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C2H2-zinc finger (C2H2-ZF) genes are involved in various biological processes in plants including stress response; however, they lack characterization in Brassica napus. We identified 267 C2H2-ZF genes in B. napus and deciphered their physiological properties, subcellular localization, structure, synteny, and phylogeny and investigated the expression of 20 genes in response to different stresses and phytohormone treatments. The 267 genes were distributed on 19 chromosomes; phylogenetic analysis categorized them into five clades. They varied from 0.41 to 9.2 kb in length, had stress-responsive cis-acting elements in promoter regions, and their protein length varied from 9 to 1366 amino acids. About 42% of the genes had one exon, and 88% genes had orthologs in Arabidopsis thaliana. About 97% of the genes were located in nucleus and 3% in cytoplasmic organelles. qRT-PCR analysis showed a different expression pattern of these genes in response to biotic stresses (Plasmodiophora brassicae and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) and abiotic stresses (cold, drought, and salinity) and hormonal treatments. Differential expression of the same gene was observed under multiple stress conditions, and a few genes showed similar expression in response to more than one phytohormones. Our results suggest that the C2H2-ZF genes can be targeted for the improvement of stress tolerance in canola. Key words: C2H2-zinc finger genes, Brassica napus, transcription factors, stress response, gene expression, 1. Introduction The genus Brassica includes 39 economically important vegetable and oilseed crop species (for review, see Warwick et al. 2006). Among them, Brassica napus (2n = 38, AACC), commonly [...]

The role of primary metabolism during Brassica napus-Plasmodiophora brassicae interaction leading to clubroot resistance has not yet been investigated thoroughly. In this study, we investigated some of the primary metabolites and their derivatives as well as expression of the genes involved in their biosynthesis to decipher this host-pathogen interaction. For this, two sets (clubroot resistant and susceptible) of canola lines were inoculated with P. brassicae pathotype 3A to investigate the endogenous levels of primary metabolites at 7-, 14-, and 21-days after inoculation (DAI). The associated pathways were curated, and expression of the selected genes was analyzed using qRT-PCR. Our results suggested the possible involvement of polyamines (spermidine and spermine) in clubroot susceptibility. Some of the amino acids were highly abundant at 7- or 14-DAI in both resistant and susceptible lines; however, glutamine and the amino acid derivative phenylethylamine showed higher endogenous levels in the resistant lines at later stages of infection. Organic acids such as malic, fumaric, succinic, lactic and citric acids were abundant in the susceptible lines. Conversely, the abundance of salicylic acid (SA) and the expression of benzoate/salicylate carboxyl methyltransferase (BSMT) were higher in the resistant lines at the secondary stage of infection. A reduced disease severity index and gall size were observed when exogenous SA (1.0 mM) was applied to susceptible B. napus; this further supported the role of SA in clubroot resistance. In addition, a higher accumulation of fatty acids and significant upregulation of the pathway genes, glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) and amino alcohol phosphotransferase (AAPT) were observed in the resistant lines at 14- and 21-DAI. In contrast, some of the fatty acid derivatives such as phosphatidylcholines represented a lower level in the resistant lines. In conclusion, our findings provided additional insights into the possible involvement of primary metabolites and their derivatives in clubroot resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clubroot disease, caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, affects Brassica oilseed and vegetable production worldwide. This review is focused on various aspects of clubroot disease and its management, including understanding the pathogen and resistance in the host plants. Advances in genetics, molecular biology techniques, and omics research have helped to identify several major loci, QTL, and genes from the Brassica genomes involved in the control of clubroot resistance. Transcriptomic studies have helped to extend our understanding of the mechanism of infection by the pathogen and the molecular basis of resistance/susceptibility in the host plants. A comprehensive understanding of the clubroot disease and host resistance would allow developing a better strategy by integrating the genetic resistance with cultural practices to manage this disease from a long-term perspective. Key words: clubroot, Plasmodiophora brassicae, Brassica, disease management, resistance, transcriptomics, next-generation sequencing. La hernie des cruciferes, causee par le Plasmodiophora brassicae, affecte la production de toutes les cruciferes, tant oleagineuses qu'horticoles, a l'echelle mondiale. Cette synthese porte sur divers aspects de la hernie et de son controle, incluant la connaissance de l'agent pathogene et de la resistance chez les plantes hotes. Des avancees en genetique, en biologie moleculaire et en recherches << omiques >> ont aide a identifier plusieurs locus majeurs, tant des QTL que des genes, issus de genomes appartenant au genre Brassica qui sont impliques dans la resistance a la hernie des cruciferes. Des etudes transcriptomiques ont aide a etendre la comprehension des mecanismes d'infection par l'agent pathogene et les assises moleculaires de la resistance/sensibilite chez les plantes hotes. Une connaissance etendue de la hernie des cruciferes et de la resistance chez l'hote permettra de developper une meilleure strategie de lutte en integrant la resistance genetique avec les pratiques culturales pour controler cette maladie d'une maniere durable. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: hernie des cruciferes, Plasmodiophora brassicae, Brassica, controle des maladies, resistance, transcriptomique, sequencage de nouvelle generation., Introduction Brassica is an economically important genus of the tribe Brassiceae (Al-Shehbaz 2012) and includes 39 species (Warwick et al. 2006). Enormous morphological diversity exists among these species, making them [...]

A genome‐wide association study (GWAS) was carried out by using a Brassica napus population of 175 lines, developed from six B. napus × B. oleracea interspecific crosses, and 5,743 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for agronomic and seed quality traits and to understand the effect of B. oleracea alleles on these traits. Heritability of these traits varied from 52.9 to 84.1%. About 79% of the SNPs were positioned to the nine C genome chromosomes, while only 21% to the 10 A genome chromosomes; this was largely due to little genetic variation in the A genome of this population, as expected. However, the SNPs were distributed throughout the entire length of the chromosomes suggesting their usefulness in GWAS. The C genome SNPs detected nine genomic regions affecting these traits. This included the genomic regions of C2 and C5 affecting days to flowering, C1 affecting the duration of grain‐filling period, C1, C5, and C8 affecting oil content, and C1, C2, and C6 affecting glucosinolate content; among these, some of the loci has not been reported previously. The QTL alleles of B. oleracea which can be beneficial in oilseed B. napus, such as the C5 QTL allele for the earliness of flowering, were also identified. Several putative candidate genes were identified in the QTL regions. Thus, the results provided evidence of the utility of the B. oleracea gene pool for use in unveiling the unidentified QTL in B. napus as well as its use in breeding. Core Ideas: C genome alleles from six vegetable Brassica oleracea accessions were introgressed into oilseed B. napus.Quantitative trait loci for agronomic and seed quality traits were mapped and the effect of Brassica oleracea alleles in B. napus were detected.Beneficial quantitative trait loci allele of Brassica oleracea were identified for use in B. napus breeding.C genome quantitative trait loci that has not been reported previously were disclosed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software architecture plays an important role in software development, especially in software quality and maintenance. Understanding the impact of certain architectural patterns on software quality and verification of software requirements has become increasingly difficult with the increasing complexity of codebases in recent years. Researchers over the years have proposed automated approaches based on machine learning. However, there is a lack of benchmark datasets and more accurate machine learning (ML) approaches. This paper presents an ML-based approach for software architecture detection, namely, MVP (Model–View–Presenter) and MVVM (Model–View–ViewModel). Firstly, we present a labeled dataset that consists of 5973 data points retrieved from GitHub. Nine ML methods are applied for detection of software architecture from source code metrics. Using precision, recall, accuracy, and F1 score, the outstanding ML model performance is 83%, 83%, 83%, and 83%, respectively. The ML model's performance is validated using k-fold validation (k = 5). Our approach outperforms when compared with the state-of-the-art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Temperature extremes, including cold, adversely impact plant growth and development. Plant responses to cold stress (CS) are regulated at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs, are known to be involved in post-transcriptional regulation of various developmental processes and metal stress in Brassica napus L. (canola), however, their role in response to CS is largely unknown. In this study, changes in various physiological parameters and endogenous abundance of miRNAs were characterized in spring canola seedlings (DH12075) exposed to 4 °C for 0–48 h. Cold stress induced electrolyte leakage, increased the levels of malondialdheyde and antioxidant enzymes and reduced photosynthetic efficiency. Using small RNA sequencing, 70 known and 126 novel miRNAs were identified in CS leaf tissues and among these, 25 known and 104 novel miRNAs were differentially expressed. Quantitative real-time (qRT) PCR analysis of eight selected miRNAs confirmed their CS responsiveness. Furthermore, the expression of six out of eight miRNAs exhibited an opposite trend in a winter variety of canola, 'Mendel', when compared to 'DH12075'. This first study on the B. napus miRNAome provides a framework for further functional analysis of these miRNAs and their targets in response to CS which may contribute towards the future development of cold resilient crops. Highlights • miRNA-target gene regulatory pathways involved in regulation of cold stress in B. napus has been explored. • Physiological studies of cold stressed B. napus have been investigated. • 70 known and 126 novel miRNAs identified in the study. • Differential expression of selected miRNA and their targets validated and compared in spring and winter B. napus. • A hypothetical model has been proposed for cold stress response in canola. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low temperature is one of the most common environmental stresses that seriously affect the growth and development of plants. However, plants have the plasticity in their defence mechanisms enabling them to tolerate and, sometimes, even survive adverse environmental conditions. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs, approximately 18-24 nucleotides in length, and are being increasingly recognized as regulators of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and have the ability to influence a broad range of biological processes. There is growing evidence in the literature that reprogramming of gene expression mediated through miRNAs is a major defence mechanism in plants enabling them to respond to stresses. To date, numerous studies have established the importance of miRNA-based regulation of gene expression under low temperature stress. Individual miRNAs can modulate the expression of multiple mRNA targets, and, therefore, the manipulation of a single miRNA has the potential to affect multiple biological processes. Numerous functional studies have attempted to identify the miRNA-target interactions and have elaborated the role of several miRNAs in cold-stress regulation. This review summarizes the current understanding of miRNA-mediated modulation of the expression of key genes as well as genetic and regulatory pathways, involved in low temperature stress responses in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The necrotrophic phytopathogen, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum , causes Sclerotinia stem rot, which is a serious constraint to canola ( Brassica napus L.) production worldwide. To understand the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying host response to Sclerotinia infection, we analyzed the transcript level changes in canola post-infection with S. sclerotiorum in a time course of a compatible interaction using strand specific whole transcriptome sequencing. Following infection, 161 and 52 genes (P ≤ 0.001) were induced while 24 and 23 genes were repressed at 24 h post-inoculation (hpi) and 48 hpi, respectively. This suggests that, a gradual increase in host cell lyses and increase virulence of the pathogen led to the expression of only a fewer host specific genes at the later stage of infection. We observed rapid induction of key pathogen responsive genes, including glucanases, chitinases, peroxidases and WRKY Transcription factors (TFs) within 24 hpi, indicating early detection of the pathogen by the host. Only 16 genes were significantly induced at both the time points suggesting a coordinated suppression of host responses by the pathogen. In addition to genes involved in plant-pathogen interactions, many novel disease responsive genes, including various TF sand those associated with jasmonate (JA) and ethylene (ET) signalling were identified. This suggests that canola adopts multiple strategies in mediating plant responses to the pathogen attack. Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) validation of a selected set of genes demonstrated a similar trend as observed by RNA-Seq analysis and highlighted the potential involvement of these genes by the host to defend itself from pathogen attack. Overall, this work presents an in-depth analysis of the interaction between host susceptibility and pathogen virulence in the agriculturally important B. napus-S. sclerotiorum pathosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sclerotinia stem rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum affects canola production worldwide. Emerging evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in the regulation of gene expression in plants, in response to both abiotic and biotic stress. So far, identification of lncRNAs has been limited to a few model plant species, and their roles in mediating responses to biotic stresses are yet to be characterized in Brassica napus. The present study reports the identification of novel lncRNAs responsive to S. sclerotiorum infection in B. napus at two time points after infection (24 hpi and 48 hpi) using a stranded RNA-Sequencing technique and a detection pipeline for lncRNAs. Of the total 3,181 lncRNA candidates, 2,821 lncRNAs were intergenic, 111 were natural antisense transcripts, 76 possessed exonic overlap with the reference coding transcripts while the remaining 173 represented novel lnc- isoforms. Forty one lncRNAs were identified as the precursors for microRNAs (miRNAs) including miR156, miR169 and miR394, with significant roles in mediating plant responses to fungal phytopathogens. A total of 931 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified in response to S. sclerotiorum infection and the expression of 12 such lncRNAs was further validated using qRT-PCR. B. napus antisense lncRNA, TCONS_00000966, having 90% overlap with a plant defensin gene, showed significant induction at both infection stages, suggesting its involvement in the transcriptional regulation of defense responsive genes under S. sclerotiorum infection. Additionally, nine lncRNAs showed overlap with cis-regulatory regions of differentially expressed genes of B. napus. Quantitative RT-PCR verification of a set of S. sclerotiorum responsive sense/antisense transcript pairs revealed contrasting expression patterns, supporting the hypothesis that steric clashes of transcriptional machinery may lead to inactivation of sense promoter. Our findings highlight the potential contributions of lncRNAs in regulating expression of plant genes that respond to biotic stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employee engagement, across the globe became a buzzword for business houses and the concept is also gaining importance as many antecedents of employee engagement are recognized, which are directly and indirectly proportional to company's profitability. Hence, employee engagement has become powerful source of competitive advantage and emerged as a new research interest for academicians and practitioners. Although the subject has been carved well however, little rigorous academic research has been done. This research gap has resulted in a disorganized approach to understand and develop employee engagement strategies within organizations. Thus, this article attempts to report the outcomes of a integrated literature review. The seminal works are identified and reviewed for the (1) defining of engagement construct by different researchers (2) summarize the key antecedents of employee engagement at work and instruments to measure engagement and (3) approaches to employee engagement are explored and interpretations are offered. Implications for theory, organizational practice, and scholarship are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Low temperature stress is one of the major abiotic stress challenging the growth and productivity of economically important crops. Both chilling and freezing temperatures have severe effects on growth of plants and have resulted in temperate plants, such as perennial rye grass and wheat to evolve mechanisms to avoid or, at the very least, minimize this damage. Accumulating osmoprotectants including glycine betaine, sugars (trehalose and fructans), polyamines, changes in lipid membrane profile, photosynthetic acclimation along with extensive reprogramming at molecular level help temperate plants acquire tolerance to low temperatures. In this review, we have focused mainly on metabolic engineering of plants by introduction of biosynthetic genes involved in various metabolic pathways. Availability of genomic, transcriptomic sequences combined with post-transcriptional data is beginning to link the gene function, regulatory networks and epigenetic states to different phenotypes. Generation of this knowledge together with our ability to manipulate genes involved in mediating tolerance to various stressors including low temperature will lead to the development of cold-resistant genotypes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]