Agro-morphological characterization and assessment of variability, heritability, genetic advance and divergence in bacterial blight resistant rice genotypes

AbstractGenetic based knowledge of different growth traits including morphological, physiological and developmental plays fundamental role in the improvement of rice. Genetic divergence allows superior recombinants which are essential in any crop development project. Forty-one rice genotypes including bacterial blight (BB) resistant and susceptible checks were assessed for 13 morphological traits. Among the genotypes, almost all the traits exhibited highly significant variation. The higher extent of genotypic (GCV) as well as phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) were noticed for number of tillers hill−1, total number of spikelets panicle−1, number of filled grains panicle−1, and yield hill−1. High heritability together with high genetic advance was observed for total number of spikelets panicle−1, number of filled grains panicle−1, and yield hill−1 indicating dominant role of additive gene action in the expression of these traits. Number of filled grains panicle−1 exhibited positive correlation with most of the traits. Yield hill−1 showed a good number of highly significant positive correlations with number of filled grain panicle−1, total number of spikelets panicle−1, 1000 grain weight hill−1, number of panicle hill−1, and panicle length. The UPGMA dendrogram divided all the genotypes in to six major clusters. The PCA showed 13 morphological traits generated about 71% of total variation among all the genotypes under this study. On the basis of 13 morphological traits, genotypes such as IRBB2, IRBB4, IRBB13, IRBB21, and MR263 could be hybridized with genotypes MR84, MR159, MRQ50, MRQ74, PH9 and IR8 in order to develop suitable BB resistant rice genotypes

Diffusion of gold nanoclusters on graphite

We present a detailed molecular-dynamics study of the diffusion and coalescence of large (249-atom) gold clusters on graphite surfaces. The diffusivity of monoclusters is found to be comparable to that for single adatoms. Likewise, and even more important, cluster dimers are also found to diffuse at a rate which is comparable to that for adatoms and monoclusters. As a consequence, large islands formed by cluster aggregation are also expected to be mobile. Using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, and assuming a proper scaling law for the dependence on size of the diffusivity of large clusters, we find that islands consisting of as many as 100 monoclusters should exhibit significant mobility. This result has profound implications for the morphology of cluster-assembled materials

PERFORMANCE OF YIELD AND YIELD CONTRIBUTING CHARACTERISTICS OF BC2F3 POPULATION WITH ADDITION OF BLAST RESISTANT GENE

ABSTRACTThe study was carried out in the University Putra Malaysia (UPM) Rice Research Centre to evaluate the yield performance of newly developed selected blast resistant plants of BC2F3 generations derived from a cross between MR263, a high yielding rice variety but blast susceptible and Pongsu Seribu 1, donor with blast resistant (Pi-7(t)and Pi-d (t)1, Pir2-3(t)genes and qLN2 QTL), Malaysian local variety. On the basis of assessed traits, the plants 12, 6, 7, 5, 21, 22, 5, 26, 11, 8, 10, 13 and 15 had the higher yield, blast resistant and good morphological traits. More than 70% heritability was found in days to maturity, plant height, tiller numbers per hill, and panicle per hill, 80% heritability was found in filled grain and yield per hill and more than 90% heritability was found in grain length, grain width and seed weight. Cluster analysis based on the traits grouped 30 plants along with MR263 into seven clusters. According to PCA, the first four principal components account for about 69.3% total variation for all measured traits and exhibited high correlation among the characteristics analyzed

Morphophysiological and yield attributes of groundnut varieties under different salinity stress conditions

The study sought to evaluate the response of three groundnut genotypes (Binachinabadam-3, Dacca-1 and Zhingabadam) to various salt concentrations (D0 – Control, D1 – 2.5 dS/m, D2 – 5.0 dS/m, D3 – 7.5 dS/m, D4 – 10.0 dS/m, D5 – 12.5 dS/m) through observation of morphological and physiological characters. Based on relative performance of yield contributing characters and nutrient contents of leaves and stem, Binachinabadam-3 emerged to be a tolerant variety and based on root shoot characters, Dacca-1 appeared as tolerant while Zhingabadam always performed as sensitive variety. Salinity treatments had most adverse effects at flowering stage and followed the trend of sensitivity as flowering stage > vegetative stage> pre sowing stage > pod filling stage. All varieties were found to be tolerant up to salinity level of 7.5 dS/m

Supplementary Material for: Estimating the Evolution of Disease in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative

Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurological disease and affects about 1% of persons over the age of 60 years. Due to the lack of approved surrogate markers, confirmation of the disease still requires postmortem examination. Identifying and validating biomarkers are essential steps toward improving clinical diagnosis and accelerating the search for therapeutic drugs to ameliorate disease symptoms. Until recently, statistical analysis of multicohort longitudinal studies of neurodegenerative diseases has usually been restricted to a single analysis per outcome with simple comparisons between diagnostic groups. However, an important methodological consideration is to allow the modeling framework to handle multiple outcomes simultaneously and consider the transitions between diagnostic groups. This enables researchers to monitor multiple trajectories, correctly account for the correlation among biomarkers, and assess how these associations may jointly change over the long-term course of disease. In this study, we apply a latent time joint mixed-effects model to study biomarker progression and disease dynamics in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) and examine which markers might be most informative in the earliest phases of disease. The results reveal that, even though diagnostic category was not included in the model, it seems to accurately reflect the temporal ordering of the disease state consistent with diagnosis categorization at baseline. In addition, results indicated that the specific binding ratio on striatum and the total Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) show high discriminability between disease stages. An extended latent time joint mixed-effects model with heterogeneous latent time variance also showed improvement in model fit in a simulation study and when applied to real data

The AT(N) framework for Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome

The National Institute on Aging in conjunction with the Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA) recently proposed a biological framework for defining the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum. This new framework is based upon the key AD biomarkers (amyloid, tau, neurodegeneration, AT[N]) instead of clinical symptoms and represents the latest understanding that the pathological processes underlying AD begin decades before the manifestation of symptoms. By using these same biomarkers, individuals with Down syndrome (DS), who are genetically predisposed to developing AD, can also be placed more precisely along the AD continuum. The A/T(N) framework is therefore thought to provide an objective manner by which to select and enrich samples for clinical trials. This new framework is highly flexible and allows the addition of newly confirmed AD biomarkers into the existing AT(N) groups. As biomarkers for other pathological processes are validated, they can also be added to the AT(N) classification scheme, which will allow for better characterization and staging of AD in DS. These biological classifications can then be merged with clinical staging for an examination of factors that impact the biological and clinical progression of the disease. Here, we leverage previously published guidelines for the AT(N) framework to generate such a plan for AD among adults with DS

Resposta do dendezeiro à adição de nitrogênio e sua influência na população de bactérias diazotróficas Response of African oil palm to nitrogen addition and its influence on the diazotrophic bacteria population

O dendê (Elaeis guineensis, Jaquim) pode produzir até sete toneladas de óleo por hectare por ano. O óleo vegetal é muito versátil e pode ser usado desde a indústria alimentícia até a produção de biocombustíveis. A planta é capaz de se associar com bactérias diazotróficas que colonizam raízes e caules. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a resposta à adubação nitrogenada de 17 genótipos de dendê no primeiro ano de cultivo e avaliar a influência da adição do N mineral sobre a população de bactérias diazotróficas, naturalmente presentes nas plântulas de dendezeiro. Foram utilizados potes de plástico completados com 50% de areia quartzoza e 50% de horizonte B de um Argissolo Vermelho-Amarelo, série Itaguaí, não esterilizado e extremamente pobre em nitrogênio. A uréia foi aplicada na dosagem de 33,68 kg ha-1 de N. Na presença do N, todos os genótipos melhoram os parâmetros biométricos, e houve aumento tanto do N total quanto do N acumulado. As populações de bactérias diazotróficas não foram influenciadas pela adição desse elemento. Dois genótipos foram selecionados, na presença e ausência de N, respectivamente, C-2001 e La Mé.<br>African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis, Jaquim) can produce up to 7 tons of oil per hectare per year. The vegetable oil is greatly versatile in its use, since food industry up to the production of fuels favorable to environmental protection. The plant has the potential to be associative with diazotrophic bacteria which colonize the roots and stem. The objective of this work was to evaluate 17 genotypes of E. guineensis in response to nitrogen addition and to verify the influence of this nitrogen on the diazotrophic population in an experiment using plastic pots filled with 50% quartz sand and 50% of non sterilized Horizon B; Red-Yellow Podzolic Soil series Itaguaí, extremely poor in nitrogen. Urea was used at a dose of 33.68 kg ha-1 de N. In the presence of the nitrogen, all genotypes improved biometric parameters, increased total nitrogen and its accumulation. Its addiction did not affect the diazotrophic population. Two genotypes were selected in the presence and absence of nitrogen: C-2001 and La Mé, respectively

The endothelial-enriched lncRNA LINC00607 mediates angiogenic function

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can act as regulatory RNAs which, by altering the expression of target genes, impact on the cellular phenotype and cardiovascular disease development. Endothelial lncRNAs and their vascular functions are largely undefined. Deep RNA-Seq and FANTOM5 CAGE analysis revealed the lncRNA LINC00607 to be highly enriched in human endothelial cells. LINC00607 was induced in response to hypoxia, arteriosclerosis regression in non-human primates, post-atherosclerotic cultured endothelial cells from patients and also in response to propranolol used to induce regression of human arteriovenous malformations. siRNA knockdown or CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of LINC00607 attenuated VEGF-A-induced angiogenic sprouting. LINC00607 knockout in endothelial cells also integrated less into newly formed vascular networks in an in vivo assay in SCID mice. Overexpression of LINC00607 in CRISPR knockout cells restored normal endothelial function. RNA- and ATAC-Seq after LINC00607 knockout revealed changes in the transcription of endothelial gene sets linked to the endothelial phenotype and in chromatin accessibility around ERG-binding sites. Mechanistically, LINC00607 interacted with the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling protein BRG1. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of BRG1 in HUVEC followed by CUT&RUN revealed that BRG1 is required to secure a stable chromatin state, mainly on ERG-binding sites. In conclusion, LINC00607 is an endothelial-enriched lncRNA that maintains ERG target gene transcription by interacting with the chromatin remodeler BRG1 to ultimately mediate angiogenesis