To ensure the food security of future generations and to address the challenge of the ‘no hunger zone’ proposed by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), crop production must be doubled by 2050, but environmental stresses are counteracting this goal. Heat stress in particular is affecting agricultural crops more frequently and more severely. Since the discovery of the physiological, molecular, and genetic bases of heat stress responses, cultivated plants have become the subject of intense research on how they may avoid or tolerate heat stress by either using natural genetic variation or creating new variation with DNA technologies, mutational breeding, or genome editing. This review reports current understanding of the genetic and molecular bases of heat stress in crops together with recent approaches to creating heat-tolerant varieties. Research is close to a breakthrough of global relevance, breeding plants fitter to face the biggest challenge of our time.

The presence of DNA in foodstuffs derived from or containing genetically modified organisms (GMO) is the basic requirement for labeling of GMO foods in Council Directive 2001/18/CE (Off. J. Eur. Communities 2001, L1 06/2). In this work, four different methods for DNA extraction were evaluated and compared. To rank the different methods, the quality and quantity of DNA extracted from standards, containing known percentages of GMO material and from different food products, were considered. The food products analyzed derived from both soybean and maize and were chosen on the basis of the mechanical, technological, and chemical treatment they had been subjected to during processing. Degree of DNA degradation at various stages of food production was evaluated through the amplification of different DNA fragments belonging to the endogenous genes of both maize and soybean. Genomic DNA was extracted from Roundup Ready soybean and maize MON810 standard flours, according to four different methods, and quantified by real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), with the aim of determining the influence of the extraction methods on the DNA quantification through real-time PCR.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) inhibit HIV-1 expression by either modulating host innate immunity or by directly interfering with viral mRNAs. We evaluated the expression of 377 miRNAs in CD4 ؉ T cells from HIV-1 é lite long-term nonprogressors (é LTNPs), naive patients, and multiply exposed uninfected (MEU) patients, and we observed that the é LTNP patients clustered with naive patients, whereas all MEU subjects grouped together. The discriminatory power of miRNAs showed that 21 miRNAs significantly differentiated é LTNP from MEU patients and 23 miRNAs distinguished naive from MEU patients, whereas only 1 miRNA (miR-155) discriminated é LTNP from naive patients. We proposed that miRNA expression may discriminate between HIV-1-infected and -exposed but negative patients. Analysis of miRNAs expression after exposure of healthy CD4 ؉ T cells to gp120 in vitro confirmed our hypothesis that a miRNA profile could be the result not only of a productive infection but also of the exposure to HIV-1 products that leave a signature in immune cells. The comparison of normalized Dicer and Drosha expression in ex vivo and in vitro condition revealed that these enzymes did not affect the change of miRNA profiles, supporting the existence of a Dicer-independent biogenesis pathway. (Blood. 2012;119(26):6259-6267)

This paper reviews aspects relevant to detection and quantification of genetically modified (GM) material within the feed/food chain. The GM crop regulatory framework at the international level is evaluated with reference to traceability and labelling. Current analytical methods for the detection, identification, and quantification of transgenic DNA in food and feed are reviewed. These methods include quantitative real-time PCR, multiplex PCR, and multiplex real-time PCR. Particular attention is paid to methods able to identify multiple GM events in a single reaction and to the development of microdevices and microsensors, though they have not been fully validated for application.

Heat stress is common in most cereal-growing areas of the world. In this paper, we summarize the current knowledge on the molecular and genetic basis of thermotolerance in vegetative and reproductive tissues of cereals. Significance of heat stress response and expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in thermotolerance of cereal yield and quality is discussed. Major avenues for increasing thermotolerance in cereals via conventional breeding or genetic modification are outlined.

We describe the development of a six-target real-time multiplex PCR assay with the SYBR® GreenER™ fluorescent dye, targeted to genes encoding for allergenic proteins commonly present in many processed food products (patent application pending). The assay was successfully trialled on reconstructed food matrices and on a range of commercial foodstuffs, and is proposed as a ready-to-use analytical tool for food manufacturers to detect the presence or confirm the absence of sequences encoding for important allergenic proteins of plant origin.

The accumulation of abscisic acid (ABA) by detached and partially dehydrated wheat leaves is known to be inherited in a quantitative manner. The location of genes having a major effect on drought-induced ABA accumulation in wheat was determined using a set of single chromosome substitution lines and populations derived from a cross between a high-ABA- and a low-ABA-producing genotype. Examination of a series of chromosome substitution lines of the high-ABA genotype 'Ciano 67' into the low-ABA recipient 'Chinese Spring' showed that chromosome 5A carries gene(s) that have a major influence on ABA accumulation in a drought test with detached and partially dehydrated leaves (DLT). A similar DLT was used to examine ABA accumulation in a population of F2 plants and doubled haploid (DH) lines derived from the cross between 'Chinese Spring' (low-ABA) and 'SQ1' (high-ABA) in which the F2 population (139 plants) and DH lines (96 lines) were also mapped partially with molecular markers. Analysis of variance of ABA accumulation between and within marker allele classes in the F2 confirmed the location of a gene(s) regulating ABA accumulation on the long arm of chromosome 5A. MAPMAKERQTL showed the most likely position for the ABA quantitative trait locus (QTL) to be between the loci Xpsr575 and Xpsr426, about 8 cM from Xpsr426. A similar trend for high ABA accumulation was found in DH lines having the 'SQ1' allele at marker loci in the same region of chromosome 5AL, but the QTL effect was not significant. The function of the QTL is discussed.

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