Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels is an endangered plant species endemic to Morocco. In recent years, attempts to develop in vitro regeneration systems for this species were made. However, rooting and acclimatization of in vitro plants have been a bottleneck for successful propagation. In the present study, the effects of different concentrations of auxins, putrescine, silver nitrate (AgNO₃) and ammonium nitrate on the in vitro rooting of adventitious shoots of two argan genotypes “Mejji” and “R’zwa”, were evaluated. The highest rooting percentages (86.6% in “Mejji” and 84.4% in “R’zwa”) were observed on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium modified by reducing the ammonium nitrate concentration and supplemented with 1.5 mg L⁻¹ indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), 0.5 mg L⁻¹ 1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), 2 mg L⁻¹ AgNO₃ and 160 mg L⁻¹ putrescine. This medium resulted in the development of a good root system after only 10 days of culture. Plantlet acclimatization was carried out using different substrate mixtures, and high survival rates (100%) were observed when the substrate contained either peat alone or a sand–peat mixture (1:1, w/w). The high percentages of rooting and acclimatization reported in the present study are of high importance for rapid and large-scale propagation of this endangered species.

Micronutrient deficiency affects half of the world’s population, mostly in developing countries. Severe health issues such as anemia and inadequate growth in children below five years of age and pregnant women have been linked to mineral deficiencies (mostly zinc and iron). Improving the mineral content in staple crops, also known as mineral biofortification, remains the best approach to address mineral malnutrition. Barley is a staple crop in some parts of the world and is a healthy choice since it contains β-glucan, a high dietary protein. Barley mineral biofortification, especially with zinc and iron, can be beneficial since barley easily adapts to marginalized areas and requires less input than other frequently consumed cereals. In this study, we analyzed zinc and iron content in 496 barley samples. The samples were genotyped with an Illumina 50 K SNP chip. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified 62 SNPs and 68 SNPs (p < 0.001) associated with iron and zinc content in grains, respectively. After a Bonferroni correction (p < 0.005), there were 12 SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphism) associated with Zn and 6 for iron. SNP annotations revealed proteins involved in membrane transport, Zn and Fe binding, linked to nutrient remobilization in grains. These results can be used to develop biofortified barley via marker-assisted selection (MAS), which could alleviate mineral malnutrition.

Morocco is considered one of the main biodiversity hotspots in the Mediterranean region and contains various plant species including wild and domestic Rosa. This genus is the most important among cultivated ornamental plants in the world, with a high economic value in cosmetics, pharmaceutical industries, and floriculture. In the present study, genetic diversity among the collected accessions of wild Rosa species in Morocco was assessed using Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) and Directed Amplification of Minisatellites DNA (DAMD) markers. Results confirmed that both markers used have a good efficiency to assess genetic diversity in wild roses. Ten ISSR and eight DAMD primers amplified 276 and 203 loci, with an average of 27.4 and 25 polymorphic alleles per primer, respectively. The polymorphic information content (PIC) values were 0.34 with ISSR and 0.31 with DAMD. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that genetic variation in wild rose occurs mainly within populations (86%) rather than between populations (14%). The region of Azrou (Middle Atlas of Morocco) is the area that registered the highest genetic diversity in the present study with He = 0.21. The 39 rose accessions were divided into three main groups with among-group similarity of 30%. Principal component analysis and the hierarchical classification were consistent with genetic relationships derived by structure analysis. The findings revealed that the patterns of grouping are weakly correlated with geographical origin. ISSR and DAMD markers showed that the accessions have a good genetic diversity.

Although significant progress has been made on Agrobacterium-mediated wheat transformation, current methodologies using immature embryos as recipient tissues are labor intensive, time consuming and expensive. The use of mature embryos as explants is increasingly being recognized as an optimal method for developing regenerable cell lines during wheat transformation. Therefore, we have developed an Agrobacterium-based transformation protocol using mature embryos while adjusting several factors that influence genetic transformation efficiency. In this study, we focussed on acetosyringone concentrations, genotypes and different types of mature embryos (intact or longitudinally halved-embryos or fragmented into four latitudinal pieces) used as a source of explants for the genetic transformation. A. tumefaciens strain EHA101 harboring the plasmid vector pTF101.1 carrying the barley HVA1 gene and bar-selectable marker gene were used. Mature intact-embryos and longitudinally halved-embryos yielded the highest number of putative transgenic plantlets on the selection medium. However, no plantlets were obtained from latitudinal fragmented mature embryos. 'Amal' and 'Rajae' genotypes regenerated the highest number of putative transgenic plants and 200 mu M acetosyringone was found to be the optimal concentration for their transformation. A total of 47 transgenic plants were selected with 11 plantlets showing resistance to leaf painting. Molecular analysis revealed that 1% and 0.66% of T-0 regenerated plantlets were successfully transformed and carried the HVA1 gene for the 'Amal' and 'Rajae' genotypes, respectively. Additional analysis shows the transgene is stably inherited in the T-1 generation. Based on the results, we conclude that among the influencing factors tested, genotypes, mature embryo explant types and acetosyringone concentration contribute significantly to the success of bread wheat transformation.

The use of mature embryos as explants to initiate cultures is a best alternative to save time and costs, especially for producing somatic embryos for genetic transformation of durum wheat. However, plantlets regeneration from cultures derived from matured embryos is usually low. In this study, we tested matured embryos as explants from eight Moroccan durum wheat varieties (‘Irden’, ‘Marzak’, ‘Kyperounda’, ‘Isly’, ‘Amria’, ‘Karim’, ‘Marouane’ and ‘Tomouh’) to define suitable culture media for obtaining high frequencies of somatic embryogenesis and in vitro plantlets regeneration. For this purpose, we tested five induction and maintenance media (M1 to M5) based on MS media (macro and oligo-elements) which differed with respect to concentrations of plant hormones (2,4-D and BA), vitamins, sucrose, maltose, L-asparagine, and solidifying agents. All tested media induced embryogenic callus for the varieties and regenerate plantlets. However, a significant effect of variety, medium and variety × medium interaction were observed for callus induction and regeneration. Average callus growth as measured by relative fresh weight growth rate (RFWGR) across different media was the highest for ‘Amria’ (7215.4%) and the lowest for ‘Tomouh’ (2088.2%). M1 (2 mg/L 2,4-D) and M5 (3 mg/L 2,4-D) media gave highest RFWGR(6892.1% and 6332%, respectively) and M3 (1 mg/L 2,4-D) was the lowest (3708.8%), across different varieties. However, the embryogenic callus from M3 media regenerated the highest percentage of plantlet, upon transfer to regeneration medium, for most of the varieties. For the varieties ‘Marouane’, ‘Kyperounda’, ‘Marzak’, ‘Karim’, and ‘Tomouh’, the favourable medium was M3, whereas, for ‘Isly’, ‘Irden’ and ‘Amria’, both M2 (2.5 mg/L BA and 2.5 mg/L 2,4-D) and M3 were the favourable media for embryogenic callus induction. In this study, for the first time, favourable media for induction and regeneration from mature embryo of Moroccan durum wheat varieties were identified. These media will be used for callus induction and genetic transformation