A statistical approach is presented for selection of best performing lines for commercial release and best parents for future breeding programs from standard agronomic trials. The method involves the partitioning of the genetic effect of a line into additive and non-additive effects using pedigree based inter-line relationships, in a similar manner to that used in animal breeding. A difference is the ability to estimate non-additive effects. Line performance can be assessed by an overall genetic line effect with greater accuracy than when ignoring pedigree information and the additive effects are predicted breeding values. A generalized definition of heritability is developed to account for the complex models presented.

High-throughput phenotyping produces multiple measurements over time, which require new methods of analyses that are flexible in their quantification of plant growth and transpiration, yet are computationally economic. Here we develop such analyses and apply this to a rice population genotyped with a 700k SNP high-density array. Two rice diversity panels, indica and aus, containing a total of 553 genotypes, are phenotyped in waterlogged conditions. Using cubic smoothing splines to estimate plant growth and transpiration, we identify four time intervals that characterize the early responses of rice to salinity. Relative growth rate, transpiration rate and transpiration use efficiency (TUE) are analysed using a new association model that takes into account the interaction between treatment (control and salt) and genetic marker. This model allows the identification of previously undetected loci affecting TUE on chromosome 11, providing insights into the early responses of rice to salinity, in particular into the effects of salinity on plant growth and transpiration.

OBJECTIVEGestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may cause obesity in the offspring. The objective was to assess the effect of treatment for mild GDM on the BMI of 4- to 5-year-old children.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSParticipants were 199 mothers who participated in a randomized controlled trial of the treatment of mild GDM during pregnancy and their children. Trained nurses measured the height and weight of the children at preschool visits in a state-wide surveillance program in the state of South Australia. The main outcome measure was age- and sex-specific BMI Z score based on standards of the International Obesity Task Force.RESULTSAt birth, prevalence of macrosomia (birth weight ≥4,000 g) was 5.3% among the 94 children whose mothers were in the intervention group, and 21.9% among the 105 children in the routine care control group. At 4- to 5-years-old, mean (SD) BMI Z score was 0.49 (1.20) in intervention children and 0.41 (1.40) among controls. The difference between treatment groups was 0.08 (95% CI −0.29 to 0.44), an estimate minimally changed by adjustment for maternal race, parity, age, and socio-economic index (0.08 [−0.29 to 0.45]). Evaluating BMI ≥85th percentile rather than continuous BMI Z score gave similarly null results.CONCLUSIONSAlthough treatment of GDM substantially reduced macrosomia at birth, it did not result in a change in BMI at age 4- to 5-years-old.

Effects of several inoculation protocols using Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain AWRI 838 (an isolate of Lalvin EC11 18) and Candida stellata strain AWRI 1159 (CBS 2649) upon the aroma properties and chemical composition of Chardonnay wine were determined. An increase in the concentration of glycerol and acetic acid was observed when fermentation was performed with C. stellata AWRI 1159, which did not progress to dryness. Sensory descriptive analysis showed a substantial difference in aroma between the wines produced by monocultures of the two yeast species. The Candida stellata AWRI 1159 produced significantly more intense ‘honey’, ‘apricot’, and ‘sauerkraut’ aromas, and diminished the ‘lime’, ‘banana’‘tropical fruit’ and ‘floral’ aromas ascribed to S. cerevisiae AWRI 838. When C. stellata AWRI 1159 was co‐inoculated at ten times the initial concentration of strain S. cerevisiae AWRI 838, the non‐ Saccharomyces yeast had only a minor impact upon wine aroma and composition despite maintaining a significant viable population of 5–10 times 106 colony forming units per mL throughout fermentation. Wine of a different aroma profile to either of the reference monoculture wines was produced by sequential fermentation, whereby C. stellata AWRI 1159 conducted the first half of fermentation, before inoculation with S. cerevisiae AWRI 838, and the subsequent completion of fermentation. This wine had ‘floral’, ‘banana’, ‘lime’, ‘tropical fruit’ and ‘sauerkraut’ aroma scores intermediate to the two reference monoculture wines, ‘apricot’ and ‘honey’ aroma ratings similar to the S. cerevisiae AWRI 838 wine, and ‘ethyl acetate’ aroma that exceeded that of both reference wines. These results suggest the potential of a reliable mixed culture fermentation strategy for exploiting unconventional, fermentation‐impaired yeasts for producing greater flavour diversity in wine.

SummaryBarley (Hordeum vulgare) is a crop of global significance. However, a third of the genes of barley are largely inaccessible to conventional breeding programmes as crossovers are localised to the ends of the chromosomes. This work examines whether crossovers can be shifted to more proximal regions simply by elevating growth temperature.We utilised a genome-wide marker set for linkage analysis combined with cytological mapping of crossover events to examine the recombination landscape of plants grown at different temperatures.We found that barley shows heterochiasmy, that is, differences between female and male recombination frequencies. In addition, we found that elevated temperature significantly changes patterns of recombination in male meiosis only, with a repositioning of Class I crossovers determined by cytological mapping of HvMLH3 foci. We show that the length of synaptonemal complexes in male meiocytes increases in response to temperature.The results demonstrate that the distribution of crossover events are malleable and can be shifted to proximal regions by altering the growth temperature. The shift in recombination is the result of altering the distribution of Class I crossovers, but the higher recombination at elevated temperatures is potentially not the result of an increase in Class I events.

This paper presents the results from an investigation to assess the development of a Riesling and a wooded Chardonnay wine over five years following the imposition of several treatments at bottling. The wines were bottled under a screw cap closure, two different natural corks, a synthetic closure and in a glass ampoule. In addition, the effect of storage orientation was investigated. The bottled wines were stored under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. Various analyses were carried out on replicate bottles from each treatment, including sulfur dioxide and ascorbic acid concentration, sensory analysis of appearance and aroma attributes, and spectral measures. The largest treatment effect resided with the nature of the closure. Wines sealed with the synthetic closure were relatively oxidised in aroma, brown in colour, and low in sulfur dioxide compared to wines held under the other closures. A struck flint/rubber (reduced) aroma was discernible in the wines sealed under the screw caps or in glass ampoules. Wines sealed under natural bark corks in this study showed negligible reduced characters. The bottle orientation during storage under the conditions of this study had little effect on the composition and sensory properties of the wines examined.

Producing sufficient food for nine billion people by 2050 will be constrained by soil salinity, especially in irrigated systems. To improve crop yield, greater understanding of the genetic control of traits contributing to salinity tolerance in the field is needed. Here, we exploit natural variation in exotic germplasm by taking a genome-wide association approach to a new nested association mapping population of barley called HEB-25. The large population (1,336 genotypes) allowed cross-validation of loci, which, along with two years of phenotypic data collected from plants irrigated with fresh and saline water, improved statistical power. We dissect the genetic architecture of flowering time under high salinity and we present genes putatively affecting this trait and salinity tolerance. In addition, we identify a locus on chromosome 2H where, under saline conditions, lines homozygous for the wild allele yielded 30% more than did lines homozygous for the Barke allele. Introgressing this wild allele into elite cultivars could markedly improve yield under saline conditions.

A statistical approach for the analysis of multi-environment trials (METs) is presented, in which selection of best performing lines, best parents, and best combination of parents can be determined. The genetic effect of a line is partitioned into additive, dominance and residual non-additive effects. The dominance effects are estimated through the incorporation of the dominance relationship matrix, which is presented under varying levels of inbreeding. A computationally efficient way of fitting dominance effects is presented which partitions dominance effects into between family dominance and within family dominance line effects. The overall approach is applicable to inbred lines, hybrid lines and other general population structures where pedigree information is available.