Characterization of diverse germplasm of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) using agro-morphological traits and AFLP molecular markers

Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) is a perennial forage legume, widely distributed in northern temperate regions of the world. Unlike alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), sainfoin does not cause bloat in grazing animals due to the presence of condensed tannins. However, this species is still an underdeveloped legume, with limited information available on genetic diversity, agronomic and phenotypic characteristics. The objectives of this study were: 1) to evaluate genetic variation and relationships among 38 sainfoin accessions using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers; 2) to measure agro-morphological traits and nutritive value of the 38 sainfoin accessions; 3) to understand the effects of seed size, seed pod removal and temperature on sainfoin seed germination. A field plots of 38 sainfoin accessions were planted in July 2014 using a randomized complete block design with four replications near Saskatoon, SK, Canada. Five AFLP primer pairs were employed to genotype 367 plants and 1,042 polymorphic AFLP bands were detected. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that 84.1% of the total molecular variation was present within accessions, while 15.0% and 0.9% of the variation resided among accessions and regions (continents), respectively. Data were collected in the growing seasons of 2015 and 2016. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant variations for all measured traits among the accessions (P<0.05). The 2-yr mean data revealed winter survival of sainfoin accessions ranged from 20–94%. Similarly, accessions showed a wide range of plant height from 37–70 cm. Forage dry matter (DM) yield ranged from 74–239 g plant−1 and seed yield ranged from 5–64 g plant−1. Similarly, wide variations were observed for nutritive values. Forage DM yield had a positive correlation with plant height (r=0.82, P<0.001), stem number (r=0.75, P<0.001), and 1000-seed weight (r=0.29, P<0.001), whereas negative correlations were found with days to flower (r=−0.57, P<0.001) and crude protein (CP) concentration (r=−0.62, P<0.001) were observed. Based on agronomic performance and nutritive value traits, the accessions were grouped into three major clusters. Seed germination of sainfoin varied significantly (P=0.047) at different temperatures with the highest final germination at 20/10°C (day/night temperature) and 15/5°C temperatures. Seed pod removal significantly (P<0.001) enhanced seed germination. The seed germination experiments suggested the possibility of decreasing seed size without affecting germination percentage of sainfoin seed within the same accession. In conclusion, the information obtained from this study on agro-morphological traits, nutritive values and genetic diversity among the 38 sainfoin accessions will be useful for future sainfoin breeding programs

Physiological Characteristics and Strategies to Improve Salt Tolerance in Alfalfa

Non-Peer ReviewedThere are 6 million ha of cropland affected by soil salinity in Canada. Alfalfa is not only an important forage legume to the Canadian beef and forage industries, but also is the candidate legume for reclamation of saline areas. We investigated physiological and genetic variations of salt tolerant ‘Halo’ and salt intolerant ‘Vernal’ alfalfa cultivars in five gradients of salt stresses (Electrical conductivities of 0 dS m-1- 16 dS m-1) in a sand based hydroponic system. Elements and organic compounds in different tissues were studied at the Canadian Light Source. RNA-Seq analysis of leaf and root tissues of ‘Halo’ and ‘Vernal’ alfalfa were studied at three time points after salt treatment at 12 dS m-1. ‘Halo’ showed significantly greater germination percentage and seed vigor than ‘Vernal’ at higher salt level, but no difference was found at lower salt gradients. The leaf and stem tissue of ‘Halo’ had higher amide concentration than ‘Vernal’ at all salt gradients. This study identified 14 (leaf) and 9 (root) candidate genes consistently expressed in ‘Halo’ under salt stress, indicating potential genes for marker development. In addition, a number of new salt tolerant breeding lines were developed under this project. Future research includes testing of possible beneficial interactions between alfalfa populations and halophile bacteria that could help mitigate salt stress on the plant. Link to Video Presentation: https://youtu.be/QGpr13PKGg

Social Safety Net Programmes in Selected Villages of Andhra Pradesh. SaciWATER Working Paper 02/2014

Social Protection Programmes are those programmes instituted by governments or society that help protect citizens from “risks, vulnerabilities and deprivations”. Social Protection can be considered like an insurance against poverty, this can be instituted by governments (official social protection) or otherwise (unofficial social protection). Social Safety Nets are subsets of such programmes Such protection is needed as poverty is a major issue in rural India, 72 percent of the population lives in rural areas. It is estimated that 42 percent of the rural population lives below the poverty line. This is especially true in the semi-arid tropics of India, where 40.5% of India’s rural poor lives, despite only covering 37% of the country’s area. The rural poor in SAT India are faced with the shocks and seasonalities that increase vulnerability, such as the issues of water scarcity under increasingly variable climatic conditions, food security and issues of livelihood security. SAT Andhra Pradesh is no different. This paper examines the issues that had an influence on vulnerability in four selected villages in Andhra Pradesh in India and examines how, if at all, social safety net programmes alleviate these issues. To this end focus group discussions and informal interviews were carried out among landless and landowning inhabitants of the village. The findings of the study are as follows. Though issues differ slightly from village to village, a common thread was seen in the form of lack of access to water resources for farming which has far reaching impacts, on migration, labour availability and even food security. Additional issues reported were of sanitation and fluctuating prices, both in terms of selling agricultural produce, as well as purchasing essential commodities. A large number of safety nets function in these villages, among these, the major programmes include the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Public Distribution Systems, Self Help Groups, health insurance schemes, housing schemes, agricultural subsidies, loan waivers and so on. It was found that though official social safety nets were functional in all villages to varying degrees, their reception and impacts have been mixed. Of the official formal safety net programmes, only self help groups were reported as functioning excellently, and not many complaints were raised about it. With respect to the other official safety nets, there were gaps identified in the implementation on the ground, mostly due to lack of monitoring. Thus there is room for improvement in this regard. Respondents state that even when fully functional, these programmes often do not help them with the problems faced in the village. People often resort to unofficial safety nets, due to urgent need, or even due to official safety nets not being effective in that case. Among the unofficial safety nets, it was found that borrowing from friends and relatives is the most common and preferred method of obtaining money in times of need, as is credit at local village stores. Thus, it was seen that the social safety net programmes do not fully address the issues that are faced in the village, in order to get better results, it is important to increase transparency in the implementation process, additionally, even though there is existing convergence between government schemes, more convergence and streamlining would be beneficial. Another issue is the lack of ownership among the beneficiaries, where community led initiatives to solve problems are lacking. This could be addressed through advocacy and capacity building, through a rights based approach

Major Social Safety Net Programmes in the Context of Dryland Farming: Review and Synthesis. Working Paper, (SaciWater WP- 01/2014).

Poverty is a major issue in rural India, especially in the semiarid tropic region of India. In order to alleviate poverty the Government of India, and state governments, like governments world over, have instituted social protection and social safety net programmes. This paper seeks to review and synthesize implementation of the major social safety net programmes in India and globally and document various social safety net programmes that area commonly being implemented in the semiarid tropical regions of Andhra Pradesh. In order to do this, this paper investigates the existing definitions of poverty, and vulnerability with a special focus on the semiarid tropics of India and examines the need for social assistance in this region. The concepts of social protection in terms of social protection programmes and social safety nets are also investigated. A review of social protection programmes from all over the world is carried out – examining the different programmes in developed nations such as Germany, United States and United Kingdom; developing nations, with a focus on Latin America; and least developed nations in Africa. In this range of studies, it is possible to see how social protection programmes vary, from the more affluent nations, where these programmes are more contributory in nature, dealing more with health and temporary relief in cases of unemployment. Whereas in the less developed nations, where SPPs are a more non-contributory in nature, and form a much more essential part in ensuring livelihood security. The paper then examines the most important social protection programmes in India, in great detail providing a history of development of important schemes meant to ensure food, nutritional and livelihood security, such as the PDS and NREGA among other import programmes, and talks about the criticisms and shortcomings of the programmes. The various SPPs in Andhra Pradesh are examined, with a special focus on Self- Help Groups which are mostly comprised of women have been instrumental in improving well being, not just of women but also of families. There have been reports of issues with many social protection programmes in India, in terms of access, leakages, benefits not being received, the cost effectiveness of these programmes , lack of gender sensitivity in the programmes and so on. Despite all the flaws and gaps in implementation, the way now is forward. There is an urgent need to study how access or lack thereof to the various official and non official social safety net programmes have affected not just the intended direct and indirect beneficiaries, but also those in rural India who are not beneficiaries of the programmes, but who may directly or indirectly be affected by them, either positively or negatively

О некоторых аспектах проблемы формирования рынка труда в Украине и в Крыму

В статье дан анализ современного состояния рынка труда в Украине и в Крыму, выявлены причины и особенности безработицы, определены задачи государства в этой связи, предложены мероприятия по их разрешению.Про деякі аспекти проблеми формування ринку праці в Україні і в Криму. У статті даний аналіз сучасного стану ринку праці в Україні й у Криму, виявлено причини й особливості безробіття, визначені завдання держави в цьому зв'язку, запропоновані заходи щодо їхнього вирішення.In article the analysis of a modern condition of a labour market in Ukraine and in Crimea is given, the reasons and features of unemployment are revealed, problems of the state in this connection are determined, actions under their sanction are offered

VaTEST III : validation of 8 potential super-earths from TESS data

Funding: The ULiege’s contribution to SPECULOOS has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) (grant Agreement n◦ 336480/SPECULOOS). This research is in part funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grants agreements n◦ 803193/BEBOP), and from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC; grant n◦ ST/S00193X/1, and ST/W000385/1).NASA’s all-sky survey mission, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), is specifically engineered to detect exoplanets that transit bright stars. Thus far, TESS has successfully identified approximately 400 transiting exoplanets, in addition to roughly 6 000 candidate exoplanets pending confirmation. In this study, we present the results of our ongoing project, the Validation of Transiting Exoplanets using Statistical Tools (VaTEST). Our dedicated effort is focused on the confirmation and characterisation of new exoplanets through the application of statistical validation tools. Through a combination of ground-based telescope data, high-resolution imaging, and the utilisation of the statistical validation tool known as TRICERATOPS, we have successfully discovered eight potential super-Earths. These planets bear the designations: TOI-238b (1.61 +0.09−0.10 R ⊕ ), TOI-771b (1.42 +0.11−0.09 R ⊕ ), TOI-871b (1.66 +0.11−0.11 R ⊕ ), TOI-1467b (1.83 +0.16−0.15 R ⊕ ), TOI-1739b (1.69 +0.10−0.08 R ⊕ ), TOI-2068b (1.82 +0.16−0.15 R ⊕ ), TOI-4559b (1.42 +0.13−0.11 R ⊕ ), and TOI-5799b (1.62 +0.19−0.13 R ⊕ ). Among all these planets, six of them fall within the region known as ‘keystone planets’, which makes them particularly interesting for study. Based on the location of TOI-771b and TOI-4559b below the radius valley we characterised them as likely super-Earths, though radial velocity mass measurements for these planets will provide more details about their characterisation. It is noteworthy that planets within the size range investigated herein are absent from our own solar system, making their study crucial for gaining insights into the evolutionary stages between Earth and Neptune.Peer reviewe

Recent Progress in Steroid Synthesis Triggered by the Emergence of New Catalytic Methods

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154510/1/ejoc201901466_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154510/2/ejoc201901466.pd

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Understanding the mechanism of salt tolerance in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an important perennial forage legume characterized by its wide adaptability, high forage yield, good quality, and resistance to frequent cuttings. It is often used for pasture, hay, silage, dehydrated products, seed production, and soil improvement. Alfalfa is moderately tolerant to salinity, but its productivity decreases under saline growth condition. Understanding of the salt tolerance mechanism and identification of genes responsible for salt tolerance is critical for the development of salt tolerant alfalfa cultivars. We investigated the morphological, physiological and genetic variation of salt tolerant ‘Halo’ and salt intolerant ‘Vernal’ alfalfa cultivars. The specific objectives of the study were: 1) to determine seed germination and post-germination performance of alfalfa cultivars to different salinity stresses, 2) to compare the distribution and accumulation of organic compounds and elements in different tissues of the two alfalfa cultivars under five different salinity stresses, and 3) to identify differentially expressed gene(s) in leaf and root tissues at 12 dS m-1. The response of the alfalfa cultivars to salinity was studied for 12 weeks in five gradients of salt stresses (Electrical conductivities of 0 dS m-1, 4 dS m-1, 8 dS m-1, 12 dS m-1 and 16 dS m-1) in a sand based hydroponic system in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources greenhouse at the University of Saskatchewan, using a split-plot arrangement with a randomized complete block design. Elements and organic compounds in leaf, stem, and root tissues were studied using Fourier transform infrared and micro-X-ray fluorescence spectromicroscopy techniques at the Canadian Light Source, as well as using a lab based inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy analysis. RNA-Seq analysis of leaf and root tissues of ‘Halo’ and ‘Vernal’ alfalfa were studied at three time points of 0h (control), 3h and 27h after salt treatment of 12 dS m-1. Seed germination percentage and seed vigor were significantly (P<0.001) reduced by salt stress. ‘Halo’ showed significantly greater germination percentage and seed vigor than ‘Vernal’ at 16 dS m-1, but no difference was found at the other four salt gradients. Salt stress significantly (P<0.05) reduced plant height, crude protein, shoot and root biomass, root to shoot ratio. Root tissue of ‘Halo’ had significantly higher chlorine concentration than leaf tissue at 8 dS m-1, while root tissue of ‘Vernal’ had significantly lower chlorine concentration than leaf tissue at 8 dS m-1 and 12 dS m-1. The leaf and stem tissue of ‘Halo’ had higher amide concentration than ‘Vernal’ at all salt gradients. The distribution of chlorine in salt tolerant cultivar ‘Halo’ was relatively uniform in the leaf surface and vascular bundles of the stem. RNA-Seq study identified 156 differentially expressed genes in leaf and 322 in roots of the two alfalfa cultivars. This study identified 14 (leaf) and 9 (root) candidate genes consistently expressed in ‘Halo’ under salt stress, indicating potential genes for marker development. We conclude that “low ion accumulation in the shoot” was a likely tolerance mechanism up to 8 dS m-1, and “tissue tolerance” at 12 dS m-1 in tolerant alfalfa. Taken together, the finding of this research and genomic resources generated by this study can be used to develop new salt tolerant alfalfa cultivars

Effect of Sodium Chloride Salt on Germination, Growth, and Elemental Composition of Alfalfa Cultivars with Different Tolerances to Salinity

The aim of this study was to evaluate physiological responses and elemental composition of three salt tolerant alfalfa (Medicagosativa L.) cultivars, &lsquo;Halo&rsquo;, &lsquo;Bridgeview&rsquo;, &lsquo;Rugged&rsquo;, and two intolerant cultivars &lsquo;Rangelander&rsquo; and &lsquo;Vernal&rsquo; under five salinity levels (0 dSm&minus;1, 4 dSm&minus;1, 8 dSm&minus;1, 12 dSm&minus;1 and 16 dSm&minus;1) in a sand based hydroponic system in the greenhouse. The germination percentage among the cultivars was highest for &lsquo;Halo&rsquo; under salt stress. &lsquo;Rugged&rsquo; and &lsquo;Halo&rsquo; had higher seed vigor than the other cultivars in 16 dSm&minus;1 EC. Among the alfalfa cultivars, &lsquo;Rugged&rsquo; had the highest chlorophyll content at 0&ndash;12 dSm&minus;1 EC. There was variation for root (p = 0.01) and shoot (p = 0.03) biomass among the alfalfa cultivars. Salt stress reduced (p &lt; 0.001) plant height and shoot biomass, with 4.2% and 7.9% reduction for each 1 dS m&minus;1 increase, respectively. Shoot biomass showed a positive correlation with plant height (p &lt; 0.001, r = 0.80), chlorophyll content (p &lt; 0.001, r = 0.56), root biomass (p &lt; 0.001, r = 0.51), but was not correlated with seed vigor. This study demonstrated that seed vigor in the germination stage can not be used to predict salt tolerance of alfalfa at mature growth stages, however plant height and leaf chlorophyll content can serve as physiological markers for high shoot biomass selection at mature growth stages under salt stress