TB203: Recent Advances in the Biology and Genetics of Lowbush Blueberry

For lowbush blueberries, this publication presents an in-depth look at the biology and genetics of lowbush blueberry. The authors provide details on its genetic composition and the outline the usefulness of various biochemical, genomic, and other markers in studying the plants genetic structure. The authors also provide an overview of the plant’s economic value to Maine, nutritional value, and its life history.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1008/thumbnail.jp

RNA-seq combined with a bulked-segregant analysis identifies candidate genes for the waxy coating on blueberry fruit

The most significant difference between blueberries with a light blue fruit color and black fruit color is the visible layer of an epicuticular waxy coating. This layer functions in disease defense and prevention of water loss. In this study, we constructed a northern-adapted rabbiteye hybrid breeding population, ‘Nocturne’ x T 300, which segregated for fruit color (light blue versus black). We screened this population and selected plants of each extreme phenotype, waxy- coated plants with light blue colored fruit versus non-waxy plants with black colored fruit, then isolated RNA from fruit tissue of each bulk, respectively. We sequenced the transcriptome of each bulk using RNA-seq, which resulted in a total of 167,093,354 reads for both libraries combined. We de novo assembled this data set into 171,678 contigs and used the assembled transcriptome as a reference for differential expression analysis using EdgeR. A total of 515 differentially expressed genes were identified with at least a four-fold difference in expression, and efforts were made to functionally annotate them using publicly available databases. From these, one excellent candidate ‘waxy’ gene has emerged, which we are investigating further

Characterization and Analysis of Anthocyanin-Related Genes in Wild-Type Blueberry and the Pink-Fruited Mutant Cultivar ‘Pink Lemonade’: New Insights into Anthocyanin Biosynthesis

Blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidants, such as anthocyanins, among fruits and vegetables. Anthocyanin mutants, like the pink-fruited cultivar ‘Pink Lemonade’, are valuable resources for investigating anthocyanin biosynthesis in blueberries. In this study, we examined expression of flavonoid pathway genes during fruit development in wild-type, blue-fruited blueberries using quantitative real-time PCR. Expression was also compared between wild-type and the pink-fruited ‘Pink Lemonade’. This revealed significantly lower expression in ‘Pink Lemonade’ than in wild-type of nearly all the structural genes examined suggesting that a transcriptional regulator of the pathway was affected. Hence, we compared expression of three known regulatory genes and found that the gene encoding the transcription factor MYB1 was expressed at a significantly lower level in ‘Pink Lemonade’ than in the wild-type. To validate the capacity of this MYB1 to regulate the transcription of anthocyanin genes in blueberries, a transient expression assay was conducted. Results indicated MYB1 overexpression enhanced anthocyanin production. Comparative sequence analysis between wild-type and mutant MYB1 variants found differences in highly conserved features suggesting a mechanistic explanation for the mutant phenotype. Collectively, the results presented here contribute to a better understanding of mechanisms regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis in Vaccinium

Habitat diversity and structure regulate British bird richness: implications of non-linear relationships for conservation

Spatial environmental heterogeneity (EH) is an important factor determining species richness among many taxa across spatial scales. Increased EH may support higher diversity mainly by providing a higher number of ecological niches. However, the shapes of the EH-diversity relationships and their influence on diversity measures at landscape scales are poorly understood. We used random forests regression models to assess the relationships between different components of EH and bird species richness across Great Britain. Bird data were obtained using BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey methods across 335 UK Countryside Survey (CS) 1-km squares in 2000. Data on components of EH, including; vegetation, habitat diversity, and habitat structure were collected in associated field surveys. Using the results of our EH component-bird richness models, we applied the case of the likely decline of the ash tree, a species of conservation concern and a key component of British landscape complexity, to create predictive scenarios of future bird richness. We found that EH components had a strong positive effect on bird richness and identified six key components that explained over 70% of variance in bird richness. Bird richness responses were strongly dependent on the specific EH components and were generally non-linear, especially for habitat structural variables, such as lines of trees and hedges. Our predictive scenarios showed a decrease in bird species richness only for simulated ash tree decreases within the habitat structural variables of over 90%, and only for areas where this tree species was a particularly abundant component of the landscape. Our findings, showing that bird richness responses differ for EH components, and that non-linear responses are common, could help the ‘design’ of landscapes that enhance bird diversity. In particular, our study indicates that, in some cases, increasing the occurrence of key structural components of habitat (such as ensuring a minimum of 700 m of managed hedges or a minimum of 70 individual trees per km square), could have disproportionally positive impacts on bird richness

BBGD: an online database for blueberry genomic data

BACKGROUND: Blueberry is a member of the Ericaceae family, which also includes closely related cranberry and more distantly related rhododendron, azalea, and mountain laurel. Blueberry is a major berry crop in the United States, and one that has great nutritional and economical value. Extreme low temperatures, however, reduce crop yield and cause major losses to US farmers. A better understanding of the genes and biochemical pathways that are up- or down-regulated during cold acclimation is needed to produce blueberry cultivars with enhanced cold hardiness. To that end, the blueberry genomics database (BBDG) was developed. Along with the analysis tools and web-based query interfaces, the database serves both the broader Ericaceae research community and the blueberry research community specifically by making available ESTs and gene expression data in searchable formats and in elucidating the underlying mechanisms of cold acclimation and freeze tolerance in blueberry. DESCRIPTION: BBGD is the world's first database for blueberry genomics. BBGD is both a sequence and gene expression database. It stores both EST and microarray data and allows scientists to correlate expression profiles with gene function. BBGD is a public online database. Presently, the main focus of the database is the identification of genes in blueberry that are significantly induced or suppressed after low temperature exposure. CONCLUSION: By using the database, researchers have developed EST-based markers for mapping and have identified a number of "candidate" cold tolerance genes that are highly expressed in blueberry flower buds after exposure to low temperatures

Regional-scale high spatial resolution mapping of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) from field survey and Landsat data: a case study for the country of Wales

This paper presents an alternative approach for high spatial resolution vegetation productivity mapping at a regional scale, using a combination of Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) imagery and widely distributed ground-based Above-ground Net Primary Production (ANPP) estimates. Our method searches through all available single-date NDVI imagery to identify the images which give the best NDVI–ANPP relationship. The derived relationships are then used to predict ANPP values outside of field survey plots. This approach enables the use of the high spatial resolution (30 m) Landsat 8 sensor, despite its low revisit frequency that is further reduced by cloud cover. This is one of few studies to investigate the NDVI–ANPP relationship across a wide range of temperate habitats and strong relationships were observed (R2 = 0.706), which increased when only grasslands were considered (R2 = 0.833). The strongest NDVI–ANPP relationships occurred during the spring “green-up” period. A reserved subset of 20% of ground-based ANPP estimates was used for validation and results showed that our method was able to estimate ANPP with a RMSE of 15–21%. This work is important because we demonstrate a general methodological framework for mapping of ANPP from local to regional scales, with the potential to be applied to any temperate ecosystems with a pronounced green up period. Our approach allows spatial extrapolation outside of field survey plots to produce a continuous surface product, useful for capturing spatial patterns and representing small-scale heterogeneity, and well-suited for modelling applications. The data requirements for implementing this approach are also discussed

High-Density Linkage Map Construction and QTL Identification in a Diploid Blueberry Mapping Population

Genotyping by sequencing approaches have been widely applied in major crops and are now being used in horticultural crops like berries and fruit trees. As the original and largest producer of cultivated blueberry, the United States maintains the most diverse blueberry germplasm resources comprised of many species of different ploidy levels. We previously constructed an interspecific mapping population of diploid blueberry by crossing the parent F1#10 (Vaccinium darrowii Fla4B × diploid V. corymbosum W85–20) with the parent W85–23 (diploid V. corymbosum). Employing the Capture-Seq technology developed by RAPiD Genomics, with an emphasis on probes designed in predicted gene regions, 117 F1 progeny, the two parents, and two grandparents of this population were sequenced, yielding 131.7 Gbp clean sequenced reads. A total of 160,535 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), referenced to 4,522 blueberry genome sequence scaffolds, were identified and subjected to a parent-dependent sliding window approach to further genotype the population. Recombination breakpoints were determined and marker bins were deduced to construct a high density linkage map. Twelve blueberry linkage groups (LGs) consisting of 17,486 SNP markers were obtained, spanning a total genetic distance of 1,539.4 cM. Among 18 horticultural traits phenotyped in this population, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that were significant over at least 2 years were identified for chilling requirement, cold hardiness, and fruit quality traits of color, scar size, and firmness. Interestingly, in 1 year, a QTL associated with timing of early bloom, full bloom, petal fall, and early green fruit was identified in the same region harboring the major QTL for chilling requirement. In summary, we report here the first high density bin map of a diploid blueberry mapping population and the identification of several horticulturally important QTLs

Addressing health equity for breastfeeding women: primaquine for Plasmodium vivax radical cure

Plasmodium vivax malaria remains a global health challenge, with approximately 6.9 million estimated cases in 2022. The parasite has a dormant liver stage, the hypnozoite, which reactivates to cause repeated relapses over weeks, months, or years. These relapses erode patient health, contribute to the burden of malaria, and promote transmission. Radical cure to prevent relapses requires administration of an 8-aminoquinoline, either primaquine or tafenoquine. However, malaria treatment guidelines updated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in October 2023 restrict primaquine use for women breastfeeding children < 6 months of age, or women breastfeeding older children if their child is G6PD deficient or if the child’s G6PD status is unknown. Primaquine restrictions assume that 8-aminoquinoline exposures in breast milk would be sufficient to cause haemolysis in the nursing infant should they be G6PD deficient. WHO recommendations for tafenoquine are awaited. Notably, the WHO recommends that infants are breastfed for the first 2 years of life, and exclusively until 6 months old. Repeated pregnancies, followed by extended breastfeeding leaves women in P. vivax endemic regions potentially vulnerable to relapses for many years. This puts women’s health at risk, increases the malaria burden, and perpetuates transmission, hindering malaria control and elimination. The benefits of lifting restrictions on primaquine administration to breastfeeding women are significant, avoiding the adverse consequences of repeated episodes of acute malaria, such as severe anaemia. Recent data challenge the restriction of primaquine in breastfeeding women. Clinical pharmacokinetic data in breastfeeding infants ≥ 28 days old show that the exposure to primaquine is very low and less than 1% of the maternal exposure, indicating negligible risk to infants, irrespective of their G6PD status. Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modelling complements the clinical data, predicting minimal primaquine exposure to infants and neonates via breast milk from early post-partum. This article summarizes the clinical and modelling evidence for a favourable benefit:risk evaluation of P. vivax radical cure with primaquine for breastfeeding women without the need for infant G6PD testing, supporting a change in policy. This adjustment to current treatment guidelines would support health equity in regard to effective interventions to protect women and their children, enhance malaria control strategies, and advance P. vivax elimination

Autopolyploid inheritance and a heterozygous reciprocal translocation shape chromosome genetic behavior in tetraploid blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)

Understanding chromosome recombination behavior in polyploidy species is key to advancing genetic discoveries. In blueberry, a tetraploid species, the line of evidences about its genetic behavior still remain poorly understood, owing to the inter-specific, and inter-ploidy admixture of its genome and lack of in depth genome-wide inheritance and comparative structural studies. Here we describe a new high-quality, phased, chromosome-scale genome of a diploid blueberry, clone W85. The genome was integrated with cytogenetics and high-density, genetic maps representing six tetraploid blueberry cultivars, harboring different levels of wild genome admixture, to uncover recombination behavior and structural genome divergence across tetraploid and wild diploid species. Analysis of chromosome inheritance and pairing demonstrated that tetraploid blueberry behaves as an autotetraploid with tetrasomic inheritance. Comparative analysis demonstrated the presence of a reciprocal, heterozygous, translocation spanning one homolog of chr-6 and one of chr-10 in the cultivar Draper. The translocation affects pairing and recombination of chromosomes 6 and 10. Besides the translocation detected in Draper, no other structural genomic divergences were detected across tetraploid cultivars and highly inter-crossable wild diploid species. These findings and resources will facilitate new genetic and comparative genomic studies in Vaccinium and the development of genomic assisted selection strategy for this cro

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research