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Tassel size affects the nutrient allocation synthesized by photosynthesis in maize, which in turn affects ears development and the yield components, such as kernel rows, kernel number per row, seeding rate, and kernels weight per one hundred. In this study, haploids were induced using the F2:3 families, which were constructed from the elite inbred lines Zheng 58 and B73. Genotypes were obtained by 48K liquid phase hybridization capture probes technique, and phenotypes were evaluated in multi-environment trails. QTL mapping was performed using the inclusive composite interval mapping (ICIM) method. The RRBLUP model was used for genomic selection to explore the effects of training population size and the number of SNP markers on prediction accuracy. The results showed that the heritabilities of tassel length, tassel primary branch number, tassel secondary branch number, and tassel branch number were 0.82, 0.88, 0.84, and 0.88, respectively. Two QTL, located in bins 1.03 and 4.09, were detected for tassel length with phenotypic variation explained (PVE) of 6.02% and 11.10%, respectively. Two QTL, located in bins 1.05 and 4.05, were detected for tassel primary branch with PVE of 9.17% and 11.75%, respectively. Two QTL, located in bins 2.03 and 3.06, were detected for the tassel secondary branch with PVE of 5.51% and 5.65%, respectively. Two QTLs, located in bins 1.04 and 4.05, were detected for the tassel branch number with PVE of 9.37% and 10.83%, respectively. Tassel primary branch number and tassel branch number identified a same QTL located in bin 4.05 with multiple effects. The prediction accuracy of five-fold cross-validation for genomic selection was 0.36, 0.41, 0.28, and 0.37, respectively. When the training population reached 60% of the total population and the marker density reached 500, a high prediction accuracy could be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to systematically elucidate the pharmacodynamics and network pharmacological mechanism of Mongolian medicinal plants Scabiosa comosa, explore their key targets and related pathways, and further clarify the mechanism of the plants in treating liver fibrosis. Wistar rats were assigned into the blank group, carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis model group, and low-, medium-, and high-dose S. comosa groups. HE staining and Masson staining were performed for the observation of liver tissue under a microscope. Further, Wistar rats were assigned into a control group and a S. comosa group for administration. Seven days later, blood was collected from the abdominal aorta, and different doses of drug-containing serum samples were used to treat hepatic stellate cell-T6(HSC-T6). Flow cytometry was adopted to detect the apoptosis of HSC-T6 cells. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry(UHPLC-TOF-MS) was employed to determine the components in Scabiosa comosa. The target of S. comosa and liver fibrosis were obtained from SwissTargetPrediction and GeneCards, respectively, and the common targets were selected as the anti-liver fibrosis targets. Protein-protein interaction was analyzed via STRING. Gene Ontology(GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment were carried out via Metascape. Phosphatidylinosital 3-kinase(PI3 K), protein kinase B(AKT), p-AKT, p38, and p-p38 targets which are involved in the top-ranked PI3 K/AKT and mitogen activated kinase-like protein(MAPK) signaling pathways were selected for validation via Western blot. The HE and Masson staining results showed that Scabiosa alleviated the hyperplasia of connective tissue and the fibrosis. The serum containing Scabiosa significantly promoted the apoptosis of HSC-T6 in a concentration-dependent manner. A total of 76 chemical components were identified by UHPLC-TOF-MS, among which flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, phenols, and fatty acids were the main components. According to the prediction, there were 63 anti-liver fibrosis targets in Scabiosa comosa, the annotated GO terms of which involved biological processes, cell components, and molecular functions. The KEGG pathway enrichment showed that the targets were mainly involved in PI3 K/AKT, epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR), RAS-associated protein 1(Rap1), hypoxia-inducible factor 1(HIF-1), resistance to audiogenic seizures(Ras), and MAPK signaling pathways. Western blot results showed that compared with the model group, S. comosa down-regulated the protein levels of α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA), collagen Ⅰ, PI3 K, AKT, p-AKT, p38, and p-p38 in liver tissue. Compared with the control group, the low-, medium-, and high-dose S. comosa significantly down-regulated the protein levels of α-SMA, collagen Ⅰ, PI3 K, AKT, p-AKT, p38, and p-p38 in HSC-T6. The evidence of pharmacodynamics, network pharmacology, and molecular biology indicated that the plants of S. comosa had significant activity against liver fibrosis, the mechanism of which may involve the regulation of the key targets PI3 K, AKT, and MAPK14 p38 in the PI3 K/AKT and MAPK signaling pathways.