Haplotype block analysis of an Argentinean hexaploid wheat collection and GWAS for yield components and adaptation

Background: Increasing wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production is required to feed a growing human population. In order to accomplish this task a deeper understanding of the genetic structure of cultivated wheats and the detection of genomic regions significantly associated with the regulation of important agronomic traits are necessary steps. To better understand the genetic basis and relationships of adaptation and yield related traits, we used a collection of 102 Argentinean hexaploid wheat cultivars genotyped with the 35k SNPs array, grown from two to six years in three different locations. Based on SNPs data and gene-related molecular markers, we performed a haplotype block characterization of the germplasm and a genome-wide association study (GWAS). Results: The genetic structure of the collection revealed four subpopulations, reflecting the origin of the germplasm used by the main breeding programs in Argentina. The haplotype block characterization showed 1268 blocks of different sizes spread along the genome, including highly conserved regions like the 1BS chromosome arm where the 1BL/1RS wheat/rye translocation is located. Based on GWAS we identified ninety-seven chromosome regions associated with heading date, plant height, thousand grain weight, grain number per spike and fruiting efficiency at harvest (FEh). In particular FEh stands out as a promising trait to raise yield potential in Argentinean wheats; we detected fifteen haplotypes/markers associated with increased FEh values, eleven of which showed significant effects in all three evaluated locations. In the case of adaptation, the Ppd-D1 gene is consolidated as the main determinant of the life cycle of Argentinean wheat cultivars. Conclusion: This work reveals the genetic structure of the Argentinean hexaploid wheat germplasm using a wide set of molecular markers anchored to the Ref Seq v1.0. Additionally GWAS detects chromosomal regions (haplotypes) associated with important yield and adaptation components that will allow improvement of these traits through marker-assisted selection.Fil: Basile, Silvana Marisol Lujan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Ramírez, Ignacio Abel. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Crescente, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Córdoba. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Marcos Juárez; ArgentinaFil: Conde, Maria Belén. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Córdoba. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Marcos Juárez; ArgentinaFil: Demichelis, Melina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Córdoba. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Marcos Juárez; ArgentinaFil: Abbate, Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Rogers, William John. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Pontaroli, Ana Clara. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Córdoba. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Marcos Juárez; ArgentinaFil: Helguera, Marcelo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Vanzetti, Leonardo Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentin

Plant characterization of genetically modified maize hybrids MON-89Ø34-3 × MON-88Ø17-3, MON-89Ø34-3 × MON-ØØ6Ø3-6, and MON-ØØ6Ø3-6: alternatives for maize production in Mexico

Environmental risk assessment (ERA) of genetically modified (GM) crops is a process to evaluate whether the biotechnology trait(s) in a GM crop may result in increased pest potential or harm to the environment. In this analysis, two GM insect-resistant (IR) herbicide-tolerant maize hybrids (MON-89Ø34-3 9 MON-88Ø17-3 and MON-89Ø34-3 9 MON-ØØ6Ø3-6) and one herbicide-tolerant GM hybrid (MON-ØØ6Ø3-6) were compared with conventional maize hybrids of similar genetic backgrounds. Two sets of studies, Experimental Phase and Pilot Phase, were conducted across five ecological regions (ecoregions) in Mexico during 2009–2013, and data were subject to meta-analysis. Results from the Experimental Phase studies, which were used for ERA, indicated that the three GM hybrids were not different from conventional maize for early stand count, days-tosilking, days-to-anthesis, root lodging, stalk lodging, or final stand count. Statistically significant differences were observed for seedling vigor, ear height, plant height, grain moisture, and grain yield, particularly in the IR hybrids; however, none of these phenotypic differences are expected to contribute to a biological or ecological change that would result in an increased pest potential or ecological risk when cultivating these GM hybrids. Overall, results from the Experimental Phase studies are consistent with those from other world regions, confirming that there are no additional risks compared to conventional maize. Results from Pilot Phase studies indicated that, compared to conventional maize hybrids, no differences were detected for the agronomic and phenotypic characteristics measured on the three GM maize hybrids, with the exception of grain moisture and grain yield in the IR hybrids. Since MON-89Ø34- 3 9 MON-88Ø17-3 and MON-89Ø34-3 9 MONØØ6Ø3- 6 confer resistance to target insect pests, they are an alternative for farmers in Mexico to protect the crop from insect damage. Additionally, the herbicide tolerance conferred by all three GM hybrids enables more cost-effective weed management

Primer consenso en leucemia linfocítica crónica de la agrupación mexicana para el estudio de la hematología: epidemiología, diagnóstico y tratamiento

La leucemia linfocítica crónica (LLC) es la leucemia crónica menos frecuente en México. En consideración a los avances recientes, a una mejor clasificación pronóstica y a la introducción de nuevas modalidades terapéuticas, la Agrupación Mexicana para el Estudio de la Hematología organizó el primer consenso mexicano en leucemia linfocítica crónica. Este consenso se llevó a cabo en Cancún, Quintana Roo, México, en Septiembre del 2007. Los objetivos de esta reunión fueron actualizar y compartir los conocimientos de la enfermedad entre los especialistas mexicanos, con el fin de mejorar el diagnóstico y el pronóstico de la LLC en México. En el artículo se discute los aspectos clínicos, diagnósticos y terapéuticos de la LLC

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world

23 páginas..- 4 figuras y 7 figuras.- 50 referencias y 90 referenciasEarth harbours an extraordinary plant phenotypic diversity1 that is at risk from ongoing global changes2,3. However, it remains unknown how increasing aridity and livestock grazing pressure—two major drivers of global change4,5,6—shape the trait covariation that underlies plant phenotypic diversity1,7. Here we assessed how covariation among 20 chemical and morphological traits responds to aridity and grazing pressure within global drylands. Our analysis involved 133,769 trait measurements spanning 1,347 observations of 301 perennial plant species surveyed across 326 plots from 6 continents. Crossing an aridity threshold of approximately 0.7 (close to the transition between semi-arid and arid zones) led to an unexpected 88% increase in trait diversity. This threshold appeared in the presence of grazers, and moved toward lower aridity levels with increasing grazing pressure. Moreover, 57% of observed trait diversity occurred only in the most arid and grazed drylands, highlighting the phenotypic uniqueness of these extreme environments. Our work indicates that drylands act as a global reservoir of plant phenotypic diversity and challenge the pervasive view that harsh environmental conditions reduce plant trait diversity8,9,10. They also highlight that many alternative strategies may enable plants to cope with increases in environmental stress induced by climate change and land-use intensification.This research was funded by the European Research Council (ERC Grant agreement 647038 1004 [BIODESERT]) and Generalitat Valenciana (CIDEGENT/2018/041). N.G. was supported by CAP 20–25 (16-IDEX-0001) and the AgreenSkills+ fellowship programme which has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement FP7-609398 (AgreenSkills+ contract). F.T.M. acknowledges support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the KAUST Climate and Livability Initiative, the University of Alicante (UADIF22-74 and VIGROB22-350), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020-116578RB-I00), and the Synthesis Center (sDiv) of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle–Jena–Leipzig (iDiv). Y.L.B.-P. was supported by a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (MSCA-1018 IF) within the European Program Horizon 2020 (DRYFUN Project 656035). H.S. is supported by a María Zambrano fellowship funded by the Ministry of Universities and European Union-Next Generation plan. L.W. acknowledges support from the US National Science Foundation (EAR 1554894). G.M.W. acknowledges support from the Australian Research Council (DP210102593) and TERN. M.B is supported by a Ramón y Cajal grant from Spanish Ministry of Science (RYC2021-031797-I). L.v.d.B. and K.T. were supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) Priority Program SPP-1803 (TI388/14-1). A.F. acknowledges the financial support from ANID PIA/BASAL FB210006 and Millenium Science Initiative Program NCN2021-050. A.J. was supported by the Bavarian Research Alliance for travel and field work (BayIntAn UBT 2017 61). A.L. and L.K. acknowledge support from the German Research Foundation, DFG (grant CRC TRR228) and German Federal Government for Science and Education, BMBF (grants 01LL1802C and 01LC1821A). B.B. and S.U. were supported by the Taylor Family-Asia Foundation Endowed Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology. P.J.R. and A.J.M. acknowledge support from Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional through the FEDER Andalucía operative programme, FEDER-UJA 1261180 project. E.M.-J. and C.P. acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020-116578RB-I00). D.J.E. was supported by the Hermon Slade Foundation. J.D. and A.Rodríguez acknowledge support from the FCT (2020.03670.CEECIND and SFRH/BDP/108913/2015, respectively), as well as from the MCTES, FSE, UE and the CFE (UIDB/04004/2021) research unit financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC). S.C.R. acknowledges support from the US Department of Energy (DE-SC-0008168), US Department of Defense (RC18-1322), and the US Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US government. E.H.-S. acknowledges support from Mexican National Science and Technology Council (CONACYT PN 5036 and 319059). A.N. and C. Branquinho. acknowledge the support from FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (CEECIND/02453/2018/CP1534/CT0001, PTDC/ASP-SIL/7743/ 2020, UIDB/00329/2020), from AdaptForGrazing project (PRR-C05-i03-I-000035) and from LTsER Montado platform (LTER_EU_PT_001). Field work of G.P. and J.M.Z. was supported by UNRN (PI 40-C-873).Peer reviewe

4to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

Este volumen acoge la memoria académica de la Cuarta edición del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2017, desarrollado entre el 29 de noviembre y el 1 de diciembre de 2017 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS) en su sede de Guayaquil. El Congreso ofreció un espacio para la presentación, difusión e intercambio de importantes investigaciones nacionales e internacionales ante la comunidad universitaria que se dio cita en el encuentro. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas para la gestión de los trabajos de investigación como la plataforma Open Conference Systems y la web de presentación del Congreso http://citis.blog.ups.edu.ec/, hicieron de CITIS 2017 un verdadero referente entre los congresos que se desarrollaron en el país. La preocupación de nuestra Universidad, de presentar espacios que ayuden a generar nuevos y mejores cambios en la dimensión humana y social de nuestro entorno, hace que se persiga en cada edición del evento la presentación de trabajos con calidad creciente en cuanto a su producción científica. Quienes estuvimos al frente de la organización, dejamos plasmado en estas memorias académicas el intenso y prolífico trabajo de los días de realización del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad al alcance de todos y todas

Association between convalescent plasma treatment and mortality in COVID-19: a collaborative systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Abstract Background Convalescent plasma has been widely used to treat COVID-19 and is under investigation in numerous randomized clinical trials, but results are publicly available only for a small number of trials. The objective of this study was to assess the benefits of convalescent plasma treatment compared to placebo or no treatment and all-cause mortality in patients with COVID-19, using data from all available randomized clinical trials, including unpublished and ongoing trials (Open Science Framework, https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/GEHFX ). Methods In this collaborative systematic review and meta-analysis, clinical trial registries (ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform), the Cochrane COVID-19 register, the LOVE database, and PubMed were searched until April 8, 2021. Investigators of trials registered by March 1, 2021, without published results were contacted via email. Eligible were ongoing, discontinued and completed randomized clinical trials that compared convalescent plasma with placebo or no treatment in COVID-19 patients, regardless of setting or treatment schedule. Aggregated mortality data were extracted from publications or provided by investigators of unpublished trials and combined using the Hartung–Knapp–Sidik–Jonkman random effects model. We investigated the contribution of unpublished trials to the overall evidence. Results A total of 16,477 patients were included in 33 trials (20 unpublished with 3190 patients, 13 published with 13,287 patients). 32 trials enrolled only hospitalized patients (including 3 with only intensive care unit patients). Risk of bias was low for 29/33 trials. Of 8495 patients who received convalescent plasma, 1997 died (23%), and of 7982 control patients, 1952 died (24%). The combined risk ratio for all-cause mortality was 0.97 (95% confidence interval: 0.92; 1.02) with between-study heterogeneity not beyond chance (I2 = 0%). The RECOVERY trial had 69.8% and the unpublished evidence 25.3% of the weight in the meta-analysis. Conclusions Convalescent plasma treatment of patients with COVID-19 did not reduce all-cause mortality. These results provide strong evidence that convalescent plasma treatment for patients with COVID-19 should not be used outside of randomized trials. Evidence synthesis from collaborations among trial investigators can inform both evidence generation and evidence application in patient care

Association between convalescent plasma treatment and mortality in COVID-19: a collaborative systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Abstract Background Convalescent plasma has been widely used to treat COVID-19 and is under investigation in numerous randomized clinical trials, but results are publicly available only for a small number of trials. The objective of this study was to assess the benefits of convalescent plasma treatment compared to placebo or no treatment and all-cause mortality in patients with COVID-19, using data from all available randomized clinical trials, including unpublished and ongoing trials (Open Science Framework, https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/GEHFX ). Methods In this collaborative systematic review and meta-analysis, clinical trial registries (ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform), the Cochrane COVID-19 register, the LOVE database, and PubMed were searched until April 8, 2021. Investigators of trials registered by March 1, 2021, without published results were contacted via email. Eligible were ongoing, discontinued and completed randomized clinical trials that compared convalescent plasma with placebo or no treatment in COVID-19 patients, regardless of setting or treatment schedule. Aggregated mortality data were extracted from publications or provided by investigators of unpublished trials and combined using the Hartung–Knapp–Sidik–Jonkman random effects model. We investigated the contribution of unpublished trials to the overall evidence. Results A total of 16,477 patients were included in 33 trials (20 unpublished with 3190 patients, 13 published with 13,287 patients). 32 trials enrolled only hospitalized patients (including 3 with only intensive care unit patients). Risk of bias was low for 29/33 trials. Of 8495 patients who received convalescent plasma, 1997 died (23%), and of 7982 control patients, 1952 died (24%). The combined risk ratio for all-cause mortality was 0.97 (95% confidence interval: 0.92; 1.02) with between-study heterogeneity not beyond chance (I2 = 0%). The RECOVERY trial had 69.8% and the unpublished evidence 25.3% of the weight in the meta-analysis. Conclusions Convalescent plasma treatment of patients with COVID-19 did not reduce all-cause mortality. These results provide strong evidence that convalescent plasma treatment for patients with COVID-19 should not be used outside of randomized trials. Evidence synthesis from collaborations among trial investigators can inform both evidence generation and evidence application in patient care