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Blue honeysuckle, also named as haskap or honeyberry, an emerging fruit worldwide, with the species being Lonicera L., originating from the north hemisphere, exhibits high genetic heterogeneity and abundant genetic variation in fruit and leaf traits. However, there are few papers on the research progress of blue honeysuckle breeding and cultivars. The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) is an effective plant variety protection system, and blue honeysuckle cultivars from different countries and regions are registered in the UPOV database. In this review, we summarized the origin, domestication and germplasm collection, breeding categories and supporting techniques of blue honeysuckle, and the information on registered blue honeysuckle cultivars was analysed based on the UPOV database. Finally, the paper put forward the challenges of blue honeysuckle in development, breeding direction and perspectives to promote the development of blue honeysuckle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Cassava is an important crop for the survival of smallholder farmers in Cameroon. However, the cassava sector has a low production per unit area compared to the technological potential in this country. In this context, breeders have developed varieties based mainly on their potential in terms of yield and disease resistance. These varieties have been widely disseminated in Cameroon within the framework of development projects. However, these releases have not achieved the expected adoption and yield levels at the national level. Therefore, it appears important to rethink the determinants of dissemination with a broader examination of the cassava production system. RESULTS: This paper analyses varietal complementarity as a key strategy in support of optimizing the experimental and continuous use of cassava varieties by farmers in the Central and Eastern regions of Cameroon. These two regions account for 50% of the country's production. A total of 111 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with farmers selected through purposive sampling in four villages in Central and Eastern Cameroon where improved varieties have been disseminated. The research revealed four types of complementarity, related to use, crop management, risk management and cultural complementarity. CONCLUSION: Our results argue for considering varietal complementarities practiced by farmers, within research and development programs to develop more effective breeding and dissemination approaches. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement: The world is increasingly looking to plant‐based sources to meet its protein needs. Multiple factors are driving this progression, ranging from nutritional and ethical considerations to climate change and population growth. As a pulse crop, lentil is ideal to help meet this change in demand. However, plant‐based proteins have limiting amino acids and lower protein digestibility compared to animal‐based proteins. This research identifies genetic markers that can be used to accelerate breeding of protein quality traits in lentil to ultimately help meet the rising demand in high‐quality plant‐based protein and bolster global food and nutritional security. Summary: Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) contains ~25% high‐quality protein in addition to high concentrations of prebiotic carbohydrates and micronutrients, such as folate, iron, zinc, and selenium. As animal‐based protein's economic and environmental costs rise, plant‐based protein sources, such as lentil, will become increasingly important to global food systems. Consequently, evaluating and targeting protein quality traits for genomic‐assisted breeding is a valuable objective for lentil breeding programs.A diversity panel of 183 breeding lines was analyzed for protein quality traits, including amino acids and protein digestibility. Genotyping‐by‐sequencing (GBS) data were used to assess population structure and conduct genome‐wide association studies (GWAS). Genes in local linkage disequilibrium (LD) with significant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were identified and categorized by homology.Protein quality traits showed a wide range of variation. Repeatability estimates were low to moderate across traits. Twelve traits were strongly correlated with each other (r >.7). Admixture analysis identified six ancestral subpopulations, which also demonstrated clustering in principal component analysis. Ten different traits had significant SNP associations; two loci were shared across multiple traits. Twenty‐seven candidate genes, including glutathione S‐transferase, protease family, and gibberellin 2‐beta‐dioxygenase genes, were identified.This paper identifies SNP markers associated with lentil protein quality traits. Once validated, these SNPs could accelerate lentil protein quality breeding efforts. By targeting lentil's limiting amino acids (methionine and cysteine) and protein digestibility through marker‐assisted selection, the nutritional value of lentil's protein content could be increased without the need to alter total protein content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Understanding the suite of environmental changes impacting migration and disentangling these from the dependencies between migratory stages is fundamental to understanding the drivers and mechanisms causing spatial shifts to migratory bird distributions. In this review, our objectives are to: (i) provide evidence of spatial change at all migratory stages, (ii) identify the key mechanisms driving change, (iii) discuss how anthropogenic change influences migratory patterns, (iv) highlight interdependencies between migratory stages and (v) offer a framework for understanding migratory pattern changes. Location: Migratory land birds globally. Methods: We defined a literature search to find examples of spatial changes in avian migrations and their underlying mechanisms. From the top 1000 search results, sorted by relevance, we retained 81 papers published between 1991 and 2020. Results: Spatial shifts in migratory bird distributions occur throughout the annual cycle, but patterns vary across taxa and migratory stages. Since avian migrants occupy multiple sites across the annual cycle, environmental change has particularly complex repercussions for their distributions. Multiple environmental changes can affect distributions at each migratory stage due to fitness asymmetries between migratory strategies and individuals responding flexibly to environmental changes within and across generations. Spatial changes at one stage (e.g. breeding) can also trigger further indirect spatial changes at other stages (e.g. stopovers) due to dependencies between stages. Conclusions: To understand the drivers and mechanisms underpinning spatial changes, comprehensive year‐round distributional data are crucial for observing change across multiple migratory stages and disentangling competing drivers. Biologging technology could elucidate the mechanisms causing changes to individual‐level strategies and uncover fitness asymmetries between strategies. Ultimately, gaining a clearer understanding of spatial changes will aid in predicting distributional responses to anthropogenic change in migratory birds. This is paramount for mitigating the effects of anthropogenic change and assessing future population viability within this vulnerable and extensive taxonomic group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a geographical framework for considering animal breeds as objects of knowledge and living entities, and uses it to explore how ideas of breed origin constitute breeds and affect interspecies relations, human relations and the making of value. It suggests how critical animal geographers could engage more fully with breeds and breeding through an expanded concept of breed wealth that includes the making of breeds as forms of "genetic capital" through the reproductive capacity of animals, the cultural value of breeds in terms of human collective identities and differentiations, and encounter value. This geographical approach to breeds and breeding involves not only engaging with the always situated nature of breed epistemologies, practices and relations, but also the geographical dimensions of what is predominately understood as a genealogically rather than spatially constituted category. A more‐than‐genealogical understanding of breeds draws attention to how place rather than pedigree alone is considered as constitutive of breeds, both in an evolutionary and immediate sense, despite the formal modern genetic definition of breeds and how geographical origination matters in the making of breed wealth across the multiple geographies of a breed as it is dispersed from its original "homeland." Addressing a national and international "love of a breed" – Icelandic horses which are defined as a national breed but are the focus of interest and enthusiasm both within and beyond Iceland – this paper explores how the ethical complexities of love, care and power are worked through in different ways across these geographies. Breed wealth, I argue, is a dynamic relational quality inflected by the meanings attributed to the place of breed origin. This paper offers a geographical approach to considering animal breeds in terms of how ideas of breed origin constitute breeds and affect interspecies relations, human relations and the making of value. It works through an expanded concept of breed wealth that includes the making of breeds as forms of "genetic capital" through the reproductive capacity of animals, the cultural value of breeds in terms of human collective identities and differentiations, and encounter value. Addressing a national and international "love of a breed" – Icelandic horses which are defined as a national breed but are the focus of interest and enthusiasm both within and beyond Iceland – this paper explores how the ethical complexities of love, care and power are worked through in different ways across these geographies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of Ribes (Rosaceae) in temperate regions in Europe, Asia and New Zealand is severely constrained by damages of Cecidophyopsis mites (Acari: Eriophyidae) and blackcurrant reversion virus (BRV) (Nepovirus, Secoviridae). The infestation of Ribes plants with Cecidophyopsis mites and BRV infection is a complex tripartite system. This paper reviews scientific progress and knowledge gaps on the Cecidophyopsis‐BRV‐Ribes complex emphasising Cecidophyopsis mites as a pest and natural vector of BRV, BRV as a pathogen, and Ribes as a host plant with horticultural significance. Cecidophyopsis species occurring on Ribes, their host range, geographic distribution and the role in BRV transmission is reviewed. Blackcurrant reversion disease symptoms and BRV hosts are analysed. Resistance of Ribes to Cecidophyopsis and BRV, and resistance breeding aspects are discussed. Discrepancies in research data, controversies and problems are highlighted, and further research is suggested to clarify some of the controversial aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flystrike remains a serious financial and animal welfare issue for the sheep industry in Australia despite many years of research into control methods. The present paper provides an extensive review of past research on flystrike, and highlights areas that hold promise for providing long‐term control options. We describe areas where the application of modern scientific advances may provide increased impetus to some novel, as well as some previously explored, control methods. We provide recommendations for research activities: insecticide resistance management, novel delivery methods for therapeutics, improved breeding indices for flystrike‐related traits, mechanism of nematode‐induced scouring in mature animals. We also identify areas where advances can be made in flystrike control through the greater adoption of well‐recognised existing management approaches: optimal insecticide‐use patterns, increased use of flystrike‐related Australian Sheep Breeding Values, and management practices to prevent scouring in young sheep. We indicate that breeding efforts should be primarily focussed on the adoption and improvement of currently available breeding tools and towards the future integration of genomic selection methods. We describe factors that will impact on the ongoing availability of insecticides for flystrike control and on the feasibility of vaccination. We also describe areas where the blowfly genome may be useful in providing impetus to some flystrike control strategies, such as area‐wide approaches that seek to directly suppress or eradicate sheep blowfly populations. However, we also highlight the fact that commercial and feasibility considerations will act to temper the potential for the genome to act as the basis for providing some control options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Using quantitative, qualitative and sensorial data collected from western (Kabale) and central (Rakai) Uganda, this paper identifies and describes gender‐responsive traits preferred in varieties for the boiled potato market. These traits are aggregated into a product profile to support breeding programme design and decision‐making that will increase probability of variety acceptance. An interdisciplinary and participatory methodology was used to collect data on socio‐economic on trait preferences, processing and organoleptics and finally, to develop a lexicon through a sensorial panel. Characteristics that were important to both men and women, such as red skin and yellow flesh, are linked to market preferences. Women‐only preferred characteristics such as big size and mealiness are linked to processing efficiency and eating quality. Besides agronomic traits, breeders must consider factors such as gender roles, social norms, and market preferences traits that guide farmers and other food chain actors in their selection of new varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pigeonpea is an important food legume crop of semi‐arid tropical regions. Plateauing of pigeonpea yield has been worrying breeders for the past 6–7 decades. Serious breeding efforts made during this period resulted in various high‐yielding and disease resistant cultivars. However, the gains in pigeonpea productivity have been modest. The authors, while reviewing this situation, conclude that long generation turnover, complexity of biological traits, low selection response and overreliance upon pedigree breeding present the key bottlenecks for this situation. In this paper, some alternative breeding approaches and technologies are suggested for the genetic enhancement of yield stability and stress response of pigeonpea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundnut is an important food and oil crop in the semiarid tropics, contributing to household food consumption and cash income. In Asia and Africa, yields are low attributed to various production constraints. This review paper highlights advances in genetics, genomics and breeding to improve the productivity of groundnut. Genetic studies concerning inheritance, genetic variability and heritability, combining ability and trait correlations have provided a better understanding of the crop's genetics to develop appropriate breeding strategies for target traits. Several improved lines and sources of variability have been identified or developed for various economically important traits through conventional breeding. Significant advances have also been made in groundnut genomics including genome sequencing, marker development and genetic and trait mapping. These advances have led to a better understanding of the groundnut genome, discovery of genes/variants for traits of interest and integration of marker‐assisted breeding for selected traits. The integration of genomic tools into the breeding process accompanied with increased precision of yield trialing and phenotyping will increase the efficiency and enhance the genetic gain for release of improved groundnut varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past five decades, constant research has been directed towards yield improvement in pigeonpea resulting in the deployment of several commercially acceptable cultivars in India. Though, the genesis of hybrid technology, the biggest breakthrough, enigma of stagnant productivity still remains unsolved. To sort this productivity disparity, genomic research along with conventional breeding was successfully initiated at ICRISAT. It endowed ample genomic resource providing insight in the pigeonpea genome combating production constraints in a precise and speedy manner. The availability of the draft genome sequence with a large‐scale marker resource, oriented the research towards trait mapping for flowering time, determinacy, fertility restoration, yield attributing traits and photo‐insensitivity. Defined core and mini‐core collection, still eased the pigeonpea breeding being accessible for existing genetic diversity and developing stress resistance. Modern genomic tools like next‐generation sequencing, genome‐wide selection helping in the appraisal of selection efficiency is leading towards next‐generation breeding, an awaited milestone in pigeonpea genetic enhancement. This paper emphasizes the ongoing genetic improvement in pigeonpea with an amalgam of conventional breeding as well as genomic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global trade in ornamental fish involves c. 125 countries worldwide and is worth c. US $15–30 billion each year. This total is dominated (90%) by freshwater fishes, most of which are sourced from breeding facilities located in developing countries, typically in Asia or South America, but also in Israel, USA and Europe. Some fish are still obtained from natural (wild) sources, but the exact percentage of wild‐caught fish is difficult to quantify given a lack of reliable data. Although c. 1000 species of freshwater fishes are widely available (from a total of > 5300 on sale), the most dominant freshwater fishes in the market comprise only 30 species from the orders Cyprinodontiformes, Perciformes, Characiformes and Siluriformes. In this perspectives review paper, illustrative example case studies of wild‐fish collecting (Barcelos and Rio Xingu, Brazil) and breeding projects (Java, Indonesia) are described. In addition, wild‐collecting expeditions to West Papua, Indonesia are discussed, focused on discovering novel species of rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae) for breeding in captivity. Sustainability of the aquarium industry is considered in its broadest sense. The aquarium industry has been portrayed as both a major threat to natural ecosystems, but also as being part of the solution in terms of helping to maintain species when they have gone extinct in the wild or offering an income to impoverished citizens who might otherwise engage in much more destructive practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each individual has a certain number of harmful mutations in its genome. These mutations can lower the fitness of the individual carrying them, dependent on their dominance and selection coefficient. Effective population size, selection, and admixture are known to affect the occurrence of such mutations in a population. The relative roles of demography and selection are a key in understanding the process of adaptation. These are factors that are potentially influenced and confounded in domestic animals. Here, we hypothesize that the series of events of bottlenecks, introgression, and strong artificial selection associated with domestication increased mutational load in domestic species. Yet, mutational load is hard to quantify, so there are very few studies available revealing the relevance of evolutionary processes. The precise role of artificial selection, bottlenecks, and introgression in further increasing the load of deleterious variants in animals in breeding and conservation programmes remains unclear. In this paper, we review the effects of domestication and selection on mutational load in domestic species. Moreover, we test some hypotheses on higher mutational load due to domestication and selective sweeps using sequence data from commercial pig and chicken lines. Overall, we argue that domestication by itself is not a prerequisite for genetic erosion, indicating that fitness potential does not need to decline. Rather, mutational load in domestic species can be influenced by many factors, but consistent or strong trends are not yet clear. However, methods emerging from molecular genetics allow discrimination of hypotheses about the determinants of mutational load, such as effective population size, inbreeding, and selection, in domestic systems. These findings make us rethink the effect of our current breeding schemes on fitness of populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decades of developments in animal breeding, genetics, genomics and data recording technologies have allowed the evaluation of larger numbers of animal and animal traits than ever before. This should help make animal breeding choices more informed, but it also makes them far more complex. This complexity may be overwhelming farmers, thus compromising realization of potential genetic gain in livestock industries. However, the effect of complexity of animal breeding choices on farmers' selection of animals has received very little theoretical consideration to date. This paper reviews the theoretical principles of complex decisions, contextualizes the findings to the field of animal breeding, and analyses how farmers and the animal breeding industry are currently dealing with complexity. According to the findings of the analyses of complex decisions in other fields, the complexity of animal breeding choices is likely to lead to farmers using conscious or unconscious simplifying strategies (heuristics) to handle such complexity. When these heuristics are ineffective, poor selection decisions and a potential loss of genetic progress can be expected. Further, studies using survey experiments to understand farmer behaviour and selection preferences may be compromised by the complexity of the survey´s choice tasks. Thus, while many animal breeding industries recognize the complexity of animal breeding choices for farmers and attempts are made to assist farmers in their choice making, the effectiveness of these attempts is not well quantified and understood. We discuss three areas of research that could be key to disentangling how, and by how much, animal breeding choice complexity affects farmers' decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dispersal (i.e. movement from a natal or breeding site to another breeding site) is a central process in ecology and evolution as it affects the eco‐evolutionary dynamics of spatially structured populations. Dispersal evolution is regulated by the balance between costs and benefits, which is influenced by the individual phenotype (i.e. phenotype‐dependent dispersal) and environmental factors (i.e. condition‐dependent dispersal). Even though these processes have been extensively studied in species with simple life cycles, our knowledge about these mechanisms in organisms displaying complex life cycles remains fragmentary. In fact, little is specifically known about how the interplay between individual and environmental factors may lead to alternative dispersal strategies that, in turn, lead to the coexistence of contrasted site fidelity phenotypes. In this paper, we examined breeding dispersal in a pond‐breeding amphibian, the great crested newt Triturus cristatus, within usual walking distances for a newt. We took advantage of recent developments in multi‐event capture–recapture models and used capture–recapture data (946 newts marked) collected in a spatially structured population occupying a large pond network (73 ponds). We showed a high rate of breeding site infidelity (i.e. pond use) and the coexistence of two dispersal phenotypes, namely, a highly pond faithful phenotype and a dispersing phenotype. Individuals that were site faithful at time t – 1 were therefore more likely to remain site faithful at time t. Our results also demonstrated that the probability that individuals belong to one or the other dispersal phenotypes depended on environmental and individual factors. In particular, we highlighted the existence of a dispersal syndrome implying a covariation pattern among dispersal behavior, body size, and survival. Our work opens new research prospects in the evolution of dispersal in organisms displaying complex life cycles and raises interesting questions about the evolutionary pathways that contribute to the diversification of movement strategies in the wild. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestock grazing can affect habitat structure and availability of arthropod prey for grassland birds, and ultimately determines habitat quality. The habitat quality may affect breeding strategies (e.g. sex ratio adjustment) in bird species, but studies investigating grazing intensity on offspring sex ratio are still rare. In this paper, we examined the effect of grazing intensity by livestock on the secondary sex ratio of an alpine‐steppe passerine, the isabelline wheatear Oenanthe isabellina, on the Tibet Plateau. Offspring sex ratio of isabelline wheatears significantly correlated with a quadratic term – (grazing intensity)2. The wheatears nesting in areas grazed at low intensity by mixed livestocks produced significantly more sons than those in ungrazed area (0.41 vs 0.58, Z = –2.836, p = 0.005), while brood sex ratios from other treatments (ungrazing vs intensive grazing and low‐intensity grazing vs intensive grazing) did not differ significantly. Variation in offspring sex ratio was not related to other factors such as maternal condition, paternal condition and other two‐way interactions. These results suggest that breeding birds of grasslands are sensitive to variation in habitat conditions, and provide additional evidence that grazing intensity affects avian reproduction in cryptic ways that are rarely studied. Our findings suggest that flexible management including timely rotational grazing is needed to optimize bird species reproduction and maintain ecosystem health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The aim of this paper was to develop statistical models to estimate individual breed composition based on the previously proposed idea of regressing discrete random variables corresponding to counts of reference alleles of biallelic molecular markers located across the genome on the allele frequencies of each marker in the pure (base) breeds. Some of the existing regression‐based methods do not guarantee that estimators of breed composition will lie in the appropriate parameter space, and none of them account for uncertainty about allele frequencies in the pure breeds, that is, uncertainty about the design matrix. To overcome these limitations, we proposed two Bayesian generalized linear models. For each individual, both models assume that the counts of the reference allele at each marker locus follow independent Binomial distributions, use the logit link and pose a Dirichlet prior over the vector of regression coefficients (which corresponds to breed composition). This prior guarantees that point estimators of breed composition such as the posterior mean pertain to the appropriate space. The difference between these models is that model termed BIBI does not account for uncertainty about the design matrix, while model termed BIBI2 accounts for such an uncertainty by assigning independent Beta priors to the entries of this matrix. We implemented these models in a data set from the University of Florida's multibreed Angus‐Brahman population. Posterior means were used as point estimators of breed composition. In addition, the ordinary least squares estimator proposed by Kuehn et al. ( ) (OLSK) was also computed. BIBI and BIBI2 estimated breed composition more accurately than OLSK, and BIBI2 had a 7.69% improvement in accuracy as compared to BIBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disclosure of affected breed without disclosure of major progenitors has been the usual practice in scientific papers reporting recessive heritable disorders of cattle. Before molecular genetics, carrier identity could not be used by breeders to control causal mutations because phenotypically normal heterozygotes among genetically related animals could not be detected other than by test mating. Accurate, low-cost DNA tests fundamentally changed this situation. Genomics can provide relief from the old problem of emerging recessive disorders in cattle breeding, but greater transparency of genotype data between breeders is necessary to fully exploit the opportunities for cost-efficient genetic disease control. Effective control of several recessive disorders has been demonstrated in Angus cattle, based entirely on voluntary DNA testing by breeders but mandatory public disclosure of test results and genotype probabilities for all registered animals. When a DNA test is available, major progenitors (particularly bulls from which semen has been distributed) should be identified and disclosed concurrently with the affected breed. As a minimum, whenever possible the closest common ancestors in the pedigrees of the parents of homozygous mutants should be disclosed after confirmation of carrier status. Progenitor disclosure in scientific publications should occur in cooperation with breed societies, which should have the opportunity to advise breeders and initiate management programs before scientific publication. Unless properly managed, genomic enhancement of animal selection using SNP markers may increase inbreeding, co-ancestry and emergence of recessive disorders. The information systems and genotype disclosure policies of some breed societies will be increasingly challenged, particularly with accelerating mutation discovery using next-generation sequencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A good statistical analysis of genotype x environment interactions (G x E) is a key requirement for progress in any breeding program. Data for G x E analyses traditionally come from multi-environment trials. In recent years, increasingly data are generated from managed stress trials, phenotyping platforms, and high throughput phenotyping techniques in the field. Simultaneously, and complementary to the phenotyping, more elaborate genotyping and envirotyping occur. All of these developments further increase the importance of a sound statistical framework for analyzing GxE. This paper presents considerations on such a framework from the point of view of the choices that need to be made with respect to the content of short academic courses on statistical methods for GxE. Based on our experiences in teaching statistical methods to plant breeders, for specialized GxE courses between three and 5 d are reserved. The audience in such courses includes MSc students, PhD students, postdocs, and researchers at breeding companies. For such specialized courses, we propose a collection of topics to be covered. Our outlook on G x E analyses is two-fold. On the one hand, we see the G x E problem as the building of predictive models for genotype-specific reaction norms. On the other hand, the GxE problem consists in the identification of suitable variance-covariance models to describe heterogeneity of genetic variance and correlations across environments. Our preferred class of statistical models is the class of mixed linear-bilinear models. These statistical models allow us to answer breeding questions on adaptation, adaptability, stability, and the identification and subdivision of the target population of environments. By a citation analysis of the literature on G x E, we show that our preference for mixed linear-bilinear models for analyzing G x E is supported by recent trends in the types of methods for G x E analysis that are most frequently cited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last years animal welfare has assumed an increasing interest in our society, influencing legislation to enact many provisions aimed at the protection of animals. Along with increased consumer awareness of the need to maintain ethically acceptable conditions of raised animals, scientists too have begun to investigate the conditions of animal welfare, the tools for its evaluation and for its improvement. Although there are many advances in knowledge, much remains to be investigated concerning many species considered "minor", that is, camels and dromedaries. Dromedaries, recently, have attracted the interest of some breeders following the results of studies concerning the nutritional and therapeutic properties of their products - milk in particular - that make them ideal for some particular categories of consumers, such as diabetics, obesity sufferers, lactose-intolerant subjects, menopausal women and so on. Considering their use in dairy husbandry, dromedaries are reared under intensive and/or semi-intensive systems with the resulting emergence of specific needs, which should be fulfilled in order to have appropriate welfare. This paper's purpose is to give practical elements in order to find out dromedary welfare standards, promoting a comprehensive set of regulations on welfare, care and protection of this animal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The early generation selection of cassava quantitative and qualitative traits saves breeding resources as it can shorten breeding schemes. Inheritance analysis provides important breeding information for developing new improved varieties. This study aimed at developing an F1 segregating cassava population and determining mode of gene action of pulp colour and selected traits at early generation selection (F1 seedling and clones). RESULTS: The 15 families exhibited significant (P < 0.05) phenotypic variation between offspring. The general combining ability (GCA) was significant for all traits except cassava brown streak disease on leaves, whereas specific combining ability (SCA) was significant for all evaluated traits. The Garukansubire and Gitamisi genotypes were the best general combiners for improving fresh storage root yield, while G1 and G2 were the best general combiners for improved carotenoid (yellow/orange pulp colour) and delayed physiological postharvest deterioration. The pulp colour had the highest GCA/SCA ratio and percent sum of squares due to GCA. CONCLUSION: The 15 F1 families exhibited essential genetic diversity for cassava improvement. The expression of most cassava traits was controlled by both additive and non‐additive gene action. The study elucidated the role of dominance effects over the additive effects for the evaluated traits. However, the pulp colour was predominantly controlled by additive gene action. This implies the possibility of improving cassava through conventional breeding using recurrent selection for most traits. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The fault diagnosis in wireless sensor networks is one of the most important topics in the recent years of research work. The problem of fault diagnosis in wireless sensor network can be resembled with artificial immune system in many different ways. In this paper, a detection algorithm has been proposed to identify faulty sensor nodes using clonal selection principle of artificial immune system, and then the faults are classified into permanent, intermittent, and transient fault using the probabilistic neural network approach. After the actual fault status is detected, the faulty nodes are isolated in the isolation phase. The performance metrics such as detection accuracy, false alarm rate, false‐positive rate, fault classification accuracy, false classification rate, diagnosis latency, and energy consumption are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm gives superior results as compared with existing algorithms in terms of the performance metrics. The fault classification performance is measured by fault classification accuracy and false classification rate. It has also seen that the proposed algorithm provides less diagnosis latency and consumes less energy than that of the existing algorithms proposed by Mohapatra et al, Panda et al, and Elhadef et al for wireless sensor network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]