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Copyright of Mycosystema is the property of Mycosystema Editorial Board and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Bacterial soft rots are among the most economically important diseases that cause significant yield losses in various crops. During 2022 and 2023, widespread occurrence of soft rot disease was observed in sugar beet fields in the Firuzan region, Hamedan Province, Iran. From the sugar beet plants with soft rot symptoms, a bacterial isolate was obtained that was obligately aerobic, negative for Gram, oxidase, levan, and arginine dihydrolase tests, and positive for pectinase, urease and hypersensitivity reaction on tobacco. Koch's postulates confirmed its pathogenicity by developing soft rot symptoms in sugar beet plants. The 16SrRNA and rpoD sequences from this isolate were most closely related to Pseudomonas punonensis LMT03 with 99.8% and 94.7% identity, respectively and then to Pseudomonas argentinensis LMG22563 (= CH01) with 99.4% and 94.3% identity values. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a Pseudomonas sp. strain causing soft rot disease in sugar beet worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background In this prospective cohort study, we determined the phenotypic characteristics of children with regressive autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and explored the effects of rehabilitation. Methods We recruited 370 children with ASD aged 1.5–7 years. Based on the Regression Supplement Form, the children were assigned to two groups: regressive and non-regressive. The core symptoms and neurodevelopmental levels of ASD were assessed before and after 1 year of behavioral intervention using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), Social Response Scale (SRS), Children Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and Gesell Developmental Scale (GDS). Results Among the 370 children with ASD, 28.38% (105/370) experienced regression. Regression was primarily observed in social communication and language skills. Children with regressive ASD exhibited higher SRS and CARS scores and lower GDS scores than those with non-regressive ASD. After 1 year of behavioral intervention, the symptom scale scores significantly decreased for all children with ASD; however, a lesser degree of improvement was observed in children with regressive ASD than in those with non-regressive ASD. In addition, the symptom scores of children with regressive ASD below 4 years old significantly decreased, whereas the scores of those over 4 years old did not significantly improve. Children with regressive ASD showed higher core symptom scores and lower neurodevelopmental levels. Nevertheless, after behavioral intervention, some symptoms exhibited significant improvements in children with regressive ASD under 4 years of age. Conclusion Early intervention should be considered for children with ASD, particularly for those with regressive ASD.

Background: In this prospective cohort study, we determined the phenotypic characteristics of children with regressive autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and explored the effects of rehabilitation. Methods: We recruited 370 children with ASD aged 1.5–7 years. Based on the Regression Supplement Form, the children were assigned to two groups: regressive and non-regressive. The core symptoms and neurodevelopmental levels of ASD were assessed before and after 1 year of behavioral intervention using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), Social Response Scale (SRS), Children Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and Gesell Developmental Scale (GDS). Results: Among the 370 children with ASD, 28.38% (105/370) experienced regression. Regression was primarily observed in social communication and language skills. Children with regressive ASD exhibited higher SRS and CARS scores and lower GDS scores than those with non-regressive ASD. After 1 year of behavioral intervention, the symptom scale scores significantly decreased for all children with ASD; however, a lesser degree of improvement was observed in children with regressive ASD than in those with non-regressive ASD. In addition, the symptom scores of children with regressive ASD below 4 years old significantly decreased, whereas the scores of those over 4 years old did not significantly improve. Children with regressive ASD showed higher core symptom scores and lower neurodevelopmental levels. Nevertheless, after behavioral intervention, some symptoms exhibited significant improvements in children with regressive ASD under 4 years of age. Conclusion: Early intervention should be considered for children with ASD, particularly for those with regressive ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyclonal vineyards are a useful technological alternative in the context of climate changes foreshadowed in the medium and long term, through the premises of ensuring a sustainable viticulture, but also the possibility of obtaining complex wines. In the last decade in Romania, various international clones of wine grape varieties have been introduced in vineyards, whose performance in terms of adaptation or their bioproductive and qualitative potential in Romanian vineyards is little known. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate and determine certain phenotypic characteristics, as well as the bioproductive and qualitative performance of five Cabernet Sauvignon clones: two of French origin (15 and 338 ENTAV) and three clones of Italian origin (ISV 105, ISV 117 and R5), in the pedoclimatic conditions of South-West Romania. Good fertility results are shown by clones R5 and 15 ENTAV, with ISV 117 and R5 clones being the most productives. All clones ensure the quality parameters required for Cabernet Sauvignon DOC wines produced in Oltenia winegrowing region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, sunflower breeding needs new approaches and methods. Using computer-aided image analysis techniques combined with other data on the phenotyping subject creates a sound basis for selection. Selection work on the size and weight of sunflower seeds causes many complications related to the variety of seeds, even in one head. To solve this problem, field experiments, mathematical modelling, and computer processing of photographs were involved. As a result of combining the results of actual measurement and evaluation of photographic images, a method of measurement and determination of patterns of distribution of phenotypic characteristics of sunflower seeds in a head was developed. The methodology includes a developed mathematical model of the location of sunflower seeds in the head and a methodology for determining the geometric dimensions of the seeds from the image. The distribution patterns of geometric (length L, width W, thickness T) and mass (seed mass Ms, seed kernel mass Mk) parameters of seeds in the head were studied. The variability of the seed phenotype in the head was established depending on its location based on the material of four lines and the sunflower variety. A complex index of phenotypic characteristics of sunflower seeds I is introduced, defined as the product of the ranks of individual phenotypic parameters of seeds (L, W, T, Ms, Mk). A general pattern was determined, like three tiers with different phenotypic characteristics in each head. The possibilities of visualising the phenotype of seeds by their location in the head have been revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of Botanical Research is the property of Bulletin of Botanical Research Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The research aims to determine the response of the Maize crop to irrigation with salt water during the growth stages, and to study the accumulation of salts in the soil, the degree of their interaction, and the efficiency of water use. Three types of irrigation water with salt concentrations (1.5, 4.5, 6.5) dSm-1 with three replicates for every kind water. The Randomized Complete Blocks Design was used in the experiment, and it was statistically analyzed using SPSS. Statistically significant differences were found at the 5% level according to Duncan's method. Statistical analysis showed that there were significant differences attributed to the salinity of irrigation water at the level of 4.5 dsm-1 (T2), which caused about 50% damage in plant height, root growth, leaf area per cob length, weight of 500 seeds, grain yield, and soil. Compared to salinity if irrigated with 1.5 dsm-1 (T1) salinity of river water. Using water with a salinity of 6.5 dsm-1 (T3) as wastewater resulted in a reduction of all apparent plant characteristics by 75%. An increase in soil salinity was also observed at the end of the experiment compared to its salinity at the beginning of the experiment, and this damage increases with an increase in the electrical conductivity of the water used in irrigation operations. It has been observed that soil PH decreases with increasing soil salinity.

The study was conducted to illuminate the phenotypic, morphometric, and productive characteristics of the Azikheli buffalo breed. One thousand two hundred pure Azikheli buffaloes (male: female) were randomly selected from the main hub of the Azikheli buffalo breed in Swat (Azikhel). The data were analyzed for comparison and frequency distribution. Phenotypic characteristic of the female buffalo shows that more than 73 % of the body color was golden yellowish. In contrast, in males, this value was 83 %, followed by white-albino and grayish colors. The shape of horns were semi sickle and grayish in color. Morphometric parameters of the breed indicated that the average body weight of female and male buffaloes was 480 ± 20 kg and 422 ± 20 kg, body length 131.3 ± 2.5 cm vs. 121.4 ± 1.3, height at withers 127.48 ± 0.5 cm vs. 124.9 ± 0.4 cm and heart girth 185.8 ± 3 cm vs. 172.5 ± 2 cm. The male is slightly narrow, and more compact in body structure than the female. Average daily milk production was 7.80 liters with a range of 5-16 liters/day. The milk fats % was very high compared to other local buffalo breeds and ranges from 6.5 to 9.70 g/100 g and make the milk selling at a high rate in the swat local market ranges from 250-270 Pakistani rupees/liter compared to other buffalo milk (200-220 Pakistani rupees). It may be concluded that the Azikheli buffalo is an asset for the people of northern Pakistan, providing livelihood support through the sale of milk and animals. The farmer income may be further enhanced through good feeding practices.

Background. Caltha palustris L. is known as a medicinal, food, and ornamental plant. It is a circumboreal species, and hygrohelophyte. Due to its ecological specificity, this plant can be used to study the response to an abrupt change in environments. The goal was to assess the variance in phenological and morphological features of C. palustris in the forest steppe of Western Siberia.Materials and methods. Phenotypic characters of the native population and the accessions introduced from Kemerovo Province and Altai Territory were studied. Phenological observations followed a well-known technique for herbaceous perennials. Morphometric data were processed in the PAST program using statistical indicators: the arithmetic mean with an error (M ± mM), minimum and maximum values of the trait (lim), and coefficient of variation (Cv). Significance of differences was assessed using Student’s t-test (Pt) at a 5% significance level. For traits deviating from the normal distribution, the significance of differences was assessed using the Mann–Whitney criterion (PMW) by median values of the trait (Me) at the same 5% level.Results and conclusions. The accessions varied significantly in the timing and duration of phenophases. Plants in the native population grew later and bloomed for a long time because of the variation in microconditions. Ex situ plants produced the second generation of rosette shoots and were capable of long vegetating, but the Altai accession differed in later growth and shorter phenophases. All accessions significantly differed in morphological characteristics of the shoot, except for flower size. The introduced accessions were inferior to the native ones in shoot height, leaf size, and number of flowers due to non-optimal cultivation environments. Since C. palustris demonstrated high individual and interpopulation variability, it is promising to study this species in different natural populations and select the most ornamental and sustainable accessions.

Phenotypic analysis has significant potential for aiding breeding efforts. However, there is a notable lack of studies utilizing phenotypic analysis in the field of edible fungi. Pleurotus geesteranus is a lucrative edible fungus with significant market demand and substantial industrial output, and early-stage phenotypic analysis of Pleurotus geesteranus is imperative during its breeding process. This study utilizes image recognition technology to investigate the phenotypic features of the mycelium of P. geesteranus. We aim to establish the relations between these phenotypic characteristics and mycelial quality. Four groups of mycelia, namely, the non-degraded and degraded mycelium and the 5th and 14th subcultures, are used as image sources. Two categories of phenotypic metrics, outline and texture, are quantitatively calculated and analyzed. In the outline features of the mycelium, five indexes, namely, mycelial perimeter, radius, area, growth rate, and change speed, are proposed to demonstrate mycelial growth. In the texture features of the mycelium, five indexes, namely, mycelial coverage, roundness, groove depth, density, and density change, are studied to analyze the phenotypic characteristics of the mycelium. Moreover, we also compared the cellulase and laccase activities of the mycelium and found that cellulase level was consistent with the phenotypic indices of the mycelium, which further verified the accuracy of digital image processing technology in analyzing the phenotypic characteristics of the mycelium. The results indicate that there are significant differences in these 10 phenotypic characteristic indices (P

Drought stress is a major abiotic stress that poses serious threats to the yield and quality of rapeseed. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the drought tolerance of rapeseed is of great importance for the breeding of drought-resistant rapeseed varieties. Here, we compared the phenotypic characteristics, photosynthetic physiology, specific metabolites and related metabolic pathways between the drought-tolerant genotype (Q2) and drought-sensitive genotype (Q8) of rapeseed under drought stress using gas chromatography and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. The results indicated that drought stress decreased the total biomass and photosynthesis of both genotypes, particularly those of Q8, and the reduction was substantially lower in the root surface area, root volume and root diameter of Q2 than in those of Q8 under drought stress. The adverse effect on Q2 could be improved by increasing the specific leaf area, root length, and non-photochemical quenching. Furthermore, four metabolic pathways (galactose metabolism, TCA cycle, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis as well as nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolisms) were greatly activated in Q2 compared with those in Q8 under drought stress. Metabolic profiling revealed 17 differential metabolites between the two genotypes, including carbohydrates, amino acids and organic acids and the increase in tagatose was accompanied by the accumulation of fumaric acid in the roots of Q2 under drought stress. The drought resistance of Q2 could be attributed to the accumulation of more metabolites, such as galactose, tagatose, glycerone and fumaric acid. Our results provide valuable insights into the growth characteristics, physiological changes and metabolic regulation mechanism of rapeseed under drought stress as well as a theoretical basis for the breeding of drought-resistant rapeseed varieties.

This study investigated the production and physical and chemical characteristics of eight sour passion fruit genotypes cultivated in Baixo Acre, AC. Evaluation of fruit number (FN), productivity (PRO), longitudinal diameter, transverse diameter (LD and TD), peel thickness (PT), average fruit mass (AFM), pulp mass (PM), juice yield (JY), soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), ratio, and pH of genotypes H1, H3, R, V1, V2, V3, V4, and V5 was performed. Univariate, multivariate, and Pearson's correlation analyses were performed. Univariate analyses revealed that the genotype H1 stood out in terms of AFM, JY, and PRO; H3 for TD, LD, JY, and pH; H1, H3, V1, and R for LD; H3 and V5 for pH; and V4 and V5 for NF. A strong positive correlation was observed among the physical variables AFM, PM, LD, and TD. Four genotypes groups were obtained for both genetic divergence and PCA. The H1 genotype presented higher productivity, and the H3 genotype presented better fruit physical attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goliath chicken (GC) is become one of the most economically viable poultry breeds in Benin. This study aimed to characterize the morphobiometric variability of this breed for their rational conservation and sustainable use. Data collection was conducted between October and December 2020 in the three Agricultural Development Pole (PDA) in Southern Benin. The study was carried out on 342 adult GC. Eight morphobiometric measurements and seven qualitative traits were recorded and analyzed using descriptive and multivariate statistical methods. The red plumage was the most prominent with 13.7 %, followed by ermined tawny (9.6 %), white (8.8 %), ermined white (8.8 %), and cuckoo (8.2 %) plumage. The predominant feather structure in GC was simple (90 %). The prevailing feather distribution exhibited normal characteristics (95 %), along with a white skin color (58.6 %) and a white beak color (54.5 %). The most widespread eye colors were orange (28.6 %), red (24 %) and brown (21 %). Considering the morphobiometric traits, the body weight of GC as well as the shank diameter, the body length, and the drumstick length were significantly higher (p < 0.05) for the GC of PDA 5 compared to PDA 6 and 7. As for the sex, whatever the biometric parameter considered, males had the highest values except for the chest circumference which was similar for males and females. The classification for each individual assessed through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed the relationships between individuals from different PDA and three clusters were obtained. These results provide a basis for future work on the genetic improvement of GC.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the diversity of phenotypic characteristics of female Alabio ducks (Anas platyrhynchos Borneo) and their eggs in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 18-month-old ducks and 300 eggs were selected using a survey method with multistage random sampling. These samples were obtained from two dis¬tricts in the province of South Kalimantan [Banjar (BJ) districts and Tanah Laut (TL)]. The observed data were analyzed descriptively with variations using the independent t-test for each location. Principal component analysis (PCA) was deployed to assess the overall variance and define vari¬ables with greater discriminatory power between individuals. Results: The observations on the body's physical characteristics and the eggs of Alabio ducks showed significant differences between ducks from BJ and TL areas (p < 0.05) except for yolk diam¬eter, albumen height, albumen index, and Haugh unit (HU) (p > 0.05). Most egg quality traits from BJ were greater than those from TL, which include egg weight, egg length, egg width, yolk weight, albumen weight, shell weight, shell thickness, and egg shape index. The PCA revealed medium-to-high communalities in the phenotypic body characteristics of Alabio ducks and their eggs. Conclusion: Significant physical characteristics and egg quality differences were found between the two locations, except for the albumen index and HU, with substantial variability within each trait. These traits could explain the total variation in the phenotypic characteristics of female Alabio ducks. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2023; 10(2.000): 249-256]

In 2021, measurements were done at two international provenance research trials for silver fir originating from the same series of experiments. The investigation was carried out in the location Vítkov and Úsov, where both trials were established. Biometric data (tree height, diameter at breast height) were measured and qualitative traits (stem shape, occurrence of stem forking, stem damage, bark pattern, and defoliation) were assessed during the early mature stage of the experiment. Overbark stem volume and per-hectare standing volume were also calculated. Sixty-five provenances of domestic and foreign origin were evaluated in both trials. Although the results do not indicate unequivocally the most suitable or most productive provenance in the trials, provenances of Czech origin including the ones originating from the surrounding natural forest areas perform consistently better than the average. The least productive provenances, on the other hand, were those from parts of Bulgaria, Austria, and especially Italy, which achieved the poorest results even in stem shape. In Czech conditions, therefore, Italian fir provenances have not proved so successful as they have in the United Kingdom.

In June of 2024, a female juvenile Eptesicus fuscus (Palisot de Beauvois, 1796) was admitted to Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia (BCRV) that exhibited unusual coloration. A few weeks later, a similar male E. fuscus was also transferred to BCRV. These bats are believed to be the first occurrences of a hypomelanistic bat in Virginia. Recording the phenotypic diversity of this species is important for researchers and conservationists alike because of the value that this species holds within Virginia's ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objectives 16p13.11 microdeletion/microduplication are rare genetic diseases with incomplete penetrance, most of which have been reported in adults and children, with ultrasound phenotyping in fetuses rarely described. Here, we have analyzed prenatal ultrasound phenotypic characteristics associated with 16p13.11 microdeletion/microduplication, in order to improve the understanding, diagnosis and monitoring of this disease in the fetus. Methods A total of 9000 pregnant women who underwent invasive prenatal diagnosis for karyotyping and SNP-array were retrospectively analyzed in tertiary referral institutions from October 2016 to January 2022. Results SNP-array revealed that 20 fetuses had copy number variation (CNV) in the 16p13.11 region, out of which 5 had 16p13.11 microdeletion and the rest showed microduplication, along with different ultrasound phenotypes. Furthermore, 4/20 cases demonstrated structural abnormalities, while the remaining 16 cases were atypical in ultrasound. Taken together, 16p13.1 microdeletion was closely related to thickened nuchal translucency, while 16p13.11 microduplication was more closely associated with echogenic bowel. Only 5/15 fetuses were verified by pedigree, with one case of 16p13.11 microdeletion being de novo, and the other cases of 16p13.11 microduplication were inherited from one parent. In 4/20 cases, the pregnancy was terminated. Except for one case with short stature and another one who underwent lung cystadenoma surgery, no abnormalities were reported in the other cases during follow-up. Conclusion Fetuses with 16p13.11 microdeletion/microduplication had no characteristic phenotype of intrauterine ultrasound and was in good health after birth, thus providing a reference for the perinatal management of such cases.

Previously, we isolated a novel lactic acid bacteria species (Lactobacillus nasalidis) from the fresh forestomach contents of a captive proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) in a Japanese zoo. In this study, we isolated two strains of L. nasalidis from the freeze-dried forestomach contents of a wild proboscis monkey inhabiting a riverine forest in Malaysia. The samples had been stored for more than six years. Phenotypic analysis showed that strains isolated from the wild individual had more diverse sugar utilization and lower salt tolerance than strains previously isolated from the captive counterpart. These phenotypic differences are most likely induced by feeding conditions; wild individuals consume a wide variety of natural food, unlike their zoo-raised counterparts that consume formula feed with sodium sufficiency. Since 16s rRNA sequences of L. nasalidis were detected in the previously created 16S rRNA libraries of wild, provisioned, and captive proboscis monkeys in Malaysia and Japan, L. nasalidis may be an essential bacterium of the foregut microbial community of the proboscis monkey. The currently established method for the isolation of gut bacteria from freeze-dried samples under storage will be applicable to many already-stored precious samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to examine the diversity of phenotypic characteristics of female Alabio ducks (Anas platyrhynchos Borneo) and their eggs in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 18-month-old ducks and 300 eggs were selected using a survey method with multistage random sampling. These samples were obtained from two districts in the province of South Kalimantan [Banjar (BJ) districts and Tanah Laut (TL)]. The observed data were analyzed descriptively with variations using the independent t-test for each location. Principal component analysis (PCA) was deployed to assess the overall variance and define variables with greater discriminatory power between individuals. Results: The observations on the body’s physical characteristics and the eggs of Alabio ducks showed significant differences between ducksfrom BJ and TL areas(p < 0.05) except for yolk diameter, albumen height, albumen index, and Haugh unit (HU) (p > 0.05). Most egg quality traits from BJ were greater than those from TL, which include egg weight, egg length, egg width, yolk weight, albumen weight, shell weight, shell thickness, and egg shape index. The PCA revealed medium-tohigh communalities in the phenotypic body characteristics of Alabio ducks and their eggs. Conclusion: Significant physical characteristics and egg quality differences were found between the two locations, except for the albumen index and HU, with substantial variability within each trait. These traits could explain the total variation in the phenotypic characteristics of female Alabio ducks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus species are among the dominant groups of saprophytic bacteria; however, lately, they are globally known for being opportunistic pathogens and prime cause of community-associated and hospital-acquired infections in humans and animals. This study was conducted to determine the phenotypic characteristics of Staphylococcus isolated from pigs and in- contact humans in Abia Central Senatorial Zone, Nigeria. Using standard microbiological methods 1084 nasal swab samples were collected from 968 pigs and 116 in-contact humans. Kirby-Bauer's disc diffusion method was used to determine the antibiogram of the isolates, and the findings were interpreted using CLSI interpretive values. Staphylococcus species were recovered from 38 (3.9%) of the 968 pigs screened and 2 (1.7%) of the 116 humans. The recovered species distributions were S. aureus (1), S. intermedius (10), S. hyicus (21), S. chromogens (1), S. haemolyticus (5), S. warneri (1) and S. xylosus (1). Most of the isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent. Resistance to ampicillin in 33(86.8%) of the isolates while 31(81.6%), 30(78.9%), 24(63.2%) and 23(60.5%) were resistant to vancomycin, oxacillin, penicillin and tetracycline, respectively. Thirty one unique resistance patterns were identified among the staphylococci isolates. The multiple antibiotics resistance index (MARI) for all the isolates was greater than 0.2 indicating that the isolates may have originated from an environment where antibiotics were frequently used. All the staphylococcal isolates that were resistant to vancomycin by disc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenotypic and genotypic diversity is essential and needs more enhancement in different ways to achieve higher productivity and better quality vegetables. The presented research aimed to study the phenotypic characteristics and determine the genetic diversity of F1 populations compared with the colchicine mutant variants in the Mercy cultivar of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), held from March to May 2019 at the experimental field of the Department of Agrotechnology, Islamic University of Riau, Pekanbaru, Indonesia. A total number of 144 studied plants comprised 72 from each of the two plant groups. The data recorded on various parameters attained statistical analysis using paired T-test at a significant P < 0.05. Comparisons between the cucumber plants of both groups included karyotypes and chromosome shapes, idiograms, and sequencing. The results revealed that, on average, the taller plants came from F1 populations (93.49 cm), followed by mutants of the same cultivar (67.83 cm). The F1 hybrids showed early flowering (29.00 days) compared with colchicine-treated mutants (33.31 days). However, the number of fruits and fruit weight were higher in the mutant variants (9.39 fruits and 1055.39 g), followed by F1 populations. The karyotypes of cucumber cultivar Mercy F1 hybrids and mutants have different chromosomes, especially with the arm size. An idiogram also exhibited differences in chromosome length between the variants of both plant groups, while the primers of trnL-F and trnL-R target sequences were the same with the DNA sequence length. Using mutant cucumber seeds demonstrates a change in phenotypic character to increase fruit production. However, polyploidy did not occur, with genetic alterations measured by the length of chromosome arms. As a result, a future study with increased concentrations of colchicine is imperative to obtain significant chromosomal mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Camel milk isolates of lactic acid bacteria were characterized to develop defined starter cultures that could be used for the production of standardized Egyptian Rayeb fermented milk. The isolates have shown a wide diversity of Technological characteristics and antimicrobial activity. Interesting isolates were genetically identified at the species level. Two mixed culture starters composed of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (FFNL146 and FFNL159) and Lactococcus lactis (FFNL1926 and FFNL2005) along with Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides FFNL2374 were used in the production of Rayeb from camel milk, cow milk, and their mixture and stored for 14 days under refrigeration. Equally mixed camel and cow milk fermented with both starters had the best results of organoleptic attributes and physicochemical properties compared to samples made of camel milk. This is the first study to present two mixed starter cultures for Rayeb manufacturing. The success of these defined starter cultures will potentially enhance the safety and quality of the Rayeb industry in Egypt.

The gastrointestinal tract contains a complex microbial community. Peyer’s patches (PPs) play an important role in inducing mucosal immune responses in the gastrointestinal tract. However, little is known about the effect of commensal microbiota on the host’s PPs. Here, we analyzed the phenotypic-to-transcriptome changes in the intestine PPs of specific pathogen-free (SPF) and germ-free (GF) piglets (fed in an environment with and without commensal microbiota, respectively) to elucidate the role of commensal microbiota in host intestine mucosal immunity. Analyses of anatomical and histological characteristics showed that commensal microbiota deficiency led to PP hypoplasia, especially regarding B and T cells. A total of 12,444 mRNAs were expressed in 12 libraries; 2,156 and 425 differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs were detected in the jejunal PP (JPP) and ileal PP (IPP), respectively (SPF vs. GF). The shared DE mRNAs of the JPP and IPP were mainly involved in basic physiological and metabolic processes, while the specific DE mRNAs were enriched in regulating immune cells in the JPP and microbial responses and cellular immunity in the IPP. Commensal microbiota significantly modulated the expression of genes related to B-cell functions, including activation, proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, receptor signaling, germinal center formation, and IgA isotype class switching, particularly in the JPP. TLR4 pathway-related genes were induced in response to microbial colonization and in LPS/SCFA-treated B cells. We also detected 69 and 21 DE lncRNAs in the JPP and IPP, respectively, and four one-to-one lncRNA-mRNA pairs were identified. These findings might represent key regulatory axes for host intestine mucosal immunity development during microbial colonization. Overall, the findings of this study revealed that commensal microbiota modulated phenotypic characteristics and gene expression in the piglet intestine PPs and underscored the importance of early microbial colonization for host mucosal immunity development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the problem of low efficiency and automatically sense the phenotypic characteristics of wheat seeds, a wheat seed phenotype detection device was designed to predict thousand seed weight. Five commonly used varieties of wheat seeds were selected for the study, and a wheat seed phenotype detection system was built with a 2 mm sampling hole plate. Grayscale, image segmentation, area filtering and other methods were used to process the image in order to extract and analyse the correlation between thousand seed weight and seven phenotypic characteristics: wheat seed area, perimeter, long axis, short axis, ellipticity, rectangularity, and elongation. The results showed that different varieties of wheat seeds were significantly correlated with different phenotypic characteristics. Among them, the area and short axis for Luomai 26; the area, long axis, short axis, perimeter, and rectangularity for Jinqiang 11; the area and perimeter for Zhoumai 22; the area of Luomai 42; the area, short axis, and perimeter for Bainong 207 were significantly correlated with the thousand seed weight. A multiple linear regression model of thousand seed weight prediction was developed by selecting the significantly correlated phenotypic characteristic. The models showed that the R2 values of the thousand seed weight prediction models for Jinqiang 11 and Bainong 207 were 0.853 and 0.757, respectively; and the R2 values for Luomai 26, Zhoumai 22, and Luomai 42 were less than 0.5. Subsequently, PCA-MLR was used to build a thousand seed weight prediction model, and K-fold cross-validation was used for comparative analysis. Afterwards, three kinds of wheat seeds with 40–50 g thousand seed weight were selected to validate the model. The validation results showed that the more significantly correlated the phenotypic parameters were, the higher the accuracy of the thousand seed weight prediction model. The study provided a set of detection devices and methods for the rapid acquisition of the phenotypic characteristics of wheat seeds and thousand seed weight prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Prataculturae Sinica is the property of Acta Prataculturae Sinica Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present study aimed to explore the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of biofilm formation in Bulgarian nosocomial Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates (n = 221) during the period 2011–2022, by screening for the presence of biofilm-associated genes (BAG) (spgM , rmlA and rpfF), their mutational variability, and assessment of the adherent growth on a polystyrene surface. The methodology included: PCR amplification, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and crystal violet microtiter plate assay for biofilm quantification. The overall incidence of BAG was: spgM 98.6%, rmlA 86%, and rpfF 66.5%. The most prevalent genotype was spgM +/ rmlA +/ rpfF + (56.1%), followed by spgM +/ rmlA +/ rpfF - (28.5%), and spgM+ / rmlA- / rpfF+ (9.5%), with their significant predominance in lower respiratory tract isolates compared to those with other origin (P < 0.001). All strains examined were characterized as strong biofilm producers (OD550 from 0.224 ± 0.049 to 2.065 ± 0.023) with a single exception that showed a weak biofilm-forming ability (0.177 ± 0.024). No significant differences were observed in the biofilm formation according to the isolation source, as well as among COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 isolates (1.256 ± 0.028 vs. 1.348 ± 0.128, respectively). Also, no correlation was found between the biofilm amounts and the corresponding genotypes. WGS showed that the rmlA accumulated a larger number of variants (0.0086 per base) compared to the other BAG, suggesting no critical role of its product to the biofilm formation. Additionally, two of the isolates were found to harbour class 1 integrons (7-kb and 2.6-kb sized, respectively) containing sul1 in their 3′ conservative ends, which confers sulfonamide resistance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on S. maltophilia biofilm formation in Bulgaria, which also identifies novel sequence types (ST819, ST820 and ST826). It demonstrates the complex nature of this adaptive mechanism in the multifactorial pathogenesis of biofilm-associated infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is an important food-borne pathogen causing invasive listeriosis. This pathogen is widely distributed in various links of the food supply chain with complex and changeable environment. L. monocytogenes presents an exceptional ability to survive in adverse environment such as nutrient deficiency by adjusting its physiological state, posing a serious threat to food safety. This review focused on the phenotypic characteristics and possible regulatory mechanisms of L. monocytogenes under nutrient stress conditions, including biofilm formation ability, resistance and virulence, as well as regulatory factors such as σB, (p) ppGpp and sRNA. This study can help to understand the survival mechanism of L. monocytogenes under nutrient stress, and provide reference for controlling this pathogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, measurements were done at two international provenance research trials for silver fir originating from the same series of experiments. The investigation was carried out in the location Vítkov and Úsov, where both trials were established. Biometric data (tree height, diameter at breast height) were measured and qualitative traits (stem shape, occurrence of stem forking, stem damage, bark pattern, and defoliation) were assessed during the early mature stage of the experiment. Overbark stem volume and per-hectare standing volume were also calculated. Sixty-five provenances of domestic and foreign origin were evaluated in both trials. Although the results do not indicate unequivocally the most suitable or most productive provenance in the trials, provenances of Czech origin including the ones originating from the surrounding natural forest areas perform consistently better than the average. The least productive provenances, on the other hand, were those from parts of Bulgaria, Austria, and especially Italy, which achieved the poorest results even in stem shape. In Czech conditions, therefore, Italian fir provenances have not proved so successful as they have in the United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The taxonomic status of the Central Asian damselfly Calopteryx samarcandica was determined on the basis of molecular and phenotypic data from the Kugitang Mountains, SE Uzbekistan. Molecular analyses (COI and 18S rDNA, ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2) revealed that C. samarcandica forms part of a clade that includes taxa treated in the literature as subspecies of Calopteryx splendens and/or related species. However, both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA confirmed that C. samarcandica deserves separate species status. The COI distance to C. splendens (including C. xanthostoma) is moderate (3.47%, K2P), but much greater than the internal distances between the sequences qualified in C. splendens (0.4%); this difference is supported by the low values of the barcoding gap in this genus. The rather distant separation of C. samarcandica from both C. splendens (ancilla, taurica, intermedia) and C. orientalis and the length of the samarcandica-branch recognisable in nuclear rDNA strengthen the independent position of the first species. The phylogenetic position of C. samarcandica in the genus Calopteryx remains unclear due to the low variability of nuclear rDNA markers and insufficient and partly incomparable data for other taxa. The molecular data support the phenotypic and ecological specificity of C. samarcandica, defined by a diagnostic combination of its traits (male and female wing colours and large size and basal diffusion of the wing spot in males) and the conservative association with groundwater-fed natural watercourses in the mountains and foothills fringing the vast Central Asian mountain block. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Xinjiang Agricultural Sciences is the property of Xinjiang Agricultural Sciences Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A study was conducted to evaluate morphological characteristics and performance pertaining to native chicken of the Gadag district. The survey was conducted in several villages in Gadag district and the average flock size observed was 12.97±3.56, the percentage of farmers providing separate housing facilities was 15.08±1.87 and the percentage of farmers providing extra grains in addition to scavenging was 67.18±2.48. The average marketing age of males was 7.93±0.17 and that of females was 11.01±0.25 months. The average egg production per cycle, number of cycles per year, and average egg production per year were 13.88±0.63, 2.08±0.27 and 46.84±0.32, respectively. The average age at sexual maturity, body weight at sexual maturity and average egg weight at sexual maturity recorded were 171.21±0.53 days, 1221.93±23.27 g and 29.42±0.28 g, respectively. The percent fertility, hatchability percent on total eggs set and hatchability on fertile eggs set at field conditions recorded was 43.37, 31.11, and 71.79, respectively. The percent mortality recorded from day old to eight weeks and 9-20 weeks was 7.14 and 4.33, respectively. The mean shank length at the 8th week of age recorded was 57.28±0.38 and 50.13±0.29 mm in males and females, respectively and the average breast angle recorded was 79.43±0.28° and 70.45±0.51° in males and females, respectively. The adult body weight in the combined sex recorded was 1308.98±7.61 g and the FCR was 3.17 at the 8th week of age. The predominant plumage colour and pattern observed was multicolor and solid in males, and black and dull in females, respectively. The colour of skin and shanks was yellow in the majority of the birds. All the observed birds had red ear lobes and the majority had brown eyes. Most of the birds had wattles and were single-combed. This study revealed distinctive variations among the birds of Gadag with regard to morphology and productive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Skeletal deformity is characterized by an abnormal anatomical structure of bone and cartilage. In our previous studies, we have found that a substantial proportion of patients with skeletal deformity could be explained by monogenic disorders. More recently, complex phenotypes caused by more than one genetic defect (i.e., dual molecular diagnosis) have also been reported in skeletal deformities and may complicate the diagnostic odyssey of patients. In this study, we report the molecular and phenotypic characteristics of patients with dual molecular diagnosis and variable skeletal deformities. Results From 1108 patients who underwent exome sequencing, we identified eight probands with dual molecular diagnosis and variable skeletal deformities. All eight patients had dual diagnosis consisting of two autosomal dominant diseases. A total of 16 variants in 12 genes were identified, 5 of which were of de novo origin. Patients with dual molecular diagnosis presented blended phenotypes of two genetic diseases. Mendelian disorders occurred more than once include Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type I (COL1A1, MIM:166200), Neurofibromatosis, Type I (NF1, MIM:162200) and Marfan Syndrome (FBN1, MIM:154700). Conclusions This study demonstrated the complicated skeletal phenotypes associated with dual molecular diagnosis. Exome sequencing represents a powerful tool to detect such complex conditions.

Due to the rapid growth of the population, the pressure on food is increasing and the demand for higher crop yields is rising. It is crucial to periodically monitor plant phenotypic traits, and deep learning has a good effect on image recognition and segmentation. This paper proposes a method based on generative adversarial network and attention mechanism to improve the accuracy of semantic segmentation of plant leaves. First, the data set is standardized and divided into a training set and test set. The generator that produces the confrontation network uses Segnet as the backbone network and adds an attention mechanism to extract the phenotypic characteristics of plants. The discriminator utilizes a dual-input fully connected layer for true and false estimate. The experimental results show that compared with the original Segnet segmentation network, the proposed strategy improves the precision of pixel recognition PA. Also, the suggested technique has a high level of robustness and feature extraction precision. In addition to providing technical assistance for future crop cultivation and breeding, monitoring crop growth, ensuring yields as well as solving the food shortage problem.

Objectives: 16p13.11 microdeletion/microduplication are rare genetic diseases with incomplete penetrance, most of which have been reported in adults and children, with ultrasound phenotyping in fetuses rarely described. Here, we have analyzed prenatal ultrasound phenotypic characteristics associated with 16p13.11 microdeletion/microduplication, in order to improve the understanding, diagnosis and monitoring of this disease in the fetus. Methods: A total of 9000 pregnant women who underwent invasive prenatal diagnosis for karyotyping and SNP-array were retrospectively analyzed in tertiary referral institutions from October 2016 to January 2022. Results: SNP-array revealed that 20 fetuses had copy number variation (CNV) in the 16p13.11 region, out of which 5 had 16p13.11 microdeletion and the rest showed microduplication, along with different ultrasound phenotypes. Furthermore, 4/20 cases demonstrated structural abnormalities, while the remaining 16 cases were atypical in ultrasound. Taken together, 16p13.1 microdeletion was closely related to thickened nuchal translucency, while 16p13.11 microduplication was more closely associated with echogenic bowel. Only 5/15 fetuses were verified by pedigree, with one case of 16p13.11 microdeletion being de novo, and the other cases of 16p13.11 microduplication were inherited from one parent. In 4/20 cases, the pregnancy was terminated. Except for one case with short stature and another one who underwent lung cystadenoma surgery, no abnormalities were reported in the other cases during follow-up. Conclusion: Fetuses with 16p13.11 microdeletion/microduplication had no characteristic phenotype of intrauterine ultrasound and was in good health after birth, thus providing a reference for the perinatal management of such cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High‐quality tea requires leaves of similar size and tenderness. The grade of the fresh leaves determines the quality of the tea. The automated classification of fresh tea leaves improves resource utilization and reduces manual picking costs. The present study proposes a method based on an improved genetic algorithm for identifying fresh tea leaves in high‐speed parabolic motion using the phenotypic characteristics of the leaves. During parabolic flight, light is transmitted through the tea leaves, and six types of fresh tea leaves can be quickly identified by a camera. Results: The influence of combinations of morphology, color, and custom corner‐point morphological features on the classification results were investigated, and the necessary dimensionality of the model was tested. After feature selection and combination, the classification performance of the Naive Bayes, k‐nearest neighbor, and support vector machine algorithms were compared. The recognition time of Naive Bayes was the shortest, whereas the accuracy of support vector machine had the best classification accuracy at approximately 97%. The support vector machine algorithm with only three feature dimensions (equivalent diameter, circularity, and skeleton endpoints) can meet production requirements with an accuracy rate reaching 92.5%. The proposed algorithm was tested by using the Swedish leaf and Flavia data sets, on which it achieved accuracies of 99.57% and 99.44%, respectively, demonstrating the flexibility and efficiency of the recognition scheme detailed in the present study. Conclusion: This research provides an efficient tea leaves recognition system that can be applied to production lines to reduce manual picking costs. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the link between phenotypic traits, antimicrobial resistance, and biofilm-producing capacity of urinary isolates of Citrobacter freundii (C. freundii). Methods: Both pan-antibiotic-susceptible and -resistant C. freundii isolates (n = 120) obtained from laboratory-confirmed urinary tract infections were analyzed for their link between antimicrobial resistance, phenotypic characteristics, and biofilm production. Results: Of the total C. freundii isolates (n = 120), 30% (37/120) of them formed large colonies. Among the total large colonies produced (n = 37), they were present in 21.62%, 10.81%, 13.5%, 16.2%, 21.62%, and 16.21% in the control group, CIP-group, FOS-group, COT-group, Gent-group, and ESBL groups, respectively. Compared to the pan-susceptible isolates, the occurrence of large-sized-colony-forming strains was relatively reduced in most of the drug-resistant groups. The overall distribution of mucoid colonies produced (n = 54) includes 9.25%, 18.51%, 16.66%, 18.51%, 20.3%, and 16.66% in the control group, CIP-group, FOS-group, COT-group, Gent-group, and ESBL groups, respectively. Of the total isolates that produced biofilm (n = 51), 11.76% of isolates showed biofilm formation in the control group. Alternatively, the rate was found to be 15.68%, 11.76%, 25.49%, 19.6%, and 15.68% in the CIP-group, FOS-group, SXT-group, Gen-group, and ESBL-groups, respectively. Conclusion: This study correlates the association between phenotypic characteristics, antimicrobial resistance, and biofilm production, the three main characteristics of C. freundii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, five walnuts varieties were used as research objects, and the phenotypic data (size, weight and component) and oxidative characteristics were gathered, then the differences of walnuts phenotypic characteristics were investigated using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering method. Results showed that three principal components were extracted by PCA, and the contribution rate of cumulative variance reached to 93.078 9%. Based on the combination of phenotype (size, weight, composition) and oxidation characteristics, systematic cluster analysis was used to intuitively reflect the indices differences of different walnuts varieties through clustering heat maps, which could effectively distinguish different varieties of walnuts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum is a common landscape plant. Because of the preference for the 'red leaf' trait, the 'flower color' trait was ignored in breeding, and the genetic diversity of L. chinense var. rubrum was replaced by a few genotypes. Therefore, the potential value of flower color traits was affected, and the genetic diversity was not fully exploited. In this study, we utilized a cultivar with mosaic-colored flowers and leaves and observed 15 phenotypic traits in its flower organs and its progeny, as well as a total of 60 different flower color materials. We analyzed the variation characteristics and diversity of flower colors, and qualitatively described and preliminarily classified flower colors using the ISCC-NBS and CIELab systems to explore the correlation with the flower color phenotype from the distribution and content of anthocyanins. The phenotypic diversity of the flower organs was enriched, and genetic differences in flower color were significant for the L.chinense var. rubrum, with most of the 15 phenotypic traits showing significant positive correlations, and the most critical phenotypes are sepal, petal and nectary color, as well as petal length. According to the CIELab color system and anthocyanin content and distribution characteristics, it is considered more accurate and convenient to classify the color phenotypes of L. chinense var. rubrum flowers into five categories. In this study, for the first time, the flower organ phenotype of L. chinense var. rubrum has been systematically analyzed, and it is explored as a reference method for breeding new cultivars of a diverse range of colors in L. chinense var. rubrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An aerosol vaccine of Mhp could be nebulized by a ultrasonic atomizer. • The aerodynamic particle size of the Mhp aerosol vaccine was 2.98 ± 0.02. • The shape, size, and uniformity of collected aerosols are relatively stable. • The Mhp aerosol vaccine could induce good mucosal immunity. • The Mhp aerosol vaccine could provide protection against Mhp challenge. With the improvement of large-scale breeding in pig farms, conventional head-by-head immunization has disadvantages with low efficiency and high cost. Considering that most pathogens leading to pulmonary diseases circulate from the respiratory mucosa, immunization through the respiratory tract route has been a highly attractive vaccine delivery strategy. In this study, to develop an effective Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhp) aerosol vaccine, a customized ultrasonic atomizer was developed. The aerodynamic diameter, activity, and content of the Mhp aerosol vaccine were measured. In addition, piglets were immunized with the Mhp aerosol vaccine, and the immunity of the animal challenge protection test was evaluated. At the end of nebulization, the mass median aerodynamic diameters (MMAD) and geometric standard deviation (GSD) of the aerosol were 2.98 ± 0.02 μm and 1.51 ± 0.02, respectively. Moreover, 10 min after nebulization, the MMAD and GSD of the aerosol were 2.76 ± 0.02 μm and 1.51 ± 0.01, respectively, which were hardly changed. Compared with theoretical value, the actual titer of aerosol vaccines presented in 50% color changing unit (CCU 50) after nebulization decreased 0.6. The shape, size, and uniformity of collected aerosols are relatively stable. The proportion of Mhp in aerosol produced by vaccine stock solution and 10 times diluted vaccine solution was 76.52% and 58.82%, respectively, and the average number of Mhp in a single aerosol was 3.06 and 1.51, respectively. In addition, the aerosol vaccine antigen particles could be transported to the lower respiratory tract, a local mucosal immune response was induced in piglets. The vaccine colonized the respiratory tract and significantly decline the lung lesion index after aerosol vaccination. In conclusion, an effective aerosol vaccine against Mhp infection was developed. And this is the first effective assessment for Mhp live vaccine with aerosolization against infection in piglets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundLeishmania donovani is the etiological agent of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the Indian subcontinent. However, it is also known to cause cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan L. donovani differs from other L. donovani strains, both at the molecular and biochemical level. To investigate the different species or strain-specific differences of L. donovani in Sri Lanka we evaluated sequence variation of the kinetoplastid DNA (kDNA).MethodsParasites isolated from skin lesions of 34 CL patients and bone marrow aspirates from 4 VL patients were genotyped using the kDNA minicircle PCR analysis. A total of 301 minicircle sequences that included sequences from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and six reference species of Leishmania were analyzed.ResultsHaplotype diversity of Sri Lankan isolates were high (H d  = 0.757) with strong inter-geographical genetic differentiation (F ST  > 0.25). In this study, L. donovani isolates clustered according to their geographic origin, while Sri Lankan isolates formed a separate cluster and were clearly distinct from other Leishmania species. Within the Sri Lankan group, there were three distinct sub-clusters formed, from CL patients who responded to standard antimony therapy, CL patients who responded poorly to antimony therapy and from VL patients. There was no specific clustering of sequences based on geographical origin within Sri Lanka.ConclusionThis study reveals high levels of haplotype diversity of L. donovani in Sri Lanka with a distinct genetic association with clinically relevant phenotypic characteristics. The use of genetic tools to identify clinically relevant features of Leishmania parasites has important therapeutic implications for leishmaniasis.

Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) is one of the most important species among conifers in Europe, which provide valuable raw material for forest industries and also plays an important role in the society and economy. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to monitor the influence of environmental conditions (climatic and soil conditions) upon diverse phenotypic traits of spruce trees (height, diameter, canopy diameter) from four seed preserves situated in different parts of Romania, including the Counties of Bistrița-Năsăud, Maramureș, Harghita and Suceava. For this purpose, the weather conditions were recorded and four different soil profiles were evaluated.The results show that, when temperature and precipitation values together with soil type and profile thickness are in accordance with spruce growth conditions, the phenotypic traits reach their optimum. Therefore, the highest values for tree height (36,63 m), tree diameter (46,53 cm) and average tree volume (2,57 m3) were recorded in Măria Mică on Eutricambosol soil type on 92 cm soil profile thickness, followed by Făina location were Districambosol was determined in depth of 105 cm. preserve.

Tremendous progress has been made in the recognition of primary immune deficiencies (PIDs) in Bulgaria since in 2005 we have joined the J Project Central-Eastern European collaborative program. Ten years later an Expert Centre (ExpC) for Rare Diseases - Primary Immune Deficiencies at the University Hospital “Alexandrovska”- Sofia was established. In May 2017 The National Register of Patients with Rare Diseases also became operational as a database containing clinical and genetic information for Bulgarian patients with PID. The transfer of data and information on Bulgarian PID patients to the European Primary Immunodeficiency Database, managed by the European Society for Primary Immunodeficiency (ESID) has started in 2020. The total number of registered patients now is 191 (100 men and 91 women), with more than half of them being children (106; 55.5%). Regular updating of the information in the register showed that 5.2% of patients are deceased and the majority (94.8%) is a subject to continuous monitoring as it has been reported for other European countries as well. With the establishment of the ExpC, the dynamics in the diagnosis and registration of patients with PID significantly intensified. For a period of 5 years (2016-2021) 101 patients were evaluated and registered in comparison with previous period - before ExpC establishment when only 89 patients were diagnosed. The most common pathology was humoral immune deficiency (85 patients; 44.5%). Ninety-six (50.3%) of the patients underwent genetic testing, and 66. 7% had genetically confirmed diagnosis. Three of the variants have not been reported in population databases. Following genetic investigation confirmation of the initial phenotypic diagnosis was achieved in 82.8% of cases and change in the diagnosis - in 17%. Sixty-two patients were on regular replacement or specific therapy, and the rest received symptomatic and supportive treatment. In summary, we present the first epidemiological report of PIDs in Bulgaria, based on the National PID register. Data on the clinical, phenotypic and genetic characteristics of PID patients provided important information about the nature of primary immunodeficiency diseases in our country.

ABSTRACT Cowpea is a nutritious species cultivated worldwide whose high genetic variability can be exploited in breeding programs. The present study aimed to identify phenotypically divergent genotypes of Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., from this pe rspective concerning agronomic and physiological variables aiming at green grain production. An experiment was conducted in Fortaleza – CE, to analyse 13 variables in 44 genotypes from the Active Germplasm Bank of the Federal University of Ceará. The experiment was set up in an augmented block design with four additional controls (commercial cultivars). The genetic and environmental variance components were estimated by restricted maximum likelihood, after which the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated. Principal components analysis, Tocher’s clustering and correlation analysis were used in the study. The variables most influenced by genetic variance were production per plant, green pod length, green grain length, grain mass per pod, and total yield, with ICC > 0.5. Principal components analysis signalled the physiological variables gs, ci, and ci.ca and the agronomic variables of green pod length, green grain mass, number of grains per pod, and earliness of production as important for differentiating between cowpea genotypes. CE genotypes 02, 151, 165, 172, 189, 244, 986, and 1002 show genetic variability, and their use is recommended in cowpea breeding programs aimed at green-grain production.

Although nevus count is an established risk factor for melanoma, relationships between nevus number and patient and tumor characteristics have not been well studied and the influence of nevus count on melanoma-specific survival is equivocal. Using data from the Genes, Environment and Melanoma (GEM) study, a large population-based study of primary cutaneous melanoma, we evaluated associations between number of nevi and patient features, including sun-sensitivity summarized in a phenotypic index, and tumor characteristics. We also assessed the association of nevus count with melanoma-specific survival. Higher nevus counts were independently and positively associated with male gender and younger age at diagnosis, and they were inversely associated with lentigo maligna histology. We observed a borderline significant trend of poorer melanoma-specific survival with increasing quartile of nevus count, but little or no association between number of nevi and pigmentary phenotypic characteristics or prognostic tumor features.

Proteases are virulence factors with a recognized impact on the Leishmania spp. life cycle. This study considers a set of analyses measuring phenotypic factors of L. (V.) braziliensis clinical isolates as promastigotes growth curves, murine peritoneal macrophages infection, inflammatory mediators production, and serine proteases gene expression (subtilisin 13: S13, subtilisin 28: S28, oligopeptidase B: OPB) assessing these isolates' fitness on in vitro conditions. Parasites had different behavior during the early growth phase from day zero to day three, and all isolates reached the stationary growth phase between days four and seven. Macrophages infection showed two tendencies, one of decreased infection rate and number of parasites per macrophage (Infection Index <1000) and another with a constant infection index (≥1400). TNF-α (≥10 pg/mL) detected in infections by 75% of isolates, IL-6 (≥80 pg/mL) by 30% of isolates and low levels of NO (≥0.01µM) in almost all infections. Gene expression showed higher values of S13 (≥2RQ) in the intracellular amastigotes of all the isolates evaluated. On the contrary, S28 expression was low (≤1RQ) in all isolates. OPB expression was different between promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes, being significantly higher (≥2RQ) in the latter form of 58% of the isolates. Predictive structural assays of S13 and OPB were performed to explore temperature influence on gene expression and the encoded proteases. Gene expression data is discussed based on in silico predictions of regulatory regions that show plasticity in the linearity index of secondary structures of S13 and OPB 3'-untranslated regions of mRNA, dependent on temperature changes. While hairpin structures suggest an active region of mRNA for both genes above 26°C, pseudoknot structure found in S13 is an indication of a particular profile of this gene at mammalian host temperatures (37°C). Furthermore, the predicted 3D structures are in accordance with the influence of these temperatures on the catalytic site stability of both enzymes, favoring their action over peptide substrates. Data gathered here suggest that L. (V.) braziliensis serine proteases can be influenced by the temperature conditions affecting parasite fitness throughout its life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterococcus faecalis is one of the important causative agents of nosocomial and life-threatening infections in human. Several studies have demonstrated that the presence of CRISPR-cas is associated with antibiotic susceptibility and lack of virulence traits. In this study, we aimed to assess the phenotypic and genotypic virulence determinants in relation to CRISPR elements from the dental-root canals and hospital-acquired isolates of E. faecalis. Eighty-eight hospital-acquired and 73 dental-root canal isolates of E. faecalis were assessed in this study. Phenotypic screening of the isolates included biofilm formation, and gelatinase and hemolysis activities. Genotypical screening using PCR was further used to evaluate the presence of CRISPR elements and different virulence-associated genes such as efaA, esp, cylA, hyl, gelE, ace, ebpR, and asa1. Biofilm formation, gelatinase, and hemolysis activities were detected in 93.8%, 29.2%, and 19.2% of the isolates, respectively. The most prevalent virulence-associated gene was ace, which was followed by efaA, whereas cylA was the least identified. The presence of CRISPR1-cas, orphan CRISPR2, and CRISPR3-cas was determined in 13%, 55.3%, and 17.4% of the isolates, respectively. CRISPR elements were significantly more prevalent in the dental-root canal isolates. An inverse significant correlation was found between CRISPR-cas loci, esp, and gelE, while direct correlations were observed in the case of cylA, hyl, gelE (among CRISPR-loci 1 and 3), asa1, ace, biofilm formation, and hemolysis activity. Findings, therefore, indicate that CRISPR-cas might prevent the acquisition of some respective pathogenicity factors in some isolates, though not all; so selective forces could not influence pathogenic traits. Abbreviations: BHI: brain-heart infusion agar; CRISPRs: Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats; Esp: Cell wall-associated protein; ENT: ear-nose-throat; ICU: intensive care units; OD: optical densities; PCR: polymerase chain reaction; SDS: sodium dodecyl sulfate; UTI: urinary tract infection

Drug resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a leading problem in hospital infections. The aim of this study was to determine the best molecular genetic discrimination method for Pseudomonas spp. isolates among 94 outpatients and inpatients and see their grouping by phenotype characteristics (biofilm formation, frequency of serotypes, pigmentation, production of different class of beta-lactamases, and susceptibility to different antibiotic classes) and genotype. The most common serotypes were P1, P6, and P11, while co-productions of pyoverdine and pyocyanin were observed in 70 % of isolates. A total of 77.66 % isolates were mostly weak and moderate biofilm producers. Isolates were susceptible to colistin (100 %), aztreonam (97.87 %), imipenem (91.49 %), doripenem (90.43 %), and meropenem (84.04 %). MICs values confirmed susceptibility to ceftazidime and cefepime and singled out meripenem as the most effective inhibitor. Most isolates were resistant to aminoglycosides and fluoroquinolones. Only two isolates produced ESBL, eight were carbapenemase producers, and five isolates produced MBLs. Twenty-nine isolates were multidrug-resistant; 82.8 % of which produced both pigments, 58.3 % were non-typeable, while the P6 and P11 serotypes were equally distributed (16.7 %). Thirteen MDR isolates were strong enzyme producers. RAPD PCR analysis using primer 272 proved the best at discriminatory fingerprinting for Pseudomonas isolates, as it allocated 12 clusters. A correlation between DNA patterns and antibiotic resistance, production of pigments, serotypes distribution, and biofilm formation was not observed, and only confirmed higher genetic heterogeneity among P. aeruginosa isolates, which suggests that other molecular methods are needed to reveal potential relations between genotypic patterns and phenotypic characteristics.

Proteases are virulence factors with a recognized impact on the Leishmania spp. life cycle. This study considers a set of analyses measuring phenotypic factors of L. (V.) braziliensis clinical isolates as promastigotes growth curves, murine peritoneal macrophages infection, inflammatory mediators production, and serine proteases gene expression (subtilisin 13: S13, subtilisin 28: S28, oligopeptidase B: OPB) assessing these isolates’ fitness on in vitro conditions. Parasites had different behavior during the early growth phase from day zero to day three, and all isolates reached the stationary growth phase between days four and seven. Macrophages infection showed two tendencies, one of decreased infection rate and number of parasites per macrophage (Infection Index