Soybean (Glycine max) is an important legume that is used to fulfill the need of protein and oil of large number of population across the world. There are large numbers of soybean germplasm present in the USDA germplasm resources. Finding and understanding genetically diverse germplasm is a top priority for crop improvement programs. The current study used 20 functional EST-SSR and 80 SSR markers to characterize 96 soybean accessions from diverse geographic backgrounds. Ninety-six of the 100 markers were polymorphic, with 262 alleles (average 2.79 per locus). The molecular markers had an average polymorphic information content (PIC) value of 0.44, with 28 markers ≥ 0.50. The average major allele frequency was 0.57. The observed heterozygosity of the population ranged from 0–0.184 (average 0.02), while the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.20–0.73 (average 0.51). The lower value for observed heterozygosity than expected heterozygosity suggests the likelihood of a population structure among the germplasm. The phylogenetic analysis and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) divided the total population into two major groups (G1 and G2), with G1 comprising most of the USA lines and the Australian and Brazilian lines. Furthermore, the phylogenetic analysis and PCoA divided the USA lines into three major clusters without any specific differentiation, supported by the model-based STRUCTURE analysis. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed 94% variation among individuals in the total population, with 2% among the populations. For the USA lines, 93% of the variation occurred among individuals, with only 2% among lines from different US states. Pairwise population distance indicated more similarity between the lines from continental America and Australia (189.371) than Asia (199.518). Overall, the 96 soybean lines had a high degree of genetic diversity.

Background: Sucking insect pests cause severe damage to cotton crop production. The development of insect resistant cotton cultivars is one of the most effective measures in curtailing the yield losses. Considering the role of morphological and biochemical host plant resistance (HPR) traits in plant defense, 12 cotton genotypes/varieties were evaluated for leaf area, leaf glanding, total soluble sugars, total soluble proteins, total phenolics, tannin and total flavonoids against fluctuating populations of whitefly, thrips and jassid under field conditions.Results: The population of these insects fluctuated during the growing season and remained above threshold level (whitefly > 5, thrips > (8–10), or jassid > 1 per leaf) during late June and early July. Strong and negative association of whitefly (r = − 0.825) and jassid (r = − 0.929) with seed cotton yield was observed. Mean population of insects were the highest in Glandless-1 followed by NIA-82 and NIA-M30. NIAB-Kiran followed by NIAB-878 and Sadori were the most resistant, with the mean population of 1.41, 1.60, 1.66 (whitefly); 2.24, 2.32, 2.53 (thrips) and 0.37, 0.31, 0.36 (jassid), respectively. The resistant variety NIAB-Kiran showed less soluble sugars (8.54 mg·g^− 1), soluble proteins (27.11 mg·g^− 1) and more phenolic (36.56 mg·g^− 1) and flavonoids (13.10 mg·g^− 1) as compared with the susceptible check Glandless-1. Moreover, all insect populations were positively correlated with total soluble sugars and proteins. Whitefly populations exhibited negative response to leaf gossypol glands, total phenolics, tannins and flavonoids. The thrips and jassid populations had a significant and negative correlation with these four biochemical HPR traits.Conclusion: The identified resistant resources and HPR traits can be deployed against sucking insect pests’ complex in future breeding programs of developing insect resistant cotton varieties.

Heat stress in cotton reduces its productivity. The development of heat-tolerant cotton varieties having resilience against changing climate is feasible. The purpose of this study was to probe the genetic variability in upland cotton for heat tolerance, the association of cell membrane thermostability (CMT), stomata, and trichome size with cotton adaptation to high temperature and effective breeding strategy to advance the valued traits. Relative cell injury percentage (RCI%) in studied genotypes ranged from 39 to 86%. Seventeen genotypes were found heat tolerant on the basis of low RCI%, heat susceptibility index (HSI<1), higher number of boll/plant, and seed cotton yield (SCY). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of heat-tolerant genotypes revealed the presence of different size of stomata (21.57 to 105.04 μm²) and trichomes (177 to 782.6 μm) on leaves of selected genotypes. The regression analysis showed a strong and negative association of RCI% and stomata size with SCY. However, no association was observed between the trichome size, yield, and fiber traits. On the overall location basis, a significant genotype × environment interaction was observed. All selected genotypes produced a higher SCY as compared with check varieties. But the stability analysis showed that the high yielding genotypes NIA-M-30, NIA-80, NIA-83, and CRIS-342 were also wide adaptive with unit regression (bi∼1) and non-significant deviation from the regression line (S²d∼0). The ability for the combination of some heat-tolerant genotypes was estimated by using the line × tester method among nine hybrids along with their 3 testers (i.e., male) and 3 lines (i.e., females). Genotypes, CRIS-342 and NIA-Perkh, were observed as best general combiners for SCY with a negative general combining ability effects for RCI%. Five hybrids showed a positive specific combining ability and heterotic effects for studied traits and also found lowest for HSI. RCI% and SCY/plant displayed higher estimates of heritability and genetic advance, indicating the heritability due to additive gene effects and chances of effective selection. The identified heat-tolerant and wide adaptive germplasm can be further advanced and utilized in cotton breeding programs for developing heat-tolerant cultivars. Selection criteria involving CMT and stomata size concluded to be an effective strategy for the screening of heat-tolerant cotton.

The current study demonstrates the practical application of optical seed priming technology to improve cotton seed germination, plant growth, crop yield, and fiber quality. The hypothesis of this study is that seed irradiation with different colors of light can improve germination and cotton productivity in different environments. In the priming of cotton seeds, a wider range of the light spectrum was used, ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to red wavelengths. Various light sources such as blue LED, red LED, diode laser, UV-B, and UV-C were studied, along with different exposure times and energy densities. The exposure time ranged from 1.0 to 36.0 minutes, while the energy density doses varied from 88 to 7550 mJ cm^-2, depending on the light source. In laboratory conditions, the investigation on the impact of optical seed priming on germination showed a maximum improvement of up to 180% compared to the control group. Among the different light sources and energy densities, blue LED light was found to be the most effective for enhancing cotton seed germination across different varieties. To validate the findings from the laboratory, large-scale field trials were conducted in two different environments in Pakistan, namely Tandojam and Faisalabad. The field trials demonstrated significant improvements in germination and yield, with increases of up to 37% and 74% over the control group, respectively. Once again, blue LED light emerged as the best light source for optical seed priming at the farm level. These field trials provided encouraging results, indicating the potential of the eco-friendly optical seed priming technique. The study suggests that optical seed priming can be a commercially viable technology for improving cotton seed germination, plant growth, crop yield, and fiber quality. By utilizing this technique, growers and researchers in developing countries can address the challenge of poor cotton germination and potentially enhance their agricultural productivity.

Lentil is a poor competitor of weeds and its sensitivity to herbicides is a major hurdle for large scale production. The present study was conducted to select herbicide resistant lentil genotypes through seed mutagenesis. Seeds of three advanced lentil genotypes (LPP 11001, LPP 11100 and LPP 11116) were treated with two different concentrations of ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS; 0.1 and 0.2%), hydrazine hydrate (HH; 0.02 and 0.03%) and sodium azide (SA; 0.01 and 0.02%) to develop M₁ seed. The M₂ was screened against two herbicides including Ally Max 28.6% SG (X = 34.58 g/ha and 1.5X = 51.87 g/ha) and Atlantis 3.6% WG (X = 395.2 g/ha and 1.5X = 592.8 g/ha) using the following three screening methods: post plant emergence (PPE), pre-plant incorporation (PPI) and seed priming (SP). Data were recorded on survival index and survival percentage from each experimental unit of every population. Plants in all populations were categorized following their reaction to herbicides. The newly developed populations showed greater variation for herbicide resistance when compared to their progenitors. Phenotypic traits were significantly reduced in all the screening environments. Overall, 671 herbicide resistant mutants were selected from all testing environments. The seeds from selected plants were re-mutagenized at 150 Gy of gamma radiation and evaluated against higher dose of herbicides. This allowed selection of 134 herbicide resistant mutants. The selected mutants are useful germplasm for herbicide resistance breeding of lentil.