Certified seed producers systematically select and propagate registered varieties year after year in order to maintain their uniformity and the original registered cultivar traits. However, natural mutations, spontaneous breeding between varieties and alien grain contamination can introduce undesirable variability. NRVC 980385 is a temperate japonica rice cultivar (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica) first registered in Spain in 2002. In 2005 certification tests detected a plot differing from the original traits in terms of uniformity and height suggesting the presence of a certain heterozygosis. This material was therefore seen as an opportunity to obtain newly stabilized doubled haploid (DH) lines which could compete in the Spanish short grain seed market. In this study, an in vitro anther culture protocol is defined which also covers the field tests selection to obtain four new, improved and stabilized DH derived lines ready to be registered for commercial proposes. This took just four years from the initial anther collection until new lines were grown in large scale field trials. Consequently, this protocol reduces the time for obtaining field assessed DH lines thereby having considerable advantages over other techniques by both maintaining the original registered cultivars and/or generating new derived varieties.

This study proposes to characterize hydrated and refrigerated mucilage obtained from cladodes of clones of prickly pear cactus harvested during the drizzle and dry seasons in the semiarid of Brazil. Cladodes of Opuntia stricta [Haw.] Haw (Orelha de Elefante Mexicana [OEM] clone) and Nopalea cochenillifera Salm Dyck (IPA Sertânia [IPA] and Miúda [MIU] clones) were harvested at 6 am and extracted mucilage. The main bands in the infrared region were characterized. Physicochemical analyses were performed on day zero and at 12 days. Cladodes harvested in the dry season showed higher mucilage yield and soluble solid, total soluble carbohydrate, and K+, for the three clones. The OEM clone also exhibited significant increases in pH, Na+, and electrical conductivity when harvested in the dry season than in the wet season. In addition, the mucilage extracted from the Opuntia cladodes did not have changes in the carbohydrate, titratable acidity, or total soluble protein levels. The IPA and MIU clones, in turn, were characterized by parameters that remained stable during conservation (phenolic compounds, titratable acidity, K+ and Na+). The spectroscopic profile was similar for all studied clones. The principal component analysis allowed the formation of clusters between seasons and conservation times. It is suggested that the cladodes of the genus Nopalea showed better potential in the manufacture of edible films and coatings. The cladodes of the genus Opuntia, for the use of mucilage as ingredients in foods such as bread, pasta, and others, making them with better functional properties. Therefore, these factors should be considered for the use of mucilage in the industry.

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