Winter durum wheat is a relatively young crop that is highly adaptable due to its winter type of growth habit. The priority of breeding and genetic improvement of winter durum wheat is to improve grain quality and pasta quality, largely determined by the glutenin storage proteins. In the present study, a collection of 76 accessions of winter durum wheat from P.P. Lukyanenko National Grain Centre was studied. The allelic state of high-molecular-weight glutenin genes, Glu-A1 and Glu-B1, using PCR markers and SDS-PAGE was identified and grain and pasta quality traits were assessed in a two-year field experiment. The positive effect of the Glu-A1a allele and a negative effect of Glu-A1c on the gluten index were shown. It was found that Glu-B1al and Glu-B1f have a positive effect on the quality and quantity of protein and gluten, while the Glu-A1c + Glu-B1al genotypes were closest to the high-quality category in protein-associated quality traits.

Spring durum wheat is an important raw material for producing diverse products such as couscous, bulgur, bread, and pasta. The quality of the dough is significantly influenced by high-molecular-weight glutenins, the allelic status of which depends on the region and breeding program. In this study, a collection of 69 cultivars and promising lines of durum wheat were analyzed for the allelic state of Glu-A1 and Glu-B1 using SDS-PAGE and KASP PCR markers. Protein and gluten content, volume increase index, pasta breaking strength, general pasta estimation, SDS, and gluten index were measured for each accession based on a two-year field experiment in the Krasnodar region. The analysis revealed that the Glu-B1al, Glu-B1d, and Glu-B1z* alleles positively influence gluten index, with Glu-B1al increasing protein, gluten, and SDS content, whereas Glu-B1d decreased these traits. Glu-B1e, on average, decreased the gluten index and SDS value but did not affect protein or gluten content. The role of alleles affecting the gluten index and protein content in ensuring the quality of pasta in durum wheat breeding is discussed.

Digital phenotyping is a fast-growing area of hardware and software research and development. Phenotypic studies usually require determining whether there is a difference in some trait between plants with different genotypes or under different conditions. We developed StatFaRmer, a user-friendly tool tailored for analyzing time series of plant phenotypic parameters, ensuring seamless integration with common tasks in phenotypic studies. For maximum versatility across phenotypic methods and platforms, it uses data in the form of a set of spreadsheets (XLSX and CSV files). StatFaRmer is designed to handle measurements that have variation in timestamps between plants and the presence of outliers, which is common in digital phenotyping. Data preparation is automated and well-documented, leading to customizable ANOVA tests that include diagnostics and significance estimation for effects between user-defined groups. Users can download the results from each stage and reproduce their analysis. It was tested and shown to work reliably for large datasets across various experimental designs with a wide range of plants, including bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum wheat (Triticum durum), and triticale (× Triticosecale); sugar beet (Beta vulgaris), cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa), corn (Zea mays) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus), and soybean (Glycine max). StatFaRmer is created as an open-source Shiny dashboard, and simple instructions on installation and operation on Windows and Linux are provided.

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a valuable crop and model plant for studying sex chromosomes. The scientific interest in the plant has led to its whole genome sequencing and the determination of its cytogenetic characteristics. A range of cytogenetic markers (subtelomeric repeat CS-1, 5S rDNA, and 45S rDNA) has been mapped onto hemp’s chromosomes by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). In this study, another cytogenetic marker (the tandem repeat CS-237, with a 237 bp monomer) was found, studied, and localized on chromosomes by FISH. The signal distribution and karyotyping revealed that the CS-237 probe was localized in chromosome 6 with one hybridization site and in chromosome 8 with two hybridization sites, one of which colocalizes with the 45S rDNA probe (with which a nucleolus organizer region, NOR, was detected). A BLAST analysis of the genomic data and PCR experiments showed that the modified CS-237 monomers (delCS-237, 208 bp in size) were present in the intergenic spacers (IGSs) of hemp 45S rDNA monomers. Such a feature was firstly observed in Cannabaceae species. However, IGS-linked DNA repeats were found in several plant species of other families (Fabaceae, Solanaceae, and Asteraceae). This phenomenon is discussed in this article. The example of CS-237 may be useful for further studying the phenomenon as well as for the physical mapping of hemp chromosomes.

The Ural Mountains in the Western Siberia region cultivate over 3.5 M ha of short season spring wheat, with an average grain yield of 1.6–2.0 t/ha. The study focus was the analysis of climate change and weather effects on spring wheat yields from 2001 to 2024 and on genotype–environment interactions in the Kazakhstan–Siberia Spring Wheat Improvement network (KASIB) trials from 2019 to 2024. Climate change has the tendency to gradually reduce precipitation and increase air temperatures, which negatively affect spring wheat yields. Based on regional yield and weather, the region was divided into subregions: Tyumen in the North with a high yield; Chelyabinsk with lower precipitation and a lower grain yield; and Omsk and Kurgan were similar in most years. Environments at the four breeding programs (Chelyabinsk Agricultural Research Institute, Kurgan Seeds, and Omsk and Tyumen State Agrarian Universities) did not fully reflect the target production areas due to a very high yield gap and lack of association between the research and production yields. Genotype–environment interaction analysis showed that the Tyumen site had the highest yield and best discriminating ability, while Chelyabinsk best represented the whole target region. Most of the highest yielding material in KASIB trials originated from outside of the region. Spring wheat breeding programs in the region ought to improve to maintain a competitive edge.