Soybean is an important oil-producing crop in the Fabaceae family and there are increasing demands for soybean oil and other soybean products. Genetic improvement of soybean is needed to increase its production. In order to provide genetic diversity and resources for identifying important genes, a new ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) mutagenized soybean population was generated using the newly released germplasm, JTN-5203 (maturity group V). Treatment of soybean seeds with 60 mM EMS concentration was found to be suitable for inducing mutation. A total of 1,820 M1 individuals were produced from 15,000 treated seeds. The resulting M2 population was planted in the field for phenotyping. After harvest, seed traits including total oil, protein, starch, moisture content, fatty acid and amino acid compositions were measured by NIR. Phenotypic variations observed in this population include changes in leaf morphology, plant architecture, seed compositions, and yield. Of most interest, we identified plants with increased amounts of total protein (50% vs. 41% for control) and plants with higher amounts of total oil (25% vs. 21.2% control). Similarly, we identified plants with increases in oleic acid content and decreases in linoleic acid and linolenic acid. This EMS mutant population will be used for further studies including screening for various traits such as amino acid pathways, allergens, phytic acids, and other important soybean agronomic traits. In addition, these mutant individuals will be evaluated in the next generation to assess the heritability. Beneficial traits from these mutants can be exploited for future soybean breeding programs. This germplasm can also be used for discovering novel mutant alleles and for functional gene expression analysis using reverse genetics tools such as TILLING.

Traffic-related particulate matter (PM) is a major source of outdoor air pollution worldwide. It has been recently hypothesized to cause cardiometabolic syndrome, including cardiovascular dysfunction, obesity, and diabetes. The environmental and toxicological factors involved in the processes, and the detailed mechanisms remain to be explored. The objective of this study is to assess the current scientific evidence of traffic-related PM-induced cardiometabolic syndrome. We conducted a literature review by searching the keywords of “traffic related air pollution”, “particulate matter”, “human health”, and “metabolic syndrome” from 1980 to 2018. This resulted in 25 independent research studies for the final review. Both epidemiological and toxicological findings reveal consistent correlations between traffic-related PM exposure and the measured cardiometabolic health endpoints. Smaller sizes of PM, particularly ultrafine particles, are shown to be more harmful due to their greater concentrations, reactive compositions, longer lung retention, and bioavailability. The active components in traffic-related PM could be attributed to metals, black carbon, elemental carbon, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and diesel exhaust particles. Existing evidence points out that the development of cardiometabolic symptoms can occur through chronic systemic inflammation and increased oxidative stress. The elderly (especially for women), children, genetically susceptible individuals, and people with pre-existing conditions are identified as vulnerable groups. To advance the characterization of the potential health risks of traffic-related PM, additional research is needed to investigate the detailed chemical compositions of PM constituents, atmospheric transformations, and the mode of action to induce adverse health effects. Furthermore, we recommend that future studies could explore the roles of genetic and epigenetic factors in influencing cardiometabolic health outcomes by integrating multi-omics approaches (e.g., genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics) to provide a comprehensive assessment of biological perturbations caused by traffic-related PM.

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