Israeli germplasm: phenotyping and genotyping of native grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.)

In this study 32 grapevine accessions from Israel were phenotyped according to O.I.V descriptors and phyllometry, furthermore genotyped with seven microsatellite loci for the first time for further clarification of their potential biodiversity and phylogenetic grapevine analysis. The results according to the SSR microsatellites suggest that the majority of the studied Israeli grapevine accessions, compared to the international reference varieties, show considerably different genotypes - nine accessions showed a unique (individual) genotype, further three accessions represented a first group, four accessions represent a second group and eight groups contained two different accessions. The significant differences among the studied grapevine accessions were observed also in most of the 17 phyllometric measurements of significant leaf characteristics, especially in the leaf area, vein length (L1, L2, L3 and L4), depth of lateral sinuses (OS, OI), petiol length (Lp) and vein angles (β, β’). The observed grapevine characteristics according to the O.I.V. descriptors suggested that more than three-quarters of the studied accessions showed characteristics of table grapes

The response of perennial and temporary headwater stream invertebrate communities to hydrological extremes

The headwaters of karst rivers experience considerable hydrological variability, including spates and streambed drying. Extreme summer flooding on the River Lathkill (Derbyshire, UK) provided the opportunity to examine the invertebrate community response to unseasonal spate flows, flow recession and, at temporary sites, streambed drying. Invertebrates were sampled at sites with differing flow permanence regimes during and after the spates. Following streambed drying at temporary sites, dewatered surface sediments were investigated as a refugium for aquatic invertebrates. Experimental rehydration of these dewatered sediments was conducted to promote development of desiccation-tolerant life stages. At perennial sites, spate flows reduced invertebrate abundance and diversity, whilst at temporary sites, flow reactivation facilitated rapid colonisation of the surface channel by a limited number of invertebrate taxa. Following streambed drying, 38 taxa were recorded from the dewatered and rehydrated sediments, with Oligochaeta being the most abundant taxon and Chironomidae (Diptera) the most diverse. Experimental rehydration of dewatered sediments revealed the presence of additional taxa, including Stenophylax sp. (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae) and Nemoura sp. (Plecoptera: Nemouridae). The influence of flow permanence on invertebrate community composition was apparent despite the aseasonal high-magnitude flood events

A conservation roadmap for the subterranean biome

The 15th UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (COP15) will be held in Kunming, China in October 2021. Historically, CBDs and other multilateral treaties have either alluded to or entirely overlooked the subterranean biome. A multilateral effort to robustly examine, monitor, and incorporate the subterranean biome into future conservation targets will enable the CBD to further improve the ecological effectiveness of protected areas by including groundwater resources, subterranean ecosystem services, and the profoundly endemic subsurface biodiversity. To this end, we proffer a conservation roadmap that embodies five conceptual areas: (1) science gaps and data management needs; (2) anthropogenic stressors; (3) socioeconomic analysis and conflict resolution; (4) environmental education; and (5) national policies and multilateral agreements.Peer reviewe

Accumulation of membranes and photoreceptor degeneration in mouse retina

Ultrastructural response of photoreceptors to 10 days of treatment with reserpine and bromocryptine, and to 10 days of illumination, was studied. Treatment with isoproterenol was also applied in some experiments with continuous illumination. Treatment with bromocryptine and reserpine induced elongation of rod outer segments and accumulation of membranes in the subretinal space. Increased incidence of apoptosis but not of autophagocytosis was observed in both cases. Continuous illumination with or without treatment with isoproterenol was found to induce intracellular accumulation of membranes, autophagocytosis and apoptosis. Incidence of apoptosis was slightly decreased in the case of isoproterenol application. We conclude that intracellular or extracellular accumulation of membranes can function as the apoptotic trigger in photoreceptors. Triggering of apoptosis was not dependent on autophagocytosis. Possible role of membrane peroxidation in photoreceptor cell death is discussed

Synthetic seismic data generation with deep learning

We study the applicability of deep learning (DL) methods to generate acoustic synthetic data from 1D models of the subsurface. We designed and implemented a Neural Network (NN) and we trained it to generate synthetic seismograms (common shot gathers) from 1-D velocity models on two different datasets: one obtained from published results and the other generated by Finite Differences (FD) numerical simulation. We furthermore compared the results from the proposed model with the published one. Moreover, we tried to to add more flexibility to this methodology by allowing change of wavelet and the acquisition geometry. We obtained good results in terms of both computation efficiency and quality of prediction. The main potentialities of the work are the low computational cost, a high prediction speed and the possibility to solve complex non-linear problems without knowing the physical law behind the phenomenon, which could led great advantages in the solution also of the inverse problem. DL to generate 1-D acoustic synthetic seismograms without solving wave equation Solution to the 1-D problem through custom Recurrent Neural Network Retraining strategy to improve flexibility and applicability Computational complexity analysis

Population genetics and domestication of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens)

Insect farming is on the rise to becoming a sustainable and economically viable food and feed industry. The black soldier fly (BSF; Hermetia illucens L.) is poised as key species of interest due to its natural bioconversion properties. However, genetic screening and management is currently overlooked. Here, we present the first high coverage (22×) genome-wide assessment of a global sample of BSF individuals (n=54) belonging to both domesticated and wild lineages. We identify a pronounced population structure within BSF explained primarily by captivity status. Phylogenetic reconstruction reveals a deep divergence in BSF lineages. Patterns of introgression are strikingly absent between diverged lineages of wild and domesticated BSF. We also show that commercial activity is dominated by a particular lineage whilst wild populations harbour significant genetic diversity. Recent domestication has had a significant impact on shaping the genomic architecture of captive populations and has left signatures of selective sweeps throughout the genome. This study not only sheds light on the process of domestication but highlights the importance of genetic screening and the introduction of breeding programs to this novel industry