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Drought is a major constraint in some rice-growing areas of the United States. Its impact is most severe at the reproductive stage resulting in low grain yield. Therefore, assessment of genetic and phenotypic variation for drought tolerance in US rice germplasm is necessary to accelerate the breeding effort. Evaluation of 205 US rice genotypes for drought tolerance at the reproductive stage revealed tolerant response in rice genotypes Bengal, Jupiter, Cypress, Jazzman, Caffey, and Trenasse. Harvest index and fresh shoot weight were identified as important traits to explain the majority of variability among the genotypes under drought tolerance. Genotyping with 80 SSR markers indicated a low level of genetic diversity in US germplasm. Population structure analysis grouped the genotypes into eight clusters. The genotypes from California, Louisiana, and Arkansas formed distinct subgroups. Texas genotypes were similar to those from Louisiana and Arkansas. Marker-trait association analysis showed significant association of RM570 and RM351 with grain yield, spikelet fertility, and harvest index whereas shoot dry weight showed association with RM302 and RM461. The drought-tolerant genotypes identified in this study and the SSR markers associated with drought tolerance attributes will be helpful for development of improved drought-tolerant rice varieties through marker assisted selection.

During periods of drought, the irrigation needs of current warm-season turfgrass cultivars and frequent municipal water use restrictions present a major challenge to the turfgrass industry. Turfgrass breeding programs have responded by placing more emphasis on improved drought response. During 2012-2013, 560 genotypes of four warm-season turfgrass species developed by five southern breeding programs were evaluated for drought response in replicated field trials at seven locations. Breeders selected 35 genotypes as drought-tolerant selections (DTS) for further evaluation. The objectives of this study were to verify superior drought response among DTS under short-term drought conditions and to assess the effectiveness of this approach as a viable breeding strategy to improve drought response in warm-season turfgrasses. Forty-seven genotypes including standard commercial cultivars of zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp. Willd.), bermudagrass [Cynodon spp. (L.) Pers.], St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze], and seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum Swartz) were exposed to dry-downs in three consecutive years by withholding irrigation and excluding rainfall. Significant differences in drought performance were seen across genotypes over the multiyear study. Statistical contrasts found that DTS of zoysiagrass, St. Augustinegrass, and seashore paspalum generally Abbreviations: DGCI, dark green color index; DTS, drought-tolerant selection; NDVI, normalized difference vegetative index; %DGCI, percent of initial DGCI; %GC, percent of initial green cover; GC 50 , number of days of dry-down required to reduce green cover to 50% of the initial value; %NDVI, percent of initial NDVI; %TQ, percent of initial visual turf quality.

Honey samples of commercial honey bee (Apis mellifera) were collected from different bee keepers in Nepal. Total 16 different samples from Dang, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Sarlahi, Makwanpur and Rautahat districts of Nepal were obtained, representing honey of 4 different floral sources ‘Chiuri’ (Diploknema butyracea), ‘Rudhilo’ (Pogostemon plectranthoides), Mustard (Brassica napus), and Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum). Chemical composition and bioactive components of the honey samples were studied.Moisture content, pH, total acidity of the examined honey samples was found to be in the range of 19.30 ± 0.87 to 20.15 ± 1.39 %, 3.35 ± 0.63 to 4.80 ± 0.15, 109.25 ± 2.06 to 191.25 ± 14.73 meq/kg, respectively. Antioxidant activity, polyphenol, and flavonoid content were found to be in the range of 51.51 ± 4.95 to 97.84 ± 3.75 %, 17.82 ± 1.61 to 59.34 ± 2.77 mg GAE/100g, 1.22 ± 0.65 to 3.86 ± 0.80 mg GAE/100g, respectively. TSS, reducing sugars and HMF content ranged from 77.5 ± 0.46 to 78.0 ± 0.91 oBx, 64.06 ± 1.99 to 70.76 ± 1.26%, and 49.5 ± 4.50 to 214 ± 39.20 mg/kg respectively.

Consumers’ demand for ‘healthy’ food is growing at a fast pace. Beverages are one of the fastest-growing segments in the healthy food market. Kombucha is a product with a rapid market growth and is considered a ‘healthy beverage’. Kombucha drinkers (n = 296) in the contiguous United States (U.S.) were targeted to investigate differences in the various consumer segments regarding the healthy eater’s behavior, namely—(1) healthy diet stage-of-change attitudes, (2) healthy eating criteria, and (3) label information usage. An online survey questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. The data were analyzed via chi-square tests and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). The majority of kombucha consumers were health-conscious and kombucha fitted into their view of a healthy diet. The female, older, western U.S. residents, and higher-educated consumers were more likely to take action and maintain a healthier diet. Healthy eaters’ idea of a healthy diet was very similar to that of the general population. Kombucha consumers focused mainly on sugar/calories and natural/organic ingredients. Additional investigations to expand the understanding of the healthy eater’s behavior with actual kombucha samples are needed in the future.

Although both salinity and alkalinity result from accumulation of soluble salts in soil, high pH and ionic imbalance make alkaline stress more harmful to plants. This study aimed to provide molecular insights into the alkalinity tolerance using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population developed from a cross between Cocodrie and Dular with contrasting response to alkalinity stress. Forty-six additive QTLs for nine morpho-physiological traits were mapped on to a linkage map of 4679 SNPs under alkalinity stress at the seedling stage and seven major-effect QTLs were for alkalinity tolerance scoring, Na+ and K+ concentrations and Na+:K+ ratio. The candidate genes were identified based on the comparison of the impacts of variants of genes present in five QTL intervals using the whole genome sequences of both parents. Differential expression of no apical meristem protein, cysteine protease precursor, retrotransposon protein, OsWAK28, MYB transcription factor, protein kinase, ubiquitin-carboxyl protein, and NAD binding protein genes in parents indicated their role in response to alkali stress. Our study suggests that the genetic basis of tolerance to alkalinity stress is most likely different from that of salinity stress. Introgression and validation of the QTLs and genes can be useful for improving alkalinity tolerance in rice at the seedling stage and advancing understanding of the molecular genetic basis of alkalinity stress adaptation.