Genotypic and phenotypic variability of Zostera marina on the west coast of North America

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1361-1371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. H. Backman
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Zostera Marina ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Puget Sound ◽  
Leaf Size ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Wide Range

The relation between environmental factors and leaf morphology of Zostera marina L. have long been unclear, primarily because the species is intrinsically variable. The common-garden method was used to determine the genetic, environmental, and interaction components of leaf size variation. Zostera marina consists of several ecotypes with a wide range of phenotypic plasticity. Variation in the morphology of Z. marina was of three types: genetic, accounting for 14% across the localities studied; environmental (phenotypic plasticity along temporal and spatial gradients), accounting for 32%; and interaction between genotype and environmental, acounting for 35%. Five ecotypes were described for the North American Pacific coast: Z. marina L. var. izembekensis Backman, Z. marina L. var. typica Setchell, Z. marina L. var. phillipsii Backman, Z. marina L. var. latifolia Morong, Z. marina L. var. atàm Backman. Temporal variation was due to seasonal phenotypic changes in ecotypes. Zostera marina var. izembekensis showed little seasonal morphological changes; Z. marina var. typica demonstrated minor increase in leaf size in spring and summer. Zostera marina var. phillipsii and Z. marina var. latifolia behaved similarly in that leaf size of both increased markedly in spring through early summer. Zostera marina var. phillipsii is adapted to Hood Canal and Puget Sound while Z. marina var. latifolia occupies the outer coast. Zostera marina var. atàm exhibits sexual reproduction exclusively and is specifically adapted to the Gulf of California. Key words: seagrasses, common-garden experiment, ecotypes, morphometrics, genotypes.

scholarly journals Multisite evaluation of phenotypic plasticity for specialized metabolites, some involved in carrot quality and disease resistance

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249613
Author(s):  
Wilfried Chevalier ◽  
Sitti-Anlati Moussa ◽  
Miguel Medeiros Netto Ottoni ◽  
Cécile Dubois-Laurent ◽  
Sébastien Huet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Sensory Quality ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Environment Interaction ◽  
Biotic And Abiotic Stress ◽  
Environmental Sensitivity ◽  
Specialized Metabolites ◽  
Wide Range

Renewed consumer demand motivates the nutritional and sensory quality improvement of fruits and vegetables. Specialized metabolites being largely involved in nutritional and sensory quality of carrot, a better knowledge of their phenotypic variability is required. A metabolomic approach was used to evaluate phenotypic plasticity level of carrot commercial varieties, over three years and a wide range of cropping environments spread over several geographical areas in France. Seven groups of metabolites have been quantified by HPLC or GC methods: sugars, carotenoids, terpenes, phenolic compounds, phenylpropanoids and polyacetylenes. A large variation in root metabolic profiles was observed, in relation with environment, variety and variety by environment interaction effects in decreasing order of importance. Our results show a clear diversity structuration based on metabolite content. Polyacetylenes, β-pinene and α-carotene were identified mostly as relatively stable varietal markers, exhibiting static stability. Nevertheless, environment effect was substantial for a large part of carrot metabolic profile and various levels of phenotypic plasticity were observed depending on metabolites and varieties. A strong difference of environmental sensitivity between varieties was observed for several compounds, particularly myristicin, 6MM and D-germacrene, known to be involved in responses to biotic and abiotic stress. This work provides useful information about plasticity in the perspective of carrot breeding and production. A balance between constitutive content and environmental sensitivity for key metabolites should be reached for quality improvement in carrot and other vegetables.

Phenotypic Plasticity in the Invasion of Crofton Weed (Eupatorium adenophorum) in China

Weed Science ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yujie Zhao ◽  
Xuejun Yang ◽  
Xinqiang Xi ◽  
Xianming Gao ◽  
Shucun Sun
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Leaf Area ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Similar Reaction ◽  
Crofton Weed ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Population Origin ◽  
Common Garden Experiments

Phenotypic plasticity and rapid evolution are two important strategies by which invasive species adapt to a wide range of environments and consequently are closely associated with plant invasion. To test their importance in invasion success of Crofton weed, we examined the phenotypic response and genetic variation of the weed by conducting a field investigation, common garden experiments, and intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) marker analysis on 16 populations in China. Molecular markers revealed low genetic variation among and within the sampled populations. There were significant differences in leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), and seed number (SN) among field populations, and plasticity index (PIv) for LA, SLA, and SN were 0.62, 0.46 and 0.85, respectively. Regression analyses revealed a significant quadratic effect of latitude of population origin on LA, SLA, and SN based on field data but not on traits in the common garden experiments (greenhouse and open air). Plants from different populations showed similar reaction norms across the two common gardens for functional traits. LA, SLA, aboveground biomass, plant height at harvest, first flowering day, and life span were higher in the greenhouse than in the open-air garden, whereas SN was lower. Growth conditions (greenhouse vs. open air) and the interactions between growth condition and population origin significantly affect plant traits. The combined evidence suggests high phenotypic plasticity but low genetically based variation for functional traits of Crofton weed in the invaded range. Therefore, we suggest that phenotypic plasticity is the primary strategy for Crofton weed as an aggressive invader that can adapt to diverse environments in China.

Formation and composition of training flax collection

2020 ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
L.M. Kryvosheieva ◽  
V.I. Chuchvaha ◽  
N.M. Kandyba
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Gene Pool ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Economic Traits ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of

Aim. Based on the results of multi-year research into the flax gene pool, to form a flax training collection to provide breeding scientific organizations and educational institutions with collection samples as well as with information about the bast crop gene pool. Results and Discussion. The studies were conducted in the crop rotation fields for breeding and seed production of the Institute of Bast Crops of the NAAS (Hlukhiv, Sumska Oblast) in 1992-2018. The field measurements and laboratory analyses were carried out in accordance with conventional methods of field and laboratory studies of collection flax samples.The article presents the results on the formation of a training collection of flax at the Institute of Bast Crops of the NAAS, which has 117 accessions (11 botanical species and three varieties) from 22 countries. In addition to species diversity, the collection includes accessions with different levels of expression of valuable economic and biological characteristics. It also includes accessions selected by phenotypic variability of individual characters or their combinations. The multi-year research into the flax collection accessions resulted in identification of sources of highly-expressed valuable economic traits, which are of interest for the plant breeding course. The history of flax breeding in Ukraine is shown, where breeding varieties that are most widespread or were significant breeding achievements in solving certain problems, are presented. The collection can be used as a visual aid for the plant breeding course in educational programs; in addition, it can provide starting material for scientific and educational institutions. The collection is registered with the National Center for Plant Genetic Resources of Ukraine (certificate No. 00273 dated 04/11/2019). Conclusions. The studies of accessions from the national flax collection allowed us to build up a training collection and register it with the NCPGRU. The collection represents a wide range of biological and economic features of the gene pool of this crop. The collection can be used in the educational process of educational agricultural and biological institutions. The multi-year research into the national flax collection resulted in identification of sources of highly-expressed valuable economic traits, which are of interest to the plant breeding course. The history of flax breeding in Ukraine got covered, and breeding varieties that are most widespread or were significant breeding achievements in solving certain problems are presented.

scholarly journals Individual Expression of Hepatitis A Virus 3C Protease Induces Ferroptosis in Human Cells In Vitro

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (15) ◽  
pp. 7906
Author(s):  
Alexey A. Komissarov ◽  
Maria A. Karaseva ◽  
Marina P. Roschina ◽  
Andrey V. Shubin ◽  
Nataliya A. Lunina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Death ◽  
Hepatitis A ◽  
Hepatitis A Virus ◽  
Proteolytic Enzymes ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Mitochondrial Potential ◽  
3C Protease ◽  
Wide Range

Regulated cell death (RCD) is a fundamental process common to nearly all living beings and essential for the development and tissue homeostasis in animals and humans. A wide range of molecules can induce RCD, including a number of viral proteolytic enzymes. To date, numerous data indicate that picornaviral 3C proteases can induce RCD. In most reported cases, these proteases induce classical caspase-dependent apoptosis. In contrast, the human hepatitis A virus 3C protease (3Cpro) has recently been shown to cause caspase-independent cell death accompanied by previously undescribed features. Here, we expressed 3Cpro in HEK293, HeLa, and A549 human cell lines to characterize 3Cpro-induced cell death morphologically and biochemically using flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. We found that dead cells demonstrated necrosis-like morphological changes including permeabilization of the plasma membrane, loss of mitochondrial potential, as well as mitochondria and nuclei swelling. Additionally, we showed that 3Cpro-induced cell death was efficiently blocked by ferroptosis inhibitors and was accompanied by intense lipid peroxidation. Taken together, these results indicate that 3Cpro induces ferroptosis upon its individual expression in human cells. This is the first demonstration that a proteolytic enzyme can induce ferroptosis, the recently discovered and actively studied type of RCD.

scholarly journals An Evaluation of Morphological Changes and Deformability of Suspended Red Blood Cells Prepared Using Whole Blood with Different Hemoglobin Levels of Tibetans

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Rui Zhong ◽  
Dingding Han ◽  
Xiaodong Wu ◽  
Hong Wang ◽  
Wanjing Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Red Blood Cells ◽  
Whole Blood ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Osmotic Fragility ◽  
Spherical Shape ◽  
Hypoxic Environment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Group A ◽  
Cell Membrane Protein

Background: The hypoxic environment stimulates the human body to increase the levels of hemoglobin (HGB) and hematocrit and the number of red blood cells. Such enhancements have individual differences, leading to a wide range of HGB in Tibetans’ whole blood (WB). Study Design: WB of male Tibetans was divided into 3 groups according to different HGB (i.e., A: >120 but ≤185 g/L, B: >185 but ≤210 g/L, and C: >210 g/L). Suspended red blood cells (SRBC) processed by collected WB and stored in standard conditions were examined aseptically on days 1, 14, 21, and 35 after storage. The routine biochemical indexes, deformability, cell morphology, and membrane proteins were tested. Results: Mean corpuscular volume, adenosine triphosphate, pH, and deformability were not different in group A vs. those in storage (p > 0.05). The increased rate of irreversible morphology of red blood cells was different among the 3 groups, but there was no difference in the percentage of red blood cells with an irreversible morphology after 35 days of storage. Group C performed better in terms of osmotic fragility and showed a lower rigid index than group A. Furthermore, SDS-PAGE revealed similar cross-linking degrees of cell membrane protein but the band 3 protein of group C seemed to experience weaker clustering than that of group A as detected by Western Blot analysis after 35 days of storage. Conclusions: There was no difference in deformability or morphological changes in the 3 groups over the 35 days of storage. High HGB levels of plateau SRBC did not accelerate the RBC change from a biconcave disc into a spherical shape and it did not cause a reduction in deformability during 35 days of preservation in bank conditions.

Variation in regrowth ability in relation to land-use intensity in three common grassland herbs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kirschbaum ◽  
Oliver Bossdorf ◽  
J F Scheepens
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Temporal Stability ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Grassland Management ◽  
Land Use Intensity ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Biomass Removal ◽  
Reproductive Biomass

Abstract Aims Plant populations in managed grasslands are subject to strong selection exerted by grazing, mowing and fertilization. Many previous studies showed that this can cause evolutionary changes in mean trait values, but little is known about the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in response to land use. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the relationships between phenotypic plasticity – specifically, regrowth ability after biomass removal – and the intensity of grassland management and levels of temporal variation therein. Methods We conducted an outdoor common garden experiment to test if plants from more intensively mown and grazed sites showed an increased ability to regrow after biomass removal. We used three common plant species from temperate European grasslands, with seed material from 58 – 68 populations along gradients of land-use intensity, ranging from extensive (only light grazing) to very intensive management (up to four cuts per year). Important findings In two out of three species, we found significant population differentiation in regrowth ability after clipping. While variation in regrowth ability was unrelated to the mean land-use intensity of populations of origin, we found a relationship with its temporal variation in P. lanceolata, where plants experiencing less variable environmental conditions over the last 11 years showed stronger regrowth in reproductive biomass after clipping. Therefore, while mean grazing and mowing intensity may not select for regrowth ability, the temporal stability of the environmental heterogeneity created by land use may have caused its evolution in some species.

scholarly journals Cortical Excitability across the ALS Clinical Motor Phenotypes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 715
Author(s):  
Thanuja Dharmadasa
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Cortical Excitability ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Underlying Disease ◽  
Selective Vulnerability ◽  
Clinical Feature ◽  
Cortical Hyperexcitability ◽  
Wide Range

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by its marked clinical heterogeneity. Although the coexistence of upper and lower motor neuron signs is a common clinical feature for most patients, there is a wide range of atypical motor presentations and clinical trajectories, implying a heterogeneity of underlying pathogenic mechanisms. Corticomotoneuronal dysfunction is increasingly postulated as the harbinger of clinical disease, and neurophysiological exploration of the motor cortex in vivo using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has suggested that motor cortical hyperexcitability may be a critical pathogenic factor linked to clinical features and survival. Region-specific selective vulnerability at the level of the motor cortex may drive the observed differences of clinical presentation across the ALS motor phenotypes, and thus, further understanding of phenotypic variability in relation to cortical dysfunction may serve as an important guide to underlying disease mechanisms. This review article analyses the cortical excitability profiles across the clinical motor phenotypes, as assessed using TMS, and explores this relationship to clinical patterns and survival. This understanding will remain essential to unravelling central disease pathophysiology and for the development of specific treatment targets across the ALS clinical motor phenotypes.

Understanding Micro-Droplet Interface Bilayers for Developing Bioinspired Sensors

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guru Venkatesan ◽  
Andy Sarles
Keyword(s):  
Water Droplet ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Material System ◽  
Modes Of Operation ◽  
New Class ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Droplet Sizes ◽  
The Stability

Droplet-based biomolecular arrays form the basis for a new class of bioinspired material system, whereby decreasing the sizes of the droplets and increasing the number of droplets can lead to higher functional density for the array. In this paper, we report on a non-microfluidic approach to form and connect nanoliter-to-femtoliter, lipid-coated aqueous droplets in oil to form micro-droplet interface bilayers (μDIBs). Two different modes of operation are reported for dispensing a wide range of droplet sizes (2–200μm radius). Due to the high surface-area-to-volume ratios of microdroplets at these length scales, droplet shrinking is prominent, which affects the stability and lifetime of the bilayer. To better quantify these effects, we measure the shrinkage rates for 8 different water droplet/oil compositions and study the effect of lipid placement and lipid type on morphological changes to μDIBs.

scholarly journals Mito Hacker: a set of tools to enable high-throughput analysis of mitochondrial network morphology

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Rohani ◽  
Jennifer A. Kashatus ◽  
Dane T. Sessions ◽  
Salma Sharmin ◽  
David F. Kashatus
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Mitochondrial Morphology ◽  
Single Cell Level ◽  
Mitochondrial Network ◽  
Cell Level ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles that can exhibit a wide range of morphologies. Mitochondrial morphology can differ significantly across cell types, reflecting different physiological needs, but can also change rapidly in response to stress or the activation of signaling pathways. Understanding both the cause and consequences of these morphological changes is critical to fully understanding how mitochondrial function contributes to both normal and pathological physiology. However, while robust and quantitative analysis of mitochondrial morphology has become increasingly accessible, there is a need for new tools to generate and analyze large data sets of mitochondrial images in high throughput. The generation of such datasets is critical to fully benefit from rapidly evolving methods in data science, such as neural networks, that have shown tremendous value in extracting novel biological insights and generating new hypotheses. Here we describe a set of three computational tools, Cell Catcher, Mito Catcher and MiA, that we have developed to extract extensive mitochondrial network data on a single-cell level from multi-cell fluorescence images. Cell Catcher automatically separates and isolates individual cells from multi-cell images; Mito Catcher uses the statistical distribution of pixel intensities across the mitochondrial network to detect and remove background noise from the cell and segment the mitochondrial network; MiA uses the binarized mitochondrial network to perform more than 100 mitochondria-level and cell-level morphometric measurements. To validate the utility of this set of tools, we generated a database of morphological features for 630 individual cells that encode 0, 1 or 2 alleles of the mitochondrial fission GTPase Drp1 and demonstrate that these mitochondrial data could be used to predict Drp1 genotype with 87% accuracy. Together, this suite of tools enables the high-throughput and automated collection of detailed and quantitative mitochondrial structural information at a single-cell level. Furthermore, the data generated with these tools, when combined with advanced data science approaches, can be used to generate novel biological insights.

scholarly journals Morphological evolution of Cuban super heavyweight boxers, 1976-2014

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 312-318
Author(s):  
Wiliam Carvajal Veitía ◽  
Sofía Alberta León Pérez ◽  
María Elena González Revuelta ◽  
Yanel Deturnel Campo
Keyword(s):  
Body Composition ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Skinfold Thickness ◽  
The Body ◽  
Morphological Attributes ◽  
International Trends ◽  
Sitting Height ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Scientific Value

Objective: To evaluate the morphological changes of Cuban super heavyweight boxers, more and less successful, through the period 1976-2014. Material and method: Thirty super heavy boxers, who were members of the Cuban national teams in the period 1976-2014, were compared; The strategy consisted of separating the group in the periods 1976-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2009 and 2010-2014. Sixteen anthropometric dimensions were recorded (weight, height, sitting height, six skinfold thickness, five girths and two breadths), from which the body composition and the somatotype were obtained. The data were analyzed applying the Analysis of variance (ANOVA). The conglomerate analysis based on the Euclidean distance was used in order to evaluate the correspondence between physical development and sports performance. A discriminant analysis was carried out in order to analyze the contribution of the anthropometrical variables to the variance of different clusters. Results: Most of the anthropometric dimensions and indicators showed significant differences, having an impact on the increase in adiposity, body fat and endomorphy (p <0.05), as well as the decrease in the indicators dependent on height (p <0.05). The analysis by conglomerates, as well as the study of the Migratory Distances of the somatotype, showed that the Olympic medalist boxers differed in terms of the characteristics of body composition and in terms of the intensity of the somatotype changes in the period 1976-2014. Conclusions: The Cuban boxer of the super heavyweight category showed a wide range of morphological demands, but these were framed within the international trends of professional boxers. The morphological attributes of the Olympic medalists differed from each other, and from the rest of the boxers investigated over time. These results provide anthropometric data of high scientific value, both for selection and for medical control of training.

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