Importance of environmental flows in the Wimmera catchment, Southeast Australia

In this paper the environment, climate, vegetation, indigenous and European settlement history, stream flow patterns, water quality and water resources development in western Victoria, Australia are studied. The last part of the paper focuses on the MacKenzie River, a tributary of the Wimmera River located on the northern slopes of the Grampians Ranges in western Victoria, Australia. Water release along the MacKenzie River was regulated to improve water quality, stream condition and river health especially in the downstream reaches. The upstream section tends to receive water most days of the year due to releases to secure the requirements of water supply for the city of Horsham and its recreational and conservation values, which is diverted into Mt Zero Channel. Below this the middle and downstream sections receive a more intermittent supply. Annually, a total of 10,000 dam3 of water is released from Wartook Reservoir into the MacKenzie River. Of this volume, only about 4,000 dam3 was released explicitly for environmental purposes. The remaining 6,000 dam3 was released to meet consumptive demands and to transfer water to downstream reservoirs. The empirical data and models showed the lower reaches of the river to be in poor condition under low flows, but this condition improved under flows of 35 dam3 per day, as indicated. The results are presented to tailor discharge and duration of the river flows by amalgamation of consumptive and environmental flows to improve the condition of the stream, thereby supplementing the flows dedicated to environmental outcomes. Ultimately the findings can be used by management to configure consumptive flows that would enhance the ecological condition of the MacKenzie River. © 2020 Ehsan Atazadeh et al., published by Sciendo 2020

UV-B response is modulated by cell-type specific signaling pathway in multicellular green algae Volvox carteri

Razeghi J, Kianianmomeni A. UV-B response is modulated by cell-type specific signaling pathway in multicellular green algae Volvox carteri. PLANT GROWTH REGULATION. 2019;87(2):303-315.A fundamental question in biology is how multicellular organisms regulate cellular and physiological processes in response to environmental signals in a tissue/cell type-specific manner. Light is one such cue but little is known about its effect on molecular mechanisms underlying cell-type specific signaling. The Volvox genus presents a Germ-Soma differentiation that can be used to understand the genetic mechanisms of evolutionary transition from single-cell to multicellular organisms. Here we report the transcriptional analysis throughout both asexual and sexual life cycles of Volvox carteri in two different cell types under UV-B light irradiation. Our data show that VcUVR8-V1, the main splice variant of the VcUVR8 transcript, accumulates during initiation of cleavage division. Moreover, the transcript level of VcUVR8-V1 increases in response to the sex inducer. VcUVR8 expression seems to remain the same in both cell types, while VcCOP1, the interacting partner of VcUVR8, is expressed in a cell-type specific manner. Interestingly, illumination with low doses of UV-B leads to an increase of VcCOP1 transcript levels only in the somatic cells. Our results indicate that UV-B signaling pathway is differentially regulated between two cell types and environmental UV-B could be involved in cell-type specific regulation of developmental and physiological processes

Importance of environmental flows in the Wimmera catchment, Southeast Australia

In this paper the environment, climate, vegetation, indigenous and European settlement history, stream flow patterns, water quality and water resources development in western Victoria, Australia are studied. The last part of the paper focuses on the MacKenzie River, a tributary of the Wimmera River located on the northern slopes of the Grampians Ranges in western Victoria, Australia. Water release along the MacKenzie River was regulated to improve water quality, stream condition and river health especially in the downstream reaches. The upstream section tends to receive water most days of the year due to releases to secure the requirements of water supply for the city of Horsham and its recreational and conservation values, which is diverted into Mt Zero Channel. Below this the middle and downstream sections receive a more intermittent supply. Annually, a total of 10,000 dam3 of water is released from Wartook Reservoir into the MacKenzie River. Of this volume, only about 4,000 dam3 was released explicitly for environmental purposes. The remaining 6,000 dam3 was released to meet consumptive demands and to transfer water to downstream reservoirs. The empirical data and models showed the lower reaches of the river to be in poor condition under low flows, but this condition improved under flows of 35 dam3 per day, as indicated. The results are presented to tailor discharge and duration of the river flows by amalgamation of consumptive and environmental flows to improve the condition of the stream, thereby supplementing the flows dedicated to environmental outcomes. Ultimately the findings can be used by management to configure consumptive flows that would enhance the ecological condition of the MacKenzie River

Different transcription of novel, functional long non-coding RNA genes by UV-B in green algae, Volvox carteri

Dadras N, Hasanpur K, Razeghi J, Kianianmomeni A. Different transcription of novel, functional long non-coding RNA genes by UV-B in green algae, Volvox carteri. International Microbiology. 2023.Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are identified as important regulatory molecules related to diverse biological processes. In recent years, benefiting from the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing technology, RNA-seq, and analysis methods, more lncRNAs have been identified and discovered in various plant and algal species. However, so far, only limited studies related to algal lncRNAs are available. Volvox carteri f. nagariensis is the best multicellular model organism to study in developmental and evolutionary biology; therefore, studying and increasing information about this species is important. This study identified lncRNAs in the multicellular green algae Volvox carteri and 1457 lncRNAs were reported, using RNA-seq data and with the help of bioinformatics tools and software. This study investigated the effect of low-dose UV-B radiation on changes in the expression profile of lncRNAs in gonidial and somatic cells. The differential expression of lncRNAs was analyzed between the treatment (UV-B) and the control (WL) groups in gonidial and somatic cells. A total of 37 and 26 lncRNAs with significant differential expression in gonidial and somatic cells, respectively, were reported. Co-expression analysis between the lncRNAs and their neighbor protein-coding genes (in the interval of +/- 10 Kb) was accomplished. In gonidial cells, 184 genes with a positive correlation and 13 genes with a negative correlation (greater than 0.95), and in somatic cells, 174 genes with a positive correlation, and 18 genes with a negative correlation were detected. Functional analysis of neighboring coding genes was also performed based on gene ontology. The results of the current work may help gain deeper insight into the regulation of gene expression in the studied model organism, Volvox carteri