Identification and Evaluation of Diploid and Tetraploid Passiflora edulis Sims.

Passiflora edulis Sims (2n = 18) is a perennial plant with high utilization values, but its spontaneous polyploidy in nature has yet to be seen. Thus, this study aims to enhance our understanding of polyploidy P. edulis and provide rudimentary knowledge for breeding new cultivars. In this study, colchicine-induced tetraploid P. edulis (2n = 36) was used as experimental material (T1, T2, and T3) to explore the variances between it and its diploid counterpart in morphology, physiology, and biochemical characteristics, and a comparison of their performance under cold stress was conducted. We measured and collected data on phenotype parameters, chlorophyll contents, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthesis, osmotic substances, and antioxidant enzymes. The results showed that tetraploid P. edulis exhibited a shorter phenotype, more giant leaves, darker leaf color, and longer and fewer roots. Moreover, the physiological and biochemical analysis indicated that the tetraploid P. edulis had better photosynthesis systems and higher chlorophyll fluorescence parameters than the diploid P. edulis. Additionally, the tetraploid P. edulis had higher activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD, CAT) and lower MDA content to maintain better resistance in low temperatures. Overall, we conclude that there were apparent differences in the morphological, physiological, and biochemical traits of the tetraploid and diploid P. edulis. The tetraploid plants showed better photosynthesis systems, higher osmotic substance content, and antioxidant enzyme activity than the diploid, even under cold stress. Our results suggest that tetraploids with more abundant phenotype variation and better physiological and biochemical traits may be used as a new genetic germplasm resource for producing new P. edulis cultivars.

Impact of Personality Trait Interactions on Foraging and Growth in Native and Invasive Turtles.

Animal personalities play a crucial role in invasion dynamics. During the invasion process, the behavioral strategies of native species vary among personalities, just as the invasive species exhibit variations in behavior strategies across personalities. However, the impact of personality interactions between native species and invasive species on behavior and growth are rarely illustrated. The red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) is one of the worst invasive species in the world, threatening the ecology and fitness of many freshwater turtles globally. The Chinese pond turtle (Mauremys reevesii) is one of the freshwater turtles most threatened by T. scripta elegans in China. In this study, we used T. scripta elegans and M. reevesii to investigate how the personality combinations of native and invasive turtles would impact the foraging strategy and growth of both species during the invasion process. We found that M. reevesii exhibited bolder and more exploratory personalities than T. scripta elegans. The foraging strategy of M. reevesii was mainly affected by the personality of T. scripta elegans, while the foraging strategy of T. scripta elegans was influenced by both their own personality and personalities of M. reevesii. Additionally, we did not find that the personality combination would affect the growth of either T. scripta elegans or M. reevesii. Differences in foraging strategy may be due to the dominance of invasive species and variations in the superficial exploration and thorough exploitation foraging strategies related to personalities. The lack of difference in growth may be due to the energy allocation trade-offs between personalities or be masked by the slow growth rate of turtles. Overall, our results reveal the mechanisms of personality interaction effects on the short-term foraging strategies of both native and invasive species during the invasion process. They provide empirical evidence to understand the effects of personality on invasion dynamics, which is beneficial for enhancing comprehension understanding of the personality effects on ecological interactions and invasion biology.

Genetic dissection and genomic prediction for pork cuts and carcass morphology traits in pig.

BACKGROUND: As pre-cut and pre-packaged chilled meat becomes increasingly popular, integrating the carcass-cutting process into the pig industry chain has become a trend. Identifying quantitative trait loci (QTLs) of pork cuts would facilitate the selection of pigs with a higher overall value. However, previous studies solely focused on evaluating the phenotypic and genetic parameters of pork cuts, neglecting the investigation of QTLs influencing these traits. This study involved 17 pork cuts and 12 morphology traits from 2,012 pigs across four populations genotyped using CC1 PorcineSNP50 BeadChips. Our aim was to identify QTLs and evaluate the accuracy of genomic estimated breed values (GEBVs) for pork cuts. RESULTS: We identified 14 QTLs and 112 QTLs for 17 pork cuts by GWAS using haplotype and imputation genotypes, respectively. Specifically, we found that HMGA1, VRTN and BMP2 were associated with body length and weight. Subsequent analysis revealed that HMGA1 primarily affects the size of fore leg bones, VRTN primarily affects the number of vertebrates, and BMP2 primarily affects the length of vertebrae and the size of hind leg bones. The prediction accuracy was defined as the correlation between the adjusted phenotype and GEBVs in the validation population, divided by the square root of the trait's heritability. The prediction accuracy of GEBVs for pork cuts varied from 0.342 to 0.693. Notably, ribs, boneless picnic shoulder, tenderloin, hind leg bones, and scapula bones exhibited prediction accuracies exceeding 0.600. Employing better models, increasing marker density through genotype imputation, and pre-selecting markers significantly improved the prediction accuracy of GEBVs. CONCLUSIONS: We performed the first study to dissect the genetic mechanism of pork cuts and identified a large number of significant QTLs and potential candidate genes. These findings carry significant implications for the breeding of pork cuts through marker-assisted and genomic selection. Additionally, we have constructed the first reference populations for genomic selection of pork cuts in pigs.

Adaptation strategies of leaf traits and leaf economic spectrum of two urban garden plants in China.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies of the relationships between traits have focused on the natural growth conditions of wild plants. Urban garden plants exhibit some differences in plant traits due to environmental interference. It is unknown whether the relationships between the leaf traits of urban garden plants differ under distinct climates. In this study, we revealed the variation characteristics of the leaf functional traits of trees, shrubs, and vines in two urban locations. Two-way ANOVA was used to reveal the response of plant leaf traits to climate and life forms. Pearson correlation analysis and principal component analysis were used to calculate the correlation coefficient between the leaf functional traits of plants at the two locations. RESULTS: Leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and vein density (VD) of different life forms in Mudanjiang were higher than those in Bozhou (P < 0.05), and the relative water content (RWC) in Bozhou was higher, whereas vein density (VD) of trees and shrubs in the two urban locations was significant (P < 0.05), but the vines were not significant. The photosynthetic pigments of tree and shrub species were larger in Mudanjiang, but the opposite was true for the vines. Both leaf vein density (VD) and stomatal density (SD) showed a very significant positive correlation in the two urban locations (P < 0.01), and both were significantly positively correlated with specific leaf area (SLA) (P < 0.05); and negatively correlated with leaf thickness (LT), and the relationship between pigment content were closer. CONCLUSION: The response to climate showed obvious differences in leaf traits of different life forms species in urban area, but the correlations between the traits showed convergence, which reflects that the adaptation strategies of garden plant leaves to different habitats are both coordinated and relatively independent.

Effects of altitude and varieties on overwintering adaptability and cold resistance mechanism of alfalfa roots in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

BACKGROUND: The roots are the main functional organs involved in the overwintering adaptability of alfalfa (Medicago sativa). However, it is still unclear how the roots are involved in the cold resistance in the high-altitude area of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). In this study, three winter-surviving 2-year-old alfalfa varieties (M. sativa Zhongmeng No.1, M. sativa Chiza No.1, and M. sativa Gongnong No.1) planted at two different altitudes (2812 m and 3109 m) in the northeast edge of the QTP were used to explore the cold-resistance mechanism. RESULTS: At low altitudes (2812 m), the overwintering rate, taproot length, root area, root surface area, and root average diameter, plant height, fresh yield and hay yield of M. sativa Zhongmeng No.1 were significantly higher (P < 0.01) than for the other two varieties. At high altitude (3109 m), lateral root length, number of lateral roots, main root dry weight, and lateral root dry weight of M. sativa Chiza No.1 were higher (P < 0.01) than the other two varieties. At low and high altitudes, the activities of peroxidase and catalase were higher (P < 0.05) in M. sativa Chiza No.1 during post-winter and pre-winter respectively. At low altitude, higher soluble sugar (P < 0.05) and proline (P < 0.01) contents were recorded during the pre- and post-winter periods. Membership function analysis showed that M. sativa Zhongmeng No.1 has the strongest cold resistance. The structural equation model showed that the overwintering rate of alfalfa was mainly affected by the morphological characteristics of roots and the physiological characteristics of roots, with contribution rates of 0.54 and 0.75 respectively, and the physiological characteristics of roots had the greatest effect on the overwintering rate. CONCLUSIONS: This study is of great significance to effectively solve the overwintering of alfalfa, the lack of high-quality legume forage resources, and promote the development of animal husbandry in the alpine areas of the QTP. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

A novel missense mutation within the domain of lysine demethylase 4D (KDM4D) gene is strongly associated with testis morphology traits in pigs.

Lysine demethylase 4D (KDM4D) encodes a histone demethylase, which can influence the androgen signaling as well as play an essential role in spermatogenesis. Recently a study has shown that the mRNA of KDM4D is the key to the successful clone of the Macaque monkeys named as "Zhongzhong" and "Huahua," which greatly increased pregnancy rates of female monkey, suggesting that the KDM4D gene may be strongly associated with reproduction. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore possible single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the coding region of KDM4D gene and analyze the associations with testis morphology traits of male pigs. Herein, two SNPs in exon1 of pig KDM4D gene were identified（NC_010451.4:g.1078A > G and NC_010451.4:g.1358G > C）. Among them, the g.1078A > G mutation was located at the JmjN domain which located from 15 to 55 amino acids of KDM4D. Association analyses showed that the g.1078A > G mutation was strongly associated with testis long circumference (TLC), testis short girth (TSG) and testis weight (TW) of Large White (LW) as well as Landrace (LD) (p < 0.05). The AA/AG genotype had a positive effect on testis morphology traits. Briefly, the novel missense mutation g.1078A > G could be a molecular marker for improving testis morphology traits in pig breeding.

Genetic correlations between body weight, scrotal circumference and visual evaluation scores in Bos indicus cattle.

The objective was to estimate genetic correlations between body weight (BW), scrotal circumference and visual evaluation scores of body conformation measured at standard ages in Guzerat cattle. All measurements were performed at 205 (weaning age), 365, 450 and 550 days of age; for BW, two additional measurements (at birth and 120 days of age) were realized. The data utilized in this study were retrieved from a database of the Brazilian Association of Zebu Breeders that contained information of registered Guzerat animals born between 1970 and 2013. Genetic parameters were estimated in bi-trait analyses by using Bayesian inference. Genetic correlations between BW at 205 and 450 days of age with other traits were high and positive, whereas the correlations between visual evaluation scores with other traits were moderate. Based on correlations herein obtained, we conclude that selection based on BW results in increased visual scores and scrotal circumference, leading to improvements in productive performance and animals with best body conformation.