Impact of mother genetic and resource environment on her offspring’s growth features in Munjal sheep

Summary The present study evaluated maternal and additive influences that contribute to phenotypic variation in various growth traits in Munjal sheep. The targeted traits that pertained to 2278 records of 706 lambs were birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WT3), 6-month body weight (WT6), 12-month body weight (WT12), average daily gain (ADG1: 0–3 months; ADG2: 3–6 months, ADG3: 6–12 months of age) and their corresponding Kleiber ratios designated as KR1, KR2 and KR3. The direct heritability estimates for BWT, WT3, WT6, WT12, ADG1, ADG2, ADG3, KR1, KR2 and KR3 under animal models were 0.20 ± 0.08, 0.28 ± 0.08, 0.17 ± 0.07, 0.47 ± 0.09, 0.33 ± 0.08, 0.09 ± 0.06, 0.36 ± 0.10, 0.33 ± 0.08, 0.09 ± 0.06 and 0.32 ± 0.10, respectively. The estimates of maternal genetic effects contributed significantly and were 8% and 7% for BWT and WT3 traits, respectively, which highlighted the considerable role of maternal effects on early growth traits. Genetic and phenotypic correlations ranged from moderate to high between weaning and post-weaning traits. It was concluded that early selection that considered additive as well as maternal effects at weaning age may be delivered to the desired genetic progress in Munjal sheep.

MicroRNA Member TaMIR5062 in T. Aestivum Involves Plant Drought and Salt Acclimation via Regulating Physiological Processes Associated with Water Retention and ROS Homeostasis

microRNA members negatively regulate target genes via posttranscriptional cleavage or translation repression mechanisms, impacting on plant growth, development, and stress response. In this study, we characterized TaMIR5062, a miRNA member in T. aestivum, in mediating drought and salt responses. TaMIR5062 interacts with six target genes, including two encoding calmodulins, three coding for 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerases, and one for pumilio-family RNA binding domain protein. The TaMIR5062 transcripts were gradually upregulated in plants upon 27-h drought and salt treatments, whose induced expression under stress treatments was restored following the normal recovery condition. Tobacco (N. tabacum) lines transformed with TaMIR5062 modified growth traits under drought and salt treatments; the lines overexpressing miRNA (i.e., Sen 1 and Sen 2) improved growth traits (i.e., biomass, leaf area, and root length) whereas those with knockdown (Anti 1) alleviated growth features compared with wild type. These results suggested the critical role of TaMIR5062 in improving plant drought and salt tolerance. In line with growth traits in stress-challenged lines, improved leaf water retention (i.e., promoted stomata closing, water losing rate, and osmolytes) and ROS-associated parameters (higher SOD, CAT, and POD activities, etc.) were shown in Sen 1 and Sen 2 under stress conditions. Antioxidant enzyme (AE) genes NtMnSOD1, NtCAT, and NtPOD9 encoding SOD, CAT, and POD, respectively, enhanced transcription in Sen 1 and downregulated expression in Anti 1 challenged with drought and salt stress. These results suggested the improved ROS homeostasis mediated by TaMIR5062 associates modified expression of distinct AE genes. Quantities of genes functional into categories “biological process”, “cellular component”, and “molecular function” contribute to TaMIR5062-mediated osmotic stress adaptation by regulating distinct biological pathways (i.e., protein folding) and metabolisms (i.e., photosynthesis and isoprenoid biosynthesis), which impact on plant osmotic-regulation, ROS homeostasis, and stress defensiveness underlying miRNA regulation. TaMIR5062 is a valuable target for molecular breeding of drought-tolerant crop cultivars.

Growth features of apple varieties and forms with natural and compact crown types

This research explores the compactness of apple varieties and forms with different types of crown. Orchards on semi-vigorous rootstocks with density and high density planting systems are cost-effective in modern horticulture. For making such gardens, it is necessary to have trees with special compact crown shape. They ensure the high-quality fruits production, meeting the requirements of world standards. To date the most perspective apple varieties and forms for domestic intensive gardening from the rich gene pool of the Selection and Genetic Center of Federal State Scientific Institution «I. V. Michurin Federal Scientific Center» are identified. Varieties of folk domestic and foreign breeding took part in the creation of new genotypes. Apple varieties and promising forms (more than 160 genotypes), including from near and far abroad selection, were used as materials for crown features studying. We conducted our study by the following indicators: tree height, crown volume, “degree of compactness” and the shoot-forming ability. We found that the genotypes Sholokhovskoye, Zvezda Artemyeva, 25-7(11), 40-9(8), 36-8(21), 40-9(6), 8-7(72), 40-9(7), 36-8(17), 62-5(140) have optimal crown parameters. We recommend their use for industrial horticulture and further breeding to create restrained growth, low-volume crown, and a high degree of compactness varieties.

Seasonal development of aboveground phytomass of evergreen introduced plants on the Southern Coast of the Crimea

For the Southern Coast of Crimea, the problem of park communities’ productivity, due to the high recreational load on the environment and climate change, is of particular relevance. The aim of the research was to study the features of the introduced park communities evergreen aboveground phytomass formation and seasonal growth in the conditions of the Southern coast of the Crimea. A comparative assessment of vegetative shoots seasonal growth features of plants Laurus nobilis L., Prunus laurocerasus L., Viburnum tinus L., Aucuba japonica Thunb and Nerium oleander L. was performed. It was found that the time of renewal of shoot growth in spring after winter dormancy in V. tinus and A. japonica began at 459-462 °C, P. laurocerasus - 649 °C, and L. nobilis - 886 °C and N. oleander - 990 °C amounts of active air temperatures above 5 °C. The largest growth (49.3 cm) and the accumulation of leaf phytomass (42.3 cm3) differ in annual shoots of N. oleander. P. laurocerasus has a great potential with a phytomass volume an annual shoot of 24.5 cm3. The increase of shoots phytomass in V. tinus, A. japonica, and L. nobilis is 7-8 times less than that in N. oleander.

Mature rat hepatocyte dedifferentiation into long lived proliferating hepatic progenitor cells

Objective: to obtain long-lived proliferating cells with progenitor features by dedifferentiation of mature rat hepatocytes using combinations of small molecules.Materials and Methods. Hepatocytes isolated from rat liver by perfusion were cultured in the presence of a cocktail of three small molecules – Wnt signaling pathway activator (CHIR99021), TGF-β inhibitors (A83-01) and ROCK kinase (Y27632). The morphological characteristics and growth features of the culture were assessed using fluorescence and phase-contrast microscopy during cell culture. Cell proliferative activity was analyzed using real-time time-lapse imaging. The expression of surface and intracellular markers was analyzed using flow cytometry and high-resolution fluorescence microscopy.Results. Using a cocktail of small molecules, Y-27632, A-83-01, and CHIR99021, long-lived proliferating cells that express progenitor cell markers, such as α-fetoprotein and HNF4α, were obtained from mature rat hepatocytes. The cells had hepatocyte-like morphology and formed discrete clusters of proliferating cells, forming a single cell layer during culturing. Removal of the small molecules from the medium led to expansion of fibroblast-like cells and elimination of potentially progenitor hepatocyte-like cells.Conclusion. Proliferating progenitor cells can be obtained by dedifferentiation of mature hepatocytes.

Individual Tree Segmentation Method Based on Mobile Backpack LiDAR Point Clouds

Individual tree (IT) segmentation is crucial for forest management, supporting forest inventory, biomass monitoring or tree competition analysis. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is a prominent technology in this context, outperforming competing technologies. Aerial laser scanning (ALS) is frequently used for forest documentation, showing good point densities at the tree-top surface. Even though under-canopy data collection is possible with multi-echo ALS, the number of points for regions near the ground in leafy forests drops drastically, and, as a result, terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) may be required to obtain reliable information about tree trunks or under-growth features. In this work, an IT extraction method for terrestrial backpack LiDAR data is presented. The method is based on DBSCAN clustering and cylinder voxelization of the volume, showing a high detection rate (∼90%) for tree locations obtained from point clouds, and low commission and submission errors (accuracy over 93%). The method includes a sensibility assessment to calculate the optimal input parameters and adapt the workflow to real-world data. This approach shows that forest management can benefit from IT segmentation, using a handheld TLS to improve data collection productivity.

RTG Signaling Sustains Mitochondrial Respiratory Capacity in HOG1-Dependent Osmoadaptation

Mitochondrial RTG-dependent retrograde signaling, whose regulators have been characterized in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, plays a recognized role under various environmental stresses. Of special significance, the activity of the transcriptional complex Rtg1/3 has been shown to be modulated by Hog1, the master regulator of the high osmolarity glycerol pathway, in response to osmotic stress. The present work focuses on the role of RTG signaling in salt-induced osmotic stress and its interaction with HOG1. Wild-type and mutant cells, lacking HOG1 and/or RTG genes, are compared with respect to cell growth features, retrograde signaling activation and mitochondrial function in the presence and in the absence of high osmostress. We show that RTG2, the main upstream regulator of the RTG pathway, contributes to osmoadaptation in an HOG1-dependent manner and that, with RTG3, it is notably involved in a late phase of growth. Our data demonstrate that impairment of RTG signaling causes a decrease in mitochondrial respiratory capacity exclusively under osmostress. Overall, these results suggest that HOG1 and the RTG pathway may interact sequentially in the stress signaling cascade and that the RTG pathway may play a role in inter-organellar metabolic communication for osmoadaptation.