Cyanogenesis in the Sorghum Genus: From Genotype to Phenotype

Domestication has resulted in a loss of genetic diversity in our major food crops, leading to susceptibility to biotic and abiotic stresses linked with climate change. Crop wild relatives (CWR) may provide a source of novel genes potentially important for re-gaining climate resilience. Sorghum bicolor is an important cereal crop with wild relatives that are endemic to Australia. Sorghum bicolor is cyanogenic, but the cyanogenic status of wild Sorghum species is not well known. In this study, leaves of wild species endemic in Australia are screened for the presence of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin. The direct measurement of dhurrin content and the potential for dhurrin-derived HCN release (HCNp) showed that all the tested Australian wild species were essentially phenotypically acyanogenic. The unexpected low dhurrin content may reflect the variable and generally nutrient-poor environments in which they are growing in nature. Genome sequencing of six CWR and PCR amplification of the CYP79A1 gene from additional species showed that a high conservation of key amino acids is required for correct protein function and dhurrin synthesis, pointing to the transcriptional regulation of the cyanogenic phenotype in wild sorghum as previously shown in elite sorghum.

Characterization Of Interspecific Gene Flows at The Genome-wide Level in a Natural Ecosystem The Massane Forest Reveals New Insights Into Horizontal Transfer In plants.

Horizontal transfer (HT) refers to the exchange of genetic material between divergent species by mechanisms other than reproduction. In recent years, several studies have demonstrated HTs in plants, particularly in the context of parasitic relationships and in model species. However, very little is known about HT in natural ecosystems, especially those involving non-parasitic wild species, and the nature of the ecological relationships that promote these HTs. In this work, we conducted a pilot study investigating HTs by sequencing the genomes of 17 wild non-model species from a natural ecosystem, the Massane forest, located in southern France. To this end, we developed a new computational pipeline called INTERCHANGE that is able to characterize HTs at the whole genome level without prior annotation and directly in the raw sequencing reads. Using this pipeline, we identified 12 HT events, half of which occurred between lianas and trees. We found that only LTRs-retrotransposons and predominantly those from the Copia superfamily were transferred between these wild species. This study revealed a possible new route for HTs between non-parasitic plants and provides new insights into the genomic characteristics of horizontally transferred DNA in plant genomes.

Ethnobotany of indigenous (Traditional) vegetables in Adi tribe of East Siang region of Arunachal Pradesh, India

Arunachal Pradesh is known as land of rising Sun which is the biggest in terms of area-wise amongst the state of north east India.The region has 26 major tribe; each tribe has its own enormous indigenous knowledge on the uses of wild plants. Among the tribe, Adi community is one of the major tribe inhabited in the region which has its own habitual way of using horticultural (vegetables) resources for sustaining livelihood. Most of the plants are also ethnically important without wich diverse rituals and festivals (Solung) of adi community remain unfinished. The current servey was under taken interviewed through planned questionaire. In our investigation among 25 wild species, 5 species belong to the Solanaceae family which was found to be most widely used family followed by Apiaceae, Rutaceae, Urticaceae and Araceae. Investigation on the basis of plant parts used reveals that the edible parts of the plants such as 6 species found to be widely used though leaves followed by 3 species fruits and 3 species whole plants besides these other plant parts like young tender leaves, tender stalks, petioles, rhizome also has been observed. This study is aim to initiated the basic information of these valuable herbs vegetable species for popularizing in future. These can compete with the best vegetables if appropriate study is initiated for production and ethanomedicine improvement.

Genome sequence for the blue-flowered Andean shrub Iochroma cyaneum reveals extensive discordance across the berry clade of Solanaceae

The tomato family, Solanaceae, is a model clade for a wide range of applied and basic research questions. Currently, reference-quality genomes are available for over 30 species from seven genera, and these include numerous crops as well as wild species (e.g., Jaltomata sinuosa and Nicotiana attenuata). Here we present the genome of the showy-flowered Andean shrub Iochroma cyaneum, a woody lineage from the tomatillo subfamily Physalideae. The assembled size of the genome (2.7Gb) is more similar in size to chilipepper (2.6Gb) than to other sequenced diploid members of the berry clade of Solanaceae (e.g., potato, tomato, and Jaltomata). Our assembly recovers 92% of the conserved orthologous set, suggesting a nearly complete genome for this species. Most of the genomic content is repetitive (69%), with gyspy elements alone accounting for 52% of the genome. Despite the large amount of repetitive content, most of the 12 Iochroma chromosomes are highly syntenic with tomato. Bayesian concordance analysis provides strong support for the berry clade, including Iochroma, but reveals extensive discordance along the backbone, with placement of pepper and Jaltomata being highly variable across gene trees. The Iochroma genome contributes to a growing wealth of genomic resources in Solanaceae and underscores the need for expanded sampling of diverse berry genomes to dissect major morphological transitions.

Presence of native trees in rural tribal homegardens doesn’t necessarily mean conservation: A case study from Mishmi belt of Arunachal Pradesh, India

Increasing human population and various developmental activities in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which lies in one of the most bio-diverse regions of the world, has caused large-scale deforestation, pushing a large number of native tree species to the serious verge of elimination from their native forest. In such tribal-dominated landscapes around the world, myriads of studies have emphasized the potential of homegardens as a site for local biodiversity conservation as they are known to have a huge Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) on the use of diverse native floras. The present study was, therefore, undertaken to investigate if the native communities of the Mishmi tribe conserved native indigenous tree species in their homegardens and if they are grown then what is the future of these tree species? It was hypothesized that harbouring greater indigenous knowledge implies greater domestication of tree species in their homegardens. Altogether, 103 species of trees were recorded from 243 homegardens in the present study. Although the native species constituted more than half of the species diversity, they, however, greatly lagged in all other aspects of the study such as population share, frequency distribution and regeneration potential. Native tree species constituted just 37% of the total tree population. Only two species, Bauhinia variegata L. and Alnus nepalensis D. Don, made up the major bulk of the native population. In terms of frequency distribution, only a handful of native species maintained a decent presence in the homegardens. Most of the native species grew naturally in unmanaged homegardens. The regeneration potential of all native species was very poor, including B. variegata. The study demonstrates that out of the 76 native species recorded from the region, only 7 species can rightfully be regarded as being domesticated by virtue of IKS of the Mishmi community. Our study concludes that the native species do exist in large number in homegardens of the rural tribal areas, but most of the native wild species exist in the rural homegardens not because they are planted/preferred but because they just happen to randomly grow there since most of the homegardens of tribal household are unmanaged or poorly managed, thereby giving way to wild species to germinate, at least until the owner decides to weed them out.

Interactions between reproductive biology and microbiomes in wild animal species

Many parts of the animal body harbor microbial communities, known as animal-associated microbiomes, that affect the regulation of physiological functions. Studies in human and animal models have demonstrated that the reproductive biology and such microbiomes also interact. However, this concept is poorly studied in wild animal species and little is known about the implications to fertility, parental/offspring health, and survival in natural habitats. The objective of this review is to (1) specify the interactions between animals’ reproductive biology, including reproductive signaling, pregnancy, and offspring development, and their microbiomes, with an emphasis on wild species and (2) identify important research gaps as well as areas for further studies. While microbiomes present in the reproductive tract play the most direct role, other bodily microbiomes may also contribute to facilitating reproduction. In fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, endogenous processes related to the host physiology and behavior (visual and olfactory reproductive signals, copulation) can both influence and be influenced by the structure and function of microbial communities. In addition, exposures to maternal microbiomes in mammals (through vagina, skin, and milk) shape the offspring microbiomes, which, in turn, affects health later in life. Importantly, for all wild animal species, host-associated microbiomes are also influenced by environmental variations. There is still limited literature on wild animals compared to the large body of research on model species and humans. However, the few studies in wild species clearly highlight the necessity of increased research in rare and endangered animals to optimize conservation efforts in situ and ex situ. Thus, the link between microbiomes and reproduction is an emerging and critical component in wild animal conservation.

Antioxidant Properties and Structure-Antioxidant Activity Relationship of Allium Species Leaves

Allium is a genus that is widely consumed and used as traditional medicine in several countries. This genus has two major species, namely cultivated species and wild species. Cultivated species consist of A. cepa L., A. sativum L., A. fistulosum L. and A. schoenoprasum L. and wild species consist of A. ursinum L., A. flavum L., A. scorodoprasum L., A. vineale L. and A. atroviolaceum Boiss. Several studies report that the Allium species contain secondary metabolites such as polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins and have bioactivity such as antioxidants, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, pancreatic α-amylase, glucoamylase enzyme inhibitors and antiplatelets. This review summarizes some information regarding the types of Allium species (ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology), the content of compounds of Allium species leaves with various isolation methods, bioactivities, antioxidant properties and the structure-antioxidant activity relationship (SAR) of Allium compounds.

Relationship of Cultivated Grain Amaranth Species and Wild Relative Accessions

Amaranthus is a genus of C4 dicotyledonous herbaceous plants, and three New World species have been domesticated to produce grain crops with light colored seed which are classified as pseudo-cereals rich in protein and minerals. A core collection of grain amaranths and immediate precursor species has been established, representing the closest related species. The goal of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity in that collection of cultivated and wild species, using competitive allele single nucleotide polymorphism markers. A secondary objective was to determine the relationships among the three cultivated species and non-domesticated Amaranthus, while a third objective was to evaluate the utility of the markers in detecting diversity in the 276 genotypes. The markers were found to be highly variable with an average polymorphism information content of 0.365. All markers were bi-allelic; and the major allele frequency ranged from 0.388 to 0.871. Population structure analysis of the cultigens revealed the presence of two sub populations. Phylogeny confirmed that the two Mesoamerican species, Amaranthus cruentus and Amaranthus hypochondriacus, were related and distant from the South American species Amaranthus caudatus, which in turn was very closely clustered with Amaranthus quitensis, even though this is considered a weedy relative. The first pair of species were likely to have inter-crossed, while the latter two likely exist in a wild-cultivated hybrid state. In conclusion, the results of this SNP study provided insights on amaranth cultivars and their relationship to wild species, the probable domestication events leading to the cultivars, and possible crop breeding or germplasm conservation strategies.

Whole-genome sequence analysis unveils different origins of European and Asiatic mouflon and domestication-related genes in sheep

The domestication and subsequent development of sheep are crucial events in the history of human civilization and the agricultural revolution. However, the impact of interspecific introgression on the genomic regions under domestication and subsequent selection remains unclear. Here, we analyze the whole genomes of domestic sheep and their wild relative species. We found introgression from wild sheep such as the snow sheep and its American relatives (bighorn and thinhorn sheep) into urial, Asiatic and European mouflons. We observed independent events of adaptive introgression from wild sheep into the Asiatic and European mouflons, as well as shared introgressed regions from both snow sheep and argali into Asiatic mouflon before or during the domestication process. We revealed European mouflons might arise through hybridization events between a now extinct sheep in Europe and feral domesticated sheep around 6000–5000 years BP. We also unveiled later introgressions from wild sheep to their sympatric domestic sheep after domestication. Several of the introgression events contain loci with candidate domestication genes (e.g., PAPPA2, NR6A1, SH3GL3, RFX3 and CAMK4), associated with morphological, immune, reproduction or production traits (wool/meat/milk). We also detected introgression events that introduced genes related to nervous response (NEURL1), neurogenesis (PRUNE2), hearing ability (USH2A), and placental viability (PAG11 and PAG3) into domestic sheep and their ancestral wild species from other wild species.