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Annotation: Increasing the proportion of locally produced plant protein in currently meat-rich diets could substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and loss of biodiversity1. However, plant protein production is hampered by the lack of a cool-season legume equivalent to soybean in agronomic value2. Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) has a high yield potential and is well suited for cultivation in temperate regions, but genomic resources are scarce. Here . . .

Annotation:  Occurrence of Festuca apennina De Not. (4 × Fape), F. pratensis Huds. (2 × Fp) and the triploid, sterile hybrid F. apennina × F. pratensis (3 × Fape × Fp) was studied in 12 regions of the Swiss Alps. Triploid hybrid was more frequent and more dominant than both parental species around 1400 m, and . . .

Annotation: Some interspecific plant hybrids show unequal transmission of chromosomes from parental genomes to the successive generations. We revealed that this is caused by the differential behavior of parental chromosomes during meiosis. In male meiosis of Festuca x Lolium hybrids, Festuca univalents were attached less frequently to microtubules than Lolium univalents, lagged in divisions and formed micronuclei, which were subsequently eliminated . . .

Annotation: Vernalization is a period of low non-freezing temperatures, which provides the competence to flower. This mechanism ensures that plants sown before winter develop reproductive organs in more favourable conditions during spring. Such an evolutionary mechanism has evolved in both monocot and eudicot plants. Studies in monocots, represented by temperate cereals like wheat and barley, have identified and proposed the VERNALIZATION1 (VRN1) gene as . . .

Annotation: Wild emmer wheat is an excellent reservoir of genetic variability that can be utilized to improve cultivated wheat to address the challenges of the expanding world population and climate change. Bearing this in mind, we have collected a panel of 263 wild emmer wheat (WEW) genotypes across the Fertile Crescent. The genotypes were grown in different locations and phenotyped for heading date. Genome-wide association mapping (GWAS) was carried . . .

Annotation:  Breeding of wheat adapted to new climatic conditions and resistant to diseases and pests is hindered by a limited gene pool due to domestication and thousands of years of human selection. Annual goatgrasses (Aegilops spp.) with M and U genomes are potential sources of the missing genes and alleles. Development of alien introgression lines of wheat may be facilitated by the knowledge of DNA sequences of Aegilops chromosomes. As the . . .

Annotation: Sequence assemblies of most plant genomes remain fragmented, leaving the aim of gapless, telomere-to-telomere (T2T) sequence assemblies unattained. Revealing the causes of sequence gaps in the current assemblies helps determine the resources needed to close them. We analysed sequence gaps in the current long-read reference genome sequence of barley cv. Morex (MorexV3) by the optical map and sequence raw . . .

Annotation: While most eukaryotes contain single regional centromeres, several plant and animal lineages assemble holocentromeres along the entire chromosome length. In our study, we assembled genomes of three beak sedges (Rhynchospora pubera, R. breviuscula, and R. tenuis) with repeat-based holocentromeres as well as a genome of their closest monocentric relative, Juncus effusus, and compared their genome organization and evolution as a function of . . .

Annotation: 45S ribosomal DNA loci are organized as long head-to-tail tandem arrays of nearly identical units, spanning several megabases of sequence. Due to this structure, the rDNA loci are the major sources of gaps in genome assemblies, and expression status of particular arrays remains elusive. We combined cytogenomics techniques with bioinformatics to reconstruct individual 45S rDNA arrays in hexaploid wheat, thus building a stepping stone for . . .

Annotation: Genome dominance is a phenomenon frequently observed in newly developed interspecific hybrids. After merging two diverse genomes in a single nucleus opens, one of the parental genomes becomes dominant, while the other turns to be submissive. In Allium hybrids (A. cepa x A. roylei), we observed that chromosomes of A. cepa are gradually substituted by those of A. roylei. Our study describes that this phenomenon is probably underlined by female . . .

Annotation: Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum), a wild relative of wheat, is an attractive source of genes and alleles for their improvement. Our work has created new genomic resources and increased the knowledge about the genome/chromosome structure of A. cristatum. Chromosome draft assemblies were created, and regions homologous to agronomically important genes were identified. The classification of repetitive DNA sequences revealed the . . .

Annotation: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the main sources of plant proteins in the Indian subcontinent and West Asia, where two different morphotypes are grown. Here, we developed a system for fast molecular karyotyping for both morphotypes of cultivated chickpea by oligo-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) barcodes. Our results show the potential of oligo-FISH barcoding for the identification of structural changes in chromosomes, and . . .

Annotation:   The VERNALIZATION1 (VRN1) gene encodes a MADS‐box transcription factor and plays an important role in the cold‐induced transition from the vegetative to reproductive stage. We performed an in‐depth sequence analysis of VRN1 homoeologs in a panel of 105 winter and spring varieties of hexaploid wheat.  We described novel allele associated with reduced flowering time and intronic mutation which is transcribed into an alternative . . .

Scientists from the Institute of Experimental Botany, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic (IEB ASCR) in Olomouc have become the first in the world to unravel the function of a newly discovered gene that influences seed production and quality.  The discovery may help in breeding better and more resistant agricultural crops. Spanish experts from the Complutense University of Madrid were also involved in the research, which is reported in the . . .

Annotation:  The maintenance of genome stability is a key issue for all living organisms. Structural maintenance of chromosomes 5/6 (SMC5/6) complex is a crucial factor for preserving genome stability. Here, we found that mutations of SMC5/6 complex subunits reduced the plant fertility by producing the aborted ovules and paternally-inherited abnormal seeds. The mutations show an absence of chromosome segregation in the first and/or the second . . .