Dill seed germ development after short-term temperature stress.

NNew data on germ growth processes of dill seeds formed at the first and second branching orders after exposure to short-term heat stress (40 °C) are presented. Morphometric method and analysis of dill seed embryo growth in dynamics were used. The studies were carried out in 20152017 at the All-Russian Research Institute of Vegetable Growing, a branch of FSBSI FSCVG. Seeds of dill (Anethum graveolens L.) of the variety Centaurus from the first and second branching orders were the object of research. First, seeds were germinated in a thermostat. Then, swollen roots were exposed to a temperature of 40 °C according to the experiment scheme: 0 (control); 1; 2; 3; 4 and 5 days. After incubation, the seeds were transferred to standard conditions (temperature 20 °C) and germinated in Petri dishes on filter paper without light for 21 days. Germ size was measured using image analysis software. Critical embryo length and degree of underdevelopment were determined, and the ratio of embryo length to endosperm length (I Z/E) was calculated. Logistic regression with four parameters: b, c, d, e., was used to construct a germ growth curve. The relationship between the parameters was assessed using Pearson correlation analysis. The differences were considered statistically significant at P≤0.05. The duration of temperature action, which has an inhibitory effect on embryo growth, germination rate, the number of germinated seeds, were revealed. It was found that the embryos of seeds obtained from different branching orders have different sizes and have different intensity of growth under stress and standard conditions. It was shown that the effect of brief temperature (40 °C) on embryo growth depends on branching order and that embryos of seeds of the second branching order are more sensitive to high temperature. Morphometric parameters of the source were shown to play a critical role in the ability of dill seeds to resist the effect of temperature stressor during germination.

MUSCLE v5 enables improved estimates of phylogenetic tree confidence by ensemble bootstrapping

Phylogenetic tree confidence is often estimated from a multiple sequence alignment (MSA) using the Felsenstein bootstrap heuristic. However, this does not account for systematic errors in the MSA, which may cause substantial bias to the inferred phylogeny. Here, I describe the MSA ensemble bootstrap, a new procedure which generates a set of replicate MSAs by varying parameters such as gap penalties and substitution scores. Such an ensemble is called diagnostic if the typical distance between MSAs is comparable to the error rate. Confidence in a prediction derived from an MSA, e.g. a monophyletic clade, is expressed as the fraction of the ensemble where the prediction is reproduced. This approach is implemented in MUSCLE by modifying the Probcons algorithm, which is based on a hidden Markov model (HMM). An ensemble is generated by perturbing HMM parameters and permuting the guide tree. Ensembles generated by this method are shown to be diagnostic on the Balibase benchmark. To enable scaling to large datasets, divide-and-conquer heuristics are introduced. A new benchmark (Balifam) is described with 36 sets of 10000+ proteins. On Balifam, ensembles generated by MUSCLE are shown to align an average of 59% of columns correctly, 13% better than Clustal-omega (52% correct) and 26% better than MAFFT (47% correct). The ensemble bootstrap is applied to a previously published tree of RNA viruses, showing that the high reported Felsenstein bootstrap confidence of Ribovirus phylum branching order is an artifact of systematic MSA errors.

The hierarchy of root branching order determines bacterial composition, microbial carrying capacity and microbial filtering

Fine roots vary dramatically in their functions, which range from resource absorption to within-plant resource transport. These differences should alter resource availability to root-associated microorganisms, yet most root microbiome studies involve fine root homogenization. We hypothesized that microbial filtering would be greatest in the most distal roots. To test this, we sampled roots of six temperate tree species from a 23-year-old common garden planting, separating by branching order. Rhizoplane bacterial composition was characterized with 16S rRNA gene sequencing, while bacterial abundance was determined on a subset of trees through flow cytometry. Root order strongly impacted composition across tree species, with absorptive lower order roots exerting the greatest selective pressure. Microbial carrying capacity was higher in absorptive roots in two of three tested tree species. This study indicates lower order roots as the main point of microbial interaction with fine roots, suggesting that root homogenization could mask microbial recruitment signatures.

The use of prolonged fertilizers for vegetative reproduction of Prunus salicina in the conditions of the Krasnoyarsk forest-steppe

The article examines the influence of Osmocote Exact Standard fertilizers on the biometric parameters of Chinese plum (Prunus salicina) saplings of varieties Pyramidalnaya and Altayskaya Jubileinaya during vegetative propagation (by the method of winter grafting) in the Krasnoyarsk forest-steppe conditions. The use of prolonged fertilizers when growing plum planting material has a positive effect on the development of biometric parameters of the aboveground and underground phytomass of plants: the average number of shoots in the variant with longacting fertilizers was 2.7-3.0 pcs. An increase in the average length of shoots was recorded in the variants using Osmocote - 15.9-18.1 cm, these indicators are 2.9-8.7 cm higher than the control variants. Application of prolonged fertilizers had a favorable effect on the growth and development of the root system of plum seedlings: average the number of roots of the 1st branching order was 9.7-12.7 pcs, the average length of the roots of the 1st branching order was 9.4-10.3 pcs.

Phylogeography and Phylogenetic Evolution in Tibetan Sheep Based on MT-CYB Sequences

To date, molecular genetics and population studies in Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries) have been limited, and little is known about the phylogenetic evolution and phylogeography of Tibetan sheep populations. The aim of the present research was to explore phylogeography and phylogenetic evolution of Tibetan sheep populations, on the basis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene MT-CYB (1140 base pairs). Our dataset consisted of 641 MT-CYB sequences from the same amount of animals belonging to 15 populations of Tibetan sheep living in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China. Haplotype and nucleotide diversities were 0.748 ± 0.010 and 0.003 ± 0.001, respectively. The analysis of phylogeography revealed the presence of two formerly described haplogroups in 15 populations of Tibetan sheep, however only one haplogroup was present in Awang sheep. Moreover, 641 Tibetan sheep were distributed into a minimum of two clusters by clustering analysis. The 15 Tibetan sheep populations and 19 reference populations of 878 individuals were separated into six main groups based on their substitutions per site, from which we constructed a phylogenetic tree. Minor differences in branching order of various taxa between trees acquired from either gene were observed. This study provides insights on the origins and phylogenetic evolution of populations residing in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, which will aid information of future conservation programs aimed at conserving this valuable genetic resource.

The Branching and Innervation Pattern of the Radial Nerve in the Forearm: Clarifying the Literature and Understanding Variations and Their Clinical Implications

Background: This study attempted to clarify the innervation pattern of the muscles of the distal arm and posterior forearm through cadaveric dissection. Methods: Thirty-five cadavers were dissected to expose the radial nerve in the forearm. Each muscular branch of the nerve was identified and their length and distance along the nerve were recorded. These values were used to determine the typical branching and motor entry orders. Results: The typical branching order was brachialis, brachioradialis, extensor carpi radialis longus, extensor carpi radialis brevis, supinator, extensor digitorum, extensor carpi ulnaris, abductor pollicis longus, extensor digiti minimi, extensor pollicis brevis, extensor pollicis longus and extensor indicis. Notably, the radial nerve often innervated brachialis (60%), and its superficial branch often innervated extensor carpi radialis brevis (25.7%). Conclusions: The radial nerve exhibits significant variability in the posterior forearm. However, there is enough consistency to identify an archetypal pattern and order of innervation. These findings may also need to be considered when planning surgical approaches to the distal arm, elbow and proximal forearm to prevent an undue loss of motor function. The review of the literature yielded multiple studies employing inconsistent metrics and terminology to define order or innervation.

Growth dynamics of the branching system in grasses: an architecture-based methodology for quantitative evaluation applied to two genotypes of Paspalum vaginatum

The aerial growth dynamics of the shoots of the widespread turfgrass Paspalum vaginatum was studied. With the aim of identifying quantitative differential features between two genotypes, plants were cultivated outdoors in pots during two consecutive summers. Axes of different branching order were marked for periodical observation to quantify internode production rate, axis production rate, covering rate and reproductive effort. The genotypes differed significantly in the following quantitative features: plagiotropic vs. orthotropic axes proportion, internode production rate, flowering vs. vegetative tiller ratio, vegetative cover and spatial distribution of the canopy. Knowledge of these features may help to understand the great plasticity and adaptability of this species to multiple environmental conditions.