Genetic diversity and population structure in onion (Allium cepa L.) accessions based on morphological and molecular approaches.

Bulb onion is cultivated throughout the world for consumption as vegetable and processed products. Although having high global demand and economic significance, information about genetic diversity and genomic resources is limited. This study investigated the variability of 96 accessions representing seventeen countries. Out of 145 SSR markers, 62 SSRs amplified and 15 SSRs gave consistent polymorphic bands. Fifty three alleles were detected with an average of 3.533 alleles per locus. PIC value ranged from 0.219 (ACM463) to 0.715 (ACM091). Structure and cluster analysis grouped the onion accessions into two clusters. Discriminant analysis of principal components, a tool that maximizes variation between groups while minimizing that within groups, assorted accessions into five clusters. Analysis of molecular variance revealed maximum variation within the populations than among the populations. Highest genetic differentiation (FST = 0.11045; p < 0.001) was observed between Europe and Japan populations whereas the lowest genetic differentiation (FST = 0.05714; p < 0.001) was recorded between India and Japan. Principal component analysis of morphological traits suggested two principal components cumulatively accounting for 74.4% of the total variance. First component (PC1) was positively and strongly correlated with bulbing whereas second component (PC2) had leaf colour with the highest coefficient. Clustering was not on the basis of bulb colour, bulb formation, or flowering but on the basis of geographical origin. Based on clustering, crossing of distantly related accessions can provide an insight about the hybrid vigour of these diverse accessions. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-021-01101-3.

Genetic analysis and QTL mapping of yield and fruit traits in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.).

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is an economically important vegetable crop grown in tropical parts of the world. In this study, a high-density linkage map of M. charantia was constructed through genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technology using F2:3 mapping population generated from the cross DBGy-201 × Pusa Do Mausami. About 2013 high-quality SNPs were assigned on a total of 20 linkage groups (LGs) spanning over 2329.2 CM with an average genetic distance of 1.16 CM. QTL analysis was performed for six major yield-contributing traits such as fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight, fruit flesh thickness, number of fruits per plant and yield per plant. These six quantitative traits were mapped with 19 QTLs (9 QTLs with LOD > 3) using composite interval mapping (CIM). Among 19 QTLs, 12 QTLs derived from 'Pusa Do Mausami' revealed a negative additive effect when its allele increased trait score whereas 7 QTLs derived from 'DBGy-201' revealed a positive additive effect when its allele trait score increased. The phenotypic variation (R2%) elucidated by these QTLs ranged from 0.09% (fruit flesh thickness) on LG 14 to 32.65% (fruit diameter) on LG 16 and a total of six major QTLs detected. Most QTLs detected in the present study were located relatively very close, maybe due to the high correlation among the traits. This information will serve as a significant basis for marker-assisted selection and molecular breeding in bitter gourd crop improvement.

Prevalence of cognitive impairment in elderly population residing in an urban area of Belagavi.

CONTEXT: Cognitive impairment (CI) is emerging as an important health problem of the elderly population in India. As the impact of this illness at various levels is not well understood, so situation analysis is the need of the hour. AIMS: (1) To know the prevalence of CI in elderly population residing in an urban area. (2) To assess the burden of health care among the care givers. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 770 elderly aged ≥60 years residing in two Urban Health Centres of Belagavi District. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Socio-demographic profile of the participant was collected using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire by personal interview at the participants' residence. To assess the CI and burden of healthcare, Mini Mental State Examination and Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale were used, respectively. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: IBM SPSS version 22 was used. Chi square test and Fisher's Exact test were applied. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of CI was 8.4% in our study. The risk factors noted for CI were advancing age, female sex, unmarried or widow/widower, illiterate, not working presently, staying alone, and poverty. Out of 65 caregivers, 67.7% of them had mild or moderate burden of caring for the cognitively impaired elderly. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to assess older people for any CI, when planning geriatric health care. Priority must be given to the older age group and female, as they are more vulnerable to CI.

Genome wide identification and characterization of microsatellite markers in black pepper (Piper nigrum): A valuable resource for boosting genomics applications.

Black pepper is one of the most valued and widely used spices in the world and dominates multi-billion dollar global spices trade. India is amongst the major producers, consumers and exporters of black pepper. In spite of its commercial and cultural importance, black pepper has received meagre attention in terms of generation of genomic resources. Availability of markers distributed throughout the genome would facilitate and accelerate genetic studies, QTL identification, genetic enhancement and crop improvement in black pepper. In this perspective, the sequence information from the recently sequenced black pepper (Piper nigrum) genome has been used for identification and characterisation of Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs). Total 69,126 SSRs were identified from assembled genomic sequence of P. nigrum. The SSR frequency was 158 per MB making it, one SSR for every 6.3 kb in the assembled genome. Among the different types of microsatellite repeat motifs, dinucleotides were the most abundant (48.6%), followed by trinucleotide (23.7%) and compound repeats (20.62%). A set of 85 SSRs were used for validation, of which 74 produced amplification products of expected size. Genetic diversity of 30 black pepper accessions using 50 SSRs revealed four distinct clusters. Further, the cross species transferability of the SSRs was checked in nine other Piper species. Out of 50 SSRs used, 19 and 31 SSRs were amplified in nine and seven species, respectively. Thus the identified SSRs may have application in other species of the genus Piper where genome sequence is not available yet. Present study reports the first NGS based genomic SSRs in black pepper and thus constitute a valuable resource for a whole fleet of applications in genetics and plant breeding studies such as genetic map construction, QTL identification, map-based gene cloning, marker-assisted selection and evolutionary studies in Piper nigrum and related species.

Mapping and QTL Analysis of Gynoecy and Earliness in Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia L.) Using Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS) Technology.

A high-density, high-resolution genetic map was constructed for bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.). A total of 2013 high quality SNP markers binned to 20 linkage groups (LG) spanning a cumulative distance of 2329.2 cM were developed. Each LG ranging from 185.2 cM (LG-12) to 46.2 cM (LG-17) and average LG span of 116.46 cM. The number of SNP markers mapped in each LG varied from 23 markers in LG-20 to 146 markers in LG-1 with an average of 100.65 SNPs per LG. The average distance between markers was 1.16 cM across 20 LGs and average distance between the markers ranged from 0.70 (LG-4) to 2.92 (LG-20). A total of 22 QTLs for four traits (gynoecy, sex ratio, node and days at first female flower appearance) were identified and mapped on 20 LGs. The gynoecious (gy-1) locus is flanked by markers TP_54865 and TP_54890 on LG 12 at a distance of 3.04 cM to TP_54890 and the major QTLs identified for the earliness traits will be extremely useful in marker development and MAS for rapid development of various gynoecious lines with different genetic background of best combiner for development of early and high yielding hybrids in bitter gourd.

Targeting Transforming Growth Factor-ß Signaling in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma.

Transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) may play a role in the pathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Elevated levels of TGF-ß are found in the aqueous humor and in reactive optic nerve astrocytes in patients with glaucoma. In POAG, aqueous humor outflow resistance at the trabecular meshwork (TM) leads to increased intraocular pressure and retinal ganglion cell death. It is hypothesized that TGF-ß increases outflow resistance by altering extracellular matrix homeostasis and cell contractility in the TM through interactions with other proteins and signaling molecules. TGF-ß may also be involved in damage to the optic nerve head. Current available therapies for POAG focus exclusively on lowering intraocular pressure without addressing extracellular matrix homeostasis processes in the TM. The purpose of this review is to discuss possible therapeutic strategies targeting TGF-ß in the treatment of POAG. Herein, we describe the current understanding of the role of TGF-ß in POAG pathophysiology, and examine ways TGF-ß may be targeted at the levels of production, activation, downstream signaling, and homeostatic regulation.

Development of novel simple sequence repeat markers in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) through enriched genomic libraries and their utilization in analysis of genetic diversity and cross-species transferability.

Microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are the preferred markers for genetic analyses of crop plants. The availability of a limited number of such markers in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) necessitates the development and characterization of more SSR markers. These were developed from genomic libraries enriched for three dinucleotide, five trinucleotide, and two tetranucleotide core repeat motifs. Employing the strategy of polymerase chain reaction-based screening, the number of clones to be sequenced was reduced by 81 % and 93.7 % of the sequenced clones contained in microsatellite repeats. Unique primer-pairs were designed for 160 microsatellite loci, and amplicons of expected length were obtained for 151 loci (94.4 %). Evaluation of diversity in 54 bitter gourd accessions at 51 loci indicated that 20 % of the loci were polymorphic with the polymorphic information content values ranging from 0.13 to 0.77. Fifteen Indian varieties were clearly distinguished indicative of the usefulness of the developed markers. Markers at 40 loci (78.4 %) were transferable to six species, viz. Momordica cymbalaria, Momordica subangulata subsp. renigera, Momordica balsamina, Momordica dioca, Momordica cochinchinesis, and Momordica sahyadrica. The microsatellite markers reported will be useful in various genetic and molecular genetic studies in bitter gourd, a cucurbit of immense nutritive, medicinal, and economic importance.

Development and evaluation of a high-throughput, low-cost genotyping platform based on oligonucleotide microarrays in rice.

BACKGROUND: We report the development of a microarray platform for rapid and cost-effective genetic mapping, and its evaluation using rice as a model. In contrast to methods employing whole-genome tiling microarrays for genotyping, our method is based on low-cost spotted microarray production, focusing only on known polymorphic features. RESULTS: We have produced a genotyping microarray for rice, comprising 880 single feature polymorphism (SFP) elements derived from insertions/deletions identified by aligning genomic sequences of the japonica cultivar Nipponbare and the indica cultivar 93-11. The SFPs were experimentally verified by hybridization with labeled genomic DNA prepared from the two cultivars. Using the genotyping microarrays, we found high levels of polymorphism across diverse rice accessions, and were able to classify all five subpopulations of rice with high bootstrap support. The microarrays were used for mapping of a gene conferring resistance to Magnaporthe grisea, the causative organism of rice blast disease, by quantitative genotyping of samples from a recombinant inbred line population pooled by phenotype. CONCLUSION: We anticipate this microarray-based genotyping platform, based on its low cost-per-sample, to be particularly useful in applications requiring whole-genome molecular marker coverage across large numbers of individuals.

Pancreatic divisum with choledochal cyst and calculus: MR appearance.

Pancreatic divisum is the most common congenital anomaly of the pancreas but its association with choledochal cyst is extremely rare. We describe here a case of pancreatic divisum with choledochal cyst with a stone which was successfully treated at surgery. The common congenital pancreaticobiliary abnormalities are briefly discussed.