Brassica carinata is one of the oilseeds in the Brassicaceae family, possessing seed quality traits such as oil with various fatty acid profiles suitable for many industrial applications. Determination of such quality traits using conventional methods is often expensive, time-consuming, and destructive. In contrast, the Near-Infrared Spectroscopic (NIRS) technique has been proven fast, cost-effective, and non-destructive for the determination of seed compositions. This study aimed to demonstrate that NIRS is a rapid and non-destructive method for determining the fatty acid profile and oil content in diverse germplasms of B. carinata. A total of 96 genetically diverse B. carinata germplasms that include accessions, advanced breeding lines, and varieties were used in this study. Reference data sets were generated using gas chromatography and the Soxhlet oil extraction method for fatty acid profile and oil content, respectively. Spectra data were taken from the wavenumber range of 11,500 to 4000 cm⁻¹ using the Fourier-transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) method. NIRS calibration equations were developed using partial least square (PLS) regression with OPUS software, version 7.5.1. Higher coefficient of determination (R²_val) and ratio of performance to deviation (RPD) > 3 were obtained for oleic acid (R²_val = 0.92, RPD = 3.6), linoleic acid (R²_val = 0.89, RPD = 3.2), linolenic acid (R²_val = 0.93, RPD = 3.8), erucic acid (R²_val = 0.92, RPD = 3.5), and oil content (R²_val = 0.93, RPD = 3.6). Thus, the NIRS calibration models for the aforementioned fatty acids and oil content were found to be strong enough for prediction. However, the calibration models for palmitic acid (R²_val = 0.78, RPD = 2.1) and stearic acid (R²_val = 0.75, RPD = 2.0) showed relatively smaller R²_val and thus became weaker in their prediction capacity. Despite their relatively lower R², the calibration equations for palmitic and stearic acids could be used for approximate estimation and rough screening purposes. In conclusion, the calibration models that we have developed will be useful in applying NIRS as a high-throughput, non-destructive method for the screening of large germplasms in terms of their fatty acid profiles and oil content during the oil quality breeding efforts conducted on B. carinata.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is among the best producers of edible biomass in terms of yield per hectare and a variety of different regional cultivars are used as a staple commodity in many countries. However, this crop is attacked by several diseases, with the worst being the late blight disease caused by Phytophthora infestans. Stacking of resistance (R) genes from wild Solanum relatives are interesting prospects for the sustainable control of late blight. Therefore, we optimized methods for the efficient generation and screening of R-gene-containing transformants in tetraploid and diploid hybrid potato genotypes. Using these methods, a high transformation efficiency was achieved for the transformation of tetraploid and diploid potato lines with a triple resistance (3R) gene construct. Transformation efficiencies were improved by optimizing several factors affecting regeneration, including the quality of the starting plant material, and the composition of the plant growth regulators used during selective regeneration. A refreshment protocol was designed to alleviate in vitro related stress in stock plants, which significantly improved the growth vigor and resulted in a 4- to 10-fold increase in transformation efficiency. Furthermore, long-term exposure to exogenous Indole-3-butyric acid that is usually used for the initiation of roots in vitro, was found to cause aberrant morphological phenotypes in potato.

Metabolic engineering enables oilseed crops to be more competitive by having more attractive properties for oleochemical industrial applications. The aim of this study was to increase the erucic acid level and to produce wax ester (WE) in seed oil by genetic transformation to enhance the industrial applications of B. carinata. Six transgenic lines for high erucic acid and fifteen transgenic lines for wax esters were obtained. The integration of the target genes for high erucic acid (BnFAE1 and LdPLAAT) and for WEs (ScWS and ScFAR) in the genome of B. carinata cv. ‘Derash’ was confirmed by PCR analysis. The qRT-PCR results showed overexpression of BnFAE1 and LdPLAAT and downregulation of RNAi-BcFAD2 in the seeds of the transgenic lines. The fatty acid profile and WE content and profile in the seed oil of the transgenic lines and wild type grown in biotron were analyzed using gas chromatography and nanoelectrospray coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. A significant increase in erucic acid was observed in some transgenic lines ranging from 19% to 29% in relation to the wild type, with a level of erucic acid reaching up to 52.7%. Likewise, the transgenic lines harboring ScFAR and ScWS genes produced up to 25% WE content, and the most abundant WE species were 22:1/20:1 and 22:1/22:1. This study demonstrated that metabolic engineering is an effective biotechnological approach for developing B. carinata into an industrial crop.

Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by the hemibiotrophic fungus Zymoseptoria tritici , is a serious threat to global wheat production, and a major bottleneck to wheat production in Ethiopia. Accurate identification and analysis of the pathogen’s genetic structure helps inform robust STB management. This study analyzed the molecular identity and genetic structure of 200 Z. tritici isolates retrieved from diseased crops in central and south-eastern regions of Ethiopia. Allelic diversity at 12 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci was examined for all 200 isolates, and 165 isolates were identified by Sanger sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear DNA (rDNA) region. The microsatellites were highly polymorphic, with mean number of alleles (Na) = 6.23, effective alleles (Ne) =2.90, Nei’s gene diversity (H) =0.57, and polymorphic information content (PIC) =0.59, and an analysis of molecular variance confirmed the presence of low population differentiation (Fixation Index (F _ST ) = 0.02, Gene Flow (Nm) = 14.7), with 95% of the total genetic variation residing within populations, and only 5% residing between populations. The highest genetic diversity (Number of allele (Na) = 9.33, Effective number of allele (Ne) = 3.41 and Nei’s gene diversity (H) = 0.68) was observed in the Oromia special zone surrounding Finfinnee (OSZ) Z. tritici populations, followed by Arsi and North Shewa populations, indicating that these areas are ideal for multi-location germplasm resistance screening, and also pathogen genetic and genomic analyses. Cluster analyses did not clearly divide the populations into genetically separate clusters according to their geographic sampling areas, probably because of high gene flow. All individual samples showed genetic admixture, and shared genomic backgrounds from two subgroups (K=2). Overall, the SSR markers proved to be highly informative and effective genetic tools for unlocking the pathogen’s genetic structure. The Z. tritici populations of central and southeast Ethiopia exhibit high genetic diversity, indicating the need to deploy durable and diverse disease management strategies. North Shewa, OSZ, Arsi and West Arsi administrative zones represent hotspots for genetic and genomic analyses of Z. tritici . Moreover, these areas would be excellent locations for host–pathogen interaction studies, and wheat germplasm screening for STB resistance.