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Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) is one of the most economically important viruses on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in Bulgaria, easily transmitted mechanically and by seeds. Breeding, based on genetic controlled resistance, is the most effective and successful approach for combating the ToMV-tomato problem due to the dominant monogenic genetic control, governed by three single genes for resistance (Tm-1, Tm-2 and Tm-22). The aim of the current study was to investigate the reliability of some SCAR, CAPS and AS molecular markers for identification of Tm genes for resistance in tomato breeding lines. Parallel to molecular study, screening tests with three ToMV pathotypes (0, 1 and 2) were carried out as control tests. The resistance to the three pathotypes was found in 6 breeding lines. Twenty ToMV resistant plants were subjected to molecular analysis. The CAPS marker revealed the presence of Tm-22 allele in homozygous condition in 12 ToMV resistant plants, whereas the AS markers (AS1, AS2 and AS3) confirmed this result only in two plants. The remaining 10 reacted as heterozygous with genotype Tm-2/Tm-22. Another eight ToMV resistant plants were determined by CAPS marker as heterozygous for Tm-22 gene (tm-2/Tm-22), which was confirmed only in two plants by AS markers. The results obtained for the remaining six plants by AS markers were rather contradictory. Successful application of CAPS marker for genotyping the Tm-2 locus as well as confusing behavior of AS 2 marker during genotyping the Maritsa VCRI tomato breeding lines is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After pre-sowing electromagnetic treatments by expanded experimental plan from B3 type and after theoretical studies of the constructed response surfaces and lines of the response -- laboratory germination of the seeds from tomato variety Milyana it was theoretically confirmed that the positive results are obtained in the following values of the controlled factors: voltage of treatments U=12 kV, duration of treatment τ=35 s and length of stay to sowing T=12 days. It is proven that an effective impact could be obtained in combined increase of the controlled factor voltage of treatment and shortening of the duration of treatment τ=2 s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study has found a continuing beneficial impact of electromagnetic treatments on seeds of Bulgarian tomato varieties: Milyana, Plovdivska karotina, Vodoley F1, IZK Alya and Ideal after 365 days storage to sowing at a voltage between the electrodes U=12 kV and duration of impact τ=35 s. The germinating energy and laboratory germination increase compared to that of control seeds of 1.25 to 15%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generalized data on the diversity of tabanid species in Surnena Sredna Gora is presented for the first time. Published and original data confirms the existence of 48 species from 10 genera: Silvius (1 species), Chrysops (3 species), Atylotus (3 species), Hybomitra (5 species), Tabanus (21 species), Therioplectes (1 species), Heptatoma (1 species), Haematopota (10 species), Dasyrhamphis (2 species) and Philipomyia (1 species). Twenty-nine localities were registered, 13 of which were reported for the first time. Information about the precise localities, number and sex of captured specimens, as well as the dates of their collection is presented for 24 species, collected in the period of year 2002 to 2005. The identified diversity of species represents 62.34 % of the current Bulgarian tabanid fauna (77 species). From a zoogeographical point of view, the predominant species are the Mediterranean ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was carried out on tabanids fauna of the Sakar Mountain, Bulgaria in 2005 and 2008. As a result of the study a total of 550 ? and 30 ? specimens of the Tabanidae family have been collected and processed. They belong to 19 species of 6 genera as follows: Chrysops (2 species), Hybomitra (1 species), Tabanus (9 species), Haematopota (3 species), Dasyrhamphis (2 species) and Philipomyia (2 species). Twelve of the established species are reported for the first time for the Sakar Mountain fauna. Zoogeographically Mediterranean faunistic elements predominate in the studied region (63.16 %). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bulgarian research landscape, presented mainly by the research institutes that are part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Agricultural Academy, needs diversification to match the research and innovation potential of the other European Union (EU) countries. This article describes the establishment of the Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology (CPSBB), a new innovative type of independent research organization that is changing the research landscape in Bulgaria. Supported by the EU Commission, Bulgarian Government, and Plovdiv Municipality, CPSBB has quickly become the leading plant science institute in Bulgaria, creating knowledge in diverse fields such as bioinformatics, biotechnology, genetics and genomics, metabolomics, and systems biology. We outline the organizational structure of CPSBB, the development of its infrastructure, and its scientific productivity. Finally, we compare CPSBB with other similar research establishments in Europe and we conclude that such new types of institutes have a bright future in Bulgaria due to their operational flexibility, productivity, and connections with academia and industry., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2024 Gechev T et al.)

Background: Dizziness is a common leading symptom in bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) and functional dizziness (FD), with significant negative effects on functional ability and quality of life. Vertigoheel is a widely used non-prescription drug for the treatment of vertigo. In order to generate systematic data for Vertigoheel in BVP and FD, we conducted a non-interventional study assessing vertigo symptoms., Methods: This study was conducted as an open-label, prospective, monocentric, non-interventional case series (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT05897853). Patients with BVP and FD received Vertigoheel according to market approval for an observational period of 2 months. Change from baseline after 2 months was assessed for the following endpoints: Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) as the primary endpoint, quality of life (QoL) by EQ-5D-5L, and body sway by static posturography. Patients with FD were additionally assessed for depression and anxiety by PHQ-9 and GAD-7 questionnaires. Patients with BVP were assessed for vestibular function by video head impulse testing and caloric testing. Adverse events and other safety-related observations were evaluated., Results: Of 41 patients with FD and 13 with BVP, two with FD and none with BVP dropped out before the follow-up visit. Both patient groups showed significantly improved disability caused by dizziness after 2 months: In BVP, the DHI decreased on average by 13.2 points from 45.4 to 32.2 ( p  < 0.001). In FD, the DHI decreased on average by 12.0 points from 46.5 to 34.5 ( p  < 0.001). In patients with FD, significant improvements were also observed for the secondary endpoints QoL, anxiety, and depression. No significant change was observed for posturography readouts. In patients with BVP, there were no statistically significant improvements for the secondary endpoints QoL, posturography, or vestibular function within the observation period. The study found no evidence of a safety risk., Conclusion: The study provides evidence for Vertigoheel's clinical safety and limited evidence - because of the non-interventional design - for its effectiveness in BVP and FD that are considered disease entities with high medical need for new treatment options. The results may serve as the basis for randomized placebo-controlled trials., Competing Interests: MS has received speaker’s honoraria from Abbott, Auris Medical, Biogen, Eisai, Grünenthal, GSK, Henning Pharma, Interacoustics, J&J, MSD, NeuroUpdate, Otometrics, Pierre-Fabre, TEVA, UCB, and Viatris. MS receives support for clinical studies from Decibel, U.S.A., Cure within Reach, U.S.A. and Heel, Germany. MS distributes “M-glasses” and “Positional vertigo App.” MS acts as a consultant for Abbott, AurisMedical, Bulbitec, Heel, IntraBio, Sensorion and Vertify. MS is investor and share-holder of IntraBio. RT was employed by AMS Advanced Medical Services GmbH. SD received payments from Heel for medical writing and consulting. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2023 Ganeva, Tiemann, Duller and Strupp.)

Crop phenology data offer crucial information for crop yield estimation, agricultural management, and assessment of agroecosystems. Such information becomes more important in the context of increasing year-to-year climatic variability. The dataset provides in-situ crop phenology data (first leaves emergence and harvest date) of major European crops (wheat, corn, sunflower, rapeseed) from seventeen field study sites in Bulgaria and two in France. Additional information such as the sowing date, area of each site, coordinates, method and equipment used for phenophase data estimation, and photos of the France sites are also provided. The georeferenced ground-truth dataset provides a solid base for a better understanding of crop growth and can be used to validate the retrieval of phenological stages from remote sensing data., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

This study tested the potential of parametric and nonparametric regression modeling utilizing multispectral data from two different unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a tool for the prediction of and indirect selection of grain yield (GY) in barley breeding experiments. The coefficient of determination ( R 2 ) of the nonparametric models for GY prediction ranged between 0.33 and 0.61 depending on the UAV and flight date, where the highest value was achieved with the DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral (P4M) image from 26 May (milk ripening). The parametric models performed worse than the nonparametric ones for GY prediction. Independent of the retrieval method and UAV, GY retrieval was more accurate in milk ripening than dough ripening. The leaf area index (LAI), fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), fraction vegetation cover (fCover), and leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) were modeled at milk ripening using nonparametric models with the P4M images. A significant effect of the genotype was found for the estimated biophysical variables, which was referred to as remotely sensed phenotypic traits (RSPTs). Measured GY heritability was lower, with a few exceptions, compared to the RSPTs, indicating that GY was more environmentally influenced than the RSPTs. The moderate to strong genetic correlation of the RSPTs to GY in the present study indicated their potential utility as an indirect selection approach to identify high-yield genotypes of winter barley.

Selection of high-performance lines with respect to traits of interest is a key step in plant breeding. Genomic prediction allows to determine the genomic estimated breeding values of unseen lines for trait of interest using genetic markers, e.g. single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and machine learning approaches, which can therefore shorten breeding cycles, referring to genomic selection (GS). Here, we applied GS approaches in two populations of Solanaceous crops, i.e. tomato and pepper, to predict morphometric and colorimetric traits. The traits were measured by using scoring-based conventional descriptors (CDs) as well as by Tomato Analyzer (TA) tool using the longitudinally and latitudinally cut fruit images. The GS performance was assessed in cross-validations of classification-based and regression-based machine learning models for CD and TA traits, respectively. The results showed the usage of TA traits and tag SNPs provide a powerful combination to predict morphology and color-related traits of Solanaceous fruits. The highest predictability of 0.89 was achieved for fruit width in pepper, with an average predictability of 0.69 over all traits. The multi-trait GS models are of slightly better predictability than single-trait models for some colorimetric traits in pepper. While model validation performs poorly on wild tomato accessions, the usage as many as one accession per wild species in the training set can increase the transferability of models to unseen populations for some traits (e.g. fruit shape for which predictability in unseen scenario increased from zero to 0.6). Overall, GS approaches can assist the selection of high-performance Solanaceous fruits in crop breeding., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nanjing Agricultural University.)

Background: Due to global warming, the search for new sources for heat tolerance and the identification of genes involved in this process has become an important challenge as of today. The main objective of the current research was to verify whether the heat tolerance determined in controlled greenhouse experiments could be a good predictor of the agronomic performance in field cultivation under climatic high temperature stress., Results: Tomato accessions were grown in greenhouse under three temperature regimes: control (T1), moderate (T2) and extreme heat stress (T3). Reproductive traits (flower and fruit number and fruit set) were used to define heat tolerance. In a first screening, heat tolerance was evaluated in 219 tomato accessions. A total of 51 accessions were identified as being potentially heat tolerant. Among those, 28 accessions, together with 10 accessions from Italy (7) and Bulgaria (3), selected for their heat tolerance in the field in parallel experiments, were re-evaluated at three temperature treatments. Sixteen tomato accessions showed a significant heat tolerance at T3, including five wild species, two traditional cultivars and four commercial varieties, one accession from Bulgaria and four from Italy. The 15 most promising accessions for heat tolerance were assayed in field trials in Italy and Bulgaria, confirming the good performance of most of them at high temperatures. Finally, a differential gene expression analysis in pre-anthesis (ovary) and post-anthesis (developing fruit) under heat stress among pairs of contrasting genotypes (tolerant and sensitive from traditional and modern groups) showed that the major differential responses were produced in post-anthesis fruit. The response of the sensitive genotypes included the induction of HSP genes, whereas the tolerant genotype response included the induction of genes involved in the regulation of hormones or enzymes such as abscisic acid and transferases., Conclusions: The high temperature tolerance of fifteen tomato accessions observed in controlled greenhouse experiments were confirmed in agronomic field experiments providing new sources of heat tolerance that could be incorporated into breeding programs. A DEG analysis showed the complex response of tomato to heat and deciphered the different mechanisms activated in sensitive and tolerant tomato accessions under heat stress., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Morphological variation in vegetative and fruit traits is a key determinant in unraveling phenotypic diversity. This study was designed to assess phenotypic diversity in tomatoes and examine intra- and intervarietal groups' variability using 28 conventional descriptors (CDs) and 47 Tomato Analyzer (TA) descriptors related to plant and fruit morphometry. Comprehensive phenotyping of 150 accessions representing 21 countries discerned noticeable variability for CD vegetative traits and TA quantified fruit features, such as shape, size, and color. Hierarchical cluster analysis divided the accessions into 10 distinct classes based on fruit shape and size. Multivariate analysis was used to assess divergence in variable traits among populations. Eight principal components with an eigenvalue >1 were identified by factor analysis, which contributed 87.5% variation to the total cumulative variance with the first two components contributing 32.0% and 18.1% variance, respectively. The relationship between vegetative and fruit descriptors was explained by respective CD and TA correlation networks. There was a strong positive correlation between fruit shape and size whereas negative correlations were between fruit shape index, internal eccentricity, and proximal end shape. The combined approach of CD and TA phenotyping allowed us to unravel the phenotypic diversity of vegetative and reproductive trait variation evaluated at pre- and post-harvest stages.

Genetic variability in modern crops is limited due to domestication and selection processes. Genetic variation in eight Bulgarian tomato varieties and breeding lines (variety Plovdivska karotina, variety IZK Alya, L21β, L53β, L1140, L1116, L975, L984) differing in their morphological and biochemical composition was assessed using a highly efficient and low-cost fluorescent simple sequence repeat (SSR) genotyping platform. Genotyping was conducted with 165 publicly available microsatellite markers developed from different research groups under a number of projects in tomato (SOL Genomics SSRs, Kazusa TGS and TES, SLM, TMS and LEMDDNa) among which only five (3.03%) failed to amplify the expected PCR fragments. Of the remaining markers, 81 (50.62%) were polymorphic in the whole collection of eight genotypes. Among the marker groups used, SLM markers were most polymorphic, followed by TMS and SOL Genomics SSR markers. The total number of amplified alleles was 299, with a mean of 1.869; and the average polymorphic information content ( PIC ) was 0.196. The genetic diversity within the collection was relatively low (0.2222). Nei's genetic distance varied from 0.0953 to 0.3992. Cluster analysis using the un-weighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) method indicated that the studied tomato genotypes are grouped in four main clusters, which is to some extent consistent with the morpho- and hemo-types of the studied tomatoes. Variety IZK Alya (cherry type) and two of the breeding lines (L1140, L1116) formed three separate and more distant clusters. The fourth cluster includes the other five genotypes. The observed grouping of these genotypes in two sub-clusters reflects their similar morphological and biochemical composition. The genetic distance information from this study might be useful for further implementation of breeding strategies and crosses among these inbred lines.