance in cereal crops to diverse rust pathogens. Her research includes resistance gene identification in response to diverse rust pathogens in selected barley mapping populations, subsequent fine mapping analysis with an ultimate aim to discover novel resistance genes in barley that are effective to rust pathogens and can be transferred to other crops. She is eager to collaborate with other scientists and devote her knowledge to improve crop yields by overcoming biotic stresses such as rust diseases to ultimately provide durable resistance for cereal breeders around the world.

Abstract:

The genetic basis of resistance to stripe rust caused by P. striiformis in barley is not well understood. Therefore studies are required to determine the inheritance of resistance to this pathogen species in barley. Should such studies identify genes that are pleiotropic (effective to multiple pathogens); they could be transferred between cereal crops to increase the diversity of genetic resistance in disease control. Barley is infected by the adapted pathogen Puccinia striiformis f. sp. hordei (Psh), and is an intermediate or near nonhost to the formae speciales (ff. spp.) adapted to wheat [f. sp. tritici (Pst)] and to barley grass [f. sp. pseudo-hordei (Psph)]. The aims of this study were to determine the genetic basis of resistance in barley to diverse isolates of P. striiformis and to conclude whether or not the adult plant leaf rust resistance gene Rph20 confers pleiotropic resistance to P. striiformis. To determine the genetic basis of resistance to P. striiformis in barley, we developed a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population using a P. striiformis-susceptible accession (Biosaline-19) and the immune cultivar Pompadour, which carries Rph20. The immunity in Pompadour at the seedling stage to four diverse P. striiformis isolates was due to resistance Quantitative trait loci (QTL) on chromosomes 1H, 2H, 4H, 5H and 7H with both overlapping and distinct specificities that were confirmed through histology assessment. In the field, RILs that were seedling-susceptible to Psph were resistant, indicating the presence of APR which was mapped to chromosome 7H and co-locate with the leaf rust APR gene Rph23, suggesting either pleiotropic resistance or the involvement of a gene closely linked to or allelic with Rph23. Unlike many pleiotropic APR genes identified and isolated in wheat, our data suggest that the leaf rust APR gene Rph20 does not confer resistance to the P. striiformis isolates used in this study.

Biography:

Abiyot Lemma Gutema, B.Sc. in Dryland Crop Scinces and M.Sc. in Plant Pathology has an experience of working as Agricultural Technical Vocational Education Training College Instructor; as Highland Cereal, Pulses & oil seed crops Production farm head; as Pathologist researcher in the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research & Sugar Corporation, and He is currently working as Agricultural Training Expert in the Japan Tobacco International Ethiopia (the then National Tobacco International S/C, Ethiopia.

Abstract:

Wheat stem rust caused by Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici is amongst the biotic factors which causes up to 100% yield loss during epidemic years. Therefore, the present study was carried out to observe the reaction of improved durum wheat varieties to virulent stem rust isolates at seedling growth stage and to stem rust population at adult growth stages. The finding of this experimental study was based on isolation and multiplication of virulent races of P. graminis, then ten durum wheat varieties including the susceptible check morocco were tested for the virulent isolates at seedling growth stage; and the reaction of these varieties under natural field conditions were evaluated in the Eastern and Western Showa of Central Ethiopia at adult growth stages. At seedling growth stage, 60% of varieties tested with the virulent stem rust isolate from Debrezeit exhibited resistance, while all varieties were resistant to Ambo isolate. Ten durum wheat varieties evaluated at adult plant growth stage to stem rust population of Debrezeit (Eastern Showa) showed severities of 20S in the variety Geredo to 70S in the variety Foka, while at Ambo (Western Showa) only the susceptible check, Morocco was infected up to 20S. The result indicated that stem rust from Debrezeit was virulent to durum wheat varieties as compared to the Ambo population

Biography:

Abiyot Lemma Gutema, B.Sc. in Dryland Crop Scinces and M.Sc. in Plant Pathology has an experience of working as Agricultural Technical Vocational Education Training College Instructor; as Highland Cereal, Pulses & oil seed crops Production farm head; as Pathologist researcher in the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research & Sugar Corporation, and He is currently working as Agricultural Training Expert in the Japan Tobacco International Ethiopia (the then National Tobacco International S/C, Ethiopia.

Abstract:

Wheat stem rust caused by Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici is amongst the biotic factors which causes up to 100% yield loss during epidemic years. Therefore, the present study was carried out to observe the reaction of improved durum wheat varieties to virulent stem rust isolates at seedling growth stage and to stem rust population at adult growth stages. The finding of this experimental study was based on isolation and multiplication of virulent races of P. graminis, then ten durum wheat varieties including the susceptible check morocco were tested for the virulent isolates at seedling growth stage; and the reaction of these varieties under natural field conditions were evaluated in the Eastern and Western Showa of Central Ethiopia at adult growth stages. At seedling growth stage, 60% of varieties tested with the virulent stem rust isolate from Debrezeit exhibited resistance, while all varieties were resistant to Ambo isolate. Ten durum wheat varieties evaluated at adult plant growth stage to stem rust population of Debrezeit (Eastern Showa) showed severities of 20S in the variety Geredo to 70S in the variety Foka, while at Ambo (Western Showa) only the susceptible check, Morocco was infected up to 20S. The result indicated that stem rust from Debrezeit was virulent to durum wheat varieties as compared to the Ambo population

Biography:

Dr. Kausar Hussain Shah is involved in teaching and research at the Institute of Pure and Applied Biology (IP&AB), Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) Multan, Pakistan. He obtained his degree of MSc in Botany from IP&AB, BZU Multan, Pakistan; MPhil in Molecular Biology from CEMB, University of the Punjab Lahore, Pakistan and PhD in Plant Biotechnology from IPS, BOKU University Vienna, Austria. His research interests include crop improvement by applying PGPR; Plant biotic/abiotic stress tolerance; Plant antimicrobial/ anti-cancerous/ insecticidal agents such as proteins/peptides; Molecular Plant-Microbe interaction; Genetic Engineering in Plants and Molecular-Farming.

Abstract:

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are the rhizosphere bacteria that can enhance plant growth by a wide variety of mechanisms. The potentiality of PGPR in agriculture is steadily increased as it offers an attractive way to replace the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other supplements. The objective of this study was to find the compatible PGPR strains for Chickpea crop, a major pulse crop in Pakistan. For this purpose, we focused on the photosynthesis and proteome analysis of PGPR treated and non-treated plants of chickpea. Three plant growth promoting Bacillus strains Sa-65, D-6 and Sa-65 were used to investigate their effects on growth, photosynthesis and proteome of five Chickpea varieties namely Pb-1, Padir-19, CM-2008, K-01019 and 01004. The results showed that variety K-01019 grown under controlled condition was best in growth as compared to other four varieties. It was observed that the application of PGPR strain K-39 significantly increased the fresh and dry biomass of variety Pb-1. Strain D-6 showed better results in term of increased growth in variety CM-2008. The chlorophyll transients showed that there is a slight decrease in the fluorescence of K-39 treated plants of variety Pb-1. In variety Padir-19 the decrease in fluorescence was recorded in plants treated with K-39 and D-6 strains. These results suggested that the strain K-39 and D-6 were found to be more efficient for growth promotion of different varieties of Chickpea as compared to strain Sa-65. Furthermore, differential protein bands of approximately 150 and 20 KDa were observed in K-39 treated plants of varieties Pb-1 and CM-2008 which were not present in controls of respective varieties. This study provides useful tool to improve growth of Chickpea crop by applying PGPR strains K-39 and D-6.

Biography:

Mr Tiwari has been serving as Senior Scientist in Plant Breeding and Genetics under Nepal Agricultural Research Council. He is actively working in rice breeding for varietal improvement. His major focus on research is in abiotic stress tolerance in rice as well as contributed significantly to the breeding rice for upland and rainfed environments. He is also involved in the development of hybrid rice using heterosis breeding. He has adequate knowledge and skill in quantitative genetics and statistical plant breeding methods. He has been emphasizing on delivery of high yielding and stress tolerant cultivars for the flood prone and drought affected areas.

Abstract:

Genetic variability is the fundamental requirement of any crop breeding program to develop superior cultivars. The objective of this study was to estimate the genetic variability and find out the correlation among the different quantitative traits of early rice under rainfed lowland environments. The experiment was conducted during 2015 and 2016 wet season across the four locations namely Hardinath, Dhanusha, Khajura, Banke, Rampur, Chitwan and Bhairahawa, Rupendehi. Seven genotypes including Hardinath-1 as standard check variety were evaluated in the randomized complete block design with three replications. Several quantitative traits such as days to heading and maturity, plant height, 1000 grain weight, tillers per square meters and grain yield were measured to investigate the variability. Genotypic, phenotypic and environmental components of variance were computed to contrast the variability among the tested genotypes. All the genotypes and locations showed significant variability for all the traits studied. Similarly, genotype x environment interaction effects was also found highly significant except for the days to maturity. Genotypic coefficient of variation was lower than phenotypic coefficient of variation for all traits studied. The magnitudes of genotypic coefficient of variations were relatively higher for grain yield, 1000 grain weight and days to heading. The genotypic coefficient of variation was in the range of 0.7% to 12.86%. Heritability also ranges from 16% to 93.5% with high broad sense heritability of 93.5% was recorded from days to maturity and lowest heritability of 16% was observed in plant height which indicated the presence of additive gene effects. Positive and highest genetic correlations were found between days to heading and days to maturity (r=0.9999**), days to heading and grain yield (r=0.9999**), days to maturity and plant height (r=0.9999**). However, negative and highest correlation was observed between plant height and 1000 grain weight (r=0.9999**) followed by tillers and 1000 grain weight (0.3028**). Thus results indicated that days to heading, maturity, grain yield, and plant height are identified as selection criteria for obtaining stable and high yielding early rice genotypes under rainfed environments. Dendrogram and PCA clearly visualized the traits broadly into two clusters in which thousand grain weight into one and rest of the other traits come under separate cluster